Seijuro still remains lost in thought, his eyes widened and his mind continues to race,
This shouldn't be possible… a boogeyman… corrupting a person…
"Yoshiki! Stay focused!" Lily demands stoically.
Without a doubt, Seijuro knew that she was also feeling troubled by the same thoughts as him, however unlike himself, she doesn't wasn't going to let it distract her from the fight in front of them. The He doesn't question her and instead gives her a nod, while turning back to face them,
She's right. I have to stay focused for now. We can worry about this after we've dealt with them.
They abruptly charge at both of them, Seijuro takes a deep breath and clashes with the fear. In the corner of his eye, he can see Lily has performed a backflip to evade the fear and has jumped onto the rooftop with it close on her heels. He pushes the boogeyman back with all his strength,
"Kiyohime's Vengeance!"
To Seijuros surprise, the boogeyman was able to keep pace with his constant slashes, which causes him to grit his teeth,
This thing is faster than the kuroi I fought! I can't lose control. I have to keep my emotions in check…
Seijuro takes another deep breath to cool his nerves. The boogeyman keeps striking, not leaving any openings for Seijuro to take advantage of,
He's too fast!
A powerful strike sends Seijuro through a wall and he lands onto a table. The man in the building he crashes into, lets out a sudden scream and immediately backs away. The boogeyman approaches him, but turns it's attention towards the man, as it stretches it's hand towards him,
I can't let it corrupt anyone else!
Seijuro quickly gets to his feet and adjusts his grip on his sword,
"Wrath of Tatsu!"
Seijuro charges in with immense speed, however his attack is cut short when the boogeyman grasps Seijuros throat,
"Get… out of.. here!" The man quickly runs out of the shop, as the fear continues to choke the life out of Seijuro,
I…won't… go out… like this…
He grits his teeth and the grip on his sword tightens,
"Ryu's breath!" Seijuro is dropped to the floor, gasping and coughing as the boogeyman is sliced in half,
I can't let it split into two! I gotta stand up… quickly!
Not wasting a second, Seijuro composes himself and readjusts his grip on his sword,
"Wrath of Tatsu!"
His sword is about to pierce straight through the heart of the boogeyman, when suddenly, Seijuro feels an arm come around his throat, squeezing his neck. Before he can respond, he's thrown back by whatever has grasped his neck, back onto the street and he lands on his stomach. He looks up to see the other boogeyman,
How's this one here too! Wait where's…
Seijuro glances to his right, and then to his left. To his horror, he sees Lily lying on the floor unconscious, the ground around her cracked, and her staff lying besides her,
Lily! I have to help her…
Seijuro stands to his feet, and now standing in front of him, we're three boogeymen. They bare their fangs towards Seijuro, causing him to shiver a bit in fear.
I have to think my way out of this… Ren… mother… guide me…
A droplet of sweat runs down Seijuros temple, however this time, he charges in with immense speed,
"Wrath of Tatsu!"
I'll target the middle one!
The middle boogeyman dodges and the other two strike from both sides, Seijuro avoids the attacks, however he gets slightly scratched in process. All three attack at once,
"Azure!" Seijuro slams his sword into the floor, however they break through the barrier and knock Seijuro back, sending him down the street.
Now angry, Seijuro stands up and spits blood onto the floor, while glaring at them. He cracks his neck a bit, and charges again,
"Kiyohime's Vengeance!"
Seijuro is grazed again and a claw lands across his chest, the constant slashes we're not fast enough to stop all three of the boogeymen's barrage of strikes. One lands a blow across Seijuros face, while the other lifts him up and tosses him in the air. He lands on the floor and grunts in pain. His head feels heavily and his body aches, however he looks up, observing their positions, waiting for the right moment, and without thinking, he immediately stands up,
Now!
In an instant, he leaps into the air, lifting his sword above his head, while glaring down at them,
"Wanis Hurricane!"
