~*(y,n)'s POV*~
"Window's Realm-!!!"
"1st form, freezing winds!" Before the man's duplicated arms could grab me from their hiding places, I created a small sphere with my ice to save myself. The claws of Gen's hands slammed into the barrier, not breaking through the thick protection that I had the wit of forming.
God, the type of rush I got from the reminder of my motivation... it's surreal! It always manages to lift me away from the murkiness swimming inside of my head, give me the free of every breath I take in battle.
I broke down the globe I manifested and bit at the hands, voiding them away as they reared back in shock until the portals doming me in disappeared. I looked back at the furious demon calmly, almost to taunt him with my perseverance. "So, that's how it's gonna be?" He snarled from his position when the business end of my Katana pointed to him next, my sights locked and ready. Target Acquired.
I gave Kyojuro a nod before dashing towards our enemy, windows opening up at random in the hopes of catching me in their trap. I avoided all of them and reached the demon on the other side of the gap. A shockwave of force ripped across the ground when I clashed with him, the cold airs of my inertia creating a thin layer of ice across the arm he used to block me. It didn't seem like he was expecting me to be renewed of my strength, his surprise was evident as he had to reinforce himself harder the closer I broke past his defense.
I jumped back for a moment and shifted a gear in my approach, changing up my immediate intentions when I caught a corner of the colors from my comrade's cape. "Second form, Rising Scorching Sun!" The blonde man got the front half of the demon's face in the path of his blade as soon as he came up to our left, then making a diagonal line that almost managed to reach the front of his neck. Our foe dipped down under his sword, went back up when mine came, and when we both swung together-
"Quick fire!!" Our opponent tumbled back into a sudden hole before either of us could make serious contact, and the bastard even gave a little wave as it closed up. Almost sensing it, we both jumped out of the way when a window gaped apart where our feet were, his hand clawing, then going back in. More of the openings went in and out of reality around us, forcing us to separate. He's toying with us, he's gonna keep up with this unless we find where his actual state of being is...
I'm gonna die if I do this, I might actually die. There's no better time than the present, though.
Just when I caught another one of the portals close to me, as soon as I stabbed the demon's hand away from coming out again, I jumped through myself. Gravity warped, my perception, everything, stopping when my feet met with solid ground. Gravity felt... weird (I'll have to get used to that quickly, I feel so lightheaded), but I'm not dead! I thought I'd be split in two!
I peered around at the new area I've been transported to, no Gen in sight. I can only assume he already caught me coming to get him, I can bet he's on the prowl now that I've been separated from Kyojuro. ...
I reacted right on the millisecond when the demon came attacking at me again from another sudden window, jumping back in through the way he came from when he couldn't manage to get through to a weak point. Rapid attacks from anywhere, and arms mirrored and duplicated in the fractured realities of his windows!
Four strikes- the jumps in and out of my range sped up the more agitated his face got in between each interval, the frustration strengthening with the weight behind the attempts. "Oh, so you think you've found a loophole, huh? Can't you just give in already, dammit!"
"No, we can't, and we won't." I responded to my opponent's brash tone through the block, the winds of my freezing movements going to chill the battlegrounds. He gave a face of anger when hearing my comment, growing more disgruntled as Kyojuro's voice rose above the chaos.
"-You've caused unforgivable things we cannot let you go free for, there is no other option!" He said to the violent individual while he swiped his blade up through his chest and throat, being forced to stop when the demon halted the movement with his hand. He stopped me with the other for a moment, but I was soon to round a kick into his jaw when my comrade went for his shins. Flipped over onto his back at an angle
I paused on my side of the onslaught when seeing sparkling gold in the corner of my eye, the light gaining on me as his fingertips and veins shone in the darkness. I avoided the first portal that flashed up, but the second one that came into manifestation... that got me thinking a little more.
'-4th form, sharp droplets...'
Just when the newest window caught me in its gaping hole and sucked me up from my left, I was swinging my chilled blade into the demon's shoulder right as I emerged on the other side, shocling him with my perfect timing.
He's trying to disorient me with his Blood Art- that's not going to work, now that I've found my bearings. I'm sure he'll try more moves to get through to me.
