The flame dragon soared at Kurome, leaving a trail of fire.
With no time to dodge, Kurome threw his arms up to block.
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Burst!"
The dragon rammed into Kurome, setting him ablaze. Kurome tumbled through the air, crashing through mountains like mere obstacles.
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Beam!"
The dragon opened its mouth, emitting a beam of rampant flame that blasted through everything on its path to Kurome.
An explosion of fire followed. It knocked Kurome out of the sky, and he crashed to the floor, surrounded by a mass of flames.
He landed on his feet and immediately channeled prana to his fist.
"Doragonken: Twin Dragon Fists!"
His prana formed into two large dragon-shaped shrouds.
Kurome cocked his arm back, taking a breath to concentrate on predicting Hashira's movements.
He released his fist with tremendous force, aiming for the dragon that soared toward him.
"Doragonken: Dragon Fist!"
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Barge!"
Kurome's dragon fist connected with the dragon's head, and for a moment, their collision appeared equal. But, Kurome's legs buckled under Hashira's power.
Their clash broke, sending a shockwave throughout the vicinity.
Tumbling through the air, Kurome effortlessly flipped to the ground. He could almost see the fury emitting from the dragon's fiery eyes.
"Old man packs a punch," he muttered as his feet left the ground.
He floated into the air, flying at heights equal to the dragon. The fighters prepared for the final stand, neither willing to stop until killing their opponent.
Across the globe, Aziel, Ujinari, and Gado stood in the center of the Great Avalon Coliseum.
"So this is where your awakening ceremonies take place?" Gado asked.
"Yes," Aziel answered.
"A perfect place for a fight. Eh, Gado?" Ujinari said.
"Don't get cocky tribal chief," Gado replied, assuming his stance, "remember, you only have one arm."
Ujinari laughed, taking an identical stance, "This arm is all I need."
"Signal the spar," Gado told Aziel, never taking his eyes off Ujinari.
A black butterfly landed on Aziel's scythe, distracting him from the current matter.
"Ujinari, Gado," Aziel said, "Let's head back to the mountains."
Kurome's dragon fist repeatedly collided with Hashira's flame dragon.
The sizzle of Hashira's dragon blackened Kurome's body. But, Kurome refused to yield.
They collided once more, and the impact sent them flying away equally.
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Barrage!"
The dragon opened its mouth and launched a series of fireballs at Kurome.
In retaliation, Kurome delivered a flurry of punches to the air, hurling an equivalent amount of prana dragons.
Hashira's fireballs collided with Kurome's prana dragons, nullifying one another.
Kurome soared toward the dragon, which consequently expelled another beam of flames.
Kurome lifted his hands over his head. Using his dragon fists as a shield, he pushed through the flames and, with one well-timed punch, flattened the dragon's snout and knocked it out of the air.
The dragon spun through the air and readjusted its path, flying toward Kurome.
Upon colliding, it incinerated Kurome, further darkening and burning his skin.
Kurome dropped to the ground.
"I can't keep this up," he muttered, "I wasted my prana in the nightmare realm. I should've finished him faster."
Noticing the dragon soaring at him, Kurome rocketed into the air, but the dragon rerouted and flew up at him.
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Pillar!"
The dragon morphed into a pillar of raging flames. It extended upwards, engulfing Kurome and devouring the landscape into a pile of ash.
Kurome crashed into the scorched ground. His body was darkened and cooked by burns so deep that they revealed his charred bones.
He glimpsed the dragon flying toward him. Despite his agonizing pain, he stumbled to his feet, his knees weak with aches.
Realizing that this would be his last attack, he stretched an arm back, channeling the rest of his prana into a single dragon fist.
Hashira's dragon closed in, keen on eradicating Kurome. Its bright flames sizzled.
"Oil Prana: Flame Dragon's Inferno!"
Kurome's heart dropped. He could sense the difference in their aura.
He felt completely outmatched as Hashira's aura eclipsed his own.
"Shit," Kurome muttered.
"This can't be it.
"If I die here, I'll have lived a pointless life. A miserable life, bound to the prana that fate dealt me."
Hashira neared Kurome, moving so fast that Kurome had no time to respond.
Just as the dragon reached Kurome, merely inches away, its flames dispersed, revealing Hashira's floating body.
He was completely out of stamina.
His wounds had yet to heal. He was still just a head and torso. A walking corpse, clinging to the spoils of life.
Hashira's eyes bulged upon locking with Kurome. He fell under Kurome's illusion, frozen in the air.
It all happened in a second, but in that instance, all Kurome saw was an opportunity.
An opportunity to kill.
He instinctively arched his dragon fist forward, piercing through Hashira's heart and filling the air with blood splatters.
"The pillar upholding the Shi family has crumbled," Kurome said through long breaths.
"The rest of the family will follow soon after."