Kairoji starts breathing heavily, wiping blood from his mouth and reaching for his stomach. The blow from Double nearly putting a hole in his stomach forces Kairoji to stay on the defensive.
"Physical strength? That''s all you can provide? Where''s the uniqueness in your style, the flare?" Kairoji says.
Double squats down and leaps far up into the endless void.
''The void is all around us, pure darkness, but it looks like there is a glow constantly over us. He really treated this place as the perfect place for a fight,'' Double thinks to himself.
Double leaps from the sky at Kairoji with a determined look on his face. Anticipating the incoming strike, Kairoji swiftly pulls out his daggers. But before he could fully draw them forth, Double seizes Kairoji''s left hand. Kairoji manages to draw forth his dagger and slice Double''s face slightly on the left cheek.
Double flips back and puts both of his feet on Kairoji''s chest, generating a shockwave that blows Double back. He flies back so far that he''s no longer in sight of Kairoji.
''Shockwave manipulation? No, this goes beyond that. He''s not merely manipulating shockwaves; he''s actually generating them!'' Kairoji realizes.
As Kairoji completes his thought, Double swiftly flies back in, moving faster than Kairoji''s eyes can track. He cocks back his right hand and delivers a powerful punch to Kairoji''s face. Reacting quickly, Kairoji seizes Double by his jacket, gripping him tightly as he draws his dagger with his free hand.
Double notices this, struggling to break free from Kairoji''s grip. Eventually, he sheds his jacket, releasing himself. Generating a shockwave beneath his feet, Double leaps high into the sky. However, he feels his leg go numb for two seconds during the ascent.
''What the hell was that?'' Double thinks to himself.
With no time to process what had just happened, Double looks down and proceeds to cock his right arm back in mid-air. He throws a punch, generating a shockwave, but it''s easily blocked by Kairoji.
"Your shockwaves, you''re afraid to put too much effort into them, aren''t you? Because the previous leap to the sky taxed your body, didn''t it? You''re terrible at hiding your fear!" Kairoji yells.
Suddenly, Double appears behind Kairoji and cocks his right arm back once again. Double takes a boxing stance.
"You jump to conclusions too quickly. That shockwave I threw at you just now was only to make you think I was getting weak," Double says.
"Damn you!" Kairoji yells.
Kairoji attempts to get his guard up, but Double had been too fast for him, forcing Kairoji to suffer the full force of this next attack.
"Jyu-Oh-Sei, Thunder Jab!" Double yells.
Double once again uses the same attack that he wounded Kairoji''s stomach with, but even though he had targeted Kairoji''s stomach, he was only able to get Kairoji''s chest as Kairoji moved his body just enough.
Double continues standing on his feet, his legs trembling, but his unwavering resolve keeps him up, continuing to hold his stance.
"Lucky you, if that punch would''ve landed where it was supposed to, this fight would have already been over," Double declares, trying to control his breathing.
Suddenly, Double hears a voice from outside of the circular void. Joki had managed to make his voice heard from outside of the void using his ability.
"Double!" Joki yells.
"Joki, how the hell?" Double asks, confusion etched across his face.
"No time to talk right now. It looks like you''ve caught on to what this bastard is doing. Kazu''s location is unknown. You''re doing well, but you have to hurry and finish him off. I''m afraid I can''t join you. His ability restricts anyone from entering unless permission from him had been granted," Joki says.
"Yeah, don''t worry. I''m doing my best over here," Double says.
(September 12, 1820, Three Days Ago)
"Come on...you''re faltering more and more with this. I didn''t anticipate it would be so challenging for you, Double. Kazu has already mastered it," Joki says, standing in front of Double and Kazu, his sword unsheathed.
Rising shakily to his feet, Double grits his teeth against the pain coursing through him, his muscles trembling with effort. With a glare of annoyed frustration, he locks eyes with Joki.
Double looks over to Kazu, who had been completely calm, and tries to mimic his behavior, his stance, but as he tries to do this, he''s kicked in the stomach by Joki, knocking Double to his feet.
"Stop doing that. That''s exactly why you''ll never be able to catch up to Kazu. Be original. Everyone has their own style of fighting. Do you not believe in yourself that much?" Joki says.
