Vanguards Of Aetheria II: The Solace Rune

Chapter 19: Rematch

Stellaria made the first move by conjuring her Katana and dashing towards Cal, but he reacted in time and raised both of his swords and blocked her advance. He then followed up by swinging both swords horizontally towards her chest, she raised her katana to block, but she actually had trouble blocking this time. Cal had seemingly grown stronger since the last time they had fought, and was not going to be going easy on her.

Stellaria slid backwards, but stopped herself from going further by planting her feet deeper. She then thrusted her katana and managed to impale Cal in the chest, but Cal did the same and plunged Victoria's sword into her chest. Cal didn't feel any pain, but Stellaria did.

"I'm going to make you suffer for the mistakes you made." Said Cal. "You should never have killed Keith, you should never have captured Victoria."

"But most importantly, you should never have had the idea of looking for the damn runes!" Yelled Cal.

Stellaria ripped her katana out of Cal's chest, and he ripped Victoria's sword out of her chest. They then raised their blades and rushed towards each other in unison, their blades clashing against each other. Sparks flew as Cal pressed both of his swords harder against her katana, and he applied so much pressure that he managed to shatter her katana into bits!
Stellaria stumbled backwards, being left unarmed and vulnerable. So Cal raised both of his swords and swung down on her arms, slicing them both off.

"Gah!" Stellaria grunted.

Stellaria's arms then regenerated quickly, and she proceeded to make her grassy tendrils emerge out of her back and lunge towards Cal. He dodged their attacks and charged towards Stellaria, but she then performed a move Cal had never seen before. She held both her hands out and a wall of thick and hardened vines rose in front of her, acting as a barrier. But this didn't stop Cal, and he just bashed his body into the wall and busted right through it effortlessly.

"No!" Stellaria Yelled. "Impossible!"

Cal then swung both swords, but her tendrils managed to knock both of them out of his hands and threw them aside. He was now left with his fists, but that didn't stop him from attacking. Cal backflipped away from her, putting some distance between them.

"My fists are just as painful as my blades, you're in for a rude awakening, Stellaria." Cal said.

Cal ran towards Stellaria, and raised his right fist. As he grew closer, one of her tendrils flew at him. Cal suddenly grabbed the tendril and swung it around, this also swung Stellaria around too. He then swung it upwards and then downwards, slamming Stellaria into the ground. He then ran and leaped up into the air, and landed directly on Stellaria's chest. She hacked up a lot of blood and was pushed harder against the ground, shattering her ribs.

"Look at how far you've fallen! You had so much confidence, and now what?!" Exclaimed Cal.

She tried to get up, but Cal punched her in the face, the back of her head jolted backwards and hit the ground.

"You could have become a hero like me! Fighting for this world's safety!" Cal exclaimed.

Cal delivered another punch to her face.

"But no! You just had to take the wrong route, being consumed and corrupted by power and a lust for control and domination over the three regions!" Cal exclaimed.

Cal then grabbed her by the arm, and threw her into a wall. But before she would crash into it, her tendrils emerged and caught her right before the impact. They then thrusted her towards Cal, and she tightly grabbed him by the throat. Cal tried punching her, but it wouldn't make her grip loosen or break.

"I will revive Mother! And she will kill you all!" Stellaria yelled.

Cal then ripped the arrow out of his right shoulder and drove it through Stellaria's left eye. The pain made her shriek and drop him on the ground. Cal panted heavily, trying to catch his breath while Stellaria continued to shriek in agony. But after a few moments, her cries of suffering turned into a yell of rage as she began ripping the arrow out of her left eye socket. Once she successfully ripped it out, her left eye could be seen on the pointed end of the arrow head, and blood was seeping out of her eye socket.