In another corner, Ayano closed in after the woman following Chiharu’s instructions.  She grabbed the stunned woman by the leg and slammed her down into the roof.  Cracks shot out around the impact.  Quickly, Ayano leapt on the woman’s back, pinning her arms as taught.

She remembered the training and went straight for a knockout.  Ayano gripped the woman’s neck and head in her arms praying for this to end.  ‘Please…please…please…no more death!’  Even off guard, the stranger struggled in her grip.  Her arms tightened more trying to balance to not kill.

The woman fought her more, but with the unfavorable angle, could do little.  Until suddenly, an explosion at the side of Ayano completely took off her head, spraying blood everywhere.

A heavy gasp came out of Ayano’s mouth as she awoke from her fatal future.  She whispered in her mind the altered fate and saved herself the grim reality.  However, a minor blast hit her stomach, breaking her hold.  The momentary stun gave the woman enough time to elbow Ayano free.  They separated to recover themselves.  ‘I failed…’

Ayano tumbled away to brace herself.  Her body still felt the entire failed route that she took.  Even familiar with it, she hadn’t gotten used to the feeling like she wished that she would have.  It took the wind out of her in a time that she needed to focus.  And now her stomach hurt because of that mistake.

The break in the assault gave her a moment to actually look at who she attacked so blindly.  Her mind imprinted her target, but her heart hadn’t actually seen.  ‘She’s a teenager like me, probably younger.  Caught up in this cult…where’s her parents?’  It did feel a little contradictory given her own situation, but Ayano focused on the reality in front of her.

A girl smaller than her wearing the cloak of the Children of God.  It had a more militaristic vibe to it like that of what Chiharu wore.  Belts and pockets for carrying whatever tools that she needed.  But the white and gold trim of the cloak really made her stand out like the rest.  It covered around most of her making the silhouette of the girl hard to know, but a narrow and small frame made it clear there was a weight difference between them.  Not that it made a lot of difference with their superhuman strength.

As Chiharu had shown and even forced them to learn.  None of them looked like bodybuilders, but none of the weight training equipment in the gym was enough anymore for them.  Chiharu actually brought in cars as part of their strength building.  It seemed impossible to Ayano that they could do it, yet it proved less crazy than it seemed.

She pulled out a tonfa that Chiharu had somehow.  The girl still remained a mystery in a number of aspects.  Numerous secrets hung around her.  Ayano didn’t know if she would ever learn what they were.  But she focused on the immediate problem in front of her.  Whether she liked it or not, she had a fight where she had to work alone and succeed.  This was her mission.  ‘I can’t let my guard down.  This must be the one that made those traps before…  How many times must I die tonight?’

Chapter 637 - Death’s Design

Bracing the metal of the weapon against her arm, Ayano prepared for the next round.  ‘I wish I understood how they make their traps.  My visions haven’t been enough yet…’  She knew that her fight would be an uphill battle with someone that already managed a kill on her.

Death kept close company.  It instilled fear in her bones, but she learned to keep moving.  That had been trained, beaten into her.  She plunged forward after the girl.  ‘Quick is still going to be the best option for now. The wound’s not slowing me down…’  She closed quickly on the girl who tried to retreat.  The roof didn’t allow for much movement along with the other fights already going.

The way the teen moved there was a clear lack of familiarity in combat.  She had some basic training from the looks of it that Ayano could observe, but it didn’t compare to the fighting that she had to deal with or what Chiharu pounded into them in preparation.

Her footwork needed a lot of help as she tripped over herself.  Ayano caught her on her back pinning her down with her legs.  The fight needed to end soon.  Those traps threatened any sort of chance she could have to end things easily.

The thought of what she would have to do otherwise made her arm shake a little.  But she focused on the task.  Ayano went for another pin needing to do anything to put her out of the fight.  Since the choke hold didn’t seem to work last time, she went for her arm to dislocate or break it.  That should be enough.

Right?

Her upper body completely vaporized in an instant.  Ayano coughed standing over the girl as she had tripped.  It made her blink and step back still not knowing where it came from.  ‘She did it again, but how?  I’m not seeing anything from her.  No movements or objects.’

While she froze the girl recovered.  A confused gaze followed her until a blast at Ayano’s feet took off her foot at the ankle.  The girl walked towards her and continued to stare until everything from her shoulders down was left a smoking ash.

Ayano yelped and bounced back several steps.  ‘I still learned nothing.  I’m just dying more and more.  I need something that’ll let me predict what she does…’  She skipped around on her feet, not certain if more traps laid around the roof.

She watched the further confused teen for any indication of action.  ‘Based on the traps and the lack of combat experience, I’m guessing she’s more used to using her powers to fight or even just take out her opponents.’

Around the roof the others were deep in their fights.  ‘Chiharu did say to switch up if we had a bad match, but I don’t think anyone other than me could fight her.  She’s got no tell right now and with how strong the explosives are.  She’d kill any of us with ease.’

As much as she hated what would happen, this was the best possible match, accidental as it was.  She would just have to accept what would be her fight.  ‘I need information…  But to get that…’  The thought made her sweat a little.

Three.

Three deaths already.  In less than a minute at that too.  The lethality of a girl less than her in age made her body chill.  ‘How are we so different?  Who’s idea was it to give us this hell?’

The only choice she had forced her to focus.  Any more hesitation and she felt that she’d be killed again.  This girl lacked any sort of compassion.  The cult’s brainwashing must have been something truly frightening to warp someone so young.

