Mischa struck from his left and Lokei came from his right. Their attack came at him from both sides, leaving him little room to dodge. He raised both of his swords to meet the attack, parrying Mischa's strike with Nishizi and knocking Lokei's staff aside with the Aberrant Katana of Peace.
But they did not stop, Mischa twisted her weapon, forcing him to push back with his own blade. Lokei took advantage of his opening and drove his staff into Saikichi's ribs. Saikichi moved to the side, the staff nearly finding his ribs, he sidestepped forward, slipping between them, and tapped Lokei across the shoulder with the flat of his blade.
Lokei stumbled back, while Mischa moved to his aid, but Saikichi had pulled away from her reach. The three of them stood apart from one another. Across the ruined chamber, Sun Yunso watched the fight with his black sword hanging from his belt.
Even with two attackers, Saikichi was still managing to turn their attacks against them. Sun Yunso was beginning to see why they were losing. Saikichi's gaze flickered over the three of them and for a moment he was silent, letting the hushed emptiness of the ruined auction hall surround them then he lowered Nishizi.
"Fall."
He brought the blade down and a black-purple pulse of energy wove out from it, flattening the broken stone at the front. Loose pieces of stone and rubble flew together towards the ground, smashing beneath an unseen weight.
Mischa's knees buckled.
Lokei's staff clattered to the ground as he struggled to steady himself and Yunso, even standing at a remove, felt his muscles tense and his breath deepen as if his very being was being siphoned away with the black-purple pulse. Something else was happening, too, something deeper.
His Seidan circulation faltered.
Their life force was being drawn into the Nishizi blade, funneled down its spine, siphoned into the black-purple energy surrounding it like some kind of gravity well. Saikichi lifted his head. The black-purple energy still spiraled around the Nishizi blade and the longer they stood there, the more their life force was being pulled into it.
Sun Yunso, Lokei Yoshe, and Mischa Chikae were all stunned by what had just occurred. None of them could explain the changes that had taken place within their bodies, and loss of strength over the past few moments.
Well, actually none of them could because Mischa, as she laid on the ground, knew exactly why Nishizi had happened.
The blade had a reputation, of course but the problem was she never heard any other words about the blade from the higher ups of The Armada so only the information provided to her had been quite limited.
She knew of its power but not all of it and now, she was starting to find out.
Before anyone could process the events that had just transpired, Anzo once again took action. His gaze shifted to Sun Yunso, who barely had time to react before the first clash of steel rang out between the two men.
Sun Yunso raised his black blade to parry the attack, but the force sent him skidding backwards across the broken floor, his weakened body unable to take the impact for long. Saikichi wasted no time following through with the attack, thrusting forward in a second strike. Sun Yunso managed to roll clear, but he barely had time to regain his feet before having to throw himself out of the way of another powerful strike from
Saikichi.
The second time Sun Yunso attempted to parry, only to have the blow deflected back at him, causing his eyes to widen in alarm, even in their short duel, he could feel his body slowing, growing weaker with each passing moment.
It was obvious that Saikichi was a master swordsman, but against an opponent of such caliber, it wasn't just skill that was needed. Agility, power, and speed were also required and Sun Yunso was sadly lacking in those departments.
Saikichi took advantage of this by quickly pushing Sun Yunso back into the defensive.
Mischa noticed Sun Yunso having difficulty keeping up with Saikichi and quickly came to his aid. Her sword clashed against Nishizi's right as Anzo prepared to make another strike, which had enough time for Sun Yunso to find a good opportunity to strike back.
Sun Yunso took the chance and moved forward and delivered a powerful kick to Anzo's torso, sending the man flying backwards and creating distance between himself and Saikichi.
Saikichi slid across the broken floor and for the first time in a long while, Sun Yunso had a chance to catch his breath. Mischa landed beside Sun Yunso, her sword still drawn.
"Woah, you're really getting your shit rocked, huh?"
Sun Yunso gave Mischa one of his most unimpressed looks.
"That's rich coming from someone who took the same damage as me."
Mischa's face faltered slightly, she opened her mouth to retort but stopped as she noticed something else.
Sun Yunso had only one sword, so she looked him over, then at the broken battlefield around the two.
"Hey, where's your other sword?"
