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𝟭𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗲: 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲

Shigure unsheathed his katana and it glistens under the light as he charges into battle, taking out all the low-grade monster that were in his way. The Matsuno's were very well known for having exemplary skill with katanas and their improved sword techniques. Mio and Kana follow up behind him, Mio using her holy gunlance and Kana with her light rapier. The horde of monsters kept coming, but the three of them held them off pretty well. Green and rancid-looking blood was spewing everywhere as the monsters were falling one by one. Shigure found himself surrounded at some points but he pulls off a spinning slash and finishes the monsters for good. The three of them now regroup, back to back with each other. They're all heavily panting after the strain of taking out over a hundred monsters.

"It doesn't matter how many we kill, more keep coming!" Mio complains, looking at Shigure as if to spite him.
"And they're coming at us fast too!" Kana says, slashing a monster coming towards her.
"It's fine! I'll find the root cause of this. Hold on a second." Shigure says, now closing his eyes. His senses heightened as he opened his eyes and looked through the monster and found what was causing the monster spawn. "It's behind all of them. A medium-grade necromancer type. That's what's spawning all the monsters," Shigure says looking at Mio and Kana for approval. "If we take it out, all the monsters will disappear with it."
Kana and Mio nodded and faced ahead of them. "I'll deal with these posers, Shigure, go deal with the necromancer." Mio says.

"Gotcha. Lead the way." Shigure quickly says before blindly charging forward. "I'll take you all out at once! Hanagaki Style: Raging Blast!" Mio yells taking out one half of the monsters.
"Now, let's do this! Anima Magic: Laser of Light!" Kana screams, also taking out half of the monsters on her side. Shigure dashed straight towards the necromancer which, as he suspected, was hidden in the darkness behind all the monsters.
"It's over. Matsuno Sword Style: Night Slash." Shigure says. He unsheathed his sword and sheathed it again, Classical Japanese style, with head down and eyes closed. A slash went right through the necromancer, slicing it like it was a knife through butter. It was slowly withering away but as it did, it smiled a little, before a huge BANG!

In front of him was a ginormous monster, high-grade at best. It let out a loud cry and slashed at Shigure with high-speed. He barely managed to block it with his katana. He was launched to the wall next to him and was left injured. Kana and Mio saved him before he was crushed. "You okay?" Mio asked.
"I'm good. It seems like we have to work together to take this thing down." Shigure says, steadying his footing. The monster roared and charged at the three swinging his battle axe around like crazy. The three of them dodged the swings in unison and tried to find an opening to strike, but it was a lot harder than expected.

"Why don't we use our powers at the same time and fire a mega blast at him?" Shigure suggested.
"You must know how hard it is to do, right? Plus, it's time-consuming. He'll have enough time to attack us then!" Mio explained to Shigure as if he was dumb.
"No, I mean if we use our own techniques and they align together, they'll mix and make a bigger blast!" Shigure replies. "Let's give it a shot. You never know if you don't try!" Shigure readies his katana and takes a breath so deep, you could see the air being breathed and released. He was focused. Mio decided to take the lead and charged her gunlance attack. Kana held her rapier upwards towards the sky, the rapier shining bright and growing lighter.
"Go." Shigure says before Kana and Mio use their attacks.

"Combo-Skill..." Mio and Kana started.
"Silencer Slashes." Shigure finishes.

His eyes lighten up as he slashes through the monster and ends up behind him. He slashed so quickly and with such force, you could see the visible slash lines in reality. "This is the end of the road for you, monster." Shigure says, tapping the edge of his katana's hilt. The line slashes stained red and exploded on the monster. "That is how you imbued katana powers!" he says again smiling.
"Awesome! Now we can forge ahead and meet with the others near the top." Mio optimistically says, running ahead.
"Mio! Wait for me!" Kana says, frantically running after her. Shigure smiled and ran after them.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing? Please, come back safe. My prayers are with you." he thought to himself.

Haru POV
Haru flipped backwards from the impact from Ryutaro's fists and his Flame Urvan axe colliding.
"You're strong. Surprised you aren't one of the Seats!" Haru laughs. Ryutaro scowls at him with his bulging eye and charged at him, his hand engulfed with flames. Haru parried all of Ryutaro's strikes, but his face was being cut a little in the process.
"How about this?! Flame Spiral!" Haru yells, spinning his axe and making a scorching hot spiral of fire. Ryutaro did get damaged but was holding on a bit. Haru dashes towards him and does a body feint to slash the lower body part, but Ryutaro jumped over the Flame Urvan and kicked him across the face with a flaming kick.

