Put to the Test! Show Me Your Resolve! (104)

When the purple light died down, there was a clear winner.

Koji was unconscious on the ground while Yukio was in tears from laughter.

Akasan reverted to his normal form. He held his side, as it was starting to hurt now. He looked at Yukio.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Yukio's facial expression suddenly dropped from laughter to concern.

Akira had appeared directly behind Akasan. He was swinging his sword at Akasan's neck with a backhand stroke.

At the last second, Akasan ducked.

Akira's eyes narrowed. "I was sure I hit you."

Akasan turned his head back, showing his purple eyes. "That was dirty."

Akira smirked. "A good warrior doesn't get killed from behind."

Akasan jumped away, facing Akira. "You're gonna fight me too? I'm pretty sure people like you don't really need the money."

Akira rested his sword on his shoulders. "Yeah. We don't. I'm sure all of us has our reasons." His gaze wandered to the unconscious Koji laying on the ground. "So you beat Koji." He looked at Yukio. "You too?"

Yukio smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Akira looked back at Akasan, who was all beat up. He started laughing out loud for a few seconds. "Interesting. No ones ever defeated those two in a Tournament of Death. Personally, I'm not into fighting pointlessly, but technically we're required to fight the target. And you know what assassins do right?"

Akasan pulled Kuroba out. He readied himself.

Akira shook his head in pity. "It's sad really." He sighed. "Alright, show me how strong you are. I'll decide what to do with you myself. But let me warn you, I'm way stronger than them."

A black-purple aura shrouded Akasan. "I feel like you're looking down on me."

Akira flipped his sword in the air. "No, I just wanna see what kind of person you are."

As the sword came back down, Akira kicked it on the handle, which sent it after Akasan, spinning through the air.

Akasan moved left to dodge and ran after Akira. He swung his Kuroba at his neck but missed. Akira did a double spin mid air and aimed a kick at Akasan's head.

Akasan blocked with his right hand and kicked back. He hit Akira, but it seemed that he also had the energy hardening technique like Koji. Akira smiled and held his hand out. His sword quickly returned to him. He instantly swung it with great speed. Luckily Akasan saw it coming and guarded with his blade. Akira was only using one hand to swing while Akasan used two, but his power was still enough to push Akasan away from him.

Akasan was tossed in the air and landed on his feet.

Akira stuck his sword in the ground and clapped his hands together. Immediately, the sword multiplied into three.

Akasan's eyes widened out of surprise. Then they narrowed. "You can't swing three swords at once."

Akira smiled. "You sure?" He kicked two of them. They were knocked out of the ground at high speed and spun towards Akasan, ripping up the ground like power saws cutting through paper.

Akasan started moving. He had to stay on the run against an opponent like this or else he'd just be a sitting target. As he ran he knocked the swords away with his Kuroba. It took him a great effort just to do that.

Akira's swords came back to him. "Run all you want. Countering one of my blades is like hitting a tank head on."

Instead of catching the swords, Akira instead kicked them back in Akasan's direction, then grabbed the last sword in the ground and started running after him, even faster than the swords were moving. So now not only did Akasan have to worry about the two spinning swords' accuracy and power, but he had to fight a master swordsman attacking him in unison along with them.

Akasan looked behind him. "You've got to be kidding me!!" He started flying up in the air.

Akira glanced up. He kicked both of the spinning swords upwards with ease. Then he bolted up into the sky as well, with a black trail of energy behind him.

Yukio looked up. "This might get intense." He flew over to Koji and picked him up.

Akasan covered his arms and legs with Nil. They started pulsing a neon purple. He turned around, facing Akira. He quickly swung his swords to both sides, knocking away the two spinning blades. Then he dropped down with his leg up. Purple flames ignited his body. They were accompanied by bright blue lightning flashing through the air. "Dark Crimson Flame!! Jackhammer: Fifty Million Volts!!"

