Chapter 344: Yuuna Vs. Assassin, Part 2
"You’re tough, I’ll give you that," he said, his voice carrying through the broken battlefield, casual yet edged with thrill. His lips twisted into a grin. "This is fun."
Yuuna’s chest rose and fell rapidly, each breath heavier than the last. Sweat streamed down the side of her face, mixing with the dirt and ash clinging to her skin. The crimson flames around her body still burned bright, but they weren’t under her control anymore. They flickered erratically, snapping like hungry beasts trying to devour her alive, eating her mana and threatening to burn her from the inside out.
The man’s chuckle rumbled low in his throat as he lifted his blade high above his head. The steel caught what little moonlight cut through the smoke, gleaming with dark intent. "Then let’s finish this!" he declared.
Their eyes locked—neither willing to back down.
Then, both of them launched forward.
ZOOOOOOM!
The battlefield vanished in a blur. Yuuna’s crimson aura streaked like a comet, colliding with the man’s descending blade shrouded in dark energy. The impact was blinding, light swallowing everything in an instant.
CRRRAAASSSHHH!
The shockwave exploded outward, ripping the ground apart. Entire slabs of earth flipped as if tossed by invisible hands, the violent force sending ripples through the air like an earthquake. The battlefield screamed under their power, dust choking the sky as the sky itself seemed to shudder.
The air was filled with nothing but chaos with the booming explosions rattling the night, steel clashing with an ear-splitting ring, and the unrelenting hiss of crimson energy slamming against hardened steel over and over again. Each strike sparked like lightning, each clash threatening to collapse the earth beneath them.
CLANG—SSSHHHH—BOOOOM!
A final blow rang out like thunder cracking the heavens.
When the dust finally began to settle, the once-solid ground was nothing but broken rubble.
Yuuna collapsed to one knee, gasping for air, her chest heaving with every desperate breath. The crimson flames that had roared around her were now weak, flickering like dying embers, barely clinging to her battered body. Her arms trembled, her vision blurred, but she still glared forward, refusing to completely fall.
Across from her stood the man. His body swayed slightly, his clothes torn and his breath uneven. Blood ran in steady streams from the deep gash carved across his side, staining the ground beneath him. The wound wasn’t severe though and his posture was still defiant.
Despite the blood, despite the damage, he remained on his feet.
A smirk tugged at his lips as he looked down at her, arrogance shining through the exhaustion in his eyes.
"Unfortunately," he said, his voice calm but dripping with satisfaction, "I have won."
Yuuna’s eyes widened as she stared at him.
Everything had happened far too quickly. The clash, the moment of defeat—it was so sudden she couldn’t even register it. One moment she was standing, and the next, she was staring at the reality of her loss.
When... when did he even defeat me? What was I missing? Where was the flaw in my guard? Why couldn’t I stop it? How did I lose without even noticing what he did?
Her mind spun in disbelief, her chest tightening with the weight of the realization. Shock settled in her bones like a bitter chill, and all she could do was question herself. This person—this man—was so much more powerful than she had ever imagined.
"I guess I’ll have to kill you first before I deal with the Child of Anti-Prophecy," the man sneered, his voice dripping with arrogance. "It’d be a real pain in the ass to have you still hanging around while I cut him down."
His words were sharp and cruel, the kind meant to dig in and leave no room for doubt. He raised his sword high above his head, the blade glinting with murderous intent as he swung it down toward Yuuna.
"Die! Crimson Princess!"
The air split with the force of his swing.
But before the sword could even come close to reaching her, something—no, someone—stopped it.
It happened in an instant. So fast, so abrupt, the man himself didn’t even register it until it was too late. His dominant hand—the hand trained tirelessly, forged through endless battles, a hand that could wield a blade strong enough to cleave boulders as if they were nothing but fragile clay—had been halted mid-swing.
The impossible had happened. His strike, his strength, his years of mastery, stopped in its tracks.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "...How?"
And then he saw it. The one holding his hand, the one who had stopped his killing blow with nothing more than a grip on his wrist, was none other than the Child of Anti-Prophecy himself.
It wasn’t a block. It wasn’t a clash of blades. It wasn’t even a struggle.
Kouhei had simply grabbed his wrist.
That was all it took.
It defied reason. Something like this should have been impossible. But somehow, this boy had managed to restrain him with nothing but raw strength.
