23 Kenji's Resolve
Donning a red plated Karuta over his white and red hakama, his katana and wakizashi hung loosely at his side as the would-be samurai stalked the Barbarian Queen and her Princess Sister from the shadows.
Defeating the Barbarian meant recognition and honor, which to him, meant more power, and power was necessary for him to complete the quest given to him by his Oracle that had summoned him to this world.
'Still, I don't know which one to look out for, the Barbarian Queen or,' He gulped, 'that savage little sister with an adamantine forehead.' and reinforced his disguise skill to turn invisible as he sensed the little girl look in his direction.
When he passed by the still-smoldering crater, he had wondered which of the two could have caused such devastation, but looking now at the little girl with a sinister look on her face, he was sure that she was the cause.
Forget her joining his harem, she might turn out to be one of those Yandere girls that would quietly assassinate the others one by one and till she was the only one left. Kenji shook his head as the group had made it into a wide-open clearing. Now was the time to strike, while the wind could blow in his favor.
He stepped out of the shadows, dispelling his invisibility, and with half-ass confidence, he exclaimed, "Hark! Queen of the Heathens! I challenge thee to a duel!" He gulped as all three of them stared at him with a look of disgust. "One so brutish doth not deserve thee title amongst the seven! Stand and deliver!"
The little princess looked like she was going to puke as the Queen stomped her foot to the ground, causing several large cracks along the ground. "Oi, the fuck did I tell you earlier? You made my sis sick, I'm gonna kick your ass now!" 'Ha! How barbaric!' His confidence surged, he may have had a hard time finding the words to speak, but when it came to combat, he felt he was second to none.
"Thou shalt pay for thine insolence!" He drew his katana as a burst of wind flowed through the open field. The little girl's eyes turned amber, he knew she was scanning his every move. The Queen raised her hand, sensing the girls intent. "Don't worry sis, I got this asshole." The girl smiled. "I know big sis, but be careful, he has a strong affinity for wind."
"Ha, wind against earth, this little twig doesn't stand a chance!" She stomped her other foot, her body sank half a foot into the collapsed ground as she smirked. "Let's do this, pretty-boy!"
Amari disappeared in a blur as she appeared directly above Kenji, her massive sword over her shoulder, as she swung down hard.
*CLANG*
Kenji sent the back of the katana to parry the blow, parrying the massive blade using it's own momentum. "Useless!" Kenji said as he turned the blade and swung at Amari's exposed arm.
*CLANG*
"That's my line, pretty-boy!" Amari brought the gigantic blade back at an insane speed to parry Kenji's counter and kicked off of his katana, launching herself high up in the air, she swung her sword again and flicked her wrist mid-swing. Sensing the danger, Kenji blocked with his katana and used a strong force of wind to weaken the shockwave.
Amari swung her sword again, causing a shockwave to explode next to her, sending her flying a short distance away.
Kenji smirked when he started to see an opening in her defenses, he would use his unblockable combo, [Triple Strike], to disable her in one go. He would start off with a horizontal slash, forcing her to parry the strike to her mid-section, he would follow up with a diagonal downward strike, using the momentum to knock her sword away and follow up with a final upwards vertical slash to her wrist with just enough force to disarm her, ending the duel.
"This is the end! Sutoraiku kōgeki!" He shouted as he disappeared in a blur, using [Flash Step].
*CLANG*
The first strike landed, Amari's sword held strong, but the shockwave from the attack made her movements heavy.
*CLANG*
The second strike was also successful, increasing the pressure on her sword arm, the blade was knocked off to the side. There it was! The opening!
*CLANG*
'Clang? What!?' Indeed, his vertical cut had hit it's mark, but to Kenji's surprise, his blade had hit an arm made of stone.
*BOOM*
The other fist, also made of stone now, struck Kenji square in the chest, sending him flying several meters away.
Amari cracked her neck, then her knuckles as her arms turned back to flesh. "Pretty-boys should just stay home and let the big girls have their fun." She smirked as she planted the sword into the ground, she stomped down as her arms turned to stone once again and she took up fighting stance.
Kenji stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth and bowed to Amari. "I apologize for underestimating you, mighty Queen of the Barbarians. You are truly worthy of your strength and beauty." He said semi-normally before sheathing his katana and drawing out a blade from his inventory, the blade looked to be made of Jade, with golden inlays and runes etched along the core, strong magical energy emanated from the blade as Ai's eyes opened wide in shock, as did Hoat'l's.
Amari blushed slightly at his words and stomped her other foot on the ground. "J-just... fight me seriously, alright?" She stammered as she clenched her fists, cracks appearing along her stone skin that regenerated quickly.
Ai and Hoat'l jumped back a decent distance, realizing that Kenji was more powerful than they had initially thought and exchanged excited grins.
Kenji nodded. "Let's fight seriously, now. Here I go."
Amari sensed danger as she raised her fists to protect her face, several slash marks suddenly appeared all over her body, blood flowing from several parts of her body and her arms had several indentations. Looking up at Kenji, he hadn't moved a muscle.
"Tch." Amari clicked her tongue and stomped her foot once more, her entire body except her head turned to stone and she stomped again, this time launching herself at Kenji.
*BOOM*
Her fist made a small crater where Kenji was standing, but he had backflipped out of the way and swung his jade blade, several deep cuts appeared all over her stone skin.
Stomping her foot down once again, a large stone pillar launched itself from the ground beneath Kenji as he swung his blade twice, sending constant shockwaves through the pillar, he then disappeared in a flash.
*SHHHHHIIIING*
The jade blade appeared out her peripheral as Amari leaped away, looking towards Kenji, she saw her arm laying on the ground next to him, slowly turning back to flesh.
"Not bad pretty-boy, I'll count this as a draw and sleep with you, once." Amari smirked.
"W-what!?" Kenji blushed. 's-s-s-sleep with me? Is she that kind of woman!?'
*BOOM*
Kenji flew through the air again as Amari had 'punched' him in the face with her stone stub of an arm. "Don't get distracted by such obvious traps, boy." Hoat'l sighed in relief as she said this. Her stub of an arm cracked and rumbled, pebbles started to form and her arm slowly regrew made of pebbles and gravel.
The arm finally finished growing and smoothed over as the stone turned back to flesh, she flexed her fingers then the muscles in her arm and looked at her newly formed arm with a grin, it was a little paler than the rest of her dark tanned skin.
