Chapter 53: The Gumiho (4)

"Blood and Bitches, huh?" Kate repeated, and kept observing Maeve.

Then...she just laughed briefly.

"You certainly know how to make impression," She said.

She rolled her nunchaku once around her wrist and caught it by the handle. The current running along its chain had weakened, but it had not disappeared entirely.

"But you and I both know, that this is the end, Maeve,"

Maeve said nothing, she was focusing her remaining time to somehow rest her core. Even if a little.

"Well, not unless you REALLY have the force control of Severans," Kate smirked.

Her gaze travelled over her. The blood at the corner of her mouth, the faint tremor in her hands, the exhaustion in her posture.

There was no eagle overhead, no other shadow beside her. Maeve had nothing left to show.

"And I...am sincere with my words. I mean it. If you still want...you can take the win," She said.

As usual, Maeve did not have anything to say to that.

She just watched her for several seconds, and neither of them moved.

Then Maeve shifted her right foot slightly backward.

She relaxed her shoulders, straightened her back, and adjusted the position of her hands. One extended along the centre of her body, while the other remained close to her chest.

Her fingers were relaxed, and her weight distributed evenly between her feet.

It was an unfamiliar posture.

At least, Kate had never seen Maeve use it.

Maeve’s breathing slowed, her lowered, and the glare in her grey eyes intensified as she fixed them on Kate.

The posture possessed a peculiar discipline. There was a certain stillness in the arrangement of her shoulders and arms.

It was similar to Kyudo Style, the foot work of archers. But her hands were positioned for close combat.

Kate tilted her head.

"Well, that’s odd," She murmured.

Maeve had no confidence in the stance herself. Most of what she had learned about close combat came from observation. She had watched Marcellus fight and train, studied positions he favored. Despite being one of the finest close combatants, Marcellus’s fighting style is a simple combination of boxing and wing-chun.

Although, she had never possessed his experience, nor had she developed his understanding of the techniques, still, she had learned enough to recognize the value of a good stance.

And she knew Kate would not allow her to maintain it for long.

Kate’s lips curved in a wider smile.

"Finally," She was satisfied.

Maeve’s fingers tightened.

And Kate, vanished from her position.

The first magnetic pull dragged her toward a bead embedded in a broken section of the arena. Before she reached it, repulsion threw her sideways.

Her body crossed the remaining distance in a sudden burst, then turned sharply as she redirected herself toward another anchor.

Maeve’s eyes followed her.

Kate jumped three anchors in sudden speed. On the third one, she disappeared from Maeve’s field of vision.

But Maeve did not turn.

The sound of a shoe striking concrete came from behind her.

Kate arrived at her back.

She had chosen the shortest and most painless route to finish the duel, and that was to knock Maeve out in an instant.

Kate raised her nunchaku, the handle swung at a significant speed at Maeve’s head.

A controlled strike would be enough to end the duel, Kate needn’t unleash another catastrophic attack.

She only needed to strike once.

The nunchaku was mid-swing, but in that very moment, something felt off.

Something felt wrong about Maeve.

The weapon was still descending toward her head, but the wind was slowing Kate down.

She could feel the air drag her whole movement slow.

A current passed between her and Maeve, lifting a fine layer of dust from the broken floor.

The loose fabric of Maeve’s frock moved against her legs, a straind of black hair rose from her shoulder.

Kate did not know what was going on. She had just...slowed down mid-swing. And every passing fraction of a second, she was slowing down even more.

No matter how far she pushed herself, she couldn’t resist the drag.

She frowned and tried to force the movement through.

The resistance just increased.

The nunchaku stopped a short distance from Maeve’s head. Kate still held it, but it was suspended in the air.

She was right behind Maeve, but she didn’t know what was going on.

Then her eyes moved to Maeve, and Maeve had not turned around.

Her posture remained unchanged, her hands were still positioned the same way.

Another current of air blew in the arena. The remaining beads trembled against the floor.

Kate felt her own force respond to the sudden change.

She noticed it, and leaped back from her position, creating a safe distance between her and Maeve.

"{Gumiho}" Maeve bit her lower lip, and called out one last time.

*THRUMPH-Flick!*

The lights all around the arena blinked once again.

"What...?" Kate whispered. She was sure that Maeve had exhausted her core.

Then...a silent, and soft, ruffling sound came from behind Maeve.

It was quite, barely distinguishable from the wind.

Then something black emerged from the darkness at her back.

A long, narrow shape rose behind Maeve, followed by another, then another. They continued to emerge, and climbed upward with steady movements.

Kate had released her attempt to strike long ago, but she still kept taking a step back as the shapes just continued to rise.

They were tails.

Enormous tails covered in long, individually visible strands of black fur.

Each moved independently, the thousands of fine hairs shifted with the wind.

Their surface were smooth and carefully formed. They were thick, as thick as a human. But despite their size, they felt real, and not some mere manifestation of force.

They continued to rise.

Kate lifted her head.

The first tail had already climbed so high that it was touching the sky ceiling of the arena. Another passed it, followed by several more.

Each extended farther into the air.

Their movements were elegant and controlled, their curves were beautiful, and their dark strands remained distinct even as they climbed.

