It had just been another illusion.
“Now I see.” Justin looked at Iris, who stood several feet behind him. “You don’t have the same capacity as your sister, do you? That’s why you’re sticking to illusions.”
“You can think that if you want,” Iris said, her lips twisting into a dark grin, the inky blackness spreading further up her arm all the way to the shoulder. “I can promise you this, honey; those will be the last thoughts you’ll ever have.”
***
“Gomu Gomu Extension!”
Lilian’s tails shot forward to great lengths and slammed into the spot where Adam should have been. The young man had darted around her tails with ease. Rather than get annoyed, she swept her tails back, hoping to catch him from behind. He leapt over them.
Okay, now she was annoyed.
Retracting her tails, Lilian channeled her youki into her limbs, enhancing her body to the same physical level of an Olympic athlete.
“If that won’t work, then I’m just gonna have to… break my fist off on your face!”
Lilian slammed her tails into the ground on either side of Adam, making it impossible for him to move anywhere but forward. She then threw a punch aimed at his nose. More than anything else, she wanted to wipe that blank look off his face.
Which was why she was surprised when her enhanced fist slammed into him and did nothing.
“What the—?!”
Lilian’s shock didn’t last long—or rather, the shocked look was wiped from her face when Adam snapped off a kick that slammed into her chin.
It felt like a freight train had hit her. Her feet were lifted off the ground, a testament to the amount of power behind that kick. She speared her tails into the ground to keep from going far, however, and used them to pull her back and snap a kick off at Adam.
He ducked.
Then he grabbed her outstretched leg, twisted it, and slammed her into the ground.
“Guuu!”
Lilian’s head rang as it dented the blacktop. Stars popped up in her vision. She blinked once, then started when a heel filled her vision. Rolling out of the way, she was just in time to witness the heel slam into the ground with enough force to dent the road.
What is going on here?
Lilian scrambled to her feet. Adam came at her again, his fists a blur of never-ending motions. Each attack traveled so fast that her eyes could barely follow it.
I’m being pushed back?
Backpedaling, Lilian tried to put some distance between them. Adam doggedly hung on, throwing punches and kicks as he pressed her, not allowing her a moment to breathe. She blocked one of his kicks with her forearm, but she yelped in pain when she felt her ulna crack. Stumbling backwards, Lilian was barely able to block the next attack by smacking it with her reinforced tail. Even then, it stung.
This shouldn’t be possible.
It was true that kitsune, on their own, were about as strong as a human, maybe even a little weaker. However, when using enhancement, a kitsune’s strength increased considerably. Lilian, when using enhancement, had about the same level of strength and speed as an Olympic athlete. Kotohime’s went even beyond that, into the realm of the inhuman.
How is he stronger than me?!
Lilian swatted at Adam with a tail, but he smacked it away with the back of his hand, then rabbit punched her in the face with that same hand. Her head snapped back and blood spurted from her nose. She grimaced, but gritted her teeth and stubbornly went back into the fight.
“Celestial Art: Chameleon Masquerade.”
Bending the light to her will, Lilian all but disappeared from human eyes. She used her invisibility to get in close. She snuck in from the side—
“Gya!”
—and cried out when Adam leapt into the air and spin kicked her in the face. Having spent almost eight months training with Kevin, she knew how to move with the blow, minimizing the damage, but it still left her somewhat dazed.
Adam capitalized on her semi-conscious state and snapped a quick kick at her. Yet even while dazed, Lilian had the sense of mind to move backwards, avoiding the strike before it could hit her. She shook her head, clearing the stars swirling around her, then glared at Adam.
“Come on!” Lilian gestured for him to come at her. “You might think you’re hot stuff now, but that’s only because I haven’t gotten serious yet. Ufufufu, just wait until I unleash ‘that’ on you. Oh, yes. Once I’ve used ‘that,’ there’s no way you’ll be able to—”
Adam cut Lilian off by trying to kick her in the face.
“Don’t interrupt me during my shōnen monologuing!” Lilian shouted.
