She managed to get close but it was for nothing as the demon spirited away to another part of the arena. "Tch.." Iria was not amused by this. Now there are more of them throwing bolts at her. Iria stepped away from the wall but did not attempt to chase the many images that were attacking from a distance. It did not matter if she played the shell game or not, winning would just mean he teleports again and repeats the process.

Iria had no choice but to go on the defensive at this point. She kept mostly to the center of the arena as that was the furthest point from any of the walls. The bolts came rushing towards her, causing her to duck and weave as best as she could. She did not know if all of them were real or not. The real one could still be hiding for all she knew. Being far away from the images did give her some time to react but there was still a swarm of them coming at her.

Bolts began to connect with their target. The first few were lucky breaks as they were only illusions. But one found home in Iria's side causing her to gasp out. It felt like a formless concussive blast had rammed into her. It also felt strangely chilling as the bolt broke apart and faded away. The amazon groan and kept dodging but there was no way of telling where the real bolts were coming from. More bolts hit her, some fake while others were real. Each fresh hit took a bit more fight out of the warrior woman as she began to stagger. Even her enduring body could only take so much. The head of her hammer came to rest on the ground as she felt multiple real bolts hit in a row. She was panting, groaning in pain as she rested heavily on her weapon.

Was this just going to keep coming endlessly? How much more could the human woman take? Unable to dodge, she could only hold herself up with her hammer as the punishment kept raining down on her. Bruises began to form over her body from the sheer pummeling she was suffering at the hands of the demon.

As those stinging bolts hit he noted there effect. At first he did not allow himself to grow to bold though their was a certain restlessness that he felt. He observed her with his third eye, studying her to ensure that this was not some sort of ruse but no, she was being hurt as those darts hit her. He realized that she was on the defensive now and while he did not wish to have to resort to staying afar and resorting to such tricks he realized that a low victory was better for him than an honorable defeat. Besides, perhaps the show would be good enough for most people to forget how it occurred.

Iria was a crowd favorite after alll, and no doubt the crowd wanted to be entertained and see those luscious orbs on display, to see him fill her up. He smirked as he kept reigning blows against her from afar, each stinging shot only caused his confidence to bolster as she sagged, relying on her hammer to keep from falling over.

No, she took too much punishment for this to be a feint or ruse of some sort. His third eye allowing him to realize that she was indeed hurt. Though the stream of darts ceased suddenly. He used a rare conjuration, well rare other than summoning demonic beasts to his side.

It his right hand, and the hands of all the duplicates was a wicked black blade, a bastard sword though the blade had been wavy and dripping acid. He approached in his renewed confidence, all those images approach as the regarded her there before them. All the images were grinning as he made a simple test swing in the air as he approached.

No, he wanted to finish this up close rather than hanging back. Not because he felt honor bond in doing so, he certainly did not care about playing far, it was more so because he wanted to end this up close and personel.

Has Iria met her match? She's almost down but not out of it just yet. We've seen her come back before but can she do so again or are we all going to get a treat her today. I'm sure the Prince is after his reward and he can't achieve that from afrar.

"Huff... Huff..." The amazon panted heavily as the bolts stopped coming. She was battered, showing the effects of the constant barrage of small ranged attacks. Iria's body ached all over but it was not over for her just yet. Her opponent wanted to move in for the kill as the many images moved closer with those long black blades.

Gritting her teeth, Iria tightened her grip on her hammer and slowly swayed on her feet. Her hammer dragged on the ground as she backed away slowly to buy her a bit more time. She took slow, deep breaths to try and restore some of her lost stamina and avoid being completely surrounded. It was only a matter of time before she had to deal with the sneering demons approaching her.

One of them had to be the real one but there was no way to tell with only her eyes. But if they were anything like the bolts from before, they may shatter in just a single hit. There was only one way to find out.

Feeling every motion causing her wounds to cry out, Iria could only clench her jaw as she suddenly rushed towards one of the far images. Her hammer dragged along the arena floor, kicking dirt and dust up off the ground. Iria would swing her hammer but not at the image she was rushing. She would instead swing her hammer around, flinging the gathered dirt and grit from the floor towards the other demons that may be closing in to attack her flanks. As she swung, she threw out a sidekick towards the first demon she was rushing. Illusions may not care about dust but she was certain the real one and his three eyes would care very much so.

Despite her weary state, she was not going to just give up after coming this far. She was hurting but so was this demon. It would be disappointing to fall now.

