‘He didn’t stop me.’

That was the only thought that Rave had. No Sylph zapped into her path, no shout came after her, she was left to charge. If there was any endorsement she could have for her action, then this was it. Grinning ear to ear, she bridged the distance.

One Martial Art brought her right in front of the unknown combatant. The reinforced knuckles of her right fist were on a collision course with the black-haired woman’s face. Blue eyes stared stoically. An open palm pushed aside Rave’s assault, reorienting her entire body.

Reacting instantly, she leaned into the new direction and brought her leg up. It narrowly flew over the head of her enemy. Through the enchantments, she felt the fluttering hairs of the woman caress the surface of her bodysuit.

Smoothly, Rave landed on her shoulder, rolling with all of the seemingly effortless fluidity of a breakdancer. The woman swung one of her still sheathed swords at the Lightbearer. The polished, white casing missed by a tiny margin. At the same time, Rave twisted upwards in a near impossible contortion, delivering a high kick while pushing herself off the floor. The attack slammed against a raised vambrace.

“Why not unsheathe your swords?” Rave asked in the tongue of her grandparents.

The woman did not answer. Instead, she pushed Rave’s attack back, then suddenly took a step forwards. Rave took two back to recover her balance, something her opponent did not allow. A flying elbow forced her to tilt to the side, then the swordswoman stepped in even closer.

The sheathed sword was back under her belt. She drew it, but not to unveil the blade. The pommel was rushing forwards like a battering arm. By pure battle instinct, Rave had her right hand in position to catch the explosive power behind the forward motion. She felt the shockwave travel through her hand and stop on the surface of her midriff.

Immediately drawing her sword back, the swordswoman reacted with incredible speed to Rave’s counterattack. The swipe of her left hand was stopped short of her opponent’s head, forearm clashing against forearm. Impressed, the Lightbearer whistled.

“Why not ignite your claws?” the woman asked a question in turn.

“Maybe I just forgot I could do that?” Rave knocked the side of her head and did a cutesy, “Tee-hee?”

The swordswoman, no, the samurai was unimpressed by the motion. “The intel was correct. You are a combat talker.”

“Ya gotta spice these things up!” Rave answered, then ripped her knee up. She caught the borderline leisurely way the samurai’s eyes wandered downwards and the rapid coordination of all of her muscles into a perfect dodge.

The moment was slowed down by adrenaline and the Combat Observation Martial Art. A rather useful Grandmaster technique she had picked up recently on request of Copernicus. ‘Can’t always fight with nothing but music on your mind!’ she heard the solar jaguar complain at that very moment.

‘Nah, the music works,’ Rave thought and followed the acceleration of the beat. The refrain of the song filled her being with rhythm.

Even that sudden advance left the samurai stone-faced. Hand and fist flew through the air, every motion met by a countermotion. Rave was the primary aggressor, but her opponent was not purely defensive. Every time she saw an opening, the black-haired Japanese woman stepped forwards, attempting to hit Rave with the palm of her hand or the pommel of her rapidly drawn and re-sheathed sword.

A fist and a palm met above their heads. Elbows clashed at chest height. A knee knocked the pommel off-course. The series of exchanges happened in a second, then they both jumped back. Rave caught her first glimpse of the sword. It was white and black, the colours swirling into each other like fractal seafoam. The sight was blocked by the loud clicking of the weapon’s decorative guard against the rim of the sheathe.

“Do you dishonour me by underestimating me, Cat of Light?” the samurai asked.

“Meowbe a little bit?” Rave smiled, stood relaxed, and rolled her shoulders. “To be fair, I don’t know ya.”

“Typically, that is a reason to utilize your full potential.”

“Eh, ya know, I had a few fights where I blew my powder too early, so ya can’t blame a girl for being a bit more cautious with her stamina.” Hungrily, her tongue wet her pink lips. “Plus, if I go all out, this may be over too fast. Ain’t a question of disrespect, just of me not knowing what I’m dealin’ with.”

“Perhaps it is on me to raise the stakes then.”

Five metres away, the samurai suddenly dropped into a stance that made Rave’s heart soar. Legs far apart, one hand gripping the sheath, the other the handle of her katana, she half-crouched and tensed her entire body. ‘This is the kind of anime stuff I live for!’ Rave jubilated internally.

‘Jane! Jane, can you please take this seriously?!’

“You have a healer at the ready, yes?” asked the samurai.

“Just keep my head attached and I’ll be dandy,” Rave answered. “What do I call ya?”

“My sister went by Kage. That makes me Hikari.”

“Yessssss,” Rave hissed.

