24 Hearts

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The twenty-fourth fragment, Carpe Diem

Jeanne’s eyes fluttered awake upon hearing Ea’s voice. The Flying Fighter stumbled back, her face tinted with confusion.

“?”

It hit her just then, the Fighter asked her for what she had done, but she knew nothing of the answer. She did absolutely nothing but close her eyes and wait for death through Ea’s final blow. But, what brought Ea to such a shock? Jeanne shook herself awake to get a grip of reality before asking the other what was wrong. Then she saw it. The ground they stood on was covered in shadows despite the sun peaking overhead. Jeanne was sure the shadows were nothing but a blanket beneath her, but now…

“What is this…!”

What she thought was death… Wasn’t her reaper? The shadow flooded the entire floor but did nothing beyond that but brood. Ea, unfazed by the puzzled look on Jeanne’s face, punted a nearby brick to strike at her. As soon as its rubble fell to the floor, the darkened asphalt drained away back to its original color.

Jeanne, distracted by the shadow sprawling on the ground, failed to see the chunks of rock flying towards her. Ea had expected the pitch black shadow to rise and return them to her, but something else hit the flying rock ricocheted it to the ground. Three beams of light shot at the Flying Fighter, whose reflexes reacted in a blink.

“!”

It was a surprise attack, but Ea already had her gaze up the moment its sound broke through the wind, evading the threat immediately.

Pababat!

Countless daggers rained down at her, who skipped back at each hit. The dagger had the same shade as the ink swallowing the floor, and before she could even get a good look at the weapons, they vanished like melted snow.

“You dodge well. Like a squirrel.”

As a voice taunted the Fighter, its owner landed right in front of Jeanne. Seeing him land precisely, Jeanne believed he came from the building she had her back pushed against. But that wasn’t the problem. Jeanne’s head’s biggest concern was the familiarity of the voice and the back that stood before her.

Where had she heard his voice? Where had she seen his figure?

Jeanne, trying to peek through her helmet, breathed out.

“…Judah, is that you?”

“You got that right, Lady Jeanne. How did you recognize me? How are you? Oh, sorry, I mean, looking at your state right now, I guess not much….”

Jeanne wanted to ask him so many things, but before she could, he turned back to Ea and greeted her with a smile. Jeanne grew flustered at its sight. His smile seemed so pure, but there was something underneath its curves. To her embarrassment, the boy had come to her aid. But how the hell was he there?

“How did you know about this?” The puzzled Lancer asked.

“Shh. I’ll talk about that later. First, get rid of that old lady.”

Before she could even reply, the boy lifted his finger to her mouth to silence her. Judah smiled before turning her, then leaving her with her mouth shut. Jeanne wanted to tell him he needed to run, but it was unlikely he would listen simply because she said so. She could only look at him incredulously.

“Hello. Flying Fighter, aren’t we in bad luck? To meet again in a situation like this.”

Ea gritted her teeth. She thought she would be happy to kill Judah when they met again, but now she was just upset to have their Knightly duel interrupted. Seriously, on so many possible levels, she disliked the boy. Ea glared at Judah, and her face twisted grimly.

“Yeah… Do you really want to die? How dare you intervene in a duel over the pride between two knights? You have lost your cowardice, very much so!”

“Didn’t you mean to kill me anyway? But I’m sorry for the trouble, you can’t kill Jeanne, and I don’t mean to die either. How about you go off knowing you achieved victory and just never return here again?”

“You bitch!”

Ea sneered, and her agitation pushed Jeanne to at least do something to intervene. The Lancer struggled to sit straight up. Seeing her try earned a sharp inhale from Ea that busted out in such harsh laughter.

“I don’t have to follow a damn thing you say. I know I dominated that battle, but I still have a debt to pay back… So, I’ll kill both of you here. Lift your swords.”

Judah obliged with a shrug, pulling out the bastard sword and dagger from his waist. Ea’s lips curled as he held his sword in both hands and braced for combat.

“Hah, you… Aren’t you funny in many ways? Daring to fight a Flying Fighter with the use of two blades.”

“Have you ever heard of -Black Claw-?”

The silence told him they had no clue about what he had mentioned. Judah laughed, charging at Ea without hesitation. In an instant, they clashed and exchanged blows and swings in masterful swordsmanship. Jeanne stood back, watching in absolute amazement. She thought he was a pretty good boy when hunting black wolves, but he didn’t think he could swing his sword so neatly and without hesitation against humans.

“You’re cheating!” The Flying Fighter barked a laugh at Judah as they dueled.

Their weapons clashed with the loud scratching of solid metal, spraying fireworks into the air. Both of them brandished their dual weapons, and she didn’t know who exactly to watch between them. Their duel was brilliant, Jeanne’s eyes hanging for every block and attack. The Lancer, surprised, gasped as soon as she realized Judah was matching her speed. Not only was he blocking her attacks, but he was also digging for an entrance to attack.

Shadow Swordsmanship.

