Sky and Illya VS Death (1)

-13 Minutes Until Providence's Arrival-

The fight didn't stop there, as Death and Illya went at it again. I could see Death was heading for me and Illya must've noticed too. I dodged his hit and deflected the blade, but the counterweight was coming right for me!

Illya grabbed onto the chain with her teeth and whiplashed her head to the right, pulling Death's entire body away from me and cutting him in half vertically. When Illya hit the ground, she kicked up more dirt, swerved with her saber, and kicked a huge block of dirt shaped like a boulder out of the ground and toward Death.

Death used his counterweight to cut the entire thing in half and then captured Illya with the chain that followed the sharp weight.

While Illya was restrained with his weaponry, she spun her body at high speeds and pulled Death closer to her, where she kicked him in the face and slammed his head into the ground with her heel.

Death dropped the Kusarigama he used to attack Illya and instead focused on me. I dodged his hits, used both of my sabers to deflect the counterweight, and flipped my body to slam him into the ground as well. I got close to hitting him in the neck with my saber and decapitating him, but the counterweight from the Kusarigama wrapped around Illya's body shot back toward me. If I didn't duck, it may have taken my head clean off.

Both Illya and I retreated as Death magically recalled his weaponry back to him.

"Not bad for the two Asterios. Unfortunately, I'm stronger than you." Death said. He primed his weaponry and threw it at me first. Illya blocked the Kusarigama and to both of our surprise, Death summoned another one with a different-looking chain. This time, on the end of the chain, was a huge metal ball with spikes on it. He threw it directly at me again.

Illya took the hit with her saber and cut it in half. Right as it split, her strands wrapped around the ball and pulled it together, reforming it and launching it right at Death. Death threw his Kusarigama around the entire ball and changed its momentum completely.

Right as the ball's momentum changed and was directed at me again, Illya kicked the ground up with a light tap from her foot and completely stopped the ball. Death and I both dropped our jaws in surprise as Illya continued to run after Death. The fight was insane and moved at a fast pace. Death swung his weaponry around, but Illya could predict where every last trace of his chain, counterweight, and blade would go.

Until Death showed us a new tactic.

Death let go of the Kusarigama with his left hand and with the curve of his Kusarigama in his right hand, he effectively extended his range by three times the amount it used to be. He curved it right around Illya and almost took out both of my eyes with the tip of the one on the right.

Once the Kusarigama from his left hand hit a perfect right angle with his body, he changed direction and swung it downward at me. The weapon broke the ground almost completely underneath me and dug up dirt to a rate that I couldn't exactly see the ends to.

That hit definitely would've killed me, but why is he trying to kill me? I thought Death had this weird connection to me...

Illya didn't let him continue any further and caught the Kusarigama's chain with her left hand, using her feet to juggle the saber that belonged in that hand, and eventually kicked it straight through Death's head. It put a hole in it, but Death still didn't drop. Then... where was his weak point?

"Oh come on Illya. You aren't showing all of your strength now, are you? You should start doing that because this might begin to hurt him." Death said.

He snapped his fingers again and as if the ground underneath me was alive... it started to move.

Like an Earthquake?

The ground snapped open instantaneously and I almost fell into it. Illya threw a strand around my body and pulled me back up, and summoned her third arm.

"Does this mean you're going to fight me like your life is on the line?

"Something much more valuable than my life is on the line. You won't hurt him." Illya said.

In around one second, Death launched both of his Kusarigama's at Illya and she caught them with her third arm, picked them up, and slammed them into the ground. But... it didn't seem like Death cared as he was still closing the distance and seemingly flying toward me.

"You better use it, or else I'm going to kill him." Death said while in mid-flight. I sat there stunned, ready to block with my saber... but there was no need.

Not as an ice wall appeared in front of me in an instant.

"Belle?!" I yelled out... but that wasn't Belle.

Illya bled out of her nose and held her head in pain as she held her left hand up. A white glimmer appeared on the back of her hand as she did so, and in the exact spot she held her head, I felt a surge of pain within mine as well.

And a glimmering rock on the back of my left hand that followed with that pain.

"There it is! The cat's out of the bag! So, now that you've revealed your true identity to Sky, Illya. Why don't you tell him where that's from?" Death yelled out to her.

"No need. This means nothing to me, nor does it mean anything to him. We've already discussed that the Stone is nothing but a marking to those who want to kill him. And nobody wants to do that, and it doesn't matter, it only matters to the one person who's trying to kill him." Illya told Death. He clicked his tongue in irritation.