https://youtu.be/5OU_A4-48zE

"Alright, he should be right...here?"

As Freya spoke, Yuri stopped, observing her surroundings as she heard the confusion evident in the goddess' voice. She was in the middle of a town square, with progressively lush green grass in a wide round space circled with black stones. There wasn't a house in sight, just irregular stones arranged all around, and an altar smack in the centre. Clearly, this was a place of collective worship, but nobody was there - no worshipers, no elves.

"Was I...too late?" Yuri asked, gripping onto her sword tightly.

"No, I still sense that magic. It's just...I can't see who it's coming from." Freya replied. "I think they might be invisible. Stay alert."

Yuri nodded, taking a deep breath before raising her sword and shield. "Hel's Angel, reveal yourself!"

"YOU TRAIPSE INTO MY DOMAIN AND MAKE DEMANDS OF ME?" a booming voice roared through the air, momentarily startling Yuri. "I think you ought to know just who you're dealing with, girl."

"Freya, who's that?"

"I think you're about to get your answer in three...two-"

Before she could finish her countdown, one of the stones grew glowing cracks on its surface before crumbling to pieces, and from the rubble, a most flamboyant man stood up, his hands on his hips. He was rather tall, towering over Yuri, and though his pointed ears betrayed his elven heritage, his body was well-muscled, not lithe or lean like most males of his kind. He wore formal clothing, bright blue and white, and a wide-brimmed hat with a rather large feather over his long white hair. His most distinctive feature was the cloak he wore over his clothes - strikingly blue, and blowing in the wind that seemed to show up just as he did. He looked down at Yuri with an arrogant sneer.

"You stand before the Supreme Fencer!" the elf exclaimed loudly, gesturing towards the rapier strapped to his hip. "Weep at your own leisure, enemy of Gardariki!"

"Ugh, he's like Oz but less charming." Freya groaned. "Yuri, make sure to beat him up nice and good, okay?"

Yuri nodded, but otherwise did not respond to Freya, instead holding her sword out towards the Fencer. She tried to recall where she'd heard the word 'Gardariki' before, but as her memory failed her, she decided to focus on what was going on right now. "You command the elves who attacked this place, don't you?"

"But I do! Sent here by General Aleron, I gather souls for our most illustrious cause!" the Fencer announced, grinning wickedly as he dragged every 'L' in his words. "And you must be the foolish angel sent by that poisonous god you call 'king'!"

"I...am no angel, nor am I here on Odin's command." Yuri responded calmly, shaking her head. "But I am here to put a stop to your designs."

"Ha! Hundreds, nay, thousands before you have said the same thing!" the Supreme Fencer blustered, drawing his sword and entering an offensive stance, his blade held above his head and his hand out in front of him. "But they were WRONG! For the true purpose of their visit was to pad out my kill count! And you, my friend, shall be the same!"

"...Declaring victory before blades have clashed is the truest sign of folly." Yuri said simply. "Your arrogance will be your downfall."

"Downfall? I know not the meaning of the word!" the Fencer smirked proudly. "But I do know the meaning of fear, girl - the shiver running down your spine, the chill coursing through your veins as you lay eyes on the Supreme Fencer!"

"Yuriiii~" Freya whined in the nixie's head. "Cut out his tongue already..."

"In due time." Yuri said simply, stepping forward in the Fencer's direction and entering a more defensive stance. "Your ego does not matter to me. Nor does it matter to the wyrd. Your fate is sealed - in Odin's name, you will know the wrath of the heavens."

"Ha! And what is fate? A miserable little pile of swina bǫllr!" the elf declared, eyeing her every movement to find the slightest chink in her guard. "But enough talk. Have at you!"

https://youtu.be/n3EgBGqBpnA

Without a moment of hesitation, the Supreme Fencer lunged forward, thrusting his rapier at Yuri's chest only for her to divert the sword with her shield. Tutting at this, he thrust his blade again and again, only to be parried every time - every stab she couldn't meet with her shield, she would turn around to catch with her sword.

Surprised at her skill, he increased his speed, smirking as he saw her beginning to struggle to keep up. As steel met steel over and over, Yuri kept a close eye on his movements, remaining defensive while she sought an opening. "Your mind is an open book to me, minion! I can tell you're thinking 'Such supreme fencing! How can I ever defeat such a formidable adversary?'"

"Not even close." Yuri said, locking blades with him and pushing back against his strength before her sword suddenly formed into a shapeless mass of water. The Fencer's blade phased through it, and as he tried to regain his balance, she waved her arm from one side to the other. The water moved accordingly, repeatedly striking him across the face. As she waved her arm up, it leapt into the sky, uppercutting his chin in the process.

