Aurelia sprints forward, her blade swinging toward me. I dodge out of the way, before slashing it out of her hand, opening her defense. I take this opportunity and swing my sword- only for it to collide with her blade. What the hell?
"You really have no idea how Tamajutsu works- do you?" Aurelia once again ignites her blade. "Once you have forged a strong enough bond with an object, you begin to feel an attachment toward it. When you awaken Tamajutsu, that bond becomes physical, and you can call upon it at any given time." She swings once again, this time very slow, however. I easily dodge out of the way, raising an eyebrow in disbelief as the blade flies out of her hand's loosened grip. "Damn...you good?" Aurelia stretches her hand out toward me, tapping my forehead with her index finger. "Shut the fuck up."
A sharp pain strikes the back of my head. I quickly turn around, confused- but I'm cut off as Aurelia kicks my head with a Tamajutsu-infused kick. I stick my hand out to the ground, stopping my recoil, and barely catch a glimpse of Tsukime's pierced body with a Naginata blade shoved through it. Of course! She threw her blade past me on purpose so that she could recall it from behind me as a sneak attack, and Tsukime just barely caught it, which was why I didn't die. I quickly parry another strike, flipping backward to regain my composure.
I quickly realize that I'm in deep shit. She was faster than me, and I literally have no counter to her abilities. Her blade digs into my arm as I barely dodge out of the way of a flurry of strikes. None of my attacks would even land, her reaction speed being at least twice as fast as mine. If I could trap her or stop her somehow...
"Given up? I was beginning to think that you would be a challenge, but you're starting to disappoint."
I wasn't listening to a word she said- as I had just figured out an idea. I stop in my tracks, standing upright, Aurelia looking at me quizzically, before wiping that look from her face, and walking forward.
I smile. "Y'know," I outstretch my hands electricity sparking between them. "I was beginning to think I couldn't beat you." The charge increased, and a ball of black Calamity Tamajutsu began to form. Aurelia smiled. "Why do you think that's changed?" She says mockingly.
I release my right hand off of the top of the ball of pure energy, wind swirling around it now. "I realized that you have but one weakness."
"And what's that?" She said mockingly.
"LITERALLY NOTHING!! I JUST WANTED DIALOGUE BEFORE I HIT YOU WITH FUCKING THIS!!"
I release the ball of energy that bursts forward toward Aurelia. She smirks. "Really? This thing is so slow- it wouldn't hit me in a million years." I laugh. "Then try to move away." Aurelia's smile melts away as she realizes her situation. "What the...I-I can't move!! The hell did you do?!" I smile. "Oh, not only can't you move- you're moving TOWARD it." Aurelia seems to just now realize this, and screams. "WHAT THE HELL?!!!" I do my best to look cool as I explain this within the half-second I have before this woman is completely eviscerated by my attack. "I realized, back in the colosseum that is, that my soul has a magnetic effect. I guessed that this was a byproduct of my Twitch, so I thought- what if I amplified this effect further by actually infusing it together?"
Aurelia struggles as she continues to accelerate forward. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!"
My smile turns wickedly. "I present to you: THUNDEROUS SOUL!!"
A completely otherworldly noise exudes from the center of impact as Aurelia slams into Soul Thunderclap- all of the land around the collision being absorbed into the epicenter of the magnetic force. The blast subsides, dust swirling around the ruins. I sigh in relief. "What was her ability anyway-"
Aurelia leaps out of the shrouded whirlwind, unharmed. "I'MA FUCKING COMPUTER GUY!!" She slams her blade down at me, her Tamajutsu still purple, but exuding an energy far beyond that of any Tamajutsu I've felt. This attack comes too fast for me to comprehend, and slams into me, and I barely have enough time to react before a storm of strikes descends upon me, tearing through my body and soul alike with her Tamajutsu.
