Chapter 7
Commission
"You're dangerous, boy."
An unearthly shock wave ripped through the air and sent dusty sand tornadoes whizzing and whistling in every direction. Shiroyasha shot a feral grin at her blond haired opponent who was smirking all the same as her heel crashed down onto his fist. The two broke contact and skidded away to a stop, neither fazed by the other's attack.
"I know." Izayoi replied, and his cocky grin just raised Shiroyasha's irritation level by a few points. She swept her hand out and leaped backwards, white bolts of energy suddenly shooting down from the sky and racing towards Izayoi.
As if they were crudely thrown dodge balls, Izayoi batted away the assault casually and rotated his shoulders in a mocking fashion. "Hey, you're going to have to try harder than that!"
Shiroyasha just responded with a snap of her finger.
Immediately, a powerful white aura exploded into existence surrounding her. Her horns grew longer, her eyes turned yellow-red and her teeth sharpened. She sneered at Izayoi and leaped at him, getting directly in front of him within the span of a second.
"Nice. You actually have something like that." As if the sudden boost of power was nothing, Izayoi just leaned backwards and avoided her attack, and then performed a windmill kick that sent her into the sand, digging a deep hole into the desert, and out of sight.
And for a while, nothing moved.
The air was as still as the dead.
And then a massive column of brown flesh tinged with shades of pink erupted out of the sand.
Izayoi whistled as the top of the column suddenly turned down to face him.
It was a massive worm with mandibles as thick as a tree trunk, and he could see Shiroyasha standing on top of the creature. There was a white glowing mark on the forehead of the animal.
"Didn't figure you could control animals." Izayoi commented, and he removed his hands from his pockets to casually begin cracking his knuckles.
"You'd best not underestimate me, boy. Even if you do have an unidentified gift, it's hopeless if you don't-"
Suddenly, Shiroyasha felt a violent smash rock the world. As the worm faltered, groaning in pain, she spotted Izayoi clinging to the face of the massive worm's face. He delivered a swift punch that sent the worm sliding away into the sand, and it skidded into a massive sand dune and sent it flying in an explosion of swirling sand that whirled around in the air.
Shiroyasha swept her arm forward, from one side to another, and blew away all of the offending sand with that single motion. The wind just tousled Izayoi's hair, making it spike upwards. He just whipped his head to the side, flipping his hair nonchalantly in the single, most narcissistic movement ever invented by modern man.
He dug his foot into the sand and raised it sharply towards Shiroyasha, sending a massive asteroid of golden sand spinning at a dizzying speed towards her.
"Child's play, boy." She sighed and raised her hand upwards, letting the comet of grains strike her directly. The meteor of sand curved around her hand, splaying showers of the golden brown sand in every direction. "When are you going to-"
Before she finished, she suddenly took a startled step backwards as a fist suddenly flew out of the still dispersing sand cloud and raceed towards her. With no time to react, the demon lord was sent flying high.
Kuh! He's fast! Faster than I-
Suddenly, she felt a powerful strike center itself in the small of her back, and she was sent flying forwards. The air whooshed out of her lungs, and she took a breath as she traveled through the air.
As she blinked once, she suddenly saw a silhouette in front of her for a brief moment before-
With another crash that rocked the world and made her start seeing spots, Shiroyasha smashed into the ground head-first and was buried far deep under the surface of the sand.
As she coughed, the sand beginning to come into her lungs, she tried to smash her hands into the sides of the sand surrounding her. But as she slowly began to brake, she felt a hand clasp her ankle. She looked down to see a grinning Izayoi before her vision went completely brown.
She blew back out of the sand and landed onto her back as Izayoi quickly followed her. As she was about to stand up, Izayoi raced forward, planted his hand onto the top of her head, and quickly delivered a solid knee kick to her forehead. He quickly followed up with a sweep kick which knocked her clean off her feet. He caught her with his right hand and slammed her into the ground once.
Twice.
Thrice.
He quickly pulled her back in and raised his leg, and his heel met her face. She dropped back to the ground, blood coming from her nose, and she staggered backwards and fell onto her rear.
"I can do all this all day. Dunno about you, though." Izayoi just said calmly as Shiroyasha stared at him with one clean eye and one black eye.
She slowly staggered to her feet, trying her best to look dignified. "I'll give you points for being able to beat me around to this extent, boy. But your lack of tact and respect will cost you your-"
Before Shiroyasha could even finish, Izayoi had landed a dropkick right in her face. As she fell backwards, Izayoi quickly planted his hands into the ground, spun his legs in a break-dance move, and kicked in her side. As she coughed up blood, he grabbed her by her collar and held her up to eye level.
