Fire gathers at Vega’s right hand in large amount and they quickly compress and concentrate into a thin layer surrounding his entire fist.
“PROMINENCE FIST!!”
*BWOOOSSHHH*
*!!!*
Vega clenches his right fist and suddenly shouts and jumps forward at Kasumi. He swings his right fist at Kasumi’s face.
*FWOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
“UUAAARRRGGHHH!!!!”
Kasumi quickly activates her Vein armor and rolls to her left, narrowly dodging Vega’s fist, but her right hand feels the heat of his punch, which actually stings her entire right hand’s skin.
*THUD*
She recovers and crouches on the ground.
*SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH*
Her entire right hand is smoking just from the heat alone.
“(URGH! This hurts and stings so much and I didn’t even directly got hit!! This guy is insane!)”
“YOU CAN’T REST YET, COLDHART-SAN!! LET’S KEEP GOING!!”
*BWOOOOSSSHH*
*!*
Vega suddenly jumps and appears above Kasumi. He prepares his left hand, and the same thin layers of hot flame gather and engulf his left fist.
“PROMINENCE FIST!!”
He swings his left fist down at Kasumi’s head.
“Kasumi style!”
Kasumi activates her Vein armor and quickly summons her unsheathed katana in her right hand.
“RISING WATERFALL!!”
She swings her katana upwards towards Vega’s incoming flaming fist.
*CTANG*
*KRRRKK*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!”
*CTANG CTANG*
Kasumi let go of her katana, and it fell to the ground below. She feels that the bones in her palm cracked on impact with Vega’s fist. He himself lands directly in front of her.
*BWOOOOSSHHH*
She quickly jumps back and creates a 10-meter distance between them.
“What’s wrong, Coldhart-san? You’re getting cold feet?”
*!!!*
Suddenly, Vega appears directly behind Kasumi, even though she locks her gaze at him. He vanishes and is suddenly behind her without her ever seeing him move. Kasumi quickly turns around to face Vega and resummons her katana again in her right hand. She also immediately swings it at Vega’s neck.
*CTANG*
“ARRGGHH!!”
Her katana hits Vega’s neck, but it is immediately deflected away from her grip. While his neck is still sturdy, as he still has his thin layer of fire underneath the skin across his entire body, her katana was deflected because of her loosened grip on it. Her hand hurts so bad when her katana hits his neck that she lets it go in reflex to the pain.
*THUD*
“URRGGHHH!!”
Kasumi falls on her knees on the ground directly in front of Vega. She is closing her eyes hard, trying to endure the pain in her hand.
*SIGH*
Vega lets out a sigh of disappointment.
“DO NOT MAKE SUCH PATHETIC FACE, COLDHART-SAN!! YOU ARE NOT THAT WEAK!!”
“. . .”
Kasumi didn’t respond; she’s too busy trying to endure the pain in her hand.
“I CAN STILL SENSE MORE FROM YOU! GET UP!! PICK UP YOUR KATANA AND STRIKE ME AGAIN!!”
“. . .”
She still stays silent and doesn’t respond.
“COLDHART-SAN!! GET UP AND GO INTO YOUR STANCE AGAIN!! YOUR HAND HURTS, AND THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE? SO, WHAT? WHO CARES ABOUT SUCH THINGS? FIGHT THE PAIN AND GET UP!! YOU CAN STILL DO MORE!! PUSH YOURSELVES PAST YOUR CURRENT LIMIT! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET STRONGER!! AND IT STARTS WITH YOUR MINDSET!!”
“. . .”
“GET UP!! COLDHART-SAAN!!”
Kasumi summons her katana once again in her right hand. She grips the handle firmly.
*!*
But she feels the pain in her hand and quickly loosens the grip slightly.
“(I can’t even properly wield a katana now. . .)”
“Kasumi style!”
*ZRRRRTTT*
Purple lightning sparks on her blade.
“THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!!” said Vega with a big smile.
“LIGHTNING PUNCTURE!!”
Kasumi thrusts her katana from a crouching position upwards towards his chin.
*CTANG*
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And her katana simply bounces off on contact as her grip wasn’t as strong as usual.
“ARRGGGHH!!”
*CTANG CTANG*
Her katana flies 2 meters to the left and lands flat into the ground.
“Are you really out of your juice, Coldhart-san?”
“. . .”
“THIS CANNOT BE IT!! I KNOW YOU CAN DO MORE!! GET UP!! STAND UP!! TRY ONE MORE TIME!! IF THAT FAILS, THEN TRY ONE MORE TIME AFTER THAT!!”
“Kasumi style!”
Kasumi resummons her katana in her right hand.
“AAAARRGGHH!!”
*CTANG*
But as soon as she grips it firmly, it hurts her hand once more, and her katana falls to the ground, next to her.
“. . .I forgot that you are not this type of person.”
