Chapter 54: The Battle at the House Without Stairs, Part 2
Inside the dimension known as the House Without Stairs, a violent confrontation raged on. The room trembled with every explosion of energy from the battle between Romeo and Cris, two forces that refused to yield.
Romeo's balisongs streaked through the air with lethal speed and precision, while Cris's chains—fitted with blades that moved like living serpents—parried every strike. The floor was now webbed with cracks, the furniture reduced to splinters, and the ceiling groaned as if on the verge of collapse from the sheer intensity of their clash.
Though Romeo was a master of combat, wounds were beginning to mark his body. Every lash of Cris's chains seemed to pierce through his diwata barrier—the spiritual protection granted by his diwata. He could feel the searing sting of his injuries, yet his eyes remained ablaze with determination. Even against an opponent capable of shattering his defenses, he showed no sign of backing down.
With every exchange, Cris grew more aggressive, moving like a hunter closing in on his prey.
"You are skilled, General," Cris said, his voice a mix of genuine admiration and biting mockery. "But no matter how fast you are, you cannot outrun my chains. I know your every move."
Romeo offered no reply. Instead, his balisongs surged forward again, forming a devastating storm of blades. Cris's chains rose to meet them, and the screech of metal against metal echoed through the room like a grim orchestra of war.
In a flash, a chain struck Romeo's shoulder, drawing blood that began to flow down his arm. He winced at the sharp pain of the puncture but retaliated instantly, waiting for the perfect opening to close the distance.
On the other side of the room, Peter was occupied with his own struggle against the beasts Clara conjured from her energy. A gorilla lunged at him while an elephant rammed its massive weight into his giant sand construct. A tiger and a rhino attacked relentlessly from the front. Even when he managed to strike them down, they were instantly replaced by new beasts emerging from the magic circles Clara drew with every flick of her folding fan.
"How annoying!" Peter hissed to himself, feeling his energy steadily draining. "She just keeps creating them over and over as if her strength is bottomless. How can I defeat her if I can't even land a hit?"
Peter knew that controlling sand required immense energy, especially when encasing his body to become a giant. Every beastly strike chipped away at his form, and though he could reform the damaged parts quickly, the exhaustion was starting to weigh on his limbs.
"2nd Sand Art: Sand Spike!" Peter roared. The sand around him hardened into five-meter spikes that shot toward Clara. To his shock, the spikes passed harmlessly through her body, which suddenly dissolved into flower petals and butterflies. They scattered into the air and reformed into her original shape at the other end of the room.
"She can phase through my attacks too!" Peter growled, his fists clenched in frustration. He knew the only way to end this was to strike Clara directly, yet his sand seemed unable to touch her.
Suddenly, a gorilla pounced on his back, twisting at his neck, while a tiger bit into his right arm to pin him down. He tried to shake them off, but an elephant slammed into him, sending him crashing to the floor.
The impact caused his sand body to scatter, but he quickly pulled it back together, reshaping it into a massive, ten-meter-long serpent.
"3rd Sand Art: Anaconda!" Peter shouted. The serpent lunged and sank its fangs into Clara. But as expected, her body turned into petals and butterflies once more, vanishing and reappearing elsewhere.
"Dammit! I can't beat her if I can't hit her!" Peter cried out, his voice thick with failure.
As he tried to think of a new strategy, the gorilla seized the head of the sand snake, attempting to crush it. The other beasts joined in, tearing at the construct until it was nearly pulverized. Realizing the energy cost of maintaining the form was too high, Peter was forced to abandon the snake.
He leaped away, wrapping sand around his body to form a suit of armor. "I have to think of something," he whispered, sweat dripping from his brow.
"4th Sand Art: Sand Scorpion!" He unleashed a five-meter scorpion that tore through Clara's beasts. One by one, the animals were shattered, but the fatigue was now plain on Peter's face. Every movement felt like a heavy burden.
"This is taking too much energy," he muttered, his eyes filled with worry. He knew Clara was also expending energy to attack, yet her face remained serene, showing no hint of the exhaustion that plagued him.
The scorpion lunged again, but every time it reached her, Clara simply dissolved into butterflies and moved. She sighed, closing her fan, and looked at Peter.
"I have no desire to fight or hurt you, Major Peter—or should I say, Wanso, the sugo of Marinduque," Clara said softly but firmly. "I regret to say that what you are doing is not enough to defeat me. It would be better if you stopped your assault and stayed out of the battle between Cris and General Romeo."
"Tsk, are you looking down on me?" Peter snapped, his eyes burning. "You think I'm weak enough to just give up?"
Clara bowed her head in apology. "Forgive me if I offended your pride. I have no ill intentions and I respect your abilities. But if you haven't noticed, my ability allows me to create things from nothing—including my own body. As long as I have energy, I can restore my form no matter how many times you strike."
Peter was stunned by the revelation, but his resolve held firm. "I won't leave my General to fight alone! I'll fight to the death alongside him!"
The scorpion charged again. Clara sighed in disappointment. "And here I thought you were a gentleman who would grant a lady's request."
She snapped her fan open and waved it through the air. A massive magic circle appeared, summoning several giant mammoths. They trampled the sand scorpion. Although the scorpion managed to crush a few, the sheer number of mammoths overwhelmed it, pinning it down until it crumbled under their weight.
"Impossible!" Peter yelled. "She destroyed my scorpion that easily!"
Clara closed her fan again. "Now, brave soldier, can we end this?"
Peter fell to his knees, gasping for air. He knew he couldn't reform the scorpion; it would only be destroyed again. He punched the floor in frustration. "Why... why can't I help the General?"
"There is no need for shame," Clara said with compassion. "You fought well, Major Peter. I am certain your General is proud of you."
