Eight Intertwined

106 - Gustav

Archibold raised his axe high as soon as the battle began, and Olberic matched him with his own sword. Olberic waited for Archibold to swing first, and he stepped to the side so the axe made contact with the ground below instead of his head. He could certainly see why Archibold's moniker referred to him as the Crusher. His axe was certainly powerful enough to crush just about any opponent's defenses unless they were already prepared to fight against him. 

Archibold picked up the axe with surprising swiftness before turning it around and swinging for Olberic once again. Olberic pressed one foot against the ground to create any icy shield between himself and Archibold, remembering what he had heard previously when it came to fighting against the man. Olberic was far from experienced with any type of magic aside from earth, but he still had the innate talent for ice magic thanks to Alephan's blessing. 

Luckily for him, that was enough, and Archibold's axe wound up stuck in the ice, embedded there for only a few seconds before the barrier ruptured and sent small daggers of ice flying outward. Archibold hadn't been expecting the sudden shift in the shield, and he was forced to retreat to ensure he didn't suffer from any significant injuries. He looked up to Olberic, letting out a small laugh along the way. "Impressive. I wasn't aware the Unbending Blade dabbled in magic," Archibold remarked. 

"It's a recent development," Olberic said simply. That was the best way he could explain it without getting into the details of how he could only use magic with any degree of success thanks to the power of a god. That was too lengthy a story to tell in the midst of a fight, and he barely owed Archibold information like that in the first place. He had a battle to concentrate on first and foremost. 

Archibold didn't bother with responding either, instead just raising his axe high once again. Olberic threw up his sword to deflect the attack, and he found that even though he had the advantage in terms of weaponry, Archibold was still putting him in an uncomfortable position. Archibold's raw strength was one of his greatest advantages in a fight. He may have been slower than others like Joshua Frostblade, but the hits Archibold was able to get in could always put his enemies in an awful situation. Olberic was simply going to have to hold Archibold off until he was able to push the other man back. 

H'aanit raised one hand high in the sky, and a bird made of lightning appeared from nothingness before swerving up and then diving down against two of the enemy combatants. One was hit much harder than the other, and he let out a strangled gasp of shock and pain on impact. Before the other fighter could recover and then run after H'aanit, Primrose jumped in the way, creating a swirling sphere of dark magic that ruptured and left small traces of the energy hanging heavily in the air around the arena, striking at anyone who dared to get too close until there was no magic left. 

H'aanit, meanwhile, nocked an arrow on her bow and then fired it at Archibold. Since he had been distracted with Olberic, Archibold didn't realize the attack was coming until after the arrow had already skimmed the shoulder of his dominant arm. He winced and looked at the arrow where it had embedded itself firmly in the ground below, the feathers at the tip shaking a little bit from the sheer force of the attack. "Impressive," Archibold muttered. "Very impressive."

Archibold pivoted around Olberic just before the Unbending Blade could get in a good hit on him, instead making a beeline for H'aanit. The huntress already had her axe at the ready though, and she was able to hold him off for a few seconds with it. Her weapon was smaller, but it still did the job and forced Archibold to bear down on her for just a handful of beats. Olberic came up behind Archibold and raised his own blade before bringing it down. Archibold tried to get out of the way, but he was met with a floor of ice beneath his feet that sent him sprawling and sliding backward. 

Alfyn had created the platform of ice, though he had originally planned to use it to trip up the other fighters on Archibold's side. When he noticed that Archibold was getting close to slipping on the ice, he had expanded the reach of the sheet just enough to force Archibold away from H'aanit. Meanwhile, three of Archibold's other allies were on the ice, and that offered the perfect distraction for Ophilia and Cyrus to concentrate their magical energies together and create a column of light magic that knocked two of the soldiers out of the fight in a single hit