*FWOOOOMMMM*
Vega propels himself upwards with flame from under his feet, 10 meters above the ground. He looks down to his left and right, trying to look for something.
“There she is!” said Vega with a smile.
“COLDHART-SAN!! I SEE THAT LITTLE PIPSQUAKE DOWN THE HILL IN THE DISTANCE!! I SEE HER RUNNING TOWARDS THE BUILDING DOWN THERE!! AH, I SEE!! SHE’S EITHER DOOMING HERSELF OR SEARCHING FOR HELP! BUT I DOUBT ANYONE IN THE UNDERWORLD IS INTERESTED IN HELPING SOMEONE!! HAHAHAHAHA!! BUT ANYWAY, I’LL BURN HER TO A CRISP BEFORE SHE REACHES THERE!!” shouts Vega in a provoking tone.
*FWOOOOOOMMMM*
He lifts his right fist to the side, and flame trails gather into his fist on a large scale, creating a beautiful fiery spectacle, 25 meters in diameter, in the sky.
*FWOOOOOOOOMMMMM*
The flame in his right fist slowly and surely takes the shape of a lion’s head, complete with its mane.
*BWOOOSSHHH*
Suddenly, Kasumi appears behind Vega in the air. She has jumped up high into the sky, following him. She summons her katana in her mouth and bites its handle with her teeth, with its blade primarily on her right.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!! NOW THIS IS YOU, COLDHART-SAN!! THAT DETERMINED, YET SCARY PAIR OF EYES IS WHY YOU’RE SO FUN TO FIGHT AGAINST!! AND SO FUN TO OVERCOME!!”
“HHRRGGGHHH!!”
Kasumi swings her katana downwards at Vega’s right shoulder from behind.
*CTANG*
Her katana hits his shoulder and is deflected, but this time it didn’t fall out of her mouth, though it still doesn’t harm Vega at all.
*!*
Vega immediately turns around and swings his left fist at Kasumi’s side. He has dismissed all of his fire from his right fist and attacks Kasumi with his bare fist.
“HEAT FIST!!”
*BAAAAMMM*
*KRAAAAHHHKKK*
“HHRRRRGGGHHHH!!!”
Kasumi lifts her right hand to block the punch, and it hits her forearm. The bones in her right forearm immediately break on impact.
*BWOOOOOSSHH*
*GRAAAHHKKK*
She was sent flying downwards diagonally to the left and crashed into the ground below with her back kissing the ground first.
“AAAARRRGGHHH!!!”
She groans loudly over her broken bone. She tries to lift her right hand, but it hurts her immensely. She sees that her bone broke right in the middle of her forearm. If she lifts her hand, everything on the upper half of her hand would just be dangling in the air, causing more immense pain to her.
“(It hurts. . . He completely broke through my Vein armor’s defense. . . As expected of someone who’s the 13th Strongest Believer in the world, who was once acknowledged as number eight in all the world. I cannot compete with him. . .)”
*THUMP*
Vega lands directly in front of her.
“STAND UP!! LET’S FIGHT SOME MORE!!” said Vega with a stern expression.
“UUUURRGGGHH!!!”
Kasumi pays him no attention as she currently focuses on her broken arm and groans in pain.
*SIGH*
“Okay then, I’ll kill the brat!!”
*!*
Kasumi suddenly gets up and takes off her shoes. She summons her katana on her right foot and grabs its handle with her toes. She swings her leg high above towards Vega’s neck. She has her Vein armor actives and they are glowing brightly.
*CTANG*
Her katana was deflected once more, but this time Kasumi took advantage of the momentum her katana bounced off, and spun herself the other way. She jumps slightly into the air and swings her leg in a full circle vertically, towards his head.
*WUUUSSHHH*
Vega quickly dodges to the right and prepares his right fist again.
“HEAT IMPACT!!”
*BAAAAAMMMM*
“OORRRGGGHH!!!”
He punches Kasumi directly in her belly.
*BWOOOOOSSHHH*
And he sends her flying 50 meters backwards.
*THUD THUD*
*SSSRRRRRRRRRTTTTT*
She bounces off the ground multiple times before sliding a little bit on the ground and finally stops. She lies on the ground with her face facing down.
“. . .”
Vega sees that Kasumi doesn’t seem to move anymore.
*FWOOOOOOOMMMM*
He turns around and flies to the sky once more. He lifts his hand above, and trails of fire gather and flow above his head.
“Guess playtime’s over! Time to kill that kid along with that building full of annoying people!”
Vega creates a giant fireball above his head, 30 meters in diameter, and its temperature is reaching 15,000 degrees Celsius.
“PROMINENCE CORE!!”
*FWOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM*
Vega throws the giant fireball down towards the building.
*!!!*
But before it even moved 1 meter away from him, something stopped the giant fireball in its tracks.