"I can knock you out now, or you can forfeit and we can talk." His menacing tone told Shiroyasha that he wasn't messing around at all.
A serious Izayoi, for once.
"I can't give up Thousand Eyes just yet, boy. You'll have to knock me out cold to try." Shiroyasha spat, and Izayoi just raised his eyebrow.
"You don't have to tell me twice."
"Hah!" With a loud cry, Asuka deflected a powerful axe swing from above as the little girl clicked her tongue and leaped back from Asuka's vicious rapier stabs. Asuka stretched her free hand outwards, sending spikes of hardened sand shooting out of the ground towards the girl.
With a single motion, the girl cleaved all of the spikes in two with her axe. She hefted it onto her shoulder and smirked at Asuka cockily.
"I don't think you can beat us. Do you?" She replied, and Asuka just clenched her sword tighter. Asuka glanced out of the corner of her eyes to see how Yuuji, Hime and Kasukabe were doing.
Yuuji was locked in combat with the dark-skinned man, firing powerful bolts of elemental energy at each other. Yuuji fired a stream of fire, and the man raised his hands up. With the motion, a wall of sand immediately erupted from the ground and rendered the fire harmless. The powerful stream of bluish fire streamed over the sand as it slowly morphed into glass. As Yuuji cut off the stream, the dark-skinned man vaulted over the glass totem-like object and fired a rapid stream of lightning bolts. Spinning his staff at a dizzying speed, he sent the bolts away and into the sky. He then planted his staff into the ground, and small meteor-like rocks fell flaming from the sky towards the man, who had begun darting in and out of the shower of comets.
Kasukabe and Hime had the most powerful and imposing enemy, exchanging slow weapon blows with a massive cyclops twice their size in height. As the cyclops bellowed and brought down his club, Kasukabe rolled out of the way and performed a slash that sent him staggering back and bellowing in pain. The cyclops' eye focused on her, shaking with rage as he began running at her as fast as he could. When he was almost upon her, Hime dashed and quickly jumped up with griffin-like agility and precision and performed a powerful spinning midair roundhouse kick to his eye. The cyclops was sent sprawling and crying in pain, skidding backwards in the sand.
"I don't know, little girl. Looks like your group isn't doing so well." Asuka replied, feeling confidence well up within her.
Wherever Izayoi is, we'll be fine without him.
And suddenly, as if God had read her thoughts and decided to mess around with her, Izayoi popped up right in front of her not unlike a pop-up ad.
"Oh. Hey, Asuka. Lovely weather we're having, ain't it? Nothing beats a nice 36 degrees Fahrenheit when you're gonna break out a sweat, huh?"
"Izayoi, watch it!" Asuka cried out as she spotted the little girl suddenly close in and raise her axe. As it descended, Asuka quickly pushed Izayoi out of the way.
As Asuka fell to her knees and elbows atop Izayoi, he just laid there with a smug face.
"You know that the attack wouldn't have any effect on me." Asuka just looked at him and, noticing how close his face was, panicked and stood back up.
"Well, pardon me for being worried for nothi-is that Shiroyasha?" Izayoi glanced to the side where he had dropped the Community Leader's unconscious body, and he just shrugged.
"Yeah." As he looked to the girl that had tried to axe him, he was confronted with a nervous battle-ready grin.
"Give me a moment." Izayoi stood up and began walking over to the girl.
"Finally, I can fight you! Come, warrior! I'll make mincemeat out of you in the name of Thousand Eyes!" The little girl cried out as she stamped the bottom of her axe hilt into the ground. Immediately, Asuka saw a black and purple portal appear in the sand, and Asuka called out to Izayoi.
"Izayoi! She's going to suck you into a separate dimension and try to-"
The warning went unheeded as Izayoi leaped over the hole and straight to the girl in a split second. Within the next split second, he'd grabbed her axe and kicked her away before smashing the axe over his knee. The portal instantly vanished.
"Gank. A Gift wherein the user is capable of creating an alternate dimension and force a single person, presumably an enemy, to enter. Once someone enters, the entire dimension becomes weaponized to help the user defeat the prisoner." The little girl's eyes widened and focused on Izayoi potently. "The dimension tailors to the specs of the enemy, enhancing or granting abilities that help to defeat the prisoner encaged in the alternate dimensional prison. However..." His smile became somewhat antagonistic and dark for a moment. "Her Gift is linked to the axe, which receives its power through the jewels adorning it that absorb and use the power of the sun."
