CHAPTER XXXVII: THE DREAMS OF PROMISES
DISCLAIMER: I claim NO OWNERSHIP to ANY of the characters in this story except (for in this chapter) Tojiro "Neo" Ankoku and Kasumi Moriko. They are my original creations and thus owned by me. All other characters belong to their respective creators/owners. My aspiration shot me into updating with another chapter. The previous chapter left me wanting to continue on and unleash Tojiro a little bit more. Things do get complicated here, but next chapter things become more of a struggle. All reviews are welcome!
Hours later, with the sunset upon them, Tojiro, Kasumi, the SOS Brigade, and the nuns and monk of Saienji Temple gathered in front of the courtyard. The brimming sunlight drifted over Saienji Temple with a glistening light of orange and yellow. In the middle of the courtyard was the blanketed body of Dominic, lying on a stone pedestal.
Tojiro was standing in front of the monument, planting his hands on the stone. His hands glowed orange. The Cloakmaster slowly stepped back, the monument suddenly bursting into a vortex of flame. Tojiro stopped in front of the group, his hood remained up. He looked over his right shoulder, seeing the solemn Shade Priestess staring at the ground. Her hands were clasped in a praying fashion.
"He was her father…and the whole time I didn't even notice. How foolish of me." said the grave thoughts of Tojiro.
He turned his head back to the flaming vortex that magically began to consume the stone tablet and Dominic.
"That's one less survivor of the Great Shade Empire. Kasumi and myself are the only ones who have been living all the way up to this very point. Akuma and his cursed Hell Gods don't even count. They were already dead, sealed away with a purpose. Akuma was only lucky…luck is what saved his vile corpse from awakening. The only thing he deserves is death…and nothing worse." continued the Cloakmaster's silent thoughts.
He stared up into the sky. The night began to takeover the day. He stared down, looking at the palm of his right hand.
"Reach. I shall find it. I shall find the Nightmare Scythe and I shall kill Akuma and the Hell Gods. I'll do it for the sake of my revenge. I shall do it for her. I have to become stronger…for her." continued his thoughts, watching the embers soar into the nighttime sky.
The stars graciously painted the blue dark sky above. The moon gave an even more better presentation of this night. Tojiro appeared outside Saienji Temple through Chaos Control, staring in every direction. He turned towards Saienji Temple and hovered towards the roof to think. He reached the top, his head rearing back in surprise.
Kasumi was already sitting on top of the roof, her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her lonely eyes stared down. Tojiro could sense no reason or hope in her heart. He hovered over to her and stood right next to her. The cloaked demon stared up into the sky, opposite of Kasumi's senses. Kasumi stared out of the corner of her eyes. Tojiro kept his eyes locked on the glowing moon in the heavens above their heads. Kasumi stared back down like before.
"Aren't you going to promise?" she suddenly arose from her quietness. Tojiro slowly turned his head down at her.
"When things like this happen…there's always that one caring person who regrettably makes a promise to someone who's lost someone they cared deeply about…" she continued on, turning her head up at him.
His obscured face kept staring at her, and her glimmering eyes and grave face stared up at his.
"…Aren't you going to promise?" the priestess added on.
"Promises are made to be one sided. They're distasteful to me." replied the honest Cloakmaster, turning his attention back up at the moon.
"Because you can't keep them? Right? Is that the reason you've never made a promise? Because you knew it would fail?" she asked in a quiet tone.
"I don't make promises for a reason. Promises are simply lies. A promise is the IOU version of trust. First you put all your hopes and beliefs into one person avenging the death of another. Second, it ends up not happening." he went on.
"How do you know a promise is always forged out of the death of another? Or…is that just the way you think?" she asked, non-offensively.
"I don't make promises so I don't foolishly bind myself to another persons' word. Action has always spoken louder than words, Kasumi."
"Yeah. That's something I believe in as well, Cloakmaster-san." she said, staring back down. She shuffled her feet slowly.
"But…how does a person make their decisions? Why did Dominic have to…sacrifice himself?" questioned the confused priestess, tightening her hold on her legs.
"That's something everyone holds to their personal account, Kasumi. We never know what another person is thinking until they take action. At that time…the real truth about that person comes out." the Cloakmaster wisely explained to the Shade Priestess.
"Is there a truth to you, Tojiro?" she asked, turning her head up at him again.
