420 Chapter 420: Vampire Samurai (1/2)
\”I'm aware,\” I acknowledged dryly before springing away to avoid getting sliced in half by Kufa's vicious katana. I bombarded him with another storm of razor-sharp petals in hopes of driving him away, but he sliced through them.
\”Your wood spells may look pretty, but they are useless against me,\” he sneered.
\”Well, I guess I'll have to try something that will be useful against you then,\” I remarked nonchalantly as I hopped away. Kufa pursued me relentlessly, swinging his katana in my direction. He shot forward, his body turning into a black blur as he closed in on me.
He never got to reach me.
\”!!!\”
Capricorn burst out of the ground and slammed into him. Kufa cursed as he twisted in midair and parried the giant goat's horns, unable to dodge because of his irresistible momentum. He was thrown into the air, but he managed to right himself and slammed his feet against the wall before propelling himself forward once again.
My Constellation spirit wasn't stupid enough to take him on head-on, not after I witnessed what Kufa did to Taurus (we shared memories, as I said, my Constellation spirits were essentially a part of me, a part of my own psyche). Instead, he stomped his hooves on the ground and conjured several earth spikes that sought to impale the revolving Kufa.
The Samurai swiftly made short work of the protruding obstacles, his blade almost singing as it sliced through the stony spikes. Before he could clear the entire course, however, Capricorn slammed into him from the side, but Kufa's reflexes saved him. His sword lashed out to connect with my Constellation spirit's horns.
Spinning around, Kufa unleashed a blue-black energy blast that blew Capricorn back a few steps. Before he could fully recover, I was already on him, delivering a long trail of Sakura petals in his direction. Kufa cursed under his breath as he nimbly deflected as many of the pink petals as he could, swatting the razor-sharp blossoms away to prevent any major injury.
While he was preoccupied with my spell, Capricorn struck him from behind, almost breaking his spine. Kufa grunted as he was thrown forward, but he somehow managed to flip himself and land on both feet. Launching another blue-black energy blast to keep Capricorn at bay, he then spun away from the second barrage of Sakura petals I threw in his direction, his glowing katana slicing a path through them.
He was good, I had to give him that.
When Capricorn charged at him, he decided to meet the giant goat head-on. Kicking off the ground, he surged toward my Constellation spirit. For a moment I thought he was going to cleave Capricorn in half, but Kufa instead chose to jump up at the last moment. Planting his foot on the giant goat's huge horns, he switched his trajectory and propelled himself in my direction. His figured blurred into a black streak that moving at a speed too fast for the eye to follow. I almost couldn't keep up with him.
Fortunately, I didn't have to.
Aries rammed into Kufa from the side, sending him careening toward the edge of the arena. The Samurai vanished in an explosion of debris and powder, his body slumping beneath huge chunks of rock and out of sight. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that Kufa had been defeated by just that, though. Despite his relative lack of defense – especially when compared to a Paladin such as Eliza Franklin – Kufa Van Peer was definitely a tenacious warrior.
\”!!!\”
I had to back away when a huge chunk of concrete came flying at my head. It crumbled into dust as it collided with the wall behind me, the vicious impact leaving a crater on the surface. Raising both swords defensively in front of me, I watched as Kufa climbed out of the rubble and wiped the blood from his mouth with his free hand.
\”I'm disappointed.\”
\”Really?\” I honestly couldn't care less, but the more Kufa talked, the more time I bought to summon another Constellation spirit or two, or cast a spell. Of course, the same went for Kufa, which was why he carried out the delaying tactics, but that was fine. I couldn't prevent him from casting a spell, not unless I could cast a spell of my own first.
\”Relying on such things to fight…\” Kufa glanced from Aries to Capricorn and scowled. \”I expected more from a Samurai like you.\”
\”Uh, but I'm not a Samurai?! Don't go labeling me as one on your own and then whine about it when I don't meet your expectations.\”
\”I guess you do have a point there.\” Kufa sighed somewhat exaggeratedly. \”But I thought you learned the Miyamoto sword style under your master, so I was expecting more of a sword duel. Not this. Not the spamming of soul beasts. I thought you would have a bit more honor than this.\”
\”What bullshit are you spouting right now?!\” I demanded, getting irritated. \”You do realize that I'm a summoner, right? I'm not a bloody Samurai, I'm a summoner! Of course I'll be summoning monsters to deal with my opponent! That's what summoners do! I'm closer to Lute Dragoon than I am to you!\”
\”Not exactly. I mean, yes, both you and Lute are summoners, but you are different from him. You are definitely not a Dragoon. You're more of a Samurai who summons than a Dragoon.\”
\”What are you rambling about now?\”
\”You're not cavalry. You don't fight on horseback or on a mount, not like Lute does. If anything, you rely more on the Miyamoto swordsmanship that you learn from your master. I want to see more of that.\”
\”We don't always get what we want in life,\” I retorted sourly. At my mental command, Capricorn and Aries moved in. I had enough of listening to his rubbish, and intended to finish him off once and for all.
Kufa might have noticed, or maybe he didn't. It didn't matter – either way, he was moving out and rushing toward me. Aries and Capricorn caught him in a splinter attack – or tried to, but he darted away, using his incredible speed to weave between them and launch himself toward me. Kicking off the ground, he soared up high when he found his path barred by my two large Constellation spirits.
\”Scattered War Blade!\”
Thrusting his sword forward multiple times, he launched countless of blue-black blades that fanned across the arena and sliced through both Aries and Capricorn. My two Constellation spirits were forced to retreated, battered and bleeding from the ferocious attack.
As they did so, Kufa seized the chance to launch himself at me. Again, he transformed into a black blur that streaked toward me at a speed that no human eye could follow.
\”!!!\”
Once again, he never reached me. Lupus had appeared right beside him and bit down on him. Kufa twisted away, but this time he was unable to get away, and was forced to deflect the huge wolf's attack. Lupus's jaws clamped down on his arm and tore it off.
\”Ugh!\”