Guardian's Turmoil

‘I’ve got him!’ Saki thought to herself, with excitement building up. Her mind flashed back to Yuki. ‘I can get back to him now!’ In the last stretch, Saki caught signs of Kallias’ expression changing. The flicker of surprise gave way to a thin smirk. She suddenly felt a heavy dread over her. The feeling told her to stop, but she was already committed.

A wall of water pooled over the air blocking Saki’s fist in the last centimeter. The impact left a little mist to spray Kallias’ face. He made no reaction to almost being hit. His smirking face and his expression looked bored again. Through the clear water, Kallias stared up at Saki with the last of her momentum draining. “You’re disappointing me, Miss Furukawa. I already expected you to attempt that. This isn’t going to be very interesting if you keep being so straightforward about this.”

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath. Her feet landed back in the water, sending a cool chill through her legs. It went mostly ignored by her. Water already hung on her arms and soaked her tunic. Little could be done anymore about it.

Focusing her sights on Kallias, Saki tried to find a new plan. ‘He keeps anticipating me. I can’t do anything to get through that water of his!’ The water surrounding Kallias dripped back down into the pool. Once more, he appeared open to her attacks, but she already knew better. He thwarted her attempts repeatedly with almost no effort. ‘What do I do? I’ve only fought two like him before and I was normal then. Ayumi and Yuki were there with me. I’m so used to ending fights quickly…’

Chapter 179 – Guardian’s Turmoil

Dragging his foot through the water, Kallias spun around a full cycle. It kicked up water that rose past his knees. Continuing up, the water quickly no longer followed normal physics. A loose ring of water turned about him at shoulder height. “I’ve been letting you do everything so far. How about a change of pace?” Suddenly, he raised his arm and flicked a finger at Saki.

A small orb of water pulled free from the ring and sped across the Field. The distance between them was barely a meter. It gave Saki almost no time to react, but it was still more than enough for her. She saw it coming meaning she could easily dodge. Saki only took a step to the side, but seemed like she popped out of existence and reappeared in the same second. The orb sped on past Saki quickly disappearing out of sight.

She wondered when he might start his offensive, but she wished he waited longer. ‘He’s not going to let me figure out something…’ Another pellet of water shot at Saki. She dodged it even easier than before, knowing what to expect from him.

“Very nice. This’ll definitely be more interesting now, if you can keep that up.”

Saki glared at Kallias, hearing the excitement in his voice. “I’m not here for your entertainment!” She charged at him in anger, tired of his face. Unfortunately, water came up and wrapped around her wrist bringing her to a sudden halt. The force ripped through her arm pulling at her joints from her momentum. Saki winced from the pain, an unfamiliar feeling for her since she gained her power.

Kallias motioned with his finger. “I thought I told you that straightforward tactics were boring.” After scolding her with his finger, he lowered it to point directly at her. “This is much more interesting.” Three orbs formed from the water in his direction. They shot out from the ring at the tied down Saki.

Struggling with the water, Saki couldn’t free her arm in time. She spun around the stream of water tying her. It had enough flexibility to allow her limited range of movement, as she discovered. The projectiles flew past her, harmlessly. Saki glared back at Kallias. ‘I need to come up with something!’

‘Her ability to move is quite remarkable. Things certainly won’t be dull, however…’ Motioning with his finger, several more orbs gathered to fire on Saki.

Fighting the stream still, she bent down to spin out of the area and work on breaking free. ‘…got to get free!’ While the water spheres blew past her, Saki used her strength to rip free from the water’s hold. The bonds that held the water together sprayed over the Field. It left her wrist dripping in water.

‘Strength and speed, I have to test her toughness…’ Kallias sliced his hand through the ring. The divide split the water, but slowly shifted to different heights. Once at their desired height the ends of the water grew out. They followed along the same arc becoming two rings around him. He then snapped his finger creating a dozen orbs. “A little escalation is needed…”

Saki narrowed her features to brace for the next attack. She cursed herself for being unable to do anything. He already stopped her every time before. Nothing could be done to prevent him. She had to deal with his whims until she figured out a way out of her situation. ‘The numbers shouldn’t be much of a problem. He directs them all with his hand, so I just have to watch and I’ll know when to move.’

A flick from his finger signaled the new rounds to release from his hold. They sped over at Saki. She started to move, but suddenly found her legs not responding to her. ‘What!? When did he?’ Water wrapped around her legs forcing her to accept the incoming pellets. However, Saki was unwilling to accept it and fell backwards letting the water bindings hold her balance. She saw the spheres streak over her barely missing her.

Sighing a little, she started to rip her legs free from Kallias’ Field. ‘He’s still just playing with me!’ However, while her attention was on her legs, her eyes caught something moving out of the corner of her range. It only took a moment for her reflexes to focus and determine it. ‘More?!’ Saki glanced back at Kallias to read the scene. ‘No, the angle’s wrong…these are the same ones! He’s directing them around!’ Struggling with the water around her legs, Saki only managed to free one leg. ‘I can’t…’

No time remained for Saki in the terrible position she found herself in. Her eyes widened a little in surprise to be completely caught off guard by Kallias. She fought to turn her around in such an awkward position, but could only manage a slight change before the water crashed into her. The few that missed splashed in the Field digging up tall impact waves.