"If life has no meaning, then what does death mean? I stand as death. The Cloakmaster of Darkness. I've been hidden by falsehoods all my life, that's why I shall get the revenge I desire for being given this curse. It is my only way in life. Vengeance or failure. Nothing else will matter until I end this conflict for good." he strongly replied.
Kasumi saw the Cloakmaster's fists angrily clench as he spoke his truth.
"What will you do after you defeat Akuma?" asked Kasumi.
"You inspire great confidence, Kasumi. But I never said the journey through the Nine Circles will be easy. He will be ready with a vast army of Hell's demons and monsters to stop me. Each Hell God wishes to obliterate me from history." he responded without a taste of fear.
His response gave Kasumi a tense and cold feeling. She suddenly found Tojiro squatting down close to her. Her eyes turned to his hooded head.
"But that doesn't mean I won't put up a fight." the Cloakmaster added with hope.
Kasumi slowly smiled at his genuine response, then hugged him. Tojiro's head stared over Kasumi's right shoulder, feeling tense by Kasumi's kind response, but in the darkness of his hood was another unfortunate sense that left him stricken with dread.
The Following Morning
"To reach for it he said. What in the hell does it mean?" said Tojiro angrily, walking outside of the entrance to Saienji Temple.
"Whatever it is, he probably had a reason. Whatever this riddle is, it has to lead us to the location of the Nightmare Scythe, no question." replied the Shade Priestess, catching up to him.
"Ryu told me that once I collected these damn weapons they would pinpoint it's location. So why has nothing happened?" barked Tojiro.
"I have no idea. Right now, we need to focus on my father's riddle. What does it mean, Tojiro?" asked Kasumi, stopping in front of the entrance, with Tojiro staring forward into it.
"If anything, I do have some form of a hunch." he said, creating a red Chaos Portal with a wave of his right hand.
"Hunch? Is it a good one at least, Cloakmaster-san?" asked the worried priestess.
"Usually my guesses work out fine. So we have no reason to be concerned." he implied, turning to her.
"Okay. You've made it this far. So what's your hunch?" she added.
"We're going to a different universe…to a planet to see an old friend." he said, turning towards the Chaos Portal.
"And this friend would be?" asked the Shade Priestess, holding her hands out. Tojiro stopped in front of the portal, then turned halfway to Kasumi.
"We're going to meet a Spartan. Spartan-043; Daisy." he revealed.
With the journey for the Nightmare Scythe reaching for a brutal climax, Tojiro and Kasumi storm through the Chaos Portal to the planet Sargasso to find the life of a Spartan Tojiro saved once. In return for that past favor, Tojiro seeks to find the knowledge if this possible coincidence of Dominic's final words will lead to another world…and in turn; the location of the most evilest weapon ever forged.
Planet Sargasso, 8:35 pm
Appearing in the center of Daisy's hometown, the red Chaos Portal opened up by the fountain of the town. Both Tojiro and Kasumi stepped out, the portal spinning to a close behind them.
"This is it. Planet Sargasso." he announced.
"Another planet? I somewhat understood you the first time, but I thought you weren't even being serious. What on this planet is so important?" responded the shrugging priestess.
"You'll see Kasumi. Stay strong for me, okay?" he said, turning his gaze over at her.
Kasumi had her eyes set on the ground, understanding the Cloakmaster's words and point of reference. Tojiro set himself forward, walking past the fountain with Kasumi following closely behind.
"It's always dark now isn't it?" suddenly asked the Shade Priestess.
"And your point? Maybe the sun's tired." Kasumi was able to smile by the hilarity that his words held.
"I've simply noticed how whenever a situation presents itself to you, darkness falls."
"Yeah. I'm so hurt by the night sky." he replied carelessly.
"You're not even taking me seriously aren't you?" she snapped at him, crossing her arms and giving off a determined glare.
"So what if darkness follows me with every step I take it? I'm not offended by evil following in my footsteps. In fact, haven't I been doing that for a while now?" he implied, his voice shifting into a makeshift form of sarcasm.
"It…worries me." Kasumi suddenly said.
The Cloakmaster stopped in his tracks, turning around to her at the same time. "My father always spoke of you. He mentioned how you were powerful enough to prove anyone's thought and judgment wrong…in your own malevolent way of course. It…just worries me." the Shade Priestess carefully shared.
