(Soul Conversion 3...BEAT!)

I perform a flare attack to attempt to trip Yamiso. He jumps into the air and stays airborn with his newly repaired Fallen Wings.

WWWWWOOOOOO!!!!!!!

With my enhanced speed, I run around the arena, dodging his Darkness Bellow while he continues to have this attack trail me.

(Wait for it...) I think.

kizu tsuite mo kizu tsukete mo toomawarishite mo

kokoro no mama korogaru mama tsukinukero

Through The Night

As soon as the guitar solo begins, I rush under and past Yamiso, giving me time before he can turn around to hit me.

(Soul Conversion 15...BEAT!)

Using the barrier of the arena to my advantage, I jump towards the barrier and push off of it towards Yamiso, hitting him in the back with a lightning fast kick. I push off, dash past him, and repeat my attack, hitting him in the chest. I continue my barrage at a speed that even Hisao cannot keep up with, making it look as though I am dashing across the arena wall with afterimages hitting Yamiso a couple times every second. With each hit, Yamiso gets knocked back and forth until I dropkick him into the ground. Before I can perform another dropkick into him on my descent, he rolls out of the way and gets up.

(THAT'S IT!!) Yamiso angrily thinks.

semenai de kesanai de makenai de

dare datte motteru hazu yuzurenai mono

"HHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!!"

Yamiso begins to emit large quantities of darkness rhime, creating a vortex of this rhime around him. Upon settling, both of his arms are Devil's Claws, each large enough to reach the ends of the arena and half the barrier's height!

ai dake yume dake kimi dake

sore dake ha hanasanai donna toki de mo

BATAN!!

Yamiso digs his claws into the sides of the arena along the barrier and begins to spin counterclockwise as fast as he can. Even if I'm faster, the size of the claws prevents me from advancing, forcing me to run between the claws clockwise around the arena to avoid getting hit. Yamiso then jumps into the air and smashes both hands together into the ground, creating a shockwave and lots of debris to disrupt my view!

dakiatte kizu tsuite ushinatte

dare datte kizuite yuku taisetsu na mono

(Time for my special combo!)

(Darkness Drive: Eclipse Void!)

Upon activation, all the darkness rhime that went to Yamiso's claws becomes a compressed sphere the fits within his hand. He throws it down in my direction and...

BBBBUUUWWWWAAAAA!!!!!

The small sphere explodes into a larger sphere of darkness covering all of the arena! The explosion itself doesn't hurt me, but...

(Crap! I can't see anything!) I think.

I look around for anything seeable. Nothing but swirling darkness rhime disrupting my vision.

(Darkness Drive: Animated Sins!)

tonikaku yakusoku sokubaku

sore dake ja wakaranai mitsuke dasenai

I hear Yamiso land on the other side of the arena and inhale deeply. Another Darkness Bellow.

WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I instinctively dodge to the left, and judging by the sound of my cloak shredding, barely avoiding the blast...

WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(An attack from behind!?!?)

This surprise attack hits me spot on, launching me in the direction of the first blast. As I'm airborn, the darkness rhime clears, showing Yamiso readying a strike with his Devil's Claw. I dig my blade into the ground and spin around the hilt, this stops me from continuing my airborne trajectory into Yamiso's attack.

I hear something jump behind me and...!!!

A downward slash from a Devil's Claw!

(Another Yamiso!?)

Again, I barely dodge the attack by rolling to the side. No. This isn't Yamiso. Not exactly. It's a figure in the shape of Yamiso, but composed entirely of darkness rhime.

The two begin a unified assault.

nani ga hoshii nani ga shitai doko ni ikitai

yami o saite hashirinukete tsukamitore

(Soul Conversion 8...BEAT!)

With no opening to counterattack, I backflip, roll, sidestep, and block with my blade all throughout the duo's onslaught. Dodging claw after claw. Eventually, the two end up on both my sides.

(NOW!) I think.

(Soul Conversion 12...BEAT!)

Through The Night

On the last lyrics of the song, I circle around the doppelganger and charge towards it, stabbing it through the chest. As the clone dissipates, I continue to rush towards Yamiso at blinding speed, forcing him to block. Our collision pushes Yamiso backwards.

As the last notes of the song play, the two of us return to our barrage of attacks between Yamiso's claws and my blade. Neither one of us has an advantage. On the last note, we perform one final strike, with a downward spin attack into the air while Yamiso blocks it. This time, the amount of force doesn't create a shockwave, as I don't have the strength to perform such a strong swing.

Once the song ends, I push off of Yamiso's claws and put my blade back into its sheathe. Yamiso definitely tried harder today. But...

(70%. I used up 70% of my rhime...and Yamiso was still going strong...)

The two of us are clearly out of breath. Yamiso returns his hands to their normal shape, then takes a deep breath.

"Not...bad..." he says gasping.

"You...too..." I say in the same way.

PACHI! PACHI! PACHI! PACHI!

"NICE ONE, GUYS!!" I hear...Ripperu yell!?

Yamiso and I look to the arena seats and see everyone currently on site cheering for us.

(When did they get here?) Yamiso and I think simultaneously.

"An intense, blood boiling duel between men sharing a bitter rivalry since they met, the two warriors withstand each other's barrage, and remain standing when the dust settles. They look into each other's eyes, acknowledging one another's strength, and reach out to shake hands to congratulate one another. Their strong, battle-worn hands meet, and smiles appear on their faces. They look into one another's eyes again, this time seeing a hidden adoration. They slowly inch closer to each other, rage turning to passion, and..."

"SHUT IT, RIPPERU!!!!" Yamiso and I yell.

(I don't want to be part of one of her twisted BL works!)

"Hey, brother!" Sueka yells. "I want to show you something!"

As I walk towards Sueka's direction, Hisao and Katsumi return to the headmaster's office.