"Sister…sister! Wake up!"
…
"Come on, you've got so much potential! Are you really just going to waste it?"
…
"Don't tell me you're holding yourself back because of me? How weak."
A tall girl with green hair and eyes appeared in view, hands on her hips. "That's right. You're pretending to be someone you're not. Well, go on ahead then. Let everyone else die."
She turned and walked away. "Like you let me die."
Suddenly, Akari's eyes opened.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Aleora…
Both Fujii and Runea stared at each other for a long moment. Dachii could feel the tension between the two.
"It's you," Runea snarled.
Fujii shrugged, smiling. "Yep, Kenshi Fujii in the flesh! You called, I answered—-!"
WHOOSH.
Before he could finish his sentence, Runea had already appeared in front of him, her blade aimed straight for his heart. Fujii managed to block the blow, pushing her back.
"Straight for the kill," Fujii remarked. "Just how I like it."
BOOM.
Dachii watched as the two basically teleported across the battlefield, powerful slashes and attacks causing massive damage to the surrounding area.
"She wasn't kidding," Dachii realized. "The force behind the attacks, it's insane…that means that vision I saw of her, it was true!"
BOOM.
The building behind Dachii and Kiyota began to crumble and Dachii pulled him out of the way just as Runea and Fujii crashed into it.
"That icy bastard…" Kiyota grumbled. "Why'd he have to ruin my big moment?"
Kiyota began to form a large comet in his hands. "Well…it doesn't matter! This prey is mine!"
He fired the attack in their direction, but Runea paused mid-air to deflect it, before appearing right in front of Kiyota and stabbing him in the side.
"Argh! Damn you!"
Fujii shoulder-checked her, sending her flying. "Kiyota! Stop and take a minute to think! You wanna be a member of the squad? You gotta think like a soldier!"
"Don't lecture me!" Kiyota demanded. "A real soldier would have killed this witch the moment she dared to set foot in this country!"
Fujii gave Kiyota a pat on the head, to his disgust. "Listen, if you go in there all angry and overconfident, she'll kill you. Well, she'll kill you either way. Look, you need to focus on your role, use those comets from a distance, but don't get too close to her. Dachii, you stand back with him until you see the right opportunity. I'll have to wear her down. And believe me…"
Runea carved a row of buildings up, her eyes blazing.
"…that won't be easy."
Runea launched a barrage of spears at Fujii, who stabbed his blade into the ground and formed a massive ice wall. "ANNIHILATE!"
The spears embedded themselves into the bottom of the wall, while Dachii, Kiyota, and Fujii were safely at the top. "Hang here, I've got this!"
"Come down and fight, coward," Runea ordered.
Fujii sat down. "Meh, I'd rather not. Too much effort. How about you come up here, if you're as strong as you say?"
Runea gripped her blade. "Trying to bait me. Fine. Let's play your little game, then."
By the time Dachii had blinked, Runea was already on top of the ice wall, and she severed Fujii's head with one swift slash.
"General!"
Fujii's body quickly stabbed her in the gut and sliced part of her torso, before launching her off the wall with a wave of ice. His head regenerated, and he felt his jaw to ensure it was intact. "You missed the vital spot. Next time, TRY THE HEART!"
But then he noticed thousands of blades in the sky above his head, and he quickly realized what was going on. He grabbed Dachii and Kiyota before ditching the ice wall.
"We gotta move! Get cover!"
The blades all came crashing down, most of them narrowly missing the trio, but a few impaled themselves in Dachii's arms, one stabbed Kiyota in the leg, and Fujii got one through the middle of the chest as they all ducked into the closest store they could find.
"That was…unpleasant…" Kiyota said.
Fujii ripped the blade out of his chest, his wound healing. "She's a warrior hell-bent on revenge. If she isn't stopped now, she'll slaughter every person in this district just to get to me."
"You musta have really ticked her off," Kiyota stated. "Typical Kenshi Fujii."
"Heh, I'm known for that," Fujii replied.
A wave of chains decimated the roof of the store, and Runea was standing on the tallest one, jumping down in an attempt to slash Fujii, who blocked her attack.
"DIE!"
She kicked him out of the store, sending him flying. Before he could land, she lunged at him again, violently swinging her blade with such force that it leveled all the structures around them. Fujii blocked the attacks, but a few managed to graze his limbs and his face.
"Can't keep playing defense," Fujii thought. "Her technique's become so aggressive now! But that skill, it's still there!"
He landed on the wall of a roof and began running alongside it, Runea keeping pace right beside him as she attacked again and again, and again.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
As he evaded the devastating attacks aimed at him, Fujii got into a fighting stance as he ran, eyes turning an icy blue. "ONSLAUGHT!"
He began swinging his sword at incredible speed, and ice slashes started erupting off of it, spiraling toward Runea, who fended them off with her blade.
"ENOUGH!"
She held her blade with two hands, jumping off the building as a massive chain formed below her, holding her up. "Weapon Mastery: INFINITE STRIKE—-OBLIVION!"
Her sword grew so massive that it towered over any other object in the distance. Dachii and Kiyota watched from afar, eyes wide.
"That's even bigger than the one she just used!" Dachii exclaimed. "Forget a vendetta, she's out for blood! She's gonna annihilate him!"
Runea slammed her blade down as Fujii held out his hand. "Rapid Spread: ICE!"
A massive wave of ice sprang from his fingertips, forming a massive dome of ice around him. Runea's blade slashed clean through, but by the time it did, Fujii was gone.
"Almost got me," Fujii noted, his left arm missing. "I need to be more careful!"
