Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

BOOM!

Even after a thunderous crash rang through the clearing, Akira couldn't afford to look away from his opponent.

Man, he's good.

It almost pained Akira to give his opponent praise, even mentally, but Ezekiel was simply better than him.

His every move, even the ones Fang would call wasteful, pushed Akira further back. Every repositioning Ezekiel made snuffed out Akira's counterattacks, sometimes before they'd even began.

After snatching Akira's Harmony, Ezekiel had told Draeven to back off and leave them to duel. If he hadn't, Akira would've died twice over by now.

Ezekiel lashed out with an overhead strike. Akira raised Juryoku in a horizontal guard, pulling backwards on the embedded Jiki behind him to create some separation.

He felt Ezekiel pulling too.

Both fighters glided through the air, skimming above the grass towards Akira's second sword. Ezekiel's quicksilver blade solidified, pressing down on Juryoku. All his weight and more pinned Akira's sword downwards, locking it in place.

Akira held strong.

Even if Ezekiel was a better swordsman, he still had his Harmony.

The Soulsnatcher could take Akira's abilities, but he'd never be able to take away the thousands of hours he'd spent practicing them.

Akira tilted Juryoku upright. Sparks skittered off the two blades as Ezekiel's sword slid closer to Juryoku's crossguard.

The superheated slivers of metal erupted into the air between the two swordsmen.

Akira pushed.

The sparks flew into Ezekiel's face, forcing his eyes shut. Akira angled Juryoku's point at Ezekiel's neck and pressed his sword forward.

Ezekiel leapt back, aborting his attack and blinking the blindness from his eyes. The Soulsnatcher knelt on the grass, recovering. Akira would've chased him, but truthfully he needed the break too.

The silver sheen of Jay's exploding dagger poked out from Ezekiel's left hand as the Soulsnatcher ran it across his quicksilver sword.

"Ooh, this looks fun," said Ezekiel as sparks flew off both blades, "I guess I'll take it too!"

The sparks darted through the air, spiralling around the dagger before petering out.

BOOM!

A rumble deep within the jungle dragged Akira back into the fight. He couldn't let Ezekiel experiment further.

He ran forward, releasing his grip on Jiki and focusing on his opponent's body instead. Gravity pulled him towards his new anchor point, and Akira plummeted through the air.

Juryoku smashed into Ezekiel's raised guard. The sparks hung static in the air as both swordsmen simultaneously pushed on them. Ezekiel dropped into a steadier stance, rotating his torso and pushing Akira aside. Momentum carried Akira past his opponent, but gravity's pull drew him back to the fight. He hopped in the air and twisted his body, accelerating back towards Ezekiel.

The Soulsnatcher swiped at Akira's legs. Akira jumped, abandoning his initial attack. Gravity still pulled him forwards however, and Akira watched Ezekiel's whip-like sword sweep under him while he shot through the air. He kicked out both of his feet, pummelling Ezekiel's solar plexus mid-air.

Ezekiel staggered back, reeling from the blow.

It doesn't matter if he's a better swordsman.

I don't need to duel him; I need to kill him.

Akira didn't let up. He kept his grip on the backpedalling Ezekiel, using gravity to drag himself closer to the retreating swordsman. Ezekiel's arms flailed behind him, Akira sensed a ripple as the Soulsnatcher clenched his fist and pulled himself towards Jiki.

Ezekiel began accelerating. It wasn't fast enough. He had only known gravity for a few minutes, Akira had spent half his lifetime figuring it out.

Akira skimmed over the grass, rapidly gaining on Ezekiel.

Another few exchanges and the Soulsnatcher would have a better grasp on his new powers. This was Akira's best shot at defeating him.

Akira leapt forwards; weight slowly returned to his body mid-air. Ezekiel lashed his sword upwards. Akira deflected. He pushed the quicksilver blade aside past his chest and let it slice into his shoulder. The Soulsnatcher had already landed a blow this fight, Akira had no need to fear another.

He lunged in closer. Ezekiel retreated. Akira stopped pulling himself towards Ezekiel.

Instead he pushed.

The Soulsnatcher fell to the ground. Akira slammed on top of him. He brought Juryoku down, gripping his sword with both hands and he drove it towards Ezekiel's neck.

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Ezekiel pushed back. His eyes bulged. His face reddened as he leveraged all his magnetic strength towards staying alive. He pressed his palms into Juryoku's blade, blood rolled down his hands as he fought for his life.

Akira pressed down with the weight of revenge on his shoulders. He couldn't ease the pressure; this was the man who'd held Vega into the gravel while she flailed for her life. He couldn't fail now; his friends were relying on him to succeed here. They'd trusted him to-

THUNK.

A prismatic crystal spear smeared in crimson blocked Akira's view of Ezekiel. He traced its path and looked in horror at the javelin piercing through his stomach.

It shattered.

Iridescent shards burst into the air as the crystal spear exploded. Akira's insides lurched. The shards assaulted him from beneath his nervous system, his world devolved into flashes of pain and swirling distortion as a waterfall of blood leaked out of the open wound.

Ezekiel's magnetic push flung Juryoku away. He shoved Akira off him.

Akira's back slumped onto the dirt. His eyes lolled upwards, blankly staring at the cloudless sky above.

"YOU IDIOT DRAEVEN! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME!" screamed Ezekiel.

His words drifted into silence, no longer audible to Akira's dying ears.

He lay there, idly gazing upwards, enjoying the suns warmth as it caressed his face. His thoughts drifted, stresses fading away. For the first time in a long time Akira felt oddly peaceful, basking in the gentle sunlight.

