The two beings stood a good distance from one another before booming forward kicking up plenty of dust behind them. Sparks flew as blades clashed knocking both combatants back. Asuka face contorted surprised by Annie's strength.
"Jeez. I know I can't control my contra very well but this is ridiculous."
Asuka looked closely at her opponent with analytically.
"She only matching me right now. If she were really trying, my arms would've been sent flying."
Asuka slowly stood up not taking her eyes off of Annie who was also standing up.
"Control Asuka. Grab a hold of the contra, as much of it as can, and control it. Don't lose focus."
The unbridled contra inside of Asuka quickly spread throughout her body. Her hands, legs, abdomen, even the very cells in her tissue and her very own soul. Every part of her body was touched by her contra. A single small horn sprouted from her head. Black flame shaped markings spread across her body and her sclera turning black with her irises forming a blood red crescent moon shape. With these changes came tiny flashes of pain as her body tries to adjust to the contra.
The ominous aura of hatred spreading throughout Asuka's body sent shivers up her spine. Even after her talk with Amelia, it was still going to take time for her to get used to it.
"And now..."
She then began to take control over the contra flowing in her, trying to shape the wild rage to circulate it around her body. Once she had done that, she extended the reach of her contra into her blade strengthening and sharpening it.
"At least with this I should be able to push her further."
Simultaneously, Annie was silently watching Asuka giving her a chance to gain some control over her contra.
"Yes Asuka. Take hold of that hate. Don't run from it."
Annie got back into her ready stance and Asuka after a few more seconds did the same. Then once again, they dashed at one another like flashes of light and their blades met once more. This time, Asuka was able to stand her ground but unable to push Annie back. Tilting her sword back, she made Annie trip forward. Asuka at the same time swung the sword at her face trying to take off a portion of Annie's head but she managed to barely dodge.
"How ruthless," Annie thought to herself.
She then took a swipe at Asuka with her own blade but the trinity was able to block it.
They continued for a few more minutes until Annie made an observation. It may have been only slightly, but Asuka's body had begun stiffening with low grunts coming from her.
"Seems the longer she uses her contra the level of pain she feels increases. She still hasn't fully accepted that side of her. Well, it's not like she needs to fully master it yet. But it would be a good idea to take note of how long she can hold that form."
As soon as she finished her thought, she had to jump back to dodge a downward swing of Asuka's claymore. But Asuka continued on the attack by using the sword as a lever and swinging off it throwing a vicious kick at Annie's face. The visage casually grabbed her leg and violently threw her into the dirt. This however didn't perturb the girl in the slightest. As soon as she crashed onto the floor, she leaped onto all fours and went on the offensive again winding back a punch.
"Her ferocity has certainly increased, but she still lacks experience."
Annie stretched out her arm to stop the punch, but it was only a feint. Asuka then grabbed the arm and twisted her body into the air getting herself in an arm bar.
"What the-"
Before Annie could finish, Asuka didn't waste any energy and pulled at full strength tearing of the arm at the elbow. When Asuka landed on the floor, she immediately threw the detached arm at Annie's face. But Annie wasn't phased by any of this and casually swatted it away with her blade. But when she looked back at where Asuka was, she had disappeared. Still, Annie knew exactly where she was.
She looked behind and saw Asuka had already picked up her claymore and was in full swing ready to take off Annie's head. But the blade would never reach her. With a speed so fast Asuka couldn't even perceive it, Annie swung her blade and severed the girls arms.
An expression of shock flashed on her face before she shrieked in pain and fell to her knees. Asuka stared in the area where her arms used to be, blood spurting with each beat of her heart. Tears were building up in her eyes as simultaneously she gritted her teeth, stifling anymore screams she had.
She lifted her head up to see her cut off arms still gripping the sword and a pool of blood forming around it. She then looked up further to look at the culprit who had put her in such state. Unable to see her due to the veil caused by the seal, she couldn't makeout what expression she was wearing.
"Heal yourself," she responded without a hint of emotion.
"Wha-"
"You were told weren't you? Demons can heal their own injuries. So long as they're not dead and if given enough time, demons can regenerate flesh, bone and even their souls if their strong enough. You need to be able to do it on your own. There might come a time where I am not there to help you. So go on. Regenerate your arms."
Asuka looked back down while still panting heavily. She did her best to settle her breathing but found it too difficult with the pain she was feeling. She decided to just grit her teeth and pour her contra into the wound. Nothing happened for a few seconds but then her humerus in each arm began to slowly grow back. Unfortunately, even the healing process was painful one. Asuka nearly passed out from it. As soon as her mind came back into focus. She tried again only even slowly this time and while it helped, it was still extremely painful.
After an excruciating eight minutes, she had finally grown back her arms. By the end she had used up all of the contra available to her. Her horn and black markings had receded and her eyes returned to normal. She was panting heavily, slumped over and her eyes were starting to roll to the back of her head. She tried to stand but as soon as she tried, she toppled over and the only movement she made was the rising and falling of her chest.
Annie remained quiet silently observing the suffering girl.
"You can use your anima now. Restore your energy and get some rest."
As soon as Annie said that, Asuka let anima flow throughout her body and soon her breathing slowed and the color returned to her face. Annie walked up to Asuka and began to speak.
"I hope you understand why I did what I did."
Asuka didn't respond for a few seconds. Just staring at what she thought were her eyes. Then she sighed and scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah. If this had been a real battle, I would be dead. So it's best to experience it first in here for the first time in here and make counter measures then out there and be completely caught off guard."
Asuka couldn't see, but Annie smirked at her words.
"Good. But I'll apologize anyway. I didn't think regenerating would've been so painful. Had I known I wouldn't have started off so extreme."
"It's alright. If I can't handle this much, then how will I ever bring peace to the world?"
"True enough. Now let's continue. When your anima drains out, switch to using your contra no matter how low your reserves are. We'll do this for the rest of the day."
"What if they're both empty?"
"It'll be a good chance to work on the skill aspect of combat. Pure speed and physical might can only take you so far. If you use only those two things, when you meet a stronger and faster opponent you will definitely lose. But with skill, you can overcome that gap."
"Well, I can't argue with that. Now then," Asuka said while standing up. She then gave a fierce grin and pounded her fists.
"Now, I think that's enough talk. I've gotta pay you back for what you did to my arms. And now that I'm using anima, these should be easy."
Annie couldn't help but chuckle at Asuka's arrogance.
"You won't be talking so much when rip off your jaw."