So, again the story didn't get bumped when I published a new chapter. Going every other day is definitely the best approach then, hopefully you readers won't mind.
Chapter 7:
Their confrontation came to a halt as they turned to confront their mutual enemy. Beowolves, Creeps, and Ursai barreled down on them in a large swarm. The beating of massive wings echoed through the air as a pair of mid-sized Nevermores rose up above the level of the trees with harsh, hostile caws, swooping down to partake in the battle, or bypass it entirely to attack the vulnerable settlement behind the wall.
Rufus pulled out his weapon, the handle and prongs lengthening as the prongs separated. A section of the handle extended out to the side, unfolding into a grip, while the butt in dropped down perpendicularly. The prongs lengthened, extending into a much longer form than they had when they served as the blade of his spear. Raising the weapon, Rufus leveled it at the first incoming Nevermore. Crackling, yellow lightning jumped between the prongs in arcs that ran their way from the base to the tip of the weapon.
Pulling the trigger, there was a tremendous crack of discharge, like that of thunder, a projectile accelerated up the barrel formed by the prongs and lanced out, flying right into the Nevermore's open beak and blowing out the backside of its head. The Nevermore's caw trailed off into a wet gurgle and it began to drop. Its companion pulled up, apparently trying to pull out of the railgun's range, but Rufus had already drawn a bead on it, charging the second shot and firing after just a few seconds, bringing down the second just as easily.
"That explains why they didn't have any problems with airborne Grimm," Gin muttered as he tensed in the face of the ground attackers.
The front ranks of the ground-bound Grimm crashed over them, almost like a wave. Ayumu moved forward, easily and calmly, cutting them down with Green Destiny, the blade carving though their bodies with no resistance as Ayumu slipped around and through attacks, almost like a phantom. Gin leapt straight into the fray, brandishing his claws and tearing apart every Grimm he came up against. Though his movements were far more intense and aggressive than Ayumu's, they had that same flowing, graceful quality.
Bruno whipped out his morning star and brought it down in a wide swing, crushing the head of an oncoming Ursa. His morning star slammed into the ground beneath it, the spikes on its head sinking into the earth. Grinning, Bruno pulled the trigger integrated into the morning star's handle. The Ursa's body was obliterated by a geyser of flame that was only the first in a chain that leapt up in a path straight in line with that of Bruno's swing, burning a swath through the incoming Grimm.
Beside him, Nigel pulled out his tonfa, orienting them with the short ends pointing ahead of his fists and squeezing the triggers with his thumbs, unleashing a barrage of bullets that brought down numerous charging Beowolves. Of course, with their numbers, plenty survived to close the distance. However, Nigel slipped smoothly and easily into melee combat, his weapons becoming spinning blurs, adding to their momentum as he lashed out with the angular blades of the long arms, hacking the incoming Grimm to pieces.
Once again, Ruby felt a sense of detachment from the battle taking place in front of her. Without a weapon, there wasn't really anything she could contribute. Her kick, enhanced by the momentum imparted by her Semblance, had been able to floor a drunken Bruno. But, against a full-sized Grimm, she'd be little more than an irritant. She didn't really have much skill in unarmed combat. However, she wasn't overly worried. Once again, Ayumu and Gin didn't stray far from her, easily intercepting the few Grimm that tried to ignore them by going after her instead. Even the sense of threat from the three fighting members of Team BRWN was reduced, seeing as they were fully occupied by fending off the incoming monsters.
Casting her eyes about, Ruby checked to see how bad the situation was. There were dozens of Grimm already in the fray, with more coming every moment. But their position didn't seem to be in danger of being overwhelmed. They appeared to be the major focus of the Grimm's aggression. Here and there, she saw some heading for the wall. But they were few in number and easily brought down by rifle fire from the top of the wall. These were the members of the settlement's militia, charged with the task of perimeter defense in the absence of Huntsmen, when the Grimm attacked in more reasonable numbers.
Despite their efforts, quite a few Grimm had made it to the wall, clawing and scraping at it it. The wall held, but each attack left fresh gouges on top of the ones etched by previous attacks.
Turning her attention back to the battle, Ruby once again looked to the the members of Team BRWN. The handle of Bruno's morning star collapsed slightly, while the head detached, connected to the handle with a long chain. The weapon, now an enormous flail, whirled around in a circle above his head before he swung it with a shout, slamming its spiked form into the chest of a rearing Ursa, throwing the Grimm back, knocking over a pair of Beowolves behind it.
With a grin, Bruno brought it up, whirling it around over his head again, before bringing the head of the flail down so that it struck the earth several times in succession. More geysers of flame erupted in various, singular locations throughout the oncoming Grimm, blowing several into the air, turning them into flaming projectiles that inflicted even more damage as they dropped back down amongst their fellows.
Rufus had returned his weapon to its spear form, the prongs shortening, though electricity still crackled between them as he thrust them into an attacking Creep, causing its body to collapse, spasming, before Rufus turned to the next one approaching.
Nigel danced amongst the Grimm, his tonfa a blur as they whirled around his arms. He wielded both the blades and guns of his weapons with ease, often beheading a Grimm with the swift swing of one, while picking off another with the shot from its mate.
