Isher Notra

Golden fists bashed against the dense crimson weight!

Glowing claws danced violently against the blood sickle!

Chains rattled while Yuki-onna swung her kusarigama with a desperate grace, each arch forming a narrow, crescent vacuum that Stella could feel passing over her skin. Much better than a wound...

Lien and her performed their combined assault, but the sorceress's combat prowess was comparable to the likes of Asra or Captain Tash. Perhaps, even a level above.

Even utterly spent, she handled their barrages with a chilling patience, contrasting the fierceness and bloodlust coating every counterattack, which Stella luckily evaded by a hair.

How long could they keep up until the first blood was shed?

The answer? Not for long.

Lien kept Yuki-onna busy, dodging the rhythm of swings from the blunt end of her elaborate weapon. At the same time, the Human finally stood behind her. It was too good to be true.

And it was. Right before Stella's golden punch reached her spine, the Yūrei twirled on her heel and shifted away in a split second. And then, as the girl's momentum still kept going, she launched her chain at her wrist, coiling around it firmly before she pulled the Human towards her!

Stella could barely respond as the sorceress's foot mercilessly shattered her gut, sending her reeling with so much velocity that the blood links' hold slipped away, perceived as a subtle sensation on her wrist, foolishly fighting for space amidst an ocean of crushing agony.

Nevertheless, as her body lay trembling, covered in dirt, the Human's mind fought against any pesky thoughts of rest. Lien was still out there, trying her best to put a stop to that wench. What kind of packmate would Stella be if she didn't follow her example?

Gradually, the girl's legs sustained her against gravity once more. Her stomach must've been mashed into a protein shake at that point, but since when did her health keep her from fighting on? She gathered whatever was left of her Saniya, scraping the bottom of the metaphorical barrel as the golden glow spread all around her body.

"There must be something I can do with this much..." she muttered to herself, looking at her dirtied hand in hope and frustration. "Think, Stella, think!"

She landed both palms on the ground, her inner energy pulsating with a particular thrum. "What if...?"

Yuki-onna:

This pup undoubtedly shared blood with her mother.

No matter how far Yuki kicked her, she always barred her way to the demon child with more fire in her blows, somehow.

Damn it all. No matter how much the sorceress attempted to emotionally distance herself from her opponents, acting so ruthlessly against a child was a mountain she carried no equipment to climb. However, if she held back much longer, the Dragon's Guard would reach them in no time.

The young Wolf howled at the top of her lungs, irritating Yuki's ears as her claws kept her at bay, parrying the vicious flurry with her frigid chains! Where did that fighting spirit come from? Her bond with the Human? To think such power could come from a farce...

Still, all that vigor came with inexperience. Yuki-onna's analytical gaze glimpsed an obvious interval between every ten slashes or so. Lien was still a very impulsive, beastial combatant, rendering her open to the Yūrei's Saniya-laced kick on her side, sending her spinning as far as the edge of the clearing!

No time to dwell on the pup's well-being. Pushing through the pulsating ache spread through the leg she had weaponized, Yuki glided forward and-

A brown-colored hand lunged at her face, her reflexes so sharp they prompted her spine to bend back! Her lack of a nose was an advantage as the strange spell missed her face by a single inch.

"What the...?"

The Yūrei twirled to her side, straightening her posture at the end. Her bulging eyes immediately locked on the Devil herself, her mind properly used to target this dastardly prey.

"Hey! I don't appreciate how you're treating my girl!" Albeit her words expressed discontent, Stella's smug grin was shining through as two earth constructs, shaped like hands the size of her real ones, gravitated around her. "Looking for trouble, ma'am? You can find with little old me!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I didn't know you still had Saniya left," Yuki-onna commented, unsure of what tone she wanted to go for.

"Heh. No thanks to you and your tantrum back then." The pseudo-hands shifted above her head, imitating their real counterparts as she clasped her own fist. "Let Lien rest up a bit. It's about damn time we had a solo dance!"

Her contagious smirk struck Yuki's shrunken lips. "Agreed."

And so, the next round has started. Two, three, whatever the hell the number was.

Stella first flung her constructs at the sorceress, closed like fists, which she dodged effortlessly, using the opening to dash right back at her, swinging her sickle with an animalistic drive!

Unfortunately, the little demon didn't only evade with a simple sidestep, but also grabbed the chain with both hands, then forcibly yanked it to close the gap, forcing her to stumble to her knees and granting her the awkward position of standing face to face with her sworn enemy with an uncomfortable lack of personal space.

How... intimate. But what did the Human gain with this b-

And Stella's forehead slammed against hers. Ouch.