She rushed forward and noted a few things with her experience in the arena. The images were far easier to hit, they threw up defenses but nothing that seemed overwhelming to her. The images, being scattered where confusing especially since they were reacting differently, those under attack threw up defenses, those that weren't tried to close and there real one was amongst the plethora of images somehere.

But her second realization occurred after her kick hit an image and it dissolved with the contact as if it weren' there at all. But it was around that time that she had reduce the images to seven that she noted that the sand and dust she had kicked up went through three of the closest beings and she could thus determine that these three weren't real.

Even knowing that though they attacked, but did she wish to just take the blows for the Shadow Darts they launched were harmless it reckoned that the effects would be the same, one kill, three fakes that reduced her guess work to a 1 in 4 chance of guessing right next time around.

If the Prince thought this was going to be easy then he has another thing coming! He's already lost an images but can he capitalize on them before Iria figures this one out. The real one is among the fakes so he's pressing in if not all ready and with the way those images keep shuffling around well it's impossible to track the real from the fakes. I wish I had known about magic so bare with me folks, I'm learning as we go.

The gladiatrix foot hit nothing but air, the image breaking apart as a few others did the same from her blinding attack. The dust storm did what it was supposed to in keeping the others at bay. What ones rushed through gave away that they were fabricated copies and were of no consequence. The three fakes threw bolts at her which passed through her harmlessly as she ran right through them and towards the remaining four.

Getting her body moving again did her some good. There were still aches and pains but she would power through it. If it were not for all the magic being thrown around, Iria would have enjoyed being pressed this hard. Unfortunately, she was more annoyed than anything else. She wanted nothing more than to smash this magician into dust.

Swinging her hammer around had helped her build momentum once more, making it easier to heft the insane weight of her weapon. She swung wide at a pair of demons, hoping to hit them both at the same time. The force of her swing would keep her going, spinning around to send her still going hammer towards the others should the real one try to rush her from behind. Would she find the real one in time or will her opponent find the opening he was waiting for?

What a turn around! Look at those images being shattered folks!

She had managed to hit two more of the images shattering them though the other two that contained the real one had already begun mingling with the fakes that she had known about so she was unsure once more. A 1 in 6 chance but a little better.

Iria spun around as others attempted to press in on her, taking advantage of the slower recovery time of the hammer there had been no way for her to recover in time to block the oncoming sword blow so she managed to lash out with a foot, finding that it had been an image and shattering it as she recovered and took out the other two. Images, but their defenses were easier to deal with.

Much better, 1 in 3, the crowd was roaring at the quick momentum swing though the three remaining images fanned out in a triangular pattern so that one kept behind her and the other two had been in front of her and to either side.

Black miasma spread to his left hand leaving her to wonder if he was going to try to pelt her again at range or use it as a shield of sorts. He was close, so close now that he could dart in, in fact one image did though as soon as it had gotten her attention another darted in from her blind side. Wolf pack tactics, one distracted one rushed in to nip at it's prey only to move back when attention was turned to deal with it so her back would be to another wolf.

Yet she had an advantage here in that the tactic wouldn't work that way unless he had some sort of power that allowed him to shift his presence among images. He already showed he could not Shadow Step in this portion of the arena and once she had learned which image was real then she could ignore the other two. They were spaced out far enough to keep track of them now unless the Prince had something else dastardly in mind seeing how this plough had obvious flaws.

More images had formed as she dealt with the decoys. But the army of illusions was now just a trio with one of them being the real target. She was surrounded unfortunately and forced to spread her attention. Iria panted softly as she held her hammer at the ready. She could keep going but her wounds were making every motion require more will and effort than usual. Just like before, she had no choice but to take these things out one at a time and hope she gets lucky before the demon connects with a stronger attack.

"Hmph... Still to afraid to face me... Coward..." she huffed. One of the demons rushed at her, causing her to turn and face the approaching foe only to have another rush from another side. Iria ignored the first one and instead rushed for the second. The second backed away but the amazon had picked her target. With a growl, she swung her hammer at the retreating image, exposing her back to the other two. Either she was correct and would once more have an opportunity to pound this fleeing coward or she will be wrong and be down to two images left. There was not much to the amazon's tactics now.

The first image to dart in she reasoned was a fake, a set up for the real image she supposed as she turned her attention to it and it fled back though with determination she persued even as an image behind her darted in to get her attention.

