Chapter 134: Mika Barrier
The tension in the white corridor stretched taut as a bowstring. Mika’s earth-blade trembled in her grip, her knuckles bone-white against the weapon’s hilt. The skull-masked figure stood motionless, those hollow eye sockets boring into her with an intensity that made her skin crawl.
"You want to know where your precious Veilwalker is?" The masked figure’s voice carried a mocking lilt that cut through the silence like a razor. "She’s screaming Kiran’s name right now, begging for mercy that will never come."
Mika’s roar of fury echoed off the pristine walls. Her right foot slammed forward, her entire body coiling like a spring as she launched herself across the corridor. The earth-blade swept overhead in a vicious arc, her shoulder muscles bunching with the force of the strike.
The masked figure’s head tilted slightly to the left. Her right foot slid backward, her torso twisting as the blade whistled past her skull mask, missing by inches. Mika’s weapon crashed into the white floor, sending chips of stone scattering like shrapnel.
"Pathetic," the skull-masked warrior sneered. Her right hand moved in a fluid circle, fingers dancing through the air as wind coalesced around her palm. The air solidified into a curved blade that hummed with contained energy. "Is this the best earth-wielders can produce?"
Mika’s left knee bent, her weight shifting as she ripped her blade from the cracked floor. Her right elbow snapped up, the weapon spinning in a diagonal slash aimed at the figure’s ribs. The masked warrior’s blade materialized just in time, her forearm crossing her body to catch Mika’s strike. The impact sent vibrations up both their arms, metal screaming against hardened wind.
"You talk too much," Mika snarled. Her left foot pivoted, her hips rotating as she chained three rapid strikes together. Each blow forced her opponent to give ground, her boots sliding across the pristine floor.
The skull-masked figure’s laugh rattled through the bone covering her face. Her right shoulder rolled back, deflecting Mika’s overhead strike before her wrist snapped forward, the wind-blade cutting a shallow line across Mika’s forearm. Blood droplets spattered the white stone.
"And you fight like a desperate animal," she said, her left hand grabbing Mika’s wrist as their blades locked together. "No technique, no finesse—just raw brutality."
Both warriors strained against each other, their faces inches apart. Mika’s teeth ground together as she pushed forward, her right leg bracing against the floor. The masked figure’s grip tightened, her fingers digging into Mika’s wrist until the bones creaked.
"My name is Emma," the masked figure said conversationally, as if they weren’t locked in mortal combat. "I never did get to introduce myself properly."