All around them, the Grimm were dropping like flies. Initially, the horde had seemed endless. But, in about half an hour, their numbers were beginning to dwindle as fewer emerged from the tree line. Another Nevermore took to the air and tried to fly over their heads to get at the settlement behind them, but Rufus dropped back, Bruno and Nigel shifting to cover him with the ease of long practice, telling Ruby that they were used to this sort of strategy. He returned his weapon to its railgun form and dropped the Nevermore with another precise shot.
In front of her, Gin and Ayumu continued to fell Grimm easily, not even seeming to break a sweat. As their numbers finally began to thin, Ayumu and Gin exchanged a look, Ruby getting the impression that the contents of an entire conversation could have passed between them, even without a word of exchange. Gin dropped back slightly so that he was close to Ruby.
"We're going to make a break for the forest in just a second," said Gin.
"What about Brandywine?" asked Ruby, her eyes worriedly going to the town wall, and the Huntsmen defending it.
"They'll be all right," said Gin. "I don't have time to explain. Do you trust us?"
Ruby nodded without hesitation. After all that they had done and were continuing to do for her, there was no way she couldn't trust them. While it seemed like their sudden departure would leave Brandywine in the lurch against the remaining Grimm, or worse, against the fury of a team of vengeful Huntsmen, she had to hope that Gin and Ayumu knew what they were doing. She expected no less of them.
"Then we go…now!" said Gin, the "now" coming so suddenly that it made Ruby jump before she started running, following Ayumu and Gin as they charged headlong into the remaining Grimm, heading straight away from the settlement. They cut down the monsters in their path, but ignored the ones off to the side, who continued to charge for the town.
"AFTER THEM!" roared Bruno, his voice like a clap of thunder at Ruby's back. She glanced behind her to see Rufus and Nigel immediately rush in pursuit of them. Bruno fell back, the chain of his flail retracting, the weapon becoming a long-handled morning star once more. He wielded it with one hand, batting Grimm away, while he drew out a scroll with the other.
Then Ruby couldn't afford to watch any longer and she had to move her focus forward again as they reached the tree line and plunged right into the undergrowth.
"Why are we running?" asked Ruby, finding herself surprised that she could keep up with Ayumu and Gin now. It seemed that her strength and stamina were almost completely recovered now.
"We're drawing them away from the settlement," said Ayumu, not even sounding winded as he ran. "They can't afford to let us get away."
"But Brandywine…" said Ruby worriedly.
"You saw Mr. Grosse holding the line," said Ayumu. "These Hunstsmen won't let their meal ticket go so easily. He was pulling out his scroll to call Ms. Schirmer so that she could reinforce him while the other two pursue us. Once they finish dealing with the Grimm, they'll be after us too."
"But why?" asked Ruby. "I thought they'd just go back into town." And maybe vent their frustration on the helpless people of Brandywine instead of their real opponents.
"They could," said Gin. "But if they let us get away, that spells the end for them as Huntsmen."
"If we make it to another settlement and use their CCT to get in contact with the authorities in Vale, then there will be an investigation," said Ayumu. "Even if they abandon Brandywine and leave it to be overrun, there will be an investigation, which will risk their misdeeds being found out. If that happens, they'll be branded as criminals and made into targets for other Huntsmen."
"That's why they've been so careful about controlling the CCT, and even forbidding us to leave," said Gin.
"Oh…" said Ruby.
They reached a clearing, Ayumu and Gin coming to a stop, Ruby stopping as well, panting a little, but feeling that she could keep going if she needed to. Their pursuers were less than a minute behind them. Nigel and Rufus burst out of the foliage, their faces furious as they came to a stop.
"Finally stopped running?" asked Rufus, trying to sound taunting, but unable to hide the tremors of anger…and possibly fear… in his voice. "And here I thought you were cowards, abandoning your posts."
"I was wondering why you were so determined to pursue us," said Ayumu with a chuckle.
"What's wrong?" added Gin. "Afraid we'll tell mommy what bad boys you've been?"
Rufus snarled audibly, while Nigel's eyes narrowed and his fingers tightened around the handles of his tonfa. After a second, Rufus recovered enough to toss his head in a condescending gesture, his hair whipping through the air behind him. "As if," he replied. "You're just some kids. You didn't really think you could get away from us."
"As it stands, we didn't want to," replied Ayumu, lazily flourishing his sword so that it didn't even rise above the level of his waist and instead remained down, at an angle to his body.
Both Nigel and Rufus tensed, their eyes going to the sword. Ayumu had already put it away when they had seen him for the first time and he hadn't drawn it again, until today. Even then, they had been too busy in the thick of battle to really take notice of it, only catching the occasional flash of green amidst the attacking Grimm. As simple as it looked, Ayumu's weapon was a mystery to them, something they couldn't account for, seeing as they had seen no trace of it earlier.
"You're saying you lured us here?" asked Nigel skeptically.
"That's it exactly," said Ayumu.