Her hammer lifted, fell and it looked as if he were about to make a one handed parry though even as the blow settled down of the hand the image melted away meaning -

There was a sizzle to her dominant arm, the wavy sword cutting it, the acid burning her skin. Perhaps in a real fight that attack would have been directed at a lethal area, though the intent her was not to kill as the image leapt back before she could whirl around to kick or bring the harmer to bare. A fifty-fifty chance now though the one on the left was probably the real deal. They were close together again, the ability to deceive was virtual gone now though the demon was grinning at her, goading her as if it were looking ahead or expecting her to react in a predictable way.

Wrong again, Iria, both images spoke at once. Check.

And now there are two! What a turn around it looked bleak there for a moment! Iria looks annoyed though so don't count her out yet, we've seen her come back from worse.

"Ahhhnnn!" Iria cried out in agony as her hammer hit another fake only to have her arm cut and burned at the same time. The cut was purposefully shallow but the acid continued to bubble and burn. Stabbing pain shot through her arm, causing the amazon to stop and rip off one of her wristbands. She pressed the article onto the wound, giving the acid somewhere else to absorb and burn. Her other hand continued to hold her hammer as she turned to glare at the remaining two foes.

She tossed the melting material away and heft her hammer once more. Just holding the heavy weight irritated her burns though at least the burns hindered the blood loss. Gritting her teeth, the gladiatrix seethed in pain. Just two more she thought to herself. The two images remained close to each other as if expecting the amazon to take another wide swing to hit them both. Her eyes narrowed at the taunt being thrown at her.

The warrior woman rushed towards the two awaiting demons. Hammer trailing behind her, she kept her eyes on both of them as several scenarios played in her head. When she came into range, she released her hammer and suddenly launched herself as fast as her powerful legs could take her towards the two alien creatures. A wide swing would leave her open for a forward assault so Iria decided to go straight into one of the two images, smashing her shoulder into him. If she felt no contact, she would know it was fake and at least be facing the real one. If it was the real one, hopefully he will enjoy her shoulder in his damaged ribs.

He was both right and wrong. He figured that she would be goaded forth especially knowing that he could have kept at range and used those horrible black darts again but he had been anticipating the swing of her hammer and not her shoulder.

Instead of a parry though both images brought a foot up in a stern kick to her gut though there was no stopping her forward momentum, he was not strong enough to kick her away though her forward momentum added to the strength of his upward kick, or rather kicks. One boot passed through her with ease as if it hadn't existed at all and she knew which was the fake a second before her shoulder slammed into the ribs of the real Gersham.

She had guessed right and had been award with a roar of the ground thugh now Gersham would either drive away from her to generate a little space or if she tried to grapple him he would bring the pommel of the sword down onto the top of her skull.

She was too close for him to use the blade to swing at her fully though he had intended on using the flat of his blade against her had she swung. There was a reason why he had targeted her dominate arm earlier, he felt that she could not generate as much power and he could parry with a hand as he swung with the blade though that was not going to be the case now.

Gersham grunted out, feeling the burning pain that spread through his ribs, if they weren't cracked before they had to be now.

OH! WHAT A TURN AROUND! The announcer was excited, the crowd was roaring at this confrontation as momentum kept swinging back and forth between the pair.

Gersham realized that he was in trouble close up like this but he also realized she was tired too. Her dominant arm injured and maybe, just maybe he would have the edge here. Yet he was hurt two as evidence by his cracked ribs and he doubted that his stamina was greater than hers as far as excertion went. Though she had used up far more energy than he so if this turned into a bout of endurance, which it seemed likely he might have the edge here though it was close. Iria was use to fighting monsters after all and her endurance might have been surprising, built up over the course of matches and since Gersham didn't know for certain he would try to separate from her as soon as possible until he could work the truth out for himself.

She had finally guessed right for better or for worse. The fake's kick connected just as the real one did, the illusion breaking apart. The foot sank into her stomach, forcing air from her lungs as she smashed right into her foe. Though kick connected, she still managed to damage the demon with her shoulder but the cost was high. The kick forced her to remain keeled forward, allowing the demon to bring the sword pommel down on her head. Despite being made from shadows, it felt very much solid as black and white flashed in the amazon's vision. Her legs buckled and folded, falling to a knee as she was left gasping for breath and waiting for the wave of dizziness to pass.

This gave her opponent the time to back away once more, putting distance between them both. Iria wanted to press on but the two solid blows against her already battered body stopped her momentum. After a few slow breaths and the stars stopped flickering in her vision, Iria rose back to her feet. She lost her opportunity again and would have no choice but to back away and grab her hammer once more. Would her opponent try to go in for the kill again or will the cat and mouse games return. How much longer could the amazon woman keep going or endure?

