3.10

David and Goliath

Momo-chan watched the two fighters, opposite each other in everyway.

Willow’s stance was solid and firmly planted to the ground, tensed up with concentration, the girl barely moved a muscle. Malcolm meanwhile traced around, there was a slight bounce in his steps even.

The girl knew this was something beyond idiotic. To get herself riled up to this extent. But she couldn’t do anything but watch on but see her father literally withering away, trying to keep Eden afloat. And now, for his name to be insulted, Willow wouldn’t stand for it. Malcolm hadn’t been here long enough to truly perceive this world. He was still blinded. And one of her mission was to open the eyes of the unbeliever.

A drop of sweat fell down on the girl forehead, forcing her to blink. The moment she opened her eyes again, Malcolm was already in front with his knife aimed squarely at her stomach.

Willow dodged away just in time but the youth swung again. His nimble weapon would definitely find its target before she could take a swing. And so the girl kicked back, breaking up the engagement.

Now it was back to neutral, but not for long. Malcolm already on the offense once again.

The girl tried to swing at him, utilising her vastly superior reach. To her dismay, the blade was then blocked and slided along the youth cane effortlessly. With her weapon locked Willow had to disengage again before being assaulted again.

No matter what she did, Malcolm could parry her blows easily with his cane. The youth was not afraid at all to close distance so rapidly. His knife constantly swinging in and out of her vision, it was impossible to keep track of.

Before Willow could even calm down, Malcolm violently stepped on her foot, unbalancing the girl as he drove his knife straight to her stomach.

‘Is that it… is this all that I could do…’

To her surprise, Malcolm stopped and gave her a kick instead. He retreated back and grinned like a mad man. Oh right, this wasn’t a battle to the death or anything. The youth had proved his superiority.

Willow understood now. She was a failure, always had been. Born with recessive traits, the girl was nothing but a wallflower. But she wanted to help spread the gospel, the words of the Divine. But now, here she was, rendered powerless so easily by a street thug. She was not couldn’t make Malcolm see the light, to cure his blindness.

“Huh, I can see your eyes right there, but you might as well be blind, princess” The youth spoke up suddenly.

“What… do you even mean”

“Look at you, such a struggle for what, why do you even bother to dodge my blow?”

“Eh?”

“Why don’t you take a good look at yourself first, princess?”

What was he even talking about. Willow looked down but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She was just in her normal attire, that’s all. Her confusion didn’t escape Malcolm’s inquisitive gaze.

“I could see now, why you suddenly clings on your Herald so quickly”

“What…”

“Oh the poor princess, can only see what others tell her to see, can only think what others tell her to think! Look at yourself again, princess, it isn’t hard to see”

“I… Stop with all the vagueness, you have won already!”

“Huh, I just want to say that’s quite a thick jacket you have there”

“… What does that have to do with anything”

“It’s probably tough enough to handle this meagre knife”

Willow was stunted by the realisation. Her departure wasn’t acceptable but as daughter of the Divine, the girl was given the best equipment available.

The jacket was custom made to fit her perfectly, to be as elegant as possible as per mother request. Her brother boasted about how the leather was soft on the surface but tough and nearly uncuttable. How there were additional layers of metal woven inside the jacket to make it even more durable, enough to… withstand the sharpest sword, much less a puny dagger.

“It seems you finally realise, took you long enough, princess” Malcolm calmly put the knife away “It was fun seeing you dancing around to avoid that. But stop dawdling around, I don’t have all day”

“Eh…”

The youth dashed toward and swings his cane which Willow blocked with her blade. Smirking, Malcolm pulled back the cane, hooking the blade back. Before the girl could regain control of her weapon, The cane shot back up landing straight at her chin.

Willow was sent back staggering but still on her feet.

“Huh, no cracking. Your skull sure is tough”

Too tough actually, Malcolm thought to himself. That blow was heavy enough to shatter bones but that chin held. Heck, there was not even a sign of damage on her smooth skin.