Saki felt like lead balls fell atop her, not water. They were dense and didn’t fall apart at impact. They dug into her body before collapsing. She thought she had been punched from the force. It pushed her on her back, soaking in the water of Kallias’ Field. ‘…hurts…’

‘She lost again,’ mocked a child.

‘How many times does this make,’ questioned another little kid.

‘Twenty-seven times.’

‘She’ll never beat him.’

‘She’s just a girl.’

‘She’s too cocky. She really should learn her place!’

Biting through the sting, Saki ripped her other leg free from the water. She forced the memories into the back of her mind. ‘This is not the time for it.’ Saki stood up, wiping off the water from her face.

Examining the results, Kallias narrowed his eyes a little. He found it very interesting. It was definitely going to be enough for him. ‘You gave me quite the opponent, Vangelis! I’ll have to thank you after this is all over.’ Kallias subconsciously found himself grinning a little at the prospect of fighting Saki. ‘I want to see more! Give me more!’

He ran his hand through the water ring again. It quickly turned into four rings. The next action was easily seen. A motion from his hand spawned over thirty of his little spheres. “Let’s play some more!”

Gritting her teeth, Saki opened her vision to try to pay attention to everything. She disappeared and reappeared a few meters away the moment she caught sight of water coming after her. Her dripping legs were ready for him. “I’m not a toy that’ll play for you!” Saki dodged another attempt.

Grinning at Saki’s struggling, Kallias gave the motion for the water orbs to leave for their target. “That’s what will make this fun! I wouldn’t want it any other way!”

“Dammit…” she muttered. More tricks came in from the Field, while the thirty lead balls shot at her. Knowing his methods better, Saki kept ahead of the Field. However, dodging thirty targets made things more difficult for her. It became worse after she avoided them the first time. They all turned around in different directions to refocus on her.

She was given little time to react. Her mind was forced to pay attention to the Field and the projectiles. It made her eyes dart around trying to keep everything in view for her. ‘I’ve got to keep moving!’ Saki settled for the only solution that kept her out of the range. Her feet carried her around the Field into the blind side of Kallias.

His open back taunted her for a strike. ‘I’ve got to find a way through his water! It doesn’t matter if I keep failing! I’ll figure him out eventually!’ Saki charged in hoping to get through his defenses, but her fist met the same water. It halted her progress. Her fist couldn’t even penetrate a millimeter through the water. Water sprayed over her arms dripping thicker than before onto her. ‘Why can’t I get through!? It’s like hitting a steel wall!’

“I thought you were learning from your mistakes,” goaded Kallias. He already had the spheres turning around coming for Saki. “Please don’t become boring now.”

“Bastard!” Saki growled, annoyed with his voice. Her eyes turned to her sides, noticing the spheres aimed at her. In the matter of a second, she had to make a decision. She had to answer her question. She wanted to stay and keep trying. She needed to escape.

Saki demanded an answer.

Stubbornness won out over survival. She kept pushing her hand against the water to make any sort of impact. She had to know she could do something against him.

The first ball rammed into her back, but she remained on her feet. It barely even made her budge. The next did little more to change her. She still stood after a third blasted her from all sides. Her hand remained pressed up against the water determined not to give up. Ten more rained down on her shaking her body. The last rounds came in trying to knock her to her knees.

Saki kept on her feet the entire time. Her fist shook up against the water still unable to penetrate any deeper. Water continued to drip down her body from the blasts, but she remained firm.

The Atlantean turned around to face Saki directly. He looked no more concerned about her proximity than any other time. “Such recklessness is going to make this less interesting.”

“I don’t care what you think! I will break your water!”

A bit of a smirk came across his face watching Saki struggling. “Your resolve is nice, but it is clear from watching you that you don’t have any real experience in a fight.”

“I don’t care about those things!”

“Oh, but without experience you’ll just end up losing. You can’t solve everything quickly. You’ve got to enjoy it and soak in it!”

Saki pressed her fist harder against the water, but found nothing. She made no progress. “I’m not like you! I’ll never be like you!”

“Then you’ll never win!” Suddenly, a swiping attack came at Saki knocking her off her feet. Kallias quickly followed up with a blast of water that sent her flying away. A snap up his fingers ordered up another round of water spheres, already in flight.

Saki flew backwards through the air, unable to get any control. “Damn!” Her back slammed into the barrier forcing her down into the corner. She struggled to get back to her feet feeling a little short of breath from the last hit. Unfortunately, as her eyes opened to focus back on Kallias she saw his next attack. She could only put her arms up for defense as they already began to strike.

‘She’s down again!’

‘She never learns.’

‘A girl can’t win, not against him!’

‘It’s pathetic.’

‘She should just quit already.’

‘It’s pointless!’

After the round of dozens of balls slammed into her, Saki began to move again. Water draped over her body, almost clinging to her. She rocked back up to her feet looking a little unstable. The look in her eyes remained unchanged. A narrowed thin look of determination filled her eyes. ‘It’s never pointless!’