Well, well, well. It all comes down to this.
Like two opponents in the Wild West, the duo exchanged intense glares with narrowed eyes as the final showdown was imminent.
With almost one minute remaining, it was up to Shihon to tag Liohime, and for Liohime to avoid her or block the oncoming attack.
May I remind you that this was initially a simple game of tag that now became nearly as serious as life and death. Tag is never this serious, but to these two, it had become a game that they wanted to make sure that they gave their all in.
Therefore, one wrong move could decide everything, and with both of them fully locked in with their senses, whoever moved first would set off an extravagant set of events.
…Here it comes.
Sweat dropped from Liohime's chin onto the ground, and immediately, both of them reacted at the same time.
Shihon lifted herself off of the ground with sturdy vines hoisting herself up, and snapped her fingers in the direction of her victim, signalling a pillar of flowers mixed in with vines and branches to land a solid hit.
"I'M GIVING THIS EVERYTHING I HAVE!!" she yelled, moving with a blur at Liohime who was now in midair after narrowly sidestepping the incoming attack
A thought quickly flashed in Liohime's mind, and he frowned.
I can't dodge in midair! She got me!!
Just like that, she cornered him in less than a second, and stretched out her slender right arm.
He was unable to evade her, but if he stayed in this position, then it would be game over.
T-THEN-!!!
He met the attack.
He grabbed her arm with his own and pushed it away from his face, before landing on the ground and sweeping at her legs, causing her to buckle down onto the ground.
"KH!!"
"YES!"
With his heart beating rapidly and adrenaline still surging in his veins, he burst forward to escape, but only managed to increase the gap between them by only a few feet before his movement came to a complete stop.
"Wha-"
His heart stopped. He tried to move, but he just couldn't.
Because…his legs had been encapsulated by vines that held him in place.
In an instant, Shihon's palms had touched the ground, summoning her ability from the ground itself.
S-She can do that without snapping her fingers!?
"The game would have been over by now if you didn't bring up that dumb rule of having to tag you with a clean strike, Master," came the snarky voice from the Magical Beast Girl who hoisted herself up. "Still, I'll finish this now."
"With thirty seconds left, Liohime had been immobilized, and all Shihon needed was to land a hit on him to tag him out.
She held up her left arm, and a haze of red overshadowed Liohime's mind like a flashing light of danger.
Less than thirty seconds…only less than thirty remained.
That's why, no matter what-
"I'LL ALSO GIVE IT EVERYTHING I HAVE!!"
-Liohime Kitagami would survive until the end.
The world around him became foggy, and he held his breath.
And in a split second, as soon as Shihon snapped her fingers on both of her hands to summon her strongest multitude of vines that shot out of her body, he reached into his pocket to pull out a sharpened knife and slashed the vines that held his feet open.
The first nature-like attack of many came, and he launched himself forward using his feet to bounce off the thick layers of the first vine pillar, before hitting a spinning kick to deflect the second, twisting his body to dodge the third in midair, stomping on the fourth that narrowly missed his feet, and spun his body around with bullet-like velocity, punching away the fifth, axe kicking the sixth, slashing apart the sixth and tilting his head to evade the seventh, all while closing the distance between himself and Shihon in less than three seconds.
"H…uh?" was the only noise that escaped Shihon's lips.
She shuddered, and a cold wind crept up and engulfed her in an icy chill.
The young man in front of her did not run away this time.
He faced all of her simultaneous attacks at once, and parried almost everything with horrifying velocity.
Just a few inches separated them, and Liohime closed in on her with a dark aura emanating from his body.
Just who….
No, what the hell are you, Master?
And what the hell was this feeling of absolute dread that she felt right now?
Her lips quivered, her body shook, her eyes wavered, and her teeth chattered.
And suddenly, he outstretched her hand, not to tag him, but to…
G-Get away.
She snapped her fingers, and instead of summoning out vines, a beautiful daisy bloomed from her right palm. She clenched her right fist, summoning a white and green powerful beam from that now crushed flower that shot out instantly, right before-
-hk.
-Right before Liohime launched himself with his feet on a nearby pillar of vines that she had previously summoned and curved to her right in the air above her, and his eyes glimmered with a shiny red.
Yes, once again, this is Tag.
Before Shihon could react, Liohime's reflexes moved first, grabbing both of her hands and pinning her into the ground, right before the clock struck at one o'clock.
"...Game, set, match. In the end, I win."
--Such was what Liohime declared as the ten minutes were finally up, successfully avoiding a capture from Shihon, the Magical Beast Girl.
Shihon froze, and then her arms relaxed, resulting in Liohime releasing his iron-like grip while still holding onto the knife. She closed her eyes, and a single tear leaked from her eyelids.
I..lost…..I'm…the losing heroine.
Liohime immediately slumped next to her, and his adrenaline subsided with fatigue, sweat, and deep breathing now prevalent. The duo lay next to each other in silence.
--Liohime Kitagami had won Tag, thus ending the rather incredible game.