One, two, three, ten, eighty-five, one-hundred-ninety-seven, five-hundred-twenty-one. Countless punches and kicks were thrown between Katsuya and the aggressive Harley Vale. Smooth streams of light followed behind Katsuya's fists as he swung them with all of his muscles tensed. But it was no use as his white-uniformed opponent swayed side to side, dodging them.
This was a fight unlike Katsuya had ever experienced. It felt like this was the hardest he had ever fought before.
'Fighting a monster is one thing but, fighting an actual person like this is a lot harder than I thought. She's definitely faster than me...and stronger.'
Harley Vale's eyes followed each of his moves with ease. It was as if Katsuya was an open book and his opponent was a very faced reader.
Up to this point, Harley had countered most of his attacks with forceful punches to his liver, stomach and face.
Katsuya jumped into the air and lifted his leg above her face. With every ounce of violent intent, he swung it downwards, making the wind violently quiver.
A sudden burning and sturdy sensation struck his chest, knocking the air from his body and throwing him back threw the air. Harley had hit him with a kick of her own.
At the last second, Katsuya leaned backward and stuck the landing and keeled down as he did so.
His lungs and stomach were scorching as if they had been set on fire, his limbs were weak and vibrating. It took all of his concentration in his back and legs to stand up. As he took one more breath, a violent cough escaped his throat and a heavy fall of blood left his mouth and created a puddle on the floor.
This was most likely it, Katsuya was finally reaching his limit.
'If monsters were this strong, I would've been dead a long time ago.'
He glanced over at Sora who was facing off against the other 2 guards. The fight was filled with lots of high speed movements.
As Sora sensed Katsuya's weakened state, she quickly shifted her concentration from the two guards and focused on only Harley Vale.
Sora dashed like a bullet and a blue light flashed from her blue katana as it was thrusted forward, through the back of the guard with the white uniform.
A wide-eyed expression ran across Katsuya's face as he realized the action of which Sora had taken.
"...No."
Even if he was being wrongfully accused, this was one thing that could/would set him behind bars.
Harley Vale stood motionless as the blade was kept in place. Her expression couldn't be seen as her head was looking straight at the ground.
'Even if I'm not the prisoner they were searching for, killing a person of her position wouldn't be overlooked by the court. Dammit Sora, what have you got me into.'
Unexpectedly, Harley lifted her head. Instead of looking weak or anything close to death, her face held the expression of someone who was at the limit of their anger. A steamy and glowing light flowed from her eyes.
At that moment, Katsuya could sense a great and deadly energy from the Limit-Breaker's body. It was then, a warning sign appeared before him, a sign that hadn't even shown up when he had gone against any monster.
[Warning: A threat of great power had emerged]
[Suggested Action: Run]
'Run?...'
Harley Vale squeezed the tip of the blade that was poking out of her stomach and shattered like broken glass. Her body turned to face Sora, faster than Katsuya could see. All in that moment, Harley's hand was shaped like a blade as it was swung.
Swoosh.
A thin line slashed across Sora's chest, and her body fell into two. Her body splintered into fragments then vanished, followed by a fading blue-light.
But, it seems like taking down one opponent wasn't enough for the Limit Breaker.
Harley's lasering gaze, turned and pointed to Katsuya and she spoke.
"I gave you every chance to surrender. It seems like you decided to take deadly measures. So now, I'll do the same."
The wound in and out of her back instantly closed up. Even if her fist weren't raised, her fisted were clenched and vibrating with power.
[You opponent had been deemed as a worthy threat, putting you at a disadvantage. Your skill 'Adapt' will be cast into action]
['Adapt' has activated]
'It's really been awhile since this skill was seen as a monster putting me at a disadvantage. In this case, it's not a monster, it's a person.'
The weakness in all of his limbs had disappeared and he was standing with hardly any effort now.
Instantly, the wind moved aside and Harley Vale appeared before him without any warning.
It was so beyond speed that he didn't even notice her until a punch slammed into his chest, knocking him to the floor.
Before he could even fully get up, her shadow hovered over him. He hand lifted into the air, preparing for the final strike that Katsuya could sense was meant to kill. Harley stared down at him with not a sign of mercy in her eyes.
"I know you just activated a powerful skill. So, I'll end things here, before you get dangerous."
Her hand lifted just a little higher, preparing for the killing blow.The two guards behind jumped forward and wrapped their arms around her and started to pull her back in an attempt to restrain her, all while they tried to make her come to her senses.
"That'll kill him!"
"Ma'm, please calm down!"
A swift movement threw both men off and to the floor.
"I already made up my mind. He needs to be dealt with here and now."
When she turned to face him once more, a sudden cloud of smoke filled the area all around.
"Smoke? Hades is going to get away!"
A man grabbed a hold of Katsuya's shoulder and spoke.
"Get up and get out of here."
This presence was the same one as when he had ran into that man earlier.
Fully standing up, Katsuya turned to him and asked.
"You already framed me to look like you. Why come back?"
"Kid...just hurry up and get your ass out of here before I change my mind about coming back."
Katsuya let out a sigh of disappointment and murmured "So you're just going to throw your whole escape down the drain, huh? You make no sense."
And just as fast as the smoke appeared, Katsuya ran off , quickly disappearing from the area. His words left Hades rather reminiscent.
'What the hell is wrong with that kid? It's almost like he was okay with being framed for being an escapee. But really, I don't make sense. Why the hell did I put that tracker on him to draw attention away from me if I was just going to come back?'
Harley swiftly swung her hand across the air as a sharp burst of wind shot forward, sweeping the smoke from sight. With it gone, Both Harley Vale and Hades were now left exchanging intense glares with each other.
"So, you finally decided to undo your disguise," said Harley.
"Well, would you rather have me look like this?"
An orange haze of light surrounded the outline of his body then dispersed.
His entire figure of having white hair, a white beard and only one eye had changed. The look he wore now was an exact copy of Katsuya.
Because of Hades [Shape-shift] he was able to take on the form of any animal, monster or person he had any sort of physical contact with.