"Now this is what I like!" Lezschill roared, blood spurting from where Marichi's dagger was lodged.
"A good battle, where I can feel the passion!" He caught up to Marichi, raising his hands high, then swinging them down with such force that when they hit the ground, they erupted in a dust cloud.
Luckily, Marichi dodged just in time, still in a backward motion, when a tiny pebble from the debris flew into his eye. He lost balance and fell onto his back, the cloth over his mouth falling away.
Lezschill loomed over him, placing his hands on Marichi's hands and bending low. Marichi could feel the foul, corpse smell emanating from Lezschill's breath as his face drew near.
"O-Oh… My first battle in a while, My first earned kill." Lezschill's voice was as dark as his teeth, his expression almost one of climax as he extended his long, black-stained tongue.
"You sure are pretty under that cloth." Lezschill chuckled.
"Almost like a girl… No, he is a girl." He laughed, breathing heavily, as he stared at Marichi's feminine-like face.
"Best to savor the moment." He licked Marichi with his tongue.
Meanwhile, Jorel was being pummeled from all sides like a sack of potatoes, yet he never once dropped to the ground, enduring each hit.
I'm almost finally understanding it!
He gave a beat-up smile, blood flowing from his nose, down to his mouth, and onto his chin.
The Shido-style is the key for me winning this!
I just know it!
He felt sharp breezes, followed by faint, light breezes on his face, shoulders, and abdomen.
He dodged with only his shoulders and abdomen taking hits. He was taken aback but continued to drag his feet forward, his arms still spread wide but not too far, his sword held sideways with both hands.
Yes!
He then felt a faint breeze flowing sideways across his legs. He immediately jumped, dodging it as a faint gust of wind was seen blowing sideways.
He landed on the ground and then felt another faint breeze on his back and didn't waste another second in dodging. He felt more breezes across his body and dodged all of them with some level of ease, though pain grew all over his body.
At long last! That Oku can never touch me again!
He panted, his forehead and other parts of his body bleeding.
He felt another faint breeze and bent over, evading it, then quickly reacted by striking the area above him with his sword.
SWISSHH!---
Got you now! Jorel thought, as if he were already the victor.
---FWOOSH!
What? It's just air! I didn't hit it?!
Jorel thought as he immediately got up and moved away.
Another faint breeze came in, and he dodged once more. More came in, and as he dodged, he reacted, but each time, his sword just cut the air. He sighed in frustration, continuing to dodge the barrage of faint breezes.
I now know when and where it's going to attack.
But how do I attack it?
His mind then went back to when Lezschill said that Oku doesn't exist.
"How do I attack something that doesn't exist?" As he evaded, he found himself back at Burtu's corpse, which was completely covered in blood, a black substance forming from his abdomen upwards.
Jorel didn't notice this. Instead, he marched over the body and used it as a platform to jump backward, landing as he slightly recoiled.
So is this how I win, even survive?
By dodging and running?!
While Jorel thought that, he felt as if insects crawled under his skin and a jarring feeling within his chest.
Little by little, Burtu's fingers started moving, until they began tapping the ground. This drew the attention of Jorel, Marichi, and even Lezschill.
"Ahh! Jorel, you bastard!" Burtu shouted at the top of his lungs, rising from the waist upwards, using his chest to support himself.
"Again?!" Jorel shouted in shock as he continued to dodge but faltered at the last second and was hit with an attack that sent him to the ground.
"What am I doing on the ground?" Burtu wondered as he got up, his body, covered in what seemed like a crimson cloth, pained him all over. He looked around and saw Lezschill over Marichi. Both looked at him, and then behind him, he saw a struggling Jorel on the ground.
"You! Why'd you push me!" He shouted, walking towards Jorel, his brows and face matching the crimson hue of his body.
"Didn't even think you'd survive…" Jorel looked at Burtu's approach, lost for words.
"And you already seemed like you wanted to die!" Jorel pouted as he shouted back.
I-Is that Burtu?
It must be him!
That's where we just left now…
But how is this even possible?
Marichi thought, as he kept turning his face to keep Lezschill from licking it.
"I-I…" Burtu paused.
"Survive? What do you mean by that?" Burtu asked, his body shaking. He then looked at his hands and the area around him, covered in blood, and slowly realized it might be his own blood.
"W-Whose blood is this?" He shouted, touching his body that felt moist and sticky.
Jorel turned his face away in disbelief and fully stood up with a groanful roar. Burtu's head began spinning, he soon became confused and dizzy and fell to the ground.
"Ahhh…" He held his head as he sat down, flashes of his dead body with finger-sized gaps running from his head to his abdomen.
That's me?
He thought, as he continued to see the images of his own corpse.
Jorel then felt another faint breeze, but too weak to dodge it, so it hit him, sending his head shuddering back and forth. Blood dripped from his nose onto the ground.
Wait…So does this mean that Burtu can't die?
This is the second time…
Can we use this to our advantage?
Marichi thought, as he struggled one of his hands free and grabbed his dagger stuck in Lezschill's neck. He then moved it downwards with all his might, which let out a spray of black blood as the dagger burst out from Lezschill's jugular.
Stabbing the hands around him, Marichi then crawled out of there. Lezschill gurgled as the blood flowed from his throat, but it immediately healed. He got up and focused on Marichi.
---The end of chapter 34---