Chapter 59 - #58 Taeko VS Cornelia (1/2)
”Looks like there is no other choice but for us to fight!” Cornelia shouted with an emotionless voice and she tapped on the bracelet on her arm which turned into a gauntlet that covered half of her arm up to her elbow.
Looks like a very strong weapon...
I thought with furrowed brows while observing Cornelia's weapon.
”I will make it fast, I don't want to disappoint him.” Taeko muttered and got into her stance, ready burst forward to attack at any time.
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'Disappoint him? Are they really married? If yes then why is he just watching?' Cornelia thought while warily looking at Taeko and then she threw a quick glance at Katsura.
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Taeko noticed how Cornelia looked at me and appeared in front of her at unbelievable speed.
”Mountain Gale!” Taeko slashed with her katana in upwards motion, cutting through the floor like buŧŧer without slowing down a bit, it even looked like her attack was gradually becoming faster.
”?!” Cornelia's eyes widened, not due to her being caught off guard but due to seeing Taeko's speed. She quickly moved her hand with gauntlet in front of her to block Taeko's attack.
Cornelia succeeded in blocking Taeko's attack but she was thrown off balance and had to retreat back however Taeko didn't let her take a breath and immediately followed right after her with a face devoid of any emotions.
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'Tch! She is extremely fast and her strength is also something I have to be aware! She isn't letting me take a breath and I can't get near enough to attack due to her superior range. Then...' Cornelia thought while blocking Taeko's relentless barrage of attacks with each attack aiming to claim her life before she suddenly punched the ground under her legs when she finally had a chance.
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*bang* Cornelia's punch created a curtain of dust and debris flew everywhere so it was even harder to see from which side she will attack.
”What a good tactic but...Taeko is not some weakling.” I muttered to myself a praise for Cornelia's strategy but then I smiled when I saw Taeko already getting into her deadliest stance.
Even I don't dare to approach her carelessly when she is in that stance, now, show me what you will do, Cornelia...
I thought with an amused smile.
Cornelia suddenly appeared from the curtain of dust on Taeko's right side. However, Taeko instead of panicking or preparing to receive her attack, she just glanced at Cornelia with eyes as if she was looking at something already dead.
”?!!!” Cornelia noticed her eyes and immediately stopped her advance and jumped far away from her while her forehead was full of sweat just from seeing Taeko's lifeless eyes.
Well, this result was kind of expected...Taeko's technique is indeed very deadly and close to perfectness but anyone experienced and strong will be able to feel danger from such deadly technique.
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'That was extremely dangerous! I almost could feel her weapon split me in two without even entering her range yet. What to do...I will use my advantage in raw strength.' Cornelia thought with wide-open eyes before she calmed down.
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”HA! Catch this!” *Crumble* Cornelia used air pressure from her punch to destroy already unstable pillars that were keeping the last part of the ceiling from falling down and she caught it with her gauntlet and then threw the ceiling at Taeko.
”Huh?...!” Taeko was surprised by her move but she immediately narrowed her eyes.
Hm?
Even I was slightly surprised by how strong Cornelia is to throw the entire ceiling at Taeko...
However, it wouldn't be so easy to defeat Taeko, she used her other technique named Summit Gust and slashed the air in front of her. Her attack tore the air itself and send it towards the ceiling, cleanly and easily cutting ceiling of a few meters thick in two halves.
When the space in front of her was no longer obstructed by the ceiling, Cornelia was no longer there.
Suddenly one of the halves on Taeko's left side was destroyed, revealing Cornelia flying towards her with her gauntlet aiming at Taeko's shoulder.
Taeko didn't panic at all and only thrust her katana forward to meet Cornelia's weapon head-on.
? Why is she meeting her head-on? Cornelia is much stronger than her in raw strength.
I tensed up a bit and looked more attentively at their fight due to Taeko's weird behavior.
”HAA!” Both of them shouted right before the impact.
The wind immediately burst forth from them, creating a strong enough wave of wind to make cracks appear on the ground around them.
”Oh...Aaah...safe” I started balancing on the pillar due to strong wind but I was able to regain my balance.
”Agh!” However, in the end, the result was as expected and Taeko flew back, colliding with the wall, making a small hole in it. While Cornelia on the other side only slid across the ground on her legs until her back hit the wall.
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'I won, there is no way she was able to take the full impact of my Crushing King without attaining heavy injuries. Cornelia thought with a small smile.
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I saw Cornelia's small victorious smile but instead of worrying about Taeko, I just released a smirk and Cornelia who glanced at me also saw this.
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'? What is-' *Cough!* Cornelia narrowed her eyes when she saw Katsura's smirk but she immediately coughed out blood from her mouth with a surprised expression.
*Cough* Taeko also coughed but it was only due to her being short on breath and no blood came out.
'*gasp* I swore...to myself *cough* that I won't lose to anyone else except for Akashi!!!' Taeko punched the wall out of frustration, deepening the hole and thought with a new resolve to fight even harder.
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I noticed that Taeko suddenly moved out of the hole she created inside the wall and spat out bits of blood to the side with a new determined expression while walking towards Cornelia who was still surprised by her sudden bleeding.
”My blade is coated in poison and you only helped me spread it by moving around so much...” Taeko explained with a cold expression when she saw Cornelia touching the small wound on her cheek.
Looks like it's Taeko's win. Not like I expected anything else but it looks like she won quite easily without even removing her limiters. Although Cornelia isn't done yet, Taeko has got a new life into her after receiving that Cornelia's attack head-on. I can feel that she is as sharper and stronger than ever.
I thought with a small proud smile while looking at Taeko's figure standing straight and strong.
”Hah! I won't let some poison get better of me!” Cornelia gritted her teeth and shouted at Taeko when suddenly...