0850 hours, 4 July 0145...

Once everything had gone silent, I subtly threatened her while holding my Kiryu, which was still hot in my hand, and directed it at her face.

"I won't hold my breath!"

To focus on fighting Rukia without interruption, I briefly shut my eyes and jerked my head to the left, removing the earpods.

And all of a sudden...

Insert Music: Kyrolis - Stimulation

BANG BANG

TANG TANG

I unleashed a barrage of bullets at her face, but she swiftly parried them with her unsheathed Tsuruki. At that moment, I swiftly retaliated, dodging her Tsuruki slashes and unleashing a relentless shot.

The devastated church's hall resounded with the sound of gunshots as weapons clashed. As she dove to the ground and viciously swung her Tsuruki, I dropped to the floor and continued firing her shots.

Even as I came near to evading them, she dashed backwards at high speed and sliced the air three times with her sword, creating shockwave slashes that were comparable to Taken-Ki's but smaller.

SHING SHING SHING

I continued to fire her bullets while gliding left and right to dodge her shockwave cuts. But with her Tsuruki, she dashed at a rapid pace, slicing in every direction.

Even when I parried her strikes with Kiryu bullets and claw swings, she still wouldn't stop attacking until I gave her deserving payback.

Feeling frustrated, I stepped back, grabbed a nearby chair by the claw, and swung it at her. But she easily evaded it and unsheathed her Tsuruki to break the wooden chair in half.

As Rukia sheathed her Katana into the scabbard with a gratifying metallic clink, we both took a little step back for a breather, even though my frustration at her technique was still scorching.

While I aimed my Kiryu in her direction, I gave her a piercing glare and a threat.

"You've got some jacked-up notion of fair play right here, girl! And it's pissing me off, like a hell!"

Hearing this made Rukia stand her ground even more. In this second round, she unsheathed her Tsuruki, raised it high into the air, and unleashed a metallic clank that echoed through the crumbling church's hall.

Regardless of the number of rounds I've fired, she easily parried them by avoiding and counterattacking at the same time. It seems as though her skill renders her impervious to the adage "never bring a blade to a gunfight".

But all of a sudden...

Chick Chick

I failed to notice that my Kiryu was running out of ammo. So I let go of the empty magazine, tossed the new one up in the air, and turned my body to the right as the new magazine went into the handlebar.

Pressing the bolt catch, I halted my stride after five full rightward rotations and waited for Rukia to make her next move.

I keep searching for her, but she's nowhere in sight. It reminded me of the events in the Harimal Forest.

It was out of nowhere that I heard footsteps coming up behind me; I had assumed that she was still standing there, waiting for my next move. As I placed my Kiryu in my right thigh's holster, I let out an exasperated sigh.

"I guess I have to teach this bitch a lesson, eh?"

I abruptly snatched a sprawled revving sword off the floor, which belonged to a fallen Cleanser Squadron guard, by kicking it with my right foot.

Once I caught it, I hammered its point into the ground and pushed the throttle, eliciting a gritty, rumbling 4-stroke growl.

VROOM VROOM VROOM

With my gaze meeting her threatening crimson eye, I asserted myself to her in a stance.

"What's the point of you going after the Cleanser Squadron if you're going after me instead?! And mind to explain what your reason is for?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

However, she taunted me by unsheathing her Tsuruki, hitting its tip on the floor, and then twitching it twice to the left, much like my snatched revving sword.

Her taunts left me with a frustrated smirk on my face, which I continued to press on with.

JSHING JSHING JSHING

Even though I constantly blocked and evaded her Tsuruki slash, the intense pressure in this battle numbed my emotions and psychology. I never saw her strength increase on each occasion.

No matter how much I try to catch her off guard, she's always a step ahead. She seemed to be unfazed when I put pressure on her. But I will not relent until she noticeably lowers her guard, which will give me a slight edge.

Suddenly, her usual frigid tone came out of her mouth.

"Don't get too cocky, kiddo."

Her Tsuruki swing was so powerful that it rendered my parry worthless and slopped my switch axe's grip in response.

And all of a sudden...

TSRYANG

She violently discarded my blade and sprinted forward, threatening to stab my chest with the tip of her Tsuruki. Now that she has discarded my weapon, I am completely helpless against her diabolical might.

However, in a flash of time...

JSHYANG

The impact sent shockwaves through the surrounding area, destroying properties as the unstoppable force of her Tsuruki's thrust collided with the immovable object's power of my left hand's claw as I blocked it.

