With Leon gone to face Zenless, Kazan now stood alone against Dairoki. A confident smile was on his face as the tip of his sword pointed directly at the figure before him.
"Prepare to experience the true power of our fusion!" Dairoki shouted, swinging his Dual Scythe.
"Dance of Blazing Ice!" he cried, attacking with a deadly combination of fire and ice.
Kazan calmly evaded the attacks coming his way with his sword. "Mugen no Kōjin!" Ten slashes in two seconds formed a perfect protective wall.
"A fairly fast attack, but still easy to read!"
Hearing this, Dairoki growled in annoyance. "Fulminating Bind!" His ice scythe shot forward on its lightning chain, but Kazan moved swiftly to counter it. "Hikari no Battō!" His sword slash easily severed the chain.
"Trinity Cyclone!" Dairoki created a storm of fire, ice, and lightning. Unfazed, Kazan launched his own attack. "Mizu no Kamae" – he perfectly parried every incoming strike.
Following that, he unleashed his own move. "Shiroi Ryūsen" – an attack shaped like a dragon shattered the vortex of the storm.
Not giving Kazan a moment to breathe, Dairoki immediately pressed on. "Lightning Joust Turn!" Dairoki shot forward like a bullet, but Kazan, anticipating the attack, nimbly dodged. "Too predictable!"
Dairoki's face flushed red as his attack was easily avoided. "Mirage of Twin Elements!" Dozens of scythe illusions surrounded Kazan.
But Kazan, in the 'Tsuki no Shirabe' stance – a low crouch with his sword drawn to the side – focused completely. He heightened all his senses, the state of calm allowing him to hear the movement of the real weapon like a melody amidst noise. The illusions vanished from his sight, and he easily found the real one. "You're just wasting your energy!"
The taunt made Dairoki's blood boil. In his rage, he changed his attack pattern and launched a more brutal assault. "Blazing Ice Carousel!" Dairoki spun like a giant buzzsaw.
Seeing the deadly sawblade attack approaching, Kazan leaped high. "Tenshi no Ichigeki!" His vertical slash from the air forced Dairoki's attack to a halt.
"Ember Crescent Slash, then Frosted Chain Yank!" Dairoki snarled, unleashing his next tricky move.
However, before the attack could land, Kazan was already moving. "Tatsumaki no Iaigiri!" His spinning draw-slash, like a tornado, cut through all the attacks.
Dairoki was beginning to run out of breath. "Raging Dragon's Fangs!" Hundreds of small projectiles rained down on Kazan, who deftly evaded them while closing the distance.
"Storm Crescent!" Dairoki threw a giant energy sickle. Yet, Kazan didn't even dodge. With a single, calm slash, "Seppaku no Kōmyō", Kazan shattered it to pieces.
Frustrated, Dairoki screamed, "Twin Elements Wave!" Two waves of fire and ice crossed, pinning Kazan from two directions.
Seeing this, Kazan took his stance. "Byakko no Tsubasa!"
Two crossing slashes from his sword formed the image of a white tiger's wings. The resulting wave of energy surged forward, striking and dispersing both of Dairoki's waves in a tremendous explosion.
"Enough!" Dairoki shouted in frustration.
"Final Gambit: Twin Dragon Crossover!" His two scythes flew at Kazan from two directions, while the lightning chains blocked his path of retreat.
But Kazan smiled. "I've been waiting for this move. Kami no Sabaki!"
His super-fast thrust wasn't aimed at Dairoki, but precisely at a small point in the air where the energy flows from the two lightning chains met and intertwined. The critical point he had been targeting from the very beginning.
"Impossible!" Dairoki cried out as a powerful shockwave traveled through the lightning chains, weakening his grip on the weapons and making them unstable.
"Trinity Severance: Soul Cauterize!" Dairoki attempted his final attack, gathering all his remaining energy. But it was too late.
"Hikari... no... BATTO!"
The flash of Kazan's final sword strike lashed out, faster than lightning, sharper than ice. A white energy struck the Dual Scythe directly.
CRAAAAACK!
The Dual Scythe began to crack, then shattered into pieces. The fire, ice, and lightning fused within it exploded in a blast of energy.
Dairoki was thrown backward, his face a mask of shock and fury. "NO! My weapon! How is this possible?!"
He staggered to his feet, staring blankly at the scattered fragments of his weapon. His breath came in gasps; his body was intact but without his trusted arms.
Kazan stood upright across from him, his sword already returned to its scabbard. "The fight is over, Dairoki."
Hearing this, Dairoki could only stare with eyes full of rage and disbelief, witnessing his weapon lying shattered before him.
=== CHAPTER 40 END ===