The knee strikes sent shockwaves rocketing all over the sky with the clear representation of the might of a cosmic Saint.
Even though Melinda had taken the battle up into the sky and reduced the potential damages to the Duchy palace, the impacts still shook the very foundations of the Palace but Melinda could no longer possibly be bothered to care.
A particular hit she delivered to Cirk sent a force from up high which dug right into the ground below and sent multiple experts in various directions.
Hal stood completely undisturbed in the face of the force and just watched it all happen in the future he sky with a small smile.
Of course, at this point, with how things appeared to be heating up, Damien the Duke decided to interfere to save his son even though he could very easily tell that the strength of both Melinda and Cirk (especially Melinda's) was much greater than his.
Before he could open his mouth to speak though, an Avatar of Hal appeared before him with a finger on his lips.
He could tell it was an Avatar because the real Hal was still observing the fight in the sky with a smile.
"Shh," said the Avatar, and Damien found himself struck dumb instantly.
He was powerless to resist Hal's command just as he was powerless against the pressuring force that immediately impacted his mind and overrode whatever mental resistance he might have to bend him to Hal's Sovereign will.
The same happened to Devon before he could even think to react,
"Say nothing... Do nothing and just watch" said the Avatar before dispersing into blue and gold flecks that dissolved in the wind.
The Avatar was gone, Hal's true body never actually paid them attention, and yet the effects of all that had been done to them remained.
Cirk appeared limp and unable to react to Melinda but that was mostly due to his massive reduction in life essence making him weak... His energy was getting sapped and his lifespan have been reduced. The only way he could get it back to normal was to kill Melinda, the one who sapped his life essence.
At some point, while he remained at the receiving end of Melinda's abuse, Cirk finally snapped to his senses and with gritted teeth, he brought every bit of life force he still had to the forefront and then illuminated himself with the flames of his Dane Bloodline.
He was illuminated so brightly that he shone almod as bright as the sun and then he congealed all that into an attack that he sprinkled with the fluidity of water Ordinance.
The attack chased after Melinda or at least it had the intention of chasing after her if she run but, of course, Melinda saw no reason to run and caught the attack with her right hand to take control of it and make it hers.
"Where did you receive this power?" Melinda asked and for the first time since she started attacking Cirk, she paused.
She even asked the question with a natural smile that could almost be considered friendly.
Cirk was breathing heavily but he managed a smile.
The Dane man had used the break to access his body's functions which he discovered were still very much operational. He fed himself a bunch of pills to heal himself and those pills along with the power he received from his Prince had him very much back at fighting conditions.
"I let you get the jump on me... So embarrassing" Cirk said and spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth rather than answer Melinda's question.
"So if you were aware that I would attack and were given the chance to prepare yourself, you won't lose?" Melinda asked.
"Of course not" Cirk said and Melinda burst out laughing,
"Hahahahaha, Your confidence amuses me" Melinda said.
"You were gone a year or so I've heard. You think I would return home if I didn't have the strength to secure my place as Heir?"
"The place of heir is not yours though. It never was. Hugh is a better choice" Melinda said and she summoned a white sword striped with golden flames teeming with life energy as a representation of how much her Ordinance had become a part of her.
"You advocate for my brother? What's the matter, you don't want it for yourself?" Cirk asked.
"Why would I? I don't want to rule. I've never wanted to rule. It's too bothersome." Melinda said and after a few seconds she said,
"Are you done?"
"Are you done healing? Are you done getting ready?" Melinda clarified and swung her sword around in a casual manner that still looked menacing.
"You're letting me heal?" Cirk asked in surprise.
"You think I've been talking to you because you are very good at conversations? My goodness, you are really stupid.
Prepare yourself, I'm going to be serious the next time I attack" Melinda said.
Cirk sighed,
"It's been years since I made that mistake... Won't you let it go?"
"You only consider it a mistake because of how things turned out and not because you decided to do it in the first place," Melinda said and for once, she wasn't smiling.
"I failed. Move on!" Cirk said. He did not deny her words.
"Oh trust me I have. Long gone are days when killing you was my goal. My Life purpose changed long ago.
I found purpose and joy in other things already.
Killing you now is just to resolve a thing of the past... To check something off a To-do list of tasks.
So I ask again, are you ready?"
As Melinda asked, a smile returned to her face and she took on an attacking stance with her sword horizontally by the side of he face.
For a response, Cirk stretched his hands to form a sword cosmic Armament in one hand and grip a retrieved Ax Artifact with his other hand.
The Ax had a spot designated for a gem and while the gem spot was empty, it was still radiating energy from an external source.
"Ready," Cirk said as though just to be polite and this time, he charged Melinda first.
Before reaching her, Cirk radiated nullifying energy that went right for Melinda's Ordinance use and served to make it sluggish and put her at an early disadvantage before the Ax came down on her.
The Ax was a Saint rank artifact due to the external energy boosting it and should it make contact with Melinda's skin, it would cut through.
Melinda intercepted with her sword and in that brief stalemate, flaming wings sprout from her back.
Cirk's eyes widened not because of the gloriousness of the flaming wings and not because of how it further enhanced Melinda's goddess imagery and beauty but rather because he could instantly tell that those flames were his.
Melinda had taken control of his bright and illuminating attack and kept it unmixed in her body just to spit it right back at him. And it was not even out of necessity but out of pure pettiness and arrogance to display just how out of his league she was.
Melinda had spent a hundred years cultivating had while it can be argued that she had spent the vast majority of that time in her man's hold, she had still spent a lot of that time understanding more of the Dane Bloodline.
Melinda wished to break free of the Dane Bloodline but even then, understanding it was still important.
Anyway,
"What the-?" Cirk began to say but the wings transformed into numerous daggers that all bombarded him and forced him away from Melinda.
As he was getting pushed back, Cirk was swinging his two weapons and knocking the daggers aside because they had been introduced with enough of Melinda's signature to strike at him with extreme prejudice.
Cirk was fast, his weapon-wielding hands became indiscernible blurs but the daggers were faster and some of them cut him.
The moment Cirk knocked the last dagger off trajectory, Melinda appeared behind him with her sword stabbing at him.
Cirk reacted fast enough to move out of the way of her stab but he was unaware that Melinda had been able to watch him change direction.
Now, from the start, Melinda had never actively revealed her cultivation to anyone in the vicinity, and protected by Infinity just like every other member of Hal's forces, no one would be able to detect her cultivation until she wanted it detected.
There was a reason Melinda was unworried... There was a reason she gave Cirk all the time to prepare... He genuinely was not a threat.
At the sixth star of Sainthood, Cirk could have been a seven-star saint and he would still not be a threat to Melinda.
Melinda followed through with her stab and when it missed, she watched as Cirk grinned while he stabbed at her back with his sword and swung his large Ax blade towards her chest.
To Melinda, it all happened in slow motion and she had ample time to change the direction of her sword- To Cirk's crotch.
The following painful screech filled the Dane Duchy sky and could be heard across the entire Duchy Capital as it had been subconsciously boosted by Cirk with Cosmic energy.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
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