Meteor Arts Saga

Chapter 15

With all the horde of enemies finally taken care of, the Meteor Samurai was left with these two mysterious girls to deal with. One wielding a whip and the other with two daggers. Dealing with only two opponents would not be much of an issue, but suddenly the girl with the daggers ran in this fast and just landed a cut on Shintaro, then Koki, and finally Naotaka. And a tornado kick combined with her lightning just happened. Shintaro tried striking back, but her speed and cuts were like razor wind, it was hard for him to catch her and caught himself vulnerable instead.

Watching how helpless Shintaro was, Koki attempted to help, but something caught his sword. Koki turned his face to the side and saw his blade caught by girl with her whip. She pulled him away from Shintaro and the dual-wielding girl. Koki tried shaking off from her grasp and rushed over to Shintaro's aid. The crack of the whip just appeared in front. He was thwarted by the whipswoman again. Then another time the whip tried attacking Koki, but missed. Koki figured the she would do anything not to let him assist Shintaro.

He decided to face the girl with the whip head on before he could rescue his fiery companion. He ran at her, but then she lashed her whip away. It startled him. Then she then lashed her whip at Koki again, striking from above. Her attack hit nothing about the gold glint above his head. The Dragon Barrier was still in effect. What had he been thinking this time, he criticised himself. He thought over what he should do first.

I don't have to worry about the girl keep on attacking me, and just go ahead and help Shintaro. Then again, the effects of Dragon Barrier won't last long... There was no telling Koki would help Shintaro and take down the dual-wielder before the ability fade. He would have to face both girls at the same time, and it would be a hassle. He decided it was better to get rid of whipswoman before he could defeat the dual-wielder, and must be done quickly.

With his barrier protecting him from harm, Koki went to intercept his opponent with his sword. His attack missed her, but it scared her. Lashing her whip could not protect her when being attacked at a close distance, he thought. He tried again, attacking her close. There was struggle in her movements when she dodged her attacks. He thought he had her, until she decided to use her kicks enhanced by her Lightning Arts. The impact emitted such force it pushed them back into a safe interval.

"General Hashida!" cried the whipswoman.

General? Who she was shouting to, thought Koki. He turned his face around and saw a man fighting against Naotaka. That must be the general she referred to. So stout and fearsome, that man was.

"Just do your job, girl!" the general said back aloud.

Where did that man even come from? Koki did not notice he had entered the fray, and now he was facing against Naotaka in a fist-to-fist battle. With that and Shintaro being busy with the dual-wielder, he shook it off and resume his fight with the whipswoman.

Koki had gotten accustomed to the patterns of the girl's whip attacks. No matter where she hit, he could deflect it with his blade. The question was what would happen when the Dragon Barrier fade away? Would the emotions or the odds change for better or worse? Koki could not imagine what it would feel like to get whipped, but his instincts urged him not to know.

He gave his all, throwing out some shuriken and a bit of his Dragon Arts, ruining her defences. Koki reached his sword out forward, provoking the whipswoman to catch it with her whip, and then he dashed toward her and ready to attack with his powers. But it failed, she was barely quick enough to saved herself with her own powers, and thus created a stalemate.

Something started to slip off of Koki's body. He was no longer invincible, resilient or bloodthirsty anymore. He noticed the auras of gold, yellow and red faded away. The Dragon Barrier, Earth Armour and Fire Booster all had expired. All of those powers running in him, gone. It was strange. He was now brought into a game of cat and mouse and felt like closer to being the latter.