A breeze blew cold air on the vast open field illuminated by the light of the crescent moon. The night gave off an eerie silence so loud it was agonising.
Everyone stood still for a moment, eyes locked, then Tsushiro made his move.
In an instant he appeared before the captor, his speed astonishing. He went in for a clean decapitation, but just as his sword was nearing Asahi's neck, it collided with a crimson sphere positioned in front of it.
An explosion ensued, followed by a large cloud of dust and smoke. It settled down to reveal Asahi, who was completely unscathed despite taking the explosion head-on. Even more shocking to Izumi and Yuriko was that both Tsushiro and Takae were gone.
Just as the two stared blankly forward, they felt a figure walk past in between them. They turned to see that it was Tsushiro.
In his arms he was carrying Takae. He set her down near Izumi and Yuriko, and the two quickly removed the gag on her mouth, resulting in her letting out a series of hoarse coughs.
"That was unexpected," Asahi commented, capturing their attention. "I would've never thought that recovering her was your true intention from how you attacked."
"I'd say the same about you," Tsushiro responded as he stood up to face him. "That technique of yours caught me off guard. I would've never thought that you'd detonate it so close to yourself."
Tsushiro then saw the others step closer to them and, with a grin on his face, he said, "So what now? Are you going to handicap me by targeting them?"
"There's no need for that. Let's just think of them as bedazzled trophies sitting quietly waiting for the victor to claim."
"What makes you so sure you'll win?" Tsushiro responded.
"It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility, is it?" Asahi continued, a grin plastered over his face.
Tsushiro, wasting no time, immediately charged at him but was intercepted by one of the other thugs. Blood oozed out of his arms and pulsed with energy before concentrating on his arms, forming two blood sabers.
Without a word, he charged at Tsushiro and attacked. A sequence of flashes followed as steel collided with blood at blinding speeds.
It was not long, though, before the attacker began struggling to keep up, switching to a defensive approach.
Their clash dragged on as the attacker did everything he could to match Tsushiro's momentum, but he could not keep up despite his show of skill in the art of the sword.
Their bout ended with Tsushiro breaching his defences and landing a decisive slash on his chest. Just as he fell, Tsushiro noticed another crimson sphere of energy in between him and the attacker.
A grin appeared on the attacker's face as a blinding flash of light engulfed them both, followed by an explosion.
Seeing this, the three—Izumi, Takae, and Yuriko—jumped to their feet in shock.
As the smoke blew away, they saw the attacker lying on the ground, his body scorched, but Tsushiro still stood, his clothes slightly burned. A silvery substance peeled from his skin as he raised his sword and faced Asahi.
"You resorted to defensive sihir at the last second. What quick thinking," Asahi commented. "Had you activated your iron shell a second later, you would have been fried."
Tsushiro then raised his right hand toward him and pointed out his index finger. "I've had enough of your cheap tricks. Take this!"
A mass of red energy then began charging at the tip of his index finger as he said, "Vanguard Series, number two: Shimmering Blaze!"
A beam of blazing energy shot at Asahi, but instead of bracing himself, he stood defenseless as it sped toward him. That was until another of the thugs stepped directly into the path of the beam.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and took the full brunt of the attack, which pushed him back slightly. His steaming arms bore black clots that glowed red along the cracks.
As he straightened his arms, the clots cracked and fell to the ground in small pieces, revealing his unharmed skin beneath.
His blood swirled around his fists, pulsating with energy. He leapt into the air toward Tsushiro, aiming to strike him from above.
Once close enough, he threw a punch, but Tsushiro dodged by stepping back, causing the attacker's fist to crash into the ground.
The debris from the impact shot into the air.
For a moment, he noticed a faint red light strike one of the falling stones from behind.
He quickly turned just in time to dodge a glowing red projectile. Ahead, he saw the other remaining foe wielding a mace-like weapon in his right hand. But instead of a traditional mace, the end had a hollow, cage-like appearance.
Blood dripped from his wrist, flowing down the chain of the weapon. Once it reached the hollow end, it energized.
He spun the chain and fired three more projectiles at Tsushiro, but the swordsman parried each of them with precision before they could land.
Without a second to catch his breath, Tsushiro turned to defend against a punch from the other thug. He aimed to sever the attacker's arm, but the thug's arm became covered in hard black clots, blocking the blade.
Tsushiro struggled to break through but eventually jumped back to a safe distance. The attacker wasted no time, charging straight at him with fists enveloped in pulsating crimson energy.
Tsushiro blocked most of the strikes, but for a moment, his guard slipped. The attacker seized the opportunity, landing a powerful punch into Tsushiro's gut.
His satisfaction was short-lived. As he tried to pull his fist back, he realized he could not. He looked up to see Tsushiro's menacing expression, which only intensified his panic.
Tsushiro grabbed the attacker's shoulder with his left arm and struck at the other shoulder, tearing through his cloak.
The blade could not pierce through due to another clot, but Tsushiro didn't relent. He poured all his strength into the attack, his sword sparking as it erupted into flame.
After a brief resistance, the flaming sword pierced the shoulder, slashing across the chest.
The attacker vomited blood before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
Tsushiro exhaled deeply and slowly turned toward the final attacker, whose face displayed nothing but panic.
The foe launched several projectiles at him, but Tsushiro effortlessly parried them all while closing the distance.
Out of options, the attacker blindly charged, but unlike the previous two, his strength was not in direct combat. Tsushiro dodged each strike with ease.
After evading a series of awkwardly aimed attacks, Tsushiro struck directly at the attacker's weapon, shattering the chain and leaving only the handle in his hand.
He looked at his foe and noticed that the panicked expression was gone, replaced by a determined, unwavering glare.
"Do it now, Asahi!" he yelled.
Tsushiro turned his head, and to his utter shock, he found himself surrounded by several crimson spheres. This time, there was no escape. All he could do was brace himself.
"You got it, bro," Asahi responded. In slow motion, he closed his open right palm into a fist. "I'll finish him off. I promise!"