Yuki was on high alert. All of her senses were heightened to the extreme. Her hearing, her sight, smell, and even her sixth sense were all taken to new levels. Kaguya’s speed was moving faster than the world’s time. However, she noticed something whenever Kaguya reappeared.
She quickly whirled around and parried a blade from Kaguya. Kaguya’s eyes grew wide as she slid back. Yuki smiled and dashed towards Kaguya. She swung her blades at great speed to the point where all her attacks came from all possible directions.
Kaguya blocked her attacks. She feinted, drawing Yuki’s attention. Taking advantage of her distraction, Kaguya drew her blade, slamming the butt of her sword into Yuki’s torso. The impact sent Yuki sliding across the arena.
The Princess dug her swords into the ground, slowing her trajectory. Her tails swished and flicked before pointing towards Kaguya. She inhaled and created orbs of blue fire. Her cheeks puffed up and she exhaled, unleashing a massive tsunami of blue fire. The inferno was supplemented by the two flaming orbs that fed more fire into the projectile.
I need thirty more seconds before I can activate it, Yuki thought.
The flames surged towards Kaguya. As the flames neared, the fire was bisected by a pressurized wave of air. Yuki ducked to the side, dodging the wave. She channeled prana into her swords. “Cross Cut!” Two waves of air shot towards Kaguya.
Kaguya raised her blade and blocked the waves. She slid back from the pressure of the impact. Her sword began to heat up due to the friction of the wave of air grinding against the metal.
Prana flooded her body as she swung her sword with great force and dispersed the air. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Yuki suddenly appear in front of her.
“Ephemeral Blossom Dance!” Yuki’s body became a white blur that peppered Kaguya with blows. The sheer speed of her attack was too much, even for Kaguya to keep up with. To her, it appeared as if Yuki was omnipresent around her, attacking her from all angles at the same time. An endless rain of blows that never stopped.
Kaguya’s jaw clenched tightly as she slowly built mana in her body. Her body began to glow slightly before she roared in fury. A wave of mana was expelled from her body and tore up the area around her. The explosion created a temporary gale storm that sent Yuki back.
She grabbed the hilt of her katana tightly and dashed towards Yuki.
Yuki’s eyes widened at the sudden increase in speed.
Kaguya drew her blade and drew her sword, swinging it multiple times furiously. The air was split apart due to the sheer force and precision of her swings, creating the appearance that reality itself had been severed.
Even with Yuki’s senses, it was hard to dodge them all. Numerous cuts appeared on her body as she helplessly tried to block the attack. Kaguya planted her foot in Yuki’s gut, using her as a jumping board to kick off into the air. Prana flooded her body. Kaguya thrust her katana towards Yuki, firing off a Transcendent Thrust.
Yuki’s body glowed. She disappeared in a burst of speed, shooting past the Transcendent Thrust and punched Kaguya in the face.
Kaguya flew all the way to the roof of the arena, slamming into the ceiling of the barrier. She groaned in pain as she plummeted to the ground. Her yellow eyes swam as her body struggled to keep her awake. As she fell like a shooting star, her eyes caught sight of Yuki shooting towards her like a bullet. Adrenaline flooded her body. Kaguya inhaled a large amount of air and blew a torrent of fire at Yuki.
Yuki’s eyes narrowed. She fired off a Frost and altered her trajectory.
Kaguya’s body flickered as she activated her Arts. Yuki felt a sharp pain in her back and she was thrown to the ground. With no time to recover, Yuki quickly rolled out of the way as Kaguya planted her foot where her head was.
Just a bit more!
She sheathed her swords and placed her hands next to her. Her body adopted a lunging position as she took off like a rocket towards Kaguya. “Extinguished Halcyonic Blossom Dance!” Several clones of Yuki appeared and they piled on Kaguya like a swarm of angry hornets.
Kaguya blocked and parried the Yukis as they relentlessly attacked from all directions. Her Arts activated and she drew her blade rapidly. “Transient Mist.” A violet line was drawn upon the very fabric of reality in a ring around Kaguya. As her time returned to normal, the circle expanded rapidly. All of Yuki’s clones were dispersed while Yuki herself managed to dodge the attack.
“An Arts technique?” Yuki wondered. She twisted her body as a flaming wave flew towards her. “Tch!” Yuki landed gracefully and drew her swords. She parried and batted away another wave of fire. Channeling what little mana she could spare, Yuki swung her blade, sending a wave of ice spikes towards Kaguya.
Kaguya slammed her palm on the ground, creating a wall of fire that instantly melted the wave of icicles.
“How long are you going to keep stalling Yuki!? Zero Null might have evened out the playing field but even you and I know that it won’t be that way forever! You know what Zero Null is like for first-time users! You’ve seen what happened to Bella when she first entered Extinguishment!” Kaguya said, lowering the flames. She moved to her left, deftly evading a sword wave that would have sliced her head in half.
