Chapter 322: Prize
"Get up. I don’t have the habit of kicking people while they’re down, but I’m willing to make an exception," warned Miu, standing a short distance from Sunraku in a low, reactionary stance.
"Just...give me a moment..." responded Sunraku, lying face down with a trail of stream rising from his head where Miu had driven her heel into his crown. Luckily, he had a Skill called Endure, preventing his HP from falling below one for three seconds after sustaining fatal damage.
’Alright, Sunraku, time to focus up...’ Sunraku told himself, waiting for his HP to recover a few points before pushing himself up from the ground and onto his feet. At that moment, Miu stepped forward and launched a broad, sweeping kick at his head with her right foot, narrowly missing his chin as he somersaulted backward before leaping into the air.
"Alright, blondie! Your outfit is hella distracting, but now that I’ve had the sense knocked back into me, good luck landing another blow...!" shouted Sunraku, materializing his blue-tinted, flame-like swords and igniting them with cerulean blue flames.
"Talk is cheap...!" countered Miu, grounding her right foot and kicking out with her left so quickly her leg appeared to warp before producing a loud crack akin to a whip. As a consequence, a nearly imperceptible, spear-like projectile of highly compressed air surged toward Sunraku, threatening to impact him in the pit of his stomach.
"Maybe your tastes are too expensive...!" quipped Sunraku, strengthening the flames emitting from the sword in his left hand to propel himself to the right. Then, by tucking in his knees and contracting his body, he managed to transition into a tight spinning maneuver, causing him to resemble a top spinning through the air, veiled in flames.
Calculating Sunraku’s trajectory at a glance, Miu moved to intercept him, bolting forward to build up momentum before leaping into the air with her right leg raised, bent at the knee, and her left foot extended as she sailed nearly horizontally through the air.
"Nope!" barked Sunraku, creating a pale blue, hexagonal-shaped foothold in the air just before he fell into the trajectory of Miu’s flying kick, causing her to sail past him as he bounced once, broke out of his spin, and sent an expanding crescent of blue flames chasing after her.
"Hyaaa~!"
Landing on the toes of her right foot, Miu smoothly transitioned into a steep, spinning crouch that allowed her to transfer her momentum like a pendulum before kicking off the ground and spinning like a figure skater with her ankles crossed and hands folded over her chest. Her golden hair, fixed into a braided ponytail, was lightly singed by Sunraku’s attack, but it ultimately sailed past her.
"You are so going to be kicked..." grumbled Miu, landing on the toes of her left foot and descending into a low spin with her right foot shooting out to bring herself to a stop with a near-perfect circle of burnt rubber encircling her position. Like many women, she invested between thirty minutes and an hour each day caring for her hair, so having it damaged in any way was a slight against her vanity and pride.
"Just aim high so I’ll get to enjoy the view in my final moments," quipped Sunraku, his tone playful, devoid of tension as he held his swords out to his sides and increased their flame output to the max. Doing so depleted their durability and caused them to develop white-hot cracks along their surface, but since Miu didn’t appear even a little winded, drawing things out and conserving his strength as he had with Riko wasn’t going to work.