Axel looked at his hands with dismay, he wanted to deny it, but it was there, he couldn't move his hands, no he could, but to perform any action with the katana was impossible, it was like his hands had forgotten how to move with the katana, the muscle memory completely gone.
"My anima, spear of the pale fang, appears to just control ice at first," the man said holding up the spear, then he smiled and looked at him, "but that's not all, it freezes memories, and unfortunately for you, it has frozen any knowledge of using a katana from your hand."
How is this possible? Axel looked at his hand again, he knew it was over, he couldn't stand a chance without the sword.
But he didn't have a choice, was he supposed to just wait and die, no, his hands couldn't move, no it could, he tried making a fist, he was successful.
Well then since I can't wield a sword, there is only one thing I can do now, he thought, lifting the katana to his mouth.
Axel bit down on the handle of the gishiki, his fists raised in a boxing pose, bring it on.
The man chuckled and smiled, "You have made a valiant effort, but…" he vanished, no he moved fast, faster than Axel could follow, the katana was no longer helping him.
He appeared in front of Axel, crouched low, his spear lunged towards his chest, his heart, the man's smirk gleaming under the cold light.
Dang it, I've got no chance, not without the katana helping me anyway, is this it? No, not like this, Axel gritted his teeth, trying to twist his body out of the way, but he was too slow.
His eyes traced the spear as it entered his chest, a stabbing pain.
Then he felt nothing, the spear completely passing through him, without resistance, but the man's grin turned upside down as he continued moving, his hand started passing through Axel's body.
Axel's eyes widened as he saw the man's shoulder passing through him, yet he felt nothing, it was like he wasn't there.
Prepared for it to be the last blow, the man had put his all, he had moved too fast, his momentum too high, dragging him through Axel.
Thwack!! The spear lodged tightly into the ice, shards flying from the impact.
Axel looked down, his breath caught in his chest, then he saw it, the hilt was glowing, red this time, he looked down at his chest, a small hole on his hoodie, a little blood trickled down, but otherwise he was okay.
The katana saved him again, turned him ethereal, that means, he glanced over his shoulder at the man, struggling to pull the spear out.
Not wasting the chance, Axel spun around, katana in mouth trying to slash and take off the man's head.
The man upon noticing this gave up trying to dislodge the katana and leapt out of the way, panting.
He landed, then he grimaced and grasped his ribs, getting on his knees, taking deep breaths, his eyes widened as he quickly rolled out of the way, dodging Axel's kick.
The man couldn't believe it, he had used his ace move too much and that too for a non anima user at that, no at this point he didn't know what the boy in front of him was, so many things were wrong, from using the anima power, an anima which wasn't his, and worst of all not just one power.
"Just what are you," the man asked between breaths, voice laced with frustration and fear, "how can you use an anima that already has a wielder?"
Axel looked at the spear lodged into the wall, a crackling sound around it, the ice crawling over the spear, trying to heal itself.
He looked at the man and gave him a small smirk. I've got him cornered, tired and frustrated, now I have to continue pressuring him, finish it soon.
Looking down at his frozen wound, the blood sealed in frost, along with the pain, he smirked, somehow, that had become the undoing of the man, he would have been more hurt otherwise.
He glanced at the glowing katana. I don't know how long this will last, he thought and dashed towards the man.
The man tilted back, the Katana passing over the edge of his nose, cutting a bit of his blue hair, then he dashed to the left away from the wall.
Is he trying to draw me away, Axel wondered as he chased after the man who kept dodging his strikes, punches and kicks, moving further from the ice wall, although his movements were not as fluidly as before, he's getting slower, I'll be fast enough to stop him from getting back to the spear.
This is just last desperation, let's end this then.
Axel slashed at the man who leapt back, a faint smirk appeared on his lips , then he released the katana from his mouth, spinning as it fell and at the right angle and time he kicked it at the flat end of the handle, all in a split second.
