Unforgiven Swords: Chapter 19

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 The blind swordsman was the one who started to move first.

 In a slow-paced, silent rhythm, he held his sword’s cable parallel to his body and drew.

 What was revealed was a blade longer than a regular katana, clean and bright as the lifeless blind eyes of its user.

 Lura: (points sword at Karen) Whenever you want, darling…

 Karen gave one last look to her uncle. Macabre had his arms crossed over his chest, and according to the ruthless posture he tried to show, not a word left his lips.

 Karen: (thoughts) Very well… (unsheathes sword) Time to honor my name.

 As Karen slowly approached the center of the arena, Lura smiled sadistically. If that by itself wasn’t enough to scare the young and hesitating RedClaw girl, the fact that the swordsman directed his eyes towards nothingness was even worse.

 Karen: (thoughts) Okay, so he’s blind after all… That should mean he’ll depend on his other senses, specially hearing, I guess…

 She looked downwards. High heels. It would be impossible to not emit sound wearing those shoes, so she cursed and removed the red leather that covered her feet. The socks only didn’t emit any sound, thus Karen simply put herself to run.

 She swung the sword strongly, while Lura still smiled.

 Lura: I still got other sense, you know?

 The long sword met Karen’s sword, in guard, and sent her back with blow.

 Lura: (excited) Now we can start! Mumei-ryu…

 Preparing to swing, Lura threw his sheath. The wood piece met his opponent’s blade, and in one instant the Blind Swordsman was already close enough.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: … Deceive and Kiss.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> The blind man’s blade was practically meeting Karen’s body when it occurred to Lura: it certainly was not looking normal the way the little wolf had lost her balance.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> After blocking the sheath, Karen went a few steps back, and when Lura approached, she seemed she had lost her balance and was going to fall… except her left leg stood too firmly over the ground.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Before the blade could cut, the small right leg ascended and hit the beautiful face of the blonde man. If she still wore her shoes, the chances weren’t small that one or two teeth would be broken with the impact.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Fu… Certainly not the Cub I waited for… (Jumps back, hiding behind a training dummy)

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: Planning to fool me like this? (Kicks dummy to the ground) What the…?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura was not there… and didn’t help the fact that the large arena was all filled with dummies and structures like that.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: Why don’t you stop hiding...?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Luckily Karen had what an underdeveloped sense of what was called Kenbunshoku Haki. So when Lura jumped silently from behind a dummy, she could feel his incoming attack.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen rolled to the ground and hit a wooden weapon stand.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: (rushes) You smell nicely, you know that?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> The RedClaw swordswoman could raise her sword in the moment the blade was going to hit her head, moving like a bet in a match of golf. The impact made her get off the ground and break the stand in two halves, stopping only in front of another dummy.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> From the corner of her eyes, she was able to see a barrel… and some kind of liquid dripped from its wood structure.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: (thoughts) Wait… other senses? Did he say I smell nicely…?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: (jumping) Stand up!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen managed to dodge in time; however the descending blade still cut her sleeve. A string of blood fell slowly from the wound in her arm and she felt it warm for a time… not something she was unable to deal with, though.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: (thoughts) This is not something it’s going to be easy, but… no, maybe it isn’t necessary… (stands up)