"Who the fuck are you... to dare raise your blade against Yuuna-san?!" Kouhei’s voice thundered, sharp and furious, his words echoing with an intensity that made the air heavy.
And then it came.
A wave of overwhelming power exploded out from Kouhei, radiating through the ground and air like a storm about to swallow everything whole. The sheer pressure was enough to make the man’s body stiffen, trembling against his will.
W-What the hell is this...? This can’t be real. No man—no human—should have this kind of power inside them! This isn’t possible! And yet... why? Why is he like this? Wasn’t he under Yuka-sama’s spell?! Then how... how is he still moving like nothing is wrong?!
For the first time in his life, he felt it. Real terror. The kind that stripped away every ounce of confidence and left nothing but fear.
And then—
SNAP.
"Guwaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The man’s scream tore through the battlefield. Kouhei crushed his wrist as if it were nothing, bones shattering like brittle glass.
Before the man could even process the agony, Kouhei’s fist slammed into his face with devastating force.
The impact was catastrophic. His nose shattered instantly, and the sheer power of the punch sent his body rocketing across the battlefield. He flew so far, so violently, that Kouhei’s figure became nothing more than a tiny speck in the distance.
His body hit the ground with bone-rattling force, the impact sending shockwaves through his frame. Blood erupted from his mouth as he coughed violently, his vision blurring with pain.
Ugh... W-What the fuck is he...?!
The thought echoed in his skull, drowning him in disbelief.
Was this really his mission? To assassinate something this monstrous? Something that defied logic and strength alike?
Even Yuka’s curse—her spell that trapped its victims in endless illusions, robbing them of rest, breaking their minds by depriving them of sleep—should have crippled him. Yet this man...
The Child of Anti-Prophecy was moving as if none of it mattered.
I-I have to get out of here...!
Panic flared. He tried to force his broken body to move, to escape, to survive.
But then, his eyes shot upward.
Kouhei was in the sky.
D-Did he... did he really jump all the way here?!
Monster. There was no other word for it. A pure, terrifying monster—and it had just been unleashed.
He rolled desperately across the dirt, his body screaming in pain, barely moving fast enough to avoid what came next.
BOOM.
Kouhei landed. The ground exploded beneath him, the impact detonating like a bomb. Dust and debris shot upward, a suffocating cloud that swallowed everything in its path.
I have to run... I’ll be killed if I stay here!
His heart pounded violently in his chest. Every instinct screamed at him to flee. He had been a fool. A complete idiot for underestimating the Child of Anti-Prophecy. Declaring that he could assassinate him so easily—it was his gravest mistake.
But before he could crawl away—
FWOOOSH.
A sharp motion sliced through the air.
Kouhei swept his arm, dispersing the dust cloud in an instant. His figure stood tall in the middle of the crater his landing had carved into the earth.
The man staggered, desperation taking over, and tried to run—
"Gahhh!"
A kick slammed into his back. The sound of bones snapping echoed brutally as his spine shattered like twigs beneath Kouhei’s strength.
He hit the ground face-first, his skull crunching against the dirt, vision flashing white with pain.
And then, cold fingers gripped his hair. Kouhei yanked his head up with a fistful of it.
"I-I’m sorry! I w—!"
His plea was cut off.
BAM.
His head smashed into the ground.
BAM.
Again.
BAM.
Again.
Over and over, Kouhei slammed his skull into the dirt, each impact splattering more blood, each blow reducing his face into something grotesque and unrecognizable.
"G-Guh..." he choked, the sound wet and broken.
Finally, Kouhei released him. The man’s body collapsed into the earth, lifelessly twitching, while Kouhei turned his back and walked away, returning to Yuuna.
The man could only tremble. He wouldn’t dare attack again. No—not after this. The fear of death chained him down, crushing any thought of fighting back. If he lived through this at all, he would never, ever return.
"M-Monster..." he rasped, blood bubbling past his lips.
And then—
He saw it.
A smile.
Just for a heartbeat—before it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
And in that instant, he was thrown back. Back to that moment. The moment Kouhei became a monster.
Because somewhere in the distance, someone was smiling.
That someone... was Sano Yuka.
"With this... you’ll die, won’t you?" she whispered, her voice laced with cruel satisfaction. "If you’re forced to relive your trauma over and over, it’s only natural you won’t be able to take it. If you don’t bite your tongue and end it all here... I’ll be pretty disappointed."