Chapter 45 – The Hero v. The Assassin (Part 1)

Chapter 45 – The Hero v. The Assassin (Part 1)

Not long after the announcement, people began to gather at the athletics field and take their seats in the bleachers overlooking the track. Upon arrival, it was explained that there was to be an exhibition match between Akagi and Hishya. Most people had little understanding of just how powerful the returnees were, and Akagi figured this would be a great way to show off and have a little fun. As for how Akagi got the school to agree to this? Lets just say that Akagi can be very persuasive when she needs to be.

When she brought up the idea to Hishya, the dragon girl couldn't resist the challenge. She and Akagi had always enjoyed facing off against one another and this would be the first time they'd fought in two years. Kana and the girls took front-row seats. They knew that Hishya and Akagi were powerful, but they'd never seen the two fight, and frankly, they underestimated just how strong the two were.

Akagi and Hishya moved to the center of the field, a good ways away from the audience. Yumi followed and placed a barrier around their fighting area. It wouldn't stop powerful attacks from either fighter, but it would stop debris from flying toward the onlookers and give a sense of safety. The fight was being streamed to those with AR devices so they could watch it in full detail.

"I can't wait to see this." Mika's eyes shined. "It's gonna be like some anime fight. I bet they're gonna fly around and shoot lasers at each other!" Mika was excited when she was told Hishya and Akagi would be fighting.

Naomi and Kana let out a laugh.

"I don't think they'll be going that crazy... I hope." Kana gave a wry smile.

"Still, it should be interesting. It's not every day you get to see two super-powered people go at it for entertainment." Naomi chuckled.

Airi took a seat next to them. "I mean, Akagi is strong, but I don't think she can do anything that crazy, right? And that Hishya girl isn't as powerful so I think it will." Airi was underestimating just how strong the two were.

"I mean, we've seen a little bit of what Akagi can do." Naomi thought for a moment. "But we've never actually seen her fight before."

"Yeah, I know Onee-chan was able to beat the military, but we never saw just exactly how she did so." Kana gave a wry smile. "She told us not to watch the videos online."

"I did!" Mika smiled. "It was awesome!"Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

Suddenly, Chloe took a seat next to them along with a familiar blue-haired maid.

"A fight between myaster and Hishya isn't something to be missed nya!" the cat girl was as excited as Mika.

"I never really paid attention to her combat ability before, so it will be quite interesting to see." Mizumi was also interested in seeing how her new master performed

"Hey, Chloe. Hey Mi." Kana greeted her. "I didn't expect to see you here." She hadn't seen her or any of her sister's followers at the festival so the cat and maid appearing was unexpected, since Akagi didn't trust her. Akagi had instructed Kana to hide Mizumi's true identity, and Mika and Naomi thought she was simply another one of Akagi's followers. This was mostly to prevent information from leaking, since if it was known that Akagi was harboring the one who caused the FWO incident, it would be problematic.

"Nya ha ha ha." She laughed. "I couldn't very well miss this; it's not too often I get to see myaster let out some of her power." the cat took a seat. "I wonder how far they will go. They're both battle junkies after all." Chloe's eyes glinted slightly. She was just as guilty as her master for enjoying the thrill of the fight.

Hearing the term battle junkie caused the three girls to let out a nervous laugh.

The two warriors slowly approached one another, each with looks of pure delight on their faces. When they reached the center of the field and were around 10 yards apart they began to circle one another like a predator stalking its prey. This dance continued for almost a minute before the two flashed forward, their blades clashing together.

"Oh, you actually took that head-on?" Hishya commented.

"Don't assume you know everything about me. It's been a long time since you last saw me in action!" Akagi yelled as she pushed Hishya back.

Hishya wasn't phased and quickly righted herself, bringing her blade to block a follow-up attack by Akagi. In a test of pure strength, Hishya would likely win, so Akagi jumped backward to gain some distance. However, Hishya was no fool, and just as Akagi landed, she rocketed forward and caught her once again. She wasn't going to give her any time to recover.

The two clashed, and Akagi changed tactics deciding to parry Hishya's blow deflecting them toward the ground rather than trying to stop them. Each time she did this, the heat from Hishya's sword caused sections of the turf to incinerate. The spectators couldn't believe what they were seeing and even Kana and the girls were left speechless as they watched.

Annoyed that her strikes weren't getting through, Hishya opted to try some magic. As Akagi deflected her next strike, Hishya threw her left hand forward and hit Akagi point blank with a massive fire blast which caused a huge explosion. A moment later, Akagi appeared to her left after reforming from her dark shadow; she seemed unharmed.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" Akagi bolted forward hoping to catch Hishya while she was experiencing the recoil of her move, but was surprised when Hishya used the back of her left hand to deflect her oncoming strike. Seeing an opportunity, Hishya drove her knee into Akagi's stomach, momentarily stunning her as she brought her blade around for a swing. Akagi knew she made a mistake and tried to contort her body out of the way. She was partially successful in her attempts to avoid her, as Hishya's blade still managed to make contact and easily severed her left arm.

Seeing the disadvantageous situation, Akagi used one of her abilities to temporarily blind Hishya so that she could gain some distance and re-focus. Losing her arm was annoying, but not crippling, but Hishya took the opportunity to mock her for her mistake.

"I think you forgot something." She held up Akagi's severed arm. "Too bad. I was aiming for your head." She used her flames to incinerate it.

Seeing this, Akagi let out a laugh and quickly regrew her arm. Her body was little more than a vessel, so losing a limb or two didn't really matter.

"I thought you were supposed to be stunned after that attack, but I guess the game rules are much less concrete in the real world." Akagi spit out some blood. "I won't make that same mistake again."

Akagi rocketed forward and coated her blade with a dark mist as she swung down at Hishya.

{Hmpf... This will end the same every time.} She mocked Akagi in her head.

As she leisurely moved to block the attack, she was shocked when both the blade and Akagi suddenly passed straight through her.

{Wha- an Illusion?!} Hishya scrambled to figure out where Akagi really was, but before she even had a moment to collect herself, she was greeted by Akagi's fist slamming into her temple. She was sent flying and tumbled across the grass. After a moment, she righted herself just in time to narrowly dodge Akagi's blade aimed at her head. However, it wasn't a complete dodge as she felt a stream of warm liquid run down her cheek.

"I guess the both of us underestimated our opponents. I had no idea you could create illusions and attack in quick succession." Hishya wiped away the blood.

"But I think that's good enough of a warm-up. How about we move on to the real thing!" As she said this, a small burst of fire came out of her mouth.

It looked like the real battle had only just begun.