Legion
Chapter Two
The battle was close. Taka could almost smell the raw death in the air. There was a possibility that a demonic entity could be attracted to all this, but it was indeed unlikely. Scythe was still behind him, so he glanced back to make sure that the boy was alright, and stopped. Scythe looked almost drunk, swaying on his feet and mumbling incoherently. He stepped forwards to see what was wrong, and was knocked backwards by a blast of purple energy. They were on the very edge of the forest, and Taka could see the clash between the forces. Looking back to the lad, he saw that his eyes were glowing, red as blood. A growl escaped his throat, and he slid his scythe from his back. Before Taka could blink, Scythe was on the enemy, a roaring dervish laying waste to all who came near him. One was gutted, another split cleanly in half. One man tried to attack Scythe, and was rewarded with a severed arm. The back-stroke took off his head. Takakage leaned against a tree, simply watching as Scythe tore through the enemy forces as swiftly as a hot knife cut butter. After another few men were brutally dismembered, the remainder of the forces turned and began to run. Scythe, however, had no intention of letting them go. He raised a hand, and an orb of black, swirling energy formed at it. The darkness was bubbling and incoherent, but quickly formed into a perfect ball. Scythe grinned, then roared and let the blast explode towards the fleeing enemies. It caught the middle of their group, sending those on the outskirts of the explosion flying, and those directly hit incinerated by the darkness billowing around them. The dark light faded, and a scene of devastation met Taka's eyes. A huge gouge had been taken out of the earth, and burnt bodies lay everywhere. Those not hit were speedily dispatched by a short chop to the neck. After Scythe had finished his grisly task, he raised his weapon towards the sky. Curious, Taka leaned forwards.
Purple energy exploded from the corpses scattered around Scythe, converging on his blade and being absorbed into it. The raging stream of light quickly faded, and Scythe dropped to his knees. Taka rushed over to the fallen boy, and felt for a pulse. He was merely unconscious, which Taka was relieved at finding out. The ground suddenly began to shake, with a black sigil appearing maybe twenty feet away. A massive demon burst from the ground, roaring. Taka stood up and, carefully setting Scythe down, whipped out his swords and faced the beast, which was almost fifteen feet tall. A maniacal grin appeared on its face, and a giant axe materialized in its' hand. The shinpi obu of light on Taka's left shoulder-guard began to glow and, as the divine energy began to travel down his arm, the right shoulder-guard stone activated as well. Flicking open the connectors at the hilt of the swords, Taka slammed them together, creating the Soul Cutter. He swiftly began to spin them in a circle. The demon sensed that its opponent was going to attack, and decided to take the initiative. Roaring, it charged towards Taka. The swords now spinning on their own and the centre pointing directly towards the demon, Scythe awakened just in time to see Taka punch the point where the blades joined, roaring his head off.
A split second later, a massive beam of translucent, golden energy erupted from the wildly rotating swords, powering towards the demon. It sensed its imminent demise and tried to dodge. The attack however, was too large, completely obliterating the panicking demon, and leaving nothing but ashes behind. Taka's blades stopped spinning, and fell. He caught them neatly just before the hit the ground, and sheathed them. Takakage turned and saw Scythe looking at him with an expression of awe. Taka, however, was more interested in what happened to Scythe when he smelt the blood of the soldiers, and why he went berserk.
"I really don't know Taka!" Scythe practically shouted. Taka had been probing him with questions, convinced that he knew what caused his mindless rampage. Scythe was getting tired and cranky however, so Taka thought it best to let him get to sleep.
"Alright then, if you don't know there is nothing that can be done for now." Taka mused, letting the matter drop.
"Thanks Taka…and what you did earlier…that was amazing…" Scythe began to drift towards sleep as he reflected on Taka's power. Grinning, Taka leant against a nearby tree and, as always, kept an eye open whilst he napped.
A few hours later…
Taka woke to the sound of deep breathing. He glanced left, then right. There was nothing to be seen aside from Scythe, who was still snoring on the ground near the fire. Taka got to his feet with the uneasy feeling that something was out of place. He cast his gaze around, but still could see nothing. The breathing became growling, and Takakage became increasingly alert. After a few seconds of staring, he realised what was wrong, what he had not spotted earlier.
The fire.
He didn't light a fire before they went to sleep.
Spinning and drawing his blades at the same time, he faced the fire in time to see a monstrous head, beringed with fangs and seething with red energy appear from the fire. At the sheer size of the head he realised instantly that this was an archdemon, one above its lesser brethren. Knowing he would not be able to defeat it if he allowed it to fully form, he charged forwards and attacked, slashing at the beast repeatedly. It grunted, and a massive arm materialised from the now huge fire. The arm quivered a moment, as if unaccustomed to the cold air, but swiftly swung down and smacked Taka, sending him hurtling through the air into a tree, the Dragon Flame flying from his grasp and embedding itself in the ground. Rolling and leaping to his feet, the translucent shinpi obu in the Hurricane Cutter blazed into life. The very winds gathered around his blade, and formed into a swivelling ball on the tip of the sword. Upper cutting with the weapon, the ball of air, which was tiny, exploded into a huge gale, tearing branches from the trees, and ripping the beast in the flames to shreds. Bellowing, the beast made an attempt to smash Taka again, but failed. Before it was killed, the gale died down.
In a parody of a grin, it brought another arm out of the fire, and opened its demonic jaws. A pulsating orb of energy began to undulate in the gaping maw. Sheathing the Hurricane Cutter, Taka clicked his fingers, and both Arcane shinpi obu began to glow. The blob of darkness now gigantic, the beast took aim at Takakage. With a grin, Taka clicked his fingers once more, and placed his hand so that his palm was facing the monster. A bolt of cyan energy snapped out of his hand and flew into the ball, which dissipated with the force of the shot. It struck the beast square in the face, blinding it. Roaring in pain, it began to smash its arms on the ground in agony. Whilst it was distracted, Taka knelt and placed a single hand on the ground. A sigil formed underneath him, then vanished and appeared underneath the beast. Clenching his left hand into a fist, he extended two fingers, and raised them. The blinded demon was annihilated in a massive blast of energy, it's flesh disintegrating with the raw power erupting from underneath it. When the bright light died away, there was nothing left of the demonic entity, except for a smouldering pile of ash. Taka swiftly blasted them away with a second, less powerful shot from the Hurricane Cutter. There was every chance that the demon was not dead, and could regenerate from the ashes.
It was at this moment, that Scythe woke up to see Takakage standing above him, sword unsheathed and casting his gaze about for his second weapon. Spotting it, he strode over, and yanked the Dragon Flame from where it was embedded in the floor. Scythe sat up, and asked the inevitable question.
"Wha…whazz goin' on?" His words were slurred, as he had just woken, but he quickly gathered himself and rephrased it.
"What happened Taka?" Scythe looked around, seeing nothing for cause of concern. Taka sighed, and collapsed heavily upon the ground. Using the shinpi obu took a lot of stamina, and to use two combination attacks in one day was a newer experience for him.
"Taka?" came the second, more worried sounding question.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just need to rest…" And with that statement, Taka fell soundly asleep, exhausted from the fight.