The Red Hand

Chapter 265 – The Dragon Empress v the Oni Princesses.

A silence came over the arena, and it seemed that the very air itself grew still as Superbia and Hishya stared each other down. The two had fought many times in the past, but each could tell that this battle would be something far more than just a sparring match.

Superbia, newly reunited with her sister, had something to prove and wanted to show to everyone, that she was a force to be reckoned with. Her reunion with Munechika was more than just a morale boost, as she was more powerful due to their 'fusion.' While at the same time, Hishya's Draconic blood craved battle and demanded that she prove her superiority over the Oni, something the Dragon was all too happy to go along with.

As the two glared at each other, Munechika giggled quietly to herself. She knew just how hot-headed the two could get, and internally, she thought that perhaps Superbia had gotten a bit in over her head due to her desire to show off.

{You always did want to look good in front of me, Akari.) {Munechika)

"BEGIN!" Kira signaled the start of the match, and instantly, Superbia and Hishya clashed, rocketing from their starting positions at speeds so blisteringly fast that the audience was already having trouble keeping up once again.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

As the two zipped around the arena, there were brief flashes of pink fire that erupted from Superbia every time she and Hishya's blades met. It wasn't much, and many in the audience just assumed that it was part of the attacks the Oni was making, but Hishya quickly figured out that there was much more at play than just simple fireworks.

{I see, so that's what happened to Chloe.} Hishya thought as she deflected Superbia's blade and spun around to kick Munechika away, punting the purple Oni to the other side of the arena with a well placed boot to to her stomach.

"You're using Princess of Blood in bursts." Hishya smirked as she continued to deflect, dodge, and block with her blade. "How quaint." Superbia's ultimate technique came with the debilitating downside of imposing significant strain on her body if used for long durations. During the Serval fight, she hadn't even used it for more than a minute before becoming exhausted and sore, so the Oni endeavored to find a better way to use the ability.

"Good catch!" Superbia laughed as she ducked out of the way of one of Hishya's blows and allowed Munechika to take her place before slashing at Hishya's legs. "So just try and keep up!" She pushed herself further, and together with Munechika unleashed a series of attacks that took everything Hishya had to keep them at bay.

{Damn...} (Hishya)

Hishya clicked her tongue in irritation as she hopped over one of Superbia's attacks, kicked off the air, and propelled herself backward before landing on the arena floor a few dozen feet away and launching a series of lighting fast flame attacks from Sun Strike in an attempt to keep the Oni sisters at a distance while she thought about her next move.

{This is going to be a problem...} Hishya wracked her brain for answers as the two Oni moved to her sides and came in to attack her at opposite angles. {Superbia and Munechika were already amazing combo fighters back in the day, but if they're tied together as I suspect, then their teamwork will have only improved.}

Hishya had fought many battles where she was outnumbered, sometimes by a significant margin, but this was a situation where she was a bit out of her depth. Fighting one opponent in a duel was already something that she wasn't entirely comfortable with, but two was something that she'd only experienced a few times over the years. Her power gave her the edge, but as Akagi had noted during the Libra Crisis Hishya was still not experienced enough in PVP to guarantee victory against more than one opponent. Especially when their coordination more than makes up for the power gap.

“Don't think you can keep us away with something that weak!” Superbia yelled as the two Oni converged on Hishya's position. With little choice but to defend, the Dragon swung her blade around, blocking and deflecting the sister's strikes with seeming ease, but to the trained eye, it was clear that Hishya was only just barely able to keep the two Oni Princesses in check.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

The two sisters continued their attacks, not letting up for even a moment as they tried their very best to get past Hishya's guard. The Dragon was an expert fighter, though, compared to Akagi, her experience in player combat was lacking and her lack of real combat training was starting to show. The constant constant barrage of attacks by the two Oni was pushing her speed and ability to focus to its absolute limit, until eventually she slipped up a few times, allowing Munechika and Superbia to get minor strikes on her arms, shoulders, and cheeks, drawing blood.

"Grrr." Hishya growled, before channeling magical power and creating a blast that repelled the two sisters away, giving her time to breathe. "Pests. Can you do something other than buzz around me like flies?" She didn't dare move from her spot, knowing that the initiative still lay squarely with the two Sisters.

