PHASE 25 - I SHOULD HAVE PLAYED TEMPLE RUN

The great black blader arced his swords as he landed. Sharp shockwaves pulsed around the area, and the result is the walls crumbling upon his unforgiving force. And that’s just collateral damage. He eliminated thirteen Gate Guardians in a twin strike.

Atlas Kozukata; the older brother of the head shrine maiden of the Kozukata Shrine. His family is a generation of outstanding protectors from Eidolons. According to my fellow shrine maidens, he’s just one step away from matching the power of those Gate Guardians who have a God Core.

After defeating the last batch of Gate Guardians, Atlas switched gaze to us. His chocolate eyes are giving off an icy-cold glare that’s enough to give chills to our spine.

“Ey, that stare…” Drex commented as his cold sweat ran through his cheek. “...Stop doing that, will ya. It’s scaring the shit outta us…”

“Atlas... “ Kristoff forced a smile. “... You don’t have any grudge on me, right? I didn’t steal your girlfriend… You never had a girlfriend in the first place.”

“Yeah,” Atlas said.

“See? We don’t have any problem here.” Kristoff laughed softly. “Let’s go now, guys. We still have to find Heushac.”

We three turned our backs to the black swordsman. As we are about to make a step away, we heard some echoing footsteps that came from heavy boots closing to our position.

Atlas is wearing some kind of heavy boots.

We don’t need to turn around to realize what’s about to come next!

“Run!” Kristoff ordered.

“Eeeeeeek!!!” Drex and I cried as we rushed away.

<>

Right! Right! Left! Right!

I truly regret not installing Temple Run on my phone. I'm sure that my skills on that game will help me in an actual maze running if I ever played it.

Our shoes drifted every time we change our direction in this labyrinth, hoping that we can lose that swordsman who’s chasing for our heads (I mean Gate Plates, but his aura is telling us that we should take care of our necks too!) But he’s just ten steps away from us!

Drex is the slowest among us three due to his gigantic mace, so he’s the first target of Atlas!

“!!!”

The dual-wielding swordsman teleported and switched place with our gangster. Losing the ability to brake, Drex went running straight to his doom! Atlas is now ready to make a thrusting attack!

“Crap!”

“!!!” In the nick of time, my hands blasted out a strong gust of wind that blew Atlas away!

As a result, the black swordsman landed on a random part of the labyrinth. I think we lost him a little, but I can still sense his presence. He’s still nearby.

“I owe ye one, Tiara!” Drex gratefully said.

“Y-You’re welcome,” I said. Then I turned to our leader. “Mister Kristoff, I will handle it from here. You two find Heushac and make sure that you guys advance to the next round.”

“...But Tiara.” Kristoff made a worried look. “I’m not doubting on your battle prowess. In fact, I think you can go toe-to-toe with Atlas in terms of close range combat. But you have to remember that you are the most powerful non-God member of the Aether Crusade. If you lose here, there’s a large chance that the tournament is lost.”

“I know.” I bowed. “But I have to try. I also wanted to test my abilities against a stronger senior…”

There was a three-second silence.

Drex and Kristoff looked at each other. They both smiled and looked at me in the eyes.

“Ye have to prove everyone that the Aether Crusade is strong, mate!” Drex offered a fist bump.

“Do it for Alaric… That’s a great motivation you got there. Fine, we’ll leave it all to you, then.” Kristoff offered his fist too.

“Everyone…” I smiled with watery eyes. “Thanks! With determination, I will never give up!”

Then I bumped knuckles with the two.

<>

Twenty seconds have passed, and now, Atlas Kozukata has made his way to me. He’s on top of the labyrinth wall, and I’m glaring at him from below. Some bystanders around halted fighting just to see this battle for pride between us Kozukata Shrine Gate Guardians.

A shrine maiden versus a Shinto priest. This could be the most epic matchup after Harry Potter versus Voldemort.

“I hate to say this, but…” I cracked my fists as I made a battle-hungry smile to my senior. “...I can’t let you eliminate my friends in this tournament, Senpai!”

“The Brightmore Witch… No… Tiara Hikari. You have grown powerful enough to challenge me.” Atlas gave off a hint of a smile. Then he materialized his twin sword Weapon Gems and made a dual-wielding stance. “I shall respond to your request.”

The tension between us made the atmosphere deadly.

As a Kozukata Shrine Gate Guardians, it is a courtesy to use the very same caliber of spell against an opponent. He may have lots of experience and mastery, but I still have to eliminate him!

“!!!” Atlas turned around as he performed a blade dance, making a long golden dragon from the prana he already injected in one of his swords.

“!!!” I answered as I released the glowing energy from my fist!

Our golden dragons clashed, leaving nothing but shockwaves and golden sparkles flying around like snowflakes. I’m glad that my can match his!

“!!!” , “!!!” I released a blue beam from my hands, and he released the same type of blaster by crossing his blades! Both attacks canceled out each other!

“!!!” , “!!!” Our bodies are engulfed with crimson flames as we charged against each other. Our gauntlets and sword clashed, and nobody made serious damage to each other!

Huff...Puff… I’m heavily panting. I’m running out of prana, and here he is, still able to fight on his full potential. He’s even waiting for me to catch my breath. I’ll dry out of spells if we continue fighting like this.

But even so, I will never give up! I activated my and materialized six fluffy snow-white tails. This is all I can do for this power up. I’m exhausted after all.

“Haaaaa!” I made a loud battle cry as magical energy wrapped upon my hands. “!!!”

“!!!” Atlas responded!

Thousand sword strikes versus a thousand iron fists. Like before, each and every blow canceled out each other’s attacks. Shockwaves echoed, and the labyrinth as we know it has now been converted to piles of rubble. Every time our attacks clashed, the crater below us becomes deeper.

After twenty whole seconds of tirelessly exchanging blows, our spell ended. Atlas Kozukata is really a powerful Gate Guardian. He is able to go against my without using a power-up spell.

“This is over,” Atlas said. “!!!”

Everything became white.

“!!!”

In the nick of time, I was able to deploy an energy shield that blocked that dark streak!

But as a result, I was put down to my knees, unable to move a muscle. I’ve completely depleted my ability to cast any more spell and to add to my troubles, I’m now dizzy and hungry due to that shield spell I just used.

When the energy dome protecting me faded, I know this is the end of my role in this tournament.

“You’re strong.” Atlas coldly said. “But that’s enough. Go home with satisfaction.”

Then he made a swift finishing strike, reaching for my Gate Plate.