Elena quickly drew her trusted bow, grabbing an arrow and pulling it back on the string. Uriel kept his left hand at the ready so it would be willing to make a sudden motion in case of a situation that called for it. Telvern readied his Steel Titan pouch for the battle. "Now, see 'ere," spoke Calvin as the space for motion thinned around the group of four. "We don't like the Imperial Kingdom as much as y'all. But we're assassins for hire...we don't discriminate. Their coin is just as valuable as the life we take ta claim it."
Elena kept her pale blue irises tightly on Calvin. "It's your business," she responded. "It only makes sense that you choose not to discriminate."
Calvin threw his right hand out in front of him. His index finger pointed at Elena. "At least somebody gets it," he happily commented. "You should join us, princess. I think you'd fit right in."
Uriel glared at Calvin. "Never," he quickly declared.
Elena lightly smiled. "You heard it from him," Elena replied.
"Aww..." sorrowfully mumbled Calvin. "It's gonna be a shame ta have ta see a girl like you leave."
Libitina then slowly began to rise from her throne like a zombie raising from it's grave. Her gelid eyes gazed upon Raphael as she rose up. She stood up on her feet, her hands reaching for her swords. Raphael's body froze as he stared upon her face. Libitina pulled her blades out, dangling them loosely at her sides. "It's time..." she softly mumbled. "Die..."
After her soft voice escaped the prison underneath her lips, she furiously charged towards Raphael with astonishing speed. Raphael barely had any time to react. He quickly pulled his sword in front of him to guard the incoming attack. The blades collided with each other, a sound of steel versus steel sparked the air with a charge.
Libitina's red irises beamed down upon the tightened face of the young leader she chose to kill. His attention was heavily focused upon just keeping his strength to hold the steel blade that yearned for his death away from him. His sword rattled, his body tensing up. The others reacted to the sudden offensive action, pulling their attentions onto the hooded leader.
Within the hands of the young genius. the Steel Titan pouch emitted a bright white light which lit up even the darkest places. Suddenly, standing at the left side of Telvern stood a eighteen foot high Steel Titan. His body shined like a sea of diamonds, his eyes glowed red as it fearless cried out for battle.
The twenty assassins stared up at the Steel Titan, knowing full well of the problem that it will pose. Calvin's eyes turned up towards the titan. "Kill it," the young assassin commanded. "I'm sure that these three wouldn't mind dancin' with us."
Acknowledging without question, the assassins charged fearlessly towards their potential death. Without a concern on his mind, Telvern walked ten feet from the side of the titan. His eyes gazed down at the opened hill of ink that laid in the palm of his right hand. "Leave none alive," Telvern told the giant of metal.
Digesting the words spoke to him by his master, the metal grips of the titan tightly clinch together. They became fearsome hammers of destruction. One of the twenty assassins approached the feet of the titan, his dagger at his ready. Once within range, the assassin swung his dagger at the titan. His steel collided with the forger of it, it bounced off him without a moment of penetration.
The man's face spoke a shocked expression, his eyes screamed disbelief. The mountain noticed the climber and prepared to act upon it. It readied to catapult it's fist down upon the assassin. With an acute speed at it's back, the cannonball of steel charged towards the man. It collided with the man's flesh, hitting him in the right shoulder.
The power of the blow was incredible, it shattered almost every single bone in the man's right side. He is then sent bolting away from the scene of the impact. His body soared across the atmosphere, looking like a C as he sliced through the air. Almost like charging in blind, the other assassins charged relentlessly towards the titan.
Calvin looked towards Elena and Uriel, his pale blue irises flipped between the two. His right hand reached down towards the right side of his waist, where his trusted shortsword sat at his ready. "Suppose I'll be needin' this," he said. "Honestly, I don't think it's right for it ta be this way. Ya wanna just leave?"
Elena shook her head. "I'm afraid that we simply cannot," Elena declared. "You know that."
