Non Serviam: Chapter 20

AN: This chapter was beta read by SheepDodger

Chapter 20: The Lightning and The Thunder [2]

“The fight shall continue until one side yields or would be unable to continue at my sole discretion,” Lady Grayfia Lucifuge said. “Are both parties ready to begin?”

Akeno nodded. “I am ready, Lady Grayfia.”

Akeno had her reasons for arranging this little spar, and not all of them personal. Were Akeno driven by mere hatred, she would have allowed Rias to take her aside and moderate her, because Akeno would do anything for her closest friend.

Including all the things Rias would not do.

Across from Akeno, Taylor bounced lightly on her heels. She shifted her weight across the black and white tiles of the sparring room floor.

“Will we be using the same spell you used for the rating game?” Taylor asked.

“We will not,” Grayfia replied.

That earned a frown. “Is that safe?”

“I will ensure no injuries occur that cannot be easily healed.”

Taylor looked towards Rias, who sat with Mittelt and Kiba at the edge of the room.

“Don’t worry, Taylor!” Rias looked worried enough for both of them, and Akeno resolved to make this battle quick. “Big sis Grayfia can definitely be trusted.”

Taylor nodded once, face conflicted.

“Perhaps a demonstration would suffice?” Grayfia suggested. “If it would please Miss Taylor.”

Akeno covered a smile.

“What would that entail?” Taylor asked.

“Leticia, if you would.”

Leticia curtseyed. Then she flicked out her arm. A gleaming polearm fell into her waiting hand.

Taylor’s eyes widened. She leapt back, already too slow.

Leticia covered the distance between them in a breath. The blade of her weapon flashed out, gleaming in the light. Taylor threw up her hands, only for the enchanted steel to sheer straight through her spell circle.

Spell shattering was a dangerous gambit, but Letty’s glaive didn’t even slow. Its point sought Taylor’s neck. There was no escape.

Then the spear stopped, tip pressed almost gently against Lady Grayfia’s finger. A gentle chime washed over the sparring room as she caught Letty and Taylor, righting them both with grace that defied description.

Leticia curtseyed again, before folding her three-meter polearm into the ruffled sleeve of her uniform.

Taylor stood there, Grayfia’s hand on her shoulder, blinking slowly.

“That is what the demonstration entails,” Grayfia said. “Does it assuage your concerns, Miss?”

Taylor laughed, once. “Seems so.”

Grayfia returned to her position, giving Taylor a moment to compose herself. With one more breath, Taylor turned back towards Akeno. “I’m ready.”

“Lady Himejima?” Grayfia asked.

Akeno allowed her smile to show, even though Taylor didn’t react to the obvious snub. “At your word, Lady Lucifuge.”

Rias squirmed in her seat. Akeno ignored it. She was doing this for her friend. Taylor was laboring under the false impression that the gap between Rias and herself was one that could be crossed in a mortal lifetime. Rias would never correct such a misconception, so it fell to Akeno to ensure Taylor understood the order of the underworld.

And to ensure she could defeat that unruly pawn, should frustration metastasize into betrayal.

“Begin.”

Akeno raised a finger, a circle of red spinning up. Lightning crashed across the room.

And then the thunder.

“Not taking it easy on me,” Taylor said.

Akeno frowned. The woman hadn’t moved a step. Instead, Akeno’s attack had curved around her before crashing into the ground.

“The same trick you used against Shinra Tsubaki, Sona’s Queen.” Akeno raised her other hand. “Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

Taylor sighed. “I hate fighting smart—”

Lightning crashed once, twice, three times. Akeno tracked the arc of each bolt. With each flash of actinic blue, she adjusted her aim. The circle of magic spinning around Taylor’s feet pulsed as she was forced to redirect each one along a different path. Akeno had the reserves to do this all night.

The lightning threw Taylor’s face into stark relief, and Akeno saw the moment Taylor understood that as well.

Akeno brought her hands together.

Taylor lunged a beat later, right into the path of a bolt worthy of Susanoo himself.

Taylor tried to dodge, but was too slow. Akeno’s attack clipped her arm, singing fabric. Taylor tumbled across the floor, before recovering. She threw herself forward again.

Akeno took to the air, electricity crackling along the lengths of her fingers. It arced between them, only to miss once again.

Akeno clicked her tongue.

Taylor’s wings erupted out of her back, shredding the fabric of her top.

“You should work on that,” Akeno called.

Taylor leapt.

Akeno’s eyes widened. With one beat of her wings, Taylor closed the gap between them. Akeno abandoned a half-spun circle and darted away.

Taylor flapped awkwardly after her. She lacked the grace of a more experienced devil.

Akeno took advantage, swinging wide on the wing and opening distance with graceful turns.

Taylor glared. She put on another burst of speed as her dodge trick visibly warped the air. But then, just because that trick protected her from ranged attacks didn’t mean it protected her from everything.

Akeno shifted, gathering demonic power. The next time Taylor flapped her wings, Akeno switched direction. She raced back towards Taylor, right into the odd warping of space before the other girl could think to dodge.

The sight of Taylor’s eyes widening was worth the odd squeezing sensation. Inside the warping effect Akeno easily adjusted her aim until her fingers brushed Taylor’s and—

KRACK-THOOM

The thunder rattled the windows, too close for Taylor to bend away. The bolt of blue threw the woman into the ceiling with bone shattering force. Akeno paused midair, looking at Lady Grayfia, but the strongest queen stood unmoved.

Akeno heard the wind shift. She dodged on instinct.

Taylor tore through the air where she’d just been. A fist clipped Akeno’s shoulder hard enough to make her gasp.

Akeno’s wings flared wide, throwing her into open space.

Taylor hit the floor a beat later. She stood, eyes meeting Akeno’s once again. Her hair floated just off her shoulders from the static, but she was unharmed, save for the scorch mark on her arm.

