"Clack... clack..."
Blood trickled down Ying's arm, falling onto the ground with a crisp sound in the silent space.
The battle was not over. Ying clutched her bleeding shoulder, trying to suppress the bone-piercing pain. She looked up at Ei.
"Again..."
The moment she took a step forward, the intense pain made Ying groan, her legs buckled, and she collapsed onto the ground.
Ei gave Ying no time to recover. With a flash, she appeared before Ying and slashed at her head again.
As the blade drew closer, Ying's pupils contracted sharply, and she quickly rolled to the side to dodge.
"Swish!"
A lock of her hair fluttered in the air. Ying instinctively looked back and felt a pang of heartache when she realized it was her own hair.
"Wuwuwu... my hair, which I had finally grown to my waist, was instantly cut in half. It's so heartbreaking... (t^t)"
Seeing that her opponent was still distracted even in such a state, Ei felt dissatisfied. Since her head was difficult to sever, she abruptly swung her sword towards Ying's chest.
"What the hell!!"
Ying, who had intended to distract Ei by feigning weakness, was shocked by her opponent's intense reaction. She grit her teeth against the pain and met the attack with her broken sword.
"Clang... Clang!!!"
The immense recoil sent a jolt through her wound, causing Ying to groan and squeeze her eyes shut in pain.
Ei had no intention of grappling with Ying. She lifted her leg and, using her height advantage, stomped down on Ying's wounded area.
"Bang!"
With a muffled groan, Ying's delicate body was sent flying backward uncontrollably, crashing to the ground.
"Pfft!"
"Cough... cough... cough..."
Ying coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, clutching her wound, her face pale as she struggled to rise.
The attack had completely robbed her right arm, which held the sword, of its strength, leaving it hanging limply at her side. Scarlet blood poured from her wound, soaking her clothes in a shocking crimson.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Heavy, rapid breaths filled the space. Ying slowly lifted her head, wiped the blood from her lips, and looked at Ei not far away.
"You are indeed very powerful..."
Ei narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on Ying. The corners of her lips curved slightly as she replied,
"You flatter me, but I must apologize. I have long recognized your strength, yet I have not gone all out due to my own selfish desires."
With that, Ei took a deep breath, raised her arm, and looked at Ying again, her eyes now filled with utter seriousness.
"You are my eternal enemy, and a worthy opponent against whom I must use my full strength."
As Ei's words fell, Ying instantly felt the sky in the space grow darker. Sensing the oppressive aura emanating from Ei, Ying knew this was the divine pressure she exuded.
"Musha no Ichigeki, is it... Good, that saves me the trouble of finding a weakness..."
Ying murmured. She tried to summon another silver sword from the space but found her weapons depleted. She took her broken sword with her other hand, her palm turning slightly. Looking at her disheveled reflection in the blade, she couldn't help but laugh.
If Lumine saw her like this, she would be both angry and heartbroken...
"Hoo..."
With a long exhale, Ying looked at Ei again, her eyes brimming with absolute confidence.
Today, I will shatter your legend of that single strike!
"BOOM!"
As Ying's words faded, an immense energy, several times larger than before and soaring into the sky, descended precisely onto her.
Instantly, Ying was enveloped in lightning, as if immersed in ten thousand bolts of thunder, sending shivers down one's spine.
"Bang... Crackle..."
Ying, bathed in electric light, heard the sounds of bones cracking and flesh tearing from her body. The intense pain made her let out a muffled groan, cold sweat beading on her forehead as she gritted her teeth to endure.
What?!
Even Ei was momentarily stunned by the sight.
Could this energy be?!
While Ei was momentarily lost in thought, Ying raised her broken sword. The surrounding lightning responded to Ying's will, rapidly converging at the tip of the broken blade, eventually forming a broad, giant blade of lightning.
"No... it's not enough..."
Ying whispered, glancing at the dim, red sky. She exerted more power, forcibly channeling almost all her elemental energy into the broken sword, causing it to erupt with an unprecedented, dazzling radiance.
"This aura..."
Ei narrowed her eyes. She didn't even need to rely on her instincts. Just a glance was enough to perceive the suffocating, terrifying power.
The increased exertion caused Ying's wounds to tear open again, blood gushing from all over her body like a spring, dyeing her entire form a living embodiment of crimson.
But the excruciating pain did not intimidate Ying; instead, it ignited her ferocity.
Clutching her broken sword, Ying's eyes, now tinged with red, fixed on her opponent. She couldn't help but utter some chuunibyou lines she had read in novels before.
"With this sword, I shall sever ignorance, with this sword, I shall sever falsehood, with this sword, I shall annihilate space, with this sword, I shall annihilate illusion, with this sword, I shall annihilate the cycle of reincarnation... No."
"With this sword... I shall annihilate eternity!!"
As Ying's voice fell, the giant blade she held erupted with an intensely blinding light. Powerful energy splattered outwards, distorting the very fabric of the space.
In an instant, a colossal sword, capable of piercing the heavens, tore through the void and, with an almost destructive force, swung directly at Ei.
Before the great sword even arrived, its world-shattering, terrifying might swept through. Ei's expression grew increasingly shocked, her hand, gripping her blade, trembling uncontrollably. But it was not from fear; it was from excitement.
Seeing this, Ei did not hesitate. She swung her blade, and a dazzling, radiant sword light tore through the air, striking towards the colossal sword.
"BANG!!"
The moment they collided, a terrifying wave of energy, like a stormy sea, spread out from the point of impact. Like a massive stone thrown into a calm lake, ripples spread outwards, rapidly expanding. The air in its path was pulverized into nothingness, as if the end of the world had arrived!
"Rumble!!!"
A deafening roar echoed through the sky. The furiously destructive shockwave swept in all directions, causing the ground of the entire space to crack into countless fissures. The rising dust billowed and scattered, obscuring all vision.
When the smoke finally cleared and everything returned to normal, only a colossal pit, seemingly endless, remained in the space. The pit was covered in dense, spiderweb-like cracks, spreading across the entire ground...