Stand Tall

Yumiko was standing up. She looked deep into Luca's yellow eyes. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to cut smoke, but there has to be a way. It's a representation of Tim's ability. He can't be cut easily with a slicing edge. These types of warriors tend to transmute their bodies into a living elements. It's like cutting the air or water, but it won't be useful." She thought.

She tried to figure out a solution to face such a powerful ability. "Speed is the best key I have. But the speed won't harm him. I can only do so little with it. It's almost useless against an opponent who I can barely touch." She twisted her swords to the side and observed the terrain.

"Not to mention that he's able to mix his ability with that forbidden technique. That makes him twice the more dangerous for me to face. But, come on, there has to be a solution to stop his ability from working." Yumiko tensed and began throwing looks left and right.

She suddenly felt the cold wind breeze past her body, and that's when it ticked. "Hold on." She straightened up, then looked up at the sky. "The wind. That's the answer. If I kick up enough pressure to control the wind from my swings, he won't be able to sustain it. Smoke is blown off easily by the strong wind." She chuckled and whispered to herself.

She tensed her grasp of the swords and grinned. Luca spotted her sudden rise of confidence. "Don't tell me that you found a solution to try and be on equal ground with me. Come on. There's nothing you can do to match my ability. You're a mere swordswoman, and the blade won't cut nonmaterial substance." Claimed Luca. The black smoke continued to encircle him.

"Oh, there isn't? Really now? I might have a plan to stop your bodiless physique. Tell me. You're afraid of water, right? Well, too bad there isn't any around. So, that only leaves me with one option."

Yumiko bent forward and labeled her arm past her chest. "How about we test it and see if it works." Blue lights disposed of themselves outside her body. It swallowed her whole, which she then absorbed into her body. A blue light flashed from the side of her eyes in a bolt pattern.

She blinked forward at incredible speed, leaving an afterimage that didn't move. Luca reacted, but he could only see a faded body of her in front. He cut, but the sword slashed nothing. He flinched and noticed that it was only trickery. Her proper body was in the same place, and it moved right then.

She darted forward, practically invisible to his vision. "You're still too slow!" he yelled. He cut, but Yumiko's body flickered in front, and somehow his blades slashed the ground. "What?!" he screamed.

Yumiko blinked before he could cut her, and her speed increased tenfold. He noticed Yumiko's afterimages throughout the entire area around him. There were duplicates of hers on every corner, but those were only the afterimages from everywhere she moved.

He was nervous and couldn't find an exit from the loop and her rapid movement. "Damn it!" he crouched, and his voice left a redouble.

He leaped tall in the air and tried to find her from a higher position, but he merely noticed that Yumiko's afterimages disappeared. "Damn?! Where is she?!"

Something felt odd. He almost seemed afraid, and it wasn't long for him to freak out. The sudden increase of the wind's pressure caused him to lose focus on the surroundings and missed that one of the currents darted behind him. "Stop hiding and fight! I'm not here too-"

"Above you!" Yumiko called. Luca became horrified, and before he could turn to look at her, he sensed the wind behind him. Yumiko kicked up a wind that was more than or less packed with cold pressure. It was the same power of a hurricane, enough to cause an entire field of dust to fly around like particles.

Yumiko increased her strength and put its whole force into the upcoming two slashes. She didn't cut him with the sword. She only used the combination of wind and energy and mixed them into a wind crescent. Once she cut, crescent rammed into his back and prevented him from utilizing his smoke ability to dodge. The wind was beyond the smoke to handle, and it caused him to become vulnerable.

That vulnerability was a step forward for Yumiko, and because of the wind constraining him from transportation, she pulled both of her swords behind her and cut them back toward him. "Moonlit Gash!" she yelled.

She sliced her swords ahead in a cross pattern and unleashed them into an attack of energy. The two crossed slices came in contact with his back, and with it came a powerful assault, its pressure overwhelming his body.

Its weight dragged Luca with it and forcefully shoved him toward the ground, driving his body into the rough terrain. It dug him deep into the ground. Its impact riled up a storm of dust combined with forceful wind, which quaked the ground too.

Yumiko grinned with confidence and dropped back on the floor. "Looks like there is something that your ability can't handle. And the answer is heavy wind." She claimed.

Her sword came dropping from the air, spinning. It landed in her hand while Luca pulled himself onto his four limbs and coughed. He looked past his shoulder, furious, with his eye beaming yellow. He wiped off the blood from his face and reached for the sword that sat beside him.

"So, what? You managed to land one attack, which wasn't even enough to kill me. Don't get ahead of yourself. I suffered one wound but look at you. Your body won't be able to hold on for much longer if you keep moving at that speed. That wound will open up, and you'll die because of losing too much blood." He exerted and stepped back up.

Yumiko lost her joy and readied herself. "I guess you didn't hear what I said to Kou. I might not be a part of their crew, but I will protect my friends. Do you know why? Because, unlike you, who works under Niklas' commands for nothing, we at least trust ourselves. Why else do you think we split up?" She asked. "Everybody on this island is doing their own job, doing their best to do whatever it takes so that these people won't be your slaves anymore. All of us will make sure that the obstacles we face, are removed."

Her explanation didn't matter, and Luca extended his blade to the side. "You and your trust. You don't know what you're going up against. Even if you do somehow defeat me, others will defend Niklas from intruders like you. Then, even if you defeat them, there's Niklas, and all of you combined wouldn't stand a chance. He's beyond your levels." He claimed as the black smoke slowly looped around his body.

Yumiko bent her knees to stand her ground more efficiently and gave him a sidelong glance, her left eye being visible to his frontal view. "Right? Because you would know that?"

To be continued...