Ayano jumped back into action, but bounced on her feet in a zig zag pattern to keep her movements less linear.  If it kept the bombs from her, she’d be thankful for that.  The girl started to move again, though like before not with the sort of grace needed for a battle.

Shallow blasts caught parts of her armor, but did little otherwise to slow her down.  Either the speed was more than she could keep up with or her concentration was lacking.  ‘They’re not large blasts.  She seems to use smaller ones to cripple and larger ones to finish the job.  Does that mean she needs to focus on large ones?’

That gave her a little hope if true.  If she could keep the girl on her toes then she’d at least be able to prevent anything serious from happening.  Though watching her body language didn’t give her anything to work with.  She didn’t move her arms to place a bomb.  And it all seemed to be remote, since she didn’t need to get close.

The best that Ayano could get out of her was that her eyes seemed to be looking where she wanted a bomb.  But she wasn’t as skilled as Chiharu to use that information.  It was basically pointless.  If that was all it took for her to make her bombs, then Ayano never was going to stand a chance.  ‘Invisible bombs…I think the only thing I can be thankful for is that it doesn’t seem to be filled…  She probably wasn’t prepared.’

Small wonders, but it did favor her.  Ayano feared what a well prepared fight would have looked like.  Not that it gave her a huge advantage in the struggle.  She still couldn’t find the bombs by tripping them or dying from her vision.  ‘Such a useless power when I need it.’

Dancing around the roof in the tight space that they had to work in didn’t give her a lot of freedom.  Ayano worried about repeating places that she stepped on.  ‘Eventually I’m going to hit somewhere I’ve been and trip one of the bombs…’

Thus far she had been safe from anything serious.  She didn’t try hard to close in on the girl needing to get her to display more of her power.  ‘Maybe I can catch her in a mistake or even wear her down.  I’ll take that as the win.’  Any victory would be acceptable.

Ayano kept watch on her even as she got unnerved by not tripping at bombs.  And that lack gave her none of the needed information.  She braved the risk and started to close the distance.  If she was at least she’d be more likely to use her power.

Disappearing for a brief moment, Ayano popped back behind the teen sweeping her legs.  She followed up with her forearm swing in the tonfa against her back.  A loud crack of metal on bone sounded as she sent the girl flying over the roof.  She tumbled over the concrete.  Had she been a normal human that would have scrapped her up and tore skin, but it did nothing.  It was hardly that rough of a hit.  Ayano didn’t even put her full strength behind it.  She almost felt bad about the girl’s lack of fighting capability.

But it obviously wouldn’t be enough to stop the girl.  That much Ayano knew.  She marked where the girl would likely stop and bolted for it.  It continued to surprise her how fast her body was now after the training.  Barely any time passed it felt.

Caught up, she kicked the girl up into the air.  ‘Come on, just give up please!’  She jumped after the body striking once more in the back with her tonfa.  The loud ringing rippled around the night air.  It pulled a cough out of the teen.  Ayano grabbed a hold of them and spun around landing a deep axe kick down on their stomach blasting them down to the roof.

It left Ayano in the air for a moment with the momentum.  She fell slowly seeing the girl crash into the concrete.  Cracks raced out from impact.  The roof looked to hold as Ayano’s strength wasn’t that great.  But it did look to finally stun the girl.  ‘Was that enough?  Do I dare try again?’  Would death call upon her once again?

Ayano landed a few meters away.  She looked on to see if there was any movement out of the girl.  It truly seemed like she might have stunned her.  Or dare she hoped to knock her out.  She didn’t seem well suited to fighting.  Perhaps, she had a low threshold.   Could this have been all it took to finish it?

Was death no longer needed?

She approached with some caution still, but forced her feet to go a little faster.  She didn’t know if the girl was faking it.  Either way, Ayano closed quickly now.  Another pin and hold, she locked the girl’s body up checking on her condition.  Alive, but also not out.  She just seemed stunned or out of it.  Maybe the strikes were more than she was used to dealing with.

Regardless, she moved to finish the girl off.  She returned to the sleeper hold.  Precious seconds ticked away.  The familiarity of the start echoed back to her.  Would it work this time?  Did she create enough of a window to finally end the fight?

She could go help the others with their fights.  One on one fights left them with too many risks.  She had to help out her family.  They were better at fighting than her.  She knew she could support them to see their fights to the end without any injury.  That would be the end of the night.

Ayano held firm as she started to feel the girl returning to life.  Panic ran through her body.  She could feel the shaking all through her limbs.  It scared her.  She really wasn’t used to fighting despite how effortlessly she killed.  She must not see her targets most of the time.  Only the sound of explosions tell her that they’re caught.  Maybe even her team does the clean up.

That fear accidentally made Ayano’s hold on her tighten.  It stopped being the position that Chiharu taught her.  And Ayano didn’t notice the change.  Only the panic and shaking from the girl made her empathize more.  The three deaths played back in Ayano’s head as impulse took over.

The girl screamed out, starting to flail a little in Ayano’s hold, unable to do anything.  “I can’t…I can’t die here!  I must save you!  I will save…”

Lost on Ayano as battle adrenaline blinded her to everything.  Her arms just kept squeezing tighter and tighter.  The spiral of emotions sank both deeper into the abyss.  Neither could escape the void.

Suddenly, amongst the screaming a massive explosion ripped through the area.  It expanded rapidly, completely whiting out Ayano and the girl.  It followed to blink out the others and then the roof.  On and on the violent shaking continued until the entire upper third of the building was consuming.  Red and orange flames burst up with all taken in the blast.