'Just- what kind of a monster are you?' Tokugawa thought as a cut appeared on his neck, but he immediately closed the wound. He knew Ryu was a genius, a peerless one, too. But he didn't think he'd be so much of a monster that in just a dozen or so exchanges, he could completely copy Tokugawa's martial arts. Tokugawa's martial arts was something special to him, something he had trained in and honed his entire life. His martial arts was so powerful and yet so incredibly difficult to learn that even many geniuses who could learn entire martial arts in mere minutes couldn't learn it even if they tried for the rest of their life. Yet, Ryu had managed to completely copy it like it was nothing.
Tokugawa was sure if this continued, then Ryu might even surpass his own martial arts, as ridiculous as that sounded. Tokugawa didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was true.
'I have to end this quickly!' Tokugawa thought as another cut appeared on his cheek, which he quickly closed.
Tokugawa inhaled sharply, and the tornado around him grew larger in size once more. He instantly intensified his attacks and began to shower Ryu with attacks as much as possible, trying to attack him from all angles. He completely stopped hearing his surroundings and instead focused entirely on Ryu's body. With him completely ignoring the surroundings, Tokugawa's concentration and reaction speed rose to their limit, causing Ryu to appear slower, and his hearing capability was many times stronger.
Now, Tokugawa could capture all of Ryu's signals even more clearly, and now... he could even clearly see what Ryu's next move would be!
However... there was another problem. Even though Tokugawa could now see Ryu's next move, his attacks didn't manage to fully injure Ryu as he had expected. Tokugawa felt like he had regained sense of his heart, and felt like it had dropped.
It was barely noticeable at the start of their battle, but now at this stage, with his reaction speed risen to the max, Tokugawa could see that Ryu was moving faster with each passing moment- no, it wasn't that Ryu was getting faster. Instead, it was Tokugawa's body that was getting slower with each passing moment. Tokugawa instantly visualized his own body and cursed in his mind as he noticed the internal injuries once more. At the beginning of the fight, when Ryu had gained his newfound strength, Ryu managed to break many of Tokugawa's ribs. This, however, caused one of Tokugawa's lungs to be ruptured, and it caused internal bleeding. If it was only a small cut, it wouldn't be anything fatal, but Ryu's strike was so strong that Tokugawa's bones had pierced one of his lungs and caused a massive wound. This type of injury could kill a person within a few minutes if left untreated.
At first, Tokugawa's body was barely affected by this. Next, his speed became around the speed of sound, instead of above it. Then, as they exchanged attacks, Tokugawa's speed began to very subtly lower. Finally, Tokugawa's speed had become so much slower now that his current speed was less than half of that of sound.
All of this was mostly because of the internal injury. Internal injuries were, after all, much more serious and dangerous than external ones. Not only that, but the amount of blood loss that had occurred had caused Tokugawa's speed to dip even more. Although he could close his external wounds, he still needed a moment to close them. Even though the blood loss from them were superficial at first, with the amount of injuries that Ryu had inflicted on Tokugawa, that amount slowly began to grow larger, until it was now a true hinderance. Besides, unlike Ryu, many of the attacks that Tokugawa had With each passing moment, Tokugawa's speed kept getting worse.
However, Ryu wasn't that much better off. Although his speed and strength hadn't dwindled one bit, Tokugawa could see that the inside of Ryu's body was like a ticking time bomb. His muscles were bursting with power, for sure, but many muscles in his body were torn apart. Not only that, but the muscles in his arm seemed like they would explode any moment now, except this time it was literal. Tokugawa thought that if Ryu continued to fight for a minute or two, then his muscles would all, quite literally, explode due to the amount of strength they were exerting. The human body was never designed to be using adrenaline for an extended period of time.
Not only that, but Tokugawa could hear that a lot of pressure was being exerted on Ryu's bones, and if he continued fighting, then they would break at the same time as his muscles exploded. Additionally, the amount of blood Ryu had lost had began to take a bit of a toll, as his face began to turn paler with each passing second. But, despite his face paling, Ryu did not show a single expression of worry nor pain. His moves were still fast and strong, and his body was like a mountain as his muscles were bulging through his skin, making him appear much bulkier than he truly was. This increased strength and speed was all thanks to
Still, Tokugawa wasn't entirely confident he could defeat Ryu. His speed was deteriorating, and his internal bleeding was making it so that he cannot live for long if he didn't get help immediately.
