The two raised their weapons at the same instant.
Samuel's samurai brought its blade down.
Ace's assassin released the daggers.
The samurai's cut fell like a mountain descending toward the arena floor. The blade traced a line of concentrated red-gold flame that spanned hundreds of meters from tip to hilt, its edge burning bright enough to momentarily feel like a miniature son.
The assassin's nine daggers released from his hands and mouth. Each blade streaked forward as a beam of dark crimson light, threading through the air in independent trajectories that all converged on the descending samurai from every angle at once.
The daggers wove and curved. They braided themselves around each other in beautiful arrays.
The two attacks met in the arena's center.
For a fraction of a second, nothing seemed to happen.
The samurai's blade pressed downward. The nine daggers wove upward. The forces balanced at the exact instant of impact, and the space between them ignited.
BOOM!
