Chapter 9 – "I said I'd protect him! That I'd keep him safe!"
The first rumbling caused everyone outside to stop fighting, their attention suddenly seized. The subsequent flaming explosion was the sign of his arrival.
Akatenno Kuyou.
The torii gates were damaged and cracked, and some fell over into the pile of rubble from which Gin, Moka, Aoshiro, and Monokuro crawled out. And Kuyou himself, cloaked in flames, four tails twitching wildly, emerged from a hole in the ground, levitating from the force of his self-generated heat and spiritual pressure.
"Huh, so that's his true power, the Youko Battle Form. That's something fierce... no wonder you follow him," Araiko said to Kibato.
"Hmph. You should have surrendered while you had the chance. Now that he's here, it's over," he replied.
"Not yet it isn't!" she exclaimed, and then the two of them were at it again.
Kuyou set himself on the ruined earth while Gin and Moka got into fighting stances and Aoshiro and Monokuro stood behind them. His eyes, however, were focused on one person.
"Aono Tsukune. Your sentence is death."
Tsukune was struck by terror and unable to speak. Yukari might have wanted to move to his defense, but she was also too terrified. Kuyou then glanced at everyone else.
"You all know the law. Any human who finds out about this school must be put to death! I do not know why you all would go so far to defend him... and I do not care. If you continue to defy me, I will burn you all away with my flaming justice! You too will die here."
He then glanced at a specific direction.
"Though I suppose a certain someone has returned to help. I hope you've learned something..."
Everyone else glanced in that direction to see...
"YOU. HUMAN. I'LL GET YOU."
...Kokyu picking himself off the ground, with his skin turning stone-grey as he transformed into his golem form, nearly doubling in size. His wrathful gaze was aimed squarely at a terrified Tsukune. The boy was too terrified to move. Yukari fell over in fright, only managing to pick herself up once Kokyu started ambling toward towards them with malicious intent. She started slowly dragging Tsukune away.
"Yukari-chan, run! He'll kill you too!"
"No way! I'm not leaving you behind!
"Tsukune-kun! Yukari-chan! I'm coming!" exclaimed Kurumu in flight. Seeing her love and a friend in mortal danger, she had no choice but to go to them. Deshiko let her go for some reason... which turned out to be the fact that she wanted to fight Mizore alone. But Kurumu had to hope that the yuki-onna would be fine on her own. She had a rescue to do!
Upon landing, she picked up Tsukune and then immediately took to the air again. Kokyu responded by picking up a chunk of earth and throwing it at her, which she barely dodged.
"Will you be okay like this?" Tsukune asked.
"Of course! I'm not letting you go! Now let's get out of here! Moka-chan is free, so there's no reason to keep you here."
She then flew off in the direction of a thick batch of woods.
"I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE."
Kokyu then turned to follow them... only to find his path suddenly blocked by vines.
He turned to face their source. Kashi and Yukari were standing side-by-side. The little witch was shaking in terror, but still he stood ready to fight. He also noticed Akeno tangled in some vines as well. He growled.
"FOOLISH AKENO-SAN. LEARN TO FIGHT."
"Hey, I'm not specialized for combat like you are!" she complained.
"I happen to agree with him," Kuyou added. "But we can deal with that later. Now then, who wants to..."
He then blocked simultaneous attacks from Gin and Moka. He grinned wickedly.
"...perfect. Two at once means it'll go faster."
And as those three begun to fight, Kokyu approached Kashi and Yukari. Yukari used her magic to make heavy weights fall on him, but he either ignored them or threw them at the duo in retaliation. Kashi used her vines to try and subdue him, but he was making himself too heavy to lift... and furthermore...
"Ah! Let me go!"
...he used the connection between Kashi and her vines to swing her around, brutally slamming her into the nearby trees. She slumped towards the ground, unconscious... and Akeno was set free.
"Haha! Perfect! Now then, let's go get the succubus and her pet human!"
"WHAT ABOUT THE WITCH GIRL?"
