“(From the way he creates flames, he should be an Elemental type! The 8th Strongest one in the world at that! Against an Elemental type, I have to find out where his Source is located if I remember correctly!)”
*BWOOOOSSHHHH*
Kasumi vanishes from her spot and immediately appears on Vega’s right side. She immediately lifts her katana above her head.
“Kasumi style!”
*ZRRRTTT*
And her purple lightning sparks across the blade.
*!!*
“(WHAT? SHE’S WAY FASTER THAN BEFORE!!)”
“THUNDEROUS POWER CLEAVE!!”
She swings down, her katana vertically towards his head. Vega has no time to move out of the way as Kasumi’s swing came down a lot faster than he anticipated. He crosses both of his arms and lifts them quickly towards the incoming katana.
*CTANG*
*!*
Vega’s entire forearms catch bright burning fire, and Kasumi’s katana is somehow blocked and stopped about 5cm from touching his forearms. Something is pushing against her katana just like before.
“HHRRRRGGHHH!!”
*!!*
*FWOOOOMMM*
The flame on Vega’s forearms enlarges and pushes Kasumi’s katana away.
“(Even with this strength, I can’t push through something invisible around his body?)”
*BWOOOOSSHH*
Kasumi immediately jumps away, four meters behind, to assess the situation.
“Say, you’re an Elemental type, right?” asks Kasumi.
“Since the difference in our strength is obvious, I’ll give you a handicap! Yes, I am an Elemental type! The Strongest Fire-type Believer at that!”
“So, what have you been doing just now? How on earth can mere flames block and even push back against solid objects?”
“Ah! I see! I guess you’ve never seen it before!”
Vega lifts his right fist to the side.
*FWOOOOOOOMMMMM*
And his entire body catches fire.
“Please throw your katana at me! I’ll demonstrate!” said Vega as he entered a defensive stance.
“. . .”
*ZRRRRKKKSSS*
Purple lightning sparks on her katana, and she is ready to throw it at him.
“Kasumi style, LIGHTNING ARROW!!”
*BWOOOSSHHH*
*ZRAAAARRRRR*
Kasumi throws her lightning-imbued katana, and it flies straight and steadily towards Vega on his chest. Her katana flies really fast, almost reaching the speed of actual lightning bolts.
*CTANG*
*!!!*
Kasumi expected an explosion since she imbued her katana with her purple lightning, but her katana was merely deflected to the side, despite Vega not moving at all from his position.
*THRSS*
Her katana stabs into the snow and stands firmly, diagonally on the ground. Her purple lightning is still sparking on the blade. The fire on Vega’s entire body turns off as per his will.
“There! Right there! How did you do that? Last I check fire cannot really blatantly deflect solid objects!” said Kasumi.
“That is not true!” said Vega.
*?*
“Do you know the fire that comes from jet engines? Anything behind those engines will be burned to a crisp, and things that resist fire will be blown away by sheer force of the flames. Basically, I apply that principle to my body. I emit powerful flames to the point that it creates a dense hot air barrier all around my body to deflect against physical attacks!” explains Vega.
“(If that is true. . . If that is true, doesn’t that make him invincible? He’s fast enough to dodge medium-range and long-range attacks, but he also has an answer to close combat scenarios. Not to mention the sheer strength of his flames! Is this what it means for someone to belong to the Ten Commandments of God? To be the strongest of the strongest?)”
Kasumi opens her right arm.
*BWUSH*
And her katana that was planted into the snow flies towards her hand by itself.
*BWOOOOSSHH*
Kasumi vanishes from her spot and appears directly behind Vega.
*ZRRRRTTTTT*
“Kasumi style, LIGHTNING PUNCTURE!!”
Kasumi thrusts her lightning-imbued katana at Vega’s back.
*FWOOOOMMM*
But he propels himself using his flame to turn around quickly and narrowly dodges her katana at the same time. Vega also swings his right hand, with his fist burning brightly backhandedly at Kasumi’s face.