Tojiro's hooded head hid his expression, not like he would be surprised, but his glare was still distinct. "He…he always told how much of a monster you were, how you should have stayed in the Ninth Circle once Orion trapped you in that frozen land, and even on how you'll stay the same…forever." she continued, lifting her head up at the Cloakmaster in the process.
The pair stood far apart, more emotion was lying on Kasumi's side. Her feelings were lost and felt meaningless to speak their honesty, but this was Tojiro; a man without a heart.
"If you could make a wish Tojiro, upon any star in the sky above us; what would that wish be?" asked Kasumi. The Cloakmaster strangely stared up at the sky, appearing like he hasn't seen them before. He took some time, staring at the starry heavens. Once he turned his eyes back at Kasumi, an answer came.
"I'd rather wish upon a dream than wish upon a star." he answered honestly.
The Cloakmaster turned back around and continued walking. A breeze of cold drifted by, making Kasumi's long glistening hair drift in its soft, cool breeze. Her eyes were left widened by his unseen response. Her eyes changed to a look of dread. She felt deep inside herself that his answer was a mere guess, a shot in the dark, a pointless resonance of thought.
Kasumi ran after the Cloakmaster, keeping her pace close to his. Once she was walking behind the Demigod, her eyes were staring at the back of his head, expecting him to continue his recent belief of wishing. However, as the two made their way down a short hill that was a road, it became clear as fog that Kasumi wouldn't get an honest to heart answer from the Cloakmaster, one sided, is it not?
Even as the silence of this dark night slipped past them, a sense of urgency was amongst one of them. With time running out for Tojiro, the Nightmare Scythe must be found and with that power can Akuma and his fellow Hell Gods be destroyed. With that power, the lone Cloakmaster must traverse his way through the Nine Circles. The land where evil was first born.
A land of sheer darkness and chilling hatred, a land that Tojiro was once forced to escape from. All such words bring fear to Kasumi's heart, a form of fear this will be the final hours of Tojiro "Neo" Ankoku. She stared at him with an uncertainty that his journey will only bring upon his very own end. She somehow managed to find it in herself that he would refuse to let any lowly demon or any vile Hell God take his life.
Not ever would the Cloakmaster of Darkness surrender to another who is only controlled by violence. Oddly enough, this was all Kasumi had to hold on to for hope. Nothing else would be able to make her think otherwise. She trusts in Tojiro's mission, but is that an excuse to worry for his fate? Kasumi set her dread filled eyes down at the ground they walked across.
"Is this truly how I must spend my moments with him? Even on the final leg of this dangerous journey…must I spend worrying that I'll never see him again?" explained the Shade Priestess's bundled up thoughts of nervousness.
No thought that brought itself to light would be able to clear the shroud that obscured Kasumi's feelings and determination. The loss of her father made her think. It caused her to heavily become endowed with the thought that this loathly demon before her, didn't have the power required to defeat the Nine Hell Gods. All these concerned thoughts rushed through her mind like a highway of heavy traffic.
"There's no doubt that he's worried as well. Yoko. She disappeared right before our eyes and Tojiro has failed to speak her name, more or less even mention her name. Is…is that why we are here?"
Her thoughts took a slight decline, believing this unwanted trip is nothing more than a rescue. There's no way she was jealous, absolutely no way she was jealous. Because that would be insane. There were some reasons in her mind that reminded her doubts to stay, however, now wasn't the time of her importance. The two were finally at the bottom of the road hill, making their way to Daisy's house in the distance.
Kasumi took a glimpse at the sky, seeing the plethora of glimmering stars that gently painted themselves in the dark azure sky. Kasumi suddenly felt a motivation build inside her, a sensation that she could not hinder any longer. As nervous as she was, and no matter how oblique she figured Tojiro's answer was going to be, she needed his best response.
"Tojiro? I just began to wonder, what of Miss Yoko? Shouldn't she be as important as finding-"
"Yoko does matter." the Cloakmaster interrupted, continuing to walk. Kasumi looked at him with a strange face.
"I've been wondering what world she got herself thrown into, believe me. Wherever she may be, her luck is probably going to be better than ours. Yoko's strong enough to take care of herself."
Kasumi continued to give him a twisted look of worry.
"You're not lying…aren't you?" the young priestess asked with nervous temptation.
"No. I'm not. Making a lie is as promising as telling the truth to them right at the very moment. I'd rather deliver a painful truth than tell a dishonest lie. A clear difference lies between the two. Besides, since when have you become so worried about others?" explained the belligerent words of the Demon Demigod.
