Avgi and Esca’s blades hammered into each other, yet the swings they made were tight, made with less than their full force. Avgi’s hand-and-a-half sword was only slightly shorter, and was only slightly faster as their edges slid right off of each other. Their feet moved back and forth. Esca made a swift swing diagonally-upwards, and Avgi went for a downwards chop at the same time. She was aiming for his side. He was aiming for her shoulder. Their swords got in the way of each other’s goal, clashing and blasting out sparks from the impact point, before sliding off of each other. The attack occurred in a fifth of a second, and they dedicated the next fifth of a second to keep up the offensive.

Her blade swiveled around to strike diagonally-downwards. His blade curved through the air to turn upwards and block in a flash, the blades clanking and gliding once more. The sparks fell on their lit skin, and rolled down their faces like sweat. He swung down again, and she swiftly turned her blade to block.

Every single clash they made was in no way safe. They were at just the right distance to be able to engage or disengage if necessary; maintaining at or within the reach of each other’s arm and sword length combined. Every quick step back and forth they took, they took as an attempt to take advantage of the briefest opening. However, as their swords clanged and slid from each other, only for them to quickly transition into another slash, over and over, there was little give or take on either side. It took all their focus to watch each other’s moves, how close they were moving, what direction their blade was coming from, where it would most likely go, and how they would respond and block.

Through steaming huffs of quick and controlled breaths, Avgi and Esca continued to dance away in a continuous barrage of swings, with movements being wasted less and less overtime. Five clashes per second became six, heavy weapons streaking across each other as if they were knives, bouncing away. and being pulled right back in with the centrifugal force of the two hand’s alternating leverage.

All the while, Avgi and Esca’s darting eyes occasionally locked onto each other, as it was also a necessary detail to watch where the enemy was looking. It would somewhat help in the split-second decision making of knowing where they would aim next. Yet, it didn’t really help if they were simply meeting gazes.

As they continued, back and forth, step by step, Avgi eventually took an opportunity on a clash to shift the direction he was aiming for. He lingered on their swords pushing against each other, as Esca responded by diverting the direction of her own blade to push down Avgi’s. Preemptively, he took a long stride back, expecting Esca would lunge in for a thrust, and pulling his sword back up in anticipation.

Her next move did not involve her blade whatsoever. The red-hot gleam of the steel waved through the air until it stopped behind Esca. who switched it to reverse-grip in her left hand, the fires extinguishing as it traveled. In the blink of an eye, Esca’s fiery mane and eyes turned a deep and watery sapphire, the skin of the right hand she threw forwards losing its orange glow.

Time slowed, as the next fifth of a second was filled by a huge jet of water erupting from Esca’s hand. It was an intimidating prospect to be hit by a stream of pressurized and near-boiling water, and one wider than they were tall, especially when Avgi’s body was filled with fire. In that same fifth of a second, Avgi followed suit in flipping his blade into reverse-grip, and whipping his own right hand outwards, as his own fires extinguished. 

His flowing red hair was replaced by jagged electric blue zig-zagging spikes, as his body surged. Similar to his counter to the Aquadragon, he looked to send a current into the jet to strike Esca down with a debilitating, maybe even heart-disrupting shock. Esca’s clear eyes saw through her jet, and in the next fifth of a second, her body froze over, hair going white as the water jet immediately ground to a halt. 

Avgi’s lightning blast struck the surface of a huge cone of opaque ice spikes inches from reaching himself, the electricity spreading across the ice harmlessly. In the fourth fifth, Avgi threw his blade into the ground behind him, the steel embedding in the dirt as his body shifted once more. This time, from his fists to his forearms, and from his feet to his knees, flesh was rapidly clad with mineral dust that formed massive gauntlets and boots of earthen might. His hair turned solid and craggy, as he threw down his left fist in a wild haymaker at the ice, sending cracks through the entire massive construct and leaving it shattered.

In the final fifth, he looked up to see that Esca had leapt over her ice. Her knees were bent, and her arms were geared back, as her own body was also shifted to stone. The greaves upon her legs were clad over by great stone pillars, as well as her forearms and fists. She chose her method of landing to be a dropkick, gearing her legs back and throwing them both out at the same time at Avgi. He raised his arms up, and when rock met stone, there was a great raw thwack.

The striking noise resonated across the lands, as Avgi was sent crashing down onto his back. Of course, Esca also fell, catching herself on her side, ultimately meeting the ground on her own terms. He clenched the muscles in his back, but hitting the dirt still felt humbling. However, Avgi quickly boosted off his elbows to get back to his feet, sliding one huge boot forwards to stay stable.

As Esca was also getting up, he was thankfully able to speak clearly, voicing a strange annoyance. “Do you even remember what counters Crag Magic!?”

