Ascension: Online

(Kaze's Perspective)

After slaying her opponent ruthlessly, Furuwa returned to us, forged anew by blood and fire. She put her sword away calmly, then stared me straight in the eyes.

"… Do whatever you wish to that guy. I don't care anymore."

I smiled. "Finally come to the realization that showing mercy won't get you anywhere in this world?"

"Yes…" she sighed. "Sorry for doubting you."

Hm... seems I could continue using her after all.

"Mm. But about that guy... I changed my mind," I snickered.

"What? You're not going to kill him to silence him anymore?"

"Nah. Let his father come. That should give me more loot than if I just kill him."

She snorted and folded her arms. "... Devious, as usual. But are you really confident you can beat his father, if he were to really come?"

"Ah, but by that time, I will be in the sect and have its support. Can he really destroy one of the Eight Great Sects of Azrine alone?"

"That's... a good point. However, you entering the sect is still not set in stone. Better not to be so arrogant."

"I am well aware. But I'm very optimistic, so it's best to assume the best."

She sent me a sideways glance that felt awkward, but I shrugged it off.

"Anyway... back to the original topic, I'm not saying everyone in this world is like that man you just faced, but…" I patted her head, much to her surprise. "It's better to keep an eye out, yeah?"

Blushing, she swatted my arm away in annoyance. "I-I know. Don't touch me without permission."

"Heehee, that aside… what was that weird energy just now~?" Nadeshiko asked curiously, tilting her head and placing her finger to her chin. "It's like that guy suddenly got electrocuted or something, heheheh~ it was amusing."

"I'm not sure," Furuwa replied, glancing down at her own two hands. "It felt as if a sudden shock went through my body…"

My eyes widened. "No way…"

"What?" the girls turned to me curiously.

I narrowed my eyes. "This is just a guess, but… I believe your connection with Earth was cut, just like mine."

"… You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not. The feeling you described was just like what I felt when my connection got severed."

"But… how? My parents shouldn't have done that…"

"Power outage, perhaps?" Hina-nee suggested. "Aisa, do you know anything?"

"There was indeed a power outage near your real body, Chiaki Furuwa," Aisa replied calmly.

"I see… what a coincidence…" Furuwa murmured to herself.

"But is that really a coincidence, I wonder~?" Nadeshiko giggled.

"What do you mean?" Hina-nee asked, frowning.

"To me, it seems like… someone manipulated the power outage to happen," she replied, shooting my a glance.

Tch… what an unnecessarily clever and witty girl. She can actually see through my actions from the shadows…

"Aisa, did you purposely cause the power outage to happen?" I asked, diverting the attention over to her.

She sent me a glance, then sighed and nodded, understanding my intentions.

"Indeed. I plan to have all of you migrate your physical bodies into this world as well. This will make it easier to get stronger," she explained flawlessly, making it seem like a reasonable lie. "It just so happened that was a good opportunity to do so for you, Chiaki Furuwa."

"I see… so you saved me from dying," Furuwa sighed. "I owe you one, AI."

"…" Aisa didn't respond, instead looking over at me once more. I feigned ignorance and looked away at the stage, where the man's body had been hauled off and the platform was clean once more.

"Alright!" the mayor, Zhen Yuhan, said through his microphone. "That was quite the intense fight that happened just now, but we're not quite done yet. The next match will be between… Lancer Duibhne and Sakura Hina!"

"Good luck, Hina-nee," I said with a encouraging smile.

"Yep~ I'll be fine, don't worry," she responded, hugging me gently before setting off for the stage.

As soon as she left, Nadeshiko jumped on me from behind, latching onto my shoulders and whispering into my ear seductively.

"Why hide it?"

I pried her off and shot her a glare, not bothering to answer her question. She definitely wasn't giving up though. Later today, she would definitely come bother me about this again — it's just that right now, there was a battle to focus on.

Nadeshiko… she's the hardest one to control yet.

*****

(Hina's Perspective)

I took out my two Sai and prepared for the fight, adapting a fighting stance.

My opponent, Lancer, naturally wielded a lance. "Greetings, fellow warrior."

"Hi~" I waved carefreely.

"I have seen your previous fights — I must say, I admire you."

"Mm, thanks! Though, I haven't seen you fight before since I always left in a hurry after my own match was over…"

"No problem. You will see me fight now, after all," he smiled and spun his lance around. "I wish to have a fair fight with you, Miss Sakura."

