Thundering Inferno

  ?Now that he knew where Indra was, there was only one problem. How to get close. Since Indra didn't know that he was near, he would probably be burnt if he tried stepping close. That, and the fact that doubts had started growing in his head after his uselessness was put clearly in front of him.

  ?But he couldn't simply sit around and wait. So he went for something drastic. He had realized that with enough mora, he could to some extent survive the icy winds of Iris. Meaning that if he packed enough mora into his weapon, they could potentially withstand this hellish tempest.

  ?So he took the chance. Creating the highest grade swords he could, using mora and shooting them into the inferno. His gamble paid off, at least to some extent. He had caught Indra's attention. Now it was just about surviving long enough to show him who he was.

  ?Hurling fireballs came towards him. A fiery blue, meaning Indra was using his Ashura Karma

  ?That is when he saw, and heard it.

  ?"Dragon Flare

  ?Came from the center of the inferno, and from it came multiple dragons made of the blue hellish flames.

  ?Blade knew for sure he had no way of winning facing Indra head-on, but he couldn't afford to die. Not now.

  ?Taking a leap into the inferno and doing his best to avoid the dragons that now chased him, he continued to launch weapons in Indra's direction. He only needed one of them to reach him.

  ?The closer he got, the worse the heat got. It was already hotter than a supernova on the outskirt of the flames. But inside the area of effect, things were so much worse, and only continued getting worse as he reached closer.

  ?Seriously though, he truly is strong, was the thought that crossed his mind as he continued running closer. He was using up a lot of mora to keep his situation bearable in such high heat.

  ?The biggest problem currently were the flames. Though they weren't burning him, they were obstructing his vision. Since the dragons were made of blue fire, it made them easily distinguishable, yet everything else was hard to see. From the melting ground to exactly where the center of the inferno was.

  ?He had one last trick though. If there was one thing he had understood from his first fight with Indra, he had understood that Indra's fighting style acted very much on instinct. And from his observations, he saw how using his sharp instincts he practically predicted whatever move the opponent would do. Therefore, he would have to act in a way that would bypass even his instincts.

  ?So he turned, facing the dragons head on, as he cut the dragons in half. And that is when it happened. The moment he cut them down, Indra was on him.

  ?Blade had little time to act, as Indra was behind him, with a punch directed at his head. He used his momentum to turn and slash him, only for Indra to jump over his back, and use it to launch himself in the air before saying.

  ?“Holy Flame

  ?As a golden colored fire cross was launched at Blade. To retaliate, Blade covered a sphere around him with his mora, before cloaking his sword with all of it, piercing the flaming cross and making it disperse around him. A pierce that managed to reach the sky and even cut his cheek, even if it was meager.

  ?As it happened, he landed back down on the ground, deactivating his Ashura Karma

  ?“Took you long enough to find me.”

  ?“Not even going to apologize?”

  ?Blade said, breathing heavily, though pleased he had managed to reach him.

  ?“Why would I ever apologize for a fight?”

  ?Indra asked with a grin.

  ?“Well, that's Indra for you,”

  ?Blade said with a sigh, before remembering why he was so urgent with finding him.

  ?“Oh yeah, we need to go now. Your sister. I found her. We need to go help her, she was fighting the woman who is named Raiden, and—”

  ?“There's no point. Iris is already dead.”

  ?“Huh?”

  ?Blade couldn't believe what he was hearing. Already dead? It must be a joke, right?

  ?“You seem to not believe me.”

  ?“Well, of course, I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but yes, I don't. You weren't even there, how could you know?”

  ?“Well, let me explain two things for you then,”

  ?Indra said with a serious tone.

  ?“First of all. Everything me and Iris say is the truth. Neither of us have ever lied, and lying over something like this would be useless.”

  ?“Okay, but that still doesn't explain how you know.”

  ?“Yes, and that brings me to the second thing. Like you probably know by now, Iris and I are twins. That makes us connected in a way where we can sense each other's relative position and condition. So I knew it when she died.”

  ?“So… so she truly is, just dead?”

  ?“Yes. And since I lost connection with her, that means she probably got absorbed by that woman… Raiden, was it?”