The Katana soared in the air at an angle, heading for the man's chest, the man's eyes widened, he was in the air, there was no way he could dodge, so his hands flew up in time, clasping around the blade, clenching his teeth in pain.
The man landed, the sword tight in his grip, just a little away from his chest, blood dripping out of his hands clasped around the blade, but Axel didn't give him time to rest, his fist already tearing through the air, slamming into the flat end of the handle again.
The blade sliced through the man's hand, severing his fingers and piercing his chest, the blade coming out the other end, passing completely through the man, smeared with blood.
The man coughed and staggered back, dropping to his knees, he looked at Axel eyes wide, unwilling to accept the situation.
Then at his spear behind the boy, he made the greatest mistake underestimating Axel, now here he was, with all his experience defeated by a non wielder.
The man tried to chuckle at the irony, but he ended up coughing blood, he looked at Axel who was trying to catch his breath, he's dangerous, the man thought, in a few years, I'm sure he would have defeated me, unfortunately, ice slowly spread from where the katana pierced him, covering his entire chest.
Axel looked at him warily, wondering what he was trying to do, that should have pierced his heart, it should be over, no matter what, the ice couldn't help him at this point.
His eyes narrowed with vigilance as the man's hand reached for his pocket, pulling something out.
"Hey," Axel shouted, stepping back warily, but the man ignored him, fumbling something in his hands, not good, he thought, clenching his jaw, he dashed towards the man, trying to stop whatever he was doing.
But it was too late, the man looked up at Axel and smirked, more eery than normal considering a katana was stuck in his chest, his teeth bloodied making things worst, then he swallowed something, in the next second a cold wind blew from him, flinging Axel back.
The man slowly got up, his hands now translucent, a chilling aura and killing intent radiating from him.
Axel hurriedly leapt back as the man stood up straight, ignoring the katana stuck in his chest, his hands turning more translucent with each second, slowly spreading to his shoulder.
"What are you?" Axel subconsciously muttered.
The man looked at him and smiled, an eerie smile, too wide, his eyes completely white, not those of a human, a katana stuck in his chest, he looked at his hand, as if in curious.
Then he pointed it towards Axel.
Axel instinctively raised his hand in a defensive posture but nothing happened.
What's he doing, he wondered, something slamming into him from behind the next second, the spear, knocking the air out of his lungs.
It pierced through him, passing through completely racing towards the man, screeching as it pierced through his chest as well.
Axel doubled over and dropped on his knees, holding his stomach where the spear had passed through, warm blood washing over his hands.
He started coughing, blood flowing out of his mouth and side, the spear had pierced something vital, this was finally it, he had no anima, it was stuck in that thing, which he wasn't sure how it's still alive, and no help was coming.
He was finished, he glanced at the man, just in time to see the spear turn to a liquid and merge with the man.
Almost instantly his already translucent body parts turned clear, almost transparent like glass, the chilling aura increasing, the appalling transformation getting worst.
Axel sprawled on the ground, blood pooling around him, vision getting blurry, a ringing sound in his ears, the smell of blood and smoke filling his nose, yet his eyes did not leave the figure as it transformed.
The man looked over at Axel and slowly started walking towards him, ice spreading along the ground with each step it took. It stopped over Axel, looking down on him for a few seconds, then its hand slowly elongated, forming a scimitar.
The figure raised the scimitar, its face blank, all emotions absent, as it was about to bring down the scimitar, a chain wrapped around it, the links snapping as it stopped the scimitar in the air.
The chain groaned under strain as the man put more strength, pushing down, but it held, then at that instant the ice wall shattered like glass and the earth moved beneath Axel, moving him to the WGDS building.
The man upon seeing this stopped struggling, rather he looked at the door of the building, a figure in a black coat pulled Axel in and shut the door.
The man tried to take a step towards the building but he was jerked back by the chain.
He slowly lifted his head and looked at the chain, his eye trailing it to its origin, revealing Serif, his face blackened by soot, his sleeves burnt, holes on his clothes.