Fragments

Ch.17 - I Hate My Life

"My parents made me hate fighting… So I put as little effort into it as possible. Can't you just go down already and let me go home? I don't want to actually try…"

Like a giant bringing down its weapon, a devastating crescent slash of razor-sharp air appeared from the black smoke left by the explosion, tearing through parts of the ceiling and floor as if they weren't even there.
It was a ranged attack created by swinging Asuma's sword with all her might while her arms are in a lower-dimensional state. Because of how wide of a swing it requires to execute properly, it's basically impossible to unleash up close, but it can be devastating in the right scenarios.
Seeing it, the Reaper's satisfied, victorious expression froze on its face, mixing with chilling shock. The slash, a little off-axis, brushed past its torso and cleaved both its right arms off, separating them in a fountain of greenish blood as the Reaper stumbled backwards. "Fuck!! Did she avoid that explosion?!" Immediately, the need for a tactical retreat took priority as the tides turned in one move, but Asuma wouldn't cede ground anymore and pressed the attack instead. She appeared next to the injured insectoid, sliding behind it and landing another slash across its back, more blood gushing out as a result. To finish her lightning-fast combo, she flattened into a 2-dimensional state and passed through its body to deliver the final blow: a front kick to its solar plexus that slightly caved in the monster's chest and blasted it away.

Outside, the hospital was tightly encircled by Aegis's forces, with large cages made of extremely thick metal separating the different vehicles into sections. They observed the scarily quiet building's outside without so much as a blink, when suddenly, a portion of the back wall bowed out without sound, the concrete and iron bars sliding out of place.

With its veils of smoke long gone, the Reaper motionlessly stood embedded in a crater in the wall. Asuma was a good distance away, her leg still slightly raised off the ground. "She was holding back on me, huh…" It thought, sliding out of the hole vaguely shaped around its body, rocks quietly falling behind it. "Should've thought as much… Why? Nah, that doesn't matter. I feel like running away… But I'm not gonna. I've gotta finish the fight for our cause." Covering the stumps its right arms were attached to before, it crushed the armor around one of the wounds to seal it as much as possible. "I knew I'd die here, I had zero chances of making it out from the beginning…" Reminiscing what happened before it was transferred here, the Reaper saw itself standing in a gloriously decorated mansion, a man with crystal hair discussing the plan with it. They stood in a large room which's centerpiece was a gilded seat akin to a throne, and on it, a person in white and red with a dragon's tail sat with their legs crossed. "But my death is a good sacrifice for our ideals. I trust that you… And our Empress… Will make good use of what I accomplish here." Crushing the armor on its other severed arm, the internal crackling it felt nearly caused it to throw up from the pain. With a winded look, it stared Asuma down while its 4 wings unfolded, creating the illusion it grew in size. "I'm not going down before killing one of their top dogs."

"He's still fighting. Seems I'm not gonna capture him no matter what… Ah, well, whatever." Contrasting Asuma, who's posture had yet to change and remained relaxed, the Reaper entered a low crouching stance, in which it widely displayed its wings. It quickly blasted off the ground, using them for additional propulsion and control.
The Reaper lacked the ability to fully fly, but could still glide around freely and massively increase its speed.
In the blink of an eye the insect reached Asuma and kicked off the ground, going for a strike from below with one of its remaining arms in the hopes of slipping through her guard and uppercutting her.
But she caught the fist with her free hand, twisted it backwards and reversed the grip of her sword to simply and brutally pierce the Reaper's neck while it's defenceless.
However, using its other left hand, the insectoid quickly pushed itself away by striking the arm Asuma held it in place with. Her backwards slash missed and a little distance was opened up, causing Asuma to frown behind her sunglasses.