  ?“There’s no way… it couldn't possibly be?”

  ?“That's how things are. It's no use fussing over it. Why are you so worried? She is simply dead, that's it.”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  ?Blade looked at Indra clearly, seeing not even a hint of a tear.

  ?“Why am I worried? Why aren't you worried? She is your sister, isn't she? I know you said something about not being born with the concept of fear and love, but still, that was your sister. Shouldn't you hold some feelings for her?”

  ?“You done?”

  ?Blade could only look at Indra exasperated before sitting down on the ground. To him it made close to no sense.

  ?At his motion, Indra could do nothing but sigh, before saying.

  ?“There's a way of getting her back.”

  ?“How? Iris already told me. Even if we revived her, she would just be a different person, wouldn't she?”

  ?“That’s only in special cases. Those who lose their original personality after death are the ones with weak personalities, and it often only happens to those with traumatic death, or who experience heavy emotional toll at the end of their life. So for someone like Iris, that is of no worry.”

  ?“And how can you be so sure? How do we even get her back? You said you lost connection with her, didn't you?”

  ?“But you still feel it, don't you? Cold.”

  ?Blade’s eyes widened at the words.

  ?“So that means—”

  ?“Yes, the cold isn't dead. That's how I came to the conclusion her essence was absorbed. If she was simply going to revive, our connection would remain, if her essence was destroyed, coldness would be erased. Meaning the only reasonable conclusion is that she was absorbed. As long as we defeat the one who absorbed her essence, we can bring her back.”

  ?At those words, Blade finally broke into a small smile.

  ?“Thanks for telling me, I thought she was gone.”

  ?“Why do you care so much?”

  ?“Because she is my friend.”

  ?“That's it?”

  ?Indra said, questioningly, before breaking out in laughter as he accepted it.

  ?“Sure, if that's it, I won't judge.”

  ?“I don't mind, I’m used to it.”

  ?“I mean it though. Nothing here is normal. A place for everyone exists as long as you look hard enough.”

  ?As they both smiled, they ended the reunion with a high five.

  ?“So what's the plan?”

  ?Blade asked when they had settled down.

  ?“Well, what can we do? The best we can do is train.”

  ?“Train? Do we have time for that?”

  ?“Well, we will die if we don't. I don't like it, but as it is now, Raiden is the strongest, with both her authority of lightning and now, ice. We already barely won with the both of us the last time. Do you truly believe we have a chance now?”

  ?“So how do you suggest?”

  ?“Well, we have to get you stronger.”

  ?Blade nodded, having accepted his inability to properly contribute.

  ?“So you will be fighting me, to get stronger.”

  ?“Seriously?”

  ?“Yes, near-death-experiences are the best way to get stronger fast. If you die, it only goes to show you were never ready for this.”

  ?“Okay, I'm ready.”

  ?Blade says, determined to get stronger.

  ?And so they began. With Indra coming to Blade with everything he got. The point was never a fair fight, but one where Blade would be constantly put close to death, all for him to get back up.

  ?“Come on now, do you plan to be dead weight?”

  ?Indra asked while attacking. He was a chaotic figure and sometimes Blade was unsure if he remembered that they were not supposed to kill each other.

  ?“Only someone who has conquered their fear of death could ever hope to survive here,”

  ?Indra continued as they fought until Blade finally managed a decent hit on Indra causing him to bleed. Surprisingly, his blood was red, but with how Indra was, blood as black as a demon’s would be unsurprising.

  ?Blade soon wished he never had improved though, as the moment the hit landed. The first proper sign that reaching the hill he stood on wasn’t impossible. Of course, for Indra, that meant activating his Ashura Karma

  ?Pierced through his chest, burned alive, sunken in lava, eaten by creatures of pure flames, thrown into a sun, broken limb by limb. Those were simply some of the things he had to go through when fighting Indra, who would make sure to heal him completely after each one.

  ?In the resting periods between each near death, Indra would talk to him and chat as if they were simply two buddies chatting along the road.

