The three girls finally entered the restaurant, the design of the entire place gaining Ivory's attention as it didn't appear as horrible as she assumed. She even walked up to the counter though she typically isn't good at socializing, but managed to do the simple of task of requesting a table for three by the window, where they could enjoy the fireworks outside. Was it July 4th or was it plain fireworks? She had lost track of what day it was.

"Could we have a table by the window, please?"

The waiter nodded and led them to a corner with the view, where they settled in the plush seats. The waiter handed out their menus, each one containing eye-catching descriptions, especially for Ivory since it actually had vegetarian options.

Selene looks at the menu looking over the appetizers she wanted to order while Eris already flagged down the waiter giving out a large ass order. Selene glances at Ivory who seems to be lost in thought before she stands up pointing towards the restroom.

"I'm going to freshen up real quick, you two have fun!"

Eris watches Selene walk away clearly trying to leave both Ivory & Eris to talk, she places down the menu looking at Ivory right in her eyes.

"So, what do you wanna ask me about?"

Eris says so nonchalantly as the waiter brings her a tea while she waits for her food, she takes a long sip wondering what Ivory wanted to talk about -- it had to be big if even Selene could read the room.

Not wanting to continue overthinking the situation, Ivory takes a deep breath and decides to just relax instead. She then turned to Eris, causing Ivory to muster a smile. "Are... you close to Akihiro by any chance? I noticed how he's the one that mostly has your attention."

Eris was able to tell by easily reading Ivory's expression that she was worried for her own son. She didn't know who else to go to for something like this. Eris was the only one with an actual brain.

"Then you've noticed how he's changed since Yin's death. They must've been close, but I never met him. Akihiro's become more addicted to the zen state he finds in battle, where his mind shuts off so he doesn't have to think about Yin. But that feeling is transforming from a fighting addiction into one for killing."

Ivory Oni, known as Murderer of Murderers around America, despised killing. She believed only she could forcibly end the cycle of violence. Eris had seen this resolve firsthand on television when she brutally beat down Fenris. Eris, although apathetic at first glance, understood the mother's pure, genuine concern for her son. Scared of what Akihiro Oni is becoming due to everything he's gone through. In Japan, those type of monsters are called Ashura.

"With me going after Fenris, I won't be able to stay by Akihiro's side. Can I... ask you to continue being there for him? To make sure he also doesn't kill anyone else?"

Akihiro managed to somehow wander into an amusement park, surrounded by the bright rainbow lights and the sound of laughter. Recognized immediately by the public, he didn't need to navigate his way through the crowd, though his mind wandered far from the mere merry atmosphere.

The aroma of food stalls were what beckoned him, and he found himself approaching one offering skewers of grilled meat.

"These are great. All these stalls give me a lot of options."

As Akihiro wandered through the amusement park, enjoying himself like some fat fuck, he suddenly sensed a large change in the atmosphere. Laughter, which had been so prevalent moments ago, began to quiet down.

Whispers and hushed tones replaced the carefree chatter, and Akihiro felt a sensation at the back of his neck. Whenever this feeling arose, something exciting had always happened. Blood began to rush through Akihiro's veins as his heart began to race, quickly turning around with a maniacal grin. This feeling only belonged to one person. It had been years since he had met someone with such authoritative presence. Something that even Texas failed to do.

Akihiro stood there motionless, staring, watching, waiting. He could remember it all from back in Japan. All of those details, the pain, the blows, the blood, the feelings from all those battles trembling through his very muscles.

From the silence, steps approached. Step after step, her stature revealing itself from the darkness into the streetlights. A figure with some sort of presence strong enough to cast a shadow over the joyful environment. People looked from left and right nervously, some outright staring at her with fear. Ever since Yin's death, Akihiro's eyes had never looked so alive compared to now. The woman was clad in a black attire that resembled an adventurer.

"Ah, July 4th.. A day devoted to stuffing your face like a fat fucking American. You're really embracing the holiday spirit, huh pal."

Athena Anima.

A decent amount of the crowd had dispersed, some deciding to explore other parts of the amusement park, while the majority remained in their places, staying to spectate the interaction from a maybe safe distance. Though none dared to approach the fearsome Akihiro Oni and Athena. The woman who was the right hand to none other than the Empress of Japan in the last world war. Where did she remain in those years of solitude after the war? Her home nothing but the bitter cold that drowned any sense of warmth in Antarctica. And even after experiencing hell, her presence was just as Akihiro remembered, as though everything she had gone through was walked on effortlessly. All those years and she appeared just the same.

Her long, monochrome hair that nearly reached her calves, her empty- lack eyes that always gave the impression of nothing but violence being the only way of having a conversation. The vantablack cape adorned around her shoulders. But her appearance was nothing for what she really stood for. Her existence was the antithesis of governance and order, an existence that rebelled against the established norms and structures of authority.

