Duel:Lionel v Xaden

Lionel vs Xaden Death Duel

Lionel narrows his sapphire orbs, taking slower steps than his usual pace. Carefully, he examines his undead opponent, a hint of malice cast over his pale face. After a thorough look-over, he comes to a pause, no longer moving. Raising one lofty eyebrow, his eyes glowing with vigor, the young vampiric human slides his left hand down toward the large sheath and blue-and-white-toned handle of the Blessed Bluerush. With a swift motion, he pulls it from its encasement, his glare not leaving Xaden for even the shortest of moments. The shimmering blade does glow with what seems to be a great exuberance, soft tones charging up across its quite sharpened edge. Extending some four-and-one-half feet in length, it is truly a sight to behold. Drawing upon his inner spirits, the man holds it high, outward from himself with but only his left grip. It shines more and more vehemently, almost reaching a perfect hue of silver and white. Bringing his right hand to the case dangling loosely from a belt, he opens it and reveals for the first time his newest weapon. Touching firmly its hilt, carved from the purest of diamonds, and then tightening his hold on the handle, Lionel brings out a mesmerizing sword – Blade of Eternity. Upon this hilt are three encrusted gems – a sapphire, an emerald, and a shimmering diamond of the highest order. Swinging forward, he now holds the newly-reformed Blessed and Blade of Eternity chest length from one-another. Bending at the right knee, and kicking upward from the ground with his left foot, an alarmingly sudden charge begins. Fast approaching Xaden, Blessed reflects Lionel's burning passion and a blanket of sharpened ice covers it smoothly, leaving not a spot untouched. O'Connor slides a single finger upon the sapphire gem Blade of Eternity is equipped with, and a blindingly powerful white light shoots forth, cascading its white shades upon the undead adversary, covering him from viewability and rendering him most-likely unable to see. The crystalline ice shards erupt from Blessed and hone in on Xaden with proficiency, as the distance between the two combatants lessens. Lionel reaches his foe and crosses the blades together, the shine over Xaden only increasing, and the ice shards narrowing in on his chest. Lionel raises both blades into the air and over Xaden's head, slicing down with a piercing thrust that would bring both swords through his body at once, in their trajectory arc.

Xaden closes his eyes as the light around him intensifies with every moment. Clawed hands reach to his own chest and pull out several loose bones from his chest plate. The one who claims himself to be Death incarnate casts out his hands and lets loose the jagged fragments upon the immediate area as they spread out before him. Now with his arms outstretched, he waits. Seeming to pay little heed to the oncoming attack he merely stands there as if accepting the fate he would deal unto others as Lionel now bears down upon him. The pinnacle moment arrives, that one split second that grasps a man through his own personal eternity when overcome with a sense of battle as Xaden begins to move. He spins in a half circle as the cloak he wears is cast up into the air, meeting the first of the two blades. This cloak upon contact, wraps itself around the edges of the Blessed Blue Rush held in Lionels left hand as this counter clockwise motion continues. As if the cloth worn by Xaden held some life of its own, it presses against the sword, drawing it with the cloth to collide with its ally. The force of the two seems more astounding than what a simple cloak could accomplish as Lionel comes down to meet the clawed gauntlet of Xaden. He grasps at Lionels hair, pulling him close as from within the darkness of Xadens hood you hear a sharp scream. Xadens second hand comes around, now fully completing the spin as he rests it behind Lionels head. With one single jerk, Xaden pulls Lionels face close and opens his mouth wide, embracing his opponent in what looks to be a kiss of sorts. Xadens body suddenly stiffens as you can see a faint glow from within his hood, barely showing a feature or two of his face. The scream echoes again, sending birds from the surrounding forests to flee in terror as the glow intensifies and begins to run along the inside of lionels mouth, forcing open his jaw to enter. To one who has knowledge of the soul, it is plain to see that Xaden now bellows the soul of a single unnamed being into the form of Lionel, knowing full well the capacity of men upon their creation to carry but one soul. This glow is followed by a second shriek and a third as more come from the dark warrior in unison into Lionels frame. Like a leather wine sack pressed too full, they attempt to fill him quickly, ripping and stretching out within him to literally burst from within as Xaden keeps his lips locked firm with that of Lionels…