Yuki said nothing. Instead, she dashed towards Kaguya, swords poised and ready to end the match. As she neared, Kaguya vanished and reappeared behind her. She turned to try and block the attack, however, Kaguya was faster. A blade ran through Yuki’s abdomen.
The two stopped moving. Yuki coughed up blood as she stumbled forward, placing a hand on her stab wound. “K-Kaguya…” She reached out towards her former handmaiden.
Kaguya said nothing as she watched Yuki fall to her knee. It was then she realized what had happened. Her sword had struck a vital area and now, Yuki was fatally injured. “M-My Lady!” Kaguya ran forward, kneeling before her and trying to support her.
“Kaguya…”
“My Lady! Please call the match! We need to get this wound treated!” Kaguya said.
“Kaguya, when are you ever going to stop falling for this trick?”
“Huh?” Kaguya’s eyes grew wide as the Yuki in front of her burst into shards of harmless glass that faded into reality.
“You really should watch out for that old trick.”
Kaguya turned around, swinging her katana and slicing into Yuki. Yuki merely smiled, not even noticing the blade that was an inch into her neck. Instead, she shattered like glass much like the Yuki before her.
“What… What is this?” Kaguya asked.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The world glitched and the colors of reality were inverted. It was as if it had become a negative of itself.
“The World of the Gleaming Moon,” Kaguya muttered.
“It looks like you do remember this,” Yuki said.
“Of course I do. This… is the ultimate illusion in your arsenal. The ability to warp your opponent’s perception and fool all of senses, even their orientation. You think I’d forget such a powerful ability in your inventory?” Kaguya asked.
“You know that I can end this fight instantly in this world, right?” Yuki answered.
“I’m well aware,” Kaguya said. “But I’ll fight for every inch inside this illusory world as well.”
Yuki gripped her blades tightly. Her eyes flashed a bright red color. She dug her foot into the ground and took off towards Kaguya, appearing in front of her in an instant. She swung her blades, slashing Kaguya.
Kaguya dodged the attack and swiped Yuki with her sword. The Yuki in front of her dispersed into harmless mist.
A cut appeared on Kaguya’s cheek. Another cut appeared on her torso and then her arms and legs. Yuki reformed behind her. “Icicle Raid!” A series of icicle spears formed around Yuki and barraged Kaguya.
Kaguya screamed in pain as multiple spears of ice impaled her. She fell to the ground, gasping for air and vomiting blood. Multiple spears jutted out in different areas of her body, some of which were fatal areas. Yet in this false reality, she could not die. In this false world, death was a relief that would not reach her. Yuki’s special burst was an illusion but it was also a purgatory where death did not exist. The only concept that was constant in this world was pain.
“Give up, Kaguya. I don’t want to hurt you in this world anymore than I have to,” Yuki said.
“Shut up!” Kaguya said, pulling one of the icicles out.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Kaguya’s eyes grew wide at her words. She let out a hollow laugh. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”
“I abandoned you,” Yuki said.
“You did more than abandon me, Milady. You broke me! Do you have any idea how I felt when I found out you disappeared! I had gathered an army for you! I was accused of instigating a coup’detat by the Gentry! I was imprisoned by my own country! People called me a disgraced handmaiden!” Kaguya yelled. “All because you turned tail and ran the moment shit hit the fan!”
“I didn’t run,” Yuki said.
“What?”
“I didn’t run. I was heading to confront Mother and Father. I had the vial and the bird in my hand. And then, I ran into Aunt Lilia,” Yuki said, gripping her arm. “I told her everything. I showed her the bird. I showed her the serum. I described what happened back there in the Quarantine Zone to her. And you know what she did?”
Kaguya did not know where this story was going but she shook her head in response. Whatever story Yuki concocted, it couldn’t possibly be true. The Princess was merely trying to save face in front of her disgraced handmaiden.
“She knocked me out and exiled me,” Yuki said.
Kaguya’s eyes grew wide. “Exile?” she whispered.
“I was exiled by my own family for my own safety for rushing headlong into a situation that sparked an inevitable civil war,” the Princess replied.
“You think I’ll believe something like that?” Kaguya asked, swinging her arm.
“I’m not lying Kaguya. What would I gain from lying? Do you think that I would willingly walk out of that situation!? If I had it my way, I would’ve stayed and fought in that cold war myself! I didn’t want to leave!” Yuki said, stepping forward.
Her emotions reverberated throughout the realm. The illusion shifted according to her anger and warped the entire world. Kaguya stumbled as the ground shook underneath her. Her eyes drifted to the angry Princess in front of her.
“Do you know how humiliated and useless I felt? Do you know how guilty I felt when I found out about the war and conflict from a messenger? And when you said Ryuusei was the target of an assassination, it only added to it! My little brother who I adore being the target of an assassination attempt! Because of me!”