"I knew you weren't listening. I knew it." her quiet words slipping through her lips.
The Cloakmaster tiredly stopped, turning around halfway and looking at the Kasumi for her to continue.
"My feelings for others doesn't matter. It's how I think of you that matters most! Haven't you realized that there are people out there that care deeply for you!" she exclaimed, a fearsome glare printed on the priestess's face.
The Nightshade remained silent, and filled his mind with question.
"You should be worried about Yoko! After all that you two have been through together, she should be your prime concern! I know how you think Tojiro! It's obvious how you seek to guard the lives who are threatened by people who bring disrespect and grievance to their lives! That's why…you're…you're always there to watch over them."
Kasumi's voice changing to a slow, and grave tone at the end, her eyes staring at the ground before her. Tojiro remained still as well, actually listening to her every word.
"Doesn't Yoko matter anything to you? Not even a little?" questioned the shocked priestess, staring up at him.
"I'm beginning to feel that you're changing. Which isn't a good thing to do. Just look at me. To be honest Kasumi, Yoko will be back with us once we find her."
"That's truly how you feel?" said the baffled priestess.
Tojiro turned away from her and continued walking towards Daisy's house, leaving Kasumi on her own. Until the obviousness hit her like a rock, she quickly hurried off to catch up with the Cloakmaster of Darkness.
"So…what are we looking for exactly? Is this Daisy person an old friend of yours?" the priestess simply asked.
"It's somewhat of a story. At first, I thought of her as another human being, with any other problems that I refused to worry over. Although, I found her as a person with an unfortunate past like my mine. After that, I assisted her and she assisted me. I learned a lot from her." the demon answered, steadily walking towards the house.
"Just like that, huh? Are you telling the truth?" responded the curious Shade Priestess.
"Yes. It is true. Is that some form of a problem to you?" he reacted in defense.
"It isn't. Just asking." shrugged the priestess, staring off to the side with no disbelieving intention on her mind.
"I bet you are." whispered the Cloakmaster, keeping his gaze on the front door of Daisy's house.
He grabbed onto the handle, but his eyes formed into a glare. He reverted to his hedgehog form, and quickly took out Black Death from his holster.
"Stay back for a moment, priestess." said the Cloakmaster, pointing his left open hand at Kasumi.
The Shade Priestess stopped, "What is it? Is there something in the house?"
"Indeed. I don't like the smell of it either." said the Demon Demigod, stepping away from the door.
"Just take it easy and don't do anything-"
Tojiro blasted down the door with a blast of red Chaos energy from his eyes, blowing the door and much of the surrounding structure around it down.
"What were you saying? I believe I interrupted you?" said the serious Cloakmaster, looking over his shoulder.
"Just forget it." she wavered, lowering her head in disappointment to Tojiro's form of overreacting.
Tojiro hopped into the front blown up portion of the house, finding nothing thus far. A sudden red light from deeper within the house caught his attention. The Cloakmaster's orange eyes vanished, and blank white remained. He immediately charged down the hall, then sprinted to a halt, jumping off the wall in front of him, then continuing to sprint down the right hall. He finally arrived in the large kitchen, and came across something surprising.
Standing in a cleared out room was Daisy in her Spartan armor, pointing her Assault Rifle at a large silver armored Sangheili who was holding a human reverted Yoko Littner by the neck. Tojiro quickly fired, hitting the Elite in the head, killing it, then quickly running over to grab Yoko in his arms. Yoko stared at the blank white eyed hedgehog in disbelief.
"So you get yourself back into your obnoxious little human form and end up in the hands of an alien soldier that kills anything out of blatant orders. If I missed any small detail, go ahead and add anything." explained Tojiro.
Tojiro put Yoko on her feet. Yoko looked over at Daisy suddenly, removing her helmet.
"Sorry I couldn't answer the door. Once I heard an explosion I had a feeling someone with an attitude was coming to help." said Daisy, holding her helmet under her right arm and attaching her Assault Rifle to her back.
"I'm not surprised." said the dull voiced Cloakmaster.
"And as for Yoko here, I doubt she didn't give you any trou-" said the interrupted Tojiro as Yoko angrily kicked him in the back of the head, forcing him to face plant into the ground.
"You're an irresponsible hedge-rat!" growled Yoko, walking away with smoke simmering from her head.
