Moira clenched her teeth and braced for impact. Three shockwaves hit the front of her highly adorned shield. One was the initial punch of the Lightbearer. The second was the martial arts technique Rave used to penetrate armour. The third was the ripple of kinetically charged light that accompanied all of her attacks. The first uselessly pearled off her unyielding shield, the second dealt minor damage to her arm and the third was between those two.

Digging her heels in, Moira advanced. She could barely even see her opponent, the shape of the right corner of her shield allowed her to look over it, but that didn’t change the fact that her blessed armament was one massive obstacle to her sight and her enemy. The latter advantage far outstripped the disadvantage, in almost all cases.

When she felt nothing resisting her forward charge, Moira rammed the v-shaped tip of her tower shield into the ground and severed the magical connection that glued it to her arm. Quickly, she turned around and saw Rave trying to hit her with a kick. The Warden didn’t even attempt to block the attack, her opponent had the edge on her when it came to speed.

Rave’s heel smashed into her side. The martial art she used in conjunction blasted a hole into the red tabard Moira wore on top of her armour. The plate itself withstood the strain and Moira ignored the bang of pain under her skin. Her body was sturdy enough to take these things. Sore spots, torn tissue and broken bones, all of these were minor sacrifices when it came to serving the Lady.

Having taken the attack Moira seized the opportunity by grabbing Rave’s leg before she could pull back. With all of her might, Moira lifted Rave up into the air and then smashed her back down on the hard floor. “Give up,” Moira demanded. She had a grip and she would leverage it as strongly as she had to.

“Ain’t… going to be that easy…” the Lightbearer responded with a smirk. “Ya know, I usually get the redheads under me.”

Moira ignored that comment and lifted Rave up a second time. A blast of light hit her in the face, blinding her while she swung the Lightbearer back down. That she hit the floor a second time was clear, but the Warden was blind to the heel that hit her hand with enough force to numb it for a moment.

Moira squinted her eyes in an attempt to at least make out the rough shape of Rave. Instinctively, she went for her shield. The divinely attuned armament leaned into her motion to connect back with her and the Warden got it between herself and where she had last seen Rave just in time to block another kick. From the angle of the impact, and the following shockwaves reverberating in her arm, she could tell that Rave was still on the ground.

The shield swinging to the side, Moira brought down her warhammer. Earth scattered under her might, but her target had gotten away. “For the Lady!” Moira shouted, raising her shield up. From the heavens descended radiant light, filling her with rejuvenating energy and conjuring a wave that spread outwards that sent the desecrating shedding of the unholy trees flying outwards. As the honest, brown earth under her was discovered, her temporary blindness was quickly alleviated and showed her the Lightbearer stemming against the fading shockwave.

Heat surged through Moira, leaving parts of her tingly. She shoved the sensation aside while turning to her opponent and thrusting the sharp tip of her warhammer at her opponent. It didn’t have the reach of a proper spear, but the weapon was designed with this alternative usage in mind.

Rave dodged to the side and leaned in to retaliate with a punch. Both activated their aura. Doubtlessly, the Lightbearer tried to strike before Moira could pull her shield in the way. If they both boosted their speed, the difference remained small enough that the redhead could do so in time. Another shock in her right arm that reverberated in her bone followed the impact.

“Can ya stop putting this mobile wall in my way?” Rave complained, throwing several more punches at it. Between two, Moira swung her warhammer. Trying to copy the manoeuvre that started their fight, Rave jumped upwards. Moira didn’t make the same mistake as before, raising her shield to a higher angle before attempting a bash. That did make it easy for the Lightbearer to simply use it as a springboard, but Moira gladly gave her the opportunity to retreat over being kicked in the face.

When Moira lowered her shield again, Rave landed on top of the ruins of a nearby house. Fragments of mana were in the air all around her. Aura flickering away, the pink-haired beauty shook her wrists. The undecorated pink sleeves of her tight bodysuit and the black combat gauntlets all stretched like a second layer of skin.

For normal opponents, the torn mana would have been a sign of using martial arts in an ineffective way. Moira knew exactly why Rave was letting this happen, however. She had done her research. Keeping her eyes away from the Lightbearer’s luscious lips, the colour of bubblegum, Moira advanced.

“Seriously,” Rave continued whining, “that thing is super annoying. Can’t ya dual-wield your hammer instead or something?”

“I’ll never forsake the blessing the Lady gave me,” Moira responded in a serious tone.

Rave clicked her tongue. “Ya seriously need to relax. What’s combat without some banter, huh? Maybe watch some anime, that’d teach ya the value of mid-combat conversati-“

Using the Shift technique, Moira was suddenly right in front of Rave and once more lunged with her warhammer at the Lightbearer. Because of the difference in elevation, all she could aim at were the knees. A valuable enough target, in the grand scheme of things. Rave didn’t let her hit it either, jumping over Moira.

