The Tengu and The Samurai: Duel

At Fort Fujou, the soldier's that retreated from the Serpent's Head on orders of their General, Sara Kujou, were seething with anger and frustration at the fact that they were powerless to assist their leader and that she was fighting that monster in human skin all on her own. Sure, they had orders to retreat as they knew none of them stood a chance against that thing, but that knowledge didn't help their anger.

"The thing that killed our brothers-in-arms is over there, and all we can do is stay here and hide until Madam Kujou comes back! This is infuriating!"

"I feel the same way, but you saw the way he sliced apart that Mitachurl like it was nothing. What can we do against something like that?"

"Even if we were there, we'd just be getting in Madam Kujou's way."

"She'll come back right?"

"We can only hope…"

Powerless to do anything, the soldiers could only sit around and skulk as they waited for their General to return.

—-

CLINK, CLINK, CLANG!

The sounds of steel clashing against steel reverberated throughout the grave of the Serpent God, every second was a new clash at a new location.

CLINK, CLINK, CLANG!

Genichiro moves around at speeds that should be impossible with two heavy weapons and armor, and yet, it's a reality. Using his own mix of the power of his grandfather's famed Ashina style and the speed of his mentor's heretical arts, Genichiro darts around the battlefield like a fish in water and striking with the force of a bull. Sara responds with a mix of the swordstyle taught to her by the Kujou clan and combining it with the agility and physical gifts granted to her by her Yokai heritage. Even with Sara's Yokai physique, the non elemental enhancements granted to her by her Vision, and prowess with a blade, she could tell that neither of them were getting even a hint of footing against each other.

"I underestimated how strong this man truly was, not only can he keep up with me in speed and strength, what's with his sword sty-"

"YOU'RE LOSING FOCUS WOMAN!"

"!"

Genichiro took advantage of Sara's brief lapse in attention, and deflected an oncoming sword strike, leading to an opening that allowed him to slam his elbow into her chest, striking her with enough force to send her back a few feet and momentarily knock the wind out of her.

"ACK!"

Sara recovers to see that Genichiro was gone, disappeared from sight, and looked up to see him about to do a blow that would bisect her. "RRAAAAAAGH!" She managed to deflect the blow oncoming for her head, sending the man to the floor, who quickly followed up with a forward thrust, causing her to dodge to the side. Sara followed up her movement by preparing a slash to Genichiro's side, to which he jumped away from. Using the movement from his dash away from the General's strike, Genichiro jumped high into the air and drew his greatbow in a mere instant and started rapid firing arrows at the Yokai, who responded by drawing her own bow and shooting arrows at the man.

Arrow after arrow was fired, some hitting each other canceling their momentum, others whizzed past each other missing the two combatants by mere inches, Sara taking advantage of the range and charging a shot with Electro energy to fire at Genichiro.

"! That's-" Genichiro didn't even have time to complete the thought before an arrow surging with lightning was fired straight at him, with all Genichiro being able to do is blocking it with his sword, letting the lightning course through his blade before sending it back at the origin.

"WHAT?!" Sara looked on in shock as she saw the man not only deflect her Electro imbued arrow, but sent it back at her, to which she could only respond by slamming the bolt down with her sword. She looked up and saw that Genichiro was gone from sight. "Where did he-" That thought was cut off as she heard the nocking of arrows, and looked to see two arrows coming towards her. The General deflected the first, and dodged the second, only to see Genichiro rushing at her, sword in hand, then proceeding to do a flurry of blows as if he was floating, to which Sara could only deflect a couple, getting nicked in the arms and legs, but not letting that deter her as before the last blow could reach her head, she disappeared in a flash of purple.

"QUIVER!"

Genichiro was confused at how the woman disappeared in feathers, but that confusion turned to pain as a lightning bolt struck him, and saw that the woman was now a few feet away and had a charged arrow with symbols around it, a 'Tengu Stormcall' arrow, pointed directly at him, but that wasn't what he focused on. No, what he focused on were the four wings on the woman's back. "So that's… what… you are…!"

"STRIKE!"

Sara let the arrow fly, preparing to completely subdue the mad samurai, but he managed to overcome the initial paralysis sooner than she expected, and what followed was-

"Ghhk! What was… that…" It was so fast, so overwhelming, "so… beautiful." In what felt like mere milliseconds, the moment the arrow reached the man, he did a motion that resulted in his blade trailing sakura petals, catching the Electro energy in its motions, and sending it back to sender. Sara's uniform was now completely tattered, her wings even more so as they took the full brunt of the blow. The man slowly approached her, and rested the sword against her chin.

"You were a worthy opponent Tengu. Any final words?"

"... ˢʰᵒ… ᵍᵘⁿ"

"What?"

"GLORY TO THE SHOGUN!" Sara's Vision flashed brighter and brighter until her entire body was enveloped in Electro energy, and with those words, proceeded to summon down a mighty lightning bolt, one that threatened to completely obliterate anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in it. Genichiro took the full brunt of the force, the ground beneath being completely scorched. Sara jumped back, her eyes glowing purple with electro energy, and lightning seeping out from the wounds of her wings, fully expecting the man to be nothing but a pile of ash.

"Well… it seems you still had a few tricks up your sleeve."

"! How are you…"

"The fury of thunder is nothing new to me."

The man's armor was completely wrecked, threatening to fall apart at any given moment, but before it could do so naturally, he took it off himself to reveal his naked body.

"What… in the…" Sara could only look in shock and horror at the man's body, his arms completely scarred with burn marks and his chest riddled with slash and stab wounds. But what she was in the most confusion about was the yellow lightning that now came down from the sky and seemed to surround the man, lightning that she could tell was not the Shoguns, as if he was commanding it, but how was that possible? This man wasn't a Vision wielder. "What in the name of the Shogun are you?"

"An orphan. A grandson. A samurai. A heretic. Nothing that matters as the land and the people who gave me those titles are gone." The yellow lightning intensified, almost as if it was responding to Genichiro's rage. "You asked for my name before woman. While it matters not, consider it a parting gift. I am Genichiro, of the land of Ashina. Grandson of Isshin Ashina. Disciple of a divine warrior." The yellow lightning struck his sword, imbuing and coursing through it, all the while thunder reverberated throughout the area. "Behold Tengu, the Lightning of Tomoe."