Chapter 34

Once I arrive at the field of sand, it appears I am too late. Hibiki stood in front of Okubo and Iwata. Okubo now openly shows the two knives she has chosen as her weapons. Iwata did not hold a weapon in the common sense but instead wore brass knuckles to enhance his punch.

“You want a revanche, Iwata? Oh, and you want to support him, Okubo… sure. Bring it on.”

Before I can stop them Okubo jumps at Hibiki and tries to stab her with the knives. Hibiki easily dodges them and tries to hit the left hand of Okubo with the goal in mind to make her drop the knife held in that hand. However, at this moment, Iwata punches. It does not matter that he is distanced from her, as his punches traverse any kind of distance. However, something unexpected happens.

Hibikis hit hits. Okubo drops her knife… and Hibiki instantly grabs it with her other hand. She now strikes at the air with it… and despite that Iwata loudly flinches. As I look at him I can see why: His hand was struck by that knife.

Only now do I truly understand the blessing given to Iwata. While he can attack his opponents from a wider range, his opponents can use this distance to their advantage as well. If Iwata is able to punch Hibiki from afar, then Hibiki can attack this very punch and thus damage Iwata himself.

But - since the damage inflicted on Iwata at this very moment was caused by none other than Hibiki - it does not stop at one time. Iwata’s hand gets slashed by Hibiki twice more. Is this the extent of Hibiki’s powers? She gets jumped by two people at once and yet she can easily steal a weapon and strike one of them multiple times, all in the matter of a few simple seconds?

As Okubo realizes that Iwata was hit, she drops her second knife as well and jumps backwards, kind of like a cat. She is now standing next to Iwata and stares at Hibiki with a giant amount of hatred. I doubt I could ever come close to the extent of her current hatred.

Hibiki only picks up the second knife she has dropped and throws it into the ground in front of her two opponents. “You lost this one. Come on, come on. Pick it up and try to strike me once more. This time it will work for sure.” She grins a bit. Even I who is not an active participant of this battle do realize that the words she is saying are nothing but lies: Once a move or part of a battle has been performed, each one following it will be nothing more than an echo of it. If you are fighting with Hibiki, each attack only has one chance. If the first chance of said attack does not succeed, then you will simply never land a hit on her with this attack. The most terrifying thing about Hibiki was not her power, it was the sheer brilliancy and speed with which she operates, learns and attacks.

I stand by the side lines. I do not think that if I were to help anyone in this fight the result would change in the slightest.

Okubo kneels down next to Iwata, grabs his bleeding hand and slowly licks his blood. I do not understand it, to be quite honest, but it could just be another weird trait of her.

Turns out, that’s not what it is about.

In the very next moment her pupils begin sparkling, then narrowing down to two purple hearts, then once more narrowing down to small and thin points, directly staring at Hibiki.

Okubo jumps. From her current position, around 7 meters away from Hibiki, Okubo jumps directly at the girl who has hurt her lord. Okubo’s speed has doubled… No, probably quadrupled. Her strength has been risen in the same way: She can easily jump and the sand in the ground behind her gets thrown up into the air.

She tries to directly strike at Hibiki, a wide grin filling her face. Her hands, both due to her speed, her strength and just overall her new found self, do not look human anymore. They look like claws, far more dangerous than any knife could possibly be.

Hibiki's eyes are focused as well: She tries to dodge, however Okubo, being boosted by her very love itself, is faster. Her strike does not fully hit Hibiki, however it grazes her. This little grace makes Hibiki bleed in a split second. She does look a little bit distressed now and grins at Okubo once more. From the view of an outsider I can clearly understand and interpret what is currently happening: Hibiki has understood the attack. It will not work another time.

But so does Okubo. Okubo understands as well and now jumps directly at Hibiki, pushing her knee in front of her to damage Hibiki by shoving her knee directly into her face. Hibiki does not let this happen this easily though: She directly holds the knife Okubo has previously dropped in front of her and Okubo directly crashes into it. Thus, she gets stabbed by Hibiki. And because it was Hibiki who strikes her, she gets struck not once, but thrice.

Okubo cries out and falls down to the ground. Iwata, at this moment of shock and brutality, uses his opportunity. He throws yet another punch at Hibiki. She does not counter it this time but actually does get hit. She begins bleeding a bit due to the power of the punch and the brass knuckles, but she is in a way better position than both Okubo and Iwata currently are.

“Stop this at once!”

Miss Cho shows up out of nowhere. Thankfully. I could not bear to watch this for any longer… even if a part of time was actually interested in the fight.