Ravens of Eternity

Chapter 276

276 Freya vs Lucifer, Pt The entire Discordian fleet was suddenly abuzz with excitement. Word of Lucifer and Freya’s fight spread through every ship like wildfire. It consumed many, who immediately dropped what they were doing and ran to the closest terminal.

A whole lot of them gathered around the larger screens as they collectively flipped through the many EyeCasts located at the fighting pits.

The arena itself was simply one of the larger rooms in the Discordian flagship, and was equipped exactly like a sparring gym. There were bins of equipment all around, the floors and walls were padded, and a number of sparring automatons sat in their maintenance housings.

Most importantly, there were a dozen or so octagon fighting cages laid out across the floor. Each one sat on a slab of titacrete exactly one meter high, and was padded lightly. The octagons themselves had walls made from a highly elastic titanium alloy mesh, which were flexible enough to absorb a majority of energy and keep the fighters inside relatively safe.

They floated in place through powerful antigrav rings up above every octagon ring, and made sure that the fighting space was protected at all times.

Eris was the first through the doors into the whole room, with Lucifer, Freya, and the rest of the Ravens right behind.

And behind all of them were most of the officers and techs and analysts on the bridge, almost all of whom were busy chattering and betting and arguing the entire way. They were heatedly discussing who was the superior fighter, gave their reasons why, then slammed their opposition for their choice.

Sometimes, the arguments almost led to fistfights themselves, and some had to be physically separated from each other.

Eris stepped right up to the central octagon, which was easily twice the size of all the others at 30 meters in diameter. It was, in a word, incredibly spacious for a fighting ring.

.....

“Fan of the Mixed Fighting Championships?” Eva asked Eris.

“I was a part owner,” the pirate queen replied. “Sold my portion long before I got here, though. Made a third of a billion on the deal.”

“Of course you were. And of course you did.”

One of the cage walls swung open by the antigrav field above it, which allowed both Eva and Lucifer to step into the ring itself. From there, they headed towards the center, but gave each other a bit of distance as they walked.

Just a little breathing room.

Then, they began to circle each other, and drew closer. The two eyed each other up and down in appraisal, even as they slowly entered their stances.

Both had developed their individual fighting styles from a number of different martial arts, and it was evident in how they held themselves.

Freya curled her hands into tight fists as she widened her stance. Her shoulders were squared up and solid. Lucifer’s style was a bit more relaxed, and had a thinner stance. On top of that, ze held hir arms close in and left hir hands open rather than balled up.

The two inched closer together, their eyes filled with dangerous intent.

“Why’re you so opposed to me joining?” asked Lucifer.

“‘Coz I’m done with people telling me what to do,” Freya replied. “If you’re joining just to exert power over us, then I’m 100% not having it.”

Freya filled herself with energy from Ascendant Form, and was the first to rush forward. She knew that they both had the ability to manipulate their bodies, and could only assume that they were on even ground.

If they weren’t, then it was critical that she moved quickly to take hir down. So she employed the principle of velocity to her fight, more so than normal.

She delivered a left straight feint, followed by a swift right hook, but Lucifer was nonplussed. Ze ignored the feint, parried her hook, then countered with two quick right-left jabs. Both of which were blocked and deflected by Freya’s forearms in quick succession.

Ze leaned back quickly just as Freya performed a spinning crescent kick, then backed up and blocked two subsequent jumping snap kicks.

But ze didn’t stay on the defensive. Lucifer immediately ducked down, spun hir leg out, and swept Freya’s legs out from under her. She fell back-first onto the barely-padded titacrete, but quickly performed a kip up right after.

She launched a flurry of punches at Lucifer right as the two of them rose up, but ze deflected each of her strikes with hir forearms. Ze made sure to grab one of her wrists in the middle of it all, pulled her in, then struck swiftly with hir other elbow at the same time.

Freya blocked it mere millimeters before it struck her face, shoved Lucifer back, then followed up with a push kick that caused hir to stumble backwards a few steps.

Both took a half step back, panted lightly, and let their stamina recover from their brief flurry. They circled each other with guards up, and reappraised each other’s skill and ability.

“Fight me all you like,” Lucifer taunted, “fact is that the Ravens are weak. You’d all be a whole lot stronger with me around.”

“You mean poorer,” Freya spat back.

“I might’ve been a little heavy handed with my fees, but money is power. The fact that the Ravens gave half of their power away so easily... it should be a crime.”

Freya narrowed her eyes, irritated by Lucifer’s taunts. She realized ze was trying to upset her, unbalance her, and did her best to calm down. Instead of furthering the argument, she lunged forward a second time, and threw a hard straight right.

Then she threw her left knee forward just as Lucifer ducked from her fist, though ze blocked it expertly with hir arms. Ze pushed inward, then swung hir elbows in succession – one aimed at Freya’s chin, the other into her side.

But she leaned back and parried just in the nick of time, then immediately countered with a sweeping backhand fist.

Lucifer decisively blocked it with hir arm, and grabbed her wrist again. Ze pulled away then twisted it away with extreme force. And instead of resisting against it, Freya rolled into Lucifer’s throw, vaulted her legs over and above her, then landed squarely with both feet.

She tugged her arm back and at the same time snapped forward with a left jab, aimed straight at hir eye. Ze had no choice but to let go and parry, but not without swiping at Freya’s neck with a knife hand at the same time.

Every Discordian watching was utterly speechless at the exchange they were all witnessing. Those who were rooting for one or the other were convinced that their choice had the upper hand. They believed the fight would be over far too quickly, and that one of them would easily best the other.

