[Asura Princess]
““—Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!””
We raced through the battlefield, our swords clashing as we screamed at the top of our lungs.
Gigataro fell in our first ten clashes, meeting his end when Kirika decapitated him while dodging my strike.
In the subsequent one hundred clashes, the clock tower disappeared. It bore the brunt of the slashes exchanged as we hurtled down the building, transforming the city’s iconic symbol into a heap of ruins.
Nevertheless, it didn’t stop us. The exhilaration derived from our attempts to take each other’s lives proved inexplicably irresistible.
““Die! Die! Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!””
We sprinted through the Beginning Town, blood spattering and blades slashing in our wake.
Even as we ran through the main streets, leaped across roofs, tumbled down into the back alleys, dashing on the walls and even mid-air, we persistently slashed at each other, dead set on killing the other.
In an oddly twisted way, t felt like we were on a date.
“This is so fun, Kirika!”
Armed with two blades and an arsenal of infinite weapons, I wielded the blades while firing all types of weapons from the empty space, showering Kirika’s body with a multitude of cuts and punctures.
“Yes, Yuri, it’s incredibly enjoyable!”
Kirika wielded a single sword, but its extended grip allowed her to execute rapid swings in a mere instant, causing me to be covered in bleeding wounds.
““Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, dieeeeeeee!””
We were both already soaked in a gruesome mixture of our own blood.
Amid our screams, we relentlessly sought each other’s bodies.
The blood we shed had formed multiple pools, making a hellish scenery.
“‘Tenacity’, activate–!”
No matter how many times she sliced into me, I wouldn’t die.
Thanks to my extreme luck, the chances of my Tenacity skill failing to trigger were almost non-existent.
As long as my body wasn’t cut to pieces instantly, I could continue to cut Kirika.
“‘Asura’s Ecstasy’, activate–!”
And regardless of how many times I cut her, she wouldn’t die, either.
According to the information from the strategy guide site, Asura’s Ecstasy was a skill triggered when you dealt overkill damage. It restored your HP equivalent to the surplus damage inflicted beyond the enemy’s max HP.
So, unless I could take down Kirika with one critical hit, she could continue to slash me.
“You’d better not have any plans to die anytime soon!”
“Oh, please, I am only getting started!”
Amid the blood we both coughed up, we exchanged grins and escalated the intensity of our battle.
I hurled the swords in my hands toward Kirika. She was momentarily taken aback, but effortlessly deflected them.
But that was part of my plan. In that momentary opening, I had already jumped into the sky, taking out my bow and arrows. Summoning an array of weapons around me, I shouted down at Kirika who was looking up at me.
“Deva Realm Cursed Art ‘Arrow of Debilitation’!”
Infusing the weapons with debilitating curse, I fired them alongside the arrows.
It was a malevolent art that reduced both Defense and Agility upon hit. Of course, being a technique from ‘Sengoku Rokudo Online’, there was no need to explain it to the Dead who also came from there.
“You think I will fall for such a shoddy imitation?!”
Kirika’s eyes widened, her smile growing deeper as she formed hand seals with her free hand.
“Dead warriors, come forth and shield me! Asura Realm Cursed Art ‘Gate of War’!”
[Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!]
In an instant, countless skeleton warriors showed up. They formed a barrier against the onslaught of cursed weapons, leaving the Asura Princess untouched by harm.
Not content with merely guarding her, the skeletal horde then surged toward me as I landed.
“In that case, I’ll use this one next!”
Casting my bow aside, I took out a scythe from the empty space.
With a lowered stance, I readied myself. Come at me, dead warriors; I’ll sever your regrets and send you to reincarnate!
“Naraka Realm Cursed Art, ‘Scythe of Condemnation’.”
With a resounding cry, I swung the scythe!
Naraka Realm Cursed Art, ‘Scythe of Condemnation’. It was an art that boosted your attack power and range, scaling based on how low your HP dropped. With my HP always at 1 point, the boost it gave me was at its peak, and a massive blade of darkness swept away the horde.
[Clack, clack, clack…!]
The skeleton warriors returned to dust.
With a single blow, I had reduced their HP to 0, and they turned into particles of light.
Was it just my imagination, or did their expressions become serene in their last moments?
“Ahh… truly, you bring me joy.”
As the particles of light gradually dissipated, I turned my attention back to Kirika.
She had a deeply satisfied expression on her face. “It felt so nostalgic,” she muttered.
“Thank you, Yuri-han. I never dreamed that I would once again be able to clash with other Rokudo’s secret techniques again.”
“No need to thank me. I simply chose the most suitable techniques to kill you.”
“My, is that really?”
Kirika laughed in response to my words.
She seemed genuinely happy, making me really glad. This way, I could kill her without lingering regrets.
“All right—I won’t thank you, but instead, I will kill you.”
The Asura Princess resumed her battle stance, her sword aimed at me.
A palpable fighting aura erupted from her body. Kirika intended to kill me with her next slash.
Just the way I liked it. I also took out my dual swords again, pointing their tips at her.
“Okay, shall we?”
“Yes.”
As we stamped our feet on the ground, our grip on our swords tightened, and we exchanged fierce gazes.
Now, the moment for us to settle things had arrived. Let’s finish this!
““Die, my rival! Asura Realm Cursed Art, ‘Evil-Splitting Blade’!!!””
Our blades arced through the air in unison.
The radiance emanating from our blades consumed each other’s vision—
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Zky Translates 
…The worst part of Yuri recognizing that this felt like a date? That he was almost certainly completely right, and his first ‘real’ date with a woman was a battle a death that left the land they were in covered in scars and blood reminiscent of a grand battlefield of a great war where thousands sought glory only to taint the ground with their worthlessness, rather than a duel between two individuals.
Fuck if it isn’t an awesome image and doesn’t leave these two nutjobs absolutely happy.
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To paraphrase a line from another I saw a long time ago. “It was only at this moment that I realized that ‘WAR’ was a label that could be attached to a battle between two individuals rather than restricted to huge armies. Such was the power behind their clashes and devastation they left behind.”
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