Katie retreated; taking three steps back with wide eyes and a sweaty face upon recognizing her red-eyed foe. This was the same lost spirit Kima contacted three years ago to learn about the Tower, and even further beyond that—five years ago, he flawlessly massacred the entirety of the Jester's Deck. Despite how gifted she was through endless amounts of torturous training, she cowered before the ultimate might of the Bloody Hunter: Jason Rivera.
'C'mon!! Move your body already, Katie! Move! Move! Move… move…!'
But she wasn't even given the slightest amount of an opening. Mere milliseconds afterward, numerous sweat drops drenched Katie's features as her shrunken pupils noticed Jason's sword cutting through the air; guided toward her cheek. Just barely, she was able to find enough courage and lean back, sloppily dodging the crimson katana headed her way.
However, her success was short-lived, as what replaced the katana's sharpness was none other than his fist slowly falling toward her face. Inevitably, his knuckles connected with her left cheek and she was blown through the rooftop below her. Crashing out the ground-level window beside the sidewalk, Katie launched through the air and onto the abandoned road yet again. She raised slowly. Her forehead, cut and bloody, unintentionally dripped onto the street beneath her.
'I'm… bleeding? Me, of all people?' Katie briefly questioned the very essence of her strength.
Then, her undivided attention shot toward the disturbing shadow he cast against the road she stood against. Now wielding her katana, legs split apart and the Blackened tip aimed ahead; it was clear. She was ready for the real fight to begin. However, Jason didn't move immediately. Instead of obeying the watcher's mental commands, he scratched his bearded chin with a curious expression painted over his features.
"You. By any chance, does your name happen to be Katie Moon?" The Hunter queried, momentarily pointing at her.
Katie's head raised a bit; justifiably puzzled. "H-huh? Uh, yeah, it is. Do you know who I am, Mr. Rivera?" she asked carefully.
"Somewhat. I can't do anything right now about my current situation: bein' a puppet an' all that. All I can say right now, regardless of who lives after this fight's end, is… it was nice to get the chance to meet Azazel's daughter at least once," Jason confessed.
Katie couldn't withhold the tiny smile from spreading over her mouth. "The pleasure's all mine, Mister Rivera," she replied sweetly.
Jason smirked back at her. Unfortunately for both of them, they couldn't fight side by side, not today—not anytime soon. His forehead stung; he had no choice. Without his freedom, he was forced to obey the one who incarnated him into flesh. The summoner watched from behind the incarnated Hunter, feet dangling over the rooftop's edge with crossed legs.
"Let's start where we left off, shall we?!" The summoner maniacally yelled, disturbingly flashing an abnormally wide-toothed smirk.
Jason and Katie, despite their reluctance, knew what that meant. The fight would have to persist until one of them was defeated—that was the fate they were unfortunately resigned to. But waiting impatiently in anticipation would only uncontrollably beat the heart until its energy was disbursed. That being said, the best option would be to obliterate the waiting time and annihilate their enemy MERCILESSLY!
Jason dashed ahead, branding his special scarlet sword before clashing it against her blade. The initial connection sent him flying into the air, landing behind her. Katie turned around entirely, slashing not with her body and aiming at his face. What she cut was a transparent afterimage; her true enemy still speedily darting around these flaming streets. She unleashed twenty cuts from her Blade, all in the span of one nanosecond.
This attack's limit was boundless, a plethora of slashes cutting apart everything in sight.
'Rising Moon's Blinding Radiance.'
Jason's feet skid against the ground far down the road, faltering gradually with his sword drawn. The Hunter's scarlet blade raised, flawlessly deflecting the multiple cleaves flying his way. Blocking a wide attack aimed toward his chest with one defensive stroke, crimson lightning bolts erupted from the weapon, thundering throughout the sky before he dashed ahead once more.
Ascending his sword, he drove it downward, clashing it against Katie's overhead defense. The two swords momentarily collided once; more following afterward with yellow sparks entering the air. Their movements blurry, their bodies smashed against the storefronts, impacts launching them momentarily elsewhere. Returning to the fight after being launched, their forms reverted to blurs; messy streaks invisible to the naked eye. Exorbitant explosions detonated across the destroyed buildings and fiery streets all while the summoner watched from above.
'Katie's more resilient than expected. They're both eventually matched. Meaning… whoever will win this fight is anyone's guess.'
They spontaneously expressed a maniacal laugh, raising their arms simultaneously. "WHO WILL BE THE VICTOR?! FIGHT TO THE DEATH ALREADY, JASON RIVERA!!!"
The Hunter thrusted his katana forward. While the tip was aimed toward her temples, she caught it between her teeth easily. Sliding them against the crimson blade stuck in her mouth, she slammed the Blade against his torso and sent him flying into the air. Katie watched him fly from before him and soar into the air. Knowing she couldn't reach him from this angle, Moon drew her fingers over her face; careful for them not to touch her skin. Her eyes shifted; now shaded wholly black as she twirled around the katana in hand.
'Embodiment of the Reaper's Merciless Nature.'
A shrouded being suddenly appeared behind her, creepily looming with skeletal fingers itching for excitement. The hood held no face–instead, it was replaced by a skull. Moving from levitating behind her, the Grim Reaper awaited its orders, face right beside Katie's.
"Katie, Katie!" The being childishly called.
"Don't worry about me. What we need to do now is go all-out. And if it comes to it, we use 'that,'" The Source informed her spiritual familiar.
By the time she'd finished summoning it, Jason had already landed some feet away in front of her. Raising his scarlet blade, the edge already having finished drying, the Hunter nodded. Coursing his tan-skinned fingers along his weapon's sharpness, red-electric sparkles crackled along the katana's length following his endowment. After finishing, he swiped away the katana, forming an electric slash in the air beside him.
