Bakkhos dusted off his coat, starting a slow march back to Chiharu. He felt the slowness in his body from the attacks she made on him. His coat gave him protection from much of it, but he still had to deal with the force. ‘I’ve never met anyone with the strength to lift someone off the ground and knock them back, especially with the size difference. They really are a different sort…’ Checking on her position, unchanged, he examined her stance. ‘Already got back that much strength, their bodies have remarkable recovery, very troublesome indeed…’
‘I have some of my strength back… The time outside his Field helped me, but still…’ Chiharu noted the fact that his Field already surrounded her. As he closed, it only felt stronger, the draining effects it had on her. Her feet balanced carefully on the changing ground to keep her defense up. ‘I’ve got a better understanding of him this time…’ A shift in her foot indicated her intention to act.
The intent didn’t slip past Bakkhos' careful eyes. He didn’t want to deal with her again. “You’ve got your spirit back, but we’ve done this before al—“ A sharp fist cut him off with his reflexes barely dodging it. After Chiharu cleared him, he took a few steps back. “That’s rude of—“ Chiharu cut him off again with a kick, which actually connected loosely. He slid back already knowing he acted too late. ‘I guess my old tricks won’t work anymore…’
Chiharu quickly moved in on Bakkhos before he had another chance to start talking. She had to keep to her strategy. Time factored into it so much that wasted seconds were crippling for her. ‘There’s a lot more at work with him than I originally gave him credit for…’ They kept moving about with Chiharu only managing narrow hits. ‘His strategy is to keep me distracted and off balance both with his words and his unstable Field.’
Their fight intensified with Chiharu making quicker strikes against Bakkhos, but the physically draining effects of his Field started to show their signs again. She began to miss him by larger margins, even trying to adapt to the changes only bore small fruit. ‘I was so caught up by everything that I didn’t even notice. I underestimated his ability, letting him dictate pace.’ Even with his injuries, Bakkhos kept from serious harm, while also never countering Chiharu. He allowed her to remain offensive. ‘ I thought with my physical attributes I didn’t have anything to be concerned with against him.’
Watching the fight, Bakkhos felt some respect for the talent he witnessed, troublesome as it was for him. ‘Her adaptability is surprising, she’s already almost completely used to the ground changes.’ He blocked an incoming fist feeling the weight of it through his back. ‘Against a normal human, my Field leaves them completely full of openings, but it is mostly unnecessary.’ His eyes kept watch on Chiharu’s footwork to keep his distance at a perfect separation for his comfort. ‘In fights with others like me, it’s nearly pointless as their Field neutralizes it. This is the first time I’ve actually had a fight like this…’
‘I still have a lot to learn,’ Chiharu commented to herself. It was a fact she already knew, but something the fight reinforced for her. She needed better control to succeed her Grandfather.
Chapter 166 – Fighting for One’s Self
Fumiko managed to leave the range of Bakkhos’ Field, in part, thanks to Chiharu’s fighting. It was subtle, but she could feel the restored magic in her body along with her physical fatigue fading. Unfortunately, her fight with Stamatia already left her drained from the start. She was hardly in a position to help Chiharu.
Watching Chiharu fight made Fumiko realize she had never seen her in a fight before. She didn’t know how she fought, but felt something strange from the fight. ‘Why is she holding back from using her other power?’ Fumiko remembered seeing her use it when arguing with Seiji a couple of times, when everyone else missed it. With Seiji, Chiharu was definitely physically involved, relying less on the rest of her abilities. ‘I just figured it was best she didn’t take him seriously, but is there something else I didn’t see before?’
So much of Chiharu remained a mystery to Fumiko. She often felt she knew her better than the rest of the group, but only because she watched her and kept an eye on her. ‘She hides everything underneath that mask of hers…always so difficult to read…’ Fumiko only made progress in understanding Chiharu through her interactions with others. Alone, she saw nothing.