Adam’s response came when he attempted to knee her in the face.
***
Kevin couldn’t fight for much longer. He’d been awake for over forty-eight hours, had fought against an oni and then against soldiers, and had run through a base while it was under attack. He was only human. His body needed rest. His mind needed to recover and sort through the accumulated data via his memories. Most importantly, his soul needed to recover from the beating it had taken. He had reached his limit.
Yet still he continued to fight.
Ian tried throwing a punch at Kevin, a straight jab that came in far faster than a human should have been capable of.
Kevin dodged it.
More attacks were thrown. Punches and kicks. Elbows and knees. Ian tried any number of combinations, launching them at speeds that caused miniature sonic booms.
Kevin avoided them.
His mind had fallen dark; Kevin was consumed by instinct. His body fell back on the combat style that he had painstakingly crafted, the style that he’d created for the sole purpose of fighting against supernatural creatures.
Ian was not a supernal being, but he had been enhanced to the point where he might as well be.
A punch flew at Kevin’s temple. He ducked, lowering his center of gravity and using his own centrifugal force to toss Ian over his shoulder. The young man flipped around while still in midair, but Kevin had already moved, slamming a foot into his fellow blond’s gut. While not as strong an attack as it could have been if, say, a yōkai had launched it, the kinetic momentum built up from their clash ensured that Ian’s body received damage.
Landing on his feet, Ian latched onto Kevin’s leg, gripping it like a vice. Kevin registered the pain, but only as an abstract concept. He was beyond pain. Shooting himself into the air with his remaining leg, he slammed a soccer kick into Ian’s face, breaking the teen’s nose in a spray of blood. Ian let go of his leg and stumbled back. Kevin, still bouncing on one leg, jumped and spun the other way, this time unleashing a powerful heel kick that snapped the boy’s neck back like he’d gotten whiplash.
Despite such incredible damage, Ian didn’t release a single grunt of pain.
Kevin didn’t care. He just kicked at a corpse by his feet, sending it and the contents in his bandolier spilling across the ground.
Sweat entered Kevin’s eyes, stinging them as he moved backwards. Ian came after him. Punches flew, but none of them hit as he swayed from side to side, his movements almost lackadaisical. Left. Right. Left. Left. Spin. Kevin danced a ceaseless dance, waiting for the inevitable opening to show.
This guy doesn’t know how to use his newfound strength properly.
The human body works in interesting ways. The brain even more so. Kevin had heard many theories proposed that said limiters have been placed on the human body to keep it from tearing itself apart: The eight gates of chakra, the theory that humans only used 10 percent of their brain, or the one about how humans can only use 30% of their strength. There were multiple theories out there, but none of them were correct.
Kneeling down, Kevin grabbed onto the corpse of another soldier and tossed it at Ian. The young man barely broke speed as he spun around and blasted it away with a powerful kick. Munitions from the dead soldier’s bandolier clattered to the ground.
The truth is that human bodies work at full capacity almost
24/7. The only time they didn’t is when a person slept. Going on this theory, humans are always at their strongest and always giving their full effort.
So, then, what happens when a person’s body is enhanced to beyond normal human limits?
Unleashing a payload of bullets from a nearby rifle that he’d picked up, Kevin watched as Ian dodged. Using his foot, he unhooked a bandolier, picked it up, and tossed it at Ian, who kicked it aside even while he dodged more bullets.
The gun clicked empty.
Ian came in at speeds that far exceeded those of a human. Kevin did not meet this charge head-on, but spun to the left. Sticking out his right foot, he gently pushed Ian’s forearm, knocking the young man off balance and sending him right into Kevin’s waiting kick. He winced when 145 pounds of flesh, muscle, and bone slammed into his knee, but pain was a small price to pay to see Ian crash face-first into the ground.
He didn’t stay down long. Shoving off with his hands, Ian flipped into the air and landed back on his feet.
Kevin knelt down and took a hand grenade off the corpse of a soldier. He pulled the pin and threw it at Ian, who swerved to dodge. The grenade exploded seconds later behind him, but that was fine. It had only been a means of getting Ian into place.
