Double Manipulation - Hero's Lies Arc

Schulz took a second to catch his breath. Kage was toying with him. He wanted to call a red, but three reds in a row seemed nearly too impossible. Kage was convinced that the next ball would land in a red slot.

Or is that what he wanted him to think.

Kage lunged in, his blade flashing brightly against the sun. Schulz jumped up into the side, kicking the sword down towards the floor. The katana got stuck in the ground for a mere nanosecond, but it was more than enough time for Schulz to land a spinning downward kick to Kage’s nape. He face planted the ground, and he lay there for just a second as Schulz formed ten golden swords and threw them aggressively down towards his target.

Kage shot himself forward along the ground, and although it wasn’t a great day for his face, he wasn’t stabbed by the swords.

Finally, Schulz made his decision to call a color.

“Black! You are not going to fool me! I stand my ground!” Schulz yelled, charging himself at Kage, sword poised to kill.

“Red,” Kage said in an almost stern tone. He knew that he had to withhold from choosing green. It was too risky right now.

The ball spun around the roulette table once more. Schulz picked up the pace, flying at over light speed toward Kage. With a loud yell, he thrust forward.

Kage did not move.

Schulz’s golden blade pierced Kage’s chest plate, through his flesh and out the other side. Bibi gasped in fright, and Schulz smirked. He had finally won. He attempted to draw the sword directly vertical, cutting Kage perfectly symmetrically in two.

However, the blade would not budge. Schulz had a puzzled look on his face as he tried to yank his sword out of Kage’s chest, but it simply would not budge. Suddenly, the life came back into Kage’s face as he grabbed the blade with both hands. He had the wildest grin on his face.

“Lesson three! If you have plenty of manna reserve, you don’t take much damage! Not only can you regenerate your limbs back, but you can withstand stuff like stabs, but only if your manna reserve is high enough! Those buffs are really coming in handy, Schulz!” Kage laughed, snapping the pure golden blade in two. He pointed to the roulette wheel. “Look. Thanks for evening the score, you naïve little man.”

Slowly, Schulz looked up, sweat beading down his forehead. He gulped, fearing the worse. His eyes darted around the roulette table, desperately looking for that glistening white ball. There it was.

Red. Again. A double manipulation. The score was level at three buffs each.

“Shit,” Schulz sighed. “You’re not making this easy, are you?”

In a desperate attack, he flung himself away from Kage, knowing he had fifteen seconds before the call. He formed another gold sword in the blink of an eye, and launched himself at the main group.

He aimed his sword at Bibi, who was standing, almost clueless as to what was about to happen. He swung a long arc, the sun kissing the blade as he began his attack, trying to cut Bibi’s head off.

“Babe!” Tomokazu cried out, as Bibi saw the blade at the last moment, but it was too late. Bibi was microseconds away from death.

A blade swung an opposite arc, blocking the golden blade inches from Bibi. She fell back in shock, before immediately standing up again, only to stumble back to the floor. Kage had used his teleportation magic once more, to teleport himself to the air molecules between Bibi and Schulz.

“Thanks for the save,” Bibi said in an upbeat tone, however, her tone instantly died when she felt Kage’s presence.

It was so angry and bitter.

The two blades were stuck together, the jagged edge of the golden blade trapping the pure steel katana. Kage frowned, his eyes gaining a new fire.

“This is a one on one. Don’t you dare bring my students into this. They are just spectators. You try that shit again, and I’ll vaporize every single atom of your pathetic body from the planet. Understand me?” he hissed at Schulz, who had begun to sweat even more profusely. The time was getting closer to twenty seconds. Tomokazu knew he had to speak up.

“Kage!”

“Yes, my boy?” Kage grunted, holding back Schulz with all his strength.

“I know what my objective is! I know what I want to give to the world?”

“Oh? Please do tell quickly!” The enthusiasm had come back to Kage’s voice, and he pushed Schulz’s blade away, the man flying away with it.

Tomokazu looked at Hiroshi once again. He never wanted to admit it, but he really wanted to be Hiroshi’s friend. And for a brief moment, they were. Now, he understood. Hiroshi’s distrust. His darkness. His ever-growing desire to just be happy in his own skin. Tomokazu knew from his experience that he himself wasn’t a leader. He wanted to be at Hiroshi’s side, no matter what.

And that’s when his idea came to fruition.

“Kage, I want to be the right hand man to the person at the top of the world,” Tomokazu told his mentor. “I’m done trying to be the best. I need to be content with myself first. And, I think the person who will be at the top of the world, well, will become my best friend.”

Kage thought about his statement for a moment, the gears in his head turning. Then, a big grin appeared on his face.

“Now, that is a goal worth fighting for! I like it! That’s just got me fired up! Let’s go!” he lunged forward, grabbing Schulz by the throat, and slamming him into the debris, dragging his body through the ground. “Black! Call red or green, Schulz, it’s your choice!”

Schulz didn’t want to call. He was too afraid that Kage would be correct in his guess. However, he needed a buff himself. He was more afraid to die at a stand still of buffs. He called red loudly, and the ball spun around again. Kage threw Schulz body up into the air, then teleported on top of him, slammed his fists down, and Schulz flew towards the ground again.

Kage teleported once more, this time off to the side of Schulz, and kicked him in the rib. The huge momentum sent Schulz flying up, and he couldn’t stop himself as he was flung straight into the massive needle of the roulette table, back first. He coughed and spluttered. The ball wheel stopped spinning, and the ball stopped with a sudden trap.

Black.

For the first time in the fight, Kage had more buffs. Schulz felt the side of his mouth.

A single drop of blood.

Rage fueled up inside of him.

“You bastard…”

*QUESTION TIME!!!*

"What do you think of me, Alexander, as a presenter?"

Hiroshi says - "You're are good at your job, but I still can't forgive you for what you called Jeremy. Do something like that again...and you'll find out what I'd do to you. Other than that...yeah your a pretty damn good presenter." Alexander - "Should I be happy with that or feel under threat?" Hiroshi - "Decide that for yourself."

Wisteria says - "Well, you are good and the crowd loves you. Not to mention, the name you gave me during the Great Encounter Battle Tournament was pretty badass! Thank you!"

Tomokazu says - "No comment."

Bibi says - "Yeah, you do the job, I guess."