The Distorted One

I really wished I got a weapon from that quest. My longsword was broken after that keeper lowered its stupid arm. Well, it's not like I really liked using it. Felt weird to use.

Well, since I don't have a weapon, I can just use these claws of mine.

I thought as I retracted my claws.

I looked up and noticed Luna was giving me angry looks. Jeez, does she still not trust me? Do I look like I'm going to do anything suspicious?

We were walking down a long narrow hall. Here I thought that we were going to enter the room, but noooo... we need to take this long hallway to get to the boss room.

Well, it's not like it'll take long.

Eventually, we arrived in the boss room. On the other side of the room, I could see a coffin just laying there.

Luna strolled off and inspected the room while I headed towards the coffin.

Looking at it close up, it didn't really look any special. Just a plain ancient coffin that gave out this ominous aura. I touched it a few, and then I accidentally touched the lid, and it moved. It leaked out an awful smell, and I had to recoil back. Whatever's been in there must have been dead for centuries.

I inched closer and took a peak at the little crack. I spotted a bony arm that looked like it was holding a cloth with something in it.

"Damn, can't see any further. I think I have to move this lid away."

I placed my hand on the lid and pushed it off the coffin.

Squeak!

The lid only moved an inch. So I tried again.

Slide~

Crash!

The lid finally fell off, and it crashed onto the ground.

"Now that I've finally taken it off, let's see what's inside thi-"

!

I looked inside the casket, and it was empty.

"I swore I saw something a second ago. Now there's nothing?"

I gulped, there was suddenly a presence of bloodlust that filled the room.

Clang!

I whirled around as I heard the clash of blades.

Scatter~

Luna stumbled back, her feet digging into the ground, shattering the stone floor.

I looked into the shadows and a silhouette of a cloaked figure. As he slowly emerged from the shadows, I saw a horn sticking out from his helmet. He was wielding a long Katana which looked like it just came out of a pool of black liquid, and he had a medium length Katana on his waist.

Is that the body that was just in the coffin? How didn't I see it come out?

Ding!

[Quest: Defeat Ichigo Homare the Distorted One (0/1)]

While I was reading the blue message in front of me, Luna suddenly yelled.

"Get out of my way Noctem!"

Luna pushed me away and dashed towards Ichigo. Ichigo slowly unsheathed his blade and then the surrounding air suddenly warped and became distorted. As Luna slashed at Ichigo, he shattered into glass. Luna jumped back, confused about what just happened. It also confused me. How did he just do that?

Suddenly, Ichigo appeared behind Luna and unsheathed his Katana. Luna quickly turned around and clashed with Ichigo's blade, which hadn't even come out of the sheath yet. Luna kicked Ichigo away and threw her kunai. Just as they were about to hit Ichigo, he sheathed his Katana, and the surrounding air warped. The kunai went through him as if he was a ghost. And now they were heading for me. I dropped onto the ground as they flew past me.

I don't know if I saw that right, but did he just distort the air just by sheathing? That's too overpowered if you ask me. Distorting air without even taking his blade out.

Luna clutched her daggers and ran towards Ichigo. Ichigo finally unsheathed his Katana, the long blade measured to about his height, so that meant that the long blade gave him more range. When he swung it horizontally, Luna jumped up into the air and evaded. She came down and swung her daggers, making an X. I saw Luna slash Ichigo in the face, but then, the air became distorted again and now I was seeing Luna being blocked by Ichigo who was now wielding his other Katana.

Luna looked confused as she clearly knew that she had slashed Ichigo. She looked at me, knowing that I saw it too.

Ichigo then kicked her into the walls. Then he turned his attention to me. He was emitting a dark red aura around him as he approached me.

I quickly summoned all my spectrals in front of me. The centipedes crashed into the ceiling and pummeled into the ground. Then they loomed over my other spectrals and stared at Ichigo. I then ordered them to attack him all at once. If I sent them one after another, he would just take them out without breaking a sweat, but if they all attacked him at once, he'll be overwhelmed and I win.

