“Extension!”
Iris’s voice rang out, and it was followed by the sound of metal being struck hard. Kevin took that to mean she’d distracted the one shooting at him, and he rushed back out from behind his cover.
By that point in time, Lilian had reached her target: Justin. Both he and the Yōkai Killer were back on their feet. Kevin aimed at the YK unit, firing several water rounds. This one wasn’t using a fire reactor either. That was unfortunate. The YK unit shifted its attention to him, several tendrils shooting from its shoulders and curving around Justin and Lilian to pierce him.
“Do you really think a frontal assault is going to work on me?” Justin asked as his gloves shifted into what looked like a portable plasma cannon similar to Mega Man’s.
“I won’t know unless I try!” Lilian shouted back. “Now here I come!”
Justin shot two beams of high-intensity lasers at Lilian. His eyes widened when Lilian vanished, however, showing that she’d just been an illusion. The real Lilian appeared beneath him. Justin didn’t even get a chance to look down before she slammed her head into his jaw with a reinforced headbutt. The attack caused him to stumble back as blood gushed from his split lip.
The tendrils reached Kevin, who’d fallen back into his traditional style of fighting. He presented his left flank as a target, then spun around the incoming attack and smacked the tendril away with his silver gun. Consequently, his right side opened up, and the Yōkai Killer sought to take advantage. Kevin ducked, lowering himself onto his back and crossing his guns. Sparks rained down on him as the tendril flew over his head. Another came at him from the side, the last one, and he lifted his body into an arc, allowing it to pass by underneath him. Then he flipped back onto his feet and fired off exactly two rounds, one from each gun.
They didn’t do anything.
Dang.
“Owch, owch, owch.” Lilian winced as she touched her forehead. Blood spilled from a minor wound that had broken the skin. It wasn’t bad, but it still hurt, and she was getting blood in her hair. “Okay, lesson learned. Never headbutt someone who’s got steel protecting his jaw.”
“That’s the best idea you’ve had since the fight started,” Justin muttered as he rubbed the metal covering his jaw. It had dented. “That actually hurt. You have a very hard head.”
“Shut up! I don’t want to trade banter with someone who’d betray his friends!”
“Then I guess I should end this.”
Kevin didn’t know what Justin planned on doing, but he knew that he needed to help Lilian. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything. The Yōkai Killer kept him from attacking, forcing him to weave through a hailstorm of tendrils, all of which attacked the premeditated points that he presented to them. While it allowed him to avoid instant death, he still couldn’t do anything but dodge, which meant Lilian was on her own.
Hang on for just a little while longer, Lilian. Kevin snarled at the Yōkai Killer, dodging the tendrils it launched at him and firing several rounds from his gun in return. I’ll join you soon.
***
Lilian knew that she was at a disadvantage in this fight. She didn’t have much youki left, and while her illusions could affect Justin, she didn’t have any that were powerful enough to defeat someone outright. As a kitsune with two tails worth of power, the most she could do with illusory techniques was misdirect others.
Sixteen fire bullets spat from the barrel of Justin’s gun arm. Lilian didn’t want to waste youki defending herself from such an attack, and instead relied on her skills at dodging to evade. Thanks to her training with Kevin, she’d become quite good at not getting hit.
With her heart pounding in her ears, and her ragged breathing accompanying the broken staccato of her pounding feet as she sped across the garage, Lilian ducked behind a pillar. Fire splashed against it on either side. Lilian retaliated by creating a light sphere on her tail and launching it at an approximate location of where the shots were fired from.
“You’re never gonna hit me like that.”
Lilian clicked her tongue and ran out from behind the pillar. She barely glanced at Justin before firing several light spheres at him. Most of them were simply low-level illusions, but Justin clearly didn’t know that, as he dodged each one. Knowing that he couldn’t tell the difference between an illusion and the real thing, she used the illusory spheres to funnel him into a corner, where she then blasted him with an overcharged sphere of light.