The youth grinned and continues his onslaught.

“Maybe that’s why you are so thick. I wonder if that is hereditary”

Willow tried to back up but find the cane reaching behind, pulling her straight forward. There, Malcolm landed a devastating punch straight onto her cheek. The girl fell back but manages to retain her footing.

“T… That punch, your gloves…”

Outside, Momo-chan couldn’t see clearly what is going on. Still, he could clearly make out that Willow was in a daze, that blow sent a shock through her brain. But what about Malcolm’s gloves?

The youth wasn’t hiding what he has.

“Yes, hidden in these babies are metal rings around my fingers, a hidden pair of brass knuckles you could say”

“What!”

The voice was enraged but mostly worried. Willow took a full hit of that and Malcolm didn’t seem to hold back at all. Momo-chan ran at the girl only to be told down.

{Don’t, just stay here and watch her}

[But, but… that was too much!]

{No, it’s not, just look}

Momo-chan looked at Willow who had her head low. The girl looked up, her eyes filled with determination. She gripped her sword and got into her stance.

“So you are still in the game”

Said Malcolm mockingly, but his eyes were fixated on the girl’s cheek, where the punch landed. It didn’t even leave mark, her skin had only gotten slightly reddish, blushing would even be more obvious than that. It was not like Malcolm held back either, he had broken so many heads with that punch and yet…

This time, it was Willow on the offense. Then girl charged at her target with full force, completed with a powerful swing.

The youth met that with his cane, but he could feel the blow was too much to block. And so, Malcolm let the blade slide along the wooden stick then tried to hook it again. Willow retaliated with a stab instead. The youth narrowly dodged it then retreats to avoid a follow up slash.

Momo-chan watched on, not knowing how to feel about this. Willow had been insulted enough. But still, it was not like Malcolm is also wearing any sort of special clothing or anything, his shirt wass just like any other shirt. The stab was aimed straight without any hesitation.

The voice finally remembered what his host never forgot, Willow had always been a zealot.

Even before gaining this renewed determination, the girl was ready to face Malcolm with her blade which was sharpened to a tee. She wouldn’t hesitate to cut down any who challenged her Divines.

The voice wondered if she would be willing to do the same for the Herald and he felt like the answer was yes. That girl would kill for him, no, she would kill for what she perceived as the Herald, not him nor his host. Momo-chan couldn’t help but feel rather repulsed by that idea. But he still wanted to cheer her on.

Meanwhile, Willow’s advance was stopped by a powerful blow from Malcolm’s cane straight to her skull. That item’s head was filled with heavy material to be a blunt weapon, so the attack was devastating. Blood started to run down her sweaty forehead.

Even then, she kept on going. She was faster, stronger and tougher than her opponent. And yet, none of her attack could connect. The girl always found herself blindsided by another punch or a hit from that ghastly cane. To made matter worse, Malcolm only went for the head but she still couldn’t block his hits.

Willow staggered back, she was reaching her limit. The girl could barely see anymore, her left eye was completely dark. At least the cane didn’t reach her face once but the punches were still heavy. There didn’t seem to be any cut yet but her face was all bruised.

Mother would be furious to see the state she was in now… a chill ran down Willow’s spine.

Still, she wouldn’t go down, she would make him pay for those words. But her sword couldn’t seem to touch him before, much less in her current condition.

Willow looked at her blade. It was something she wanted for her fifth birthday. Despite mother objection, father ordered it anyway. Of course, the thing was too big and unwieldy, but the girl kept it hang in her bedroom and looked forward to the day she could use it.

Oh how she trained days and nights. It was her dream to be a mighty swordsman like father and her brothers.

Oh how overjoyed Willow was when father said she had graduated from her wooden training sword. The girl could pick up her blade and face the Divine themselves. But it was all still training, Willow hoped that one day she could use it for an actual fight.

When the opportunity came knocking, the girl overcharged her mana and crippled herself.

