My Favorite Thing is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My Special Skill is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My Hobby is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal – Part 07
The cemetery was quiet as always. It was a little early for everyone to be asleep, but even punks didn’t want to hang out in a cemetery at night. Especially not one with a zombie in it.
The crater from when Haruna and Beary first showed up had been completely erased, and even the shattered gravestones looked good as new.
I passed the neat rows of graves and made my way to the giant tree. There was nothing else around but that one massive tree. Perfect for a fight without getting boxed in.
Leaves rustled overhead as Sera and I glared at each other.
She was about as tall as me, her long ponytail fluttering in the breeze. Even now, right before we were about to kill each other, her face remained calm and measured. And lovely.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked.
“What is it?”
“Do you Vampire Ninjas attack people?”
“Of course. Though we don’t kill them. We just take a bit of their blood.”
“What about those hardliner types?”
“I can’t say never… but definitely not.”
So which is it?
“But you’re here to kill me now, aren’t you?”
“If it serves our purpose, then yes. Besides, you’re not human.”
Fair enough. Her jade eyes turned a deep red, and a flowing black cloak appeared around her. She was ready to fight.
Sera raised her arms, and from somewhere above, green leaves began to fall. Sure, the big tree might shake a few loose, but this? This was way too many.
“Here I come.”
She vanished. At the same time, I felt a diagonal slash across my chest. If I hadn’t instinctively stepped back, I’d be in pieces.
Long, beautiful hair and fierce red eyes flashed before me. Stunning. So much it gave me chills.
And in that instant, her earlier self-introduction echoed in my head.
“My favorite thing is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My special skill is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. My hobby is the Secret Art: Swallow Reversal.”
If I remembered right, Swallow Reversal was that move where you feint with a shallow slash to make your opponent flinch, then follow up with a real hit. Basically a combo. I leapt backward.
Sure enough, her follow-up slash ripped through me. Blood poured onto the gravel-covered earth. I knew what was coming and still couldn’t avoid it. That’s a ninja for you.
“You dodged my Swallow Reversal twice. Impressive.”
Indeed, after that slash, she performed the same motion again. A quick four-strike combo.
Even as I ran, she kept chasing, slashing over and over. Not a single blow missed. None were fatal, but still.
Maybe I should’ve brought the chainsaw. Too late for regrets, though. I needed to use my immortal body to my advantage.
As she slashed again, I charged into it. The blade sank deep, close to my heart, but in exchange, I swung at her with everything I had. But my punch was stopped by a single leaf. Just one fluttering, paper-thin leaf stopped my strongest blow.
But only for a second. I pushed harder, broke through, and landed a solid hit on Sera’s beautiful face. Only scums hit a girl? Maybe. But getting killed without doing anything? Never again.
Sera shot back up immediately and closed the gap. I guess she wasn’t the type to hang back and feel things out. Personally, I preferred the tense, slow buildup kind of fights.
In her hands was something that looked like a bladed weapon. Swords, if you could even call them that. They were just leaves. Thin and long but massive leaves.
As I wondered if all the fluttering leaves around us were actually swords too, I took another hit.
This time, she went for my neck. I couldn’t react in time, and blood sprayed from the gash.
I tried to fall back, but I couldn’t. Looking down, I saw a thin, grass-like leaf stabbed into my leg. Apparently, every single one of those leaves was actually a blade. That answered that question.
“I’ve got you!”
The regal girl in front of me swept her sword sideways. It sliced halfway through my neck, and blood gushed out like a fountain. Normally, that would’ve been fatal.
“It’s not over yet.”
“What?!”
I grabbed Sera’s hand, yanked her in, and slammed a headbutt. The second her head reeled, I launched a body blow. A leaf blocked it, but I didn’t care. I kept going, pounding in another hit, then followed up with a knee, and a clean right hook. That one hit with about 230% of normal human strength.
Sera flew across the gravel, kicking up dust. As I watched, something shot at me, and I blocked.
It looked like a maple leaf. Some kind of shuriken, maybe. I yanked it from my arm, but even at 230%, I couldn’t bend it. A counterattack from that position was pretty impressive.
Wait, hang on. I hit her with intent to kill just now.
She really was a vampire. Correction: a Vampire Ninja. As a fellow undead, mad respect.
“I underestimated you.”
Her black cloak billowed as she raised her arms, still gripping the swords. Green wings unfurled on her back. Each tiny leaf resembled a feather, and together they formed a pair of bladed wings.
“Here I come.”
She moved even faster than before. And this time she was attacking from above. As her wings flapped, a few leaves fluttered down, looking just like real feathers.
“Secret Art: Swallow Reversal. Eight slashes!”