"Let's get this started," said Gin, his claws sliding out from his fingers again. "We need to deal with you two before your teammates get here."
"You say that as though you could actually 'deal' with us," scoffed Rufus. "We'll have this wrapped up long before Bruno and Whitney finish cleaning up."
"You talk a big game," said Gin with a fierce grin that put Ruby's nerves on edge. "Let's see you back it up."
"With pleasure," said Rufus, leveling his spear.
"GRAAAH! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THOSE BRAT'S I'LL MAKE THEM SEE HELL!" Bruno roared, lashing out with his weapon in a display of total violence, channeling his accumulated wrath into each and every blow, venting his frustrations on the remaining Grimm.
Still, the Grimm were hardly intimidated by his rage. If anything, that only drew them to him more strongly. Bruno didn't realize it, but even the Grimm that had been moving to attack the walls turned to focus upon him, and the font of negative emotion that he'd become. They bore down on him, their numbers concentrating on this lone human who defiantly lashed out at them. Though these were the remnants of the horde that had assaulted the wall, they were enough that, even as furious as he was, Bruno might have been overwhelmed by their combined efforts.
Then, with a whirling roar, a pair of disks; one surrounded by a green haze of wind, refined into a blade that cut through even the toughest bone-armor the Grimm possessed; the other surrounded by a nimbus of fire that seared flesh and bone; swooped past Bruno, cutting swaths through the attacking Grimm and dropping over a dozen of them in a single pass. The disks circled back around, returning to the hands of the one who'd thrown them. Whitney advanced, her own wrath like the chill of the advancing winter, now wielding her circular blades in melee, unleashing a refined dance that allowed her to cut down the Grimm around her with ease.
"You called me out here for this?" hissed Whitney as she cut down the last lunging Creep, and oriented to glare at Bruno, who quailed before her fury.
"Th-the brats made a break for it," stammered Bruno, taking a nervous step back. "I sent Rufus and Nigel after them. I'm sure those kids will be taken care of."
"You had better be right," said Whitney, turning towards the forest and beginning to walk. "If they get away and notify the authorities, our license to operate will be revoked and we'll have to go on the run. They might even go as far as to post a bounty on us."
"Please," scoffed Bruno. "As if those kids have what it takes to get away from us."
Rufus lunged, thrusting out with his spear, the two-pronged blade becoming a gray blur as it lashed out at Ayumu like a striking snake, trailing yellow streamers of Dust-generated lightning.
With a flick of his wrist, Ayumu arced his own blade up casually, the Green Destiny clanging against the shaft of the weapon, knocking the thrust aside. Despite its lightning speed, Ayumu made the movement look casual and easy, folding his left arm behind his back, maintaining a relaxed stance, relying mostly on his wrist to manipulate his weapon.
Growling, Rufus advanced, launching his spear into a series of blurring strikes, rapid thrusts, quick flourishes of the blade to confuse his opponent, and wide, circling slashes that used the length of the spear to magnify the speed at which the tip moved. It was a complex series of attacks, graceful and well-practiced.
Yet, despite his best efforts, Ayumu remained calm and composed, his smile completely unchanged as he parried thrusts, tracked flourishes and feints, and dodged slashes and sweeps. His movements were minimal, often avoiding making contact with the blade by only a paper's width. He dodged by making small steps and bending his spine slightly, allowing the spear to sweep harmlessly by him.
But what disturbed Rufus even more was the fact that, despite all the times Ayumu's sword made contact with Rufus' spear, despite the electrical charge that sent arcs jumping between the blade's prongs and dancing along its edges, up to its tip, Ayumu never took so much as a jolt from contact with the blade.
Abating his attacks, Rufus glared at Ayumu. "How?"
"I noticed that your electrical attacks only emanate from your blade," said Ayumu. "Obviously, you couldn't allow them to affect the handle or you'd wind up electrocuting yourself. Since skilled spear-wielding often requires changing the position of one's grip along the shaft, there's no way you'd simply create a single space as an insulated handle, thus you limited your weapon's electrical charge to the blade alone and use its mecha-shift functions to manipulate the shape of the blade itself according to your needs."
"So?" asked Rufus.
"So, I decided to parry by striking the shaft of your weapon," said Ayumu cheerfully. "It's simple as strategies go."
"Simple nothing," muttered Rufus, amazed. Despite it being as simple as Ayumu made it sound, that didn't make it easy. To counter by striking against the shaft of the spear, rather than the blade, meant that Ayumu had to delay his parry by a fraction of a second, which allowed Rufus' spear to come a full blade-length closer to him than it would if Ayumu simply tried to parry the blade itself. While it was doable, the margin of error shrank substantially. It was a dangerous strategy, one that could only be utilized by someone with absolute confidence in their skill.
With a snarl that bared his teeth, Rufus went on the attack again, thrusting and slashing even more furiously, striking high and low in a barrage of strikes that seemed to come from all directions. His spear began to trail a nimbus of yellow light, the individual arcs of seeming to merge together before the eye of the average observer into a consistent shine.
