Juryo and Pablo dashed at the same time from opposite sides. Pablo reached first, so Asim grabbed Pablo and threw him at Juryo.
Juryo grappled the wall with his chains and avoided him. Pablo then pierced the ground with his sword to slow himself. Juryo continued his pursuit and swung his chains toward Asim. He dodged them and closed the distance too.
Asim swung a left hook towards Juryo, and Pablo swung his Zweihander behind Juryo, aiming at his neck.
Juryo ducked, avoiding their attacks. Then he swept their feet, and as they were falling over, he grabbed both of their heads with his chains and pulled them, slamming their heads against each other.
"Ugh!" Pablo was dazed, but Asim absorbed the attack and grinned. He shot his energy out of his head at point-blank range, burning Pablo's face, launching him away and breaking Juryo's chains.
Juryo delivered an uppercut to Asim's chin. He responded by swinging his claws at Juryo. He dodged them and then punched his face with his right. "You still don't get it? You're not hurting me!" Asim unleashed all of the absorbed energy.
Suddenly, Juryo's Treasure started shaking. His chains then grabbed the energy and shot it right back to Asim.
Caught off guard, a direct hit injured Asim's chest and burned it. "What was that? That was his Treasure Modification, wasn't it?" He looked at his burning chest.
Pablo snuck up on Juryo and swung his blade again, but Juryo heard his footsteps and blocked the attack with his arm wrapped in chains. "Juryo can grab energy with his Treasure? And Asim couldn't absorb the energy back. Either he can't absorb the energy he shoots out, or he wasn't expecting it and was caught off guard… But that would mean his Treasure is manual, not automatic. Which one is it?" Pablo noted the information he just gathered.
"Maybe you're not so boring after all." Asim wiped the ashes of his own skin off his chest.
Juryo swung his right. Pablo sidestepped and avoided it. He then countered by pulling back his blade and swinging again. As Juryo raised his left to block his attack, Pablo feinted his swing and kicked Juryo's knee after amplifying himself with mana.
"Shit!" His posture was ruined, and Juryo was right open for an attack.
"Oh Pablo, I'm starting to get jealous!" Asim started beating his own chest with all his force, which directly fed his Treasure. He then shot the energy out of his hand.
"He can do that?!" He shifted his focus to avoiding the blast, and shielded himself using Juryo. "Fucking bitch!" Juryo wrapped him with chains and threw him through the hole he himself flew through a moment ago. Because he was attached to him, he was launched with Pablo.
The room they were in seemed to be a library. With it being in the vault level, Pablo guessed it was for classified books.
"Why are you doing this? Do you just enjoy being evil?" Pablo spat blood on the floor. "Hey, you said I didn't get to monologue!" Juryo yelled.
"Well- I'm interested now! That guy is very obviously depressed. What's your gimmick then?" Pablo raised his blade in case of any sudden attack. "Who are you to decide what's evil and what's not? Only the strong get to decide it. I'm just following their orders."
"They didn't choose to be weak." Pablo took a step forward.
"But they chose to be strong!" Juryo unleashed his chains once more.
Pablo scoffed and parried the chains while advancing forward. "I changed my mind again. You really shouldn't get to monologue!"
"It was a one-liner!" Juryo pulled back the chain Pablo parried a second ago, which grabbed him from behind and pulled him towards himself. "Damn it!" Pablo slashed the blade. He unleashed several more chains in response. "At the heart of iron, blood poisons the mind!" As the words escaped Juryo's mouth, his Treasure started glowing, and Pablo could feel the shift in energy. "What the hell is that…?!"
Left with no options, Pablo created tendrils that matched Juryo's chains. They started clashing mid-air at high speeds. "His chains are far more durable! What the hell did he just do?!" He struggled to keep up.
"It's called Naming, you should try it sometime!" Juryo slashed Pablo's tendrils but his own broke as well. "Naming? I remember Nasaki mentioning it… but I was trying to sleep so I ignored his drunk-ass! If the blasts of Asim are made of magic, I can't absorb it with Gluttony. But if they are just energy, I can try to! The last time I tried something like that really hurt… If I figure out this naming thing, maybe I can!"
Juryo grabbed a bookshelf with his chain and threw it towards Pablo. Lost deep in thought, he panicked and just defended his body with mana.
The shelf went right through him, and Pablo didn't even feel it. Juryo paused and stared at him in confusion.
"I'm shelfproof?!" Before he had time to stay in awe of his durability, Juryo closed the distance and delivered a mean hook towards him, sending him through layers of bookshelves. Pablo groaned in pain. "Not shelfproof enough."
Juryo then unleashed his chains all the way towards Pablo, but missed him.
Or at least that's what Pablo thought.
Juryo's chains started vibrating and they grabbed solid air. Juryo pulled it back to himself, creating a massive wave of air that pulled the air out of Pablo's lungs and also launched him against Juryo. Pablo dropped his sword while flying too.
Right before delivering the finishing punch…
Juryo reached his limit.
Blood burst through his nose and eyes, and he froze. This was the consequence of a Treasure Modification. An unholy way of using a Treasure, beyond what God intended.
"Damn it!"
His Aura Link couldn't handle it anymore, and he ran out of energy. But lucky for him, Pablo didn't plan on using complex biokinesis because he still had Asim to deal with. "What is Asim up to? He must be planning something or he'd be here already!"
