Chapter 32: Prophecy Fulfilled
As the blades flew all over the place, a bunch of them were cut down in an instant. Shoutaro was now facing him, since he could no longer afford to use Mole Claws.
Which meant he had drawn his Kogetsu, and was ready for a fight.
"Oh? This should be interesting" he said, when suddenly Shoutaro deactivated his Trigger, giving Curio a shock. However, he then rolled up his sleeve, which revealed some sort of Black Armguard.
"Trigger, On!" he stated, as he activated the Black Trigger, Phantom. Acquired from the Shadow Troupe, it had so far remained without an owner. Shoutaro's clothes were then replaced by a sleek black suit, and a Phase Blade appeared in his hand. Blades came to intercept him, but Phase-Shields blocked them all.
"A Black Trigger User. To think they had this sort of ace saved up" he said, when he fired thrity swords at him. However, each and every one was stopped with a Pinpoint Phase Shield.
And then, countless Phase Blades were created and launched right back at him. Ravlin created a shield which protected against them, but some of the Blades slipped right through the defenses and came at them.
"Hmm...the shield was only partly physical? It deflected some of them" Shoutaro observed to himself. At this point, he summoned two Phase Blades on his hand, and went in closer. Curio deployed even more swords, creating over fifty at once.
There is no way he can create so many blades so easily. Every single one should cost Trion. So if I keep breaking them, then eventually, he will run out of Trion. So, lets go. Phase through air, negate air resistance!
Shoutaro used Phantom and began phasing through the air itself, which allowed him to effortlessly speed up to much faster speeds. Ravlin created multiple barriers, but Shoutaro just phased right through them. Curio launched shields, which Shoutaro had to block.
"I see, my blades are more of Trion energy then physical. But the shield is more physical...so he can go through "physical" objects easier then "energy" based objects" Curio realized, his intense battle experience giving him the ability to figure things out quickly. "Ravlin, block with energy shields and evergy blade attacks".
"Right, master!" he said, summoning a blade that was more energy like.
To think he would figure it out already...very well then...
Shoutaro decided to accelerate, using Phase Shields that he could kick off of and boost his speed further. At the same time, Kotaro unleashed his next bombardment.
The battle between Black Trigger Users began.
"That Chimera is acting way different!" Shinichi said, ducking behind cover as several rockets hit where he was. "Even while moving I cant get a proper lock!"
"They are doing their best to supress me as well" Az said, taking cover behind a number of Escudos to avoid getting caught up in an attack. He then returned fire with Asteroid again, trying to break through their shields, but it wasn't doing much.
"If Border's most mobile sniper cant do it, we have an issue for sure".
As he said that, a powerful blast of Asteroid came by, along with supporting fire from an Asteroid assault rifle. But only one person emerged, and Shinichi only knew one person who used both that he had asked for help.
"Nana!"
"Heyo, Shi-chan" she replied, talking in a relaxed fashion even during the battle. "Enemies down there?"
"Its gone berserk" Shinichi replied.
"Enemy being extra problematic?"
"One is using some powerful and weird Exo-Suit trigger, and the other is the remaining Military Type Chimera. I managed to get the other one though".
"Nice" she said, taking off his hat and ruffling his hair before putting the hat back. "Then I think we will give them something else to shoot at. Can you provide cover fire as I get closer?"
Shinichi equipped a lightning, and opened a portal right next to him. "Ill get you closer, Nana".
"Thanks, Shi-chan" B-Ranked All Rounder, Naki Shigenaga said. With over 6000 points in both Kogetsu and Asteroid, she watched as Shinichi tossed the other portal into the middle of the air, above where the enemy was. She then jumped in, as Shinichi began rapid fire Lightning attacks against the enemy.
Lightning was easy to block with shield, and it fired fast enough they didn't have a window inbetween shots. So while their shields would not fall against the Lightning, it was having an effect of preventing them from going full on offensive.
Ryuu meanwhile got to his own position, and fired an Ibis rifle at them while they were distracted, but they double pinpoint shielded against it. "Are you kidding me?! I changed buildings out of their line of sight?! That Military Type is tough, its senses are good enough to mark my position no matter where I run".
"You can say that again" Mitsuteru said, voicing his rare complaint. "I cant get a good shot off anymore. Im just distracting them at this point".
"Keep firing" Ayumu said, directing the rest of his drone army at them. "I just got word, Shoutaro activated Phantom and is engaging in direct combat! However, he doesn't know his Black Trigger as well as the enemy knows theirs. He will need backup!"
However, that was when the Captain of Meisho Squad, Seiji Meisho, arrived on the scene. He loaded up a single revolver.
The moment Shinichi saw this, he made the call.
"Tsu, rapid covering fire! Nana, keep them busy with a front on assault! Ayumu, I need them to be full on defense. It doesn't matter how much Trion we use up, we just need them. Ryuuyuu, did Jin give you any tips?"