“Celestial Art: Big Bang Sphere!”
What looked like a compact star shot from Lilian’s left tail, slamming into Justin before he had time to cross his arms. The young man went soaring backwards, crashing into a concrete pillar, which collapsed on top of him.
“Take that! No one can defeat my super awesome techniques, which I’ve learned through years of secret training methods that you’ll never know about.”
“Is that so?” Rubble broke apart as Justin stood up, looking none the worse for wear. “I’ll admit that hurt, but I don’t think it’s an undefeatable technique. This armor was made to withstand techniques from kitsune who have up to four tails. It’s not gonna be defeated by a technique from you.”
He leapt into the air, his repulsors letting him defy gravity as he flew toward her.
Lilian’s lips peeled back in a snarl. “You’re going to regret underestimating me like this! Celestial Art: Light Inversion!”
Light Inversion was a modified version of the Inversion technique, an illusion that caused people trapped by it to see the entire world reversed. Colors were seen in reverse. The world was flipped upside down. It was a disorienting technique, and Light Inversion applied the same principle of screwing with how people perceived the world—only it was magnitudes more intense.
“W-what is this?!”
Justin brought a hand to his mouth as he lost control over his flight and nearly crashed headfirst into a pillar. Luck saved him that time, and instead of breaking his neck, he smacked into the garage pavement.
“Extension!”
Lilian wrapped a tail around the nearest pillar, which she then used to reel herself in, closing in on Justin to begin a hand-to-hand combat battle.
Her first attack was dodged. Justin leaned back as she threw a punch, avoiding the attack by the skin of his nose. In retaliation, he fired off several bullets at point blank, but they went straight through her, proving that she was just another illusion.
“That won’t work on me twice!”
Justin spun around, his gun arm already raised, expecting to see Lilian behind him.
“Eh?”
There was no one there.
“Extension!”
Two tails wrapped around Justin’s mid-section. He barely had time to scream before he was lifted into the air and thrown across the garage like a ragdoll. As he tumbled along the ground, Lilian leapt out from behind a pillar and fired off her next attack.
“Celestial Art: Orbs of an Evanescent Shrine!”
Half a dozen orbs appeared around Justin. Despite being caught in a bad situation, he didn’t appear concerned. His gun arm spat several globs of fire, each one striking an orb and exploding. When all six orbs were destroyed, he regained control of his flight and fired another round at Lilian.
It passed through her, showing that she was just another illusion.
“You really are a tricky opponent,” Justin called out. “I expected nothing less from someone who’s been raised by the infamous swordswoman, Kotohime.”
Hiding behind a pillar, Lilian didn’t answer. She kept silent, regulating her breathing. This battle had been going on for too long. If she couldn’t end this soon, she’d run out of youki.
Do I even have an attack in my arsenal that can defeat him?
The problem with celestial techniques lay in their youki consumption. None of the other elements—save the Void—expended as much youki. It wouldn’t have been inaccurate to say that a basic celestial-based illusion cost nearly double the youki as a water-based illusion, or even
a forest-based one. Furthermore, the specialized techniques, the ones that were destructive and powerful, generally required three tails worth of youki to use.
Lilian was lucky in that her affinity for the celestial element was so high that, even with only two tails of power, she could use several modestly powerful techniques. However, none of her attacks did much damage, unless she was willing to expend most of her youki in one go, like she’d done with Chris when he’d nearly killed Kevin during their encounter oh so long ago.
The sound of gunfire drew her attention to Kevin. He was battling against one of the Yōkai Killers. He hadn’t damaged it yet, but he didn’t seem hurt either. She trusted that he would be okay. Kevin was her mate, after all.
She’d lost complete track of Iris. That worried her, but she couldn’t do much about her sister right now. Her hands were already full dealing with Justin.
I need to break that armor of his somehow.
