The order given, the fallen celestials obeyed, all 3 of them picked different targets and the fight turned into small duels. Their leader sat back and watched the ongoing combat, patiently waiting for a moment to ambush one of the party members and secure the kill.

The celestial that had stayed were the most starved and the ones that had nothing to lose from feeding on the party. This meant that they fought recklessly with little regard to their own safety. Well, all but one, since one of these celestials was still radiating light.

This angel was still radiating light, albeit much dimmer than it should, it meant two things, he was weaker than his brethren, since his powers were sealed and weren’t replaced by the new ones yet. It also meant that he was more in control of his actions, which meant he wasn’t controlled by his hunger. This made him a bigger threat than the other 2 since he could still evaluate the situation and wouldn’t get caught in traps and feints.

Considering the fact that this angel was well versed in fencing, it was quite a troublesome opponent for Xandarr and the druid quickly got pushed back by the rapier wielding angel. Xandarr was forced to attempt to dodge the various lunges and stabs, as he was hopeless to even attempt to block the rapier.

His other 2 teammates were in an interesting situation as Marcus was fighting a starved celestial who wielded a pair of knuckle axes. The celestial was very nimble, she didn’t have any armour to slow her down either, this put the heavily armoured Marcus at a disadvantage, and he could barely block the swift blows. The celestial would run circles around him and stab into the gaps between his armour plates, Marcus had to keep up with her, but it was quite difficult.

As for Drazdan he was facing a celestial that was easily 2 feet taller than, and he wielded a war hammer that was easily taller than the rabbit. The armour he wore was mediocre, which would've given Drazdan an advantage if it wasn’t for the fact that the Celestial shrugged off any wound he received with a laugh before retaliating with an even harder strike. If Drazdan were to get hit by even 1 hit from this hulking mass of muscle, he would at least be crippled if not dead.

Drazdan’s Duel

His duel although easier than the other twos was still one full of risk, one mistake and Drazdan’s chances of making it were slim to none, and he knew this full well. With that in mind, he mainly focused on dodging and slashing at the areas the celestial left open. Because of this, Drazdan managed to swipe in a few serious injuries that slowed this barbaric angel of muscle.

The situation began looking on the up and up, making Drazdan confident in his upcoming victory, so much so that he started thinking about which teammate to help first. This was his mistake. Drazdan stopped focusing on his enemy and committed into a heavy slash at an opening, that he was hoping would end the duel. He was wrong…

The celestial left that opening in hopes of drawing in his opponent, and the moment the sabre cut into his chests, he flexed his muscles. The sabre in Drazdan’s right hand was now stuck in the celestial chest, Drazdan’s eye went wide, he was shocked and in his shock he forgot to let go of his weapon.

This mistake turned near fatal when the celestial grabbed the hand holding the saber. The voice that exited his mouth was haunting, it was as if hundreds of different voices spoke at the same time, all of which seemed to be in excruciating pain. The voices varied between young men and women to elderly ones, and some even had the distinct accents of other species. His sentence was short, but the effect was tremendous.

“I’ve got you now~” the voices said as the celestial licked his lips.

A panicked Drazdan swiftly lashed out with his other weapon, aiming at the thing's face. Only to be picked up, swung around and thrown over his teammates and into a tree. He landed back first into the trunk of the tree and a loud crack. His scream distracted all combatants, compelling to look as he flew overhead and landed in the tree.

Marcus’ Duel

Our paladin had a hard matchup, he was forced into a fight against an opponent who was much faster than him and would dodge all his attacks. All the while he was helpless against her knuckle axes that reached his weakest spots. Most of the hits he received were superficial in terms of affect, but she needed to succeed only once to cripple him.

A few shallow cuts in his elbow, sides, and knee were itching and burning, but as long as his limbs could still move, he could still win the fight. It was at times like these he wished he had a shield…

Oh wait, he does! Will he use? Of course not!

Paladins that use a shield are weaklings and proof that their faith is lacking, so of course he won’t use the shield strapped to his back. Marcus opted to instead swing his massive greatsword and attempting to deflect the quick stabs and slashes of the pair of knuckle axes.

It goes without saying that these attempts were not very successful, neither were his attacks against his opponent… He literally didn’t hit the enemy, not even once…

So that being said, let’s move on to Xandarr’s duel.

Xandarr’s duel

Xandarr’s matchup wasn’t an easy one either, but seeing as he only had to dodge stabbing attacks and the lunges that it incorporates, he had an easier time than Marcus. The fact that he didn’t have heavy armour weighing him down also helped him keep up with his opponent.

Xandarr’s unusual movements, which incorporated using his staff to push himself away to dodge the attacks, threw off his opponent greatly, allowing him to get a few swipes in. They didn’t have much of an effect on his opponent, but being able to counterattack his opponent was already good enough, considering that he isn’t meant to fight on the front lines.

