Kurayami and Ashiro circle around each other. Their auras began to create a tense scene, waiting for the other one to make the first move.
They then both stopped. Ashiro swiped the air, cutting through the space. A dimensional rift then appeared, showing vast stars and elemental powers within the rift.
Ashiro's arm then reached into the rift, pulling out a teal blue Katana with a symbol on the side of the blade. 風裂
Kurayami then smiled in delight at the sight of the blade. "Nice party trick!"
Ashiro then swiped the blade through the air. "Fūretsu is no mere party trick. It's a blade that demands discipline and respect. And you will show it the respect it deserves."
Ashiro then pointed the tip of the blade directly at Kurayami. The blade then started to glow as Ashiro's aura changed.
[Wind Core has been selected!]
[Innate Skill: Elemental Nexus]
[Galeforce has been chosen!]
Ashiro then shifted his feet, trying to steady himself. Kurayami then snapped his fingers, sending a blast of dark energy towards Ashiro's way.
[Innate Skill: Void manifestation!]
The blackened energy of anti-light crackles with white bolts lashing out in anaggressive manner.
Ashiro held Fūretsu tightly in his right hand. Teal colored winds cover his legs, causing to speed around the attacks from Kurayami's Void Manifestation.
[1st Wind Formation: Hurricane Blitz!]
Ashiro speeds around the dark energy, dodging the white bolts with not much difficulty.
Kurayami tries to perceive the intense speeds Ashiro was using, but he couldn't. It wasn't just the combination of Galeforce, and the wind formations that Ashiro had been honing to his limits.
"He's not just fast, he's using more than just that wind element. Could he have possession of multiple different elements!?" Kurayami thought to himself.
Ashiro then landed and quickly sped forward. Kurayami smirked at the head-on attack. "TOO SIMPLE!" He yelled in an aggressive state of excitement.
Kurayami then threw a fast punch at Ashiro, aimed right at his face. But to his surprise,he misses Ashiro completely.
No, he didn't miss. Kurayami had hit Ashiro head-on. It was the fact that he hadn't struck the real Ashiro.
[Innate Wind Skill: Cyclone Afterimages!]
Kurayami then looked around himself, seeing a single version of Ashiro moving around him swiftly. But he noticed his opponent getting faster and faster.
Strong wind pressures then started to build up. Kurayami's eyes squinted as the strong winds pushing and pulled all around him.
His balance was becoming unstable due to the constant changing winds. They pushed and pulled violently, but only enough to throw him off balance.
Kurayami's jaw then tensed as he wore an annoyed look. He then slammed his foot into the ground, using it as an anchor. A deafening then hummed across the battlefield.
The howling gusts of winds silenced themselves. The rubble and debris that flew around became deathly quiet as well.
Kurayami then looked forward, seeing multiple versions of Ashiro.
The Cyclone Afterimages ran in every direction, trying to distract Kurayami as much as possible.
But as the copies of Ashiro got closer a cloak of dark energy then appeaered around Kurayami. The blackened cloth flowed throughout the winds endlessly, becoming almost like a raven— flapping it's wings strongly.
[Innate Skill: Null Veil!]
All the clones then began to dissipate, almost like they were swallowed into something unknown.
As Ashiro ran around, he saw the messages from the system. [Warning! Cyclone Afterimages have been absorbed!]
Ashiro's eyes widened in horror at the message. "He can absorb my Cyclone Afterimages!?"
Godai's voice then entered into Ashiro's head. "Seems like he's got a technique that uses that dark energy as both a physical application, and an absorption application."
Ashiro then questioned Godai about Kurayami. "Then how do I attack him!?"
Godai shook his head while sranding im the mindscape. "Think, Ashiro. How do you beat an advanced absorption technique?"
Ashiro's eyes then light up as red flames flickered around his body. "Overload his threshold."
Godai snapped his fingers. "Bingo."
Kurayami's dark cloak then dissipates, and the teal-colored winds surround his body.
He felt the wind-like energy coursing through his body as he absorbed the copies. "Their only mere clones and yet they fill up my absorption threshold by 20%. Makes me want more from this guy!"
Ashiro then suddenly stopped running. The air became still. Kurayami then spoke towards him. "What, no more wind copies? I was just getting used to our new friends!"
A black light then glowed in Kurayami's hand. The air then bexame eerily still. And the same defeaning sound pressed against Ashiro's ears.
He couldn't even hear the slight peep from the black light emerging from Kurayami's hands. But that black light then turned a slight teal.
Ashiro's eyes then widened as a blast of bkth wind and dark enrrgy from befor lashe out at him.
