Chapter 48: Lucas Versus Kuraikaji
Lucas stood across from Kuraikaji in the middle of the large room with his sword drawn. From the area at the top of the stairs, the four Cobras and the remainder of the group watched in suspense. On the two balconies, now with the curtains drawn back, additional Cobras stood equipped with loaded bows, their sights set on Lucas’s companions.
“This is crazy, Lucas!” Hagan yelled. “Just swallow your pride and back out!”
“Don’t even think about fleeing this battlefield,” Kuraikaji warned. “You’ve agreed, and we’re going to fight.” He glanced back at Hagan. “As I’ve said before, the moment my Cobras even think you’re going to interfere, you will all be killed on the spot.” Coldly staring at Lucas, he added, “The only way to get out of this is to best me, one on one.” He drew his sword. “Well, hero. Make the first move. I’m just ‘scared’ after all.” The Cobras chuckled.
Lucas tightened his grip on the sword. This is it! I don’t know how the hell I’m going to win this. His reflexes are unreal. The way he caught that arrow... But I don’t have a choice now. Well, here it goes.
Lucas swung his sword but was blocked almost instantly. Dammit! As quickly as he could, he backed away and tried again. Immediately, his effort was obstructed by Kuraikaji’s expeditious blade. Lucas darted to avoid a hasty counterattack. Now’s my chance! Taking another swing, there was a loud clink as his maneuver was thwarted yet again. Hurriedly stepping backward, his face mirrored his internal frustration.
Kuraikaji smirked. “Come on, boy. I’m barely trying. Dazzle me with your heroics.”
“He’s dead,” Aiden bluntly uttered.
Hagan glared at him. “You’d better mean Kuraikaji.”
“I dunno which fight you’re watchin’, pal,” Aiden replied as Lucas tried again and again to land a single blow on his skillful opponent.
Hagan gnashed his teeth. “You could show a little optimism, you know.”
“The unfortunate truth,” Sezuni interjected, “is that Lucas is simply outmatched. He’s clearly not a master swordsman. Kuraikaji is merely making a show out of him to impress his men.” Iris and Hagan felt their hearts sink as she spoke.
Apparently overhearing their conversation, one of the Cobras looked at them. “Your friend’s got to have a death wish challenging Kuraikaji to a duel like that.”
The man’s comrade chuckled. “Wait until he starts conjuring.” Though he was enraged by their commentary, Hagan returned his attention to the duel below.
The sound of clashing metal echoed throughout the room as Lucas’s blade repeatedly met Kuraikaji’s. He’s too good! Every time I swing, his sword is already there; and he’s barely even fighting back! Kuraikaji thrust his blade. Though he attempted to dodge, Lucas was grazed by the attack, cutting his shirt sleeve and drawing blood. He grunted, speedily retaliating with a counterstrike. Again, their blades met as the attack was blocked.
“This is pathetic,” Kuraikaji remarked. “After seeing what you did to my Cobras, I had expected much more from you.”
I’ve got it. I’ll make a fake swing and land a hard strike while he’s distracted. Without warning, Lucas pretended to go in for another swipe. To his astonishment, however, Kuraikaji didn’t move his sword to block. Putting all of his might into a real swing, Lucas’s sword smashed into Kuraikaji’s.
“Nice try,” Kuraikaji commented smugly.
“Ugghh! I can’t take this anymore!” Hagan proclaimed, cupping his hand.
A Cobra watching from the balcony simultaneously pointed his arrow at him. “If you conjure anything,” he warned, “consider yourself a dead man. I can release this arrow a lot faster than you can materialize an orb.” Frustrated, Hagan lowered his arm.
Meanwhile, Lucas continued to swing furiously, only to have his attempts intercepted with little effort from his opposition.
“Kuraikaji seems to anticipate his every move,” Iris noted. “He appears to be positioning his sword to perform a block well before Lucas begins to strike. It’s almost as though...” Her eyes widened. “The eye patch!!” she suddenly called.
Lucas glanced at her. Taking advantage of the temporary distraction, Kuraikaji promptly thrust his blade to Lucas’s stomach. Luckily, the assault was picked up by Lucas’s peripheral vision, scarcely allowing him a chance to elude the strike. As he continued to wage battle against Kuraikaji, Lucas yelled back to her, “What about it?!”
“I believe it’s enchanted,” she quickly replied. “It’s highly probable that it doesn’t obstruct his vision at all, but rather enhances it!”
The two duelists came to a standstill. Kuraikaji chuckled. “Well, I suppose your clever associate has caught me. Yes, I’ll admit, I don’t wear this eye patch because it makes me look devilishly handsome. It grants me the ability to see offensive strikes seconds before they’re made, both physical and magical. The extra reaction time works wonders in duels.”
