"Now, round four."
Both men clashed again in a dance of gold and purple.
Shockwaves were sent out each strike, sometimes shattering the polished wooden shelves on impact.
All bulbs in the mall exploded, drowning the mall in darkness, with the only source of light being Sir Luminar and Ashley.
Both attacked and counter-attacked, none of them caring for defense.
Then Ashley's butcher knife showed the first hint of breaking.
The tool, seemingly incapable of withstanding the power between the strikes of the two titans, slowly chipped away.
Noticing this, Sir Luminar added more strength to his strikes.
Ashley, though, rather than retreating to get a new weapon, supported his breaking weapon with his slightly long black fingernails.
Some moments passed with neither side gaining the advantage over the other.
Until…
Sir Luminar struck again, to which Ashley quickly blocked and counter-attacked, meeting his strike.
The next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, then his thigh and his feet.
Ashley quickly retreated, jumping a few steps back.
Checking out his shoulder, a golden feather was stuck in it.
"Huh?"
Before he could complete his thought, five golden feathers shot towards him.
With his enhanced senses, he dodged each one before he felt a sting of pain at the back of his leg.
One of the feathers that was stuck in him came out and struck him again.
Reacting fast, he swiftly attacked the feathers he had just dodged, only to be stabbed again, this time on his right torso.
Soon he was surrounded in a torrent of golden feathers, striking unpredictably at his blind spots.
Frustration soon overtook Ashley as he outrightly ignored them and dashed towards the one responsible.
Sir Luminar, already prepared, rushed out at the same time, his sword ready to split Ashley in two.
A feather left his armor, flying at lightning speed, targeting Ashley's temple.
Ashley athletically maneuvered away from its range, placing himself directly in Sir Luminar's sword path.
The Divine Pawn swung at his head, with Ashley raising his hand in defense.
The sword met skin, failing to cleave the exposed flesh, leaving golden and purple streaks in the air.
'Since when did his skin become hard? Another attribute?' Sir Luminar frowned.
Ashley, feeling no harm from the strike, grabbed the glowing blade and pulled himself closer to Sir Luminar.
Lashing out with his claws, he cut right through the leg plates, tearing flesh underneath, soaking the inside fabric red.
Sir Luminar gritted his teeth and let go of his sword, retreating while sending out golden feathers at him.
Ashley, a fraction of a second late, got hit in his shoulder blade but deflected the rest with his free hand.
Sir Luminar stood, huffing and panting for air, but not on his last legs.
He might have lost his sword, but he still had a weapon of his own far superior to the mundane metal.
Ashley, resisting the urge to break the blade, accepted his need for a new weapon.
The golden glow of the sword dimmed in his palm.
"Hmm… it's not a Divine Artifact. I guess they don't give lackeys the sumptuous part of the meal," Ashley said loud enough for Sir Luminar to hear.
"What do you know about Divine Artifacts?" Sir Luminar chortled in response.
Ashley studied the sword before a thought came to his mind.
He channeled the Dark Mana through his fingers outwardly to cover the sword.
Instantly the sword became a dark purple, emanating a dim purple light that seemed to swallow the light around it.
"Nothing much enough for me to give a damn about it."
Ashley swung the sword around, the blade leaving dark purple streaks in the air, looking like a warp in space.
It was incredibly light and sharp! By far better than the butcher's knife!
"But I do appreciate my new weapon… thanks for the gift." Ashley grinned.
Sir Luminar didn't return the smile like usual, instead he held out his right hand and a cascade of feathers surrounded it, creating an almost exact replica of the former sword.
"You've entertained me enough, child of the outskirts, it's about time we end this shall we?"
"You're damn right!"
Ashley dashed towards Sir Luminar, thrusting his sword out.
The Divine Pawn followed suit, blocking the pierce strike.
"Ever heard of Featherkinesis?" Sir Luminar suddenly asked.
"Feather what now?" Ashley frowned.
At that moment dozens of feathers headed for him in a violent torrent, carrying the wind with them.
Ashley twisted at the exact time they got close to him and struck them all, not leaving any one the chance to strike him.
Sir Luminar moved in, slashing with his own feather sword, to which Ashley valiantly blocked.
"Alright enough of this crap," Ashley grunted.
His two miniature dark wings began flapping violently, then out from them dark feathers flew out clashing with the golden feathers.
Sir Luminar's eyes widened in shock. 'How...how can this be?' he thought.
"Now I can focus," Ashley said, never diverting his attention from Sir Luminar.
Both clashed again.
Feather sword against Dark blade.
Golden feathers against Dark purple feathers.
Aether Contracted against Nether Contracted.
Light against Darkness.
Ashley might not have had the experience of using a sword, but his natural instincts guided him, showing him the right time to block and the places to strike.
The ground shook and the earth gave in, breaking due to the force behind the two contracted power.
All the remaining lights in the mall exploded, leaving the room in utter darkness lighted up by streaks of gold and purple.
After what felt like eternity, Ashley gained the advantage, swiping in an awkward manner at Sir Luminar's arm.
The dark blade cut through the once pristine gauntlet covered in glowing gold feathers, stopping just short of Sir Luminar's arm bone.
Sir Luminar jumped back and sent out feathers from his crown towards Ashley.
However, Ashley's dark feathers shot out from his back meeting each of the golden feathers.
"It's over Divine bastard!" He shouted.
Sir Luminar didn't reply, using his feathers as a platform to stand in the air.
Seeing Ashley's bewildered expression, he grinned.
"Did you think that was all I was capable of? Now I have the advantage to kill your a-"
Ashley created a platform in the air with his own dark feathers, chasing after Sir Luminar. "Divine bastard… haven't you realised yet?"
He circled Sir Luminar, jumping from feather platform to feather platform, his motion becoming a blur.
Sir Luminar lost track of his movements so he sent his golden feathers in the direction he thought Ashley would appear but got all wrong.
Suddenly, Ashley appeared right in front of him, his sword raised. "I told you, I am going to kill every last one of you Divine bastards!" He shouted.
SLASH!
Then silence.
The outcome…