"Yeah...I guess its time for that. I hope my training paid off..."
Although Shinichi's way of talking was rather childish, even now, the way it sounded made everyone kick into gear. This was the work of the strategist of Meisho Squad now.
Immediately, the shots increased in frequency, with any opening being exploited. Even if the shots would only graze, they would take it, which caused them to have to put up more shields to avoid leaking anymore Trion.
And as that happened, Meisho ran forward. A rabbit tried to intercept him, but it was attacked by Naki who used Kogetsu against it, and Ayumu deployed some drones to cover him.
The Neighbors saw him running up to them, but they were already on full defense so they couldn't move without risk of a breach. At this rate, the enemy would run out of Trion first, but that didn't seem to matter to them. And that perplexed Azrala, which is why she realized whatever enemy that was, had to be stopped. Which is why, right as he stopped in front of their shields, she strengthened the shields immensely the moment they fired. She also fired multiple attacks at them in the free time she could get, but Ayumu deployed a shield which blocked them all. This let Meisho fire, but the shields were still strengthened.
And yet, the attacks made it right through the shields and hit them. All of them, as weights appeared where they hit with no real damage done.
An attack that ignores shields?!
Meisho began to load them up with weights, so the military type launched countless Trion blasts at him. Azrala shot down a number of drones supporting, as well as firing countless rockets right at him. But the moment the rockets left the shield, they got shot down by Ryuu, who intercepted them with Meteora and was using Grasshopper to close in, a huge Meteora cube with him.
And Naki unleashed her Asteroid along with it.
Seiji Meisho unloaded more lead bullets right as the collective shields given to him by Ayumu, as well as Az, blocked the attacks. However, it was then that it happened. A womhole began to appear next to Meisho, and an attack emerged like rapid fire, at a speed that was going way too fast.
"Countdown Initiated. 232 Seconds till Bailout".
And yet, it was cut right through, and a Senku was released at the same time that went through the wormhole and hit Claria, the Operator of the mission for Asura.
"What the?!"
The window was already closed now, but Bahri was shocked.
And Ryuu was standing there, his Trion form destabilized with a Kogetsu. He was not using the HQ approved Standardized version right now of Geist, he was using the Tamakoma version Jin had provided for him.
"High Speed Power Combat Mode...lets get this done!"
Ryuu launched forward, slashing right through the shields at extreme speed like it was nothing. The Soldier Type went to face him deploying blades, but the attacks were merciless. All of Meisho Squad was joining in, trying to break through. But the Ace Soldier Type seemed to charge forward to destroy Ryuu, recognizing his power output as the greatest threat right now. It brought forth three cubes of Trion, and launched them all at Ryuu.
"Portal!" Shinichi activated, opening a portal next to Ryuu and then to the other side of the enemy. Ryuu hopped in, avoiding the attacks and coming after Azrala, who deployed a blade to fight him. They clashed blades, with Ryuu taking a step forward and slashing rapid, and Azrala keeping up with him thanks to her Exo-Suit's abilities. He then had a meteora come from behind and try to hit her close range. She took a step back to try and dodge it while avoiding his slash and attack him, but he hopped back as he launched the Meteora. She shielded against it, but also deployed a pinpoint shield, stopping a Trion arrow in its tracks.
Meisho fired another round of Lead bullet, but the Soldier Type created a blade to take all the hits, dropping it and forming a new one and coming after him.
And then, Shinichi fired an Ibis rifle, along with Mitsuteru, from two opposite directions, both at Azrala. However, rather then shielding against them, she twisted her body around, though it was slow due to the weights, while using the shields all to protect against Ryuu's attack. The drone swarm took some shots at her, but she launched several missiles up at them to finish them off. Some of them moved differently now then they did before though, which made some of the missiles miss their mark.
Ryuu then charged again, slash and block. Slash and slash again, Clashing of blades, trion sparks flying. They kept changing positions and clashing.
Ryuu's timer reached the two minute mark.
"Go! Faster!"
"Grasshopper!"
Someone else activated Grasshopper, using it to assist Ryuu and get him going even faster. Az then came in from the side, and unleashed a point blank Asteroid right at Azrala. At the same time Shinichi and Mitsuteru fired again, and right as Naki used her assault rifle to come at her from the side. Meisho kept the Military Type busy, along with Ayumu who used his Raygust to capture it in a shield.
"Thruster, on!" he used, launching his Raygust up into the air, with the Trion Soldier in it! Of course, the bubble dispelled shortly after dispelling it.
But now it cant dodge.
And so, three snipers fired an Ibis shot, and the military type, unable to shield against all three, was finally destroyed.
Which meant everything could be focused against Azrala. However...
"Detonate".
Azrala muttered those words, and suddenly the roof and several floors below them gave out. This sent them into the building, ,and out of the sniper fire. It also produced a kill zone for the drones if they tried to follow, and in the chaos, she charged right at Ayumu to cut him in two. However, as she got close, Ryuu cut through her arm, using the grasshoppers that were placed.