Lionel curses under his breath as Blessed is twisted about, gripping at the handle tightly, his face filled with frustration as if focusing on a single point. Blessed Bluerush is thrown loose from his hand, and begins to retaliate against the cloak's strike with a menacingly white glow. Blade of Eternity slams through thin air, and the opposite veers dangerously close to Lionel's side. The focused spiritual energy gathered within Blessed breaks through the cloak, causing an explosion of ice and water that destroys the apparel, and as the weapon begins to fall to the ground Lionel quickly grabs it back into his hold. Eyes wide with pure fear, his hair torn about and strands falling to the ground beside him, the leader lets out his own feral scream, as he kicks back and away from Xaden. Still the dark spirits find their way into him, and he struggles to and fro, sensations of his insides ripped apart evident in his petrifyingly shrill shouts. At once within him a figurative fire rages, as Halycanos angrily thrashes across from within, and he stumbles to the side, slamming the hilt of his newer of swords straight into Xaden's chest. Rolling with effort away from his opponent, he casts a fiery glare, and a new scream can be heard bellowing from the young man. His innards growing raw, he shakes profusely, his life drained from him. Halycanos at long last surges outward and casts these demons away, and Lionel leaps into the air as the darkness is expelled. Physically torn, welts appearing all across his paleish skin, he groans but does not falter. His own cape flowing with the wind, O'Connor comes back down, bending at both knees and crouching. Rubbing his right index finger across the diamond imbued upon Blade of Eternity, a visible small hole from the hilt screeches as slivers of diamond shoot from within, firing rapidly for Xaden's head with an ultra-sharp edge. Some fifty shards fly out, all of which narrowing in on the undead's cranium, intent on tearing through and out the other end all over his hidden face. Lunging once again, Lionel swings Blessed true, outward as beams of light energy form from its tip and join just behind the diamond slabs, slamming dead-ahead for Xaden's stomach. These beams burn flesh with their holy order, and the vampiric sets out to join his two-fold attack, holding Blade ahead perfectly, Blessed crossed ahead of his chest for defense. With a gallant charge he moves to impale Xaden's chest behind his multiplied onslaught, feet kicking the ground below them fiercely as he zooms into his opponent.

Xaden stumbles back a few steps as the butt of Lionels hilt hits him in the chest. Without any time to retaliate in defense, the diamond shards rain upon his body, ripping and tearing cloth, metal, and flesh. Xadens body jerks time after time as the shards penetrate him and yet he does not fall, he merely bends over as you can plainly see a thick, dark liquid pouring like honey from his wounds to collect upon the ground. The dirt seems to pop and sizzle at the touch of this mass as it collects about him. Xaden reaches down and places a single finger into it, bringing it to his mouth as he licks it once, his mouth letting out a slight groan. Not one accustomed to pain, but one similar to that of pleasure… Almost rapture. When the groan has left his throat, it is replaced by a new, more dark sounding tone as faint chuckling can be heard through several sputters. As the beams of holy light now come to pass, you look to see the bone shards that Xaden had cast beginning to move. Without warning, they shoot forth before Xaden, some in the way of each beam as the two collide. Like light shone from mirror to mirror they dance about from bone fragment to bone fragment, finally hitting the last one, tilted to where it reflects these collective beams back upon the blade that had cast them, connecting with the emerald as it surrounds it, shrinking about the gem as it concentrates upon blocking it. The bone fragments still hold their place as Xaden reaches to grasp a bowl, collecting a full sized amount of his own putrid blood. As Lionel comes forward, Xaden throws the bowl at Lionel, casting blood about as it looks to singe the body of Lionel as it has the very skin of Hollow…

Lionel is pushed back toward the ground as his beams of light strike Blade of Eternity true, tearing into the emerald of the hilt and cracking its hardened shell. He thrusts into the dirt with Blessed, to avoid falling on his back from the powers of his own abilities. A devastated glance from his welting face ensues, and he coughs up some of his own crimson nectar as he shakes vehemently, back and forth. Cursing once more in a low tone, Lionel's sapphire orbs narrow with anticipation as the dark liquid of Xaden's own lifeblood comes at him. Pushing his left hand down on the handle of his lowered sword, the young man leaps into the air vigorously, but this pool of pain slams into his stomach with significant tear through his breastplate. At once a steaming of smoke and skin rises from his abdomen, and a terrible cry of pain is let out for all to hear. Falling before he can rise up with his usual somersault-like blow, O'Connor hits the ground as his stomach's skin and flesh literally dissolves. Grasping with his free hand against it, its tear upon him finally ceasing, Lionel lets out a roar and stands tall once again. Spitting onto the ground where bits of his skin and muscle are flung about, he touches the tip of Blade of Eternity, and his left index finger draws blood immediately. Sinful smirk at the prowess of the sword, with his bleeding hand he pulls Blessed from the ground, and again with his two swords united, madly dashes for the undead. Blessed rages with white beams yet again, not stopped from the previous ill-fated attempt, and these energy pillars pave through the air toward Xaden's neck. Slicing into the air, Blade of Eternity's partially-shattered emerald still does the trick. The ground surrounding Xaden is hoisted upward, earth-based elementality engulfing him with a landslide of sorts. Risen ground collides, tumbling toward Xaden's head, and a fast dual slash ensues amidst the chaos, through the dirt. Tips of both swords pointed at the enemy's chest, he impales, hoping the marks tear through the flesh.