Now Ayumu became more animated in his defense. No longer relying primarily on his wrist, he put his arm into his movements, his sword accelerating, leaving a trail of pale-green light in its wake as he whipped it through circular motions, both wide and small. At times, he would dodge, going into flips and spins that allowed him to leap over the path of the incoming spear, dropping back down to duck under the return strike as Rufus whipped his own weapon back around in an attempt to catch Ayumu while he was still in the air.
In their own way, Ayumu's movements seemed to defy logic. One second, he could dance up as though he were as light as a feather. The next, he'd drop like a rock. His acrobatic dodges were as graceful as a dancer's.
Rufus growled and shifted his grip, his hands sliding towards the butt of his weapon. As he did, the spear's shaft contracted on itself, compacting until it became a grip that was barely long enough to accommodate both its wielder's hands. At the same time, the prongs extended, lengthening. Now Rufus' spear was a twin-pronged sword, the prongs still crackling with lightning.
Ayumu no longer had the option of parrying by striking the shaft. Instead, he was forced to evade as Rufus pressed him with a rapid series of slashes, wielding the sword with impressive skill, while Ayumu dipped and dodged. A small jump allowed him to lift his feet clear of a low slash aimed at his ankles. Landing again, he immediately bent over double…backwards, allowing the follow-up slash to pass over his face, the wind of its passage stirring his bangs and the crackling field of electricity surrounding the blade making his hair stand on end.
Ruby watched with silent fascination, completely absorbed by the deadly dance between the two combatants. The speed and ferocity of Rufus' assault were incredible, clearly showcasing the skill and ability of a fully-trained and experienced Huntsman. He was so swift that her eyes were straining to follow his moves. She was amazed that Ayumu hadn't taken a single hit yet. However, it seemed that he was so hard-pressed that he had no option but defense.
There was something else that troubled Ruby. There was something familiar about Rufus' fighting style, the way his weapon transitioned from polearm to sword, and, she remembered from watching him fight at the gate, to a firearm. It felt like she'd seen a similar weapon and a similar fighting style before. But the memory remained out of her reach, filling her with a sense of frustration.
"Can't parry now," crowed Rufus, launching a swift swing of his sword that forced Ayumu to skip back.
Even before finishing the swing, Rufus' sword was already changing again, the handle lengthening slightly, while the prongs contracted a little bit more, separating enough to reveal the barrel built into the shaft. A section dropped down near the base of the prongs, while the butt end folded back, revealing a trigger. The crackling hum of electricity dancing along the prongs had already risen to a fever-pitch as Rufus pulled the trigger.
It should have taken longer for the railgun to charge for a full-power shot. But Ruby realized that Rufus had been counting on Ayumu to dodge his sword swings. Because none of Rufus' blows had landed, none of the electricity accumulating in his weapon's blade had been discharged, allowing him to prepare his rifle to fire the instant the weapon had completed its shift.
The distinctive crack of a metal slug being accelerated past the speed of sound struck her ears with a physical force. Ruby's eyes couldn't follow the streak of the projectile as it erupted from the end of the weapon, rushing straight for Ayumu. Besides the incredible acceleration generating a tremendous penetrating force in the bullet itself, the high-velocity passage of the projectile created a shockwave in its wake that could do plenty of damage on its own, even if it failed to hit its target. Rufus' aim was spot-on, and, with the sheer velocity of his shot, there was no way Ayumu could dodge unless he shifted his position before Rufus pulled the trigger…which he hadn't.
Despite that, Ayumu's expression didn't so much as falter. Even if he hadn't dodged, his sword was still in position, held up vertically so that the blade was angled slightly in front of him. To Rufus' view, it was nothing more than a thin line that bisected his view of his adversary. The Green Destiny was especially thin, far thinner than any ordinary sword. That, combined with the way the blade seemed to flex supplely, made it fragile to his eye. There was no way such a pathetic blade could defend against the full force of his railgun.
The bullet struck Ayumu's sword with an eerie, resonant ring. Ruby gasped. Rufus gaped. The bullet split in two, its halves flying off to either side of Ayumu without touching him. More shocking and incredible still, the shockwave following in the bullet's wake was cut as well. Rufus' attack was neatly divided, passing to either side of Ayumu, while leaving him unharmed.
"What?" Rufus grunted. "But…how?"
Ayumu's smile remained unchanged as he beamed at Rufus. "Well, my blade may be very thin. But it's actually also very strong, strong and supple. Furthermore, that thinness enhances its sharpness." He pulled his sword back, holding it at an angle in front of him and allowing his eyes to trace its length, brushing his finger along the flat of the blade. "I have encountered very little that my sword cannot cut through. Because of that thinness and sharpness, power is less important than finesse, ensuring that I can apply my blade's edge to its fullest effect." His fingers reached the tip of the Green Destiny and he abruptly flicked the tip of the sword with his fingernail, generating another eerie ring, one that made Ruby's bones hum in sympathy, almost as though Ayumu was holding a tuning fork, rather than a sword. "My master would always say that sharpness is a state of mind."
"What does that mean?" asked Rufus.
