Soru had been running for three minutes.
The sniper had been shooting at him for all three.
From nearly a mile away, arrows tore across the battlefield with enough speed to punch through walls, street signs, and tree trunks before Soru even heard the bowstring that launched them. Each shot seemed to arrive from a slightly different angle, forcing him to abandon any predictable path toward the hill.
He kept going anyway.
An arrow screamed toward his chest.
Soru twisted sideways without breaking stride. The projectile passed beneath his arm and buried itself in the road behind him, shattering pavement in a tight crater.
Another came immediately after.
Soru jumped onto the hood of an abandoned car, kicked off the windshield, and changed direction in midair. The arrow went through the vehicle where his stomach had been a fraction of a second earlier.
The sniper adjusted.
The next shot wasn't aimed at Soru.
It hit the side of the building he was running beside.
Concrete burst outward.
Soru threw one arm over his face and charged through the falling debris, using the dust cloud to hide his next step. He slipped into an alley, climbed the side of a dumpster, grabbed a fire escape railing, and swung himself onto the roof.
An arrow came through the roof before he even landed.
Soru hopped over the hole.
Another pierced the ledge ahead.
Then another behind him.
The sniper was walking the shots onto him.
Soru ran faster.
The hill was finally visible beyond the outer edge of the city, dotted with utility structures and tall transmission towers. One narrow power line crossed the slope.
Someone stood on it.
Balanced effortlessly.
Bow raised.
The vampire released.
Soru saw the arrow flash in the moonlight.
He dropped from the rooftop.
The shot tore through the upper floor behind him.
Soru landed in a crouch, ran up the hillside, then immediately cut left when another arrow struck where his foot was about to land.
The distance closed rapidly.
Two hundred meters.
One hundred.
Fifty.
The vampire kept shooting.
Soru stopped trying to evade cleanly.
He began using the environment.
A shot came toward his head.
He stepped behind a utility pole.
The arrow punched through it.
Soru was already on the other side.
Another came low.
He jumped onto the wire support, ran several steps along the angled metal, and launched himself toward the final stretch of hill.
The vampire fired again.
Soru drew his sword.
Steel struck the arrowhead.
The impact nearly tore the weapon from his hand.
He redirected the shot just enough.
It passed beside his shoulder.
Soru landed beneath the power line.
Three minutes.
He looked up.
The vampire stared down at him.
?: "You're brave to come straight to me, weak human."
Then he jumped.
Soru's eyes widened slightly.
That wasn't what he expected.
The vampire descended with the bow held horizontally.
Soru raised his sword.
Wood and steel collided.
Soru: "Ah crap, I was hoping you couldn't fight close range."
The vampire pushed down.
Soru's boots slid through the dirt.
Then the bow twisted.
The lower limb hooked around Soru's guard and yanked sideways.
Soru let go with one hand before the motion could wrench the sword away, pivoted around the pressure, and kicked toward the vampire's knee.
The vampire stepped over it.
The bow came around like a staff.
Soru ducked.
The string passed close enough to brush his hair.
He answered with a short slash toward the ribs.
The vampire blocked with the reinforced grip of the bow, tilted it, and let the sword slide harmlessly away.
Soru immediately changed direction.
The sword came back from below.
The vampire hopped backward.
Soru followed.
The vampire planted one end of the bow against the ground and used it like a pole, vaulting over Soru's next cut. He rotated above him and drove a heel toward the back of Soru's head.
Soru stepped forward.
The kick missed.
The vampire landed behind him.
Soru spun.
The bow struck his blade.
They separated.
Then crashed together again.
The bowman fought strangely.
Not like an archer desperately improvising because someone had reached him.
Like somebody who had always expected the bow to become a close-range weapon eventually.
He used the curved limbs to trap Soru's sword, the grip to strike at his hands, and the string itself to threaten his neck whenever Soru stepped too close.
Soru tested the distance.
A thrust toward the chest.
The vampire knocked it aside.
Soru let the sword continue past him, stepped through the deflection, and shoulder-checked the vampire.
The vampire barely moved.
Vampire strength.
Right.
Soru tried stepping back.
The bow snapped upward.
He leaned away.
The limb missed his chin.
Soru kicked a loose rock between them.
The vampire glanced down reflexively.
Soru attacked high.
The vampire blocked.
Soru had expected that.
He stopped the sword before the weapons fully bound and drove his forehead into the vampire's face instead.
The vampire's head snapped back.
Soru immediately slashed.
The bow caught it.
Soru twisted his wrist, rolled the blade over the wooden limb, and cut toward the vampire's hand.
The vampire released with one hand.
The edge passed beneath his palm.
He caught the bow again before it fell.
Soru almost smiled.
Good.
The vampire thrust the bow forward like a spear.
Soru sidestepped.
The upper limb hooked behind his shoulder.
He was yanked off balance.
The vampire's knee came toward his stomach.
Soru dropped lower instead.
The knee passed over him.
He swept the vampire's planted foot.
The vampire jumped.
Soru rolled beneath him.
Both rose at the same time.
The next several exchanges became increasingly ugly.
Not sloppy.
Ugly.
Soru rammed his sword against the bow, got trapped, released the bind, punched the vampire in the mouth, ducked beneath a spinning backhand, and nearly lost an eyebrow when the bowstring flashed across his face.
The vampire kicked him backward.
Soru stumbled onto a fallen utility sign.
His heel slipped.
The bowman rushed.
Soru stepped onto the sign instead of trying to regain stable footing.
The metal tilted beneath him.
He rode it downward, letting the slope carry him under the vampire's swing.
His sword flashed upward.
The vampire twisted.
Blood opened across his side.
First hit.
The vampire responded instantly.
The bow came down.
Soru rolled aside.
The strike shattered the sign.
Soru rose on one knee and cut for the wrist.
