Chapter 30

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-Town of Fuyuki.

3rd POV*

Shiki dodged a swift blow by Nero, she relied on her reflexes this time as she would really end up in pain she is not careful. Nero made a under slash which was barely avoided by Shiki who leaped. Shiki's feet dropped on the ground however Nero took advantage of that millisecond to land a clean kick towards Shiki's gut.

Shiki grunted as she was embedded on the walls, and without any panic on her face she hurriedly moved to the side hardly avoiding Nero's follow up slash. "Ha! Come on girl! Show me what you are made of!" Nero shouted grabbing Shiki's hand before tossing her away. Shiki's body flew again but this time she landed very gracefully using every parts of her body to move.

"Tch, she is a tough one" Shiki muttered observing the surroundings, she wanted to perceive everything so that she could use them in case of emergency. Shiki stepped to the ground hard causing dust to appear hindering Nero's sight. Nero waved her sword creating strong wind that took the hindrance away but Shiki's body already made it to Nero's side.

Shiki, without hesitation pushed the dagger towards Nero who instantly turned her body to guard against the attack. Nero easily parried the attack and then used her shoulders to tackle Shiki. Shiki was thrown by that tackle, her chest was in pain from the heavy move that Nero made. "Gukhh!" Shiki groaned clenching her sides to ease the pain.

She hurriedly use her Blink Dagger to move away from the spot which was then cleave by Nero. "Hm! Great reaction!" Nero complimented pointing her sword at Shiki's new location. Without even giving Shiki time to breathe, Nero launched herself at Shiki showing impressive speed that even staggered Shiki for a second. Shiki gritted her teeth and put more force on her arm accepting the overhead strike from Nero.

The sword descended as spark was emitted from their clash. 'Heavy…!' Shiki thought controlling the way she hold her dagger and deflected the strike to the side. A large crater was created when the sword dropped on the ground, Shiki immediately went away from that spot while sweat dropped from her forehead. She certainly didn't expect that such a simple blow would create a destruction like that.

"Umu! As expected of me! My skills haven't dulled at all!" Nero nodded her head proudly seeing that she can still fight easily even without training for many days already. She also loved how Shiki is faring well against her who is an experienced person. This made her interest about the girl soar, she wanted to see if she can keep up with her if she starts raising the bar.

"You are strong" Shiki commented flicking her wrist to remove the tingling sensation on it. Nero was happy hearing her compliment, she can't prevent her normal attitude from freeing itself so, "Your eyes are praiseworthy girl! You even managed to see through the real beauty of my strength. That is admirable!" Nero was not stingy with her praises so she showered Shiki with them.

Shiki deadpanned at Nero before deciding to just fully ignore her. She wanted to gain the advantage in this fight so she need to place 100% of her focus in the fight. "Quit jabbering and just fight me. Or perhaps maybe the eyes of the Emperor is limited that she can't even see how worthy I am?" Shiki snorted at Nero who got stunned. "How could you say that! My eyes is not so shallow to not see your potential, let's continue the fight!" Nero declared.

Shiki leapt towards Nero with great speed slashing her dagger at the pissed Emperor. Nero of course easily handled them but the way Shiki is moving changed, her usual simple strikes became more profound. There are a lot of meanings hidden on those slashes as each of them are just the introduction to Shiki's continuous chain attacks.

Shiki's assault became even more harder to comprehend as she was fully using her knowledge to her advantage. Her chain attack is neither fast nor slow, they are unpredictable as only Shiki can decide where they will go. Nero was forced to back down from the fierce assault that kept chipping her defenses off. She was slowly losing advantage of the fight.

"Excellent barrage! It is well crafted!" Nero approved of Shiki's way of attacking. Even right now she is having a hard time sensing where the next blow will go as Shiki is also adapting to the fight. While Nero is finding ways to break Shiki's defense, the other person is also searching for a way to take advantage of her. This unspoken battle of potential are soaring where even Lawrence had to commend both of their talents.

"Hmph, I have known from the start that the accursed woman will win. Why bother waiting for the result?" Anastashia raised her chin already expecting Shiki's inevitable win. She seemed to have no doubt that Shiki will rise triumphantly in this matter. "I wouldn't say so Lady Anastashia." Bea commented surprising them.

They have known that Bea doesn't really like Nero as she doesn't understand proper common sense, it was stunning for them to hear her defending Nero. Although Lawrence had to admit that Bea's words are not wrong. "What do you mean?" Anastashia asked puzzled by her deduction. As far as she can see, Nero is being cornered not being able to counterattack at all. 