"Huh, her? She's not a threat. She's probably too scared to..."
Akeno then actually turned to look at where Yukari had been... only to find her missing.
"...huh. Little girl moves quick... Well, if we think about it... she's probably going to help her friend. But she's still a weakling, especially compared to you, Kokyu-san! Now then, let's go on a wild hunt!"
And so, the two of them started forging a path through the dead woods.
Mizore, of course, saw all of this and wanted to go and help her new friends escape. There was just one issue with that.
"Staaaaaaay focused! Keep your eyeeeeees on me!"
Deshiko was insistent on fighting her for some reason. Mizore had no idea why. It's not like she liked fighting... she was only doing this to help out Kurumu and Tsukune. The zombie girl was totally outclassing her as well... it was all that Mizore could do just to defend herself or dodge the heavy staff blows, and she could forget about getting a hit in. She dodged one blow, shot an icy spray at Deshiko, and tried to escape... only for the girl to appear out of nowhere and knock her down with a heavy staff blow to the chest.
"Come oooooooooon! I'm your oppooooooonent heeeeeeeeere."
Mizore replied with another spray of ice shards, this time almost in Deshiko's face. However, the zombie girl slipped out of the way once more, falling back to avoid the attacks. She swung her staff down at Mizore, who rolled out of the way while getting up.
"...I don't want to fight you."
"Oooooooooh? Too bad!"
The zombie girl rushed in again, swinging her staff wildly. Mizore coated her arms in ice to absorb the damage from the heavy blows, staying on the defensive.
"You want to get to your frieeeeeeeends? You gotta go through meeeeeeee!"
Taking advantage of a forced opening, Deshiko slammed Mizore in the gut with her staff, sending the yuki-onna flying. But instead of crashing into the ground...
"Are you okay, Mizore-chan?"
...she landed in the arms of Kusashi. Mizore practically jumped out of his grasp as soon as she realized where she was... then apologized for her rudeness in a shambling, incoherent manner. Thankfully for her, he got the gist and accepted her apology.
"Let's fight together."
"...okay..."
Breathing heavily, Mizore covered her arms with ice once more. She was getting exhausted from the battle and Kusashi could tell. There was no way she'd even make it to her friends at this rate, even if she did somehow beat Deshiko. So, he'd have to step in in order for that happen. He partially transformed into a werewolf form and charged at the zombie girl in a burst of speed.
"He's so fast..."
Unlike her, he actually managed to get a hit in. He wasn't just faster, he was also more experienced. Just like almost everyone else here fighting to keep Tsukune safe. For a moment, Mizore wondered why she had even thought she could help. But then, she remembered her and Kurumu's struggle against Keito and Shirawashi. She had a role to play here... and more than that, she wanted to be here, by their side. So, concentrating, she let go of the ice on her arms and instead tried to risk it all on one large attack. She called water to condense from the air, solidifying into a massive crystal lurking above Deshiko's head...
"Huh!? Ooooh, a sneak attaaaaaaack! Nice try!"
...however, the zombie girl noticed, as did Kusashi. Thankfully, he was able to keep her busy, tying her down with a barrage of swift punches and fast dodges. Eventually, she swung a heavy staff blow at him that forced him back, but she over extended and attacked again, which Kusashi used as an opportunity to separate her from her staff. He then shoved her harshly, disorienting her... and rendering her unable to dodge the falling ice crystal.
"Gaaaaaaah!"
It slammed into her and shattered on impact, burying her in icy rubble.
"...stay down..."
Mizore fell over, exhausted.
Unfortunately...
"Uuuuuugh... not bad, buuuuuuut it takes more than thaaaaaat to keep me down!"
...Deshiko picked herself out of the rubble. Her left arm was clearly broken and she was bruised everywhere, but her zombie-like physiology meant that she could still fight, technically.
However...
"Gaaaaaaah!"
