Brutal Journey Of An Unfortunate Female Heroine

"That was quite a kick but, there"s not enough weight behind it!" Grabbing Derick"s ankle Henry pulled Derick along with his momentum and threw him at the fountain. Taking his lance with him Derick made an unsteady landing.

"What, it that all of your power old man?" Jumping lightly Derick initiated the charge this time. Unleashing a rain of jabs Henry raised his sword to block them when another high kick flew towards his face. Henry dodged and tried to counter but Derick had already used the momentum from his first kick to swing around and unleash another high kick. Blocking with his sword Henry grunted under the weight.

"I thought you were supposed to be a lance master, why all the kicking?" Pushing off Derick"s foot Henry made some distance between them.

"Why not? Who says a lance master can"t learn to kick as well?" Derick twirled his lance in his hand.

"Ok, well how about you show me some of your skills "lance master"." Henry inhaled and exhaled, controlling his breathing after Derick"s a.s.sault.

"Watch out." Derick threw his lance towards Henry. It was abrupt and fast. Just as the lance was about to pierce Henry he pushed off from his weapon, letting go of it. Derick wasted no time as he went after the weapon less Henry. Throwing out a left punch Derick started to batter Henry with punches. Although he had only one arm the speed at which he used his left arm to punch made it look like he was using two arms. Calmly parrying each punch Henry stomped on the ground and used all his strength to punch Derick"s left side. Sensing the difference in his punch Derick stopped and leaped away. The whip like crack from Henry"s punch caused the stone path around him to crack like a crater. Derick raised his left arm to try to shield himself from the wind pressure. The wind becoming like blades, cutting into Derick"s skin. Cuts on his legs, arm, chest, and face appeared. Though the cuts weren"t deep they still stung like a needle p.r.i.c.k when he moved. Breathing out a breath of hot steam Henry dropped his arms.

"Well? Aren"t you going to fight me?" Raising his arm Henry beckoned Derick to come to him. Teeth gritted Derick charged in again. When he was about three meters from Henry Derick disappeared. Surprised Henry lowered his guard for a second until he saw that Derick had not disappeared but had just lowered himself. Gliding close to the ground Derick shot upward with a sharp kick. The heel of Derick"s foot landed on Henry"s chin, knocking his head upwards. Stunned Henry couldn"t do much except stumble back. Seeing as his strike worked Derick went in again for another kick. Bringing his foot back down on Henry"s shoulder Henry fell to his knees.

"Not so strong now huh?" Derick looked at Henry with a smug look in his eyes. There was no response except silence. Derick observed Henry for a while. Seemingly coming back to life Henry sighed.

"Again with the kicking! C"mon, don"t hold back or else I won"t be able to enjoy this." Henry got up and patted his knees, rolling his head side to side, cracking his knuckles. "Come, Dredalia." With a flick of his wrist he motioned for his sword to come to him. Rumbling the sword rose from the ground and flew towards Henry. Derick dodged the sword and saw as Henry clasped his hands around the handle. The sword changed shape, wiggling like a bag full of animals, then it settled on a form similar to its original form except the blade was cut in the middle, leaving an inch-wide gap in between the two blades. Swinging his weapon Henry looked satisfied.

"Well? Aren"t you going to get your lance? Without it I don"t think you"ll be able to last a few strikes." Keeping Henry in his sight Derick made his way to his lance, watching for sneak attacks. Henry shrugged and waited till Derick had his lance.

Picking up his lance a familiar warm energy flowed into Derick. Flames bursting from the tip of his lance.

"Come old man." Derick held his lance in his arm, his knees slightly bent, steadying the new energy in him. Henry shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if the crippled insists who am I to say no?" Henry flung his sword at Derick. Dodging the flying sword Derick prepared to get attacked but Henry had disappeared.

"Watch well kid." Henry had appeared from the shadow of his sword. Leaping out of the shadow Henry grabbed his sword"s hilt and brought his sword down towards Derick. Using the shaft of his lance Derick managed to block Henry"s sword but the pressure behind it caused Derick to be pushed back. "Come!" Dashing in again Henry attacked Derick. Derick kicked off from the ground and dodged Henry"s blade again. As Derick dodged to the side of Henry he thrusted his lance at Henry"s chest. Strength surged into Henry"s hand and he dragged his sword through the stone path to block Derick"s lance. Sparks flew as the blades clashed. At a standstill Derick"s lance shot ire out towards Henry. Turning his head away from the blast he got slightly burned on his cheek.

"If that"s all you have, it won"t be enough." Henry gripped the hilt with both of his hands and swung his blade upwards.