But, despite all of that, Tokugawa didn't feel fear. Instead, he was sort of excited. He could very well die in this fight, yet Tokugawa truly felt like he had regained his sense of touch, and could feel his heart beating wildly. This situation was extremely dangerous, and a single mistake could spell doom for Tokugawa. He knew that, yet his heart was beating wildly, dancing in excitement, thrilled.
Slowly, the fire in Tokugawa's eyes returned, and it was burning extremely brightly. His fighting spirit had returned, and it was stronger than ever before. A crazy, wild grin began to form on Tokugawa's face, as he anticipated Ryu's movements. Slowly, the horns on Tokugawa's head grew.
"Uncle."
Tokugawa's excitement suddenly took a dip as he heard that voice once more, and his mind shook. He could feel that presence once more behind him.
"Uncle, you don't have to do this anymore. Let go... let go of your anger, your hate. I-"
"Shut up." Tokugawa blurted out coldly, and he returned his attention to the fight, completely ignoring and blocking everything coming from that figure. He couldn't be swayed by the demon in his heart, not right now.
As Tokugawa returned his attention to the fight, he immediately unleashed another attack at Ryu. Based on his prediction, he had anticipated that Ryu would duck a bit.
And indeed, Ryu had done that, and Tokugawa's sword should've definitely injured him. But, unfortunately, Tokugawa's attack came much later than he had anticipated. With his constantly degrading speed, Tokugawa's calculations began to crumble.
Tokugawa cursed internally as he saw Ryu thrust his sword at his abdomen. Tokugawa immediately tried to dodge, but just like before, his body couldn't move in time.
Try to read one move ahead as much as he want, but if Tokugawa's calculations of his own body were off, and his body could not keep up in time, then those predictions might as well be useless.
Ryu had already predicted where Tokugawa would move, and with his astonishing speed that far surpassed the limits of humans, his sword had struck Tokugawa-
*Splash!*
-completely piercing Tokugawa's intestines. Tokugawa's body instinctively spat out a huge amount of blood.
'Shit!' Tokugawa thought, as Ryu pulled out the sword from Tokugawa's intestines, causing a lot of blood to gush out. Tokugawa immediately closed the wound, and visualized Ryu's body once more. His speed was now far, far slower than before. Coupled with the new attack that Ryu had caused, Tokugawa's speed was now... only 2 times faster than Ryu. And, that wouldn't last for much longer.
As Tokugawa tried to anticipate Ryu's next attack, he realized something was terribly wrong. His visualization- it wasn't as clear as before! In his mind, Ryu's signals, veins, neurons, blood flow, muscles, bones, and entire body structure, they were all hazy. Tokugawa instantly knew what this meant; the injuries are taking a huge toll on his body, and now, his consciousness was slowly slipping away.
Tokugawa felt like his thinking wasn't as clear as before, and he felt like there was a huge fog in his mind. Still, Tokugawa tried his best to anticipate Ryu's next move, but as he visualized everything once more, he suddenly 'saw' something in front of his face-
-A fist.
*BANG!*
Tokugawa's entire body flew through the air, was if a truck had hit him at full force. His head was recoiled back, many of his teeth fell from his mouth, and his nose was crushed. The flame in his eyes had entirely disappeared, and Tokugawa looked lifeless.
Yet, Tokugawa didn't lose consciousness. He could still hear, and he could visualize- even though it was weak- that his face was smashed. He had long since stopped focusing only on Ryu, and had instead heard everything in his surroundings. He could hear... that he was flying through the air, and he was only a few feet above the ground. In just a moment, he would hit the ground, and he would be a sitting duck.
At that last moment, Ryu had removed his sword, and threw a jab at Tokugawa's face, which led to him flying through the air right now.
Tokugawa felt like time had stopped, as his consciousness started to slowly fade away.
'I...' Tokugawa faintly thought, 'The heavens... those bastards...'
'From birth... those fuckers never blessed me. My body was weaker than normal... I didn't have the privilege to study any of the prominent martial arts... I could never get a feel of the katana, as if my body refused to get used to it... and I was looked down upon by my clan for my incompatibility with the katana... But... I turned away from their gazes... those gazes filled with mockery and arrogance...'
As Tokugawa began to remember his past, the blood in his body began to move slightly faster, as his heartbeat increased in speed with each passing fraction of a second.
