Luis vs Ace, Part 2

My eyes widen. "Could he be…Ace of the Cards of the King?!" It's been a long time since I've heard of them, but it looks like they're making their next move. I don't have time to contact the others, I gotta go find Ace now!

I keep finding more cards until I find myself in an empty forest. I pick up more and more cards until I find a large open clearing in the center of the forest. In the middle of the clearing, I pick up one last Ace of spades. I've picked up enough playing cards to make my own deck. If we only want to use ace's, that is. Looking around, I can't spot any more cards.

"I must be where he wants me…" I say to myself.

A figure then jumps out of a tree overhead, landing in front of me in a cloud of dust. When the dust settles, I see the man from earlier.

"Luis Tramontana…Slayer Fūjin…" the man says.

My reputation precedes me.

"Ace? Of the Cards of the King?" I ask as I instinctively reach for my katana. After the Daniel incident, I always carry it with me. Even if I'm off duty.

"You are correct," the man -now officially known as "Ace"- answers. "Blue Demon."

My eyes widen. "How do you know that…?" I growl.

"The Cards of the King has been keeping tabs on you for a while now," Ace answers. "We need you for our plans."

"Yeah, I've heard that a million times before!" I snap. "What makes you any different than the countless foes I've defeated?!"

"Because I, Blue Demon-" Ace begins to say. "-Am here for a duel!"

"A…duel?" I stammer.

"Yes, a duel between swordsmen," Ace answers as he motions to the bamboo sword hanging from the left side of his brown leather belt. "I'm here to test your strength as a half demon."

Does height equal power, or something? Because every strong dude I meet is tall as Hell! Nick's over six foot, King's over six foot, and now Ace is as well. Ace has dull orange hair tied back in a man bun and the one eye of his that I can see is a medium blue. There's a long scar going down his eyepatch-covered left eye.

Ace wears a sleeveless blue buttoned up vest with yellow highlights on the waist and ends by his shoulders and wears orangish brown jeans.

Ace reaches for the bamboo sword against his hip and draws it, clutching his bamboo sword tightly between both of his hands and aiming its bamboo blade at me. Nervously, I draw my katana as well.

"Your sword…is made out of wood?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow at Ace's bamboo sword.

"Yes, but do not underestimate it," Ace answers. "When reinforced with Cursed Power, my wood can slice through even your steel."

Ace and I circle each other across the forest clearing for a bit, swords in hand, sizing one another up and down.

"Now…let us begin!"

Alright, I'm facing the strongest fighter of my enemies here, I got to be careful! I'll go on the defensive.

Ace's entire body begins bubbling with light blue Cursed Power as his bamboo sword does as well. Ace then charges towards me, keeping low to the ground, moving at speeds inhuman even with the help of Cursed Power Barrier.

My eyes widen as I watch Ace zoom towards me. "He's fast!" I cry. And Ace is starting off with a Cursed Power Technique instead of his Cursed Ability, how weird?

Once in front of me, Ace springs up and brings his bamboo sword high above his head. I counter by reinforcing the blade of my katana with Cursed Power, and bringing it up vertically to block. Ace swings his bamboo sword downwards and our two blades clash, wood on steel. Ace doesn't have to struggle even for a second, because the second that his bamboo sword makes contact with my katana, the force of Ace's swing causes my legs to instantly buckle as I crash down to the ground on my knees.

"Holy crap…he's strong!" I gasp in surprise. I get it, that of course, as the Cards of the King's Ace, he's strong. But damn. Ace isn't just strong because of any special ability. His natural physical strength…is genuinely inhuman!

"If this was a real sword, you would already be dead," Ace ominously says as he looms over me.

"Yeah, I know," I grunt as I peer up at Ace. He isn't striking me while I'm down, why not? "Alright…let's try this again!" I say as I push myself off of the ground.

I prepare my Wind Blade and slash my katana dowards Ace, who counters by bringing his bamboo sword up and slashing it towards my katana, reinforcing his entire body and his bamboo blade as he does so. Our two blades clash in a rush of Cursed Power, Ace's light blue and my own darker blue Cursed Power.

Ace and I struggle against each other for a bit, but slowly and surely, I feel myself being pushed back by Ace's supreme strength.

Eventually, Ace is able to knock my katana to the ground and pin it underneath his bamboo sword, like an action movie. Ace then begins his bamboo sword back up, and before I can raise my katana, jabs me in the chest with his bamboo sword and sends me flying backwards, my back slamming straight through the tree behind me.

All with a poke in the gut by a wooden stick.

"I'd be paralyzed if I didn't use Barrier…" I grunt as I stand up again, rubbing my back, and using my katana as a cane.

But I don't get much of a chance to catch my breath. Ace follows his wicked jab up by leaping into the air, and as he falls, jabs the end of his bamboo sword into the ground, forcing me to leap backwards in order to dodge Ace's descent. When Ace's bamboo sword slams into the ground, Ace sends shockwaves of wind, dust, and Cursed Power flying in every which direction, as well as cracks spreading across the Earth. Ace's attack still sends me stumbling backwards, but I manage to stay on my feet.

"You can't win without your Blue Demon, so let me see it," Ace orders.

"Why does everyone care about the Blue Demon, damnit?!" I cry. "Stop calling me that!"

"Very well, Luis Tramontana," Ace replies. Wow, he actually listened to my request?

"And I can't activate my demon form on command!" I continue.

"You can't?" Ace asks.

"Nope!" I answer.

"Very well…" Ace sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. When Aces peers back at me, there's a newfound intensity in my eyes, that sends chills running up and down my spine.

"BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!"

Ace brings his bamboo sword back up and slashing it forwards, sending a powerful shockwave of wind and Cursed Power rocketing towards me. I bring my arms up in a cross to block and reinforce them with Cursed Power, but it doesn't matter much as I'm swept off my feet by Ace's powerful attack, which sends me flying backwards again, tumbling dozens of feet through the forest, and forcing me to let go of my katana.

"Ow…" I grunt from my place writhing in pain on the forest ground as Ace lumbers over to me. Ace says nothing as he stares down at me, then tosses me my katana.

"Why are you giving me my sword back?" I ask as I snatch my katana.

"Because I don't fight unarmed opponents, or hit opponents that are on the ground," Ace answers, causing me to sigh as I stand back up again.

"Great, so you're just playing an ass-beating simulator now?" I grumble.

"This is a duel, not a game," Ace replies as he clutches his bamboo sword tightly with both hands.

Ace then charges towards me in the blink of an eye, his Cursed Power Barrier reinforced body moving faster than I can anticipate, even using my Air Control. As Ace dashes by me, he slashes me with his Cursed Power katana, samurai-style, before resheathing his katana and landing to the ground on one knee. My chest explodes in blood due to the deep gashes cut into it as I drop to the ground.

I clutch my wounds and pant heavily, staring at Ace as he circles back towards me.

"You've awakened your Blue Demon, but you're still a fledgling," Ace begins to say. "When you can truly control your demon half, is when we'll meet again."

"And then we will have a duel to the death."

And so, Ace then walks away, leaving me too busy writhing on the ground in pain to chase after him.

***

"Ow…" I groan as I limp into my dormhouse. Of course, I could have just gone home, which is closer, but I need to talk to everyone about Ace.