"Yet another Ichizen fam—"
"I know you're there, Jin. My mana-imbued air sensed you."
"Haha, you got us. I didn't think you had it in you, like your brother. How does it feel to be second-rate compared to him?" Jin shrugged, smirking.
Yatagarasu raised his hand. "How does it feel knowing all of you are about to be dropped by me alone?"
BOOM!
"What?" I exclaimed, looking back to see sparks of flames streaking across the forest sky.
"It must be the rest of his team. I'll distract him while you get the fl—" Jin couldn't finish before Yatagarasu interrupted him.
"Territory: Storm Prison," Yatagarasu declared, rotating his palm. A grey ring of air spun rapidly around his arm, and fierce winds whipped into a vortex, trapping us. "What the hell is this?" I muttered, realising the other fire manacians were trapped inside with me.
"I see… you trapped them," Jin sneered. "You're fucking arrogant, you know that?" He thrust his palm downward, sending a powerful air stream toward Yatagarasu. But Yatagarasu merely pointed his right index finger skyward, countering with a spiralling gust that shattered Jin's attack.
Yatagarasu's left index finger flicked, and a razor-sharp gust sliced toward Jin. Jin twisted his body, performing a back-roundhouse kick, sending a wind blade to intercept it. The air crackled with the force of their collision.
"Jin, you've climbed far," Yatagarasu said, his voice cold. "Your mana pool is substantial, and your skills are impressive. But there's a difference between raw talent and being from a prestigious family. We're taught the technical intricacies from the start. We know the ins and outs of an air manacian fight. Forced to learn everything from a young age even if we didn't want to…There is a difference in levels, Jin. You are not on ours and definitely not on my brother's."
The atmosphere grew electric as their powers clashed. The winds howled, trees bent, and the ground trembled beneath the intensity of manas clashing.
A sonic boom erupted, and suddenly, Yatagarasu was a hair's breadth away from Jin's face.
"There's no way you can beat me, you second-rate air manacian," Yatagarasu sneered.
"Try me."
Jin threw a low punch at Yatagarasu's stomach, bending the air around it to reduce resistance and accelerate its speed. But Yatagarasu caught it firmly, not with mere strength, but by generating winds strong enough to decelerate the punch. Despite maintaining his Territory around Yonu and the others, Yatagarasu's mana pool was still brimming more than Jin's.
"How did you manage to beat the number two?" Yatagarasu asked, eyes narrowed.
"You're not the only one with a Territory, dumbfuck," Jin replied.
"Experience fighting air manacians? Let me show you true helplessness." Jin raised his fist, clenching it tightly. The air around them rushed into a vortex, spinning faster and faster. Yatagarasu watched, trying to decipher Jin's move, but the realisation dawned too late.
"Territory: Vacuum of the Void," Jin intoned, raising his index finger from his clenched fist. Air from the vortex swirled around his head, forming a breathable dome. Yatagarasu, on the other hand, gasped for air. "AUGH!" He choked, desperately pooling his mana to create an air bubble around his head, allowing him to breathe.
"ARGH!" Yatagarasu gasped once more, his breath ragged.
"Haha… HAHAHAHHAHA! You're a fucking madman… A Territory this strong is impossible to destroy from the inside. There's too much mana circling the air," Yatagarasu admitted, his voice strained.
"So that you know…" Yatagarasu continued, "I'm proficient in hand-to-hand combat too."
"Never would've expected less," Jin smirked.
. . .
"UAGH!" Fuji yelled as he was sent flying back.
BOOM
Another explosion happened in the distance. Fuji had no idea what was happening back at base; he didn't even know how he got there. All he remembered was that some guy had separated him, Gino, and Mizu.
If he remembered correctly, that guy was an earth manacian. He slammed his palm into the ground, and the next thing Fuji knew, they were being pushed off in different directions. "Yo." He suddenly heard a voice. Still standing in the middle of the forest, he turned to see a familiar face. "Rank 10…Ran.."
"Yo, Fuji," Ran said, a smirk on his face. Without warning, he executed a powerful forward kick. A gust of wind shot through the trees, swaying them violently as it barreled toward Fuji.
Fuji quickly raised his palm and unleashed his own gust of wind, colliding with Ran's and neutralising the attack. "You really think you can go against me by yourself?" Fuji taunted, snapping his fingers. Instantly, blades of wind sliced through the forest, cutting down trees and leaves in a chaotic frenzy.
But Ran was unfazed. He dodged the blades with an agility almost too fast to see, his movements a blur. In a heartbeat, he was right in front of Fuji. "You've dulled," Ran sneered.
Before Fuji could react, Ran's fist plunged into his gut with brutal force. Pain exploded through Fuji's body as he was sent flying backwards, crashing through trees and leaving a deep crater where his body finally hit the ground. The impact reverberated through the forest, a testament to the sheer power of the blow.
. . .
"What do we do?!?" Wano asked, his voice strained against the roar of the storm.
I looked up. It was only up. The narrow wind tube spiralled towards a small hole that seemed miles away. I tried to blast off, but nothing happened. Then I remembered: this wasn't just an ordinary storm prison. It was a territory. The mana concentration must be insane.
"We're trapped," Yuuki said, panic edging into her voice. "What do we do?"
I steadied my breathing and focused. "I think the only way is up," I said, locking eyes with Yuuki. "Channel your mana through me, and I'll try to blast us through. Just remember to keep a good grip. I'll be flying you both out, too."
