Merging Worlds, Merging Views, New Risks

Chapter 46

(A Few Minutes Ago)

While Ragna and the other combatants are currently fighting off their clown-faced clones, Naoto's group are battling against Roman's group a good distance away. Naoto versus Roman and Junior. Yumi versus Neo. And Heart versus Melanie and Miltia.

Using Bloodedge, Naoto morphs and hardens his blood into a scythe as he swings it around against Roman and Junior. All the crime boss and nightclub owner can do is dodge and parry Naoto's slashes and swings. Roman gets a lucky shot by firing a red dust-like flare at Naoto's weapon, destroying it in the process. This gives Junior the chance to charge in and swing his club/rocket launcher hybrid at Naoto. Junior lands a few hits on Naoto before Naoto swiftly morphs his blood into a katana and retaliates. Naoto delivers a short flurry of strikes before kicking Junior away. He then goes after the crime boss and this leads to them trading blows. However, Roman is having a hard time keeping up with Naoto's power and speed in spite of the few whacks on the head he gave him. It's only when Junior intervenes by shooting a bunch of missiles out of his rocket launcher. This prompts Naoto to jump out of the way while deflecting some of the missiles away from him. Both Junior and Roman regroup as Naoto lands safely on the ground.

Roman: "Ugh, why won't you just stay down!?"

Naoto: "I refuse!"

Junior: "Then don't whine when we pummel you."

Yumi and Neo are in the middle of exchanging blows with one another. Neo is practically swinging her umbrella, trying to strike and whack at her opponent. Even with two blue and white-colored fans in her hands, Yumi is having some difficulty in parrying them away from her. Thanks to Neo keep flipping and dancing around her, Yumi can't seem to land a hit on her. So, she decides to jump away and place her two fans together in order to conjure an ethereal ice projectile and fires it. Seeing this, Neo opens up her umbrella and lets it take the hit. The mute girl slides back a few feet before practically blocking the projectile from her. She closes her umbrella to see Yumi lunging towards her. Yumi manages to land one hit on Neo until Neo just shatters into glass and reappears behind her. Swiftly turning around, Yumi ends up locking weapons with Neo.

Yumi: "Impressive. But I cannot afford to be defeated here."

Neo: "..."

Heart is in the middle of trading blows with the Malachite Twins. The pink-haired girl keeps switching from punching and kicking Melanie and then to Miltia. Of course, Heart does get a bunch of injuries from Melanie's Bladed Heels and Miltia's Claws gauntlets. Despite that, Heart continues brawling with them, parrying and evading their combined strikes. Heart sidestep away from Melanie's kick before punching directly at her chest. Heart turns around to do the same for Miltia but, Miltia block her fist with her Claws. Until Heart decides to backflip and kick Miltia's chin, leaving her disoriented. Heart takes this chance to quickly dropkick Miltia away from her. Melanie attempts to roundhouse kick Heart. But Heart detects this and manages to grab her leg while in midair.

Heart: "This is the power of love!"

As she said this, Heart tosses Melanie and makes her crash onto the collapsed Miltia. Exhaling to herself, Heart watches as the twins get from their spots as she remarks.

Heart: "Your love for Y/N is strong, no doubt. But my love for my friends and allies is much stronger!"

Melanie & Miltia: "Ugh, quit talking or stay down!!"

As their battle continues, they all feel the ground subtly shake as they hear some explosions in the distance, but they don't let it deter them. The criminal duo and the nightclub trio are beginning to realize that they are losing. No matter how many strikes they make on Naoto's group, they press on with their fights and push them back. Because of this, Roman's group had to resort to even more underhanded tactics. Like when Roman looks behind Naoto and says.