Excitement

Surata shifts his eyes towards the people standing in the house. His eyebrows raise in relief, sighing that this can end soon. “Koroki! Yorui? Hold on, why does Yorui look seriously hurt.”

Koroki and Majuro stand across each other in a stare-down, their powerful auras clashing around them. Their aura exerts such pressure that those around them feel weighed down to the floor as if the force of gravity increased.

Majuro creepily glances at Koroki’s hand, which is holding something that Is leaning against his shoulder. Tied by a black sageo, Koroki appears to be holding a long raspberry-pink scabbard.

The scabbard looks too long to be holstered on his side since it would scrap the floor behind him. Across the scabbard are engravings of two dragons coming from each direction, lifting their arms, creating a “heart” symbol. But the sword itself isn’t sheathed.

Majuro chuckles in confusion. “Hehe-Where’s your sword?”

“Don’t need it. I thought you were here to fight, not talk.” Koroki maintains his cool and collected demeanour while keeping a watchful eye on Majuro, staying alert at all times. He doesn’t take a stance, making himself look vulnerable and defenceless.

“Oh, you’re right, sorry-Hehe. I just want to see what it's like fighting someone like you.”

Feeling superior, Majuro impatiently lunges towards Koroki. He unleashes a powerful slash but slices the floor where Koroki is just standing. Appearing behind him, Majuro is caught off guard.

WHACK!!!

Koroki heavily drives his scabbard into Majuro’s chest. Majuro can feel his bones fracturing from the brutal impact.

Majuro is forced back, grabbing his bruised chest as he coughs up blood. “He’s fast. This kid isn’t a normal kid.”

Koroki continues the assault, utilizing every limb and weapon to fight Majuro. Majuro struggles to land a hit as Koroki casually kicks and punches, delivering multiple combos. As Majuro attempts to disrupt his combos, his attacks are deflected by Koroki’s weapon, making Majuro’s weapon useless.

Keeping his composure, Koroki “C’mon, slayer. You should be enjoying this. Or is this entree not up to par?”

“He’s doing all of this… without a Noye?” muses Majuro.

___

As the guys battle it out, Surata drags himself inside the house, toward Yorui. Her eyes are soft and red-dimmed, trouble focusing on what’s in front of her. Surata uses all of his remaining strength to force himself to move, causing him to collapse. Before face-planting, he freezes in midair, feeling warm arms hold him from under his armpits.

Yorui’s injuries are too much for her as she struggles to hold onto Surata. “Hey, are you ok?”

Surata slips off of Yorui, her arms giving out. Instead of falling graciously, both of them crash to the ground like bowling balls dropped from a building.

“Ow. Thanks for the save.” Surata sarcastically replies, rubbing his head. Yorui can’t find the words as she can’t find any air to breathe in because of Surata’s weight on top of her.

___

Majuro’s exhaustion from Surata’s fight begins to catch up to him. Standing his ground, struggling to lift his sickle to block Koroki’s assault, Majuro musters his energy. In a glimpse of a second, Majuro manages to find an opening in Koroki’s attacks. The clash of their weapons bounces off each other. Majuro utilizes his agility to duck Koroki’s next attack, swinging his sickle viciously.

Slash!

The sound of Koroki’s skin tearing from his left leg resonates throughout the room. Koroki is forced to kneel, the strength in his leg rapidly depletes. His face aches with pain as he limps, blood dripping from the wound. The table seems to turn now as Majuro begins the attack. Koroki still believes he can win this fight with this injury, but he just needs to recover. However, that is the last thing on Majuro’s mind.

While not giving Koroki the chance to recover, he unleashes multiple swings at Koroki. Koroki’s composure slowly cracks as he feels a little disadvantageous. Koroki scurries around the yard, barely dodging the attacks, each strike being hair close to him.

