Kashimo dropped back to the scorched earth. He looked down at Sawara, his eyes narrowed with a mocking edge.
"Hurry it up," he said, his lips curling into a sharp grin. "Whatever you've got left, show ."
Sawara lay slumped against a pile of broken stone. Half his body was a charred, numb ruin, but he managed a sudden, hollow laugh. Not the laugh of a man breaking, but of soone finally letting go.
"So you knew," he whispered.
He took a ragged breath, forced his broken fra upright, and clamped his hands together in a solemn, ancient seal.
"Furube... Yurayura..."
The chant was quiet, but it seed to vibrate through the very fabric of the air. A low, mournful howl echoed from the void, shaking the stones of the mountain. Shadows pooled behind Sawara as his remaining shikigami manifested. They didn't move to attack; they sat with their heads bowed in deep, reverent submission.
"Eight-Handled Sword… Divergent Sila Divine General…"
At the center of the formation, a massive cocoon hung in the air. Its surface was a map of shifting, grotesque sigils, pulsing with a slow, rhythmic beat like a heavy heart.
"Mahoraga."
Then, the cocoon burst.
Shards of black cursed energy sprayed outward, the concussive force flattening everything in the imdiate area. Sawara's grin widened.
"Hey… you bastard. I'll be going first," he said, looking at Kashimo, his voice carrying more amusent at Kashimo's situation than concern for his own death. "Give it your best."
Before he could finish, the white figure swung a massive arm, swatting Sawara away like an insect. He skipped across the rubble and vanished into the dust.
Kashimo stood face to face with the strongest shikigami of the Ten Shadows. The symbol of perfect harmony. The beast that could adapt to all things.
The Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General: Mahoraga.
The standoff lasted only a second.
Mahoraga moved. There was no tell, no shift in weight. Its right arm snapped forward, the Sword of Extermination carving a violent arc toward Kashimo's head.
Kashimo raised an arm and caught the strike.
The collision sounded like a hamr hitting an anvil. A shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, shattering the ground beneath Kashimo's feet into a spiderweb of cracks. He didn't budge. He stared directly at the legendary beast.
He felt neither fear nor hesitation, only a searing, white hot curiosity.
For months, the idea of Mahoraga had haunted him. He had run the numbers a thousand tis, trying to figure out how to kill sothing that could adapt to anything. Every simulation had ended in a stalemate or his own death.
But now that it was standing in front of him, the logic and the calculations were gone. His blood was beginning to boil. A frantic heat rose from his marrow, spreading through his veins until it reached his fingertips. His heart hamred against his ribs like a drum.
This was what he wanted.
Mahoraga pivoted, the blade on its arm twisting for a follow-up slash. Kashimo was faster. He ducked under the edge and lunged into the beast's guard, his cursed energy flaring.
He threw a punch with everything he had. The wind of the strike whistled as it cut the air. He didn't trigger an electrical discharge, not yet. He couldn't risk the beast adapting to his lightning this early in the fight. It was a pure physical blow.
The impact sent Mahoraga flying. The white silhouette crashed into a mound of stone, leaving a massive crater in its wake.
Kashimo stood his ground and clicked his tongue. He looked around. The Soul Split Katana had been vaporized in the earlier blast. He had lost his best weapon.
From the crater, the sound of shifting stone echoed.
Mahoraga pulled itself from the wreckage, completely unhard. Its white skin glead in the dim light of the battlefield. It turned back toward Kashimo, its mouth open to reveal those permanent, bared teeth.
It wasn't a smile, just the way the beast was made: a frozen, toothy grimace, empty of emotion and more unsettling than any snarl.
Kashimo didn't hesitate. He charged.
He was a streak of motion, driving a fist into the center of Mahoraga's face. The beast caught him mid-strike, its fingers locking around his torso with the strength of an industrial vice.
The world spun. Kashimo was hurled into the air. Before he could right himself, Mahoraga leaped, the ground exploding beneath its feet as it pursued him into the sky.
The beast lood over him, its twin fists joined into a hamr that ca crashing down.
Kashimo slamd into the earth. He used one hand to cushion the fall, flipping back to find his footing as the dust blood around him. The ground beneath him buckled and sank under the pressure.
He didn't stop to breathe. He pushed off, eting Mahoraga in the air with a punch.
Fist t fist.
The collision of raw strength produced a muffled boom. Kashimo's arm went numb from the vibration, but he didn't retreat. He pressed the attack.
Fist to palm. Finger to blade.
The Sword of Extermination whistled past, but Kashimo deflected the flat of the blade with his fingers. He blocked a heavy palm strike with his own hand. They traded blows in the air, a frantic, high-speed exchange where defense and offense were the sa thing. The sound of their strikes echoed across the mountains like a series of rapid-fire gunshots.
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A/n: If u liked the chapter don't forget to vote with power stones. Thanks to everyone who votes. If we hit 800 power stones, i'll drop the bonus chapter imdiately.
For early access to 15 chapters ahead: p@tre~~/Demonic_Fiction (Link is in the synopsis and my profile).
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