Ren had used the sheath in a split second to block the palm strike. If the sheath wasn't as magic as the sword was too the palm strike would have shattered the sheath in the moment. The force though behind the strike was powerful enough to send him flying, Hiro tried to catch Ren after he barely escaped the shots fired at him by Barnaby, getting a few cuts to his face in the process.
Barnaby yawned in boredom, he was getting disappointed now at the display of skill from the two boys. They couldn't keep up solo, let alone work together to fight against him and Gentaro in at least a good unison.
Gentaro had decided to wait for the boys to get themselves in a stable mindset. He sat down cross-legged meditating while Barnaby started snacking on jerky he had in his pocket.
Ren and Hiro regrouped to catch their breath and come up with a strategy to win.
"He's strong. I greatly underestimated his abilities. His attention to detail on the guns he makes from their model, firing method, and ammunition is perfect."
"Indeed. The skills used on me far exceed my own current level, Kurosawa-Sensei didn't earn his reputation for nothing. He wasn't using a single bit of magic the entire time. It was all his own natural abilities from years of fine-tuning his body with his martial arts alone."
"Yes, they each have a strength that works in their complete favor. Barnaby with his Projection can reconfigure the guns into any weapon he wishes without fail. How do we fight them as we are."
Ren took a deep calming breath, he got back up on his own to his feet without Hiro holding him anymore, stretching his neck and shoulders out.
"We have to work together. Fighting them by ourselves one at a time is futile. They may have just met up today but their instincts and willpower make them a strong pair. If they work together in unison we won't win. We have to strike first before they do so. If one is a relentless storm then we need to be an indomitable mountain. If one is a master hunter we must be a prey he can't outwit in the jungle."
Hiro understood the analogy better than anyone else would have. Hiro gave a short laugh as he healed his face again up. He regenerated the silver bow into a recurve for faster shots, Ren got back into his stance, concentrating his muscles in his legs and forearms.
"You ready?"
"Yes, Let's go."
Ren shot through like a lightning bolt, instead of going for Gentaro, he went for Barnaby. Barnaby was caught off guard in the moment. He was thinking Ren would attack Gentaro like earlier.
He wasn't able to react fast enough to make the proper weapon against Ren. Barnaby tried to stop Ren with a Remington shotgun configuration, but Ren's speed was faster than the pellets that came toward him. Barnaby switched to twin Uzi machine guns, but still, Ren wouldn't be stopped. Gentaro broke out of meditation, he went in to help Barnaby fight off Ren's charges of tenacity. Hiro predicted he would interfere, so he fired an arrow at Gentaro who dodged and went after Hiro. Hiro saw it coming, he smiled as Gentaro missed what Hiro was really aiming at and had planned to keep him from attacking.
The arrow that Hiro shot at earlier had burst apart into small ones digging their way into the ground. They then sprang up out of the ground, reforming into chains that wrapped themselves around Gentaro's leg trapping him in place.
Gentaro tried to break free, but the energy chains would electrocute him when he touched it. Hiro turned his attention to Barnaby, he fired more arrows that broke into smaller arrows again. Barnaby tried to aim for both attacks, but Ren caught up to him and sliced his guns in half when he couldn't keep up with both boys working together now.
"It's over." Ren went for an upper thrust to Barnaby's chin with the blunt end of the sword handle.
Barnaby smirked, he was prepared for that.
"Ren, look out!" Hiro tried to warn him but it was too late. Barnaby had created guns in his sleeves in the shape of Derringers earlier in the match as a backup plan if one of the boys got close to him. Both barrels aimed at Ren's eyes.
"Bullseye!" Barnaby fired the guns, Ren yanked himself down by pulling his shirt by the collar to dodge the shots enough were they barely grazed the top of his hair. Ren then made a sweeping motion with the sword, he used the back end of the blade to strike Barnaby's kneecaps, upsetting his balance in the process from the pain.