"Somehow, I wager a hunch you definitely deserved that." said the jokingly amused Spartan.
"Silence. Or I'll destroy the rest of your house." said the muffled Demon Demigod.
"Cloakmaster-san!" shouted Kasumi's voice.
Tojiro leapt to his feet, and then ran outside with Daisy quickly following in suit. Tojiro leaped outside, staring up at a Covenant Phantom drop ship. Standing under its gravlift was Yoko being held hostage by an Elite General. The gravlift swiftly picked them up, and took them into the ship. Tojiro quickly looked over at the surrounded Kasumi, three Hunters closing in on her.
"This is too simple. These bastards definitely can't be Covenant." said the Cloakmaster of Darkness, charging towards Kasumi's rescue.
One Hunter quickly turned towards the cloaked hedgehog, firing its fuel rod cannon. Tojiro kicked away all the blasts. Preparing Black Death in his right hand, the Cloakmaster yelled; "STRIKE OF DARKNESS!"
Tojiro bashed the weapon straight into the Hunter, blowing it to pieces, splattering its orange blood all over the ground. Tojiro quickly rolled to the left to dodge another Hunter from crushing him with its armored arm. He then jumped up at its face, pointing Black Death into the thin layer of its throat, blowing the aliens' head off. He swiftly put Black Death back in its holster, and in a blur went behind the decapitated Hunter to spin dash its corpse straight into another Hunter, knocking it to the ground.
Taking to the air, he spin dashed straight down at the incapacitated Hunter, and performed an explosive spin dash straight into it, blowing it to pieces. He stood up, the last two Hunters standing behind him. The two Hunters made irritable noises, causing the Cloakmaster to turn around, holding the Blade of Darkness backwards in his right hand. The two large aliens dropped forward, revealing Kasumi and Daisy to be the ones responsible.
"Thanks for the quick assist." responded the surprisingly thankful demon, sheathing the Blade of Darkness.
"Shouldn't you be heading after that girl already?" Daisy intervened.
"Already on it. But first, is the word Reach any importance to you?" the Cloakmaster asked.
"Planet Reach? Yeah! Biggest home of the UNSC, why?" she asked.
"Perfect. Then the Scythe is on Reach. If these alien bastards know of it too, they're taking Yoko to the same place! You two hitch a ride and meet me at Reach! Yoko's of my concern." said the cloaked hedgehog, turning his back to the girls.
A fierce shower of flames blasted from underneath his feet and the Demon Demigod soared straight into the sky.
Tojiro's hood passed off his head, his quills shaking in the furious force of wind that blew against him. His blank white eyes set to lock once he saw the Phantom get closer to him. He prepared his Chaos Rasengan in his left hand, keeping its power at a limited state. Tojiro finally stuck his right arm forward, latching onto the side of the Phantom. With the hatches obviously closed, he prepared his Chaos Rasengan and drove it into the hull, drilling through the hull and breaking open a good sized circle.
He grabbed the sides of the hole and forced to create a much larger opening. The sudden act of an Elite General driving a syringe with glowing blue liquid inside surprised the Cloakmaster. The Elite drove it straight into Tojiro's chest. The Demon Demigod growled, his blank white eyes changing to a complete glowing red. Tojiro vigorously reached forward, but a small Grunt appeared standing in front of the Elite.
"DIE!" it screamed, firing the Fuel Rod Cannon it held.
The blast knocked Tojiro far off the ship. Leaving his tainted blood to fly off from the cuts and bruises he unrequitedly received, Tojiro readied the Chains of Fear. By throwing the kusarigama weapons straight up to the belly of the Phantom, the blades latched into the hull. The Cloakmaster then powerfully yanked himself straight back up to it. Quickly stopping himself from smacking his head into the hull, Tojiro ceased the repelling and remained hanging just a few inches from under the Phantom drop ship, not giving up, and definitely not running away.
As the Phantom ascended into space, a large Covenant Corvette awaited it in Sargasso's atmosphere. Seeing the massive ship, Tojiro could sense uneasiness slowly creeping its hands over his shoulders. The Phantom converged onto the Corvette's entry bay, passing through the shield doors and landing on the first level of the open hanger. Tojiro stuck his feet against the top belly of the Phantom, and held onto the chains of his weapons. Upside down, he quickly dislodged the blades and landed behind a set of Covenant weapon carriers. He quickly placed the Chains of Fear back in their holders.