Ayumu returned his gaze to his opponent. "It means mastering my sword so that I cut only what I choose to cut. A sword that cuts indiscriminately is not a true sword, and its wielder is not a warrior, but a mere butcher. I'm afraid that it's probably a little much for you to understand, Mr. Benbow. You've wielded your weapon with too much abandon to fully appreciate the nature of mastery. Thus, though you still call yourself a Huntsman and fight against the Grimm, you are less than a two-bit thug."
Rufus growled, shifting his weapon back into its sword mode, electricity dancing along its two-pronged blade once again.
Ayumu whipped his sword through a few circular passes, then stepped down into a low stance, holding the blade in front of him, while holding his left arm out behind him, the first two fingers of his left hand extended. "I've taken your attacks now, Mr. Benbow. Now I will be the one attacking. Let's see if you can defend as well as you strike."
Muscles tensing, Rufus set himself and prepared for their fight to resume. Though Ayumu had declared his intention to attack, Rufus had no intention of allowing him. Instead he went on the attack again, surging forward with swift, powerful swings of his electrified sword. His previous onslaught had kept Ayumu on the defensive, and Ayumu couldn't risk having his own strikes parried by that blade, which would risk him getting shocked with each contact. Besides, there was no way this boy, only a little more than half his age at best, could hope to keep up with the speed of an experienced Huntsman.
Once again, Ayumu was forced to weave and dodge, without trying to attack or parry, as Rufus resumed his onslaught with the electrified blade of his sword. Ayumu danced through the air, seeming to drift aside from the wind of passing attacks, rather than through his own musculature. It made Ruby think of a leaf being carried on a breeze. What was more, as the fight continued, Ayumu would fall back outside the sword's range. It made Ruby worry to see him continue to retreat.
Except, Rufus could see that Ayumu wasn't retreating because he was in danger of being overwhelmed. He was trying to bait out Rufus' spear, retreating by small increments to keep out of the sword's range, but within striking distance of the spear. However, if Rufus switched, that would reduce the length of the blade portion, which would increase Ayumu's opportunity to parry and attack. Rufus was determined not to fall for such a tactic.
If this keeps up, he'll be able to use the railgun again, thought Ruby. That wasn't as threatening as it seemed, considering how easily Ayumu had been able to defend against the last shot. But it did mean that the battle was currently at a stalemate, with neither of the combatants able to get the upper hand.
Perhaps the only way to truly win this was to draw out the fight and deplete the supply of lightning-Dust Rufus' weapon was equipped with. No matter how advanced the tech was, it would always suffer from the basic limitation that a weapon's Dust-functions could only last as long as the Dust that generated the effect. Eventually, the lightning-Dust within the weapon would be depleted and, if he wanted to continue, Rufus would have to reload.
Unfortunately, there was no telling how much time they had until the remaining members of BRWN arrived on the scene. If Rufus and Nigel's remaining teammates arrived on the scene, that could turn the tables against Ayumu and Gin. Ruby didn't like those odds one bit. These were experienced Huntsmen after all.
"What's the matter?" asked Rufus, between swings of his sword. "I thought you were going to attack. Having a hard time?"
"Well, it's inconvenient that you won't fall for my trap," admitted Ayumu. "I suppose I'll have to get a bit more aggressive."
What does that mean? wondered Ruby.
Leaping well above the slash of Rufus' sword, Ayumu jumped back, opening up a much wider distance than before. Rufus moved to pursue, but Ayumu jumped back to a nearby tree and kicked off the trunk, angling his jump upwards and almost seeming to glide up into the air. Ruby gasped in amazement as she saw the Green Destiny become a blur around Ayumu's body as he whirled it with wide sweeps, the swing of his blade creating what seemed to be a whirlwind that pulled the leaves off of nearby branches, swirling them around Ayumu's body in a green maelstrom.
"Switching to performance art now?" asked Rufus skeptically, staring up at the swirling leaves.
Ruby had almost completely lost sight of Ayumu amidst the leaves. At first, she thought he was merely using them to conceal his body. But then she saw him sweep and twist his sword, directing the whirling leaves to swirl around and rush at Rufus along circular paths, converging in on him in tightening circles. Furthermore, she could see pale-green light trailing off the edges of the leaves, like the trails that Ayumu's sword left behind.
She gasped as the realization hit her. He infused them with his Aura. He's turned all those leaves into projectiles.
Apparently, the same realization hadn't struck Rufus. Too caught up watching for Ayumu, he failed to realize the danger until the leaves struck, slashing into his body from all directions, their edges biting into his Aura like blades. Rufus cried out in pain as he tried to fend off this unexpected attack, swinging his blade wildly. The amount of Aura each individual leaf carried was slight. Against the electrical field running along the blade's twin prongs, it was easily broken, and the leaves crackled, blackened, and turned to ash. That also meant that the leaves weren't actually inflicting that much damage upon impact. More than anything, this attack was simply an annoyance.
However, its unexpected nature left Rufus completely off-guard. Ruby watched as Ayumu's sword appeared in the midst of the leaves swirling in on Rufus. It and Ayumu's motion had matched that of the leaves so perfectly that the green blade of Ayumu's sword had looked like just another part of the maelstrom to Ruby. But now she saw Ayumu and his sword melt out of it as though materializing from nowhere. Rufus only spotted Ayumu with his peripheral vision and raised his sword to block.
