Saikō no Chitsujo

Chapter 9: Hi to kori

A loud explosion rocked the town, large pillars of fire and ice rising at the outskirts. He disappeared from her view again, a rain of rods targeting her. Esdeath had observed this move the first time, the burning gash on her right thigh the result of her poor judgement. She ran forward, the rods trailing behind her by a few paces.

There! She sensed the all too familiar presence and spun, swinging faster than the time she had noticed it took for the brief hallucinations to begin. The blades sparked as Oni was knocked back. Surprised, he looked up to find Esdeath upon him, her eyes shut and her leg dropping down in an axe kick. She stomped the empty ground, large icicle spikes shooting up from it. She opened her eyes, frowning as she spotted Oni a few paces back.

“I didn’t think the resistance had fighters as strong as you two.” Esdeath stated, raising her left hand to them, she continued. “Become my subordinates and I’ll spare your lives.”

Oni broke into a fit of laughter, his gravelly tone making it sound menacing. “To think you’d insult me this much just because I am not allowed to kill you! Oi Balzac! It’s ok if I break an arm or two?!”

Balzac’s user approached him, resuming her fighting stance. As long as she doesn’t bleed out, it’s fine.”

“GOOD!!” He chuckled ominously as he lunged, the ground shattering in his wake.

Oni darted from side to side, dodging Esdeath’s volley of ice projectiles, a duplicate of himself appearing at her right.

Illusion?! She snapped her fingers, spears of ice materializing a few inches away from Oni’s face. A loud screeching sound echoed through the field as slim metal sheets shot out of the ground encasing Esdeath and her projectiles.

“Got her!” Balzac’s user yelled as Oni switched his blade to his left, his fist clenched tightly as he wound back for a punch.

Huh?! He leapt back, a large wall of ice ripping through the metal sheets as well as several dead bodies on the ground. The walls moved aside, a large cloud of fog coming from within the shredded metallic casing. The fog suddenly cleared as Esdeath dashed forward, a shockwave raising and scattering scrap about as Oni met halfway, their blades pushing against each other. She leaned left, twisting as she aimed a kick on Oni’s unguarded left side. She frowned as his hand dropped to guard his side. Swinging her leg up, Esdeath planted a weaker kick on Oni’s neck.

She glanced down, glaring at the cracked sheet of ice that coated her cheek.

“What the hell are you doing?! Her blood can’t get tainted, remember?!”

“Shut up!! You think I don’t know that?!” Oni growled, twisting his wrists.

To think he’d swing while tilting his head towards a kick I changed at the last moment, just so it wouldn’t gain the force needed to damage him. Glancing at her sword hand, Esdeath raised a brow at the reddened tone her fair skin had taken. She wiggled her fingers, giving her blade a few experimental swings. Her emotions which was usually in check has been all over the place since the battle started.

Aside from the tactics they had used to reduce her stamina - which to her surprise was successful - she felt her opponent; Oni, was a troublesome adversary not just because of his immense firepower but because of his resemblance to Hijiri, a man who was yet to cease haunting her mind.

Inhaling deeply, Esdeath opened her eyes to see Oni before her, his swing halfway complete. Flicking her rapier upwards, she parried his blow, the faint whirring sound in the air distracting her. Esdeath leapt back, swinging her blade as arcs of ice shot from it towards Oni.

His sword ignited, beautiful bright orange flames coating and trailing after his katana as he cut through the arcs, charging. Oni froze as Esdeath glided past him, Balzac user’s barrage of blades landing right before him.