A/n: Just a quick one, if you read this in one go. First of all you're a champion and you deserve a medal and secondly remember to take care of yourself and take a water break before reading.
Mitsuko lunged forward and swung her weapons with more discipline, stopping the moment she missed Jinhza. She knew from the brief seconds of fighting that it is about speed and control to take out Jinhza, brute strength while helpful won't be of much use she thinks to herself as Jinhza ducked and weaved through her attacks. She swung her scythe overhead diagonally towards Jinhza who deflected the attack and bounced it away with the right blade, at the same time Mitsuko used her sword serpent to strike horizontally towards him. Jinhza parried the attack away with the same blade as he struck it overhead and pointed the left tip towards Mitsuko face. He took a few steps and thrusted it to Mitsuko. She used her scythe serpent to recoil directly in front of her and struck in front of him. Jinhza had to stop his momentum and use the left blade to block the attack as he twisted the double-bladed weapon to the right. The strength of the attack made him slid across the floor in the main palace as he was pushed away by Mitsuko's swing. As he was pushed back, he shook his arms due to the power of the push. He immediately lunged forward for another set of strikes towards his opponent as he horizontally swung from the left side.
As soon as Mitsuko was going to deflect the attack Jinhza withdrew the blade and bounced off his right foot to the side avoiding Mitsuko's scythe entirely and made their way quickly towards her. He attacks with his right blade overhead, Mitsuko blocked the attack with her sword serpent, the metallic clang echoed throughout the main hall. The scythe careened towards Jinhza before he leaps in the air using the blade that is blocking as a platform to assist him. He flips over Mitsuko and lands behind her, their backs faced each other. Mitsuko twisted her body as Jinhza landed, so as he twisted to the right he saw the oncoming crescent blade and widened his eyes in shock. He blocked the attack with the sword being in contact with the polearm just before the neck blade, the crescent tip, thirsty for blood was millimetres from his right eye. Mitsuko put more strength into the attack, overpowering Jinhza as he was pushed and flew back off his feet. Mitsuko planted the crescent blade firmly in the ground as far as she could in front of her, piercing it as she propelled herself forward. Jinhza landed on his feet however his left foot was extended backwards. As he looked up, he saw Mitsuko's demonic wide smile with her sword next to her face, lunging towards his face. He swatted the blade downwards using the left side of his blade and let go of the handle with his right blade to allow him to swing horizontally aiming for her neck. Mitsuko's smile grew wider as she used her scythe serpent to pull herself back, narrowly avoiding the blade. He glanced to his right to see the other serpent being recoiled and is positioned behind him. He leaps up to avoid the blade however to his surprise he felt the fangs of serpent grab onto his ankle and carried him in the air towards Mitsuko.
As she landed on her feet she whipped her serpent above her, forcing Jinhza to crash to the ground. He used his forearms to break the fall and prevented himself for having his face smashed in the ground. Although he groaned in pain as he was slammed. He heard the air being cut as the scythe plummeted towards his head. Jinhza used his blade and nicked the serpent holding his leg above its face. Mitsuko winced, releasing a surpressed hiss forcing her serpent to let go, Jinhza manages to evade the attack just in time. He rolled on the floor a couple of times before he managed to stand right back up. He saw Mitsuko recoil the serpents and examined the scar. The serpent with the attack looked like it winced, looking at Mitsuko with soft eyes before shaking its head and hardening itself. Mitsuko didn't expect such a small attack cause her that much pain and watched black blood escape from one of the scales and slowly drip down, all the while keeping an eye on Jinhza. Jinhza spotted the black blood plummet to the ground and smirked. He felt his confidence coming back, seeing that despite her exterior, the serpent is still able to bleed. If it bleeds it can be killed. He smirked at the serpent, who noticed this and without hesitation opened her mouth wide revealing her snake fangs and used her tongue to lick golden blood from the tip of the crescent blade.
Wait what!? He looked down to his right shoulder and sees part of his sleeve was torn with a trickle of blood staining it as it drips down. He scowled as Mitsuko started to chuckle loudly while the left serpent regurgitated its broadsword.
'Whats the matter? You've drawn first blood, you should be proud. You were a moment ago.'