Kasumi ducks down, dodging the fist. She retracts her katana and swings it horizontally at his legs.
*FWOOOOOMMMM*
Vega propels himself 30cm into the air, dodging the katana entirely. He also thrusts his right foot at Kasumi’s head. Kasumi dodges the kick to the left and swings her katana upwards towards his leg.
*FWOOOOOOMMMM*
Vega propels himself backward by firing fire from his legs. He does one backflip and lands safely on the snow.
*FWOOOOMMMM*
But he immediately prepares another attack. He gathers fire into his right fist, and it burns brightly, more than any of his previous attacks.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
*BWOOOOSSHH*
Kasumi follows after him and prepares another attack as well. She positions her katana above her head.
“Kasumi style!”
*THUD*
But when she was only one meter away from him, she stopped herself and swung her katana down.
“ELECTRIC PILLARS!”
*ZRAAARRR ZRAAARR ZRAAARR ZRAAARR ZRAAARR*
A line of thunderbolts came crashing down out of nowhere in front of Kasumi, and the thunderbolt pillars were moving forward quickly towards Vega.
But at the same time, Vega also launches his attack. The fire on his fist changes shape into the head of a male lion, complete with its mane.
“BLAZING PRIDE!!”
Vega swings his fiery fist forward and sends a big flame in the shape of a lion’s head towards Kasumi.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM*
The fiery lion head and the thunderbolt pillars crash against one another and create a giant and loud explosion, 10 meters in radius, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. Both Vega and Kasumi withstood their standing on the snow without being blown away by the force of the explosion.
*BWOOOSSHHH*
*!!*
“Kasumi style!”
While still under the thick cloud of smoke, Kasumi jumps forward, approaching Vega quickly. She lifts her katana once more.
*ZRAAARRRR*
A purple thunder strikes her katana from above, electrocuting its blade entirely.
“ELETROCUTED WATERFALL!!”
Vega expected Kasumi to appear directly in front of him, but instead, she was in the air, 2 meters off the ground, swinging her lightning-imbued katana downwards towards his head.
Instead of blocking like last time, Vega points his left hand above towards Kasumi.
*FWOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
And he fires a large flamethrower at her, 3 meters in diameter, it looks like a tunnel of fire that goes diagonally upwards towards the sky. The flamethrower was so strong that it also reached the height of the cloud above, vaporizing any clouds nearby.
*BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
It also causes an explosion because of the lightning on Kasumi’s katana. She was sent flying about 20 meters towards the sky, as shown by a trail of smoke that moves fast out of the flamethrower.
The flamethrower weakens and decreases in size, and eventually, Vega stops his flamethrower completely.
*THUMP*
The trail of smoke fell to the snow 24 meters away from him.
“KASUMI-CHAAAAAAAAAANNNN!!”
Luna shouts in worry once again. That flamethrower just now was stronger than anything Vega has ever thrown at Kasumi.
*SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH*
Her entire body is smoking on the snow, though she cannot see if she is burned or not. Luna wants to run towards Kasumi, but she sees that Vega is flying towards her once again.
*FWOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*
He propels himself with his fire from under his feet.
“THERE’S NO WAY YOU’RE DONE JUST LIKE THAT, RIGHT, COLDHART-SAN? I STILL HAVEN’T HAD MY FILL OF FUN YET!! DON’T GO DYING ON ME THIS EARLY!!”
Vega reaches her in the air, about 50cm off the ground. He lifts his right leg, and his foot catches fire.
“GET UP OR I’LL CRUSH YOUR LEG!! BLAZING AXE!!”
Vega swings down his leg, doing another axe kick with his fiery leg.
“Kasumi style!”
*!!!!*
*FWOOOOOOMMM*
“THUNDERBLADE STRIKE!!”
*ZRAAASSSHH*
“UURRRGGHH!!!”
