Grinding her teeth together, Miyako swore a terrible curse under her breath. Her right hand clutched her left shoulder as though it helped to ease the injury. “I may only have one good arm to fight you, but I will fight you! Not until you’re eating dirt will I stop getting back up to stop you! To stop Takako’s madness!”

Flames glowed about both of Kaede’s hands as though her skin was on fire. “Pretty brave words for someone that’s about to fall over!” She charged forward with flames bleeding off her fists as the distance closed. Once in range, her already wound up swing released straight for the unguarded Miyako.

However, her fist came to a sudden stop before it hit the desired target. Miyako’s still good hand blocked the first thrown punch, her fingers closed around over top of her fist. “I’m not going anywhere, bitch!” Pushing back against Kaede, Miyako wound up with her injured arm, as unwise as it was, and decked her with everything she had in her arm.

While lacking in the same power she had before, it still pushed her back a little, unable to keep the same stance. Smoke rolled off of Miyako’s hands from confronting the flames. “Thinking that I’m weak because you got one of my arms will be a grave mistake for you.”

Chapter 335 – Back-to-Back into the Fires

“Tch!” Kaede rubbed at her chin to wipe away the blood. The flames around her hands appeared to have little effect on her, as expected. “We’ll just have to see about that!”

Jumping back into the fight, Miyako wasn't about to show any weakness towards her opponent. ‘I need to make her doubt that this is slowing me down. Anything to put her off balance with that flame. She’s got range and melee now.’ She didn't know what her left arm was doing half the time in the melee, but it was partially useful.

In the middle of one of the punches, Kaede’s left hand’s flame grew brighter. Sensing a more powerful attack, Miyako dodged by falling over to her right side with support from her good hand. A fireball shot over her where her head used to be only moments before. While landing on her hand, she threw up a kick knocking Kaede off balance.

Kaede started to tip over, but shot out another blast of fire from her right hand. Only falling on her back did Miyako evade the close call. Her clothes had slight embers glowing red from it just passing over her. Miyako rolled over and stood on her feet before Kaede, giving her the opportunity to strike.

Flames flew past her shoulders as she sidestepped attacks to get inside her range. However, Kaede rolled over to keep outside of any attacks. Misses left small craters for Miyako. She kicked some rubble from the house they blew up to keep the pressure on while she closed again.

The two danced around the remains of the house dodging most of the things coming in acting as though they were leveling off what they hadn’t destroyed. Little progress had been made against either after the initial opening attacks. They broke after the last pieces of the house collapsed around them. Out of breath and stubborn, neither gave any ground.

Taking stock of the situation, Miyako needed a new plan. “So yer all just smoke then?”

“I’ll kill you, don’t you worry!”

“Makin’ me yawn is more like it.”

“Big talk isn’t going to fix your arm. I can tell you’re not able to dish it out like before.”

“I still have enough to deal with a snot-nosed brat like you!”

“Going to show me because you’re an adult?”

Miyako had enough time to recover herself and charged back into the fight. “No, it’s because I take down evil wherever it stands!” She clashed in the middle with Kaede. Flames sparked and billowed around them.

“Evil is it? This is just freedom!”

“Nothing as twisted and depraved as this is freedom!”

Her left hand wasn’t keeping up with Kaede as much as Miyako liked. But she kept forcing it to do work. Kaede saw through the struggle and channeled more of her flames against her. “Takako enlightened all of us! But sometimes there are those that must die!” Suddenly the flames grew in size and exploded immediately in front of them.

The blast threw Miyako back away from Kaede. Her back clawed at the ground until the friction sent her tumbling end over end into a completely different house. This house still remained standing during their fight. Miyako’s arrival in the house didn’t turn out well for the home. An explosion of smoke and debris followed her wake.

Coughing and panting heavily, Miyako still survived the point blank attack, though the same couldn’t really be said for her clothes. Already torn to shreds from the fighting, the explosion had finally finished off any hope it had of still serving its original purpose.

Miyako forced herself back up on her feet though her body complained. “Come on, get moving.” She had to fight and convince it to move on her command. The outlook on her body wasn’t improving with the fight, not that she expected it to do so. But the girl was being more of a challenge than she imagined.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Slowly working through the house, she began muttering to herself. “Well, at least she should have been hit as hard as me doing something so reckless. Can’t believe she did that…” However, as she was coming out, Kaede was already charging in after her. “…dammit…”

Flames completely engulfed her fists that threatened to lay down a barrage. The first hit square on Miyako’s chest knocked her back. When Kaede attempted to close the distance, Miyako chucked debris at her though the flames destroyed it before there was any harm. It gave enough room for her to dodge out of the next round that left only smoldering craters. “My flames are going to roast you alive!”

Rolling and back stepping, Miyako found herself on the defense against the new current in the battle. Kaede tried to mount an assault, but couldn’t land a solid blow. The flames around her continued to grow, beginning to consume her arms as well. “Stay still!”

Miyako took a pause in the fighting, bothered by what she was seeing. ‘What’s with her flames? Are they out of control? She was only using them around her fists before, but it’s gone up to her shoulders almost now.’ While she hadn’t been focusing on it the entire time, the flames progressively expanded over Kaede’s body for the last few minutes of their fighting. Before it seemed like her hair was on fire and her hands were coated in flames, but now it looked to be trying to consume her body.

The size the flames reached at her hands had stretches of tendrils rising off her. It no longer appeared like they were under her control. Thoughts of it running wild worried Miyako more than needing to dodge the attacks coming in as Kaede resumed her offensive. With each motion, she saw it take more and more over. The flames were like pillars at her hands making even staying ahead of the attacks difficult.