The vampire pulled away.
Too slow.
The blade bit deep.
Soru continued through.
The vampire's right arm separated just below the shoulder.
It hit the ground still clutching the bow.
Soru didn't hesitate.
He stepped past the falling limb, circled behind the vampire, and raised his sword toward the neck.
The opening looked perfect.
It wasn't.
The vampire moved with a burst of speed Soru hadn't seen once during the exchange.
He turned so violently that Soru barely registered the motion.
His remaining hand struck toward Soru's sword wrist.
Soru released pressure instinctively and pulled back.
Fingers passed inches from the hilt.
If they had connected, the sword would've been gone.
Soru jumped backward.
The vampire landed opposite him.
His severed arm twitched on the ground.
Then the stump began moving.
Bone pushed outward.
Muscle followed.
Skin sealed over it.
Within moments, a new right arm had completely regrown.
The vampire flexed the fresh fingers.
Soru stared.
That was inconvenient.
The vampire bent, picked up his bow, and studied Soru again.
No anger.
No embarrassment.
If anything, there was more interest in his eyes now.
?: "Interesting. Tell me your name, pitiful human."
Soru rested the flat of his sword against one shoulder.
Soru: "Hmm. Only if you tell me yours first."
The vampire considered him for a moment.
?: "Very well. It is Hiroaki. The avenger of the vampires."
His delivery was short and flat.
No grand gesture.
No dramatic flourish.
He simply stated it as though the title were a fact everyone should already understand.
Soru blinked.
Soru: "You give yourself that title?"
Hiroaki's expression didn't change.
Soru thought for a second.
Then pointed to himself with his thumb.
Soru: "Then I'm Soru, humanity's fang."
A pause.
Soru looked slightly impressed with himself.
Soru: "Hey that's pretty cool actually."
Hiroaki stared at him.
Cold.
Unamused.
Soru cleared his throat.
Hiroaki: "Soru, humanity's fang."
He raised the bow.
Hiroaki: "I will crush you here."
Soru lowered his sword.
His stance changed with it.
The joking expression disappeared, leaving only focus.
He extended his free hand and curled his fingers once, beckoning Hiroaki forward.
Soru: "Bring it."
Hiroaki raised the Arcane Bow.
The weapon changed immediately.
Faint symbols crawled across its limbs, each one glowing a different color before fading into the wood. Soru watched from several meters away, sword held low, eyes narrowing as the air around the vampire filled with a pressure that hadn't been there during their first exchange.
Hiroaki drew the string.
There was no arrow in his hand.
A red rune formed between his fingers.
Then an arrow appeared inside it.
Soru moved.
The arrow crossed the distance almost instantly and struck the ground where he'd been standing. Fire erupted across the hillside, rolling over the grass in a violent wave.
Soru came through the edge of it before Hiroaki could draw again.
His sword flashed toward the vampire's throat.
Hiroaki leaned back and caught the blade against the center of his bow. Soru twisted through the bind and cut low, forcing Hiroaki to step aside before his regenerated leg could be opened.
A blue rune appeared beside the bow.
Soru saw it.
He didn't know what it meant.
Hiroaki fired downward.
The arrow struck beside Soru's foot.
Ice exploded outward.
The grass, dirt, and scattered stones around him froze instantly. Soru's leading foot lost traction, but instead of fighting the slide, he dropped his weight and let it carry him forward.
His sword came low.
Hiroaki's eyes sharpened.
Soru slid beneath the bow and cut toward his legs.
Hiroaki jumped.
Soru passed underneath him, planted one palm against the frozen ground, and rotated his body around the point. He came upright behind Hiroaki just as the vampire landed.
The sword came for his spine.
A yellow rune flashed.
Lightning struck between them.
Soru pulled his blade away and threw himself sideways as the discharge split the frozen earth. Electricity raced across the ice, forcing him to continue moving until he reached unfrozen ground.
Hiroaki landed lightly.
His expression hadn't changed.
Soru glanced at the glowing symbols still fading around the bow.
Fire.
Ice.
Lightning.
Wonderful.
Hiroaki drew again.
A pale green rune appeared.
The arrow missed Soru completely.
He almost ignored it.
Then the projectile curved.
Soru heard the air change behind him and ducked. The arrow tore over his shoulder, bent around a utility pole, then came back toward him from the opposite side.
Soru jumped.
The wind arrow passed beneath his feet and struck the hillside, detonating in a concentrated burst that ripped dirt from the ground.
Soru landed.
Hiroaki had already fired another.
A silver rune.
The arrow struck beside Soru.
Chains erupted from the point of impact.
Soru's eyes widened.
He cut through the first chain before it wrapped his ankle, twisted around a second, and ducked beneath a third. Two more came from behind.
He stepped toward them instead of away, letting one pass over his shoulder while his sword caught the other near its end.
The chain tightened.
Soru used it.
He jumped and let the magical restraint yank him forward, gaining several meters instantly before cutting himself free.
Hiroaki was waiting.
The bow came around horizontally.
Soru blocked.
The impact rattled through his wrists.
Hiroaki followed with a knee.
Soru shifted his hip aside, trapped the leg briefly with his elbow, then answered with a short cut toward the ribs.
The bow intercepted.
Hiroaki shoved Soru's sword away and created another rune at point-blank range.
Red.
Soru recognized it this time.
He moved before the fire arrow existed.
Hiroaki released.
Soru stepped around his shoulder.
The arrow passed between them and exploded against the hill.
Flames washed over their backs.
Soru attacked inside the blast.
Hiroaki blocked high.
Soru changed levels.
A cut toward the stomach.
Hiroaki twisted the bow vertically and redirected it.
Soru let the sword slide past the weapon, turned his shoulder, and slammed his elbow into Hiroaki's jaw.
Hiroaki barely reacted.
