Chapter 201: The Ring Blades

Azura’s POV

I pressed my palm flat against my stomach, a sharp, white-hot flash of agony shooting straight through my core at the slightest touch.

The breath rattled uncomfortably in my lungs as I forced my head to turn to the side, trying to blink away the dark spots dancing across my vision.

The fake Isadora was standing directly over me.

She loomed like a shadow against the daylight, her fingers wrapped tightly around a massive, heavy staff with thick iron tips capping both ends.

She shifted her grip, the heavy metal catching the sun as she prepared to bring it down on me again.

I forced myself to move from the spot and look past her, searching the grassy clearing for Torin.

My heart sank into my throat. He was actively fighting Amanda, but something was wrong with the entire picture.

Amanda was winning the exchange.

Her physical movements were incredibly fast, almost a blur against the trees, and her strikes carried a terrifying amount of strength.

She was overpowering him. Torin, a powerful, grown sorcerer who knew how to handle himself in a brawl, was being soundly beaten into the dirt by a girl who used to be a small child just a few months ago.

The dark energy pouring from that blue pearl in her chest was turning her into an unstoppable puppet.

I tore my eyes away from the heartbreaking sight and focused right back on the imposter standing above me.

I was done with her games.

A deep, hot rage began to replace the throbbing pain in my abdomen.

To be honest, I actually missed the real Isadora at that moment. I missed my true enemy, the cruel woman I actually knew, because at least she was human.

This disgusting entity hiding inside her flesh was a mockery. I wanted this thing ripped out of her body, and I wanted it done right now.

With a heavy grunt, I pushed through the burning ache in my muscles and stood all the way up.

I had no weapon on me. No iron staff, no sharp daggers, and no sword to defend myself.

But I had something else entirely.

I had months of brutal, exhausting training under my belt.

I had spent countless hours sweating in the dirt with Axel, with Silas, and with Torin himself.

Those heavy warriors had not wasted a single second of their time when they forced me to learn how to defend myself. They had built a fighter.

I clenched both of my hands into tight fists, bringing them straight up to guard my face.

I fell into a solid, balanced stance, burying my boots deep into the loose soil.

The fake Isadora let out a loud, mocking laugh that echoed through the quiet clearing.

"Wow," she drawled, her tone dripping with pure sarcasm as she twirled her heavy staff around her fingers.

"I never actually knew the little princess could fight with her bare hands."

Suddenly, she lunged forward with explosive speed.

The heavy iron-tipped staff swung in a deadly, horizontal arc straight toward my temple.

I ducked my head instantly. The cold iron whistled sharply right past my ear, missing my hair by a fraction of an inch.

Before she could recover her balance, she spun on her heel and swung the staff back from the opposite direction.

I jumped back quickly, my boots scraping over the dry leaves as I successfully dodged the second blow.

"Enough of this nonsense!" the fake Isadora snarled, her face twisting into pure irritation as she realized I wasn’t an easy target.

She raised her free left hand toward me, snapping her fingers.

Instantly, I felt a violent, invisible force wrap tightly around my chest like a thick rope.

The phantom restraint yanked me forward with immense power, dragging my boots helplessly across the loose dirt.

I couldn’t stop my forward momentum as I was forcefully pulled straight toward her waiting weapon.

A cruel, victorious smile spread across her lips. "You definitely did not see that coming, did you?"

Before my brain could even tell my hands to block, she gripped the iron staff with both hands, holding it completely horizontal across her chest.

With a harsh grunt, she shoved it directly forward. The cold, heavy iron bar slammed brutally right into the side of my face.

The sheer force of the strike sent me flying backward through the air. I hit the hard earth with a sickening thud, rolling a few feet before coming to a complete stop in the grass.

A thick, warm liquid began to drip down past my chin and onto my knee. I reached up, wiping the dark red blood away with the back of my hand before forcing my trembling legs to stand up once more.

I refused to stay down in the dirt while she held the upper hand.

I raised my fists again, putting myself right back into my fighting position despite the dizzying throb in my skull.

The fake Isadora smiled, entirely amused by my stubbornness as she started walking toward me with slow, confident steps.

I closed my eyes for a single, fleeting second to mentally prepare myself for the impact of her next attack.

Then, I opened them.

In a single instant, everything around me went completely, utterly slow.

The dry leaves falling from the ancient oak trees were suddenly hovering in midair, drifting downward at a snail’s pace.

I turned my head slightly, seeing Torin and Amanda trading blows in the distance, but their bodies looked like they were moving through thick, heavy water.

Even the fake Isadora, who was currently running straight at me with her staff raised, looked like a motionless statue frozen in time.

I looked down at my own hands. I moved my fingers, blinking in surprise as I realized I was operating at a completely normal, lightning-fast speed.

I stared back at the imposter, a wave of shock washing over me.

The last time this strange time-warping phenomenon had happened to me was during my official trial with the real Isadora months ago.

Since that chaotic day, I had never experienced it again. I had spent weeks convincing myself that I had simply been hallucinating from stress during the trial, but standing here right now, I knew it was entirely real.

It was a power hiding inside me.

A massive, confident smirk spread slowly across my bleeding face.

I moved.

I closed the distance between us in a fraction of a second, driving my fist straight into her jaw. Left hook. Right cross. I kept hitting her over and over again, the blows landing with satisfying thuds.

She was trapped in her slow time space, entirely unable to raise her iron staff or block a single one of my attacks.

I kept swinging until my knuckles ached, landing every single punch perfectly against her torso and face.

