Angelos Odyssey

4-1

-

Tavon

-

Artemis’ arm elongates into a blade of white, then he slashes down at my head. I step back, and he swipes up with the same arm, pushing me back yet again while exposing the right side of his ribcage. I ready a punch, lunge toward his side, and—

Shards of bone rip through his skin as a section of his ribcage tears open. Like a shotgun blast, six blades of white shoot out from shreds of grey skin and fly toward my face! I strafe left, then—

Artemis rushes me. He leads with a thrust aimed at the center of my chest.

I step left, and then, narrowly avoiding the tip of what looks like an ivory spear, I chop at the inside of his forearm in order to swat it backward. I ball my hand into a fist, then I strike at his head with a quick jab. Artemis tilts his head to the side before my hit connects; he cuts inward, blade poised to slice through my arm, and I draw my fist back in time just as I feel a sharp edge dig into my knuckles. A line of blood streams down from the top of my hand, where I came close to losing all of my fingers with one mistake. With the same blade, Artemis stabs at my stomach, and I sidestep; he swings out, the tip of his sword inches from my right eye, and I step back.

He thrusts and thrusts, aiming for my head, chest, and, stomach, and I move in rhythm with his strikes while evading each attack. Artemis stabs at my head once, twice; he slashes through the air, misses my nose by a hair’s breadth, pivots on one foot, and rotates around with twice as much speed to swing at the full length of my body.

Before his strike reaches me, a slot of grey flesh opens in his sword arm. Another shard shoots out and flies my way. I move my head and simultaneously feel something hot cut a burning path through the side of my head. Artemis extends his arm mid-swing and moves too fast for me to dodge!

I generate zol through my left arm so that knots of veins press out from muscle that compounds and enlarges to intercept the blow. Artemis’ blade strikes my forearm, red tau erupts across my body like a blazing shroud, and I hear a crack that echoes out across the deck as his sword arm presses down on mine. His blade buries itself into my forearm, and blood spurts out from the cut. While the edge of his weapon’s still stuck in me, I throw his arm to the side and move to strike at his face.

With his other arm, Artemis generates a web of bones that spread over his head like a shield.

Sparks of red aura surround my right fist as it expands and grows to twice its original size. I start to punch, but Artemis redirects his stray sword arm into a thrust at my left abdomen. I react fast, grab his blade, and jab at the mesh of bone surrounding the center of his face. My knuckles crash through what feels like thick skeletal branches before Artemis tries to take a step back. The impact from my strike continues on and causes his head to rock back right as he struggles to get back into a fighting stance.

Artemis’ left arm reforms into a cracked resemblance of its former self, and I leave him no time as I advance and spring forward with a kick directed at his head. Artemis ducks, swings at my other leg while I’m still rotating in the air, and I move my other foot around the edge of his blade. From there, I use my gathered momentum to rock forward and kick with the heel of my right foot. I strike at his chest, barely chipping away at the sheath of bone covering his torso, and Artemis steps back; Artemis raises one arm, fires off a barrage of white daggers, I sidestep, and he tracks my movements as he turns and raises his other arm: he fires six shards at me, and two slice through my right shoulder and bicep.

Artemis follows up by thrusting my way yet again. I step right, and he thrusts at my head with his other arm. I dodge, and then he swings out. I crouch to avoid the incoming blow, but, just as it passes over me, Artemis spins to swing at my head again! I back away, looking down at the very moment that the end of his blade scratches my neck as it passes me by. Artemis steps toward me and thrusts at my stomach; I sidestep to the left. Artemis uses his momentum to continue forward, pivots on one foot, and swings at me again while extending his weapon; I strafe forward, under the reach of his sword, and send a kick to his gut.

Jagged shards of bone, sharp enough to cut through the toes on my feet, protrude just as my weighted shoes start to connect! If the power of my strike alone didn’t suffice, having all that extra weight attached ensures that my kick breaks through the column of shards and forces Artemis to stagger backward—at the same time, however, he keeps his composure and slashes at my eyes when I try to pursue him; I turn my head in time to feel him cut open the left side of my jaw, which sends a jolt of adrenaline throughout my body.

Using the same sword arm, Artemis stabs at my head, forcing me to react quickly. I move inside the blow, ready one fist behind me, and charge at my opponent with a strike directed at his sternum. I step, swing, and—

Long, jagged spikes extend from the center of his chest to intercept me. I spot Artemis raising his other sword arm as I go in for the shot, knowing that any hesitation here means losing my head. My entire right arm enlarges itself with bright pulsations of red aura; I move to punch him—

And I rotate my body around Artemis, move his sword arm up, and slam my elbow into his right side, smashing through his ribcage before he can summon the protection to stop me!