{I need to deal with one of them, or at least separate and take down Munechika so that it's just me and Superbia. I'm confident that I can handle her alone, but with that damn purple Princess running around focusing all my attention and power on one target isn't going to be possible.} Hishya grumbled. She figured out quickly that Munechika was nowhere near as powerful or fast as her sister, but even so just having her around was distracting and irritating regardless of her actual fighting ability. The Purple Oni was always known as an excellent fighter, and she shared many of the same powers and abilities as her older sister and was thus not something that Hishya could ignore, as the cut on her right cheek showed.

"Looks like we've officially got her attention." Supebia grinned, and after taking a moment to orient themselves, Superbia and Munechika smiled at each other before their forms blurred. 

Taking off at high speed, they began to circle Hishya, their speed increasing steadily until it seemed as if dozens of Oni were running around the Dragon.

{Oh great...} (Hishya)

Once they reached the desired speed, the two sisters slowly closed the loop around Hishya until, just before they reached her, what looked like blurred images of Munechika and Superbia detached from the forms that were circling and darted straight for Hishya, ready to attack.

{Afterimages?} Hishya had seen something like this before, and while she kept an eye on the still circling Oni forms that were zipping around her she swiftly cut down the two attackers that came for her, their forms dissipating the moment the Dragon's blade made contact.

{Yeah, I thought so...} Hishya sighed internally as she cut down dozens of fake forms that continued to assail her.

For a while, Hishya couldn't figure out what the two sisters were doing as each time one of them approached her, it was always a fake that was easily dealt with. Two-by-two they came, and two-by-two they were cut down, and it was getting to the point that Hishya was considering using her breath attacking to force the two Oni to do something different. However, just as she was planning what to do next, around two dozen copies of Superbia and Munechika detached from the swirling forms and came straight for her.

{What's this?} Hishya couldn't tell if any of them were real and quickly got to work slashing her way through the copies, but just as she was getting comfortable destroying fakes...

*BANG*

Her blade made contact with the real blade of Munechika, who had a smile on her face as she put increased power into her strike, holding the Dragon in place as three Superbia converged on her from behind.

{FUCK!} Not knowing which one was real and afraid that she was about to take massive damage, the Dragon swung one of her feet around, lifting it slightly in the air and kicking a small fireball onto the ground below her, hoping to figure out which of the three was real.

To her amazement, all three Superbias disappeared as a result of the blast, but just as she was about to get comfortable and deal with Munechika, the purple-haired Oni giggled as she allowed herself to fall backward slightly. Hishya had no idea what she was doing at first, but it quickly became apparent that this was a diversion, and just as Hishya pushed forward slightly in an attempt to send Munechika away, Superbia flashed underneath her sister's left arm, taking Hishya by complete surprise and getting a nasty slice across the Dragon's chest that sent blood flying across the arena as her torso was sliced open.

"AHHH!" Hishya screamed in pain as she was cut open. The entire event had been nothing but a trick, and the real purpose of all those decoys was to get the Dragon to solely focus on them to the point that she'd never consider that the real attack would come from anywhere else.

{NICE!} (Superbia x Munechika)

However, the two sisters failed to account for one important thing as they celebrated internally. Such an attack would likely disable and/or incapacitate most fighters, but Hishya was far too tough to be taken down with such an injury, and just as Superbia started celebrating her strike on the Dragon, she quickly found her forearm grasped by Hishya's right hand, which clamped down hard before swinging her and slamming the Oni Princess into her sister, sending the two tumbling across the arena.

"Ow..." Superbia winced as she tried to get up. Hishya's grip had broken some of the bones in her left hand, and while she could still fight it would be an annoying injury. Her limited healing ability helped a bit, but the injury would persist during this battle, impeding her ability to fight.

"Well, at least we did more damage to her-" Superbia's comments to her sister were cut off by a massive blast of fire that came screaming down at her. Angry with how much damage she'd taken Hishya decided to unleash one of Sun Strike's innate abilities and slammed the blade into the ground tip first, unleashing a blazing hot cone of Solar Energy that vaporized the parts of the arena that it touched.

"Shit!" Superbia and Munechika activated some of their Oni forms with Superbia also channeling more of her Princess of Blood power,  and together they managed to create a small safe area around them by cutting through the attack with their blades. Even in this protected area, the two were subject to minor burns and the level of heat and light surrounding them was almost overwhelming. Once it was over, the arena was a mess with massive chunks either on fire, vaporized, or crumbling with the small bit of ground beneath the two sisters being the only untouched area on that half of the battlefield.