Slashes came at me from all directions. It wasn’t just her blades; every floating leaf around me turned into a sword.
Crap. A follow-up was coming. And in the blink of an eye, my body fell apart.
I twisted to avoid the worst of it, but my right arm went flying. Everything from the waist down got sliced clean off. My body crumpled to the ground, limp and useless.
All directions, man. No way I could dodge everything. It was just impossible.
The black-caped angel landed in front of me, red eyes locked onto mine.
Green swords in her hands. Long hair. I’d seen this before. Someone with long hair and something long in their hands. I remembered it clearly. The one who killed me.
Dual-wielding like that wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.
Haruna had said, “Right. A ninja can disappear and reappear at will.”
A Vampire Ninja wouldn’t have a problem sneaking into someone’s home.
Maybe Haruna really was connected to that case. I’d have to ask her later.
Was the killer a Vampire Ninja?
“Three hundred.” I rolled over and reattached my lower half.
My body snapped back together like magnets. I got up right away and ran over to grab my severed arm. Sera flinched at the sight of me suddenly moving and shot up into the air.
“Four hundred ten.”
“He’s still moving?!”
I heard a flap behind me. Must be those green wings beating the air.
“Five hundred two.” I reattached my right arm, then leapt.
“Secret Art: Swa—”
I clenched my teeth and threw a punch with everything I had. Her wings wrapped around her for defense, but at 600%, my full-force blow blasted through them and hit its mark.
Or it should’ve. Unfortunately, all I punched was a log.
Sera reappeared atop the biggest tree branch. What I’d hit was her cloak and a log. A substitution, huh? Ninjas sure play dirty.
“You’re pretty good,” she said.
She jumped down from the tree, and we locked eyes again. I guessed she’d used up all the leaves for her wings. Those things that had been floating around earlier were gone, leaving only the two in her hands.
“Can I ask you something?” I opened with the same line as before.
“What is it?” she replied, exactly like before.
“Do you really not kill humans?”
“Yes. Why?”
I stared into her eyes. Still lovely, still unwavering… still lovely.
“It’s fine, then.”
I wasn’t sure I could believe everything she said, but I chose to trust those eyes. She didn’t seem like someone who would lie. She wasn’t the one who killed me. That’s what I decided. Man, I was hopeless when it came to girls. As long as I stayed like this, I had no right talking about how great solitude was.
For some reason, Sera let go of her swords. The leaves shrank and fluttered to the ground. Her red eyes faded back to that jade color. She exhaled once and gave a faint, amused smile.
“You win. It seems I can’t beat you after all. Not even with my secret art. I need more training. I don’t even feel like pulling out my ultimate move. I will need to come up with a new one.”
It sounded like the fight was over. If she had kept swapping places like that, I wouldn’t have stood a chance anyway.
“Then…”
“Yes. I’m returning home.”
Maybe she guessed what I was going to say. With her ponytail swaying, she turned her back and left promptly.
Magiclad Girl Haruna and Megalo. Necromancer Eu and a Vampire Ninja.
Too many weird stuff happening lately. Was this all because I became a zombie?
I left the cemetery and took my time walking home. Still, that fight messed me up good. I’d never felt this stiff and awkward moving around before.
When I stepped into the house, I saw shoes at the entrance.
Obviously, right? But that was the weird part. There were Eu’s shoes and another pair. Definitely not mine. Haruna still didn’t even own shoes. She was using the underwear I bought for Eu, sure, but I hadn’t gotten around to shoes yet.
With a sinking feeling, I headed for the living room.
And there she was. The dignified Vampire Ninja.
Why the hell was she still here? Didn’t she say she was going home?
Wait. Oh, I get it.
When she said she was returning home, she meant my place.
Give me a break. Was she planning to move in too?
Tap, tap. The usual cue from the table.
“What is going on here?”
“Big brother, why is she here?”
I was wondering the exact same thing.
Apparently, since I was Eu’s servant, Sera decided she’d become my servant. And I agreed.
You could call it resignation. If it were just Eu, I might’ve still gotten some peaceful alone time now and then. But with Haruna around, that dream was already dead. Whatever. Let them do what they want.
Anyway, servants are supposed to follow orders, right? So I should be able to make her call me big brother, right?
That would be amazing. So I proposed it.
“Ew, no. Gross.”
Instant, cold rejection. She was the kind of person who could flat-out say no without flinching. So poised and dignified.
“All right, then. How about Master or Milord at least?”
“No, you piece of shit.”
Her usual lovely eyes suddenly turned ice-cold, stabbing through me like I was some worthless bug. Her words shredded my dreams like blades.
Apparently, she could turn even words into weapons.
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