Shift

[Andromeda]

However, a strange red glow came from Kaede that made Miyako force open her half-closed eye. “…the hell?” She slowly started to move closer and closer trying to figure out what was going on with Kaede. The glow became a haze that seemed to surround her whole body. ‘…it’s like she’s on fire…literally…’

Before she could get too much closer, a fireball suddenly flew after her. She had to duck out of the way of the surprise attack. Behind her, the house blew up in flames casting gusts of wind to her back. ‘A completely different power…’ Little time remained to think about the situation as another similar attack forced her to dodge.

Rolling out of the way, Miyako found several more fireballs coming to where she landed. She jumped out of the way just in time to ride the explosions forward. They rocked her around and forced her into the ground roughly as she clawed at the earth to recover.

Already on top of her, Kaede stood with her left fist lit with flames. Miyako rolled away to dodge the first and second punches that left the ground melted and smoking. However, she could not get away from the third taking it straight to the upper arm. The searing pain roared through her body and she yelped. Forcing Kaede off her with a kick, she managed to be released from the burning.

Miyako stood up with her left arm feeling numb and not moving the way she wanted. She finally got a good look at Kaede to see that once more she got a change in haircut. Her hair had grown out in length to hit near the middle of her back with large spinning and wrapping curls laid over her shoulder. “So your power is connected to your hair, huh?” Seeing it a third time made it all clear.

“That’s right. I have several different powers thanks to the way this power works. You never stood a chance against me! My flames will burn to you ash!”

Grinding her teeth together Miyako swore a terrible curse under her breathe. Her right hand clutched her left shoulder as though it helped to ease the injury. “I may only have one good arm to fight you, but fight you I will! Not until you’re eating dirt will I stop getting back up to stop you! To stop Takako’s madness!”

Flames glowed about both of Kaede’s hands as though her skin was on fire. “Pretty brave words for someone that’s about to fall over!” She charged forward with flames bleeding off her fists as the distance closed. Once in range, her already wound up swing released straight for the unguarded Miyako.

However, her fist came to a sudden stop before it hit the desired target. Miyako’s still good hand had blocked the first thrown punch her fingers closed around over top of her fist. “I’m not going anywhere, bitch!” Pushing back against Kaede, Miyako wound up with her injured arm, as unwise as it was, and decked her with everything she had in her arm.

While lacking in the same power she had before, it still pushed her back a little unable to keep the same stance. Smoke rolled off of Miyako’s hands from confronting the flames. “Thinking that I’m weak because you got one of my arms will be a grave mistake for you.”

Chapter 335 – Back-to-Back into the Fires

“Tch!” Kaede rubbed at her chin to wipe away the blood. The flames around her hands appeared to have little effect on her, as expected. “We’ll just have to see about that!”

Jumping back into the fight, Miyako was not about show any weakness towards her opponent. ‘I need to make her doubt that this is slowing me down. Anything to put her off balance with that flame. She’s got range and melee now.’ She did not know what her left arm was doing half the time in the melee, but it was partially useful.

In the middle of one of the punches, Kaede’s left hand’s flame grew brighter. Sensing a more powerful attack, Miyako dodged by falling over to her right side with support from her good hand. A fireball shot over her where her head used to be only moments before. While landing on her hand, she threw up a kick knocking Kaede off balance.

Kaede started to tip over, but shot out another blast of fire from her right hand. Only falling on her back did Miyako evade the close call. Her clothes had slight embers glowing red from it just passing over her. Miyako rolled over and stood on her feet before Kaede, giving her the opportunity to strike.

Flames flew past her shoulders as she sidestepped attacks to get inside her range. However, Kaede rolled over to keep outside of any attacks. Misses left small craters for Miyako. She kicked some rubble from the house they blew up to keep the pressure on while she closed again.

The two danced around the remains of the house dodging most of the things coming in acting as though they were leveling off what they had not destroyed of the house. Little progress had been made against either after the initial opening attacks. They broke after the last pieces of the house collapsed around them. Out of breathe and stubborn, neither gave any ground up.

Taking stock of the situation, Miyako needed a new plan. “So you’re all just smoke then?”

“I’ll kill you, don’t you worry!”

“Makin’ me yawn is more like it.”

“Big talk isn’t going to fix your arm. I can tell you’re not able to dish it out like before.”

“I still have enough to deal with a snot-nosed brat like you!”

“Going to show me because you’re an adult?”

Miyako had enough time to recover herself and charged back into the fight. “No, it’s because I take down evil wherever it stands!” She clashed in the middle with Kaede. Flames sparked and billowed around them.

“Evil is it? This is just freedom!”

“Nothing as twisted and depraved as this is freedom!”

Her left hand was not keeping up with Kaede as much as Miyako liked. But she kept forcing it to do work. Kaede saw through the struggle and channeled more of her flames against her. “Takako enlightened all of us! But sometimes there are those that must die!” Suddenly the flames grew in size and exploded immediately in front of them.

The blast threw Miyako back away from Kaede. Her back clawed at the ground until the friction sent her tumbling end over end into a completely different house. This house had still remained standing during their fight. Miyako’s arrival in the house did not turn out well for the home. An explosion of smoke and debris followed her wake.

Coughing and panting heavily, Miyako still survived the point blank attack, though the same could not really be said for her cloths. Already torn to shreds from the fighting, the explosion had finally finished off any hope it had of still serving its original purpose.

Miyako forced herself back up on her feet though her body complained. “Come on, get moving.” She had to fight and convince it to move on her command. The outlook on her body was not improving with the fight, not that she expected it to do so. But the girl was being more of a challenge than she imagined.

Slowly working through the house, she began muttering to herself. “Well, at least she should have been hit as hard as me doing something so reckless. Can’t believe she did that…” However, as she was coming out, Kaede was already charging in after her. “…damnit…”

Flames completely engulfed her fists that threatened to lay down a barrage. The first hit square on Miyako’s chest knocking her back. When Kaede attempted to close the distance, Miyako chucked debris at her though the flames destroyed it before there was any harm. It gave enough room for her to dodge out of the next round that left only smoldering craters. “My flames are going to roast you alive!”

Rolling and back stepping, Miyako found herself on the defense against the new current in the battle. Kaede tried to mount an assault, but could not land a solid blow. The flames around her continued to grow beginning to consume her arms as well. “Stay still!”

Miyako took pause in the fighting bothered by what she was seeing. ‘What’s with her flames? Are they out of control? She was only using them around her fists before, but it’s gone up to her shoulders almost now.’ While she had not been focusing on it the entire time, the flames had been progressively expanding over Kaede’s body for the last few minutes of their fighting. Before it had just seemed like her hair was on fire and her hands were coated in flames, but now it looked to be trying to consume her body.

The size the flames reached at her hands had stretches of tendrils rising off her. It no longer appeared like they were under her control. Thoughts of it running out of control worried Miyako more than needing to dodge the attacks coming in as Kaede resumed her offensive. With each motion, she saw it take more and more over. The flames were like pillars at her hands making even staying ahead of the attacks difficult.

With each miss, the flames grew closer to her. She could feel her skin drying out and blistering from the proximity of the heat. It was drawing the moisture out of the air it seemed with the intensity. ‘Damn…is she actually getting more powerful the longer we’re fighting? What’s going on with her power?’

“I will burn you! Burn you!” Rage burning as hot as the flames upon her skin, Kaede charged straight for Miyako in a blur. She turned into a red streak with the flames trailing off her.

Pulling away the initial straight punch that Kaede threw was easily avoided. But the fury built up in her body already had flames covering up half her body. The proximity was enough to draw off the sweat from Miyako’s skin. A follow-up punch knocked her off balance and flames shot out of both hands kicking her body back.

Miyako crashed through the ruins of the house and smashed through two more houses before collapsing out in the street with only the speed of her flight holding the flames at bay. As she stopped in the grass road the flames clinging on to her rose. Life returned to the fires desiring her flesh.

Glancing down at the Kaede’s flames, they stuck around in ways that they had no before. Even caught on her from previous attacks, they did nothing past the initial damage. They were a part of her and unless she threw it, it did nothing else. And even thrown, it had weaker power. ‘Seems she’s become a victim of her own power. It’s like it has a life of its own.’ Scooping up some earth, she snuffed out the flames attached to her. A bit of stubbornness existed in them, but they went out. And in time, Kaede tracked down the path of destruction left behind.

She rushed in without a second thought for Miyako. Only barely getting back to her feet, Miyako was not ready for Kaede. The only thing she could do was confront her head on, which meant a painful clash. The collision alone was enough to kick her feet out and almost knock her prone. Only resolute will kept her from folding on the first seconds. Cracks crawled away from her feet as she tried to anchor herself.

Worst came the flames that had stretched from her upper body down to her waist now. The only parts of Kaede still not fully consumed by her flames were her head and legs, both of which seemed to be inevitability. Touching hands as they struggled in a battle of strength was bad enough to keep burning her skin, but the close proximity of the growing intense heat threatened to give her first degree burns.

Her legs already felt like mush before it all started, their collision and struggle only made it feel like a certainty rather than just a feeling. It was only a matter of time for her strength to give out. Miyako knew her situation well enough that she was not winning it. Not with her caught off guard. She merely held in because she needed to or be thrown back once more. Losing ground again was not something she could afford.

Taking advantage of her position, she did the only thing left to her. She collapsed her position and used it to throw Kaede off her. Tossed behind her into the ruins of a house, her body universally sighed a relief along with her. What looked like steam rose off her exposed skin from the heat. “Damnit…what’s it going to take to keep her down…”

While Miyako straightened herself out to prepare for the next round, an explosion of rubble from the ruins blew free everything that had fallen on top of Kaede. The flames had spread more with everything but her head engulfed now.

