Rising Shadow and Saint faced each other from opposite sides of the tatami. At Allen’s right, the Black Slice Clan members supported their leader in silence, while at the other side…

  “Go for him, Boss! Take his head!” Vale cheered Allen, strangely calling him boss. He really loves to do a spectacle.

  “Vale,” Larna shook him from the shoulders. “Stop, everyone is looking at us!”

  Allen chuckled. Those two... But even if Vale was cheering him, Larna was right. “Everyone has to keep silent while two battlers are standing on the tatami.” He mustered seriousness, but then smirked at them. “And don’t worry, I’ll go for it.”

  Allen focused again on Kuro. No, now he was an opponent he had to defeat at all costs—he was Rising Shadow.

  When the Battle wave expanded, they were still standing on the tatami, but the dojo had been falling into pieces. Light filtered through the holes in the ceiling, and shadows hid under the broken planks.

  Allen gripped his sword’s hilt with rage at seeing his grandpa’s dojo in that state. While I’m still alive, I won’t let it end this way, he promised himself.

  And then lunged forward.

  He hadn’t battled Kur—Rising Shadow in a couple of weeks, but the memories of their countless battles were forged through pain and frustration in his mind. Rising Shadow’s arm already rested on his sheathed katana. It could be mistaken for an insult to his opponent, but that’s how grandpa’s style was; Kuro never underestimated anyone.

  Anyway, Allen knew that old trick, and he wasn’t going to let him unsheathe. With this in mind, he sped up at the exact moment to break Rising Shadow’s timing, and ended close enough to him to not let him unsheathe. But at this short distance, he couldn’t use his blade either.

  But his fists were there for a reason. Allen threw a punch to the face, but unsurprisingly Rising Shadow grabbed his wrist and started twisting it. Before it was too late, Allen used the hilt of his longsword to try another attack.

  In a masterful, smooth motion, Rising Shadow unsheathed his sword and heaved it up to make the hilts of both weapons clash.

  Allen used the shift of his opponent’s focus from his wrist to pull his arm free, and before the now unsheathed katana cut him in half, he stepped away to take distance.

  Allen couldn’t hold a satisfied smile, despite it not going as planned; those quick exchanges were one of the reasons he loved Battle.

  But Allen’s excitement faded when the serious and… disappointed voice of Kuro reached his ears.

  “You really are serious with this,” he said, surely noticing that Allen was giving his all.

  Allen felt a surge of pain in his soul, of having to antagonize Kuro this way, but no matter how much he thought about it, there wasn’t another way. The Black Slice Clan was the only clan in Tenet’s with an integrated Battle System, and above that, Allen hoped to make Kuro realize he didn’t have to suffer as much as he did.

  He only thought about Battle since he woke up until his eyes closed, obsessed with getting stronger. He refused to tell Allen his reason, despite his constant efforts. But no reason, worth more than his life, and he was sacrificing it.

  Allen met Rising Shadow’s gaze with steeled resolve. “I’m Kuro.” Above anything else, two people watched him, waiting for his victory. “I can’t lose.”

  Rising Shadow scowled as he reassumed his stance. “I don’t know your reasons for betraying our grandpa, but I’ll end this joke.”

  Allen’s eyes unfocused from the coming Rising Shadow. That I betrayed grandpa? That dumb affirmation heated up is blood.

  He lunged at Rising Shadow with killing intent, and without thinking twice, Allen’s sword flashed for the kill. Rising Shadow didn’t seem to expect the reckless attack, and barely deflected it with his own blade.

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  Allen didn’t stop and ravaged his sword again with indignation. His cousin’s obsession blinded him. “You’re the one betraying him!” Allen continued his onslaught, making Rising Shadow recoil with each attack. “You’ve forgotten grandpa’s teachings.”

  “You’ve utterly misunderstood him!” Allen said, sending a swing so strong that Rising Shadow had to step back when receiving the impact.

  The sound of his ragged breathing reached Allen’s ears. His katana flailed in his numb hands after having blocked so many attacks. “What the hell are you saying?” He growled. “You’ve abandoned the clan, have been altering grandpa’s style,” Rising Shadow’s nose wrinkled, his next words a mix of pain and anger. “and now, you reveal to your own family.”

