Chapter 53: Chapter fifty two

Ichi's booming voice resounded throughout the deserted church, "So you won't show yourself? Very well then."

 

But the only response was silence, complete silence; Sophia could even hear the lake's water burbling its way to the nearby stream. They were standing like a frozen bubble in a cold storm until a small section of the ceiling broke off and fell to the ground.

 

"Who are you speaking with, Sister Ichi? I don’t sense anyone here." Sophia asked while flaring up her mana sense.

 

Even though I can't feel anyone, that doesn't mean they aren't present. Pay attention. Ichi leaned across her to grab the katanas' tsukas just below her guard, drew them, and snapped them forward while aiming them at the Lord's faceless statue. 

 

She knelt and squatted keeping her torso upright, then shuffled her feet into the proper stance, right feet in front of left, both katanas on the side.

 

She was what one might call the epitome of "zanshin," though Sophia wouldn't get that because she wasn't a regular in the fight club. Mana was oozing from her cores and lacing the twin katanas, energizing them for the destruction they were going to cause.

 

But one thing she did realize was that things were going to get hot and bad fast.

 

Ichi closed her eyes while her, a small sigh escaped from her mouth and in an instant her eyes were shot open filled with a dangerous glint, an emotion which seemed to engulf everything in front of her, “Miyamoto style, third stance.” She yelled as her arms swung the twin katanas in an arc motion.

 

The nun's senses were unable to process the beautiful katana dance that was taking place in the air as they crossed each other in a butterfly pattern. 

 

When the twin katanas slashed through the empty space in front of her, a powerful wind blew. After that, nothing happened for a moment, which greatly confused the nun behind her. However, suddenly the air itself changed, making it difficult to breathe and causing the nun and the hidden guy to start perspiring. An invisible force also began to press on the entire area, and the situation in front quickly changed significantly.

 

The sword energy released by those katanas leveled the entire ground, destroying and razing everything to bits and pieces, the effects of which were felt on the nun's face, whose veil had now blown away. One had to completely immerse themselves in the weapon they were using to perform this attack, becoming one with it.

 

And Ichi had done that perfectly; at this point, the sword merely served as an extension of her arms, which she could use even while asleep.

 

Akira, who was concealed behind them, had just experienced a moment of clarity. He shuddered as he considered what might have happened if he had resisted the attack. Would he live or would he die like those lifeless objects? He might have a chance to survive, but at what cost? 

 

His train of thought came to a grinding halNow that they were facing him, the two girls were arguing with each other.ng.

 

Sophia asked in a tearful voice, "Sister Ichi, how could you do that?"

 

In front of her eyes, her favorite place was being destroyed, and she could do nothing to halt it.

 

"There is someone here who shouldn't be here, and there is no way I am going to let them leave." While she moved forward with her feet, her hands jerked the katanas.

 

“Bu-but we could have searched the whole place instead of destroying it.” She protested.

 

"Look for someone who I am not even capable of detecting with my senses. Good luck with that, but I'm not doing it." Apart from that, she had too many good reasons to hold onto anything even remotely suspicious thanks to the information she had learned from her father

 

Sophia couldn't understand why Ichi was taking something like this so seriously; it was different from how she had previously behaved. However, Sophia didn't care about that at the time because Ichi was destroying her favorite place.

 

"But you don't have to blow this place up, do you?"

 

"Sigh, I'll tell you everything later, Sophia, I promise, so please stop crying right now." 

 

"But I'm not crying," she said as she wiped away her tears.

 

“Yeah-yeah.”

 

You are reading story A Side Villain… at novel35.com

"Are you going to come out or not? Since I don't have the whole day, let's just obliterate everything. Sophia recoiled in fear as her eyes had that same menacing glint to them.

 

The same fear gripped Akira as well, making him regret entering this location at all and causing him to forget that, even if he could fool Ichi's senses using the artifact, what was he going to do about those twin katanas in her hands?

 

"Sengo Muramasa and Honjo Masamune, the tsuin yami no hashinken, two of the most prized weapons in this entire world, and I had the audacity to ignore their soul sense." Akira shook his head and leapt from the shadows.

 

"It's not easy to fool you, is it?" He had few options in front of him; one mistake and he could lose everything.

 

“Finally! "The lack of action was making my hands itch." She said this while bringing her katanas forward, her eyes sparking with fire and her nostrils wide as she glared at Akira with a predatory smile, the katanas slashed the empty air, muramasa going first, followed by Masamune in a cross order fashion. 

 

Akira's eyes behind the mask shot open, scenes of destruction caused by the previous attack flashed through his mind, causing his feet to react at breakneck speed and move him out of the way as the attack annihilated everything in its path.  

 

His body was shaking as he stood up from the ground, but Ichi didn't give him a chance to catch his breath as she shuffled her feet, and disappeared, only to reappear next to him and bring the first katana from underneath, aiming at his heart, and the second sword from his left side, aiming directly at the stomach.

 

All of this happened so quickly that he could only respond to one of those attacks, bringing his own sword to parry the one aimed at his heart, rotating it sideways so that the handle stayed up high as both of them collided, her katana slanted down his own sword as he gritted his teeth as the force pushed his feet into the ground while the other katana screeched his armor protecting his belly.

 

She kept herself in the attacking motion and said, "Nice sword, I will put it in my collection."

 

“Yeah? If you like it, why not become my girlfriend? It would always be within your reach." He smirked behind his mask as he noticed her face turning red, causing her concentration to waver. 

 

It worked, He was able to put some distance between them thanks to his strategy, and he then sprinted toward the glyph in hopes that it would help him get away from the danger he was in but was stopped in his tracks to put up the water shield as his senses picked up an incoming attack from the back.

 

"Illuminating slash," Sophia said as her hands joined to form a sharp blade that she hurled at his side.

 

His water shield was nearly shattered apart by the blade, and he was only able to stay afloat thanks to the massive amount of mana he was pumping in.

 

He gasped, "The difference in the levels is just too much."

 

But Ichi was not in the mood to rest; she had become enraged following the girlfriend comment and had picked up her attacks again with a vengeance. Her attacks came like an endless downpour in a foul night; each was precise, accurate, and to the point, with the intent to kill. 

 

Aside from their apparent tier difference, there was no way for Akira's basic elemental style to defend itself against the lethal miyamoto style. He would dodge, move out of the way, and let the sword attack his protected areas. However, she was moving too quickly and his timing was off.  

 

They had exchanged hundreds of blows in less than a minute, with Ichi trying to test the waters first before turning the heat up a bit while he was always on the defensive in an effort to protect his vital organs.

 

“Haaah-haah... haah-haah.” His hands were numb, the sword was about to fall off, and Ichi had a very unique attacking pattern that would readjust itself when parried, leaving his senses overwhelmed. 

 

---