Telepath had collapsed on the battlefield without another sound.
Only Hit remained.
The two fighters were ready again.
Hit unveiled the long blade concealed in the shaft.
A perfect stance.
Balanced.
Ridhi stepped lightly across the cracked earth.
She wasn't analysing Hit; rather, she was reading the patterns.
Hit attacked.
A horizontal slash.
She leaned to dodge, but the direction of the momentum changed.
A vertical one.
Then diagonal.
Reverse grip.
Thrust.
Each strike faded smoothly into another.
He finally landed a blow with the hilt.
The strike rattled her head.
Followed by a kick, he pushed Ridhi away.
The playful confidence of Ridhi vanished.
She started taking the fight seriously.
She retreated.
Immortal followed.
She lured him.
The terrain was weak and cracked.
His foot got stuck in a crack.
Hit planted his blade.
The ground collapsed.
It uprooted a tree at a distance.
The tree fell over him.
He strengthened it.
The halved tree disturbed a nearby boulder.
Water splashed out of the ground.
The soil near the crack started converting into quicksand.
The more he struggled, the deeper he got.
Ridhi picked up knives from the ground.
She threw them.
Clank.
The knives clashed.
Their trajectories changed.
They clashed to change their directions.
And all of them finally redirected toward him.
He managed to block a few.
His footing was not solid, so it was hard.
Hit undid the threads of the long blade and threw it toward the nearest solid ground.
The chains allowed it to stretch.
He leaned back to float above the marsh and pulled the shaft.
Ridhi was waiting to attack.
He blocked her without even looking.
She fell back into the forest.
Hit followed, knowing it was a trap.
Ridhi vanished, simply gone.
Step.
Step.
Twigs snapped.
Branches cracked.
Air stirred.
She was moving too fast for Hit to follow.
A slash from the left.
A knife from the right.
A hit from above.
Everything was happening, but none of it could be seen.
The attacks continued.
Blood was dripping.
Hit looked, but nothing could be done.
He closed his eyes.
Felt the rushing air.
Heard the cracking of leaves.
Smelled the trampled twigs.
Other than his eyes, every sense was overworked.
The attack was coming, but this time it didn't land.
"Lucky?"
Hit didn't respond.
She tried again, a diagonal slash.
Hit blocked it with the hilt.
Ridhi didn't like Hit adapting to the situation.
Again, she slashed.
Blocked.
Teleported.
A kick from above.
Landed.
Teleported.
A thrust to the torso.
Metal clang.
Teleported.
From below.
Evaded.
A knife from the blind spot left its mark.
Teleported.
Ridhi continued.
Each time with better accuracy.
Some landed, some were blocked.
Ridhi began to get frustrated.
She was almost invisible, but somehow Hit managed to evade most of her attacks.
She threw every weapon in her arsenal.
Hit adapted to everything.
Ridhi panicked.
She fell back for a moment.
"Luck, really?"
Ridhi moved, teleported, attacked, slashed again, but still nothing worked.
Hit had a reply for everything.
Then she teleported within his guard.
Hit grabbed her by the neck.
Opened his eyes.
He summoned all his force and threw her like a pebble into the open.
She landed on her back.
Her ribs broke.
She coughed blood.
Before reason could catch up with instincts, Immortal was over her.
He pinned her to the ground with his blade.
He stood right above her and started kicking.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
She was no longer able to teleport.
She was not getting the chance.
Hit was holding onto her, so he would be teleported along with her.
Her skull cracked.
Her nose flattened against her face.
"So, you won't die by these means? Let's move to something special."
He picked up his blade and put it back while keeping his foot on her arms.
His blade submerged into his body like a rock sinking into water.
The concentration of energy became denser.
The air felt heavy.
Ridhi sensed a different energy, much purer than what was already there.
It grew and grew.
Much more powerful.
The whole area screamed of this reckoning force.
Hit closed his fist and aimed for her neck.
This could have been the moment that decided the battle.
He might have been someone who could actually kill a deity.
The increasing concentration drew the attention of Vasudha.
She appeared on the battlefield.
Hit was only a few inches away from killing a deity, but he stopped.
"It's you."
"Who would have thought you could defeat a deity without using your full strength, no less."
"I'll take that as a compliment then."
Ridhi stood up.
"So, what do we do now, two versus one?"
"Let's take him down together. He is strong."
"No, he was more than what you bargained for. If he insists, I would take care of him."
"Of course you would say that."
"Do you still want to fight then?"
"I know, but it might be interesting."
"Interesting, how?"
"Let's find out."
"Go on then, whenever you feel like it."
Ridhi left the ground.
She changed into her divine form and then again into her human form.
Her body was unscratched, as it had been before the fight.
(Note: The battle between Rudra and Immortal was still going on at this time. Rudra also felt the surge of energy in the surroundings but was busy dealing with Immortal, so he was not able to come to her aid.)
Their eyes met.
Whoosh.
He pushed off the ground and launched himself like a cannonball.
A fist to the face.
Vasudha bent slightly.
The punch grazed her long hair.
A hand from the earth struck his gut.
He stepped back but didn't stop.
A full-swing punch from a distance.
Dodged.
Reverse swing.
Blocked.
A kick to the torso.
Blocked by an earth wall.
The wall smashed.
Crack!
He retreated again.
Their eyes locked.
Hit closed the gap with careful movement.
A side kick meant for the neck.
Collided with a forearm.
A punch to the face.
Blocked with an open palm.
Both exploded into motion.
Left hook.
Right cross.
Knee.
Elbow.
Every strike was fast and with greater precision.
A wrist was caught.
Hit swung unnaturally and freed himself.
And once again took a step back.
"Enough with such trivial attacks. Do you not intend to fight at your fullest?"
"I am just warming up."
"Don't take too much time."
"Sure. Behold my weapon."
Hit concentrated his energy.
Pulled the hilts hanging from his back.
A short-handled axe and a human-sized longsword appeared in his left and right hands, respectively.
The concentration of energy shifted once again.
"Would you acknowledge this?"
A familiar stance appeared in Vasudha's mind.
"How do you know this stance?"
"So, you still don't want to acknowledge me, 'Queen of Utopia'?"
An emptiness covered her face.
She stayed expressionless on the battlefield, looking at the person standing before her.