Vampire.
Right.
He grabbed for Soru's throat.
Soru slapped the hand away with the flat of his sword and stepped outside.
A blue rune appeared.
Ice.
Soru jumped before the arrow hit.
Hiroaki had expected that.
The next rune was green.
Wind.
The second arrow struck the air beside Soru and exploded.
The gust changed his direction in midair.
Hiroaki drew a third.
Yellow.
Lightning.
Soru twisted desperately.
The bolt grazed his sleeve as it passed.
He landed awkwardly, rolled once, and came up with smoke rising from his shoulder.
Hiroaki was getting faster with the combinations.
Soru wiped dirt from the side of his face.
Hiroaki attacked again.
Fire toward the ground.
Wind into the fire.
The blast bent.
A wall of flame curved around Soru's left side and closed from behind.
He sprinted forward.
Hiroaki fired ice toward his escape path.
Soru watched the rune form.
He jumped onto the frozen section before it fully spread and slid across it, sword held behind him for balance.
Hiroaki sent chains after him.
Soru leaned back so far his shoulder nearly touched the ice as one chain passed over his face. He caught another with the guard of his sword, let it pull him sideways, then released it before a lightning arrow struck the chain and sent electricity racing along its length.
The bolt detonated where he'd been.
Soru slid off the ice and regained his footing.
He looked at Hiroaki.
The vampire looked back.
Neither had gained much.
That seemed to bother Hiroaki.
Soru smiled faintly.
Then rushed him again.
The next minute became a continuous collision between steel and magic.
Soru refused to let Hiroaki settle into comfortable range. Every time the vampire created space, Soru closed it. Every time a rune appeared, Soru memorized the color and shape, reacting earlier the next time it returned.
Fire became manageable.
Ice became terrain.
Wind became momentum.
Lightning remained dangerous.
The chains remained irritating.
Hiroaki began layering them.
An ice arrow froze the side of a ruined utility structure. Soru ran up the slick surface anyway, using the angle to gain height. A wind arrow curved behind him, forcing him off early.
He jumped.
Binding chains erupted from the wall in front of him.
Soru twisted through the first two and planted one foot against the third, briefly using the chain itself as a step before it could wrap around him.
He descended toward Hiroaki.
The vampire raised the bow.
Soru's sword struck.
Their weapons crashed together.
Hiroaki turned the bow and tried trapping the blade between its curved limbs.
Soru released the pressure immediately and punched him in the mouth.
Hiroaki's head moved barely an inch.
Soru's expression flattened.
That had hurt his hand more than Hiroaki.
Hiroaki grabbed his wrist.
Soru turned with the grip, stepped across Hiroaki's stance, and used the vampire's own arm as leverage to slip behind him.
His sword came around.
Hiroaki ducked.
The blade cut several strands of hair.
A lightning rune formed without Hiroaki even fully turning.
Soru saw the glow reflected against the bow.
He pushed away.
Lightning exploded between them.
Both separated.
Soru landed near the road leading back toward town.
Hiroaki remained higher on the hill.
For several seconds, the vampire said nothing.
Then he slowly raised the Arcane Bow toward the sky.
Soru's instincts reacted immediately.
This was different.
Hiroaki drew the string all the way back.
There was no rune.
No single element.
Instead, points of light appeared behind him.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Dozens.
They connected through thin luminous lines until a vast constellation spread across the night behind Hiroaki.
Soru stared.
Every star brightened.
Each one became an arrow.
Soru looked toward Hiroaki.
Then toward the town behind him.
There were too many.
No clever sword parry was solving this.
Soru turned and ran.
The constellation fired.
The hillside disappeared behind him.
Hundreds of magical arrows descended in overlapping waves, their impacts blending into one enormous eruption of fire, ice, lightning, wind, and shattered earth.
Soru reached the edge of town as the second volley began.
He never entered the street normally.
An arrow struck the road ahead.
Soru jumped onto the side of a leaning building and ran three steps horizontally along the wall.
A fire arrow punched through the exact spot his foot had just touched.
The wall exploded behind him.
Soru kicked away.
A lightning arrow came from above.
He caught a hanging festival banner with his free hand, swung around the corner of the building, and released it as the bolt vaporized the support pole.
He landed on an awning.
The fabric immediately sagged.
Soru ran across it anyway.
Three arrows struck the street below.
Ice spread across the road.
Soru jumped from the collapsing awning and landed directly on the frozen pavement.
He let himself slide.
Wind screamed behind him.
An arrow curved around the corner.
Soru dropped into a crouch while still moving.
The projectile passed overhead.
He planted the tip of his sword against the ice for one fraction of a second and used it as a pivot.
His whole body swung ninety degrees.
He pulled the blade free and shot into an alley.
A fire arrow struck the road behind him.
The ice vanished beneath flame.
Soru sprinted along the alley wall as binding arrows struck ahead.
Chains erupted from both sides.
The first crossed at chest height.
Soru slid under it.
The second wrapped toward his ankle.
He jumped.
The third came from above.
Soru twisted sideways between them, shoulder passing through a gap barely wider than his body.
Another chain snapped toward him from behind.
He caught it with his sword.
The magical restraint tightened instantly.
Instead of resisting, Soru let it pull.
His feet left the ground.
The chain yanked him across the alley faster than he could have jumped.
He released the blade from beneath it at the last possible moment and crashed shoulder-first through a weakened second-floor window.
Glass scattered around him.
The interior was dark.
He didn't slow.
Soru vaulted a counter, ducked beneath a collapsed support beam, then heard the whistle of incoming arrows above the roof.
He changed direction.
The doorway was too obvious.
Instead, he kicked through a thin interior wall.
He crossed the next room and cut through the wooden exterior in one swing.
The building behind him erupted before he'd fully landed outside.
The blast pushed hot air against his back.
