The grey blue bakeneko with two tails slashed through his opponents with ease. Each strike seemed measured and practiced, as if Avar had done it a million times. The cats opposing Avar ringed around him, goading and jeering at each other to charge to their own death. Every couple seconds a stupid cat would lose to his own instincts and charge, only to be neatly cut and land on an ever growing pile of dying and dead.

As Ichi drew closer from above, he felt a strange sense looking at Avar. It was as if a sense of duty was instilled in him, like he was looking at someone who was his leader. Ichi shook his head as he landed between Avar and the cats surrounding him. Twirling his black blade Renya gave him, Ichi faced Avar.

Both Avar and Ichi spoke with their swords. They struck each other. Ichi unleashed his Flawless Strike aiming for Avar's head, but it didn't even clip the cat. It was as if Ichi's cut wasn't even aiming for Avar. Ichi couldn't explain the sensation of missing, but he did feel Avar's sword bury into his gut.

The thrust took Ichi by surprise. The cold steel in his belly flickered out as soon as it entered. Ichi fell to the ground, his consciousness fading.

Ichi realized he didn't even have time to bring up his black energy barrier. He realized he didn't even think of it. His mind swum in signals telling him he was dying he changed to eagle form. Ichi took to the sky again.

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To Danberu and the crowd of cats it was less than a couple seconds. They saw a brown blur drop from the sky, a glint from Avar's swinging sword, and then an eagle flying weakly away. Avar flashed his sword again as a cat charged his back attempting to ambush him.

There wasn't even a missed step in Avar's movement. If someone were to only look as him fighting it was as if he expected that an eagle might come and turn into a human and attack him with a black blade. However, Avar was silently baffled by the attack. He kept swinging his sword at attacking cats, hoping the fools would accept defeat eventually.

Ichi glided into tree branches and transformed back to human form, his hands rubbing over his stomach in shock. He pulled his white shirt out of his pants and gave the bare skin a close look to make sure he blood was still there.

Danberu landed at the foot of the tree in his phoenix tiger form, staring up at Ichi as if waiting for his next move. Ichi sighed as he let his body sink into the tree. From a distance he watched the bakeneko lord Avar fighting a defensive war against countless enemies.

Ichi moped over the attack he just took from that strange white eyepatch cat. He could activate the black energy barrier and try again, but the memory of the pain stung him. His ability to heal when he change form was the only thing that saved him. He might as well have died. And, Ichi thought, that was only a single bakeneko.

He realized that all the other bakeneko were clearly losing to that strange one, but Ichi fixated on beating that strange one. He didn't have much of a plan. He thought he didn't need one. Ichi leaped out of the tree down to Danberu.

He nodded to the phoenix tiger and set off to fight, this time he swore to himself, he'd be more careful.