Chapter 247 246: Nirinia Radhi

Standing at the door was a towering woman around Jahi's height, her grayish green skin shining in the light of the early morning as she smirked at all of us.

Sharp eyebrows nested over a pair of hawkish eyes, while her slightly pointed nose added to the air of arrogance surrounding her as she almost stared down at us, like she was superior.

Her thin lips were pulled into a prideful smirk that revealed her pearly white teeth, and the woman chuckled as she licked her lips slightly.

Raking her pale green gaze over each of us, Nirinia nodded slightly to herself, making her ornamented hair jingle slightly.

Contrasting her pale green eyes was a long mane of reddish black hair, various silver and gold rings and clasps holding parts of her hair into tight ropes, while various gemstones studded the larger pieces of jewelry.

That mane cascaded down to her elaborate suit of mixed armor, which was made from a black metal with red undertones, which matched her hair perfectly, hardened black leather, and some embedded gemstones.

One large pauldron sat on her left shoulder, the rim rising above her shoulder and coming far enough up to act as a shield for her face.

Sitting on her right shoulder was a thin slab of that black leather, shaped to her muscular arm, completely opposite of her left shoulder.

Covering her torso was a sheet of metal, beaten into her shape and emblazoned with the alchemical symbol for ash, rubies and onyx accentuating the seven edges of the elaborate 'E' symbol.

Slung over her shoulder was a handle for an enlarged Dadao, the thick blade slowly widening out at the tip, providing a long, sharp edge of slicing, whilst the cleaver point for the blade still allowed for easy piercing and stabbing.

Poking out from behind her neck was the rounded edge of a shield, but since she was facing us I couldn't get a good look at it.

A crimson cloth covered some of her torso as well, and I could see runes shimmering on the thick cloth, denoting its enchanted nature.

A pair of sleek metal gauntlets adorned her hands and forearms, the etched runes glimmering with power and shimmering as she moved.

Going lower, her thighs were protected by a long battle skirt, with interlocking strips of that dark metal forming a strong protective layer over the crimson cloth.

Hanging from a thick black belt was a lower half face mask, carved into the snarling lips of a demon, with long metallic fangs pushing out of the masks jaw.

Draped along the rest of the belt were various pouches and small daggers, giving the woman multiple weapons.

Finally, tall boots covered her feet and calves, the black leather finishing up her armored form.

"Yo~"

Her tone was jovial and friendly on the surface, but the mixture of lust and boredom in her green eyes spoke differently.

"Been awhile since I saw you, Bluey~"

Hearing the childish, joking tone of the Djinn-Orc before us, Anput, Leone and I all narrowed our eyes at her, which made Nirinia's smirk widen.

As for Jahi, she rolled her eyes as she said "Sadly I don't remember you..."

That made the muscular Djinn chuckle, though her eyes hardened slightly as she responded "Well, shall we reacquaint ourselves outback then? Oh, and do let me get to know each of these flowers that bloom besides you~"

That made Jahi's eye flicker gold, which prompted another chuckle from Nirinia as she gestured towards the door, asking if she could come in.

Nodding stiffly, Jahi stepped aside, though the three of us remained put, staring hard at the woman.

Again her smirk grew in size, and a flicker of want entered her green iris's as she added "And these flowers even have thorns too~! However..."

Leaning forwards, the woman's smile grew twisted as she whispered "That makes plucking them all the more delightful..."

Before any of us could react to her statement, a pale blue fist flew towards the Djinn's unguarded jaw, aiming to knock her down a few pegs.

However, before it could connect, a blur of dark metal caught Jahi's fist, a solid smacking sound echoing around a stunned house as Nirinia grinned widely at the Demoness.

Clicking her tongue in mock disappointment, Nirinia tilted her head slightly to the side, her black red hair shifting around her shoulders as she spoke, her voice once again at odds with her eyes.

A small ember of anger grew in those hawkish eyes, and her joking voice chased away the silence.

"Nuh uh~ Not so fast there Bluey~!"

Clenching her fist slightly, Nirinia made Jahi wince as her bones were constricted, which made the woman smirk as she said "Let's go outback... my job here isn't to coddle an overgrown brat."

