Lord Shadow

They truly are convinced now

Even before Katarina make her attacking move, Katarina has already left a deep impression on the hearts of the people watching this live broadcast of the war. 

The moment she appeared on the stage of battle; snows falls from the sky. 

When she walks, her movement is full of mysteries that those who sees it find it to be in discordant with the surrounding, akin to some kind of illusion enchantment making them coughed up blood. 

Her eyes is cold. 

And then she stopped walking. 

The wind blows the snow. 

And she standing there, was so natural that one would feel like she is one of the snowflakes that is falling down from the sky. 

She did not move. But a chilling aura exuded out from all over her entire being, bringing a strong sense of oppression. 

Maximoff who was there find it hard to breathe

Cold, ruthless and full of loneliness, this is the kind of image that she had created for herself in this just few second of people seeing her on the screen

Like snow on a high peak of a secluded mountain. 

This is the feeling that Katarina seems to give to Maximoff and to all the people watching this battle

People did not know this but Katarina is very proficient in the use of sword. She honed it even more when she is in the Seresian world. 

Azief himself was someone that mastered many kinds of swordsmanship. 

The months that they spend together, Azief also taught her some stuff. And for someone like Katarina, once she understood the core of the teaching, she could improve it according to her understanding

And so, there is only one person in the world that has seen her improved swordsmanship and that would Death Monarch 

Today, the whole world will see it. 

And they will find out that her sword is ruthless. It is cold. 

And those who experience it could not describe it because those who were cut by her sword will be dead

There is a kind of loneliness, a dark kind of loneliness that only she could exude. Azief melded with his negative emotions. 

He embraces it and use it. 

His anger, his fear, his guilt

But Katarina was different. 

Her past is dark. 

And the light is scarce. 

But she could still smile because what she embrace is the light. She believes the light will guide her and she rejects the darkness

However, rejecting the darkness is also a rejection of herself. 

That doesn’t mean that the darkness is not there. It is there. It is hidden. And she never let it out. Because she knows what she lost and she also knows what she gains. 

In this world after the Fall, no one could say that they are pure saints. They all have dark things and dark past. 

Katarina look like an innocent angel but she was the one that massacre the dark forces that hides in the dark alleys of Europe. 

Blood flows through the street and mountain of skull is left behind her. 

But not many people remember that.

There is darkness in her heart

And that darkness is a certain kind of loneliness only certain people could understand. Azief meddled with it. And Katarina forces it out

And right now, she is forcing it out. This kind of loneliness is hard to describe, there is little words to explain it because it comes from the depths of the soul. 

The snow around her swirls and spirals and Maximoff take few steps back, slowly backing up.

Nobody notices him slowly retreating back for the eyes of the world look only at Katarina and Susanoo. 

Only these two were left in an expanse of white snow 

At this moment, only they are qualified to stand here.

‘I heard that you use a sword’

‘Kusanagi no Tsurugi’

She spoke and her voice is cold. 

Susanoo smiles

‘Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi’ 

‘Cloud gathering and not grass cutter?’ And Katarina chuckles. 

There is silence for a second before Katarina ask

‘Hirate has the sword’

‘A replica’ Susanoo replies

‘And yours?’

‘A replica’ he replied

The cold wind blows and Katarina close her yes. Opening it, she asks

‘Then what is the difference?’

‘I could summon the real thing’

‘Could you summon it now?’

‘Only an essence’

Katarina chuckles. Only they understand

‘Then use it’ she ordered

‘What if you die in one slash?’ he asks

She chuckles and her chuckles are like a fairy laughing at the world, full of joy and carefree

Like what Susanoo said was a joke.

‘Your sword could not cut me’

This is her reply. But not one laughed. Because no one thought that it was a joke. 

Susanoo did not say anything to her 

‘We will see’ he said and then he exploded with power

BOOOM!

The snow around him melted and the snow that is falling from the sky was repelled and disintegrates into liquid form

Before the liquid form could reach the ground and wet the ground, it turns into gas almost immediately and merge with the wind, merge with the world

But that power, that blast of energy stopped in front of Katarina. 

For a moment, it almost seems like Susanoo separated the world. 

One with snow and one that isn’t 

like Amaterasu, his power surged to the skies and another vision erupted just like the one in Amaterasu. 

It tells the story of Susanoo, god of the sea, storms, fields, the harvest, marriage, and love

And an image of himself appears in the sky, revealing a story that everyone in Japan knows.

  An impetuous gods associated with the sea and storm. 

The story of him and Amaterasu, of how he made Amaterasu hide in the cave, the story of how he killed a serpent and all of them mixed and the vision is blurry in one part and clear on the other, borrowing the power of faith

The story itself shows only glimpses. But for those who knows the story, glimpses is enough. It is like watching a trailer of some action movie

Katarina could cut him down right now. But she waited, her eyes as cold as ever even when there is a smile on her face

She waited for Susanoo to complete his power up𝒪𝒱𝐞𝑳xt.𝗇𝓔t

And the power of the world gathered around him and his energy rises hundred folds. At least that is how it is seen by the people of the world

eαglesnᴏνel The entire land around them quakes and the sky above them cracked just by Susanoo energy that pressured the space around him

And a sword was form from this mass of energy. It forms and it flew toward Susanoo hands.

And his hand grips the sword tightly. 

The clouds above the sky gathers around the sword. 

And the element of thunder and lightning, of fire and water, of grass and sand, follows the movement of this sword. Where he pointed, these elements follow, like a general giving order to its subordinate. 

And he holds the sword.

The story that was projected ended. 

The power up completed

The area around him was clear of snow. 

And Susanoo hair is now wildly dancing in the air, thunder and lightning accompanied him. But in that untainted land of emptiness, snow falls again. 

And in just a few second, the snow he had banished, the cold wind that he had pushed away, both of these come again

The snow falls even from the dark clouds that gathered above his head. The thunder and lightning could not stop the snow nor could it stop the cold winds of winter from blowing 

And Susanoo frowned. But he could not cut every snowflake. And he could push the wind away.

Because Katarina is in front of him. And his sword should cut the Ice Queen and not the snow, and not the wind. 

And so, the area is once again filled with white snow. 

‘This kind of snow…is troublesome’ he mutters under his breath. 

Katarina could feel that Susanoo was about to attack her so she holds her sword. Her sword is the famous red sword, the Red Queen

Everyone knows this sword. It is as famous as its wielder. A red sword. When viewed in different angel, it sometime looks red crimson like flames.

Look at it from another angle and it looks like the reddish colour of blood. 

Her small pale hand grasped her sword. The sword is still in the sheathe. 

‘Fight?’

She asks, a smile on her face, the tone was casual. Susanoo face is fierce and he simply said

‘Battle!’

The meaning of the words conveys the same desire. But both have different tone and different tension

There are many people now choosing to watch the battle between Katarina and Susanoo. On one side is one of the most famous women in the world. And the other side is a mysterious figure that lurks in the darkness of Yomi

The battle between Death Monarch and Kaiju might be the focus of the world but they are the focus of the world because the outcome of the battle decides the outcome of the world. 

Those people that watched Kaiju and Death Monarch duking it out with each other, most of them could not even understand the true profoundness of every strike and every kicks. 

They see only the superficial. Seeing the sky cracked, the ground erupts, the heaven and earth went crazy, they see the physical effect. 

They could not understand the hidden battle with each strike, the battle of wills and laws that happens in each micro clashes

But Katarina and Susanoo are more of their level. 

They see the battle and they could understand it. And by understanding a battle, one might learn something. 

The curtain to another world-shattering battle is about to open up.

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