The coward's blade

   In a field covered in smoke, there was a weird kind of silence. It wasn't that sounds could not be heard but that they could be heard clearly. The most prominent of those sounds was the sound of the helicopters that hovered above the field.

   "H3, what's your status" Hughes spoke into his communication device

   "I see nothing sir" a voice replied from the other side

   "I have no eyes on the..." The voice said and suddenly stopped

   "H3"

   "H3"

   "H3, REPORT!!!" Hughes yelled into his device but there was no answer. Then he looked forward through the windshield of the cockpit and saw one of his helicopters turning to face him

   "Oh sh**" he said he jacked a parachute from the side and jumped out of the aircraft.

   "Summon the mage squad" he spoke into his device as he watched the helicopter he was on burst into flames.

   With a loud cry and all her might, Mia swung her sword at Genji with the intent of taking off his head but for some reason, her blade couldn't go through.

   Except for the grin on Genji's face, Mia noticed something that was very annoying to deal with. The object that was responsible for stopping her blade, a sort of black scale that appeared out of nowhere. she struck again for the second time but Genji blocked with his hands and on the hand that he used to block was the same kind of black scale that appeared on his neck.

   Mia knew that if she hesitated or even stopped to catch her breath, that she won't be able to muster up any more energy. She was well aware that she was running on adrenaline and that once her level of excitement went down, she won't be able to get up again. So she kept striking.

   She kept striking with all her strength and the speed of her swings kept increasing. Genji's scales were so strong that her swords broke every time she struck but her pace was not affected. If a sword broke, she simply just brought out another one and struck again.

   For a moment, Mia had the upper hand but she was quickly approaching her limit and Genji was quite a decent fighter. The moment he saw a chance for a counter attack, he made great use of it and struck Mia in her abdomen. After that he followed up with series of combos that hit hard and didn't miss.

   "Did you really think that the beasts were all I had?" He Said as he continued his attacks

   "That was an ordinary technique that anyone could learn"

   "Haven't they taught you that in school?"

   "Or were you foolish enough to believe that I didn't have anything else?"

   "I'm a bit disappointed, y'know"

   "But then again, this is the power that helped me kill your father"

   "I call it...."

   "DRAGON SCALE"

   "What did you just say?" Mia asked with clear rage in her faint weak voice

   "Did you say that this power of yours helped you take down my father?" 

   "Hmm" she laughed

   "If that were true I'd really be disappointed in him"

   "But considering how weak you are, I'm quite sure that you're lying"

   "I'll tell you how you won" she said as she struggled to get on her feet

   "You found his weakness"

   "You exploited his kindness"

   "You used tricks that you were sure he would fall for"

   "You won against him with that strategy"

   "And you're trying the same with me"

   "But you didn't account for one thing" she said with a smile

   "You're not the only one that knows how to fight like a coward"

   Genji didn't really understand what Mia did. All he knew was that he saw her take a glowing blue pill and suddenly vanish. Now he was taking hits from places he couldn't see.

   Mia was able to cut him before his scales activated. She couldn't land fatal blows but she could at least make him bleed.

   "I see you still had an ace up your sleeve" Genji laughed.

   "But it's still not enough" he said

   "IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!!" He roared as he covered his whole body with scales. He still couldn't see where the attacks were coming from but he didn't care since they could not harm him.

   "No even the great lords of the order can break through this armor" he said

   "There is nothing that can penetrate it" he said with pride

   "But you're wrong" Mia replied as she stopped her attacks and appeared in front of Genji 

   "There's one thing that can easily pass through" she said

   "And what my that be?" Genji Asked

   "HEAT" Mia said as suddenly brought out a flamethrower and began firing at Genji who immediately started to to run away to avoid the fire.

   "I never really thought of this" Mia said out loud

   "But I wonder what grilled Genji smells like"

   "I guess I'll find out" she said with a menacing laugh

   "Why did she suddenly become stronger?" Genji asked himself

   "Was it that blue pill?" he wondered

   "No" he said

   "She's still barely as strong as she was when the fight"

   "The pill just barely recovered her energy"

   "She didn't get stronger"

   "She changed her style"

   "How could she have done that so quickly?" Genji wondered

   "Not even sages are capable of doing that" he said

   "So how?"

   Many thoughts ran through Genji's mind as he ran from the flames that came towards him. Then he noticed something.

   "Has that sword always been there?" he asked himself as he looked at the katana that hung from Mia's waist

   SHIN SEKAI SECRET: There is no set hierarchy among priests. However, the more powerful ones have great influence over others.