Soru used it.
He leaned forward and let the pressure add speed.
Ahead, a truck lay overturned across the street.
He ran straight toward it.
A cluster of stars above Hiroaki flashed.
More arrows descended.
Soru stepped onto the truck's rear door, ran up the side, crossed the roof, and jumped.
The vehicle disappeared beneath a barrage of elemental explosions.
Soru was already in the air.
A wind arrow caught the space beside him.
The blast threw his trajectory sideways.
He didn't fight it.
He curled his body with the gust, rotated once, and landed feet-first against the wall of a nearby building.
For half a second, he was horizontal.
Then he ran.
Two steps.
Three.
A lightning arrow struck beneath him.
He jumped from the wall and caught the edge of a balcony.
His momentum swung him underneath it.
Fire passed overhead.
Soru released.
Dropped.
Caught a lower railing.
Swung again.
A binding arrow struck the balcony above.
Chains exploded outward.
Soru pushed away from the wall.
They missed him by inches.
He landed on a street sign.
The metal bent immediately.
Soru used the bend like a spring.
He launched forward.
The sign was destroyed a heartbeat later.
Arrows continued falling.
The town around him became an elemental maze.
One street burned.
Another froze.
Lightning crawled across rooftop antennas.
Wind tore loose doors from hinges and sent them spinning through intersections.
Chains hung between buildings like webs before vanishing moments later.
Soru never stopped.
He ran up things that were falling.
Jumped onto things that were moving.
Used explosions as cover and wind as acceleration.
When an ice arrow froze a collapsing roof, Soru crossed it before gravity resumed.
When a fire arrow struck the building behind him, he jumped onto a falling beam and rode it downward long enough to reach another rooftop.
When chains closed across an intersection, he slid underneath a parked car, emerged from the other side, stepped onto its hood, and immediately vaulted toward a balcony.
An arrow pierced the car.
Explosion.
Soru caught the balcony railing and swung himself through an open window.
He crossed the room in three strides.
A blue glow filled the floor.
Ice rune.
Soru jumped onto a table as the entire room froze.
A lightning arrow came through the ceiling.
He kicked the table sideways.
It slid across the ice.
Soru rode it.
The lightning struck behind him.
He jumped from the sliding table through another window.
The table exploded.
Soru landed on a narrow utility wire.
His feet touched it only briefly.
He ran three steps along the cable while arrows tore through the buildings on either side.
The fourth step never came.
Wind snapped the wire.
Soru dropped.
He caught the severed cable with one hand.
The free end swung him across the street.
A fire arrow passed through the space behind him.
Soru released at the top of the swing.
He landed on a rooftop, rolled, and kept moving.
His lungs burned.
His legs were beginning to feel heavy.
He looked back.
Far beyond the burning town, Hiroaki still stood on the hill beneath the constellation.
But the pattern had changed.
Fewer stars.
Soru noticed immediately.
The barrage wasn't infinite.
Good.
He crossed another roof.
The next volley descended.
Soru jumped onto a chimney, pushed off, caught the edge of a tilted billboard, ran across its face, and jumped again as lightning shattered the metal frame behind him.
He landed inside a narrow gap between two buildings.
For the first time in several minutes, he stopped moving forward.
He looked toward the hill.
Then smiled.
Hiroaki expected him to keep running.
That was the mistake.
Soru turned around.
The next arrows came toward his previous escape route.
He went the other way.
Back toward Hiroaki.
He ran up the side of a half-collapsed building and reached the roof just as an ice arrow struck behind him. The freezing blast hardened loose debris into a temporary ramp.
Soru used it.
He sprinted up the frozen rubble, jumped from the top, and grabbed a hanging electrical cable.
The cable swung.
Soru rode the arc over an entire street.
A wind arrow came toward him.
He released early.
The blast passed beneath him.
Soru landed on a sloped roof and slid down it toward the hill.
A fire arrow struck the upper section.
Flames chased him.
He reached the edge, jumped, caught the crossbeam of a damaged utility tower, and swung around it.
His momentum redirected completely.
Now he was moving straight toward Hiroaki.
The vampire saw him.
For the first time since activating Celestial Draw, Hiroaki's expression shifted.
Soru had survived the barrage.
Worse.
He was coming back.
The remaining stars behind Hiroaki fired.
Soru dropped from the tower.
A lightning arrow passed overhead.
He landed on a broken road barrier, stepped across it, then kicked off the end.
Fire hit behind him.
Wind hit beside him.
The overlapping blasts chased him up the hill.
Soru lowered his body and ran through the gaps between them.
One arrow struck close enough to burn the edge of his coat.
Another froze the ground beneath one foot.
He used the slide.
A chain erupted ahead.
He cut it once, ducked beneath the second branch, and kept climbing.
Hiroaki lowered the Arcane Bow.
The last stars of Celestial Draw faded behind him.
Soru emerged through the smoke at the bottom of the hill.
Still running.
Still holding his sword.
Hiroaki stared at him.
Soru looked exhausted.
His clothes were scorched and torn. A shallow burn crossed one arm, and blood ran from several small cuts caused by flying debris.
But he was smiling.
Not broadly.
Just enough.
He had crossed the entire town beneath a rain of magical artillery and found his way back.
Hiroaki's eyes narrowed.
Then the Arcane Bow began to change.
Gold spread across one limb.
Black consumed the other.
The colors met at the center.
Soru slowed.
The pressure coming from the weapon changed immediately.
Whatever Hiroaki had used before suddenly felt incomplete.
Darkness gathered around the bow.
Light gathered with it.
Both twisted together without canceling each other.
Hiroaki raised the transformed weapon.
Soru rested his sword over one shoulder and caught his breath.
Celestial Draw had been bad enough.
Apparently Hiroaki had another level.
