The forest was cold, and the air was thick as steel. Oshieru and Gimu glowered at each other with unrestrained emotion—anger, annoyance, and bloodlust. Gimu's veins pulsed with a yellow glow, and his heart rate rapidly accelerated as his hold on the infamous Souta sword grew tighter.
Oshieru, on the other hand, appeared more tranquil—although it could not be further from the truth. The former instructor's breath was slightly difficult; both of his eyes were fixated on the deadly rogue before him.
"This is the last time I'll entertain you, blue," Gimu spoke begrudgingly, referring to the former instructor's hair color. "In the end, it will be your blood falling to the ground!"
Oshieru inhaled deeply and exhaled calmly, commanding the flow of magic within his body. The former instructor established a fighting stance, his blue Aura Sense coating his tachi blade.
"My blood falling over your corpse." Oshieru whispered, initiating the fight.
*WOOSH!*
*CLANG!*
Gimu huffed as he was forced to lift his sword to block an incoming swing from his blue-haired opponent, his feet sliding back on the ground from the force of the collision.
"Dying by my hands shows your worth as a swordsman. Don't let me down, blue!"
*CLANG!*
Gimu hopped back, only to engage in combat once more immediately after. As the two fought, every individual swing from either warrior severely damaged the forest around them as collateral, from slicing trees in half to rupturing the earth below with their footwork.
After an innumerable number of clashes between blades, Gimu eventually halted Oshieru's tachi blade with his own and redirected the former instructor's weapon, giving the rogue the chance to ram his fist into his opponent's face.
*SMACK!*
Oshieru slid back, regaining his equilibrium instantaneously.
"Perhaps you should put a bit of strength behind your punches, rogue."
The former instructor followed up his words with a mighty leap upward and utilized his aura print, materializing several swords made up of pure blue Aura Sense and launching them toward Gimu.
*WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!*
Gimu smirked as he watched the magic-made swords fly at him, disappointed at how slowly they traveled through the space between the two swordsmen. Effortlessly, the rogue maneuvered around the incoming swords and lunged at Oshieru venomously, reeling his Souta blade back before attempting to strike.
"You're a little slow, blue!"
*CLANG!*
After clashing blades once more, Oshieru was quick to form another sword made entirely out of magic once again and slam it down onto the rogue swordsman.
Gimu was surprised at the sudden action, watching as Oshieru swung the sword down. With extreme haste, the rogue pushed his head back to avoid getting slashed and lifted his left leg to kick the former instructor away.
"You said that you were one of the only warriors to fully master his Aura Sense! I'm not seeing it!" Gimu mocked the blue-haired male, grinning from the adrenaline he felt.
Behind Oshieru's back, the former instructor twiddled the fingers on his right hand, not visible to the rogue swordsman standing a few feet away.
"Your eyes are too trained on my sword, then." Oshieru retorted, narrowing his eyes.
*WOOSH!*
Gimu's only eye widened as he sensed a clump of magic heading toward him from behind, prompting the rogue to hurriedly dodge whatever was sent his way.
It was one of the swords made out of Oshieru's blue Aura Sense, directing itself through the air as if it had a mind of its own. Unfortunately for Gimu, that sword was not the only one either.
*WOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!*
A dozen swords made of magic were dashing toward Gimu, surrounding him in the blink of an eye. The rogue had no choice but to block every swing of the floating blades, shifting around and dodging repeatedly.
Then, Gimu's only eye landed on Oshieru once more, who had his hand raised, poised to snap his fingers.
"Keep your eyes peeled, rogue."
Oshieru snapped his fingers.
*BOOM!*
Every floating sword that attacked Gimu simultaneously exploded, swallowing the rogue in a massive cloud of fire and debris. Oshieru was fortunate enough to depart from the scene, as the explosion was devastating enough to incinerate every tree in sight as well as dent the dirt with a crater that stretched out larger than any village in the nation.
Just outside of the explosion's range, Oshieru was carrying Akushon, proceeding to gently place the male down on the ground.
"Did you have to damage Mother Nature like that, Oshieru?" Akushon queried exasperatedly, his head hanging low.
The blue-haired male hummed. "It was either those trees alone or far more if I let him walk away."
Akushon sighed, grasping his wounded leg. "At least he's dead—!"
"Move!"
*SWISH!*
Oshieru was quick to shove Akushon out of the way of Gimu's sword, which sliced through the air at a speed faster than light. As for Gimu himself, he was rather unscathed, with not a burn mark on his body.
Gimu slammed the hilt of his sword into Oshieru's gut, sending the former instructor propelling through the air and slamming into the mud.
"Impressive party trick, blue! But you still have one outlying issue! You're too damn slow!" The rogue admonished Oshieru from a distance, ambling toward him menacingly.
Oshieru picked himself up from the ground, rubbing his gut to placate the pain, which subsided soon after due to the former instructor's regeneration.