Xandarr’s opponent seemed to be more used to fighting in a controlled and honourable environment, proving the theory that he’s a fresh convert right. One of the twelve gods was greatly obsessed with honour duels and would select champions to duel his celestials as entertainment. He would brag about his celestial on their victory or appoint one of these champions as a chosen apostle, or at least that’s what was told to the public.

Usually these apostles are never to be seen again, and their fate is a mystery that has yet to be uncovered. As for the celestials that lost, they tend to wander the planet in search of opponents to grow and improve, so they can eventually return to their former master.

It was at this moment that the celestial went for his first slashing attack, it almost caught Xandarr off guard, but he managed to block it with his staff. The rapier wasn’t particularly sharp, so it couldn’t cut through the wooden staff and actually got stuck in the staff. Before either of them could do anything about it, they both saw and heard Drazdan fly over head and watched as he crashed into the tree.

All combatants were mesmerized by the sight and all 3 duels halted in their tracks distracted by the flying bunny.

They watched as Drazdan’s limp body fall out of the rabbit shaped hole in the tree and crash into the ground face first. Not even the crickets dared to interrupt this moment of silence, the heavy footsteps of the buff celestial eventually broke the silence. He was making his way towards the fallen rabbit, his wounds were wide open and his corrupted black blood flowed freely, staining his clothes and leaving splotches on the ground below.

Marcus tried to rush out and block the celestial’s way to no avail as he received a swift kick in the back of the knee, forcing him to taste the dirt. His opponent attempted to jump on his undefended back to finish him off during this moment of vulnerability, but was thwarted when Marcus rolled around and punched her in the face. Marcus broke her nose with that punch and bought himself enough time to jump back up and slash at the female celestial.

The other celestials were still focused on the rabbit and didn’t notice Xandarr cast Primal Savagery and shape-shifting to a massive bear. Before his opponent could realize that the staff was standing by itself, he received a paw the size of his head in the face, it sent flying past his boss straight into a rock. Xandarr then followed this up with a mighty roar and rushing Drazdan’s opponent. The celestial attempted to block the maw of the bear unsuccessfully, his body was too battered to resist against the weight and strength of the bear. His arms failed him and, allowed the bear to rip his head off with a sick crunch.

His allies were stupefied as they watched the strongest fallen die helplessly to a wild shaped druid, Xandarr then swiftly turned back into a human and ran to Drazdan’s side to cast a healing spell on him. The black blood coating his face and mouth looked terrifying, and the celestials didn’t dare stop him and stood in their place in pure shock.

Marcus for his part was busy standing guard in front of the shocked celestials, prepared to intercept any of their attempts to attack Xandarr. Alas, it was a meaningless endeavour as the 3 remaining celestials were too shocked or wounded to attempt anything whatsoever.

The healing spell finished, Drazdan regained consciousness and slowly got up, he picked up one of his sabers from the ground and pulled out one of his hatchets from their strap on his chest. A saber in the left hand and a hatchet in his right, he looked at the knuckle axe wielding celestial with a bloodshot eye. The sheer rage his presence exuded made the celestial take a step back, and the moment she blinked, Drazdan had already appeared in front of her. Boosted by one of Xandarr’s spells, his movements were far faster than they should be, and she barely managed to block the hatchet that aimed at her head.

As she blocked it with both of her knuckle axes, she failed to remember that the Harengon in front of her dual wielded weapons too. Imagine her surprise when she got run through by a saber which was meant for slashing as it stabbed through her gut.

As she felt the cold hard steel in her abdomen, she spared a glance downwards, proving her feelings right. Her life had come to an end, she remembered the duel that drove her out of the heavenly Parthenon of the God of Combat. That single duel that she lost against a similar looking man… The man she fought was no less wounded, but instead of missing an eye and ear, he had only one arm and a peg leg.

Even the colours in their fur were different, but then why did she feel him to be familiar? Then it clicked, the man that had defeated her was a former mercenary from an up-and-coming corp had been formed in Fendur.

A mercenary corp that got stuck between a feud amongst her god and the fallen mad god she currently worshipped, the man had introduced himself as Palamin Nagyfülű the second in command of the corp called The Soaring Blades. Both of these bunnies preferred lighting fast attacks, mainly focusing on slashing attacks, with a focus on acrobatic feats if possible.

Their fighting style had an uncanny similarity, admittedly her current opponent seemed far more skilled in that regard but considering her previous opponent was lacking an arm and leg, it wasn’t fair to compare them.

In her final breath, she allowed her curiosity to take hold.

“Do… You know, a man called…” every breath caused her pain keeping her from speaking, “A man… Named Palamin?” she asked, blood pooling in her mouth as her stomach attempted to make her throw up.

Drazdan’s eye went wide, and she could feel the axe over her head shaking uncontrollably as she met his gaze again, the fear that struck her was palpable.

“So you do…” she said softly before her strength failed her and the hatchet came down, ending her life.