Chapter 10

Spirit World at War

"So…I haven't really been to Spirit World before, Derek." Corey said as the two marched, "How exactly do we get in?"

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked, "We were both in Spirit World after our battle with Shura."

"Yea, but I was kind of unconscious when we went there, and when we left it was via plant." Corey explained, putting his hands behind his head.

"Well, now the road to the Human and Spirit World is completely open, so we can just march there."

"See how easy that was to say?" Corey stated, rolling his eyes.

Behind the two chatting warriors was an army of over two thousand men and women, all armed with melee weaponry and spiritually powered weapons.

The past week was filled with preparation for the upcoming battle in Spirit World. It was decided that it was going to have to be all or nothing; where they would either win or lose all chance to ever beat Darkine. Some of the women and all of the children were left behind in one Mobile Fortress, but the other three were all trailing behind, ready to battle with all they had.

The road that lead by the River Styx, the river of the dead, was a mile in width, and over ten miles long. Corey, Derek, and Liz were up in the front, leading the soldiers to battle. The plan was simple enough in theory: Corey and Derek were going to break through the lines of Darkine's soldiers, leaving most of them to the warriors behind them. They would go after the Captains, hopefully being able to take on one each, and then the Elite would be fought by the both of them.

Liz was going to provide much needed back up. She would help battle the Captains, and take on the more powerful soldiers of the evil army. Although she said she wanted to help fight the Elite, they all knew that she wouldn't make it to him. This would be a battle between him and Corey and Derek.

"God, how much longer?" Corey asked, hands behind his head,

"Don't worry, Corey. We'll be fighting for our lives soon enough." Liz said, quickening her step a little more to catch up to the two men.

Corey looked back at her. "I didn't mean it like that…well, I did, but…I'm just anxious, okay?" He gave her a scowl and then grinned, walking forward a little more. They had been walking for over five hours, and Corey wasn't really used to having to march. Even though he was a general of the army, most of the moving had been done when he was lost in time.

Even walking through that damned desert was easier then this… He thought to himself.

After another hour, Derek came up to Corey.

"We should stop here." He told the young man.

"How come?" Corey asked.

"The road to Spirit World will be coming up soon. We should send scouts to check out the situation." Derek explained.

Corey nodded in agreement. "Sounds good."

The troops were all ordered to stop, and four scouts were sent out to survey the area. Corey took the time to look around his own surroundings.

The area before Spirit World seemed like another dimension. The trees were all an eerie white color, and the ground had become extremely hard, even though it looked like regular dirt. The sky was also odd. It wasn't red like demon world, or blue like spirit world…it was an off green color, with lines of yellow running through it.

"Did it always look like this?" Corey asked Derek as he sat down next to their campfire.

"Yes. Spirit World was always a bit…different. I mean, can you blame it? It is the place where the dead go." He chuckled a bit, but it was a hallow laugh.

Corey knew why. Derek was still thinking about Jade, and the fact that she wasn't here in Spirit World like she should be.

"Don't worry, bro. We'll get this place working again." Corey told him, smiling.

"I know, Corey…I know." Derek said, but didn't look convinced.

"Sir!" Came the voice of a soldier. The two friends looked over at him and stood.

"What's the word?" Corey asked.

"Just as we expected, sir. Darkine has troops stationed all around the start of the road, with a single Captain with them. Further back, there are other troops in what looks like their own residential area. Tents and what not. That's probably where the Elite Captain and the other are at." The soldier saluted.

"Good work." Corey said, dismissing him. Once he left, Corey looked back over at Derek, who nodded.

"Let's get to work."

******

Thirty minutes later, all of the troops were assembled, and Corey, Derek, and Liz were standing in front of them.

"Corey?" Liz said, walking up to him, "I think you should say something."

"Huh?" Corey asked, blinking. "Why?"

"Because, General Kartana, you are their leader now." Derek said, giving his friend a smirk, "They need the moral right now. This is going to be the toughest fight they've ever faced, and if we win, we have an even bigger one next."

"But…damn, guys. I didn't even start this army. You two did." Corey said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But they've come to respect you, and you've lead them well this past two years. You deserve to be the one to give a speech." Liz said.