  “Kur,o that’s not—”

  “Enough!” Rising shadow barked, his killing instinct growing strong as he quickly closed the distance.

  Allen clenched his fists in frustration. I’m doing this for all of us! But sadly, he realized it didn’t matter how many times he tried to explain it to Kuro—he was utterly convinced of the opposite. Still, even if it tore him into pieces, Allen was going to take Kuro’s hate to restore the warm clan grandpa created with them. Maybe one day, Kuro would understand.

  Allen noticed the slight twist on Rising Shadow’s waist and readied his sword to deflect the cut, but instead, he received a kick on the knees that made his leg falter and fall to his knees. That was a feint; it didn’t matter how angry Kuro was, he always knew how to keep cool.

  Allen rolled to the side, evading by inches the descending katana. He jumped back to his feet, but Rising Shadow was already attacking again. He deflected the katana with his longsword and counterattacked, but Rising Shadow turned his body, seeing the sword pass in front of his eyes.

  Allen gritted his teeth as he tried to pull back his sword as quickly as possible to prevent the incoming attack. Kuro was in an uncomfortable position to attack, but that didn’t impede him from tackling forward and smashing Allen’s nose with his forehead, making him trip back.

  Allen managed to stand on his feet, but the world rolled around him. The distorted shape of Rising Shadow flailed as it grew larger as he got closer, but knowing that wasn’t enough to survive the onslaught until his vision steadied.

  He smiled, deciding to give that a try, after all, he knew his opponent very well. He was going to go for the open spot in the last second. He swung even faster when angry, so Allen just had a fraction of a second to cover from the attack.

  He patiently waited, hearing Rising Shadow’s fast steps and staring at his silhouette growing larger, then at the rustling of metal against the air. That satisfactory sound that Kuro could make thanks to all his training. Allen tensed and moved his sword to his neck—Kuro used to aim there when he was angry.

  The clang of metal brought him back to life—he could keep fighting. His blurry vision sharpened, and his longsword flashed, shallowly cutting his opponent’s chest.

  He let the air out from his mouth and let his intuition and instincts lead his movements. His sword danced along him, with twists, turns, and swings he didn’t plan.

  Rising Shadow managed to survive, using a brief opening to retreat. However, he wasn’t unscathed—They weren’t mortal, but red lines marked his body.

  He acted calm, but his loud breathing and deep scowl betrayed him.

  “What was that?”

  An ambiguous question, but Allen knew what his cousin referred to. His defence when he was blind, and the following onslaught, had surely rattled Kuro—a loyal follower of grandpa’s style—to his core.

  “I’ve learned a lot this last two weeks,” Allen said with a proud smile, wondering if Vale or Larna noticed what he had just done.

  However, he knew he wouldn’t have another chance to improvise when Rising Shadow coldly closed their distance. Kuro’s black eyes weren’t a modification of his aspect—he had been seeing them for years—and despite that, when his gaze turned cold like now, he could feel his bones freeze.

  Kuro’s katana warped toward his neck with a speed Allen couldn’t dream of achieving yet. But having his sword close to the zone, he blocked on time.

  The katana impacted with such strength that it made the longsword cut in Allen’s neck with the recoil. Kuro pushed the longsword deeper into the flesh with his katana, while he freed a hand from the hilt to the extreme of the blade to try to fight back. But Rising Shadow’s strength was oppressive—his veins bulged out on his arm, and his forearm muscles had grown bigger.

  Allen thought he was saved when Kuro strangely leaned back, but he did it just to tackle forward with renewed strength, taking a relieved Allen by surprise. The startling painless sensation of a blade biting into his neck, and the lack of air that forced him to gasp, just made Rising Shadow’s strength look more unstoppable.

  Kuro leaned to the side of his head, and he could notice every tremor in his ragged voice.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of grandpa’s dream.”

  Allen pushed away the sword, fueled by frustration. How much would he have to tell him? He didn’t have to fulfill grandpa’s failed dream of becoming the number one. He and Kaito had completely misunderstood him.

  Allen’s eyes welled up with tears. He just wanted us to be happy; that’s what he intended to say, but the words didn’t leave his damaged throat.

  Next, Allen’s own blade severed his own head.