Double gets up once again, showing his resolve and endurance after taking an aura-imbued kick from Joki. As Double gets up, he notices Joki looking at him with a disappointed expression.
"There you go, that same look as always. You think showing how disappointed you are is gonna help me improve? Help me work harder, Joki! You two trained how to fight. I got where I am by mauling my enemies with pure strength alone. Combining that with actually knowing how to fight is an entirely new realm for me," Double yells.
Joki sighs, his expression softening into a smile. He approaches Double, extending his hand toward him. Double reciprocates, clasping Joki''s hand firmly. With a gentle tug, Joki leads Double toward one of the shelves in the room, his fingers deftly selecting a book from among the collection.
Skimming through it, Joki eventually finds a page about a boxer by the name of James Figg and gives it to Double.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"You mainly fight with your fists, and that made me think about this fighter from the 1700s. A brave bare-knuckle boxer, known as one of the fathers of modern boxing. He may have fought with weapons from time to time, but this book does its best to explain how he fought from the eyes of those who witnessed him. Stylewise, he was impeccable, and with learning a style like that, you''ll be sure to stay on pace during our training. Today''s training session ends!" Joki says.
Joki reveals that he had been using the amulet that Reima wore to allow himself to communicate. The amulet was a device crafted by Kairoji, a device made for emergencies if one of Kairoji''s creations got out of control.
Joki notices the amulet losing its color, alongside Reima slowly losing consciousness. Before ending the communication, he says one last thing to Double.
"The girl is losing her consciousness! It looks like that amulet is too much power for her. It''s goodbye for now, Double. My only advice is to stay alive," Joki declares.
Joki begins waving his right hand, while reaching his head in as much as the empty void would allow him too. A smile comes across Joki''s face, which makes Double''s eyes light up.
"Of course you would say that!" Double yells, forcing a smile back at Joki.
The communication ends, and Double and Kairoji stand face to face once more. Double observes that Kairoji had been given just enough time to gather his wits and be ready for the fight again.
''The instant my body began to react adversely to my production of shockwaves, I knew I couldn''t keep this up for long. I need to finish him now,'' Double thinks to himself.
Suddenly, Kairoji begins putting his hand in the air, generating a vortex of lightning and fire that crackles in the air. Without a second passing, Double instantly knows that the lightning Kairoji produces is the same as Kashikoi''s.
"Familiar, isn''t it? As long as we are both inside of this empty void, I can do as much as I want. I waited till we were both nearly at the end of our gas tanks for this. You can lie, you can hide it, but you can''t deny that you''re almost finished!"
Flames flicker around Kairoji''s hand as Double swiftly generates a shockwave beneath his right foot. Leaping into the air, he delivers a forceful kick toward Kairoji, who deftly evades while maintaining his grip on the vortex.
"Inferno Cyclone!"
Kairoji hurls a swirling vortex of flames toward Double, the crackling heat stinging Double''s hands as the fiery onslaught approaches. Double attempts to swiftly evade the vortex, but realizes that the more he runs from it, the bigger it gets.
"What! How!" Double yells.
"Talk about idiotic. I see there are still some things you don''t know. Don''t worry, I could tell your friends didn''t either," Kairoji says.
Double decides to put his guard up as the vortex swallows him. It explodes, and Double is left on one knee, breathing heavily. The burns on Double''s chest look fatal, but he gets up and continues facing Kairoji.
Kairoji notices this and quickly flies in at Double. He cuts him in the stomach, sending him falling down. Double still gets up, holding his stomach while his right arm is still on guard.
"What are you fighting for? Most people would have realized they lost and dropped dead. The afterlife is better than here, you know. The pain you feel will go away," Kairoji says.
"Yeah, that''s true, but that''s such a lame way of dying. I''d rather change the world back into a better place, where people don''t have to kill each other senselessly just to live their lives," Double says.
The attack Kairoji had let off earlier was the second awakening of his ability. The second awakening of one''s ability gives them the opportunity to land a fatal blow that is almost impossible to avoid by normal means. Normally, this would be impossible without a Sakusei, but Kairoji had been using multiple reserves from people he had siphoned aura from.