"Lady Anastashia, it seems that you are not seeing the real picture here. I might hate that girl for not understanding proper etiquette however I could never hate her character. Do know that that girl has a lot of more experience than most of us here" Bea said smiling lightly. Lawrence nodded his head in support to Bea's conclusion. "Hm, it should be happening no-, there" As Lawrence was about to murmur a loud explosion occurred.

BOOM!!

Anatashia returned her attention to the fight only to be baffled seeing Shiki being jittered away by Nero. "Got it! Umu! While it took a lot of time, I managed to decipher your style!" Nero said patting her chest. She had to admit, Shiki's chain attacks was a hard thing to deal with, it was so sophisticated that she had to use of her fairly honed instinct to comprehend it.

"Now, it is my time! Be careful girl!" Nero exclaimed launching herself to Shiki who already regained her balance. This time, Nero didn't hesitate to pressure Shiki, attacking the weak parts of her defense making Shiki stagger. Nero's ferocious battering made it hard for Shiki to even take a breath. She had to make sure that none of Nero's attack hits because each of them contained power that is beyond for her body to endure.

Shiki went to the tree and sliced it in half, she kicked that tree towards Nero who nonchalantly deflected it. While Nero's attention was on the tree, Shiki sneaked up and tried to plunge the dagger at Nero's feet to hinder her balance only for Nero to notice her. Nero swiftly raised her foot narrowly avoiding the sneak attack.

"Being able to think rationally in this situation is impressive. You amazed me more and more girl. How unfortunate that you weren't at my time, we will surely become the best of friends! Umu! Right!" Nero shook her head in dismay. She is really disappointed about that fact. "No, I am sure that we won't become friends even if I was there" Shiki said tilting her head to the side dodging the normal punch of Nero.

"Umu! I'm sure we will. If you are not willing, I will still force you!" Nero smiled happily informing Shiki. That recognition is already higher than normal but somehow Shiki can't joyful about it. Just imagining handling Nero… Shiki shook her head to remove that horrifying thoughts. That would surely be creepy and troublesome.

Nero stepped forward with additional force on his feet causing dust to explode. She raised her sword and met it with Shiki's dagger, she purposely didn't try hitting any vital spot of Shiki as she knows this is just a mock battle. She can't kill her as that would destroy the purpose of this challenge, that would be too low on her opinion.

Shiki was forced on his knees from how heavy the blow. She immediately rolled on the side barely escaping Nero heavy foot that was chasing the first hit. Nero smiled at Shiki's desperate movements, she knows that Shiki is still looking for an opening so Nero purposely opened one on her side. Considering how desperate Shiki was, Nero is convinced that she won't let this chance go.

Well just like Nero expected, Shiki indeed moved, however it was on a different spot that she opened. Instead of the right side where her defense was open because her stance was more favored towards the left, Shiki took the left side instead taking Nero by surprise. Her sword which she planned to slash at the right side moved on its own by subconscious leaving her left side wide open.

Of course Shiki was pleasantly elated that her gamble paid off. There is no way that she will think that such a huge hole in Nero's defense to not be a bait. Just like what Bea said earlier, Nero has plenty of experience so it is close to impossible for her to leave a gap. That is why Shiki gambled that Nero was luring her in forcing her to attack the left side.

Shiki didn't hold back and plunged her dagger at Nero. The stab connected creating a small injury in Nero's left rib part. Nero instantly took a step back holding her left side with one hand. The slash created a small hole on it forcing blood to flow constantly. "O-Ouch! That is painful!" Nero complained pouting at Shiki who merely smiled at her achievement.

"Hey! Don't be overjoyed now! That was seriously painful, like how could you think of inflicting such painful wound to me?!" Nero didn't really like how Shiki was smiling so whined loudly. "So Heroic Spirits do bleed after all" Shiki was happy with the discovery ignoring the scowl on Nero's face.

Lawrence who was watching at the side couldn't help but shake his head at Shiki's action. She is making the spoiled emperor angry, this will surely end badly. "Should we prepare some Healing Salve master?" Bea asked in advance making Lawrence's lips twitch at her absurdity. 

Anastashia who watching their interaction was even more puzzled, "She made her bleed right? Why are you talking like Shiki already lost?" she asked which taken the two aback. She called Shiki by her name! That was shocking! She usually call her as wretched, accursed or just woman. She has never called her like that before.

"Sigh, just watch" Lawrence sighed before returning to the fight. There they saw Nero fuming in anger while Shiki just held her hand in her chin, she was clearly amused by Nero's reaction. Well, the next moment, everything exploded. Shiki was blasted to the house destroying everything.

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