“You cheating bastard!!” Hagan screamed. “Take it off and fight him like a man!”
Without removing his eyes from Lucas, Kuraikaji responded, “Cheating? Not at all. The rules were that we would engage in a one on one fight to the death. We never established any guidelines regarding the use of enchanted objects.”
Unnerved by the revelation, Lucas perspired. There’s no way I can beat him. Even if I can muster up the strength to conjure an orb, he’ll see it coming.
“If you think you can get it off of me,” Kuraikaji went on, “then be my guest. Though I doubt it will do you much good – especially if you haven’t been holding back on me this whole time.”
Uncertain of what to do next, Lucas rapidly swung at Kuraikaji, who grinned as he calmly negated each blow. Come on! He has to screw up sooner or later!
“No wonder Kuraikaji is such a great fighter,” Sezuni acknowledged before glancing at Iris. “How did you know?”
“It was only a theory,” Iris replied, continuing to carefully watch the duel. “I hope he’s able to remove it somehow. Otherwise...”
“Don’t give up, Lucas!” Hagan shouted. “Let him have it!” The Cobras snickered. Hagan glared at them, using every ounce of restraint to hold himself back.
“Easy, buddy,” said Aiden, noticing the boiling rage on his face.
Hagan snapped his head to him. “I’m not your buddy!”
“Keep your cool, baldy,” Aiden responded, “you’re gonna get us all shot!” Enraged by the use of the term ‘baldy,’ Hagan swiftly kicked Aiden’s injured leg.
“Aahhh!!” Aiden screamed, collapsing to the floor.
“Hagan!” Iris snapped. “Control yourself!” Biting his lip, Hagan returned his focus to the duel.
Lucas was feeling exhaustion grab at his lungs. I don’t know how long I can keep this up. The moment I stop, he’s going to kill me. I have to think of something.
Suddenly, Kuraikaji’s blade sent Lucas’s sword flying out of his hands, landing a good distance from where he stood. Kuraikaji raised his eyebrows. “Got you.” Without hesitation, Lucas dashed to collect his weapon. Remaining in place, Kuraikaji sheathed his sword. “I’m growing bored. Let’s finish this while it’s still mildly interesting.”
As Lucas picked up his weapon, Kuraikaji shouted, “Ignis planitia verrunt!”
“Lucas!” Hagan and Iris yelled as a large flame swept along the ground toward their companion at alarming speed. Lucas dove out of the flame’s path. It exploded into the wall, causing some nearby furniture to catch fire. Though he avoided the brunt of the assault, Lucas suffered minor heat burns from the resulting blast.
“Extinguish the flames,” Kuraikaji ordered one of his men before conjuring a fire orb. Complying, a Cobra standing near the group quickly used an Ice spell to snuff out the lingering blaze. At the same time, Lucas got to his feet as Kuraikaji hurled the fire orb. Lucas avoided the threat by mere inches, causing the flame to burst into the sandstone wall.
Immediately after dodging the orb, Lucas bolted directly at Kuraikaji. He’s going to kill me anyway, I might as well make him fight for it! Kuraikaji was stunned by the move, hastily unsheathing his sword. Though Lucas delivered a powerful swing, his blade inevitably clashed with Kuraikaji’s, beginning another chain of loud clinks as Lucas relentlessly swiped at his adversary.
“That’s it, Lucas!” Hagan yelled encouragingly. “Give him hell!”
One of the Cobras scoffed. “Kuraikaji’s just playing with him. If he were trying, your friend would be dead.”
Hagan was about to unleash his fury on the man when Sezuni calmly replied, “If Kuraikaji’s such a tough guy, why doesn’t he fight without the eye patch?”
“Yeah!” Hagan agreed. “Lucas would have him in pieces if he weren’t cheating!” The Cobra chuckled and turned back to the fight.
Lucas was sweating profusely. I’m getting way too tired. I can’t believe this. I could be living the final minute of my life right now. In that moment, he reflected on all of the events that had taken place since he’d left from his home. Receiving the fragment from Morice, the old man. Meeting Roshan and being hurled into the In Between. His encounter with Zoe. Fading into unconsciousness as Hagan rescued him in the snow. Coming to in Iris’s cozy home in Azure.
His eyes widened. Wait! Iris! As quickly as possible, he distanced himself from his opponent.
Kuraikaji laughed. “What’s wrong, boy? Scared?”
Lucas faced him. Please work, please work! He outstretched his arm in a cupping formation with his palm facing upward.
Kuraikaji remained in place, amused. An orb, hm? he thought.
“Lumen orbis!” Lucas bellowed, successfully conjuring a light orb. Yes! Immediately, his legs began to shake. I’ve definitely reached my limit with this one. I’ve got to do this perfectly.
