Quest of the Nine Saviour
A fanfiction from the hands of Gunbazca & Wing Descendant
Disclaimer: All the characters' names, places, and other related indicia used in this fan fiction are all owned by their respective copyright owners. This fan fiction is made solely for entertainment purposes and not for gathering profit. So, in other words, don't sue us. We're not rich enough to pay fines.
Chapter 2: The Catastrophe
Countless seconds passed since Hanjiro fell unconscious. Feeling that the two riders had fled, he slowly got up and weakly walked to where he put his small pouch. Then he took a small bottle of glowing blue solution and downed it. After a few seconds, he shook his head and sighed.
"Darn… thank goodness I wasn't killed by that 'Thunda' spell. Now I must get to the town and warn others," he mumbled, before starting to run towards the city in an almost inhuman speed.
When Hanjiro arrived at the town, he was a bit too late. Some buildings had already been destroyed by the humongous, towering monster, including the communication office and the post office. By looking at this, he knew that this monster is the one mentioned by the two riders, because usual beasts will attack people first and not buildings.
"Damned monster! Take this! KOKEN SOUFU!" Hanjiro shouted as he did a quick-draw attack with one of his swords. A gust of sharp wind flew at an instant, cutting through the monster's lizard-like hide. Greenish blood gushed from the wound, indicating that the attack sliced an artery inside the monster's body.
The monster growled angrily, before turning to Hanjiro's direction and spitting a blackish, seemingly acid wad of slime. Hanjiro dodged the spittle, but the monster spit another wad at Hanjiro's direction. It looked like a sure hit, but all of a sudden, he was a few meters over the monster's rhinoceros-like head.
"Die! RYUITSUISEN!"
The downward slice cut the beast's head to an equal two parts. Greenish blood rushed out and flooded the vicinity around the monster, while Hanjiro's sword shattered on his hands. He then leapt to a safe distance a few meters away and ran towards the survivors.
"Anyone hurt?" he asked the huddling people.
"Everything under control here, Hanjiro. No one's eaten," a girl in blue, apparently Hanjiro's colleague, answered with a relieved smile.
"Good. I'll just leave the rest here with you, Hokuto. I got to get going to the Bartholomew's to assure that they're still okay," he answered quickly.
"But sir… the second monster just headed there!" one of the survivors said, trembling.
"Darn! It'll be too late when I get there…" Hanjiro growled.
"Not if you can fly. PTERODACTYL, COME TO ME!" a man with a ring-like weapon attached to his right wrist called. At an instant, a huge leather-winged reptile appeared in front of them. The man hopped on to the beast's back.
"What are you waiting for? Come on!" the man instructed. Hanjiro, not wanting to waste any more time, hopped on to the beast's back. A moment later, the beast soars to the air and flew swiftly towards the Bartholomew's residence.
"Say, thanks for the ride, fellow," Hanjiro thanked the man as they soar above the town and nearby farmlands.
"No problem. I fought with that monster too, before you came… well, until he KO'ed my Grendels and Mantises," the man replied.
"Wow… so you're a summoner? Cool!" Hanjiro commented with a smile.
"No, not yet. I'm still a beastmaster. My summons are still low level ones. I still can't summon legendary beasts like phoenixes or dragons… oh goodness, I think we're too late," the man said, rather horrifiedly as he sees three buildings on fire.
"Oh gross… the three barns are… burnt… Wait a minute, that's the monster, quick, before it wrecks the house even more!" Hanjiro shouted as he saw the flying monster burning the house with its fiery breath.
The pterodactyl swooped a few meters above the flying monster. The monster sensed this, and turned to fry the beast and its master.
"Way too late," the man on the back of the flying reptile said coolly.
He's more than right. The right wing of the monster was cut clean by Hanjiro's Ryuitsuisen attack. The monster came tumbling to the ground with a loud rattle, while Hanjiro landed neatly a few meters away from it. His katana were badly cracked.
