"Well, you'll have to give through me"
Clyde said, tightening his grip on his sword. He stood firm despite the overwhelming aura radiating from Garfield. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his pride wouldn't let him.
His heart was beating loudly and sweat buds formed at the corner of his forehead. He was trembling but still pretended to be strong.
'I just need to hold him off for a while. Just a little longer...'
Garfield, growing impatient, lunged forward. Clyde barely had time to react before their swords clashed. The force of the impact sent a painful vibration up Clyde's arm, nearly making him lose his grip.
"You're barely holding on," Garfield scoffed. "Do you really think you can defeat me with those flabby hands??"
Clyde gritted his teeth, pushing back with all his strength. "I don't need to defeat you. I just need to delay you."
Garfield's smirk widened. "Then let's see how long you last."
He swung his sword with brutal force, forcing Clyde onto the defensive. Each strike was heavier than the last, shaking him to his core. He barely managed to block them, his footing growing unsteady.
'Damn it! He's too strong'
Garfield's attacks suddenly stopped. Clyde's eyes widened in confusion. Then, in a blink, Garfield was gone-
No. Not gone.
He was behind him.
Before Clyde could turn, a sharp pain erupted in his side. Garfield's sword pierced through his abdomen.
Blood dripped from Clyde's lips as he gasped. His knees buckled, and Garfield pulled his sword out with a swift motion, letting him collapse onto the cold stone floor.
"You should've run when you had the chance," Garfield said, wiping the blood off his blade. "Pathetic."
Clyde tried to move, but his body wouldn't listen. His vision blurred.
'Is this the end? I can't let him into the Lost City! No. I can't die here!'
Not yet.
Rowan's eyes widened in shock, seeing how he defeated Clyde with just one move.
"As expected of the Dragon Slayer..."
"Haha! Such weakling. Nothing can stop me from clearing this dungeon now" Garfield's laughter echoed.
A sudden gust of wind made Garfield stop laughing.
He turned his head just as a chilling presence filled the dungeon.
A slow, deliberate set of footsteps echoed.
Then-
A girl with white hair and piercing red eyes emerged from the shadows.
Celina.
Her sword was still dripping with blood, her face expressionless as she approached.
Garfield stared at her, his smirk returning. "So you're the one causing all this trouble."
Rowan's eyes widened when he saw her. It was the same person he was looking for.
"Huh? I didn't even sense her movement. Just how strong is that child?" He mumbled.
Celina was furious. Clyde was hurt. She could smell his blood from where she was standing but that wasn't the reason for her anger.
The man standing in front of her was the one who sent her out of the house in her past life. The man in front of her was her... father.
Her heart couldn't stop beating in excitement. She has been looking for an opportunity to get rid of him and... It came.
It finally came.
Celina didn't answer. She merely tilted her head, her crimson eyes locking onto him.
A shiver ran down Garfield's spine.
Something about that look...
"Hey, little girl. Are you human? Are you a devil? Those red eyes of yours... No wait, you have no horn. Just who the hell are you?"
She didn't answer. She wanted to kill him so badly. His mouth couldn't stop talking; she wanted to drive her sword into his hole and sharpen her sword between his teeth. She wanted to torture him so much. His appearance suddenly reminded her of her life as Mallory.
Clyde coughed weakly. "Celina... run..."
She didn't even glance at him. Instead, she raised her sword and pointed it directly at Garfield.
"You," she said, her voice cold. "... are in my way."
Garfield's grin widened.
"Interesting."
Without hesitation, he charged at her.
Celina didn't move.
Not until the very last second
Then, she vanished.
A flash of silver.
A sharp gust of wind.
And then-
Garfield's sword stopped mid-air.
Celina stood behind him, her blade pressed against his throat.
Silence.
Garfield's smirk faltered for the first time.
Celina's red eyes glowed eerily.
"You're not as fast as I thought," she whispered.
Garfield let out a low chuckle. "Oh, this just got fun."
And with that, the real fight began.
.
.
Celina suddenly remembered the day she had been thrown out of the house. She was an illegitimate child, born from a lowly maid.
A commoner.
She was the result of Garfield's mistake. Sometimes, he wished he didn't lain with her mother when he came home drunk.
Instead of being treated as an illegitimate daughter, she had been treated worse than a slave. Even the maids looked down on her and her mother.
Lady Garfield and her children always found ways to torment them. That was until her mother fell ill.
Her father didn't care about her. Not until she died.
Her mother's corpse had remained in their room until the day she was cast out of the house.
Her stepmother had even threatened to burn the body refusing to allow a lowlife to be buried in the family graveyard.
On the very day, she was sent away, at the age of five... She had been framed for stealing her step-sister's jewellery.
It wasn't the first time.
All they had to do was plant the jewellery in her tattered room and make the guards find it.
That day happened to be the day they were all preparing to go for the spring ball at the capital. Everyone in the family had been preparing to leave for the capital when the eldest daughter's jewellery suddenly went missing.
They found it in Mallory's room, and her stepmother had beaten her mercilessly before Garfield himself disowned her and cast her out.
She never even got to see her mother's body when leaving.
Never got to bury her.
.
Celina snapped out of her thoughts, gritting her teeth angrily at Garfield. With her blade still pressed against his neck, she whispered,
"Today... You'll realise that you've made the biggest mistake of your life"
Garfield chuckled darkly.
"Really? Make sure you don't disappoint me"