Nate - Thank you so much!! I haven't really taken a story this far before so I hope everything turns out okay. Your support means a lot to me :)
11
Kuroka sat by Yasaka's side, watching as the shrine priestess of the Youkai district cared for her child. She couldn't remember the last time she had been back in Kyoto let alone this district. Memories of her and Shirone playing around the temple came back to her. She fantasized about a normal life with her sister when she was younger, but now it felt like nothing more than a distant dream.
"Kuroka," Rossweisse said, sitting down besides her. "Shouldn't we be joining master and the others?"
She shook her head. "Let's have faith in them for now. We need to make sure nothing happens to Lady Yasaka or the civilians here."
Rossweisse smiled. "I suppose you're right." The valkyrie stood up and stretched her arms. "I'm going to patrol the area, I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Be safe," Kuroka looked back to her friend as she flew into the skies.
"You've made quite a lot of friends since the last time I saw you, haven't you?" Lady Yasaka smiled. "Especially that boy."
"You mean ma…Masamune?" Kuroka asked.
"Oh come now Kuroka," the kitsune said. "There's no need to hide it. You've found the master you've been searching for, haven't you?"
Kuroka suddenly realized how fast her heart was beating. "I…I suppose so." She mustered a smile.
"He must be a pretty amazing person," Lady Yasaka said, stroking Kunou's hair. "I would love to get to know him when this is all over."
"Yes, I'll introduce you to him," Kuroka smiled and rubbed Kunou's cheek. "He's quite the man, the last of his kind on this world."
"Last of his kind?"
Kuroka realized that Lady Yasaka didn't know. "Master is a Campione…the last one on this world as it seems. He's actually from another world, Sera and Gabriel says that it was due to an explosion in a war that he fought that blew him to this world a few weeks ago."
"I see…A Campione, huh?" Kuroka noticed how silent Lady Yasaka had gotten. "Be careful in the days to come, Kuroka, or perhaps even in the years to follow as well."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Campione are indeed individuals blessed with the divine protection and Authorities of the gods," Lady Yasaka explained. "However they are kings who are tormented by their own power. I sensed a great sadness in him when I saw him, as if his heart is still shrouded in darkness. It seems to have been lifted ever so slightly, but I fear your battles will only get harder in the future."
Kuroka took her warning to heart. Indeed she has felt something within master since they left Kuoh, and especially in Egypt, however she didn't bring it up. She had thought it was due to meeting Astrea and reuniting with Lord Osiris, however now that Lady Yasaka was feeling this as well…
"Kuroka!"
An explosion occurred outside. Kuroka quickly put up a barrier to protect Lady Yasaka, who was luckily unharmed. She stood up to see Rossweisse fending off a horde of youkai, all wielding the Ama-no-Murakumo.
"Rossweisse!" Kuroka stepped outside to join her. "Elder, protect Lady Yasaka with your lives!"
A line of youkai surrounded Lady Yasaka, which made Kuroka feel at ease even a little bit. She quickly joined up with Rossweisse, pushing back the youkai with her senjutsu.
"We have to hold out until master finishes this fight," Rossweisse said.
"Obviously," Kuroka opened a senjutsu circle behind her and shot flames at the youkai. "Please be safe…master…"
Masamune, unwillingly, took a back seat as the goddess, devil king, and archangel took the spotlight. Gabriel was in the skies with Astrea, blasting away at the youkai in the air with sheer powerful magic. Holy white light radiated from Gabriel's attacks, completely blinding the enemies. Astrea used the power of the sun, despite it being night time in the district, to shoot massive fireballs from the skies. Masamune and Sera stayed on the ground to fend off whatever forces remained, with Sera raining frozen shards from magic circles.
"Hurry and get out of here!" Masamune cried out to the hordes of civilian youkai behind them.
They had managed to force their way into the battlefield, taking out whatever enemy forces they ran into and focused on getting the civilians still trapped in the city out. They made progress getting to the temple, but it was still a ways to go.
"Sera," Masamune said. "Get the civilians to safety, maybe outside to Kyoto and use your magic to hide them until this is over."
"I can't just leave you here Munecchi," She said, holding a magic circle open.
"I'll be fine," He reassured her with a hand on her shoulder.
Sera gritted her teeth and retreated. "Everybody come with me!"
Masamune stepped forward and cracked his neck. "Gabriel! Astrea! Push them back as much as you can!"
"You don't have to tell me twice," Astrea smirked before opening a magic circle behind her. A slew of phoenix's flew from the circle and crashed into both the air forces and the youkai underneath.
Gabriel held out her hand as she shot multiple light spears at the enemies, each spear splitting into two or three before making contact and taking down more and more of them.
