The moment Imito bent his mana to match Nasaki's, something even he didn't expect happened. Blood came rushing from his eyes; his body froze, and he almost fell.
This surprised Kai as well, though his will to kill wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of it. "I don't know what the hell that was, but it scared the shit out of me." Kai's blade glowed before being swung at Imito's neck.
If the attack truly cut space, then he wouldn't be able to hold his mana structure because there would be no mana structure to hold anyway. As a last-minute, desperate action, Imito's blood glowed like a thousand suns and blew up, sending him backwards.
Imito kept backing up as Kai didn't give him even a second to breathe with the relentless swings of his Odachi. Imito blocked the hits with his kicks, then tried to sweep Kai's leg.
Kai jumped over it, then came down from the sky like a meteor.
Imito dashed away, then unleashed lightning from his palms as Kai's blade was stuck on the floor.
Kai pulled his blade just in time. His Odachi glowed once more. By cutting the space in a clever way, he redirected the lightning bolts back at Imito. "Dumbass." Imito just absorbed the lightning bolts back to himself.
Kai cut the space in front of him once more, teleporting in front of Imito and trying to slice his neck off.
The attack landed, and Imito's neck was cut smooth off with Kai's Treasure activated.
At least, that's what Kai thought happened. In reality, Imito used Ayato's sorcery to create fake shadows of himself. "Your Murderous Intent can't tell them apart, huh?" Imito grabbed Kai's head and smashed it against the wall repeatedly. Slam, slam, slam, slam, slam. He just didn't stop. "You just see something shaped like me and attack it without stopping to think if it actually is me."
Kai's face was a mess. Each time his Proto-King Cells tried to heal it, they would just get damaged once more. "Now that we're done here–" Imito morphed his hand into a bone blade and raised it in the air, bringing it down like a guillotine to chop off Kai's head.
"LET GO," Kai roared, the veins around his eyes popping out. He broke out of Imito's grip with sheer strength and avoided the execution.
Unlike every other Apostle, Kai wasn't raised and cultivated from birth. He joined the program only 3 years ago. His body wasn't built for the King Cells, so he received augmented ones.
He can control the output of them with his mind, but each increase in potency turns him more animal than man. The conscious decision-making of his brain weakens, which only further improves his Murderous Intent. Unlike the other Apostles, Kai needs to have his King Cells at an output of at least 60% in order to use his Treasure Modification.
20%.
Putting all of his body's weight into it, Kai swung his Odachi. The sheer force of it created a sound powerful enough to deafen any normal person who would have the misfortune of hearing it.
"He's stronger now. But more readable." Imito dodged the attack, then touched the ground to apply rotational force to the carpet below Kai in order to break his footwork.
Kai, however, stomped the ground with all his might and resisted the force. Imito didn't stop, however, and cast multiple lightning bolts.
Kai didn't dodge them and took them head-on, grunting in pain yet seemingly unaffected otherwise. "It hurts… somebody help!" He breathed out, then charged and thrust his Odachi at Imito's stomach. Imito twisted his body to the side and avoided the blade.
"My mind is hazy. That is probably why I failed to copy Nasaki's sorcery. I'll need to dig deeper and unveil my past!" Imito grabbed Kai's blade with his bare hands. "Tell me, kid. Can you even comprehend the monsters I've met?" Even without meeting the man himself, Kai could recognise the legacy inside his eyes.
Imito landed a devastating punch on Kai's face. And yet, as if he wasn't even hit, Kai's legs locked onto Imito's arm. "This kid knows grappling?!" Imito created many sharp bone spikes from his arm and pierced Kai's legs, but Kai didn't even budge. He sliced off Imito's arm. "Damn it, I forgot to activate my Treasure! I need to put a leash on this thing," Kai said to himself.
Imito regenerated his arm without a worry and exploded the dismembered arm to dazzle Kai.
Using this chance, Imito threw a right hook. With no time left, Kai blocked it with his shoulder. The sheer impact of it sent pain that echoed throughout his entire body, yet it didn't affect his movements. Suddenly, Imito's palm opened and grasped Kai's shoulder. "Switch!" His hands glowed.
"Switch?" Kai repeated to himself in confusion. Imito then tried to sweep Kai's feet once again by using his right leg.
As Kai intended to jump in the air to avoid it, he instead squatted, taking the hit head-on. "What the hell?" He fell on the floor. "I meant to jump. Why did I do the opposite–" Imito's chant 'Switch' clicked into place now. "Did he switch my actions? For how long?" Kai rolled to the right to avoid Imito's slam and, this time, went the direction he wanted to. "So just for a single action. Still, that's a problem!"
