Eric cursed as he watched the crimson user turn the warehouse Lucina had crashed through into a fiery wreckage. He couldn’t risk letting Blade escape so all he could do is put his faith in Lucina. He scowled and turned back to his target.

“You look stressed Eric” Blade taunted, a stupid smirk on his face.

“Just contemplating how I’m going to explain the two dead bodies Lucina will leave behind” Eric replied and with a surge of mana he darted between unconscious bodies towards his target. Blade on the other hand had no issues stamping on his employee’s. If you could even call them that.

Sparks lit up the night as black and grey steel clashed. Their weapons locked together as the two of them pushed against each other. Eric knew Blade liked to overpower his opponents using his large size however, Eric was bigger than him and was able to out strengthen the murderer. Blade’s face creased with annoyance as he realised his favourite strategy wouldn’t work and that annoyance soon turned to strain, as Eric began to push him back. Blade grunted through gritted teeth, the mana flowing through his body suddenly beginning to increase as he attempted to force back Eric.

“What’s wrong Blade, struggling?” Eric taunted, a smirk now on his face. Blade slipped away from the strength battle, quickly stepping to the side, and swinging his blade upwards. Eric turned and parried the machete down pinning it against the ground. Instantly he then spun on the ball of his foot and kicked Blade in his side sending him recoiling back. Blade retreated back and Eric could sense him concentrating mana in his machete. The blade became coated in a red-white light, its glow bathing the surrounding area. Blade struck at Eric once again, his strikes felt twice as powerful however it wasn’t something Eric couldn’t handle. Well, that was the current level of power however, as the battle progressed Blade increased the mana augmenting his body and weapon. The machete’s coating grew a deeper red as it became more lethal, and his muscles seemed to almost swell, and they were filled with mana. His slashes became more ferocious, faster, and were beginning to push Eric back.

“What happened to all that confidence? Should you not have beaten me by now” Blade exclaimed as he swung his blade at Eric’s torso. There was a flash in Eric’s vision and a glowing machete cut across his chest and blood flew into the air. Eric retreated back calmly not a single bit of pain or panic crossing his face. He picked at his torn shirt, that was quickly becoming soaked with blood, he frowned annoyed that he’d let his clothes get ruined. Suddenly red sparks sprung from his wound and his body began to mend itself, his chest regenerating out of what seemed to be thin air. In moments Eric’s chest looked like it had before the fight.

“Looks like I’m a little rusty” Eric admitted. However, he then glanced to Blade “But at least I’ve advanced since last time”. Blade scowled at Eric’s comment and unleashed an overheard swing. Eric leapt back and watched the machete shatter the ground. “Even after all this time you’ve learned no proper technique. You still love to just swing your machete around and brute force your way through every fight” Eric stated.

“You’re talkative today” Blade said irritated.

A grin appeared on Eric’s face, and he casually began to approach Blade his sword dancing around in his grip “I see you’re not in the mood for words. That’s alright I guess I’ll just have to show you”. When it came to strength Blade was no one to overlook and had killed enough people to make that known. However, there was something Blade lacked, and it would be his downfall. Precision and technique. Eric dashed forward his sword at his waist, Blade swung his glowing machete but found nothing as Eric effortlessly sidestepped. His sword then tore through the air sending Blade’s machete flying from his hands. Swiftly and efficiently in a single movement, Eric cracked his foot against Blades knee sending it crashing to the ground and then instantly slashed his sword across Blade’s chest, ending the fight. Blade was ripped open from the bottom of his right shoulder to the left side of his pelvis. The wound had purposefully been made shallow enough, so he’d live.

“You’ve lost it Blade, time to retire” Eric said while swiping his sword through the air, splattering Blade’s blood onto the ground. Blade’s hand became stained red as it traced across his wound. A dark expression enveloped his face as he analysed his injury and then he glanced up at Eric.

“You’re wrong” He said solemnly. Eric’s raised his eyebrows at Blade’s comment, but quickly shook it off. He had to go help Lucina “If you have any desire to live through the night I wouldn’t move”.

As he turned to the towards the smoking wreckage, that was once a warehouse, there was an explosion of orange and red and a figure was sent flying across the depot. He watched as Lucina tumbled across the gravel. Eric quickly began to move towards her when Blade spoke again.

“You’re wrong about me not advancing since our last encounter”. Eric turned to see Blade on his feet and his wound had somehow closed, a pink line and patch raw skin were the only sign it was ever there. He once again held his machete however, something was different. The inscriptions of the weapon’s blade glowed an ominous deep red. Like blood flowed in the crevice’s. Suddenly a strange substance began to exit the blood on Blade’s torso and flow into the machete. It was like a translucent mist stained red that twisted and flowed like a fluid through the air. At first glance even Eric was left baffled however, in moments an all too familiar sense filled his head. ‘Mana. Pure mana’. The mana was being drained from Blade’s blood and channelled into the machete.

“Vampiric magic” Eric said.

“Nothing gets past you. I Picked it up during my time in Uralis. Useful spell but unfortunately it does have a … call it a condition that has to be met.” Blade explained. Suddenly he plunged the machete into the closest body near him, impaling a man in the back. The man let out a grunt of pain as his body attempted to resist however, after moments his body began to go limp as the same red mist from before flowed from the wound into Blade’s machete. Eric darted forward however, before he could even get close Blade slashed two other people laying on the floor their blood staining the stones around them, their mana also beginning to get drained.

