The wind brushed through the two figures who stood facing each other, blades in their hands.
The burned sakura petals rose into the air,
Ready to go for each other's throats anytime.
"Hm...swords are annoying as ever!"
Kan Ryou threw away the sword he had grabbed from the ground.
"Kuh...so your hate for swords hasn't subsided", stated
"Hehe...habits from birth indeed pertain till perish", replied Kan Ryou.
Clenching his fists, Kan Ryou took his battle stance, with the right fist at the front followed by the left.
"How many blows did we already exchange, master?", asked Kan Ryou.
"So the king's eyes could also envison it, huh?", asked Ri Li.
"Don't take my eyes for light master", remarked Kan Ryou.
The "King's eyes", the name was given to the supreme general Kan Ryou due to his ability to predict moves by perceiving muscle movements, their intentions, and by imagining specific outcomes.
The hundreds of battles made his eyes evolve to see the unseen. It forced his brain to think beyond the present. Every move simulates the opponent's brain, so that the opponent could make in the future.
"Now..."
"FIFTH MOON", muttered Ri Li.
Like a shring deity, the qi enveloped Ri Li's sword and the caldded blade headed towards Ri Li's chest.
The violet lining followed by the sword.
Quickly perceiving in his mind, Kan Ryou uses his fist to land a punch on Ri Li's gut.
"Qi!!"
Ri Li hardened his whole abdomen, rendering the punch useless. Kan Ryou dodged that; the sheer power of the sword had mutilated his chest armour.
"Keep in mind, child, you are challenging Great General Ri Li of Han", declared Ri Li.
Hearing that, Kan Ryou smiled.
"Well said, master!!"
A thunderbolt appeared right before Ri Li and, raging with his monstrous Qi, Kan Ryou launched a barrage of punches to his chest and abdomen.
With the plain of his blade, Ri Li rendered all of those useless and had already transitioned into his second style.
"FOURTH MOON", muttered Ri Li.
Like a full moon, his sword moved and appeared right below Kan Ryou.
Angling his sword right into Kan Ryou's chest, Kan Ryou was already withing Ri Li rage.
A meteorite hit Kan Ryou's armour, and the sword ripped his armour apart, revealing his bare chest.
In a split second, Kan Ryou's fist moved like a boulder. Hit the sword at its edge and chipped it.
"Curse those fists!!", remarked Ri Li.
"It's my pleasure, master!!", said Kan Ryou.
From the front appeared Kan Ryou's feet, slamming right into Ri Li's face.
Like a python, Ri Li grabbed that foot and gripped it. The pressure made the muscles lose their motility within seconds.
Before the grips had destroyed his bones, Kan Ryou unleashed a barrage of punches from the position.
"Qi!!"
Ri Li hardened his abdomen again. The fist changed its trajectory to Ri Li's neck.
Like a hammer, that barrage rained upon Ri Li's neck, drilling through his cervical nerves.
"Ryo...!!", shouted Wan.
The fist changed its trajectory again and collided with Ri Li's head, crushing the blood vessel in his head.
Kan Ryou withdrew his feet and moved back. Taking the next battle pose.
"Hehe...", smiled Ri Li.
"SIXTH MOON", muttered Ri Li.
"Wait...I have to endure the hell!".
From all directions came a barrage of crescent slashes, tearing away Kan Ryou's flesh one by one.
The slashes rained upon him; he blocked all of them with his sheer power. With the demon-level precision of the sword, it was impossible to block it all.
"His optic nerves are no longer functioning...he is blind. But this level fo precision!??"
"I have to move!!"
SFX: THRSSSHKKK!!!
A terrifying slash to the right part of his head. At that moment, RI Li's left view was completely blacked out.
"He slashed off my left optic!!"
SFX: SHLLSSSHHH!!!
A stream of blood flowed from his left ear; he could hear from his left ear anymore.
Theslashes rained down after another, cleaving Kan Ryou's flesh, destroying vessel after vessel.
"AAARRGHHHH!!!!", roared Kan Ryou.
Mustering strength in his left fist, the movement of the sword reflects in his right eye.
SFX: CLAMMM!!!
His fist collided with the blade, shattering it in half.
His right foot slammed right into Ri Li's chest. Utterly shattering his rib cage into mere bone debris.
Ri Li's posture dropped, but still, the fire was far from being extinguished.
"EIGHTH MOON", muttered Ri Li.
"With that broken sword!!!"
Starring right into Kan Ryous' eyes, Ri Li turned into a mere silhouette.
Before Kan Ryou appeared, thousands of crescent moons, and the whole place turned black as the moons headed to finish him.
"One of them is him!!"
"I have got only one strike; if this lands on me, I will be on my last leg"
"Think..he is blind, so he can't move much, so it's one of those last three crescents, it can't be the centre one, it's either the left or right!!"
"Right!"
Kan Ryou's fist struck the right crescent, and the rest of them disappeared.
A hand gripped Kan Ryou's fist.
"Again, his grip, is it a python!!"
"SEVENTH MOON!!", muttered Ri Li.
"He is gonna do it with that sword??!!"
Like a sphere, the Sword headed toward Kan Ryou's face. The sword was just inches away from drilling right through his face.
SFX: CREAAAAKKK!!!
"Break!!!"
In a split second, Kan Ryou's head dropped forward. The sword missed its target.
From below, angles right onto Kan Ryou's chin, the fist rendered Ri Li's jawbone into mere pieces.
The sword aimed at the top, headed down, like a wolf, it tore through Kan Ryou's shoulder into his upper chest.
"Kuh!! Die old man!!!", roared Kan Ryou.
With his other arm, he fixed his dislocated neck. Held Ri Li's sword and forced it out of his shoulders.
"Kuuuuhhh!!!!"
Ri Li, with all his strength, pushed the sword toward Kan Ryou's face.
SFX: SHRRKKK!!
Ri Li stabbed his face with that broken sword of his. Slashing off Kan Ryou's right eye with that sword.
However, the sword fell from his hand.
With the other hand, he held Kan Ryou's left fist, using all his might, and he gripped that fist.
SFX: CRACKKKK
One after the other, due to that sheer strength, Kan Ryou's fist bones shattered.
Ri Li fell on his knees, unable to move, but still holding onto that monstrous grip of his.
"Leave it, old man!!! You curse!!!", roared Kan Ryou.
"I will break you here!!!", whispered Ri Li.
"Ryo!!!", shouted Wan Heian.
With all his strength, Wan crawled to slash Kan Ryou with Ao.
However...
Despite the struggle, the sword fell from his hands; the blood loss had paralysed his whole body.
Tears flowed from his eyes.
"ARGHHHHH!!!!", he cried.
Slightly turning that blood-covered face of his, Ri Li smiled, looking at Wan.
"No..Ryou!!"
Kan Ryou grabbed that sword and slashed off Ri Li's hand.
Despite getting slashed, his arm latched onto Ri Li's fist. The desperate Ri Li runs off through the gate.
The fog thickened, and slowly Ri Li's silhouette disappeared.