Miyako tried to keep her heavy breathing under control, but her chest was pounding too hard for that to be a reasonable effort. “That’s impressive…” she remarked, needing a pause to breath, “She looks even more pissed off than before, which I didn’t think was actually possible.”

Screaming to the night sky, Kaede voice almost sounded more like a roar than human. She fixed her glare towards Miyako. “I’m going to KILL YOU!”

“…she losing it?”

Kaede no longer seemed to be meeting gazes with Miyako. Something had overcome her eyes. The flames finished their consumption of her body. Barely visible through the haze of the fires, she looked like a living flame now rather than a human. To match with the change, she screamed once more no sounding human. It had a savage, bestial tone to it that belied the real threat approaching.

“What the hell?” Miyako staggered a step back confused by what she saw. Before her eyes, she watched as Kaede’s shape changed. At first, she just thought she was bending over for a charge, like a sprinter, but that was no longer the case. Her body transformed as the only best way to describe what she witness unfold.

The thing or being that Kaede became was not something Miyako could describe in a single word beyond monster. No living animal she knew of had an appearance like that of what Kaede became. Only images from fiction or movies could come close to even a half accurate image and that still failed. It had hard to tell if she was covered in hair or flames anymore or flaming hair. But it was clear that it was a fire monster whatever Kaede had become.

Even worse still, Miyako was no ready for when she or it charged after the roar leveled everything around it. She could not even see it move, it was not even a blur. Miyako coughed up blood while she flew backwards. She was not even sure what hit her. It did not feel like what she thought.

An explosion from the crash of Kaede five blocks away was all Miyako saw as she collapsed on the ground. ‘So fast…she actually got like three times more powerful…damn…’ Her whole body felt like paste, but it did not stop her from forcing herself back up to her feet. She checked her body where it felt like she was hit, but saw nothing.

Miyako glanced over in the direction of Kaede. “Did she miss me? Merely passing by from her power did that to me? Damn… I really don’t like this…” She felt the thumping of the fire monster, likely recovered. “So she can’t control her new power…”

The monster came stalking back toward Miyako who had only bravado to stand on, not that her confidence made it look like that. ‘Winning the fight is about having the confidence even against the odds.’

Straightening out her back, she stepped forward giving whatever Kaede had become to signs of fear. She ripped her completely tattered shirt off leaving only her sports bra to protect her. It had only been getting in the way. Miyako proceeded to wrap what remained of her shirt around her hands and forearms almost looking like a boxer. Finished, she lifted up both hands ready to fight once more. “It’s time for some monster slaying!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

An explosion from the crash of Kaede five blocks away was all Miyako saw as she collapsed on the ground. ‘So fast…she actually got like three times more powerful…damn…’ Her whole body felt like paste, but it did not stop her from forcing herself back up to her feet. She checked her body where it felt like she was hit, but saw nothing.

Miyako glanced over in the direction of Kaede. “Did she miss me? Merely passing by from her power did that to me? Damn… I really don’t like this…” She felt the thumping of the fire monster, likely recovered. “So she can’t control her new power…”

The monster came stalking back toward Miyako who had only bravado to stand on, not that her confidence made it look like that. ‘Winning the fight is about having the confidence even against the odds.’

Straightening out her back, she stepped forward giving whatever Kaede had become to signs of fear. She ripped her completely tattered shirt off leaving only her sports bra to protect her. It had only been getting in the way. Miyako proceeded to wrap what remained of her shirt around her hands and forearms almost looking like a boxer. Finished, she lifted up both hands ready to fight once more. “It’s time for some monster slaying!”

Roaring down at Miyako, the transformation Kaede had undergone did more than alter her shape. She now stood at a greater height than Miyako. Hunched over, the height easily surpassed two meters with no effort. With a head half the size of her own body, Miyako stared up into teeth and flame.

She could only look undaunted. Nothing human remained inside the black and red eyes of the beast. Only through complete confidence could she make the instinct driven monstrosity not attack immediately. Her look made it question if it could win as Miyako looked like she was only on a whim not completely destroying it. Her well practiced death stare returned. It gave her the look of complete control and superiority, which only she knew not to be true. It had lost any sense of rational thought, forgetting that they had already been fighting.

Another roar coughed up some flames into the air. They did not touch Miyako, but she could feel the intense heat from just the proximity. It was worse than the near miss she had. Then the heat was brief enough that she could only feel the power that passed by. It nearly felt like it had dripped hot coals on her face. The stinging in her skin did not go away even after it stopped roaring. “I didn’t think your mouth could get more foul.”

Almost in response as though it understood Miyako, it roared back at her getting even more in her face. ‘It’s testing me. To see how I react. I wants to see my fear. She really has just become a mindless beast… What sort of power is this and how does this even connect with the rest of her powers?’ She had too many questions. But questions were not for the moment. Their standoff would not last forever.

Someone had to make a move.

Chapter 336 – Back-to-back in the Jaws

Miyako wanted to be the first to act, but she did not know what to expect from the transformation. Speed and power were already far more than she even thought was possible. There was no guessing what other secrets might be stored in the new body.

She began to slowly pace around what remained of Kaede. It merely watched her seeing what she would do. Instinct told it that Miyako was still dangerous. It gave it pause in immediately attacking.

Yet that would not last forever. Something that seemed to carry over from Kaede was impatience. A drawn out stare down would not happen. After thirty seconds of Miyako’s pacing and sizing up her challenge, the beast signaled its next charge with a roar that carried over into its attack.

The danger of the situation was something Miyako understood acutely. A near miss was enough to leave her feeling as if a train had hit her. She did not want a direct hit. It was the main reason she went to pacing around her target. Since she was already in motion, it made it easier for her to dodge quickly to the side. Not that it was completely without risk.

Even using her arms as a shield during the charge, the force still knocked her off her feet and flying backwards into the ruins left over from their earlier fight. Laying prone once more, her body did not want to be moving, but she forced it to get going. It was still a struggle. “Damn, I knew it was fast, but still this is stupid…” She clinched her fists keeping them ready as though that was the only thing she needed to fight. “I knew it was coming and I was still too slow.”

The train had already started back up though, as the sounds from it grew louder. Miyako complained and cursed under her breathe watching the embodiment of rage storming at her. She jumped out of the way just in time, but noticed that it still would have missed her.

Miyako watched it crash into the ruined wall of the school grounds, a reminder that they had been fighting within the crumbling building. “I was right. It gained all this power and speed, but can’t control it. That may be the only thing working in my favor. Not that I know how much of a favor it actually is to have…”

She began to make her legs move again working towards the beast. It already turned around recovered from its collision. Already looking pissed off, it was hard to tell if it was any angrier from the failure. ‘I need to keep moving… It’s my only shot…’ Miyako charged forward with a sluggish start that quickly became more natural.

As she came charging in for the creature, it lowered a little rearing up for an attack. She spun around kicking at some of the rubble around her throwing up a screen in front of her. Some of it was smoke and the rest high-speed projectiles.

Small chunks pelted the monster with the flames coating most of its body vaporizing them quickly. The larger pieces were enough to make it howl in annoyance. But it did enough to distract for Miyako to get in close. ‘Just need one good blow…’ She had everything that she needed lined up. The chance was not going to get any better than the one she had.

Winding up for the throw, Miyako pushed herself faster than she had ever been before while her muscles yelled at her to stop. The creature was still thrown off by everything that it had nothing ready. Even its defenses were down. Only the flames were in her way.

Cloth wrapped in her torn shirt, it was all that protected her fists from the intense heat as she came in swinging. Anyone else would have told her that she was an idiot to run in swinging with her fists against something that could fry her up like an egg (well everyone but Seiji, he’s cheering her on), but something like stupid or smart did not factor into the problem. She had fists and they still worked, mostly, so she was by hell going to go swinging.

Miyako’s stronger right arm released from its hold as she finished the distance. Hitting square in the what was probably the bridge of the nose, there was a loud crack. Flames flashed up around her looking for more to consume, but struggle to get a hold of her flesh.

“Damn, bastard!” she roared in pain feeling the heat, but worse than that. The cracking sound did not come from her breaking the skull of the beast. It came from her hand. “Hard headed bastard!” Not that it stopped her from swinging in with her other arm, somehow still working.

Not as loud, but there was another crack. It became clear to anyone what was happening, but that did not stop her from continue. “Just go down!” She kept slamming her fists into the head of the creature with no regard for her hands or limbs. If she had she would have started biting at it, if it helped.

In the entire fight so far, never had Miyako had the best shots. Each punch easily surpassed the fight before and each blow that preceded it. It seemed impossible, but her power actually increased despite her injuries that mounted with each throw.

Yet the beast only seemed to be flinching from the attacks. The force of the blows pushed down its head a little, but returned to position quickly. However, as time passed groans came from the creature signaling signs that it might actually be feeling what was happening. Miyako saw it as such a sign to keep delivering the pain. “Feeling that now! I just needed to warm up!”

A loud roar broke through the blows as the monster jumped away in a blur. Miyako was left with no target other than the ground, which came up quickly to her fist. The collision exploded earth and debris in all directions and filled the whole area with smoke.

Rather than wait on the wind to clear things out, the creature roared in the direction of Miyako blowing away all of the smoke. All that remained was a crater so deep that Miyako could not be seen. The beast had to walk up to the edge of the crater that had consumed nearly the entire block. Down at the epicenter of the blast stood Miyako glaring up at the thing that had been Kaede. The flames of Kaede still lingered on the edges of Miyako’s fists clinging to the cloth strips.

Giving the creature her full attention, Miyako threw up her fist challenging it for another round. “Afraid now? I told you! This is monster slaying!” She snapped her arms down to her sides suddenly snuffing out the flames.

