Chapter 176 - #175 Akashi vs Esdeath (2/2)

”Nice try but that won't be enough to catch me off guard.” Akashi said with a smirk towards Esdeath who widened her eyes while standing on the ground, looking up at him.

”Wha-? Haha, it looks like our minds work alike, both of us created a lot of similar techniques!” Esdeath released a hearty laugh and a few pieces of ice appeared around her wrists and ankles before she began to float as well.

---On the hill---

”What the hell are we even watching?” All of them were immersed in watching the fight but when Poney saw both of them float in the air, she couldn't help but mutter with open mouth.

”Battle between two monsters, of course, fufu” Mera replied naturally and covered her mouth with her hand while laughing.

”Only 1 monster, Akashi Nii-sama is completely normal yet stronger than that mad woman” Kurome said while hugging her katana.

”Are you sure about that?” Mera asked with a particular smile.

”? What do you know?” Kurome frowned and asked Mera when she saw her smile and everyone else also directed their attention to Mera.

”Since I am the most rational and experienced of all of you girls, he decided to tell me a secret.” Mera said with a teasing smile which made everyone glare at her with a hostile intention.

”Calm down, he actually told me to prepare you for what's to come.” Mera quickly calmed them down when she sensed the danger from all directions and decided to proceed with the explanation.

---Back to the battle---

Akashi looked down and saw hundreds of ice cavalry waiting for him there, he was aware that aerial battle would be much easier for him instead of getting rid of them but he wasn't trying to get a win here. He was here to literally conquer Esdeath and show her that none of her moves are significant against him.

He raised his head to look at Esdeath floating in the air.

”Shall we start making some bigger moves from now on?” Akashi asked but he didn't wait for her answer before he pointed his index finger towards the sky and on tip of his finger, a ball of fire started to quickly enlarge itself before it became as big as one 2 houses. Akashi swung his finger down at ice cavalry and the entire ball of fire flew down at them.

*BANG* *rumble* The debris of the ground flew everywhere as did the chunks of ice.

'Hm?! Is that...magma?' Esdeath thought when she noticed some kind of denser liquid of orange and black color scorching the ground and her cavalry.

Akashi actually put in the middle of the ball a bit of magma to make the destruction much bigger.

”Were you always able to use the magma?” Esdeath stopped floating and descended on the ground while asking with a frown.

'Her balance was slightly unstable which means that she hasn't perfected her flying technique yet...I should just follow her example' Akashi thought with a smirk before he also descended on the ground.

”Nope” Akashi shortly replied and then with one hand he stroke along the entire blade of his sword, the blade in return caught on fire.

[Phantom Strike]

[Energy: 2340/2500]

He didn't wait for her answer and moved in an instant behind her while slashing at her back with his flaming sword.

”Tsk” Esdeath clicked her tongue and quickly turned around while parrying Akashi's attack to the side which made the entire ground in 10 meters distance completely scorched.

However, by parrying his attack, Esdeath gained a chance to counter-attack so she struck her rapier towards Akashi's shoulder. Akashi already anticipated her counter-attack so he quickly struck her rapier with his own sword to the side which in return left a long straight line of the hard ice covering the ground and freezing all plants.

This time, both of them drew their hands back and performed slash attack, Esdeath in a vertical motion and Akashi in a horizontal motion.

*WHOOSH* When their attacks met each other, their auras also clashed, they were so dense and fierce that it allowed for even other people to see their pure, fierce crimson and cold light blue auras clashing with each other.

In terms of auras, Akashi's aura was slowly overpowering Esdeath's but Esdeath wasn't going down easily. The results were similar even in their physical exchange where Akashi had a relaxed smile and held his head high while Esdeath's hand was actually shaking, trying to overpower Akashi while gritting her teeth but the smile on her face never disappeared.

”Are you having fun, my Esdeath?” Akashi asked with a teasing tone.

”...” Esdeath actually didn't reply and only frowned, sensing some hidden meaning in my words.

'Fun comes first, then comes despair' Akashi thought with a slightly crazy smile as he widened his eyes and pushed his sword with even greater strength.

*creak*

'?!' Esdeath's eyes widened when she felt the disparity between their physical strength as she began being pushed back by Akashi, even her weapon was slowly nearing her face.

'I can't win the frontal confrontation' Esdeath wasn't only battle junkie who fought without thinking, she was able to admit minor defeat for the sake of the major victory.

Esdeath used her all strength to push Akashi's weapon to the side before finally letting go under the pressure of his strength.

*bang* Both of their weapons slashed the ground, making debris fly around.

Esdeath let go of her weapon which slightly surprised Akashi but when he saw her putting both of her hands together and sensing large amounts of her aura gathering in the area of her hands, he quickly kicked off the ground to the back.

”Mahapdama” Esdeath muttered as a large amount of blue aura concentrated in her hands began to spread to all locations at extremely fast speed.