'I went to the mountains... and studied the longsword as hard as I could... For years... I studied the sword, and through my sweat, tears, and blood, I had been able to gain mastery of the sword... No was able to contend with me in my clan, and yet... they still looked down on me and ridiculed me for learning a completely different sword than continue their traditions of learning the katana... I ignored them once more... and set out to the world...'
Tokugawa's heartbeat increased rapidly and his consciousness began to gradually improve, no longer fading. His thoughts became clearer, and his visualization began to improve. The muscles in Tokugawa's body began to bulge with power, as if they were going to explode.
'My strength, my body, was weak. But, I was fast. And, my martial arts was powerful. I could easily take down many martial artists at the same time, even people who were as fast as me. I explored the world, challenged many clans and sects, and came out victorious in all of my fights. My clan, despite hating the way of my martial arts, had celebrated in glory. Those bastards...'
As Tokugawa began to recall more and more of his past, a small flame appeared in his eyes, and it gradually grew stronger. Then, in the next moment, Tokugawa's body had finally hit the ground, a few meters away from Ryu and making a loud 'thump!' sound. Still, he didn't move, and neither did Ryu. Ryu was still as a mountain, his eyes glued to Tokugawa's body.
'But then... I was inflicted with a powerful disease that was very hard to cure. That disease gradually began to take away my senses with each passing day. I knew that... my days of martial arts were over. I got back to my village, and was showered with cheers and compliments from everyone, both from normal villagers, and from the same bastards in my clan that had looked down on me. I ignored the cheers, and planned to just settle in my old house, and rot away.'
Suddenly, Ryu began to take small steps towards Tokugawa, his eyes never leaving Tokugawa's.
'But... my brother had a nephew. I didn't care at first, but that little rascal kept bothering me every day, telling me to teach him my martial arts, my way with the longsword. I shooed him away a couple of times, but he was persistent. I eventually gave up, and decided to teach him a bit of my martial arts, thinking he would only train for a few days before getting bored and running off somewhere. But, to my surprise, that boy had potential. Every day, he would constantly train, from the morning till midnight. And... he was good. He was really good, much better than he was at my age. And... he eventually grew on me. I thought that I wanted him to learn my martial arts, so that he could continue what I had always wanted, to stand atop the peak of martial arts.'
'That boy would always help me, and talked with me every time, asking for directions on how he could improve his martial arts, or even just ask me about how my day was, my stories when I ventured the world, and what my past was like.'
'That boy was bright, clever, and talented. He was a good person. One day, he had vowed that he would find a cure for me, even if it meant angering the heavens. I told him to shut his trap, and said I only wanted him to become a great martial artist, and to forget about me when he ventures the world. But, he kept promising me that he would find a cure.'
'That boy grew on me with each passing day, and I thought that... If I could only see him grow up, then that was more than enough for me. That boy had become the light in my life, and I was looking forward for tomorrow every time. I knew my path of martial arts had ended, but I didn't care, I only wanted to train and talk with Hoishi, my dazzling star. But... just a few months later... the Koishi clan attacked.'
'It was too abrupt. My nephew had died at the hands of the Koishi clan. I couldn't save him in time, I couldn't reach my brother's house in time, I... was slow.'
Suddenly, a huge killing intent emanated from Tokugawa's body, and Ryu immediately stopped, his hazy eyes widening slightly. Slowly, Tokugawa began to stand up.
"The heavens..." Tokugawa weakly muttered, and yet, his entire body was bursting with power. "Made me a weak man..."
The tornado around Tokugawa, that had disappeared long ago, had reappeared, and it was far, far stronger than it had ever been.
"Then... they gave me a disgusting disease, and weakened my senses." Tokugawa's tone was getting more and more ferocious with each word that he spilled out.
"And then... they took away my only light, my dazzling star, Hoshi..."
Wind gathered to Tokugawa's hand, and they formed a sword of wind. But, this time, the sword wasn't invisible, but instead had a faint green hue coming from it, giving a basic structure of how the sword looked like; a longsword.
"Finally... they took away my four senses."
Tokugawa slowly raised his head, and he met Ryu's gaze. He was expressionless, but his eyes had a burning flame inside of them, and they were shining brighter than they had ever been. As soon as Ryu saw Tokugawa's face, the fighting spirit in his heart grew stronger, as the flame in his own eyes started to burn brighter with each passing moment.
"And now, at long last... They've come for my life..."
