Yamikuro's long hair was pushed around by the wind as his cold eyes stared at Yure. He didn't speak a word, waiting to see what Yure would do.
Yure let go of his bucket hat, putting trust into it staying on his head without support.
"Asaki Yamikuro, I must say I'm surprised."
Yamikuro didn't respond even to that; he just stared, demanding an answer through his eyes.
"Whatever training you did, my Seikodo doesn't make you fall to your knees anymore." Yure seemed to be praising Yamikuro, until he continued his speech, "However, I'm also disappointed. There is no Kishin in you, or the reserve has been minimized to a degree that barely keeps you breathing."
"That's because I haven't released it yet," Yamikuro said, his voice quieter than Yure's.
Yure's eyes shot open just ever so lightly, but Yamikuro could tell Yure was shaken by it. The training with Urashin was one thing, but after his meeting with Honor in his inner world, as Honor called it, he had awakened to a power he could've never dreamed of.
Yure's uniform swayed like a flag, along with his hair. The wind didn't come from anywhere, but from Yamikuro, who released a drop of his Kishin into Seikodo.
"I see. You've grown indeed." Yure noted, remembering how Yamikuro's Kishin used to leak out of his body, creating an unstable Seikodo around him that anyone could've sensed.
"However, do you know what my Ascension: Senkompata Svingo Morto does?" Yure asked, with a slight smirk on his face, along with his eyes drooping lower again, as if he had calmed down.
"Don't really care."
Yure raised an eyebrow. It was almost like the question went in through one ear and out the other for Yamikuro.
"What I'm asking is if you know what your opponent even has? Don't tell me you'd challenge someone prior to knowing their weaknesses and strengths."
Yamikuro hadn't given Yure the answer he had hoped for, standing in silence after saying he didn't care.
"They call my power once in a once-in-a-generation miracle, and despite coming from an underdog clan, I used to be feared."
Yure leaned closer to Yamikuro.
"But do you know what that power does?"
Yamikuro pushed his right foot back, clenching his fists, as if he was ready to attack.
"I didn't come here for a trivia."
"So you give up without trying? What a waste of time."
Yure twisted the arm that he held near his chest, curling his fingers slightly.
Swoosh!
Black spirals slowly formed around them.
Yamikuro eyed every single one as they appeared. There were roughly ten of them as far as he could see.
"You've already lost," Yure said.
Yure jumped, the dust on the ground flying into the air as he moved.
Yamikuro didn't have trouble keeping up with his speed, but for an average Resonant, it would've been difficult to keep up with such Shintai speed.
As Yure was in the air, Yamikuro swayed his body, dodging Yure's attack with ease.
Or that's what should've happened.
Once Yamikuro blinked, he saw himself standing in the position he had been in before Yure jumped.
'What's going on...?' He thought.
"That was my Ascension," Yure mentioned, standing as if he had won.
"But when?" Yamikuro asked aloud, trying to figure out how Yure managed to activate it.
However, he realized it pretty quickly. It was when Yure asked Yamikuro what his Ascension did.
It blended in the sentence so well that Yamikuro didn't pick up on it, and maybe that's why Yure was a threat. And now was the time to take him on as one.
However, Yure lunged once again, similarly to how he did before. For someone so smart, it didn't make sense to attack the same.
In that brief window of Yure attacking and Yamikuro dodging, Yamikuro had figured out, or at least hoped, what Yure's Ascension did.
It was to keep them in an endless loop that reset after every attack. Yure went first once again, but relying on resetting the loop didn't seem like a bad idea.
And so, Yamikuro dodged once again, the exact same way he did before. Allowing Yure to miss and hit the ground.
Yamikuro waited for the reset, and just as he guessed, they were back in the original spot in the blink of an eye.
Within the first second, Yamikuro moved, his fist drawn before him to land a punch. Yamikuro didn't want to go overboard against Yure, even if he was a threat, since his main enemy was Lucian.
Draining too much Kishin was also dangerous before the fight waiting for him.
However, as Yamikuro was in the air, his lungs suddenly collapsed on him.
'What... What's going on?' Yamikuro thought to himself as his body hit the ground.
Yure towered over Yamikuro's body, blocking the sun in the blue sky.
"...Like I said, Asaki Yamikuro, you have lost."
But how? How did he lose despite dodging Yure's attacks and going for an attack first? Yure's speed wasn't anything extraordinary, and neither his Ascension nor his Kensei seemed to cause this.
"What'd you?" Yamikuro broke his ego for a second, truly feeling like he had lost.
"You can still stand, meaning our fight isn't done. I have no means to tell you my secrets that don't benefit me." Yure's voice, one that didn't seem to have a hint of excitement in it, backed it up.
Yamikuro regained his breath, as if his lungs healed themselves from the attack. But he couldn't get up on his own, because he found himself standing before Yure once again. Just like the last two times.
Everything depended on what Yamikuro's move was going to be from this moment on. He could've just swung his arm from the left side of his waist to the right side of his head.
That would've created his attack that cut through anything, but he didn't want to kill Yure.
"If I wanted to kill you, I could, Yure."
Yure was already in position to keep attacking Yamikuro, but stopped, hearing those words.
"Are you hoping I'd let you go?"
"No. I want to beat you, but without external help. I thought I'd let you know."
"Asaki Yamikuro. If you defeat me, I will call off every other Elite."
Yamikuro looked at Yure, trying to see if his words were the truth. But anyone could tell someone like Yure wouldn't joke around when it comes to topics such as this.
Well, to be exact, Yure didn't joke at all.
The time was ticking, with every second that passed, Lucian was getting further away from their reach, or so it felt like.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Graceless World.
"Yamikuro Asaki... The child fated to fall under my hand, your presence is getting clearer." Lucian Daichi said to himself, looking out his office window with a view over the city.
"...The time for the final confrontation is drawing closer."