Her hair began to move. Two pointed, and long ears emerged through it, covered in black fur. They turned slightly toward Kate, responding to the sounds around them

Kate stopped retreating.

She stopped retreating and looked at Maeve. From the ears to the tails.

The tails were still rising. One after another, they emerged until nine immense tails extended above her. They climbed far beyond the height of Dios’s former canopy, stretching toward the upper reaches of the arena.

Kate had to crane her neck to follow them.

The uppermost ends were so high, she could not see where they finished.

Then the tails began to turn. One corved toward the left, another followed, passing above it before opening outward.

The others moved in succession, twisting and unfurling as they began to descend, covering each and every corner of the arena.

Most of them settled behind Maeve. Their tips crossed the broken floor and their upper portions spread around her like a protection.

They were unlike anything Kate had seen throughout the match, or even throughout her life.

But it wasn’t just the appearance.

Maeve who supposedly achieved combat grade four, only recently, was right now emitting force control of someone who’s about to achieve combat grade three.

Kate, being the heir of Magnar family knew of this phenomenon really well.

In fact, every other family knew of this phenomenon.

But none of the people expected to witness it from Maeve.

She’s just an attendant.

The is a...

"Taboo," Kaji Sato said while his hand which rested on the armrest, supported his head.

He could see the change in power levels of Maeve. And what she had just shown could very well be considered a crime.

Nobody in the room disputed him.

Kaji shifted his gaze toward Marcellus.

"Tell me something," he called him out, while Marcellus was quite allured by the sudden change in appearance.

"Hm?" But he still turned his head slightly, despite keeping his gaze on Maeve.

"Why does your attendance possess that kind of power?" Kaji asked.

Marcellus however, did not leave his gaze off of her.

"Do not pretend you don’t understand what I’m asking," Kaji’s expression remained serious.

"She was classified as combat grade four, yet the output she’s producing now is approaching the threshold of grade three. She achieve that increase in a matter of seconds."

He paused.

"That is the Force Control of Severan family," Kaji concluded.

He allowed his words to settle, and before Brody could ask what that even meant, Kaji continued.

"The Severan family does not possess a rare type of Force that nobody else can produce. Nor is its strength simply a matter of having a naturally superior core. Its inheritance is something considerably dangerous and extremely useful."

His fingers tapped once against the armrest

"Core Overdrive." Brody snapped his fingers, remembering it.

"The principle is straightforward enough. The Severan’s force their core to operate beyond its ordinary limits, amplifying the amount of force they can produce in a short period,"

Kaji glanced back at the arena.

"An awakener’s grade reflects years of development. The efficiency of their control, the capacity they can sustain, and their ability to use that power in combat. These things cannot simply be acquired in seconds."

His eyes narrowed.

"But Severans have a method of temporarily pushing their output beyond their established level would permit."

"But, here’s the catch. Their bloodline has the necessary adaptations to withstand the strain of that overdrive. That is why their technique cannot simply be taught to anyone who asks."

Brody folded his arms.

"That means," Brody was now, for the first time, serious. "An outsider attempting the same thing could do severe damage to their core. Which is...equivalent to killing themselves," Brody concluded.

"Yes. Now I have two questions," Kaji looked back at Marcellus.

"Is Maeve Eira of Severan blood, or have you made an exception for her?" he asked.

Marcellus did not know the answer to first question, but he definitely did not have Maeve learn Severan Force Control.

In fact, he was learning what the Severan’s force control really is, from Kaji Sato, right at this moment.

But just when he was asked the question...everyone’s gaze shifted to the other side of the room.

Corvan Tuoni was standing.

They had known the Tuoni heir to be present throughout the duel, but the man had barely moved from his seat.

Now, however, his eyes were wide open.

He stood directly before the floor-to-ceiling glass, with one hand pressed against it.

His face was so close to the surface that it not had visible fog.

Beside him, his assistant had risen as well.

"Tuoni?" Kaji frowned.

Corvan’s eyes followed the nine tails as they moved across the arena, his gaze travelled from their enormous base to individual strands of black fur.

"No way..." he whispered.

"My lord..." His assistant was baffled too.

"Are we missing something?" Brody asked to Marcellus and Kaji, because Kaelo had never shown interest in their conversation.

Corvan finally looked away from the arena, he turned toward them slowly.

His expression was of disbelief and indignation.

Then he looked at the three of them.

"What the fuck are you people talking about?!" He growled.

And then, he pointed at the arena. He was furious.

"THAT IS THE FORCE CONTROL OF THE TUONI FAMILY!"

"""...""" No one knew how to take in that information.

Corvan turned toward the glass, and pointed at Maeve’s nine tails.

"She has merged...MERGED with her own shadows!"

"That is Merging with Shadows. It is a sacred technique of the Tuoni family, passed down to our heirs for generations!"

"THE OUTPUT OF FORCE IS FROM SEVERAN FAMILY. BUT THE SHADOWS ARE FROM TUONI FAMILY."

"Uh..." Brody, just looked at Marcellus to that.

"So... she has committed...two crimes?" He was in doubts himself.

"No wonder she’s your assistant!" He whispered.