A Sunless Dream

An invisible blade of air burst past Morgan's face as her ears rang from the sonic boom it caused. Jumping backwards, she stared down Orion as he walked her down like a predator observing it's prey.

She just had to last five minutes. Five minutes until he needs to divide his attention.

Leaping towards him, Morgan sent a punch towards him as Orion raised his arms to block the blow. Attempting to respond with a kick of his own, Morgan quickly turned into liquid metal appearing once more behind him.

Unfortunately, Morgan's attack path was blocked by a scythe which appeared transparent as it moved towards her in blinding speeds. Morgan flew through the air out of the scythe's range before dismissing her transformation ability, crashing down on Orion's head with a kick.

Although he blocked the kick, Orion was sent into the ground slightly as Morgan appeared in front of him once more. Taking in a deep breathe, Morgan cocked her fist back before sending it at his chest. Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her foot, Morgan looked down only to see Orion's heel digging deeper and deeper into her own foot.

In a split second, Orion allowed the fist to land directly on his chest, spinning with the blow he responded with a punch of his own landing directly on the chin of the princess from Valor. To his surprise, Morgan wasn't reeling from the blow and instead pulled her foot backwards suddenly making him lose his balance.

Almost falling to the floor, Orion looked to his left only to be greeted by Morgan's shin preparing to blast itself into his face. He had no way of dodging, and so he didn't. Instead, Orion tensed all the muscles in his head before funnelling all his essence to the same location to strengthen it.

The force of the kick sent Orion flying through the air, however, his head was only mildly damaged with a bruise appearing on his cheek. The same could not be said for Morgan. Her shin had bent backwards completely shattering due to the impact as blood sprayed from the exit wound caused by her own bones.

Nephis appeared beside her, healing her leg in seconds before allowing her to return to the battle. Suddenly, a rumble emerged from the ground causing even Orion to become mildly surprised.

"The cursed one is moving early" he commented to himself, placing a hand on his chin he began to muse, attempting to discern the cause of it's sudden stirring "It must be one of them." With a shrug, he focused back to the princess of Valor who had appeared before him.

In a split second, a kick landed on his jaw. Orion's head snapped back as he sent out a kick of his own in response. Morgan dodged the counterattack before blitzing towards him preparing to punch him in the chest, however, Orion grabbed her by her shirt before his hand phased through her stomach.

'That's soul reaper's aspect' Morgan thought to herself, in a moment, torrents of blood flowed from her mouth as she punched Orion in the eye to gain distance. Her soul had undergone substantial damage however it wasn't anything irreparable, gritting her teeth, Morgan attempted to ignore the pain and continue the dance of death.

Snapping her head to the side, Morgan saw Orion next to her as he levelled a punch at her liver bending her entire body. Before Morgan could be sent flying due the force of the blow, Orion grabbed her by the foot preparing to slam her into the floor.

Morgan used her free foot to kick at Orion's injured eye before jumping backwards with an irritated expression plastered on her face "You, Saint Sunless! What is your addiction to slamming me into the ground!" she roared before rushing at him once more.

Flames emerged from Orion's eye healing it as he summoned his sword once more, slashing at Morgan's arm in one fluid movement. Morgan summoned a blade of her own to parry the strike if only barely. The force of the strike sent vibrations up her arm, but she grit her teeth and pressed on.

Morgan spun to strike his exposed flank; Orion pivoted blocking her blade with astounding precision before responding with a downward strike. Morgan dodged perfectly in time feeling a rush of air pass over her head as several of her hairs flew off her body with the strike.

Orion's strikes were deliberate and powerful, forcing her to stay on the defensive each time he decided to attack her. A flurry of strikes came next, a high slash, thrust, sweeping arc, all of these aimed to maim and end the life of Morgan upon contact. Morgan barely managed to defend against his attacks as she yielded more ground.

Morgan adjusted her stance, sweat pouring from her brow. Her dark hair, tied in a tight braid, swayed in the wind as it too only narrowly dodged the blows Orion rained upon her. She lunged forward with a sudden thrust aimed at Orion's lung; Orion easily sidestepped it before grabbing her blade.

"You're making it easy for me you know that?" he taunted, swinging his sword lightly at her. However, the fear he instilled onto her was real enough to force her to gain mass amounts of distance even at the lightest of attacks.

The clash of steel echoed, Orion continued to have a grin plastered on his face as his muscular frame remained readily apparent even under the onyx armour he donned in every fight. Morgan's chest heaved as she tightened her grip on the hilt of her weapon as she rushed forward.

Confidence exuded from Orion's blade as he swatted away a flurry of attacks from Morgan with ease. Morgan growled quietly as she feinted to the left before stepping in to the right and slashing upwards. Dodging backwards, her efforts were merely greeted with a laugh from Orion.

"Trying to do feints against me? That's new." He mocked. Orion retaliated in ferocity that made Morgan stumble back slightly, she had managed to land a glancing blow on his cheek once more however the thin wound quickly closed as not even a drop of blood fell from his pale face.

His next strike was a brutal diagonal slash, though she blocked it, the force of the blow nearly threw her to her knees. Noticing her moment of weakness, Orion spun and kicked her in the ribs sending her flying across the plateau.

"You're growing tired Morgan, is it not time for Saint Athena to step into the battlefield?" Orion questioned. Morgan didn't answer, she sprang up from her kneeling position and slashed low at his legs. Orion jumped back then surged forward with a powerful thrust.

Morgan's attempt to dodge was too slow, Orion's blade grazed her side. In only a moment, Orion's sword morphed into a scythe as he threw the blade behind him, suddenly pulling it backwards intending to decapitate his opponent.

Golden armour blurred across the battlefield as Orion felt his blade being flung meters into the air by a being with unparalleled force. Turning around, he observed Effie standing in front of Morgan with her shield raised.

Raising an eyebrow, Orion blurred behind Morgan sending a powerful kick to her stomach. Morgan rolled, flew, and was slammed across the floor due to the impact as Orion turned his focus onto Effie.

"How about we test that strength of yours?"