Calvin drew in breath into his bellows, it was forcefully pulled out from him with speed. "Yeah, I suppose so," agreed Calvin. "It's always the good people that have ta die. It's a shame really." Uriel raised his left hand out in front of him. Calvin sees the action on Uriel's part, quickly moving to his right at bullet speed. Suddenly, at the speed of a heartbeat, the spot where Calvin once stood exploded with a huge burst of fire.
The fire glowed, breathing in and out. It poured an powerful heat that took hold of the world and the people. Calvin predicted the attack with perfection, his footsteps now took him towards the body of the young boy who tried to kill him. Elena quickly launched the diamond tipped arrow she had ready towards the approaching Calvin.
The arrow flew into the air, sprouting it's wings as it zoomed into the battle. Calvin realized the arrow that came for his life so he launched his body forwards, diving down towards the ground. The arrow sailed by his body, missing by a few mere inches. With the danger gone, Calvin's body flipped from his front pointing towards the ground to his feet landing firmly down.
He quickly stood up to his feet as he continued his chase towards the young boy. Uriel stared at Calvin with the large anger on his face. His eyes bled with resentment. But strangely, something was overcoming the boy. His vision became slightly blurred and he couldn't seem to focus. He didn't understand why he felt this way but he couldn't seem to get a grip on himself.
Elena quickly swapped her bow for the solid steel of her longsword, pulling it out of it's leather prison. She charged towards the young assassin who intended to take her brother's life. At the corner of his vision, he saw the archer darting towards him. Calvin froze in his footsteps to react to the incoming enemy.
He readied his shortsword to defend himself no matter the cost. In position, Elena swung her steel longsword to her left, aiming for Calvin's neck. The young man quickly leaned backwards, he watched with his pale blue eyes as the sword wooshed just an inch from his face. Once her blade passed, Calvin saw the opportunity to strike.
He quickly launched his shortsword forward, lunging it towards Elena's abdomen. The young archer realized this and so she swung her right foot up towards the area where Calvin's wrist was going to be. The tip of her leather boot hit right on the bone of Calvin's wrist, sending his shortsword towards a more upwardly area.
Recoiling her blade, Elena takes action. She then plunged her blade forwards, aiming for Calvin's abdomen. Smelling the danger like a horrific scent, Calvin lunged his left hand towards the arm that held onto the blade that came for his life. His hand grabbed onto her wrist, his grip extremely tight. Her blade did impale slightly into his abdomen, blood dripped slowly from the wound. It was to the lower right of his abdomen.
His face was a mask of a grimace. But above it all, his face cracked with a smile. "Whoaaaa," Calvin said. "That was a little too close for comfort. Nice job princess, that sorta thing has never happened ta me before."
Elena lightly smirked back at the young assassin. "Thanks," she thanked politely. "Good job yourself for stopping my blade"
Calvin's breath was slightly fast than it should be. His pale blue irises continued to stare at the archer in front of him. "Thank ya much," he thanked, parroting his enemy. A natural impulse worked through the young assassin, he knew he needed to get away from where he stood and fast.
Quickly, he released his left hand from the forearm of Elena. Regardless of the blade that is stabbed in him, he hopped backwards. Just to his right was the angry boy, Uriel and his left hand was out in front of him. He came close to making the kill but he quickly realized that Calvin was no longer where he once stood.
Uriel halted his attack, scrolling his left hand towards the new location of the assassin. With the target in sight, Uriel readied his attack for the kill. But that strange feeling turned into a weakness, he felt completely exhausted. His left hand began to quiver without control. Regardless of these, Uriel launched his attack.
An huge arm of fire reached out from the ground and up towards the rocky ceiling. But this was nowhere near where Calvin, the pillar of flames appeared five feet from where the assassin stood. Elena turned her head towards Uriel, she was concerned about him. Her pale blue irises gazed upon the boy, he was pale white and sweating bullets at the speed of an assault rifle.
His breath was slow and heavy and his eyes were weak and tired. This alerted Elena to a problem that was going on with the boy. "Uriel," she frantically called. "Are you all right!?"