Akira grinned at the sight and shielded himself with his sword. Akasan's heel hit the surface of the blade and sent the both of them to the ground in a flash of light.

There was a resounding explosion of wind and lightning on impact.

The sound reached as far as the town Sara and the others were. Koi and Fumiko looked out at the lightning striking up into the sky.

"Is that Akira?" Fumiko asked cheerily.

Koi frowned. "No, it's not. None of us use lightning."

Fumiko started skipping in the direction of the explosion.

Koi reached his hand out. "Where are you going?!"

Fumiko looked back as she went. "I wanna watch."

--

Red dust filled the sky as Akasan and Akira stared each other down. Akira was bleeding from the head, and Akasan was getting tired.

Akira stabbed his sword into the ground and outstretched both of his arms to the side. His other swords quickly came back and clapped into his hands.

Fumiko soon arrived and watched the spectacle from a distance. "Ooh... this looks fun."

Akira turned the blades in his hands upside down and stuck each of them into the ground on the sides of him. He clapped his hands together. Black energy started rushing out of his body.

The ground trembled as two black wings flung out from his back.

The three swords started floating in the air. His eyes showed a glint of a sparkling red in them as his spiritual pressure deepened the crater in the earth.

The swords started spinning violently. They generated wind force that blew away all of the dust in the air.

Akira started floating a few inches off the ground as his shirt burned away from the heat being generated.

A red 'X' burned into his chest as the rest of his body turned jet black with hardened energy. He held a hand up in the air.

Energy from his hand crept up until it formed into a sword three times larger than his other ones. The sword started brimming with purple and pink energy that resembled the colors you'd see in outer space. He held the sword up high. "Holy Sword: Galactica!!"

Fumiko started getting excited. She started cackling and hopping up and down. She squealed. "Akira's Holy Sword!! This is only my second time seeing it!! Amazing, amazing, amazing!!"

Yukio flew down next to her. "When did you get here?"

Fumiko looked at him with bloodthirsty eyes. "Just now."

Akasan could basically taste the killing intent from Akira through his skin. He let out as much Nil as he could manage while keeping his sanity.

A large black-purple flame emitted from his body. His markings made their way to the halfway point of his face, glowing purple and turning the sclera of his eye black. He held his sword in front of him with both hands, ready for whatever attack was coming his way.

Akira grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "Space Eater!!" He swiped his sword.

Akasan watched as the very space in front of him ripped apart. There was a slit in reality itself. He peered into the darkness of space. It started sucking in the air and elements around it. After a few seconds it closed up, leaving the air in the surrounding area to swirl, causing a mild storm on the surface of the earth.

He hadn't noticed, but the slash had gotten him too. Even though he was covered in nil, there was a relatively deep gash going from the base of his neck to his hip bone.

Akira pushed the Galactica into the ground. The red rock immediately shattered into pieces. The galactic energy pulsed through the ground and quickly shifted towards Akasan.

Akasan flew up into the air to dodge it, but the energy shot up and grew into what looked like a tsunami of energy.

But it was just a distraction.

The three spinning swords swished through the wave and shot into Akasan in three different places on his chest. He was pushed back from the force and hit the ground with a boom.

Akira raised his free hand. His three swords flew out of the red dust cloud and came back to him, floating at his sides.

But Fumiko wasn't looking at that. She was watching Akasan. Her heart pounded as blood rushed through her body. *"What is that?"* she asked herself. *"What is this feeling?"* Her eyes widened. *"That look in his eye!!!"*

Akasan stood up. His eyes were darkened and colder than ice. Blood ran down his chest and stomach. He bled from his forehead and shoulders and his clothes were nearly completely torn apart. Not to mention his Nil was no longer active. He couldn't continue on much longer.

Fumiko grinned almost wickedly. *"His eyes!! The look in his eyes!!! He's going to kill Akira!!! The eyes of a soulless assassin!!!"*

Akira frowned. "You still stand yet you're basically on your death bed. You stand no chance against me. This is done with."

