Chapter #5Shez vs. Byleth by: Kooplan   (A storyline based on this image  )
After all these years, his revenge was close at hand. Shez and his allies had worn down the Ashen Demon. Now, locked in battle alone with his hated rival, all he needed to do was finish her off. Victory seemed so close that he could almost taste it. Not bloodthirsty by any means, but seeking to avenge his former comrades and his own pride after many losses against the enemy mercenary, Shez gripped his blade tightly. There was not even an ounce of pity in his eyes or demeanor as he took a moment to recall in silence what this cruel and uncaring warrior had taken from him, even with her on her knees and wounded. One might consider it to be going too far, but after all these years of craving revenge against this supposed "Ashen Demon" the purple-haired male mercenary couldn't care less about the optics of how this fight was going to end. He just wanted to closure at long last.
Shez thrust his sword. A final strike that would surely be fatal. However, just before he could deliver the coup-de-grace, Byleth suddenly vanished into thin air. Confused, Shez stumbled forward, nearly losing his grip on his weapon. Without warning, the Ashen Demon reappeared from out of thin air and swiftly delivering a cold, hard punch to his gut. Overwhelmed by the sheer force of the blow, Shez was knocked away. He tumbled to the ground, but wasn't about to give up.
Shez didn't know how it was possible, but this strange technique had been used by Byleth before. He'd witnessed the awesome power of warping without the use of magic with his own very eyes. Struck down to the ground, he panted and glanced up to see the Ashen Demon glowing with a strange green light. Power radiated from this mysterious aura. Enough to make the male mercenary's veins run cold. He gasped, fearing the worst.
What the...!? S-She transformed! Does she have power like mine? Shez wondered, glancing down at his own hand, clenched in rage. He snarled and shot up, not ready throw in the towel. In his mind, it didn't matter how many tricks this wicked woman had up her sleeve. He'd cut through all of them and finally show her who was boss!
"Such vexing arrogance for one so small." Byleth spoke, but strangely sounded slightly different. Almost as if the voice of someone else was emanating from her lips, like a woman possessed.
Up until this point in their fight, Shez was sure he had truly gotten the upper hand. He was ready to end the demon forever after their long and arduous battle. Now, that strange power emanating from her made victory seem further than ever before. He could hardly stand without his legs shaking. Byleth stood over him with such poise and confidence, as if none of his blows had ever connected.
"...you should pay for your misdeeds with your life!" Again, it sounded like someone else had puppeteered Byleth's body, a child-like voice not fitting an adult woman of her stature speaking seemingly out of nowhere.
Byleth lunged, swinging her sword towards Shez. He barely evaded with a deft and awkward roll, scrambling to his feet and raising his blade. He wanted to end this, and knew it had be done quickly, lest yet another unknown power reveal itself from his opponent. And yet, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. Not from fear, but from the sheer force radiating from this Ashen Demon, who was living up to her title more then ever in this very crucial moment.
"So, you plan to continue fighting? Surely you must see that you cannot hope to grasp victory?" Byleth taunted. Shez had to close his eyes and turn his head to the side. Unable to focus, even as he continued to be taunted by her, "Or perhaps I should show you how puny and pathetic you really are!"
A wave of green light burst forth from Byleth, so fast and wide that Shez couldn't possibly evade. He raised his arms defensively, yet it washed over him all the same. A tingling feeling spread over him, from head to toe. Every fiber of his being flinched, telling him that this was it for him. As much as he hated to admit it, Shez felt like he'd met his match, even after all this time.
Only for the feeling to suddenly fade. Shez gasped in shock, looking over to see the magical green light somehow get reflected back into the Ashen Demon. Byleth let out a shocked squeal, clearly just as surprised by this turn of events as her opponent was.
"No!" she yelled, sounding considerably less child-like while also higher pitched. "How can this be happening? Is it you...?"
The Ashen Demon cluched her head and slumped downward, struggling to stay on her feet. To Shez, it looked as though she was somehow fighting herself. For a moment, he just stood and watched. Unsure whether or not to strike while Byleth was dazed, or use the opportunity to flee. Some small part of him also felt kind of bad for her, thinking maybe he should try and help. Truly, the green-haired woman was in great distress. Shez wondered what kind of spell this was meant to be, though he was glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of it.
"Now is your chance. Get out of there!" Arval urged from inside Shez's head.
At Arval's insistance, Shez was about to take the advice and flee, but then he noticed something happening to his female rival. Her body was looking different somehow, and not just from the oddly bright hair color. Was it just his imagination, or was the Ashen Demon getting smaller?
"You fool! Look at what's happening!" Byleth yelled, still doubling over, but managing to glare up at Shez nonetheless, "Everything is expanding..! And my body...! D-Do you know what this means? This is all your fault!"
Shez stepped forward, curious and cautious. He had no idea what that meant. It was not his intention to reverse the spell Byleth had cast back onto her. That just happened out of seemingly nowhere. Now that he was paying closer attention, the purple-haired mercenary could tell what was really going on. It was as he'd suspected, the Ashen Demon was shrinking!
Despite being hunched over, Byleth's form was still less than half his size now, which made it difficult for him to fear her. He drew closer while she shrank smaller and smaller. It all happened so fast. In seconds there was now a knee-high Byleth standing before Shez. Shrinking ever tinier with each passing second, the belittled Byleth glanced upward, staring in awe and frustration at her gigantic enemy as she dwindled the rest of the way. Finally it finished, leaving the once lethal woman no bigger than Shez's foot.
"This... this is an outrage!" the tiny demon shouted, becoming rather angrily animated now that the spell's effects were complete. She shouted in frustration, "That spell was meant to shrink you! I should not be this size!"
Byleth's little squeaky voice caused Shez to crack a smile. He found her more amusing than threatening at this point. How could he not? She was only a few inches tall, and seemingly completely harmless. If he wanted to, he could probably end this forgone battle with a quick stomp on her pitifully tiny body. He laughed, soaking in the irony of the situation.
"Aww, look at the itty bitty Ashen Demon," he taunted, "you don't look so tough now!"
"You...! You'll pay for that!" the tiny woman threatened, before turning tail and fleeing as fast as she could. Being only a few inches tall meant she wasn't really that fast at all.
"Hey, not so fast now!" Shez stopped her in her tracks by merely taking one step forward, the miniaturized menace bouncing harmlessly off the heel of his boot and falling to the ground.
"Look at how small and cute she is!" Arval cooed, enjoying this scene almost as much as Shez, "go on, pick her up! I know you want to."
Shez crouched down. Byleth glanced up at him, and for the first time he saw fear on her face. He plucked her off the ground by her coat and deposited her in his hand, the tiny woman thrashing about the entire time like a rabid cat. She seemed to tire herself out quickly, sitting in his hand and glaring up at him.
"You wretch! How dare you treat me like this!" she seethed with as much anger as her tiny body could muster, "once this has worn off, I'll... I'll...!"
"Not so fearsome now, are you?" Shez taunted with a smirk, "never thought this is how I'd win against the demon. I'm kind of disappointed!"
"You know, I think this outcome might actually be better than killing her," Arval said, adding a level of morbidness to the situation.
"Yeah," Shez agreed, nodding along. It felt good to have his archrival in the palm of his hand. "I'm thinking she'd make for a cute little pet!"  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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