The man replied, "I accept."

A feminine voice riddled the air, "Edwin, stop! Don't!" Piper saw the voice belonged to a girl probably fifteen, sixteen by age. She was caught by one of the soldiers and brought to the place the High Priest once stood. The man holding the girl unsheathed his sword.

Edwin turned, his sword pointed at the soldier, "Touch her, and I kill you first."

Glinrin seemed annoyed by the interruption. He said in a raised voice for all to hear, "Leave that girl alone. Any man who dares interrupt this fight will be skinned alive, and I will be the one to do it."

The soldier let go, afraid, not willing to accept the consequences. The girl stopped too, a worried and unsettled expression on her face.

She has probably realised now that she cannot prevent this fight.

Glinrin enquired as the commotion died, "Do you not require armour?"

Edwin simply took a battle stance in reply. The General walked towards the bridge. Glinrin's armour started assembling itself as his gauntlets, vambraces and helmet flew at him. Faint clicks arranged the parts in their proper location and when the preparations were done, his visor came down with an audible clang. His men laughed at the foolish warrior who had just bluntly accepted Glinrin's challenge without thinking through the repercussions. Piper did not.

There was something about the man she did not understand.

As Glinrin put his first step on the bridge it started vibrating. The low hum sent a chill down Piper's spine as she recalled what had happened to the forest last time she heard it.

The nameless warrior rushed with his sword at offensive. Glinrin had to bring up his shield to absorb the impact. The next instant Edwin ducked to the right and cut the vambrace that the shield was attached too. Piper realised the rumbling had stopped, it was difficult to maintain alchemy without a sufficient amount of concentration, and Edwin allowed him none. The shield fell off and Edwin took three steps back as Glinrin's fist came rushing at him. When it found no target the bridge railing became a victim, as it crumbled and broke under the fist's force, pieces of stone chunks falling in the river below with a splash. Piper realised he had used the force of Gladinstone to amplify his strength. His gauntlet had shone with a white radiance for a split instant. Edwin seemed to have predicted his punch much in advance.

The General unsheathed two swords from his backplate and threw them at his opponent as if they were throwing knives. They caught life and swooped at Edwin. He took a step back and then another as he parried blow after blow from the Gladinstone blades wielded by invisible warriors. Glinrin stood awestruck as he unsheathed another two blades launching them at Edwin. He wasn't habituated to seeing someone parry his blades with such dexterity.

Edwin kept taking steps back as be reached near the end of his side of the bridge. He drew a faint circle with his left hand, the blades still keeping his sword hand occupied. The blades flew off haphazardly away from Edwin and off the bridge meeting the water. The blades got drawn off in the intense current. Even Glinrin wasn't able to recall them back.

His men stood aghast as they realised that the General has just lost some heavy offensive force, while the battle had barely begun. Nor did they know what happened to the blades.

But Piper knew. Edwin had backed away from the General, because the distance created weakened Glinrin's control over the blades. And at the opportune moment Edwin used that. She had seen it once before in the Gladiator pits.

"Eastern arts!" exclaimed the General with a faint chuckle.

Why are you smiling? Don't smile. Didn't you just lose some precious weapons? I always planned to steal those blades. Would have bought me more gold then the raid that got me in prison. Now they are gone. So don't you smile.

But the General laughed. "That's good. That's really good." This time it was he that charged. The speed was inhuman as Gladinstone aided his stride. His hand was retraced, fist balled, ready for a punch. The warrior ducked right at the perfect time and the punch met the bridge road created a crater as the stone gave in. The entire bridge was vibrating now as if from the after effect of the punch.

No, this isn't from the punch. He is going to use alchemy.

Edwin had turned a half circle by then and was facing Glinrin's back. Just as he was about to slash, a shower of spikes erupted from the ground. He ducked back avoiding them in a timely fashion, but as the General turned to face him, a trail of giant spikes started rising from the ground following him. Edwin sheathed his blade and formed a pattern with both his hands. It was too fast for Piper's eyes to follow but when it came to a completion an invisible force riddled the air and the spikes emerging in front of him disintegrated as if they were made of paper. The General himself was thrown back to the brink of the bridge, only to be saved from getting thrown off the ring by his Gladinstone armour.

Then Edwin charged.

His hand was at the hilt of his sword, still sheathed.

That might work. Expert swordsman can use that to their advantage. Unsheathing is an art. If he manages to pull it off Glinrin might lose now. But I have never seen anyone perform it, only heard tales.

Glinrin who was still recovering from the past blow seemed to take some time to process the incoming assault. At the last instant his Gladinstone caught life and he levitated up in the air, for he could not retrace his steps any further. Up was the only way he had. His whole armour glowed a white as Edwin unsheathed his sword to meet his greaves instead of his chest plate. The greaves tore except for the veins of Gladinstone that ran through them.

He flew. He can fucking fly! He should have been eliminated by the unsheathing technique that man just used. But just when we hadn't seen enough he had to fly like a fucking hummingbird.

Edwin retraced his steps as he himself was at the brink now, his eyes never leaving the General.

Glinrin rose a few more feet before he came down at Edwin with his fist balled. Edwin ducked just in time as a hole was blown open in the bridge by the force.

As soon as the General landed, a ripple passed through the bridge in an attempt to make Edwin lose his footing. Then, Glinrin rushed with a sword he unsheathed.

How many swords does he have? He is a fucking walking armoury.

She would have laughed at her own joke had not Edwin blown another hole in the bridge just in the path of Glinrin's charge. He would have fell to his death in the river below was it not for his armour.

How long can he possibly control that much Gladinstone?

Edwin launched an offensive at the partly distracted General. In response Glinrin created another ripple through the bridge, this time breaking the rails and damaging one of the four pillars that held the bridge below.

Edwin jumped to miss it. Glinrin was just about to create another ripple When Edwin sheathed his sword and knelt.

It took Piper a moment to realise that he wasn't surrendering. The pillar that had just been weakened broke down as a raw force ripped through it. Chunks of bricks and stone started getting thrown from the newly formed cracks and soon the whole pillar collapsed from within submerging in the flow of the water. The whole mid section of the bridge, which was previously held by the pillar, gave in. The current in the river Sirgon seemed disrupted by the momentary interruption but soon resumed its prior pace as the bridge no longer connected the two ends, only three pillars holding it new.

"Are they human?" Piper heard a soldier ask.

Dust cleared from the rift just formed in the bridge. Both warriors stood on the opposite banks. Glinrin's armour was torn in a few places but the Gladinstone rivulets were intact.

This is it

After an unnerving silence both warriors charged.