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Ash cursed when Schwarzer appeared out of nowhere to intercept his attack on Armbrust’s back, knocking his blade out of the air and to the side. He stumbled after it, the chain dragging him along, and a flaming Crimson Slash singed the back of his jacket. Schwarzer was gone again before Ash could catch himself, and he heard the sound of a sword colliding with a pair of tonfa, followed by Juna grunting in exertion.
Really. This final exam sucked balls. How the fuck were the five of them supposed to last more than a minute against those two monsters?! Each of them was bad enough on their own; this was complete bullshit.
The tip of his switch-axe retracted with a click; just in time, too, because there was a double-sabre flying straight at him. Before he could move, the shot of a rifle rang and it veered off-course, missing him by almost an arge and clattering to the floor somewhere behind him. He threw a look at Armbrust, saw him raise his guns to block Kurt’s swords and almost winced in sympathy when pretty boy lasted for only a few seconds before he was thrown to the side.
More clangs and swishes came from somewhere to the side, the sound of an ARCUS activating, and it distracted him for just a second too long.
Something crashed into his back hard, knocking all the air from his lungs and sending him sprawling onto the ground.
“Claiomh Solais!”
Bunny’s doll appeared in front of him, erecting a barrier just in time to deflect a Nightmare Trigger that would have otherwise given him a really bad time.
“Brionac! ”
Ash was just getting back up on his feet when the floor erupted in light and Armbrust cursed, throwing himself out of the laser’s way, tails of his coat charred with thin trails of smoke rising up. The familiar feeling of a Teara washed over Ash, soothing the ache in his bones and muscles and giving him another burst of energy. He didn’t need to catch Juna’s eyes to know she was ready to back him up, and when Claiomh Solais disappeared with a flicker followed by another loud clang and Schwarzer letting out a startled shout, Ash switched his axe to scythe mode.
Juna fired from somewhere behind him, bullets spraying the ground in a wide circle and he gripped his scythe tightly. It didn’t take more than a second until both Schwarzer and Armbrust entered his range, Kurt relentlessly attacking the former and driving him back with Musse forcing the latter to move in. And when they were close enough, Ash swung his weapon in a wide arc with a shout, forcing their instructors to drop underneath the deadly blade, roll out of the way and directly into a Golden Sphere followed by –
“Fragarach! ”
The impact made his knees shake, the resounding crash ringing in his ears as the dust settled. But Ash didn’t even bother to lower his switch-axe because while it was unlikely their demonic instructors got out of that combo without at least being a bit winded, it was downright impossible for this to have been the finishing blow.
And true to his assumption, once the view was clear again, he could see neither of them. He didn’t have a chance to catch his breath; there was movement behind him, the sound of metal scraping across the floor and he turned around just in time to block Schwarzer’s tachi. Ash noticed with satisfaction that there was a bloody cut across his cheek, hair ruffled and dirty and his coat a tattered mess of sword slashes and bullet holes. But the smile on his face was proud despite the pressure against Ash’s arm increasing, making it tremble from the strain.
The rest of his class moved behind him, but then Schwarzer’s eyes flashed, something dangerous leaking into his smile. And when he simply blurred out of existence, Ash almost lost his grip on his axe when the pressure suddenly disappeared but then Armbrust was right in front of him, sabre drawn back, a predatory smirk on his dirt-stained face.
Ash jumped back, but Armbrust didn’t release his double-sabre, blue energy instead gathering at the tips of the blades. His eyes widened – what was he doing? He didn’t know that attack – but then a heatwave surged in his back and Armbrust slashed in his direction, two trails of water appearing and quickly forming to become a waterspout.
He felt the prickly sensation of a Saphir Rain and the almost blanket-like feeling of an Argem Heal washing over his body, a La Crest making the hairs on his arms rise as the protective layer settled into his skin. But then the heat behind him grew unbearable, the waterspout hit him face-on and an explosion of boiling hot mist followed, singeing the tips of his hair as his body struggled to withstand the onslaught even with the defensive techniques cocooning him as much as possible.
Armbrust and Schwarzer shouted something, but he couldn’t make the words out over the sound of fire and water mixing into a hurricane of sizzling blue and red. It engulfed him and his classmates from all sides, trapping them in its midst and draining all the remaining strength from their bodies.
When it finally began to disappear, the flames flickering and dying, the water evaporating, Ash couldn’t find it in himself anymore to stay standing. He sunk onto the ground, panting, his lungs struggling to get air in them that wasn’t boiling hot, and heard Juna curse and someone else sink against his back.
Ash struggled to lift his head and regretted that decision the moment his swimming vision settled on their instructors – they were sweaty and dirty but still grinning at each other, and fucking bumping their forearms together after sheathing their weapons in praise and whatever other shit those two monsters came up with in their free time. Like they hadn’t just kicked all their collective arses by pulling this next-level combination attack out of nowhere. How did they do that, anyway?
He tried to glare at them, feeling sour at the loss, but he ran out of steam when after a short exchange too low for him to hear, both Armbrust and Schwarzer turned to look at Ash and the panting gaggle behind him. Schwarzer was smiling proudly and to Ash’s immense satisfaction and partial appeasement, he wobbled a little when Armbrust put an elbow on his shoulder to lean against him.
Even hearing they’d passed with flying colours made the sting of defeat only a little bit more bearable. But Juna was groaning behind him, muttering about how those two were second only to Principal LeGuin in terms of insanity, and Altina chiming in in her usual deadpan that she hadn’t been aware of their combined potency. Ash met Kurt’s gaze over his shoulder, heard Schwarzer trying to move Armbrust off of him who just leant all the heavier on him, resulting in a small scuffle that almost ended with both of them crashing to the ground, and couldn’t stop the exhausted elation from painting a grin across his face.