And then, he finished her off.
"Alert. Significant User Damage Detected. Recall Gate Activated".
And so, Azrala was pulled out.
"...and my time limit is up as well. Everyone, please help my squad without me" Ryuu mentioned, as his time limit hit zero, and he bailed out as well.
"Unfortunately...seems he got a good hit in" Meisho mentioned, when he looked down at his gut, and there was a gigantic hole there.
"Trion Body Limit Exceeded. Bail Out".
"You did well, Cappy" Shinichi replied, before looking over to the side of the other battle. "Ima reposition. I will leave the front lines to you guys!"
"Ah, Shinichi-kun! Wait! I will help!" Mitsuteru replied.
Meanwhile, two people were also clashing blades, although the fight had become intense and problematic for a variety of ways.
Shotuaro managed to land some good hits, but he was now leaking Trion as well, gaining another wound every time they clashed. The old man had way too much experience with a sword, it was making it very difficult. And every time Shoutaro tried a ranged attack, he would always deflect it and counter attack perfectly. So it had devolved into this situation, with Kotaro occasionally using Cobra from the shadows to help out.
"This fighting style...its quite good! Its a shame you dont have much experience yet!"
"Then how about you come back tomorrow?!" Shotuaro replied, as he attacked with full force. However, the boy next to the old man then counter attacked him at random intervals, forcing him to constantly monitor his pressense even when not attacking or in the way.
He is actually searching for Kotaro, who is moving like a sniper right now. He tried to cut me in half severa ltimes now. But its okay, because I have something myself.
He then made a large flashy attack, bringing out several more phase blades and launching them at the enemy. Normally, they were not something that could be launched so easily, but Shoutaro's knack of Trion manipulation made it easier. He was then able to launch another attack after that. Curio defeated them all then turned his attention to Shoutaro, but Shoutaro had disappeared suddenly.
And then, Curio and Ravlin got slashed in the back.
"Clever...but not clever enough".
And then, a sword came from behind and pierced through Shoutaro in a bad angle, the same one Curio used before to disable someone. Kotaro tried to charge right in with a Meteora, but Curio moved a blade right to Shoutaro's neck.
"I will kill your friend unless you stop" Curio mentioned. "I can do so quite easily right now".
Kotaro already had a large amount of Meteora, but he understood. His sword could immediately cut through either the Trion supply center, or the control center, and then have the second blade slit Shoutaro's neck once he was flesh and blood. And if he fired Meteora, he would get Shoutaro caught up in the blast. And since Shoutaro didn't have a bail out, he would just die, because he was using a Black Trigger.
Ryuu had a Meteora cube already out, but he couldn't fire it.
"Your friend will die if you try to attack us".
There was one option he could take. One single option. But it made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it.
And then he remembered, the message Jin left for him.
Shoutaro also remembered, and realized what he meant.
Kotaro searched for a different future, but he saw none. It was the only way.
Jin knew it would come to this...that it had to come to this...
And so, in his emotion, the Meteora cube began to destabilize.
"Dont do it..." Shoutaro mentioned.
"...I cant let you be taken" Kotaro said, when suddenly Curio realized what was about to happen. But it was too late, as Kotaro did not divide the cube. It was just a solid chunk of Meteora, a single piece. And that is why, when Kotaro made it destabilize, the explosion was massive.
Curio and Ravlin tried to protect themselves, but suddenly an Ibis shot pierced one, while a second Ibis shot pierced the other.
Kotaro then bailed out, and Shoutaro returned to his flesh and blood body after his Trion body got wiped out. However, Curio and Ravlin had already taken massive damage.
"Shit!" Shoutaro cursed, heading to the base. He then called Astra. "He just broke a taboo! Emergency measures!"
And so, the moment Kotaro appeared on the mat, Astra just barely got the bucket in time as Kotaro started to throw up.
Although he had shown great recover, he still had PTSD from the accident when he picked up a Trigger during the first invasion. And so, he could not normally fire upon someone who was his ally.
So what just happened right now, put him in an emotional hell as he puked quite a bit.
Ryuu just went and hugged him.
"Its fine. It is going to be okay" Ryuu told him, as Kotaro began to cry.
Astra, seeing they were having a moment, stepped out for a bit, and immediately called someone.
"Hey, Astra-cha.."
"Cut the crap Jin" she said, furious. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"
"Unfortunately, that was the only way to secure a good ending. If things didn't play out like that, a lot of people would have suffered and died".
"You bastard...that doesn't make it okay".
Jin was silent for a moment.
"Of course not. There was never an ending that would make this okay. I made the choice that had everyone live though, so in the end, I can accept it, even if I am hated".
"The next time I see you, I am punching you in the face. Dont duck" she said, hanging up. "Bastard".
And so, the prophecy was fulfilled, and the invasion reached its finale.
