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Damien gripped the cindium pendant around his neck and reshaped it into a hiltless sword like the others. This time, when he swung down against Junichiro's sword, it didn't break.
Damien willed the blade to continue swinging even as he let it go and embedded his claws into a preoccupied Junichiro's sides before channeling his new aura through him.
Junichiro wailed in pain, then pushed him back and scowled.
"Ah," Damien grabbed his blade with admiration, "Now things are a bit more balanced, don't you think?"
He grinned and pointed the tip at Junichiro, beckoning him forward, but Junichiro didn't move, so Damien threw his sword at him.
Junichiro easily dodged and, faster than Damien could blink, was before him.
"Only a fool would toss their blade in battle."
"I agree," Damien said as he willed the sword back to him, aiming for Junichiro's back. Predictably, Junichiro vanished again just as the blade approached him, so Damien turned to the side, allowing it to pass him and run through Junichiro's stomach as he reappeared behind Damien.
Junichiro grunted in confusion as he gripped the blade.
"Care to know something?" Damien asked as he slowly pulled the blade from Junichiro's stomach. "Since releasing my Arc Burst, the air has become magnificently charged here. It's made keeping track of you much easier. I may not be able to move as quickly as you can, but you'd better be careful not to assume I'm an easy target. You could get hurt, you know."
That and his spirit energy had been the only reason why he hadn't been killed yet. But that's all it did. He still didn't know how he'd actually defeat Junichiro for good.
Junichiro bellowed in anger and lunged at Damien. When they clashed, they elevated higher into the night sky. Each collision of their swords created thundering booms that reverberated through the air.
Junichiro's movements weren't as sharp as before, and he'd let out the occasional grunt. Damien could tell that Junichiro's wounds, coupled with Overload and electricity, were working even if he was doing surprisingly well despite them. But their stalemate was short-lived as Junichiro resorted to his conjured blades to keep Damien and his energy at a distance—this time, he conjured over 20 blades.
Not wanting to waste more energy by using Arc Burst again, he used the remaining metal around him to create one hundred blades reinforced with his spirit energy to counter. Unfortunately, he couldn't shroud them in his static energy due to Overload being limited to only his immediate aura.
As their blades shattered against one another again, Junichiro gave a stoic grin of satisfaction.
"You may have wounded me, but it is painfully obvious that your weapons are no match for mine. Why continue such senseless tactics...Perhaps a display of my true capabilities will show you how outclassed you are."
Damien felt more power surge then release from Junichiro. He flew back instinctively, wanting to avoid getting caught inside the area of energy that had formed. Within its perimeters, the atmosphere was light violet. Hundreds of spirit missiles and blades floated in the air, and even a few sentry guns were stationed on a makeshift road around him.
Damien watched as a passing bird flew too close and was instantly sliced by a blade before being riddled with bullets by one of the sentry guns.
"This is my Rendering Zone," Junichiro stated confidently. "I have only ever had to use this against Verin. I suppose you should consider yourself proud of pushing me this far. However, this means there will be nothing left of you for your friends to bury. Though that will not matter."
Junichiro launched toward Damien, forcing him inside his zone. Judging from what happened to the bird, Damien knew he had to keep moving as fast as possible to avoid being hit by the numerous weapons that hung around him. Even then, he still could only barely dodge, and despite his spirit-enhanced protection, he received several bullet wounds and slashes all around that, though mostly shallow, caused him to bleed. Luckily, his reflexes and speed prevented any fatal injuries and helped him avoid the real threats: the missiles that were trained on him.
Damien would spin, vanish, and duck between them, causing them to explode against each other. For a while, he managed, but eventually, his wounds began to slow him down, and one of the explosions knocked him off balance, disrupting his rhythm and causing him to be hit fully by one. Damien focused as much energy as he could in that instant on the point of impact on his body to reduce the damage done to himself. This did help, but it left the rest of his body vulnerable to the effects of the blast, which left him burned.
However, despite the pain, Damien used the smoke cover to his advantage and closed the distance between him and Junichiro, blitzing dozens of weapons with his cindium blade in the process. By the time the subsequent explosions occurred, he was behind Junichiro, who stood surprised as Damien had cut through his defenses.
Damien's body ached all over at this point, but he moved at his top speed at that moment, wanting to wound Junichiro as much as possible. He managed to give Junichiro several lacerations across his body that leaked blood. Still, Junichiro quickly recovered from shock as Damien had to move again while all the sentry guns fired at him.
In the midst of avoiding being shot to death, Damien sensed Junichiro's energy swell and then spiked again. He then noticed the sentry guns had stopped firing. He shifted his gaze to Junichiro just in time to glimpse a swift movement of Junichiro's arm, allowing him to barely raise his blade in defense as a vertical force crashed against him. The force of the attack was unbelievably strong, forcing Damien back toward the ground.
As Damien rushed downward under the weight of the attack, he focused a large amount of his energy on his blade. Despite that, in his condition, he didn't have the strength to repel the attack and knew he'd die if he didn't move, so, with great effort, he gritted his teeth as he rolled the sharp projectile off the edge of his blade, deflecting it away from him, as he maneuvered to the side to allow it to pass by. The slash traveled sideways in its new trajectory until it hit a nearby mountain.
To his astonishment, the entire mountain was split in half as Junichiro's attack faded. Out of breath, Damien looked back at Junichiro, who didn't seem winded at all. He wasn't even wincing from the bleeding wounds he had.
Having spent so much energy to ward off that attack, he knew he was in a tough spot. With the reserve of power he had left, if Junichiro could pull that off another once or twice, Damien was concerned he'd end up in the same state as that mountain.
Damien needed to gain some distance for the time being. That attack was concerningly fast. He didn't want to be too close if it was re-released. Plus, he needed to catch his breath, so now was not the time to be caught in that rendering zone again.
He began to descend to the ground slowly. As he did so, he looked down at his wounds.
Come on...
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