Wano and Yuuki exchanged uncertain glances but quickly placed their hands on my shoulders. I could feel their mana, a swirling mix of energies, begin to merge with mine. The raw power surged, almost overwhelming, but I held firm.
"Ready?" I asked, feeling the tension build.
. . .
The ring on Yatagarasu's wrist spun steadily, a blur of motion, as Jin watched with narrowed eyes.
Yatagarasu leapt, twisted mid-air, and lashed out with a backkick aimed at Jin's face. Jin dodged, stepping in to push Yatagarasu to the ground. But Yatagarasu flipped effortlessly, landing a kick to Jin's chin that sent him sprawling onto his back while Yata executed a graceful backward cartwheel.
"Okay… okay… Yata 1, Jin 0," Jin muttered, wiping the blood from his split lip. His mind raced, focusing on a singular strategy: disrupt Yatagarasu's concentration or the spinning ring on his wrist. That would break Yatagarasu's control over his vortex. Jin didn't rely on a ring to control his Territory. The absence of air within his Territory rendered mana use ineffective.
For Yatagarasu and others, rings facilitated mana control, connecting multiple points to stabilise high-density mana inside while maintaining control. Conversely, Jin channelled all his mana into a spiralling vortex, creating an unstoppable force that even other air manacians struggled against. However, the mana consumption was a constant threat to Jin's endurance.
Yatagarasu continues to unleash a barrage of jabs and punches. Jin dodged and countered with precision.
"Jin, you're losing your edge!" Yatagarasu taunted, spinning into a roundhouse kick aimed at Jin's face. Jin raised his arm to block, but the impact was so powerful it sent him crashing to the ground.
"Hah…hah…" Jin panted, struggling to his feet. He had grown complacent, letting his focus drift.
"FUCK!" he roared at himself, knowing his mistake. He had prioritised the internal stability of his Territory over improving his martial arts and physical strength. Now, that oversight might cost him dearly.
. . .
"Fuck, what do I do now?" Yunosuke muttered, his voice trembling as he stood amidst a battlefield of charred, collapsed bodies. They hadn't even had a chance to defend themselves—they were scorched, annihilated by the fearsome Hino Kana.
He glanced at her once more, his eyes widening at her imposing frame. Her muscles were toned beyond belief, and the menacingly bright dragon tattoos coiled around her limbs amplified her ferocity.
Despite his improvement in ranking from 187 to 98, thanks to countless teachings by Mizu and rigorous training with Arashi at home, Yunosuke knew this wouldn't be enough to defeat Kana. Each burst of flame she unleashed seemed capable of tearing the earth asunder. How could mere water hope to stop her, he thought desperately.
Yunosuke was the last one standing between her and the flag. Hyun had also been taken out, carried away by that mysterious earth manacian.
"AISH!!" he cried out, swinging his body sideways. His arms moved fluidly, directing a massive wave of water from a nearby stream toward Kana. But Kana was unfazed. With a burst of flames beneath her feet, she shot upwards, dodging the torrent of water as she closed the distance between them.
Yunosuke's heart pounded as he raised his arms again, causing the wave to recede and form a towering wall of water, blocking the oncoming barrage of fireballs Kana hurled at him. The heat from the flames sizzled against the water, steam hissing violently as the two elements clashed.
"ARGHHH!!!" Yunosuke held on as the water wall thinned perilously. His muscles burned, but Kana's breath failed first. Seizing the moment, he dropped the water wall, causing it to splash into a small puddle around them, and pulled in a fresh supply.
"Okay, water counters fire…" Yunosuke thought frantically, "If I can surround her, she won't be able to create flames… But my water manipulation is too slow with my inferior mana manipulation skills… so what can I do? TRAP HER!"
With one hand, he controlled the incoming wave, and the other hovered over the puddle. The strain was immense, and the weight of the water threatened to overwhelm him. His arm trembled, almost giving out under the pressure.
He had no time to worry about the pain. Kana stepped forward, ready to unleash her flames, but Yunosuke clenched his fist. The water from the puddle shot up, coating her foot, and as he tightened his grip, it froze solid, trapping her just as the wave crashed down.
Immediately, she stomped her other foot and slammed both palms down, unleashing a torrent of flames that erupted beneath her. The fire surged upward in a fierce burst, instantly evaporating the water around her. She swung her arms upward swiftly, commanding the flames to gather into a towering pillar, vaporising the water as it landed.
"Ah, damn it," Yunosuke muttered under his breath. The techniques he had learned from Mizu and Arashi, numerous though they were, now seemed utterly ineffective. Frustration tightened his grip as he faced his palms inward, steam swirling around Kana.
With a forceful clench of his fist, patches of ice materialised around her body. Yet before he could blink, she calmly clapped her hands together, and the ice vaporised as swiftly as it had formed as a pulse of flames burst from her. It was as if she possessed a perfect counter for every move Yunosuke had gleaned from his mentors.
In that pivotal moment, Yunosuke's mind honed in on a single thought—giving up on victory. His gaze darted around, searching in vain for Vice Hyun's support. Leaping on a faith-fueled assumption that Hyun would return, he resolved to "just stall."
"All I have to do is stall?" Kana interjected with a dismissive smirk. "What a shallow notion."
###
Ichinose Ran --- Element: Air , Year: 2nd , Rank: 10
Yuuki Horai --- Element: Fire , Year: 1st , Rank: 478
Wano Sakurai --- Element: Fire , Year:1st , Rank: 439