With the next massive attack arriving at Spire, he unleashed another spin, counterclockwise this time, and while it worked to disrupt Alloy's wave, he took it a step further and began moving toward her as he spun. Alloy raised both her swords in an attempt to block but as precise as his feet moved, his daggers attacked randomly, breaking a few gravestones, blades of grass and it added up to cutting part of her hands, arms, torso, and her cheek before she got fed up and mustered enough of her strength to forcefully push Spire back.
She managed successfully and he did a back flip to catch a stable landing next to two cracked gravestones. At the center of his balance, he readied himself for his next attack.
Without hesitation, Alloy lunged at him, mad about her cuts from his attack and used both swords to swiftly slash at his center area but he had his daggers close together and pushed her two swords away. Her physical pain annoyed her, but not as much as what she felt within, her ebony & red bracelet gleamed as the weapons clashed. Both opponents held grit teeth, narrowed, focused eyes and overall, such determined faces amidst the sparks caused by the blades. For a mere moment, Alloy pictured Ivy, the friend she considered more of a sister and thought… 'How could anyone go this far to hurt their own blood??!!'
Although, she clearly didn't have the luxury to reminisce. Her emotions seeped into her thoughts and caused a small disruption. It forced the solidity of her weapons to begin doubting their shape… quite literally. It was enough to make the left sword lose a bit of its solidity and pass through his dagger, he glanced at this and took the advantage, slashing through the opening made from it and aiming for Alloy's right wrist. Lucky for her, she yanked it back and he only managed to nick her outer wrist which still made her uneasy since that was where her bracelet was. However, her last emotional thought cost her the same price, she decided to let it go. But this fight had to end soon.
That, she was certain of.
Spire kept the bracelet in mind but set it aside. He didn't care. He was pissed off enough to decide on his last stand.
He pointed his right dagger, tip first, at Alloy. They both panted. They were both injured, the mere wind blowing through their wounds caused them pain, but…
"I never use this… unless my opponent needs to learn a lesson." He declared.
"Lesson??" Alloy asked, still trying to compose herself "What lesson??" She looked at him and sent a wave of shadow to her blades, fixing her left katana and gripping them both anew.
"Things never go as you wish them to. You're in my way. Ritta is in my way, that infernal child is in my way. You will all die here toda—"
Suddenly, a massive explosion was heard from an alley, far to Alloy's left.
"Damion might be in the next world already…" he smirked. "He can't beat Maki by any means!!"
Alloy's teeth grit even more, Spire's mere words felt like raining hail on her skin.
Spire then clasped his hands together and shot them down, raising the two corpses below the gravestones he was right next to. Instantly, he stabbed the both of them with his bone-handled daggers. Alloy watched as a black shade with a purple hue emerged from the corpses as they fell back down to the bones they were, and now, his daggers had a dark glow emitting on their edges. She stood in uncertainty, she knew she had to watch herself more since she didn't know what this ability was, but, in Spire's rage, he did her the favor of boasting what it was.
"With this, once these blades so much as touch you, you will start decaying… your hands, your legs, your power, all of it will decay away like the dead!!" He kicked the skull of the bones on the ground. "It was because of this that Maki joined me!! It's because of this that this town fears me!! And because of this…" He readied himself. His grey, resolved eyes piercing at Alloy… "that you will regret facing me, girl."
He crouched beside one of the already cracked gravestones, merely grazing across it. Alloy watched as the graze left a purple aura and it began cracking even more, its structure declining more and faster with each crack it caught up with.
"朽ちる鋭さ (Kuchiru Surudosa) — Decaying Sharpness,"
Spire let out a battle cry and dived from up the hill toward Alloy. His hands, together with the help of his daggers that pointed and pierced his anger at his opponent. She watched it coming and ducked, leaving him to head to the other side alone. His dive ended with a roll in the end for him to get back on his feet, his daggers had run through the green grass, causing all of it to die in the straight line he stabbed to gain his grip back. The distant towners that had already backed up did so once again by Ritta's command in fear of the glow Spire's blades held.
Upon darting his eyes up at Alloy, she had already known that she was to avoid his daggers, so she took action herself to gain the upper hand. She bolted down the hill toward him, swords in hand, resolve sure and locked within her, and now, pissed even more due to his disregard for the corpses he just siphoned energy from. She had her two swords at her center, one above and across the other. She lunged, fast with her final step and clashed with Spire's blocking daggers, causing a thin shock wave that rippled through the air with a thunderous sound to accompany it. He continued the attack by slicing Alloy's left shoulder and jumping back.
