332 Chapter 332: Murderous Reunion (1/2)
”It's too bad, but you won't have your teacher to protect you this time!”
Crowing, Rei slashed at me with his katana, and I was forced to draw both Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, I mea Hei Yue and Bai Ri to parry them. Yeah, I'm sorry for still not being able to get the names of my swords right. Force of habit. I spent too much time pretending to be Archer (basically Kanshou and Bakuya were the Japanese names for Gan Jiang and Mo Ye) that I totally forgot the real names of my swords.
Oh, well.
Rei didn't hesitate, and continued to swing his katana from what he thought was an unexpected angle, teasing out an opening from me and darting his katana through an apparent gap in my defenses. I reversed the grip on Hei Yue and caught his curved blade with mine, causing sparks to fly between us as silver metal screeched against black steel.
Drawing a deep breath, I counterattacked with Bai Ri, the white blade arcing from my left. Hissing, Rei quickly withdrew and deflected my white sword, but I was already thrusting Hei Yue at his chest with my right hand, forcing him to jump back a couple of steps to escape the range of my sword. Refusing to let him go, I kicked off the ground and pursued, both of my swords seeking his vitals, but Rei skillfully parried them.
”Those sword techniques…you definitely didn't learn them from Ruff Fielding.”
”Teacher Fielding taught me combat magic, not swordsmanship,” I responded without thinking. Even as the words left my mouth, my arms continued to move rapidly, delivering a barrage of strikes that actually forced Rei into the defensive.
”Heh…I see.”
Rei's mouth thinned into a cruel smile, and he retaliated with a riposte that almost caught me wrongfooted. Fortunately, I was able to twist Bai Ri around to swat it aside. A frantic slash from Hei Yue compelled him to duck and then put some distance between us.
”Not bad, not bad! I didn't think someone of your age would be this skilled!”
The master Assassin laughed as he swung his katana. Deadly tendrils of shadows began curling from the curved blade.
”But…it's not enough!”
He then unleashed a volley of shadows in my direction, forcing me to jump back. Gritting my teeth, I conjured Scutum Sobiescianum. The shadowy projectiles collided violently against my Constellation shield, cracking the metallic surface and driving through it. Biting back a curse, I staggered a few steps back before cutting down a couple of shadowy spikes that had managed to penetrate past my defenses.
Chuckling, Rei pressed onward with his attack, slashing at me with his shadowy katana and sending more deadly black trendrils in my direction. Not only was I forced to defend against his relentless attacks, I also had to stay on guard against his shadow magic. Throwing my head back to prevent a shadow spike from stabbing into my face, I twisted to just barely avoid yet another lethal projectile before counterattacking with my swords.
Rei effortlessly deflected them before responding with a riposte that would have cleanly run through my chest had I not whirled out of the way in time. Both of my blades glowed and I sent black and white blasts of mana at him. Jumping a few steps back, Rei swung his katana and unleashed his own shadow spell that slammed into mine and exploded.
”Kuh!”
I staggered another few steps back, holding up my hands to shield myself from the shockwaves that buffeted me. Rei didn't seem affected at all, and he grinned as he slowly approached me, twirling his katana almost playfully.
More shadows emerged from behind him, almost resembling a hydra. At his mental command, they surged forward to pierce through me.
”Hah!”
With a determined cry, I swung both of my swords and obliterated the volley of shadows in a single black and white blast. Embers and dissipating bits of shadow fell around me, writhing at my feet before disappearing from existence. I sucked in a deep breath and glared at Rei, who was already raising his katana for another attack.
”Good!”
Guffawing, Rei charged at me and thrust his katana forward. No sooner had I deflected it than he suddenly reversed the trajectory of his deadly weapon and sent his curved blade lancing from the side in a slashing motion. Bringing Bai Ri down, I just barely managed to parry it amidst a shower of sparks and the tortured screeching of metal.
”Hu…”
Exhaling, I counterattacked with Hei Yue, but Rei practically danced out of the way. His katana lashed out from another unexpected angle, seeking to probe my defenses, but I easily repelled it with Bai Ri again.
”Ho…”
Rei was musing to himself as he retreated, probably to regain his bearings and analyze my movements. He grinned.
”I see…so you're from the Miyamoto School.”
”No, I'm from Jing Tian Academy,” I corrected. Rei snorted.
”Funny. I mean your swordsmanship. That's the Miyamoto style.”
”Uh huh.” I saw no reason to refute him. The guy could tell if I was lying, so I might as well just admit it. Besides, I had more important things to worry about. Like catching my breath and planning my next move, for example.
”I wonder which style is superior? Your Miyamoto sword style, or my Kagetani Swordsmanship?” Rei was grinning as he held his katana up in an aggressive stance. I tried not to sigh.
”Who cares? And even if you win, that doesn't mean the Kagetani style is superior. It just means you are better than me at swordsmanship, that's all. No one ever said I was a master of the Miyamoto style. I'm just a half-baked kendo apprentice with absolutely no talent at all. Even if you utterly destroy me in swordsmanship, it's nothing impressive. Hell, it'll be embarrassing if you lose to me in swordsmanship, considering how much I suck at it.”
My specialization didn't lie in swordsmanship but magic, after all. No matter how much Dad trained me, or how great a teacher he was, there was only so much he could do if I was an untalented and incredibly slow learner.
”…I see.” Rei regarded me for a moment, and then shrugged. ”Well, it doesn't matter. My job is to eliminate you anyway, not to compare swordsmanship. As such…”
Shadows burst out from behind him, that hydra-like spell that was going to bombard me viciously like before. As expected, he launched the shadows at me.
However, this time I didn't just obliterate the bombardment by swinging my swords and unleashing an energy blast.
”!!!”
Instead, Taurus descended upon an unsuspecting Rei, almost pulverizing him as he rammed his horns against the bald Assassin. Unfortunately, the professional killer's reflexes were nothing short of godly, and he managed to leap away before Taurus smashed a crater into the ground where he was standing a millisecond ago.
”You…!”
Flipping around in midair, Rei threw out a hand and altered the target for his shadows. The hydra-like shadows snaked around and hurtled toward Taurus, who merely grunted and pawed the ground. The giant bull's jaws opened and he unleashed a stream of fire that incinerated the approaching shadows.
”Tch.” Rei clicked his tongue as he watch Taurus's Aldebaran spell destroy his shadows. He wasn't given much time to curse any further because Capricorn and Ariies came from two opposite directions, flanking him and destroying the entire terrain with their charge.
Rei managed to throw himself to the side, flipping himself up to land in a kneeling position, his katana stabbing into the ground.
”Ugh…!”
My three Constellation spirits turned around and barreled toward Rei. He calmly corrected his breathing and stood up, holding his katana in both hands. Wisps of shadows continued to flood out of his katana, writhing and almost howling silently.
”Kagetani Style. Beast Slayer.”
It was almost as if the earth itself had opened up, a chasm materializing as the ground split open from the sheer force of his technique. Monstrous shadows erupted and swallowed up my three giant Constellation spirits, but they managed to smash apart the first wave of shadows as they closed in on their target.