Bounty Hunters - Shokin Kasegi

Six Spikes Desert Arc: Chapter 84

==Survival of the fittest==

Bukiyo’s swords get engulfed in a black aura again and he mumbles: “Bukiyo-Style: Unpredictable!”

Hiteki replies with a confident smile: “Well then, let’s see what you have in store for me.”

Bukiyo dashes forward and explodes into a wild barrage of sword swings. Hiteki defends himself but then, one of Bukiyo’s blades phases right through his defending arm and he jumps away. He touches his neck and finds blood flowing down.

“All this sword swinging just for a drop of blood… heh…”, he calms down.

Bukiyo continues the series of sword swings and screams wholeheartedly. Hiteki starts to adapt to the new technique from Bukiyo, who stays unfazed. He jumps away again but Bukiyo won’t let him breathe and continues his perpetual attacking, making Hiteki struggle. He now jumps backwards, stretches out all of his arms to the sides and shouts “Sixth Blade: Shokubutsu Kusari!” while clapping his hands back together.

Roots, made of aura, emerge from the floor, chaining Bukiyo up and leaving Hiteki some time to collect himself again.

Bukiyo notices: “He looks a bit exhausted! These techniques actually strain him! So I have a chance!”, and rips the roots apart by pulling his arms up.

He creates the aura around one of the swords and throws it but as it leaves his hand, it vanishes. Hiteki quickly comprehends the attack and parries the sword which turns visible as it hits his arms. Suddenly, Bukiyo appears right in front of him, gripping to the sword he just threw. He swings two swords from each side, one in the blind spot of the other. Hiteki does the same with his four arms to even defend the phasing. Bukiyo’s swords get trapped and Hiteki kicks him in his stomach with enormous power.

He points at Bukiyo with two arms and says: “I’m gonna put a time limit on this fight. You better use your remaining time wisely. Eighth Blade: Tenbatsu Spores!”

A cloud of spores shoots forward and Bukiyo holds his breath.

Hiteki laughs: “Ahahaha! It’s useless! The spores are so small that they enter through your pores, ears and eyes. You’ve lost.”

Bukiyo stands up and dashes forward only to get hit by a quick slice of the “Third Blade: Blazing Thorns!” and falls onto the ground again, suddenly not able to move anymore.

Hiteki continues his speech while walking in circles around Bukiyo: “Here and now, I’m going to set an example of what happens to people who are either a Rokuloku or who speak up against my ideology. In this world, it is survival of the fittest.”, he walks over to Bukiyo's head again, “Fit meaning strong in two ways. One is pure strength… and the other is the power of your mind.”, he prepares to chop of Bukiyo’s head with one hand and declares with a manic smile, “If you want to beat me, you’d have to have a stronger will than mine. Let’s put it to a test!”

A few minutes prior, Horuteph runs through the blood-stained streets. He rushes through the masses of soldiers of both sides, dodging and parrying a few sword swings. He jumps over some heads, even saves a Rokuloku soldier, all while eagerly running to a specific point.

“Crap! So many people! I need to help out Zvazera, not fight these randos!”, he thinks.

Above the streets, Erika follows him with Shurui in her backpack.

Erika asks: “Shurui-chan, why isn’t he killing any of the Ashtark soldiers? Doesn’t he hate them so much?”

Shurui guesses: “He probably just doesn’t have time for that. I think he wants to aid the northern front.”

They look back into the people-filled streets but can’t see Horuteph anywhere.

Horuteph, running another direction now, thinks: “I’m only making mistakes, for fucks sake! Seeing that shocked me so much that I just forgot the Giza itself!”

Zoe runs out of sight of the archers but sends her morning star back through the gate of the palace grounds. Zvazera barely dodges and continues to follow her. She runs out of the gate and gets hit by the morning star from the side.

Zvazera kneels, bleeds and draws her sword as Zoe shouts: “You should know that my morning star moves on its own! It has its own will and loves killing traitors like you!”

“Then you should know that this sword grants me an armor made of orange aura!”, Zvazera replies.

Zoe shouts: "Of course I do!"

She comes closer again, dodging the morning star which moves as freely as the chains allow, and starts to struggle.

“Go catch her already, Izo-chan!”, Zoe shouts impatiently.

Zvazera moves into a bad position and immediately, the morning star charges after her. Izo-chan breaks the sword and also the armor and squishes Zvazera onto the palace walls, splattering her entire boey. Erika stands a few meters away, stiff because of the shock and then has to puke on the floor.

“Oh? Did another cutie come here just to die by my hands?”, Zoe asks.

The morning star wants to charge after her but Zoe pats it and says: “No, no, no. Not yet, Izo-chan.”

Erika walks over to the bloody remains of Zvazera in the wall in disbelief and picks up a piece of her sword.

She says to Zvazera: “I know it’s indiscreet of me to do this but I feel like you’d want your sword to continue helping people in the future.”

With a pained look, she turns around to Zoe and declares: “Looks like I have to fight seriously for once. I’ll make you pay for this.”

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Erika hasn't seen something gruesome like this in a long time! How will this turn out?!