Katie clicked her teeth, "Tsk!"
'From what Alex told me, he possesses the same power as Kim does when she utilizes her shadows, however, more efficiently. For some reason, though, he's not using it. Either he's underestimating me or just simply arrogant is one thing. The more important thing is to stay away from that sword, no matter what. I'll shower him with blows from the Reaper and I until he lets up or the Ketsueki slips from his grip. If it comes to it… I'll have to use everything in my power to ensure the distance is closed and I don't die.'
"What should I do?" The Reaper spirit asked its master.
"Follow my lead and cover my back when you can. He's the type of person who'll use surprise attacks… considering he's being puppeteered by that summoner over there," Katie informed it.
She split apart her feet, angling her long Blade overhead, targeting the tip to her red-eyed opponent's bust. The time for waiting had come and gone—within mere milliseconds, the Source instantaneously vanished, leaving nothing but dust in her wake. At the end of her lightning-fast dash, her sword raised, and she collided with the blood-red Ketsueki katana. Twisting around her body entirely, not only did she manage to duck under one of his slashes, but her raised foot connected with the Hunter's chest. Sliding against the concrete street away from her, his eyes widened, noticing the skeletal fist aiming for his cheek from the left hand side. Too slow to form a counter or even muster up the urge to raise his arm and block the attack, he was punched into another building to his build's right.
Crashing through the structure, he rolled onto the opposite street. Crimson pupils rapidly darting every which way, Jason touched his fingers to his lip and smirked upon realizing what dripped from his mouth. That recognizable crimson fluid seeping from his face, drenching the gray street below him was none other than his own blood.
"Not bad, kid. Not bad at all," He whispered, crouched against the abandoned and destroyed road.
The sound of soles gracing the ground inadvertently reached to his ears. Katie snickered at her great-uncle, scratching her forehead with her Blade's snowy handle. The summoner scratched their chin from afar and then groaned.
'What a pain! They went to the other side of the—'
The summoner, their face hidden by a cowl, felt their gray pupils expand gradually upon noticing such an increase in devilish energy. At first, they believed it was a fluke. Unfortunately, once their head completely turned, they gazed upon that horrifying creature with a skull for a face; devoid of human nature and compassion. The Grim Reaper incarnate, seemingly summoned from the bottomless depths of Death's Source soul, stood behind the necromancer… with its scythe branded. With one simple stroke aimed for the chest, the summoner fell immediately, mutilated beyond repair. The summoner's soul slipped out from their vessel, attempting to reach into the clouds and rest in whatever heaven laid afar from the physical realm all humans resided within. Just before it could fantastically vanish, the soul was caught in Death's hand—and thrown into its mouth.
"Yummy…"
Jason's impressed expression was replaced with shock and confusion. The black background surrounding his scarlet pupils suddenly faded. And, in due time, he, too, would soon fade following his summoner's demise. He looked to Katie: the strategic mastermind behind the summoner's gruesome end.
"What just happened? How'd you release me from that technique?" Jason, desperate for answers, asked.
"Easy. I had Death knock you over here and then followed. The one who summoned you couldn't see this far from where we were so I decided to slaughter them with the Grim Reaper and steal their technique in the process," Katie smiled while explaining.
"You can steal others' techniques through that weird spirit thing, huh? Is that thing supposed to be an extension of your soul?" Jason curiously questioned.
"Yup. And through it, I can utilize those techniques for myself. Do you want me to free you from the binds of the summoner's 'Tomb' technique?" Katie raised her hand upon inquiring, the Grim Reaper spirit appearing behind her yet again.
But his answer wasn't immediate. While he spent this time lingering between the living and the dead, he looked at the clouds overwhelming the sky with incomprehensible shapes. Jason stifled a chuckle. Katie curiously hummed, simultaneously raising one eyebrow.
"Mister Rivera? Do you want me to end 'Tomb'? You still haven't answered my question…" Katie wearily reminded her grandfather.
At that moment, Jason reflected on his distant past. Everything from the beginning to this present end. How it all led to this moment where he faced his descendant in her prime. The fire in her eyes was hot enough to intake the world in its inferno. He recognized that look—his brother and this girl's eyes were the same. Legends from the New and Old world, intertwined by transcendental destiny. He smirked.
"Katie."
She raised her head at the sound of his voice, "Yes?" she asked.
"Don't… throw your life away."
Jason stabbed his sword into the side of his head. His corpse splattered onto the concrete; motionless momentarily before the Hunter's remains faded along with the malodorous stench of his vampiric blood. Katie didn't lament his death. For some reason, his end felt right. She bowed in respect for her distant grandfather and clasped her hands together, distinctively remembering her master's comforting teachings.
"Namu Amida Butsu–"
Before she could finish the incantation, a loud voice resounded through the Evolutionary Capital, effectively interrupting her.
"ALL MEMBERS OF RIOT AND THE EVOLUTIONARY BRASS, THIS IS A MESSAGE COMING FROM RIZIA KOSUKE! EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY WHO CAN HEAR THIS, PLEASE HEAD TOWARD THE REQUIEM TOWER! ONCE EVERYONE RECONVENES THERE WILL WE BE ABLE TO GET THIS CHAOTIC SITUATION UNDER CONTROL! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES IF YOU WISH TO LIVE! IF YOU WIN, YOU LIVE! IF YOU LOSE, YOU DIE!"
They couldn't win if they didn't fight!
Trivia: Jason perseveres when it specifically comes to close-quarters combat and was innately the strongest of the three. In terms of physical strength, he was at the top, Ben at second and his sister, Madisyn at the bottom. His swordsmanship and exceptional unsurpassable vampiric speed paved the way for many of his foes to fear his moniker: The Bloody Hunter. Also, he was the most attractive of the three, as stated by his many high-school classmates and friends.