Rave landed quicker and after a shorter distance than regular gravity would allow, but Moira whirled her shield around all the same. Once more, the Lightbearer had to dodge, then struck the shield with a series of quick punches. Moira advanced and the Lightbearer backed away.

“Seriously, ya need to have some fun! Is the only way ya can enjoy sex up your butt or something? Is that why ya keep a stick in there all the time?”

Moira needed to suppress a heavy blush at that comment. “Lady bless me!” she shouted instead, another pillar of light descending on her. Her speed rose sharply, allowing her to keep up with Rave for several steps. A flurry of blows followed, back and forth, with Moira continuously chasing after the Lightbearer who just barely avoided being crushed. Retaliating blows struck Moira’s shield, mana scattered in the air and Moira felt the tingle rise to a warm heat in her core. This was part of her Lady’s blessing, albeit Moira usually felt it more of a detriment.

The improvement of her power discontinued, Moira just offered herself as a target for more and more of Rave’s attacks. “You’re way too sturdy,” Rave complained. “Isn’t your arm tired yet?”

“I won’t budge, even if your aim is true,” Moira returned. “That aside, you hardly get to tell me I’m too enduring after the way I slammed you down.”

“My back,” Rave struck the shield again, “still,” she tried to get around, but was immediately faced with the mobile wall again and had to hit it another time, “hurts!” The Lightbearer suddenly jumped back with as much force as she could muster. “I’ll return the favour, if ya don’t mind.”

“This is a battlefield,” Moira simply returned and readied herself. All of the mana particles around started moving to somewhere on her left. She glanced over, saw a gold and copper furred cat sitting on top of a building and absorbing the mana into its open maw. The cat suddenly expanded into a large tiger. At the same time, Rave’s aura switched from the regular blue into a technicolour display that almost deserved a seizure warning. Moira fired her own up again, the pure white engulfing her. Bleeding out from the roots, Rave’s hair turned a golden blonde, cat ears and all.

“Here we go then!”

“LADY, GRANT ME YOUR FAVOUR!” Moira shouted as both the tiger and Rave came at her. She was entirely engulfed by the divine light, shielding her from the initial attack. Power seeped into her armour and her being, alleviating the pain, raising the plate’s protective property and filling her with the merest figment of the supreme deity’s boundless might. The internal warmth gradually increased as well.

The light ebbed away, only for Moira to immediately be assaulted by Rave again. It was almost a shame to put a barrier between them, but the Warden put her shield up anyway. There was a flash and Moira turned around to face their typical dance. In order to get behind her, Rave would have used Shift. The ankle Technique allowed someone to move in any direction almost instantaneously, but didn’t change where they were facing.

What Rave had done wasn’t that. She wasn’t behind Moira, she was beside her, ducked down and ready to attack the Warden. ‘Movement Transformation,’ the Warden realized. A spell basic in concept but complicated in execution that allowed someone to temporarily transform their entire body into an element. This had all kinds of benefits, usually movement related. Expectedly, those in the light category of spells were the fastest when using this spell work.

Moira just barely managed to escape an uppercut. She backed up into a paw slamming into her back and stumbled back forwards to keep her balance. Rave laid into her with a series of punches that were barely visible to the Warden’s naked eye. “My Lady, I beseech thee,” she pressed out between grinding teeth.

A reverse pull of light collapsed into Moira from all directions, boosting her speed a little bit further. With a wide-arching swing, she forced Rave to retreat. A bash of her shield sent the tiger flying backwards. “Sorry for the double-team,” the Lightbearer spoke up, “but an elemental user should use their elementals.”

“There is no dishonour in that!” Moira shouted back at the gorgeous woman charging back at her once more. Rave’s form was flawless. Her breasts’ outline swung perfectly into a waist between narrow and firm. She was sexy, but not so thin that she looked like she would break from a little force. Her figure was bottom heavy, her hips seductively broad to give that round ass of hers the space it needed. Her golden hair waved in the wind, a cascade that would have looked brilliant still and between Moira’s thighs.

The Warden would have liked to believe that the heat concentrated down there was the reason why she got punched straight in the face, but she had to admit that Rave’s current speed was simply impressive. Still, all Moira did was take half a step back, refusing to cede anymore ground, even as she felt the impact of the martial art rattle the contents of her skull.

“Ya know your face isn’t supposed to be a shield?” Rave wondered.

In response, Moira swung her blessed armament at the Lightbearer’s side. Rave backed off, but immediately went back in. Darting around the shield, she struck Moira’s side. Using the full extent of the Lady’s favour to increase her physical capabilities, Moira still wasn’t quick enough to keep up. Especially not with the opportunistic solar feline in her back.

While she wasn’t able to react to everything in time, Moira still did her best. She turned on the spot, strained her body aching with unwelcome sensations, took the punches and the drawbacks of her blessing in stride. It was easier to drive back the tiger, usually, as he was the much larger and considerably slower target. He quickly learned that and goaded her attacks. Each time she swung her shield or hammer at him, she left herself wide open to Rave’s attacks.