Ruby's hand clenched. Had Rufus' weapon been an ordinary one, Ayumu would have likely been able to counter the clumsy block and land a strike. But Rufus' electrified blade would channel a dangerous charge into Ayumu's body if his sword made contact. Ruby wondered if Ayumu would be able to dodge the sword entirely and continue his attack.
As it turned out, she needn't have worried. Ayumu twisted his body and swung the Green Destiny, for the first time putting some real strength behind the blow, aiming unerringly for the sword he had been avoiding so carefully earlier. The pale-green edge of Ayumu's sword met the gray steel, wreathed in yellow lightning, of Rufus' weapon. The two weapons met, and the clang of contact was drowned out by the ring of the Green Destiny, and the unmistakable sound of something being sheared through.
The twin prongs of Rufus' weapon had been sliced clean off, halfway up their length, the severing leading to the tips tumbling off in separate trajectories. It was then that Ruby blinked, almost believing that she had hallucinated it. Unbelievably, the arcs of lightning trailing off the severed ends terminated abruptly, making her realize that Ayumu's sword hadn't just cleaved through steel, but the lightning itself.
"Huh? Bu-….What?" stammered Rufus, stumbling back and staring uncomprehendingly at the sparking stumps where his sword's blade had been cleaved off. "That's not possible!"
"I told you," said Ayumu cheerfully, "sharpness is a state of mind. Properly refined, I can cut through anything, even things that normally can't be cut."
"You can't be serious," said Rufus disbelievingly.
"Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say," said Ayumu. "Now then…it's time to end this."
Before Rufus could react, Ayumu had closed in. Ayumu rotated his sword so that it was now in a reverse grip, its flat resting against his right forearm. It wasn't for the sake of a technique, but rather, a means to keep the sword out of the way as Ayumu struck out rapidly with his left hand, hitting Rufus directly in the center of the chest. Rufus jolted back, his body spasming and the broken remnants of his weapon dropping from his hand. Ayumu's hand blurred and he struck several other points up and down Rufus torso, Rufus' limbs locking stiffly from the impact, before jumping and spinning, catching Rufus in the temple with a flying roundhouse kick from his right foot, continuing the spin and lashing out to catch him in almost the exact same spot with a back-kick from his left.
The hits sent Rufus sprawling. The red-haired man slammed onto his back, his body unmoving, though his eyes remained staring upward through the forest canopy in shock.
"What did you do?" asked Ruby.
"If you strike in the proper places and apply your Aura just so," said Ayumu, "you can cause a disruption in your opponent's nervous system and stop him from moving." He scratched his chin before grinning sheepishly. "Technically, those last two kicks were unnecessary to bring him down, but I thought he deserved a little extra punishment for behaving so crudely these past few nights."
Ruby giggled, then looked down at Rufus. "What now?"
"Well, he'll be like that for a couple of hours," said Ayumu. "It's not a permanent remedy, but we should be able to get him properly restrained in that time." He paused and frowned. "It'll be tricky to get all four of them back to town."
"All four…" Ruby blinked as she realized she'd almost completely forgotten about Gin. She'd gotten so wrapped up in watching Ayumu fight that Gin's battle had slipped her mind. Worry flooding her, she turned to look for her other friend. Rufus had been strong, but Nigel had seemed especially skilled and composed, even more dangerous than Rufus or Bruno in his own way.
Turning, she gasped as she watched the bladed arm of Nigel's right tonfa bite into Gin's torso, cutting clean through it. Horrified, Ruby anticipated the spray of blood to follow, but was shocked to see that, instead of blood, drifting streamers of mist were left dancing in the wake of Nigel's strike.
Ripples spread outward from where Nigel's weapon had cut. Gin's body seemed to warp and distort, reminding her of a reflection on the surface of a lake suddenly being disturbed by a stone thrown into the water. The rippling distortion seemed to spread, before Ruby realized that Gin had actually moved closer to Nigel. One of Gin's arms reached out, bending and warping, before suddenly appearing straighten as he slashed at Nigel with his claws from an angle almost completely different from where his arm had seemed to be originally. Nigel barely managed to catch sight of the attack, bringing up his left tonfa to block, the steel ringing as Gin's claws struck it, before deflecting off.
Bringing his right tonfa back around, Nigel aligned the barrel with Gin's head and pulled the trigger. The crack of the discharging bullet made Ruby jolt and the shot pierced right through Gin's skull, a circle of silvery mist spreading out from where it struck. Once again, though, instead of actually being damaged, Gin's body, his head in this case, warped and distorted in a rippling movement. At the same time, his rippling, distorted form undulated strangely, keeping Nigel, and Ruby, from realizing that he'd moved until he'd already circled almost completely around behind and raked his claws across Nigel's back, the force behind the blow throwing the man forward, even as the silvery trails left by Gin's claws threw up bronze sparks from where they bit into Nigel's Aura.