"Suits me just fine," I said, grinning triumphantly. "By the way, what's that dot below your left ey-"

"Don't look at that!" he suddenly yelled, covering it up immediately.

"Hm? Why?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"A-Ah, no… it's just, whenever a girl looks at that spot, they end up falling in love with me… I don't know why or how…"

"Really? I feel just fine though," I blinked in surprise.

"H-Huh? You don't feel anything towards me, even after seeing that?"

"Nope~ maybe it's because I already love someone else?"

"… I've only ever seen those with extremely devoted love resist this strange power of mine…" he murmured, looking at me. "You look so young, Miss Sakura. How could there possibly already be someone you are this dedicated to?"

I giggled. "Hehe, you wouldn't get it."

"… I suppose."

"Don't worry, I'll fight you with everything I have, no holding back."

My opponent smiled. "Thank you. I will do the same."

"Alright! Both contestants appear to be ready, so I will now start the countdown!" the mayor declared, raising his hand into the air. "Ready… 3, 2, 1…"

He swung his arm downwards.

"Go!"

Lancer and I leaped towards each other immediately, eyes filled with battle intent.

He used his range advantage to try and poke me with his lance, but I redirected his jab using one of my Sai, knocking it away from me. I then closed the distance, preparing to stab my other Sai into his stomach.

However, he managed to somehow overpower my strength and pull his lance back towards my head, aiming to knock my temple.

At this rate, he would hit me before I could stab him, so I decided to use one of my skills.

'Blink.'

I teleported behind Lancer, ready to plunge my weapon deep into his body. However, rather than being surprised like I expected him to be, he spun around at an insane speed and blocked my strike with the pole of his lance, before pushing me off.

I performed a backflip in mid-air and landed gently back on the ground, smirking.

"Not bad."

"Likewise."

After this brief exchanged, we clashed once more. Sneak attacking wasn't going to work again after I failed the first time, so I decided to just try a full frontal assault.

That said, Lancer's defense was extraordinary. He wielded his weapon with extreme dexterity and skill. Every time I tried to move in and go for an attack, he parried my strikes with ease, be it using the tip of his lance or the pole part.

I considered myself quite proficient with my Sai, but we were still at a deadlock, even after several minutes of fighting. By now, both of us were quite tired, panting heavily.

"You're… the toughest opponent I've faced so far… hah," he grinned and said between deep breaths.

"Heh, yeah? In terms of pure combat skill, I'd say you're the strongest one I've faced so far as well," I replied, smirking like a devil. "But you know… fighting isn't just striking and parrying."

"Huh…?"

As he was caught off-guard by this statement, I suddenly opened my palm and directed it towards him.

'Basic Umbromancy Art — Umbrostrike.'

His eyes widened at my sudden usage of hidden arts and quickly attempted to block my attack with his lance rather than dodging, since there was no time for the latter.

'Vanishing Steps.'

Not letting this chance go to waste, I made myself invisible and took advantage of the fact that Umbrostrike was completely black, blinding Lancer. The invisibility was just extra protection.

I circled around him quickly, making good use of my increased speed and agility granted by this skill.

And right as he blocked my hidden art, I placed my Sai at his throat. He froze.

"Good fight."

He sighed deeply, but there was a smile on his face as he realized what had happened.

"Yes… good fight."

"The winner of the match is… Sakura Hina!"

I hopped off the stage lightly and began my way back to the others, until I suddenly felt a surge of electricity go through me.

"Ah-" I nearly fell on the ground, just barely stopping myself in time.

What… what was that?

"Welcome back, Hina-nee," Kaze-kun said as I returned.

"Mm… it was pretty tough, until I remembered the one and only hidden art I have, hehe."

"Before you ask," Aisa suddenly interjected. "The electricity you felt just now was me severing your connection to the old world, just like I said I would."

"Ah… I see." I gazed down, smiling sadly.

"Hina-nee… maybe it's better for uncle and auntie if it's like this," Kaze-kun said in an attempt to comfort me. "Every time they see you laying in bed, they'll feel the pain all over again. But if they can't see you at all…"

"… Yeah. Maybe it is," I laughed slightly. "This is to let me grow stronger faster, right? I can accept that. Thank you, Aisa."

For some reason, Aisa shifted her gaze to Kaze-kun for a brief moment.

I didn't miss it.