The Sword and The Shadow

Protection

Annelotte had noticed Kurdak putting his hand closer to Lava Blade's handle as he spoke. The moment he drew it, her eyes flashed and she instantly cast stoneskin on himself and Leguna.

She ducked to the side and the blade shaved off a few strands of her hair without being able to cut off her neck.

Leguna wasn't so lucky. He wasn't cautious against him at all. He had less than half a second when the blade was coursing towards him and could only manifest a thin layer of shadow impetus armor near that part. Just as he despaired as he was about to get killed by Kurdak for whatever reason, Annelotte's stoneskin spell took effect.

The impetus armor was easily shattered and the blade didn't stop. Leguna only felt his neck suffer a huge blow and like a kite whose string had snapped, he flew to the surface of the lake. Thankfully, it was winter and a thick layer of ice had formed above, so he didn't get submerged in its freezing waters.

Even if there wasn't a layer of ice, Leguna could use Shadow Blink to get back on land under normal circumstances. However, he was far too shocked and his mind blanked out. He couldn't even believe Kurdak was attacking him, let alone fight back.

He tumbled and slid across the icy surface of the lake, his face wiping up all the snow in the process. He then sat up on the ice. He was looking at Kurdak with a confused gaze. The man had already charged at him with his weapon waved high.

Leguna had no reaction. He watched as Kurdak's body enlarged in his vision like a dead man, but didn't even move the slightest bit.

Kurdak, are you really going to kill him?! Annelotte thought with disbelief. The man had proved his intentions with his actions devoid of any explanation. He only acted with the intent to kill without the slightest trace of hesitation.

"Careful!" Annelotte panicked when she saw Leguna freeze like he was dead inside. He hesitated for a moment before choosing a weaker powered magic missile to interrupt Kurdak's movements.

"Hagh!" Kurdak utilized his impetus to blast the magic missile away without stopping his charge.

"Curses!" Annelotte swore, which was a rarity. She used a blink spell to zip right to Leguna's front.

Kurdak was now no more than three meters away and didn't hesitate when he saw Annelotte appear. He raised his blade up high and prepared to cut her in half along with Leguna.

However, he had overestimated his abilities. Who did he think he was facing? She was none other than the current generation's strongest, the glacial empress that defeated even Saron!

Within a short second, she dictated an energy barrier spell to block Kurdak's slash. The follow-up wave blasted the man backwards.

"What are you planning to do?!" Annelotte cried, "Don't you recognize us?"

Kurdak spat some foam out and snickered.

"Of course I do. The new superstar in the field of magic in Hocke, Glacial Empress Annelotte, and the head of the bureau and one of the light-shadow duo, Leguna Dark Requiem," Kurdak said with a fervent look in his eye, "How could I not recognize you? You are… the treasures that will bring me wealth!"

Annelotte felt that the whole day had been quite off. Was Kurdak being impersonated by someone? Impossible! The red-colored impetus was fire-aspect impetus, and he had Lava Blade. Even his manner of speaking was identical with Kurdak. She didn't think anyone could pull off a perfect disguise like that!

"Ahahahahaha!" He roared excitedly and charged anew.

"Hey! Quick, get up!" Annelotte cried in a hurry, but that fellow seemed like his soul had left his body. He watched everything unfold without even blinking.

Given Kurdak's speed, he couldn't hurt Annelotte even if he could move twice as quick. But now, she couldn't avoid as she had to defend Leguna. If she did, he would get cut in half.

If she didn't move, however, she would have to rely on high-tier spells. She would still be able to defeat Kurdak with cruel methods, but she wasn't willing to do so, as he was Leguna's boss and her friend. No matter what reason he was attacking them for, she felt that she couldn't kill him off until they found out what was going on.

So, the only thing to do now was to defend until Leguna managed to react.

Kurdak used Swiftshadow Slash, a skill known for its startling destructive power. Annelotte tried to shoot icicles at him to stop him, but the high temperature his fire-aspect impetus provided rendered her spells ineffective.

Clang!

His blade crashed against her energy barrier and towards her shoulder.

A normal person would've been sliced in half from that, but Annelotte still had stoneskin.

While the great force of the slash did leave a light wound on her, it wasn't enough to do any real damage.

Annelotte was pushed to the ground by the force behind the slash. At that moment, she finished dictating a blink spell and took Leguna with him 40 meters away from Kurdak.

She looked at the wound on her left shoulder and used Glacial Domain to freeze that part. She didn't fear the harm caused by the low temperature, so sealing the wound by freezing it would eliminate the pain that would affect her dictation.

"Hmph!" Kurdak looked at Annelotte in the distance and motioned his shoulders before charging at them without another word.

"Wake up!" Annelotte cried again, but he didn't budge. Frustrated and panic, she still chose to stand in front of him to protect him like the time he did for her during their travels to Icepeak Mountain, according to what he told her.

……

[Wake up! For how long are you going to blank out?] Gahrona cried. As Leguna had only come to meet Kurdak, he didn't bring much gear with him. He even kept Ebony in his dimensional pocket. However, he took Lighteater along with him.

[Teacher?] He gradually regained awareness. The reason he was in that state to begin with was a combination of the sheer shock of Kurdak attacking him and the shock from the blow to his neck that shook his brain.

[Ignore me! Pay attention to what's happening!] she cried frustratedly. Her disciple was good in most fronts, save for his weak mind and recklessness, much to her disappointment.

Leguna refocused his attention on the scene.

Annelotte stood before him and he could see how haggard she looked from the back. Her cotton robes were quite torn up and there were a few wounds on her. Her breathing was getting rather ragged and she seemed really drained.

Who could've forced her to that point? Leguna thought, right before seeing Kurdak charge at her again.

Annelotte grit her teeth again and prepared to dictate another stoneskin spell, but she had been fighting passively for the past ten minutes and was running out of steam. If it went on, she would have no choice but to kill Kurdak.

Just as the man was about to land another hack on Annelotte, Leguna blinked in front of her.

He let his impetus blast outwards and blocked the strike with Lighteater. The two of their impetus ranks were equal, but Kurdak unquestionably held the advantage in strength.

Due to Leguna's sudden appearance disrupting his pacing, Kurdak was driven back harshly. Leguna was also blasted several steps back from taking the blow head-on.

Seeing that Leguna snapped out of it, Annelotte felt relieved. She had wanted to remind him of something, but Leguna merely pushed her gently back. She could tell that he didn't look to be in the right mood, so she relented and stepped backwards.

"Why?" Leguna asked in a low voice. By the time he looked back up, Kurdak found that his irises had turned into a soul-sucking black.