She stumbled backward helplessly under the rapid assault, her eyes wide with unmoving confusion before she finally fell hard onto her back in the dirt.

The moment her body hit the ground, the world suddenly snapped right back to its normal, chaotic speed.

The fake Isadora looked up at me from the grass, her breathing ragged as she clutched her bruised ribs.

She looked completely shocked and entirely terrified.

"How..." she gasped out, her voice cracking as she stared at me like I was a monster.

I started walking toward her with heavy, deliberate steps. I was not done teaching her a lesson for touching my family.

But before my boots could even reach her, her lips moved rapidly, chanting a series of strange, guttural words I could not understand at all.

Instantly, my legs stopped moving. My entire body froze completely in place, turning as rigid as solid stone.

I strained against the invisible barrier, trying with everything I had to take a single step forward, but nothing happened.

I tried to push my arms out to break the spell, but my muscles refused to cooperate. I was totally paralyzed.

"Enough of your stupid little games," the fake Isadora said, her voice turning ice-cold as she slowly pushed herself up from the dirt.

"Let us finally get this over with."

She stood up fully, dusting the leaves off her skirt.

I rolled my eyes over toward Torin, my heart aching at the sight. He was pinned flat on the ground now, completely helpless as Amanda sat directly on top of his chest.

She was mercilessly punching his face over and over again with her tiny, glowing fists.

How was this even possible? Torin was a grown, highly trained sorcerer, and Amanda was just a little girl.

She was possessed by a dark entity, yes, but the sight still made no sense to my brain.

He couldn’t do a single thing to help me right now since he was currently getting thoroughly beaten by someone who looked like a five-year-old in a grown woman’s body.

The fake Isadora walked straight toward my frozen form. She reached deep into the folds of her heavy clothes and pulled out a long, wicked dagger.

The weapon did not look normal at all. The dark metal gleamed with a purple hue, looking completely poisoned, cursed, and meant for something far more sinister than just drawing blood.

She raised the blade, thrusting it straight toward my chest.

In a blind panic, a sudden surge of adrenaline broke through the paralysis for a split second. I managed to cross my fists directly in front of my face, creating a desperate human shield to block the oncoming strike.

The sharp dagger connected heavily with my wrist.

A loud, vibrant sound of metal clanging violently against metal echoed through the clearing.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the sharp, agonizing slice of the poisoned blade to tear through my flesh. But after a few seconds, absolutely no pain came.

I slowly opened one of my eyes first, peering through my crossed arms. The fake Isadora was standing completely still, staring blankly at my wrist with her eyes incredibly wide and her mouth slightly open in pure disbelief.

I lowered my gaze, looking down at my own arm.

A thick, beautifully engraved iron bangle was wrapped around my left wrist. It was spinning rapidly, turning into a blur of silver light that was generating a heavy, protective force field around my hand.

I had never seen this jewelry before in my entire life, and I knew for a fact I hadn’t been wearing it when I walked into the woods.

"Your eyes," Isadora whispered, her voice shaking violently as she stared at my face.

I looked back at her, my brow furrowing in deep confusion.

"What?"

"They are blue," she yelled out, her tone turning panicked as she took three frantic steps away from me, her boots tripping over the grass.

"Shit!"

The moment she stepped back, the invisible weight holding my limbs vanished entirely. I tried to move my leg, and I found that I could finally walk again.

I violently flung my arms out, trying to shake the spinning iron bangle off my skin because the rapid movement was starting to freak me out.

But instead of flying off into the bushes, the piece of metal smoothly slid down from my wrist and settled right around my fingers.

In a flash of light, the iron transformed completely, expanding out into a massive, circular ring blade.

It was a legendary assassin’s weapon, and thick ripples of bright blue flames were currently flickering wildly along its razor-sharp outer edge.

Woah.

I stared at the glowing weapon in absolute awe.

Looking at the fluid, circular design, a sudden memory of my mother flashed vividly through my mind.

It was completely different from the chain-knife my mother used to swing in the stories, but it carried the same royal energy.

This was a new weapon. It was completely mine.

I definitely do not know how to use this thing, I thought to myself, a nervous sweat breaking out on my palms.

But I can certainly figure it out as I go.

I looked right back at the terrified imposter, a dark, dangerous smile spreading across my lips as the blue fire reflected in my eyes.

"Come get some," I muttered smoothly.

I rushed straight at her with newfound speed, swinging the heavy ring blade in a wild arc toward her neck.

But when the razor-sharp edge was just a few short inches away from her pale skin, a terrifying realization suddenly crashed into my brain.

This was still Isadora’s physical body. If I used this legendary weapon to cut her head off, I would be murdering the real, innocent Isadora who was trapped somewhere deep inside.

Well, not so innocent.

It was far too late to stop the momentum of my swing completely. I just silently prayed that the impact wouldn’t permanently ruin her face.

The heavy weapon connected brutally with the side of her head. But instead of drawing bright red blood or slicing through her flesh, the magical blade emitted a massive pulse of force that simply threw her body through the air, sending her crashing face-first into the dirt.

I blinked, looking down at my empty hands in absolute shock.

The ring blade was completely gone. Instead, the thick silver bangle was packed tightly right back around my wrist, perfectly still as if it had never moved at all.

The entire transformation was completely confusing to my brain.

I looked back down at the groaning imposter, who was currently clutching her bruised cheek in the grass.

"I’m absolutely loving this," I grinned, a breathless laugh escaping my lips.

The fake Isadora just stared back up at me, her face completely pale with terror.