All alone by herself…

Krsh!

Lupine shattered to pieces.

Freya’s horizontal slash had been dodged by Lea; Lupine, not able to withstand the sharpness of her slash, had shattered right after.

Freya glanced at the bladeless sword.

Seems like I don’t have to worry about you breaking mid-swing.

Knowing that Lupine would break only after the swing was a valuable information to hold for Freya. The fact meant that her new partner wouldn’t break during her sharpest swing.

Not to mention, Lupine’s blade shattering to pieces was the least of her concern.

As soon as it broke, fog seemingly gathered and solidified into a blade, completely restoring Lupine.

For someone who treated a sword as a partner, this kind of fighting style where Freya would break Lupine after every swing was without a doubt a mistreatment. However, though Freya didn’t know Lupine’s origin, she could tell:

You’re designed to be wielded like this.

Allowing the wielder to deliver the sharpest swing without real consequences.

Within her grasp was a strong, dependable partner. A sword that could withstand her sharpest swing, perfect against the immortal. However…

It’s still disadvantageous to me.

… this battle was far from being even.

It’s all over if she realizes.

***

Having stepped backward and dodged the horizontal slash, Kokuri quickly regained her footing on the ground—and stepped forward.

She was by no means a strategical fighter; she could not remember tactics nor strategies. However, her instincts had been honed in battles, and without unwanted emotions such as rage to cloud her decisions, she was freed of burden.

Kokuri pulled out a kunai from under her kimono and immediately cladded the weapon with Darkness Elemental Magic.

This quick attack was intended to serve two purposes: 1. To strike faster than Lupine could reform; 2. To offset her opponent’s rhythm with this suddenness.

Lupine ended up reforming faster than Kokuri thought, leaving no gap which she could take advantage of, and the swordswoman kept her calm. The two purposes had failed, but it gave her information which would be beneficial as the battle progressed; nevertheless, Kokuri kept pressing onward.

I’ll overwhelm her with my darkness, she thought.

The Darkness Elemental Magic which Kokuri used to clad her kunai was as impenetrable as a night sky void of light, a force that could suck everything in, effectively generating its own gravity.

When she used this before, the swordswoman, with her free hand, had intercepted Kokuri’s hand, shifted the trajectory of her attack, and dodged with a sway.

This time around, Kokuri would be expecting that.

That dodge won’t work a second time.

***

‘…’

Freya simply stared, retaining her calm, as Lea winded her arm. Standing where she was, she could feel the darkness—as if a hole that had torn reality—exerting a pull on her body.

… This is within my expectations.

In their previous fight, Freya had no prior knowledge that Lea’s darkness could absorb gravity, and that forced her to execute an unpreferable dodge. Now that she knew, she could figure a way out of this predicament.

A normal dodge won’t work.

Freya bent her knees and lowered her upper body.

Dodging away from the kunai wouldn’t work; the gravity would hinder her evasion. Thus, she had to take the risk of dodging into the kunai.

She stepped forward, using the darkness’ pull to her advantage, advancing faster than she naturally could.

‘!’ Lea did not expect this.

In theory, Freya’s plan was sound and logical. In practice, the execution of her maneuver—could fail in so many ways. If she gauged the distance wrong, she would die; if she predicted the pulling force wrong, she would die; if she handled her movement wrong, she would die; and—many more.

It’s always like this.

Faced against possible demise, she couldn’t help but feel challenged, and a smile surfaced on her expression.

… You’ll never realize it—and I’ll win.

As Lea swung her kunai, Freya dropped her body lower, and ducked under her arm. The closer she got, the stronger the pull that the darkness exerted.

Vwoom!!

A sound like a vast expanse of nothingness passed as Freya dodged.

Freya’s and Lea’s position had switched after the maneuver. Once more, Freya used the darkness’ gravitational pull to her advantage, stopping her advance and turning her body faster than Lea could. As she turned, she swung Lupine along, adding the momentum to her swing.

This was a counterattack that fully took advantage of her opponent’s strength.

***

You’re—annoying!

Kokuri never remembered feeling this much hatred toward an opponent before.

The swordswoman had slipped through Kokuri’s attack by taking advantage of her darkness’ pull. Save for the time when her sword had broken, Kokuri still couldn’t land a clean hit on this swordswoman. She was too elusive for her to grasp.

Kokuri glanced over her shoulder as she turned.

She could see the violet-haired swordswoman—staring at her with her unwavering amethyst eyes—winding her sword and executing a swing: slow, but precise, traveling the fastest path with perfect efficiency.

You’re a pain!! You can’t kill me and yet you want to foil my plans!? What’s wrong with you?!

Kokuri was in a dodging motion. However, being able to see the sword’s trajectory and knowing her opponent’s speed, she wouldn’t be able to dodge this in time. The slash would connect, she would be rendered immobile, and the swordswoman would use some method to cancel her Formulae Magic.

I should’ve made sure to kill you last time!

The blade kept traveling toward her. Aimed toward her neck. It—

—missed.

‘?!’

Much to her surprise, betraying her expectations, Kokuri had successfully dodged the swordswoman’s slash. Which was odd.

Kokuri was sure that the swing would connect. It was the same slow, precise swing, nothing different. Except—

The speed was slower, Kokuri realized.

Her pitch-black eyes stared at her opponent, who didn’t chase as Kokuri was widening their distance. She couldn’t chase her.

You’ve sustained damage from the previous fight and can’t move as fast.

Kokuri let out a grin.

She had found out her opponent’s weakness.