Golden beams filtered from the ocean's surface, breaking into streaks of light that danced across the sea floor. Chiaki hovered just above the sand, her movements slow and deliberate, every gesture softened by the drag of water. She kept her eyes forward, calm but quietly vexed—this wasn't her battlefield.
In stark contrast, Nayliin cut through the currents like a living torpedo. With a flick of her powerful tail and streamlined limbs, she darted in wide circles around Chiaki, her golden armor catching light with every blur of motion. "Pretty, but out of your element," she said, her voice crisp despite the depths.
Without warning, Nayliin surged forward—just a blink—and slammed into Chiaki's side with a shoulder rush that felt like getting hit by a battering ram. Chiaki grunted, spiraling through a cloud of disturbed sand, and barely steadied herself in time to see Nayliin vanish into the deep again.
A split-second later, Nayliin rocketed from below like a missile, delivering an uppercut that cracked against Chiaki's jaw. Chiaki flew upward into the current, blood mingling with bubbles, but she twisted and righted herself, expression cool and unreadable.
Another burst of movement. Nayliin came from the left this time, her tail coiled tight and then snapping outward in a wide arc. Chiaki tried to raise her arm but took the full brunt of it in the ribs. The force hurled her into a ridge of coral, breaking pieces loose. She exhaled hard, but didn't cry out.
Chiaki extended her hand, channeling spiritual pressure into the water in the form of a pulse. The current distorted briefly, just enough to slow Nayliin's next strike. Chiaki touched her palm to Nayliin's passing leg—brief contact, but enough to inject her force directly into the muscle.
Nayliin's leg locked momentarily. She faltered—but only for a second. Spinning midwater, she reversed her tail and slammed it down into Chiaki's shoulder like a whip, knocking her toward the seabed again. The impact left a crater of sand, and Chiaki lay there a moment, eyes closed, focusing through the pain.
She stood, brushing coral dust from her shoulder, blood trailing along her arm. "This is...," she muttered, voice calm. She pressed her foot into the sand and launched upward, slower but precise, palms glowing with pressure.
Nayliin's eyes sharpened. She kicked her tail hard, darted to Chiaki's side, and struck her cheek with a spinning elbow. Chiaki staggered in the water, spun, and returned a palm strike—but Nayliin twisted gracefully around it and caught Chiaki by the waist. She pulled the human girl upward and hurled her into a tall column of coral like a ragdoll.
The coral cracked. Chiaki gasped as she slid down the column, bruises blooming along her side. Her fists still glowed faintly, but her arms trembled slightly under the pressure she was holding.
Nayliin waited for no breath.
She vanished in a trail of foam, then reappeared behind Chiaki, twisting into a powerful kick that sent her opponent skidding across the ocean floor. The sea lit up with scattered bursts of energy and displaced sand. Chiaki groaned but pushed herself up again, battered but focused.
She raised both hands. Spiritual pressure poured from her body in waves, disrupting the current, warping the water around them. Nayliin swam into it and staggered slightly—then grinned.
"You're getting creative," she said. "But still not enough."
She launched again—this time a corkscrew motion, her tail spinning her like a spear. She drilled through the water and struck Chiaki square in the stomach, sending her crashing into an old shipwreck partially buried in the sand.
Chiaki hacked a breath and rolled aside just before Nayliin could follow up with a downward chop. In a desperate move, Chiaki surged forward, planted her palm on Nayliin's back, and fired a precise blast of spiritual energy.
Nayliin arched in surprise, the force pushing her forward. Chiaki leapt at the moment of recoil and landed a punch directly to Nayliin's side—her fist infused with spiritual tension. Nayliin recoiled, but grabbed Chiaki's arm and slammed her into the shipwreck's mast.
The two broke apart, water swirling between them.
Chiaki was bruised, bloodied, her movements growing heavier with every breath. Nayliin, though scraped and rattled by pressure strikes, was still full of motion—still smiling.
"I like you," Nayliin said. "Most people can't take that many hits from me and still stand. But we both know how this goes."
Chiaki raised a hand, breath steady despite the pain. "You're... pretty loud for a fish."
Chiaki's body ached, every breath heavier than the last. The deep ocean pressed in around her, making each movement feel like wading through steel. Bruises bloomed across her skin, and her limbs trembled from the relentless blows she'd endured. Across from her, Nayliin hovered effortlessly, her breathing steady, her movements still sharp—barely fazed at all.
"I can't fight her properly down here… This pressure, this terrain—it's not mine. I can't keep up with her power, not like this." The thought clawed through her fatigue, bitter and sharp.
She steadied herself, refusing to let her expression falter. Despite how dire it felt, she didn't want to surrender—not yet.
"Is there… anything I can do? Any edge at all?" she muttered under her breath, grasping for a spark of strategy in the crushing weight of the sea.
This wasn't a fight she could win easily—maybe not at all. But backing down still wasn't an option.
Nayliin surged forward with terrifying speed, her tail whipping behind her like a sea serpent's blade. Chiaki barely raised her arms in time before Nayliin's knuckle crashed into her ribs, sending her spiraling backward through a flurry of bubbles. Pain exploded through Chiaki's side, and she clenched her teeth, forcing her body to reorient in the water.
Before she could catch her breath, Nayliin was already above her—striking down with a brutal kick from her webbed foot. Chiaki took the blow on her shoulder, her body plunging downward like a sinking stone. The pressure of the ocean only made it worse. Her arms felt heavy. Her vision blurred at the edges.
"Too slow," Nayliin taunted, swimming circles around her prey. Her turquoise and gold scales shimmered in the faint light filtering from above, elegant and deadly. With a flick of her tail, she closed the gap again—this time elbowing Chiaki squarely in the stomach, then grabbing her by the wrist and spinning her into a rock wall.
Chiaki let out a sharp gasp as she collided with the coral-covered stone, fragments breaking loose and floating upward like shattered glass. She groaned, pushing off the surface, only for Nayliin to be right there—delivering a fierce uppercut that jolted Chiaki's head back.
"Damn it… she's faster than thought, and in her element too," Chiaki thought grimly. Her spiritual pressure barely radiated through the dense water. Her palm strikes, normally precise and devastating, felt sluggish. The water was her enemy.
Nayliin didn't let up. She twirled, using her tail like a whip, catching Chiaki across the back. Chiaki grunted and flipped from the force, tumbling through the depths. Before she could even stabilize, Nayliin shot toward her like a torpedo, fists reared back. One punch, two, three—Chiaki blocked one and tried to counter, but her punch was met with a sidestep and a ruthless roundhouse that crushed into her thigh.
"She's tearing me apart," Chiaki admitted silently, spitting a trail of blood that vanished into the current. Still, she didn't scream. Didn't yell. Her eyes, though narrowed, remained sharp, locked on Nayliin.
Nayliin swam backward, laughing gently, almost playfully. "You're strong on land, huh? But this? This is the ocean. My home."
Chiaki panted quietly. Her arms trembled from the last exchange. Her body screamed to rest, but she refused. There's got to be a rhythm… even water moves with rhythm…
But Nayliin wasn't giving her time to think. She twirled her body once more and rocketed forward in a spinning spiral, a dance of destruction through the sea. Chiaki managed to raise her palm and unleash a spiritual pulse—enough to slow Nayliin's charge—but not enough to stop her.
The impact came anyway, sending Chiaki crashing into the sea floor. Sand exploded around her, and she lay there for a moment, her hair drifting like ink in the water, her body aching in silence.
Still, even then—Chiaki's fingers twitched. Her legs moved. Her eyes burned.
She wasn't finished.
To be continued...