Now, when she truly had a chance to wield it, the blade failed her. No, it was something she had to see, it was Willow who failed it. But the girl still had a fight to win, an opponent to defeat. If this wouldn’t work then she needed to seek something else!

Digging her feet onto the ground, Willow channelled the mana throughout her body.

The girl charged at Malcolm with a lighting fast swing. It caught the youth by surprise, but he could still dodge back in time, then he realised his mistake. Before his feet could recover from the move, Willow sped up tremendously straight at him. She didn’t have enough time for another swing but that wouldn’t be necessary.

There was no dodging it, Malcolm told himself. But of course he wasn’t done yet, a grin appeared on the youth’s face. In neutral, he always held the cane with two hand for a reason.

In the split seconds before impact, Malcolm turned the handle and from it, drew out a gleaming blade of his own aimed straight at Willow’s face. The girl didn’t stop of course, she was too committed. But her blurry eye could still see the steel.

And so did Momo-chan.

“NOOO!”

The voice yelled out the blade dug into the girl cheek. At that very moment, Willow screamed out and bashed Malcolm with her shoulder. The impact was simply explosive as a loud cracking sound could be heard.

The youth was sent flying through the air and his back slammed straight into the ground. Malcolm spitted all the blood running up his throat before he could choke on them.

His ribs were all fractured, the youth could barely breath.

Momo-chan ran to his side to see if he is alright. Malcolm grabbed the voice’s collar with his bloodied hand.

“Props me up, will ya lad”

“…Ok”

Wrapping his arm around Momo-chan shoulder, the youth sat up to face the victor. Willow was still standing where she was, looking down onto him. There was a ghastly cut on her left cheek, running near the corner of the girl’s mouth straight to her ear.

For an accidental cut, that was still a darn good Glasgow smile. A half job perhaps but better than most that Malcolm had seen.

The youth mustered his strength to clap slowly. It was painful to talk but he does so anyway.

“Congratulation, princess. You win”

“I can’t even tell if you are serious or not but at this point, I couldn’t care less”

“So you do have some spunk in there, princess. Don’t worry, I really mean it”

“… Thanks”

“Still so polite” Malcolm spitted out some blood “But do you feel better now, princess?”

“Just be quiet, even from here I could see it is painful for you to talk…”

Willow turned away, the victory rang hollow. She fought with the purpose to defend the Divine’s honour but was it ever needed. Besides, Malcolm undoubtedly went easy on her at first with that knife.

The youth was serious at the end and Willow still emerged victorious. But she could barely managed and it was clear Malcolm was not trained. He was just a street thug.

“I will go and get some help, just lie there, don’t do anything”

The girl said and walked away. Momo-chan wanted to run after her but he was still holding up Malcolm here. Besides, it seemed like she wanted some time to think anyway.

The youth tried to sit up again, a painful process. Not wanting to see him straining himself so hard, Momo-chan pushed him back down. The voice then noticed something, there was something soft underneath Malcolm’s jacket. ‘Wait, isn’t this…’

“You… are a girl!” The voice exclaimed.

Malcolm looked at Momo-chan, sighed “Yes, I guess” Such a nonchalant answer, it was as if the youth didn’t care “If you tell anyone about that, I would have to kill you” Even the threat was as light as a feather. The voice didn’t know why Malcolm would hide something like that, but he would keep it a secret.

“Now that didn’t turn out as I have expected” Said Malcolm about the fight.

Momo-chan remained but his mouth still moved, he was no longer in control. The rightful owner had returned if only for a short while.

“Did you think you would win?”

“Not to be conceited but yes. Hm, maybe she is more capable than I what gave her credit for”

“No, it was thanks to you. Thanks for granting my request”

“And here I am, you own me one”

“I sure do”

With that, Momo-chan found himself back in control. The voice could feel nothing but mixed about all of this. All he could do now is to see what would come out of the whole ordeal.