"Gank...?" Asuka muttered, and the little girl just tightened her fists in a show of frustration.
"How did you read my Gift?! You insolent little-"
"As opposed to the one over there." Izayoi swept his arm out, gesturing towards the dark-skinned man locked in combat with Yuuji. "His Gift is Mimickry. He can copy the skills of the people who he locks combat with. However, he can only do this while his opponents are within a certain radius of him. He can copy whomever he chooses, though copying more and more Gifts simultaneously inhibits his raw power." He then pointed at the Cyclops being maimed by Kasukabe's speedy oversized claymore-like katana. "And that one is just a cyclops with a Gift that enhances his physical strength and healing factors. He can't keep it up for long, but staying in hot areas exponentially increases his skills."
Izayoi swept his hair back with his hand and looked down at the girl. "You can't beat us. Watch." With that, he turned to gaze at Yuuji, Hime and Kasukabe. Asuka turned her eyes to them as well.
Yuuji spun his staff around, deflecting close-ranged blows from the dark-skinned man's dagger. As the man lunged and attempted to slash his leg, Yuuji quickly planted the staff into the ground and vaulted over the attack, kicking the man away. As his attacker stumbled backwards, Yuuji thrust out his hand. Immediately, a shower of shiny liquid sprayed all over the man and sent him back a small distance. As the man shook off the daze and ran at Yuuji again, Yuuji quickly let loose a small burst of flame all around him. The man erupted into a pillar of flames, swatting frantically at his burning body before he collapsed. Yuuji then fired a gentle stream of water and put it out, the only saving grace before Yuuji raised his staff up to the sky. Immediately, a single cloud formed in the sky almost immediately and hurled a bolt of lightning at the helpless man.
"Oil." Izayoi just said, his hands in his pockets. "If you didn't realize it, I'll tell you. Yuuji used his gift for magic and alchemy to spray the dark man with oil. He then set him on fire, as you just saw. But since that could kill him, and he doesn't want to kill them but incapacitate them, Yuuji put out the fire and then struck with that bolt of lightning.
On the other end of the battle, Hime had managed to disarm the cyclops thanks to a distraction from Kasukabe. With the two armed with weapons twice their size, they were proceeding to frighteningly overpower the gargantuan beast with ease. Kasukabe leaped up, spun and swung her sword once, cutting the monster's stomach before landing and landing another spinning slash at his knee. The cyclops was brought down to a kneel, and Hime quickly slammed her foot on the ground and leaped up so high that the sun's glare hid her from view. For a few seconds, she was gone. Then, a sudden pillar of blue light shot down and struck the cyclops square on the back of his neck. The cyclops' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted, and Hime leaped off of the cyclops' back before he fell onto his back on the hot sand.
"And that's the end of that. Ready to admit defeat?" The girl could only fall to her knees at the words of Izayoi.
And suddenly, the desert world cracked. Shards of the sky suddenly broke away to reveal a much gentler, soothing sun with kinder sunlight. The brown, barren desert was shattered as if the entire world around us was an illusion, and was replaced by the green grass of a pleasant field and the green leaves of the trees.
They were in the property that belonged to the No-Names.
Hime walked over to the rest of the group alongside Kasukabe, dragging the unconscious Cyclops by his hands. Hime looked around, her face apalled by the change of scenery. "Why are we-"
A massive pressure suddenly fell onto the air, and she immediately fell silent upon sensing it. She dropped the hand of the Cyclops and tensed, keeping a hand on the massive club she'd stolen from the Cyclops.
"This sensation...why is he here...?" Izayoi turned to Shiroyasha, who was mumbling to herself.
Izayoi walked over to the Demon Lord and held her up by the collar of her robe. "What are you going on about, Demon Lord?"
"How unsightly of you, Lord Shiroyasha."
Suddenly, a deep, baritone voice boomed across the landscape and echoed around the ears of everyone present. As Asuka covered her ears in pain and Yuuji gripped his staff tighter, Izayoi just let go of Shiroyasha and looked upwards.
"Oh. Another one."
The others followed his gaze, looking upwards.
A single form was descending from the sky, shining as brightly as a second sun. the rest of the group averted their eyes save for Shiroyasha and Izayoi, who just stared upwards. One in contempt, and one in interest. As the form drew closer, Izayoi whistled in appreciation.
"He's fancy. Kinda reminds me of you, Shiroyasha."