Lilian didn’t know what Justin’s armor was made of, but it was clearly durable. He’d already withstood being smashed through a pillar without suffering injury. Blunt force trauma had proven ineffective, but perhaps a massive explosion would be enough to destroy it? She eyed the fuel tanker. She wondered if it was carrying a full tank of gas.
“Do you really think hiding from me is going to solve anything?” Justin asked, shouting to be heard over Kevin’s battle. “All you’re doing is delaying the inevitable.”
“Celestial Art: Chameleon Masquerade,” Lilian whispered. Her youki surged, then ebbed as she felt the technique take hold, effectively turning her invisible.
Slowly creeping out from behind the pillar, Lilian caught sight of Justin. He hovered several feet away. She couldn’t tell because of that stupid visor, but he looked to be scanning his surroundings. He craned his head this way and that, no doubt searching for her. She continued moving when he looked in her direction. Her illusion would keep her from being spotted.
The whirring of a gun alerted her to trouble, and she only had a second to realize that she’d been spotted when Justin raised his arm and fired off several dozen shots.
“Oh, crap!”
Adrenaline and youki surging through her body, Lilian ran as several globs of fire splashed against the pavement all around her. They flared briefly, brilliantly, creating sparks that exploded around her feet. Each fire bullet was close enough that she could feel the heat singeing her legs.
Lilian felt like a cornered animal as Justin fired round after round at her. She didn’t have enough youki to reinforce herself, so she was forced to rely on her own, unenhanced speed. Justin stayed on her tail, his gun spewing bullets almost nonstop. It wasn’t long before Justin had her cornered.
Her back pressed against the cool metal of the fuel tanker, which felt icy cold against her skin. Justin floated just a foot or two away, staring down at her with a gaze that looked almost remorseful.
“This is the end of the line, Lilian,” Justin said. “I’m sorry that it’s come to this.”
“If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t be doing this,” Lilian shot back, her breathing heavy. She felt like she’d been running for weeks without rest.
“No, you’re wrong. I am sorry that it’s come to this. I’ve already told Kevin that I don’t really agree with the Sons and Daughters of Humanity. I’m merely doing this because it’s my purpose.”
“Purpose,” Lilian spat the word like it was poison. “If you really didn’t agree with what they were doing, then you could easily find a new purpose. You’re just a dog who only ever does what its owner asks of it!”
“Yes, I suppose that is one way of putting it. However, I prefer the term weapon.” Justin aimed his gun arm at Lilian, the barrel of which glowed bright red as fire coalesced inside of it. “Now, then, this is the end.”
“You’re right.” Lilian smiled. “This is the end.”
“Celestial Art: Flash Step.”
Unlike Kotohime, who had enough youki to enhance her speed far beyond human measurement, Lilian could not do that. To answer this need to get away quickly, Lilian had developed a technique called the Flash Step, the name of which she had actually ripped off from a certain anime she enjoyed watching.
It was a speed technique, but it would have been more accurate to call it a minor teleportation technique. It was basically the ability to instantaneously move from point A to point B by breaking her body down into light particles and traveling at the speed of light. The amount of youki required was staggering, and it was only thanks to her high celestial affinity that she could use it—she could also only use it once.
Lilian appeared several dozen feet away from Justin.
Fox fire leapt from her tails and splashed against the tanker, quickly engulfing it in a searing heat.
As Justin turned around, Lilian presented him with a smile so wide that her eyes were forced closed.
“Bye, bye.”
Lilian waved at Justin.
And then the large fuel tanker exploded.
Lilian threw herself behind a pillar as the shock wave hit her. She hunkered down and covered her ears, though it did little good. The sound of detonations bombarded her like someone stabbing her eardrums with a pair of pencils. Blood leaked between her fingers, dripping down them and causing her hair to become slick and wet.
After the shock wave came the heat. Lilian felt as if her skin was being burnt off. Fire licked at the pillar she hid behind. The smoldering waves of heat caused her shirt to become damp with even more sweat. It clung to her frame. All Lilian could do was protect her face with her arms and hope she wasn’t too injured when this was over.