While my spectrals began charging towards him, he suddenly stopped and stood still. Then he reached for the Katana on his waist and quickly unsheathed it halfway, and the air around him and around my spectrals suddenly became distorted.

Then he muttered in a bloodcurdling voice.

"Annihilation..."

Then he disappeared into thin air, and the air suddenly became like shattered glass. It was like looking at a broken mirror. When he disappeared, my spectrals had become frozen, like they were trapped in ice. It wasn't just my samurais, or the cipactli, or the bear, but it even froze the centipedes and the keepers. Suddenly, he appeared once again, slowly sheathing his Katana.

And then when the sword was fully in the sheath.

SHATTER!

My spectrals had dispersed, and they all became blue and green mist. They didn't reform and instead, they returned into the glowing star pattern on my chest.

Again, he began approaching me.

"Well shit, that didn't work."

But if I remember, if the samurais I encountered before were weak to light, then he must be weak to light.

I guess I'll just spray him with light magic.

My hands started glowing a white golden color, and I aimed my palms at him.

"Here, let's see how you can take on millions of light bullets!"

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-boom!

My hands suddenly started firing light magic at the rate that it sounds like I was using a machine gun. Then Ichigo was suddenly wrapped around with a cloud of smoke. It looks like I was able to hit him. But I can't underestimate him, if I just shoot him once, it's not like he'll die by just one, so this is why I resorted to spraying. Since I was doing this without pause, my mana was decreasing at a quick rate.

[Mana: 512/575]

[Mana: 469/575]

[Mana: 420/575]

Sh*t, if I keep this up, I'll eventually run out of mana.

If I was counting, I think I've fired about more than a hundred light bullets. So then I closed my fist, and the blasting stopped. I took deep breaths and looked at my mana.

[Mana: 294/575]

Looks like I blew out too much mana. My mana won't restore until around ten seconds without using my mana has passed.

As the smoke cleared up, I expected seeing Ichigo on the ground, all wounded, but when I got a closer look, he was standing without a scratch on his armor.

"What? But I clearly hit him point-blank, how did I not damage him?"

Then I looked behind him and I realized. All the bullets that I thought had struck him didn't hit him, they went off course and damaged the floor behind him.

He slowly unsheathed his long Katana as he began approaching me. I slowly backed away as he got closer. He lifted his Katana overhead and then bring it down. I extended my claws and used them to block the blade.

Clang!

I grabbed onto the blade and used [Lacerate]. Then I used all of my strength and punched the blade, breaking it. Then I elbowed him in the face, which staggered him. Then, as I was about to punch him in the face again, my fingers were suddenly cut off.

"?!"

[Health: 923/950]

Splurt!

Blood spilled out from my fingers and dripped onto the floor.

How did he cut my fingers off? I broke his blade so he wouldn't be able to use it, and his other one is on his waist.

Like it was all an illusion, Ichigo was suddenly in a different position. He was wielding the sheath to his other blade in his left hand and the Katana in his right hand. I looked up at the blade and it was stained with my blood. I looked at the long Katana on the ground and it suddenly turned into dust.

Then he pulled back his blade and jammed the blade directly into my chest.

[Health: 485/950]

"Gough!"

Hell, that took almost half of my hp. If he does that one more time, I'll die.

Then he recoiled his blade and kicked me, slashing my chest horizontally in the process.

[Health: 394/950]

As I fell on my back, blood gushed out from my chest. Ichigo spun his Katana and then he cut my legs off with just a swish.

[Health: 184/950]

Sh*t! That hurts!

Clang!

Suddenly, Ichigo swung his Katana behind him and clashed with Luna's daggers. Then he kicked her away and went after her.

Finally... she came. Now Ichigo is distracted by her.

Now, I'm guessing that he thinks I'll die by blood loss. Well, too bad for him, I can regenerate my limbs and my health regenerates in a few seconds. But it'll take a while before I can fully heal.

I hope Luna can hold him off until I get back on my feet. For now, I think I'll sit this one out and think of how to beat him.

But...

I hope that she can differ from someone like me to someone like him. Cause one false move...

And she'll die...