Partners

Rina stood majestically, yet somehow intimidatingly. With her red glowing eyes, accompanied by a faint red aura, she was undoubtedly in Infinity.

“Rina… How did you activate Infinity?” Kaito stared in awe.

“I’m in Infinity?” Rina asked. She looked at her hands and flexed them in a grabbing motion. “You’re right. This feels… amazing.”

Kouki approached slowly in the distance, angered once again, but this time, he looked focused.

“How is this possible?” Kouki thought. “Only the reincarnated can unlock Infinity; she shouldn’t be able to do this!”

Rina prepared for battle. “It’s time for you to pay for killing my father.”

“Her… father,” Kouki realized. “Her father was a reincarnated…”

Kouki’s thoughts were cut as Rina jetted at him with Quick Slash. Kouki parried the attack, but Rina continued to use Quick Slash consecutively. As Kouki parried the strikes, sparks flew. If the capital weren’t made of stone, the city would’ve caught fire a long time ago.

Kouki tried using his shadow spike skill, Shadow Strike, to hit the unsuspecting Rina, but her awareness was exceptional. She jumped back and avoided the spike, rejoining the unmoving Kaito.

“What’s gotten you acting so reserved?” Rina asked Kaito. “Usually you’d have snuck up behind the enemy by now.”

“I can’t…” Kaito announced. “His special weapon has an anti-skill ability that can only be countered with Infinity. I can’t do anything right now…”

“I see,” Rina analyzed. “Then the solution is simple.”

Kaito was confused. “What do you mean?”

Rina karate-chopped Kaito in the head, making him crouch down in pain.

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean,’” responded Rina. “He must’ve gotten into your head somehow if you can’t figure it out.” Rina said it to him clearly…

“Just activate Infinity.”

Kaito looked up at Rina from his crouched position as if she had just told him she was God. It was so simple that Kaito felt stupid.

Suddenly, a light pillar appeared between the two, prompting them to jump away. Kouki was on the offensive. As Rina landed, she swiftly noticed how she was bound to her shadow, unable to move her legs.

Kaito approached to aid Rina, but Kouki came dashing in.

“Let’s finish the weak link off, shall we!” Kouki shouted wildly.

Kouki swung his sword directly at Kaito’s head. For Kaito, it was like the world moved in slow motion as he was about to meet his maker, but then, Rina’s words echoed in his ears.

Just activate Infinity.

Kaito used Feint… and it worked!

Kaito’s surprise ability activation gave him another clean swing at Kouki’s head, sending his glasses flying off his face.

Rina tapped her toe towards the ground; Kaito’s hit freed her from the Shadow Binding skill. She loosened herself as Kaito stretched beside her, his eyes glowing blue once again.

“Let’s finish this, partner,” Rina stated.

“Aye aye, partner, “Kaito responded.

Kouki finally recovered from Kaito’s hit, but Kaito and Rina were already hard on the press. Rina dashed in for an attack, but Kouki blocked the attack and used Counter.

Before Counter could come out, Kaito jumped out of Kouki’s shadow and uppercut Kouki’s chin. With Kaito’s opening, Rina used Pierce to thrust her sword into Kouki’s stomach.

Kouki used his Flash Step skill, the skill he used against Kaito, which let him briefly move at the speed of light, to gain distance. Kaito, not letting him run, appeared out of thin air from Phase and went for another slash. Kouki swung back to parry, but Kaito used Feint to back off from the clash.

Instead, Rina acted on Kaito's opening and used Quick Slash to strike. Kouki felt threatened and used Shadow Dive to escape to the shadow of a random light post.

Exiting the light post’s shadow, Kouki still sensed bloodlust from Kaito and Rina, who ran towards him. Instinctively, Kouki activated Light Javelin to halt their offensive momentum.

Kaito and Rina backed off. Rina then used Cutting Edge to disperse all the light javelins.

“What’s with all this running?” Kaito shouted to Kouki. “It isn’t very heroic, Kouki!” he taunted.

“Sh… …p,” Kouki mumbled before repeating himself in a great fury. “SHUT UP!!!”

Multiple shadowy hands extended towards Kaito and Rina, but they didn’t flinch.

“Are you going to keep going easy on him, Rina?” Kaito asked confidently.

Rina made a small laugh, “So you noticed, huh? I just didn’t want my revenge to end so quickly.”

Rina slowly took out her special weapon, Heaven’s Cleaver. An aerial aura immediately enveloped Rina, enough to send Kouki’s shadowy hands flying.

“Don’t fall behind,” Rina stated with a smile.

“Yeah, right!” Kaito responded with a laugh.

Rina levitated off the ground and rocketed at Kouki. He managed to block it, but in return was propelled down the capital’s streets again. Kaito arose from Kouki’s shadow for another sneaky strike, but Kouki reacted this time.

Kouki used Air Step to jump into the air to escape Kaito’s attack.

“In the air, I won’t have to worry about that rat sneaking around,” Kouki analyzed, then looked towards Rina. “And with Light Step I can outspeed—”

CLASH!!!

Rina suddenly appeared before Kouki and struck him in his side, but Kouki was safe because of his armor.

“H-How!?” Kouki panicked in thought.

“Tch, I missed his head,” Rina vented to herself. “Infinity really lets me use this thing at full potential, but it’s harder to use.”

Kouki heard her snide comment and was pissed. He used Light Step to appear before Rina and swung, yelling in frustration.

Rina swung back, and their clash recoiled their swords backwards, but they weren’t done.

“COUNTER!!!” They both yelled as they made another swing.

This time, their clash created a shockwave that propelled them both backwards. They recovered from the recoil in sync and stared at each other momentarily.

Rina enveloped herself in a large ball of air, Kouki one of light. They darted towards each other with great speed, and their elemental spheres clashed. Their spheres pushed against each other, both budging forward and back, but neither completely overcoming the other.

Their elemental spheres were deadlocked, but their bodies weren’t. They approached each other from within their large elemental spheres, and their swords clashed, joining their spheres in a deadlock.

Kaito took full advantage of the situation.

He jumped from the shadow on Rina’s back, cast from Kouki's elemental sphere of light, bow drawn in hand. Air enveloped Kaito’s arrow as he immediately shot it towards activating Pierce.

Kouki couldn’t do anything in the position but get hit. It was either Rina’s strike or Kaito’s arrow, and he chose the latter.

That was his mistake.

Kaito’s arrow struck Kouki in the chest, forcing his elemental sphere to disperse. Rina got her turn pushing Kouki with her aerial sphere before she swung her blade down at Kouki. He plummeted, but the partners’ sequence wasn’t done.

Kaito used Air Step to rebalance himself and drew his bow for another shot. Rina joined him, raising her blade for an air slash barrage. Kaito fired one arrow, but turned 100 from Splitshot. Rina swung sporadically to unleash 100 air projectiles of her own.

The arrows sped up by the air, while the arrows sharpened the shape of the air; it was a devastating combo that repeatedly struck Kouki as he fell to the ground.