NOVPUBJack barely dodged Lydia's powerful punch; the sharp edge of her steel gauntlet left a deep cut on his cheek and ripped a chunk of his ear. But that gave him a chance to send his dagger flying toward the gap between the armor plates on her left side, aiming at the liver.
As Lydia felt the blade sink into her flesh through the armor plates, easily cutting the two layers of chainmail she wore beneath the full plate armor, she twisted her torso to avoid a deep wound and spun around with a round kick.
Jack ducked beneath her round kick; he expected such a move and would shamelessly use this opening to his advantage. Without wasting a single breath, he sent his dagger to the back of her knee, aiming to maim her and limit her mobility first.
To be honest with himself, trying to move between her legs like this was horrifying. Jack felt like he was trying to crawl beneath the hooves of a raging bull; any one kick would be enough to crush his skull like a rotten tomato.
Lydia already understood how Jack thinks. He knows she is stronger, faster, and sturdier than he is. She already expected him to attack her joints, and such a wide kick would only leave him with options: Either the back of her knees or her groin.
Knowing that he cares about one part far more than the other, his option was clear. When she sent the kick flying, she started preparing to kick him when he went for the back of her knee.
But no matter how smart Lydia was, Jack was the scoundrel who taught her to use underhanded tricks.
Jack switched his stance mid-swing and instead of committing to the stab at the back of Lydia's knee, he switched to a tackle and pushed against her inner thighs with his shoulders, pushing her back and dropping her to the ground face first.
It only took Lydia a fraction of a second to get over the shock of her plan failing. Jack had taught her many times that there was no pride in battle, only the sharp will to kill and the willingness to adapt. No plan ever works flawlessly, and she must always be ready to change tactics and improvise.
When she was still in the middle of the air, before she could hit the ground, she clenched her thighs at Jack's neck like the jaws of a massive beast. Of course, she didn't use all of her strength. Just enough to give him a painful hit, and maybe break a disk or two.
And as frustrating as it was, Jack slipped at the last moment as if he expected her attack.
"I really expected to get you with that." She sighed while still on the ground.
"Listen, I don't mind dying between your thighs. But, with one condition, no armor or clothes." Jack took his time to speak with her. Unlike her monstrous endurance, his breath was already ragged, and sweat had started mixing with the blood rushing down from his torn scalp. He needed a moment to catch his breath.
Of course, Lydia also knew that. She already knew him too well, and could hear his hoarse breath.
Lydia lifted her right leg and swung it back down, plunging her foot into the ground and using it as leverage, yanking herself up to a standing position in a fraction of a second.
The ground shattered with a shockwave that rippled through the darkness. Her eyes sharply turned to look at him, divine fire burning in them with mystical golden radiance. Divine flames burned beneath her armor and seeped through the cracks between the plates, glowing like red magma.
The darkness of the [Eclipse] only made her divine light brighter. There was nothing holier than the sun in a world of pure shadows and darkness; her radiance consumed the endless blackness around her and bathed the world in warm light.
Jack knew that if Lydia wanted, she could unleash enough divine light to blast his measly darkness into nothingness. But the main purpose of all of their fights in the past days was for him to figure out a way to harness his power.
Since Jack had no lead to learn about your power, the best way to understand it is to fight with it.
There was another solution: It was to gain a bit of faith in Amaterasu and have her divine power naturally seep into his body. But he refused to do that.
If he is going to ever pray to a god, it is going to be Amaterasu. But he had made it clear, his first prayer had to be a thank, a thank for a meal. And Amaterasu knows what he was talking about.
But now Jack had a big problem to think about. That meal is trying to break his bones. He barely dodged a punch from Lydia and swung his wakazashi at her neck. This time, she jumped back, ignoring the possibility of him having traps around.
It was quite terrifying to see her move like this, even though she is blinded by the darkness. Paladin's senses are sharper than any animal he has ever seen in his life, they can sniff a thief from ten kilometers away.
If he had one advantage over Lydia, it is that he could go all out while she can't. And with that, Jack made sure to use an ironic trick. He ordered the wakazashi to cancel the darkness, and Lydia was faced with something bright and blinding: the noonday sun. She had been in darkness for a while now, and her eyes had failed to adjust in time, getting blinded by the very thing that gives her power.
Jack took that chance to rush in and swung his wakazashi, delivering a shallow slash to her neck before getting faced with a solid kick to the gut. He rolled on the ground and caught a mouthful of blood.
"Come on! I got a cut on your neck, it is my win today!" He growled, and she rushed to heal him.
"Sorry! It was on instinct." She started healing him. The wound on her neck had already healed. Such a wound was small, but it was a death sentence to allow anything to get that close to her neck in a fight.
"Keep the apology for later. I'll take the lead tonight." He then passed out from exhaustion and blood loss.
