In a battle that knows no mercy, the ground readies itself for another round of conflict. Audrey stands firm, embodying a renewed spirit of darkness. Her three-part trident is raised in her right hand.
With a part of my body missing... my arm hasn't healed yet, I'll see if I can take her down...
Now. Perhaps now... I might match your speed. If we continue this fight in this manner, it won't yield any results; under these circumstances... that foolish girl will soon come looking for me and find me like this.
So let's end this with one move!
"Yes, yes, the people we are fighting for."
True, that suits me.
"Don't regret your choice!?"
Like a dance of intertwining light and darkness, Audrey advances with extraordinary grace, her agile legs propelling her like storm winds from the shadows, her right leg lifting high in a magical arc while her left pushes against the ground with force, stirring dust that sways like deceptive fog.
With a pulse of renewed courage, Brando pushed off the ground with his feet toward the girl, like the roots of a warrior tree bursting forth from the earth.
Brando and Audrey intersect in a dance of fate, their legs launching toward each other as if weaving threads of intertwined destiny.
This moment was like an open page in the book of fate, as the two of them passed each other like intertwining shadows. Audrey's trident was like a hesitant pen, her shadows retreating like spirits searching for answers. Brando's Bloody Ares sword was like a thread of challenge weaving a mysterious response, and the earth itself held its silence as if delaying judgment...
In a swift strike invisible to the eye, Audrey succeeded in piercing Brando's body with the blade of her trident!
The scene transformed into a tragic tableau reflecting the girl's triumph in a one-hit battle... leaving behind a trace of swirling dust like a halo of the victorious darkness.
Brando lay fallen on the ground at the corner of a wall, on his right side, drenched in his blood, waiting for Audrey to discover the trick that Tarkus had told him regarding the death of an immortal being.
...
...
...
"Hey hey hey! I can't bear this shame any longer, so send me to death by your hands."
Audrey raised her trident...
Eva's fall onto Brando's body was like a storm of emotions, as he lay on the ground, surrendering to his fate... her arms enveloped him like a shield of spirit, preventing Audrey from completing her task...
I hesitated for a moment before this human shield, the silence that fell was like a deep breath of fate, leaving the scene as a tableau of despair and protection in this dark theater.
"You foolish girl!!! What do you think you're doing with those knives at your waist? Look what you've done to me!"
(By mistake! Some of Eva's knives that she uses in the Death Star technique hit Brando.)
Surprised, Audrey exclaimed, "You're Eva! Aren't you? I've heard about you from Karl, the leader of the Golden Hawk Brigade."
"There's something I want to ask you, little one! How many people have died so far in pursuit of your revenge?"
Nervously, Eva replied, "I think... I think eleven."
"By the time you finally reach Karl, that number will be multiplied many times over! Don't you think?"
"You're killing people, or rather, you've enlisted this person to kill without excuse or justification, not even for a noble cause, for nothing...! Nothing but a deep-seated hatred within you! Have you ever wondered if this is the right way to live...?"
Eva hesitated in her response, "I... I... I swore an oath before my father's grave...! That I would do anything, no matter what it was... I promised them revenge for both of them at any cost. I promised him that."
With a sense of guilt, she continued, "I... I don't think that killing people is the right way. I honestly don't want that, but... I think I'm not wise enough to take my revenge without harming others. If a duelist considers killing for his master to be something noble, isn't it a deeply inhumane act to stain your hands with blood for your master? Am I... am I wrong?"
Audrey's features revealed a deep internal struggle or regret for her actions. Her eyes were half-closed, reflecting a state of emotional collapse or self-reflection...
She lifted her face with a smile, "Thank you, Eva, that's what I wanted to hear."
Addressing me, she said, "Please protect this girl!"
Hah! Are you going back to your shameful way of life...?
...
...
...
Audrey left the place and headed straight toward one of her friends who worked with her at the tavern where she played the shamisen.
She met her in the same spot where she had encountered her leader, Karl, at the wooden bridge...
"Zelda! I just wanted to see you to say goodbye; I'm returning to my hometown! My foolish father can't stop and never learns; he has lost everything due to gambling!"
Zelda closed her eyes as if she sensed that Audrey's story was just a lie to leave. "Oh, well! It's a long story! I think you're that girl who can't let her father sink into the abyss... I'm like a bird in a cage and I'll remain this way. But at least you... I want you to walk toward where the sun rises."
Audrey appeared to be in a state of deep sadness, her facial expressions calm and devoid of a smile, her gaze serene and mysterious, reflecting feelings of deep contemplation.
"My mother too, before she died, was a fallen woman; she was expelled from a dueling family because of me! I think she really had no other choice. Raising a child on the shoulders of a lonely woman! Yet, she never tried to hate my father, as she always attempted to convince me to refrain from using the sword to seek revenge for her."
"For years, I thought she was pitiful, but she isn't; I just couldn't understand the path she chose to live. But now... I am very proud of her... compared to the duelist who lives his life to spread pain..."
"I won't return again! I haven't forgotten the reason I chose this path... to punish my father for abandoning us. It's not my fault that I mastered the sword unlike my brother... Zelda! I want you to live your life with pride... I will never forget everything you've done for me; you were the best friend! Before I leave, I want you to deliver this message to someone."
The curtain fell on a chapter of Audrey's life in this place, and the moments faded like sand slipping through the fingers of time, leaving behind a trace of nostalgia that will never be forgotten...
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...
...
Audrey stood beside her companion in the quest for revenge, as if repaying part of her debt... With her trembling hand, she extended it like a bridge of hope, lifting a weary spirit from the ashes of battle, gripping his shoulder tightly with an unyielding love...
"Gently! That hurts!"
"Then stop moving, and all the pain will go away...
A black day in my life, damn it! What a pity! Beaten by a woman and saved by a woman as well..."
"My personal guard always boasts about having an immortal body, but when it comes to times of adversity, he can't move forward without me."
Brando's expression reflected a calm coldness, but his eyes wrestled with a mix of indignation and betrayal.
"So if you've learned anything from what happened... don't ever dare to lie to me again like you did today!"
"Alright, let me confess something to you... if enemies aligned with the leader of the Golden Hawk Brigade, like Audrey, were to appear, I wouldn't be able to ensure victory... So, Eva! I have a suggestion for you.
Alright, this is my talk with you about everything except what happened today!
Instead of intervening every time I fight and ruining things for me, I think I can teach you some things that will make you stronger than you are... Then your presence could actually benefit the fight, so what do you think, little one?"