Heh. Good question, wasn't it? Someone who was doing this for the money would have probably left ages ago, and he was still here. But as it stood, Ragnell was the only thing that gave them a shot as the headed out, blade against his shoulder. The archers had let loose the first volley, and the sky darkened with arrows. Bublins fell by the handful, but Ganondorf's magic barrier simply had the arrows snap off around him as he continued his walk.
"Leave Ganondorf to me," Ike said to the rows of soldiers in formation. This felt more familiar...more right. Something he knew more than ever. "Keep them away from the walls, maintain your formation. If we fail here, Hyrule is next. And if we fail, we take down as many of them as we can before we go." Ike said as soldiers drew their weapons, faces shining with determination. Even if the face of their greatest enemy...they did not falter. No matter what happened, Ike would respect every man and woman who fought today.
"For Queen Zelda, for Hyrule!" He shouted, weapon raised as the soldiers let out a roar in agreement. Another volley was let loose, and Ike and five thousand men and women charged out into the battlefield. Ragnell's blade burning bright lead the way as the Bublin's took a casual step back in surprise. Ganondorf grinned a little at that. He could not ask for such a dramatic way for them to die, could he?
He summoned his greatswords with a smirk, and rushed forward with his army behind him. He showed no fear, there was not a moment of hesitation in Ike's eyes. It was commendable, but he was stronger now. Even so, Ike let out a roar as Ragnell came up on a diagonal swing and he blocked. The impact crashed like thunder, wind kicking around them as the soldiers simply parted around them to crash with the Bublins.
"I'm impressed, boy," Ganondorf growled, blades holding his locked in. Ragnell was shining, the very air around it was shifting and turning. It almost hurt to look at.
"This ends today," Ike said in determination, shifting Ragnell out of the lock as Ganondorf snorted and advanced. Ike shifted his grip on Ragnell swung down. He sidestepped it as the blade slammed into the dirt, cratering on impact before he spun it around to swing at the demon king's waist. That surprised him, and Ganondorf barely could parry it away as Ike brought his sword back into his control and thrust. He carried that sword as if it wasn't two handed...it was impressive, and annoying. His barrier did nothing to help him. Still, Ganondorf parried and advanced. His other sword coming in for a thrust that Ike sidestepped and pivoted in a horizontal swing, moving his full body with the motion to regain his posture. It was blocked with Ganondorf's sword, and they held it in a lock. The only problem was that Ragnell's aura was hissing away at his dark blades, he frowned deeper at that.
"I tire of this game...and that sword," Ganondorf smirked as Ike's brow furrowed in concern. "I think it's time for it be gone," he said, his hand shining with it's two pieces of the Triforce. He had only seen that look once in his life, a look of burning power and ambition that reminded him of King Ashnard. His eyes started to glow, and dark energy radiated off him in waves. It was sickening to be near, only Ragnell's aura kept his vision from going blurry, he was quite sure. He pulled away as Ganondorf smirked slowly, his swords evaporating. Ike let out a faint breath, sword still raised in defense. His arms felt numb, just feeling those impacts from his guard was insane. It felt like he was fighting a brick wall.
"Swordsmanship is all well and good..." he purred, flexing his hands. "But to crush an opponent with your bare hands? That is the true joy of combat. You have impressed me, Mercenary. That is a rare feat indeed. So allow me to give you a more honest fight, Sadly, I cannot offer you everything...but you won't live long enough to see that anyway," he said. Standard evil saber rattling, threats without action. But this felt...different, just watching Ganondorf made a trickle of fear trail down his spine that was ignored by the tight grip on Ragnell. He was afraid. Even more so when Ganondorf took a single step forward and he was a blur of red and black. Ike's eyes widened, and he didn't know if it was his experience or Ragnell that got him to block. The impact against his blade made his ears ring as he slid back a good five feet, his heels sinking into the ground. Ragnell's light didn't dim as he tightened his form and took a breath, but he was already moving. Fast, really fast.
He summoned up the energy of his sword and hurled it forward in an arc that trailed along the ground. Ganondorf's heavy, rumbling footsteps hardly moved as his feet shifted and he jumped, turning in mid air before he shot toward Ike like an arrow. Ike had nothing left to do but raise his sword up to block. The impact was not on his sword...but on a barrier of light around him. Ike grit his teeth as he kept firm, the ground beneath him sinking as energy crackled and roared between the two of them.
"I see!" Ganondorf laughed, his fist tightening as the Triforce on his hand started to glow. The dark energy started to sink into the barrier, tainting it with corruption. Soon, only the area directly around Ike's blade wasn't dark. "You've been finding help as I have, boy! It's time for that to end!" he growled, his hand moving forward. Ike couldn't believe it, even as his skin started to tear and bleed...his fingers gripped the blade directly.
He didn't know what he heard in his head...but it was a noise that made his blood run cold.
Was...Ragnell...screaming?!
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