"Don"t worry, I"m just getting started!" Jumping over Henry Derick dodged the blade and jabbed at Henry from above. Dodging away Henry pivoted on his foot and moved to attack Derick as he landed. Seeing as how Henry was coming after him Derick made more flames shoot out from his lance. The flames spread out in a fan shape and went after Henry. Bringing his sword in front of him to block the flames Henry had his a.s.sault stopped. Cutting the flames in two Derick brought the blade of his lance down the center of Henry"s sword. The one-inch gap was wide enough for Derick"s blade to pa.s.s through. Turning his head away Henry managed to dodge the blade coming for his eyes. Pulling his sword and Derick"s lance to the left Henry headb.u.t.ted Derick. Unable to avoid the headb.u.t.t Derick tried to brace himself but the force behind the headb.u.t.t was greater than he expected it to be. Their heads collided and Derick found himself flying backwards, crashing into a nearby water fountain creating a cloud of dust. His lance was still trapped between Henry"s blade and the ground. Henry used his sword to pick up Derick"s lance an threw it towards the cloud of dust. From the dust Derick managed to catch his lance.

"Headb.u.t.ts? Really?" Derick waved the dust away and wiped the blood from his forehead.

"So, shouldn"t matter much if you kick a lot." Henry rubbed his chin.

"True." As Derick steadied himself Henry appeared in front of him, doing a low slash. Using the blade of his lance Derick parried and kicked Henry in the face. Using one arm to block the kick Henry was about to counter when Derick started a rain of fiery jabs with his lance. Stuck on the defensive Henry was pinned down. Another kick came from the right and Henry grabbed Derick"s leg, a smirk on his face.

"Won"t work twice!" Derick spun in midair and brought his other foot around to kick Henry"s head. His kick landing swiftly on Henry"s template Derick pushed off from Henry, freeing himself from Henry"s grip. Staggering from the kick Henry wavered before steadying himself on his sword.

"Nice trick you have there but, it won"t do you much good." Henry grabbed his sword and charged at Derick. Parrying the sword, the toll of having only one arm increased as Henry and Derick clashed. Losing the initiative Derick was on the defense, barely managing to block Henry"s powerful blows with his lance. His arm overworking its limit.

"You"re getting slower!" Henry"s power surged and the force behind his blows increased. Parrying another blow Derick was getting slower. His arm ached, sweat appeared on his forehead, the wound from his missing arm throbbed. Henry swung his blade at Derick again. This time he intended to cut Derick in half, but Derick dodged it instead of taking the blow. Striking nothing Henry"s blade continued to move in a circular motion. The sheer pressure from the blow caused the trees behind Derick to bend, leaves scattering in the wind.

"C"mon!" Henry charged at Derick again. Slumped over, Derick didn"t move. Just as Henry"s blade was about to rip through Derick he did a backwards bend and brought his spear over ahead of him. Too close to dodge Henry had his left arm severed by Derick"s lance. Gritting his teeth Henry changed the direction of his sword and stabbed it into the ground, twisting on the handle to let black sludge out. Pouring from the black blade, sludge quickly covered a two-meter distance around him, dissolving his severed arm too. Derick had just flipped back onto his feet when he stepped on the sludge. He quickly sensed that there was danger so he tried to leap away but the sludge clung to him, stretching out to hold onto him.

"S**t. What is this?" Derick swung his lance at the sludge but it just clumped together again.

"Too bad. This is where it ends." Henry raised his sword from the ground, the sludge seemingly reluctant to let the sword go, and pointed it towards Derick. The blood from his missing arm dripping down his side. "Eat, Dredalia."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What is this?" Derick tried to free himself from the sludge but it wouldn"t move. Slowly it made it"s way up to his knees. A burning sensation erupted from his legs, like acid had been poured on them.

"It"s my win." Henry slashed at Derick"s legs, severing them in one swing. Not willing to lose yet Derick plunged his lance into the ground and pushed himself towards Henry. Using all the remaining strength in his arm to swing the lance upwards in front on him. Startled Henry wasn"t able to fully dodge the lance coming towards his face. A bright red wound formed on Henry"s face.

Regaining himself Henry quickly moved to the back of Derick and kicked his side with his heel. Derick spewed blood from his mouth, more blood poured from his severed legs as he flew towards the fountain. Derick crashed into the fountain, water erupting from it. Weary, Derick could barely keep his eyes open. Henry was dragging his longsword on the ground, making his way towards Derick, his side stained with his own blood. Grinning slightly Henry knelt down beside Derick.

"Well done." Henry grabbed Derick"s head and lifted his body upwards in the air. In the short time interval in which Derick was airborne Henry had grabbed his sword and shoved his longsword into Derick"s chest. Piercing it and stabbing the ground behind Derick. A numb pain went through Derick"s body. He knew he had been pierced by Henry"s sword but he couldn"t feel anything. He looked down and saw the sword in him. Surprisingly he was calm. His lips twitched into a smile, thinking to himself, "So, this is death? Although it sucks to lose I regret not being able to serve the young miss longer."

Henry heard slight whispers from Derick"s mouth, which hung slightly open.

"…y-young…miss…" Sighing loudly Henry looked at the sky. His face full of satisfaction and regret.