'Tch, your arrogance will be your downfall serpent!' He growled as he charged forward. Mitsuko got into her battle stance anticipating the oncoming attack. Once he gotten in range Mitsuko made the first move and swiped down diagonally with her scythe. However, before she was able to strike him down, Jinhza disappeared briefly from her eyes. Although, she knew Jinhza would be speedy. Using her hearing she heard the footsteps rapidly closing in on her, she blocked the blow to her left as she planted her sword in the ground, blocking the attack aiming for her left leg, halting Jinhza in his tracks temporarily as he crouched down. As he stopped Mitsuko withdrew the blade from the ground by raising the head high and slammed the sword down on Jinhza who evaded the attack as he disappeared. Mitsuko used her crescent blade serpent to slither behind her and block the horizontal strike of the right side with the flat crescent blade aiming for her back. Mitsuko then twisted her body to while extending the serpent outwards. Jinhza blocks the attack by raising his left blade higher. A deadlock was formed as Jinhza gritted his teeth against the strength of the serpent, only to find himself feeling a kick to his ribs, sending him crashing against the wall behind him. Mitsuko kicked behind her using her metallic boot with her foot pointed down. As Jinhza groaned he looked up to see the broadsword zooming towards him. He dodged by rolling to the side, the sword stuck in the wall only to still come towards him, cleaving the wall as it does leaving a rather large hole as Jinhza sprinted towards Mitsuko as the building materials plummet behind him. He sidestepped the oncoming strike with Mitsuko's scythe serpent as it struck diagonally upwards and lunged forward. Making a horizontal strike aiming towards Mitsuko's neck. Mitsuko bent her body backwards, avoiding the blade as it flies past her, noticing the teal markings of the blade before she straightens her body. Jinhza halted his momentum by extending his right foot as he slid slightly across the floor and twisted his body to the left to go for another slash towards Mitsuko's torso this time.
Mitsuko intercepted the attack as she twisted her body the opposite direction with the broadsword. The strength of the interception forced Jinhza to stagger backwards giving Mitsuko an opportunity to strike with her scythe. Jinhza did a full 360 spin as he staggered back before he managed to leap back, avoiding being cleaved as the scythe penetrated the earth and left a small crater as it impacted. Though as he landed he felt something drip down his chest. He looked down to see a gash in his shirt, he puts his hand where the gash was to and revealed even more golden blood. He looked to Mitsuko who grinned widely, revealing her serrated teeth along with her two canines becoming more full-fledged snake fangs. He tightened the hand into a fist so hard his own blood cannot escape his group. This serpent has made him bleed not once, but twice! But then that realisation came to him…she made him bleed. Like so many before him he inched closer to joining his comrades that have died fighting this abomination…that thought angered him greatly. He could not die here, he has to bring order to the mystic realm. He cannot join those comrades…not yet. However, another thought lingered in his mind, something he refused to acknowledge. The very idea of dying was something he never once considered before Orochi appeared, hell even after he appeared. Until this moment he never once entertained the idea of death. He's finding that now, face to face with his ultimate test, its all he can think about despite trying to push it to the back of his mind. He just could not, it's always there, lurking in the darkness, just like the real Orochi. He growled as Mitsuko wore a demonic smile on her face as she lunged forward going on the offensive, looking like she's absolutely enjoying herself, something Jinhza found repulsive…yet uncomfortable despite not being fazed by many things. She slammed the sword aiming as she struck overhead. Jinhza sidestepped the attack, causing the sword to go through the floor only to find himself blocking the scythe also overhead. Mitsuko quickly raised her sword serpent and slammed it on her other serpent. Forcing Jinhza to crash on one knee as Mitsuko chuckled. Jinhza managed to escape by sliding to the right blade and tip it over, using the momentum and Mitsuko's strength against her. She stood up and went for another slash attack, aiming for her head as he sprinted to her right side.
Mitsuko ducked under the attack and twisted her body to as she went in to strike using her broadsword, going for his stomach with a thrusting attack. Jinhza seeing this attack, dived over the sword as he leapt over them. He rolled to his feet and turned around to attack overhead. Mitsuko blocked the attack using both of her weapons in a cross formation. A deadlock was made before she pushed him away, he leapt up in the air which gave Mitsuko the opportunity to withdraw her blades temporarily. The mouths of the serpents were still open as black and purple energy quickly formed into spheres. They hissed as they fired the spheres towards Jinhza who opened his eyes in shock, seemingly unable to do anything to stop them from making contact. Where he was in the air a black cloud was formed due to the supposed impact. Mitsuko looked upon them waiting for Jinhza to fall down and crash to the ground. Though immediately after she saw the double-bladed weapon zoom towards her. She barely had enough time to dodge the attack as she tilted her head to the left. The blade landed behind her as she felt blood trickling down her right cheek as a thin cut appeared underneath her cheekbone. Jinhza suddenly appeared behind her as he grabbed the blade with one hand slashed as he turned around. Mitsuko turned the opposite way and blocked the attack with both of her weapons as her serpent regurgitated them in time. Mitsuko found herself scraping her boots against the floor.