The monster opened its mouth filled with long teeth that were easily as large as her hand. Flames lit up the throat until it coughed up a stream of fire. Slower than the normal attacks from the beast, Miyako jumped into the air with ease to avoid it. Though the next attack was already launched. Hardened arcs of fire that looked more crystalline than fluid flew at her.

“What?!” Miyako could do nothing to dodge them. It was not as though she could actually fly like others. She was completely open to the attack. Putting up her arms for protection once more, the first arc missed her, like before its aim was something that left a little something to be desired. However, it was a storm. It did not try for accuracy when it was covering the entire field. One would hit, it was a certainty.

Which was very true. One hit collided with her forearms. It sliced into her flesh with ease. However, before it could go all the way through, she converted the force into something that she could use to change her direction. Allowing most of the energy from the attack to be deflected away, she pushed off from it. Blood trailed off her arms once more.

She had tried to use the attack to throw her in range of the beast for another attack, but it came ready for it. It no longer seemed to be hesitating in fighting her. Whether it feared or not, it knew that it had no other choice but to fight. Such an outlook made it more dangerous than before.

It swiped its claws out at Miyako as she came in reach and far before she could even think of landing any meaningful blow to it. The claws themselves did little to her that the previous attack had not done worse. Rather, it was the force and weight of the arms that she felt. It was that which sent her flying through the air and back into the crater of her own creation.

Crashing in the wall of the crater opposite of the beast, Miyako groaned from the pain. “Damn, still got plenty left in you, huh?” She ripped her limbs free and began to dig the rest out when a fireball greater than herself filled the entire view. “Bastard!”

Her voice disappeared into the noise of the blast left behind by the fireball.

Crumbling debris rained down over the area where Miyako had been. There was nothing but smoke and earth in the whole site.

As the screen started to fade away, a figure appeared through it all. It was Miyako panting heavily from the effort. Surrounding her, a new crater, not nearly as large, appeared. In the last moments, she used the force of her own attack to attempt to cancel out the fireball. It mostly worked. Much of her skin was red and raw from the attack, fortunately it did manage to act well to seal up her wounds.

Frustrated that Miyako still stood, it roared down at her. She smirked back keeping up her confidence, even if it was unfounded. “Thought you killed me, didn’t ya? You’re going to have to try harder than that! You’re still half assing it, I see that part of you hasn’t changed!”

It was probably an unwise thing to taunt the creature. Only its lack of understanding on language saved her from an immediate attack. Yet, it still understood the intend delivered at it. It was a declaration, a challenge to do better. Instinct told it that much, she could tell.

Smashing an arm against the earth, the ground started to rumble and complain once more. Strange noise came out from where Miyako stood. She looked down in the direction that it came from. “…the hell is that?” Her instincts told her to dodge, which was still too slow.

A pillar of fire broke through the earth next to her. Accuracy still being something to ask for, it had missed a direct hit against her. But it still consumed her right arm, her still good arm (mostly good at this point). Miyako howled in pain pulling out of the fires, but not before it already claimed what it wanted.

Her arm was gone.

Incinerated in the flames, all that remained was half a stump from the upper arm. She ground her teeth through the pain and slammed her feet into the earth for support. “You think that’ll be enough to stop me!” Without thinking, Miyako jumped forward at the beast.

Ready to receive her for the finishing blow, it prepared the next attack. However, Miyako surprised it by not actually connecting with it. Her aim was below it. Her remaining injured fist rammed into the earth underneath it. The wall of the crater she made exploded around both of them.

Crumbling and throwing debris in all directions, the beast fell off balance into the new crater that Miyako created. She landed on top of it with her eyes lit with fury. “I only need one fist to kill you!” The first blow she made cracked the earth using the body of the monster to do. The second and third expanded them until she punched it into a new crater. She yelled the entire time unable to stop with each punch getting stronger than the last.

Something cracked, it was low and dull, but something had broken. This time it was not Miyako (she didn’t really have much left to break in her state). The beast roared in pain feeling the blow after blow now. The flames around it did nothing to save it from the fury of Miyako.

However, it had enough of the pummeling and threw Miyako off its body. Roaring once more, it jumped into the air after Miyako still suspended before the fall. She caught the edge of the body with her hand as it crashed into her. The force of the impact coughed up blood from her, but not before she pushed off and spun around kicking it in the head to shoot it back to the ground.

A massive pillar of smoke kicked up from the crash of Kaede’s monster body. Miyako dropped to the ground on one knee feeling the pain in her body. The last hit was nearly direct only being in the air softened it a little. It was still not enough to completely shrug it off for Miyako. Blood dripped over the earth as she coughed. “Damn…I can’t feel anything…I don’t know even know if I’m alive or dead anymore…”

Hearing a roar of the monster told Miyako all she needed to know about the condition of it. She pushed off her leg with her left arm. “Not that it matters. My fight isn’t over yet…” It started walking towards the crash site, but that was an unnecessary effort.

Though crashed, it recovered quickly. It came charging out of the smoke with one eye closed. Buried in all of the flames, it was hard to tell the injuries that it sustained, but it actually felt them now. Charging straight for Miyako, there was no chance it was going to miss her this time.

But Miyako did not make any signs to dodge the attack. She could see it coming, but did nothing to save herself.

The two smashed into each other with the beast winning the fight with ease. There was no effort or challenge to be had going straight against the raw strength. Miyako did not have a chance. But she did it anyway.

She planted her feet into the earth as the force of the beast’s charge drug her through carving out trenches the size of her feet. Blood coughed up again from her mouth as this blow was real. There was no padding or escape. It was a full on collision that Miyako lost. Crimson liquid streamed down her lips and mouth in amounts that questioned how she still stood

Yet she did.

After the initial collision, Miyako somehow managed to recover. Her hand came up and grabbed the beast around the neck. The flames burned into her arm, but she hung on to it despite it. Not being able to feel anything helped her out more than she knew. “You’re not going any further!” Miyako pressed her feet into the earth forcing it into a battle of strength once more. The momentum was against her though. Their battle pushed her far away from the school and through ruined buildings. But even that started to change. The signs of Takako’s destruction started to fade away.

The beast’s forward progress started to slow and not because it had stopped. Miyako had somehow actually managed to push back. Her legs were half buried nearly and the street was completely torn up. But she held in against it. “I’m stopping you right here!” Leaning even more into her position, she began to move her feet rather than holding. It did little to change the course, but it was making slow progress.

It took several blocks, but she had managed to bring the beast to a halt. Their battle of strength renewed now with both struggling. Neither could make the other budge, but the beast roared in anger that it could do nothing anymore.

Miyako tightened her awkward grip around the beast’s neck and threw everything she had into it to push it back. It was slight, but it slid away. It was on the defensive. “I won’t allow you any further! This is a line that you can’t cross!”

Behind Miyako, as she already knew, stood the homes and buildings of people that still survived. If their fighting pushed any further, they would be in danger. All of their effort to reclaim the territory and save the people would have been wasted if she smashed it up from their fighting.

However, it did not seem to understand that point. It did not care about those things at all. Only destruction was on its mind and it had to kill Miyako. And anger fueled it more knowing that it was losing suddenly in strength. The beast roared and pushed back against Miyako with everything it had.

She bumped up as it all surged through it. Her feet lost traction and they charged forward with her unable to stop the charge. Around her she saw the signs of the neighborhoods passing her, the signs that he knew too well.

Life.

Miyako screamed through her whole body. Her face narrowed and sharpened to that of a demon nearly as she threw herself into the earth bringing them to a grinding halt. “I said no further! And I meant it!” The beast challenged her still, but she hung in against it refusing to move. Flames on the body jumped out trying to burn her, but she clamped down tighter on her.

She began to push it back out of the neighbor and back into the ruins. It struggled with her unable to do what it wanted.

“I am the wall that protects! I will not break! This is my sole purpose!” She roared again bring everything that she had left to bare in her body. Her muscles tightened and expanded as the earth crushed under her feet. “You will not take another life!” Channeling everything through only one hand, she managed the herculean feat of actually starting to lift the beast off its feet. “This is where you fall!”

She pulled the monster completely off its feet and swung the entire being through the air. Miyako slammed it back down into the street. A massive crater grew out of the collision that ate up the whole block, fortunately she had taken them back in far enough to safe limits.

Down at the bottom of the crater with the beast, she unwrapped her arm, but was caught on something. Buried deep in all the flames, she ground a hairpin. Miyako forced her arm free taking the hairpin with her by accident. Partially embedded in her arm, she ripped it free with her teeth and dropped it in her hand. “The girl was wearing that in her hair…”

Then suddenly, the flames went out on the beast causing Miyako to step back not sure what was happening. Another transformation seemed to be happening, but it was reversing the changes. It was not long before the girl known as Kaede resurfaced, though unconscious.

Victory finally came to Miyako. She lifted up her arm over head Kaede. “This will put an end to it all…” Miyako quickly threw her fist down, but coughed up another large amount of blood. Her body had finally reached the end. The fight was over and it no longer could agree to keep going. She collapsed on top of Kaede passing out.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yumi stared at Yori unfazed by his emotional state. “To put it clearly, if you want to move past me then you must defeat me. It’s that simple.”

“You’re saying I must fight my own sister!”

Tatsuya walked up the couple steps to Yori. “Hey man, one of us can do this—“

“If that’s what you want, fine!” Yori charged at Yumi with a black field coming up around him. It quickly charged into a sphere firing point blank at her. Smoke exploded out in all directions completely blinding everyone. All around the building shook violently from the explosion.

“Damn!” yelled Tatsuya, unable to see anyone in all the mess. “I didn’t think he had it in him…”

“The strength of siblings…”

Wind suddenly started to blow through the hall and stairwell clearing out the smoke. Quickly, he was able to locate Hiroshi, but the siblings were not in front of him as they had been. In fact, there was a lot that was not in front of him anymore. “Hell…there’s not going to be much left of the school at this point…” Only pieces of the stairs remained and the floor. Most appeared to have been destroyed in Yori’s blast.