Xaden is finally forced to make significant movement as his body darts about, almost like the drunken stupor of a man in the throughs of music. Beam after beam tears past him to break upon the surrounding environment, cutting down any solid object in their path. The mass of earth however swallows the undead being as it crashes upon itself once more to rest. As Lionels blades dig deep into the ground, you see two arms rise up, hands grasp Lionel at the wound in his stomach. The pains of one seem to augment the pains of the other as Xadens blood continues to tear at Lionel when suddenly, Xadens hands clench. As the two share in their own sense of pain, it seems to connect them. At that very moment, Lionels mind is flooded with images. Horrid visages from eyes that are not his own. In one, two hands, obviously feminine and holding a rope perhaps reach between two legs to wrap around the throat of a newborn child. This choking continues until the child goes limp. In another, a young man clad in a fine garb is thrown atop a mound of garbage as he screams inaudibly. His mouth opens as an odd stink seems to hit Lionels nose. The shaft of a gnarled staff waves back and forth as the young mans mouth seems to fill with manure. These among many other disgusting feats lash out at Lionel, bringing visions of unspeakable horrors and yet in each, one thing is apparent. No demon, no entity seems to be in any of them. Only the bodies and viewpoints of men, mortal and quite the norm of any realm can be seen. As each revolting act bombards him, Xaden grins from his shallow grave. Showing him the true nature of man. Every warmongering action, every greedy attempt at anothers expense seems to overwhelm fond memory and hope as you begin to hear a muffled chuckle from beneath the ground…

Lionel falls back, all things he is so avidly against tainting his mind, as his stomach is damaged all the more profoundly. Biting his lip and drawing blood from it, the young man tries desperately to push himself from the images, as is clearly shown by the growing strain and frustration upon his wounded face. The terrible aromas and annihilative visions push him further and further from reality, and he falls to the ground, but holds onto his swords with all of his remaining force. Xaden's blood spewed across him, his flesh burns and tightens, contorts. Scream after scream is let out, from the horrible things cast within him, but he does not let go of his swords. “This is not real!” Declares the young man from his nearly-fallen consciousness, as he pulls away the blades at last from the risen ground, and jolts away from the makeshift grave. The ground crumbles at last, revealing Xaden's stance, as it bashes into the earth from whence it rose. The images, Lionel searches his heart to replace, his eyes darting rapidly as he ends his twitching and tries hard not to think of the pain in his stomach, more oozing and steaming from his abdomen. His wounded heart gives him what he needs, and Lionel focuses on the truth as a smirk plays upon his lips – the truth, that Xaden had essentially killed that child, though the burning truth that he himself is capable of such actions does not leave him and he swings both swords with might into the earth, his face filled with remorse, his body with the aches and pains of his battle. Turning away, he glances onward into nothingness.

--- Lionel Wins

Lionel brings Shogo's scythe high up into the air. “I strike you with the weapon of the leader of Hand of the Chosen, because you have caused the clan of my allies so much grief and despair, it's only fitting. Every last one of them were poisoned with your evil, and I don't believe I've suffered as much you as they have. Shogo was tricked and deceived, Donovan's unborn child from Valaria, killed. By me? Depends on your viewpoint. By Halycanos? Depends on your viewpoint. But from every angle, you were the focus, the cause, of that heinus crime. Renai's unborn threatened by your marks of annihilative behavior, constantly. That said... this scythe will now be your end. Candles... I don't do candles. You know what I really like, though, Xaden? Chicken. Nice, fried chicken, with some taters, and a good, strong ale. That's what I like. Oh, and I most certainly do not like you. Chicken, Xaden. Chicken...” At once he thrusts the blade of Shogo's menacing scythe forward, cleaving clear and through the undead bastard's head, separating it from the now-lifeless corpse, once and for all.