“It’s over,” Kevin spoke with finality. In that moment, he unholstered his own unique handguns and unleashed his entire cartridge, not into Ian, but into the many dozens of explosives surrounding him.
In that moment, a large explosion ripped apart the spot that Ian was standing on. Fire rose into the air, giant plumes like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Yet this was not a scene of rebirth but of death. Kevin didn’t take his eyes from the sight. Debris pelted him and waves of heat seared his vision, but he refused to look away.
Even if he could do nothing else, Kevin would at least bear the burden that came from taking a life.
The explosion died down, leaving blackened ground and a charred corpse. Kevin walked up to the body, waiting to see if it would get up. When it remained inert, he let out a slow breath.
I wonder if I’ll be able to sleep without having nightmares after this.
No sooner had he thought this that a scream pierced the air. It was a scream of pain, of terror, and of rage. It was an ungodly howl, a sound more akin to a beast woven into the most ancient tales of horror, a noise so awful that it could not have come from the lungs of any sentient creature. And yet, at the same time, it did. He knew that voice. A jolt coursed through him as he spun around.
Iris!
***
Lilian had discovered a weakness in her foe.
“Celestial Art: Distortion.”
Adam, who’d been running straight for her at speeds that not even she could match with reinforcement, suddenly stumbled and fell to his knees. While his face didn’t change expression, his body told Lilian everything she needed to know.
“Celestial Art: Orbs of an Evanescent Realm.”
Half a dozen spheres appeared around her. Glowing balls of light energy shot forward, darting around each other in dizzying patterns. Adam tried to dodge them, but with Distortion still affecting his vision, he couldn’t do much more than stumble.
The first orb slammed into his chest. Light flared around him, and Lilian’s attack splashed harmlessly against a purple barrier that had sprung up to protect him. Her second attack hit him in the back. Again, a barrier appeared, keeping her attack from harming him. The third and fourth spheres came in. Adam was still stumbling. As he hadn’t felt any pain, he was unable to break out of the illusion, and he apparently had yet to realize that he was under an illusion to begin with—or so she thought, until he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. He then rolled along the ground, the two spheres that came at him striking the road and exploding into light particles.
Jumping back onto his feet, Adam thrust his hand forward, attempting to spear Lilian through the chest. His hand sliced into her—
—and then went straight through her like she wasn’t even there. Adam stumbled forward.
“Extension!”
Lilian appeared behind him, her form wavering as the illusion she’d cast on herself dispersed. Her two tails arced over her head and slammed into Adam. The ground underneath him cracked, abrasions appearing along the blacktop, spreading out from beneath his feet. His legs buckled, but they did not break.
“Fox-fire!”
The tips of Lilian’s tails flared briefly before two balls of fire crashed into Adam at point-blank range. Her foe disappeared in a red explosion. Knowing better than to assume the fight was over, Lilian channeled more youki into her tails.
“Celestial Art: Double Helix!”
Her two tails coiled together and unleashed a beam of celestial youki that formed a helix pattern. It pierced the fire, creating a hole that traveled from one side and out the other. When the flames dispersed, she saw Adam standing exactly where he had been.
There was a gaping hole in his chest.
The young man stood there for several seconds, still as a statue. Then, suddenly, he crumpled to the ground like a depowered Gundam, falling onto his back and staring at the sky with sightless eyes.
“Ga…”
With the fight over, Lilian fell onto her butt, breathing heavily. Her chest heaved as she leaned back, placing her hands behind her to support her upper body.
By the gods, I am so tired.
Lilian could feel the exhaustion eating away at her consciousness. She wanted to sleep, to crawl into bed, curl up by Kevin’s side, and sleep like the dead.
But I’m not gonna get to do that yet, am I?
There was still a lot of fighting going on. She could hear it. The sounds of combat caused her ears to twitch.
Lilian slowly climbed to her feet, shunting the aches and pains wracking her body aside. She hadn’t suffered much injury yet, aside from her broken nose and a few bruised ribs—both of which could be easily healed—but she still felt tender.
