Boom-
Clang!
Boom-
Explosions mingled with the clash of metal, echoing through the corridor.
Calling it a corridor was not quite accurate anymore.
During the earlier fighting, the walls along this stretch had been battered to pieces. Several surrounding rooms had been opened up into one another, and the two combatants now fought across the entire space.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out as Tengen Uzui crashed through a wall and flew backward.
After rolling across the floor several times, he finally drove his twin blades into the ground to steady himself. As he rose, he stared fixedly at the dust-filled room ahead.
He was not in good shape.
His glittering headpiece and earrings had long since flown off somewhere. A wound on the side of his face slowly seeped blood, and cuts dotted his arms, chest, and legs.
None of those wounds were deep, but all of them were poisoned.
Although the Butterfly Mansion's specially formulated antidote kept his life out of immediate danger, his movements inevitably slowed as he attacked and defended. Already at a disadvantage, he had gradually gone from being on the back foot to being completely overwhelmed.
Much as he hated to admit it, Tengen Uzui now seemed unable to beat the fellow facing him.
The new Upper Rank Four slowly emerged from the dust, his figure bearing some resemblance to Tengen Uzui.
"Oh, my foolish older brother. You left the family in triumph back then, so how have you become this pathetically easy to beat? I've barely even tried, and you already look half-dead."
"Just look at you now. Hair all over the place, clothes in tatters. Not flashy at all."
"Cough, cough..." Tengen Uzui coughed a few times and raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his