***
The Arcane Bow had changed completely.
Black and gold ran along its limbs like two opposing forces forced into the same shape. Light gathered along one edge while darkness crawled along the other, both twisting together around Hiroaki's grip.
Soru felt the pressure before Hiroaki even drew.
This was different from the rune arrows.
Different from Celestial Draw.
The air around the bow seemed heavier now, as if every shot carried something far denser than simple magic.
Hiroaki pulled the string.
A black-and-gold arrow formed between his fingers.
Soru's eyes narrowed.
Hiroaki released.
The arrow crossed the hill in an instant.
Soru moved on instinct.
He threw himself sideways.
The projectile passed beside him and continued into the town behind.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the entire street vanished.
The explosion wasn't wide so much as brutally concentrated. Darkness and light tore through several buildings in a straight line, pulverizing stone, timber, and steel before the remaining force erupted outward at the far end.
Soru landed on one knee.
He looked back.
A trench now cut through the town.
Soru: "Yeah. Not letting you shoot those."
He moved immediately.
Hiroaki reached for the string again.
Soru was already halfway there.
The vampire barely had time to form another arrow before Soru stepped inside the bow's ideal range.
His sword came down.
Hiroaki blocked with the bow.
Soru didn't let the contact settle. He pulled away, cut from the opposite side, then stepped closer before Hiroaki could create distance.
The Arcane Bow snapped toward his ribs.
Soru turned sideways and let it pass.
His sword flashed toward Hiroaki's shoulder.
The vampire ducked.
Soru followed with a knee.
Hiroaki caught it against his forearm and shoved him back.
Only a step.
Soru immediately took it again.
He understood the situation now.
Hiroaki's Eclipse Form was terrifying at range.
So there would be no range.
Soru attacked relentlessly.
He struck high, changed angle before contact, then came low. Hiroaki blocked one, evaded the next, and tried using the bow's curved limb to trap Soru's sword.
Soru rotated the hilt free.
The bowman stepped backward.
Soru followed.
Every time Hiroaki attempted to draw, Soru attacked the hand.
Every time he tried jumping away, Soru stepped with him.
Hiroaki threw a kick.
Soru ducked and slashed toward the planted leg.
The vampire hopped over the blade, spun in the air, and brought the bow down toward Soru's head.
Soru caught it.
The impact cracked the ground beneath them.
He pushed the bow aside and drove his shoulder forward.
Hiroaki shifted enough to absorb the collision.
Soru's sword came from underneath.
Hiroaki caught it again.
Their weapons scraped together.
Black-and-gold energy rolled across the bow.
Soru immediately broke contact.
He refused to find out what that energy would do at point-blank range.
Hiroaki saw the hesitation.
He tried exploiting it.
The bow swung horizontally.
Soru leaned backward.
The upper limb passed close to his nose.
He planted one hand against the ground, swung his legs around, and kicked at Hiroaki's ankle.
Hiroaki jumped.
Soru rose beneath him.
His sword traced upward.
Hiroaki twisted in midair.
The edge cut his coat but missed flesh.
He landed several meters away.
His hand immediately reached for the string.
Soru rushed.
Again.
He wasn't giving him even a second.
Steel and bow collided in rapid succession.
Hiroaki fought differently now.
More defensive.
The Eclipse Bow was clearly stronger than its ordinary form, but Soru had turned that advantage into something awkward.
A weapon capable of destroying entire streets was difficult to use when a swordsman refused to leave arm's reach.
Hiroaki blocked a slash toward the neck.
Soru stepped outside his lead leg.
Another cut came toward the ribs.
Hiroaki turned the bow vertically.
Soru stopped the attack early and punched toward his face.
Hiroaki tilted away.
Soru followed the movement.
The sword came again.
Hiroaki blocked.
Soru shifted.
Again.
Again.
Hiroaki was being pushed down the hill one step at a time.
Then both of them heard it.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Someone was sprinting toward them.
Soru glanced only briefly.
Hiroaki looked past him.
A figure emerged from the smoke farther down the road.
Black hair.
Two swords.
Yuji.
Soru blinked.
The kid didn't slow.
Didn't ask what was happening.
Didn't announce himself.
He saw Soru locked in combat with a vampire and immediately drew both blades.
Then he entered the fight.
Yuji attacked Hiroaki from the side.
Hiroaki turned and blocked with the bow.
The instant the weapons touched, something changed.
A violent recoil shot backward through the Arcane Bow.
Hiroaki's eyes widened.
The force of his own block slammed back into him.
His boots slid several feet through the dirt.
Soru noticed immediately.
That sword.
Not Yuji's original one.
The other blade.
Something about it had reacted to the contact.
Yuji didn't explain.
He attacked again.
Soru almost laughed.
The kid had been here three seconds and was already swinging at Hiroaki like they'd agreed on a plan beforehand.
Soru joined him.
The fight became a 2-on-1.
Hiroaki adjusted quickly.
He blocked Soru's downward slash with the bow, twisted beneath Yuji's second blade, then shoved forward with vampire strength.
Soru yielded one step.
Yuji didn't.
He crossed both swords and redirected the bow past his shoulder.
Soru immediately attacked through the opening.
Hiroaki ducked.
Yuji's original blade came from the opposite side.
Hiroaki leaned away.
Soru cut low.
Hiroaki jumped.
Yuji was already waiting for the landing.
The Counter Blade struck the Arcane Bow.
That strange recoil happened again.
This time Soru saw it clearly.
Hiroaki had attacked first.
The moment his bow struck Yuji's sword, the force returned back into the weapon with greater violence.
Hiroaki's arms jerked.
His guard opened.
Soru lunged.
Hiroaki barely slipped around the thrust.
He swept the bow sideways.
Soru blocked.
Yuji stepped in simultaneously and cut toward the shoulder.