Wait he was pushing her back? She was surprised as he looked into his eyes and saw a fierce determination behind them, a death glare while he gritted his teeth as the deadlock commenced, putting all his strength into the attack. The hatred he held, the desire to kill excited Mitsuko as she smirked wickedly. The smirk infuriated Jinhza as he grew to despise Orochi's new attitude very much and headbutted Mitsuko. Mitsuko didn't anticipate that as she staggered backwards, shocked at the sudden attack from Jinhza, only to see him lunge forward with a thrusting attack, going for her stomach with the left blade. Mitsuko sidestepped to the right and struck down her scythe towards Jinhza. Jinhza turned his body to the left and used the tip of the left blade to push the scythe away as it lands on the ground and overhead strikes using the right blade, using the momentum of him turning around. Mitsuko parried the attack as she used the broadsword to knock the blade away to the left as it cuts off in front of her.
Jinhza did a full spin before Mitsuko used her serpent head to point the sword high and slam the sword on Jinhza's head as soon as the sword was certain to miss Mitsuko. Jinhza evaded the attack by combat rolling, Mitsuko dragged her scythe serpent arm across the ground to sweep Jinhza off his feet. Jinhza tuck jumped in the air, clearing the serpent obstacle on the ground and attacked overhead by positioning his weapon in a stabbing motion. Mitsuko looked up at this hopped backwards, making Jinhza miss his attack and attacked with both weapons before Jinhza suddenly disappeared as if blown away in the wind. Mitsuko recalled her serpents to the side, glancing around the room looking for Jinhza. She suddenly heard what seems to be the air being cut behind her. She rotated her body to the left and parried the blade that was aiming for the back of her head to the ground as it was struck with the broadsword diagonally downwards, with the momentum Mitsuko also did the same direction of attack with her crescent blade. Jinhza looked at the blade for a moment and before it was able to connect, Jinhza suddenly disappeared in the same vain again. He appeared to Mitsuko's right side and went for a horizontal slash to Mitsuko's torso.
Mitsuko blocked the attack using the scythe with enough strength to knock over Jinhza as he rolled on the floor before using the momentum to stand right up before charging towards Mitsuko straight away. Mitsuko smirked as she anticipated the attack before she struck diagonally upwards with her scythe. Jinhza disappeared once again making Mitsuko growl slightly. She used the scythe and withdrew it towards her while recoiling it, the back of the curve blocked the oncoming slash attack while the front of the neck curves around her back. She turned around and slashed Jinhza with her sword. Jinhza once again disappeared and attacked Mitsuko from another direction, each time Jinhza repeated this step he got ever so slightly faster, coming at Mitsuko in all directions, although Mitsuko was able to block each attack and counter him. Each time their blades clashed more force was made, every time creating a small shockwave that slowly grew with each blow. Jinhza started to yell out in frustration against the serpent, he was not able to hit her no matter what he could do…he was being made a fool off. He can't have this, he is the future of the mystic realm, the crown of the yellow emperor will be his to claim!
He thrusted towards the right blade towards Mitsuko's face as he appeared in front of her, Mitsuko intercepted the attack by using both of her weapons in a cross formation to where the tip of the blade stopped inches away from her face. As Mitsuko was about to throw him over her in this position he saw a smirk on his face, Mitsuko demonic grin stopped and turned into a look of puzzling inquisition. Suddenly the tip of the blade shone brightly enough to blind Mitsuko temporarily. She was so stunned by this she had to close her eyes as she let a hiss of surprised and started to fling her serpents for a few seconds, just giving her enough space to back away and get space until she gets to see again as she thought it would only be for a short amount of time. Although Jinhza was not about to let that happen, his goal was now in sight! While the serpents were swinging around, Jinhza's blades glowed a bright teal once again and cut the head off Mitsuko's left serpent with the broadsword, causing Mitsuko to shriek in agony. The serpent head looked surprised and in pain as it seem to disintegrate while it flies in the air into ashes, disappearing into the wind. Jinhza finished the attack by stabbing the blade into her gut as the scythe serpent flailed too close to him to get access to Mitsuko's head. The stab replaced Mitsuko's shriek with an agonising groan as black blood started to escape from her mouth that was building up as well as the wound that was newly created. Jinhza kicked Mitsuko away as she landed on her back on the ground. Coughing up blood while she groaned in pain, she so desperately wanted to scream in pain, wanting to express her agony. It was like having her actual hand chopped off, she could not feel anything while tears threatened to escape her eyes. She rolled to her stomach and tried to crawl away as she got her eyesight adjusting back to normal light. She felt so incomplete but that was something she would have to deal with later, blood spurted from the headless serpent's body as she heard the thick liquid splashing with her limbs while crawling away. Jinhza hovered behind Mitsuko arrogantly smiling full of pride. He started to laugh.
'haha! So, Orochi where is your bravado now!? Where is your sadistic sense of bloodlust!?' Jinhza kicked Mitsuko to the side, forcing her to roll on her back. She gritted her as she groaned, coughing up blood to her side. He took slow steps close to her, wanting her to suffer.
