The elf in front of her was a disgusting being, without a doubt. Her words about cuts needing to be perfect were something Grakka did not completely agree with. Yes, a cut had to be sharp to kill your opponent in one strike, but what was also necessary was strength to make the cut happen. Especially if you were a weapon user. Since her opponent did not seem to use a weapon, that rule did not apply to her.
'The path this elf follows is weak.'
When she spoke about a Path, she meant everything her opponent or friend had done throughout their life—and this elf was on one that would lead her straight to hell.
'Well, I'll just speed up that fall.'
Using Axe Fury magic, a red aura grew around the weapon. Swinging forward, her opponent barely managed to dodge. Grakka spun her body, pressing her hand firmly on the axe. Sylwen had moved exactly into the place where the next strike was coming. She had no choice but to cross her arms and try to endure with the barriers she had placed around her body.
The force of the axe sent her flying backward, crashing through one of the broken windows. Grakka immediately followed with speed. Now Sylwen was farther from reaching Elithia. Just as Grakka was about to pass through the window, she received a double kick to the chest that pushed her back inside.
"I'm not leaving this castle, you clumsy orc."
'She figured it out… I guess we'll have to fight here after all.'
Even with that thought, Grakka still had a plan—at least she did, until ice began freezing the entire place, surprising both of them. The windows were frozen as well. It seemed to be caused by the battle between the two sisters.
'I need to go see Elithia soon, but I can only pass if I kill this orc.'
She was certain Grakka would chase her anywhere, so this was the only way to help her queen without anyone interfering. Using her water magic, Sylwen thawed parts of the ice in several points around the room. From those points, high-pressure jets shot out like blades swinging sideways.
"Perfect cuts."
Grakka moved, managing to dodge some of them. The ones that struck her left superficial wounds. That was because she was using her resistance magic to endure any attack from her opponent.
"Maximum Furious Strike."
With a powerful push against the ground that shattered beneath her feet, Grakka rushed toward the elf. Swinging her axe, a red slash struck Sylwen, forcing her backward into the wall.
"Rotating Blades."
All the ice in the room turned into water when Sylwen placed her hand on the frozen floor. A moment later it spun into a small vortex of high-pressure blades. Pointing toward Grakka, the blades moved quickly, surrounding the orc.
"Your attacks have more precision than mine, but they lack power."
Raising her axe to defend with all her strength, Grakka stomped hard, breaking the floor beneath her feet. The water blades began spinning around her, slicing the air with a sharp sound as they closed in. One grazed her shoulder, opening a cut that splattered blood across the frozen room. Even so, she did not retreat. Her muscles tightened further as Axe Fury pulsed through her veins.
"Power increase."
She spun her body along with the axe, and the heavy blade smashed through two of the water blades, breaking their flow into a burst of liquid. Three more rushed in immediately, aiming for her legs and neck. Grakka ducked and advanced at the same time.
The axe rose in an arc, making Sylwen's eyes widen as the distance vanished suddenly. She reinforced the barriers around her body to endure as much as possible. When the axe struck them, cracks began spreading.
'I won't be able to withstand this.'
Sylwen released herself and crouched in a dangerous movement. Pushing the floor with her hand, she slid backward, barely escaping while launching more cutting jets to slow the orc. Grakka passed through two of them even as new cuts opened along her arms, but she kept advancing with a wild smile on her face.
"To me your path is weak, but I want to see more to know how far it can go."
"Tsk."
She truly hated this orc. Besides those horrible cuts, she was also an idiot who thought only about fighting—two things she despised in an opponent. They did not understand what the true art of cutting was.
As the fight resumed, Sylwen slid to the side the instant Grakka's axe came down again in a surprisingly fast movement from the orc. The impact destroyed the ground where she had been a second earlier, and fragments flew across the frozen room. Without wasting time, the elf raised her hand and the water scattered across the floor answered her command. Thin threads of water rose into the air, shining like transparent blades.
"Perfect water cut."
The threads shot forward silently, slicing the air in straight lines. Grakka crossed the arm reinforced with resistance magic, letting the cuts pass through. Her skin opened in clean lines and blood began running down her forearm, but she continued advancing as if she felt nothing.
"As I said, your techniques are good, elf, but they don't deal much damage."
"I'll show you what real damage is."
Seeing the disdain in her opponent's eyes, she smiled while the red aura of Axe Fury pulsed stronger around her. Spinning her body into a horizontal strike as she approached, she forced Sylwen to retreat several meters. The elf touched the ground with the tip of her foot and all the scattered water rose again, forming dozens of lines around the orc—vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. She had created this technique after seeing one of Volhit's spells.
"Perfect Cube."
The blades closed at once. Walls, ice, and pieces of the floor were divided into perfect cubes as the cuts passed through the environment. Grakka activated her resistance magic to the limit, muscles contracting as several blades pierced her skin and her blood sprayed. Without stopping her advance, she moved forward with unbreakable determination to defeat her opponent. In the next instant she increased her speed even more and burst forward, breaking the pattern of cuts and charging directly toward Sylwen with her axe raised.
"You monster, nothing works on you?"
Sylwen moved to the right, barely dodging in time while noticing the smile on Grakka's face that seemed demonic to her.
"That's because my path is superior to yours."