Sun Yunso turned his head to the left and pointed towards where Elsa laid, several metres behind them on the broken floor.
"I can't use two swords at the same time."
"Why?" Mischa asked.
"I only ever trained with my left hand, so using two swords at the same time throws my rhythm off."
She glanced back at him, as if weighing in on every choice she had to make to get in this position. Sun Yunso paid no mind to her look and continued.
"I'm going to pick it up and keep it here, that way, I can alternate between the two and use them at the same time but I might need you to help me get it."
Mischa followed his line of sight and looked at where Elsa laid, then she looked back at Anzo who was recovering from Sun Yunso's kick.
"Of course," she muttered. "It wasn't bad enough nearly getting killed by a single monster with two swords, it seems we also have to run errands in the middle of the fight as well."
"Are you going to help or not?"
"Yea, yea. Just try not to get yourself killed before I do."
Before Sun Yunso and Mischa could move, Lokei shot towards them and landed next to the two with his staff in one hand and Elsa in the other. He held out the white-hilted sword towards Sun Yunso.
"There's no way in hell you're leaving me out of the fun. Besides this is personal to me, I have to slay my own father and if I can't, one of you guys can do it for me. But I still wanna put in some damage first."
Lokei passed Elsa to Sun Yunso and he took the white-hilted sword and momentarily adjusted his grip before looking back up at Anzo. The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the man at the other end of the ruined hall.
At the same time, Saikichi's condition was deteriorating rapidly, the corruption that had seeped into his consciousness had reached a critical point, his thoughts were becoming more and more difficult to organize, and the woman's indistinct whispers were growing louder.
He estimated he had at most another minute before he lost himself entirely and the blade took control of his body for one minute.
He still had three opponents to deal with and he couldn't afford for the corruption to finish its work while he was fighting them, he needed to put an end to this quickly and more importantly, he needed to put away the blade before it was too late.
Lokei without a second of hesitation charged forwards with Mischa right behind him with her sword drawn. Anzo barely had time to even turn as the staff swung towards his face, he dodged sideways just in time, allowing the staff to sweep past him. He brought Nishizi up in a quick sweeping motion. Lokei twisted his staff to block the blow, however it sent him back a few steps.
Now Mischa stepped in, swinging her sword, she slashed at his side. Saikichi had to turn and parry the blow. The steel rang out in the destroyed hall. Lokei came in from the other side and swung his staff low but Saikichi jumped his leg over and threw his elbow into Lokei's face. Lokei ducked and spun his staff, swinging it again.
Mischa launched an attack from behind then from the side then from the front.
They worked perfectly together, constantly swapping positions and attacking from different sides. Saikichi couldn't get a chance to stop and defend. Every time he turned to block one attack, there would be another coming.
However, Saikichi held his own, a little too well. He was far too skilled with his sword. He was reading their movements and blocking their attacks. He was punishing any mistakes they made.
Lokei clenched his jaw then suddenly changed his rhythm. He swung his staff but missed. This caught Anzo off guard.
"End Strike."
His staff shot forwards with great force. It caught Saikichi off guard.
It smashed into his defences and was so close to hitting him in the stomach.
For the first time, Saikichi's body flinched but there was no time for that as Mischa was already moving. She lunged forwards, slashing at him and in the last second, Saikichi used the Nishizi shot up to block Mischa's attack. He then used his other hand, the Aberrant Katana of Peace slashed across.
It sliced through Lokei's attack, causing him to stumble back. Mischa's eyes widened. Saikichi was standing between them, injured but still standing. He had both swords drawn and he showed no signs of giving up, despite the huge damage to his stomach.
Lokei was confused, he had only been a few seconds away from landing his End Strike. Not only had he felt the force of his staff, he had even seen the staff hit Anzo's body. So how was it possible that his strike was interrupted?
'How did he do that?'
Saikichi noticed the confusion on Lokei's face and charged forward and kicked Lokei in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.
Sun Yunso watched and for a second his eyes flickered to Elsa but he dropped the sword with the white handle onto the ground. He would get it later but right now he wanted to fight with the sword he was most familiar with.
Sun Yunso gripped the black handle tightly.
"Dark Flow."
Seidan coursed through his body as he sped towards Anzo. His feet hardly touched the ground as he instantly got into position to attack. His sword arched down in a fast and powerful swing. Meanwhile Mischa launched an attack from the other side to try to overwhelm Anzo.