Hiroaki ducked beneath it, rotated the bow, and forced Soru's sword away.
Yuji's second blade came down.
Hiroaki caught it with the bow.
Again.
The force rebounded.
Hiroaki grunted as the Arcane Bow was nearly knocked from his hands.
Now he understood something was wrong.
Soru understood too.
That sword wasn't normal.
Yuji pressed.
His two-blade style changed the geometry of the exchange immediately.
One sword attacked.
The other threatened punishment if Hiroaki tried to strike through it.
Soru began reading Yuji's movement and working around him.
Hiroaki blocked Yuji's original blade.
Soru attacked low.
Hiroaki pivoted.
Yuji brought the Counter Blade across.
Hiroaki stopped his own bow before contact.
Smart.
Soru saw the hesitation.
He attacked high.
Hiroaki blocked him instead.
Yuji entered the gap.
Three fighters moved around one another in a tight circle on the hillside, steel flashing between black-and-gold light.
Hiroaki finally decided the close-range battle had become too dangerous.
He exploded backward with vampire speed.
One leap.
Several meters opened between them.
Soru saw the bow rise.
Soru: "Shit."
Black and gold gathered.
Hiroaki drew.
The Eclipse Arrow formed.
Yuji stepped forward.
Soru's eyes widened.
Soru: "Kid—"
Hiroaki fired.
Yuji raised the Counter Blade.
He slashed directly into the arrow.
The impact detonated against the sword.
Black and gold energy erupted outward, but instead of consuming Yuji, the force folded around the blade.
Then reversed.
The Eclipse Arrow shot backward.
Stronger.
Faster.
Hiroaki's eyes widened.
He brought the Arcane Bow across his body and caught his own attack against it.
The impact was enormous.
The hill cracked beneath his feet.
Black-and-gold energy spiraled outward as Hiroaki was driven backward several steps before finally knocking the reflected arrow aside.
It struck the ground farther away.
The resulting blast ripped apart a section of hillside.
Soru stared.
If that had hit Hiroaki cleanly, it would have done serious damage.
Very serious.
Hiroaki stared at Yuji's blade.
No longer at Yuji.
At the weapon.
That gave Soru an idea.
Soru: "Kid, come with me for a sec."
Yuji looked at him.
Before he could object, Soru grabbed the back of his clothing and pulled him away.
Yuji: "Hey."
Soru: "Move."
They retreated down the hill, slipping behind the remains of a concrete maintenance structure.
Hiroaki didn't chase.
He stood where he was, studying the Counter Blade from a distance.
The Eclipse Bow remained raised.
But he didn't fire.
Not yet.
He was thinking.
That sword changed the matchup.
Hiroaki needed to understand how.
Behind the structure, Yuji pulled himself free from Soru's grip.
Yuji: "What is it?"
Soru pointed at him.
More specifically, the sword.
Soru: "You're one of the Odd Jobs kids. Where'd you get that Alter Blade?"
Yuji looked down at it.
Yuji: "Got it from the vampire I killed."
Soru paused.
Yuji: "It counters attacks and sends them back stronger."
Soru stared at him.
Then at the blade.
Then back at Yuji.
Soru: "You killed the vampire using this?"
Yuji: "Yeah."
Soru's eyebrows rose.
That explained the second sword.
He'd assumed the kid had just been carrying two.
Apparently he'd killed someone strong enough to possess an Alter Blade and simply taken it afterward.
Soru nodded, genuinely impressed.
Soru: "Good job, you did great to beat a vampire that had that."
Yuji: "Thanks."
Soru looked at the Counter Blade again.
His expression changed.
Soru: "But I'm gonna need you to let me have that."
Yuji stared at him.
Yuji: "What?"
Soru held out his hand.
Soru: "I've been long overdue for an Alter Blade. Fate led you to me to give me this weapon."
Yuji's face went blank.
Yuji: "No way. I'm keeping it."
Soru: "You have two blades!"
Yuji said nothing.
Soru pointed at his original sword.
Soru: "And that other one already looks strong enough. Just hand it over!"
Yuji: "How about you kill that bowman and take his weapon."
Soru looked around the corner toward Hiroaki.
Then back at Yuji.
Soru: "Now's not the time to argue. I'm way stronger than you!"
Yuji: "Doubt it."
Soru froze.
His expression twisted.
Soru: "WHA—"
Something flashed behind Yuji.
Soru's eyes widened.
Soru: "Shit, look out!"
Both moved.
An Eclipse Arrow passed between them and struck the maintenance structure.
The entire concrete wall disappeared in black-and-gold destruction.
Soru and Yuji hit the ground on opposite sides of the blast, rolled, and came up immediately.
Hiroaki stood farther uphill with the bow drawn again.
Hiroaki: "Your blade counters any kind of attack. That's troublesome for me."
His gaze remained fixed on the Counter Blade.
Hiroaki: "Then again, I need only shoot your surroundings."
Soru looked toward the crater that had replaced their cover.
A fair point.
He turned back toward Yuji.
Soru: "C'mon kid. Please! Let me have it!"
Yuji stared at him.
His face visibly soured.
The grown man beside him was now begging for the sword he'd earned less than an hour ago.
Soru held both hands together.
His expression had somehow become a pout.
Yuji looked disgusted.
Yuji: "Unbelievable."
Soru waited.
Yuji sighed.
Then pulled the Counter Blade free.
Yuji: "Here!"
He tossed it.
Soru caught the weapon.
His eyes lit up immediately.
Soru: "Yes! Thanks a lot."
Yuji raised his remaining sword.
Yuji: "If you can't keep up with me, I'm taking that blade back."
Soru rested the Counter Blade against his shoulder.
He grinned.
Soru: "Haha. Sure thing."
Above them, Hiroaki slowly drew another Eclipse Arrow.
