A New Day

"Forget about me, focus on Souma" Reiji says, as he pushes himself forward, activating his Ki Heal, slowing down the amount of blood spilling out.

Tch. Looks like whatever it hit me with is slowing down my healing, Reiji thinks. Looking backwards at his friends, his rage flares up, each agonizing step forward, bringing him closer towards the source of his anger.

"Reiji... this commander has two cores, unless you destroy them at the same time, it will regenerate." Elnyra's words ring in his mind. "Can you do it?"

"Heh. Who do you think you're talking to?" Reiji grins wolfishly, wiping the blood from his face.

Dashing in, Reiji Blitzs forward, unleashing a Rending Strike into the commander's torso staggering it, but a new wound appears on his shoulder, as the boney greatsword slashes upwards, the corrupted aura, biting through his Ki.

Refusing to stop, Reiji slides under, smashing a Stunning Blow into it's stomache, before reappearing behind it. Pirouetting into a scissor kick, he unleashes a Beast Fang, severing the tail from the body of the commander, freezing the stump with Yin Ice, and burning the tail with Yang Fire, turning it to ash.

The commander retaliates, trading it's tail for another attack, cleaving through Reiji's guard, drawing blood from him, causing Reiji to fall to his knees, as he coughs up blood, his flaming aura vanishing.

"Reiji!" Elnyra shimmers into existance next to him, panic written all over her face.

His HP was almost gone, only 1/5th remained, but his Ki was depleted. 

Seeing its opponent rise again, the commander raises it's weapon with both hands, gathering black and purple mana particles into the greatsword. The pale white and black edged sword glows turning a dark sickly purple, vibrating intensely with power, it's gravity affecting even the air around it. Slashing down the commander unleashes a great pillar of light, slamming down onto Reiji.

No... Not yet... not like this. Gritting his teeth until he bled, Reiji stokes the flames of his heart, refusing to yield to the monstrosity infront of him.

Punching the ground, he struggles to his feet, panting and bleeding, his gaze never faltering from the commander infront of him, even as the attack came at him. 

"If that's the case, I'll just burn my HP instead!"

"Reiji don't!" She desperately warns against him. 

"It's the only way. Just warn me when I'm down to 10... no 2 HP Elnyra."

Once again, Reiji ignites his Ki, his black and white aura flaring up around him, like smokes of a dying flame.

"It's not over yet!" 

Rolling to the side, Reiji launches himself forward, punching with his only good arm, his Howling Storm crashes into the pillar of light, grinding against each other, neither side refusing to give in. A contest of willpower.

Roaring desperately, his wounds reopen, gushing blood into the air around him, yet Reiji kept going, burning his HP faster, increasing the power of his Howling Storm.

The commander let out an otherworldy yell, as his wriggling muscles swelled, trying to cleave downwards, his 4 legs digging into the mud.

A loud crack resounds, as a short silver spear is embedded into the commanders front leg, the same leg that Reiji had crushed previously. The regenerated knee buckles, pierced through by the silver spear. 

"No-now Reiji." Gasped Souma, as he regained consciousness, leaning against Nraltia who was still healing him.

Seizing the moment that the commander lost his balance, Reiji pirouettes away from the pillar of light, smashing his Howling Storm into the Commander's sternum, carving a gaping hole through the torso.

Not missing a beat, he launches the commander into the sky with a Stunning Blow, his body flaring with the last embers of his HP. Glaring at the airborne commander, he spits out blood before disappearing from view.

Reappearing above the leader with Blitz, he drops down like a shooting star, black and white Ki swirling around his feet, trailing a line in the air, his silhouette hidden by the glaring sun behind him.. "Eat this... my strongst skill, Final Impact!"

The black and white meteor smashes into the commander who desperately tries to block out the attack with it's own, swinging its greatsword, the remaining particles of black and purple flare up, the boney greatsword cutting against his aura. 

The two clash once again in mid air, a moment of silence forming between them.

Damn... Dammit it's not enough, Reiji thinks.

 Anger filling his heart, as his Ki diminishes, unwilling to accept this outcome. He was angry at the commander, but it paled in comparison to the anger he held against himself. For failing at the last moment.

With his waning strength, death inched ever closer, almost in slow motion, he felt a surge of energy filling inside him, warm and blue restoring both his HP and Ki. Using them instantly, his Ki flared up around him, greater than before. 

The silence broke, followed by multiple tiny cracks, spider webs began forming from the tip of the boney greatsword, spreading out until it covered the entire blade. 

With one last resounding crack, the blade completely shatters, exploding into tiny fragments as Reiji drills through, his skill slammed into the Torso's core crushing it completely, the commanders face twist in pain, black blood tearing down his face.

"Thank... you..." A mental voice sounds in his head, completely alien to his usual passenger. For a split second, it almost looked like Serpio was smiling at him.

 As he tears through both upper and lower half, the commander's body collapses under the immense power, both cores destroyed along with the corrupted body. The four legs of the beast ripped from it's body disintegrate into black mana particles, disappearing as if they never existed.

Landing on the ground, his Ki extinguishes, as his body gives out from the exhaustion and the abuse. As his world fades to black the last thoughts in his head lingered on the last split second, unsure if it was real or not.

"Elnyra... was that..." But Reiji never finishes his sentence.

Falling face first into the mud, Reiji was saved at the last moment by the two members of his party, catching him on each side, their warmth the last thing he remembers.