Her fight revealed another new side to her. ‘She looks so determined…determined to fight her own way on her own terms… What exactly is she fighting against?’ Fumiko’s recovery restored her eyes' ability to follow all of the movements of the fight. Lowered down to a mere human before, her body had neither the reflexes or focus to see much more than a blur. Yet, she could watch every move Chiharu made in the fight now. She could see the look in her eyes. ‘She’s not looking at him… Her gaze is going past him, looking beyond…seeing something else… Her goal is further ahead…’
Seconds piled up into minutes for the fight. Fumiko assumed that Chiharu had to be slowing down. The Field played against her. It left her open and weak. However, it wasn’t what Fumiko saw. ‘Is she actually moving faster?! She’s driving him back!’
Bakkhos slid back again, unable to deflect Chiharu’s attack. His defense saved him from something worse, but the impact still rippled through him. The strength she still held inside surprised him. ‘She should be getting weaker the longer I’m dragging out the fight, but it doesn’t feel like it… I can’t keep up with her pace…and my Field isn’t working fast enough anymore…’
Another pound slammed into his arms. Even with the resistance of his clothes, it still made it through to his body. He still felt the sting and dull quaking feeling that rattled his bones. His body was spared the crushing force, but it still left a mark on him. ‘So troublesome…I might not last long enough to see her drop from fatigue again…’ Bruises and hairline fractures covered his arms. His wounds groaned to him every time he made any movement that he ignored.
Chiharu slid around Bakkhos making use of her legs to add to the strength of hits. ‘All he’s doing is defense, like before… I’m connecting, but at this rate…’ She managed to slip in her punch between his defense, scoring a solid hit on his chest. It knocked him back a step, but in breaking through his defense, he weakened her force. ‘Always like this…Why is he so passive when fighting?’
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‘She’s adapting quickly…pressing me back…’ Preferring a break, he was sharply denied anything more than his usual defense. A crumbling defense and weakening body were facts he knew too well. ‘I’m out of options now…so troublesome…’ Slightly shifting his weight, he intercepted the kick meant to destroy his defenses completely. ‘Guess I’ve got no choice anymore…win or lose…this has to end…’
A flicker went off in Chiharu’s eye as she realized what he was doing. ‘He’s switching! This is the moment I’ve waited for!’ Her features narrowed reading his hand movements. Her leg still held by Bakkhos slowed her action as a hidden blade released from his fingertip in an unavoidable trajectory. Chiharu’s eyes widened in the moment before blood sprayed into the air.
“Chiharu!” shouted Fumiko, starting her legs moving.
Bakkhos sighed for a second. ‘It’s over…’ However, a sharp pain struck him in his back knocking him off balance. His left foot slammed into the ground to recover himself. Yet his eyes widened a bit in surprise to see the image of Chiharu fade from in front of him. ‘Can’t be…’ He turned around and found Chiharu standing before him.
Releasing a snap of his hand, a blade slashed out at Chiharu cutting through her arm. However, the image faded away and another strike crippled him. He couldn’t keep his balance anymore as the blow cracked his ribs. Bakkhos fell forward with a cough of dust billowing out from his body. The Field disappeared into the flat surface it used to be, a clear sign. ‘…troublesome ones, Captain…’
Chiharu walked away from Bakkhos’ unconscious body holding a hand on her shoulder. The blood from the first strike was real. She couldn’t evade it completely. Her black ninja garb turned a deep red from the soaked blood of Chiharu’s fight. ‘I knew my only chance was when he went on the offensive…but I feel so tired…’
“Chiharu! You’re alright!” Fumiko came running to meet Chiharu putting her arm partially around her. Chiharu didn’t seem to argue with Fumiko touching her.
A nod came from Chiharu in answer to her question. “But I’m not so injured I need your comfort,” replied Chiharu, when she realized Fumiko was hugging her loosely. She pushed Fumiko awake and took a safe distance.
Grinning a little, Fumiko did not push Chiharu further. “What happened back there? It was all a blur.”
Chiharu glanced back at Bakkhos and recalled the final strikes she made. “I made use of his Field to move faster, but when he held me down it slowed my movement. It ended up leaving a little illusion behind, so I used it again.”
Fumiko lifted her hand to her chin thinking about what Chiharu said. “So like an after-image?”
“Why do you sound like the weakling right now?” Chiharu demanded, her eyes flattening out with irritation.
“Well he’s not here to say it, someone had to!” A small laugh came up from Fumiko after she said it. She quickly changed back to a serious tone with another question. “But how did you make use of his Field to move faster? It’s so unstable I can’t even stand.”