She seemed unfazed but slightly taken aback by my just-block technique and asked with an undercurrent of malice.

"Hmmm, it seems like you've got infinite ace cards, don't you, kiddo?"

But all I could do to respond was push her Tsuruki's tip with increasing force in frustration at her query.

"I thought the virus would strengthen you. But you don't realize it'll bite YOU SOON!!!"

I then drop-kicked her stomach after pushing her forward with the claw of my left hand. She quickly collected herself and continued to tease in her characteristic icy voice.

"It's funny how you-"

With a rumble in my throat, I grabbed the nearby heaviest chair and threw it at Rukia's face. But she evaded it by bending down, causing the chair to collide with the wall behind her instead.

My patience was wearing thin from her relentless taunting and growing strength, so I warmed up for another round by doing some light stretching.

"I hate to say this, but I have to wrap these up before reinforcements arrive!"

With nothing more than my claws, I launched another lightning-speed frontal assault. Despite the fact that I evaded Tsuruki's assault, her slashes were becoming harder to dodge as she continued to swing them into the air.

But all of a sudden...

TSYANG

I luckily blocked Tsuruki's slash by trapping her blade in the opening of my claw. With that, I threw her offstage, sword and all.

BSRYAK

She slammed into a nearby chair, sending it flying a good distance with the force of the collision.

But she suddenly was sitting on a chair and regained her control in an instant. She brutally stabbed the Tsuruki's tip to the floor, bowed her body, and cruelly mocked me.

"So… a kiddo like you looking for a tough fight, don't you think?"

"Well, I guess I can wait."

While she awaited my move in our rematch, she calmly sat back as she was looking over at her Tsuruki.

I snatched up my sprawled, revving sword and snapped back an angry response.

"Tough girl, huh?"

"Well, then… How ABOUT THIS?!"

BOK

I quickly kicked a nearby chair and saw it speed towards her, making a loud scrape sound as it was about to crush her.

She leaped into the air with agility, narrowly dodging the chair as it crashed into the property behind her, causing chaos and destruction. I swiftly leapt forward to block her Tsuruki slash.

Her parry almost made me sloppy, and now I'm about to collapse. However, due to my fortunate position atop the stack of chairs, I am now able to sit and ridicule her.

"I think I have to take you down a couple of slashes."

But she clenched her sheathed Tsuruki and taunted back in a cold tone.

"Whatever you want, kiddo."

I dropped to the floor without wasting any time and gave the third round my all.

I sprang forward, slashing her sword with all my might as my Kiryu erupted in a barrage of bullets. Still, she effortlessly parried it using her Tsuruki's slashing technique.

Watching her persistently employ the same tactic filled me with an overwhelming sense of frustration and exasperation. Consequently, I forcefully pinned her down by grappling my claw deep into her flesh.

I forcefully slammed her onto the floor three times in rapid succession as soon as I gained a hold of her. This continued until the floors started to crack.

Despite taking a flurry of blows, she swiftly drew back, unleashing a new move by quickly unsheathing and resheathing her katana three times, which sent a subtle slicing sound hurtling past my body and whatever she was staring at.

Despite having evaded it by swerving from side to side, I couldn't control my frustration and ended up clawing her body twice.

In response, she countered by swinging her Tsuruki as I attempted to close the distance between us. Out of nowhere, my blade slammed against hers, causing sparks to shoot across the floor.

Rukia glared at me with a deadly gaze, but I swiftly retaliated by delivering a powerful kick to her stomach and striking her blade simultaneously, sending her body hurtling through the air.

I sprang forward in a second, grabbed her left leg with my right arm, extended my left hand to grab hers, and slammed her face into the floor with a huge blow.

BSRYAK

Once incapacitated, I unleashed my rage and delivered a punishing lesson for her misdeeds by relentlessly striking her face with the force of my left hand's claw.

Afterwards, I sent her sprawled body smashing onto the head of the tall statue and hurled both her Tsuruki and my switch axe at her.

Her body collided forcefully with the pinnacle of the tall statue's head, creating a jarring and impactful moment.

And all of a sudden...

JSHICK

Both swords hit her chest simultaneously, rendering her motionless as blood splattered onto the ground. The fact that I had stabbed her with her own weapon baffled me to no end.

In a poignant moment, she loosened her grip, cast a brief glance downward, and peacefully closed her eyes as life slipped away from her.

After I turned away, confident that I had brutally ended her life, Rukia murmured a word of exhaustion unexpectedly, leaving a lingering sense of mystery and contemplation in the air.

"Getting better?"