On the alley, Blueblade stood face to face with Yuki while the man with black hair and red eyes was behind him.
"Raien, impatient as always." Blueblade said, as he looked back at him.
"Don't you dare speak my name Reiji! You will pay for abandoning us!" Raien yelled, closing the distance with him again.
Blueblade dodged easily every strike pointed at him, without any intent of unsheathing his sword.
Until an icicle flew in his direction, in an instant unsheathing the sword, cutting it in two.
"I hope you didn't forget I am here." Yuki said, her hand lifted as cold air dissipated in the air from her palm.
"How could I forget about the Blizzard's Fox."
Reiji said with a smile as he dodged Raien's sword again and again.
"How is Kurenai?" Blueblade addressing Yuki.
"She is well, although she still needs someone to hold her on a leash. Sakura? Is she alright ?"
"I hope so, I haven't talked to her in a while."
"Oh my, you finally took your eye off her."
"So you observed as well…" Blueblade said, his face a little guilty for holding Sakura back.
"It would be quite hard not to." A chuckle left Yuki's mouth.
Raien decided to back down, seeing how not even a strike connected.
"That is enough of your chatter!"
A little further back, Asahi was after a corner watching.
We don't have time for this, we need to get to Sato and the others…
"Who are they, Blueblade?"
"My mistake, young exis, you see, they are Yuki and Raien, my apprentices and also my old friends."
Raising his sword, Raien pointed it to Blueblade.
"We are no longer friends Reiji, not after what you have done!" Raien said, with hatred in his eyes.
Asahi looked a little curious to Blueblade.
"What does he mean?"
The attention fell on Blueblade, nobody making any move.
"C'mon Reiji, tell your exis what kind of man you are, how because of you thousands were left to die."
Yuki stood still next to Raien, ready to hear him as well.
"Very well then, this reminds me that I never told you about my world as well."
Blueblade was calm, ready to tell Asahi what happened back then.
"You see, young exis, our world used to be peaceful, thriving in any way you can think of. Crimes were few and poverty was only for the sluggards not wanting to even lift a rock. Looking back I can really say we were blessed to be born there." A subtle smile rose on his face."
"But unfortunately, as there are two faces on a coin, there are disasters as well. A calamity like no other hit our world, leaving everything in rubble. A fiend that destroyed everything in his way emerged from beyond the sky."
Blueblade clenched his fist then, frustrated by how his peaceful world was subjected to such a fate.
"We fought with it for months, weakening it with every fight, bringing him closer to its end, until we decided to organise a deciding battle. Everyone was prepared to fight, face to face with the beast…but when we thought we had him,"
Raien took a step in front, interrupting Blueblade.
"When we thought we had him, that monster launched his minions in every direction. That is when Blueblade abandoned the front."
"Huh, this can't be true." Asahi said, not understanding.
"Indeed." Blueblade reassured him, continuing.
"It's true that the monster launched his minions. That is when I saw that one of them headed to the village where my family was. That is when I left." Blueblade said with a heavy voice.
"I choose to save my family, leaving everyone else behind. They managed to take down the monster eventually, but with thousands of deaths as a price, every single one, blamed on me."
"Because of you Kaede died!" Raien yelled once again, accusing him.
The cold breeze of the alley blew past them, Blueblade looking directly at Raien.
"At that moment, my old friend, we each had a choice. If I had remained, thousands might have survived, but I would have lost what I hold most dear. You decided to stay... and in the process, you lost that very thing."
"Shut up." Raien squeezed the handle of his sword tight.
"Shut up." He clenched his fist until his nails dug into his palm, crimson blood dripping onto the ground.
"Shut up!"
A yellow aura began to emanate from him as he dashed forward in a flash.
Blueblade raised his blade, clashing against the incoming strike. They stood face to face, steel against steel.
"You act high and mighty, like you did something noble!"
Raien backed off, only to come at him again and again. With each strike, Blueblade was barely deflecting them.
"What would have happened if everyone followed your selfishness?!"
Raien screamed as his strike was parried.
"You think no one else wanted to go back? To protect their loved ones?!"
Another strike parried.
"Tell me, Oathbreaker!"
With a final heavy parry, Blueblade forced Raien to skid backward.
Yuki didn't interfere, as she looked heavy watching them.
"I know very well my sins, Raien. Being exiled, hated, haunted by the very people I left to die. I carry them all every day."
Everyone listened carefully.
"But at the same time, I will never regret it. To me, the lives of my loved ones mean more than any army, more than the world itself. Because of that... I regret nothing."
Raien clenched his fist again in frustration hearing him.
"I heard enough!" He yelled.
"Yuki, let's put an end to this. Someone like him doesn't deserve even the chance for his wish to be granted."
Both of them prepared, Raien taking a few steps forward, his grip tightening on his hilt.
"Even if eliminating you here only means you'll return to Nexus, I don't care," Raien spat.
"I will kill you time and time again, until I will avenge every single soul from that day."
Raien dashed forward, backed up by Yuki this time. Blueblade stood still, waiting, his breathing steady.
Quickening his pace, Raien feinted to the side, forcing Blueblade's gaze to follow him for a split second before closing the distance instantly. Blueblade raised his guard to intercept, but as he shifted his weight, his boot lost traction.
He slipped.
Seeing the opening, Raien thrust his blade towards the gap in Blueblade's defense.
The master swordsman barely managed to twist his body, dodging the lethal strike by a hair's breadth as he retreated.
Blueblade glanced down at where he had stood, seeing how the asphalt was coated in a thin, almost invisible layer of frost.
That Yuki... sly as ever.
A faint smile played on Yuki's lips, starting to run towards him alongside Raien, finally unsheathing her sword.
This brings back memories.
Seeing them charge together, the alleyway seemed to melt away for an instant. In Blueblade's eyes, he didn't see two enemies, but two students back in their lost world.
He shook the thought away and settled into his stance.
Ice began to spread rapidly from Yuki's feet. She jumped once, landing on the frozen path and starting to glide, accelerating like a skater straight towards Blueblade.
Raien matched her tempo, leaving a trail of crackling yellow lightning behind him. His speed greatly increasing.
Blueblade clashed first with Raien, sparks flying. At the same moment, Yuki zoomed past him on her ice path, slashing horizontally, Blueblade ducking just in time, the wind of her blade cutting a few strands of his hair.
Raien didn't let up. He held his ground, raining heavy blows on Blueblade, forcing him to focus on parrying while Yuki turned around for another pass.
They have improved since the last time I fought them.
Blueblade thought, analyzing their rhythm.
He saw Yuki speeding his way again, aiming for his legs. At that moment, Blueblade made a simple, calculated move. He sidestepped Raien's attack and extended his foot just an inch forward onto Yuki's path.
It was enough.
Hitting the obstacle at high speed, Yuki lost her balance on the ice, tripping and tumbling violently past them.
Raien's eyes darted toward her instinctively, his guard dropping for a fraction of a second.
Blueblade didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, not with his sword, but with his body. His forehead slammed squarely into Raien's face with a sickening crunch, sending the lightning user crashing to the ground.
"You have both improved greatly," Blueblade noted, a hint of genuine pride in his voice, despite his clothes being tattered in several places.
"Reiji!"
Raien scrambled to his feet, his blood boiling with frustration. He gripped his sword with both hands, mana surging violently around him.
"Axiom: Lethal Tempo!"