Also tore away was the classroom that stood at the top of the stairs. All the walls were gone along with the floor and ceiling. Even parts of the first and third floors were not present. As the cloud fully cleared out, the night of the city could be seen beyond.

Yori had blasted both of them out of the school into the courtyard below. However, Yumi seemed to know it was coming and used her barrier to block all of the blast from harming her. Only the environment was damaged. “…Yumi…”

Whatever it was that stood in control of Yumi stared across the ruined field at Yori. White particles hovered around her looking ready to act. “Would appear you’ve begun to hone your power that you awoke recently. This still is within my forecast.”

“I don’t give a damn about your forecast! I want my sister back! And if I have to do so by force I will! None of you are stopping me until Yumi is normal again!”

“That may be an impossibility for you.”

Black blades materialized in Yori’s hands. He did not think about possibilities or logic when it came to Yumi. She was his sister and his family. That was all that matter. “I will make it happen! I am her brother!”

“Matters of family…I expected as much. But that’s not what Yumi needs right now.” The white particles slowly began to take on a different color, transforming into purple.

Jumping in with his swords, Yori had little interest in what the woman had to say. “You know nothing of what Yumi needs! Nothing!” She stood between him and his sister, that was all that matter. However, she stopped his blades with merely the palm of her hand. “What?!”

“On the contrary, you’re more in the dark about your own sister than you seem to think me to be.”

The woman had confidence in spades. It was not even arrogance; she knew she held the superior position to him. Such a look irritated him, especially since so far he had not been able to do anything to prove her wrong. She towered over him in an overbearing presence despite her size and stature. It was as though none of the physical matter to her. This woman was a tower that he could not climb or go around.

Whoever it was inside his sister’s body, she managed to not look like the sister he knew. Even though they shared the same face, the expressions and aura were completely different. It was not even the fact that she had pure white hair or deep blue eyes rather than soft average brown. He almost swore that he saw a different life buried in the carves that shaped her face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Even though he was not making any progress against her, he still pushed in with his body as though it would break through her defense. “Are you saying I don’t know my own sister?”

Suddenly, a force shot out from behind her hand that sent Yori tumbling back. He clawed at the air finding brakes until he stopped on the ground. The woman lowered her hand staring down at him. “I thought I made that pretty clear that a question was unnecessary.”

“You’re the stranger here!” He kicked off the earth and jumped back into the fight, unfortunately he ran across what appeared to be a trap. A beam of light shot through the earth where he stepped. Only his reflexes saved his foot from being cleanly removed.

“I am a stranger. My life has nothing to do with either of you.”

“Then leave us alone!” Yori released his left hand turning the black blade into an orb of energy that he shot out at the woman. “We don’t need you!”

A counter beam shot out from the side completely over taking the attack. Through the smoke, the woman inside Yumi’s stared across at Yori. “That’s where you are wrong. She wanted us.”

“She didn’t want you at all!”

“We were brought here because of her.”

“No, you were made by arrogant bastard that’s developing a god complex!”

“There is a reason for this.”

“No, the only reason I see here is the one I allowed to be ignored when I listened to my sister. I never should have trusted him. It’s always just been the two of us, that’s all there needs to be!”

“Looks like we’re finally getting to the core of the matter with you.”

“Shut up! I don’t need to hear anything from some fake personality that thinks it knows what’s best!”

“Better than someone trying to maintain a fake relationship.”

Chapter 337 – The Moon Rises

Yori did not know why he kept talking to the woman. She had nothing to do with them. She was merely a wall that he needed to crush in order to reach his sister. ‘She’s the reason why Yumi’s changed and keeps changing. It’s because of that bastard and this fake woman that she’s not the sister that I know!’

Reforming his blade, he charged back in for the attack. Detecting another trap, he swiftly dodged out of the way, but only ran head first into another. It blew up in his face covering the area in light and smoke. However, it did not rest with just the trap, another several blasts went into the smoke.

Analyzing the results, the woman quickly assessed the situation and halted her attack. “He’s put up a barrier.”

Within the black barrier, Yori took pause finding that the situation was quickly falling out of his hands. Though it looked more as if it never was, not that he openly would admit to such a thing. “Damn, it’s like she can see the future, knowing where I’m going to be before I’m even there.” Unfortunately, he did not have much time to think about the mystery of the woman’s clairvoyance. Another beam shot up through the ground inside his barrier.

He had to use his blades to try to deflect the energy, but not before it ran up part of his upper arm and shoulder leaving red seer marks from the attack. Yori bit through the pain. ‘This isn’t as painful as the battle with Athene… This is nothing compared to that…’ Trying to shrug it off was not very easy for him. Despite all of the training he went through, it was still different for him to deal with it. ‘It’s like she said…I’m still soft…and inexperienced…’

Yori stood up blasting out his barrier to wipe away the smoke that prevented him from seeing his wall. Immediately gaining visibility, he had another beam shot at him. Not even his reflexes were enough to react to it. Only by luck of his blades being where the beam came at did he have any chance. It immediately pushed him back as he quickly tried to put his weight behind his blades to deflect the attack.

His blades were not enough for the power behind the attack. Cracks appeared along the black blades the longer that he held against them. They had to break eventually, Yori struggled to hold their form together, but nothing he could do was enough. It only prolonged things. When they finally broke, he managed to move himself out of the danger, but they still tore through part of his shirt.

“Misguided and weak.”

Looking across the field at her, the situation had remained unchanged. It annoyed him how much she breathed her superiority with every word and expression. “Shut up! Shut up! SHUT up!”

“You’re quite the disappointment considering how much she values you.”

“Enough with your lies!”

“You’re pathetic. A small man stuck in the past. You’re looking for a bird in a cage, not your sister.” A purple barrier appeared around her and quickly turned into shards. Countless pieces hovered in the air spacing out over the entire field. “It’s best that I take you out now before she learns the truth of how petty of a being you are now.”

Yori screamed and charged straight for the woman without thinking about his situation or the one that developed before him. All he had armed with him were his swords, which already showed to not be very effective against her. Yet, he did it anyway. She had spouted enough lies. “That’s enough from you! I’m taking back my sister!”

Shards started to spin around in the air. One shot out for Yori that he dodged, but only went into the path another prepared for him. His sword cut through it, but he had to evade again. At every turn, she had counters and traps prepare for him. He actually ended up getting pushed back rather than making any progress towards her.

At every step he made she seemed to predict it and made attacks at them. It was barely keeping his footing against her. Her attacks became more lethal as the fight carried on. He could not hold them off simply with his sword. Glancing blows snuck past him that his abilities could not make up for.

Before long, he had minor cuts along his arms and legs in an effort to protect his body. None of it mattered in the end. ‘She’s just toying with me it feels like. Every time she looks at me it’s like she saying that she can kill me whenever she wants. I hate that look…’

“Is this going to be where you end?”

“Kill me if you seem so certain of it. You said that you would.”

“Already giving up. Was all that effort you claimed to make pointless then?”

“Shut up… I didn’t train to fight with words.”

“You already lost in words so fight with what you have left.”

“With what I have left… I really hate you…”

“Only because you know that I speak the truth.”

“Nothing of what you say is the truth.”

“Then prove your claim.”

The fight had barely even gotten started for Yori, but it the first time he really had a good reason to fight. His fight with Athene was pointless even though he gave it his all for her sake. It somehow felt different for him. Back then his body respond and he could keep up, but against this woman he was already feeling exhausted. His body was being sluggish.

‘I don’t want to die…’ That was the only thing he knew to be true at the moment. The woman had said so many things that it had his mind completely scrambled. He had questions and doubt popping up everywhere. It was distracting.

Yori struggled to move his body. It hurt, hurt a lot. He moaned and complained to him. This was not the sort of thing that he did. He was a student and a brother. Fighting was not something that he did. That was for the bastard Hayashi and his friends, not him. Yet he had been dragged into their world. ‘I followed Yumi to this end…she wanted to go… I’m only here because I wanted to watch over her and keep her safe. This whole thing is dangerous and she’s being naïve thinking that she wasn’t going to be hurt. Everything that she already suffered in Atlantis…’

He did not feel like he had the sort of resolve he saw in the others around him. They believed more strongly in what they did than him. He just followed along. It was not his fight. But they had his sister and they forced it to be his fight too.

Glaring across the area at the unknown woman, Yori found a little piece to make his legs move. They shook and wanted to run away. Every part of himself told him that this was a losing fight. She could kill him whenever she wanted. He knew this, but he had a small piece to cling on to. Something that was not empty or fake to him.

Hardening up his blades, he stiffened up his stance. “I’m a stranger. I’m not a fighter. I hate you. And I hate this situation. I don’t belong here. But I know one thing! I’m her brother and that will never change! Lies, fake, truth, whatever you want to say! Brothers fight for their sisters! End of story!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yori struggled to move his body. It hurt, hurt a lot. He moaned and complained to him. This was not the sort of thing that he did. He was a student and a brother. Fighting was not something that he did. That was for the bastard Hayashi and his friends, not him. Yet he had been dragged into their world. ‘I followed Yumi to this end…she wanted to go… I’m only here because I wanted to watch over her and keep her safe. This whole thing is dangerous and she’s being naïve thinking that she wasn’t going to be hurt. Everything that she already suffered in Atlantis…’

He did not feel like had the sort of resolve he saw in the others around him. They believed more strongly in what they did than him. He just followed along. It was not his fight. But they had his sister and they forced it to be his fight too.

Glaring across the area at the unknown woman, Yori found a little piece to make his legs move. They shook and wanted to run away. Every part of himself told him that this was a losing fight. She could kill him whenever she wanted. He knew this, but he had a small piece to cling on to. Something that was not empty or fake to him.