“To be honest. I got this spell as way to try and kill you” Blade informed him. Eric swung his sword over his head and Blade quickly raised his machete locking their weapons together. “I have no idea how it’ll react with your regeneration but there’s only one way to find out” Blade suddenly went silent and then an unsettling grin fell on his face, “This spell also has a second functions”. In that moment Eric realised the machete’s inscriptions were now glowing extremely bright and there was no more mana being channelled into the blade, instead it was flowing around the machete like an aura. Without wasting a second, Blade concentrated his mana into the weapon and all the red mist entered the blade however, instead of a bright red-white glow coating the weapon a deep crimson now embraced the machete’s blade doubling its size and making it appear to be a sword of blood.

Instantly Blade swung his weapon through the air and an arc of light as tall as Blade cut through the air. Eric’s coat rippled at the force of the projectile as he twisted his body out of its path. He could hear the arc bisect a warehouse behind him, but Eric’s eyes never left Blade. He readied himself as Blade sent four more blood arcs soaring towards him, not bothering to try and dodge Eric tightened his grip on his sword and struck out against projectiles. Each one felt as if he was exchanging blows with Blade himself however, they where all still ripped apart by his black sword. Seemingly unconcerned Blade approached Eric producing more blood arcs as he walked forward. Eric tore apart the new arcs and quickly dashed towards Blade covering the distance in an instant, both hands on his sword he swung it straight at Blade’s torso. But Blade just raised his machete. It connected with Eric’s sword completely bringing his attack to a halt. The black sword trembled as it attempted to push against the machete, but it was no use it felt as if he was pushing against a brick wall. Blade casually flicked his wrist and the black sword bounced away, not giving Eric a second to register what was happening he swung the machete down attempted to bisect Eric from the shoulder. Eric rapidly channelled mana into his technique and sparks emitted from his boot into the ground below. He quickly manipulated the grounds structure and suddenly the ground between them ruptured and a pillar of stone shot out, hitting Blade in the chest. Blade flew back but quickly rotated his body landing straight back on his feet like a cat.

Blade went to charge towards Eric however something quickly drew their attention. Across the depot an enormous crimson explosion rose into the sky dwarfing all the warehouses nearby. Their fight completely came to a stop as they watched the smoke clear revealing a large black bird whose feathers reflected the night sky shielding a girl whose brown hair had been stained with ash. Lucina quickly rose from under the bird and the two of them dashed towards their opponents and quickly overpowered them. Eric grinned and turned back to Blade whose face was stained with an irritated scowl.

“Useless” he muttered however his scowl suddenly lightened “About time they arrived”. Eric’s grin quickly dissolved as he watched two cloaked figures charge into Lucina and disappear into the shadows of the depot.

‘Shit’. even with Lucina’s stubbornness four opponents might be able to overwhelm her he needed to finish this fast.

“I guess it’s time I get serious too” Eric stated. Blade darted towards Eric using a plethora of blood arcs as protection. Eric activated in technique again and pillars of stone launched from the ground and twisted through the air towards Blade. Pillars and projectiles intercepted, and the arcs burrowed through stone dissipating before ever reaching Eric. Like a feral beast Blade sprinted across the depot swiftly manoeuvring through pillar remnants and obliterating any flying towards him with a swing with his machete until he finally closed in on Eric. However, Eric calmly just released more mana from his body and the ground beneath Blade trembled and then changed shape. Dozens of steel spears darted up from the ground and trapped Blade’s body bringing him to a complete halt. Confusion shot over Blade’s face however, it quickly changed to anger as his augmented body ripped free from the spears and pounced on Eric his machete slicing through the air. However, Eric was prepared mana surged through his sword and the two weapons met. The force of the clash sent tremors through the air before sending the two of them stumbling back. Instantly they went at it again and then again and again, they dashed around the depot every encounter shaking the air and sending tremors through the ground. However, as their battle continued Eric noticed Blade’s glowing machete almost quivering like the spell was becoming unstable. Eric increased the mana infusing his sword and after they clashed again he was sure. Blade’s machete’s aura began to shrink and break apart and soon the blade was back to its original size. The spell was running out of mana. It was clear Blade was aware of this fact too as he quickly began retreating from the fight and sprinted to where Eric had shot his employees. Instantly Eric trailed after him each step he took shooting pillars after Blade. Blade quickly spun around and lashed out tearing all the pillars apart however that attack used the last of his spell’s fuel. The machete once again became dull revealing a grey metal with inscribing’s that glowed dimly. Eric sprinted towards Blade however, the man suddenly stopped his advance and faced Eric. He thrusted his machete at Eric’s chest however, Eric was quickly able to grab hold of it before it made contact.

Blade growled as he put all his weight behind the machete. Erics arm trembled under the pressure and the machete began to poke into his skin, but he remained calm.

“It’s over” Eric stated bluntly. Once again he channelled mana into his technique and blue sparks bounced across the machete’s blade. Suddenly the grey metal shattered like glass, before Blade could register what had happened Eric’s hand gripped around his head, and he activated his technique one last time. Strong tendrils of blue-white lightning tore from in-between Blades face and Eric’s hand and in an instant Blade’s body wilted. Eric released his grip and Blade’s body crumpled to the gravel.

Eric let out a long-relaxed breath into the sky when an abrupt sudden spike in mana caused Eric to spin around behind him. It was coming from where Lucina had been taken and the two people she’d beaten where also nowhere to be seen.

“Shit” he muttered.