"Yea…besides, I haven't exactly been the greatest of leaders…" Derek said, looking away from the two.

"Derek…okay. I'll do it."

******

Another thirty minutes later, Corey was standing before all the men and women who had joined him, Derek, and Liz for the battle at Spirit World. They all stood at attention, watching Corey and waiting for him to say something.

"Umm…hey." Corey started, trying to think of the right words. He glanced over at Liz and Derek, who were standing a few feet away, giving him smiles for encouragement. Corey cleared his throat and tried again,

"Okay, everyone. Listen. First off, I want to thank all of you. If it wasn't for all of your efforts, we wouldn't even be here right now. Now, this is the first step towards victory of Darkine, and saving our whole damn planet! I need all of you there beside me, Derek, and Liz! We need to kick these guy's asses for all that they've done! So let's go out there and show 'em whose really boss around here! Let's do it!!"

Corey raised his fist in the air as he shouted, and the warriors in front of him all shouted war cries as well. The young man glanced over at his friends again who nodded in approval. Derek walked over to him and smirked,

"Right. Now let's really do this." He said, nodding.

"Right!" Corey yelled, grinning.

******

Corey and Derek stood at the front of the line, looking down the long road that lead to the Spirit World's palace. Before them, stood thousands of Darkine's demons, all oh which were prepared for the battle. Behind the two warriors were their own army, with Liz only a few feet behind them. They were outnumbered 2-1, but that didn't matter.

They'd win this fight. They had to.

"You ready?" Corey asked, glancing over at his friend and releasing his sword from its sheath.

"Of course." Derek replied, taking out his katana.

Simultaneously, the human and demon unleashed their spirit and demonic energies for both armies to see and feel.

And the battle began.

The two armies charged at one another, and battle broke out within seconds. Corey could hear the cries from both sides, and desperately wanted to go back and help his comrades, but he knew what he had to do.

As fast as they could, he and Derek were breaking through the lines of Darkine's Army to reach the first Captain. Corey knew he'd easily be able to take on one of the weaker ones, but him and Derek would probably have to fight the Elite together. He/She would probably be much tougher then the crazy bitch wannabe he fought before.

And to get to him, I'll have to conserve as much spirit energy as I can when fighting the first Captain! Damn, this makes my life difficult…

The lesser warriors, needless to say, were no match for Corey and his knew sword, the Ragnarok. Every couple of seconds he felt his sword cut through them, and he made it just a little bit closer to his first true opponent. He glanced to his side, and noticed he had lost Derek in the madness of the battle.

Oh well…I'm sure he's fine.

And then he felt it. Derek's demonic energy surged from about two hundred feet away, as well as another powerful energy.

"Damn! He beat me to a Captain!" Corey shouted aloud, cutting through another demon with a downward slash, "I can't let him beat me to the end battle!"

******

Derek glared at the Captain before him. He was a tall demon, about seven feet tall, with long pointed ears and piercing green eyes. He wore silver plated armor, and held in both gauntleted hands a large hammer, which was sparking with electricity.

"Hmph…so, what can I call you?" Derek asked, extending his katana and allowing the dark energy of the Black Dragon to revolve around the blade and his arm.

"Daisuke will do just fine, Derek Maison." The Captain replied, smirking, "I am surprised to see you here, Maison. I was told that you went off the deep end. Killed John Wolfe…even tried to off your own son."

Derek felt the hairs on the back of his neck lift up. "Don't mess with me, Daisuke. I'll make your death even more painful."

"I'd like to see you try." Daisuke taunted.

"Trust me…you will."

Derek leapt forward with lightning speed, swinging his katana at the Captain's neck, but Daisuke was much faster then the demon general had originally thought, and sidestepped out of the way to avoid Derek's blade.

Not one to get so easily caught off guard, Derek seemingly teleported in thin air and back onto the ground, holding his katana at ready.

Daisuke grinned and without any aim at all, slammed his gigantic hammer onto the bridge, sending chunks of debris straight at Derek. With a quick flick of his wrist, black fire quickly destroyed the flying bits of rubble, but Daisuke was right in front of Derek now, his hammer swinging horizontally, making contact with Derek's body. The general was thrown fifty feet sideways and into a herd of Darkine's soldiers.