  ?It was working though, as through it, Blade’s Body began acting in time with his mind, letting him react faster and take faster actions. He was slowly keeping up, even if the power gap between them remained quite wide.

  ?Their relationship also deepened, with Blade beginning to trust Indra more and understood the reasoning for some of his actions better.

  ?Now was all he could do. Continue this, and they did. For a week, this was all they did. By the second day, Blade already wished he could stop. At the fifth the sensation of death had dulled.

  ?After the week had passed, they decided to head out, heading for the place where Iris had died. Hopefully, they would find Raiden there, or at least some hint of where she could have gone.

  ?When they reached the ravine, they immediately felt a presence.

  ?“Seems we are in luck,”

  ?Indra said, already smirking at the upcoming fight.

  ?“Guess so.”

  ?Blade said, determined.

  ?“Before we go, though—”

  ?Indra began as he turned to Blade.

  ?“What is a victory to you?”

  ?“What are you talking about? Isn't victory defeating your opponent?”

  ?“Often, yes, but victory isn't always about winning. How do you think I have remained undefeated?”

  ?“Because you're strong, I guess?”

  ?“Well, you aren't wrong, but not completely right either. A victory isn't always defeating an opponent. Let's say it's a fight between a stronger and one weaker opponent. A victory for the strongest would be, of course, defeating their opponent. Meanwhile, a victory for the weaker could be nothing more than stalling the stronger. If he manages to stall long enough, then the weaker has won, no matter what the result of the battle is, and the stronger will have no choice but to accept that fact.”

  ?“I see, so what you're saying is even if we lose, we have not lost?”

  ?“Yes, and that brings me to my second point. Defeat and loss are not the same. In the scenario I laid out, the weaker won even if he got defeated. Do you understand what that means?”

  ?“That even if we are defeated, since our goal is getting Iris back, our victory is only dependent on that fact. Meaning we will never lose as long as either of us can continue.”

  ?“Glad you catch on quickly,”

  ?Indra said with a grin, as he added.

  ?“Let’s slaughter each other for the win”

  ?“You're right,”

  ?Blade replied, now more motivated now that he understands the difference between defeat and loss.

  ?It doesn't take long for them before they find Raiden, as she meditates in the center of the frozen field. The remains of her battle with Iris.

  ?“So you came.”

  ?Raiden said, without opening her eyes to look at them. Responding Blade said.

  ?“Of course, though I guess you must have expected that. Was that the reason you remained here?”

  ?Though she doesn't reply, she stands up and as blue lightning hits her, her sword manifests.

  ?Blade unsheathed his sword and Indra activated his Ashura Karma

  ?“It’s no use,”

  ?Raiden says as she points her sword to the sky, and that's when Blade notices her blade guard. In it was an intricate design, but what caught his attention was the three place holders in it. Two of them were filled, one with a design of lightning, one of ice, and the third? Well, he could guess what that one was for. He didn't have time to voice his thoughts though, as Raiden slashes down and lightning falls from the sky in a straight line, cleaving through both the earth and sky, and splitting them up. But from the lightning erupts ice, ice that chases after them separating them further.

  ?As they separated, Raiden was upon Blade first, saying.

  ?“We seem to meet often, outsider.”

  ?“Nice seeing you too.”

  ?Their clashes were quick, with Blade focusing on minimizing the amount of damage Raiden could befall him in all of them. In the last clash, Blade ended it prematurely as he jumped back. Raiden who tried to follow was met with flames as Indra was on her.

  ?“I don't particularly like being relegated to a side character,”

  ?Indra said, meeting her sword slashes with fists and flames as he attacked.

  ?“You know, an origin gains the experiences of the origin they killed. Yet you seem to still be figuring out your new authority

  ?At his word, Raiden tries to slash him, only for Indra to jump back with a grin, just for an icicle to appear through his chest.

  ?“Well, that's irritating."

  ?Raiden, taking the chance, dashes in, only to be met with Blade’s sword, as he attacks her, just to jump back.

  ?“So, ready to attack together?”

  ?“Yeah, yeah—”

  ?Indra said, breaking the icicle as the wound was superficial.

  ?“Let's do this then.”