Hardening up his blades, he stiffened up his stance. “I’m a stranger. I’m not a fighter. I hate you. And I hate this situation. I don’t belong here. But I know one thing! I’m her brother and that will never change! Lies, fake, truth, whatever you want to say! Brothers fight for their sisters! End of story!”

“So that’s what you’ve settled upon.”

“Yes! I’m going to kick your butt and drag you out of my sister!”

“I guess I’ll give you a point of consistency if nothing else.”

“You going to fight or talk?”

Many of the shards from her barrier still hovered around her. A few of them stopped to angle their positions in his direction. “Oh I can fight, since that seems to be all you’re willing to do. But you won’t find the answers you want and you won’t be able to defeat me.”

Yori had enough of her posturing. He drew in more of the black energy into his blades to grow their size. “I’m not wanting answers from you! I’m wanting my sister!” Charging in after the woman once more, he had seemed to have completely forgotten about how the fight played out before.

She sighed in disappointment watching him. “And that’s why you’re weak.” A glow charged up behind her surrounding her in a purple outline. “It seems my more subtle attempts to show our difference has failed to reach you.”

“I don’t care about whatever difference you claim to have! It won’t stop me from getting my sister back!”

“As you are you won’t ever see your sister again.” The build-up drew to completion as the intensity of the light made it difficult to even see the face of the woman. “So let’s show you why you can’t beat me.”

The light behind her suddenly disappeared and then flashed over the whole area. In an instant, there was purple light coming from all directions. Yori saw nothing, but beams of energy. None of them had the same intensity from some of the ones that he had seen tossed around before, but their count exceeded any sort of expectations he had for what she might have been capable. “Too many…”

Chapter 338 – The Full Moon

Dodging was a meaningless effort. The attacks came from so many different sides and angles that he had no hope of being able to evade. Even if he had the speed of Saki, he doubted his ability to be able to come out unscathed. It was only made worse by the fact that he had enough reaction and reflexes to see it come and think about the imminent situation while still feeling hopeless.

He lowered his arms accepting his fate. ‘I really am just all talk. I’m so out of my element doing any of this. I’m no hero or even a wish to be one. I don’t dream of fighting aliens or monsters like that bastard probably does. All of this just proves my thinking… I’m normal, just someone wanting peaceful life, yet unable to do even that.’

“Giving up already” barked Athene, “We’ve barely even gotten started.” Her field of needles disappeared.

“I’m tired. It’s already been ten minutes.” Yori complained wiping away the sweat from his brow.

“Ten minutes? The battle has only started in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, but I’m not built like you. You’re soldiers, I’m not used to this.”

Athene walked over and forcibly picked him up off the ground. “You’re right, you’re not built like us. You’re built better.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just a regular guy, a normal person.”

She poked him in the forehead with a quick flick of the finger. It did more to hurt her than him, which was why she made sure not to do it very hard. “Normal? You’re not like us or the King, but you aren’t normal either. You and your friends have different bodies now with attributes that far exceed anything I could hope to do.”

“I’ve seen the way you able to move. I could never do that.”

“Everything I do is within the rules and limits that I create. The one thing I can’t change is my body. I’ll never have the natural reflexes or speed that you can have.”

“There’s nothing natural about what Saki or them can do.” He looked around the wide open field. It had been the site of the battle between the Titans and them. All of their destruction wrought upon the land had already been mostly cleaned up. They had made a mess of the entire area, which as he learned after the fighting, was one of the major trade routes in and out of the capital. So the clean-up ended up getting prioritized for the sake of stability. Even Yuki had helped out, despite a lot of protesting from the court.

He looked back towards the massive walls of the capital. The ridiculous holes punched in it still seemed impossible to believe. He knew most of the damage was from Saki. “I’ll agree no normal human can do that, but I can’t do that either. It’s a little scary knowing that she can do something like that.”

“She had a reason. And often that’s all you need to go beyond your limits and do something scary.”

Yori looked back at Athene. He caught the glimpses of her walking their her own memories. Her words were not pointed just at their topic, that much he understood. “But now we can move on past that. It’s peace now.”

Athene gave him a bit of a smirk. “You don’t strike me as someone that naïve.”

“No, I guess not. Not anymore at least…”

“Somewhere inside of you, you could be capable of something like that. You demonstrated that during our fight.”

“Yes, but it was all just rage and anger. I wasn’t in control of what was happening.”

“Fights are rarely going to be emotionless. But having control during the rage is important and that’s why you’re here.”

He nodded a little hesitantly for her. “I did ask you to train me to be able to use my power so that the next time I needed it I wouldn’t be mindlessly throwing it around, but I didn’t ask you to make me into a soldier either.”

“Do you not have self-defense training in Japan?”

“Well yeah, I guess so…”

“Do you think of that as a soldier’s training?”

“I guess not when you put it like that.”

“Now let’s continue.” She turned her field back on bringing out all of her weapons for him to dodge.

A bit of sweat dripped down his face seeing everything and the seriousness on her face. “I’m still pretty tired from our last practice.”

“That’s something we need to work on. Your mind needs work. Your body can handle so much more. You have the potential stamina, but you’ve convinced yourself you don’t. You need to believe in yourself. You’ll lose the fight before it even begins if you can’t believe in yourself.”

‘I thought I had gained that confidence from the month long of training that Athene. I guess that was fake too…’ Yori clinched up his hands around the blades frustrated with himself. Everything that Athene taught him went to waste. ‘Damnit! I just wanted to protect Yumi! That’s my only reason!’

Pulling up his swords, Yori prepared himself for the onslaught. ‘No matter what happens this is going to hurt. Fatigue or pain… I’m not going to like it. This isn’t me… But I’ve got no choice… I jumped in!’ There was no chance that he had in even deflecting everything. That much he knew. Dodging, deflecting, whatever there was beyond that, none of it was going to be enough. It was going to hurt, but he had to try anyway.

Countless beams arced towards him. He wanted to try to dodge what he could, but it was a saturation style attack. He had no hope of even dodging the first wave. He could only pick where they landed. He spun around his blades taking off some of the worst beams, but others went through as he expected.

The pain was not as bad as he thought. It was more of the force of the impact than anything that he felt. All of it still was a losing effort on his side. And eventually, he could not keep up with the volume. Everything that remained broke through his weak defense.

As a last effort, he remembered his barrier after it was nearly too late. He cursed himself for failing to remember to use it. But even that shattered as he was not prepared and the bombardment could not be stopped.

What remained blasted against him casting him down to the earth. Around him the ground riddled with some holes reminded him of the power that hit him. “Ugh…the hurts…a lot…”

“I’m a little impressed you survived as long as you did.” She glanced down at Yori, still unmoved from her spot, after he knocked her out of the school. “That training of yours amounted to something it seemed.”

Yori coughed trying to get himself back on his feet. While he did not have holes in his body like he pictured, his clothes were torn and blood streamed from too many small wounds for him to count. “Not enough…”

“No, as I said you can’t beat me.”

Forcing himself back to this feet, he pulled out his swords once more. His body felt weird and his head did not seem to be seeing straight, but he knew that he was standing. Standing counted for something at this point for him. ‘Barely a couple of minutes into this fight and it already feels like I can’t go on… damn how am I going to save Yumi like this? However…’ The energy in his blades pulsed weakly trying to keep their form.

He aimed one of his blades at her directly as though he attempted to bait out a challenge from her. “I’m still going to save my sister. It doesn’t matter if I can’t beat you.”

“So you still refuse to see the truth.”

“Seems that I’ll have to borrow a page from Tsuji’s playbook.”

“That’s unwise.”

“Yup, it wouldn’t be one of his moves if it was wise,” grinned Yori. He sort of refused to admit that he had been doing very Seiji like things the entire time, but no need to focus on the denial. More important matters confronted him.

Black energy appeared around Yori in large orbs. As each orb appeared, his body started to shake more. He struggled to keep his body together while summoning up the energy. The stress upon him was more than he expected. It went past his practice, but that was point. “I can’t be holding myself back anymore.”

“Anything that you try I’ve already foreseen.”

“Is that right? Then you foresaw this?!” All of the orbs hovering around Yori suddenly took form and became swords as well. They all gathering around his sides ready to strike. “You’re not the only one that can set up a barrage!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Black energy appeared around Yori in large orbs. As each orb appeared, his body started to shake more. He struggled to keep his body together while summoning up the energy. The stress upon him was more than he expected. It went past his practice, but that was point. “I can’t be holding myself back anymore.”

“Anything that you try I’ve already foreseen.”

“Is that right? Then you foresaw this?!” All of the orbs hovering around Yori suddenly took form and became swords as well. They all gathered around his sides ready to strike. “You’re not the only one that can set up a barrage!”

“You’re able to control your power. I’d be disappointed if you couldn’t do that.”

It got no reaction out of her that he hoped. Yori wanted to see something even a little bit of shock or surprise from her. Anything to give him a point, but she did not even do that. She only seemed to be closer to disappointment that he was making what he was doing into such a big deal.

However, for him it was not easy to do. It took a lot of concentration for him to just maintain them. Sweat already started to bead up on his forehead and along his back. ‘I never really practice something like this. At least to these numbers… I’m used to doing this with only a couple. I just figured I should be able to do more than that.’

Trying on his mind or not, Yori knew that if he did nothing his sister would be lost to him. Such thoughts were not an option. This was the only thing that he could do.

Pulling back on the swords, he launched them at the woman. They all flew straight in formation for her. But a purple barrier erected meters away from her caught all of his attacks with ease. He grimaced seeing his failure. ‘…damn…’

“Your tactics are so simplistic. It’s like playing shogi with a five year old.” She started to look bored letting down some of her guard in front of Yori. “You don’t deserve to stand before me if you can’t even approach the steps.”

