I stood over her helpless body as it trembled from head to toe. Her breaths were rigid and shallow, each one scraping her lungs as if they might be her last. Her heart pounded wildly like a hurricane trapped inside a cage of ribs and I could smell it… fear. Thick, raw, intoxicating.
It clung to the air and wrapped itself around my sharpened senses like a drug.
I continued to tower over her, an evil grin slowly stretching across my lips. Watching her like this broken, powerless, stripped of her arrogance felt disturbingly satisfying.
Suddenly
A shard of jagged, icy pain pierced my leg.
Cold spread instantly, crawling around the wound like living frost. I tore my gaze from her face and looked down. Blood spilled freely, yet it froze mid-air my own crimson turning to jagged rubies as it clung to my flesh. With a sharp, agonizing pull of the hidden blade, blood sprayed violently into the air, splattering across the pristine white room and painting the void a horrific shade of red.
I lifted my eyes back to Yuri.
She was smiling.
Not nervous.
Not shaken.
Amused.
That same twisted, delighted grin mirrored my own as she leapt backward several meters, landing lightly, her heels making no sound against the stone.
"You really thought I was scared?" she chuckled, hopping back with the grace of a dancer. "All that towering… all that growling… and this is all it took to shut you up?"
"Regenerate."
The word escaped my mouth without conscious thought. Flesh knitted itself back together as the frozen blood cracked and fell away like broken glass. Bone sealed. Skin restored. It was as if the wound had never existed.
She tilted her head, watching the process with clinical interest. "Ohhh… that's adorable," she mocked. "You heal so confidently. Almost like you expect to be hurt."
"I see," I said, my voice dropping deeper, heavier until the vibration seemed to shake the very foundations of the room.
"You gained the advantage by pretending to be afraid. You're far more evil than the average demon. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you were one."
I shrugged, lifting my hands casually to my sides. Her grin vanished instantly, replaced by a sharp, irritated glare that could have frozen the sun.
"Careful," she said coldly. "You're not qualified to judge monsters."
In a blink, she gripped her massive blade and charged. The ground beneath her shattered as she closed the distance instantly. One moment she was meters away the next, she was a blur of white and steel right in front of me. Her massive blade swung in a horizontal arc, aiming to take my head clean off.
Without hesitation, I raised my hand to block it.
"Oh?" she laughed. "You blocked with your hand? That's brave. Stupid but brave."
The blade began to freeze then shattered straight through my palm and fingers.
"What the hell?!" I gasped.
The broken edge continued its trajectory toward my face. I leaned back just in time, the blade slicing the air where my throat had been a millisecond before. I jumped back several meters, barely escaping the follow-up.
"Ouch…" I scoffed, gripping my arm and staring at the empty, bleeding space where my fingers once were. "You actually cut them off."
She scoffed back. "Say it like it hurts. I worked hard on that."
She charged again faster this time. Strike after strike rained down like a meteor shower, all aimed at my vitals. I dodged purely on instinct, my limbs moving together as if guided by a dark, ancestral memory. But the final strike it was too fast.
I raised my hand to block. Too slow.
Pain exploded as my ear was sliced clean off. I jumped back, clutching the side of my head, a guttural scream escaping me as blood streamed down my neck.
"You cut my ear off! My hand! Just how evil are you?!"
She smiled wider, her eyes glazing over with a terrifying ecstasy. "Evil?" she echoed. "No. I'm just honest about enjoying this." As she licked my blood from the flat of her blade, her voice softened mockingly.
"Ohhh… divine blood really does taste offended. Like it can't believe it's losing."
"Regenerate."
My ear reformed. Fingers returned. Flesh healed. But I could feel it my body grew paler. Colder. If this keeps up, I'll run out of mana. I need to act. She's too fast to outrun.
"Done talking to yourself?" she mocked. "I need more of your blood." She lifted her blade and continued to lick it clean. "Ohhh… I knew it," she moaned in delight. "It's far more divine than I expected!"
Without conscious thought, my left arm moved to the side.
"ESTA!" I screamed.
A blade materialized out of thin air. Dark. Ominous. Familiar. I tilted my head, staring at the hilt then realization hit.
This is it… the dark blade. The one Kiyomi gave me. The one that consumed my mana.