[1st Copycat Formation: Darkened Pulse Ray!]
Ashiro's senses screamed at him, telling him to dodge. But as he tried to move, the darkened ray of wind and darkness overcame. It tore him apart.
His face was split open as the wind cut through his cheekbone.
But Ashiro pushed through it, and lit up his fist with bright flames.
Blood then dripped from his face, but it didn't matter as it began to quickly heal from the steam coming of it.
[1st Flame Formation: Fiery Fury!]
Ashiro pierced his fists through the air, unleashing multiple mid-ranged blasts of red flames.
They crashed into Kurayami, damaging him. The fiery flames charred his face, causing him to stumble.
Kurayami's head then pulsed in pain as he stumbled. His hand held the side of his head that was in pain.
Ashiro looked at the damaged face Kurayami had. "He couldn't absorb my flames!? And is he taking damage!?"
A confident smile then spread across Ashiro's face. He knew why Kurayami was in pain.
"You might be able to use a part of my technique, but it's all second-hand! You'll never have the grit, determination, and hardworking will that I have!!!"
[Elemental Nexus: Fierce Veins of Flames was selected!]
Ashiro's aura of flames begins burning brighter. Kurayami then begins to slowly stand up. "If you think I can't take those flames, then you're dead wrong!"
Ashiro's flames then start to dwindle. But to Kurayami's surprise—his opponent wasn't even shocked in the slightest.
Instead, Ashiro just chuckled. His flames began to amplify as Kurayami continued to absorb them.
The struggle of absorption and amplification between the two of them. Dark energy then crawled along Kurayami's veins and even started to enter Ashiro's body.
The darkness craw from Ashiro's arms, to his chest, and even his skull. A dark liquid then leaked from Ashiro's eyes, followed by him throwing up the same black substance.
It was disgusting, vile, and downright horrible to even experience. Ashiro then unexpectedly fell to a knee, he looked up at Kurayami in the pathetic state he found himself groveling into.
[2nd Copycat Formation: Voided Expulsion Burst!]
The mixture of wind, flames, and dark energy crawled like a parasite across Kurayami's right leg.
Ashiro's head was then struck by Kurayami's flaming leg. Blood splattered from his mouth as he fell to the floor, limp.
Ashiro wanted to stand, despite being drained of his flames. "D-d-damn... You." He muttered, before falling unconscious.
A message from the system the appeared.
[Flame Core has been compromised!]
His body stood still, not even twitching in struggling. Godai screamed for Ashiro to wake up. "ASHIRO! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!"
No response.
"DAMMIT!" Godai yelled in anger.
Kurayami then stood over Ashiro. "That's it? This is why I try not to use my innate revenant technique. Fights end too quickly and then they fall dead."
[Innate Skill: Devour Essence!]
Dark jaws crawl up from the ground, surrounding Ashiro. Kurayami smiles as the jaws make their move on Ashiro, about to devour his body.
Ashiro's eyes slightly open, seeing around him seeing nothing but darkness. "I need to wake up. I need to prove to him I can stand alongside him as the strongest!!!"
Memories then flow into Ashiro's mind. He remembered how Kodak and him fought so desperately against Satsujin in Nagano. He remembered the training he had done to reach that realm of strength Kodak was in.
He remembered why he was doing this.
Ashiro's eyes then burst open. He looks around, seeing the blackened jaws beginning to pierce into his body. "LIKE I'D LET MYSELF DIE SO EASILY!!!" He screamed at Kurayami as he looked at Ashiro from down below.
Kurayami smirked as he saw Ashiro's blazing eyes staring at him. "Thank you for the battle, Ashiro. Your father says, hello."
The jaws then chomp down, creating an unusual sound. It was like they were stopped by something dense and sturdy.
Kurayami then looked closely at the black jaws, seeing the slight silhouette of some type of stone construct.
"What the hell?" He muttered to himself, confused.
The blackened jaws then began to crack as he heard loud screams of anger and fury emanating from them.
"HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Then, almost like a call from earth– the ground began to shake. Kurayami stood strong, feeling the ground shaking faster, and stronger with each passing second.
[Elemental Discharge: Seismic Expulsion!]
Kurayami's eyes widen in shock as the jaws from Devour Essence were completely torn to bits. His teeth gritted in anger. "BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
His anger soared as he saw the jaws dissipate, only leaving a formation of sharp stone spikes exploding from the ground as they move in to protect Ashiro.
His face had blood gushing down the left side of his face, dripping onto the ground of the battlefield—leaving a crimson stain.