Pablo kicked Juryo's face as he finally got to him, and both fighters collapsed to the floor. Juryo was the one to first get up as Pablo caught his breath, and got on top of him. Pablo pointed his ring towards Juryo and charged mana through it. Juryo grabbed his arm and pinned it to the floor with his right hand.
Juryo started strangling Pablo, having no other options left. "Luckily, you're still a weak-ass bitch!"
Pablo took one last deep breath before Juryo got his hands on his throat. And he started to mutter something…
Beyond what the eye can see,
Below what the soul can do…
His ring started glowing.
Juryo gasped.
There lies power…
Power you can have too…
Juryo immediately closed Pablo's mouth with his right hand and interrupted his chant.
But I want that power,
And so do you!
The voice came from the mouth in Pablo's hand, and as his arm was freed, he directed it towards Juryo again. The empowered blast shot right through his chest, burning him from the inside out.
Juryo collapsed right beside him. Pablo gasped for air and coughed violently.
"I can't regenerate yet. I need to save my power. I'm sure Asim won't be the last person I fight." He slowly got up and made his way to the previous hallway. "I need to make sure Tsuyoi is okay, then we'll get his Treasure."
Upon entering it, he saw a blinding light. His worst fear was just confirmed.
Asim was waiting, charging himself up by beating his own body. It was evident from the wounds all over his body… wounds Pablo didn't remember giving him.
There were several meters between them. And quite frankly, Asim was a living bomb so he was right to be worried.
Pablo took a deep breath and faced him down, trying to think of a move.
"What do you want… Asim?" He said, desperately.
"..." Asim sighed, his body pulsing with light.
"...Beam struggle." He breathed out, calmly.
"What?" Pablo raised an eyebrow, completely taken off guard.
"Your beam against mine. It'll be the coolest shit ever." Asim chuckled. "I've realised this fight was tasteful but all the mind work you've put me through… ruined my appetite. The only thing I want now is a shameless, stupid, straightforward beam struggle."
He looked up and made eye contact with Pablo, staring deep into his soul. "The only thing that can restore my taste again would be that."
Pablo could barely lift his hand and showed his ring. "I can only shoot mana out of this, Asim. And you see the gem on this, right? It'd be so small it wouldn't even be a beam struggle. It'd be a… beam inconvenience."
Asim's smile dropped, replaced with a solemn expression.
"Yeah… sorry man. I'd love to do that though. But… sorry." Pablo chuckled nervously.
Asim sighed once more, and raised his finger. The energy started moving towards his finger. "That's a shame then."
"Huh?!" Pablo took a step back.
"A real shame." Flames ignited in Asim's eyes. And for once, Pablo could see the 2 decades of burnout burning like a wild forest fire, threatening to destroy the entire world.
That fire ignited something within Pablo too. He didn't create something new out of his sorcery, and looked at the palm of his right hand.
"I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you need." The same fire caught in Pablo's eyes as well. "But my desperation to survive in life is stronger than your desire for taste."
Asim couldn't help but smile; it wasn't the taste he wanted but…
…It'll do.
Pablo started Naming again.
Hunger for me,
Is salvation for you.
And your salvation…
...Is a meal for me.
Asim unleashed the beam, filling the entire hallway and even leaking out of it, destroying the walls around it.
Pablo braced himself and faced the mouth towards the energy beam, taking a very risky gamble. His fingers were burned to ashes, but the mouth held on, trying to absorb the energy.
The Naming effect on his Treasure allowed him to do the impossible and take in the energy. Pablo screamed in pain as he could feel the devastating energy inside his soul.
Asim stared in shock. "That's…" His mind raced through memories of Pablo using his Treasure. "That's right! I didn't see what his Treasure could do! I knew he was bluffing and hiding it, but I never got to see what it truly was! The regeneration and the mouth in his hand must be his sorcery… but if he just ate my attack, then that means-" As realisation dawned upon him, he gasped once more.
Pablo redirected the beam through the mouth in his hand. Asim screamed in pain as his own attack burned him to a crisp. As it was over, Pablo winced and held onto his hand. He had to regenerate it.
Asim looked at himself, his body numb now. He fell on his knees, his mouth still open in surprise.
"My own… attack… against me…?" He looked at Pablo for the final time, and a giant grin filled his face.
"...That fucking rules." He collapsed onto the floor, giving his final breath.
Pablo started hyperventilating and tried to pull himself back together. "Fuck… I'm so done. I'll have Tsuyoi heal me."
He slowly started walking, almost falling over with each step.
"I'm not done yet…" Juryo Ku yelled. "...You stupid… bastard!" He was barely awake, barely alive.
Pablo froze in shock and turned around. "No way!"
"Time to finish this! I would never lose to someone like-" Before Juryo could finish his sentence, blue flames filled the entire hallway and burned Juryo.
Pablo was unaffected by the flames, which could only mean one thing. He turned around with a bright smile. "Tsuyoi!"
"Did I miss the show?" He chuckled, fully healed. "Tsuyoi Ketsui is back, baby!" He posed dramatically and flexed his muscles. "I had that guy, though." Pablo rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess I wanted the win for myself." Tsuyoi gave him a cheeky smile.
"That's so mean." He collapsed, but Tsuyoi caught him. He then started healing him. "Good job on beating this guy! Man, if I had my Treasure I could've beaten him. But I managed to find it after waking up!"
"Now that my Aura Link is back to perfect condition, I'm ready to kick some ass!" He shouldered Pablo and walked towards the stairs, finally ready to leave the bottom floor.
In his pocket, he had a bracelet with the name 'Love, Miriam' written on it.