From over their heads, storm clouds began to gather as he used Zeus's Authority. "Lightning, strike and become my blade!" A bolt of lightning struck down and manifested the Master Bolt in his hands. With a few slashes, a wave of electricity pushed the youkai back even more. If they couldn't get to the temple, they're going to make the temple come to them.
"Do everything you can to draw Kurama out to us!" Masamune ordered.
"Well if that's the case," Astrea smirked as she flew higher. From behind her, four magic circles open up and from them emerged four cannon heads. As they gathered energy, miniature magic circles focused the beams into a single spot. "Galleon cannons! Fire!"
Four extremely compressed bursts of magic fired at the temple, destroying the outside and setting fire to it.
"That might have been a bit overboard, don't you think?" Gabriel asked.
"He said to draw him out!" Astrea protested.
"No, it's fine," Masamune said, striking lightning in a wave ahead of him. "We can rebuild after this is done, just keep the damage to the district to a minimal."
From overhead, towards the temple, they were all interjected by a loud and thundering roar. It was unlike anything he had ever heard, a roar that sent out magic that destroyed the road leading up to the temple in a wave of magic.
Masamune stabbed the Bolt into the ground to protect him. Both Astrea and Gabriel protected themselves with barriers as well.
"What the hell was that?" Astrea asked.
"He's here," Masamune smirked.
From atop the steps leading to the temple, Masamune saw a man in his late twenties with extremely long blonde hair, wearing an orange kimono and had fierce red eyes with vertical pupils that reminded him of a ferocious fox.
"God slayer!" The man roared once again, but this time jumped forward with tremendous force, leaving a crater behind as he lunged at Masamune from easily a hundred feet away.
Masamune blocked his swing of the Ama-no-Murakumo with the bolt, but it created a force that blew away the buildings around them.
"So you're Kurama," Masamune smirked. "And that's the real Ama-no-Murakumo. Nice to meet you."
"Die!" Kurama landed on his feet and created copies of the sword around him, shooting them at Masamune.
He backflipped in order to evade, but the effects of the sword were incredibly enhanced. The real sword seemed to have a poison that infected the ground in puddles of poison.
"Snap out of it Kurama! This isn't you!"
"Shut up!" Kurama lunged at him, but once again Masamune blocked it. "Not this time!" From behind him, Kurama manifested nine tails made of magic. As two of them grabbed onto his hands, restricting him of movement, the rest gathered magic into orbs of spiraling magic.
"Masamune!" Gabriel cried.
It was no use, he was somehow bypassing Aegis, he wasn't able to block this. Kurama plunged seven orbs of magic into his stomach, blasting him back and skidding on the ground.
Astrea and Gabriel flew down by his side to check up on him. "Masamune! Are you…"
Masamune sat up and looked at his stomach. It was a complete wreck, there was scar tissue already forming from the attack, it had completely ripped through his shirt and twisted his skin into knots. If his body wasn't immune to external magic, it might have completely ripped through his body.
"This…might be harder than I thought," Masamune chuckled as he got to his feet.
"How can you be laughing at a time like this?" Astrea asked as she joined him.
"Because if I was scared, we'd have a problem," Masamune clutched as the Bolt. "He's somehow bypassing the Divine Intervention of Aegis and my overcoming my body's immunity to external magic. I can take a few more hits of that attack, but I don't know how many before it actually does some damage." His stomach was already healing and back to normal.
"Is it the sword?" Gabriel asked.
"It has to be," Masamune said. "I'm guessing he was already a powerful youkai. That sword just enhanced everything related to magic in his body, especially his rage, and his suppressing any form of kindness or sympathy."
"What do we do?" Gabriel asked.
"Only one thing we can do," The Bolt vanished with a spark of lightning, before his right forearm was encased by a black and red gauntlet. A long curved sword manifested in his hand with a guard that was hollow with a flame in the middle. "Get that sword away from him."
"I don't know if that's possible in his state," Astrea said as they watched an out of control Kurama swing his sword rapidly, destroying the buildings around him.
"We'll have to make it possible," Masamune stepped forward. "Time to actually work for a living."
"I guess so," Gabriel smirked.
"Let's kick some ass," Astrea pounded her fists together before the two girls jumped forward.
Astrea formed a spear in her hands as she took an attack from the Ama-no-Murakumo. Gabriel came in from the other side with a close combat attack, white light coming from her hands, but Kurama's tails defended it. He quickly pushed Astrea back and kicked Gabriel to the side. He got his ground and launched himself at Masamune.
The two clashed swords once again, but this time was different. The Sword of Damacles began to absorb the magic from the Ama-no-Murakumo.
"Dance, my sword," Masamune said. "Sword of the damned that steals the essence of battle."