Kai stood up and sent a wind slash to the chandelier above Imito, causing it to drop. Imito swatted it away with a tendril that sprouted from his back. "I need to remember more. If I manage to copy Nasaki… I will win without a shadow of a doubt. I will even be able to defeat those so-called 'Commanders.' But it is easier said than done!" Imito looked around the room for just anything that could help him remember what exactly happened all those years ago.
"Uso Steinolf. I don't remember what happened to you, but I know it didn't go well. Will you lend me your power?" Imito pleaded to nobody… only to himself. "Can I be as great as you, just for once?" The flames in his eyes burned brighter.
Using Pablo's sorcery, Imito created a longsword made out of bones. "That stance… there is no mistaking it," Kai said. "Are you seriously that desperate?" He cackled. "Nasaki didn't work, so now you go for him? I thought you only copied sorceries. But imitating his pathetic fighting style is ugly, even for you. What a downgrade."
"Downgrade?" Imito raised his sword. "You haven't met the man, so you call it a downgrade, huh? But if you ask me…" He then swung it, the sheer light coming from it enough to almost blind Kai. "...Uso was stronger than him."
What came out wasn't a Sorcery, since Uso didn't have mana. Instead, it was pure mana in the shape of a slash built to imitate Uso's legendary Aura Technique that took down even the likes of Infamy. Pure Aura Energy radiating outwards, unstoppable.
"It is just a cheap imitation, obviously. But even 1% of his strength is enough to defeat you." Imito grinned.
Taking that as a challenge, Kai didn't dodge it. Instead, he raised his sword and tried to parry it. "Just shut up, will you?"
At the moment of impact, he gasped involuntarily. With sheer instinct, he stepped back and avoided the slash. And when he looked back at his blade, the sight shocked him. It had a crack on it. "But Treasures… are unbreakable! That's impossible!" he said in disbelief, then looked back up to Imito.
"What? Why are you so afraid of a cheap imitation?" Imito raised his blade once more and dashed forward. "Not afraid, just surprised. I'm just surprised that this bullshit was enough to make me worry!" Kai dashed forward as well, taking the fight head-on.
Their blades clashed midair and pushed both of them back.
30%
Kai roared once more, then clenched his teeth. After each new clash, they clashed once again. Again, again, again and again. Each one stronger, faster, and deadlier than the other.
40%
Kai's ferocity increased, causing Imito to have a hard time reacting to him. "Those cells of his are more potent than the other apostles', no doubt!" Imito finally found an opening and parried his blade, causing him to drop it, then attempted a thrust to his neck. "It's over!"
"I can't lose until I've killed Joka myself!" Kai screamed, grabbed Imito's face, and dug his fingers into his eyes. This caused Imito to miss his neck, but impale his chest nonetheless. Though unaffected by the injury, Kai's grip increased. "He won't let me go! I'm getting low on mana. If I turn into soot, I'll just waste energy!" Imito gave up on breaking his grip and instead pierced Kai's arms with his fingers. "You think I haven't fought an apostle before?!"
As his fingers were deep in Kai's veins, he started absorbing the mana inside the King Cells.
35%
"My King Cells!" Kai dug deeper into Imito's face, in hopes he'd just let go.
30%
"No!" Imito screamed in pain.
20%
"AGH!" As a desperate last resort, Kai went into overdrive with the last remaining energy.
80%
The noises he let out belonged to a beast, a demon, and definitely not a man. The sudden increase in power in his blood caused Imito's fingers to explode and lose their grip.
He then immediately grabbed his blade and swung to force Imito to back up.
40%
Kai started panting. The sheer strain and mental control it took for him to just tap into that state, even if it was for just a single second…
The wounds in his arms started slowly regenerating. They were near mutilation and were at the ceiling of what the King Cells were able to regenerate.
"I can't use 100% anymore. He drained 20% of my cells. I have no idea how he did that. Magiborns shouldn't be able to absorb foreign mana. And not just that, now he has a shitload of mana." Now recollected, Kai took on his offensive stance.
"If I want to copy Nasaki, I need to first copy the only person that could understand him– Uso." Imito regenerated his wounds. "Prepare yourself, monster." Imito dropped his sword and raised his hands like claws. "I call this one the 'Copy Frenzy.'"