The arrow shot through three trees before it punctured the ground directly in front of the ghast. Its light was blinding, and Lukas had to shield his eyes from it. But then, he realised something.
If the arrow is bright enough for Lukas to be unable to look directly at it, then neither can the ghast. If even for a moment, the ghast had to let its guard down. Neither of them could see each other as well, Lukas had been given a perfect opportunity.
With little thought, he turned his back to the light and dashed for his kusarigama. After only a second, the arrow flickered out of existence. Lukas considered returning to the past with the foreknowledge of the arrow. But he only needed a second, once he had his chain he knew he could win.
The ghast was temporarily blinded by the arrow's light. It didn't see Lukas run away, and by the time the arrow vanished, its vision was still impaired. It hadn't realised something was wrong until the bare minimum of its vision returned.
By then, Lukas was already halfway to his weapon. But the ghast was faster and changed its shape slightly, growing two new eyes in the process.
When Lukas reached his kusarigama, the ghast had already caught up to him. By the time he grabbed it, the ghast was already lunging at him. Its newly grown talons were aimed directly at Lukas' eyes.
Lukas managed to string the chain between his hands like a web, catching the ghast's claws in between the links. With a swift kick and a loosening of the chain, he knocks the ghast away before rising to his feet. He held the advantage, all he needed now was quick thinking and a moment of weakness.
The ghast circled Lukas as it began to shift. Its size grew to match Lukas' height, its talons had changed to the claws of a bear. Wings of magnificent white feathers sprouted from its back and its tail ended in something resembling a mace.
If not for the killing intent radiating from it, the ghast resembled a majestic steed rather than an abhorrent monster. However, the appearance of the ghast did not faze Lukas beyond how it could kill him.
The ghast leapt into the air before it began to soar, continuing to circle Lukas. In return, Lukas loosely held the chain of his kusarigama and began to spin it. They were in a standoff, with neither side backing down.
Lukas had a hunch though. If the ghast could become as large as him, why had it not from the start? At first, it became smaller to slip out of the chain of his kusarigama, but why did it remain as such? His best guess was that it couldn't do so for very long. Or that it had only now grown strong enough to do so.
If it was the former, he could stall it out. Wait for it to grow weakened and strike. If it was the latter, he had to kill it as soon as he could. The crux of this problem was how different these plans were. He had to make a guess and go all in on it. So that's exactly what he did.
As soon as the ghast dove for him, he threw out the chain with one hand and drew his tachi with the other. A one-handed strike with either weapon wouldn't be as powerful, but it was all he could do.
The chain flew past the ghast as it aimed at Lukas' head once more. He ducked as he swung his blade forward. Simultaneously, he pulled the chain back and around him, aiming to ensnare the ghast.
The ghast grazed the back of Lukas' uniform, just as his blade barely grazed its hind leg. The chain however whipped past both Lukas and the ghast and slammed into a tree. However, the ghast managed to snag its foot on the chain and plummeted to the ground.
As soon as he felt the vibration in the chain, Lukas let go and ran towards the ghast. Brandishing his sword with both hands, he swung with all his strength. Severing one of its wings as it fell to the ground.
The ghast rolled a few metres before landing on its feet. It ran at Lukas with all its building rage, its claws aimed at every vital spot it could hit. It charged in a last-ditch effort to kill its opponent before its energy burnt up.
Lukas, on the other hand, despite the many advantages he had and managed to gain, was bleeding his energy dry. Soon enough, he wouldn't be able to continue, at least not at his full strength.
He could have preserved as much as he could by fighting defensively. He could have tried to bait the ghast into making a wrong step, perhaps a feint. But no, instead he brashly decided to end the fight in a bold, reckless, and needlessly aggressive action.
He winded up his body and threw his tachi like a spear, right at the ghast's heart. With all of his might, the blade tore through the air and maintained its angle. Lukas even lost his footing in the process, if this didn't work out he would be in an extremely precarious scenario.
But luckily for him, the ghast didn't move in time. The tip of the tachi pierced through the heart of the ghast, and the ghast stopped dead in its tracks.
It wasn't dead... yet, but rather it was paralyzed. Should the rest of its heart be severed, it would die. But if it was given a chance to regrow its heart, then it could continue fighting.
But Lukas was not foolish enough to do that. Instead, he thrust the blade deeper and pulled it out to the side. Cutting its heart in two.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. It was over, he had killed a ghast on his own.