This time, Soru stepped forward with the Counter Blade in his hand.
The first tremor came beneath all three of them.
Not from Hiroaki.
Not from an explosion.
The entire hillside groaned.
Soru felt it through the soles of his feet and stopped for half a breath. Yuji did the same. Farther uphill, Hiroaki's eyes shifted toward the distant silhouette of Hanabi Island's volcano.
A deep rumble rolled across the island.
Birds scattered from the mountain.
Loose stones skipped down the slope.
A faint orange glow pulsed somewhere near the crater.
The volcano was waking up.
Not erupting.
Not yet.
But alive enough to make the ground feel wrong beneath them.
Soru looked at it once.
Then back at Hiroaki.
No time.
Hiroaki drew.
Black and gold formed across the Arcane Bow.
He fired low.
Not at either of them.
At the ground.
Soru saw the trajectory immediately.
Soru: "Move."
The Eclipse Arrow struck several meters ahead.
The road vanished in an explosion of darkness and light, tearing up a wide section of earth and throwing debris across the hill.
Yuji jumped left.
Soru didn't.
He stepped directly toward the blast and brought the Counter Blade down.
The edge caught part of the incoming force.
The weapon screamed in his hands.
Then answered.
A section of the blast folded backward and detonated farther uphill.
Not all of it.
But enough.
Soru slid several feet through the dirt.
His eyes narrowed.
The blade could counter the attack itself.
It couldn't erase an entire collapsing battlefield.
Hiroaki had already understood that.
The next arrow struck behind them.
The road erupted.
Yuji turned.
Another came toward the side of the hill.
Then another.
Hiroaki began targeting everything except their bodies.
Stone.
Road.
Trees.
Walls.
The terrain around Soru and Yuji disappeared piece by piece.
Soru moved through it anyway.
An Eclipse Arrow hit a nearby embankment.
The blast sent a wall of dirt toward them.
Soru stepped into the debris, swung the Counter Blade across the densest part of the force, and redirected enough of it that a narrow opening appeared.
He passed through.
Yuji followed half a step behind.
Another arrow struck the ground beneath Soru.
He felt the pressure before impact.
Jumped.
The explosion rose.
Soru twisted in the air and slashed downward.
The Counter Blade caught the upper edge of the blast and sent it crashing back into the hillside.
He landed hard.
Kept moving.
Hiroaki fired again.
Soru looked at the angle.
Too wide to fully counter.
So he didn't try.
He cut only the section that threatened Yuji's path, creating a gap just large enough for both of them to cross.
Yuji noticed.
That was when he started paying closer attention to Soru.
Not the weapon.
The man using it.
Soru wasn't simply fast.
He was economical.
Every step served something.
Every movement with the Counter Blade was calculated around exactly how much of an attack needed to be redirected and how much could be ignored.
He didn't waste time trying to nullify everything.
He found the part that mattered.
That was harder.
Much harder.
Another arrow came.
Soru moved first.
Yuji followed.
They crossed another hundred meters.
Hiroaki's bombardment continued.
But the distance was shrinking.
Soru's footwork became sharper the closer they got.
He began using the broken terrain as momentum.
A shattered piece of road tilted beneath him.
He stepped onto it while it was still falling.
Pushed off.
Another blast tore through where he'd been.
Yuji jumped from a broken guardrail and landed beside him.
The two accelerated together.
Hiroaki saw the gap closing.
He fired one final Eclipse Arrow at their feet.
Soru cut it.
The reflected force ripped a trench back toward Hiroaki.
Hiroaki jumped over it.
Soru was already there when he landed.
The Counter Blade came for his shoulder.
Hiroaki twisted the Arcane Bow away.
No contact.
Smart.
He had learned.
Soru smiled slightly.
Good.
That made this more interesting.
Hiroaki attacked with the bow.
Soru raised the Counter Blade.
Hiroaki stopped the strike before the weapons touched.
Then changed angle and attacked Soru's ribs instead.
Soru moved outside the line.
Yuji stepped in.
His original sword came from the opposite side.
Hiroaki blocked it.
Soru attacked again.
Counter Blade.
Hiroaki pulled away.
Again.
Hiroaki avoided contact.
Soru understood the pattern immediately.
Hiroaki was no longer afraid of Soru's offense.
He was afraid of the sword.
So Soru stopped attacking where Hiroaki expected the blade to go.
His first slash came high.
Hiroaki saw the Counter Blade and shifted his bow away.
Soru stopped halfway.
Yuji cut low.
Hiroaki blocked him.
Soru's sword changed direction.
The Counter Blade came toward Hiroaki's flank.
The vampire avoided it again.
Exactly what Soru wanted.
His lead foot had moved.
His balance was now committed.
Soru stepped inside.
Not with the blade.
With his shoulder.
The hit disrupted Hiroaki's stance.
Yuji saw it.
His sword flashed across Hiroaki's ribs.
Blood opened.
Hiroaki turned.
Soru attacked again.
This time a thrust.
Hiroaki moved the bow off-line to avoid contact.
Soru changed the thrust into a short diagonal cut.
Hiroaki caught it late.
Steel met the Arcane Bow.
The Counter Blade activated.
Force slammed back through Hiroaki's arms.
His guard opened.
Soru struck him across the chest.
A deep slash.
Hiroaki backed away.
Soru stayed with him.
Now Yuji understood.
Soru wasn't trying to land the Counter Blade every time.
He was using the possibility of contact to control Hiroaki's decisions.
Every time the bow avoided the Counter Blade, Hiroaki gave up space.
Every time he defended against Yuji, Soru forced contact.
Every time he defended against Soru, Yuji found the opening.
The two Hunters began moving as if they'd trained together.
They hadn't.
Soru led.
Yuji read him.
That was enough.
Hiroaki attacked.
Soru feinted high.
