Episode 52 Frost
A chilly wind rustles through the vicinity of the river, causing both Kunai and Ryuu to shiver slightly. Arai’s Fatalist robes flap gently in the breeze, that mysterious smile still on his face. He reaches deep into the pocket of his robe and draws out a muffin.
Arai lazily takes a bite of the muffin, savoring its taste. Kunai and Ryuu watch him, their faces expressionless. Nonplussed, Arai takes his eyes off his snack just long enough to glance at the two of them. “Despite your incendiary words, Ryuu, we are still friends. Are we not?”
“Don’t screw around with me,” Ryuu warns, taking one threatening step forward. “After everything you’ve done? Killing the Three Phonemes, killing countless others in the war five years ago, and now promising to destroy our world?! I can never call you a friend!”
For some reason, the mysterious smile on Arai’s face only grows wider. “I suppose that is only the natural response. As expected of you Ryuu, some people never change. Well, regardless of what the future brings, what has occurred in the past can never be taken away. We were once indeed friends. I hope you will someday find it in your heart to forgive me for my actions.”
“ARAI!” Ryuu roars, his eyes blazing with the brightest of furies. “Forgive you?! If anything I will be the one to kill you and send you to hell for your sins!” He raises his sword, but stops as Kunai holds out his hand in front of Ryuu.
Ryuu turns to Kunai, noting the icy determination reflected in his dark eyes. Kunai shakes his head. “Ryuu. If we’re going to go all out to kill Arai, let me go first.”
“You’ve got something up your sleeve?”
“Yeah.”
Arai watches intently, his electric yellow eyes narrowing ever so slightly as Kunai makes his move. Kunai raises his right hand, where Myou is resting. The old red seal on it slowly begins glowing.
“I see,” Arai murmurs smilingly to himself, “so you’ve managed to recover Myou.”
A burst of energy gathers immediately around Kunai. Ryuu takes a step back, as a black cyclone forms around Kunai, churning with dangerous speed and strength. Finally, with a massive explosion, the black wind disappears, revealing Kunai’s new sword.
The black sword is paper-thin and impossibly sharp. It is shaped almost like a trident, with a long, thin blade in the middle and two, shorter prongs accompanying it on either side. The blade gleams brightly in the sunlight, its smooth black surface spotless.
Ryuu gazes open-mouthed at Kunai’s new sword, clearly impressed. “So that’s your new sword…”
Wordlessly, Kunai immediately begins gathering energy around himself. A wall of black light surrounds Kunai, as he concentrates all his energy into his sword. “Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…!”
Suddenly, the attack is finished charging. Kunai looks up, his cold black eyes ablaze with wrath. He turns to Arai and raises his sword. “SOUL COMBUSTION!”
An explosion like a bomb sounds, as a ball of energy rushes towards Arai. Still holding his muffin in one hand, Arai calmly raises his other hand, forming a massive wall of ice in between him and Kunai.
The ball of energy launched by Kunai’s attack crashes into Arai’s ice wall with full force, but the wall does not bend. It refuses to give way, absorbing the entire energy of the attack even as long cracks form along its surface. Finally, the momentum from Kunai’s Soul Combustion dies out, the immense energy dissipating into the air.
“Impossible!” Kunai cries, his eyes widening.
Upon lowering his arm, the ice wall in front of Arai cracks and fully breaks apart. Shards of ice rain down from the sky, landing in the water and on the pier itself. Still smiling, Arai takes another bite from his muffin.
An evil, knowing smirk now replaces the gentle smile on Arai’s face. His eyes glimmer tellingly. “Did you honestly expect that weak move to work on me, Kunai? I am indeed impressed that you have learned Soul Combustion in so short a time, but I have seen that attack so many times from Kimura that it cannot possibly work on me.”
“Damn it…” Kunai curses, as the multiple pupils in his right eye glow momentarily as he casts Soul Synthesis. “I was so sure that was going to work…!”
Watching the exchange with amazement, Ryuu finally recomposes himself. He raises his own sword, clutching it tightly in his two hands. “If projectile attacks aren’t going to work on you, then I guess I’ll just have to pound defeat into your bones!”
Recklessly, Ryuu rushes straight at Arai, his sword poised to strike. But with another wave of his hand, Arai directs a frightening blast of ice at Ryuu. The ice surrounds Ryuu within a single moment, completely enveloping him and forming a tomb made of ice.