Seeing it as an attempt to insult her, she didn't take the remark very seriously. “What, you think I don’t!?”

When she pushed back up to her feet, she tipped back, sliding a boot back to stabilize. “I wanted to challenge you in geodes!” She then lunged forwards, throwing out a right jab that could certainly mess up an unsuspecting face.

Avgi was able to bring up his left gauntlet to guard, whilst gearing back his right. He went for a strong right cross, but Esca also brought up her left fist to parry the blow. He stepped back again, keeping his fists up at eye-level. Despite being invested, he was still audibly annoyed. “But this exact thing happened last time! Mix it up a little!”

"Fine. You wanna diversify?" Esca threw out her arms at her sides, the rocks turning to dust and sloughing off of her body. Her jagged stalagmite hair turned to jagged wood, with drying, crinkled leaves sprouting from each strand. Despite the residual heat affecting her use of the form, she didn't seem to mind, rushing at her fated foe with abandon. Her right arm grew a thick branch that moved like a tentacle whip.

Avgi's rocks also fell off into dust, as his body took on a sickly green, and his hair became a sludgy toxic mess. He threw his arm from one side to the other, a horizontal wave of gallons of poisonous liquid flinging at the plantlike woman.

When Esca leapt, her boots flipped to point at the sky, her body spinning like a barrel as she lashed out her right arm, trying to smash down on her foe’s head with a flyby strike.

Avgi reached up, grabbing her hand with his own, and used his entire body to sling Esca down towards the ground. Her wooden whip wasn’t able to land with much force, hitting Avgi’s shoulder instead as he buckled. While her hand was being gripped, Esca took the opportunity to grip down as well, so as not to be thrown. As she descended, she threw her feet back down to land properly.

They stood without their blades, palm squeezed against palm and vying for dominance that was never reached, with their free hands subtly gearing back by their sides. Yet, they did not strike for what would be seconds, staring into each other and waiting for the other to move. They did not move.

Avgi’s intent stare slowly turned into an awkward squint. “Aren’t you gonna…”

He was met with a defiant scowl, as Esca’s grip tightened for a brief moment. “Why don’t you, first!?”

He briefly shook his head and glared back, clenching his fist with even more tension. “You’re just trying to goad me into doing what you’re expecting me to do!”

She cracked a smug grin, starting to play into the idea. “Isn’t it working!?”

The teeth of the hero clenched for a moment, snarling. “As if! You can’t make me play into your stupid trap! If I hafta, I’ll hold your hand… Until…”

After taking a moment to reflect on how poorly he worded that, the enemies shifted once more. Avgi returned to his natural form, with shining golden licks and irises. Esca also returned to her natural state, with a dark violet mane, and bright pupils shining through the dark rings around. Their fists opened up, with immense balls of light welling up from their free palms, before bursting into blindingly-bright lights that stayed intense for a wide, wide range, from the foot of the mountain to the middle of the great and dry plains. However, despite that flash of light, the both of them only squinted and protected their eyes with their locked arms, finally letting go of each other. However, the sheer power of their blasts caused the light to pass right through their completely-opaque, fleshy right arms, though diminished. When the light dissipated, they squinted at each other, harmless floaters scattering across their visions.

Taking a step back, Esca decided to speak up, while waiting for the multicolored annoyances in her retinae to calm down. “Wonder if that hit our allies, there.”

They simultaneously glanced over, to the reception, out of curiosity, seeing the three royals and four Duskfallen rapidly backing away from each other. They looked more like specks in the distance, yet their general movements were still visible. It was clear that they had stopped engaging, due to the eyes they were rubbing and covering.

Avgi started to lean in their direction, starting to get worried. “Crap! Did we go too far!?”

Meanwhile, Esca was less concerned, turning around and walking to her planted greatsword. “Oh, what does it matter? Grab your blade, and come at me again!”

He backed towards said blade, but the way his face nervously drifted between her and their allies was telling.

She quickly yanked the heavy metal from the ground, swinging it over her head while spinning, and ending with it angrily pointed at Avgi’s distant chest. “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE MY PEOPLE! And as for those Blazers, do you really think THEY'LL take lasting damage?”

Despite the words coming from his worst enemy, Avgi took them to heart. He considered them for a moment, and glanced back, watching bursts of fire coming from the Blazers, and watching the impostors dive away. They still seemed to be fighting while recovering their vision, mostly unimpeded.

He looked back at Esca, strangely reassured. Avgi's sword was also pulled, and he copied the way Esca raised the edge at him, their steels meeting at the ends. "... Yeah, you're right. Thanks.”

Then, she got a lot less angry. “Now come forth once more, Hero!”

His arms tensed up, as excitement began to rise within Avgi once more. “Don’t mind if I do!”