"Dammit..." he faintly growled with anger. "This...can't be...right."
Elena then began rushing towards Uriel, her footsteps fast and hasteful. She threw away the whole purpose of the fight and traded it for the concern for her brother. "Uriel," she frantically parroted herself. "What's wrong!?"
She stood at the right side of her frail brother, her eyes almost clouded by tears. She was oblivious to the assassin's location. Calvin began walking towards the two. "The boss figured y'all were comin'," Calvin declared, taking the attention of the two. "So, she requested me ta dip poison onto the needles of the cactus."
Uriel let out a soft smirk. "Haha..." he weakly laughed. "I should've expected as much..."
"Sorry, little man," apologized Calvin. "I wish I could've said no but ya know the boss...she's not the kinda person ya wanna say "no" ta."
Uriel's smirk goes down, a anger boiled back up on his face. His turquoise irises glared up at Calvin. His vision was very blurry, he saw doubles of the young assassin who stood four feet from where he and his sister were. "I'm sure you could..." he mumbled. "But you're probably too weak to do anything about it anyway."
Calvin closed his eyes, he seemed rather unhappy. "You've got 'bout twenty minutes 'til ya die," Calvin stated. "I hope you're still willin' ta fight, princess."
Elena kept her pale blue eyes heavily focused upon the young assassin. "What do you intend to do?" she questioned.
The small hidden blades within the compounds of Calvin's glove slowly began to pull out from their finger slots, the blades glittering by the radiant flames that danced behind them. "I've got the cure on me right now," he declared. "Kill me in twenty minutes and it's all yours."
His blade were ready to make the move, they hungered for the blood and life of the one that Calvin had his eyes set on. Elena's face became masked with a look of completely intensity. "What are you up to?" she asked.
Uriel's vision caught an odd glitter coming from Calvin's left hand. His eyes then captured the tools of death that were ready to strike. His eyes widened as his mind rushed with alertness. "Elena," he yelped out with all of his strength. "Look out!"
Calvin quickly stepped forward just as Uriel spoke. The fingers of his left hand were glued together, his pale blue irises booming with focus and ready to kill. His left hand then began to swing from his left to his right, aiming for Elena's throat. She sees the danger with her widened eyes at the last second and leans backward to dodge it.
The blades came quite close to their target, cutting slightly into the front of her throat as they came by. Calvin's left arm froze in place once his left hand was on top of his right shoulder. He knew he very barely missed his mark, his eyes watched a teardrop of blood slowly pour out from the small cut he left on Elena's throat.
Her face still expressed her shock and surprise, her body froze. Calvin drew in breath into his lungs, releasing it back out towards the atmosphere. He seemed disappointed by the turnout. "Good job, little man," he complimented Uriel. "You just saved the princess' life."
As the situation with Uriel and Elena versus Calvin became a situation that truly meant life or death, the battle between leaders became more fierce by the moment. Raphael was being pushed back, he was only acting defensively. Libitnia was a genius with swords, she made Raphael danced with death.
Libitina swung her shortsword down upon the young leader quickly. Raphael jumped backwards, trying to dodge the attack. Once the assassin absorbed this move, her blade immediately froze solid. She then quickly swung her longsword across Raphael's torso. Her blade sliced across Raphael's torso, from his right shoulder to the left side of his abdomen.
Raphael took several steps backwards, his teeth tightly fastened together. Blood flipped in the air while it dripped down his torso. Libitina readied her shortsword to make the kill. She thrusts her shortsword straight, aiming for his chest. Raphael felt the uneasiness once again, he knew he was in danger. He regained his focus and realized that her blade was looking for his life.
Alerted to this, Raphael quickly knelt down onto his knees. The blade zoomed passed the top of his head, gliding by the silver towers of hair. Raphael was ready for his truly first offensive opportunity, he flipped his sword to the regular position, the blade of the sword pointing towards Libitina. He launched his body up like a catapult shooting rocks over a castle wall.