A few barrier shards appeared in the air around her and fired out beams at Yori. They went straight for him with no attempts to surround him. ‘…now she’s getting cocky... This may be my only chance!’ Yori dropped his barrier in front to take the attacks and even strengthened it knowing what he had dealt with before from him. Prepared behind him, he started gathering up his energy for a swift counterattack just as he held her off.

As the beams hit his black barrier, Yori finished letting the energy collect. It was fewer than before, but he was able to manage it better. It was about control and he needed it. ‘I’ll take her back from you!’

In moments before his counterattack, a force slammed him from behind. It staggered him forward and shot waves of overwhelming pain through his shoulder and back. He collapsed to one knee unable to remain standing. “What happened…” Something warm began to flow down his back like water. His hand reached back trying to figure out what happened to him.

The pain did not pass and his arms movements only made it worse for him. Yori felt like he was going to smash his teeth trying to bit through pain. And worse still was that he realized what was wrong. There was a large wound on his back across his shoulder. His right arm no longer had the same comfortable range and he did not even feel like he could force it from the damage he took. “How?!”

Looking ready to fall asleep, the woman began to hover in the air as though it was more relaxing. “It’s a simple tactic. A feint. You would have died on the battle in the feudal era within seconds with such poor understanding of the battlefield. You’re no warrior.”

Tidal waves of pain crashed over Yori bringing him down completely. He felt as weak from when Athene cut him across the chest. ‘There’s no one here to save me this time… Am I going to die in front of my sister?’

Collapsed to the ground, his eyes started to close no longer able to stay open. Darkness overcame him.

Chapter 339 – The Dawn Edge

“Yori Mizuno?” called Athene, staring down at him.

Yori snapped awake with a gasp and caught full view of Athene. His face went red with embarrassment. “I passed out again didn’t I?”

“Convincing you that you have more than you think is more troublesome than I expected.”

He sat up pulling away from Athene. She might have been an adult and someone already with Simonides now, but that did not change the situation for him any. Most of his embarrassment flushed his face over his own inability that had not really made a lot of progress over the last two weeks. It was an easy cover up. ‘She’s the only person that I’ve talked with that actually seems to talk to me and not just at me. The other things certainly don’t help matters. She gets so close and doesn’t even think about it. Need to calm down…’

Taking a breath in and out, he took control of his mind and body once more, sort of. Fatigue ran thick through every part of his body. “I’ve passed out enough to make myself look anemic, but still doesn’t make me get used anymore to how weak I feel after it. It’s not just physically exhausting…”

“It’s all about practice and training.”

The field around Athene dropped and then returned as something familiar. He had seen her use to plenty of times before for his training. “You’re not going to make me start practicing again immediately after I woke up?” His hands were already preparing to pull himself away from the situation if needed.

Athene shook her head taking a seat next to him. “No, this time you actually did run out of power. As a Meso Prosecho user I understand how you’re feeling. Physical fatigue is something I can ease, but mental exhaustion is not something that we can recover. It’s one of our few limitations.”

“You’re able to do so much with your powers. That seems like a strange thing not to be able to do.”

“The mind is a complicated organ. Even we don’t really truly understand it with all of our abilities. We’re just as likely to do harm. In the our history, it’s been said that when we tried to change and alter the mind it ended up breaking people, driving them insane or just going catatonic. So we limit ourselves greatly in how interact with the mind. Memories are the safest as they are something easier for us to understand, if that makes any sense.”

“A little…” It seemed a little arbitrary with their powers. Especially given what he had seen. “Then what about Hayashi and what he did to us? That was more than a physical change. He altered our minds and what we are mentally capable of doing.”

“I’d advise you not to speak about such things very openly. The King’s covered up the facts on you and your friends with your powers making you all out like you’re one of us. If the truth was ever to be learned about you…”

“Great…yeah that’s not something we need or even you. But should what he did even be possible or we safe?”

Athene went silent for a moment, not giving Yori an encouraging feeling. She looked to be searching for something that would give him the answer he wanted rather than the one that he needed. However, he stretched out his hand towards her lightly touching her hand not thinking about things. The look that he gave her told her enough. “What he did was never seen or even considered possible. So I don’t have a good answer for you. So far none of you seem to be exhibiting any signs. But this is unknown territory for everyone. We don’t know how this will affect you in the future.”

“So we could all be ticking time bombs…”

“I don’t know. Anything is possible.”

“Since we don’t know let’s keep this just between us. No need to start panic or worry.”

“Probably for the best for now, just watch yourself and the others.”

“Yeah, that might be the only thing I can do.”

She stretched out and flicked his forehead again as she seemed to have a habit of doing when he was being self-pitying. “You’re capable of more. You just have to believe in it. I told you before.”

“I know, but I’m really only seeing this as defensive training so I can protect myself and my sister if the need comes to it. I’m not planning on starting fights or even trying to finish them.”

“You never know what the future will have for you. So it’s best not to assume.”

“I know myself well enough. I’m not like them. I don’t enjoy any of this and want nothing to do with it. But I’ll learn to be ready.”

Standing up, Athene had finished her work with her field on Yori. She stared off at the village where they prepared for the party for the King. The excitement was impossible to ignore. It was positive to see. She turned back towards Yori. “We all have our reasons and not always does fate allow us to act in the way we like, but the way we must.”

The way she spoke left Yori silent. He could not really say anything to counter what she said since there was experience coming from her words. It was not something he was so blind in to ignore. Realizing that his body actually felt good, though his mind was still loopy, he attempted to stand. Having his mind still not working with him proved his recovery to be still off a bit.

Athene walked back towards Yori with something else on her mind. “Which is why I want to remind you of something else while you’re recovering. You may not want to fight or even win, but if you plan to survive you’ll need to be able to think while you’re fighting. In the simplest terms, a battle is like a game. It’s not just about being stronger or faster than your opponent. It’s often more about outthinking your opponent. If you’re a step ahead of them speed won’t matter because you will know what they’re going to do before they do it. If you can do that then winning or surviving, it’ll be yours.”

‘Why am I remembering that now? Is this the flash your life before your eyes situation?’ In the darkness, Yori traveled through his mind, but he was not picking up on the obvious yet. It still eluded him. ‘If I was wouldn’t it be something about Yumi instead? This seemed more pointless for me…’

His mind remained fully awake, though still not clued in. He went over the meaning of remembering his training with Athene. But while he thought about it something a little important finally came to him. ‘I don’t feel like I’m dying. It’s not like with Athene… Wait…’

Opening his eyes, Yori still felt the pain in his back, though it seemed to be calming down a little. Moving is arm still was difficult and slow, but he could push himself up. As he stared at himself, he felt a little embarrassed at his overreaction.

“Done playing dead?”

Yori snapped his gaze back over to the woman. She waited on him to return despite having the time to kill him. ‘She’s not interested in killing me. Why? Is it because I don’t even rate a thing of interest to her?’ If that was the case, she annoyed him. But she was remained largely a mystery to him. She was not like the last persona that he met.

Forcing himself to his feet, he did what he could to pass of the pain. It throbbed and wanted attention, but he did not really have the time for it. He pulled out of his swords in his hand, but noticed his right felt a little weaker. ‘My shoulder injury is affecting it… This isn’t going to make this fight any better…’

He charged in as he had no better plan. His previous attempts had failed and just wasted his mental energy. It was already feeling the fatigue from him doing more than he should have been in the fight.

The woman’s disappointment only seemed to grow watching him. “Back to your blind attacks now.” She effortlessly countered him at every turn. Nothing he did would get anywhere close to her. And she even started to look more bored with the situation.

Panting from the activity, Yori came to a stop needing a break after his minute long attempt break through her defenses. ‘Damn, everywhere I turn she’s stopping me. It doesn’t matter what I throw at her she just stops it all. I don’t have the speed or power to even think about overwhelming her either…’

It was then that he recalled Athene’s words. It finally made sense to him. ‘Like a game, she said…’ Yori suddenly remembered an offhanded comment that the woman made to him. ‘…shogi…I’m not that good at it, but maybe if I think about it like that…’

Yori released his swords and began to focus on his power. It was a rough plan, but it was the only one that he had. ‘I don’t even know if this will work, but it’s my last chance to be able to do something against her.’ His barrier came up around him along with orbs of his energy floating outside of the barrier.

Glancing casually back at Yori, she noticed the changes. “Going back to your old method of not thinking.” She did not even need to move a finger to move around the shards of her power around.

‘I know that she likes traps, feints and counters. That’s about all I know, but if I can plan for her planning, then maybe I can finally see that confidence crack.’ Yori knew that she grew tired of his attempts and every time that he tried to do something she just smacked him back down. He counted on it this time.

As expected, she had a frontal attack prepared for him, but he glanced around and with the help of the shine off his black barrier, he saw some purple lights reflected in them. ‘Knew it, she’s got some behind me again too. Same thing, she’s thinking I’ll fall for it. Time to surprise her a little!’ Before she fired off her attacks, Yori jumped the gun having already planted enough power in them and since they were orbs it did not have to indicate their direction of fire. Rather than the forward attack as expected, they went behind him and into the air taking down her real attack.

“Hm…I’m relieved that you’re not that poor with your memory. But if you think that I didn’t plan for that.” Another attack came out from below far out of sight and hidden behind some debris that he had no chance of seeing.

Yori pulled around his barrier stacking the thickness for the attack. Purple light flashed brightly over the area as the powers clashed. “That why I have my barrier. I knew that you’d see more steps ahead of me. That’s the sort of person you are.”

“Then you should have seen this coming as well.” Another set appeared in his opening left by the gaps he created in the barrier. The beams fired quickly at his exposed back. But two swords dropped down quickly materialized to deflected the beams away.

Getting some of his strength back, Yori straightened himself out. “And I knew that you’d try to capitalize on that like last time. I did that intentionally to draw out your fire.” Another sword appeared far outside of his battle radius nearby the woman.

