Chapter 59 - Nix Eyes : Black Burst

"Hang on, Suna."

Yin held his palm up, indicating for her to stop for a bit.

"Is something the matter, Yin?"

She asked.

Yin was pressing the other hand on his face. Specifically, near where his eyes were.

"Are you sure you are alright? We can postpone this, you know?"

Suna was worried.

"N-Nah. I think I have got the hang of it now."

The white-haired Slayer looked up and revealed his ocular prowess. Eyes as white as the snow. They looked as if they were lifeless, that of a monster's eyes.

"I am ready whenever you are, Suna."

He announced.

"Begin!"

Zachary gave the 'go' signal to both of them.

Suna closed the distance with a quick sprint.

She then attempted to sweep Yin's feet off of the ground with her right foot, to no avail.

Yin was on the air. The sun's shine hitting his back, making him look like a silhouette with only his white eyes discernible.

Suna circled around in a three hundred and sixty degree motion and threw a roundhouse kick at the airborne Yin with her left foot.

He immediately forced all his weight downwards to land faster on the ground, dodging her attack once more.

"Oh, not bad!"

Suna commented.

With Yin on the ground now, he wanted to go on the offensive.

"There is something I wish to try, Suna. I will not hold back this time."

He said.

Suna did not respond.

She was in the zone. Focused, calm, and serene, like a lake.

Yin clapped his hand one time. Lightning came striking down from the heavens and struck his hands. This enchanted his fists with black lightning. 

Zachary and Oliver watched on in amusement.

Oliver had covered his other eye with his hands, but left one able to see, Zach did not bother asking why he did this.

"Nix Eyes : Black Burst!"

Yin shouted out his attack.

In one swift motion, he went from being fifteen meters in front of Suna, to being behind her in just two seconds.

The B Rank Slayer was still standing, she shielded her face with both hands to mitigate the damage. But there was no question, Suna got caught by surprise.

Her arms were turning purple and bruising from the earlier attack.

If any other person were in her position right about now, they would probably concede and cut their losses, but not her.

She grinned.

"That is the first time I have seen that attack from you, Yin. Well done."

Zachary was visibly worried.

"Do not get carried away! Remember what the Commander always said, it is not too late to surrender if the adversary is too much to handle! That goes for both of you!"

He shouted.

"Did you hear him, Suna? I am sorry for not being able to hold back…"

Yin was bothered.

They were just training, yet he gave every single ounce of his strength in that attack. It was not something aimed to just plainly hit Suna, that attack was meant to kill. Yin was aware of this.

"You're sorry? Who are you apologizing to, exactly?"

Her grin turned into an angered expression.

"That is how it is supposed to be. Holding back is just insulting the enemy right in front of you! It is like saying that he or she is not strong enough to give it your all and still be left standing!"

She stomped her foot.

"These burns are nothing, I have endured far more." Suna then turned towards Zachary. "There is no humiliation in surrendering, I know that much, but I also know that I have not lost yet, and that is something I am a hundred percent certain!"

Zach clicked his tongue but could not help but grin.

"Tch. Stubborn as always, huh, Suna?"

Suna assumed a defensive and wide stance right about now.

"Yin, I would like you to try that attack once more on me. If you hold back, I will be more than angry, I assure you."

He complied with her request.

The white haired C Rank Slayer focused all his Anima cells on his eyes and hands.

Unbeknownst to every single person there, even Yin himself, this allowed the System to manifest the masquerade and equip it on his face.

"Man, his powers just keep getting weirder and weirder by the day. You are going to be seeing a whole lot of this, Oliver, hope you're ready for tons of healing afterwards."

Zach said.

"Suna! I am coming!"

"I am not holding back as well, Yin! I will never lose!"

She shouted back.

Right after Yin clapped once more, the black lightning enveloped his fists and supercharged his whole body.

"I think I get it now. The Nix eyes heighten my senses and give me physical strength that rivals even that of Suna. But it is not reliable, even after just a few minutes of activating them, my eyes are hurting, I just wonder how long I am able to keep this up."

Yin thought to himself.

A faint leaf was falling towards the ground.

Merely a few milliseconds after it made contact with it, Yin blasted away and jolted towards Suna. He was quick, like lightning itself.

"Nix Eyes : Black Burst!"

He left a trail of yellow and black in his wake.

But Suna realized something after Yin's first attack.

It was that Yin took a huge step in order to gather enough force to propel him forwards, he was not running towards her, no. In fact, he was leaping towards her.

She bet on the fact that Yin's mid-air control of his body was still not as polished as hers, and this bet really did pay back dividends in no time.

Eager to land a clean hit on Suna once more and hopefully ending the spar, Yin had not noticed that Suna was moving as well, her body moved, but she was in the same place.

"W-What is she doing?! If she does not block my attack, there is a chance I might actually end up killing her!"

Yin thought to himself.

Zachary chuckled.

"Excellent, Suna. Your adaptability in combat has really improved drastically."

Suna was placing her own body on the line, if she had not swung her fist fast enough, there was no doubt that Yin would get a clean hit on her, absolutely no question.

But Suna began throwing the punch even before Yin jumped forward in a straight line, she had bet that Yin would get hit by her punch before she is struck down by him.

It was a battle of speed, Yin's Nix Eye Black Burst versus Suna's inhuman hyper reflexes were pitted against each other.

"You are not able to control your body that well mid-air, right, Yin?"

She thought to herself.

"Let us see who can land a blow the quickest, your black lightning, or my punch!"

Before even getting close to her, Yin suddenly fell to the ground.

"I-Impossible! Did he know what I was about to do? Did he predict it and purposely fell to change the trajectory that his body was going?"

She was visibly shocked.

"Wait. What?"

Zachary was also perplexed.

He ran towards the scene as fast as he could.

Suna was still standing, her position and stance indicated that she already threw her punch.

"Did you hit him or something, Suna?"

Zach asked.

Suna shook her head defiantly.

"No! I don't think I did!"

She shouted back and then ran towards Yin, who was on the ground.

There was blood everywhere.

"Blood!?"

Cold sweat began to flow down her temple.

"What?! What did you just say?!"

Zachary grabbed Oliver who caught up to him and got close to Yin.

He lifted his head and instructed Suna to remove the white masquerade.

It was stuck on his face, like a snail.

"It is not coming off!"

She said.

"Just do it! It is not connected to his face, we have to see what kind of damage he sustained and where it came from. You are positive that your fist did not make contact with Yin, right?"

Suna nodded.

"I am sure of it. In the trajectory and pace he was going for, I am sure that I would have hit him, maybe he did it on purpose?!"

Suna shakily asked.

"No, that is impossible, it would not explain how the blood is coming out from his mask, where the hell did this mask even come from, anyway?! It just manifested out of nowhere!"

Zach exclaimed. "Alright, we are going to pull the mask out together, Oliver! We are going to need your help as well, buddy."

The baby panda bobbed his head up and down.

"One! Two! Three! Pull!"

After a few minutes, the mask was gone. Following its removal, it got erased into nothingness once more, but now, it had turned into dust, the same dust that is the byproduct of Yin decaying things with his hand.

There, they saw the damage.

Zach's guess was right, his eyes, they were bleeding.

"How did this even happen?!"

He was slowly rising his voice in intervals.

"I think I have an idea why…"

Suna said. "His body, it can't keep up with the insane toll the Nix Eyes have on him."

"I definitely do not want to keep doing this every single day, seriously, how fragile is this guy?!"

Zach retorted.