‘Impressive’ he mused to himself. ‘Such agile reflexes and elegant form in combat. She may prove to be some worth.’ As the thought of her dwelled on in the void of his mind, that voice that seemed coarse through the crashing rain played its melody in his ear once more.

“One scratch of this and the fight is as good as over”

Of all her rabble, Katsu took notice of her last line. Before he could compose himself for a response, she all ready rushed at him. Mere seconds seemed an age as the distance between them was closed and combat ensued once more. The pincer strike was an obvious move. He knew she’d try to distract him with one attack to aim with another. Yet the length of his weapon would prove to have the advantage.

Another parry as he spun his naginata to the floor, deflecting the arrow and guarding the sword. Using the momentum of the spin, he too moved around his opponent. Drawing his weapons blade from the ground, its sheen now stained with mud, he lashed viscously at her back with its rise and fall back down.

Yet his mood dictated him not to carry on with trying to strike Aurora. With a massive leap, he hurled himself backwards onto the wall of building. Stabbing his naginata in, Katsu positioned himself on the shaft and stood with the same calm air he held. With a clearing cough, he prepared to speak but his eyes fell down onto his own body. A perfect cut stretched across his cloak and shirt underneath. Looking closer he saw the some of the links in his mail had split and broken; barely protecting him from the full blow he thought to have stopped.

With a loud hiss, he called out to her, “It seems I do not give you enough credit. It has been quite awhile since anyone has landed such a clean hit upon me. I commend you. But please, call me by my name. I am not just vampire, I was once human and still demand some respect for the name I bore from that life. It’s Katsu if your feeble mind had forgotten but it matters not now.”

A quick jerk of his neck, Katsu turned to the inn he had met this adversary at. He could feel what he wanted within there, calling him, begging him for energy. Slowly, he lifted his right hand towards it and the building burst into a raging inferno. Screams rang endlessly around them as the flames swiftly climbed higher, engulfing all inside. Turning his hand now to face Aurora, he flames lunged forth from the building in a wide pillar that battered on against the hindrance of the rain.