"J-Jesus." Superbia looked around, the hair on the back of her neck standing up in fear as she imagined what would've happened if they'd taken that blast head-on.

{We would've been turned to ash!} (Superbia)

"I think we made Hishya mad." Munechika giggled as she pointed to the absolutely livid Hishya, her body covered in purple flame that seemed to boil the very air around her.

"Maybe that means she'll start taking this whole thing a bit more seriously." Superbia gave a dry laugh as she steadied herself for whatever came next.

"I hope you two know that there's plenty more where that came from!" Hishya roared across the devastated battlefield. "Just come on over here and try something like that again, I fucking dare you! Because I promise you it will be your neck that I snap the next time I get my hands on you!" She stomped her right foot, causing a minor earthquake as well as purple flames to erupt from cracks in the ground.

{Yeah... She's really not happy with us...} Superbia gave a wry smile

"I hope she remembers that killing isn't allowed for this." Superbia commented as she cracked her neck to stretch.

"You know Hishya. She was never one to take losing very well and tended to fly off the deep end if she was backed into a corner." Munechika pointed out that the blast that Hishya had used was something that required Sun Strike to charge and that it wouldn't likely be usable again during this fight so they should be safe.

"Well, despite all her bluster, she wasn't able to lay a finger on us while we moved together, so let's just use our advantages and teamwork to beat her." Superbia tried to swallow but found that her mouth was completely dry.

"Are you alright?" Munechika noticed that Superbia's body seemed to be shaking slightly and that her breathing had become slightly erratic. "You've been using Princess of Blood quite a bit, and your body is probably none too happy with it..." She was worried that her sister was pushing herself too hard.

"It's not that..." Superbia answered without looking at her. "I-I... Were Hishya's eyes... Were they always like that?" She pointed to the Dragon, and Munechika focused on Hishya's clearly angry face, noticing that the Dragon's eyes had changed and now looked something akin to her proper Draconic eyes when she was in her true body. She'd learned from her past mistakes and had taken this fight seriously from the start, but was holding plenty of power in reserve to use when the time came. A fact that Superbia only just now realized.

{Am... Am I afraid?} Superbia tried to push the notion away, thinking that it was impossible for her to feel such things. {We're winning! Hishya can't touch us, and we've done considerable damage to her without taking much in return... So why do I have this absolute feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach... Why do those eyes... Why do I feel like I'm staring down death itself?}

"If you two are going to just stand there and gawk, then I'll happily move things along!" Hishya kicked off from her position, reaching the two sisters in an instant.

{SHE GOT FASTER?!?} (Superbia)

Readying themselves just in time, Munechika and Superbia began their next clash with Hishya. However, this time, it was they who were on the defensive as Hishya unleashed an unrelenting series of strikes targeting both sisters.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

The speeds the three fighters moved at went far beyond anything else seen before, and at this point, Akagi was the only person watching who could keep up with what was going on. Even Silfana and the other players could catch little more than small glimpses of the combat unfolding and Kana and the girls were completely lost, only seeing blurs zip around at high speed.

Easily moving faster than sound, Hishya and Superbia's fight unleashed deafening sonic booms that shattered glass, shook the earth, and started to actually damage the structural integrity of the tournament grounds themselves. There were even a few times when the digital feed cut out due to the sheer intensity of the battle, and a few onlookers noted that some of the areas where the clashing fighters touched seemed to melt from the sheer heat being given off each time they came to blows.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Things continued like this for some time, with both fighters scoring hits on each other, until, with one massive blast, the three warriors stopped, and everyone could see their bloodied forms.

"Urgh!" Superbia groaned as she and Munechika's blades struggled to keep Hishya back. All three women were covered in cuts and bruises, and the amount of blood splattered on their faces and clothing was to the degree that Akagi issued a parental advisory, however pointless it may have been.

"Grrr." Hishya let out a low growl that made even many in the audience flinch for a moment. If one looked closely, one could see that her front canine teeth had grown out, and there were a few areas where scales could be seen in patches on her visible skin. It was clear that she was using the absolute maximum amount of power that she could channel while remaining in her human form, and Akagi figured there was a not-insignificant chance the Dragon might accidentally transform completely if things didn't end soon.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Hishya began trying to pound her way through the sister's joint defense, and with each hit Superbia and Munechika were slowly pushed back, their strength seeming to wane in the face of a True Dragon's overwhelming pressure.

