Slipping back, Kanesaki reeled from a sudden hit by Raiden's spear. Lightning burst out from the bladed tip as the towering lieutenant stepped closer. Nishihara slid below Raiden and swung for his legs. Raiden leapt back, blocked two swings from the officer and parried a third, leaving Nishihara open for a quick strike. The lightning burst out in a flash, the spear piercing through Nishihara's chest in the aftermath; but there was no time to think.
Forcefully pulling the spear from his chest, Nishihara spat some blood and yanked the spear, forcing Raiden closer as her swung his heavy blade, the slice coming down in the lieutenant's shoulder, piercing the suit but only lightly scraping his skin, drawing little blood.
The two were locked in a struggle - Raiden impaling Nishihara once again whilst Nishihara held the spear tightly, his eyes closing from the pain as he coughed up blood onto both his hand and the spear. His other hand as trying to push his weapon further into Raiden's shoulder - it hardly moved. 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!'
Charging forth, Kanesaki threw a swing with his left arm - it was blocked effortlessly. He jabbed twice with his right - Raiden just swatted them away, stepping back slightly to gain better footing. Kanesaki jumped back with his left leg, propelling it forwards to knee Raiden's chest - Raiden's right foot darting forwards to knock Kanesaki's leg off balance, stopping the whole attack and leaving him open for a moment. Now on the offensive, Raiden followed up his counter with a knee kick of his own, thrusting his right knee straight into Kanesaki's stomach, following that with an uppercut from his left arm then a quick flurry of punches into Kanesaki's side with his right.
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