Megumi landed smoothly next to Mikami, her spear dripping blood that slowly boiled away in contact with the hot steel.
“I saw it from here, sister. Nice strike, you’re on fire today!”
“Yeah, so is the dog demon!”
Ichimaru jumped up and shook his arm hastily, trying to put out the fire on his left sleeve.
“Hot, hot, HOT!!!”
“Damnit, Ichi!” Sazume yelled. “You had me worried, I thought you were dead!”
“No, but you know what? I’m tired of this game!”
“What?”
“You heard me, I’ve had enough of it…” he grumbled as a spoiled kid and sat down, his arms folded. “I wanna switch, let’s play something in which I have some actual chance of winning! Like ‘Jan Ken Po’, I don’t know…”
“Brother, this is serious! It’s not a game of ‘Rock, Paper…” Suddenly, she caught herself looking at weapon their father had made for him. “That’s it!” she whispered. “Ichi, you’re a genius!”
“Huh? Damn right I am... Why?”
“‘Rock, Paper, Sword!’ You’re Sword! Let’s switch!”
“Watch out!”
Ichimaru pushed her away from Mikami’s coward strike and put himself up in a hurry, as Megumi was already over him again. The next instant, he was running toward the bottom of the valley, where Kumari and Sajin had resumed their duel. Looking at the fight, it wasn’t hard to understand. “No, you’re the genius here, sister”, he thought and ran as fast as he could, gaining distance from his opponent.
In a desperate move, Kumari stroke back right when Sajin was ready to crush him against the ground. The sheathed sword and the burning fist collided, and the following explosion threw them in opposite directions, but Ichimaru caught the bear demon before he hit the ground.
“Thanks, but shouldn’t you be dealing with the girl?”
“Shut up and listen: it’s a game of ‘Jan Ken Po’”, he said, turning around. Megumi was approaching at high speed, the spear burning wilder than ever.
“What?”
“You’re Rock! We have to change, otherwise I’ll keep tying. Got it?”
Kumari looked at Sajin while he stood up, moving a huge boulder away.
“Okay. When?”
“Now!”
And, all of sudden, he switched places with his friend. Megumi was already over him, ready to stick him to the ground, but the strike was blocked by Daikumade. The impact echoed through the valley like a thunder; the spear was shattered into pieces and the girl fell back, screaming.
“Hey! Get away from my sister!” Sajin yelled, furious, and charged at them.
Mikami looked at that from up the slope, intrigued. “What are they trying to do?” he asked Sazume. But she wasn’t there anymore. “Shit! Sajin, watch out!” Before the great warrior could reach Kumari and Ichimaru, Sazume’s whip hit his leg with a deep cut and he went down on the hard ground.
The elder brother ran downhill to intervene, but in an instant Ichimaru was charging at him at stunning speed, the sword firmly gripped in his right hand. The fire whip flew at him, but the dog demon dodged it with no effort. Suddenly, the dog demon was face-to-face with him.
“Told you I was going to break your neck, douche bag!” And hit Mikami’s wakizashi’s hard, forcing him to step back.
“My spear!” Megumi yelled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Amazing what a small change of strategy can do, isn’t it?” Kumari said, unsheathing his sword. “We were having a hard time fighting your way, since all of you are clearly superior to each one of us. You’re faster than Ichimaru, and your brother’s tougher than me.”
She looked at her younger brother, beginning to understand; unable to hit Sazume from a distance, he became an easy target for her poisonous whip. Pissed off, he fired one of his explosions, but she took advantage of his opening and slashed his shoulder. The fireball missed her by a mile.
“So, all we had to do was to change the combination. We neutralized your skills by striking at your weaknesses.”
Mikami was no longer in advantage. Even retreating constantly, Ichimaru’s speed made it impossible for him to get a proper distance to attack with the whip. He was dragged into a sword-and-claws fight, in which the dog demon clearly had an edge.
“Defeating strength with range, range with speed and…”
“And what, speed with strength? Don’t make me laugh, bear! There’s no way someone as slow as you could defeat me!” She threw away her spear’s chunks and snapped her fingers, her nails suddenly burning bright as steel fresh from the forge. She jumped up and charged at Kumari. “You won’t even see the way I’m going to kill you!”
He pointed the scabbard at her, waiting as she approached. “Wrong.” And dropped Daikumade. The sheath hit to ground, making it shake violently. Megumi lost balance, stumbled and, when she realized it, she was right in front of him, the green-hilted sword well over her head.