"Mitsurugi Ryu, Diroku no Kata(Sixth Blade Form), Mizuo Utsu(Whipping Water)."
Hiro took the chance to shoot arrows at Barnaby's wrists and ankles. Locking him down like he did to Gentaro earlier.
Barnaby had to admit defeat, he got himself tricked into that one and was pinned down now preventing him from continuing the fight.
"Well you got me boys, I'm out. But uh, what about that other wild horse you failed to tame."
Ren's eyes widened, he turned to see Gentaro was gone, he broke out of the chains somehow, and his eyes darted around till, at the last second he saw Gentaro standing behind Hiro with his eyes glowing.
"Behind you!"
Hiro tried to turn around in time to defend himself, but Gentaro was too fast. He dislocated the boy's wrist that held his bow, then fired multiple point strikes at his body putting him to sleep.
Ren tried to steady himself, but Gentaro was already in front of him, his speed was greater than Ren's.
"You did good boys, I'm proud of you both for your teamwork. But, experience will always trump youth."
Gentaro used a palm strike with powerful force to Ren's chest. Ren couldn't catch his breath, and that hit incapacitated his lung's airflow. He was fading fast, Gentaro, in a show of dominance flicked Ren's forehead causing him to fall back as he passed out finally.
Everyone was shocked. Gentaro beat them both in that quick of a moment. They all understood right then and there, he was holding back throughout the match.
Gentaro ripped the bindings off Barnaby, helping him back to his feet.
"Well what do you think, they got a shot at beating us in the future."
Gentaro looked a the boys, they were being helped up by the medics. He gave a faint smile before walking back to his chair.
"A sword gets stronger over time with temperance. Someday they'll be better ones than us. I look forward to that." Gentaro walked off, with Barnaby understanding what he meant. He too was looking forward to them growing up to be fine men in the future.
The audience cheered for both sides, the match was incredible. Anna was happy with the results and the publicity it was bringing. However, when the time came, she could see on the girl's faces how scared they were for what was coming next.
Megumi finished off her last beer and ramen bowl. She let out a much louder burp before tossing her garbage aside.
"Now then, it's my turn to play." The tone in her voice made Akira go pale, even Alexandra felt a chill running down her neck. Megumi slapped her face a couple of times, it sobered her up instantly. She leaped to the center of the arena destroying her seat in the process. Gentaro and Barnaby hadn't gotten out of the ring yet, Barnaby was past his limit with her behavior.
"Hey, now that's enough. You're supposed to be an instructor for this place, show some damn restraint will you."
Megumi slowly turned her head, her eyes glaring at him, the fear she created was a horrifying pressure.
"Get…out…of…my…ring!" Her voice echoed with command. Barnaby choked as he felt like the air was being sucked out of him. Gentaro tried to steel himself but even he couldn't handle the pressure.
The two men hurried out. Anna was shaking from that show of force. Itsuki was terrified to the point that Rina had to hold her hand to calm her down and herself.
"Oy Koutetsu, hurry up, I waited all this time for you let's get to it." Megumi was ordering. Koutetsu wasn't in the seats with the others. He was in the locker room the whole time the matches were going on. One of the students ran back to the locker room to fetch him before things got out of hand.
Megumi was getting impatient, her irritation was high as her eyes twitched. She took a deep breath and then let out a scream that shook the entire arena.
"GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! HAYASHI KOUTETSU!!!!"
Everyone covered their ears. Megumi's scream echoed everywhere, the pressure was hurting them and the fight hadn't even started.
"You're still a loud mouth as ever, eh, Master."
Megumi looked at the entrance on the boy's side, the wicked smile on her face forming.
Koutetsu walked out, he was prepared for his match. He wore trunks with short spats underneath. Tape on his ankles and around his hands. He had on his special gloves still wearing Itsuki's ribbon on his neck.
