Kichi found herself against an opponent that moved so rapidly that her focused prescience revealed nothing but failure, and she would have to retreat or die.\
The elixir turned Yasukatsu into a death machine.
Luckily, the knights refrained from magical attacks while they were so crowded, and so did Yasukatsu. But with his abilities a mystery, she’d have no idea what would come next if she survived his blade.
But his strikes detonated against her blade, forcing her backward. Her stomach growled as she burnt through her reserves. It made her feel ill, especially knowing that by taking the elixir, he’d engaged in a type of cannibalism. She’d never forget the muffled sounds from the iron maiden as it extracted the substance from the knight.
The blows came faster than the patter of rain, and she bumped into a shield, stopping her and letting the other’s blade nearly take her head.
She rolled to the side and put enough distance to choose another course of action. There must be a downside to the elixir. Perhaps it would run its course, and Yasukatsu would return to normal, but she couldn’t chance a battle of attrition. She’d starve herself to death with the amulet draining her while her eyes were open.
Countless images of her demise played before her eyes. Finding new angles revealed new ways to die, and she was beginning to feel desperate.
His sword struck between her torso and arm, and his boot came up to catch her in the gut.
She stumbled back with her lungs burning for air and her stomach clawing like an animal. This was the test that would determine her worth as a knight. She’d never tapped into the rings for prescience and didn’t know if it would help, but she kept her eyes wide and pulled spirit energy into her focus.
Immediately, it was as if she stuck cotton into her ears. Images emerged between images, smudging into continuous forms. She was a dimension removed from the fight to see the smear of future states fanning in all directions.
The air snake above didn’t blur but instead watched her. And far above the serpent, Whitebeard battled the Choas Lord in the sky duel.
The time came to throw caution to the ash winds that swirled the arena. She would either prevail or die, so she flew forward through the labyrinth of what would be, slashing recklessly at the deformed statue of his movement through time. She slashed until her blade nicked a bit of flesh from her opponent's face.
She had to let go or run herself into the ground, so she removed the necklace and stuffed the amulet into a pocket.
The melee went back to normal around her. Swords clinked, and spells shot ice and fire. Behind her, Akisane fought three knights at once, and they used magic to keep him at a distance. He held the hilt of a sword, and where the blade should be, the air warped. He seemed to talk to himself only to pause to deflect magical attacks with the invisible sword.
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Yasukatsu wiped crimson from his cheek, where a line ran above his ear, and looked at his stained fingers. “You bitch.”
Kichi prepared to retreat, and give up for the time being, but he moved differently now and slower. A green mist steamed from the blood rivelets dripping down his head. Perhaps it had released the elixir.
A blue-white flow grew at his feet and swirled to encase his body in Shining Armor. He darted forward like a viper and lounged for a stab into her stomach.
But the red flames encircled her, and his blade slid from her armor and stuck into a man’s back. The other screamed as it twisted free.
She capitalized on the delay, sidestepping and attacking his flank. The Shining Armor deflected most of her hits, but the armor flowed presented weaknesses, and she managed to jam her blade between the slushy ice magic.
Strangely, his magic wasn’t Water or Ice but a mix. He conjured a shield that was solid but malleable. The shield morphed into a mouth like a giant flycatcher.
She reached down and scooped a handful of stone like clawing into clay. It sizzled in her hand. Her foot caught in the mouth, and her boot slipped off, leaving her to stand with a bare foot on cold stone.
The mouth split into two large winglike blades and came down to slice her in an X, but she tossed the handful of lava and sprinted past the danger. Well, she wasn’t clear of danger. It was like a pig running from the farmer into the hands of the butcher.
Yasukatsu managed to deflect every piece of lava that peppered him, raising his sword just in time to block a red pebble that came from his face.
She dropped and skidded low, and even though it gave him the perfect position to chap down at her with maximum force, it gave her a moment extra to strike, but she needed to find an opening in the armor.
He saw her and began the downward swing.
She knew almost nothing about Yasukatsu aside from which order he belonged and where he received the elixir. It wasn’t enough to hate him, so when she saw the opening, she felt wicked for exploiting it. The armor weakened right at his crotch, and she split him right up the middle. The look of shock on his face fell apart as the two halves flopped aside with the sound of pulling apart a melon.
She Covered her mouth, and a thin yellowing stream squirted through her fingers. She didn’t have time to dwell on the worst thing she’d ever done because the Black Knights parted before her.
At the same time, Shining Armor erupted from a score of archknights on the battlefield. They’d waited a little longer than her to summon it. Did that give them an advantage toward the end of the fight?
She looked around. Where is Masahide?
Duke Akitomo stood in the opening, brandishing his polearm. He wore layers of plated armor and likely could summon Shining, too. His helmet had horns, which made him look more like a demon than a man. “I’m glad we could meet on the battlefield. I’ve seen a spark of power in you. Show me.”
Kichi
Level: 16
Focus: Prescience
Secondary focus: Lava+4, Tandem Dream Sword, Fire Sword, Spirit Dipping, Tandem Black Star Rain, Tandem Vanquish
Weapons: pure sword - 5% pure
Items: Near Field Amulet (Prescience+2, focus)