The explosion ended after several minutes had passed. Lilian waited several seconds longer before slowly crawling out from behind the pillar to see how much damage she had caused.
Perhaps I should have tried to find another way of dealing with Justin…
Hell on earth didn’t even begin to describe her new surroundings. The floor was lit ablaze. Lilian belatedly realized that it wasn’t just the tanker that had exploded. Every car near the tanker had also been caught in the blast. Raging heaps of wrecked vehicles depicted a hellish landscape. If the apocalypse ever happened, she imagined this was sort of what it would look like. The tanker itself was still blazing away like a raging bonfire. The ceiling around it had collapsed, revealing the afternoon sky.
She searched for several more seconds, but she couldn’t find any trace of Justin.
He caught the full extent of the explosion. His body must have been completely consumed.
Lilian clutched at her shirt as she stared at the scene. At one point in time, Justin had been one of Kevin’s friends. She knew that he still hoped Justin would eventually join their cause. There was no chance of that happening now, however.
I’m gonna have to tell Kevin that his friend is dead.
Turning away, Lilian slowly began walking.
“That was a dirty trick,” a voice said behind her, making Lilian stop in her tracks and her eyes widen.
It can’t be.
She turned around—
—only for a hand to clamp down around her throat and lift her off the ground.
It was Justin, injured but alive. His armor was smoking in some places, while electricity surged across others. His helmet had been mostly destroyed, revealing several second degree burns on his face. Several places in his armor were cracked, and a few pieces appeared to have been blown off. The skin underneath the armor was black and charred in those places.
“You are a very dangerous girl,” Justin said. Lilian grabbed his arm, as if hoping to pry it off her throat. Her legs kicked uselessly against his chestplate. His grip tightened, causing her to gag. “I’m surprised. Between the three of you, I had assumed that Kevin or Iris would be the deadliest. However, it seems I was wrong.”
Lilian would’ve said something smart alecky right then, something that would have made her favorite anime heroes proud—but she couldn’t. The hand clamped around her thro
at made breathing all but impossible.
“You are by far the most dangerous between you three.”
Gurgling emitted from Lilian’s mouth. Her body spasmed. A lack of oxygen to her brain caused black spots to appear before her eyes. Drool leaked out of her mouth, dribbling down her chin, and dripping onto Justin’s gloved hand.
This… can’t be the end…
Dredging up every last ounce of youki she had, Lilian channeled it into one of her tails, and then smacked Justin in the face. Hard. The hand was wrenched off her throat as Justin flew backwards, his back impacting against the burning tanker.
Lilian gasped as oxygen entered her lungs. She’d never tasted something so sweet. Actually, that was a lie. Kevin’s lips were way better than this, but still, it felt good to breathe again. She placed a hand against her throat and massaged it. Her neck felt tender, and she imagined there would be some major bruising tomorrow.
I’ll heal it with my celestial powers once I’ve recovered enough youki.
“You really are dangerous.” Justin pulled himself out of the wreckage and stumbled to his feet. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he focused back on her and aimed his gun. “Truly, I really need to learn not to underestimate you.”
“Yeah… most people realize that a little too late.”
“Even knowing that you’re about to die, you can still find the time to joke.” Justin shook his head, as if her temerity amazed him.
“What makes you think I’m going to die?” Lilian asked.
“Why do you think? Kevin is busy, Iris has disappeared and is probably dead. You’re alone, on your last leg, and I still have a working weapon.”
“She’s not alone,” a voice said before a large sphere of water impacted against Justin’s body, blasting him off his feet and sending him back into the tanker.
“Kevin…” Lilian rasped as Kevin walked up to her. Blood matted his blond hair, and he favored his right side, from which more ichor poured. However, he was alive, and that was all that mattered to her.
“He’s not the only one who came to your rescue, you know.” Iris appeared from behind him. She was in worse shape than Kevin, but she was at least still standing.
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