Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 44
,"Really, another weak opponent, good warmup but…" Noah said, disappointed at another opponent he completely dominated with pure force, standing over him. He walked back saddened at the weak people he was facing. Noah's continuously growing strength was thanks to Apollo and his own efforts. The training he did daily caused his power to increase daily, much like Apollo, Cias and Devan. Although he didn't match up against strong people yet, he was sure he'd fight Apollo at the end and have the time of his life. ,"Mom, I can't believe I get to do the things I love for money. Fighting and getting stronger is so much fun. This is truly a blessing!" He said to himself…
Apollo said ,"So who is this supposedly strong girl?" Cias replied ,"She's a magician," and Apollo laughed hard thinking it was a joke saying ,"SHE'S A MAGICIAN, A MAGICAL GIRL, PLEASE HAHA. OK OK but seriously who is she?" Cias then stared blankly at Apollo ,"I'm not joking…" and Apollo's face was filled with confusion as he said ,"A witch, I'm fighting a witch who does like 'FIREBALL' (Apollo waved his hands around like he was casting a spell) type magic" ,"Yes…" ,"Alright then…"
Apollo got as much information from his friends as possible before getting himself ready for his next battle. He was getting increasingly curious as to what this witch would look like as he got warmed up. His name was then called and he walked down the passageway in order to get to the arena. On the opposite side of the arena, a girl about an inch or 2 shorter than him was wearing a really big witch hat, a cloak and some charms. (Is she being serious) Apollo thought. Even though he was told she was a threat, he laughed a little seeing a literal witch across from him.
,"THE MATCH BETWEEN THE AMETHYST WITCH MIA AND THE FLAT-BRIM SAMURAI APOLLO MUSASHI WILL COMMENCE IN …!!!" Apollo, although focused, kept wondering why more than half the people he fought against didn't have last names. He guessed that in an underground tournament it probably made sense but he was still slightly confused. ,"...3 2 1 BEGIN," and just like that Mia started to chant out commands fast ,"Barrier, fireball, acidic liquid, spikes (Art: Barrier, Fireball, Acidic Liquid and Earth Spikes)," Apollo barely even started to move and he already had so many attacks to deal with. (So this is what they mean) Apollo thought, dodging the fireball and acidic liquid and then jumping up to maneuver around the spikes that sprung up from the ground made out of stone.
He then had a thought mid air and executed it. He coated his hand with ki and punched in her direction sending ki flailing towards her using Art: Ki Blast. This hit the barrier that Mia had and she winced while repairing the crack it had made. Apollo thought that the most likely case for her having a barrier is that she was weak to physical attacks so he made it a mission to get close to her. She then said ,"Ice Shards (Art: Ice Shard)" and shards of ice appeared which all hit Apollo mid air before he could react to them. She then said ,"Frostbite (Art: Frostbite)" which caused the shards of ice still in Apollo to start spreading extreme cold through his body in order to cause third degree frostbite.
Apollo, having no other choice, used Art: Imbue and Art: Flame to heat up the frostbite. Mia then had a genius plan just for this moment to win the fight. Mia said ,"Although I don't like using this because it's kind of unhonorable I will activate my acidic barrier (Art: Acidic Barrier)," and just like that another layer of barrier was summoned outside of the ki barrier that was already there. Apollo stood there trying to figure out how to fight against this, he used Art: Water, Art: Telekinesis. This attempt to dilute the acid and move it aside turned out to be useless, he then attempted to send Art: Ki Blast's her way. The techniques that he had refined weren't working and he was getting angry, he tried all he could but just couldn't get through and then he said ,"FUCK IT!!!" Cias and Devan stared at Apollo screaming ,"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" and ,"DON'T DO THAT!!!" as Apollo charged towards the acidic barrier.
He reached the barrier after activating Art: Reinforce, Barrier and Recovery to protect himself. As he clawed away at the barrier Mia said ,"What the hell is he doing? he's going to get himself killed," but she kept up the acidic barrier. The acid was breaking down Apollo's barrier fast and started to melt his skin. He continued ripping away at the acid as it ripped away at him. It was to the point that he started to see his own muscles and bones. His adrenaline was reaching levels that matched his anger and rage in this moment. Inch by bloody inch he was getting through. The acid dropped on his face and melted his skin off almost immediately.
His regeneration kept him alive but didn't keep the safe as he felt his vitality leaving his body. He peeked half of his body through and Mia saw him, standing there, basically half muscle and half skeleton, his clothes hanging on by the edge. He stared at her with eyes not concealed by eyelids, she saw a monster, no she swore she saw the grim reaper clawing his way through her acid, breaking her ki barrier as well. She said ,"I'm sorry," but Apollo could barely hear her, sending nearly all of the rest of his ki to his left hand. He then clenched that hand, using his rage as fuel to punch her with his maximum force, deactivating the arts she had and breaking most of the bones in her face, knocking her out.
The referee paused for many moments before saying in a quiet voice, terrified by Apollo's unchained violence he never thought he had ,"Apollo Musashi wins this fight…" Apollo smiled as he looked back at the referee ,"Thank you," he said. Nobody clapped or booed at Apollo, they only watched him walk back into his tunnel.