Alvida adjusted her grip on the club, spinning it once before setting her hands firmly along the proper axis.
"It is time to put an end to this." She stepped forward, her body following the motion with clear resolve. "No interruptions."
The vice admiral responded with a simultaneous advance. The sword descended in a straight line, aiming to break through her guard at the center. Alvida raised the club at the same instant, intercepting the strike with force applied from top to bottom.
CLAAANG!
The weapons locked for a second. The impact pushed both to opposite sides once more, but this time Alvida did not retreat beyond what was necessary. She rotated her body and used the momentum to launch a direct counterattack, the club coming down diagonally.
The vice admiral barely dodged, the blow grazing past his shoulder. He twisted his wrist and attempted a horizontal return cut, targeting the exposed side.
Alvida tilted her torso, allowing the blade to pass above her body line. The club rose in a short arc and came down with concentrated force.
BOOOM!
The impact struck the side of the sword, forcing the vice admiral's arm downward. The blade scraped across the deck before he managed to recover, leaving a deep mark behind.
He retreated two steps, adjusted his footing, and raised the sword again, now with both feet firmly planted and his torso aligned.
The silence between them lasted only the span of a single breath.
Alvida advanced again, closing the distance with a long, direct step. The club came straight, aiming at the center of his guard.
The vice admiral answered with a solid block, rotating the blade to absorb the impact.
KRAAANG!
The force of the clash pushed his arm backward. His body resisted, but his rear foot slid a few centimeters before stabilizing.
Alvida gave no space. She rotated the club and delivered a second immediate strike, using the momentum of the first to maintain continuous pressure.
The vice admiral attempted to raise the sword into a high guard, his wrist reacting with delay. The steel did not rise. His elbow locked midway through the motion, halted by resistance that did not come from the club. His arm trembled, the blade suspended below ideal guard. His torso tried to compensate with a short rotation, but his base did not follow.
"What the hell is this?" He forced his shoulder, his gaze dropping to his own body as he tried to pull the sword again. "My legs are not responding!"
The hands appeared first around his ankles, flat and compact, shaped from dense shadows that clamped onto his frame with continuous pressure. Others closed around his wrists and dominant forearm, locking the axis of strength at the exact point where motion needed to occur. The effect was not gradual. The restraint established itself in the same instant Alvida stepped half a pace forward, reducing the distance to the minimum functional range.
The shadows did not spread beyond what was required. They did not cover the deck. They did not touch the Marines farther away. They remained focused solely on the vice admiral's body, adjusting pressure as each attempt to react surfaced. When he tried to twist his torso, the hands at his waist tightened. When he tried to retreat, the ones gripping his ankles pulled downward, halting the movement.
The sword dropped a palm's width, the edge slicing air without reaching anything. His arm lost alignment. His torso dipped slightly forward, enough to break his combat posture.
Alvida took the final step. The club rose only as much as needed to align the axis. The movement did not seek maximum speed. It sought absolute contact.
She clenched her free hand, and the shadows responded with immediate compression, dragging the vice admiral's body into the central line, eliminating any angle of escape. His neck was held upright by pressure at the shoulders. His head remained exposed.
"Die."
The strike descended in a short, vertical path, without deviation.
CRUUUUNCH!
The club struck the top of his skull with concentrated force. The impact crushed the bone structure at a single point, collapsing downward. The dry sound was followed by an uneven crack, and his body instantly lost support. The shadows maintained their hold for a minimal interval to ensure completion, then dissolved into dark fragments that dissipated without trace.
The body fell forward, knees touching first, followed by the torso. The sword slipped from his hand without resistance and hit the deck with a short metallic sound before going still. His head remained tilted, unmoving.
Alvida withdrew the club from the point of impact and spun the handle once to clear contact. The motion was singular and ended as soon as the axis returned to neutral. She adjusted her grip and kept the weapon low, not seeking an immediate new target.
"Vice admiral down!" The voice came from a Marine to the right, too loud for the control required, his rifle rising without a clear line. "He… he is down!"
"Formation! Formation now!" Another shouted, pulling two men back with his forearm, trying to rebuild a front that no longer existed. "Keep distance from her!"
"Fire!" A third attempted to impose command, his weapon trembling as it searched for an angle that did not cross his own men. "Do not let her advance!"
"Negative!" The response came instantly, overriding the order. "She is alone, but it is a trap! Wait for reinforcements!"
Alvida took a step forward, the club still low, the advance enough to shatter the attempted reorganization. The movement was not fast. It was deliberate. The Marines reacted by retreating as a block, boots scraping the deck as they tried to maintain safe distance.
"She is going to break the line!" One shouted, his voice cracking at the end. "Fall back further!"
"Hold position!" Another tried, but his body did not obey his own command. The retreat continued.
Alvida stopped again. The silence that formed lasted only the span of a breath adjustment. The club spun half a turn in her hand and returned to axis, a clear sign that that specific confrontation had ended.
"Do not lose your heads!" A subordinate officer stepped half a pace forward and raised his hand. "She cannot face all of us!"
Alvida leaned her torso forward and advanced in one burst, closing the distance in long strides. The motion was enough to break the last remnant of discipline. The line collapsed.
"Retreat! Immediate retreat!" The order came out scrambled, without defined hierarchy. "Protect the wounded!"
The Marines fell back in conflicting directions, some trying to drag bodies, others seeking cover without knowing where to fix their aim. Rifles pointed at empty space, then lowered, then rose again, without a defined target.
"Who takes command?" One of them shouted, turning in search of an answer. "Is anyone listening?"
"No one responds!" Another answered, pressing his communicator with excessive force. "The channel is open, but no orders are coming!"
Alvida halted her advance. The club remained low. For her, the fight was already over. The vice admiral was dead. The noise had been created.
She turned her body away from the main axis of the deck and walked two steps toward the side. The gesture was not hurried. It was definitive.
"She is leaving!" A Marine pointed, his voice breaking mid-sentence. "Fire now!"
"On whose command?" The response came instantly, cutting across the attempt. "No officer, no shot!"
Alvida took another step and then vanished from direct view, no visible jump, no sonic impact, no lingering effect. The absence was immediate.
The Marines remained where they stood for several seconds, weapons still raised, trying to process what had happened.
"She vanished…" The words came low, almost swallowed by the sudden silence.
"So… it is over?" Another asked, without lowering his rifle. "Was that all?"
No answer came.
One group tried to regroup near the wounded. Another stood motionless, waiting for an order that no longer existed. The deck became a space without center. Without axis. Without command.
"Report the vice admiral's death." A petty officer tried to assume control, forcing steadiness into his voice. "Report it now!"
"It is done!" Someone answered. "The news is already spreading!"
Silence imposed itself again, not from discipline, but from operational emptiness. No target. No direction. No clear decision.
Alvida reappeared far from the ship, already outside the direct line of any immediate response. The displacement was clean. Her body stabilized without pause.
She did not look back.
The noise had been made.
The death of a vice admiral was enough. It did not matter whether he was among the strongest. The effect did not come from individual strength, but from the visible fracture of command.
"Mission accomplished." Alvida adjusted the club at her side and maintained a steady pace without slowing. "If that is not enough noise, then the Marines are already deaf."
She took a few more steps, distancing herself from the axis of conflict without haste, her movement calculated to avoid leaving any immediate new trail.
"Now it is up to you. I hope Riser and Merlin know how to make the most of it."
Support here: patreon.com/22Mirko22
Thank you so much for reading - see you in the next chapter!