15 Life and Death

Once again, Karma let out a deep breath. He then placed his hand over his chest as if to tell himself to calm down. "Alright," he muttered. "Let's do this."

In his hands, he held the two daggers he chose earlier. As for the throwing knives, he decided to place two onto the ground while the other two remained between his fingers.

"Four chances, that's all I got."

In one quick action, he threw one of the throwing knives and immediately after, rushed towards Rin. His goal was to use the throwing knives as a distraction. Instinctively, any living being would focus onto that potential danger even if for a second. In that split second where Rin's mind was focused onto the knife, Karma would strike.

At least, that was what he had hoped for. But Karma quickly realized that this "plan" of his was simply wishful thinking.

Rin did not hesitate for even a second from the knife flying toward. In one fluid motion, Rin moved directly toward the knife and caught it midair between his index and middle finger.

With a somewhat unpleasant look, Rin asked, "Aren't you being a little too optimistic? Do you realize that this is a fight with your life on the line!?"

In the next moment, Rin turned the knife facing Karma. "Let me guess," he said. "You wanted to use this as a distraction so that you could could attack in the moment my mind wanders…"

Rin paused for a moment.

"I'll say it again… Aren't you being a little too optimistic? A warrior… no... a gladiator. That is what I am. I may be slim and my height is rather average but did you seriously think my 99 wins meant nothing. Listen closely, I have faced death countless times. Even now, I could die in a moments notice and the same could be said for you. Yet you used this knife as a distraction? Expecting I would fear pain!?... Don't joke around. My life revolves around pain!!!"

He then threw the knife back toward Karma at blinding speeds, aiming for the chest. Unable to react, or even see the knife travel in the air, Karma frantically moved to the side as he knew an attack was heading his way.

By sheer chance, he was able to dodge the knife. Or so he thought. In reality, the knife pierced through him, mere inches away from his heart. But, at the moment, he couldn't feel the pain as the adrenaline pumping into his system gave him a false sense of strength.

This false sense of strength made Karma feel as though the words Rin had said held no value. And so, he walked towards the knives he placed on the ground earlier. But, during this time, a sudden pain surged throughout the area near his chest. A sensation as though thousands of ants were gnawing down on him.

As an attempt to subsidize the pain, he gripped onto his chest all the while becoming weaker by the second. The unbearable pain lead him to cough out blood uncontrollably and scream in agony.

"It hurts!" he shouted.

Using whatever willpower he could muster, he looked below to find the source of the pain. That's when he saw. The knife that had supposedly pierced him was nowhere to be seen. Rather what he found was a gap in his chest.

Witnessing this, he realized that the knife that Rin had thrown had, in fact, pierced through his chest completely, ripping through his skin, tissues, bones and all.

"Dammit!!!"

In desperation, he used his other knife on hand in order to buy time. But once again, Rin blocked it with ease while Karma could do nothing but stagger around aimlessly.

Turning his back toward Rin, he pitifully tried to escape from the inescapable. He now faced the walls directly opposite to where he had looked at prior.

Past the empty space that separated the audience, the hosts, and him, Karma could see cracks in the walls. In the center of those cracks, the throwing knife that Rin had used could be seen.

"Do you understand now?" Rin exclaimed in the background. "With my throwing strength alongside armament magic, you were completely and utterly powerless... Tricks won't win you this battle so fight me knowing your life's on the line!"

Upon hearing this, a nervous laugh filled with misery, confusion and a slight bit of insanity came out of Karma.