Megumi enjoyed it, she could tell he was ready,
Everyone saw the scars and burns on his body. Itsuki imagined him shirtless a few times but she never actually saw him that way in real life. She, Rina, and Natsume looked horrified at his damaged body.
"My god, what has he been through?"
"Is that why he was so terrified of her? Did she do that to him?"
Itsuki trembled. She didn't want to see him get hurt not after how his body looked.
"Oh ho, you look like you're ready to play. What's with that chocker anyways, being fashionable."
"None of your business. Are you going to get serious too and get rid of that jacket?"
Megumi cackled, he remembered her very well in all this time. She took off the jacket and her shoes, she removed a pair of gloves from the jacket pockets before launching the clothing to a side of the arena that was away from the audience. The clothes broke through the surroundings they hit, nothing could cause that with just normal clothes.
"What in the world was that?" Alexandra asked.
"She wears weighted clothes," Gentaro responded. "Her jacket and shoes had weights sewn into them. That's why the crash was that intense. That's not all look at all the food she ate and drank. What do you notice about her body."
All of the instructors looked carefully. They caught on in a second and were shaken.
"She ate hundreds of items worth of food and drank nearly twenty cases of beer but she looks the same. How is she not gained weight or is even sober?" Barnaby was completely in shock.
"She's a Prime Caliber. I knew it the moment I met her. That boy is too but she's leagues above him. If she was eating all that food she was storing energy for this match. Not only that the Headmaster met with me earlier before the matches began to disclose some information she found incase we needed to step in and handle her. That woman there is a Deity of Killers."
They all looked like they lost their souls in that explanation. It was unheard of to them.
"Hey wait, weren't the Deity of Killers trained to be on par with Prime Calibers? How's one carrying that title." Barnaby questioned. He heard of the program too but thought it was urban legend to scare bad guys.
"Headmaster Takemura looked more into it after something felt off with her meeting up with Kuramori earlier, she learned there was one candidate in particular who unlocked her potential as a Prime Caliber halfway through the program. Not only that the particular Prime Caliber in question was said to be the strongest and killed over a thousand Ghasts in a single night including a Grand Lich. There was a title for that killer...Bloody Reina; the Queen of Bloodshed. We're looking at her right now, Kuramori Megumi is that killer. That boy is in serious trouble"
The instructors were shaken to their cores, the chill that ran down their backs turned to paralyzing fear.
Megumi put on her gloves, her fingers slowly cracking in excitement, she was anxious to fight Koutetsu. Koutetsu cracked his neck and knuckles as well to show he wasn't afraid of Megumi.
"Hehehe are you ready little tiger cub?"
"Master before we start I want to say something." Megumi looked confused at the request. She blinked her eyes as to what brought that on.
"I'm sorry I ran from you earlier. It was just a reflex after all the hell you put me through. Truth is I want to say, thank you. You trained me and took care of me when Mana left. Master, you're really a big sister to me, practically family. You may be crazier than an unhinged sociopath at times but I still cherish you. So thank you Master for everything." Koutetsu told her with honesty as he bowed his head to her.
Megumi was taken aback hard. She never heard him thank her once for anything in that manner. She closed her eyes and remembered the times they, from eating large amounts of food, bathing together in a hot spring, even Koutetsu taking a nap with his head on her lap. It made her feel happy he thought of her that way after all this time.
"Hmm, a big sister huh? That's the first I've been called that. Koutetsu, I cherish you too, I really did miss you when I had to leave for assignments or private work. But."
Megumi flipped her switch again. She was back to her wicked self giving Koutetsu the evil eyes.
"That won't save you right now. So, are you ready?" Megumi asked in a soft menacing tone cracking her fingers again as they fidgeted with impatience to fight.
Koutetsu nodded. The referee was too terrified to start the match. Even the girls in the announcer booth didn't call the introductions for them like the others because of the seriousness of this fight.
Koutetsu and Megumi leaped to each other yelling, their long awaited fight had begun.