"Drats! Should've gone straight to the neck… Now how can I fight this monster with this kinda sword? This is just not my day!" he curses.
"Hey fellow! Catch this!" the man on the back of the reptile shouted while throwing a silver-sheathed katana to Hanjiro.
"Where do you get one of these?" Hanjiro asked, drawing the katana and placed its sheath under his belt.
"One of my condors found it in the body of the monster you just de-SCOOT!"
The monster spewed fire yet again. The two young men dodged to different directions, before launching their attacks.
"KOKEN SOUFU!"
"PTERODACTYL, ATTACK!"
The sharp gust of wind hit the enemy's chest and penetrated its hide, while the flying lizard grabbed the monster from the back, took it ten meters up, and then slammed the hapless monster to the ground. Green blood splattered the sorroundings.
It appears that the monster was dead, but it was actually still alive. It was enraged… it roared loudly a few times, before belching a humongous stream of fire towards the beastmaster. He was caught in it, being late to dodge. Hanjiro watched in disbelief as the sorroundings burn with the intensity of thousands of fireplaces.
Suddenly, the sky grew dark. Cold winds blew out of nowhere. The monster, as if sensing an entity much stronger than it, stopped spewing fire and cowered.
"What on earth…?" Hanjiro muttered as he sees the body of the beastmaster glow in a bluish light.
A moment later, the beastmaster vanished. Then, a big ice crystal shout up from the ground, before shattering to pieces, revealing the body of a bluish-skinned woman, apparently a goddess of some kind.
Who dared to interfere my slumber…?
The voiceless question ran a frost on Hanjiro's spine. The entity turned to him, looked him for a brief while, and then turned again, this time to the monster.
Insolent being, you shall feel the wrath of The True Goddess of Ice, Shiva! ETERNAL ICE TOMB!
The monster let out a terrible shriek of pain, before finally freezing to death in a perfectly square ice crystal. Hanjiro fell to his knees as the goddess turned to him.
O hero, is it you who awakened me from my eternal rest?
"No… it wasn't I! Maybe it is the guy who rode the flying lizard…" Hanjiro said in a cautious tone.
So… it is the beastmaster who summoned me… Afraid not, o hero… my presence here is not of you to fear. Instead, I shall give you a present for your coming journey. However, in order to receive that, you should prove first that you are worthy to receive the task as important as saving this earth.
"H-… How?"
Destroy the ice tomb that holds the monster without your sword…
"But it's a paper-thin beside impossible!"
No, it is not… for we have chosen you since well before your birth…
"We? You guys? Don't be kidding!"
Well, you have given me no choice but to kill you, if you refuse… for your destiny only had two choices, to be a light that illuminates the souls of the people or to be a dark shadow across the land…
Hanjiro was stung by the words for a few moments, before finally obliging.
"OK, I'll try! At least I'll die trying…"
Hanjiro dropped his sword, before concentrating all of the energy left in him to his right hand. His right hand glows bright yellow like the sun in the process.
"Here goes… SHIN NO GURENKAINAAAA!" he bellowed loudly, as he flashed to the ice-crystal tomb and buried his right hand about twenty centimeters into the thick ice. A big flash as bright as the midday sun occurred, but the huge tomb of ice still stood.
Hanjiro pulled his hands free from the ice tomb, before turning back and collapsing. As if detonated, the ice block gave way and was reduced to fine ice dust. The monster inside it was also pulverized. The only thing left is a black-sheathed katana.
Behold your prize, o hero… that is the Kagemaru, the soul mate of the Kazemaru, the silver-sheathed katana you wield. This two blades shall assist you in your journey with the Ancient who has been awakened… she now lies there…
The entity pointed to a crumbled part of the house right in front of Hanjiro.
"Darn! Harriet!" Hanjiro shouted before springing to his feet.
The ruins the goddess pointed suddenly glowed aquamarine before scattering around the vicinity. From inside it, rose a slim figure of a woman that Hanjiro knew more than anyone there… Harriet.