“Ryuu!” Kunai shouts, stepping forward. But in the next second, several cracks appear in the ice tomb and then it shatters completely, as Ryuu steps out of the container of ice, his sword blazing angrily.
His eyes glowing with intensity, Ryuu raises his sword again. “Take this!” he shouts, sending a massive fireball at Arai.
The latter dodges the attack, allowing the fireball to fly past him into oblivion. But in the process, Arai accidentally drops his muffin into the river below.
Arai watches the muffin fall into the water and drift away sadly. He squats down at the edge of the pier, watching his muffin speed away with the river’s current. “Muffin…”
“Wh-what are you, two?!” Ryuu screams in the brief moment of brevity.
“Ah, I apologize,” Arai says suddenly, returning to his feet. “Where are my manners? I promise I shall not hold back any longer.”
Both Kunai and Ryuu stand side by side, the two of them suddenly tensing up as Arai grows serious. Kunai glances at Ryuu. “If we both go at him at the same time, he can’t possibly defend himself from both of us.”
“Yeah,” growls Ryuu, returning Kunai’s glance. “Let’s go.”
The two comrades burst into a sprint at once, heading straight for Arai. However, with a wave of his staff, Arai summons another breath of icy wind onto the battlefield.
The breeze abruptly thickens around both Kunai and Ryuu, forming a frosty mist that is impossible to discern. Kunai grinds to a stop, lowering his sword completely as he stares into the white nothingness.
“Damn it!” he cries. “I can’t see a thing!”
“Be careful,” Ryuu warns from somewhere far away. “Arai is going to strike in this mist.”
“Ryuu! Where are you?” Kunai shouts back.
A dark shape emerges from Kunai’s right. He looks toward it, but is suddenly thrown back as he sees that it is a massive claw made completely of ice. The claw grabs Kunai around the neck, choking him. He grabs the claw’s icy skin, but cannot break free. The claw suddenly shoves Kunai forward, throwing him off the pier and into the river below.
Kunai lands in the river with a huge splash, flipping over as the claw finally releases him from its chokehold. He floats about in the river for several seconds, recovering from the attack. Finally, Kunai swims back towards the surface, breaking out of the water and clinging onto one of the wooden posts supporting the pier as he gasps for air.
He gazes up at the pier, which is completely swamped with a cloud of mist, obscuring both Arai and Ryuu and everything inside.
Meanwhile, Ryuu remains trapped within the field of mist. He gazes about, listening to the commotion with Kunai. “Damn mist!” he growls impatiently, raising his sword as it lights up. He sends a blast of fire to counter the plume of mist.
At last, the ice gives way, revealing to Ryuu the figure of Arai, who is standing just feet away from him. Ryuu turns to Arai. “Gotcha now!”
Rushing at Arai, Ryuu swings his sword. Arai raises his arm in front of him. Ryuu’s attack strikes Arai’s arm, which resists. A low thud like a blunt axe striking wood sounds, as Ryuu’s sword carves into Arai’s arm, which is completely encased in ice.
With his other hand, holding his staff, Arai sends a flurry of ice at Ryuu. Jumping back, Ryuu counters with a blast of fire, melting the icicles coming his way.
Out of nowhere, Kunai suddenly emerges from behind Arai, his sword in position to strike. He pounces on Arai from behind, his eyes narrowed with focus.
“Power Strike!”
Kunai’s attack erupts just as his sword makes contact with Arai’s left shoulder from behind. However, Arai turns at the exact same moment with his counterattack.
The explosion from Kunai’s attack sounds for just a moment, before it abruptly stops completely. A frozen ball of ice sits in the space between Arai and Kunai, absorbing all of the energy from Kunai’s attack. Finally, it collapses upon itself after it has done so.
“Your futile attacks will not work on me!” Arai says, glancing at Kunai condescendingly. “Take this!” He points a finger at Kunai, where two icicles erupt from his fingertips like bullets.
The ice bullets travel at supersonic speed, striking Kunai in the arm and the leg before he has a chance to react. Kunai doubles over, as blood rapidly stains the wounds where he has been struck.
However, Arai quickly turns around again, as Ryuu now steps in front of him, having used the opportunity to charge up a new attack.
He holds a massive sword made entirely of fire in his hands. The sword is more than twice the size of his normal sword, as it blazes forth angrily. “Try and stop this!”
—END FIFTY-TWO—