Sorry about the LOOOOOONG delay, but first couple weeks of University is kinda brutal...

Anyways, I've decided to try and wrap up the battle with Kuroneko and Mugen now. Sorry if it's poor and seems rushed, but it seems like I'm spend on trying to think up how to improve this...

"Alright…"

Mugen glared at Leander, who was fighting dangerously at the pink streak-haired boy. Now that he more or less had an idea of what Leander's [Gift] was, he was able to begin a counterattack towards him and win the [Gift Game]. There was just one minor hitch…

"How the heck am I supposed to fight at this point?"

He claimed that he still had plenty of skills and strategies to deal with this guy, but the truth was that it was just a bluff. He had absolutely no idea on how to deal with this obsessive knight with crazy defense, and he probably couldn't pull off another "shockwave"-type attack so easily.

"Well, let's start out by searching for any limits to his defense…"

Mugen held his wooden sword facing downward, and started running towards the knight with an accurate blow towards the side. Leander quickly blocked the blow, but Mugen quickly launced a heavy kick towards Leander's other side. Once again, he felt like he was striking an iron wall as his shin started to vibrate slightly from the recoil. Leander punched Mugen's stomach, and sent him flying a few feet away. Mugen landed on his feet, but he could only watch as Leander suddenly ran up towards him and grabbed his collar. He felt himself spin around several times before being tossed high into the air, shooting upwards like bullet. He struggled to open his eyes before the knight suddenly caught up to him and used the flat side of the blade to strike down at Mugen's face. The pink-streaked boy fell down at almost the same speed as he was shot up, and crashed into the earth, causing another large crack in the ground where he landed.

"Well that's gonna hurt…" he thought to himself as he slowly picked himself up from the ground.

While he didn't enjoy the idea of getting beat, he still managed to get an idea of what this defense is like.

"Faith" seems to work, In short, as another "layer" around the body, similar to a very study, yet flexible, body suit. It does not limit Leander's abilities in any way, and might actually enhance his strength. Though that's not that surprising as in a lot of those stories with heroes, the hero manages to get some random power-up that's almost to the point that's like a cheat code.

However, this power up doesn't seem to extend to his weapon. The enhanced physical powers would've left him with broken bones, but it seems that most of the force came from Leander himself, so the impact was significantly weakend.

So if we were to review what he learned so far,

"Faith" gives him an incredible offence and defense

While the [Gift] covers his body, it does not extend to the weapon.

The armor is self-repairing. It does not stay broken.

"Well this is just unhelpful…"

Even if he learned all this, it still doesn't help him figure out how to fight. Leander is skilled, so it'll be really difficult to use used techniques. The boost from the [Gift] and its effects limits the amount of stamina he can waste. And…well enough said. It's really tedious to deal with this.

Just then, something in his mind clicked.

"Wait, the name of this [Gift] was called "Faith"?"

Faith isn't something that a person can generate into themselves. We say that we can have faith in ourselves, but the truth is that it's self-arrogance, confidence, or the like. TRUE faith and trust is something that needs to be acquired from someone else, someone who can entrust their hopes and dreams without faltering in their belief. And for a technique of this level, it would require an unwavering faith to keep him alive like this.

Matching this fact with the story of Hero and Leander, it can be inferred that the secret to winning this battle lies in…

"Hero's flame…"

Like the myth, Leander would cross the "sea of hell" in order to meet with Hero, regardless of the weather or conditions. But one day, Leander drowned in a raging storm while struggling to meet with Hero, and Hero had subsequently died out of grief. However, the true cause was not because of the storm, but because Leander was unable to find his way to Hero as her candle wouldn't light. Without being able to see her "faith" in him, he was unable to find the strength to reach her. Likewise, Hero's belief in Leander was what helped kept her alive. Without him, she decided to take her own life.

So if Mugen wanted to take care of Leander, Hero's flame would need to go out, literally. And though it sort of sickened him a bit to consider the idea of help, he couldn't be too picky…

"Hey, Kuro! You need to take care of Hero's flames somehow! That's the only way we can deal with this battle quickly!"

Leander suddenly rushed towards him with a piercing stare and murderous intent. Far from the knightly dignity he gave off just moments before, this was much more like a wild animal trying to tear him limb from limb. Mugen smiled as he instantly understood that this meant that he was right on the money.

Course since he was now fighting for his life instead of winning a simple duel, he was going to need to put almost all his efforts into defending himself from the wild strikes.

But then again, he wouldn't have it any other way…

"'Take care of Hero's flames somehow!' Mugen-san said. Easy enough to say…"

Kuroneko mumbled as she made impressive flips and leaps to avoid the flames that lunged at her. She already knew she had to get rid of the flames first, but she couldn't find a way to do so at this time. Her electricity was useless against the flames, and only seemed to serve to make them bigger.