My ice followed me across the sword in my hands and the ground while I dove through the next opening, stopping him before he could wound me and dealing more damage to that glowing, red body. The blood from his wounds followed him through the drop he made into yet another portal, and I traversed along the same one yet again, a new area subjected to our carnage. With the different layout, I thought on my feet and used a tree next to me to give me some leverage, getting the kick on my opponent with that crackdown on shoulder.
We went through the gruesome cycle of the back and forth, my mind directly on the heat of the battle with just a few glimpses of where we were before being taken somewhere else. Flashes of Kyojuro and his blade came in and out of the equation, the Gen making it a point to keep him out of the immediate wave of the fight.
Taking his hand outta nowhere, he drew out a large circle in my path, pointing his other digits up towards the sky as the first neared me. He's trying to send me airborne!
"Flame Breathing, 6th form, Hearth's lungs!" Kyojuro got close, real close to our enemy's neck when he came up to us in one sudden flash with the three slashes he took, his free grasp pulling me away from the danger by the collar of my shirt. His blade made it halfway through Gen's neck with the intensity of its heat, struggling to go any further. Sparks of red ash broke from the man's neck like flares, making his veins... shine even brighter.
... I haven't seen that happen with any of the other anomalous demons. The fact that it's already showing up in those scattered around the regions of Japan is already attention-raising enough, but that's far more concerning to me...
Instead of retaliating after he shoved the man's Nichirin sword out of his neck, Gen retreated into one of his portals, reappearing far away from us both and holding onto his wound until it healed. We all stopped among the war-torn grasses as he crouched down, laughing to himself while those veins went back to their bleak way.
"His neck is hard to get through. It's been a while since I had such difficultly to decapitate someone." The blonde Hashira whispered to me and let go of my collar, shaking out his sword hand and sporting a nervous smile. I looked at the demon as well and said a silent thanks.
"Did you see that... What happened with his neck?" He asked me, gently worried. He's not the only one wondering about it, I wouldn't manage to get my thoughts away from it if I tried.
"Yeah..." I responded as Gen glared directly at us, standing back up to show off his neck where we almost got the final cut on him. He caressed his neck and mumbled something to himself we couldn't catch from the distance we're at.
"We're gonna need some more strength to finish him, I was doubting it'd be an easy kill." This guy's no joke, we already knew that, but I don't think we really understood the severity until moments ago. Not to mention, he knows what he's doing, it isn't like he isn't confident in himself.
Us Slayers kept our mouths shut while the manager of the hotel let his lavender eyes shine brightly. "I guess I really did underestimate you. I thought it wouldn't be necessary for me to use the full extent of my perks!" He cackled, stretching out his arms with a more fitting, toothy smile to that crazy mood.
"Those red veins, that's what you're talking about, yes?" I quizzed him, gaining his amusement
"You're already so close to the money. You've seen this in other demons you've slain, haven't you?" The man tugged down part of his yukata show off the striking veins across his shoulders and chest, if they weren't already apparent enough around his face.
"Just a little gift from my higher up, he's so sweet to have even funded me for my business!" So it's true, this guy got his red veins from someone else as well, and has been giving it to other demons!
"This higher up, who is he exactly?" That question came from me. He opened his mouth after a moment of thinking to himself, ready to answer, but he was quick to snap his fingers and smirk at me cheekily.
"Ah, ah, ah! I see what you're doing here, you're trying to make me spill!" Smartass.
"You Slayer's think you're so clever... huh? I hope you know that your wits aren't going to save you anymore." Gen said while one of his fingers started to slowly trace out another portal, finishing it as his veins reached their shining peak.
"Make sure to stay aware of opening portals, things are going to get tricky from here." I mumbled to the Slayer behind me as we gazed around us. Those same glittering windows began to pop up randomly, some close to the ground, others, not even touching the grass. When it seemed like no more of them could be made, our opponent clapped his hands together, each of the openings sparked bright along to his say. He laughed, the red across his face making him look all the more evil.
"Try not to scream when I pop up." And he was gone, disappeared into one of his portals in a wind of his movement. Kyojuro and I didn't move from our spot as he seemed to whizz through the other portals and out of sight, trying to follow his aura without losing it. My lip nearly started bleeding under the pressure of my teeth as I put all concentration on where he might strike- will he attack, or keep playing? The readiness of my hand gripping the shaft of my sword handle dallies between the choices.
