Extra Motivation

Chari had the longer reach with his weapon and struck first the staff whistling through the air with an enormous force, charging straight at Jericho's head.

Quickly reacting, Jericho bent his knees backwards evading the strike, he whistled as the staff came charging through and brought his dagger forward as well in a deadly swipe aimed at Chari's gut.

With a quick turn of the staff he swatted the dagger away. He then took a step back hoping to recover from the earlier swing, not giving him any breathing space Jericho pressed his attack. But it was all a trick to get Jericho closer, he never planned to stop the arch of the staff.

Rotating his body the staff did a 360° turn pounding into Jericho's side. Jericho was fast and just barely managed to block the attack with his forearm. It did nothing to stop the inertia though, he was sent flying to the other side of the roof.

He stood up and straightened his elbow. Staring at Chari with a mischievous glint in his eyes he said:

"Let's kick things up to gear two. We need to put up a good performance for our audience now don't we?"

Behind him Vera was staring at them wide eyed hoping for the outcome of the fight. When Jericho looked away from her she continued what she was previously doing, fumbling with the ropes tying her hands in place, trying to somehow set free herself.

The two forces were at it again. Kicks and blows were sent flying from every direction at every second. Chari managed to land a couple of blows but Jericho had landed a lot of his as well leaving Chari's face bruised.

Jericho charged forward and this time he was able to completely avoid getting hit by the staff. He snaked his way around Chari's defenses and thrust his dagger. Chari twisted his body to the right but was unable to completely avoid the strike, the dagger caught him right in his shoulder leaving a nasty gash.

Vera let out a muffled scream but Chari was too engrossed in the fight to even notice, he was fully committed to the obstacle in front of him.

He grabbed onto the arm Jericho used to thrust the dagger and bent it towards him. Jericho, thinking he was about to reverse the attack reflexively jumped back but he was already caught in Chari's vice-like grip. There was no escape and he had completely misinterpreted his attack.

Chari stepped to his side and before Jericho knew what was happening he was up in the air and shortly after he came crashing down with a deafening boom.

Wasting no ounce of motion, his staff was coming straight at full force towards Jericho's head like a speeding spear. Jericho paled, his eyes wide as he saw the weapon approach. Chari still had his arm tightly held so there was no escape once the staff made contact he would be dead.

But there was one issue, Chari up till this point had never killed anyone and just as the staff came crashing down he stopped it's decent. He wasn't going to go back on his principles, not today and not because of scum like Jericho.

In that split second of hesitation Jericho managed to unhook his hand and dash backwards, his eyes filled with shock but then a deep frown appeared on his face.

"Why didn't yo– wait, you have never killed anyone have you?"

Chari stared at him full of disdain, why couldn't he kill this man? If there was anyone who deserved death it would be him but here he was still unable to bring himself to do it.

"I'm not here to answer your stupid questions."

Jericho looked angry now, he was seething with rage when he spoke next.

"I hoped to have a fight with someone who at least had a little understanding about where I am coming from."

"But instead I get trash like you who doesn't even know how to kill. Do you really think trash like you can defeat me!?" Enraged, he held his dagger tightly and moved with a vengeance, faster than he had ever moved.

As Jericho came charging Chari knew something was awfully different. There was a palpable feeling of dread that hung in the air almost causing him to shiver.

This feeling was something only a handful of people could inflict, something he had only encountered once before– bloodlust. And the person he had felt it from was none other than his alter.

"You have to kill him!" His alter's voice rang in his head for the first time since the fight started, slight panic seeping into his voice. It was not that he was afraid of Jericho. He knew that at this point if Chari was to continue trying not to kill him– they would end up dead.

After the death of his sister, Chari became completely appalled by the very thought of ending a life. No matter how evil or cruel anyone was he felt like it was not in his place to decide who dies or not. Who was he to decide their fate?

His alter did not share in the same ideals.

"Drop your ideals just for today or switch with me! At our current level trying to arrest him is far too risky." His alter warned, but it all fell to deaf ears.

Chari was already calculating his chances of winning and just before Jericho reached him he saw it! This was his path to victory.

Chari's voice came in a whisper:

"Broken style."

The grip on his staff changed. The staff now hung loosely on his wrists and he relaxed his body. Everything took mere seconds.

Jericho came forward like a man possessed and sent his dagger forward, the dagger cut through the air moving toward the person that would be his next victim but to his surprise his attack was swatted away and the staff was already moving back multiple attacks flying in his direction.

Jericho backed away before coming back, this time he dodged an attack from Chari and spun around to deliver a kick but the staff was in his way again, swirling around in the air at an incredible speed.

The broken technique was called broken not because of how excellent the technique was, it was actually called broken because of the amount of strain it placed on the users body.

While using a staff the individual had to be careful of over swinging or bending his arm in the wrong direction which could lead to injury. The broken technique however disregarded all these rules, it had one simple aim, crush the enemy no matter the cost.

Weapons sparked in the air as they collided, both bodies moving from place to place exchanging several series of blows. The full weight of their techniques were levied against each other, their bodies aching from the strain their movement speed placed on them.

But they could not stop. They were both soaked in sweat, each move they made sponsored by the unending flow of adrenaline.

"Come on, is this all you've got?" Jericho spat. His dagger moving in a vicious arch only to make contact with air that once occupied Chari's position.

He changed the direction of the dagger once more and swung again an again but each time the staff violently collided with it. The staff was moving in Chari's hands as though it was made of plastic.

As time passed Chari began to feel the effects of the technique taking hold. All his muscles ached and he could feel his bones shake with each swing. He was not nearing his limit, in truth he had already passed it several moments ago but he could not stop, not when Jericho still pressed the attack.

But then he made a terrible mistake.

His staff found its way dangerously close to Jericho's head again, if the blow connected there would be no saving him and just like before he hastily changed the direction of his strike. Due to the sheer amount of sweat that had accumulated in his hand the staff slipped, just for a second.

But that was all Jericho needed. Abandoning his right hand he sent his fingers right into Chari's eyes momentarily blinding him.

Chari staggered back, immediately taking a defensive position but nothing came after that. It only took a moment to realize what had happened. Forcing his eyes open he saw Jericho now standing next to Vera.

Jericho stared at Chari, a deep frown on his face and his voice filled with indignation as he spoke.

"It looks like you need a little 'extra motivation'."

That was all he said. He didn't even give Chari time to think before he repeatedly thrust his dagger into Vera in all directions.

The dagger easily went past her skin, cutting through the fabric of her clothes with ease and slicing through the tender flesh beneath.

Vera let out a weak scream but it slowly died down as he continued his assault. Rims of blood flowed down from each fresh cut bathing the killer and the girl in red.