The Fencer looked up at her, aghast as he recovered from her attacks, but as he opened his mouth to speak, she spun forth, smashing his face with her shield. The water blast smashed into his head from above, and as Yuri raised her hand, it turned back into her falchion and returned to her.

"If you spent as much time training as you did boasting, perhaps you would've lasted longer." Yuri said, thrusting her blade forth and aiming for his mouth. He seemed to smirk wildly for a moment, and as she made an impact, she realised he was struggling back. She looked up to see the Fencer entering another blade-lock with her - with his overly-long tongue alone holding back her sword.

"WHAT?"

The Fencer raised his sword to attack, and at once Yuri drew back, setting him free while he grinned wickedly. "You thought you did something there, didn't you, you foolish, insolent child?" he taunted, as the nixie stared in disbelief. "Most unfortunately for you, I keep my training and my boasting to a strict 1:1 ratio!"

"You're better than I thought." Yuri growled slightly, priming herself to attack. "But I'm even better, still."

The Fencer smiled an annoying smile, and at once, Yuri charged towards him, shield in front of her. He performed a jab at her feet, but she sidestepped out of the way before kicking his rapier out of his hands. He gasped in shock as he watched it land on the grass, the only reaction he could muster before she plunged her sword into his gut.

"A swordsman without a sword. Let's see how he fares." Freya mused. The Fencer stumbled backwards, offended at this impudent display, but with a clap of the hands and a bowing flourish, he and his blade rapidly sunk into the earth.

"Freya, where is he?" Yuri asked, contemplating stabbing randomly into the ground before deciding against it.

"Underground, probably. He'll resurface soon, I think."

Not long after she said that, the Fencer leapt out of the earth looking absolutely pristine, landing on top of the altar and holding his sword up in two hands. Yuri looked up at him, gripping her blade tightly as she felt a turbulence grip her surroundings, picking up pieces of shattered rock, pebbles and grass. "You appear unimpressed, child! Witness my skills, and be blown away!"

The wind grew fiercer, completely uprooting the rest of the stones in the area and sending them flying around. Yuri struggled to keep her footing, raising her shield to protect herself from the flying pebbles and stones and trudging forward against the storm as she slowly advanced towards the arrogant swordsman. The wind didn't let up, either, but Yuri was nothing if not determined. She let the projectiles strike her shield, the eagle symbol beginning to take flight.

The shield quickly morphed into water, reforming in the shape of a second falchion, and as she ducked under a flying rock, her swords became surrounded in a bright red, swirling aura, reminiscent of thick flames, leaving no trace of the swords themselves. She crossed them in front of her, glaring at the elf. "By my hand, let all who threaten the natural order be purged!"

In a surge of strength and speed, she pushed forth, taking a step further before bringing both blades down, unleashing a brilliant blaze of energy as she slashed the air in front of her. A cross-shaped energy blast shot forward, tearing through the wind to reach the Fencer, who looked shocked in the brief moments before he realised the attack was destined to hit him.

In a single strike, the Fencer was knocked off the altar, landing on the ground with a melodramatic yelp, and at once the wind stopped, dropping all the rocks it had picked up. He leapt to his feet, glaring at Yuri with a feral anger in his eyes. "You may be more skilled than you look, child. I'll give you that, at least - but it shan't be enough! You're a fool if you think you can-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Yuri leapt over the altar, plunging her sword into his mouth which he hastily parried with his elongated tongue, looking somewhat fearful right now as she stared into him with eyes as cold as ice. "Stop talking."

She raised her other sword to attack him, but he flourished his blade to parry her while he drew back, separating his tongue from her blade. Growling in frustration, he ran his hand along the blunt edge of his rapier, cloaking the pointed blade in a fierce wind before glaring at her with clenched teeth. "Do not look down on me, child! You are not my superior!"

With increased speed and strength, he glided towards Yuri, unleashing a harsh flurry of stings in a split second, and though she felt these strike her body, she didn't let it slow her down. Once he was done, he jumped back before leaping up, spinning around to drill his blade into her as the wind surrounding it revolved around his whole body. Quickly, she crossed her blades, turning them both into shields and putting them together. As the point of his rapier collided with the shields, they seemed to repel him, but he did not let up, the clash of the unstoppable force and the immovable object challenging both combatants to their limits.

"Hold on a little longer, okay? You got this."

Yuri nodded, digging her heels in to try and persevere. After a short while, she looked up to see a swarm of spherical Bladesung grenades falling from the sky. They were dangerously close to her, but luckily her shields would protect her. The same couldn't be said of the Fencer, however, who was caught in electric explosions, one after the other, his rotations slowing down as he screamed in agony and shame.

https://youtu.be/a0Zr2K24cMY

He fell to the ground, unable to resist the might of the grenades, and quick as a flash, a certain angel, cloaked in a thick aura of green lightning, plummeted to the ground, slamming into the Fencer on ivory wings. As another scream came out, Oz, having nailed the landing, stood up proudly, stepping away from him and looking at Yuri, flashing a peace sign and revealing his mask was donned. "And the hero arrives on the scene!"