And she could never take her eyes of the Lightbearer, for the Warden knew what would be the crescendo.

“Ya looking pretty exhausted there!” Rave teased, ducking under a wide swing. “Ya doing fine?”

Moira was panting. Not exactly because she was getting exhausted, she was too disciplined to breathe through her mouth until her stamina was completely depleted. Rather, the mixture of exhaustion and her blessing’s drawbacks was getting her mind into a muddled state. She was in a trance of pain and desire, of aching muscles and pleasurable sensations running up her spine whenever she repositioned her legs.

The trance loosened her tongue. “As if you will be able to sustain this much longer.

“Guess ya got me there.” Rave grinned and jumped back.

Moira wasn’t exactly able to relax, not with the tiger still swinging his paws at her. With his summoner temporarily out of the picture, the elemental went into a frenzy of swipes, keeping the Warden from attacking the Lightbearer.

“A solemn reign, for the few that rise up high…” The words that left Rave’s full, pink lips were bereft of her usual teasing, banter, or any emotion. It was doubtful if they were even truly words. They were power, raw magical power, compressed into sounds and understood in every language. An incantation accompanying the refinement of it all into a specific and devastating weave of spells.

Moira’s beating heart cut through the haze. Through the pain she experienced from the battering she had taken over the past minutes and through the lust that had so clearly taken hold inside her. She shoved it all aside. ‘I am the Lady’s Warden of the Shield,’ she told herself. ‘Remember your obligations, Moira!’

“…and we all fight…” The chant continued. Each word was a number in the countdown. All of their previous engagements led up to this, to enabling an advantageous position for either of them at this pivotal moment. One mistake and it all would be over.

Moira let out a desperate cry and swung her warhammer at the tiger. It was a sloppy hit. The head of the hammer barely connected, most of the shaft did. Moira didn’t care either way. She let go of the hammer, let the remaining momentum throw the tiger off balance. Still, his paw hit her head as she turned away from him. Her ears rang, her blood rushed, both of her arms attached to the back of her shield.

“…Let our worlds collide.”

Heat. Heat and power slammed against Moira. As often as she had listened to reports of this punch, watched the video of it from the Small Lake Pact tournament, she still couldn’t believe the power of it. It pushed her back, made her feet drag trenches into the dirt. Something inside her right arm cracked. She could smell the tips of her hair searing, even as she hid behind her shield.

The shield that did not break.

Moira breathed heavily, truly from exhaustion now, when the force that pushed her suddenly disappeared. Carefully, she looked over her shield and onto the concentrated destruction in the attack’s wake. Earth had turned into ash and sand, sand had turned into glass, nearby buildings had been pulverized by the shockwave. Yet, the Warden stood.

“Ya gotta be kiddin’ me,” Rave stated, looking with wide eyes at the redhead, who resumed her advance. The gold drained from her hair, the cat ears dissolved, and the tiger shrunk down to a cat. “Ya know, there should be a limit on how sturdy someone is allowed to be!”

“You improved a lot,” Moira complimented. “Last I was informed, you would pass out after that attack.” The Shield Warden continued relentlessly.

She had thought about how to handle this attack numerous times. The two of them clashing was as certain as the sun rose, after all. Moira knew that her shield could be relied upon, being the physical manifestation of Gaia’s will. With this ultimate barrier, all she needed was timing. A simple thing in thought, but in practice moving exactly so Rave was committed to the attack already and also having the shield in position was a very narrow window.

“We know that dedication is the only way to our goals.”

“I suppose you’re right in that sense.” Rave gave her the weakest smile. It seemed regretful. The Lightbearer must have known what would happen now and what would follow because of it. Still, she didn’t surrender. “Nothing good is ever easy!” she shouted and ran forwards.

The last thing Moira expected was for the small suncat to jump at her face before they made contact. She saw nothing but fur for a moment, but it was a minor inconvenience at worst. The short claws didn’t have the sting required to truly bother her. Not with all of the other pains and needs coursing through her.

Moira plucked the cat off her head and tossed him away, just in time to see Rave hit her in the stomach. It was a simple punch. No shockwaves, no Martial Arts, no nothing. Moira still took half a step back because of it. “You’re truly impressive, Rave,” she admitted. “Would you do me the favour and surrender?”

“You’ll have to hit my pretty face,” Rave responded.

Moira sighed and swung her left fist at the pink-haired beauty. With all her strength increases depleted, while Moira still had her blessing and aura active, Rave was finally the slower out of the two and the Warden’s gauntlet collided with her opponent’s head, sending her flying to the side.

Dropping her shield, Moira caught Rave’s limp body before she could fall to the ground. ‘Don’t look at or touch her butt,’ the Warden told herself, while putting Rave over her shoulder. All of the beneficial effects finally deactivated, the horniness at least didn’t rise any further. ‘You’ll indulge yourself when this is done and not a moment earlier.’