Shooting at her without any hesitation, she glanced at it as the whole area with the sword became is distorted. The earth became to curve from some unknown force that crushed it with ease. However, it was just a distraction for the real attack that he had setup on the opposite side. She had to quickly adjust her flanks and re-establish her line uses pieces of her barrier to take the hit.

She straightened up a little looking down on Yori once more. “Finally making use of that potential of yours. Maybe this will be a more interesting battle now.” The number of barrier shards in the air around her double along with even more orbs of energy materializing. She armed herself for a battle against Yori.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Getting some of his strength back, Yori straightened himself out. “And I knew that you’d try to capitalize on that like last time. I did that intentionally to draw out your fire.” Another sword appeared far outside of his battle radius nearby the woman.

Shooting at her without any hesitation, she glanced at it as the whole area with the sword became is distorted. The earth became to curve from some unknown force that crushed it with ease. However, it was just a distraction for the real attack that he had setup on the opposite side. She had to quickly adjust her flanks and re-establish her line uses pieces of her barrier to take the hit.

She straightened up a little looking down on Yori once more. “Finally making use of that potential of yours. Maybe this will be a more interesting battle now.” The number of barrier shards in the air around her double along with even more orbs of energy materializing. She armed herself for a battle against Yori.

‘…crap…’ The feeling of being more in control of the fight left him unprepared for the woman actually coming at him in earnest. ‘I had a feeling she was withholding power, but nothing like this…’ He had only barely seen how much Yumi could do in the battles in Atlantis. So he had very little to work on for his expectations.

Sweating a little, he uneasily slid his leg back getting the feeling he was in over his head again. He committed himself to the fight, but doubt popped back up with a vengeance. Not that he was allowed much room to take action on it.

Now that he displayed some amount of competence, the woman in Yumi’s body started taking their fight seriously. She opened with a significantly larger barrage on him than she had used previously. None of his plans had prepared for such a scale of assault. ‘I can’t be running now… Not with my sister in front of me!’

Making use of his only motivation, he hardened his position and focused his attention. What little plans he had setup for a major counterattack by the woman he used up just clearing out the initial wave. It only covered a third of the attack. Afterward, he had to get more creative making use of his shield, weapons and energy attacks just to try to stay ahead. But it still left him with third. It was not enough to completing take down her attack. ‘She’s got a numbers and tactical advantage over me… How am I supposed to beat her like that?’

There was still leftovers that he had not dealt with and they were upon him before he could think about the problem. All he managed to do was dodge what he could and take the rest. Everything he could not stop slammed into him throwing him backwards across the ground.

Chapter 340 – Dawn Light

Coughing his throat nearly hoarse, Yori was still alive, somehow. Blood dripped down his face and soaked into his cloths. “Damn…how am I going to do this?” He used a collapsed chair for support to stand up. “Huh?” Yori looked around not even realizing that he was crashed into someone’s home. “Oh yeah, we’re not on the school grounds anymore…”

Staring around at the destruction he caused from just colliding with the house gave him a moment of pause. It was just another reminder of how different he was now. “All my insistence on being normal… This isn’t normal. None of this is…”

Though he did not have much time for such thoughts as he picked up the woman controlling Yumi through the hole he created. “Right, our fight isn’t over.” He glanced around at the sound of something off only realizing in the last moment that it was another attack. It punched through the house hitting the ground where he stood only a moment before.

While he turned in air, his eyes sought out the next attack. ‘I know that’s not the only one she’s got. She’s not like that. This is only a setup so that I go where she wants me.’ Using his barrier along his arms, he caught sight of the attack. Since he reduced the barrier size and increased its thickness, he was able to use it to block the attack. Yet she had already planned for that as well with Yori detecting another attack.

He crashed to the ground again. Only changing where it hit him saved him. ‘She’s getting lethal with the attacks now. I guess she’s seeing me as a serious threat now…’ Pulling himself out of the rubble, he wiped away the smoke that masked his vision. ‘She can see three or four moves ahead of me and I’m only looking one or two at best… If I’m going to be able to stand on even footing I’m going to need to do something to throw her off. Something she can’t predict.’

Another attack came in after him, which he took head on rather than dodging as he had the habit of doing. His barrier could manage it. After a little bit, he saw the next attack meant for him, but nowhere he stood. ‘She expected me to be there rather than here… She already knows I like to dodge rather than be hit, though I hate risking being hit, this might be the only way I can work.’

He launched a counterattack immediately in timing with her second strike. Being in the house, he had a lot of guesswork at her location. Jumping around the house to avoid her previous attack made it difficult to see her. ‘This really is just like a game of Shogi, she’s playing. Positioning, counter positioning. Forcing moves and threatening. It’s all tactics for her… I’ve got to play on her level…but she’s better at this than me… I was never great at Shogi…’

Running through the ruins of the house, he started to work on his own plan of attack. He kept things simple for himself. She had better prediction than he hoped to match, but he could count on that. It gave him a place to counter from knowing what she would know him.

She already made adjustments to her attacks knowing that he stopped trying to be so predictable. As he moved around, she planned for more variables. ‘Damnit! She’s able to have this many alternate plans set up? Just how is she able to keep track of this many plans at once?!’

The more things dragged out for him the more it became clear how skilled the woman truly was in tactical battles. Yori struggled just to keep his own plans together against her.

An explosion from the roof of the house preceded the appearance of Yori. Landing on the roof, he had a better view of the woman than before. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep this going…’ He spared the moment to breathe after all of the running.

Then the game began.

Attacks positioned themselves in the air against Yori. He immediately responded with counterattacks lined up. A defensive line came up to stop her. But she clearly had more at her ready. Flanking attacks came out and he spread out his line to cover them.

Then she repositioned everything in a new line up. Yori could see how different the attack was from the others. It was no longer about direct attacks. She was playing mind games with him now as well. She moved to out position him.

Always one step behind reacting, but ready, Yori managed to mostly stay even with her. It was hard to try to absorb everything that happened. The sky was filled with their attack move and darting around in feints and flanking maneuvers.

Yori wiped away the sweat and blood that collected on his forehead. ‘Focus…she won’t let you up…even breathing is wasted time…’ He was more right than he wished. The exact moment he paused in their dance, she punched to his defenses. It all collapsed in an instant.

“…damn!”

“You played well for a novice.”

The part of the roof Yori stood up collapsed underneath him. He spun down while keeping an eye on her. “I’m not done yet!” Behind him in the darkness of the house, a bright light grew out.

Tilting her head a little, she swiftly analyzed the situation. “So you’ve been diverting part of your power to charge up that. You sneak a cannon behind your defense. Impressive…”

As he disappeared out of sight, Yori gave a small grin. “Always have an ace up your sleeve.”

The mass of energy finished its charge releasing all of the stored up energy the moment he left. Shockwaves from the initial release ripped the roof off the top of the house as the beam completely obliterated the shards of wood and clay. Kick back from the force blew out the floor and walls of the house bringing it all raining down around Yori.

A crater remained where the house used to be with Yori collapsed at the bottom. Pillars of smoke completely surrounded the area as the black energy raced through the sky for the woman. Even before it reached her the black light shining from it darkened her skin and appearance. All of her attacks lined up for Yori were washed over like a tsunami crashing into the shore.

Nothing remained behind.

However, she did nothing more to counter his attack. Yet with an attack of such size, it seemed unlikely anything she had could actually change its course. The mass of energy would easily overtake her. Yori could finally rest at ease having beaten her at her own game.

Black completely surrounded her leaving nothing of her visible from the outside. It continued on past her taking over the space around her.

While the attack kept up the intensity, Yori started to pick himself back up. He wiped away the smoke around him to get back up. Sweat covered his body. “Finally… It was nearly impossible keeping it together the whole time, but it paid off for me. Her over-confidence defeated her in the end.”

Yet as he watched his attack, there was unsettling feeling he got watching. “The hell? What is this that I’m feeling?” Then a split developed in the black waves of energy. He knew what it had to be. Yori stepped forward in surprise. “Impossible! That had all of my power! She can’t have survived unscathed!”

The black energy finished its pass and continued into the sky destroying the cloud cover before disappearing into space. Still standing unmoved from her place was the mysterious woman. She turned her gaze down to Yori. “You’re right that there is a powerful advantage having saved an ace. But such tactics are only for those that are weak. True power doesn’t require the reliance on such desperation.”

Yori’s shoulders slumped from his neck. “That’s not possible…”

“This is possible. This is the reality.” She pointed her finger down at the ground. A massive crater, one that eclipsed Yori’s, ripped through the neighborhood destroying all of the homes. All the debris came floating up into the air. “I told you before this started that it was going to be impossible for you to defeat me.”

He still could not believe what he was seeing. The power that she displayed went beyond anything that he thought possible for Yumi. Even worse, she did not even look to be breaking sweat still. “You can’t be this powerful! We all got our powers at the same time!”

“But everyone’s evolution is different and more than any of you, Yumi’s desires for power eclipses all of you. Thanks to the desperate battles she found in Atlantis, her power is rapidly advancing to meet with her wishes. This is still nothing compared to what she desires.”

“You’re lying! Yumi doesn’t wish for power, not this destructive power!”

“You’re the one that’s clueless. You claim to know your sister, but you know nothing about her. This is what she wished to be.”

“Not that again! I know my sister! You’re just a fake personality created by the bastard!”

“I might be fake, but I know my place unlike you. So who is actually fake?”

“Stop acting like you know anything!”

“Denial will only lead you to your own destruction.” She motioned to the debris that floated around her. It all flew down at Yori in sizes that varied from small pebbles all the way to massive chunks of earth or houses.