"Tsk, I'm not done yet!" Peter screamed. "You think that's all I've got?"
Clara closed her eyes, clearly tired of the back-and-forth. "I do not understand why you insist on fighting when it is futile. This duel is between Cris and your General. Even if you have violated the laws of this house, we are not permitted to kill sugo like yourselves."
She flicked her fan toward the direction where Romeo was fighting. "Success or failure depends entirely on your General now."
"No! I'll look weak if I just let him fight alone!" Peter forced himself to transform one more time. "5th Sand Art: Sand Golem!"
A ten-meter golem with hammer-like arms rose from the sand. As it lunged at Clara, she calmly waved her fan to create a massive vulture that circled the golem. The bird dived, tearing at the golem's arms, while a lion leaped onto its back, clawing at its head.
Peter struggled forward, feeling the weight of every strike. He managed to reach Clara and tried to grab her, but she once again turned into butterflies.
"I can't touch her!" he whispered, his fists trembling with rage. In desperation, he tried a different tactic. "6th Sand Art: Sand Storm!"
A howling gale of sand filled the room, obscuring everything. Through the dust, a giant eagle emerged from Clara's fan, flying through the storm unaffected. It struck Peter from above, forcing him to hide within his sand armor. Clara, meanwhile, simply vanished into petals and relocated.
"This is madness! How do I beat someone who just disappears?" Peter's voice was filled with heartbreak. Still refusing to yield, he launched his most aggressive attack yet. "7th Sand Art: Sand Blades!"
Dozens of blades flew toward Clara. A massive cobra emerged from her magic circle, intercepting the blades and shattering them with its tail. Clara continued her dance of petals and butterflies, moving effortlessly across the room.
"It never ends!" Peter fell to his knees, his legs finally giving out from sheer exhaustion. His eyes were full of bitterness. "Dammit... why am I so useless..." He realized he was fighting an illusion he could never catch.
Meanwhile, in the center of the clash between Cris and Romeo, the General unleashed a new technique.
"3rd Blade of Freedom: Blade Tempest!"
The balisongs formed a massive whirlwind of steel, spinning around Cris and attacking from every direction. But Cris's chains met them, acting like snakes that snatched the blades out of the air.
"Impressive, General, but still not enough!" Cris shouted as his chains formed a massive shield to block the vortex. Suddenly, a chain lunged from Romeo's blind spot, striking him in the back. The blade bit deep. Even with the resilient bodies of a sugo, the pain was agonizing.
Romeo winced but did not falter. He released a barrage of balisongs that fell like rain upon Cris. Yet, Cris evaded them with ease, his sentient chains parrying every strike as if performing a practiced dance.
"How long will you keep repeating the same attacks?" Cris asked.
"Until you grow tired of blocking and forfeit this fight," Romeo countered.
Romeo then summoned a massive peacock made entirely of balisongs above him, raining down hundreds of blades. Again, the chains rose to meet them.
"General, your offense and defense are masterful, but they are useless against us," Cris said, his eyes glowing with confidence.
With a sudden movement, Cris slammed his hand onto the floor. A massive magic circle erupted beneath Romeo. Hundreds of chains burst forth, binding the metal peacock and Romeo's body simultaneously.
He caught me, Romeo thought. He hadn't expected the chains to bypass his defense by traveling through the floor.
"Do you see it now, General?" Cris sneered. "We know everything about you—your combat style, your ten 'Blades of Freedom,' and of course, your weaknesses."
Despite being bound, Romeo remained calm. "Admirable," he replied with respect. "I believe you. You've predicted my every move until now."
"Then do you accept your defeat?" Cris asked.
Instead of surrendering, Romeo smiled. A strange energy resonated behind Cris. Cris spun around toward the door and gasped. He saw a tiny hole next to the balisongs that had been embedded in the wood earlier.
"Impossible!" Cris breathed. "I didn't think you'd do that!"
The balisongs in the air vanished, and the great peacock dissolved. The Romeo bound in chains turned into shards of metal, falling harmlessly to the floor.
Cris smiled, genuinely impressed by his opponent's strategy. "I didn't even feel him slip a balisong through the door," he whispered. He realized Romeo had allowed himself to be "caught" just to distract Cris from his true plan—teleporting his body to the blades he had thrown at the door earlier.
Knowing Romeo had already crossed into the next room, Cris sighed and signaled his companions to stop. "The game is over. You can stop now."
In the next room, where Laguna waited, Romeo walked toward a table. This room was smaller and simpler—an elegant dining hall with a lower ceiling.
At the head of the table sat a beautiful woman with long green hair. This was Laguna, and she was quietly eating. Beside her stood a young girl and a tall man, both dressed in traditional Filipino attire. These were Elias and Juli, the subordinates and "weapons" of the sugo of Laguna.
Romeo pulled out a chair and sat across from her. "Finally, we meet again," he said, his voice respectful but weary.
Laguna smiled, her eyes soft yet piercing. "I am also glad to see you again, little General."
She continued to eat, seemingly unbothered by the chaos that had just occurred outside.
"I have waited a long time for this," Romeo said firmly. "I'll be direct: I am not here for the Spaniards. I am here for our countrymen. I know you are the only one who can help me with this matter."
Laguna stared at him, her smile never wavering. "You are as brave as ever, Romeo. But you know I do not help for free. Are you ready for the weight of the responsibility you will have to carry?"
Her words hung in the air, turning the room's atmosphere heavy with tension. Romeo kept his eyes closed for a moment before nodding—a sign that he was ready to face any challenge for his singular goal: to end the chaos brought upon the nation by the rebels.
End of Chapter.