He regenerated his arm as Runea formed a normal-sized sword and engaged him once again, her speed now double its previous capacity.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
Fujii began moving faster, but Runea swept his legs, delivering a punch to his face before attempting to slash his chest with her blade. Fujii quickly recovered and slashed off her arm, but she regenerated it and sent him flying into the air with another powerful slash attack.
"ICE DRAGON!"
Fujii formed a powerful dragon of ice around his body, firing beams of ice at Runea.
"Look at you," Runea mocked. "On your back foot! Now DIE, you DEVIL!"
Runea formed a shield and blocked the ice beams, before forming a rocket launcher in her hand and firing the rocket at Fujii's dragon.
BOOM.
"There—-!"
She narrowly ducked a slash from behind by Fujii, responding with a barrage of slashes on her own.
"Did you think I was that stupid?" Runea asked. "Actually, do you think at all?"
Fujii shrugged. "Never been my strong suit."
"Yes, that's obvious," Runea agreed. "Because if it were, you wouldn't have caused so much pain to my people. You wouldn't have plunged our lands into centuries of war and bloodshed! You wouldn't have MURDERED MY SISTER!"
She tried to pierce through his chest, but he sidestepped the blow. "Your sister? Your sister started this war! She blindly pledged her loyalty to a man who wanted nothing but the destruction of our people! She struck first! She's a casualty of this war you people started!"
Runea's eyes turned red. "Don't you EVER speak on her!"
She formed three swords from her body. "Weapon Mastery: TRIFECTA!"
Attacking with three swords at the same time, she and Fujii clashed so fast that the entire street around them was blown with the wind. Fujii's eye, leg, and torso got slashed, but he managed to fend off the attack.
"ANNIHILATE!"
He stabbed the ground, forming a wall of ice that raised him high into the sky. Runea caused it to crack with just one kick. "Don't run from me, Fujii!"
Fujii smirked. "I'm not running. Just wanna see what angle I'll attack from."
"What?"
"Let's try something new. I haven't tested it yet, but I think now's the best time."
He held his arm out. "Ice Form: Ice Samurai!"
His entire body became coated in ice, forming an entire samurai suit around him, complete with a large katana of ice in his hand. "A combination of my Magic and my Element! You wanna get revenge? GET IT!"
Much faster than ever before, he and Runea clashed swords, but this time, he was able to turn hers to ice and shatter it before delivering a slash to her chest.
"You…you…!"
"SEVER!"
BOOM.
The slash severed the entire block behind her. Runea began laughing, almost like she was losing her mind. Fujii paused. "The hell's gotten into you?"
"You forget who you're dealing with!" she laughed. "The more you fight me, the stronger I get!"
She summoned another sword, crossing blades. "Weapon Mastery: Form Replication! SEVER!"
A large-scale shockwave shot out from her blades, reaching the Castle of Voltiana, splitting it into two. Both of Fujii's legs were severed at the knee, causing him to fall over.
"Let this be a lesson for you monsters," Runea stated. "Your sins will be paid for in blood! Dachii will be ours, and we will wipe you sons of bitches off the face of the planet!"
She formed a large, building-sized sword in her hands. "It's time for you to burn, Kenshi Fujii!"
"Ehh," Fujii replied. "I don't like to burn."
Runea ignored him and swung her blade downward, but a figure jumped in front of Fujii and smashed the blade, causing it to fall out of her hands.
"Who—?"
She saw Dachii standing by Fujii, who got up and patted him on the back. "Nice job, kid! You found the perfect moment!"
"Wait," Dachii remarked. "That was actually the right time? Huh. I just guessed."
"Are you kidding me?" Runea growled. "Won't you just stay out of the way? Do you want me to hurt you too?"
Dachii just stared at her, while Fujii laughed. "Look, you attacked this place and my squad. So by default, this involves all of them. You wanna kill me? You'll have to go down a list."
Runea's rage shifted into a cold, stoic expression. "Is that right? I see."
Kiyota stumbled his way over. "Me! I'm here too! Taste this Spiraling Comet, you puny girl!"
He charged up a powerful comet between his hands and fired it at Runea, who stood still. Eerily still.
"Did she already die?" Kiyota wondered. "It didn't even hit yet!"
WHOOSH.
Without even moving, the comet was severed in two, and Kiyota lost both an eye and an arm. He looked down at his missing arm. "What the hell…did you just do to me?"
Without another word, she picked him up and slammed him into the ground.
"Hey!" Fujii declared. "Back off!"
But when he looked at her, he could tell something was off. "Crap. Dachii, take Kiyota and run! This is serious! You need to leave—-!"
"No," Runea ordered, her aura freezing both of them in place. "You wanted to jump into this fight. So fight."
She began to float in the air, a gray aura of power coming off her body. "Weapon Mastery: Legion of Steel."
Bit by bit, massive soldiers made of pure weapons jumped out of her body, each wielding swords, hammers, spears, and rifles much bigger than an average-sized weapon. In no time at all, they surrounded the three.
"When did she pick up THIS?" Fujii wondered.
"The Master never told me what conditions had to bring you back in," Runea pointed out to Dachii. "Only that you had to be alive. Even just barely."
She motioned to her soldiers, who advanced on the group. "Be warned, this is going to hurt."
"Crap, crap!" Fujii thought. "At this rate, she'll get her wish!"
The soldiers all got into a fighting stance, but as they all rushed at Fujii, the ground beneath them began to crack, and a bright white light erupted, coating the entire district and burning the soldiers to ash.
—-