Kurama growled before unleashing even more magic. The Sword of Damacles is Ares's secret weapon, capable of absorbing magic from even the gods themselves. However Masamune realize it wouldn't do him any good here. Kurama had become a bottomless pit of magic, his body was absorbing magic through the air quicker then the sword can take it.
Kurama's tails began to extend, latching themselves onto his arms and legs and raising him into the air.
"You and your kind are a plague," Kurama said in a deep, low voice. "Monopolizing us like some sort of collection, oppressing us because we don't fit your standards. Soon you shall see what it feels like to be on the receiving end. Let your sins be your undoing!"
From the rubble, Astrea exploded all the wood off of her. She revealed herself in her armor, a grand wheel floated behind her with a golden headpiece donning her head. She held a long spear with flames coming from the blade and plates floating around her waist.
"You make me mad," Astrea took her spear and threw it right at Masamune. The blade cut through those magic tails, setting him free on his feet.
Gabriel didn't seem to back down either, sprouting her wings and taking flight. Six magic circles opened as bursts of white light came out and followed Kurama through the town, as if tracking his every movement.
Astrea came over to Masamune's side, helping him up. "We really need some sort of plan. Running in blind won't be of any help."
"I'll keep him busy until you guys figure something out," Gabriel said.
With Kurama jumping around and evading Gabriel's attacks, it gave Masamune and Astrea a bit of breathing room to formulate some sort of plan.
"We can't kill him," Masamune said. "There has to be a way to free him from the sword without ending his life. I won't let that little girl grow up without a father."
"There might not be any other way, Masamune," Astrea said. "I know you don't like to kill, but sometimes it's better to die then to live as a monster like that."
Masamune slammed his fist into the ground. "Dammit!"
Astrea placed her hand on top of his. "You can do this, Masamune. Strengthen your heart and find your resolve. These people, the people of this district are counting on you. Go and be the god slaying hero that you've always been."
Could he do it? He was about to take another life, but more then that, he was about to kill a little girl's father. She'd have to grow up not knowing how great her father was, remembering him as some monster who ravaged through this district. He didn't...
"Masamune-Kun!"
The two looked behind them to see Lady Yasaka. She was being helped up by Kuroka and guarded by Rossweisse.
"Do what needs to be done," Yasaka said.
"But...I can't..." Masamune began to tremble.
"Kunou will be alright," Yasaka smiled. "I'll make sure she remembers her father for the man he was, not for how the monster he became because of that sword."
Masamune balled his fists and clutched his sword tight. He stood up and looked to Kurama. "Gabriel!"
"I'm on it," The angel stopped her attack and retreated back to Yasaka's side.
Kurama landed on the ground and faced Masamune, his magic completely out of control and lashing out into their surroundings.
"Forgive me," Masamune gripped his sword with both hands as he prepared to face Kurama.
With a growl, Kurama charged at Masamune with full speed. The god slayer didn't back down as he dashed forward, the moment they clashed blades creating a force that knocked everybody back. As it settled...he realized something wasn't right.
"Master!"
He looked to his chest, as the Ama-no-Murakumo ran right through him. Though to be fair, the Sword if Damocles had pierced Kurama through his stomach.
Blood filled Masamune's mouth as he coughed it up. A magic circle suddenly opened up underneath him as everything went white.
When he opened his eyes, Masamune was standing on a giant platform with an Omega symbol on it. They were in his headspace, this was where he was blessed with his Campione abilities.
Through the whiteness of the skies, a figure formed before him. It was Kurama, but less angry and possesed, with much kinder eyes and a gentle smile.
"We meet at last, Asa Masamune," Kurama smiled.
His long blonde hair was tied back into a long ponytail. His arms were peeking through the rips of his kimono to rest his arms as he smiled at Masamune.
"What the hell happened?" Masamune rubbed his head.
"It seems as though the sword completely took over me," Kurama said. "I don't think there's any coming back from this, I'm afraid."
"Don't say that!" Masamune said. "I promise, I'll find a way to-"
Kurama shook his head. "You and I both know that even if you brought me back, I'd be nothing like the man I was. I'd be a broken shell of the man I once was."
"That's...Kunou needs her father," He balled his fists. "You can't just leave her like this."
Kurama smiled. "The sword showed me many things, and told me many more things about the infamous god slayer who saved the world a countless times over. I never thought I'd be able to meet you, and in these conditions..."
"It's a pleasure..." Masamune relaxed and mustered a smile.
"The sword showed me what's to come, Asa-San," Kurama said. "The battles that await you in the future, will be nothing like the ones you've faced before. It isn't an understatement to say that the fate of the whole world is at stake."
"I know," Masamune said. "Trihexa...The devourer of worlds."
