Hano launched her attacks at Boris, her dual katanas blurring through the air.
Boris weaved through the strikes with ease, his infuriating smirk only provoking her further. She intensified her assault, her flurry of slashes driving him backward, until, in a sudden motion, Boris caught one of her blades barehanded.
Her eyes widened, momentarily stunned. She instantly struck again with her remaining katana, but Boris evaded the follow-up with a swift sidestep, releasing the first blade as he leapt back.
"You're fast," he said, that mocking smile still on his lips. "But predictable."
Hano stared at him, her expression cold and unreadable.
Boris raised a hand. Liquid poison began to swirl around his fingers, forming into floating orbs. "Let me melt that expression of yours."
With a flick, the poison shot toward her.
Hano gripped her blades tighter and charged, weaving through the raining projectiles with precise steps. Each orb that struck the ground hissed, disintegrating stone and steel alike. She kept moving, but one orb dropped directly in front of her. Reacting fast, she brought her katana up to block, but the blade hissed violently and melted on impact.
She stared at the destroyed weapon. No visible emotion crossed her face, but a flicker of frustration danced in her eyes. Tossing the ruined blade aside, she turned her focus back to Boris.
He chuckled, arms crossed, his slanted eyes watching her with a bright smile.
"Oh? Looks like you'll need to change your style."
Behind him, more poison spheres materialized, dozens, maybe hundreds.
Hano gritted her teeth, adjusting her stance with the one remaining blade.
"Let's see how well you adapt," he said, launching the barrage.
As the poison neared, Hano's katana lit up with a glowing purple aura. Boris's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she began cutting the projectiles in half mid-air. The melted residue landed all around her, eating through the ground, but none of it touched her.
Each slash was deliberate. Clean. Controlled.
Eyes locked on her opponent, Hano dashed forward.
"Just because your blade can cut through my poison now doesn't mean you've won!" Boris snapped, unleashing thick lines of venom from each fingertip.
The attacks surged toward her like snapping whips, but Hano ducked and spun through them with acrobatic ease. She closed the gap in seconds, cleaving through the last strikes and raising her katana for a clean hit.
"Damn you—!" Boris cursed.
In a sudden burst, a cloud of toxic gas filled the space between them, blinding her. She slashed forward, but her attack missed. Boris had already sidestepped.
From within the mist, a massive hand of poison emerged. It lunged for her.
Her eyes widened.
She leapt to avoid the grasp, but the hand didn't stop, it followed her movements like a hunting beast.
"Tch—!" She sprinted, the poison hand pursuing her relentlessly.
"You can run," Boris called from within the fog, "but not forever!"
Thinking quickly, Hano changed direction, racing toward a nearby building. Just as the poison hand reached out to grab her, she jumped, flipping high into the air. The hand crashed into the building instead, collapsing part of it and releasing a thick cloud of gas.
"Smart move," Boris murmured.
Landing on the rooftop, Hano closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Then, her stance shifted, and shadows began to rise.
Boris's expression faltered as identical copies of her began to form beside her.
"Shadow clone technique?!" he muttered. "A move even elite assassins struggle to perform..."
More clones appeared. They lined up beside Hano, silent and poised.
And then they moved.
Dozens of Hano copies descended from the rooftop, blotting out the sky as they rushed him. Boris raised his hands, launching spikes of liquid poison in all directions. Several clones were hit and vanished instantly—but more kept coming.
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
"Why the hell are there so many?" he growled. "How can she create so many clones...?!"
Suddenly, a shadow flickered behind him.
Realization struck too late.
A blade slashed across his back. Boris howled in pain.
Hano stepped forward, katana raised to finish it, until the blood on the blade pulsed unnaturally.
Her eyes widened.
Without hesitation, she let go of the katana and leapt back.
The weapon exploded mid-air.
The blast shook the rooftop. For a moment, silence reigned.
As the smoke cleared, Hano stood amid the dust, chest heaving, her body covered in ash and grime. She clutched her right arm, burned badly from the explosion. It was limp, useless.
She winced.
"That maniac..." she muttered.
Suddenly, a poison tentacle tore through the smoke. She sensed it just in time, dropping to the ground to dodge.
When she turned, her eyes narrowed.
From the thick gray mist emerged Boris.
He limped toward her, slow, broken. Half of his face had melted, bone exposed beneath ruined flesh. His right hand and leg were barely recognizable, dripping with venom.
"What... have you done... to me?" he rasped, each word heavy with pain and fury.
Despite his condition, more poison tentacles unfurled from his back, writhing like serpents. They snapped toward her.
The fight wasn't over yet.