"5th form... Frozen Katana..." My mastered technique, the best offense-based attack of Ice Breathing. I'm not staying on the defensive this time, I'll leave that to the Flame Pillar.
My breathing sent a plaster of thin ice across my cheeks as; from the base all the way down to the tip of my blade, a thick layer of ice encased it, lengthening my Katana, and adding a freezing edge to the sharp end. I waited even longer for the demon to show up-
My senses were the one to get there first as Gen jumped through one of the portals and right at us, but Kyojuro was ready, blocking the weight of his inertia as soon as he tried to make a hit. I took up the rest of the task and stabbed at him, the weapon going too fast for him to register it. My slices spread ice across the ground with every move, expanding my domain.
Before I could get any further in, he grabbed me by my shirt collar and took a punch, only nicking my shoulder thanks to the help from my ally, though the force managed to knock me back into one of the many glowing windows around us.
I flipped myself over in my free fall as gravity contorted. I played him with his own game, quick enough for me to barrel back at him as he followed me through, missing his chance to scratch at me. With my ice, I landed mid-air and threw him into another one of the windows. My teammate picked up the slack for me and went at the angered demon, his flames coming through down. The man was only there for a moment, going right back to me afterwards.
He came at me from behind and tackled me off my perch, right into another one of the entrances and transported us bsck down to the ground. Even as my head rang after I collided with the grass, him on top of me, I still kept my guard up and lobbed off one of his legs, nearly catching the second one as well after I was able to get up from the ground.
I danc across the battlefield with every attack edging him further to insanity, getting help from the blonde Hashira that caught Gen off guard long enough for me to strike again.
It was then when I was next to strike the weak point of his neck and send more of the red sparks streaming from the other side, reaching further than what my partner did last and sawing past the half-way point of his nape.
Our enemy screamed as he pushed my blade back out, shoving Kyojuro off of him before he chucked me through one of the portals and he jumped into another past the other man's efforts to stop him from losing sight.
- - !?
I had to think fast to escape the mess I was thrown into as I found myself upside down, falling, but still able to see Gen gaining on me from the strange angle. If I time it righhhht-
With a shield of my ice, I blocked him just in time and only got a flesh-wound scrape into my abdomen, taking it down soon after and using my momentum to speed us into an opening right next to us.
This is what Kyojuro meant earlier by using the portals to our advantage... and to think that I was hesitant. No need to be very worried anymore, as long as I stay vigilant of everything around me, we'll win. After all, we're faster.
After shooting him to the ground with a lug of my fist, I continued to fight against the demon and spread my ice further, traveling through the portals all the while as if it was second nature. The My teammate remained on solid ground to take any opening that came between us, forces of ice and flames sweeping everywhere. Sword and claws collided. My wounds stung while I maneuvered around, but I brushed them off to put my sword wielding as top priority.
I slid to a stop somewhere off on the frozen-sleek ground when seeing an opportunity towards my enemy, Gen in sight. Not another one of the portals, but a chance to kill him. He can barely stand at the moment, registering the progress we've made on him while he's fled from my comrade. He's not even focused on me...
I took my frozen blade and brandished it, taking off with a strong leap, avoiding the windows of gold towards my goal and my sword swinging from my heave-
...
The fire dims in the cold winds, the blizzard biting at it and stealing its fuel. The logs of wood, scattered in the storm, stood no chance to keep their sparks alive.
The blood... it stared back at me, even replicated my image across the drops as my Katana emerged on the other side, leaving me in shock and regret as the gold lighting around me introduced me to a reality that wasn't there moments ago.
Through his back, did my attack strike, hitting the wrong person, taking the wrong person down with it when the correct kill had faked me out. His quiet cry rang through my mind while I dropped to the icy battlefield with him, realizing what happened long after the fact. He couldn't stand up after he propped himself against his arm, gasping and choking for a proper breath as blood ran down on him and dripped to the ground.
Sword laying by his hand, he collapsed onto the ice and let out a sound of pain, his eyes going onto me and my horrified face. He tried to make himself smile, but the grimace mixed in couldn't let me believe the lie.
"... (y,n)... I'm ok... I'm..." The dying flame tries to burst back to life, but it falters in my arms with its ashes, its voice and heat not reaching me.