Suddenly, despite everything that had happened, Tokugawa's mouth had began to form into a wide grin that showed all of his teeth, and many of them were missing. The killing intent he emitted was far, far stronger than before, and if a normal person were to stand in front of Tokugawa, they would've fainted right away from fear.
"Heh... Hehe..."
Tokugawa began to chuckle, and in the next moment, that chuckle turned into a full blown laughter, the laughter of a maniac, someone who had long since lost their mind. Waterfalls of blood began to drop from Tokugawa's eyes.
"Good!" Tokugawa suddenly shouted, his voice filled with burning excitement, "This is getting fun!"
Tokugawa suddenly planted his foot forward, his arms were dangling to the ground, and his stance completely changed. He was pointing his body forward, as if he was ready to pounce like a wild animal. His stance was completely different compared to before, his entire stance showed many gaps in defense.
Upon seeing this, Ryu's eyes glinted, and, just like Tokugawa, a wide grin formed on his face. The light in his eyes suddenly exploded with power, as if it couldn't contain the excitement that Ryu had felt. With a thought, Ryu's sword reappeared in his hand.
"Go ahead!" Tokugawa shouted, his eyes opened to their max, and they looked bloodshot, "Try to kill me! If I fucking die, we will die together! I promise you, with my longsword, I-"
Tokugawa's body suddenly exploded with strength, and he shot forward like a cannonball, and he thrust his sword at Ryu's chest. His speed was many times faster than before, as adrenaline rushed through his entire body.
"-Will destroy the heavens, and take back everything that was taken away from me!"
A glint appeared in Ryu's eyes, and with a single thought, his entire body was filled with inhuman strength. He knew that Tokugawa was having an adrenaline rush, but unfortunately, Tokugawa wasn't able to use the full effects of adrenaline, unlike Ryu.
Ryu immediately used adrenaline to its full effect, bringing forth 100% of his muscle strength. He shifted his body in a weird way for a single moment, and then, with a single step, Ryu propelled toward Tokugawa, the muscles in his legs tearing apart due to the effects of adrenaline. Then, he thrust his sword toward Tokugawa's chest at incredible speed, far faster than he was before.
Just as Tokugawa's sword was about to pierce Ryu's heart, Ryu shifted his body very slightly. Meanwhile, Tokugawa didn't even bother to move, he completely gave up on attacking and was planning on just slaughtering Ryu. His mind had long since fallen into insanity the moment he felt adrenaline course through his veins, and he no longer cared about dodging.
"Die!" Tokugawa shouted ferociously, his eyes growing more insane as he visualized his sword piercing through Ryu's chest.
Then, there was silence for a moment.
*Drip*
Tokugawa's eyes suddenly shook, and his mind stirred. As he visualized everything that was happening, he noticed that his sword had indeed pierced Ryu's chest. However, it hadn't pierced Ryu's heart as Tokugawa had hoped. Instead, it pierced his right lung, completely tearing through it as his sword pierced through Ryu's back.
Meanwhile, Ryu's attack...
Tokugawa's attention turned towards his own body, and he noticed Ryu's sword piercing his chest, and... right through his heart.
If it hadn't been for Tokugawa's vitality, then he would've long since died. Not just from this wound, but from the many internal injuries he had received.
"Uncle."
Tokugawa's mind froze, and he felt a wide variety of emotions surge up inside of him when he heard that voice. Suddenly, Tokugawa felt as if time had stopped, and his visualization immediately disappeared. Instead, he suddenly felt like he could see again, as he was met with a beautiful scenery of an endless, green field.
Whenever he heard that voice, Tokugawa would feel that presence behind him. But now, that wasn't the case.
Because... that presence, that figure, was standing just a few meters away from him, kindly smiling at him. He was a teenager, perhaps 12 or 13 years old, and his smile could melt the heart of anyone.
'...Hoshi?'
"Uncle," 'Hoshi' said kindly, and he extended his arm towards Tokugawa, "It's enough, Uncle. Let go, let go of your hatred, your grief, your anger."
The light in Tokugawa's eyes wavered slightly. He wanted to move, he really wanted to, but he wasn't able to. He wanted to hug his nephew, and never let go. But, he couldn't.
"Let's go, Uncle," 'Hoshi' showed eyes full of sympathy and kindness, and his young voice caused Tokugawa's eyes to water. "Let's go, together. You promised me that I would have mastered all of your martial arts by the time I was 20, but how could I do that when you aren't here?"