The warmth stopped, cruelly snatched from Akira as shadows enveloped him. He squinted his eyes, wondering what had changed.

A man's silhouette blotted out the sunlight. Akira's hazy eyesight refocused, first making out a scarred face before gleaming emerald eyes and a victorious sneer.

Ezekiel began speaking.

Akira couldn't hear him.

Sorry Lyra, sorry Vega. I guess I couldn't kill him.

Ezekiel kept talking.

Akira watched his scarred lips keep moving.

He watched them pause for a second.

He watched Ezekiel's head jerk aside, watched his eyes open wide in pure shock.

He watched the Soulsnatcher draw his sword.

But he couldn't watch anything else, because his whole world faded to darkness.

Jay tossed the still smouldering gladiator aside. The trail of smoke gave away the Ashwraith's position. Jay chased after it.

BOOM!

An earth shaking bang came from the exit hub.

Jay ran faster. Whatever the noise was, he hoped Akira wasn't on the receiving end of it.

The Ashwraith no longer taunted the fringes of Jay's peripheral vision. Without the fire harmoniser backing him up, both fighters knew the fight was over as soon as Jay found his opponent.

The Ashwraith retreated deeper into the jungle, but that wouldn't help him much.

Throughout the entire tournament, whether in an underground cave, on the surface, or even perched within the treetops, Jay's survival had relied on staying hidden. He wouldn't be beaten at his own game.

With practiced ease, Jay tuned out the Emergent Bloom, silencing the rainforest clamour.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Snap!

Too easy.

Jay shifted direction, following the Ashwraith's footsteps instead of his trail.

They grew louder, faster, more erratic.

Jay didn't bother keeping quiet. It would only slow him down. He crushed a rotting branch beneath his boot, skidding to a halt as the Ashwraith's footsteps suddenly stopped.

Eye of the storm shifted onto Jay's eyes as he scoured the jungle floor for a trace of his opponent.

The rainforest stilled.

Jay ignored the multicoloured songbirds flying above him and the chirping insects hiding beneath the leaves on the jungle floor. His eyes danced across hanging vines and moss covered stones, snagging on a footprint before following the tracks behind a gnarled tree trunk infested with a strangler fig.

A sliver of ash grey poked out beside it, like spores spreading into the air.

Found you.

Jay ran at the tree. The Ashwraith jumped out, twisting to face Jay's charge with both arms raised.

A swarm of pumice, swirling within a cloud of ash hovered in front of his outstretched fingertips, vibrating with contained energy.

Ping floated behind Jay, unable to protect him. He'd rushed into this one. Jay covered his face in the half-second before the Ashwraith attacked.

The coals launched into Jay's torso like a shotgun blast, knocking him backwards. The Orivian Steel diluted the blows across his chest, but the wayward stones sliced into Jay's arms and legs, piercing his skin while the rest simply knocked him back.

Jay fell to the ground, loose rocks dug into his back as he rolled backwards over his shoulders.

They didn't stop him for long.

The Ashwraith stood his ground this time, he swirled a dense cloud of ash between his hands as Jay rose to his feet.

Jay stepped forward.

The cloud expanded.

He clamped his mouth shut as the wave of ash slammed forward. Jay's squinting eyes couldn't even see his own arms through the haze.

Jay held his breath, completely blinded by the Ashwraith's last stand. He flung his left arm aside before drawing his wrist back and unleashing the Quicksnatch rope before swinging it in a sweeping arc.

The bracer tugged at Jay's wrist, pulling him towards his opponent the moment the Quicksnatch connected.

Jay jumped forward, Ping blazed past his shoulder, refusing to lag behind again.

They raced towards their fleeing opponent, bursting free from the ash cloud as one.

The rope had stuck to the Ashwraith's wrist. Ping flew low to the ground. Jay held back. He knew what came next.

Ping crashed into the Ashwraith's ankles as Jay simultaneously yanked on the gladiator's wrist, their coordinated assault wrenched him off balance. He fell to his knees, body spinning mid air before dropping to his hands.

He looked up at Jay, eyes pleading.

"Please, I'll do anythi-"

Jay smashed his right fist through the Ashwraith's skull before he could finish his plea.

A second seismic boom erupted from the exit hub, reminding Jay he had no time to take a break.

He silenced the what-ifs and focused on running, re-coiling the rope beside his arm as he hurried back to the clearing. There was no point theorising until he reached the clearing and saw for himself. His battle with the snipers had taken longer than he thought and carried him far from the clearing, yet that battle was done. He only had time for the next.

Hopefully Lyra and Akira still held strong.

Hopefully Ezekiel and Amaya were dead by now.

But Jay knew better than to hope, especially when those two were involved.

The first glimpses of the exit hub poked through the trees.

Two figures stood beside the exit hub. For a split second, Jay let hope get the better of him.

Then he saw the quicksilver sword in Ezekiel's hand and Akira's red kimono beneath the Soulsnatcher's boot.

Jay's chest tightened.

His vision narrowed.

Fury crept up Jay's clenched fists and down his spine as he snarled at Ezekiel. Still sprinting towards the clearing.

BOOM!

Jay barely noticed the felled tree across the clearing until he saw Ezekiel turn his head away from Akira's body.

He raised his sword in defence.

Only then did Jay look up and beyond the Soulsnatcher's silhouette.

Is that…

The Three Legger stamped on the fallen tree trunk, snapping it in two beneath its colossal claws. It pounded its front leg forward, flinging the upper half of the tree in an arc that tossed it atop the canopy.

Behind the dinosaur flew a flock of ruby-eyed crows. Below them came their master. Karis' diamond eyes locked onto Ezekiel, face stern as he commanded the dinosaur forward.