The two sides continued to stare each other down. The sound of rain falling, and the occasional thunder heard in the distance filled the area.

Within a moment’s notice, Dana quickly dashed forward ready to strike first blood.

“Prepare yourselves!” she shouted, signaling the start of the battle.

The two sides clashed. Immediately, the groups were split into three battles. Dana took on a dual-wielding bandit. Leon fought against a man with a hooded mask covering his mouth. And Ingrid took on Desmund and the remaining two bandits.

Clash!

Dana lunged forward, her piercing rapier aiming for the bandit’s heart. However, he crossed his two blades and blocked her attack, her tip hitting the cross-section of the two swords.

“Hehehe, to think I’d be fighting the Dana D’Arc. Rumors say you’re a capable woman able to stand evenly amongst the best of men!” smirked the bandit as he cross-slashed the lady knight.

Dana dodged to the side and quickly let out a barrage of attacks.

“I’d rather my name not spoken from a mouth so foul.”

Although the bandit managed to parry most of her attacks, cuts started to appear across his body from the ones that broke through his defence.

As Dana was about to start another onslaught of strikes, the bandit smiled and accurately threw one of his swords towards her with the other following shortly after.

Dana scoffed at such a desperate attempt to harm her, thinking this was the bandit’s last plan of attack. She quickly deflected both swords thrown at her with elegance and grace.

Whiff!

“Hah?!”

However, with her attention focused on the swords, she didn’t notice the bandit reaching into his pocket and taking out a vial. The thrown swords serving as a distraction, the bandit quickly splashed the contents of the vial onto Dana’s eyes.

“Hehe, worry not, lass. The stuff on ya is only going to blind ya for a short bit of time,” scoffed the bandit, “but it’s enough to get past ya!”

With Dana blinded, the bandit slipped past her and made his way towards the cathedral. Once he took the princess, he’ll be able to kill her and take the reward for himself. His thoughts were filled with the greed of promised coin and the satisfaction of duping the princess’ knight.

Thrust!

Yet, such thoughts became his final ones when he looked downwards. He found a rapier sticking out of his chest and quickly felt the pain that came with it. He coughed up blood, looking for an explanation from the very knight he thought he tricked.

“H-How?”

“You underestimate me,” said Dana, her eyes still blinded by the substance, “I’ve protected the princess for so long from scoundrels and cutthroats. Are you daft? You’ve thought I’ve never experienced a bandit’s style of fighting dirty?”

While Dana was blinded, she stood still and calmed herself. She drowned out the noise of the rain falling. She listened attentively to the bandit’s movement and found his location from the sound of splashing water created by his steps. Once certain of where he was heading, she confidently plunged her rapier directly through his back and out his chest. Within a moment, she pulled out her weapon and thrust forward multiple times, creating many holes on the bandit, piercing his heart in the process before stepping back.

“What rotten luck,” coughed the bandit one last time, falling forward to his death.

With her opponent defeated, Dana took the time to try to restore her vision.

---

As Leon was fighting the masked man, he took notice of the man’s sword. It was long, and the blade seemed to cut off into uniform sections with ridges.

Clash!

The two charged at each other with great speed. Their blades met, stopping the other in its path. Then the masked man kicked toward Leon, wanting to create some distance. Leon detected his intention and adjusted his sword to take the masked man’s kick but was still pushed back by it.

Clang!

Leon was about to charge once more when he noticed something heading flying him. He used his sword to block it, but it resulted in the object grazing he cheek, drawing blood. When he glanced closely at the object, he noticed that it was a section of the masked man’s sword, the rest following with it.

“Surprised?” asked the masked man, “I’m also proficient with a whip, you see.”

The masked man jerked the whip sword back, ready to lash it out again.

“I’ve recognized who you are,” he explained, “I hope on your family name you’d give me an entertaining battle.”

Leon became agitated when he heard what the masked man said.

His family name…

Memories of a dead friend began to flood his mind.

‘Hah, Leon! Just what I’d expect from my friend.’

‘I meant no harm, Leon. Did I hurt you?’

‘Do you think, just maybe, she’s looking at the same sunset, Leon?’

‘Damn it all! Once he falls, my blade swings at you, Leon!’

Leon bit his lip until it bled. He pushed the memories to the back of his mind and focused on the battle in front of him.

‘Hm?’ thought the masked man, ‘He faltered shortly but regained his concentration. Interesting.’

The battle between the two continued.

The masked man kept his distance from Leon, whipping him in the process. Leon stayed on the defensive and kept blocking the man’s attacks, finding it hard to find an opening. Whenever Leon drew closer, the masked man would retract his whip sword back to its original state and cross blades with him. Then he’d send it out in the whip form again, forcing Leon to move back and defend himself.

Clang!

In a moment, Leon deflected the whip sword to his rear and took the chance to close the gap between the two. As he came closer, the masked man drew back his whip sword, aiming for Leon’s back. Leon predicted this, however, and adjusted his body to dodge the attack. The masked man in front of him, Leon fiercely slashed his sword, confident in his strike. However, before Leon’s attack could reach him, the masked man bent backward, his torso almost parallel with the ground, narrowly evading Leon’s attack.

“Come, boy. You’ll have to try harder than that,” taunted the masked man.

Sweat began to fall from Leon’s forehead. His opponent was tougher than he thought he’d be.

Shortly after, the masked man’s speed increased, and Leon found it difficult to even defend against his attacks, being pushed back each passing second. Soon, cuts and wounds appeared plentiful on Leon’s body.

Leon stayed back and took a moment to compose himself. His breathing became steady and he reminded himself.

‘Keep your heart hot and your mind cold.’

A dark aura began to cover over Leon.