The fight started fast, too fast. One second I was staring down Cherry's regal figure, her fan twirling in her hands like it was made of silk, and the next, I was dodging for my life. She moved with the kind of speed that made me feel like a child in a playground, just barely scrambling out of the way of her strikes. Her attacks weren't wild or reckless—they were precise, aiming right for my spine every time.
She's trying to paralyze me.
That thought sank in fast. But as fast as it did, I was too busy trying to stay alive. Instinct took over—dodge left, duck low, roll out of the way. My hatchets were useless in the face of her grace. I could barely raise them fast enough to parry her, and when I did, it was more out of desperation than skill. The force behind each of her blows made my arms ache, and I could feel the sting of her magic weaving around me, suffocating almost.
She was relentless, closing in again and again. Every time I thought I had a second to breathe, there she was, fan flicking dangerously close to my throat or her hand reaching out to choke the life out of me. My body responded before my brain could even register the movements, dodging by some miracle, but I was running out of steam fast. I could tell Cherry wasn't even breaking a sweat.
Am I going to die here?
I thought I was something special. Bmixture's hatchets felt perfect in my hands, I took down those thugs with ease earlier. But now, in front of Cherry—a real magician, someone who knew how to kill—I realized I was nothing. A prodigy? Sure. But what's that worth in the face of real skill, real danger?
Cherry's eyes never left me, her expression cold and focused. She wasn't just playing around; this wasn't a fight to test me. She was trying to end me.
I can't win this.
The thought was bitter, but it was the truth. I wasn't going to win, not here, not like this. My mind raced, trying to come up with something, anything, that might buy me time. I wasn't strong enough to beat her head-on, but maybe... I didn't need to.
When she lunged at my spine again, fan outstretched like a blade, I shifted. My body twisted in just the right way, my hatchet hooking under her arm. With a sharp pull, I flipped her momentum and shoved her back, using her own strength against her.
I didn't waste a second. I turned and ran.
I wasn't proud of it, but survival mattered more than pride right now. The sound of Cherry's footsteps quickly followed, her speed unmatched. My heart pounded in my chest as I pushed myself harder, trying to put distance between us, but every glance over my shoulder showed her gaining. She was faster, more powerful—but she was also human.
And humans get tired.
Her pace started to falter. I could hear her breath grow ragged, her steps a little slower, less precise. I grinned, the first bit of relief flooding through me. Maybe I was out of this after all. Maybe I had bought myself enough time to—
WHAM.
Pain exploded in my leg, and I crashed to the ground. I hadn't even seen it coming. Some guy had come out of nowhere, slammed into me with a bucket like it was a weapon. What kind of idiot attacks someone with a bucket?