"Shit! I forgot this guy is crazy agile! Gotta figure something out before shit goes south!" Haru said to himself. Haru throws his axe at Ryutaro's face and quickly ran to catch the axe and pulled off fast-paced multi slashes like it was nothing. Ryutaro, on the other hand, was dodging and parrying like his life depended on it; it kinda did depend on it.
"Is that all you got? As I thought you are just a fledgling when it comes to battle!" Ryutaro says as an attempt to taunt Haru.
"Oh yeah?! Well, from where I'm standing it looks like you're struggling yourself," Haru taunts, smirking a little. "What, am I swinging to fast for you? I'd happily go faster!"
Haru begins swinging a little faster and now Ryutaro was feeling the Flame Urvan.

Then, out of nowhere, Haru swings his back leg to leg sweep a surprised Ryutaro. Ryutaro was now in midair and Haru uses the rotation of his body to swing his axe through his stomach as if he was a baseballer swinging for the fences. He hit a home run, as Ryutaro was launched backward into the walls. "Am I just a fledgling now?" Haru asked him waiting for the remorse.
"I underestimated you. You are talented. But I apologise, because I must end you quickly." Ryutaro replies. Ryutaro, quicker than ever, hits Haru with a three-piece combo strike. Haru parried the strikes but the explosiveness of his movements blasted him into a wall. "Sorry to have to do this to you." Ryutaro apologises, now putting his hands together and unleashing his Delusion Technique.

"Delusion Technique: Volcanic Blaze."
Haru found himself in a blazing hot volcano. The top of the volcano was caved-in and he couldn't escape. The space inside was getting smaller. The amount of oxygen left to breath was lessening. The consciousness of Haru Kanagawa himself was fading. He felt his body beginning to give way, when he heard a voice in his head. A memory, of the training he did with his weapon-gifter, Blazer.
"Remember, all flames that you have are more powerful than any flame. The flame in you will burn as long as you live and breath. If you are in a bad situation, reignite your flame. Burst past expectations and show your enemy that the flame, that is your life, cannot be extinguished so easily!"

"In...fer...no..." Haru says in small intervals.
A blast of flame explodes within the volcano and Haru bursts out of the volcano. His usually green eyes changed to a blood-red colour. His body was covered in flames, yet his clothing wasn't burned. "What is this?! How did you escape my Delusion Technique?!" Ryutaro asked in denial of what he just saw.
"Explaining things isn't my style... I'll just show you." Haru says, his voice more focused and serious.
Ryutaro attempts to fire flame projectiles but Haru just walks up to him as if nothing is touching him. "How...?!" he says shocked and a touch bewildered.
Haru conjoined his fingers together.

"Delusion Technique: Infernal Prison."
Ryutaro was now stuck in a giant fire orb with nowhere to run or nowhere to leave. It was boiling inside. Hotter than the Sun at its hottest. Ryutaro's skin pigments couldn't handle the heat and his skin began falling off, painfully, while making a sizzling sound. "This technique is incomplete. It isn't perfect, but it's enough to fry you to nothing." Haru declares, clenching his fist. The lava from outside the Infernal Prison seeped inside the orb, whilst infinitely spawning outside again. Ryutaro was drowning in this lava. His skin was being burnt and melted like atomic acid, leaving nothing but bones.
"You can handle my heat, poser." Haru said before releasing the seeping process and allowed the orb to explode. The only remnants of Ryutaro was his lifeless skeleton which lay lifeless by the stairs.

"That was the first time I used this... soooo tired... ugh...shit..." Haru said. He was completely drained. He fell and lie down, fast asleep.
"You did good to defeat him, Haru. Get some rest. You'll recover fast, won't you?" Makoto says, gently and applying a force field around him. He walked up the stairs and took the path Haru was due to go to.
To be continued...

Next time: Yusuke and Yuki team up to take on the brazen 5th Seat, Tomoe and the intellectual 6th Seat, Yuito. And Ryoma is planning a big surprise for the Apocalypse Hunters. Find out what it is in the next chapter!