With each miss, the flames grew closer to her. She could feel her skin drying out and blistering from the proximity of the heat. It drew the moisture out of the air with the intensity. ‘Damn…is she actually getting more powerful the longer we’re fighting? What’s going on with her power?’

“I will burn you! Burn you!” Rage burning as hot as the flames upon her skin, Kaede charged straight for Miyako in a blur. She turned into a red streak with the flames trailing off her.

Pulling away the initial straight punch that Kaede threw was easily avoided. But the fury built up in her body already had flames covering up half her body. The proximity was enough to draw off the sweat from Miyako’s skin. A follow-up punch knocked her off balance and flames shot out of both hands kicking her body back.

Miyako crashed through the ruins of the house and smashed through two more houses before collapsing out in the street with only the speed of her flight holding the flames at bay. As she stopped in the grass road the flames clinging on to her rose. Life returned to the fires desiring her flesh.

Glancing down at the Kaede’s flames, they stuck around in ways that they had not before. Even caught on her from previous attacks, they did nothing past the initial damage. They were a part of her and unless she threw it, it did nothing else. And even thrown, it had weaker power. ‘Seems she’s become a victim of her own power. It’s like it has a life of its own.’ Scooping up some earth, she snuffed out the flames attached to her. A bit of stubbornness existed in them, but they went out. And in time, Kaede tracked down the path of destruction left behind.

She rushed in without a second thought for Miyako. Only barely getting back to her feet, Miyako wasn’t ready for Kaede. The only thing she could do was confront her head on, which meant a painful clash. The collision alone was enough to kick her feet out and almost knock her prone. Only resolute will kept her from folding in the first seconds. Cracks crawled away from her feet as she tried to anchor herself.

Worst came the flames stretched from her upper body down to her waist now. The only parts of Kaede still not fully consumed by her flames were her head and legs, both of which seemed to be inevitability. Touching hands as they struggled in a battle of strength was bad enough to keep burning her skin, but the close proximity of the growing intense heat threatened to give her first-degree burns.

Her legs already felt like mush before it all started, their collision and struggle only made it feel like a certainty rather than just a feeling. It was only a matter of time for her strength to give out. Miyako knew her situation well enough that she wasn’t winning it. Not with her caught off guard. She merely held on because she needed to or be thrown back once more. Losing ground again wasn’t something she could afford.

Taking advantage of her position, she did the only thing left to her. She collapsed her position and used it to throw Kaede off her. Tossed behind her into the ruins of a house, her body universally sighed a relief along with her. What looked like steam rose off her exposed skin from the heat. “Dammit…what’s it going to take to keep her down…”

While Miyako straightened herself out to prepare for the next round, an explosion of rubble from the ruins blew free everything that had fallen on top of Kaede. The flames had spread more with everything but her head engulfed now.

Miyako tried to keep her heavy breathing under control, but her chest was pounding too hard for that to be a reasonable effort. “That’s impressive…” she remarked, needing a pause to breath, “She looks even more pissed off than before, which I didn’t think was actually possible.”

Screaming to the night sky, Kaede's voice almost sounded more like a roar than human. She fixed her glare towards Miyako. “I’m going to KILL YOU!”

“…she losin’ it?”

Kaede no longer seemed to be meeting gazes with Miyako. Something had overcome her eyes. The flames finished their consumption of her body. Barely visible through the haze of the fires, she looked like a living flame now rather than a human. To match with the change, she screamed once more, no longer sounding human. It had a savage, bestial tone to it that belied the real threat approaching.

“What the hell?” Miyako staggered a step back confused by what she saw. Before her eyes, she watched as Kaede’s shape changed. At first, she just thought she was bending over for a charge, like a sprinter, but that was no longer the case. Her body transformed as the only best way to describe what she witnessed unfold.

The thing or being that Kaede became wasn't something Miyako could describe in a single word beyond monster. No living animal she knew of had an appearance like that of what Kaede became. Only images from fiction or movies could come close to even a half accurate image and that still failed. It was hard to tell if she was covered in hair or flames anymore or flaming hair. But it was clear that it was a fire monster whatever Kaede had become.

They hunched over like a gorilla looking to charge, but had thin narrow shoulders. The frame looked more gaunt and frail, if not for the size the flames reached, faking bulk. A head of fire grew to disproportionate size, which should have unbalanced them, yet they held stable. And everywhere tendrils of flame threw about like whips. If there was a girl still inside, Miyako couldn’t see it.

Even worse still, Miyako wasn’t ready for when she or it charged after the roar leveled everything around it. She couldn’t even see it move, it wasn’t even a blur. Miyako coughed up blood while she flew backwards. She wasn’t even sure what hit her. It didn’t feel like what she thought.

An explosion from the crash of Kaede five blocks away was all Miyako saw as she collapsed on the ground. ‘So fast…she actually got like three times more powerful…damn…’ Her whole body felt like paste, but it didn't stop her from forcing herself back up to her feet. She checked her body where it felt like she was hit, but saw nothing.

Miyako glanced over in the direction of Kaede. “Did she miss me? Merely passing by from her power did that to me? Damn… I really don’t like this…” She felt the thumping of the fire monster, likely recovered. “So she can’t control her new power…”

The monster came stalking back toward Miyako who had only bravado to stand on, not that her confidence made it look like that. ‘Winning the fight is about having the confidence even against the odds.’

Straightening out her back, she stepped forward giving whatever Kaede had become no signs of fear. She ripped her completely tattered shirt off leaving only her sports bra to protect her. The shirt had only been getting in the way. Miyako proceeded to wrap what remained of her shirt around her hands and forearms, almost looking like a boxer. Finished, she lifted up both hands ready to fight once more. “It’s time for some monster slaying!”