My eyes widened as a surge of power traveled up my arm, flooding my entire body. It felt euphoric like raw adrenaline injected straight into my soul.
"Well, look at that," she laughed, her eyes shining with manic excitement. "You finally brought something dangerous. Took you long enough. But it won't save you."
She charged. Our blades collided.
CLANG!
Sparks exploded like fireworks, lighting the room with violent flashes of purple and white. We exchanged blow after blow, steel screaming against steel as my body moved on its own.
"You swing like you're afraid to commit," she taunted between strikes. "Was your teacher gentle with you?"
"I went through horrors even you won't understand," I responded, my voice rasping.
This is it. This is what Kiyomi trained me for. Years of pain. Endless suffering. All of it finally paying off in this white void.
We leapt back simultaneously, both gasping for air.
"Your sword style…" she said between ragged breaths. "It looks familiar."
"Yeah," I replied, chest heaving. "I noticed yours too. I was trained by a High Human."
Her eyes widened, staring straight into my soul.
"Think fast."
I clapped my hands together, then spread them apart. A red glow erupted, forming a massive magic circle. A beam of pure, destructive energy fired straight at her. She blocked it with the flat of her blade.
"What?!" I gasped. "How did you block that?!"
She laughed maniacally. "That was your big move?" she sighed. "I almost got excited. Feast your eyes!" She raised her hand to the sky. The white room was consumed by a glowing blue light. I looked up. A massive magic circle spanned the entire ceiling.
"Ice Magic:Ice Blizzard!"
Frozen weapons rained down mercilessly. I ran, dodging desperately but wherever I went, the storm followed. With a flick of her finger, she controlled the trajectory.
Running is pointless. I'm almost out of mana… and this blade is draining me dry.
I stopped and raised my sword to guard. Ice tore into my legs. Then my arms. Blood poured freely, staining the ground beneath me. She flicked her finger once more.
A colossal iceberg crashed down on me.
The pressure was immense. Wind exploded outward, lifting her dress as she casually pulled it back down.
"Still alive?" she asked, peering down into the crater. "You're stubborn. I like that. Makes breaking you feel earned."
"H-Holy shit…" I groaned, shoving chunks of ice aside. "That hurt… a lot."
Half my body was buried. Blood soaked the ice. Only my upper body remained visible. She climbed the iceberg and towered over me. I hurled a piece of ice at her it shattered uselessly against her aura.
As she pinned me, freezing my hands to the glacier, she leaned close. I screamed. Blood filled my mouth as I coughed violently.
"Yes that sound," she moaned. "That's the one. Your body finally admitting defeat."
She steered the blade into my guts. Blood spat everywhere, dotting her pale face. I screamed in agony as my hands instinctively huddled around the steel, trying to remove it which only made her moan with more pleasure.
She twisted the blade, ripped it out, then plunged it into my heart dragging it free slowly once more.
She stared at her blade, giving it a long, slow lick. Her body trembled with joy. Her cheeks flushed red. Her eyes closed with pure, dark ecstasy.
"Divine or not," she murmured, turning her back on me as I slumped against the ice. "Everything tastes the same when it's dying."
Then A blade pierced her chest from behind.
Her eyes widened. She froze, staring down at the dark tip of 'Esta' protruding from her sternum.
"You thought I was dead?" I said, my voice deep, hollow, and hauntingly calm.
"How…?" she coughed, blood spilling from her lips. "I stabbed your heart… I saw you bleed…"
"You were too strong," I said, leaning my weight into the blade. "So I needed you to lower your guard. And my heart? You didn't stab it. I moved it to my abdomen with magic before the strike. It was risky but it was my only chance."
She coughed again, laughing weakly. "That's cheating. My bloodlust… got the better of me," she whispered. "You're… clever…".more blood came from her body staining her dress
"I can't let you die yet."
I raised my trembling hand. "I'll use my last mana… remember our deal."
"Regeneration."
The dark magic forced her wounds to close but she went limp, her breath failing. Minutes passed in the silent, bloody white room. Suddenly, she gasped sharply and sat up, her grey eyes wide.
"Welcome back to the world of the living," I said weakly, my vision fading into a grey haze. "I've lost too much blood… I doubt I'll survive this."
My legs gave out. Darkness swallowed everything as I gazed at her one last time, my eyes slowly turning a dull, lifeless grey.
"See you… later."