His blade was pointed upwards in front of him, the tip of his blade aiming for the head of Libitina. She saw the attack, she leaned her body backwards to dodge it. Raphael's blade sliced the air just a few inches from Libitina's face. Her red irises gazed at the paper thin metal, the reflection of the flames created by Uriel danced on the steel floor.
Raphael's sword passed Libitina by, now she stared into the purple irises of the young leader. The two literally were inches apart from each other, they were able to feel their warm breath upon each other. The world seemed to pause completely to the two. Their eyes both then gaze into each other's, a vast ocean of many different elements before both of them.
Libitina's face almost seemed haunted, her eyes setting sail across the far reaching sea of Raphael's being. Raphael was tossed into a raging ocean of pain, his boat being torn apart by a mad sea. He couldn't quite place it in his heart but he saw in her eyes was a strangely familiar feeling. Was it hopelessness? Guilt? Conviction? Raphael could only speculate.
Before he could drive himself into mania at the thought, Raphael's body flied by the emotionless killer. He was a shooting star running away from the earth below, he shot up into the air. He flew about five feet higher until his body finally subsided it's ascendance. That was it, his body then began free falling without a parachute.
His body fell closer and closer to the ground, he had himself completely under control. His coat rattled as it and his hair swayed with the speed of his fall. His feet stuck the landing with perfection, the pounding of stone blew into the air. Libitina stood tall and straight, her blades loyally stood by her side. Raphael was on his knees, his sword clenched tightly in his left hand.
He was just three feet from where his enemy stood in silence, his face focused with caution. His legs then began to grow taller, he stood tall and strong on his feet. "If you were paid to kill me," Raphael spoke with a powerful voice. "Then why didn't you when you had the chance?"
Raphael stood there in anticipation, he waited for his much desired answer. But all he received was silence. Libitina stood there, she stared straight forward with a blank look on her face. Raphael turned his head, his eyes now gazed upon the back of the one he reached out to. His face was a mask of acute tension, his hands tightly clenched. "Answer me," he loudly demanded. "Why didn't you kill me?"
Suddenly, the assassin disappeared in the blink of an eye. Raphael's eyes widened in shock. All his vision caught was the small anthill of sand that was under Libitina's feet get kicked into the air by the speed of the demon. Raphael's eyes shuffled left and right, looking for the assassin. Within the moments of his search, the uneasiness he had experienced a million times before quickly surfaced back again.
His heart pounded hardier than the longest drum solo, a rainstorm of sweat rushed down from the sides of his head. He then felt a blast of air approach him from behind. This signal marked Libitina's move, Raphael knew that the woman was looking for the kill. He knew he had only a few seconds to react. He swung his body to the left, trying to avoid the fatal blow.
Raphael braced himself, holding his breath and readied for the inevitable rush of agony that was sure to come. Just then, he was delivered the package of pain that he suspected was coming for him. His purple irises watched as his own blood took flight into the air and a sharp needle of steel tried chasing after the small red buttons.
His right shoulder had been impaled by Libitina's longsword, her blade dug into the right side of his shoulder blade. It speared out from the other side where it dripped with tears of blood. Raphael's teeth were tightly gripped together, a grimace clenching his face. Libitina's emotionless eyes stared at the back of Raphael's head. "It means nothing," she softly mumbled to the young leader. In her left hand, her shortsword was readied to make it's impact. "Now...wither."
Her silver shortsword was then launched forward, it's destination was towards the back of Raphael's neck. The young silver haired man had only one option if he wished to live. With all the power he had invested, he leaped his body away from the assassin. He had to struggle through the agony of the spike that impaled him but he managed.
He got out of the grasp of the sharpened fang but not without a price. He jumped forward, he barely dodged the death sentence. The injury to his right shoulder was bleeding without rest, it was like a waterfall as it rode down his arm. Raphael breathed slightly heavily than he did a moment ago as he came to cope with the pain.