... she was interrupted by Kibato suddenly slamming into her, having been thrown in her direction by Araiko. Kibato himself had been knocked out and the heavy impact took Deshiko out too. As for Araiko, she was injured, but it was nothing she hadn't experienced before. Besides, she needed to go help Kurumu and Tsukune!
Mizore tried to stand up to go with the inugami, but it was for naught. She was too tired.
"...sorry..."
"Hey, don't worry about it!" replied Araiko. "Deshiko-chan is seriously tough! You did good. I'll go rescue your friends."
"...thank you..."
Kusashi looked over at the fight with Kuyou, where despite fighting against four opponents, Kuyou was managing to hold his own. "I'll go help them... but first I should go check on Kashi-san."
And thus, the two of them departed, while Mizore slowly shut her eyes... for just a quick nap, she thought while succumbing to her exhaustion. But by the time she next opened her eyes, it would be too late and all over.
Elsewhere, Kokyu and Akeno had been stalking their prey through the old dead woods. Kurumu flying away had posed a problem at first... until Akeno pointed out to Kokyu that her hands were full and that she couldn't defend herself against ranged attacks. As such, whether they be rocks or trees, the golem made a habit of picking up detritus and tossing it at the fleeing succubus and her human. It only took a few shots before he managed to hit her square in the back, forcing her to drop the human... at which point, she fell from the skies to catch him.
She had yet to re-ascend.
"So, what do you think? Maybe his legs are broken and she's crying over him like a little baby?"
"I THINK SHE'S THE ONE WHO IS HURT."
"Ah, you think she caught him then? Ooh, maybe she's the one with the broken legs! It'd match his broken body, hahaha~!"
"DON'T GET TOO EXCITED. WE NEED TO-"
He was then interrupted by a boulder to the face, knocking him over with sudden force.
"The Witch girl!?"
Akeno looked around.
"Where could she be? I don't see her!"
She then felt a sudden burst of wind, and dodged to the side. Nearby in a tree was lodged a sharpened tarot card. Akeno looked to where it had come from and saw a rustling bush.
"Ah ha! There you are! Come here!
Akeno the dove into the bush...
"What the-!?"
...only to fall into Yukari's trap, and be ensnared in the tangled branches.
Kokyu had to extract her from the mess after he recovered from the heavy blow, and the two continued on. But Yukari was able to distract them long enough for her to make her way to Kurumu and Tsukune, where she found the two of them unconscious.
"Kurumu-chan! Tsukune-kun! Wake up! We have to get out of here, now!"
"Ugh..."
"Oww..."
It looked like Kurumu was still dazed from both taking the hit to her back and from the impact. She managed to save Tsukune, but had taken herself out of commission. Tsukune, meanwhile, could stand up and walk around now that he wasn't paralyzed by fear... though he probably shouldn't try to fight anymore, he felt.
"Yukari-chan, can you help me carry Kurumu-chan?"
"Tsukune-kun... I'll just slow you down..."
"I'm not hearing it. There's no way I'm leaving you behind!" he declared as he picked her up by her shoulders while Yukari grabbed her by the legs. Like this, the three of them slowly made their way through the woods.
Far too slowly, giving Kokyu and Akeno the opportunity to catch up to them.
"Look out!" exclaimed Yukari.
She shoved them out of the way of a tree that was suddenly falling towards them. she tried dodging too, but it caught her on a foot and pinned her down. Frantically she struggled to free herself, but it was no use.
"Hahaha~! Looks like we caught ourselves a witch! You were right, she went and found them for us!" Akeno cheered as she and Kokyu drew near.
Tsukune started dragging Kurumu away, but when a tree landed behind him too, he knew they were trapped.
"...if I surrender, will you let them go?"
"OH? YOU THINK YOU CAN BARGAIN AT THIS STAGE?"
Kokyu then easily picked up Tsukune in his stony grasp, holding Tsukune's arms and chest between his large hands. He started to squeeze tightly, and Tsukune responded the only way he could: screaming in pain.
"THAT'S ALL I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU."
"Wanna just kill them here? I don't think Kuyou will mind~."
