The silence after her final words didn't last.
Rourke let out a guttural, inhuman howl and charged forward, the magma-streaked veins across his body flaring like wildfire. His claws, each as large as Kurai's torso, slashed down in a brutal cross. The ground cracked beneath him with every step, stone splintering under the pressure of his mutated form.
Kurai didn't flinch.
She met his onslaught with a graceful pivot, her blade swinging low to parry the first strike before rising in a counter-arc that left a wake of black and violet energy. The Shadow Sovereign screamed with power, and her form blurred as she danced around the beast's fury.
Rourke twisted mid-lunge, his tail lashing with venomous speed.
It grazed her shoulder.
The blow sent a jolt of impact through her ribs, but she turned the momentum into a somersaulting flip, landing in a crouch. Blood dripped down her sleeve.
"Cute," she muttered, rising.
Rourke was already on her. His entire body spun, becoming a storm of claws and tail and seething darkness. His attacks tore into the air like scythes. Kurai shifted between platforms of darkness, her footfalls light as feathers, blade flashing to intercept.
A tendril wrapped around her ankle and hurled her into the wall.
The impact cracked the obsidian.
Kurai grunted, her body slumping momentarily. But as Rourke lunged again, a trap rune flared beneath his feet. He stumbled.
Kurai rose with a feral smirk.
"You forgot," she hissed, forming a sphere of darkness between her palms. "I'm not the brawler. I'm the baited hook."
She launched the sphere forward—it struck Rourke square in the chest. Instead of exploding, it sank into his torso and froze in place.
Then detonated with a thundering boom, unleashing hundreds of serpentine shadows that lashed and constricted him in midair.
Kurai lunged forward with a roar of her own, her keyblade igniting in a spiral of dark flame. She brought it down on Rourke's shoulder with a devastating vertical slash, cleaving through armor and flesh.
This time, he roared in pain.
The first wound.
His body writhed, snapping the shadow-bonds. A pulse of violent darkness erupted from him like a tidal wave. Kurai threw up a barrier just in time, skidding back across the ground as the force shattered her defense.
She crashed onto one knee, breathing normally.
Rourke's body healed rapidly. The gash she'd carved had already closed with molten crust, as though the lava in his veins was knitting his body back together. His eyes, now pools of red light, locked onto her with pure hatred.
Kurai spat blood and stood again.
"Alright," she growled, "let's see if you can keep that up."
She rushed in again, shifting into a blur of darkness. Her blade slashed low, then high, then feinted before she spun and delivered a brutal reverse cut across his back. Rourke turned and slashed with both claws, and this time she didn't dodge.
She met his blow head-on.
Their attacks collided in a shockwave that flattened the stone around them.
Kurai slid back, boots grinding across obsidian. Her arms shook.
Rourke didn't move an inch.
"Tch," she muttered. "You're starting to get on my nerves."
She launched a flurry of Dark Firagas, each one infused with cursed flames that twisted midair and struck from unpredictable angles. They peppered Rourke from all sides, exploding against his shoulders, torso, face.
Smoke engulfed him.
Kurai exhaled slowly, lowering her blade.
A moment passed.
Then Rourke stepped out of the smoke, completely unfazed.
Only his horn was singed.
"That's it?" he growled. His voice was warped, a blend of man and beast and something far worse. "You're not even a threat."
Kurai clicked her tongue. "You're right. Let's try something more intense."
And vanished.
When she reappeared, it was beneath him, spinning upward into a Dark Spiral Ascension, her body wreathed in black flame as she carved into his midsection with rising slashes.
Rourke howled and grabbed her by the leg, slamming her into the ground like a ragdoll.
She coughed, the air knocked from her lungs.
Before she could blink, he brought his claw down.
She caught it with her keyblade.
The weight crushed her knee into the stone. She gritted her teeth, veins bulging in her arms. Her boots cracked the platform she knelt on.
"I said…" she hissed, dark energy flaring from her back, "I'm not a brawler!"
She released the Shadow Sovereign's limiter.
A pulse of pure darkness erupted outward, flinging Rourke back into a jagged rock spire.
Kurai stood slowly, swaying. Blood trickled from her shoulder. Her blade vibrated in her grip, a low hum resonating with her heartbeat. Then it transformed into its warfan mode.
Rourke rose again. The spire he was embedded in collapsed behind him. He stepped forward, slowly this time, like a predator savoring the hunt.
"You're strong," he said. "But not enough."
Kurai said nothing.
He leapt, mouth wide, claws crackling with black fire.
She sidestepped the first slash and parried the second, then retaliated with a palm strike that launched a point-blank Dark Firaga into his face.
Still nothing.
He struck again—faster this time.
Kurai blocked—but the force rattled her to the bone. She barely had time to counter before he spun and brought a claw down in a vertical slash aimed to cleave her in two.
She caught it.
The ground beneath her collapsed.
She fell, dragging herself onto another ledge as Rourke dropped after her.
Kurai landed and stumbled back, breathing hard.
She looked down at her fan, still glowing faintly.
Then at Rourke—still unmarred.
Her lips curled into a thin line.
"Okay," she muttered to herself. "I think we're almost done warming up."
Another strike came. She blocked it with one hand, fan ringing. Her feet dug into the stone, her stance unshakable.
Another blow.
She parried, this time using the flat of her fan to redirect the force.
A third.
She ducked, twisted, and spun around his leg sweep.
Then she fired a wide Dark Shockwave, forcing him to shield his face.
Kurai took the moment and leapt back, landing on a high ledge.
She exhaled, brushing her hair from her face, her expression as calm as still water.
"Right," she said aloud, "I think I've played around long enough."
She flicked her hand, summoning a barrier of darkness between them and leaned her fan over her shoulder, one eye narrowing as she stared through the veil at Rourke.
"You're built like a fortress," she murmured. "And my fire doesn't even scratch the paint. That's a shame that was the nicest way to kill you. I'm afraid you're in for a world of pain."
Below, Rourke hissed and raised his claws again, charging.
Kurai's eyes gleamed.
She met his charge with a grin—and launched another Dark Firaga, not at him this time, but at the ceiling. The explosion shattered a chunk of volcanic rock that rained down on the battlefield.
Rourke shielded himself.
Kurai used the distraction to dart left, fire a final Dark Firaga directly at the side of the wall to open up the space so she could really fight.
The explosion hit.
Dust and debris clouded the chamber.
Kurai landed on a far platform and exhaled, to the shock of Skuld, who was watching nearby, saw that Kurai smiled.