48. Let me know if you guys see any major typos or grammatical errors. It'll be a huge help.
[With Himari]
As soon as Himari was teleported into the dimension, she began searching for Homare. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long; a split second later, she found herself ducking to evade a vicious kick from the spiky-haired woman.
In retaliation, Himari spun around and threw her fist toward Homare's right cheek. Homare caught her fist and responded with a powerful kick to Himari's chest, knocking the wind from her lungs and sending her stumbling back. Himari managed to recover quickly just as Homare launched a relentless barrage of fists and kicks.
With effortless grace, Himari evaded or blocked each of Homare's attacks, which only fueled the latter's growing frustration. When the opportunity arose, she caught Homare's legs, lifted her off the ground, spun around, and slammed her down hard enough to create a spiderweb of cracks in the earth beneath them.
Just as Himari prepared to repeat the process, she was forced to let Homare go and jump back as the latter attempted to slash at her with a pair of gleaming daggers.
Homare looked at Himari with an expression that was part furious, part giddy, and part begrudging respect.
"Not going to lie, I've seriously underestimated you," Homare admitted, both corners of her lips curling upwards, revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth. "That means I don't have to hold back anymore." With a dramatic flourish, she threw off her jacket. "I hope you're ready for this! Because I'm not stopping until you're out cold or cut into little pieces!" she exclaimed before lunging at Himari.
Himari shifted to the side and morphed her right arm into a mini-gun, taking aim at Homare and unleashing a barrage of bullets. With agile grace, Homare dodged the projectiles, swiftly closing the distance between them.
Immediately, Himari transformed her arm into a sword, parrying Homare's incoming strikes. She then launched a counterattack, aiming for Homare's neck with the edge of her bladed arm. However, Homare ducked under the attack and lunged forward, aiming her daggers at Himari's solar plexus.
Anticipating the move, Himari transformed her left arm into a shield just in time to block Homare's assault. The daggers sank deep into the shield, making it nearly impossible for Homare to retract them.
Seizing the opportunity, Himari morphed her right arm into a hammer and struck Homare hard across the face, sending her flying ten meters to the right and smashing her into a tree.
As Himari shifted her arm back to normal, Homare's daggers dropped to the ground. But before she could celebrate, Himari quickly transformed her arm back into a shield to deflect a condensed energy blast, which sent her sliding backward.
When the blast faded, Himari lowered the shield, only for Homare's foot to collide with her face, propelling her through several trees. Upon landing on her back, Himari rolled aside just in time to avoid Homare's body crashing down on her.
Himari sprang to her feet, and as she got up, she kicked Homare's side, the blow thudding sharply and knocking the latter to the ground. The vice chief of the 7th unit mounted Homare, grabbed her hair, and began to pound her fist into Homare's face repeatedly.
She landed ten brutal hits before Homare seized her uniform, yanked her down, and slammed their skulls together, breaking blood vessels in Himari's nose with a painful crack. Fueled by adrenaline, Homare pushed Himari off and leaped to her feet. She then dashed toward Himari, grabbed the back of her head, and rammed her knee into Himari's face, causing blood to gush out uncontrollably.
Despite being stunned and in immense pain, Himari retaliated viciously. She kneed Homare in the groin, making the spiky-haired woman gasp and hunch forward in agony. Then, Himari grabbed Homare by the hair, turned her right hand into the head of a hammer, and struck her across the face repeatedly, resulting in a grotesque spray of blood, spit, and teeth flying through the air.
Homare attempted to fight back with a desperate kick aimed toward Himari's solar plexus. Unfortunately for her, Himari caught her leg, put her foot behind hers, and tripped her. As soon as Homare landed, Himari resumed her assault with both fists, each strike becoming harder, faster, and more vicious.
After several minutes of relentless pummeling, Himari finally stopped striking Homare's face. The sea-green-haired beauty breathed heavily, her heart racing and vision clouded. A moment later, she snapped back to reality and assessed the damage she had inflicted on Homare.
Homare's face was bruised in shades of red, purple, and blue, with blood streaming from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Her jaw was caved in, the area around her eyes so swollen that a gentle poke could cause them to burst, and her nose was obliterated.
"H-Holy shit!" Himari exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock and horror at the sight before her.
Homare's condition shook her to the core. She couldn't believe she had done this to the spiky-haired woman, nor could she understand what had overtaken her. One moment, she was beating Homare's ass, and the next, she was standing over her, staring at a face that resembled bloody, mashed potatoes.
A part of her wanted to feel guilty, but she couldn't—she refused to feel remorse for the state she left Homare in. Homare had made her childhood a living hell and had left in far worse conditions. If anything, she felt she had gone too easy on her.
Himari regarded Homare with indifference for a few more seconds before turning to search for another opponent. However, she stopped mid-step when a crushing wave of killing intent washed over her. Turning around, she saw Homare standing, her injuries vanished, and a fiery greenish-blue aura surrounding her.
Homare smirked at Himari. "You didn't seriously think that would be enough to take me down, did you? Because I still have plenty of fight left in me."
Himari narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly, getting into a combative stance with her right arm morphing into a sword and her left into a shield.
"Then what are you waiting for? An invitation?"
[With Cain]
Teleporting into the dimension, Cain found himself right in the middle of a dense forest. He sensed Fubuki just five meters to his left, battling three other participants. It was more accurate to describe it as a one-sided slaughter, as bodies flew like ragdolls with each casual flick of her wrist.
Seven hundred meters to the north, Yachiho was sprinting, desperately searching for Himari. As for the turquoise-haired woman—
Cain's hand shot out, effortlessly catching a bullet between his fingers. He turned to face the woman, who had a handgun aimed at him.
"Well, you certainly don't fuck around," he commented, smiling slightly in amusement. "If I were anyone else, I would've been flatlined."