The bow shifted.
Soru ducked beneath it and cut across the thigh.
Yuji entered immediately and slashed the upper arm.
Hiroaki spun.
Soru raised the Counter Blade.
The vampire aborted the swing.
Yuji cut the side.
Hiroaki kicked.
Yuji leaned away.
Soru stepped in during the recovery and struck the bow directly.
The counter force blasted back.
Hiroaki's arm jerked.
Soru's next cut opened his shoulder.
The vampire retreated.
Soru followed.
The difference in skill was becoming obvious.
Hiroaki was an excellent fighter.
Fast.
Strong.
Experienced.
But Soru was operating at a level where every reaction could be weaponized.
A twitch of the wrist.
A shift of weight.
A fraction of hesitation caused by the Counter Blade.
Soru caught all of it.
Yuji watched from beside him.
That was when the thought finally settled.
This man was strong.
Really strong.
Not just because of speed.
Not just because of experience.
His swordsmanship was refined enough that almost nothing was wasted.
Soru moved like someone who had fought high-level opponents for years and survived because he understood exactly how much risk each exchange allowed.
Yuji had seen Erika.
Had seen Iris.
Had fought enough skilled people at the Academy to know the difference between talent and mastery.
Soru was closer to the latter.
Yuji adjusted.
He stopped trying to attack independently.
Instead, he began attacking where Soru forced Hiroaki to move.
Soru feinted toward the neck.
Hiroaki shifted right.
Yuji was there.
Cut.
Hiroaki blocked.
Soru hit the bow with the Counter Blade.
Recoil.
Yuji cut the leg.
Hiroaki jumped.
Soru stepped beneath him.
He didn't slash.
He waited.
Hiroaki landed and immediately twisted away from where he expected the Counter Blade.
Yuji's sword entered that space instead.
Another cut.
Hiroaki's expression hardened.
Blood ran down his side.
He changed tactics.
The next time Soru approached, Hiroaki stopped using the bow defensively.
He grabbed the earth.
Not literally.
He slammed one foot down with vampire strength and drove the Arcane Bow into the ground.
The hillside exploded.
Stone and dirt erupted between all three of them.
Smoke swallowed the battlefield.
Soru lost sight of Hiroaki.
Yuji did too.
The first kick came through the smoke.
Soru barely got an arm across his ribs.
The impact sent him sliding hard across the hill.
A second strike found Yuji.
He blocked with his sword.
Still, the force pushed him back several meters.
Then Hiroaki emerged between them.
One hand grabbed Soru's shoulder.
The other drove the bow into Yuji's chest.
He twisted his hips and kicked both almost simultaneously.
Soru and Yuji were sent tumbling through the dust.
Not far enough to end the fight.
Far enough.
They landed roughly a couple dozen meters away.
Soru rolled once and rose.
Yuji dug his sword into the dirt to stop himself.
By the time they looked up—
Hiroaki was running.
Soru frowned.
Soru: "He's retreating?"
Yuji watched him.
Yuji: "No."
Soru saw it too.
Hiroaki wasn't fleeing from them.
He was creating range.
The vampire sprinted uphill with everything he had.
One hundred meters.
Two hundred.
Soru immediately pursued.
Yuji followed.
But Hiroaki had gotten what he needed.
Three hundred meters.
Four hundred.
He finally stopped.
Turned.
The Arcane Bow raised.
Soru felt the change from that distance.
Hiroaki's black-and-gold Eclipse Form remained, but something else began appearing around it.
Runes.
All of them.
Red.
Blue.
Yellow.
Green.
Silver.
They did not form separate arrows this time.
They rotated around one point.
The ground beneath Hiroaki began to crack.
Static filled the air.
Fire curled around his feet.
Ice spread outward beneath it without melting.
Wind tore through the hill in violent circular currents.
Binding chains formed and dissolved inside the storm of elements.
Darkness and light twisted through all of it.
Soru stopped.
Yuji did too.
Hiroaki pulled the string back.
A single arrow formed.
It was almost impossible to look at directly.
Every rune had been compressed into it.
Every element.
Every aspect of the Arcane Bow.
The air around Hiroaki distorted under the pressure.
The hill trembled.
The distant volcano answered with another low rumble.
Hiroaki's eyes remained cold.
Hiroaki: "Let's see that blade counter a wide area of effect attack."
Soru's grip tightened.
The Counter Blade could reflect force.
It could send attacks back stronger.
But the thing Hiroaki was preparing wasn't going to remain a single attack for long.
Soru understood immediately.
He couldn't stand there and try to catch all of it.
Hiroaki: "World Piercer."
The arrow crossed four hundred meters in a flash.
Then the elements erupted.
The projectile became a moving catastrophe.
Fire expanded outward in massive waves.
Lightning tore through the air in branching arcs.
Ice formed and shattered in the same instant, sending razor fragments through the storm.
Wind twisted everything into a violent forward-moving vortex.
Magical chains lashed through the destruction.
Black-and-gold Eclipse energy ran through the entire attack like a spine.
Everything in its path disappeared.
Trees were uprooted and shredded.
The hillside broke open.
Buildings farther behind Soru and Yuji began collapsing before the storm even reached them.
Soru raised the Counter Blade instinctively.
Then stopped.
His eyes widened.
Too much.
He might be able to reflect a portion.
Maybe even a large portion.
But not everything.
Not fire, lightning, wind, ice, chains, and Eclipse energy spread over an area that wide.
Soru: "This won't be able to counter all of that."
The elemental storm expanded.
Soru turned.
Soru: "RUN!!"
Yuji didn't argue.
Both sprinted.
Soru jumped a broken barrier.
Yuji vaulted beside him.
Behind them, the entire area got destroyed by the elemental storm. They managed to avoid the attack, but they were swallowed by buildings crumbling into rubble.