'Do you now know the feeling of pain, the agony, the fear of death!? That was all felt by your victims! The very ones Orochi that did not deserve it, yet there you were, happily inflicting them as if they were your playthings! Not anymore.' Jinhza stomped on Mitsuko's stomach causing her immense agony while he positioned his double-bladed weapon over her face.
'Any last words? Orochi?' He asked with a smile on his face as he would be moments away from being crowned the new yellow emperor! Not aware of the fact Mitsuko scythe serpent slithers behind him crescent blade thirsty for his blood. Mitsuko chuckled weakly at this.
'Yeah…in fact I do, you arrogant pathetic god!' Mitsuko started as she started to smile demonically once again, Jinhza once he saw this began was enraged, despite everything he did the serpent still keeps a hold of her mannerisms. This is her end! He thrusted the blade upon her while Mitsuko tried to use her scythe to penetrate the chest of Jinhza. Although before he was able to complete his attack Mitsuko saw a look of shock before he was flung away to the other side, crashing his back against the boulder. Mitsuko was surprised as she sat up. As she recovers her breath, she realised she was running breathless as she took very deep breaths, she didn't even feel sweat forming on her head until now. She was still very much in pain, she was not sure how far away her serpent was, though she feels she may have been saved…but by whom? She sits up as she sees a large figure emerging from the side, only to be revealed as a large 10-foot frog. Red with blue patches all over, yellow eyes like a predator. Lurking in the shadows until it was the opportune time to strike. His body looked to be covered in slimy mucus while wielding a large kite shield and a trident, the shield was bronze with the centre of it being the image of what appeared to be a…moon? The trident meanwhile had a golden polearm with all three prongs of the fork were sharpened enough to skewer a boar in one blow. He recalled his long tongue, also covered in very thick saliva from where Jinhza was now…did that tongue grab and throw him? Jinhza stood up as he groaned in pain only to see the perpetrator and his eyes, widened with shock and horror.
'You!? But you're all supposed to be behind the veil!' He exclaimed, Mitsuko wasn't sure of what was going on but she knew she wasn't in fighting shape, she needed to recover a bit first as she used all her strength to try and stand up. The large frog croaked deeply as if it was laughing.
'Yes, we were…but the veil has been weakened. Thanks to the serpent slaying the emperor. While it has not shattered completely, it was weak enough for some of her followers to escape and come down here.' He took a step closer as Jinhza took a step back, gritting his teeth. Just what he needed. He didn't anticipate this at all! Orochi was bad enough, but the followers of the moon princess is another matter.
'Thank you by the way Orochi for weakening the veil enough for us.' The frog turned to Mitsuko and express his gratitude. Mitsuko couldn't help but chuckle despite everything.
'Don't mention, always happy to help.'
'Hehe, indeed. While my allies are slaying both of your forces, it has given me the opportunity to capture the serpent and bring her to my lady. Full glory will be given to me and I will be rewarded while the power she will obtain will shatter the veil you put upon us mystic and our vengeance will at last begin!' Mitsuko chuckle disappeared and hissed under her breath. She may respect the tactical play of letting their enemies tire each other out, she does not appreciate the implication that her forces were being slain by others of their kind. Her thoughts quickly dwelled on LingQi, hoping she was ok…she shook her head weakly. Now was not the time to worry about her, she had to focus on recovery at least for the moment.
'You will do no such thing! You have not paid for your sins yet!' Jinhza responded enraged at the audacity of this creature.
'What sins!? She did nothing wrong and yet she was chased away! You all corralled us along with her for no reason!'
'The elixir of godhood was not hers to take!'
'But it was yours!? Who gave you the right to decide who gets power and who doesn't!? It was not a crime to want a better life! She gave us salvation and you punished her and us! We've been waiting for this moment a long time, our vengeance will be glorious!' The frog stated as it croaked loudly as if it was roaring and tried to skewer Jinhza who leapt out of the way to the side and attacked, only for the frog to deflect the blow using its large kite shield.
Mitsuko blood got boiling again, she felt the adrenaline coursing through her veins, a new and interesting fight was playing out right in front of her, she licked her lips with excitement. However…as she took a step forward, she was reminded of the damage her body had sustained. She limped away from the main battle and slithered out of the main palace room, using the door that Zheng Jiang and Zhang Yan escaped to. To give herself a moment to recuperate…although, she had to admit as she slowly closed the door behind her and slid down it…she laughed weakly. She didn't anticipate that from Jinhza of all people to use such a tactic. She couldn't help but be a little impressed at the arrogant god. She scowled as she glanced down at the missing serpent head, wondering what will happen now. Will she just bandage it? Will she have to attach a sword there or something? She didn't know…all she knew is that both warriors were going to die tonight, by her hand. This…was an interesting and exciting fight, she may have been careless but she's a learner, she doesn't make the same mistake twice. Mitsuko demonically grinned as her remaining serpent protruded their crescent blade.