Kanesaki staggered back, reeling from a sudden blow as Raiden's spear cracked against him, lightning bursting from its bladed tip. The towering lieutenant advanced, unrelenting.
Nishihara surged forward, sliding low beneath Raiden's guard and slashing for his legs. Raiden sprang back, deflecting two quick strikes before parrying a third, leaving Nishihara wide open. In a blinding flash, the spear thrust forward, punching through Nishihara's chest.
There was no time to react.
Gritting his teeth, Nishihara seized the shaft of the spear with both hands, blood pouring from his mouth. With a guttural roar, he yanked Raiden closer and swung his heavy blade downward. The odachi bit into Raiden's shoulder, cutting through the hardened layers of the suit but barely scraping flesh - just enough to draw blood.
They locked together in a brutal, breathless struggle - Raiden driving the spear deeper into Nishihara's chest, while Nishihara clung tight, coughing blood over his hands and the weapon, his body trembling from the agony.
With his free hand, Nishihara pushed against his sword, trying to force it deeper into Raiden's shoulder - but it barely moved, the lieutenant's strength holding firm against the officer's weakening push.
Shit, shit, shit; Nishihara thought, his body on the verge of collapse, the YNS couldn't heal his wounds fast enough, let alone just seal them to stop the bleeding.
'Something wrong, Officer?'
Opening his eyes slightly, Nishihara grit his teeth, fighting the pain for a bit before he spit his blood onto Raiden's cheek. The lieutenant smirked to himself as he released one hand from his spear to grab the edge of Nishihara's weapon, lifting it from his shoulder with little effort. As he did so, another tear of blood formed in his eye, falling slowly down his face.
'I know you hate having to watch your comrades die. Not to worry, officer, this Chimera will be the last that you have to witness before you join them.'
Hastily pulling the spear back, Raiden kicked Nishihara away and turned to face the flaming battlefield. Kanesaki was nowhere, clearly hiding in wait. Then, the rumble of a destroyed truck rang out from his right. Raiden twisted his body, vaulting his spear over as lighting carved a path towards the flaming vehicle, piercing the roof as Kanesaki leapt away, now in full sprint towards Raiden, his eyes widened with rage and determination.
'Raiden, come here!'
Kanesaki charged forward, swinging with his left arm - but Raiden blocked it without effort. He followed with two quick jabs from his right, only for Raiden to casually swat them aside, stepping back slightly to adjust his footing.
Kanesaki pushed off his left leg, trying to drive a knee into Raiden's chest - but Raiden's right foot shot out, knocking Kanesaki's leg off balance and breaking the attack mid-motion, leaving him wide open.
Seizing the advantage, Raiden countered instantly - his right knee slammed into Kanesaki's gut, folding him over. Before Kanesaki could react, Raiden's left fist snapped up into a brutal uppercut, rattling his jaw, followed by a vicious flurry of punches hammering into Kanesaki's side.
As Raiden restarted his beat down of Kanesaki, Nishihara crawled onto his knees, collapsing back down as he tried to stand. He grabbed the hilt of his Odachi, staring ahead as he held one of the his two stab wounds, the YNS working quickly to recover his body. Kanesaki... Just try to fight him off a little longer, okay... His mind went quiet after that as he thought back to him and Raiden's time in the academy with Akio - how they were always making arguments for who was the strongest, fastest and smartest. A small smile crept up his face as his body started going numb.
Chimera, focus.'
A duo of punches hit Kanesaki's face, knocking him back. Raiden stared down as he wiped another blood tear from his face. Kanesaki grunted as he regained his footing, stomping the ground to keep his legs from numbing.
'What do you mean... I am focused, dumbass...'
Staring coldly ahead of him, Raiden opened his arms as he spoke.
'You lie to yourself. I've fought Chimera like you before, I know when they're not focused.'
He's right, Kanesaki thought. This whole time I've just been holding back... Why!? Raiden stepped towards the Chimera. Eyes widening in fear, Kanesaki stepped back, his hands going up to defend himself weakly as Raiden walked up to him, looked his dead in the eyes before slapping him across the face.
'You've got strength inside you, why not use it? Do you fear that you'll lose control? Go insane? Kill people you shouldn't? Or is it more than you know going all out wouldn't mean anything.'
Raiden suddenly gripped Kanesaki's hair, lifting his weakened body up, his feet dangling from the floor as Raiden continued.
'I'm going to kill you now. Afterwards, I'll kill Nishihara, then Sakaguchi, and then the others you came here with. They're all witnesses, plus I get to let loose a little.'
Groaning in pain, Kanesaki opened his eyes, struggling to keep conscious as his hand loosely gripped Raiden's arm, failing to pull his hand away from his head. His mouth opened as he tried to get a few words out.
'Screw you...'
Smirking slightly, Raiden sighed, looking over at Nishihara as he struggled to stand. Nishihara didn't care if he was numb, he just kept trying to get over to help Kanesaki.
Kanesaki drooled blood, his eyes going blank as he stared at the ground, pools of his blood forming below his hanging feet. Why couldn't I go all out..? I knew he was gonna be stronger than me, so why!? Is it because of Nishihara? He's lost so many comrades... Maybe I subconsciously didn't want to have him lose another. But... It's pointless now, we're both gonna die... Slowly, his eyes shut as his breathing slowed. Everything went black.
'Hey! Kanesaki, you stupid Chimera!!! Wake up right now... And kill that bastard! I've seen you fight properly, don't go soft now just because he's a friend of mine you dumbass!!!'
Eyes widening, Kanesaki glanced over at Nishihara. The officer was crawling over, his eyes filled with determination and faith in Kanesaki. A smile shaped in the corner of his mouth, he laughed to himself as Raiden stared in confusion.
'So that was the reason... Well, guess there's no point in giving a shit about it then...'
With renewed vigor, Kanesaki grabbed Raiden's arm, pulling it away as he dropped back to his feet, curling his other hand into a fist before sending a sudden punch directly into the lieutenant's abdomen, sending him sliding backwards on his feet. Raiden stared in confusion at Kanesaki's new strength, his hand reactively held the area where he was hit as the YNS eased the pain.
Kanesaki ruffled his hair to clean it up as he took a few steps towards the lieutenant, a smirky grin on his face as his eyes cracked, forming the shattered shape.
Chapter 21- end