“KHKHKHKHKHKH!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOW THIS IS AMUSING, COLDHART-SAN!! CAN YOU HANDLE THE CORE OF THE SUN WITH YOUR VEIN ARMOR? LET’S FIND OUT!!”
It was Kasumi. She forces herself to stand up as soon as she sees the giant fireball in the sky. Her Vein armor glows very brightly, even more than in any of her previous times using this power. She summons her katana in her right hand and forces her broken hand to hold Vega’s giant fireball in place. The only thing holding her upper right hand to the rest of her body together is the strength of her current Vein armor.
“HHRRRGGGHHH!!!”
*FWOOOOOOOOOMMMM*
Kasumi tries to push back Vega’s giant fireball with her katana alone. She did stop the giant fireball, but she did not push it back in the slightest. Her strength is still nowhere near enough to stop Vega’s attack at this level.
“(Heavy! It hurts! My hand hurts so much! I want to scream from how badly painful my hand currently feels! I am exerting strength in my entire body into just my broken right arm! This is incredibly agonizing! I don’t know how long I can hold his attack! BUT I WILL NOT LET HIM KILL, LUNA-CHAN AND QUROE-KUN!! THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON ME!! I MUST WIN NO MATTER WHAT!! NO MATTER THE COST!!)”
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*
Vega’s giant fireball rages wildly, but Kasumi’s current Vein armor capability can somewhat withstand the insane heat.
“(ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!! ENDURE IT!!)”
Kasumi keeps motivating herself inside her mind to push Vega’s attack as much as possible.
“GREAT!! THIS IS GREAT!! YOU ARE EVEN FIERCER LIKE THIS COMPARED TO THE YOU IN YOUR SECOND STATE!! YOU LOOK LIKE A WOUNDED ANIMAL WHO’S FIGHTING ITS HARDEST TO SURVIVE!! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO SEE, COLDHART-SAN!! THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING SIGHT AND DETERMINATION!! I LOVE SEEING PEOPLE PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE LIKE THIS!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!! I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!”
Vega puts his open right hand downwards towards his giant fireball.
“LET’S KEEP GOOIINNNGGG!!”
*!!!*
Kasumi immediately felt the immense weight and pressure against her katana. Vega is now manually pushing his giant fireball as well against her.
“HRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!”
“(ENDURE!! ENDURE!! ENDURE!! ENDURE!! FIGHT BACK!! FIGHT BACK!! FIGHT BACK!! FIGHT BACK!! PROTECT LUNA-CHAN AND QUROE-KUN AT ALL COOOOOOOOSSSTTTTSSSS!!!)”
Kasumi continues to exert more of her strength on her right arm as much as possible, no matter how severe the drawback of this action will be afterwards. In her mind, victory is the only thing that matters, because if she loses this struggle, Luna and Quroe might be done for from this attack.
“(WIN!! WIN!! WIN!! WIN!! WIN!! WIN!! WIN!! WIN THIS, KASUMI COLDHAAAAARRRTTTT!!!)”
“HHHRRRAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!”
She continues to exert her strength beyond what her physical body allows her to.
.
.
.
“What’s with all these explosions and shaking in the building?”
Inside the building, Quroe is currently sitting in a chair in front of the desk of the leader of WASP. The leader of the WASP looks just like any other man he’d find in the Underworld. There’s nothing special either about how he looks; the only thing exceptional about him is his position.
He’s a 35-year-old man with short brown hair, wearing a pair of glasses with a pair of black eyes underneath. He wears a long-sleeved dark blue sweater over a yellow shirt, a pair of brown jeans, a pair of white socks, and a pair of black shoes.
Quroe is currently questioning the leader, who calls himself Larvie, until he can no longer ignore the constant explosion sounds in the distance and the constant shaking across this entire building.
“Are you guys hiding something?” asks Quroe with a threatening tone.
“N-NO, SIR!! WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING EITHER!! I ASSURE YOU WE AREN’T DOING SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS IN THIS BUILDING!! JUST NORMAL UNDERWORLD ORGANIZATION STUFF!!”
“That in itself sounds suspicious. But are you sure that these explosions and shaking aren’t some big operations you guys are doing underground?”
“DEFINITELY NOT SIR!! WE ARE CURRENTLY PLANNING NO SUCH THING AT THE MOMENT!! WE SWEAR ON OUR LIVES!!”
*Sigh*
“Alright, alright! Don’t swear on your life so easily like that! You might easily lose it in the next moment or so.”
“R-RIGHT! I APOLOGIZE, QUROE-SAMA!!”
“Drop the ‘-sama’!”
*!!*
There were some CCTV monitors in this room, to the right of the leader’s desk, mounted on the wall. Quroe saw one particular monitor that displays Luna in front of the gate, raising and moving her hands up, trying to get someone’s attention on the inside.
“(Luna?! What is she doing here)?”