Releasing Jahi's fist, Nirinia marched past the Demoness and slipped into our home, ignoring the rest of us as she made her way towards the yard behind the cottage.

Stalking behind her, Anput, Leone and I exchanged glances with one another before casting a slightly worried gaze at Jahi, who was scowling slightly.

Pushing open the door, Nirinia strode to the center of the field and stretched, audible cracks and pops coming from her body as she loosened herself up.

Grabbing a wooden training sword, Jahi approached the Djinn, who raised a brow at the Demoness as she mockingly asked "Are you actually a child? You train with wood and not steel? Ha!"

Glaring at the Djinn, Jahi tossed the wooden blade away and gestured to Anput, who hurriedly entered the house to retrieve Jahi's sword.

Seeing that she had thankfully grabbed the replica blade, I sighed slightly in relief; my first impression of Nirinia wasn't great, but she was still the Marquess' Squire and an important woman, so we couldn't kill her.

Yet, anyways...

As Jahi grabbed her sword from Anput, Nirinia retrieved her own weapons from her back, the large Dadao looking light as a feather in her hands as she spun it around, before she strapped her metal shield to her arm.

Unlike her armor, which was all a subdued, darker color palette, her sword was a bright gold with green accents, the blade itself shining in the light as she spun it.

Her shield did remain a black and red addition, making her Dadao stand out that much more as it left glittering arcs in the air around her.

Lifting her Dadao, Nirinia finally assumed a serious expression as she leveled her blade at Jahi, her voice just as serious as she said "Nirinia Radhi of the Radhi Clan."

Mirroring Nirinia, Jahi let her blade tap against the Djinn's as she responded with an equal resolve, her voice filling the clearing as she spoke her own name.

"Jahi Asmodia of House Asmodia."

Taking a few steps back from one another, they readied themselves as they stared one another down, before Nirinia asked "Maid girl; count down from three. On go, we begin this duel of ours..."

Nodding, I stepped forwards and glanced between the two fighters, and upon seeing them ready I stared my countdown.

"Three...

Two...

One...

Go!"

On go, they both shot forwards with incredible speed, their swords a blur as they clanged against one another in the opening strike of this duel.

Retreating a few paces, I began to observe the two blurs with great interest, realizing that what I was seeing wasn't going to be something I'd see anytime soon.

The two were almost too fast to follow, but I could make out most of the details.

Jahi's style was more of brutish power aided by a surprisingly sharp finesse, her wide sweeping arcs and quick strikes leaving little to defend or attack.

And yet, Nirinia was just...

With a small smile, the grayish green skinned Djinn was redirecting Jahi's attacks with ease, using that momentum to launch ripostes that snaked towards vital areas.

She targeted the standard areas like the heart, jugular, underarms, head, and other organs, but she also targeted things like tendons, mainly of the wrist, knee, and ankle, looking to put the opponent out of the fight.

Besides that, she also generally targeted the thighs and forearms to make fighting harder for the other party, meaning...

We all winced as a thin cut appeared on Jahi's forearm, the cut beginning to bleed quickly as she continued to move around at high speeds.

Grinning at the Demoness, Nirinia continued to toy with Jahi, leaving cut after cut on her pale blue skin.

Whenever Jahi attempted to land a blow of her own on the Djinn, her sword was stopped by the woman's shield or Dadao, rendering this fight into not a duel, but something else.

A one sided beatdown.

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And so begins our next 'arc', hope you enjoy it~!

Besides that, finally back at my own home, but I got sick on vacation, so my uploads might still be infrequent until this weekend most likely.

If you read my other stuff, that's why everything will still be every other day or longer...

Sadly.

Anyways, I'm looking forwards to getting this next arc underway, since it'll be a huge change of pace and direction of my normal stuff.

An example will be this; lemons will be more infrequent, whilst combat will take the spotlight.

Some fights will be drawn out for either growth reasons or due to importance, while others might be rather short and not so detailed due to them being unimportant.

Can't wait to get to it~!

When I'm not sick lol~

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