Feeling advantageous, Majuro’s cockiness returns, laughing menacingly. “What’s wrong, kid? Thought you could win against me? Haha. Don’t make me laugh. There’s a difference between us. While you were enjoying a good life here, I was struggling for mine.”

Those words sent a jolt to Koroki, hitting a nerve. His composure returns, turning serious.

Majuro continues charging at Koroki, angrily swinging his weapon. “I lived through many battles since I was living here. I was a warrior who once served my country.

Koroki doesn’t have time to breathe, let alone reply to his statement. So, after manoeuvring past every attack, he asks while gasping, “So then... why are you doing this then? Shouldn’t you be... protecting this country?”

“Shut up. There’s no point in telling someone who’s going to die!”

Feeling cornered, Koroki can’t focus on his fight with the pain, standing on his injured leg. Koroki firmly grips his scabbard, almost cracking it. His heart pounds faster as his blood pressure rises. The wound drips more blood. He wants to keep fighting. He wants to win. But his body is reaching its limit. Maybe this is what happens when you underestimate someone.

___

He tries to gather more energy by force. Majuro lunges again, but this time, Koroki responds with a crushing punt to his stomach. Harnessing his energy into his other leg, the weight of his foot impales Majuro as if he collides with a car, causing him to fly back into the bushes. He lands on top of the bushes, the sound of twigs snapping as they break his impact.

Majuro tries to recover from the bushes, twigs stabbing his hand, grunting. “Don’t get so cocky, kid.”

Yorui and Surata watch as the battle continues, overwhelmed by the thought of Koroki losing. Yorui can’t stop feeling disgusted at herself. “This is all my fault. This is all my fault. All of this is happening because of me. If only I didn’t stay in that alley. Then I would’ve never met Koroki. I don’t want either to lose or win, I just want them to stop.”

Surata gazes at Yorui, who is fixated on the fight. Her eyes brim with desperation. Noticing her deep in thought, he reassures her, "Don't worry, Koroki's got this." She turns to Surata, captivated by his genuine smile. The confidence in his voice somehow assures Yorui. He isn’t lying. Seeing Koroki’s strength firsthand, she takes a deep breath, clearing her mind. Her eyes are now filled with hope as she decides to have faith in Koroki.

___

The sounds of their weapons clashing resonate across the backyard as their battle continues. Both opponents seem to be fighting on equal terms now, as their attacks are constantly blocked. While blocking, they lean forward, applying more power to break the other’s balance.

“Why?” Koroki calmly asks.

Majuro responds, “Why what?”

“Why did you kill those people?”

Majuro cackles in surprise at that question. “Hehe- I thought you said enough talk.”

The two opponents step back to pause their clash of power, then charge at each other again, initiating another confrontation.

Koroki presses Majuro, genuinely curious. “Why did you carve the word “why” on them? Why did you do it?”

Majuro’s ears slowly stop hearing Koroki’s voice. They begin to deafen, with every sound around him getting muffled. The only words that echo in Majuro are:

Why… Why… Why?

Koroki’s male voice gradually changes into a feminine voice, a voice Majuro is familiar with. The familiar voice starts to come back to him as he recalls a memory.

Seeing her figure reminiscing in his head, Majuro yells, “Shut up!” He tries to dramatically shake his head to forget the memory.

“You’re the type of person I hate the most,” exclaims Koroki.

Whatever Koroki says, it doesn’t reach Majuro. He is so engrossed in thought that nothing can interrupt him. Majuro continues to hear the mumbling words:

Why… Why… Why?

Majuro’s blood boils like a furnace as he tries to stop thinking. Yorui sees her father in pain, feeling sorry for him. Knowing what he might be thinking of, she bows her head down, her heart leaving her body.

Majuro becomes engulfed in his thoughts. Despite his anger leaking out, he creepily laughs at himself. Somehow, he believes laughing can relieve his anger. He laughs hysterically towards Koroki. Excitement overwhelms the anger in his blood. Confused as Koroki is, he decides to step back from Majuro.