What a damn reunion.

"After all these years, I never imagined our paths would cross again," Akihiro spoke. "So many mornings passed where I thought I would never find a worthy adversary like you. But now you're finally fucking here, after the tradition of you disappearing off the face of the planet. I finally get to show you who's stronger."

Athena chuckled, tilting her head slightly in amusement, her face pulling into a lopsided smile as her eyes took in Akihiro's different appearance after all these years, lingering for a moment before she spoke.

"You wear the years well, kid. Different, yet still the same beneath it all."

She paused, her gaze noticeably shifting, the amusement in her smile emitting some sort of impression that felt cold. Once in their past, Athena had extended her hand, drawing Akihiro into the open world, molding him with paternal care from raw potential to iron made to cut through flesh. The years prior were as clear as day. The vast fields that were shrouded under an endless blanket of descending snow, the skies turned somber and brooded above, and freezing winds that pierced through bones.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I still remember the days when you were nothing but a whelp. Why I'm here? Some debts are always better of settled."

Akihiro could feel his pulse rocket as some sort of rush hurried to course through him, intoxicating his senses with a blinding mix of excitement and vindication.

Memories of their past greatly flooding his mind where Athena had effortlessly put him in his place, where every defeat had pent-up resentment. Now, Athena towered over Akihiro once more.

For the first time in his entire life, Akihiro didn't fight for mere fun or hunger. Akihiro fought one thing and one thing alone: his own pride. The chance to fight someone who was her mother's rival was here.

"I'm going to shatter you like glass."

The instant Akihiro finished speaking, a sonic boom ruptured the very air as he grabbed Athena by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall with unexpected force right off the bat. He pulled her close, examining her features, her scars, and everything Athena had become over the years. Despite the large gap between his birth and now, Athena still looked as young as ever. Warrior blood must truly run in her veins. The fight had just started, but the suspense weighed heavily on Akihiro's body with exhilaration, already having a task to keep himself from losing his mind in the addicting heat of flesh against flesh.

Akihiro slammed Athena against the wall a second time, his grip only strengthening as a wide grin spread across his face. Natural mana began to seep from his body, oozing from the increasing pulse of his mana circuits, enveloping him in a red coat of madness. The large amount of his mana grew with every heartbeat, radiating some sort of energy waves that saturated the air with unexpected, penetrating heat that seemed to vibrate and agitate everything surrounding the two.

Before he could seemingly explode erupt all the mana he'd been building while holding Athena, a sudden headbutt disrupted his increasing mana, causing it to dissipate instantly, the built-up energy plummeting back to nothing. Athena drives her fists into Akihiro's chest to force him off, avoiding the rash blow that followed and continued landing each of her slugs with the force of a sledgehammer.

Both of their fists begin to trade blow after blow, the thud of flesh meeting flesh filling the air as the rest of the crowd finally decide to run away as far as possible. Athena deflects Akihiro's attacks with her forearms, noticeably gaining the upper hand. Akihiro shows signs of physical strain as Athena's punches begin to land more frequently and feels as though they're only getting stronger. She grapples Akihiro after seeing the opportunity, twisting his wrist to throw him off balance and continues with a rain of missile-like jabs and hooks, attempting to overpower through Akihiro's defenses.

As Akihiro tries to regroup, Athena doesn't waste time in launching a powerful uppercut that sent a force engulfing Akihiro's body. Athena grabbed Akihiro by the neck with one arm, effortlessly lifting him off his feet. She drives her knee into Akihiro's ribs, causing him to grunt in pain as he took a merciless beating to his body.

"What? You thought I was here to chat and catch up!? Nah, I'm not here to play nice, I'm here to beat you black and blue like I should have done from the start."

Athena then spun around, gathering her momentum to hurtle Akihiro across the pavement. Akihiro, still dazed from the uppercut, turned instantly upon landing but managed only a sluggish swing as he hadn't managed to recover yet. Athena precipitously ducks from Akihiro's sight to evade the swing, then just as quickly rose back up and using the momentum of her body to bash her fist against the back of Akihiro's head, causing his body to slam against the ground.

Athena placed her hand on Akihiro's collar, who retaliated immediately after recovering by striking Athena's lower body as an attempt to weaken her before grabbing Athena by the throat. She hand-chopped Akihiro's arm off her neck, only to mercilessly dig her fist into Akihiro's skull. Using the momentum, Athena yanked Akihiro's leg, forcing him to crash to the ground once more.

Athena stalked ominously around Akihiro, her steps being the only noise between the two as he observed Akihiro barely moving. She decided to slowly lean in, grabbing Akihiro by the shirt and lifting him up, hurtling Akihiro's entire body into a nearby food stall, the wooden structure shattering and collapsing from the Oni's impact.