"Now you can't use your shoulder. It's dead." He taunted as he watched Alloy. While she was confused and a bit scared, nothing really happened. Her shoulder seemed fine, it had no effects to his power whatsoever. What got her attention was the fact that Spire's dark-purple energy was literally slipping off the wound after the blade made the cut. Of course, he watched this and lashed out even more. He was becoming more and more desperate to end this fight. Deep inside, he was scared that no one had ever countered that move before unless they themselves wielded a power with a similar discipline to necromancy, but even then, something would've happened.
"Your shadow drift isn't enough to resist against this power…" He faltered. "WHAT TRICK ARE YOU USING??!!" He demanded as he raced back to the fight.
"I don't know…" she readied her stance, "but whatever trick it is…" her blades reflected the moon's light. "I'm glad its working!!" A grin formed across her face in her newfound luck.
Spire's boots rustled through the grass in his pounce back to the confrontation. The two of them exchanged sharp blows, the other parrying, dodging, escaping attacks only to be followed by another one staring them in the face. This exchange was fast, unpredictable— since it destroyed multiple gravestones, and was dangerous as it neared its final stand with Alloy layered twice with Spire's lethal cuts, and Spire, damaged and cut as well, both panting heavily from their exchanges.
Their fight left them standing on the Eastern slope of the hill, facing each other from the close distance between them. This time no one was looking down on the other. Neither of them could. They just had to win to end the fight. But it wasn't going to be easy.
Spire knew this, and he was pissed enough to quit caring about his limits. He clasped his hands together, forcing a number of three more undead to give him their power through his daggers. As he surged with power, Alloy also decided on her final move. While Spire's daggers had no lasting effect on Alloy, their attacks and defenses left them both with little to no stamina left. She held her arms in front of her and readied her swords, holding the first left one on the top and assigning the second right one upside down, leaving very few centimeters of space between their hilts. She then used a swift play with her fingers to swing the lower right sword to the left and the upper left sword to the right, replacing their positions. Showing the silhouette of an eclipse. Her final preparation was ready, she steadied her stance to solidify it. Immediately they were both ready, a mirage close to the ground formed, the green grass waved at Alloy's feet, the same grass was dying and spreading as it withered below Spire's. A result from both their powers surging to a simply crazy extent. It was only felt, but only half as much as it was seen. The determination in their faces and how much power they had released. Not many people felt this at its concentration since they were quite away from each other, but Ritta, being the closest and safeguarding the townspeople, felt a chill through her entire body directly from her spine.
With the experience she had, she knew what was going on but she had to finish up her end of helping the town. What she kept at the back of her mind was that if the result of their confrontation left Spire standing, they'd have a bigger problem on their hands.With one final breath taken from both of them, their final attacks activated.
Spire's
"朽ちる打撃 (Kuchiru Dageki) — Decaying Strike"
An ability that complimented his activated Decaying Sharpness, Spire set his daggers adjacent to his outer wrists, taking three long strides that each killed the life of the green below him before he slashed through Alloy
Alloy's
"蝕の斬り・新月 (Shoku no Giri: Shingetsu) – Eclipse Cut: New Moon"
She set her swords in front of her, creating an X within the eclipse silhouette. She made instant quick steps and in a brute force, sliced through Spire
"GET DOWN!!" Ritta ordered the townsfolk. They all scattered as they all found cover, some peaked, others were more concerned about their safety. Tasue had found her way atop a roof, she watched the defining moment in awe.
The instant the two clashed, the ground trembled, another shock wave ripple was sent out followed by the screech of steel grinding for barely a second. Then. The moment they believed it was over, the air unleashed a near deafening booming sound, like it clashed against itself. The townspeople and Ritta felt the wave of wind that came after. Above them, Tasue had used her gravity abilities on herself to prevent flying away. With her arm covering her face, she glanced up to look at what happened. She gasped as the wind settled.
The two had replaced each other's position, facing the other side, Alloy on the left, Spire on the right.
Silence filled the air with most of the entire town's attention focused on the loud sound that pierced through their ears. Not too far from the main clash, Damion's consciousness sparked after he heard it, immediately hoping the result was as he wished. Ritta also got to witness how it went. With eyes nearly as sharp as a hawk's… both she and Tasue witnessed Alloy, retreating from her stance as she gripped her slightly wavy shadow katana.
At the right side, Spire's entire body and mind was purely struck with shock as blood splashed on the ground right from his torso. He struggled to get up, coughing as he did so, but couldn't. So he crawled toward her. His enraged face clearly denied the truth of the situation, his eyes were still focused on his enemy, but his body had other plans at bay. His knees only managed two mere scrapes on the grass, and as expected, he couldn't manage that either… the taste of iron hit his mouth as a stream of blood fell on the corner of his lips… his vision began going blurry, glimpsing a silhouette where Alloy was. Then. He collapsed, face first onto the ground.
The dull thud ascertaining his defeat by Alloy's hands.