Catching himself before he could be thrown right onto his face, Nigel jumped forward, spinning his weapons in his grip so that the long arms of the tonfa pointed forward and the barrels pointed back behind him. Even as he recovered from the hit from behind, Nigel was already firing at Gin. Landing, he spun around, once again spinning his weapons to allow him to keep the guns oriented on Gin and firing a steady barrage of semi-automatic fire.
It took a second for Ruby to realize that the triggers for the guns built into the tonfa were located on the end of handles, Nigel firing by pressing his thumb onto the rounded button. It seemed an odd place to put a trigger until she realized that the button could be pressed, regardless of the weapon's orientation, allowing Nigel to fire his guns at any angle, increasing the speed with which he could adjust his aim without needing to always adjust the position of his arm and body. Therefore, despite the fact that his weapon lacked the advanced mechashift capabilities that Rufus or Bruno's weapons had, his were still an excellent and practical design.
However, none of his shots landed. They appeared to pierce Gin's body, but simply threw up sprays of mist, causing Gin's form to ripple and distort once again, spreading his image through the air. Attempting to catch Gin with a shot, Nigel fired in a wider arc, but only seemed to be making it harder to see where Gin actually was. What was more, he once again missed the fact that Gin had closed in, the distortions completely throwing off his sense of distance until Gin's arm suddenly straightened from amongst the bending and warping mass, like an image swimming abruptly into focus, and slashed at him. Nigel barely managed to catch the incoming slash with the blade of his left tonfa, but missed it when Gin's other arm slashed up from below, raking up his stomach and chest, throwing him back once again.
"How's he doing that?" gasped Ruby. "Is that his Semblance?"
"Yes and no," said Ayumu evasively, chuckling when Ruby pouted at him. "Gin's Semblance is the ability to produce and control mist."
"Mist?" said Ruby, once again looking over as Nigel's slashing tonfa cut lines of mist through where Gin's body should have been, only for it to ripple and warp yet again.
"When we first met him, Gin used his Semblance by spreading his mist across a wide area," explained Ayumu. "With that, he could hide his approach and get a psychological edge of his victims."
"You mean opponents, right?" asked Ruby.
"Nope. Victims," corrected Ayumu. "When we first met him, Gin was little more than a bandit. Despite being at the tender age of eight, he had been terrorizing the wilderness around a few settlements for several months. He would raid travelers and caravans, stealing what he needed for himself. Had our master not shown up and been asked to deal with him, the citizens would have likely ended up calling a professional Huntsman or Huntress to put him down."
Ruby gasped in horror at the thought.
"Gin would spread his mist over an area and use it as cover for his attack," continued Ayumu. "It was a fairly effective tactic. Even when his victims realized he was behind it, the presence of the fog served to heighten their fear and anxiety, which took the edge off their skills.
"But our master defeated him easily. After all, the mist merely hid the visible indicators of his presence and approach. Our master, being blind, wasn't hampered at all. Afterwards, when he took Gin on as a student, he taught Gin to refine his Semblance, to concentrate and compact it, using the water vapor to diffuse the light around him, distorting distance, direction, and shape, while also teaching Gin how to reduce other signs of his presence. Thus, against most opponents, Gin's position, when he's using this technique, is impossible to determine exactly. Furthermore, everything, from his distance, to his movement, to his individual attacks, become distorted, until they are almost impossible to read. Fighting him is like trying to catch a reflection on the surface of a lake. As such, Gin named this technique Suigetsu."
Ruby returned her eyes to Gin's fight with Nigel. Gin's body seemed to swirl, stretch and wrap around Nigel, attacking him from almost every direction, Nigel sometimes barely able to react to an attack in time, other times being caught completely off-guard, his Aura being whittled down, little by little. It was fascinating to watch. But it also disturbed her to learn that Gin had had such a past. It was hard to imagine the boy who had treated her with such care, who often blushed shyly around her, as a ruthless bandit, forcefully taking what others had.
"Please don't judge Gin too strongly by the things he did in the past," said Ayumu, picking up on Ruby's line of thought. "Like I said before, our master found us at difficult points in our lives, making our options accepting his offer or embracing our deaths. Gin didn't prey upon others because he enjoyed it, but because it was the only way he knew how to survive."
"Why?" asked Ruby.
"That's a bit of a long story," said Ayumu. "It's probably best to tell it after the battle is over."
From Ruby's perspective, it looked as though the fight was over. Once again, Gin had slipped around behind Nigel without the man actually following his movements. Before Nigel could react, Gin's fingers closed around the shining dome of Nigel's bald head, clenching tight, his claws causing sparks to erupt from Nigel's Aura as it fought to keep them from biting into the skin. Gin had jumped into the air to complete the movement, his body coming into sharp focus and leaving behind a trail of his mist, using his weight to knock Nigel off his feet.