The man was very humanoid in appearance, six feet in height from head to toe and brimming with lean and powerful muscle. His skin was quite tan, his face rugged and worn from what seemed like age. Scars of all sorts adorned the visible parts of his body, endlessly decorating his hands and his face. He wore a long red king's robe that flowed even in the absence of the wind. Upon his brow rested a crown of red steel and adorned by a large ruby that sparkled and twinkled with unnatural light. His hair was short and spiky, and maroon in color. It stood up in a manner similar to a mountain range, only dark red like blood. He wore a pair of red drawstring leggings adorned with gold accents, On his feet were shoes the color of shining gold.
His eyes were dark green like the color of the leaves on the trees around the scattered people below, only that it was a harsher shade. His gaze was piercing, as if his eyes were sharpened and tempered like the steel of a blade.
And that gaze was directed at the Demon Lord below.
"Shiroyasha, you disgrace the title of Demon Lord. Losing to a small bunch of puny mortals? How utterly shameful of you, when you were once one of us." He spoke in his baritone voice with a voice like a dictatorial king. His arms were crossed in a similar manner, imposing and cold despite the heat his aura radiated.
As he touched the floor, the grass around him immediately wilted into a dark, dead brown and ignited. The smell of burning grass began to waft around the group. As he strode forward powerfully, taking only a few steps to reach the group. He immediately disappeared in a flash of red light, and reappeared in another flash of bright light behind Shiroyasha. As Shiroyasha whirled around, the man in red held his hand out like he was choking empty air.
Likewise, Shiroyasha suddenly floated in the air in front of him as if she were being choked by an invisible hand.
"You have fallen, Demon Lord. No, you are a petty, repugnant excuse for one." The man snarled, and his mouth opened to bare pearly, white fangs for teeth that seemed like they could stab a wolf to death.
"And you are?" Izayoi calmly stepped in between the two, crossing his arms and smirking in full-out Izayoi style.
"And who dares to interfere but a frail, foolish mortal? What brand of idiot might you be?" The man clad in red spoke as if he were referring to an ant.
Izayoi just flipped his hair casually and fearlessly stared the man straight in the eye. He cracked his knuckles and sneered at his newfound opponent. "That depends. Who's the snobby, pampered, spoiled brat asking?"
The man's eyes flared with rage, as did his nostrils, and Shiroyasha dropped to the ground gasping for air and staring at the man in hate and fear. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
The man just stared back at her with a look of contempt, as if he didn't even want to talk to her. "I thought I might pay a visit to a poor excuse for a Demon Lord, Lady Shiroyasha." The man injected a lethal dose of sarcasm at the end, and Shiroyasha just stood up slowly as she continued to glare back at the man garbed in red.
Izayoi moved in between the two once again, blocking off their gazes rudely and unceremoniously. The man just glared at the youth in outrage. "Out of respect for your lack of intelligence, I will allow you to speak before you die."
Izayoi just threw his head back as if to look down on the man across from him, smirking in arrogance and challenge. "The name's Izayoi. Out of respect for how badly you dress, I will allow you to name yourself."
The man just huffed and held one hand up. In his open palm, a small yet powerful flame burst into existence. It hovered above his hand and flickered dangerously. "I am Aine, Demon Lord of Fire and the Ruler of Flame. I hold true to the Circle of Demon Lords, unlike the scum over there." He swept his hands and spat towards Shiroyasha, yet not even daring to look in her general direction. "And now, I will allow you to speak your final words before you die."
"If I had anything to say, it would be that I'd rather you go back and pick some better clothes before you do that. Also, your name is Aine? Sounds like your parents ran out of ideas." Izayoi's words made Asuka just place her head in her palm and shake it repeatedly while Yuuji and Hime looked on in horror.
"I will not have to listen to such insolence for a moment longer." Aine snapped his fingers, and a massive column of blue fire erupted right where Izayoi was standing. The boy was covered in the licks of flame and lost from view, and the fire soared all the way to the sky where one would have to strain just to look up.
"Izayoi!" Black Rabbit screamed, and she reached her hand out towards the column as if she could pull him out.
"This is an example to the rest of you puny insects. You cannot hope to match the strength of a Demon Lord. Do so, and only a fate of fire and ash awaits you all! My power is unmatched by-"
As Aine swept his hands towards the column, a sudden blur of wind caused everyone to blink for a crucial moment. As the moment subsided and everyone's eyes were opened again, they witnessed an incredible sight.
Izayoi delivered a solid flying kick to the man's chest, and Aine flew backwards at the speed of a bullet. As he flew a few meters away, Izayoi suddenly reappeared behind Aine and smashed the Demon Lord's head with his own head, sending him flying into the Earth and lost from view.