His eyes stared down at the syringe, revealing the liquid to have fully entered into his system. Tojiro laid his back against the cover, cursing to himself. He removed the syringe from his chest. His ears warned him of a threat. The Demon Demigod looked around the corner of his cover, the image of an Elite warrior standing in front caught his attention. The Phantom that Tojiro rode in on set still. The hatches opened, and the Elite General came off, holding the unconscious Yoko over its shoulder. He carefully watched the Elite General passed by several squads of Jackals and Skirmishers, armed with either Needle Rifles, Plasma Pistols, and even Focus Rifles.
Tojiro removed the syringe from his gut, then readied himself. He snatched the Elite in front of his cover by the back of its head, pulling it to the ground and silently driving the empty syringe into the Elite's mouth. He stood back up, spotting one last glimpse of the Elite General passing through automatic opening doors. Shield doors suddenly closed the open hanger, the low gravity of space dissipated, making everything physical again. Tojiro heard the Elite on the ground growl. He angrily lifted up his right foot and crushed the alien's head. He then removed his metal leg, placing it back on the ground.
"How's that for a splatter?" taunted the demon warrior.
Tojiro back flipped onto a shortened path behind his position. Landing safely and quietly, he suddenly found several Grunts with Needlers to his right. The Cloakmaster heinously fired a single stream of red Chaos energy that shot through each of their foreheads, dropping each of them dead. Tojiro armed the Blade of Darkness once more, turning to the left and dashing down the curved walkway. He sliced through the waist of an Elite with a jetpack, causing its half cut corpse to fly off and smack into a Grunt, making the little alien scream in fear. Tojiro sliced and kicked ten Grunts out of his way, one at a time. He grabbed a Jackal, kicking it in the chest, forcing its head to pop off from the rest of its body.
He tossed the head to the side, then pointed the Blade of Darkness forward to shoot a focused beam of red Chaos energy with a swirling ring of crimson spinning around the entire beam. The beam blasted apart and obliterated two Elites, four Grunts, and one Hunter. Tojiro continued on the walkway, running over the mangled body parts that the aliens left behind, as well as the multi colored pools of blood.
Tojiro went on to punt a Grunt like a football, cutting through an Elite straight down the middle, then quickly shooting off into diagonal directions across the ground to decapitate seven Jackals in a row. Making it halfway through the sealed off hanger, he looked down to see a storm of needles pin into his skin and result into one multiple explosion after another.
Skirmishes scoped in with their Focus Rifles. A sudden stream of violent flames shot towards a line of fourteen of Skirmishers that were standing on the opposite walkway on the other end of the hanger, melting them all into pools of guts and nothingness. Tojiro came out of the smoke, armed with the large Dragon Guardian Cestus. The glowing red eyes of the Dragon heads were vibrantly shining with Tojiro's synced power. He smashed the two large Cestus onto two Grunts, blowing them up into mists of blue blood. He pointed the Cestus forward. In the mouths of the Cestus, a sphere of black with a dark purple core formed.
"Dragon Incineration!" commanded the Cloakmaster.
Large bursts of purple flames shot forward, scorching through everything it touched.
All the Grunts madly ran away, waving their arms in the air. Tojiro charged forward, statistically stretching his legs forward to slide across the ground and uppercut two Jackals then quickly turning around to punch an Elite General in the chest. Tojiro looked forward seeing a Hunter smack him directly across the face. Tojiro flung towards one Phantom, smashing into it's nose. Two other Hunters joined their successful ally, and fired their Fuel Rod Cannons all at the same time.
Together, their insane power exploded into several clouds of green plasma, dangerously causing the Phantom that Tojiro crashed into to spark with blue flames. Finally, several Grunt squads fired their Fuel Rod Cannons, hitting the Phantom and causing it to explode into a vicious show off plasma flames. The Grunts happily skipped and jumped around, shouting in victory in their native tongue. A sudden Cloakmaster appeared before them, bashing the Dragon Guardian Cestus into the ground, causing several pillars of gold Chaos energy to explode up from the ground, killing the gutsy Grunts, along with the malicious Mgalekgolo.
The Deathly Demigod changed the Dragon Guardian Cestus back into their wrist band forms. Tojiro raised his right fist, creating a slick shaped barrier of gold Chaos energy to block a barrage of charged plasma shots. He lowered the barrier then leaped up into the air, firing multiple crimson red Chaos Spears out of his left hand down at the squads of doomed Grunts down in the hanger to Tojiro's right.