"THAT WAS MY PLAN FRON THE START."
He then clamped down tighter, as Kurumu watched in horror as her love's body was being broken in front of her. At this rate, he would... he would...
No!
She couldn't let that happen! She had to do something!
"Hm?" muttered Akeno, watching Kurumu slowly get up. "Hah! What do you think you can... do... what's this?"
A sudden burst of a menacing aura emerged, flowing out of Kurumu's body. She partially transformed again, her wings prominent, nails out, but now she had new additions: sharp fangs and blood-red eyes.
"Get away from him!" she bellowed.
Kokyu then dropped Tsukune and started swatting away at the empty air... just as if he were caught in one of Kurumu's illusions.
"Hey, snap out of it! That's a... wah!" Akeno exclaimed, dodging Kurumu's sudden attack.
"WHY YOU! I'LL JUST...!"
"Not so fast!" exclaimed another voice out of nowhere, who announced their presence by flying in and kicking Kokyu square in the face.
"Araiko-chan!" yelled out both Akeno and Yukari, one in annoyance and the other in elation.
Araiko went over and pulled the tree off of Yukari while Kurumu continued to attack Akeno.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH! DIE! DIE!"
"No thanks!"
Akeno kept on the defensive, easily evading Kokyu's wild, enraged blows and drawing him away from the downed Tsukune and Yukari. Her own attacks went unanswered, and with Yukari able to keep Akeno busy, she was joined by Kurumu on the attack. Only with the two of them together was Kokyu taken out once again... though not without exhausting them both.
"Ohhh man... glad that's over," Araiko muttered. "Hey, where did..."
"Gahhh! Put me down!"
"Yukari-chan!?"
Akeno laughed wickedly as she carried Yukari into the air, dangling her by the legs. "Alright, I've had enough of this! You'll all surrender here or I'll drop her! You got it!?"
Her entreaty was answered, however, with the sudden appearance of vines. Real vines.
They ensnared her, and she dropped Yukari in response... who fell into a mat of them.
And in the distance, who should appear but Kashi, awake once more.
"I think you're the one who should surrender. Only your boss is left now, and even he can't beat all of us."
But at that Akeno chuckled. "We'll see. You got me though, that's for sure."
With her vines, Kashi helped Kurumu, Tsukune, Yukari, and Araiko stand up, and they left Kokyu behind. Kurumu and Tsukune leaned on each other, and Yukari and Araiko did the same as they slowly made their way over to the others. Along the way, Kashi and Araiko described what they had seen of the fight against Kuyou – namely that Gin and Monokuro had been knocked out, Aoshiro now had a broken leg, and Moka and Kusashi were the only ones left fighting... but they might be enough, given how winded Kuyou was by this point, even with including Aoshiro's blood donation to Moka. They still had a chance to win.
But Kuyou still could have more tricks up his sleeve, so they wanted to end this sooner rather than later.
"Kurumu-chan, can you bring out that strange power you brought out against Kokyu-san?" asked Araiko. "If we had that, we could help take out Kuyou for sure!"
"..."
Kurumu shook her head.
"I can't do it on purpose. When that happens, it's like I'm possessed, like something's taken control of me. And it only happens when... when..."
She leans into Tsukne instead of finishing her sentence.
"Let's not put Tsukune-kun in any more danger, shall we?" asked Kashi. "I'll help them... and Yukari-chan, you can still do some magic, right?"
"Yep!" she replied, holding up her wand. "We'll just have to hope that this is enough..."
"Ah, don't worry about it! You can do it!" Araiko replied, trying to cheer the witch up. "And you shouldn't worry about it either, Kurumu-chan. You did what you could, which was already a lot. I guess succubi are more powerful than I thought..."
Kurumu chuckled. "Never doubt the power of a maiden in love~!"
Tsukune's face turned bright red while everyone else (excepting Akeno, whose mouth was sealed shut again) laughed cheerfully.
Elsewhere...
"Moka-san, to your left!"
"Hmph... not bad, Kuyou... but not enough."
