Chapter 1686: Unfair Duel
A twenty-year-old girl was producing swordsmanship that a master of any age, let alone hers, would have killed for, her footwork leaving no wasted motion, the katana changing angles between heartbeats to find gaps in Kaede’s guard that had no business existing at the speed their exchange was running.
’The rightful heir...’ The thought passed through the Fujimori ranks like a current beneath still water. ’A once-in-a-lifetime genius of the sword... If only...’
No one finished it.
Kaede’s blade came down, and the thought died with it.
The strike buckled the ground beneath Ayame’s guard. She caught it on the flat of her katana, and her boots carved furrows through earth as the impact drove her three full meters back.
The same soldiers went pale.
They knew Kaede was strong, but the gap between the last time they’d seen her fight and now had widened even further. She was growing rapidly, even after reaching her current power level...
Kaede’s second swing came faster than the first, her third faster still.
Every blow carried force that multiplied Ayame’s own output several times over, steel screaming through the smoke-choked air at speeds that left afterimages.
The clangs that followed each parry rang loud enough to pause fights within earshot.
Ayame redirected, slipped, and countered with everything her body could give, teeth gritted behind each block.
Her technique was flawless. Her reading of Kaede’s patterns was sharper than any edge on this field.
But technique had limits against raw superiority. Every exchange pushed Ayame’s heels deeper into the stone.
Lightning split the space between them.
Blossom materialized from the void at Kaede’s flank with both claw gauntlets aimed at the gap between her ribs, and the blade moved before Kaede did.
The sword swung sideways on its own, dragging Kaede’s arm with it, and the flat caught Blossom’s gauntlets an inch from flesh.
Lightning detonated against dark steel at the point of contact, the burst of electricity spraying outward in a fan of blue-white sparks that scorched the earth on both sides, and the force of the blocked strike shoved both women apart.
Kaede blinked at her own sword before she looked at the newcomer.
Blonde hair floated around the dogkin’s face in a crackling halo, each strand lit from root to tip, forking current jumping between them in bright veins.
The Bloodfather’s mark on her womb burned bright blue through the suggestive leather straps she liked to call armor, the slave collar at her throat, her favorite item in the world, catching sparks with every arc.
Kaede’s eyes slid to Ayame with measured contempt.
"You had to be saved by your mutt in a sacred duel, hmm, sister?"
Ayame knew that there was a truth to her words. "Blossom, this is a duel-"
"Ayame is going to shut up right now or Blossom will never forgive her!"
The shout carried a fury that stopped Ayame’s next word in her throat. "Huh?"
"Ayame is not some honor-bound Fujimori! Ayame is Elysiar! She is Master’s second in command! His very first ally!"
She stepped forward, current still racing through her gauntlets. "Only the worst of the worst girls care more about stupid honor than living forever by Master’s side!"
Her blonde ears pinned flat against her skull, the fluffy tail behind her rigid with anger.
"Also! Corrupted Bitch Sister is fighting with a cheating sword that makes her way stronger than she actually is! She’s fighting unfairly, so it’s only natural for Ayame to fight with Blossom!"
Ayame stared at her.
The composure cracked into a grin. "I can’t believe you scolded me..."
Blossom was right. Every word.
She turned back to Kaede.
"Corrupted Bitch Sister of mine." Ayame’s voice settled into the cool, composed register that came out when Quinlan wasn’t around. "This amazing girl is my best friend, not my ’mutt’. The first friend I met after you betrayed me."
She twirled the katana once.
"However. I’ll send my best friend away and have an honorable duel with you, as long as you grab another sword."
Kaede raised an eyebrow. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"A samurai is a master of the blade, not its puppet, sister. As the leader of the continent’s most prominent samurai clan, surely you can pick up any katana and defeat little old me who’s billions of XP away from reaching the level 70s?"
She held the katana out, hilt first.
Ayame’s free hand drew the wakizashi from its sheath at her lower back, the short weapon dwarfed by the katana in her hands.
"You know what? I’ll even give you my blade and fight you with only this." She raised the wakizashi. "What do you say?"
The smugness in Ayame’s voice could have started a war of its own.
Kaede’s expression shifted.
The condescension drained from it one shade at a time as the insult landed where Ayame had aimed it.
A true samurai didn’t need a living weapon to fight. A true leader of the Fujimori didn’t lean on borrowed power.
"Grow up. This is not the time to play children’s games."
Kaede dashed in, the dark edge screaming forward.
"Thought so~" The words left Ayame with quiet triumph as the wakizashi was put aside and her katana rose to meet the strike.
As she did so, she addressed her blonde friend. "Thank you for beating some sense into me, Blossom. Will you help me defeat this eternal loser?"
No answer came.
The dogkin was already ahead, trailing arcs of electricity from her gauntlets.
Ayame watched her back for a breath.
The thought that settled in her chest was quiet, warm, and needed no words.
She was blessed to have met people like her.
The katana came up, and the second-in-command of the Primordial Villain stepped back into the duel for real.
...
While the first two women in Quinlan’s newfound life worked together to overcome the impossible challenge they were facing...
Vex was having the worst crisis in her entire life.
Her eyes were streaked with tears, her heart feeling nothing but terror.
...
Author: I hope these Chapters are enjoyable, the girls deserve some focus as well... Not all of them will have a highlight Chapter, don’t worry. Also, I can’t wait to show you what I have planned next... I think you will love it.
Yes, I gave you a second cliffhanger in the author notes, and I regret nothing.