However, something inside Kuroneko just clicked. She thought of a way that would probably get her to hit Hero without getting damaged by the flames. However, this idea made her frown, because it was something that would involve something she wouldn't like. But as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures…

The two of them had separated themselves to about a 6 ft distance in-between. Neither of them held an excessive aura of hostility towards the other, but Hero's calm faced seemed to mask a slightly darker side, giving the feeling of a cork that was about to pop open. Kuroneko took several deep breaths before raising her hand, and slightly cringing before shooting lightning into the sky. Hero looked up with interest, and watched as the electrical energy had suddenly returned exactly where it came from, covering Kuroneko in a large light.

However, Kuroneko didn't appear to be harmed, despite tears falling from her eyes. Her body wasn't smoldering, and there wasn't any smell of crisped flesh.

"Kuroneko…doesn't like…using this…ability…"

The human-cat seemed to be struggling to hold back an excessive amount of tears from flowing from her eyes. She brought her arm down and took a fighting-like stance before explaining.

"[Thunder Shell]… allows Kuroneko to generate…an armor of electricity…around her…"

Hero was surprised, but it didn't rattle her. Kuroneko is more or less copying Leander's defense. A thin wall of electricity to defend against the flames of her own [Gift]. A good idea, she would give that, but useless all the same.

The rate that her flames devour her electricity would be about a half time faster than she could generate. At the distance it takes for Kuroneko to reach her, the flames would devour her armor and move on to her body, just moments before landing a hit on Hero herself. Of course, her body would be badly burned, and she wouldn't be able to move any further, while Hero would be able to stay standing to help Leander out and finish the battle.

Kuroneko flexed her hand a couple times before dashing as fast as she can towards the priestess surrounded by flames. Hero smiled before sending her flames in a giant snake-like form towards the cat-person. The flames had enveloped the girl, and a shadowy figure was seen passing through the long body. Hero silently counted to herself.

"twenty-one…twenty…nineteen…"

Once she reached zero, Kuroneko would appear to either hit her or aim for the candle. Either way, she will take several steps to the side and move the candle away from Kuroneko's path. She will kick Kuroneko, since burning her any further would possibly disqualify Hero, far enough for the rest of Kuroneko's strength to leave her, and then she will send her flames towards Mugen and Leander. Leander will be fine, but Mugen will need to either dodge, or withstand the flames somehow. If he withstands, the damage would be too great for any further battle, or at the very least he'd be weak enough to deal with quickly. If he dodges, Leander would be quick enough to knock him away before the next move could be made. Either way, this was victory for them.

"seven…six…"

The shadows grew larger as Kuroneko's body was getting closer and closer. The hairs at her neck were standing up as she felt the excitement taking over her.

"three…two…one…zero!"

As soon as she made the call, a figure leaped out from the flames and lunged towards the candle. As planned, Hero quickly stepped away and did a quick turn to bring the candle further away. She turned back to the figure, who suddenly made another lunge towards Hero.

This move had surprised Hero, and made her freeze for a couple of seconds. However, that momentary freeze was all Mugen needed to knock the candle away with his weapon. His weapon was pointing in an upward diagonal position, holding itself next to Hero's face as her candle had fallen several feet away from its owner.

"You bastard…"

Hero gave an angered face to counter Mugen's smile. She quickly turned her head to Leander, who was apparently smoked here and there throughout his armor. The knight suddenly dropped to his knees and fell to the ground to reveal Kuroneko, who was pointing her finger at the figure that stood just mere moments ago. A hint of a smile seemed to reveal itself before she dropped to her own knees from a moment of exhaustion. Looking carefully, there weren't any signs of any burns or damage on anywhere on her clothing or body. In fact, compared to Mugen, who had burns here and there, the only damage seemed to have been to her hair(fur?) which became all frizzy and almost looked like an afro.

What probably happened was that Kuroneko had leaped out of the flames quick enough to give the illusion that she was still moving, while switching off with Mugen who ran into the flames so that a figure would still be seen. The light from the electricity was also used to generate an actual shadow from outside to make it seem like the Kuroneko was trapped inside the entire time, so Hero wouldn't be suspicious.

"You tricked us…"

Mugen kept silent as he brought his weapon away from Hero and left it resting on his shoulder. He thought about saying something, but there wasn't any point.

The fact was that he and Kuroneko had achieved victory, while the other two had lost. He turned to leave Hero with her angry face, while checking to see if Kuroneko was fine.

While she wasn't physically injured in any way, she seemed to have been silently sobbing to herself.

"You ok?"

She pointed towards the top of her head, which still had the strange appearance that resembled an afro.

"T…This is why…*sniff*…Kuroneko didn't want to…"

Apparantly, the electricity would generate enough static onto Kuroneko and cause her fur (hair?) to look…well…whatever it looked right now.

Personally, the pink-streaked punk didn't really care all that much about her hair(?) if it wasn't really dangerous in any way, but he was still at least a bit sympathetic, so he gave a small pat on her head, which made her look up.

"Hey, it's not all that bad…"

Kuroneko sniffed.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, well I kinda like it…"

Her face started to turn pink.

"I mean, we could get some birds to make a home in there, and you could make the kids happy in a way…"

Another lightning strike fell from the sky.

Hopefully you enjoyed that bit at the end.

So it shall be a while until my next update, but I will continue this as long as I've got people who would still like to read this fanfiction, so don't think I've given up (yet)