Vega was expecting Kasumi to suddenly strike him from below, and he crossed both of his arms and burned them brightly to create the same hot air barrier around his hands to block Kasumi’s attack. However, under the cloud of smoke, Kasumi secretly throws her katana upwards while lying on the ground, high into the air. A purple thunder suddenly strikes the katana from above, and Kasumi also moves her katana downwards, along with the momentum of the thunder strike itself, and it comes down at a speed slightly faster than lightning, piercing Vega on his left shoulder.
*drip drip*
His blood is dripping onto the white snow below.
*FWOOOOMMMM*
*!!*
But Vega endures the pain and gathers a whirling fire on his right fist.
“BLAZING TORNADO!!”
He punches down towards Kasumi’s belly.
*GRAHHKKK*
*FWOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*
A fire tornado, two meters in diameter and 15 meters in height, suddenly appears and rages where he stands. After a few seconds, the fire tornado disappears, and Vega emerges alone. The snow below has completely vaporized, and the ground underneath turned charcoal black, both 5 meters in a circle. Kasumi herself was nowhere to be seen.
“Khe khe khe khe khe!! THIS IS GREAT!! THIS IS INSANE!! THIS IS SO GOOD!! CORNERING SOMEONE ALWAYS PUSHES THEM TO CREATE A MIRACLE TO TURN THE SITUATION AROUND!! I BET ON MY LIFE THAT YOU JUST THOUGHT OUT THAT ATTACK AT THAT MOMENT OF LIFE AND DEATH, RIGHT COLTHART-SAN? YOU NEVER HAD THAT TECHNIQUE BEFOREHAND, RIGHT?!” shouts Vega in excitement.
“THIS IS IT!! THIS IS WHAT I WANT!! LET’S CONTINUE AT THIS PACE, COLDHART-SAN!!”
*FWOOOOOOMMMMM*
His entire body catches fire yet again from how excited and hyped up he is.
*BWOOOSSHHHH*
*!!!*
Kasumi suddenly appears behind Vega. She lifts her right leg above and tries to axe kick the katana stuck in his left shoulder. Vega spins himself, dodging Kasumi’s axe kick, which would’ve been brutal if it hit otherwise, and lifts his left leg, swinging high towards the right side of Kasumi’s head. His left foot is also burning brightly.
*!*
Kasumi also felt the heat on her face, even when his foot was still 30cm away.
*DAHK*
Kasumi lifts her right hand and blocks the kick above his ankle to avoid the fire.
*BAAAMMM*
She also kicks his leg with her left leg, pushing it the other way.
*!!*
Vega points his right hand towards Kasumi, who’s still airborne. Her danger sense pops off, sensing another powerful flamethrower coming. Kasumi quickly tries to pull her katana out of Vega’s shoulder from a distance by pointing her open right hand towards it.
“URRGGHH!!”
The katana on his shoulder moved a little bit, and it hurt him, though it didn’t stop him from stopping his attack.
“BLAZING ROAAARRRR!!!”
*FWOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM*
Vega shoots another giant flamethrower, but this time, it takes the shape of a long, serpentine dragon, five meters in diameter.
“UUURRGGHH!!”
Kasumi couldn’t move out of the way, and instead, she tried to withstand the heat purely with her glowing Vein armor instead.
“(IT BURNS!! IT’S HOT!! HIS FIRE IS DANGEROUS EVEN WITH THIS POWER!! DAMMIT!!)”
Kasumi lifts her hand towards Vega despite being inside his flamethrower. She opens her palm and closes it by trying to grip something.
*!!*
*ZRAAASSSHHH*
“AAARRGGHH!!”
The katana on Vega’s shoulder shakes violently, interfering with his flamethrower’s direction.
*!*
“(CHANCE!!)”
For a very brief moment, Kasumi was out of the flamethrower, and she immediately fell to the snow on her two legs.
*BWOOOSSHH*
She immediately approaches Vega and appears right in front of him. She also resummons her katana back into her right hand.
“Kasumi style!”
