BUTTERFLY : SHINOBU KOCHO (PART ONE)

Part 2: Chapter 10; Swing

An idea popped into her head and her eyes widened.

Oh?

She turned around, and bolted in the other direction, right towards the motionless shadow.

I won't bother with the distractions anymore, I'll just go for you instead!

The demon's eye widened slightly as the butterfly girl suddenly appeared before him, crouching low with her blade pointing under its chin.

Gritting her teeth, she struck.

Insect Breathing, Dance of the Giant Killer; Ephemeral!

As Shinobu's blade thrust upwards and the ground shattered beneath her feet, flesh and blood squelched,

and Selir caught her attack by its hand.

Huh!?

Her eyes flared in shock as the shadowy demon gripped her blade and leaned towards her, staring deep into her.

"....Slow...." Selir whispered with a raspy growl, "....Predictable......weak...."

"Not....Good.....Enough....."

A kick to her stomach sent her flying backwards with a loud grunt.

Shinobu tumbled across the ground and skidded on her feet, gritting her teeth as she grinded to a halt.

Looking back up at the shadowy demon, the raven-haired Hashira creased her eyebrows.

Tch, I guess Sakusa was right about Ephemeral.....

"Listen, brat, don't expect to be able to use your new form all the time." Sakusa explained to her months prior, "At the end of the day, it's only a technique, and it's not impossible to guard against. Yours explicitly uses the window in which your opponent is focused solely on their attack to counter at their weakest point, which means it's just another attack they can defend against when they're not in that state. It's a counter, not a one-shot blow. Use it sparingly, under the right conditions, or it's useless."

Hmph, and here I was, hoping you'd be just a little bit wrong about that....

But......I think I just noticed something.....

As the remaining four soldiers dashed towards her and swung their blades, Shinobu ducked and parried without missing a step, leaping over the incoming slashes and side-stepping their thrusts.

When one soldier gripped their blade with both hands and brought it down on her, the butterfly girl, at the last moment, kicked the attack away with her heel, and with her sword in hand, pierced through the skull of her foe with a dose of lethal venom making its way through the demon pawn's body.

Yanking her blade out and letting the soldier crumble to the floor in a convulsing heap, it melted into the ground, seeping into the cracks of black flame surrounding her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the ringleader.

They're still not making a move, damnit....do they not care that I'm killing their soldiers?

Leaping back away from a strike once more, Shinobu's eyes widened when the demon raised its arm, and its hand fell down into the ground.

He's moving!

"Black....Gate...." Selir uttered,

"Rook."

The square where the black demon's fingerless hand fell bubbled and popped like a boiling pot as another figure took shape.