“Well if you felt so bad, why didn’t you come back!?” Kaguya snapped.
“BECAUSE I WAS ASHAMED!” Yuki screamed.
Kaguya took a step back at her words.
“DO YOU KNOW HOW ASHAMED AND HUMILIATED I FELT!? I… I, the Princess, being sent away to be safe while everyone I knew and loved, while the people I so dearly loved suffered! I couldn’t bear to face any of you! Me! The next ruler!” Yuki had a broken smile on her face. “I’m supposed to be there alongside all of you, fighting against the Gentry! Instead, I was here in Midgard, lazing away under political exile and not allowed to tell anyone I was that! I’ve spent three years wallowing in the guilt of being unable to do anything! Three years I’ve spent wondering what happened to you, what happened to Ryuusei… and then when I saw you, you turned your back on me? Fine, I get it. I understand. You were angry. But… even after how I showed you how sorrowful I felt, how guilty I felt, how much I wanted to make up with you, you cast me aside? That’s fine too. But to harm the people I grew to care about just because you couldn’t take your rage out on me? No.” Yuki’s fists clenched tightly. The world glitched as she instantly appeared in front of Kaguya. She cocked her fist back and punched Kaguya in the face. A sickening crack echoed through the illusory world and Kaguya stumbled back and fell.
She looked up and held her broken nose. Her eyes were wide in shock as she watched Yuki’s tears flow down her face.
Yuki reached forward and grabbed Kaguya’s collar. She punched her face over and over again.
“If you have a problem with me,” Yuki said.
Another blow landed on Kaguya’s face.
“THEN TAKE IT THE FUCK UP WITH ME!” she yelled.
She threw Kaguya across the arena.
“Kaguya Tsukuyomi,” Yuki said, walking towards her slowly. “No one else should bear the weight of my sins. My sins end with me. They may assist me in moving past me but in the end, all of my sins end with me no matter how many people choose to help me bear the weight of them.”
“You’re right,” Kaguya muttered, getting to her feet. “I should have never taken it out on your teammates. Red, that girl, they had nothing to do with this. But… in this illusory world, I can vent three years of hatred and anger out on you.” She looked up and glared at her with glowing eyes. “And even with all that, I still care about you. I hate that I still care about you!”
Yuki said nothing and instead, brandished her blades. The world obeyed her will as the very fabric of the world folded and warped, creating multiple copies of the swords she wielded. The weapons floated around her and pointed at Kaguya.
Kaguya roared as she rushed forward. Even if this was a world of Yuki’s creation, it all boiled down to a battle of wills. Her will clashing against a world where Yuki’s will was virtually omnipotent. The blades rained down mercilessly on her.
She swung her sword, blocking and deflecting the projectiles to the best of her ability. However, for every five she blocked, a dozen more cut into her flesh. The swords impaled her shoulder, her chest, lungs, liver, and legs. Liters of blood poured from her body. Bits of viscera and muscle were hanging off her. However, in this world, death held no dominion. Rather, she would be subject to this endless torment for as long as Yuki could maintain this world.
Kaguya breached the storm of blades, riddled in stab wounds and swords. Fighting through the immense pain, she weakly swung her sword at Yuki.
Yuki effortlessly deflected Kaguya’s attack. She used her other sword and ran Kaguya through. The sword came out her back.
Kaguya coughed up blood, dropping her sword. Yuki planted her foot on Kaguya’s torso and kicked her off the blade. She waved her hand, returning Kaguya to her original state.
Despite having all her wounds healed, the pain remained constant in her body. She shakily got to her feet and raised her arms. “I can do this all day. This is the only way we’ll be able to vent to each other. Sometimes, words are useless.” Kaguya threw a punch at Yuki.
Yuki blocked the punch with the hilt of her sword. She pushed Kaguya back and severed both of her arms. Yuki then proceeded to cut her legs off, causing Kaguya to fall to the ground on her back. Blood and viscera were sprayed everywhere. The retainer screamed in agony.
“Round 3, Kaguya,” Yuki said, driving the blade through her retainer’s skull. The world blurred and Kaguya was restored to her original state.
This cycle of mutilation, death, and rebirth went on for what seemed like hours. In some cycles, Yuki didn’t even kill or harm Kaguya. She merely thought of other methods to inflict pain. However, Kaguya remained steadfast. Her will would not falter to her Princess. She would not lose.
In what seemed to be the hundredth cycle, Yuki had disemboweled Kaguya. As she prepared to raise her blade to reset the cycle, the world suddenly shattered around them.
Kaguya blinked, looking around. She noticed the expressions of the crowd around her. “The illusion shatter-”
A scream ripped through the air, catching her attention. Kaguya quickly turned to see Yuki on her hands and knees, gasping in pain. Black and violet lightning arced off her body. She had overloaded.
And now, the advantage that Yuki had so desperately needed had all but vanished.