Kuraikaji raised an eyebrow. “Light magic?” He chuckled. “What are you planning to do, boy? Suffocate me with fairy dust?” The Cobras laughed hysterically at their leader’s comment.
Lucas’s face turned to stone. Without a word, he hurled the light orb directly at Kuraikaji, who easily dodged it with a simple side step. His eyes still fixed to Lucas, he smirked. “You’re going to have to do a lot better th–”
“Kuraikaji!!” A Cobra shouted. “Look out!!”
Before Kuraikaji could turn around, however, he was suddenly knocked to the ground as the light orb smashed into him from behind.
Fighting through his exhaustion, Lucas bolted toward Kuraikaji, who was struggling to get back to his feet. All of the duel’s onlookers gasped as Lucas savagely buried his blade into Kuraikaji’s chest. One could have heard a pin drop for the pause that proceeded the fatal blow.
Quivering as blood poured from his wound, Kuraikaji struggled to speak. “Y-you... b-but... how?”
Breathing heavily, Lucas smirked. “Maybe I’m just some ‘boy’ throwing ‘fairy dust,’ but you’re the one who lost to him.” Kuraikaji attempted to respond to the remark, but ultimately collapsed.
Slowly, Lucas looked up at the spectators. “He wanted a fight to the death.” He lifted his blood soaked sword. “All’s fair, right?”
“T-that kid just killed Kuraikaji!!” One of the Cobras blurted in utter disbelief.
“You’re damn right he did,” Hagan proudly responded. “Way to go, Lucas!”
“That was incredible!” Iris cheerfully proclaimed. Aiden stared in silent disbelief while Sezuni smiled.
Lucas turned his attention to the Cobras on the balconies. “If the eye patch wasn’t cheating, neither was that. I played by his rules and I beat him. Fight to the death, winner takes all. That means you work for me now.” The Cobras hesitated, uncertain of how to react to the development. “Lower your bows,” Lucas commanded sternly.
“And if we don’t?” a Cobra queried.
Lucas lowered his eyebrows. “If you don’t, you might manage to kill some of us. But it’s only going to take one of us to finish off the rest of you. So I suggest you play nice while you still can.” After a short delay, the Cobras lowered their weapons. “Good,” said Lucas. “Now, all of you. Go outside and kill all of the monsters that have infiltrated Secar while we’ve been busy. Then, I want you to go door to door and inform every citizen that the entire town will be evacuating tomorrow morning at 9am to Valletal. That is, if you haven’t destroyed it already.”
“We haven’t,” a Cobra replied. “Kuraikaji gave us specific instructions to save it for last. It was a primary target for thieving.”
“As long as it’s safe,” said Lucas. “After you’ve spoken to every citizen, get some rest. You’re going to help us make sure that everyone in Secar makes it there alive. Once that’s done, you’re all free to go.”
The Cobras obeyed, and began the requested task immediately. Meanwhile, Lucas and the group seated themselves on the various chairs and couches in the large lobby room, at last having time to relax. Iris looked at Lucas. “What you did was absolutely brilliant.”
He smiled. “Thanks. Actually, you’re the one who made me think of it.” A confused look appeared on her face. Lucas elaborated. “I remembered seeing you conjure that orb in your backyard without using your hands. I figured, if it’s mostly mental, I should be able to stop it in mid-air. So I threw the orb, knowing he’d dodge it, and stopped it behind him. I knew he would be able to see any attacks I was about to make with that eye patch, so all I had to do was get the orb out of his sight. When he started talking, I pulled it back to me with my mind, and it ran right into him.”
“Now that’s smarts!” Hagan remarked.
Aiden stretched, comfortably relaxing in his chair. “I knew you’d find some way to win. Never doubted ya for a second!” Iris, Hagan, and Sezuni glared at him.
Lucas turned to Iris. “I’m glad you figured out that the eye patch was enchanted. You just can’t stop saving my life, can you?”
She chuckled. “I can’t claim all of the credit. I’m simply relieved that you’re okay.” She paused before adding, “Admittedly, it’s a rather clever enchantment; successfully fooling one’s opponent into believing they will have tactical advantage.”
“Speaking of which,” Aiden said, stumbling to his feet in pain. “I’m callin’ dibs on the thing.” He approached Kuraikaji’s body.
Iris cringed and Hagan commented, “Seriously?”
Aiden shrugged. “Why not? Seems useful.”
“It’s on a dead guy,” Hagan bluntly responded.
Aiden put on the eye patch. “Whaddya think?”
Iris lowered her eyebrows. “Please remain a safe distance from me while you’re wearing that.”
Sezuni turned to Lucas. “Take it from someone who has killed more than she can count: the way you defeated Kuraikaji was a work of sheer tactical genius. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ll be capable of once you’ve received proper guidance from Aalok Bonham.”