Seijuro fuels his blade with majority of his dark matter, causing a flurry of downward strikes to rain upon them, decimating the nearby building behind the fears. The result of the attack causes the creation of a huge smoke cloud. Feeling exhausted, Seijuro falls to his knees, planting his sword into the floor, so he can lean himself on it. His breath was now heavy, sweating and bleeding quite profusely.
That… should have been enough… I think… I did it…
As the smoke clears, a figure emerges from the cloud of dust, one boogeyman emerges. Seijuro can see behind him that the other two are dealt with, as what was left of them, was slowly being dispersed into the atmosphere,
Damn it… I can't move… I used most of my dark matter in that attack…
Seijuro slowly stands up, and he readies himself. The fear charges to attack once more and Seijuro prepares to strike back, when someone pushes him to the floor and strikes the fear sending him flying into another shop.
Lily?!
Lily was bleeding from her forehead and her hair was out, flowing down her shoulders, as she now glares in the direction of the fear. She whips her head around to look at Seijuro,
"Yoshiki… are you alright…?" She says inbetween breaths,
"I'm… exhausted… I'm going to need some time to… catch my breath…"
"You exhausted yourself, didn't you?"
"Yes… I did…"
Lily swings her staff around, adjusting her position and changing her stance completely,
"And here I thought you were actually smart."
The fear emerges from the rubble with a loud explosion, sending debris across the street. It begins charging in the direction of Lily. Seijuro tries to get to his feet, but legs feel weak and he falls back onto his knees,
"Lily… I can't move…" Lily sighs and quickly helps him stand up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hers around his waist to support him.
Seijuro looks up to see the fear directly in front of them, letting out a loud roar before trying to swing its claw at them. Lily quickly jumps with Seijuro backwards, narrowly avoiding the strike. Lily then let's go of Seijuro, causing him to fall onto the floor with a loud thud,
"Hey!" Seijuro exclaims while lifting his head up in annoyance,
"Inu." Lily says very calmly while slamming her staff into the floor in a gentle manner,
Her voice… it sounds… peaceful… what is this technique?
The fear suddenly stops mid-strike, almost as if an invisible force is preventing it from moving. In an instant, a loud shockwave sends the boogeyman flying down the street, crashing into another shop,
That was amazing… it's similar to my technique Azure…
Lily turns back around to face Seijuro, who slowly lifts himself up so he is now resting on his knees,
"What was that?"
"My element is sound, I created a sound barrier that once you come into contact with it, causes a shockwave sending the opponent flying." Lily now kneels in front of Seijuro,
"Can you walk now?" In response to this, Seijuro tries to stand up, however he crumbles back to the floor and grunts in frustration,
"Why did you even exhaust yourself?"
"There was three of them… I split the other one in two and tried to finish it off, before it can regenerate, however your one came along and tossed me away like some rag doll, before I could finish the job." Lily tries not to laugh which causes Seijuro to frown,
"At least I wasn't sleeping on the job." Lily stops laughing and frowns too at his comment,
"This boogeyman is different… it's… stronger than the one you killed."
"I guess that's true. But if we're gonna disperse it… you're gonna need me whether you like it or not." Lily scoffs, but looks down, considering his statement,
Hate to admit it… but this fool is right. I would have been dead if he didn't hold him off for as long as he did…
Lily let's out a long sigh, before lifting her head and looking back at him,
"Fine. Give me your hands." Lily extends her hands, while Seijuro raises an eyebrow,
"Why?"
As she's about to answer, they hear footsteps in the distance, the boogeyman let's put a screech and is walking slowly towards them,
It… has legs now… he's growing stronger… it's getting closer to becoming a nightmare…
"Just do it!"
Without hesitation, Seijuro holds her hands, which begin to glow dark purple,
"I'm giving you some of my dark matter. Don't waste it." Lily then let's go.
Confidently, Seijuro now stands up and picks his sword up, freeing it from the ground. Both Seijuro and Lily get into their stances, readying their weapons, a small smile forming on Seijuros face,
"Alright then, round 2."