{DOES HISHYA EVER RUN OUT OF STRENGTH?!?} Superbia was confident that she and her sister were approaching their limits, and she could feel every muscle in her body screaming out from all the damage she'd taken from both Hishya's attacks and her own ability's feedback.

Running out of time, and knowing that Hishya was on the verge of overwhelming them, Superbia decided to use every last bit of power that she had left, and after a quick bit of telepathic planning with her sister, they opted to go for one final combination attack that they hoped would end things in their favor.

"PRINCESS OF BLOOD! GREATER ABILITY BOOST!" Superbia unleashed both of her trump cards at once, her body becoming wrapped in a deep pink fire. With her newfound strength, she pushed Hishya back slightly, which gave Munechika the chance to slip around the Dragon's side and activate a hidden ability of her own.

"Princess of the Moon!" Munechika's ability was similar to her sister's, though much weaker and it could only be activated for a very short period of time. In an instant, her body erupted in purple fire and she quickly moved to strike Hishya down from the Dragon's unprotected left side while she was busy with Superbia.

"Hmpf." However, rather than be surprised by all this, Hishya simply smirked. "It's over." She'd been waiting for a moment like this, and just as Munechika's blade came down toward her shoulder, she stepped back slightly, allowing Superbia to push her before leaning backward. The sudden change in position threw both sisters for a loop and caused Superbia to overextend herself as her body was now stretched out ever so slightly. This gave Hishya exactly the opportunity she was waiting for and the Dragon quickly took advantage of Superbia's vulnerability, kicking the Oni's right leg out from under her while allowing Munechika's blow to strike her shoulder, which did significant damage, but also locked the Oni in place as her blade was held in place by her armor and her very flesh.

{WHAT?!?} Superbia was caught completely by surprise and after finding herself falling toward the ground she quickly found herself ascending skyward as Hishya's other foot planted itself in the middle of her stomach and sent her flying high into the air.

"Ack!" Superbia coughed up blood as she shot upwards, helpless.

With Superbia temporarily removed, Hishya got to work on Munechika, bringing Sun Strike down and under the Purple Oni's extended arms before rapidly swinging it upwards, cutting off both and sending them and her blade flying high into the air.

As she was made of energy rather than flesh and blood, Munechika did not bleed, though the Oni did scream in pain. However, Hishya didn't let this bother her, instead taking the chance to grab Munechika's sword as it fell to earth, before spinning both it and Sun Strike around in her hands and thrusting both through the Oni center mass in a backward strike where she faced away from Munechika, both blades piercing through her and sticking out the other side.

"Ack!" Munechika stopped moving as both blades went through her before falling to the ground as Hishya kicked her away.

"YOU BASTARD!" Superbia screamed as she kicked off the air and rocketed back down toward Hishya. She knew that Munechika would be fine, but that didn't stop her from being absolutely furious in the moment, which was exactly what Hishya wanted.

As Superbia rapidly approached Hishya threw Munechika's sword at her, which Superbia barely dodged during her descent. However, that momentary distraction proved to be fatal as it took away precious moments that Superbia couldn't afford to lose, and the next time she looked down at Hishya, the Dragon's lips were already burning with Amethyst flame, which shot at her the next moment.

*WOOSH!*

Hishya unleashed a massive breath attack that stretched into the air so high that it went beyond the upper levels of the stadium and seemed to nip at the clouds above.

“AHHHHH!” Superbia screamed as she was burned alive, being ejected upwards and out by the incredibly hot blast, before landing beyond the bounds of the stadium unconscious and severely wounded.

"Winner, Hishya!" Kira called the match moments before Hishya collapsed to the ground herself.

"Hah. See, you can try and pull cheaty bullshit on me, and I still win..." It turned out that the Dragon was also at her limits and was mere moments from blacking out due to all the damage she'd sustained during their high-speed clashes. As the medical team rushed onto the field everyone was left completely awestruck by what they'd just witnessed, while Akagi had the biggest smile on her face as the, still conscious, Hishya was forcibly healed before passing out.

{To bring Hishya to such a point... Superbia, Munechika, I'm thoroughly impressed by the two of you, and Hishya, to have come out on top despite the odds stacked against you... I'm quite proud of you, my friend. That was a fantastic match, good work. Now go get some rest, because I think your NEXT opponent is going to give you an even better run for your money.} (Akagi)