The relentless slashes finally cease, and I'm left as a bloody mess on the ground as Aurelia stakes her blade into the ground and ignites her hand in Tamajutsu. "I'm done playing with you. Vanish." She slams her fist into the ground, an explosion of flame erupting from the ground below me as the force of her strike tears apart everything in its path-
except for one man.
One man standing above me, his arm outstretched, blocking her strike from reaching me. This man with black hair and bandages on his hands. This man with a blazing soul aura and a crazed look in his eyes. This man- this man was Yuji. He smiles wickedly as he glances down at me. "Hold your head high, and eviscerate this fucking bitch with me, aight?" I wipe a tear from my eyes, as this is the most inspiring thing I've ever heard. I stand up, my fists engulfed in flame. "Let's tear this computer-bitch up."
Aurelia looks at Yuji confused. "Didn't Aura banish you to the Colosseum ten years ago?" She squints harder. "Yeah...you were one of her experiments-"
Yuji's blue-flame fist slams into Aurelia with such force that the strike turns the earth below them to sand. He raises her bloody fist from Auerlia's now torn-up face. "don't you dare fucking bring that up. I WILL kill you." Aurelia stands up shakily and laughs painfully.
I look over to Yuji and nod, and he nods back. I clap my hands, a winged Tsukime swirling out of nowhere to Yuji's side. "Just don't ask." She says. Yuji shrugs. "Aight." Tsukime reaches her hand out, grabbing Yuji's before flapping her wings and ascending into the air. I extend my hands, before releasing another Thunderous Soul. Aurelia cocks her arm back, before throwing her Tamajutsu charged Naginata at it, eviscerating its force.
I jump to the side, dodging the still-moving blade, before charging forward, sword in hand, swinging it at her stomach. She jumps up, dodging it, before being slammed into the ground by a flaming blue fist from the sky, as Yuji swings down from Tsukime's arms.
She dodges another on of my sides, before dodging another flurry from Yuji. She backflips out of the way of Yuji's final strike, before releasing a discharge of Tamajutsu midair. Yuji extends his fist, and redirects the beam with his superior force. I burst forward, swapping through a series of hand signs. Neo City Domain was still active. "Nail-Pin, Electric Assault!!" Erupting from the earth, ten sharp electric nails pierce through Aurelia's body, paralyzing her, creating an opening for Yuji yo charge in-
"Hacking: Virus!" A jolt of pain resonates in my heart as she says this, and Yuji recoils as if he also experienced the same pain. I pull down my shirt, and sure enough, there was a mark on my chest where I felt the pain- a black sword tattoo. I have no time to ponder this thought, and clap my hands, summoning winged Tsukime at my side-
Aurelia snaps her fingers, and mutters under her breath, "Blade."
A sword of pure Tamajutsu erupts from my heart where the tattoo was, piercing my soul. Yuji falls to the ground at my side as well, coughing out blood. I struggle to stay standing as my vision becomes blurry. Shit! I forgot to activate soul armor, and it seems Yuji did as well. With what little strength I have left, I outstretch my hands, a ball of electric Tamajutsu forming in the middle, before releasing it. "Thunderous...s-sou.."
An explosion of insane proportions detonates around me, as an unknown force bursts downward from the sky. Its wings a dark red, and its blood-soaked horns pierced the sky. Its mouthful of razor-sharp teeth clattering and grinding as it stands above the now-pinned body of Aurelia. Aurelia screams in frustration before getting cut off as her face is slashed open. What the hell?! Not only was this beast strong enough to pin Aurelia down, but it had some way to penetrate her soul armor.
My soul had since healed, so I could now stand. I yell to the beast. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU-"
The beast was now inches from my...wait. something wasn't right. It looked just like Oiran. No- this- this had to be Oiran. "What-" Before I could think, I was slashed backward by her claws.
I stood up wobbly. I don't know what happened to her, and I don't know why she was here, but I failed her once, and I wouldn't fail her again. "Oiran...I will save you."