'He must've created a barrier around his body to survive the explosion…' The blue-haired male thought to himself, standing tall once more.
"Why don't we up the ante!?" Gimu hollered, bending his knees as he jumped forward.
Oshieru was unable to dodge as the rogue collided with the former instructor, dragging him through the ground like a stick in the mud. In an attempt to fight back, the blue-haired male pumped his legs and rammed his feet into Gimu's chest, knocking the bandaged rogue upward.
Without a moment to lose, Oshieru got to his feet and leaped after Gimu in the air, creating a second sword in his left hand with his aura print.
The two stained the red sky with a constellation of lights, pummeling each other in every direction.
In one moment, Oshieru pumped his legs and kicked the air so his body would crash into the Gimu's, enabling the former instructor to lift both of his swords over his head to readily throw the blades down to pierce the rogue's flesh.
"Too slow!"
Noticing Oshieru's intentions, Gimu took advantage of the former instructor's vulnerable state as both of his arms were above his head and swung his Souta blade forward, slashing both of Oshieru's hands off.
"Gragh!" Oshieru cried out in pain, blood gushing out of his arms like a fountain.
Gimu clutched onto Oshieru's shirt, spinning and throwing the former instructor into the earth.
*CRASH!*
The rogue swordsman refused to let Oshieru rest, landing a few meters away from the blue-haired male and walking toward his motionless body.
"You managed to make this fun, blue! I'd be proud if I were you!" Gimu congratulated Oshieru in a belittling tone, grinning devilishly.
Oshieru hissed in pain on the ground, using his core strength to sit up.
'Even with my Aura Sense at its best, I can't keep up with him… and now, I'm running low on fumes. I can't regenerate both of my arms and still have energy left over to fight.' The blue-haired male thought to himself, using his legs to boost himself up from the dirt.
Gimu clicked his tongue, arching his only eyebrow. "You still wish to fight? I'm curious to see how much life you got in ya after losing your hands!"
Oshieru's breathing was heavily labored, his eyes boring into the rogue.
"I only need… one hand." The former instructor claimed boldly, letting his right hand grow back.
Gimu shook his head. "Look at me, blue. I'm practically untouched, while you're a foot in the grave. Any more of this and your bones will be liquid from your own Aura Sense!"
The blue-haired male held his breath and raised his right hand, forming a blue sword out of thin air. "...Then come kill me already."
The rogue swordsman chuckled. "If you insist!"
*WHOOSH!*
As Gimu sprinted toward Oshieru at speeds much faster than light, Oshieru focused all of his Aura Sense on his legs, allowing him to narrowly avoid the rogue swordsman's first swing. Once Gimu missed, Oshieru redirected the majority of his magic to his right arm, granting the former instructor enough speed and strength to successfully slice the rogue's jaw off.
*SHING!*
Gimu fell to his knees in pain, holding the bottom half of his face as his jaw landed on the ground. The bandaged swordsman grunted and howled in pain, incapable of formulating coherent words.
Unwilling to let the rogue heal his jaw, Oshieru rushed toward Gimu and reeled his sword made of magic back, proceeding to thrust it downward. The rogue frantically spun around and grabbed the former instructor's right arm to prevent himself from being impaled.
With an angry grunt, Gimu gripped his sword with his other hand tightly and shoved it forward, penetrating Oshieru's left leg.
"Take as many limbs as you want from me… you're still dead!" Oshieru hollered hoarsely.
With Gimu still clutching Oshieru's right arm, the blue-haired male lifted the arm and pulled the rogue off the ground, producing a blue sword in his mouth and stabbing Gimu in the side of his neck.
In a state of panic, Gimu tightened his grip to crush the bone in Oshieru's arm and let go. Oshieru backed away before kneeling, applying pressure to the stab wound in his left leg.
Gimu leaped from the dirt he stood on with a vengeance, intending to drive his Souta blade through the Oshieru for a final time.
'...I trust that you'll grow well, Class 1AB…'
Oshieru closed his eyes before Gimu could kill him, exhaling peacefully.
*SLICE!*
Blood splattered everywhere, and a body became limp.
"...Are you okay, Oshieru?"
The blue-haired instructor opened his eyes slowly, greeted by the sight of his friend Akushon.
"...Akushon?" Oshieru questioned dubiously, curious as to if he was alive.
The black and blonde-haired male nodded slowly and said, "He's dead. Just focus on healing your wounds and close your eyes."
With those words, Akushkon lifted Oshieru over his shoulder and started to walk away, leaving the lifeless body of Gimu, who had a hole through his heart from Akushon's bowie knife.
XXX
Thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the fight between Oshieru and Gimu. Sadly, this is the last chapter Gimu will be alive. He's been around since the very first chapter and it pains me to end him now, but the story must go on! He will be remembered, although he was a little(very) twisted. Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_