The burn of soul raged all throughout me, its embers scorching my very being. An aura of heat radiated from my body as its incinerating purple flames licked across my body. Jigoku simply stared- and then smiled. "You know," He said, tossing aside his jacket- a skintight exercise shirt below, exposing his slim-fit physique. "The soul is a combination of the mind and the body. An all-encompassing 'flame'. This flame, however, is only as strong as its tinder."
I cocked my head to the side, glaring. "Meaning?"
Jigoku rolled his shoulders, continuing. "You first attained Tamajutsu in the colosseum in Titus whilst fighting Yuji, or so I've heard."
I nodded.
"The sparks of your soul that first ignited the flame of Tamajutsu," He said. "Are just that- a beginning. You were lucky to start off at purple, a rather high-ranking color on the scale; But what I'm guessing," he said. "Is that you took that for granted. You saw the power of Senpai- of Yuji- and you thought you were on their level simply due to the pigment of your flames." His otherwise cool expression was now ice cold. "But one thing Yuji failed to tell you is that, even within the same color ranking, there are different levels. Senpai and Yuji had both pushed it to the max, to the brink of the next level. Due to the fact that they had both obtained the next level, they were able to exploit the previous to the fullest."
I was puzzled now. I had beaten both of them though...
"No." He said, seeming to read my mind. "You didn't beat either of them. Your fight against Senpai was a one-sided slaughter. A three-on-one. Even when the rest of your group had been taken care of, she was left utterly tired by THEIR efforts. You landed no more than three effective hits on her."
I took a step back.
"Yuji." he said. "He was being tortured every waking moment he was in that arena, in and out of battle. No matter how powerful you think he was when you fought him, he was leagues more whilst outside of that state. Even so, you somehow awakened your soul's sparks, igniting the flames of your Tamajutsu. And you haven't improved either your soul manipulation OR Twitch since that fight. Sure you might've combined them in some bullshit way- but that doesn't even come CLOSE to enough to actual practice for it to be effective. All of this evidence points to one truth: you haven't improved since you fought that failure."
He spat at me. "So when I said that you were a challenge, I had assumed that you had at least improved in the slightest- and you've proved me drastically wrong." I dug my feet into the ground, holding my stance. "Then I guess I'll just have to fan those flames even more."
Jigoku readied his sword. "Not before I snuff them out."
The earth shook- before completely shattering under the force of our acceleration. Jigoku shimmered, before completely disappearing from sight. As expected. His speed was off the charts. That sword of his was a problem too. My eyes swiveled around as fast as I could force them. His soul seemed to be all around due to his high speed.
Left.
Sparks of soul jump from my body.
An eruption of force shakes the earth around me as I kick myself into position. He still made contact, however, his blade completely lobbing off my right arm. I gritted my teeth, urging my soul toward the wound. I was face-to-face with Jigoku. If I didn't move as fast as physically possible, I would die. That was a certainty. I cocked my left arm back, a pristine blade of calamity sparking to life within it- veering to meet Jigoku's-
I forgot.
His blade simply passed through mine, as if clipping through an asset in a video game. It passed straight through my chest, before an excruciating pain shot through my entire being as the sword stabbed clean through my soul. I wasted no time, though. I flapped my gargantuan wings, before releasing their gale force and shooting into the sky.
I kept the flaps steady, keeping myself suspended in the sky, my right arm finally burning back into reality. Jigoku simply looked up from his position on the ground. He stood there for a moment, before there was a resonating explosion- followed by Jigoku flickering into sight in front of me.
By then, I had come to a consensus. I think I know his abilities.
First: Hellcutter. He could summon this blade with seemingly no limitations, and its whole gimmick was slicing the soul. This wouldn't be as much of a threat if it didn't seem to pass through organic material. So all I had to do was...dodge. Yay.
Second: Space Manipulation. He seemed to have control over some sort of gravitational pull with that "Homura" or whatever, and this spatial manipulation is probably also how he's able to move as fast as he does. I should probably be careful and assume he has a multitude of powers of this sort that he hasn't shown yet.
And finally, the one I knew the least about: Gairashi. He's only used this once, and it shows no relation to the others. This ability let him perfectly match my strike's force, parrying it. For now, I'm assuming it does just that.
Jigoku leveled in front of me, Hellcutter poised to strike. And I didn't move. I waited till the blade was inches from my face- before completely parting my soul. A surreal tearing pain ripped through my core as I completely cleared my soul away from the strike. A momentary feeling of dread tore through me.
If this didn't work, I was finished.
But I never felt the blade connect.
Jigoku's face was flooded with terror as his blade passed right through me. I smiled. Pivoting in a 180, I spun around him as he was unable to react due to his unbalance. Hand sparking with an otherworldly charge, I slammed my palm into his face, before discharging a blast of Calamity directly into his skull. There was a colossal explosion...and the nothing.
I was so forlorn by the fact that Jigoku hadn't moved, that I was completely ignorant of the fact that he was floating in midair. Lifting his hung head, Jigoku grinned a twisted smile. He wasn't so much as scratched. "You didn't think I DIDN'T have Tamajutsu, did you?"
He lunged forward, grabbing me by the arm, before slamming it against his knee with calamitous force. A surge of pain shot through me, bones cracking under Jigoku's strike. Blood sprayed from the attack, bone splintering. He didn't stop there, however, as he then hurled me back toward the ground, barreling toward the earth. Once again forcing all of my Tamajutsu to one point, I felt my arm crack back into place, embers immolating and jumping from the wound.
Right as the ground was but inches from my face, I shot back up toward the sky. As we nearly met midair, Jigoku simply kicked out of the way, as if the air were a surface. Spinning around again, I bolted back toward him. Almost instantly, Jigoku assumed a stance, meeting my kick with his own. Knocking my leg out of the way, he swerved backward, before lunging forth again, Hellcutter outstretched. In a flash, a blade of calamity surged to life, black sparks flying.
His speed was unparalleled- unmatched. But I had to dodge it.
Don't let it hit me.
I couldn't get hit.
I wouldn't.
Sparks of blue began to fly from my body. It was small at first, but then it began to grow- Intensifying, before exploding in a display of azure flames.
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Evolution. Though this phenomena happens usually in long, dragged out standoffs, it can also happen in the spur of the moment. Right when life is put on the line, an organism will run as fast as it can just to stay right where it is.