Yuri regarded him with a small smile, only to pay attention as the Fencer, breathless, got up from the ground, cackling weakly. "So...you could not defeat me...and now you rely on backup?" he mumbled, pointing his sword at Oz. "And who are you...another snivelling child?"

"Hardly! I am he who angels fear!" Oz spread his arms out, summoning a gun to each hand. "Defender of the heavens, bringer of joy and banisher of evil; I am the Comic Mask!"

"Comic Mask?" the Fencer growled, gripping his sword tightly as wind began swirling around his feet, whipping up some loose blades of grass. "Well, even your mask won't be smiling once you taste the might of the Supreme Fencer!"

"Oho? A kindred spirit?"

"Silence, you fool! Now watch as your silly little friend DIES BY MY BLADE!"

He lunged at Yuri, who defended herself from his stab with one sword and slashed him in the side with another. Oz turned to face him, shooting him with a spray of holy bullets and distracting him, combined with his prior injuries. Yuri caught his blade easily, and with a graceful flourish of swords she just as easily disarmed him.

"You! Cease your intervention at once!" the Fencer panted, glaring at Oz and raising his hands before pointing at the einherjar harshly - and then quickly lowering his hands as he dodged Yuri's subsequent attempts to slash him. "This is not your battle!"

"And yet, this whole world is my stage!" Oz declared, tossing one gun into the air and lobbing a Bladesung grenade at him with a stylish turn. The Fencer lashed out his tongue to swat the projectile out of the way, only for it to explode on contact in a burst of rainbow-coloured lightning. The Fencer, startled, failed to defend himself as Yuri slashed across his chest. He let out an array of heartful cries as she sliced and diced, and as Oz watched, he couldn't help but wonder how long he would last.

"Enough! I yield!" the Fencer sobbed, terror in his eyes as he desperately stepped away from her. Yuri didn't let up, taking a step forward for every step back and continuing her assault. "You cheat! You honourless cur! I said I yield!"

"Yuri, that's enough." Oz spoke up, seriousness in his voice that had been entirely absent until a few seconds ago. Yuri looked back at him in confusion, and in the split second she was distracted, he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a pillar of light. The two of them were left alone in the field, now facing one another.

https://youtu.be/HDlGXfnK6pA

"...he got away." Yuri murmured, visibly displeased. "I...almost had him."

"Now, now, don't feel bad." Oz removed his mask, smiling gently at her. "You had him on the ropes. You forced him to retreat. Uh, Freya, he has retreated, yes?"

"Mhm. He's nowhere near here." Freya confirmed. "He must've gone to treat his injuries. And, as long as it's nowhere I can hear him, I honestly don't mind."

"I should never have given him the chance..." Yuri frowned, shaking her head. "Why...did you stop me?"

Oz gave an easygoing smile in response. "What matters most is that the threat has been dealt with. Whether or not that entails taking his life is secondary - and frankly, I'd really rather not."

"That's...risky." Yuri said, before clearing her throat. "But thanks for helping..."

"Think nothing of it." Oz took a deep bow. "It's an honour to be of assistance to you, oh goddess of the blade."

"E-Enough with the goddess stuff..." Yuri stammered, closing her eyes tightly. "I...should thank you, too, Freya."

"Oh, you're very welcome." Freya said. "I can't help but notice, though; you're completely different when you're fighting."

"Truly?" Oz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yes. I think that entire spectacle with the Fencer is something you'd have greatly enjoyed, Oz." Freya continued, giggling softly. At that, the einherjar sighed, hanging his head with a defeated expression.

"Ah, the price I pay to be fashionably late." he lamented, before beaming happily. "At least I saved the citizens!"

"Then...this mission was a success." Yuri nodded slowly, putting her swords away. "Which means...I must report back to the commander."

"Of course!" Oz grinned. "Thank you ever so much for your help - it was much appreciated."

"No problem." Yuri nodded, avoiding eye contact. He seemed so earnest right now, she was worried she wouldn't be able to bear looking directly into his eyes. "I...had fun today."

Oz took a bow before looking up to the sky, clapping his hands together. "Freya, I don't suppose you could take us to the Val Gate?"

"It'll be a piece of cake." Freya responded. "Just brace yourselves, you two!"

"Aye aye!" Oz saluted, and he and Yuri stood strong, bracing themselves as requested as a shining beam of pink light shone down from the heavens, whisking them away as though they had never been in Midgard to begin with.