One Plus Four Equals Five. [Erika, Rio]

Seems to keep cool under pressure, she observed thoughtlessly. It was the kind of thing she noticed without needing to consider it further. The woman kept advancing but she had plenty more swords to spare, each swing at the oncoming opponent just launched more swords all around them.

Embedded in the stone of the ground and walls but when Rio got close enough for fist to greet steel again the petite blonde wasted no time in committing all of her attention to the sword in her hand. The goal was to pressure her so that her senses were too dull to notice that the myriad of swords littering their battlefield were abrubtly drawn back towards Rio from behind.

"Kaeri (帰り, Return)..."

She muttered and had all of the blades launch back as if returning to her hand. The kind of move that would skewer them both with reckless abandon.

Fist collided with blade as Rio offered the entirety of her speed unto matching Erika blow for blow. Since her attention was wholly devoted to gaining momentum in this battle, the profusion of blades that descended from all angles, intercepting her view of the opponent in front of her, fell out of the realm of expectation, her focus now compromised by a different beast altogether.

The raining hell of blades pierced flesh as they simultaneously connected with her body to one degree or another, but Rio remained primarily on the offensive, her golden gaze poised to land a decisive strike. Even amid a torrent of steel, the Shihoin would not relent. For a faint moment, one of her arms was free to execute a strike. Rio would not waste this opportunity. Drawing her fist forward, Rio executed the one hakuda technique in her arsenal afforded to her in this onslaught of blades.

Ikkotsu (一骨, Single Bone)

Naturally, she was betting on the fact that the woman would not expect her to move forward in spite of the myriad blades compromising her charge. If she happened to avoid it, that likely put any chance of victory in question. She'd have to push some of the blades lodged in her flesh, and for a battle that followed a pace like this? That was less than ideal.

Dodge it was the correct reaction, she could discern it quite well but she denied her instincts to continue with her slash. Sacrifice was necessary in the pursuit of victory so she indulged in her reckless behaviour by putting the blade between her and Rio's fist to create a moment of silence.

Her sword twisted and cracked before it continued through the handle and into her arm, twisting it apart and having it explode in gore of blood and bone. Erika timed her twist to splash Rio with the blood from her missing arm. It would try to cover her face in it to overwhelm her senses to allow one more swift execution of a fluid motion, a new sword in her remaining hand poised to slash across Rio's body.

Ougi — Ittou: Koujin Kinnosen [奥義一刀・轟刄ノ金旋, Secret Move - Single Sword: Roaring Blade's Golden Spin]

With a flash of light the sword cleaved in front of her with a golden streak, hovering for a moment before her spiritual pressure expanded around them to echo an explosion kilometres from them as though thunder had struck.

Rio would've been remiss to pretend she expected equal boldness from Erika as the woman followed through with her motion. In the pivotal clash, her fist bore through her blade to turn her arm into a mesh of blood and gore. One would assume the hit was decisive, and yet, Erika turned even this harrowing situation into a well-timed counterattack as that spray of blood painted the Shihoin's face in crimson.

The gruesome strategy was admirable, but even in the face of that tactic, Rio persisted in a stride of unperturbed motion as her next blade-pieced arm swung forward for one more strike across her face. Whether that strike connected or not would be a result left to speculation as a golden streak of light enveloped her resilient frame, accompanied by the echo of an explosive roar.

The force of such a tremendous blow naturally sent her flying through the barracks as her body smashed into a wall. A long gash of a wound lined her belly, pouring generously onto the ground. Rising upward, Rio ran a hand through her stomach. An amused chuckle escaped her lips as she regarded the woman with an impressed expression. A prideful part of her wanted to continue, even with the brutal wound. Obsidian blades hovered at her back, golden eyes observing the woman from afar.

"What a remarkable display of tenacity. Parting with your arm to ascertain victory... even for someone who fancies themselves as a shield in human form, not even I would have expected a tactic like that. Then again, I'd expect nothing less of the vice-commander."

She watched the woman disappear until the blood pooling from the gash on her forehead stung one of her eyes and left half her vision seeing red. Erika wasn't the type to be put off by her injuries though even as the blood kept flowing from her body through all the wounds it had suffered from the barrage of attacks.

The sword in her hand dissolved into gold reishi and her exhaustion was catching up with her. No small amount of reiryoku had been spent with using that move. She could already imagine people were on edge given the sound of thunder of a clear day like that.

"You did well, vice-captain Shihoin. I hope the other division have just as much to offer me from their vice-captains."

She complimented (?) while landing on the ground and glancing at the damage done. Perhaps next time she ought to not make challenges like this to evaluate her peers in the training barracks. It would just be a waste of their funds to repair which she doubted Murasaki wanted to keep spending on.

"Now, go get yourself patched up."