Blademaster's Dance

Luca slashed his sword in front of Yumiko, but she backed by hopping backward. He transformed into smoke and flew through the air behind her. "You're using the same move over and over again. It's about time you stop running around!" Yumiko shouted.

She spread her legs, stretched her left arm, and slashed her blade behind. She pulled the wind with it and then redirected it at smoke. It blew him away and forced him to turn back into a human.

Luca was becoming more annoyed at her being unable to move freely. He flipped to balance his footing and landed. Yumiko straightened up and smiled. "See, I told you. I can already tell and see where you'll come out. it's simple." She smiled.

Luca twisted his sword. "I'll admit. You've gotten better at locating me. I'm surprised you're able to keep up with me with that wound." He pulled his blade behind himself. "But that wind you're constantly kicking up is becoming annoying. It's the only reason you can fight me on equal footing." He called.

He dashed toward Yumiko, black smoke trailing behind him, as did she. Then they came into close combat. Both slashed their swords. They clashed, but Yumiko took that opportunity and slashed with the other sword toward Luca, who transformed into smoke. That caused her sword to phase through.

He popped out in his human form and then blinked from the spot. Yumiko noticed a faded silhouette behind her and cut in that direction. Her swords collided with Luca's. "Seriously. You should start finding a better way to fight me." She jabbed her second sword forward, stabbing Luca in the shoulder, then kicked his stomach to knock him further away.

He stopped in place, bleeding, and started losing his chance of winning. "Don't tell me that you've been fighting like this every time? And I thought I was inexperienced." After her explanation, Luca blinked from the spot and started encircling her with afterimages.

Yumiko didn't fear. She enjoyed every bit of it and smiled. Her eyes continued following Luca's movements, similar to an eagle hunting down its prey. "I can see you."

Luca reacted and jumped from the front while Yumiko looked to the side. "Oh, really?" but he was caught off guard. Yumiko vanished from his view. He missed. "You're kidding." He stated.

Yumiko appeared behind him with a loud booming noise and shocked Luca. He hurriedly used acrobatics to distance himself from her, and looked at her. "What did you do? That wasn't the forbidden technique of migration."

Yumiko continued throwing her right blade up and down. "Well, you see..." She caught it and began to spin both blades between her fingers. "It's a combination of migration, but my pressure too." Her blades continued cutting with their spinning, making razor-like noises. "There's no way that you could have started adapting techniques so fast. It's almost impossible."

Yumiko stopped spinning her blades and angled them downward. "Well, you see..." Her blades began emitting blue energy while the other started emitting black one. "I usually learn from dueling. It's kinda my thing. For some reason, I can train faster than other people, and that was ever since I was a 5-year brat. I only train if I must or if forced to do it."

She crouched and angled her sword past her chest while stretching the other behind. "But that won't be necessary now that I don't need to worry about Muro torturing people. I think Empress Oriyana will be a great leader for my homeland. But before I can return back home, I need to help Tim and others to defeat Niklas. And currently, you're the only person blocking my way. So, it's about time we end this game of yours."

"Let's go!" Yumiko's sweat dropped to the ground, and the moment it splashed, she dashed toward Luca leaving another booming sound. "Damn it!" shouted Luca and slashed in front. Yumiko appeared beneath his blade and slashed skyward. Luca transformed into smoke and darted high in the air. He came swirling out from it but instantly noticed Yumiko's face in front of him.

"Hi there." She chuckled, dragged the sword forward, pulled the wind with it, and finally slashed toward him. He moved his katana to defend but wasn't effective. Yumiko's added pressure to her swing was too powerful for him to block the whole attack and ended up getting driven through the sky after their blades' collision.

Luca transformed into smoke and descended to the bottom. "Your running won't save you! I have you figured out!" she called.

She raised both of her swords above her head and then instantly slashed both of them toward the ground. "Damn it!" Luca yelled, astonished. He noticed two energy crescents speed to him. He lifted his sword and met the assaults head-on.

Its pressure was enough to dig his feet into the ground. "Here I come!" Yumiko shouted. She dropped her right sword and allowed herself to fall toward the ground. She vanished and appeared in front of Luca, squatting. She rammed her knuckles into his stomach, stunning him. She blinked again, teleported behind him, and punched him in his back, pushing him forward.

She quickly backed away, slashed her held sword, and unleashed another energy crescent that pulled the wind with it. It blasted into him and shoved him through the air into the distance.

Yumiko grinned, her eyes flashing blue. She dashed, followed Luca's knocked body, and in the middle of doing so caught her second blade that she threw a few seconds ago.

She spun in the middle of her launch, dragged her caught blade around her, and rammed its metal into the ground. It unleashed a second devastating crescent that began to rush through the air with its sheer force.

It drove itself into Luca's body and phased through his right side of the body. It was carved in a straight wound that squirted out blood and made him clutch his sword from pain. Yumiko caught up to him and swept both of her swords in a cross pattern. It sliced through the middle of his back, making him squirt out more blood than before.

"You're finished!" she hilted her blades to the side and smiled. "Moonlight Dance." A rapid pattern of blue light flashed in her left eye, and once it was finished, she vanished.

Suddenly, Luca started getting sliced from a variety of directions. Yumiko moved faster than the speed of sound, leaving blue-glowing afterimages from the positions she attacked. The blue silhouettes she created were around her in a star pattern, and they connected a blue line between themselves that instantly delivered the final cut.

Luca's eyes shook and in an instant, Yumiko appeared behind him in a kneeling position. The blue trails, connected between the silhouettes, exploded into cold energy. Finally, Yumiko turned around and slashed for the final time. It created a massive blue energy cut that sliced Luca's torso.

Luca collapsed on the floor, splatting his torso in a pool of blood. Yumiko shook her sword to clean the blood on the metals and sheathed them. "Now, that's speed." She giggled but quickly became serious.

Luca was forced to drop the blade to the side and coughed. He tried to crawl back up into battle, but the wounds he suffered were too much for him. "D-Damn it... N-Niklas will... be mad." He coughed once more. "I-I guess... you... win." Finally, he lost consciousness and he would soon be ready to be imprisoned.

Yumiko looked around to decide where to go next but was soon chosen as she noticed Tim, Bow, and Peter running toward her. "Yumiko!" she blinked in confusion, looking at them. "Tim, Bow, and that guy?" they stopped in front of her, and that was when Yumiko noticed Kou on Tim's back.

She was astounded and sweated to see him injured. "W-What happened to Kou? And.. and your arm? What's going on?!" she seemed incredibly stressed out and stepped in front of Tim. "I'll be fine, but we need Kou to be treated." Yumiko didn't want to look at their wounds, but she understood them. "Please, let's go. We need to hurry up." Explained Tim.

"Y-Yeah, of course." She agreed and looked back at Luca one more time. "Looks like you've been wounded too, Yumiko. We'll treat you too, right after Kou's been treated." Promised Tim.

She touched her wound on the stomach. "It's fine. It doesn't hurt yet. Damn it, I shouldn't have left Kou to go. It's my fault." Tim noticed that she looked away, angry at herself. "It's not your fault. Kou did what he wanted, but if we don't act now, he's going to die."

Yumiko agreed with Tim and then ran with them back to meet with Ayuka.

To be continued...