The woman lowered her weapon, her eyes glinting with mischief and her lips twitching into a playful smile. "Good thing you aren't anybody else then, eh? The name's Rion Akao Azuma, but just call me Rion. I'm not much for formalities."
"Cain." He tossed the bullet to the ground. "So, Rion, how do you want to handle this?"
"Well, we're certainly not fighting. I already know I'll lose."
Cain raised an eyebrow. "But you literally just shot at me."
"That's my way of saying hello." She shrugged, smiling playfully. "Besides, I knew you'd catch it or at least dodge it. Anyway, I'm here to make a deal."
Cain shook his head, both exasperated and amused. "Well, that's certainly one way to say hello. Alright, what's this deal of yours?"
Instead of replying, Rion tossed him a roll of paper. Cain caught it, and the parchment thrummed with faint energy in his hand. He raised an eyebrow, recognizing what it was.
He looked at the turquoise-haired woman. "A binding contract? Where did you get one of these?"
Binding contracts are rare and valuable items that ensure both parties fulfill their obligations. When two or more parties agree on a set of conditions and sign the contract, their agreement becomes practically absolute.
Rion smirked. "Let's just say I have connections and leave it at that."
"Fair enough."
Cain opened and read the contract.
The conditions were straightforward—no loopholes, no complex wording, just benefits for both sides.
Rion would give herself to him, along with a significant sum of money every month indefinitely, in exchange for mending relations between the main and branch families, changing the clan's policies, and occasionally assisting Rion on missions.
"This is pretty straightforward."
"I've never been the type to mess around—well, mostly," she joked. "So do we have a deal?"
Cain considered it; he saw no downsides. The conditions were reasonable, the income substantial, and he got a hot partner out of it. What else could a man want?
"Before I answer that, I gotta ask: why me? Why not try to make a similar deal with Fubuki or the other contestants?"
"Because when I found out you were participating in the banquet, I already knew you'd be the winner," Rion admitted honestly.
When Rion first heard about Cain joining the ADC, she was curious why the commander would allow a man to enlist in the corps. So she stalked him and quickly discovered why the commander permitted his involvement.
He was not only physically powerful but also possessed a wide range of abilities that made him invaluable. She also uncovered Cain's extracurricular activities with women from the 7th, 6th, and 5th units, and she couldn't blame any of them for sleeping with him—Cain was a handsome man, after all.
So right after discovering that Cain would be participating in the banquet and entering the portal, she immediately drafted the contract.
"Fair enough." Cain couldn't argue with her logic. "But are you sure about this? Once I sign, there's no going back."
Rion nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Well, if you say so." If she was certain, who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? "Got a pen on you?"
She tossed him one, and without wasting any time, Cain signed the contract. After signing it, the contract glowed red before vanishing into thin air.
Cain returned the pen to Rion. "With that out of the way, let's go watch Himari and the spiky-haired bitch fight."
Rion quirked an eyebrow. "You're not going to face Fubuki?"
"I will, but only after Himari gets a shot at her first."
[With Himari & Homare]
Back with Himari and Homare, the two Azumas were in a horrendous state, completely covered in bruises, cuts, gashes, and both dried and fresh blood, their bodies bearing multiple fractures.
Homare fared the worst; her right arm was broken, and she was blind in her right eye, which Himari had gouged out. Yet, despite her injuries, she fought like a woman possessed, wielding her dagger with expert precision, slashing and thrusting it at Himari with blinding speed.
Meanwhile, Himari adeptly blocked, evaded, parried, and counterattacked each of Homare's strikes, gradually wearing the spiky-haired woman down. After a few more cuts, stabs, punches, and kicks, Homare fell to her knees, breathing heavily.
Himari approached Homare, her own breathing heavy but not as prominent.
She pressed the tip of her sword against Homare's throat.
"Yield," Himari demanded.
Homare lifted her head, glaring defiantly. "Fuck you! I can still—ack!" She coughed up a mouthful of blood. "F-Fuck..."
Himari raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"
"Argh!" Homare growled. "Fine! I give up..." She then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Himari let out a sigh of relief before wincing. "Note to self: ask Cain if he has any healing techniques."
"Oh, I do. I'll teach you after this is over." Himari spun around to find Cain and Rion leaning casually against a tree.
"When did you two get here? And why is she here?" Himari narrowed her eyes at Rion, who flashed her a peace sign.
"We'll talk about it later." He walked up and placed his hands gently on her face. "Let's get you fixed up."
Within seconds, all of Himari's injuries and fatigue vanished. "How do you feel?"
Himari sighed in relief. "Much better." She smiled at Cain. "Thanks."
Cain smiled back. "No problem. Now you're ready to fight your mother."
He gestured for her to turn around. Following his cue, she saw her mother with Maia standing behind her.
Himari's eyes narrowed. "Mother."
Fubuki's expression was indifferent. "Daughter."
As the two stared each other down, Cain, Rion, and Maia moved to the sidelines, watching intently.
"Your battle with Homare was impressive. I can sense your strength, but seeing it is another matter entirely. You should be proud of yourself." A small, barely perceptible smile appeared on her lips before vanishing as quickly as it came.
A yari spear appeared behind her, floating in mid-air and radiating blinding flames. Fubuki grabbed it, twirled it effortlessly, and entered a battle stance with the tip aimed directly at Himari.
"However, it won't be enough to defeat me. You should surrender while you still have the chance."
"Fuck that!" Himari assumed a fighting stance, transforming one arm into a sword and the other into a shield. "Even if I can't beat you, I won't back down. You're going to have to earn your victory."
Fubuki smiled approvingly. "Very well, then. Let's see how long you last."
End.
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Bronze Tier [1.50]
1 Extra Chapter
Silver Tier [3.00]
2 Extra Chapters