"Dammit!" Derek roared, slashing away to free himself from the evil demons.

How did he get me?! The debris wasn't that good of a distraction!

With Derek's right arm hurting and a bit bruised up from the hammer blow, he switched hands with his katana and ran forward to fight Daisuke once again. As he did, he felt Corey's spiritual energy a ways up from him.

I guess he's fighting a Captain now, too. Good luck, buddy. They're a lot stronger then we originally thought.

******

"Jesus!!" Corey shouted, leaping into the air to avoid another attack from the Captain, Razor. It was a fitting name. The Captain's weapon was a fifteen foot long whip made of razor blades.

Stupid irony or whatever the hell it is!! He thought to himself, landing on the ground about twenty feet away from Razor.

"What's wrong, Kartana? Can't take the heat?!" Shouted the Captain. His looks reminded Corey a lot of Kurama's: long red hair and green eyes, but his personality…well, the guy was kinda crazy.

"Bite me, Razor!" Corey shouted, holding up his left index finger. "Actually…eat this! Spirit Gun!!"

The young warrior unleashed his attack with full force, sending the blue bullet (which actually looked like an oversized cannonball) directly at Razor.

"That won't work!" Razor shouted, and withdrew his whip and began circling it around him. Confused, Corey could only watch as his spirit bullet made contact with the razor whip, and then reflected off into the air, leaving Razor unharmed.

"Oh, come on!!" Corey shouted.

Razor began to laugh. "That's right, kiddo! You can't beat me with that pathetic Spirit Gun of yours! I hope you have some more attacks, or you're fucked!"

Corey glared, but was frantically trying to think of what he could do. My Spirit Gun wont work on him, and I can't get close enough to attack with my sword. Damn!

Before Corey had time to think again, Razor came in for another attack, swinging the deadly whip right at the young warrior.

"Ah, crap!" Corey dodged to the right, hoping to avoid the blades of the whip, but to his amazement and misfortune, the whip moved along with him, cutting into his right shoulder, leaving a deep cut in it's wake.

"Hahahaha!! Did you honestly think that dodging would work?! You're stupider then I thought!" Razor shouted as Corey clenched his wound, "My razor whip is a conductor for my demonic energy! I can make it move as I please."

Wish he would've shouted that out earlier… Corey thought grimly, Okay. Just think, Corey. You got a guy who can shield himself using his whip, and make it attack at will like a snake. How do you kill a snake?

Razor took no time to give Corey a chance to answer is own question. With another great swing, he launched his weapon at Corey once again. Corey quickly readied his sword, but made no attempt to block the attack. He swiftly began to run about, dodging the quick hits of the whip every which way it came.

I can't let our team get hit by these things, buy maybe if I could use one of Darkine's soldiers…

Using his peripheral vision, Corey spotted one of Darkine's soldiers attack one of his own. Not having any other options, Corey ran towards the evil soldier and jumped in between him and his opponent, getting only a quick "Look out!!" to his ally to move out of the way. The soldier reacted perfectly, jumping out of the way and leaving the dark warrior to face Corey, but only to find a razor through his back two seconds later.

"This is going to hurt!!" Corey shouted as he reached his gloved left hand out and grabbed the end of the razor whip and yanked it down towards the ground.

"What are you doing, Kartana?!!" Corey heard Razor shout.

"Taking out the snake!!" Corey retorted. Once the razor whip's tip was through far enough in the evil soldiers body, Corey leapt over the body and ran right towards Razor, who could not pull his whip out of the body fast enough,

"And killing the snake tamer!!" Corey roared, swinging his blade right into Razor's chest, which was charged with spiritual energy.

"Spirit Gunblade!!" The devastating attack blasted around Razor at the point of contact. Corey jumped back and watched the attack take place, and noticed that the Captain dropped his weapon once the attack took place.

A few seconds later, Razor's scorned body fell to the ground, lifeless.

"That was annoying…" Corey grumbled, taking a look at his left hand, now bloodied and in severe pain.

I didn't want to get this injured yet…man, Derek…I hope you're doing better then me.

