Butcher clashed his blades together again, and then he launched, moving with a speed that defied the normal. The floor ripped apart as he moved.

His right blade came down first like thunder. Ken kicked the ground and evaded the attack. He watched as the blade hit the floor and debris shot in every direction.

Butcher looked up fast after the first one was evaded. He burst with speed and thrust his left blade. Ken blocked the attack but was thrown back through the air. He landed on the ground and skidded back, but then immediately ran against the momentum and shot forward. He grinned from ear to ear as he leaped into the air, spun around, and went for the slash.

Butcher looked at the blade and parried it with one hand, then proceeded to slash while Ken was in the air. Ken pulled his body upward, using his feet like a pendulum, managing to evade the blade. He spun in the air and proceeded to kick Butcher right in the face.

Butcher stumbled backward one foot. Ken landed on the ground and rushed at him again.

"Arghh!" Butcher let out a growl and then slashed both blades down at the same time. It created an invisible arc that ripped through the floor and headed for Ken.

’Shit.’

Ken leaped into the air as high as he could and evaded the attack, only to look down and see Butcher hurl a blade at him. Ken blocked the first one. It bounced off his blade and threw him farther into the air.

Butcher bent his knee and then launched into the air. He grabbed his blade on the way up, then got past Ken, looked down at him, and swung the blades at the same time.

’I have to block.’ Ken gritted his teeth and quickly used his sword to block the attack. The blades slammed with the force of a meteor and sent Ken down like one. He slammed into the ground with so much force that a crater formed where he lay.

Butcher landed on the ground and looked at Ken. He did not attack and only let out that rough laugh again before starting to approach.

"Tch, his normal strength is leagues above mine. Guess I have no choice." Ken pushed himself back to his feet and stood in the crater. He took one deep breath and then channeled it, all the qi that he had been saving in his body.

His dantian had yet to fully form, but even then there was now a gathering of qi at the center of his body, which allowed him to reinforce his body and get stronger.

Butcher sensed that something had changed. The laughing stopped. He looked at Ken through the mask, and somehow, Ken could feel his excitement, his eagerness to fight.

Butcher rushed forward again, and from the way he moved, it was evident that holding back was no longer part of the plan. He came in hot with a slash, trying to cleave Ken in half. Ken stepped in and went for the block.

"CLANG!" Their blades collided, and the ground beneath them cracked instantly in response. A shockwave ripped through the air and slammed into the houses around them. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Hahaha, you are even better than that commander of the demonic humans army!" Ken said out loud in excitement. He could feel the strength and adrenaline pumping. He pushed both blades back and then leaped backward. He landed on the ground and blasted forward again.

"You are strong, but let’s see how you do. Prove to me that you are worthy of my memory, Butcher!" he yelled as he attacked. His sword cut through the air fast. Butcher blocked the attack with ease and then proceeded to slip under, despite his size, and body-checked Ken as hard as possible. Ken was thrown through the air. He slammed into the wall of a house and broke through it.

He was yet to even gather his thoughts fully, and Butcher was already rushing at him. Ken shot out of the house. He blocked the attack, kicked the ground, and spun over Butcher, getting right behind him. He pulled one leg to the back and then twisted his body to the side, ready to unleash a powerful slash.

Butcher turned at the very last moment possible, managing to set up his blade before the attack hit him. He blocked, but the force of the attack sent him staggering backward.

Ken didn’t let him recover.

He was on Butcher before the stagger finished, coming in low and fast, sword driving upward in a thrust aimed at the gap between the two blades. Butcher twisted his body at the last second, and the blade scraped across his armor under his robes instead of through it, sparks scattering across the street. He grabbed at Ken’s sword arm with his free hand, fingers closing like a vice.

Ken let him.

He used the grip as an anchor, swung his whole body around it, and drove his knee into Butcher’s jaw with everything the qi was giving him. The big man’s head snapped back. Ken pulled free and hit him twice more in the same breath, fast and precise, each strike landing on the same point, stacking the damage before the body could process the first hit.

Butcher swiped at him with a backhand that could have taken his head.

Ken ducked under it, and the air above him screamed.

Close.

He grinned wider.

Butcher reset himself, both blades coming up, and for a moment they stood breathing across from each other in the ruined street, broken stone and splintered wood around them, the crater from earlier still smoking at the edges.

The mask hid Butcher’s face, but his chest was heaving now, the first sign that something in this fight had shifted from the easy demolition it had started as.

Ken pointed his sword at him.

"You’re actually making me work," he said, and the delight in his voice was completely genuine. "I appreciate that."

Butcher’s response was to kick the ground so hard the entire street shook.

He came forward like a wall that had decided to become a weapon, both blades already moving, and Ken’s feet found the ground beneath him and pushed.