With a powerful swing of her sword, Aina attempts to behead Kiyoshi but was stopped by an unknown force.
"What is this unnatural force blocking my attack?" Shouted Aina as she tries to finish her assault on Kiyoshi.
As she continues to try beheading him, a multitude of shadowy tendrils dart out from the ground beneath them and attacked Aina. Aina pushes herself back with her wings, blocking the tendrils with her sword as they chased her, attacking her from every direction until she was several hundred feet away from Kiyoshi.
With Kiyoshi slowly getting up, Aina tries to surprise attack him but is halted as the shadow tendrils keep her from attacking. As they pursue and attack her from different vantage points, keeping her on the defensive.
"Thanks for the save, but I don't want you interfering in our fight anymore. Ok, Kivuli." Remarked Kiyoshi as he regains his footing. "She was about to kill you, Kiyoshi. I had to do something. Clearly, you can't beat her at this rate." replied Kivuli as Kiyoshi laughs.
" You may be right but I will fight her my way and I don't want you or anyone else getting involved more than I request, ok," Declared Kiyoshi with his sword armed and ready to fight.
"Understood," replied Kivuli as the shadowy pull back from Aina's position and surround Kiyoshi instead.
"Kivuli, is that you?" Remarked Fukuji- Kuharibu as he and Aina switch places.
"Yes, Fukuji- Kuharibu, it's me." Replied Kivuli as Fukuji- Kuharibu laughs while dusting off Aina's body.
"Good to see, well, hear you. Now tell me what is one of the most respected and feared demons in hell doing protecting a weakling like him." Laughed Fukuji- Kuharibu as he mocks Kiyoshi for never having the upper hand in this fight and merely surviving it.
Kivuli responds by noting that he doesn't care about Fukuji- Kuharibu and Devivial feud or the problems of the woman from the Isamashii clan. His Loyalty is to Kiyoshi and he will stand by the young samurai as such.
"You have always been a real one, Kivuli. That's what I respect most about you. But now that you have shown yourself, does that mean you are joining in on this fight?" Fukuji- Kuharibu responded.
" No, the young man asked me not to interfere more than I already and besides, I believe his going to change the tide of this battle in his favor." Replied Kivuli as he retreats into the depths of the sword.
"Then let's leave these two to it then." Replied Fukuji- Kuharibu as he switches back with Aina, giving her full control once more.
"Now that the demons are away, let's do this." Declared Aina as she readies herself to attack.
"Let's!" Replied Kiyoshi as he prepares to go on the defensive.
With an earth-shattering burst of speed, Aina rushes towards Kiyoshi with the very earth itself trembling beneath her feet. As the shock waves from her movements blow away rocks and boulders alike. Within seconds she closes in on Kiyoshi, causing him to swing his blade, but he misses her completely as she cuts through his shoulder, tearing away at his cloak as blood jets out of his body.
Attending to his shoulder injury, Kiyoshi could feel slashes being made on his back as Aina darts around the battlefield. Kiyoshi tries countering her attacks but continuously misses, creating more openings for Aina to inflict damage on him.
"Focus, focus. Control your breathing and focus. You can see and track her movements. You just need focus." Kiyoshi thought to himself as his body was being ripped to shreds by Aina's bullet-like sword swings. And with the perfect timing, Kiyoshi could finally dodge Aina's attack as he jumps above her at a three sixty-degree angle, as he brings his flaming sword upon her neck.
With Kiyoshi's blade hitting Aina's neck, the force causes the flames to skyrocket into the air like a tower of flames. As even people in the town could see it remarking to each other that the forest must be on fire. Back on the battlefield, Kiyoshi continues pushing his blade down on Aina's neck as the flames on his sword grow hotter and hotter. With embers blows wildly in the air, igniting nearby plants and trees as the rain dies down.
Even with all his strength, Kiyoshi cannot decapitate her as the flames of his sword die out, revealing a thick layer of amour scales protecting Aina's neck.
"You're not the only one with an ultimate and secret defense." Laughed Aina as she spins, kicking Kiyoshi about his body, sending him flying through the ground of the battlefield, creating a wave of dirt and debris that soared above the forest's trees which was even visible from the Uragiri.
Kiyoshi arises from the dirt and debris with his cloak torn and damaged and his Kasa hat completely destroyed. The tie that holds his hair in a ponytail bursts, allowing Kiyoshi's hair to flow freely in the night breeze. Without hesitation, Kiyoshi arms himself again for battle as if nothing happens.