Someone like Majuro right now should be in an asylum. How does he just laugh out of nowhere like this? He just goes from being cocky and serious to laughing at himself. Yeah, he is definitely not in his right mind. 

Based on this current event, Koroki lowers his weapon, thinking that this fight is over. Koroki tiredly walks towards Yorui and Surata. Turning his back, Koroki suddenly feels a chill down his spine. The air around him gets tenser.

“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” Majuro screams at the top of his lungs.

The sickle in his hand begins pulsating. His Noye-infused eyes also pulsate. His movements unexpectedly become unreadable, almost like he’s a zombie.

“What’s happening to him?” Surata’s blood runs cold as he stares at Majuro. The pressure from Majuro’s aura can almost knock Yorui and him out.

“His Noye is probably going out of control,” explains Koroki. He quickly retakes his stance, wondering how Majuro will attack. “Tch, he just had to make things more difficult for me.”

___

Majuro stops moving as if his puppet master stopped moving his strings. He tilts his head down, his enormous grin slipping from his mouth.

“Slicer of Echoes!”

Majuro begins to aggressively swing his sickle in the air, sending an air slash towards Koroki.

“What the heck is that?” The slash symbol seems to emit the same colour as Majuro's orange Noye, but it appears to be nothing more than air. Seeing the attack, Koroki shields himself with his scabbard, thinking nothing of it. 

What is an air strike going to do? At most, it would probably just blow him away. As the slash makes contact with his scabbard, a look of worry crawls onto his face. The weight of the slash feels even more powerful than Majuro’s usual attacks. And another thing, this slash isn’t just wind; it’s a real slash. Koroki looks at his scabbard, seeing the crack it got from the attack.

Surata and Yorui’s confidence in Koroki begins to slowly fade, slack-jawed. “An air slash?! Noye can do that?!”

Feeling the power behind that attack, Koroki begins to worry. Majuro laughs at Koroki struggling. In response, Majuro unleashes multiple air slashes towards Koroki. “Tch. This doesn’t look good for me. I underestimated him.”

Koroki struggles to defend himself from all of the slashes. Carrying his long sheath already takes a lot of energy to wield, let alone his injuries make it worse. A splash of blood leaks out of his injured leg again, causing him to lose balance. 

His guard breaks, causing one of the slashes to pierce through Koroki’s chest. The sharp cut burns into his body, like diving in a pool of lava. Koroki falls to the floor, his body losing strength. Majuro notices Koroki’s movements are getting slower.

“What was with all that talk, kid?” he jesters. “Huh?”

Majuro aims his sickle towards Koroki’s neck, ready to deliver the final blow. Just when Majuro swings his sword, Koroki smacks his lips, annoyed by underestimating his opponent. Guess a lack of fighting really does make you rusty. But then…Yorui stops in front of Koroki.

“Please stop this, father!”

“You idiot!” screams Koroki. He doesn’t have time to react to his attack.

Majuro can’t stop his attack since he is already in motion.

Slash!

The handle from his sickle scratches Yorui across her arm, pushing her out of the way. “Shut up, let Daddy finish his work.”

Koroki’s heart rate increases, seeing Majuro hitting his daughter. Instinctively, Koroki leans on his scabbard and exerts a powerful punch to Majuro in the stomach. The brutal force of the impacts makes Majuro kneel to the floor, coughing out spit.

Anger rapidly builds up in Koroki’s blood. “Don’t you ever do that to your daughter again!”

He tries to catch his breath from exhaustion, somehow gathering strength from somewhere. With this adrenaline and an unknown surge of energy. “This is really embarrassing. You're strong, old man. I thought this would be a breeze. I guess I must get a little serious.” suggests Koroki.

“Ugh…That was a nice blow!” smirks Majuro. “You’re really giving me a rough time. Hehe. That’s what I’d expect from… the Heartless Demon!”