Landing back on his feet, he bashed through the shield of a cowardly Jackal, and broke its jaw. He tossed it's dead corpse out of his path, then went onto to grab the arms of an Elite Warrior and rip them both off. Tojiro faced a group of five Grunts in front of him. Curiously looking at the arms he fiercely amputated, Tojiro simply tossed the arms at the Grunts, causing them to all run away in fear.
"Interesting. I didn't think that would have worked." said the strangely baffled Tojiro.
An array of beams from Focus Rifles scorched against Tojiro with violently precise power. He quickly surrounded himself in his cloak, but the Skirmishes with their Focus Rifles refused to hinder their overpower of the Cloakmaster. The powerful beams continued to swarm and hit the blackened Tojiro. Inside, the Cloakmaster sweated intensively, his cloak wasn't going to take this much dense heat forever.
He quickly opened his cloak and shot a pair of angry red Chaos energy from his eyes. The blasts blew apart several parts of the Corvette's inner hull. The Cloakmaster's arms hung low, he quickly cart wheeled to the right five times, then leaping over the middle of the hanger, firing blasts of fire to blow the Jackals to burning chunks of flesh. The Demon Demigod landed back on the ground, turning around to block a thrust from a Hunter.
From behind, an Elite with a jetpack armed with a Concussion Rifle started firing carelessly at him. The Deathly Demon quickly jumped over the Hunter, and forcibly kicked the Hunter into the incoming fire, doing no harm to it whatsoever, but it still gave the Cloakmaster some well deserved cover. Tojiro quickly ducked from a swing of the Hunter's large arm. He watched the Elite fly up with it's jetpack, firing more rounds from its Concussion Rifle. Tojiro leaped back using his right hand to bounce off the floor. Back on his feet, Tojiro stuck his hands up, collecting the ten shots of the Concussion Rifle and mid-air. He clamped his hands together, causing the shots to form into one single ball.
With his pasted together hands glowing with a dark red aura, the Cloakmaster readily exclaimed; "Concussive Chaos Barrage!"
The sphere of Concussion rounds exploded into hundreds of red energized rounds of explosiveness. The rounds blew apart the Hunter, turned the jetpack Elite to a mist of blue, and showered throughout the rest of the room, blowing apart squads of Grunts, Jackal groups, and pairs of Hunters with grim effectiveness.
Tojiro lowered his hands by his side, turning around to use his left hand to literally block a swing from an Energy Sword wielding Sangheili. The blade laid wedged into the flesh of his arm. The Elite barked at him in its native language.
"Yeah. I don't understand it either." said the shrugging Cloakmaster.
Tojiro reached up, and tore one of the mouth parts off the alien, causing it to drop back in pain. The Elite was also forced to remove its blade from Tojiro's arm. Tojiro stepped on the right arm of the Elite, the arm that held onto the Energy Sword.
"But it definitely puts others to shame." the demon added, crushing the Elite's bone, then bending down to snap the Sangheili's neck.
Tojiro grabbed the Energy Sword off the ground.
"Thanks for the memories." readied the Cloakmaster, observing the weapon, stagnant in his diamond hard stance to the enemies seeking his evisceration.
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW
-Tojiro raises his gaze to reveal the Tsukikagegan replacing his eyes.-
"Within the walls of a Covenant Battle Cruiser the Demigod of Darkness shoots and annihilates all in his path."
-Tojiro punts a miserable Grunt into an Elite soldier, quickly assimilating both by sheer force.- "His rage and determination..."
-Tojiro takes the brunt force of Focus Cannons to his chest.- "Become clear as he races through a sprawl of Covenant troops to save the imprisoned Yoko Littner."
"Only he can do this." -Tojiro clashes with a swarm of Hunters. A falling Tojiro drops to the ground and runs in zig-zags to decapitate several Jackals in a row.-
-Tojiro takes the furious force of Fuel Rod cannons.- "To fight for Reach's location, the rescuing of Yoko shall give Tojiro his clearest resolve in order to claim the Nightmare Scythe."
-A storm of darkness implodes around the Cloakmaster of Darkness.-
-An imprisoned Yoko and Tojiro exchange glances from a shared cell inside the ship.-
NEXT TIME!
THE NIGHTMARE WARS
CHAPTER XXXVIII: A SAINT MASKED BY DARKNESS