Nigel fell forward, spinning his tonfa so that the blades were pointing down, sinking them into the ground. From where they were, the barrels of his guns were pointing right at either side of Gin's chest. Nigel didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. But Gin kicked off Nigel's back, going into a handstand with the hand he was using to hold Nigel's head, lifting his body out of the bullets' path. Curling up his body, he came back down, driving his knee right between Nigel's shoulders in a sharp blow. The hit caused spasms to run down Nigel's arms, breaking his grip on his weapons and causing him to fall all the way to the ground. Gin quickly brought his full weight down on Nigel's back, pinning him.
Nigel probably had the strength to get back up. With his hands free, like they were, it would have been a fairly easy task, even with Gin's weight on top of him. But before he could begin, Gin used his steel grip on Nigel's head to pull it back, stretching his neck. Nigel's eyes bulged with anger and fear, feeling as though he thought Gin intended to pull his head clean off. The muscles of his neck strained to fight the pull…which was what Gin had clearly been hoping for. Suddenly shifting from pulling to pushing, Gin drove Nigel's head down, slamming his face into the earth, producing an impact that made Ruby wince and grimace.
Now dazed, Nigel was unable to resist as Gin pulled his head back again, then drove it down a second time. Nigel's arms, which he'd been trying to get under him to push himself back up, flapped out uselessly. Still, Gin pulled his head back a third time, then slammed it down again. This time, there was a faint hiss and Ruby saw a shimmering bronze field of light appear around Nigel's body, before holes formed in it, followed by the remaining light dissipating into the air, indicating that Nigel's Aura had been completely broken. Nigel's body went limp.
Standing up, Gin grabbed the handles of Nigel's weapons and pulled them free, before tossing them carelessly to the side. Turning, he regarded Ruby and Ayumu dispassionately. "Done already?" he asked Ayumu.
"All finished," said Ayumu, before noticing that Ruby was trembling as she watched Gin.
Gin also noticed Ruby's discomfort and he averted his eyes, looking slightly ashamed of himself. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"I-it's all right," said Ruby nervously. "I mean…it just looked brutal, is all." Now that she thought about it, she realized that Gin had merely picked an expedient means of breaking Nigel's Aura and knocking him out. As soon as he'd gotten a superior position, he'd moved to bring the fight to a decisive end. It looked vicious and brutal. But, in actuality, had been very carefully executed to avoid causing unnecessary injuries. As Gin knelt down to turn Nigel over, Ruby could see that the man's nose wasn't even bleeding. The realization helped ease her nerves somewhat.
"Well, in any case, that's two down," said Ayumu. "Two to go."
Ruby nodded, then tensed as she heard the sounds of foliage parting and being trampled underfoot. They're coming!
She turned to look in the direction of the sound, seeing Bruno shove aside a branch as he stepped out of the undergrowth. "Over already?" he asked, his gaze landing on them. "I was hoping you'd save some for…" His voice trailed off as it registered to him that the ones he was addressing were not his teammates. "What?"
"You certainly took your time," said Ayumu, also turning to face Bruno, who was joined by Whitney as she emerged from the undergrowth behind him. "Were you that confident in your teammates' skills?"
Bruno's mouth worked silently as his eyes went to Rufus, then to Nigel, seeing both men unresponsive. "How…?"
"Perhaps your opinion of your skills is overinflated," suggested Gin, getting up. "If you'd rather save yourselves the pain and humiliation these two went through, you'd be wise to surrender."
"As if we'd do that," scoffed Whitney, not seeming to care the slightest bit about the state of her comrades. She hefted her circular blades, holding them out to either side of her. "Clearly, we need to re-evaluate their skills. I suppose it's my fault for indulging them for so long."
"Or at all, for that matter," said Ayumu, "considering what your ideas of 'indulging' seem to consist of."
"I think you'll find that we won't go down near as easily," said Whitney.
"That remains to be seen," answered Ayumu, raising his sword.
Round One is over, and now Round Two is about to begin. I hope everyone enjoyed my first major action sequence of the story, as well as how the characters I developed work on the battlefield. I know Ruby's mostly been just hanging around on the sidelines, but she's gonna get her chance to shine too. And now...weapons.
Corpusant: A High-Voltage RailSpear, Rufus' weapon is outfitted with a substantial amount of lightning-Dust, which it channels through the pronged blade of the weapon. Both the shaft of the spear, and the prongs can be adjusted in length, allowing it to take on both sword and gun modes. As long as the spear or sword does not make contact with another target, it can build a charge continuously, either making the blow that eventually lands all that more powerful, or allowing him to immediately fire his railgun at full power upon conversion. The name, Corpusant, is one of the many names for the term most widely known as St. Elmo's Fire.
Orthrus: Twin Blade-Armed-Gunfas. Orthrus is a relatively simplistic set of weapons, lacking the transformational mechashift capabilities that many Huntsmen weapons are famous for. The blade arms are impressively durable, able to cut even through tough bone-armor, if wielded with sufficient speed and strength. The guns are of a smaller caliber, but can be lethal with the right accuracy. Mounting the trigger on the end of the grip allows it to be utilized by the thumb, enabling Nigel to fire his weapon from any orientation, even while his weapons are still spinning. Orthrus is a two-headed dog from Greek Mythology, which was killed by Hercules during one of his labors.
That's all for now. See you next time.