It happened just as she finished clambering to her feet—a gods awful shriek pierced the air. It was an inhuman sound that should not have been possible for anything with human-like vocal chords to produce. Yet she recognized the voice it came from. It was as familiar to Lilian as her own voice. Hearing such a horrendous sound from a voice she knew so well caused fear to escalate inside of her.
Iris!
***
Iris was in trouble.
Kill…
Her breathing had long since become labored. Each raspy inhale caused a sharp pain to fill her chest, a fire to burn her lungs. Heavy limbs weighed her down like lead weights had been strapped to them. Every movement she made sent jolts of agony up her side.
Devour…
Hovering above her, buzzing around like an oversized gnat, Justin shot red beams of intense energy from his fingers. Iris had no clue what sort of technology allowed a human to do that, but she knew better than to let those beams hit her. She reinforced her body with youki and dodged accordingly.
Everything returns to darkness…
Justin had realized that she couldn’t use void techniques very well. He probably didn’t know why, but just knowing that she had to use her deadliest techniques sparingly gave him an edge over her.
“Void Art: Void Fire!”
Iris gritted her teeth as she launched a small sphere of black flames at Justin. He dodged accordingly, swerving away and letting it pass him, but the Void was a hungry thing. It sought to devour the living, and when Justin dodged, it followed.
Everything eventually turns into nothing…
“Kitsune Art: Twilight!”
It was a new technique that she had come up with. Twilight was, in some ways, similar to Lilian’s Distortion technique. However, while Distortion worked by distorting a person’s ability to perceive light, Twilight merely inverted it. Black would be white. Red would be green. Blue became orange. Experiencing such a sudden change in the light spectrum caused extreme disorientation—even someone like Justin was not immune to ill
usions.
Despite this, her Void Fire still failed to find its mark. Justin appeared disoriented and confused for but a second, then, he righted himself and blasted her Void Fire apart with those energy beams.
All living things return to the Void…
It wasn’t that Iris was in a serious battle that caused her to be in danger. Justin was an admittedly troublesome foe, but she felt like she could have beaten him if it weren’t for her other problem
Return to the Void!
Iris was fighting a two-way battle. Justin on the outside and the whispers on the inside. Subliminal suggestions eroded her ability to think, while Justin’s constant attacks forced her to focus on the battle, which meant she couldn’t ignore the whispers. Worse still, the more void techniques she used, the louder the whispers became.
The Void hungers!
Darkness crawled up her entire left side, insipid and insidious. Similar to ink being absorbed by a sponge, her skin became tainted with a thick, black substance, like ethereal ooze frothing from her pores. The harder she tried to push the darkness back, the more she tried to ignore the whispers, the louder and more difficult her task became.
I need to end this…
“Well, honey, it’s been fun,” Iris started, channeling more youki through her tails than she ever had before, “but it’s time we ended this little dance of ours.”
“That’s too bad,” Justin joked. “And here I was just beginning to enjoy it.”
Iris gave him a smirk that she didn’t feel. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’ve grown bored of you.”
“Void Art: Spider’s Web.”
Lines of black flame spread across the sky, connecting, entangling. Dozens—no, hundreds of lines spread across the airspace. Uninhibited by linear movement, they traversed the many angles and pi radians that made up the skyways, forming what, from a distance, appeared to be a large spider’s web.
“What the hell?!” Justin shouted in surprise, swiveling his head this way and that. Iris could only assume that he was seeking a way to escape. However…
There is no escape from this technique. Not unless you can match it with a more powerful technique.
Spider’s Web. It was a technique of Iris’s own creation. It created lines of void fire by devouring the air currents. The atmosphere was made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny air currents. By commanding the Void to only devour specific currents, she could create “strings” of fire. These strings were inanimate. They did not move, even though they wanted to. The Void, after all, was a sentient thing—it hungered, it desired to consume everything. To keep the “strings” from seeking to expand in search of something living, Iris needed to pit her will against its.
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