None of the cuts were deep enough to cause any real damage, but they weren’t supposed to be. These cuts were meant to sting, not kill. In a knife fight, there was no need to finish off the opponent with one blow. The key was to cut them little by little, continuously irritating them, leading them to make more sluggish moves and leave themselves with more openings. That was Kade’s main style. He would repeat this process until they would make a big enough blunder, and only then would he go for the kill. Ultimately, the fundamentals just boiled down to a game of endurance. The general’s eyes were already showing a hint of fear under all the rage, which meant that the crucial moment would come not too far from now.
To Kade, the moment was something like a dance, and he could hear nothing but the sound of their feet drumming on the hard floor and the clanks of their knives as his attacks became more and more fluid despite the hot, throbbing pain coming from his leg with each step and lunge. Both Kade and the general let out grunts of effort with each swing, but the general’s attacks were becoming more blunt by the stroke, while his were becoming faster.
But of course, a general was a general, and she wouldn’t go down that easily. As if realizing what Kade was trying to do, she leaped away, creating more distance between the two. Kade tried to chase her, but his leg screamed with pain at the attempt of the explosive motion. In the long distance, Kade was powerless without a gun, but the general didn’t shoot. She didn’t even take out her gun. Instead, she took a long, deep breath. Her clothes were full of cuts and smears of blood, and her body was surely becoming weak from the blood loss. But it seemed as if she was calming her mind. After a second, the composed look in her eyes was back, and she ran toward Kade again.
Kade could tell from one clash that her movements had become sharper, perhaps even more so than when they first started.
She was taking advantage of his injured leg and attacking his weak points, keeping him on the defensive as he struggled to maintain his footing. She struck, and Kade just barely had enough time to block. The short blades crossed, scratching against each other with an unpleasant screech. Kade wanted to launch a blow to her sternum, but the general had anticipated it. She grabbed his wrist and aimed her knife at his neck, giving Kade only a half-second to pivot his good leg and break his arm free of her grip. But he couldn’t avoid the knife completely, and it left a thin gash across his chin.
Forcing himself not to be bothered by the stinging pain, he prepared himself as the general went in to close the distance again.
Kade took a deep breath - or at least as deep of a breath he could take in this situation - and focused. His vision had started becoming blurry from the blood loss, but he widened his eyes and willed himself to stay alert.
He couldn’t remember the last time someone had pushed him to the point where he had to hyper-focus on the fight, but he would surely die if he didn’t do it now.
Their blades crashed against each other once more, but this time, Kade was faster. He let out a series of jabs, stabs, and slashes, all in one dance-like motion, and their short blades were pressed together in a pause once more.
Kade sensed a slight change in the pressure of the general’s knife. Something was coming. Ignoring the mind-numbing pain coming from his leg, he spun away just in time to avoid a kick, and used his uninjured leg to return a punt of his own. His foot stabbed the general’s side, and Kade could hear a wet crunch coming from her ribs.
“Agh! Fuck!” she yelled.
It was obvious the blow had damaged her, but she didn’t falter. She knew that if she did, it was over for her. She swung her knife in another desperate attempt, only to gain another cut to the cheek. More blood oozed out, and she let out another heavy growl. Kade slashed again. Then again. Then again. The general had no choice but to stay on the defensive against Kade’s flurry of attacks. But Kade’s goal wasn’t just to beat her in a fight. He was waiting for…
“General! I’ll help!”
That. The exorcist who was holding Pia rushed over to help his poor general.
“No, you fool!” she yelled, her voice now nothing but a weak croak.
Keeping his focus on the general, Kade took her pistol and pulled the trigger toward the other exorcist. For a second, the only sound in the room was that of a wet skull hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Realizing she had lost her hostage, the general quickly ran toward Pia, picking her up from the ground and pressing her knife against her throat threateningly. Kade simply just watched as it happened. Now, all the conditions of the plan were met. The general was standing in the right position, right where Nest could see her through the window. Now all that was left was for him to shoot him. Smiling to himself, Kade waited.
…
He waited, but nothing happened.
Kade felt the blood drain from his face as his heart dropped to his stomach.
Damn it, Nest, what happened?
Kade immediately grew flustered, realizing the bullet wasn’t coming. Gears turned in his head as he desperately tried to figure out what to do next. They didn’t have a plan B.
The general coughed a wad of blood on the floor, and an unpleasant smile formed on her bright red lips as she said, “You're waiting for your sniper, aren’t you? You were supposed to get me to step here, and he was supposed to shoot me, huh?”
Kade’s breath stopped and blood roared in his ears.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded.
“Oh, so you can speak,” huffed the general, struggling to breathe in between her words. “What, you didn’t think I’d come prepared? Of course I would send exorcists to take care of your friend if he was in an obvious spot like that. Why do you think I only brought one soldier? And don’t think you won this fight. I have reinforcements on the way as we speak.”
Damn it, I was right. Nest must have gotten ambushed again!
Pia was still knocked unconscious, and the general was pressing her knife against her neck with no sign of backing away. Kade didn’t know how much time he had before the reinforcements showed up, and his only support had been ambushed by the enemy. The general was much more damaged than he was, but that didn’t matter anymore.
His plan had failed.
She slowly approached him, still holding her knife against Pia, drawing a thin stream of blood from her pale neck. This time, it wasn’t a bluff. She was really willing to kill her if Kade did as much as lift his gun in her direction.
“Give me my gun,” she commanded.
He didn’t have a choice with Pia’s life on the line. Kade tried to stall as much as possible as he scanned his surroundings again, desperately trying to come up with a new plan. The space had become darker as the flickering light above them grew weaker, but there was a weird light that shined on the ground behind the general. It was a strange, erratic light that, judging from its angle, had to have been coming from the window. The light kept blinking on and off, and Kade’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he was looking at.
It was military style Morse code. He focused on the intervals and made out the three words that it spelled.
One. More. Time.
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