"Corvina" fought against Nathan, who summoned a hand of blood that chased her from all directions. Even though both were second circle, he seemed to have a higher percentage than her.
"Triple Hand of Deprivation."
Two more hands emerged from his back and stretched toward her. Parrying with her katana, she managed to hold on for a while until one struck her from behind, pushing her upward toward another.
"Crimson Blessing."
Seeing a glow surround her opponent, she noticed he had grown stronger as she was struck by a fist of blood from his hands. Trying to stay calm, she summoned several crows that scattered their feathers across the room. Hidden among them, she moved toward the wardrobe.
'Hitodama, heal me.'
Being healed, she began summoning her Akaname and ordered him to help while she hid. Obeying, he concealed himself under the bed.
"Wings of Sacred Light."
Creating crow wings on her back, she moved quickly behind Nathan. He noticed the movement of the feathers when she appeared and summoned his three hands, merging them into a shield and managing to defend.
As it dissolved, three punches struck her, sending her back among the feathers. Pursuing, he stopped when he noticed no one there and that the feathers were increasing.
'Where is she? Let's sharpen my senses.'
Closing his eyes, he used his Blessing to enhance his senses. He began to hear light footsteps coming from the right, then summoned a hand that took on a piercing form and sent it toward where he heard the sound.
"Damn."
The feathers opened when he launched the attack, creating a hole in her stomach. Not giving up, she cloaked herself in feathers and vanished.
"Wait—that's human blood? Then you're not a vampire?"
He received no answer, so he tried to smell the blood, quickly finding her. As he moved, he felt his leg begin to melt from a line coiling around it.
"Tch."
Lifted, he was thrown against the window, which didn't break due to the resistance of Angela's house. Falling to the ground, he looked up and saw the tongue approaching. Pulled back by his blood hands, he managed to dodge in time, the attack crashing into the floor.
He tried to smell the blood again but noticed it was gone, meaning she had healing magic. Summoning one more hand, he covered himself with four around his body and tried to sense something again.
'She's not making any noise. Is she standing still?'
Sensing danger behind him, he turned and smashed whoever attacked from the rear, realizing it was just a swarm of controlled crows. Feeling in danger, he turned just in time to receive a katana slash on his arm.
"Yatagarasu Blade."
Her sword had turned black like a crow, its edge red. He felt a burn on his arm and noticed it was now useless. Yumeha struck exactly that spot, and for the first time in the battle, a bead of sweat slid down Nathan's face. He fused his hands into two larger ones.
"Shaking Blood Strike."
Clasping his palms, he fused the two hands into one larger hand and struck Yumeha squarely, breaking eleven of her bones from the sheer force.
"It was harder than I thought."
He cut his arm and used his Blessing with his natural regeneration, slowly restoring his arm. Yumeha trembled on the ground as her mask fell, focusing magic into a single point of her katana, waiting for a moment.
'I won't lose—not when master entrusted this to me.'
Her eyes shone with determination. Even with her body aching, she tried to stand, thinking of using this battle to grow stronger just like her master did. Her legs were tired, but then she felt something and smiled.
"Time to end this."
Fully healed, Nathan walked toward her, noticing she was without her mask. He raised an eyebrow but ignored it, preparing the same attack as before. The massive hand rose and struck where she had been. Turning his back, he decided to go help Morvus's other subordinates to end this rebellion quickly.
"He improved again..."
Hearing the girl's voice he thought defeated, he turned and saw her standing, a bright light surrounding her body—that must have been what healed her all this time. Hitodama, having used all its magic to resist and heal that last attack, disappeared temporarily, able to return in a few minutes.
"Tenome, forgive me, but you will become magic."
At her side, a blind man with an eye in each hand bowed, transforming into mana and entering her body. Feeling the danger, Nathan summoned his hand again and launched an attack.
"Shields of Eyes."
A spiritual shield activated, reflecting the attack. Yumeha's smile seemed calm and full of confidence. If she compared herself now to the weak self of the past, there was no comparison.
'I really love my current self. Thank you, master.'
Her second-circle percentage suddenly surged to ninety-five percent, which meant her master had done something.
Her eyes turned bright green, and she could see all truths in Nathan's body, noticing that at most he could manage only one more attack of that level.
"Yatagarasu Blade."
Her blade took the same form as before, and she assumed her sister Rina's fighting stance, focusing massive mana into her sword. Nathan did the same, but this time decided to split his hand into two and put all his magic into the attack.
'I'll use one as a distraction while the other strikes her.'
Stepping forward, he thought to use himself as bait for the plan to work. But to his misfortune, he had forgotten about that tongue, thinking she wouldn't have much mana left due to her wounds and heavy breathing. It grabbed him again with more force than before, even throwing him up toward her.
"Yatagarasu Final Cut."
Combining her two magics into one—crow wings enhanced and the sword—her speed was so great she pierced through his chest instantly, leaving a line of cut in the air.
"Thank you, because thanks to you all, my master seems to have improved."
She looked coldly at Nathan's body falling to the ground dead. Having won her battle, she had the urge to scream with joy but held it in, thinking only of one thing as she went to meet her master.
"What made my master improve?"
A few minutes earlier, Enrico's clothes were torn, and part of his mask near the eye cracked, revealing his eyes glowing red with a certain antipathy toward his opponent.
"So it really is you, Pedro."
Vladimir looked at him the same way, appearing better off than Enrico even though his clothes had been burned by a surprise fire attack.
"Saul."