Suddenly, Corey felt another surge of energy spark up. It took him a moment, but he figured out who it belonged too.

"Liz! Shit, I forgot all about her!" He pinpointed the location of his friend, and began to run towards it, once again starting to cut down enemies as he did.

Ah, man! If she's fighting a Captain, she might be in trouble! Hold on, Liz! I'm coming!

******

Liz licked her lips as a trail of blood ran down her chin. Her opponent was the female Captain, Syn. Her long pink hair flowed in the nearby wind, and she glared at Liz with piercing green eyes. She was dressed in a all blue kimono, and carried on her a plain looking saber, but Liz knew better then to think that.

The saber had an ability similar to Corey's Spirit Slash, except it did the attack with every swing. Liz had barely dodged the previous blast with her life, leaving her a few scrapes and a bloody leg.

"Had enough, bitch?" Syn asked, never smiling, only glaring at the female general.

"Heh…you wish." Liz said, smirking a little. With a quick flick of her wrists, two throwing knives appeared from under her long sleeve shirt.

"How many of those are you carrying?" The demon Captain asked.

"Enough to take you down."

The two females once again ran at each other, but Liz knew she had to keep her distance. Syn easily knocked away her last couple knives, even with her Psychic abilities giving her perfect aim within her Territory.

John…please look out for me here! Liz thought to herself, and remembered back to her previous training with the deceased general.

***

"Liz! You need to focus!" John shouted at her, holding up his hook swords into position once again.

It was five months into their training after Corey had left the Rebel Army. The two were off a ways from the armies Mobile Fortresses, but still in view in case of an attack.

"I'm trying!" Liz shouted back at him, wiping her brow from the intensity of their training.

"If you want to come even close to helping Corey fight Darkine, then you'll have to develop new abilities with the use of your Psychic

power." John told her, letting his left blade rest on his shoulder.

"A new ability? How? I've already mastered the art of Territory and using daggers, so what else is there?" Liz asked, frowning.

John smirked at her. "There is always ways to improve your fighting techniques. Take Corey and Derek, for instance. They both were able to manipulate their energies to form new and more powerful attacks. That is what you have to do in order to aid your friend."

"I've done that before…I can manipulate the daggers in the air, attacking my enemy with them."

"Yes, I know this, but how can you further that move?" John asked.

"I…I don't know." Liz admitted, looking down.

John smirked and walked over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up into his eyes.

"You'll think of something. Your abilities are much different then any spiritually aware human or demon I know of. You can be a great fighter, Liz. I promise."

The two stared at each other for awhile, then Liz nodded,

"Alright. I'll create a new technique, and help you and Corey anyway I can!"

***

Liz allowed the image of John to disappear from her mind, and ran towards Syn, holding the two throwing knives in each hand.

"A head on attack?" Syn asked, shaking her head in disgust. "I thought you had more brains then this…"

The captain held her blade at ready, preparing for Liz's attack. Liz, on the other hand, had no intention of actually attacking Syn head on. About ten feet away from the captain, Liz threw the two daggers directly at her, which were swiftly knocked to the ground.

"That won't work, General Rain…you have no chance of beating me." Syn told her, glaring.

"Wanna bet?!" Liz shouted, and began opening up her Territory even more, until it was at least one hundred feet in diameter.

"What good will that do?" Syn asked.

"Watch."

Liz came to a sudden halt, and raised her arms up into the air.

"Storm of Blades."

Suddenly, every blade that was on the ground in the area of Liz's Territory rose in the air. Swords, axes, and spears that had been dropped from the battle taking place around the Captain and general were now in Liz's control. She quickly increased the density and sharpness of all of them with her abilities, and sent them flying towards Syn.

"How…?" Syn muttered, before the barrage of hundreds of blades attacked her from all angles. Not even her energy slashing ability could stop them all, and she was soon pierced by thirty remaining blades, dropping her to her knees. She gave one last dark look at Liz, before she fell flat on the ground, dead.

"I…I did it…" Liz muttered, breathing heavily, "I beat a Captain…"

Her Territory quickly shrank back to her, fading away, and she fell to a knee.

Using the Storm of Blade's ability still takes way to much out of me…but I didn't have a choice…

"Liz!" Shouted a voice to her right. The woman looked over to see Corey, slashing his way towards her.