Gritting his teeth together his body was already tell him no. “Damnit!” Swords appeared in his hand as beams erupted from the crater around him. He used the opening volley of his attack to thin out the storm while he jumped into the debris storm. Within the moment, he body attuned with his memories of fighting against Athene. The training carved into his muscles remembered it all. It moved without his thoughts as though it was the most natural thing.

His blades sliced through piece after piece giving him a path through the storm. From the side, he called upon spare blades he had in the air to flank her. She quickly countered them before they even got anywhere. He kept materializing attacks as she shot them down. She saw through it all, but he kept cutting a way to her.

Unfortunately, buried behind all the storm was a purple beam coming straight for him. He punched out of the storm already seeing that she had another attack lined up outside. She left him with only exit through it. It was obviously going to have attack as well, but he charged it in flying through the air. Deflecting them off his swords, he lined up a series of feints and flanking attacks. She had more than he had planned completely wiping out all of his attempts.

Yori spun through the air dodging and jumping around trying to stay ahead still three steps behind her. He took a lot of damage when she wanted it to happen, but he survived biting through the pain and reaching out for her.

Stretching out his blade, he closed with her getting the closest that he had been since the start. However, she stopped his sword with just the tip of her index finger. Surprise flashed through his eyes.

“You’re finished.”

“I can still keep going!”

“No, this is the end for you. I only allowed you this close, because you’re out of power. I knew how much you had left and allowed you to be here so that you could understand that you’ve failed. You can’t win.”

“What?!” The energy in his sword suddenly evaporated into the air and his body slammed like a truck just fell on him. He fell through the air crashing into the crater he created before. “No! I won’t…”

She appeared down at the edge of the crater. “You already exceeded your limits a long time ago and had been forcing your reserves empty to reach this point. You can’t fight anymore.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Stretching out his blade, he closed with her getting the closest that he had been since the start. However, she stopped his sword with just the tip of her index finger. Surprise flashed through his eyes.

“You’re finished.”

“I can still keep going!”

“No, this is the end for you. I only allowed you this close, because you’re out of power. I knew how much you had left and allowed you to be here so that you could understand that you’ve failed. You can’t win.”

“What?!” The energy in his sword suddenly evaporated into the air and his body slammed like a truck just fell on him. He fell through the air crashing into the crater he created before. “No! I won’t…”

She appeared down at the edge of the crater. “You already exceeded your limits a long time ago and had been forcing your reserves empty to reach this point. You can’t fight anymore.”

Yori struggled to even push up off the ground. His body was so empty and trashed that he felt like he was not even in it anymore. Worse still was that he felt that she might have been right. ‘Nothing’s working! I can’t even get my arms to move for me.’ Panic ran through his eyes. It was the realization of the truth.

The woman walked down into the crater towards Yori. “So you understand now. This is the end of your struggling.”

‘She’s right… damnit!’ His body heaved nearly exploding his ribs with their force from his body’s exhaustion. None of it could be felt, but he knew that once the feeling returned he would be suffering. All he could do was roll over on his back. “…now…you’re…going to…kill me…”

She looked down at him with slightly distant and penetrating gaze in her eyes. “I’m less inclined to do so.”

“Isn’t…Takako…”

“Yes, she wants you all dead. Though she’s more interested currently in Yuki Hayashi any of you. He is the primary objective.”

Something close to that of a sign escaped his lips. He could not really it really well over the pounding of his own heart. “…again…”

“From a tactical point of view, he is the most dangerous element facing her Takako. But she won’t get very far since she had no ambitions.”

“…you’re not…”

“Under her mind control? No, I am just like everyone else. She had a harder time with this body due to the way it was remade, but it is no less different than everyone else. I just haven’t succumbed to the mental corruption like the others have.”

Fighting with his body, he managed to get an arm moving. Something motivated him again. The same thing that kept him fighting before. It gave him the energy to move, as bare as it was. Yori at the edge of the jacket of the uniform like it was keeping him upright. “…sister…Yumi…is she…”

“Still single-mindedly focused on Yumi. She’s asleep within where it is safe.”

“Give her…back!”

“Seeing you I’ve determined it to be ill-advised.”

“You’ve determined… You! Determined?!” Suddenly, Yori had the strength to stand on his own again. He lacked any of his powers, but he still had his physical strength to use. Yori threw out his hands grabbing for the woman as though he might be able to rip her out of Yumi’s body. “Give her to me!”

Chapter 341 – Sun and Moon

His hands hit a barrier rather than what he aimed for. What strength he had fought against her to shatter the wall before him. For being exhausted beyond all reason, he held up his fight. “Give!”

She looked a little disappointed watching him struggle. “Your obsession will be the death of you one day.” Pushing back to get him off her, she found that his strength had somehow manage to exceed her power.

Cracks began to appear along the barrier where his fingers pressed in. His strength actually looked to be increasing. “You won’t stop me!”

For the first time, she had surprise crawling up her face watching Yori overpowering her through sheer strength and obsession. The power behind him made her feet slide a little as she struggled to keep her position. “You surprise me. To think that you’d be able to summon up this much purely on self-delusions.”

“The only thing that’s a delusion here is you!”

“You’re so blind.”

“Just go away!” The barrier completely shattered with the last push that Yori made. He grappled with her for a brief period before she knocked him away. It wasn’t enough to make him stay down, only sliding away with his feet still planted in the ground.

He charged in after her taking swings at her with unexpected agility and control. A focused look that had not been present before seemed to be driving him forward. The fuel it gave him allowed him to keep coming after her. “Such tenacity should not be possible.”

“I told you already! I’m not stopping until I get my sister back!”

Blocking with her barriers, which shattered quickly from the impacts, she kept him from getting too close. But he jumped around the ground laying down kicks and punches that shook her defense. Though he had not managed to use his powers to break her barriers, his strength continued to do things he had be unable to achieve else wise. It actually became a struggle for her to keep her usual passive stance. “I didn’t think you’d actually force my hand.”

She lifted up her hand as Yori approached again and the space around him distorted. His body was immediately bowed. A crushing weight slammed into his back and shoulders. It hit from the top forcing him down.

Yori pressed his hand to the earth trying to keep himself from collapsing under the weight. As he struggled the pressure increased. It crushed his body into the earth beginning to give under him. “You…won’t…stop…me…”

“However much strength you seem to have it’ll all be crushed. You must be stopped here.”

Increasing in weight, Yori felt his back being pushed further to the earth. All the ground around him bowed around him. Soon even the earth could not hold it together and broke away from the part not being crushed. “I…won’t…” He started to force himself back up against the crushing pressure. His back could not straighten out, but he staggered forward. One foot dragged forward with it smashing through the earth when he dropped it down.

“Unbelievable…”

“…I…will…” Yori made another step forward. Another followed and another after. He slowly started to stretch out his hand fighting against the weight that forced it down. The edge of the pressure was in reach.

“It’s truly ill rational the strength gained through such deception.” She then took a step forward suddenly building up power in her free hand. Waves of energy pulsed from the purple orb that gathered up. It quickly drew in power until arcs began to orbit around it.

Directing the energy in waves, she sent it at Yori, unable to do any sort of evasion. He lacked his power to defend or deflect it coming at him. Yori could only brace for the arcs. They sharpened up into blades that sliced through his out-stretched arm.

Quickly diced up by the attack, his left hand fell to the crushing weight with his fingers and forearm shattered around. Blood poured out of his wound as he collapsed to one knee. “…damn…”

She increased the pressure forcing him down into the dirt. “This is where your journey ends. You’re unable to see past your own hand. Such selfishness is only corrupting.”

“I…don’t want…to hear…that coming…from you.”

“You don’t want to hear it at all. You’ve convinced yourself of your justifications.”

“You…know…nothing…”

“Self-deception is the worst poison of all. It’s rare to find an antidote in time before it consumes your life.”

The weight on him suddenly disappeared. Despite his arm, he did not feel any of the pain. If he had not seen it happen, he would not have even known about it. He attempted to get back to his feet to return to the fight, but purple energy surrounded him.

Wrapped around his wrist and ankles, it floated him into the air away. Several more bindings latched to his waist and legs keeping his movement completely locked down. He attempted to struggle against the bonds, but there was no movement. Even the strength he had found seemed to have left him.

Nothing was left.

“I gave you plenty of chances to figure it out on your own. But it seems the poison had run its course already. There doesn’t seem to be anything else that can be done.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“For a dead man you still have a lot of confidence.”

“You haven’t killed me yet.”

“No, but I gave you your last chance. Takako has become very insistent on seeing you die and I’m inclined to grant her that wish.”

Yori had lost any of his uncertainty through the fight. And his the numbness in his body left him with little fear. He only saw his goal. “Kill me if you can. You’ve talked about doing so since the beginning, but still have yet to actually go through with it.”

“True. I only spoke in threats until now. I merely wished to test you and you’ve failed. You’ve been given more than enough chances. So now I’ll make good on my promise for you.”

“I’m tired of listening to you anyway.”

“Such a disappointment.” The purple orb in her hands began to glow brighter dragging Yori towards the woman. She stared into his eyes one last time. It was her last attempt to find what she sought. Yet it was missing, just like before. There was no finding it.

A sigh escaped her lips. She closed her hand stopping Yori just inside of arms reach. Her right hand flattened out coming to a point as she lifted it back. “Any last words?”

“Go to hell.”

“You’ll be going first.”

“At least I won’t have to see you corrupting my sister anymore.”

She threw out of her hand piercing his chest in a swift blow shooting out blood through his back as her bloodied hand exited. His blood poured out around her arm streaming down dripping to the earth.

Pulling her hand free she threw out Yori’s body to the ground. The hole left in his chest pulsed blood. Yori coughed and choked on the blood that poured up his throat. He continued to fix his eyes upon what should have been his sister. “…damn…you…”

“A miserable soul…”

To be continued…