Seeing them fight each other to a frenzied stalemate was far from everyone’s expecatations.

More than that, the sheer pressure of their strikes swept through them in waves. They felt the power of their blows push up against them, as though the air itself was thick with their energy.

The crowd suddenly erupted in raucous yelling and cheering, and many rooted heavily for one fighter or the other. A couple of bookies revealed themselves among the crowd, and began to take in even more bets from everyone all around them.

Chants for Lucifer or Freya rose up from all around as the Discordians poured their faith into the two via thousands of credits or ducats.

Not that the two even noticed. Both were hyper focused on each other and saw only one another. Everyone and everything else faded away – the sights, the sounds, the cheers, the jeers.

The only thing that mattered to either of them was the incredibly dangerous opponent that stood in front of them. They had fought side-by-side a few times in the past month or so – mostly mild skirmishes against random thugs.

Each had an inkling of what the other could do. And since they had shared some knowledge of Ascendant Form/True Harmony with each other, knew what their potential limits actually were.

But all they had witnessed was how they moved and acted against regular people. What the other was truly capable of was far beyond their knowledge.

And now, they realized that those limits would be tested. Their hearts began to beat faster as a result. The excitement of facing off against a truly worthy opponent flooded the both of them.

“We never figured out victory conditions,” Lucifer said. “Could be a problem figuring out who the winner is.”

“First blood sounds good and simple to me,” Freya answered.

“What if one of us doesn’t bleed?”

“Knocking you out cold sounds like a wonderful alternative.”

Freya immediately leapt towards Lucifer again, and opened up with a swift left jab, but immediately ducked as Lucifer countered with a right overhand. She followed up with a right-left uppercut combo, which were blocked and parried expertly.

Ze followed up with hir own left jab, then lunged forward with hir right knee. Freya stopped it just before it could dig into her ribs, then shoved Lucifer away with both hands. Ze stumbled backwards and steadied hirself just as Freya pushed her advantage and whipped out another straight right.

Lucifer drew hir arms in and blocked the punch, then spun and grabbed her wrist again. Ze pulled Freya in, pivoted, then threw her over hir shoulder with as much force as ze could muster.

Freya sailed in the air for a few meters, but she quickly curled up, rolled on a shoulder, then hopped back on her feet. She hardly gave pause and immediately charged Lucifer again.

She leapt forward and performed a jumping double snap kick, which Lucifer backed up from warily, then ducked as Freya finished up with a spinning roundhouse. Ze quickly sped in immediately and attacked just as she recovered her balance and opened with another lunging knee.

Freya had no choice but to block it while she took a couple steps back – the force of Lucifer’s attack had amplified, and she fought to remain upright. It was clear ze began to pour more power into hir strikes.

And so Freya followed suit and did the same.

The two then engaged in a back-and-forth flurry of blows, blocks, parries, counters, and evasions as they ramped up their energy. They called on the strength that their bodies held, and brought it out to the surface bit by bit, blow by blow.

Freya came in aggressively with swift jabs and her own lunging knee, but Lucifer dodged them in turn. Ze blocked her knee and pushed it aside, which caused Freya to stumble slightly. As she did, ze countered with a downwards elbow aimed right at her head.

She quickly spun out of the way, and performed a leaping right hook in response. She poured energy into the speed of her attack, and caught Lucifer just as ze was off balance from hir counter.

Ze was forced to swiftly block with hir arms to protect hirself. Despite that, the force of Freya’s blow was strong enough that ze stumbled backwards a couple of meters.

Both backed up again a few steps, and gave each other a little breathing room. Both of them panted heavily from exertion, and swiftly recovered their stamina as they circled one another.

“Are you always this genial to everyone who saves you?” asked Lucifer.

“I appreciate what you’ve done for us,” Freya retorted. “And you were paid handsomely for it. Consider this as me paying my share.”

Both grinned at each other as blood pumped heavily through their veins. The excitement of the fight truly empowered the both of them, and were rejuvenated by it. Neither had ever gone up against an opponent whose style countered their own so well. As a result, neither really wanted to stop the fight.

Or, at least, neither wanted it to end quickly despite everyone around demanding they do just that.

Eris and the Ravens were also completely enraptured by the fight. Since they were practically the first in the room, they had the best seats in the house, and watched ringside. Not a single one of them had seen such an equal display of skill and power, and were completely awed by both combatants.

“First time I’ve ever seen Lucifer take this long to win,” said Eris. She was practically breathless as she spoke.

“Same with Freya,” Claire chimed in. “Almost all the fights I’ve seen her get into ended fast.”

“She would say too fast,” Miko added.

Eris grinned as she watched the two fighters do their very best to outdo each other. And gained little ground in the process. She realized just how much power and strength the both of them had, and what they could tap into.

Her gaze fell on the rest of the Ravens and realized that they were all incredibly powerful in their own right.

A hint of dejection slipped into her, knowing that she couldn’t “own” the Ravens. Having such powerful women within the Temple would have only increased its prestige and capabilities. And of course, its ledger.

But an alliance was just as well, if not better – she still had access to their abilities and skills, even if she had to pay a prettier penny for them. Even more important, their independence was what caused them to be powerful.

Chaining them to the Discordians would have only hampered that.

“Who do you all think’s gonna win?” Eris asked after a while.

“It does not matter,” Miko answered. “What does matter is that Freya appears to be finding herself again. This fight might be entertainment to many, but it is clearly more than that for her.”