"Corey? Are you okay?" Liz asked, a little out of habit.

Corey slid to a stop and helped her up. "I'm fine…but are you okay? I felt you battling someone strong…what happened?"

Liz smiled and gestured over to the dead Syn, and then looked back up at Corey,

"You…and Derek aren't the only ones who can fight Captains, Corey…" She said, before passing out in his arms.

Corey sighed and smiled gently. "Yeah…you showed me, Liz…"

Corey looked around and was thankful to see that their side had taken this area, thanks mostly to Liz's win over the Captain, Syn. He saw two Rebel soldiers running over to him.

"General Kartana! Is General Rain alright?" The first asked.

Corey nodded. "She'll be fine. Take her back to camp and get a healer to take a look at her. I'm heading to the front of the enemy lines."

"Sir!" Said the second soldier after the first took hold of Liz, "Reports say that General Maison is fighting a Captain right now, and that the Elite Captain is waiting directly at the Spirit Palace's gate. We think he is waiting for you and General Maison."

Corey nodded again. "Good work. I'll go assist Derek, and we'll head over to that Elite bastard."

"Yes, sir!" And the two took off back to their camp.

"Right, then." Corey turned back around, slashing the air to remove some of the blood on his blade, and began running back to the enemy lines.

******

Derek spit blood onto the ground as he stared down Daisuke once again. He had still yet to lay a hit on the Captain. Every time the evil demon slammed his hammer onto the ground, it seemed as though he was able to get past Derek's defenses.

How the hell am I supposed to beat this guy?! There has to be a secret…every defense has an attack of opportunity. I just have to find it.

Derek had managed to keep his defenses up and not take to much damage from the Captain thanks to his Black Dragon demonic energy, but it was wearing him out. He knew he had to keep most of his energy for the Elite, but how could he do that with this guy?

"Getting tired, Maison?" Daisuke asked, laughing.

"You wish…" Derek grumbled, holding the flaming black blade at ready.

"Good! 'Cause I'd be disappointed if you were!" The Captain shouted as he swung the hammer once more, delivering another shout of debris toward Derek.

Derek knew he had to concentrate on Daisuke. He disappeared once more into the dust, and he could feel his demonic energy moving closer to him. He raised his sword to defend, but right before he could, the devastating hammer rammed him in his right arm.

"Aahh!" Derek shouted in pain, sliding to the side, but still keeping his footing.

How?! His demonic energy wasn't near me yet! I should have been able to defend…hold on! Could he--?

Suddenly, a plan formed into the demon general's mind, and he grinned lightly. Despite the pain that he was in, Derek glared down Daisuke, and then charged right at him.

"That won't work, Maison!" Daisuke shouted, and swung his hammer once more, covering the area in the debris. Once again, Derek felt Daisuke's energy in one spot, but completely ignored it. Two seconds before he would normally block an attack, Derek snapped his fingers. Black flames erupted around his katana, and the demon swung his blade.

Just like he had planned, the debris vanished, showing Daisuke on his knees, covered in black flames.

"H-how?" The Captain asked in disbelief.

Derek smirked. "You shouldn't only rely on one ability, and I should have saw through it sooner. You were manipulating your energy, making it so that I thought to block later then I actually needed to. Once I saw through that, you were doomed."

With one powerful downward slash, Derek split the Captain in half with his flaming katana, leaving the Captain in two parts on the ground, obviously dead.

"You were fast, Daisuke, I'll give you that." Derek said calmly, swinging his katana to get the blood off.

"Derek!" Shouted the voice of Corey from behind the older general.

"Corey. Glad to see your still with us." Derek said, smirking, but then winced in pain. Daisuke's hammer had done a lot of damage on his right arm, leaving Derek only his left to fight with.

"You going to be okay?" Corey asked.

"I'll be fine." Derek replied, trying to hide the pain.

Corey nodded. "Alright, good. We got a report saying that the Elite Captain is waiting at the front of the palace. I say we give him a proper greeting."

Derek smirked again. "Sure, why not. What kind of guests would we be if we didn't?"

"True story. Let's get moving!"