“I've taken every chance I've had since then to take jobs where I could kill your kind! You'll just be the latest one!"

Taki gritted her teeth and with a monumental effort pushed him back, both fighters lowering their arms in fatigue from the continuous strain they had just endured. Through her compound eyes she noticed the rookie reloading his crossbow. She couldn't afford to be still and open Like this for Long.

“You wasted her sacrifice," she stated coldly, the feeling coming back into her arms.

“It was a pointless sacrifice!" Theron said no more, racing at her to attack with even greater ferocity but no less skill.

It was all Taki could do to keep up. She needed an opening, there was no way he could attack so wildly without leaving himself vulnerable at some point. Sure enough she caught a split-second chance, a weakness in his grip on one of his swords as she narrowly parried another series of slashes. She twisted the blade out of his hand mid-parry, sending it spinning away to hit the ground harmlessly.

For a moment she thought this had given her an advantage, only for

Theron to respond with a vertical kick, a blade extending from his shoe and cutting her chin as she flipped backwards to avoid it. It was not a deep cut, but it was even clearer now that she couldn't afford the slightest mistake with this man. With a twist of his foot his other shoe proceeded to extend the same sort of blade.

"So he can cut with his feet as well? Knocking one of his swords away just caused him to change his style.’

Now in control of the fights’ pace again, Theron pushed Taki back with a series of rapid kicks from both feet and swings from his remaining sword. She blocked some of them, but was grazed by others. She could tell the wounds were not serious on their own, but if this kept up then she would weaken from blood Loss... and perhaps that was his plan.

Further, she could see the rookie was waiting for an opening.

Taking the first chance she could, she leaped with all her strength over another roundhouse kick, extending her wings and beating them fiercely. This propelled her higher, and also kicked up a storm of leaves below, blinding and confusing Theron.

Taki reached the apex of her ascent and fully extended one scythe as gravity took over, her wings extended to steer her correctly and beating to increase her momentum. She rocketed back down, Theron raising his blade over his head to block it just as the storm of Leaves cleared.

Theron's mind flashed back to years before. Lacerta had also leaped down at him from on high at the climax of their battle. He had blocked and deflected her then with all his strength. This was different though, this was the race that had originated the move Lacerta had used then. Even so, he refused to avoid it.

"I'm not weak."

His blade snapped.

“Am 1?"

The extra momentum from Taki's wings made all the difference. Such was the force of her slash from that height that she cut through both his blade and the man himself, each half falling in a bloody mess.

Not exactly the sentimental sort, Taki didn't spare another thought to her fallen foe. Alerted by her compound eyes, she in a flash turned and sliced through the rookie's arrow just before it reached her, then through his bow itself before he could try to load another, then finally brought a scythe to his throat.

The man raised his hands in surrender, his voice panicked at how quickly the situation had changed completely in Taki's favor.

“Wait! I can help you find him!"