"Grrr! How long will you keep up this farce!?"
"Long enough, I suppose."
...the fight against Kuyou was still raging.
True to the rumors, Kuyou was undoubtedly an unbelievably fierce fighter. Things had quickly transitioned into all five of them fighting against him, since they didn't want to take any chances with the allegedly strongest youkai at the academy. Sure enough, he was able to keep all of them at bay, forcing them into smaller engagements that favored him. From there, it wasn't a problem to turn things around on Gin to knock him out with a counter, or to use his fire abilities to remove Monokuro from play as he leapt to Aoshiro's defense. Moka was glad to have the relatively fresh Kusashi's assistance here, and Aoshiro was doing what she could despite her broken leg by using her wind abilities... but her wind couldn't win against his flames in a match of strength.
Kuyou swiped at Moka, who dodged to the side. Kusashi came in with a swift series of punches, all evaded. Kuyou created a fireball and launched it at the two of them. They were forced back, giving him space. He launched another one, but Aoshiro was able to extinguish it with the wind.
Breathing heavily, the three fighters grew still.
It was then that they heard...
"There they are, Yukari-chan, let's go!"
"Okay!"
...the sound of voices approaching. Kashi was leading Yukari and Araiko over to Aoshiro while Kurumu and Tsukune were making their way over to where Mizore lay. Akeno was tied up in Kashi's vines and Kokyu was nowhere to be seen.
Moka smirked. "Looks like you've lost... accept it, Kuyou."
The yoko grit his teeth. To think that things would descend to this point... the entire Public Safety Commision defeated... all except him. And not by vile humans, but by traitorous youkai! All to support this human, this Aono Tsukune... well, there was one easy fix for that.
The flames grew hot around him as he prepared his attack. Hotter and hotter, beyond what he'd shown so far... if this didn't work, he'd be out of it too. But it would. He had no doubt that it would. Because the solution was obvious.
He just had to make all of this go away!
Even Moka, who had gained a bit of fire resistance after drinking some of Kuyou's blood, had to back away as things grew hotter and hotter... beyond the scorching sands and towards the surface of the sun... more and more flames and fire... until, in one strike, he released it all in a wave of flying flames and blinding light.
When it was over, Kuyou fell to his knees and surveyed his surroundings. Moka was finally down, thankfully, though she hadn't taken as much damage as he'd have liked. Perhaps that was from drinking his blood earlier? In any case, Kusashi was down for the count and Aoshiro had succumbed as well, despite having partially protected herself with her winds. Kashi and Yukari were down... and Akeno had been taken out too, unfortunately. Oh well.
And in the distance...
"...Tsukune-kun? Tsukune-kun! Answer me!"
...the human had taken the blow for the succubus. But it was too late for him. He was more like a mass of burn wounds shaped like a person than a living human. No way he survived that.
Nearby, he could see Moka stirring. No matter, she would be too exhausted to...
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
...his attention was suddenly claimed by a surge of youkai energy coming from Kurumu. It was accompanied by waves upon waves of killing intent aimed squarely at him.
"How!?"
Moka was now up and alert, but he didn't focus on that. Despite that sorry state she should have been in, Kurumu was partially transforming and ready for battle. She launched herself at him... or rather multiple selves, which must have been illusions. But which one was the real one!? He swung out wildly at them, panicked, but it mattered not... for he was already consumed in the illusion. In the real world, the real Kurumu calmly approached him, claws out...
...and stabbed him through the chest, ripping out his heart and crushing it.
Kuyou fell over, dead.
"...Kurumu-chan..."
Kurumu turned to Moka. The succubus crying tears of blood; the vampire stared at her in shock... and much to the vampire's own surprise, horror, enough for both sides of her.
"Moka-chan... Tsukune-kun, he's... he's... I said I'd protect him! That I'd keep him safe! And now he's dead! He's dead and it's my fault! It's all my fault!"
The blood was then joined by actual tears as she fell over weeping and screaming.
Moka was there to catch her.