Akeno frowned. Her attack should have done some damage to the clothes at least, but Taylor didn’t give her the chance to unpack that mystery.

Instead, Taylor crouched and threw herself back into the air.

Akeno cursed, spiraling out of the way. This time, she dodged a wild kick, just in time for Taylor to hit the ceiling feet first, legs bent.

“Of all the demons in hell—” Akeno bit out. Then she flapped her wings harder.

Taylor chased after her, not in the air, but in a demented Ping pong between the ceiling and the floor. Akeno threw a lance of lightning across the space, only for Taylor to dodge it and come back swinging.

With another muffled curse, Akeno tucked into a dive, skating along the edge of the room as Taylor pursued.

She gathered demonic power in her hand, but didn’t release it. If Taylor could survive another hit at close range, things would become…difficult. Strength of a queen or not, Akeno knew she’d be at a disadvantage in hand to hand.

The air jinked around her, and Akeno’s eyes widened.

She twisted, converting her mana into force and let it explode outward.

Taylor still got her wing, fingers grabbing painfully before the burst of unfiltered power threw her off. Akeno flicked both hands wide, following the woman with a rain of lightning.

Taylor dodged.

That alone was telling. Why wouldn’t she just take these weaker blows, if she could survive a much larger bolt of lightning? That spell had to be one of last resort.

Akeno still winced as she made more distance in the air. A bone in her wing might be broken. Salvageable. Devils didn’t need to move their wings to fly, but it would impact Akeno’s maneuverability. If Taylor managed to get on the chase again…

Akeno poured out more lightning instead of contemplating that future.

Taylor folded in her wings, skating along the ground as bolt after bolt swerved or simply missed its target.

Akeno glared. She rose up to the ceiling, doubling her output yet again. Now she was starting to feel the drain, but she just needed to pin Taylor down for one good strike.

This time, she wouldn’t give her a chance to recover.

She flew forward, and spread her hands wider. She aimed at the ground instead, cutting off escape routes, herding Taylor back foot by foot. She would not be made a mockery of by a mere pawn, no matter how—

A fluttering black butterfly drifted across Akeno’s vision.

Akeno blinked in surprise.

The butterfly exploded.

It was the light, more than the force of the explosion that threw her back, arm over her eyes. She threw a wild bolt in Taylor’s direction. But then there was another butterfly. She pierced it with a flick of a finger.

It exploded.

Smoke of the purest black filled the air, and from it came more butterflies. She shot them down, but they all left behind growing clouds of smoke, forcing Akeno further back. She spun up another circle and tried to wash it away with a wave of water.

The liquid passed through the darkness as if the clouds weren’t even there. All it earned her was another set of explosions.

“Stop hiding!” Akeno shouted. She clapped her hands together, arcs of static frothing between her fingers.

A hand landed on her shoulder. “I’m not.” Akeno jerked in the air, but this time Taylor’s grip held. She spun Akeno into a hard cross. A punch snapped Akeno’s head to the side, sending her into a flip.

Taylor didn’t let go.

She jerked Akeno back into another punch. Then a third. Akeno’s head rang, arms flailing uselessly.

Taylor’s next hit sent stars across her vision.

She was

Taylor slammed her into the wall.

Losing?

Taylor pulled back, fist glimmering with some new spell Akeno could barely make out.

Akeno screamed.

Livewire whips exploded out of her body, glowing blue-gold so bright it seared the darkness from her eyes. Writhing bolts of power threw Taylor back. Akeno stabbed her fingers out, and the lightning in her blood obeyed. It sang as it speared the demon to the ground, holy light prickling her fingers as it crackled and hissed against Taylor’s faux invulnerability.

Akeno brought up her other hand. An orb of lightning crackled, growing, roiling, surging, until—

Grayfia caught it in the palm of her hand and snuffed it out.

Akeno blinked in surprise. Her head was still swimming.

“The bout goes to Akeno Himejima.” Grayfia shook her other hand once, dissipating the lightning spear that pinned Taylor. “Congratulations on your victory.”

Akeno bit down on her first reply. The frustration swelling up across her tongue tasted far more like defeat.

Taylor stood as Akeno and Lady Grayfia landed back on the sparring room floor. “Good fight.” She had a wry smile on, as she fixed her hair. “I thought I had you.”

“You did.” Akeno bit out. “I…” lost her composure. Lost her resolve. She had resorted to her father’s holy lightning, a gift she swore she’d never touch. The taste of defeat thickened in the back of her throat. “It is my loss.”

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.”

“I do.”

The other girl didn’t even look the least bit upset.

Akeno clenched a hand at her side. Yes, she’d lost this fight.

Taylor opened her mouth again, and Akeno didn’t know if she could survive another empty platitude, truly, she’d prefer insults. But Rias saved her from that fate by throwing herself across the room to hug them both.

“Don’t do that to me again!” The whine was playful; already, Akeno could feel Rias’s demonic energy surging as it worked to heal them. “I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.”

“You didn’t have to watch,” Taylor said.

“Don’t be like that! How could I not support my family!?”

Akeno swallowed once. “Well, I doubt we’ll have an opportunity to do that again.”

Taylor cocked her head. “Unfortunate.”

Inside, Akeno seethed. Of course, that girl viewed it as just another productive spar. Why wouldn’t she, when her spells were so effective against Akeno’s preferred style of combat?

“Up for another round with me, then?” Kiba called.

“No way!” Rias crossed her arms. “No more sparring today! My poor heart can’t take it.”

“I don’t have any demonic power left, anyway.” Taylor said.

Akeno still had plenty. Somehow that 

“Don’t worry, Taylor, you’ll get there.” Rias patted her on the shoulder.

Despite herself, part of Akeno agreed.