‘JANE! STOP GETTING EXCITED!’

‘BUT THE BEAT IS ABOUT TO DROP, CAPPY!’

Then it happened.

Rave had Combat Observation active from the moment she saw the first glint of metal in the sunlight. A glint turned into a swing in one choppy second. It was as if she had blinked or as if the tape had suddenly snapped ahead, yet neither had happened. Rave knew that kind of quickness, but she hadn’t expected it without a Babel Phrase.

Hurriedly, she grasped for Copernicus’ essence. The elemental responded in a panic. Their minds fused in a near instant and even that was too slow.

The sword slash was a radiant slice of light and pure mana, interwoven into an edge as sharp as Strimata. It cut through the surface of the bodysuit. It cut through her skin. It cut through her muscles. Rave finally managed to twist out of the way at that point.

The slash continued to travel past her. The hyper-condensed energy scattered out further as it travelled forwards. Just when it was about to utterly bisect a temple, the sound of the sword meeting its sheath again dispersed the light bound into the slash, causing it all to dissipate before dealing any damage to the ancient structure.

“Thank ya for that, Momo would’ve had an aneurism if you’d sliced that.” Rave grinned. The deep slice from her left shoulder to her crotch was only bleeding for a moment. The bodysuit closed on top of it, its healing effect doing the best it could. The pain thumped under her second skin, but Rave had been through worse in a less tough body. “Bet ya could slice a World Turtle with that, mhm?”

“Will you disrespect me by holding back still?”

Rave chose violence as her answer.

The prismatic claws emerged from her left hand in a technicolour flash. 5 paths of light traced behind her accelerated motions. The sword was unsheathed again. This time, Rave was prepared, pulsing every last bit of Ki she had through her body in an explosive activation of her Aura. It gave her just enough speed and power to meet the mixture of hard light construct and sword wave with her claws. She roared. She shattered it.

Rather than dumbfounded, Hikari appeared amused. A slight smile broke the total stoicism. Rave had a sudden sense of kinship that went deeper than a shared heritage. The samurai may have been as stern as Lydia on the surface, but there was something else there. A lust for battle, a revelling in it. It was in that moment that Rave knew with absolute certainty.

‘Oh yeah, you’re related to our Akkadian girls.’

The sword remained drawn. The weapon was Mithril, black and white, forged into an impossible mixture. The spine was white, the edge was black, and in-between the colours swirled and unfurled, like two pillars of flame blending into each other, like two waves crashing, like something else that was poetic and cool and Rave really could not think of while the edge came for her face.

All previous motions of Hikari had been swift and graceful. This slash had power, so much power that Rave had to dig her heels in and use Shift to bring herself back several metres. “HAH!” the samurai shouted, bringing her sword to a total halt in an instant. The power behind the overhead swing should have been such that Rave felt wind rush over her face.

Instead, she only felt a gentle breeze.

Hikari smoothly raised the katana’s hilt to her head. The tip pointed at Rave, then she lunged forwards at light speed. It was as literal as magic could make it, the body of samurai transforming into colourless light for the duration of her lunge.

Rave reacted on pure instinct, knocking the blade aside before it could sink into her shoulder. Immediately, she went on the offensive. The distance was closed and even at this level of Abyssal fighting, with all of its additional factors and BS that people could pull, the truth remained that the range of one’s fists was shorter than that of a sword.

Aiming to get close and stay close, Rave went for a myriad of fast and shallow punches. The strategy was rewarded immediately. Again and again, her attacks connected. None of them felt like satisfying hits. The fact that Hikari kept retreating in an attempt to regain her range advantage told Rave that it was working and yet this was not good enough. The samurai always moved to minimize the damage of the impact. Most people did that, instinctively, but instincts were prone to failure.

The song switched and with it Rave’s strategy.

The switch was abrupt. It was beyond unorthodox. She had her on the ropes, why suddenly go for an uppercut? Yet, Rave did it. No one she had fought before would have seen it coming. An utter speed freak like Sylph may have managed to dodge still. Hikari was not that. The nature of her bursts of speed were tied to light magic and there was none of that.

The fist connected. It connected and felt unsatisfying. The blow was not as heavy as it should have been. The chin of Hikari turned up as fast as the muscles in her neck could work it. She half fell back, then went into a series of rapid taps backwards.

Rave stood there and looked at her knuckles. Then, she ran a hand through her hair, turned a sunlight blonde from her Unleashed state. “I think I kinda get it?” she thought out loud. “If ya get half your powers from the…” ‘Uh, how do I say this without spilling international secrets?’ “Ya know, the curse?”