Aina smiles as she impresses that Kiyoshi could read her movements and that bounced back so quickly from that kick.
"Impressive, ", remarks Aina, as she attacks Kiyoshi with blazing speed. The two combatants collide blades in a flurry of swings and slashes toward each other. Kiyoshi dodges and darts around as Aina continues her onslaught of menacing sword swings.
Annoyed, Aina grabs Kiyoshi at the back of his neck and hurls him hundreds of feet into the air. Aina takes off like a jet as Kiyoshi begins free-falling from the sky. Aina launches her first aerial attack, but Kiyoshi manages to turn in the air, dodging her attack.
Aina flies around attacking Kiyoshi from different directions whilst Kiyoshi continues to dodge them while falling to the displeasure of Aina. With a powerful burst of energy, Aina appears behind Kiyoshi, kicking him to the ground, creating an explosion and a mushroom cloud to form in the sky.
From the ashes of the debris and smoke, Kiyoshi appears wounded and bleeding from his head as Aina looks down at him with disgust. The blood from his forehead wound runs down his left eye and drips off his chin as he looks up at Aina, wondering what her next attack plan was.
Kiyoshi breathes heavily as he recomposes himself, even with his multitude of injuries. From the sky, Aina extends her left index finger up in the air.
"It's over samurai," whispered Aina as her extended index finger generates several bolts of powerful black lightning which strike the ground in every direction, destroying everything in sight. One of the bolts of lightning headed straight for Kiyoshi, causing him to block it with his sword as he still hasn't recovered enough to dodge it.
Kiyoshi uses all of his remaining strength to block the attack, but was pulled forward ever so slowly instead of being pushed back. Kiyoshi tries to break free from the lightning bolts' grasp, by overpowering it with his flames, but fails as the lighting over takes his flames, consuming them.
Even with the boost of physical strength due to the sword's demonic powers, he cannot prevent himself from being pulled towards Aina. With a smile on her face Aina watches from above as Kiyoshi struggles to get free himself from her electric grasp.
And with a snap of her fingers, an omnipotent blast of lightning struck from the sky, electrocuting Kiyoshi with a violent array of white, blue, and black lightning bolts with tore through his body like a wild beast.
The blast of lightning struck with such force that Kiyoshi's skeletal structure was visible from the outside as bolts of lightning passed through his body hitting the ground with such a destructive force, It blasted slabs of rocks and boulders from the ground and into the sky. Creating a massive cloud of dust to form in the sky as well.
As the life fades from Kiyoshi's eyes and his body falls to the ground, sparks of lightning still emanate from his body, a sign of his violent encounter with electricity. Kiyoshi's lifeless body soon hits the ground as he loses consciousness.
Tyrook manifests himself onto the battlefield as he, Lilly, and Kivuli try to wake Kiyoshi, but to no avail.
Tyrook rocks Kiyoshi's body while getting shocked as electricity still flows through the young samurai's body. Tyrook screams, calling out Kiyoshi's name, but Kiyoshi's consciousness is lost in the depths of his own mind.
Even within the depths of the sword's limbo dimension, Devivial curses as the situation seems drastic and unwinnable.
"Damn that boy! He let the warmth of his gentle heart guide his decisions in this fight. What a fool. But I have to admit that Fukuji- Kuharibu and that Isamashii woman are a nice duo. Damn it, Damn it all. If the fool would have listened to the all-powerful Devivial, we would already have this battle won. But yet he let his heart rule and now death is on the doorstep. I hope Kivuli and the others figure out something quick. I can't afford for the great and powerful Devivial to lose because the supposing (blood samurai) is soft and wanted to save his enemy instead of killing them. He has all the power in the world within his grasp and he fails to use it to its full potential. What a shame and what a waste of life, even for a human being." Devivial remarked as he cruised and screamed that Kiyoshi was a fool among fools.
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi awakens to find himself resting under a cherry blossom tree in the middle of a forest. He rises to his feet, which sinks into the soft moist grass which was dispersed evenly throughout the area. Confused, Kiyoshi looks around, wondering how he ended up in a strange place like this.
He remembers battling Aina and being struck by her lightning, but nothing after that and surely not how he came to be in this place. As the petal of the cherry blossom falls gently into his hair, becoming stuck as he searches around for an answer.
But his quest is interrupted when an unknown yet familiar voice calls out to him, distracting him.