"Do you know what the emotional quota is, Double?" Kairoji asks.
"What the hell is that? Emotional quota? Stop spouting bullshit," Double says.
"I''m afraid that even someone like you should know this. I refuse to believe someone with power like you, and that much resolve just doesn''t have an ability. Your downfall will be your mental limits. The emotional quota has three stages to it, Double. The first being emotional dissonance. You''ll begin to experience conflicting emotions, causing mental and emotional turmoil. The second, psychic feedback. This has a profound impact on your mental state, and your aura will begin to show it. The third one, essence burnout, which not even I know of myself because I''ve never experienced it," Kairoji says.
"Why are you telling me all this? What is the point?" Double says.
Kairoji walks toward Double, who tries to move, but he notices that his legs won''t go forward. Kairoji reaches his right hand out and pushes Double, who falls over. Kairoji walks over and stomps Double on the stomach, where the slash wound had been.
"Because you''ve already reached stage two. Your aura at this point looks like TV static—it''s incredibly unsettling. You''re no exception to this rule. You keep fighting, not realizing that the more you push yourself beyond your limits, the more it drains you mentally. That emotional quota your friends failed to teach you about? That''s what''s going to cost you this fight," Kairoji says.
Double grabs Kairoji''s leg with his right hand, prompting Kairoji to swiftly move his leg. Double gets back up, refusing to even see how bad his stomach wound is. He quickly gets back into his boxing stance.
Double''s fighting style remained a work in progress, yet he persisted in drawing from the teachings of James Figg. His greatest strength was adaptability, honing his skills to exploit his opponents'' vulnerabilities. Throughout the fight with Kairoji, Double underwent a transformation, intricately analyzing Kairoji''s movements, predicting his attacks, and delving into the depths of his psyche. With each attack, Double''s mastery over Kairoji''s nuances grew, enabling him to seamlessly anticipate and counter Kairoji''s every move.
''Even if he has been giving me a beating this entire time, I know everything he''s gonna do, nothing he can do will get past me. I need to land one more attack on him,'' Double thinks to himself.
Double fully extends his right arm and rotates the torso to generate maximum force. Double''s aura had still been unsettling. Kairoji''s comment about it looking like TV static was correct, but nonetheless, Double launched the strongest attack he could.
"Jyu-Oh-Sei, Makunouchi Dragon Lance!"
Double throws his fist like a haymaker, sending a huge shockwave that covers almost the entirety of the void. Kairoji had nowhere to run, all he could do was defend. The previous shockwave attacks from Double had been overwhelming in strength, and Kairoji knew he couldn''t simply defend from them.
Kairoji holds his guard up and begins blocking the shockwave, his arms were in extreme amounts of pain, but he continued to block knowing his fate if he stopped.
''This fight is over. I landed it, emotional quota, all these other things that come with this power. I''ll learn it all, I only need my friends and that''s it!'' Double thinks to himself.
''That''s it!'' An enraged voice erupted, its tone laced with fury and frustration, a cacophony of anger and bewilderment intertwining in every word.
Suddenly, a voice appears from within the head of Double. The same voice he heard after the fight with Kashikoi.
''Why are you saying that, you act as if I haven''t been here this whole time! Where is my praise, where is my credit?'' The voice presses on, its confusing words causing Double''s mind to wander during the fight.
Double begins to feel fear as his arms start to lose strength, but it wasn''t just from his attack. Double felt as if his aura had been drained from his body completely.
''What in the world? Who are you... you''re seriously throwing me off right now. And why does it feel like my strength is fading so rapidly?'' Double asks.
Double''s vision begins to feel blurry, his body feeling weary as he begins to lose consciousness. Trying to hang on, trying to pour out aura that he no longer had.
''Because I''m draining the amount of aura you have, it might be yours, but we''re in the same body, meaning I can take it from you!'' An intense yell with a thunderous tone comes from the voice inside of Double''s mind.
Before Double can process what he had heard, his attack cancels. He starts to breathe heavily before he drops to the ground.
"No...not like this! Just when I was about to win as well? Everything''s getting blurry...This isn''t fair, none...of this is fair," Double utters weakly, succumbing to unconsciousness and collapsing onto the floor.