Tears began to well up in Tokugawa's eyes, and many emotions began to take control over his body. Slowly, very slowly, he took a step forward.
"H-Hoshi, I-"
Suddenly, an image suddenly flashed in front of Tokugawa for a split second, then disappeared. Tokugawa immediately stopped, and his mind froze.
"Uncle...?"
Tokugawa slowly stared down at his body, his eyes shaking. He could see his own body, alive and well. His skin didn't have a red tint, and he was wearing the clothes he had when he was training Hoshi. However, for just a split second, an image would suddenly replace that. That image was...
Tokugawa's visualization and it showed a sword that pierced his own heart.
Tokugawa's eyes shook, before he closed them slowly, and let out a sigh.
"Uncle..." 'Hoshi' muttered sadly, his eyes full of sadness. Tokugawa inhaled slowly, and talked;
"Nope," he said bluntly, his eyes still glued to his chest, "Hoshi, you don't know how happy I am to see your face again. I... want to go with you, I truly do. But..."
Tokugawa's tone started gently and was filled with sadness, but with each word he said, that tone slowly turned into one full of anger, grief, and... excitement.
"I can't go with you, because the place I'm going isn't this... "
Tokugawa's skin, which was white and completely normal, had begun to slowly change, and was gradually turning red.
Tokugawa's clothes began to wither, and horns started protruding out of his head. Slowly, Tokugawa lifted his head, and showed his face to 'Hoshi'. Hoshi's eyes glinted, as tears started to well up in them. Tokugawa's eyes were filled with an undying light, and excitement was obvious in his eyes. He had a wide grin on his face, a grin of an insane person, a grin that was filled with excitement.
"The place where I'm going to... is Hell!"
---
Suddenly, everything around him, including 'Hoshi', disappeared. Instead, Tokugawa regained his enhanced hearing, and the previous visualization appeared in his mind. He 'saw' Ryu, his sword still in Tokugawa's heart, and Tokugawa's sword still in Ryu's lung.
'Good!' Tokugawa thought, as the adrenaline in his body increased, and his body exploded once more with power.
"KHAAAA!" Tokugawa shouted madly, his eyes were filled with bright flames and had a tint of madness. With his full strength, Tokugawa immediately continued pushing his sword, and he moved it to Ryu's heart!
"The final laugh... belongs to me!"
Ryu immediately noticed Tokugawa's motive, and his eyes glinted. Ryu's body was filled with adrenaline once more. Then, with adrenaline at its full effect, Ryu strengthened his grip on his sword. Most of the muscles in his body were torn apart. The muscles in his legs were all barely usable now, and the muscles in his arm felt like it would explode any moment now. If he unleashed another attack, then the bones in his arm would shatter.
But, Ryu didn't mind.
With Tokugawa's strength, and the adrenaline in his blood, Tokugawa used all of his remaining willpower in order to take down Ryu with him. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and caused his strength to skyrocket. With it, Tokugawa managed to move his sword toward Ryu's heart, completely tearing apart his right lung and breaking the ribs that were in his way.
*Swish!*
*Splash!*
However, just as Tokugawa was about to slash Ryu's heart and cut it in half, his arm suddenly stopped. The wind sword had dissipated at the same time, as well as the tornado around his body. And... his hearing suddenly disappeared, and just a moment later, Tokugawa's consciousness disappeared as well.
Ryu, on the other hand, was coldly looking up. He was lifting his hand high up, and right there, was his sword, dripping with blood and many parts of organs. He had stayed that way for just a moment before his arm suddenly went limp, and the sword fell to the ground, making a loud 'clank!' noise.
The muscles in his arm had been torn apart violently, and all the bones had been broken as well. However, Ryu's only reaction to this was a slight eye twitch. Then, he slowly glanced at Tokugawa.
Tokugawa was still lifting his arm as if he was still holding a sword. Ryu then glanced at Tokugawa's face.
His eyes were empty, and he no longer was grinning. From the top of his head, all the way to the middle of his chest, there was a faint, red line. Slowly, Tokugawa's body swayed, and he fell to the ground, everything from the middle chest upward being split in half.
A martial artist, one that had exceptional willpower, one that was renowned to be one of the greatest masters of the longsword, one that had surpassed the speed of sound, one that had been able to move and fight despite only having the sense of hearing... had died.
[Congratulations on defeating the All-Hearing (Tokugawa)! Your level has risen from 1 to 2! You have gained 200 points, and new items have been added to the shop!]