Silence reigned supreme as Izayoi just walked to the others, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles.
"Izayoi, put on some clothes!" Black Rabbit screamed as she covered her eyes, and the rest of the present company save for Shiroyasha averted their gazes from his now nude figure.
"Oh, yeah. My clothes caught the fire. Shiroyasha, mind setting me up later?" Shiroyasha just sighed with a tired smile and nodded, admiring the youth's muscular, toned and lean body. "Oh, and please tell me all about that guy I just kicked down under. I don't detect him anymore, so he won't be bothering us for now. So tell me about your plan, and about these guys."
"Wait, Izayoi! What are you talking about?" Asuka interrupted, her eyes still looking away from him.
Shiroyasha just looked at her, her expression solemn. "Let's talk inside."
"His name is Aine, like he previously mentioned."
Shiroyasha's face was calm and composed unlike her ragged, unsightly state from much earlier.
The group was now sitting in the office of Jin, and Shiroyasha had taken the biggest seat without waiting for a word of permission. The others had taken other chairs and sat across from her, listening intently and clinging to every word escaping her lips.
"He is the Demon Lord of Azataea, known to others now as the Land of the Sun. It is a community that is placed at the upper echelons of the Little Garden. He's been situated there with his people ever since he won countless Gift Games with the citizens residing there. Once he monopolized all of the political power in Azataea, he bought people's loyalty with wine, women and wealth. Those whom refused to listen to him were killed, no exceptions to speak of. Aine is ruthless and powerful, and is the main vanguard of the Circle of the Demon Lords."
Izayoi just crossed his arms as he leaned on the wall, wearing a new outfit given to him by Shiroyasha. He now wore a black coat over a yellow shirt, and a pair of steel bracers as gloves. He also wore a pair of navy blue denim jeans and a pair of high-cut black boots. Mysteriously, his headphones suffered minimal damage and were reported still functional. "Yeah, about that. What is the Circle of Demon Lords, anyway?"
Shiroyasha's expression became much more grim as she continued. "The Circle of Demon Lords is an inner organization created by the Demon Lords of Little Garden. It was originally intended to overthrow the power of the Judge Masters and rule all of Little Garden. But when they deemed it wasn't possible, they sought to become an organization that could, at the very least, combat and equal the Judge Masters. But over the decades, the Circle of Demon Lords have grown far more corrupt than they already were. No doubt they've broken off friendly relations by now, and they're trying to cut each other's throats in their sleep."
"Oh. Much easier than I thought it would be." Izayoi commented, cracking his knuckles eagerly and grinning.
Asuka just shifted in her seat and brushed her bangs back. "Who else are there? Demon Lords, I mean."
"There are only a few members of the Circle I recall personally." Shiroyasha said, counting on her fingers. "There was Eis, the Demon Lord of the Snow. There was Rai, the Demon Lord of Thunder. And...I think that there was Terre, the Demon Lord of the Crags."
Hime whistled, shifting uncomfortably as Shiroyasha turned to look at her.
"That reminds me." Shiroyasha suddenly said, and she stood up and gestured towards the Sakura siblings. "You two. Come here."
The two of them just stood up carefully, confused written on their faces. As they walked over to the Demon Lord, Shiroyasha just closed her eyes.
"..the boy's Gift is called Arcane Wizardry. He has the ability to manifest and manipulate the elements according to his wishes, though he expends his mental energy in the process."
"Whoa, what's she doing?" Yuuji panicked, immediately backing into his sister who was also beginning to fidget as she stood in place. She moved in front of her brother protectively, Shiroyasha seemingly oblivious to the movement in front of her.
"... the girl's Gift is Martial Magic. She can manipulate energy to different extents, though her Gift is primarily physical in nature." Shiroyasha opened her eyes and walked past them, throwing open the doors. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get some issues out of the way. Now that Thousand Eyes has been assimilated into the No-Names, we need to start improving things around here. I will not rest until we can get a runway in here for Black Rabbit! Izayoi! You're on clothing duty!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Izayoi called, snapping to attention and saluting the Demon Lord. Shiroyasha saluted back, and the two nodded silently before sprinting for the door. Black Rabbit just stood up in embarrassment and outrage and ran after the two, and the sound of her thundering steps silenced any protest from anyone else in the room. They just cowered on the sidelines, too afraid to even speak up for either's behalf.
It was said that on that day, a crazed Judge Master could be seen chasing two unidentified people around the community.
