( Chapter unfolds:29)
Izuma thrust his sword forward with all his might, pushing the attacker back. He slowly turned his head toward Sai.
"What are you staring at?!!! Move aside if you want to stay alive!!!"
Hearing this, Sai's anger flared, but he was helpless. The wound on his leg was deep, and the power in his sword had not yet fully manifested.
When Izuma turned back, the figure was gone.
"Where is he!" Izuma thought. Before he could react, the stranger lunged at him from another direction.
The figure's sword-play was completely unpredictable and incredibly fast. As the attacker struck again, Izuma blocked it with his own blade. It was then that he noticed the eyes.
Bright, shimmering eyes a mix of pale blue and white glowing intensely in the dark.
Izuma raised his sword, and a brilliant white light erupted from its tip.
!!!!!!![ Silver Strike ]!!!!!!!
The first clash was a burst of light as his blade met the tip of the attacker's weapon.
However!!! The attacker deflected the strike with ease and brought his weapon toward Izuma's throat. Izuma ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding the blade. He swung his sword at the attacker's flank, but the figure slipped away like a shadow.
"This is no ordinary zek," Sai thought as he watched from the sidelines.
In a split second, Izuma managed to disarm the stranger, sending the weapon flying. The attacker was thrown in one direction, while the weapon landed elsewhere.
It was then that Izuma noticed it.
The weapon was not just anything it was a Sword. A specialized sword, much like the ones they carried.
As Izuma moved to seize it, the attacker leaped over him and reclaimed the blade. The stranger's handling of the sword was entirely different from anything they had seen.
They clashed again, locked in a fierce duel. Finally, the attacker changed his tactics. He lunged forward and plunged his sword deep into the earth. Sudden waves of energy surged through the ground, heading straight for Izuma. Green cracks tore through the soil as the energy neared him.
The green glow seemed to be pulling Izuma's own sword toward the ground.
"This is...!!!" Izuma's heart skipped a beat.
He felt paralyzed. Summoning all his strength, Izuma leaped high into the air. While suspended, he traced a circle in the void.
!!!!!!!!!!!!![ Silver Waves ]!!!!!!!!!
A surge of brilliant white-silver energy blasted toward the stranger. Before the figure could pull his sword from the ground, the shockwave from Izuma's blade sent him flying back.
Though the person was thrown far, the sword remained firmly embedded in the earth. Izuma walked toward it. The blade glowed with a pale greenish hue. The light flowed through the edge of the sword like a pulsing vein.
As he stood staring at it... suddenly...
"Izuma!!!" Sai shouted.
Izuma turned around. Sai was looking at him and then frantically scanning their surroundings. A heavy silence had fallen over them it was eerie and unexpected.
It felt as if the very air around them had stopped moving. Both they and the fallen attacker seemed to notice the shift.
Izuma quickly turned back to the sword in the ground, but it was gone. He looked for the stranger he was gone too. In the brief moment their attention had wavered, the figure had vanished, taking the sword with him.
Instead of disappointment, a different feeling took hold of Izuma.
"Izuma!!" Sai called out again.
As Izuma watched, Sai limped through the darkness toward him. Sai pointed his sword toward Izuma. The blade was visibly trembling. The energy within it was beginning to stir violently.
Izuma checked his own sword. It was vibrating too, the energy inside it racing to break free.
They looked into each other's eyes. They understood now.
The prey they had been hunting was now hunting them...