Lily's strength forced Tim to come to terms with reality, there was no way he would be able to make her yield without using his offensive forms. While the girl did not seem to bear any direct hostility towards Tim, there was no hesitation when it came to launching a lethal attack either. It was regrettable, but some blood would have to be spilled for this fight to be brought to a conclusion.

'Marsinia's Treachery, Seventh form: Cresent Moon'

Tim raised his rapier wielding right hand and positioned it slightly left of his forehead, his sharp blade threateningly pointed right in Lily's general vicinity. Utilizing the aspect of speed on his entire body, a feat he could not sustain for long, he exploded out towards Lily's position with blinding speed, attempting to catch her off guard.

His odd charge seemed to mimic an enraged unicorn going on a rampage, with the rapier jutting out of his forehead like a massive pincer he sought to impale his opponents on. He quickly covered the ten or so meters that separated him from Lily, and visible shock could be seen on her face as only three metres were left.

However, she didn't fumble under the pressure despite her lack of experience in a life and death duel. While Tim's speed had indeed caught her off guard, it was not fast enough to leave her unable to even react. Quickly retracting her staff with a tug, she clenched it under her right arm. There was no time left for properly striking with both her arms, so instead she just kept the staff tucked under her right arm and jerked her upper body in Tim's direction.

The native cultivator that charged towards her clearly wished to end the fight by impaling her in the throat, and she had no option but to admire his decisiveness. The way she saw it was, he had cleverly concealed his true ability by choosing to parry the first blow when he could have easily evaded. And now, he sought to end this fight by exploding in a burst of speed and ending it in a single attack.

Thankfully, her staff still had a longer reach and she had already imbued it with the minor dao of the shockwave. Though she had been forced to use an impromptu maneuvre, her staff was hurled right in the direction of the native cultivator's face. Now, he had no option to either retract his sword or die, and with the momentum behind his charge, the latter seemed more likely.

Tim was only a few meters away from his target, as he saw Lily shift her stance and hurl the staff in his direction. He extended his right foot forward as much as he could and lunged rightward to the maximum possible extent, while the rapier that was at his full, standing height the entire time was now brought down along with him, drawing the shape of a cresent moon in the air as it accompanied him on the way down.

He still wasn't used to this stance, and after he completed this attack he went tumbling sideways for a few meters into the marble flooring. From the very begining, the seventh form was not a piercing attack, but a slashing one. It appeared that Marsinia did not recieve the title of the traitorous queen for her straightforward and simplistic attacks.

Lily remained rooted to the spot as she could not understand what just transpired. She saw the man close in on her, and responded with an immediate attack. The man continued with the attack despite the incoming blow, but moments before her staff made contact he simply.....disappeared from her line of sight. She felt an oddly warm sensation near her stomach, and looked down to see a long laceration cutting across her abdomen.

Much to her relief, the wound looked far more scarier than it actually was. It wasn't deep enough to hinder her from fighting, but blood kept pouring out of the wound. Her high constitution seemed to be ineffective in stemming the bleeding, making her wonder just what weapon had this native acquired. She quickly looked around for the one who'd wounded her, and upon seeing him crashed into the ground a fair distance away she quickly tore a portion of her shirt and tied it around the wound.

Tim dusted himself off the ground, only to see Lily finish bandaging herself off. She quickly raised her staff, wary of any sudden attack by Tim, already having suffered once.

"Now, look here Ms. Lily. I really, really don't want to hurt you. I have nothing against you, and whatever this disgusting forced oath of servitude is, if you surrender, I void it on the name of the system. Just go back home. Please." said Tim, in an almost beseeching tone.

Lily gazed at the man in incredulity, finding herself inclined to believe his words. She wondered why the strike earlier had left such a light wound despite having her guard broken, had the man gone easy on her on purpose? Why!? She felt a solitary tear well up out of the corner of her left eye, out of sheer confusion and anger at having the pride of a cultivator besmirched.

The man whom she had tried to kill for no reason but her own selfishness, showed more concern for her than the entireity of the Lin clan. Her own blood relatives cared less for her than this native warrior who had no doubt suffered a great deal to have progressed this quickly, and yet he held no resentment for her. It honestly felt like she was being mocked for her own incompetence, and her own weakness.

"You don't understand" she said softly, while slightly moving her head from left to right. "I have no choice but to fight for the position of citadel governor....if I am to get vengeance for my father. I.... apologize. You are strong, but my father's enemies are terrifying existences whom you wouldn't even be able to stand in presence of. This is the last bit of hope I have left..... and I will not give up as long as I have a single wisp of consciousness left in my body" she said, her tone growing harsher and harsher as she went on.

"Hmm... " Tim looked at the girl inquisitively. "Are you related to the other invaders that are due for arrival on Earth?" he asked calmly.

"No, I am not. In fact, I don't even know who the others are. The multiverse spans trillions of existances, and the odds of me knowing any of the other invaders is almost non-existensial. But I really am unlucky to run into an anomaly like you. I answer this in exchange for sparing my life, even though it is an humilation to accept that, and swear by the system what I just said is the truth."

"I see" Tim said. "I'm sorry, but I can't hand over the position of Citadel Governer to you. Its the only means I have of accessing the other citadels, and the only way I can fight back against this invasion. You don't look like a bad person to me, but I doubt the multiverse is full of people filled with compassion. I will hunt down and kill those invaders who harm my kind, while spare those who don't. Since you don't seem related to them, is there any possibility of peaceful cooperation here? I bet you sure know a great deal more about the invaders than me." said Tim, imitating his father's tone when he held conference calls with his clients.

"Cooperation? Are you asking me to defect to the side of a native?" the girl asked, with a tone of incredulousness in her voice. This whole situation was giving her a headache, the prospect of first being spared by a native then asked to help him liberate other natives just felt plain wrong. She had no doubt that the others sent to Earth no doubt had the same mindset as her, to progress their cultivation as soon as possible by making use of the resources of the planet. Sure.... some of them could be quite cruel, but that was just how the multiverse worked, it gave the native's a reason to strive for power. They were just the pawns that set the process in motion, though the benefits made it more than worth it.

She audibly sighed, and appeared to have a mixed expression on her face as she replied "If you swear to avenge my father once you reach the destiny forger realm...... I will agree to cooperate with you."

Tim seemed to be delighted at this prospect, about to say something before he was abruptly cut off.

"But, first you must prove to me you have the power to force me to yield. Now that I know you specialize in speed, I do not believe I will lose to you. Since you took mercy on me, I swear on the system that I will not enforce the oath of slavery if you surrender." she said, in a tone that spoke with finality.

"Sure, I agree." Tim replied with a wide smile on his face, he had gotten what he had wanted.

She remained rooted to her spot, waiting for Tim to make his move. She was confident in being able to force back Tim regardless of what approach he took, the staff specialized in keeping sword users at bay.

Tim moved towards Lily extremely slowly, following a series of odd footwork that oscilated in a zig-zag manner, his facial nerves visible as if he was conducting an extremely strenous exercise.

'Marsinia's Treachery, Final Form: King's Fall'

"Huh..." thought Lily, as she found herself having lost her balance, slowly plummeting to the ground. Her survival instincts screamed at her to move, to do something, but before she could, she found herself staring upwards at the tip of a rapier in abject horror.