Ashiro then spoke out to Kurayami, with an undying look in his eyes. "I am not dying so easily. You and I still have a score to settle!"
Multiple messages from system appear, mainly from the multitude of skills being used.
[Ironclad Aura Selected!]
[Earth incantations Activated!]
Ashiro's voice then seemingly called out to the earth. "Stoneforge."
Another message then popped up from the system. [Elemental Amplification: Quaking Might Selected!]
Ashiro's skin then turns a gray, along with his hair becoming a dark brown.
His eyes then become an amber color. The ground beneath Ashiro's feet then begins to crawl along his back—forming a set of dark stone armor.
Kurayami's eyes widen upon seeing the stone form that Ashiro had taken. His mind then raced, trying to observe. His thoughts deeply began to hypothesize what Ashiro's technique truly was.
"I thought he only had control of energy based elements cause of the elemental cores I sensed. But if he can controlling natural elements, or even a divine type of energy—that puts me at a disadvantage."
Suddenly, Ashiro's Fūretsu then disappeared from his hands. The teal katana had seemingly evaporate into thin air. Ashiro looked back at the hand that had previously held Fūretsu, before it had disappeared.
Kurayami quickly notices this, and began to laugh at Ashiro.. "HAHAHAHA!!"
He then stopped the sudden laughter, and his tone became harsh, and cold. "How unpractical, losing such a high caliber weapon."
Dark flames then crawled along Kurayami's Void Manifestation. His body then sped forward, launching himself at Ashiro.
"LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE FATHER WAS RIGHT. YOU ARE A PATHETIC WEAKLING WITH NO APTITUDE FOR REVENANT WHATSOEVER!"
Ashiro then shook his head, not really impressed by attack and insults that were about to be unleashed towards him.
A stream of darkened energy, wind, and flames then tore through the ground, blasting Ashiro as Kurayami watched his body become completely engulfed the mixture of energies.
[3rd Copycat Formation: Converged Onslaught!]
He smiled as smoke began to cover the area. "How weak, not you could've blocked that speed." Kurayami thought to himself.
Well... except for one.
A memory then briefly flashed in Kurayami's mind. One where he stood up against an old man in a dark, lonesome basement.
He looked forward seeing the old man's glaring gaze—piercing into him.
"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE YOU OLD BASTARD!" Kurayami yelled in anger.
[Innate Skill: Eclipse Pulse!]
An all-black energy then exploded from Kurayami's body, spreading across the cold stone walls of the basement.
But as the energy moved in on the old man—something happened. A silence crushed the room as Kurayami's vision suddenly faded as he only saw the old man's back turned against the dark energy Kurayami had unleashed.
The energy collides, bouncing off like nothing happened. The back of the old man wasn't even fazed as the energy dissipated.
Kurayami tried to reach his arm out, but everything then goes black.
The memory then ends as Kurayami come back to present, trying to look through the smoke caused from the 3rd Copycat Formation.
"Looks like your stone armor was nothing short of a hollow shell. After all, no one in my lifetime has every even heard of the 3rd formation up until this very moment. Count yourself lucky as someone who pushed me to that limit."
Kurayami walked away, feeling triumphant over his opponent. But as he did, a voice called out as the ground began to shaking violently.
"I lost my weapon? What make you think I couldn't create one made from the earth itself?"
Kurayami immediately turned around, seeing Ashiro's stone armor still in peak condition—standing strong with glowing amber-like eyes.
Ashiro then violently slammed his fist into the ground, putting almost his entire arm into the earth. And when he reeled his hand back—a dark mace was held tightly in his hands.
He then spoke again, asking rhetorical questions, and answering what he said the answer was.
"You pierced my armor? Who are you to decide when I crack under the pressure? I have no aptitude for revenant? What kind of bullshit makes you decide anything whatsoever!?"
Kurayami looked back as he heard the voice echo through the smoke. His skin began to crawl as the aura of Ashiro's revenant coursed through the air.
Tension began to build as Kurayami's mind raced. Not of anger, nor the thrill of facing strong opponent.
None of those emotions echoed in his mind at this very moment. Instead a new emotion spawned in Kurayami's mind. One that he hadn't felt since he faced that old man 2 years ago—it was fear.
Kurayami then took a step back. His hands began to shake as Ashiro took a step forward in his stone armor. The rocky boots from the armor echoed as Kurayami's eyes then widened in fear.
This long forgotten emotion flooded his mind. It was like a virus, plaguing his mind. He could barely even look at Ashiro without the feeling of his sins crawling up his back.
Ashiro then suddenly sped forward, holding the mace firmly in his hands.
[Elemental Artifact: Terradon Selected!]