Chapter VIII – Eyes Of A Killer
"That does it!"
Jin charged again for a second assault but again missed. This time he tried his three strike combo but none of his three attempts succeeded to even scratch the heartless girl. He immediately went for a Blizzard spell but Rena simply absorbed the attack and giggled at Jin's futile endeavors.
"You can't hit me with those little attacks," she explained. "They are useless against me."
Jin growled and gritted his teeth out of frustration.
"Remember, I read your magic circulation when you were helpless on my lap, and from what I see, my magic level is exceedingly higher than yours."
"That's right, she's been a step ahead of me all along," Jin thought to himself as she continued to boast. "She knows what I am capable of and she's seen me wield my weapon the past few nights."
Rena giggled again and commented how fun the battle has become. The dark atmosphere became darker and clouds rumbled with thunder. Wind started to pick up speed and small dust tornadoes formed between them.
"I can't believe that you were actually able to cast Ultima two years ago. With your magical capability, you can't even cast spells past Level 2, but to be able to cast the forbidden spell… you're really something, Jin-sama."
Jin put on a confused look, lost by such random, ambiguous proclamation Rena had just made. Rena continued.
"Moreover, you're supposed to be capable of greater things and you're suppressing that as well."
Finally, Jin wiped off the sweat on his face and broke out his confused silence.
"Just what the hell are you talking about? You're not making any sense at all!" He said irritably. "Ultima…? I know no such spell."
But Rena didn't seem interested in answering him and frustrated Jin even further. Seeing her reluctance to answer, Jin saw this as a provocation. More or less, he figured she only wanted to see more of Jin's abilities while continuing to toy with him. Despite that, Jin positioned himself to attack. He took his sword out and charged at Rena full speed. Within striking distance, Jin stopped and Rena anticipated a delayed sword swipe. However, as part of Jin's attack, he crouched low and went for a leg sweep. Although Rena tripped, she regained balance using her arms to bounce back up but again fell into Jin's attack plan. Jin then performed a roundhouse kick. Rena tried to block but found herself knocked into the air and open to Jin's aerial assaults, consisting of various close combat techniques using both fist and sword. Then Jin finished his Overdrive with a lethal cross slash down towards the ground. Rena crashed into the ground hard while Jin landed with a successful sword modified Beat Rush. As the dust cleared, Jin awaited Rena's possible recovery. However, when Rena got back on her feet, she didn't seem severely damaged by Jin's fatal Overdrive. She did start to bleed from the head and some of her clothes were torn, but nothing more was done as a result. Jin stood stunned and somewhat overwhelmed by Rena's defenses. She stood tall and had an intriguing look towards Jin.
"I'm impressed, Jin-sama. Your physical combat seems flawless: flawless, but not damaging inflicting."
Rena laughed and wiped off the blood on her face, leaving a smear on the left side of her dirty face.
"Shut up! I'm tired of your voice now, so just shut up!" Jin ordered as he slowly caught his breath. For him, it's been some time since he had such death defying battle, perhaps the first since the tear-driven battle against his mutated sister (3). With the mindset of action speaking louder than words, Jin prepared for another attack. Rena, too, went into attack mode but gave him a small warning.
"Before you do something foolish, I suggest that you use that spell if you even want a chance of defeating me. Otherwise, I think I will kill you with this next attack."
"Thanks, but no thanks. And as for this so-called Ultima spell, I don't even know how to cast it."
Jin charged again and Rena raised her hands to create large fireballs for each hand. She shot them both towards Jin while he tried to cut through. However, at the last second, the fireballs eluded Jin and went straight behind him. Jin stopped in his track and turned to see where the fireballs were heading.
"Damn, the village!" the thought struck him instantly.
Just as he realized her true target, the fireballs hit the village and the screams of defenseless people were heard. Several small explosions boomed as people tried to escape the flames and burning debris. Jin stood helpless, and dropped his guard.
"Jin-sama," Rena called. As Jin turned around to respond to her voice, she stabbed him in the guts with a dagger made of diamonds. "I'm your opponent, remember?"
Jin struggled with the pain and coughed up blood. Rena maintained her position and enjoyed toying with him. The boy raised his head to see the evil he was facing. As he looked up at Rena, he saw eyes that were once beautifully blue, but now were cold and relentless. There it was, indeed, the eyes of a killer.