“I was used to it enough that I made use of the rising and falling to slide with my movements in a more fluid manner. It let me increase my speeds more than my body could at the time due to his Field’s effect. The hills are all created from him at his center, so all I could really do with it was rotate around his position to get behind him.”
“I don’t think I can understand that one.” The thought of what she did made Fumiko’s hair a little frizzled. She let it go quickly however, to place her hand on Chiharu’s shoulder. “No matter, you won. So we can get back to finding Yori.”
“Yes…” Chiharu tilted her head back in the direction of Yumi and her brother. They were far away from them. However, something else bothered her. She never had a chance before to ask about it since the old man got in her way. “What happened to your arm?”
Fumiko glanced down at the stump of her upper arm. It still had the odd feeling of being with her even though she knew it was not. The pain long passed and she still wasn’t used to it so she easily forgot about it. “Oh right! This!” She lifted her stump and pointed at it with her other hand. “I lost it in my fight.”
“Against him?” she asked, pointing over at Bakkhos. Chiharu made a slight movement towards him as though hinging on her response for her action.
“No, not him.” Fumiko shook her head thinking about her fight. The moment she lost the arm and burned it to keep fighting made the end ache. Her hand massaged the coarse skin burned by her own flame. “I was in a fight before. That’s why he got me so easily. He was able to neutralize my magic.”
“I understand.” Chiharu pulled back, returning to facing Fumiko. Thoughts ran through her mind on the new information. ‘Two of them now. We’re going to have to be careful going forward. They know too much about us and with their powers it’s dangerous knowledge in their hands.’
“We should get out of this area before another one of them shows up, Chiharu!”
“Agreed, where’s the muscle head?”
“Huh? You mean Seiji?” A nod confirmed the question for Fumiko. She had to think about Seiji for a moment. Everything in the fight was a blur and the time before was almost ancient history. Some of the pieces slowly came back to her. She turned around looking at the camp. “Everything’s changed so much. I can’t tell where we came from. I remember the tall woman attacking Seiji and they disappeared.” Fumiko looked around more, racking her brain. “I think it was towards the edge of the camp, but I don’t know where that is.”
Chiharu’s eyes slid around taking in the camp and their position. She already had a good idea of his direction. “I’ll look for him. I can locate him faster.”
Fumiko stretched for Chiharu to interrupt her before she left. “Seiji’s strong. He’ll be fine. We need to find Yori first!”
“I’ve already found him. The siblings are together.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me this?!”
Tilting her head up to meet Fumiko’s tall glance, Chiharu’s flat expression remained unchanged. “Because I hadn’t gotten to telling you yet. I was going to tell you to go to them and get them out of the camp while I search for the muscle head.”
She wanted to say so many things about the frustrating nature of Chiharu, but restrained herself. Fumiko focused on the more important matter. “Where’s Yumi and Yori? Why isn’t she with you?”
“Because I needed to locate the rest of you and get the order for you to leave. But since she’s sealed, she’ll need your help leaving safely.”
‘Leaving out more details…’ Calming herself down, Fumiko understood Seiji’s position. She scanned the mess of the camp trying to imagine navigating it. “Where do I find them?”
Chiharu lifted her arm pointing off in the direction of Yumi. “I left them there.”
Fumiko shifted a little to get a better look at where Chiharu pointed. She didn’t know the distance she had to travel or the condition of them. Turning back toward Chiharu, her mouth opened only to be cut off. Chiharu was gone. Scanning the area did no better for her. “Chiharu!” she screamed in frustration to the sky.
Within the black void, Chiharu already went in search of Seiji. She had no time left for Fumiko and her questions. Their time in the camp was over and the longer they trespassed risked even more dangers. ‘My strength still needs time to recover. I won’t be able to fight anyone else…he better have dealt with them…’
Miltiades stared intently at the two bodies for minutes on edge. Aside from the cough he heard before he started healing them, they made no further movements. It concerned him that he was too late. ‘Come on…I’m not losing another comrade tonight! Not to them!’
A click of a blade suddenly came from behind Miltiades. The shining polished metal stretched down next to his neck. Behind him, a dark shadow stood over him with his life in their hands. “What do you think you’re doing?”