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> She barely finished getting up and the blade was already cutting her forehead and a chunk of the ping hair along.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Next second, then, after almost falling back, Lura had already inverted his swords and jumped, spinning three times in the air.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Flight of the Swallow!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> When he landed on his right foot and his sword moved, expecting to cut Karen’s head downwards, the girl kicked.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> She didn’t think, her leg simply moved. And Lura fell with his face on the ground, quickly taking the sword again and swinging it randomly, while he was unable to stand up.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: (thoughts) Yeah… In this rhythm he’ll kill me… The only way I can win is if I block his sense of smelling, so that plan will be necessary.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> While he couldn’t get to his senses again, Karen kicked Lura on his back and he flew a few meters closer to the barrel the pirate kept aiming.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: (getting on his feet) I’m not idiot!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> The swordsman was hearing the sound of a sword making attrite with the floor, in high speed, therefore, he naturally expected it to be an upward slash.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> It was another kick, however.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> That time he hit exactly where he was supposed to. The barrel’s wood was heavily broken, and when Lura could notice anything again, he was covered in…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: That’s old sake! With… Egh! There’s more to it!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: So how you’re smelling?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Like this thing… (grins) Clever girl! (stands up) However, I think I should explain to you a few details…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: (walks closer to Lura) Sure, sure… (waves sword) Save it for later.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen raised the blade and, as it shone up her head, she swung it downwards.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> For her surprised, Lura blocked with his own blade.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: Eh??? (Jumps backwards) What the hell?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: That’s what I was saying. (Enters combat stance) Taking off your shoes to avoid making noise was a smart decision. Throwing me into that barrel, so that I’d lose my smelling, which worked, by the way, because now I only feel the smell of this… anyway, it was a clever move, also. You see, the detail is that I can feel the blow of a sword if it’s close enough to me, and more than that, I have the powers of the Eko Eko no Mi, so I can use echolocation.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: Echo what?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Echolocation. It means I can know where the hell you are, like bats hunting in the dark.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: At least I’ve put you in disadvantage…?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Hahaha! No, you haven’t. Yes, the other sense would’ve helped, but I can do just fine without them. Now… (hits sword in the ground once) Let’s go!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura jumped behind a dummy and disappeared.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen moved a few steps, trying to look to all directions, when she heard Lura hitting the sword on the ground again. The pirate held tightly her sword, looked to where the noise came and…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Knocking to the ground a small cabinet, Lura showed his figure behind his opponent. He attacked and Karen almost fell, but managed to regain balance and dodge a blow to her throat.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Swords clashed.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen kneed Lura on the stomach. He did not move.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Both held their weapons the strongest they could, and pushed, with all their strength, to a point when their heads almost touched.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Far away, Macabre observed.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> “A last blow of strength and willpower…”, the pirate captain thought, “Lura is for sure underestimating Karen for that matter.”

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen gazed at her opponent’s face one more second and took a deep breath. Reuniting all her strength, she pushed.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura went a few steps back and smiled.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Quickly regaining balance he entered battle stance, his sword prepared to give one last blow.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen did the same. Getting strength, the RedClaw swordswoman rushed.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Both swords were down the next instant…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> And Karen’s sword was painted in blood.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: I… I did it…? Did I actually…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> A sword attack made her roll to the ground.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura, enraged and wounded heavily in the chest, held his weapon with intentions crueler than before.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: I really underestimated you, didn’t I? Well… (hits sword on the ground) I won’t be doing it again!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> He ran towards her and delivered a strong kick to her chest. Aching, Karen landed a few meters away and tried to stand, with difficulty.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> The blind swordsman did not say anymore word. He just truly wanted to kill the girl for all the problems she caused him… For such a little Wolf Cub to cause such humiliation to a bounty hunter skilled as himself…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> He raised the sword once again and was prepared to hit it on the ground…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> That was when he heard a sound… and the sword did not hit anything.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Simply because now it did not pass of three inches.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: What the…?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen kicked his face and he fell to the ground bluntly.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: What the…?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Again, a foot hit his face.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: I don’t know what this “echothing” is, but I imagined it had something to do with you swinging the sword like that. So, I threw my sword towards yours when you were about to do it again, and it seems that now both are broken.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: You broke my… Smart… The echolocation gives me a notion of the environment, as long as I, and specifically I, emit sound.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: (sends Lura flying away with a kick) Do you think I care about your explanation? Ugh, why don’t you surrender? I’m tired and wounded!

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Lura: Surrender? We’re both without swords, and you for sure is better at hand-to-hand than I am, so yes, I surrender. However…

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Karen: Huh?

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> From the opposite bottom of the coliseum, Grainne of the Tides watched the fight.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> She was still confused and still indecisive, but she would fight nonetheless.

<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left"> Grainne drew her sword, and ran towards Karen RedClaw.

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