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[The roar of pain is satisfying, even if it stabs into Dan Heng's heart because it's Yingxing's voice. Borrowed, stolen yet still his.

This moment seems to slow down in his perception. The thrown sword calls to mind a memory. His own heart stabbed and power gathering around him, forcing him to reveal his true form as Imbibitor Lunae. In that moment, though, he sees that flicker. Candle bright eyes illuminating Mara's darkness.

His heart warms with hope and his eyes flicker with recognition. Yingxing is still in there. He's still fighting Mara.

Thank the Permanence.

Dan Heng is able to dodge enough out of the way to fully ensure it's not a fatal strike, but it does leave a wound on his side. Curiously, the blood stops pouring rather quickly. Not that Dan Heng has time to think too much about that. He dances out of Mara's reach in anticipation of a follow-up strike, moving as if his wound doesn't bother him in the slightest.]

It seems you've met your match this night, Mara. Give him back, and I'll let you leave here with your dignity intact.

[If Mara seems a touch distracted, surely he has good reason. His hands are trembling, as if there's an ornery blacksmith fighting him with all his might.

He throws a punch, but his fist finds nothing.]

Give him back? As if it were that easy!

[He zips past Dan Heng to pick up his sword, looking less and less put together as the fight drags on.]

His soul is MINE. Your karma, bound to his for eternity, means I shall claim you both!

[He brings his sword up, ignoring the blood pouring out of his broken skin so he can cleave the ground. As one would expect, the air pressure sends the earth exploding and a good chunk of rock in Dan Heng's direction as well.

Something becomes clear, then: Blade's body is resilient, but he's not nearly as strong as his past life. What makes Mara dangerous is what, precisely, he can do with his vessel's own life... as well as the lives of people who are weaker than he is.

Not waiting to see if his attack hit, he charges forward with more Wind-augmented strikes.]

I'll kill you.

I'll kill you.

I'll kill you.

I'll kill you.

[To be perfectly honest, Dan Heng's a little surprised that he's able to last this long. The hit he has taken hasn't slowed him down at all. Perhaps this is one of the subtler traits of his Qilin transformation?

Mara seems to be going crazed the longer this goes on. Instead of dodging the earth coming his way, Dan Heng pierces through it with his spear. Graceful and fluid as water, he then immediately goes into a parry as his body moves on its own. Instinct has told him that there is a follow up to meet, and it's proven right as a Wind-augmented strike comes at him. The air pressure will eviscerate him if he's not careful, and so he twists so that the parry becomes a sliding of blades together. He uses this momentum to twirl around like a dancer with feet as light as a swallow.]

So you've said, but I've yet to see you deliver.

[Dan Heng stabs at Mara again but with greater force behind it as he increases the gravity around his weapon. He's not aiming for a fatal injury. Just something for Mara to either think about or remember him by. Dan Heng refuses to be an easy catch for this demon.]

That karmic bond is why you'll never take him from me, and why you will never kill me in a way that matters!

I'll ask you one last time: give. Yingxing. BACK!

[As if to drive the seriousness of his demand home, he uses his spear in an attempt to sweep Mara's legs out from underneath him. Whether it works or not, he'll keep the momentum going with a furiously fast swipe of his spear's blade to one of his legs.]

[He's beautiful and deadly, and for a moment Mara isn't sure whose thoughts those are, specifically. Then he gets a grip on himself, and ignores the flutter of fear. He's a demon. These are just... ants before him. That's all they ever were. Perhaps they are bolstered by gods, but he won't give up what's his.

He's just a touch too slow. He swings his blade and misses Dan Heng by an inch, while the spear strikes true. It pierces Mara's shoulder and sends him reeling.]

You—

[He struggles to rip himself free. His healing is slower than Dan Heng's, even though it's still freakishly fast. The blood pours down his suit in rivers. He pants hard, but that doesn't stop him from touching the wound with his left hand and inspecting his fingers.]

If you want your beloved so badly, then you'll have to pry his soul from his corpse.

[Maintaining eye contact despite his eerie lack of visible irises (or anything beyond the black sclera), he tilts his head back, and drips the blood from his gaping arm wound directly into his mouth.

Blood is his contract price. It only makes him stronger, feeding on the life of his victims. A freakish forked tongue licks excess blood off his lips and reddened teeth.]

Are you ready to walk through hell for your bride?

[He raises his blade. One more time, he slams the sword into the ground and sends another wall of dirt and force at the hidden dragon.

But this time, Mara flees in the complete opposite direction instead of pressing the attack. He's using that inhuman speed to put as much distance between himself and Dan Heng as possible. He has a tear in reality he intends to shape and mold to his own wishes.]

[Watching this morbid attempt at a power move, Dan Heng can't hide the faint repulsion from his expression. This creature dares to make a mockery of Yingxing's life, does he?

He doesn't respond. Can't, in fact, as there is a sudden surge of dirt and force heading towards him. Dan Heng manages to dodge gracefully out of the way, but he loses sight of Mara at the same time. The dragon tries to sense for his presence as far as they'll go. In the end... he comes up with nothing.

Dan Heng grits his teeth in silent fury for a moment before calming himself down. He looks at his wound and sees that it's healing itself quickly. With eyes raised upwards at the moon as witness to this opening fight, he silently promises that he'll bring Yingxing back.

Mara won't escape him again.]

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cw: blood lmao

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