Akasan's eyes seemed like they weren't reflecting light. They looked as if they were already dead. He knew that it hurt to breathe, to stand, to even swallow. But he couldn't feel that pain. Instead he smiled. He nearly looked evil.

"Death bed? I already died once. This is nothing to me." He clapped his hands together. "Black Magic."

Dark energy swirled around him. He crouched down with one foot in front of him and placed his right hand on the ground. "Rigor Mortis." A black shockwave pulsed through the ground.

Akira scowled. "What good will that do?"

Then he witnessed it.

The ground was transforming.

Starting from where Akasan was, the ground dried up and became cracked up and gray. Black wisps of ash rose into the air. They sky itself turned gray.

The world around him died.

Then Akira felt it himself. His will to live slowly leave his body. He fell to the ground on his knees. His power immediately left him as he lost concentration. "What... is this..." His ears deafened as he could faintly hear the symphonies played by the souls of the damned. "This... is hell." Akira said softly.

Akasan slowly stood up. He raised his left hand facing Akira. "Pallor Mortis."

A white glow emitted from his hand, in which a black orb came out of. It shot through the air, then went straight through Akira.

It didn't affect Akira physically, but his skin turned deathly pale. He fell face first to the ground.

Akasan winced. He fell to the ground as well, and the surrounding environment turned back the way it was.

Yukio was astounded. "Both of them were knocked out..."

Fumiko held her hand up to her chin. "He showed mercy... he could have just killed Akira right there..."

Yukio watched as Fumiko fell on her knees, ready to cry. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Fumiko looked at him, teary eyed. "I wanted to see someone get killed!!"

Yukio chuckled. "Then kill him yourself."

Her face lit up. "You're right!!"

She flew over to Akasan. She bent down and gently reached out her finger at Akasan's face. Then she remembered the expression of death he had moments ago.

She abruptly stood up and looked at Yukio teary-eyed. "I can't do it!! That look he had!! It's something I crave for!!" She bent back down, softly stroking Akasan's cheek. "I want this man to kill me one day..."

Yukio shook his head out of pity. "You're hopeless, Fumiko."

Fumiko chuckled. "So I am. Is that so bad?"

Koji sleepily opened his eyes. "Eh? What happened? I fell asleep." He got up, rubbing his eyes. It took a few moments for him to take in what he was looking at. "Huh? What? Hey!!! Why is Akira and the target out cold?!!! There's no way he fought Akira like that!!! What just went on here?!! I wasn't done fighting!!!" He started marching over to him. "I'm gonna finish him off, just like I intended to."

Yukio wrapped a chain around Koji's neck. A smile was on his face. "Koji. You lost. Give it up."

Koji's neck protected itself with hardened energy. "Hey, don't get in my way." He took off the chain and kept walking. "Hey, Fumiko. Move, I'm gonna kill him real quick."

In the blink of an eye, Fumiko was on her feet with her finger at Koji's forehead, only her face was dead serious. "If you touch him I will send you burning to the hell that awaits your worthless corpse. Got that?"

Koji was immediately scared. He backed off. "Alright, alright!! I got it, damn, you don't have to be so mean, Fumiko."

Fumiko slowly lowered her hand as her facial expression returned to normal. "Good! Glad that we're all on the same page here."

Yukio smiled nervously. *"I haven't seen Fumiko this serious since Jack tried to kill her sister... In the end, even he ran away from her. She's bad news."*

Fumiko drew a circle around Akasan's body. It glowed orange. "If any of you cross this ring, you'll die. Okay? I'll be right back!" She started flying away.

Koji scoffed. He walked back towards Yukio. "Tch. Hey Yukio. Did that guy really take down Akira?"

Yukio nodded. "Yup. At full power too."

Koji chuckled. He rubbed the back of his head. "Looks like we got a troublesome target for this tournament huh?"

Yukio smiled innocently. "Yeah. We did."