The throbbing pain was enough of an alert for Yuki-onna to broaden the distance between them for now, managing to pull her kusarigama from the demon's grasp. Her vision blurred, and her head grew lighter for a mere second before she put herself together, clutching the impacted zone with a twitching frown while her teeth clenched with raw hatred.

"Is that good enough for you? You understand I'm not falling that easily?" Stella questioned, though her tone was less of a mockery than before. She sounded... impatient.

"I understand that nuch." The sorceress's chest heaved. Her mind kept fighting to keep her frail body on track, regardless of the pain. "Still. I won't desist, little Devil."

"Gotcha." The Human cracked her knuckles and stretched her neck simultaneously. Her earth-drones' fingers, stationed above her shoulders, weaved as if they were softly tickling the air. "More proof, you need!"

This time, Stella kept her constructs close when she charged for the second time. After weaving through the whips of the kusarigama's blunt end, she entered close combat reach, forcing the Yūrei to evade and block multiple golden fists! However, every time Yuki prepared her counter, a pseudo-hand rebuked it, redirecting her weapon's trajectory to throw her off-balance! This frustrating cycle repeated constantly, resulting in...

"You're open!" A Saniya-laced kick swept across her legs, her back striking the earth soon after! How much damage could she take?

Yuki-onna's heart raced seconds later, witnessing Stella's boot raised above her face.

"DON'T!" She conjured a quick burst of air from her palm, sending the Human rolling a couple of meters away! Another waste of precious energy.

Yuki stood up at the same time as Stella, their gazes entering another silent duel. That brat possessed real talent in combat, managing to read and counter her fighting style after clashing a single time. Those earth constructs, which she previously thought served as a pure offensive tool, utterly took her by surprise with their creative usage.

She was right to fear this Human's growth under the protection of Pantsti. If she were this gifted as of now, could anyone fathom the heights she could reach in adulthood?

Her stare intensified, genuine fear mingling with anger as her grip on the solid blood strengthened so much that she could practically hear it crackling under her body warmth.

Stella shared no witty remark this time. Straight to business, the formation of her extra hands was the same as before.

A weakness to be exploited.

The dance resumed. However, the moment Yuki would have swung the kusarigama in retaliation was instead used to grab the parrying construct, clutching with both dainty hands as she infected it with an outer layer of thick, jagged ice!

Stella's eyes widened, then narrowed as her face turned into a fierce scowl. "Damn you!"

She sicced the remaining faux hand at the Yūrei. How easily flustered she was. Indeed, she was a mere child, regardless of her aptitudes.

Yuki-onna flung the frozen rock at its twin, the collision exploding both into countless pieces, forcing her to close her eyes and brace herself for the pesky debris. Fortunately, they only did faint grazes on her wrists, albeit still stinging against the wintry currents she helped propagate.

"Ah, I should've seen that coming..." Stella grasped her forehead, groaning in exasperation as the gap between them was littered with chunks of rock and smaller grains.

"Without your extra hands, you cannot stand a direct fight with ne," Yuki-onna stated, her heart fluttering with hope. "If it conforts you, I restect your ingenuity, Hunan child. For all that's worth."

"Yeah, well..." The Human narrowed her fist, glowing a barely visible golden filter. "Guess it's up to a good old brawl, huh?"

"Yes, live your last seconds with a hint of honor..." Yuki-onna reassumed her stance, her chains rotating with a patient thirst for Human blood. "It is detter than every ancestor of yours I've ever slain."

Stella scoffed, her clenched fist opening. "Honor?" Her middle finger and her thumb remained together. "There ain't such a thing in a REAL brawl!"

She snapped her fingers. Promptly, a dense cloud of dust rose from the floor, soaring straight at her face! Her eyes stung as if a wasp had pierced through her cornea, forcing a river of tears to desperately drown the invading sand clean.

"YOU FILTHY CHEATER!!!"

"NOW'S OUR CHANCE!" Stella shouted back, her steps ringing louder each time.

Yuki-onna instinctively jumped back, flinging her arms as her heart hammered with desperation. However, she couldn't find much success with instinct alone.

A successful blow on her chest, followed soon after by one on her forearm, creating a sickening crack on impact! As the pain coursed faster through her very being, the sorceress's veins were pumping with adrenaline, enough to dull the unwelcome sensation.

...That was, until a sharp wave of devastating, incinerating agony tore through her side, taking out a considerable chunk of her frail flesh! Her mind cried out, overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of sensations! Her eyes shot open, uncaring for the layer of dust still blinding her. Her hand, clutching the open wound, was smeared by a gory warmth that burst all over the ground without control.

The one responsible for all this, the savage beast without a shred of remorse, revealed herself once the Yūrei's conscience was lucid enough to focus on the voice received through her ears.

"I... think I've done something wrong."