Artemis’ left arm expands into another web of his own bones that he uses to cover a cracked dent where I’ve made my impression. He swings down at my head, and I move to intercept: I block with my left forearm, step inside of his guard, hit him with an uppercut that presses his chest inward, and jab at his head. Artemis dodges the jab by stepping back and swipes at my arm. I evade, and he steps in and slashes horizontally at my stomach; at the same time, I chop down on the middle of his arm, prompting him to stagger away once more.

Before I can close in, Artemis turns, exposes his left side, and sends a blast of shards my way. When I sprint forward and to the left in time to dodge all seven, I notice that four strings of dark grey aura trail behind four shards that pass me before hanging suspended in place.

I launch myself at Artemis. He raises one broad sword arm as I charge in with a haymaker aimed at his face. From behind, all four sharpened fragments of bone begin to move in the opposite direction, soaring toward the back of my head as blasts of aura radiate behind them! I crouch to avoid them, leg sweep, and kick Artemis on the inside of his right shin. Each shard penetrates Artemis’ body before being reabsorbed into a shell that comes aglow with silver tau, but I’m able to kick him hard enough that this shroud of aura is forced down toward the impact site, where my strike chips through bone and causes Artemis to remain in place as I go all out.

Step, strike: I enlarge my fist and punch Artemis’ left sword arm as he raises it to block his head.

Anticipating that he’ll protect his weak points, I focus the full force of my attacks on his defenses themselves. Artemis grunts with pain and swings out with enough force to decapitate me on the spot. I move my head down in time to dodge and notice that he shifts his stance in order to block with his right arm. He leads with a thrust, misses, raises his sword in time to protect his face, and—

Step, strike: a red aura erupts from my fist as it enlarges again; I swing and smash my knuckles into the same cracked impression I’ve just made. Fragments of bone fall away, and his arm breaks in on itself. I lunge inside of Artemis’ guard once again, and feint with an uppercut; Artemis tries to block with his left arm, but I’m one step ahead of him.

I rush past Artemis, prompting him to raise his broken right arm to strike while he exposes his right side. Before he can swing down to stop me, I charge on by and chop at his ribcage with enough force to make it crack inward. Artemis cries out in pain while blocking with an arm that becomes thinner as it tries to repair itself while he simultaneously condenses calcified mass into the fractured area.

When I advance again, he turns, and, with a bright burst of zol, Artemis disconnects his left arm from its socket and fires it in my direction like an ivory spear radiating with bright grey. I move left, barely managing to dodge as I’m hit with a huge gust of wind while the spear flies past my neck; from behind it, where the shoulder joint should be, zol trails behind and links back to Artemis, who allows the left side of his ribcage to open as he sends a flurry of glowing fragments of bone my way.

I try to strafe to the right, but I’m hit with a white spike that tears through the left side of my abdomen just as I begin to charge at my opponent. I continue on with enough momentum to throw a punch at his ribcage right as it closes. I strike once and my fist crashes through bone. I follow with a hook to the same spot and break through more bone. I feint with a jab at Artemis’ head, and, when he moves to block, I uppercut him using so much power that the structure of his abdomen collapses beneath a chest that begins to sink.

Artemis gasps and starts to choke while backing away. The spear that once made up his entire arm flies at me, coming close to taking my head with it, but I lunge forward into a crouch just as it passes by and reattaches itself to Artemis’ body.

“My, my,” Titus says as the crowd suddenly becomes very silent, “that was unexpected.”

“Throw the fight!” Grandmaster Jia screams.

“Don’t throw the fight!” Sygdom shouts over him and smiles when Jia glares at him in bewilderment.

Artemis looks into my eyes, and, when he attempts to speak, he fails and coughs up blood instead. His ribs crumble away, beneath the weight of organs that nearly fall to the ground before they’re surrounded in aura that catches them in place and draws them back toward him.

Artemis tries to speak again and says to me, “I knew that it might go this way. That you’d choose brute strength.”

As he talks, the color of his lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver all turn to grey as they solidify into statuesque versions of themselves.

“I decided to use this form so that I could more accurately measure how much power I’d need to destroy you. It’s become clear now that strength versus strength is the less strategic approach for me.”