Letting the hammer rest on the ground, she held the weapon in both hands. She gazed at her foe. Her breasts heaved with each heavy breath she took. Her muscles burned and her body glistened with sweat. The crowds were drowning out all sound as they roared and wanted to see more though Iria was too dazed to really notice or care who they were cheering for.

Gersham assumed that they were still cheering for Iria though at the back of his mind he thought they might be anticipating what was to come. He was hurt, she was hurt but his third eye allowed him to see that fatigue was beginning to set in on her. No charge, she had kept moving forward to this point in predictable fashion though until now he was unable to really capitalize on that.

A smile curled up on his features. The last image was worthless now, she knew which one was the fake and so he dismissed it. Just the two of them now, though he could have generated more images he was feeling rather confident as he stepped in.

He could sense that she had little left at this point and went in for the kill, making a feint with the sword at her ribs then dropped in a rapid crouch as he kicked out at her legs trying to sweep her, anticipating that the feint would get her moving. Of course if she remained crouched she would be able to resist the sweep a lot easier though would still have the impact of the kick to deal with.

Gersham had to keep mixing it up to keep his opponent from guessing his next move, it was clear she had the experience here, that if he was too predictable that she could launch an effective counter attack. He had hoped he had guessed right here and that there were no surprises but he had to take some chances if he were going to be successful here today. In the back of his mind he was dimly aware that the announcer was saying something though he was so focused on Iria that it had not comprehended with him.

There were no more magic tricks at least for now as the real and final demon approached her. He made for a stab for her ribs which caused her to back off, leaving the hammer resting on the arena floor as she past it. With the hammer infront of her now, it provided a guard as it blocked the sweeping leg. The amazon woman rotated around the hammer's shaft, turning her body and sending out a side kick aimed at the demon's torso.

Blocking with the long shaft of her weapon was easy while the heavy head remained planted on the ground. Despite her overwhelming offensive power, the warrior woman did know how to block and defend as well. There was a wound on her leg but it paled in comparison to the burn on her arm. Her hands would switch their grip as she continued to turn with the kick and send forth a roundhouse kick with her other leg for her opponent's sword hand. She hoped to disarm him of the enchanted blade if only temporarily.

Moving forward caused her grip to slide down the long shaft holding onto the end before finally surging her body forward. The hammer ripped up off the ground, following through with a swing of her weapon. The gladiatrix was trying to build momentum once more even if her wounds were telling her to stop.

He dropped his arm down to protect his ribs. She made contact against his arm but better it then his body as he grunted a little. Some of the power had been gone of course though he still felt the blow make impact against him.

He had tried to take advantage of the situation and was cocking back his sword arm even as he rose up but she reset herself quick enough to make a quick kick for the sword and since he had not been expecting it the blade was jarred from his grasp though the acid on it ate away at some of her boot. Rather that then flesh.

But even as the weapon skittered away, dissolving into nothingness and shadow as it left his possession she was still trying to find an advantage here. Fortunately for him the shaft of her weapon was no longer in the way as she hauled back on the weapon and it was a two handed one so it was tougher to defend with it.

Brute, crushing strength. That was what the weapon was designed for. Crushing power and as she brought it back he used his left hand, that covered in black miasma to snake out a jab at her solar plexus. If he failed he had to dodge, there was no way that he had enough time to generate the miasma around his other hand in time. He was already thinking left, that he was going to move that way after his blow either connected or was blocked in some fashion or perhaps another kick to block it though if this were the case he had hope that this would interfere with the hammer attack as she attempted to kick that arm away.

Holes were melted in various spots of her knee high boots but it was a small price to pay to prevent further attacks from the weapon at least temporarily. Iria's first attack was blocked and did not hinder the beast much at all. But that was fine, her kicks were to keep him at bay while she powered up her swing to hopefully smash through the annoying demon.

But she was over extended, leaving her wide open for further attack. She pushed forward only to run right into Gersham's jabbing fist. The jab alone would have caused discomfort but what halted her was the black miasma that just fired directly into her solar plexus. "Urk!" Iria's eyes widen as her body once again bent forward. Air rushed entirely out of her lungs this time, halting her advanced entirely. The fist was still sunken into her solar plexus, preventing her from drawing breath. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. The head of her mighty hammer shook and lowered slowly to the ground as she was left resting against the fist that had stunned her.

Iria was in trouble. Her body trembled. She needed to back away but she could summon no strength at the moment. Her knees buckled and grew week as the sounds of crowds dinned in and out. Iria's guard down, she was completely open to any cruel ideas the demon had in mind to further strengthen his dominant position.