At the mention, Hikari’s eyes narrowed. A tiny nod was all the answer she gave.

“Then stands to reason ya got an Innate Ability and considering your reaction speed is properly absurd, I guess ya have increased self-control?”

“Your reputation does not do you justice, Cat of Light,” Hikari complimented, sticking to the Japanese still. “They call you a simpleton.”

“They ain’t wrong, I’m pretty simple – simply amazing,” Rave joked. The reality of the situation was that she had guessed it because it was one of her favourite anime powers. ‘I should rewatch Medaka Box.’ “Still though… ain’t looking good for me on that basis. You’re probably borderline invincible when ya get to focus on just one person.”

“Duelling is my speciality.”

“Gotta love the bullshit… mhm….” Rave considered her options. By raw Stats, she felt she had her opponent beat, although she could not be certain of that. An Innate Ability boosting self-control on the level of a Latebloomer meant that Hikari could fluctuate the intensity of her strikes however she wished, up to the limit where the human body started to destroy itself. ‘Probably the reason why she doesn’t do these slashes in succession, must be taxing.’ The tail of the feline Lightbearer curled, relaxed, and dangled with excitement. ‘No way I get my incantation done here soo… let’s use the other fun option.’

“Huh?” Hikari managed to push the questioning sound out, just before Rave’s fist slammed into her cheek.

The samurai turned into a living projectile, skipping and bouncing over the scarlet road. Rave charged after, then overtook her. Power surged overwhelming through her system. Her body radiated so much power that she must have looked like a human shape against a source of intense light.

Eclipse was active, putting her Unleash into overdrive. The cost was the raw amount of stamina it consumed, but that did not matter. If Hikari would make the most efficient choices in every engagement, then Rave just had to overpower her decision making.

There was no overcomplicating this.

Rave stopped in the trajectory of the samurai. A stomp stopped her in her tumble. A rib cracked. The feline Lightbearer bowed down, grabbed the confounded woman by the ankle and swung her overhead like a flail. Absolute self-control was worth nothing if all senses were reeling from constant motion and head trauma.

Rock beat scissor, simple as.

Hikari was slammed flat on the ground. Rave dragged her back up, slammed her down on the other side, then clenched her teeth when she saw that her opponent had broken the fall with her palms. Releasing the foot instantly, the feline Lightbearer jumped to deliver a falling stomp straight to the back of Hikari’s head.

She rolled to the side.

“I was just starting to think I had won this!” Rave shouted and chased after her opponent.

“Not yet.” Hikari managed to assume a broad-legged stance, low to the ground. She sheathed her sword in a near instant and drew it just as fast. It was Rave’s ability to sense moving light more than anything else that allowed her to dodge. Before the weapon was even drawn from its sheath, she knew the trajectory of the slice and yet still it cut deeply into the side of her left thigh.

The sole attack was not all the samurai had to offer. Rather than await Rave’s attack, she went on an offensive of her own. Every swing of her sword was a honed strike. It was swordsmanship distilled down to its purest form as a killing art. Every strike stopped at its most efficient point. Rave didn’t even know that much about wielding a sword and yet she could see the beauty of it. Every slice was terrifying in how gently it disturbed the air.

None connected. In her current state, Rave was a being made more of light than flesh. Zapping, borderline teleporting, she moved around the rapid swings of the samurai. Cat ears picked up the sounds of creaking bones. She was pushing herself to the limit just to keep up with Rave and then-

It was over.

Rave threw her hand in the air. “I give up.”

Hikari’s blade stopped short of the feline Lightbearer’s neck. The samurai was panting. Blood streamed from a blunt-impact gash above her right eye down her face. Despite all instincts, the red liquid did not cause her to blink or even squint. Slicing marks and tears from repeated impacts were all over her kimono. Her armour was dented. Rave knew she had broken at least a couple of bones. Hikari had likely broken a few more herself.

For all of that, Rave stood there, hair pink and Aura extinguished. Had she not deliberately ended the Unleash there, she would have collapsed on the next swing of Hikari’s blade. In a fight, it did not matter who landed the most hits, only who landed the last one.

“The duel was my honour, Cat of Light.”

“Call me Jane,” she said with a smile. “And one thing…” leaning forwards, the feline Lightbearer let a bit of annoyance flow into her voice, “if you’re going to be all honourable warrior about duels, don’t refuse to draw the second sword.”

Rave patted her opponent twice on the shoulder and stepped away. “It was not meant as a sign of disrespect,” Hikari assured. “That blade is not to be drawn without killing intent!”

“I’ll take your word for it!” The feline Lightbearer waved over her shoulder.

She needed a nap now.