A Familiar Trump Card

From her handstand, the young woman suddenly vanished, reappearing beside the airborne Aziel. 

She then struck his back with her blunted katana, sending him crashing to the ground. 

However, to her surprise, the "Aziel" she hit disintegrated into mere particles. 

The next moment, she sensed danger from above.

Shirley looked up.

"DIE!" Aziel exclaimed, brandishing his tachi downward, its edges gleaming purple. 

Despite being caught off guard, Shirley managed a clumsy block by angling her katana horizontally, but the blow still sent her plummeting like a falling star.

"Puhahk!"

Landing on her back, the Valenzian beauty spat out a mouthful of blood, quickly rolling out of the way the next moment to dodge Aziel's follow-up downward strike.

She then nimbly got back to her feet, assuming the most basic of fighting stances once more.