Night Rain Slaughter (3)

Kazama Ruri held his blade, looking at Lu Mingfei, wondering what he meant by a second round. Did he still think he had a chance of winning?

The next moment, Lu Mingfei answered him with action.

Lu Mingfei held his Zanpakuto horizontally, his left index and middle fingers together, and brushed them across the blade.

"Farewell, Zanshin."

As Lu Mingfei's voice rang out.

The blade instantly turned pitch black, and a black string grew from the end of the hilt, tied to a small black cross.

Kazama Ruri felt Lu Mingfei's aura suddenly surge.

With another Flash Step, Lu Mingfei teleported directly behind Kazama Ruri from a distance. Kazama Ruri quickly turned to block, and with a bang, he was forced back several steps.

"His strength increased too?"

Kazama Ruri felt a hint of surprise. He had thought his Alchemy Blade had merely released its domain, not expected his own strength to be enhanced as well.

The figures of the two kept disappearing into the rain and reappearing elsewhere, each movement causing the ground to explode.

This rainy night did not affect their offensive exchange at all.

"Chii~"

Kazama Ruri's shoulder was deeply cut by Zanshin. Without hesitation, he thrust his cherry-red long sword towards Lu Mingfei's neck.

Lu Mingfei could only dodge, with a hint of regret. If he had cut a little deeper, the outcome would have been decided easily.

He hadn't expected that, besides his skin, his muscle fibers and bones were also so tough, not like a human body at all.

Lu Mingfei didn't know what Kazama Ruri was thinking, but Kazama Ruri also found Lu Mingfei's defense to be outrageous.

What percentage of Dragon blood would a Half-Blood need to have such defensive power, and without any Dragon transformation characteristics?

And Lu Mingfei's bizarre footwork, each transfer was extremely swift, like teleportation.

If not for his extremely high-level eyesight in his current state, he might not have even known he had been attacked before realizing the opponent was already beside him.

"I didn't expect to encounter a monster like you. I'd believe you if you said you were Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto," Kazama Ruri said with a bloodthirsty smile.

"You're not bad either," was Lu Mingfei's assessment.

The two were now far from where they had started fighting.

"This way, Erii won't be affected, right?" Lu Mingfei looked into the distance.

Erii watched their fight from a great distance. Every time Lu Mingfei was injured, it made her heart clench, but now that Sakura had the upper hand, there was no problem.

With her eyesight, she could see every move on the battlefield clearly.

She was now just thinking if Sakura would agree if she went to help. Although the battle looked terrifying, with Sakura there, it wasn't scary.

Seeing that they were far away, Lu Mingfei felt a little relieved. This was an abandoned factory with a large space inside and many abandoned floors.

It looked like it had been a large factory before.

"I'm very happy to fight you today. Can you tell me your name?" Kazama Ruri asked with a smile.

His smile was like that of a beautiful, terrifying ghost.

"Lu Mingfei. That's the name of the person who's going to cut you today. You can remember it," Lu Mingfei shrugged.

"Kazama Ruri. That's my name."

Without further thought, Lu Mingfei stood still, his hair slightly ruffled by the wind.

No longer restraining his Spiritual Pressure, he gripped his Zanpakuto with his right hand.

A black pillar of light rose from Lu Mingfei's body, its aftershocks continuously impacting the surroundings, scattering all the debris.

The air suddenly became oppressive, and not a single drop of rain could be seen around Lu Mingfei. The rain curtain parted as if avoiding him.

"Lu-kun is truly incredible!" Kazama Ruri exclaimed, looking at Lu Mingfei with admiration. He also felt a sense of oppression.

A black torrent shot straight into the sky, breaking through the dark clouds. The rain actually stopped.

The Zanpakuto erupted with black mist, which then ignited. The black pillar of light instantly vanished.

Lu Mingfei swung his blade down, and a black slash instantly shot towards Kazama Ruri.

Feeling Lu Mingfei's slash, even with Kazama Ruri's reaction, he could only barely dodge. He only grazed the edge of the slash, and the flesh and blood on his left arm instantly vaporized.

The building behind them was split in half from the middle, one half standing, the other completely disappearing.

Kazama Ruri's left arm was reduced to a stump of white bone.

The first layer of defense constructed by scales on the outside, and the second layer of defense made of muscle fibers were both broken, leaving only the white bone exposed. It was clear that his left arm was crippled.

"Is this sword energy?" Kazama Ruri asked, ignoring his left arm.

"It's not sword energy, just sword pressure," Lu Mingfei replied.

"Alright, it's been fun chatting with you. Let me send you on your way quickly," Lu Mingfei said with a squinting smile.

He Flash Stepped forward, appearing directly in front of Kazama Ruri, and struck from the blind spot of his left arm. If he cut here, he could bisect him at the waist.

Kazama Ruri just looked at him with a smile.

"Something is wrong."

Seeing the expression on Kazama Ruri's face, Lu Mingfei realized something in an instant.

Kazama Ruri's left hand, which had been reduced to white bone, suddenly underwent a transformation; in the blink of an eye, it returned to its original state, showing no difference from before it had been severed.

He grabbed Lu Mingfei's clothes with his left hand and swung his cherry-red longsword with his right, aiming a full-force strike at Lu Mingfei's neck.

"It's over, Lu-kun."

It was as if he were willing to trade injury for injury, even if it meant being cut in half, just to sever Lu Mingfei's neck.

However, after the blade struck Lu Mingfei's neck, Kazama Ruri's expression turned strange.

All that remained in his left hand was Lu Mingfei's coat; Lu Mingfei himself had vanished.

Not only that, but his own body was suddenly bound by six beams of light, which he tore apart with a slight exertion of force.

Lu Mingfei stood atop the roof.

He had used the Utsusemi technique the moment he sensed something was amiss.

Utsusemi is an advanced Flash Step; when trapped or under attack, it allows the user to quickly escape their current position, provided they sacrifice their outermost garment.

He had just discarded his coat to achieve that escape.

The moment he escaped, he used a chantless Six-Rod Light Prison; although it couldn't hold him, it was enough to buy time.

Lu Mingfei turned the blade of Zanshin outward, gripped it in reverse, held both palms toward Kazama Ruri below, and chanted:

"O Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe the twin lotus, waiting in the abyss of the distant fire."

As the chant concluded, a blue light manifested in Lu Mingfei's palms, instantly forming a pale blue conflagration: "Way of Destruction No. 73, Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash!"