However, Anzo's face was calm.
"Invert."
The blade clashed with Sun Yunso's and he braced himself and blocked the first hit.
However as soon as the blades connected the force of the cutting changed direction.
Sun Yunso's eyes widened, instead of the force stopping, it instead hit from the opposite direction. It was also the same for Mischa. They both had blocked Anzo's attack correctly but their blocks weren't enough. Stunned, both Sun Yunso and Mischa Chikae looked down at their weapons.
They had successfully dodged Anzo's attack but somehow the power of the blade had changed directions and cut them. While the wounds weren't too serious, they were still wounds and the bleeding was coming from their arms. They couldn't afford to be hit again.
Lokei watched them fall and he had a sudden panic. Two people were fighting for their lives, putting themselves through hell to kill his father and yet they were slowly losing.
How? What had happened?
Saikichi had always been the ultimate deadbeat. He had never cared for Lokei, had written him off and never thought he had any potential. However, somehow Lokei had transformed into the person he is now because of this. He had spent his whole life trying to prove that he was worth something. He had fought and battled through everything to move forward despite his father not believing in him.
But now watching Sun Yunso and Mischa bleed, he realised something. Maybe his father hadn't treated him how he thought.
"This was your real reason"
He thought of Sanori, he had beaten her or at least he thought he had. With her presumed death the Forbidden Twin Lock had finally been turned off.
There was no longer a limit on the twins' potential. Lokei was now the only heir left of the Yoshe Clan.
The real heir but right now it meant nothing. He didn't care about the money or power the clan held. He just knew he couldn't stand by and watch his friends die. Something changed within him, for years he had compared himself to Sanori, his father and tried to prove he was good enough to be the prodigy.
But now he didn't care, he knew who he was, he knew what he wanted and he knew what he was fighting for.
A pale cloud formed on the side of his face and thickened. It solidified into a mask covering half of his face. Slowly he lifted his head, there was no longer any doubt in his eyes as he finally knew who he was.
"Cloudbound."
The weight of his weapon lessened. He felt the cloudbound mask that covered half his face harden then he vanished. He appeared in front of him, swinging his staff in. Saikichi swung Nishizi up to parry, but Lokei had shifted his angle, swinging at his ribs instead.
Saikichi blocked the Aberrant Katana of Peace but Lokei had already twisted his body to attack again. His speed had increased greatly. One attack after another came, forcing Saikichi to block both of his swords. He was struggling to find a weakness in his opponent's attacks and for the first time throughout the fight, he was forced onto the defensive.
"Fall!"
Lokei somehow had already vanished as he ducked beneath the swing and attacked with a three part combo. The first hit his side, the second hit his chest and the final hit hit him dead on, making him stumble backwards. Before he could react, Lokei had landed a few feet away from him and slammed his staff onto the ground.
He raised one hand and made one hand sign. Clouds appeared,they flowed along the broken floor before appearing in the air. One by one, figures appeared from the clouds. Within seconds, there were multiple copies of him, all with a staff and the same mask.
Saikichi's eyes widened slightly, he looked surprised but then his expression returned.
He gripped both swords tightly and stared at the army of Lokeis.
"You've grown," Anzo admitted in a cold voice. "But you're still a nuisance on the run. And every nuisance will be destroyed by me! Saikichi Yoshe!"
The clones and Lokei themselves appeared suddenly above Saikichi, their staves raised high.
"Well, go fuck yourself, deadbeat."
They attacked, Saikichi clenched his eyes together and raised his Nishizi.
"Invert."
At the point of contact the slashes became reversed. One by one the clones were erased as they were cut apart by the reversal. The technique affected Lokei as well, causing him great pain as his body was thrown out. He plummeted from the sky.
However, his face was grinning widely.
"And that's how you open a play , now it's time for the main character to make an entrance."
Sun Yunso was already moving,his eyes never leaving Saikichi. He wasn't going to let the opening move go to waste.
"Sword of Black Catastrophe….Blackened River."
He swung and a large black slash ripped through the broken auction hall, heading straight for Saikichi.
Saikichi had barely had time to react and it hit him, finally after so long Sun Yunso had drawn blood.