*ZRRRTTT*
Her katana sparks purple lightning, and the veins on her entire body glows very brightly than before.
*!!*
“NO, YOU DON’T!!”
Vega has recovered, and he points his flamethrower forward at Kasumi, but his entire body also catches fire to erect his invisible hot air barrier.
*BWOOOSSHH*
But Kasumi vanishes from her spot.
*ZRAAAAASSSHH*
“LIGHTNING DIVIDER!!”
Kasumi appears two meters behind him, with her katana extended out diagonally upwards to the right. She has slashed Vega diagonally on his torso, and there are minor sparks of her purple lightning on the blade of her katana.
“AARRRGGGHH!!!”
*THUD*
Vega falls to his knees, holding the large wound across his torso. The flamethrower that he fired has died out. He felt that his body went numb from the lightning on her blade.
*pant pant pant*
“You did it. . . YOU PIERCED MY HOT AIR BARRIER, COLDHART-SAN!! CONGRATULATIONS!!”
*THUD*
*ZRRSS*
But Kasumi also falls flat on her face towards the snow below.
*pant pant pant*
She is incredibly exhausted. She pushes the limits of her physical capability on her Vein armor to her maximum potential to slash through Vega’s invisible hot air barrier. Kasumi wiggles around on the snow to turn around and take a look at what has become of Vega.
*!!!*
But then she sees that Vega is already standing, one meter away from her.
“This wound will become a scar that I will be highly honored to carry for the rest of my life! Not just anyone can pierce through my dense hot air barrier!! And you are someone who has no reputation either! THIS IS DELIGHTFUL COLDHART-SAN!!”
“. . .”
Fear became apparent on Kasumi’s face. She exerted her body to the limit just so she could land one decent attack, and it means nothing to Vega. Her fear magnifies by the seconds, and her glowing Vein armor suddenly turns off on its own.
*?*
Vega notices this and asks her.
“What’s wrong? Why did you turn off your Vein armor?”
“. . .”
Kasumi didn’t answer, and her face just showed how afraid she is right now.
“Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi! Don’t joke around now! There’s no way you’re done already, right? WE CAN STILL FIGHT MORE, COLDHART-SAN!!”
“. . .”
Vega notices the fear on Kasumi’s face.
“Are you seriously done? THAT IS NOT THE FACE THAT YOU SHOULD BE MAKING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!! FEAR WILL AFFECT YOUR FAITH POWER!! GET HYPED UP INSTEAD!! TURN YOUR FEAR INTO FIGHTING SPIRIT INSTEAD!! FEED YOUR FAITH POWER WITH STRONG DESIRE TO WIN AND SURVIVE INSTEAD, COLDHART-SAN!!”
“. . .”
“DO NOT MAKE THAT FACE, COLDHART-SAN!! YOU CAN STILL KEEP GOING!! I CAN STILL SENSE SOME POTENTIAL IN YOU!! YOU ARE NOT THAT WEAK!! GET UP, COLDHART-SAN!!”
“. . .”
Kasumi simply froze in fear. She no longer has the will to fight. Her fighting spirit is completely crushed by the difference in strength before her eyes.
*Srrk srrk*
Vega scratches the top of his head.
“Oh, right! You’re the type to risk your life for someone you care about! Then how about this, Coldhart-san!”
*?*
Kasumi pays close attention to what Vega is about to say.
“IF YOU DON’T GET UP RIGHT NOW, I’LL PUT THAT PIPSQUEAK INTO A STAKE AND BURN HER ALIVE!! SHE’LL BECOME A HUMAN BARBEQUE!! HOW’S THAT SOUND?” threatens Vega with a deep and angered tone.
*GROOOOOOOOOOOOO*
Suddenly, Kasumi’s entire body was consumed by a bright white light that shaped into a sphere. There is a white light shooting from the top of the sphere towards the sky above, and the white light slowly turns into a lilac purple color.
Kasumi entered Second State.