"You think you're better than me? I'm a goddamn legend, and you're just another fucking grunt who thought they could take on the best."

Buried under the debris of the shattered street booth, Akihiro slowly lifted himself from the wreckage. A sense of satisfaction was let out in a soft giggle as he stood up from the wreckage. Despite the powerful hits Athena had struck Akihiro with, his body was already ready for more.

He felt relished in the feeling of being bathed in his inexhaustible ability, feeling his mana return to him. The reality that all of Athena's attacks had been completely meaningless, all her efforts amounting to...literally nothing. Akihiro's grin widened, his immortality pushing him to go further as if it were a life-giving liquid from a bottomless well in his soul hydrating him.

"I'd almost forgotten how exhilarating this challenge was! But you seem to have been the one to forget something, and it's the fact that you're the challenger."

Not even after Athena could scoff, a sudden swirl of dust came from the ground as Akihiro disappeared from the eye's view. He unexpectedly was already face-to-face with Athena before she had even realized it. It had just been a moment, not even a mere heartbeat, but Akihiro had already completely closed the distance.

In his crouched position, Akihiro's fist suddenly shot upward. A powerful uppercut had been driven into Athena's jaw, the force of the blow enough to send tremors through the ground and a wave of wind bursting through the area. But that was just the beginning, as Akihiro's kicks crashed into her ribs like rapid gunfire, each hit echoing loudly through the air like piercing bullets.

Akihiro's hands begin to glow with the light of destruction as his hands were enveloped in a red aura, twisting on his heel as he unleashed both fists, heavily brought down onto Athena's shoulder with the weight of the world.

The force of the blow brings Athena falling down to his knees, in which the result caused Akihiro to let out laughter like the wild cry of a savage animal, intoxicated with adrenaline. Not wasting the moment, he locked his legs around her neck, twisting his body to flip Athena headfirst onto the unforgiving pavement.

"I can't enjoy the fight... if you just end up dying!"

Spinning mid-air, Akihiro gathers the last of his momentum as gravity pulls him toward Athena from the air. With the final attack of his rush, Akihiro ended it all with a grave-digging, bone-crushing elbow onto Athena's flesh, burying her under the crater with a loud roar from the ground. Grabbing Athena's leg with a sadistic grip, Akihiro hurtled her through the air, sending her flying until he crashed against the tracks of a roller coaster.

Athena quickly rolled back onto her feet, only for her legs to unexpectedly give out as she fell to one knee. She hadn't thought Akihiro's attacks would do much, but her body felt heavier from all the blows she'd taken without defending herself. She couldn't just shrug this off like she used to. Right now, for the first time in maybe a decade, Akihiro was a worthy opponent in the sense that Athena couldn't just play around. But this fact, is it a pain to her pride, or something to be excited about?

She turned back to Akihiro. For the first time in years, a real challenge was right before her, one that required the use of her genuine abilities. The weight of Akihiro's blows lingered in her muscles, though she let out a satisfied scoff as a genuine battle was something she had missed, and now it was right in front of her.

"Finally."

An opening was all she needed. The gap between the two had disappeared as Athena darted over the rails. Her left fist flew towards Akihiro, only for it to brush past him as a feint. Athena twisted her body into a powerful spinning kick that drove into Akihiro's liver. The force of the kick sent shockwaves through the air. Athena did not let the moment go to waste as ahe continued to beat down the now open Oni with his fists.

The difference between Alexander and Akihiro was now clear. Akihiro's martial arts hit strong, fast, and precise akin to a sniper-rifle. For Athena, her attacks hit similar to a powerful, heavy explosive shotgun that found its way through flesh and bone. Although Akihiro's entire thing was his physical prowess, Athena's strength and endurance were leagues above his.

With a final punch to the skull dazing Akihiro, Athena leaped back. The rails began to vibrate as the roller coaster approached by second. Suddenly, Akihiro was struck by the speeding cart, sending him towards Athena.

As the cart continues pushing Akihiro toward her, Athena got into position, putting all her strength into a single punch. Her fist flew through the air, colliding against Akihiro's gut just as the cart did, creating a violent crash between man and machine. The force of the punch sent shockwaves through Akihiro's body, momentarily pinning him between Athena's abnormal strength and the momentum of the roller coaster.

Akihiro's spine must've certainly been reduced to ashes, but for good measure, Athena crushed Akihiro's arm before throwing him back down off the tracks, throwing him onto the pavement. Athena leapt down, not being able to tell if Akihiro was conscious or not. Stepping closer, she realized Akihiro was still barely moving.

"This fight won't last much longer."