Tora held her sword in a horizontal position to block his attacks. Aki, shouting his will to take her down while she effortlessly blocked each of his attacks. Truly, the difference in their strength was vast. Not just that, but also Aki"s lack of experience on the battlefield put him at the disadvantage. After all, Tora fought for years to win the war several years ago.
"Tora!!" Through his gritted teeth, Aki continuously attacked her like a maniac but to no avail, she easily blocked all his attacks.
Leaping several feet away from her, Aki panted as he stared at her nonchalant figure. All his attacks required strength hence, after those series of attacks, his body was exhausted.
Yet, the woman before her showed no signs of tiredness. If there"s anything that she was showing, that was boredom.
"Is that all you can do? Blindly swinging your sword, ha!" Tora scoffed as she stared at his exhausted figure. Her gaze moved from his pair of determined eyes to his already bleeding knuckles caused by his recklessness.
How does he think he could beat her just by swinging his sword using brute force?
If Tora was serious, she calculated that he had died multiple times in her hands. That was if she took advantage of the openings he had giving since they started fighting. Still, based on her observation, Aki had a good fighting foundation. She was certain that if it wasn"t her who he was facing, he would give his enemy a hard time.
"Say, did you really kill..." As he caught up for his breath, Aki wiped the sweats on his forehead as he straightened his posture with his sword in his right hand. "Did you really kill little Churu?" Mustering his courage to ask this very thing to her, Aki gritted his teeth as he intently looked at her.
"What if I did?" Arching her brows, Tora deliberately taunted. "Didn"t you arrange my daughter to be your concubine? Or, have you forgotten?"
Aki"s shoulder trembled as he held on his sword as tight as he could ever hold in his life. He ground his teeth as his heart pounded faster and louder.
He came here not just to reclaim the throne, but hoping that the rumors about Churu"s real cause of death were false. Because, if Tora indeed murdered their child, he wouldn"t be able to forgive her.
He loved Tora, yes. He loved her until right at this moment she"s standing before him. However, he also cared for Churu like his own biological daughter. The reason he let Tora and his people be killed by her hands as he desired to take responsibility for using Churu as leverage. He thought it was his retribution for using his own child.
Alas, how could he accept the fact that even though he remained quiet on the sideline, he was unable to protect the vulnerable Churu? She"s just an innocent little girl who did nothing wrong but to love the two of them.
And yet, both he and Tora failed her; they failed her as a parent. Now, she paid a price that she never deserved.
"I did use her as a leverage but, if I knew it was her — I"d use every mean to lift the royal decree." Aki"s voice cracked as the side of his eyes welled up. "But, you... what did she do so wrong to send her to her end?"
In his eyes, Tora had truly turned into a monster. The Yamada Hanako he knew and loved wasn"t there anymore. All that remained was a greedy, mad queen who only loved killing people and bringing despair to everyone.
Aki"s emotions overwhelmed him and soon took control of his heart and mind. He couldn"t forgive her. Neither of them deserved Churu or this country.
"What did she do so wrong?" Tora scoffed before she loudly chuckled. "Because she reminded me of you! That"s her crime!" The curl on her lips gradually faded as Tora"s front turned colder.
"You!" Upon hearing her response, Aki gritted his teeth as he could not believe her. Until now, Tora was pus.h.i.+ng all the blame to him, justifying her actions as righteous.
She"s crazy!
"I will kill you!" With that said remarks, Aki held his sword as he dashed to her direction. His speed multiplied as the enormous will to kill her has reached the heavens.
In his eyes, she"s the monster that he shall seize tonight. The beautiful memories in the past slowly cracked until it vanished — forgetting every little lovely lie those days had.
For a second, Tora was caught off guard as his speed was faster than earlier. Fortunately, her instincts were fast enough hence, she was able to block his attack.
"Such a big word for a coward." Grinning like a maniac, an unreadable glint flashed across her pair of eyes. "Sure, try to kill me, that is, if my sword doesn"t pierce through your flesh first."
Tora pushed his sword by hers, which made him leaped back. Without wasting a second, Aki once again launched an attack and this time, Tora altered on offense and defense.
Their clash never faltered nor did it pause as both of them tried to kill each other, or so, what everyone thought. However, Tora was just creatively pointing at his usual mistakes and the openings he was leaving, which he picked up after Tora slashed him a couple of times in the same area.
"I won"t forgive you!" After noticing that Tora had been attacking him in the same direction repeatedly, Aki managed to see his own opening while Tora wasn"t giving any.
Oddly enough, he somehow observed how she fights and how she altered from offense and defense. Hence, Aki baited for another opening, which she bit.
At that moment, Aki knew that he wouldn"t be able to live tonight unscathed. Therefore, he staked his arm to put a stop in this battle.
Blocking an attack on the opening he left, Aki thrust his sword forward, straight to her abdomen. However, moments before his sword could pierce through her, Tora"s lips curled into a subtle smile before the shriek of flesh was heard.
Aki was momentarily in a daze as he witnessed her coughed blood while looking at him. "What..." He thought inwardly. As he witnessed her weakened while blood oozed down from her body and mouth.