A magical power gathered around the blade of Judah’s Bastard Sword. Ea flinched as the black particles emerged and gathered around his weapon. Ea hopped back, but Judah had followed right along with her.

‘Form 3 – 1 point.’

He opened his eyes as he activated the skill. The black energy gathered around the blade wrapped around his sword before it transformed into a thick lance.

“Are you crazy?!” Ea freaked at the magic she just witnessed.

His sword became a lance. What sort of magic was it? Whatever it was, she had to avoid or prevent it from working. Her sword once again echoed as red magic conjured from it. He lowered his posture to avoid his vital spots, then lifted his sword to block.

The moment the red magic hit his black lance, its power wrapped around his weapon in a burst of sparks and melted away his lance like a peeled fruit. The magical power forming the lance dissipated, and the original sword underneath emerged. Thanks to this, there was a gap. Ea did not miss that opportunity and plunged her weapon at Judah.

But Judah knew her next move before she could even do it. This was one of the effects of -Shadow Justice- and -Shadow Swordsmanship- that he had cast upon the clearing they were fighting on. Judah ducked so naturally, evaded her attacks, raised her body, and danced along to her rhythm, following whatever prediction his skill gave him next.

‘Form 2 – True!’

His silver blade turned black once again.

“Oh my god, damn it!” Ea spat out a harsh whine, her head throwing back in irritation.

Can they stop? Can she stop it? Was there even a way to stop it?

Ea wanted to break his sword away from his grasp, but it was too late to separate them. His feet stopped moving, but Judah’s sword reached for her in slow motion. Ea’s eyes glued to Judah’s sword. Time slowed as his blade approached. All she could do was swear. Then before Judah knew it, she had collapsed to the floor. He blinked in surprise. The Flying Fighter wasn’t tired. She had slipped down on purpose.

‘Huh?’

Judah plunged his sword into the empty air, glancing down at Ea’s shadow as she fell. Ea kneeled on the floor, evading his sword, with the spears in her grasp swinging up into the air. Their red magic hugged the blades of her weapon as she brandished them overhead, its red rays cutting into the air. Judah, out of his reflexes, tried to defend himself with the dagger in his left hand, but his doom was imminent. No simple dagger could go face to face against the blade of a Flying Fighter. Judah may be able to withstand her attacks with strength, but his dagger cannot. Judah watched as the red rays of her spear slowly cut through his metal dagger neatly.

‘Am I going to die?’

Time around him slowed. Their tables have turned with his one wrong move. Judah reflexively made a -Save- before thinking about what to do.

[Saves the resurrection time based on the current location and current time.]

[Save is complete.]

The time seemed to stop for a while, but the saving soon completed. The dagger lasted about 3 seconds frozen in time before the world wounded back to normal, and its metal body broke apart into countless pieces. At the same time, blood spurted everywhere as his body buzzed all over. He could only stare blankly as his blood rained everywhere his eyes fell on.

“Judah!”

Judah heard Jeanne shriek in horror. But he couldn’t turn his body to her, and all he could do was look down.

His cut was beyond words.

His body was breaking apart. Embarrassment boiled within him, experiencing such excruciating injury for the first time in his entire life. His blood spurted instantaneously, soaking Ea, who was standing in front of him. She showed no emotion, and no amount of disgust or remorse could be seen in her eyes.

“Oh, he had skills, but that’s the limit of your guy.”

Judah fought to stand up, but strength drained quickly from his body.

He stumbled, and eventually, his knees collapsed to the ground. The impact shot unimaginable pain throughout his body, and he gritted his teeth to endure the pain. Soon, he didn’t need to endure the pain any further. His body grew numb, and any hint of pain or ache had gone away.

Judah smirked as he looked up at Ea.

He had studied her deadly move, and now he knew what to do.

“…That… was… Hell…”

“?!”

Hearing those words from the boy set fire aflame in Ea’s eyes. She wanted to retort but couldn’t say anything to him. With his last breaths, Judah cursed Ea in pure and raging spite.

“You are dead…”

“…”

Ea looked down at the boy, who wavered on his knees. She offered him a bow before watching his body collapse to the floor in a resounding thud. Judah had fallen.

He knew about Hell.

“How do you know about hell?”

Perhaps, if he were a Blue Lancer, he would understand. He would have to witness and experience what it was like to fight countless battles in the name of one’s empire. Ea thought he might have learned about the skill from Kaseun Sabnak, but it could have been explained to him in easier terms one in his age would understand. Or maybe, he had heard of it from other means, like technology?

Ea’s mind was riddled with questions, but the only one who could answer it lay lifeless before her.

“Tsk.”

Ea turned around, flicking her tongue. The moment he cursed her to hell, the feeling of victory, she felt flipped into resentment. Ea glared back at the Blue Lancer, swaying her spears soaked in Judah’s fresh blood. All Ea had to do was kill Jeanne, and finally, she was free to leave that place.

But then, she saw the world turn to gray.

And then—

The world stopped.

…

…

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