"That, but also the demons you've feared for so long," Kurama said. "The monsters in your closet that you've locked away for centuries, they'll finally be set free."
"What are you-"
Kurama smiled. "I suppose that's for you to find out, isn't it?" He giggled before walking over to him. Kurama reached out and handed a small teddy bear to Masamune. "I know we just met, and it may be too much, but please look out for Kunou. She'll need lots of love and support as she grows up, and I fear Yasaka will have a tough time ahead."
"Kurama..." Masamune said. He graciously took the teddy bear and stared at the kyuubi.
"Though I have seen the possible future for this world, I want to believe that it can be changed," Kurama smiled. "I suppose I shall put my faith in you, Asa Masamune. Please tell my wife and child, that I love them, and that I'm sorry it turned out like this. I just wanted to protect our home."
His voice became distant as the light began to grow. Masamune was back in his body, standing before Kurama with both of their weapons piercing the other. Slowly, the life began to leave Kurama as he fell back.
"Darling!" Yasaka ran over to her beloved's side.
Masamune fell back with the Ama-no-Murakumo still in his chest. "Dammit!"
"Munecchi!" Sera descended from the skies and landed besides him. "Dammit this is why I don't leave your side. I'm gone for 2 seconds and you get a sword in your heart."
Masamune chuckled. "Y-Yeah...Sorry."
"What do I do?" Sera asked.
"Pull it out," Masamune said, coughing up more blood. "My body can't heal if it's still stuck in there."
"B-But..."
"I got it," Astrea grabbed the hilt and pulled out the blade in a single stroke.
Masamune cried out in pain. "You could at LEAST be a bit gentler! MAN that really hurt!"
Astrea smirked. "Ehe."
His body's auto healing immediately kicked in, as he stood up and walked over to Yasaka and Kurama.
"M-Masamune..." Kurama said, the dark magic from the sword finally leaving his system. "R-Remember...our...promise."
Masamune knelt down and took his hand. "I give you my word, Kurama."
With a smile, the last trace of life left Kurama's body.
After Masamune sealed away the Ama-no-Murakumo, he met up with Kuroka and the others at the temple. The remaining youkai had already begun to rebuild the district after Sera returned everyone back home.
Masamune sat on his knees with Sera, Gabriel, Kuroka, and Rossweisse while Astrea sat crossed legged because she's "a goddess who doesn't bow down to anybody."
In front of them, Yasaka sat in renewed clothes alongside Kunou, who slept on her mother's lap. It's been a few hours since Kurama died and Yasaka had regained strength enough to walk around on her own.
"I cannot thank you enough, Masamune-Kun," Yasaka smiled at him. "If it were not for you, everyone in this district would have surely perished."
"I..." Masamune choked on his words. "What will you do now?"
"Do our best to move on I suppose," Yasaka rubbed Kunou's head. "I'll be sure to raise her into a strong and proud woman, like her father would have wanted."
"Lady Yasaka..." Masamune stood up and walked over to them, kneeling before them. "Kurama wanted me to give this to Kunou." He pulled out the teddy bear from his headspace. "He loved you both, very much, and he apologizes for how things turned out."
It was clear that Yasaka was holding it in all this time, being brave for her people and her child. But that teddy bear seemed to be the breaking point, opening the dams of her heart. She began to cry as she clutched onto the bear and Kunou.
"Thank you, Masamune-Kun," Yasaka sniffled. "Thank you so much."
He pulled out a slip of paper with a magic circle on it. "Here, please take it."
"A magic circle?"
"A friend of mine made a few for me," Masamune smiled. "If you ever need me, for anything, use this to reach me. Don't hesitate to call. I made a promise afterall."
"What will you do now?" Yasaka asked, wiping her tears.
"We'll leave, and find the rest of the relics in this world," Masamune stood up. "All these relics do is just bring destruction and despair into this world. I wish not for anyone else to fall victim to them."
"Masamune..." Yasaka looked to him. "I suppose I can understand a bit now, of how Kuroka feels." Yasaka set Kunou down and stood up, walking towards him.
"L-Lady Yasaka?" He gulped.
"Please be sure to come back soon," She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, to the shock and bewilderment of the girls behind him. "Masamune-Kun."
Masamune rubbed his cheek and blushed as Yasaka smiled and covered her mouth.
"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" Sera cried and covered her face. "Is it gonna be like this in every city we go to!?!?"
Gabriel sighed and blushed. "More and more competition as the days go on."
Rossweisse balled her fists and began to tear up. "I promise I'll do better, my king."
"That's my master for ya," Kuroka licked her lips.
"Now I see why you have so many girls around you, Masamune." Astrea smirked.
Masamune stared at them with a tilted head. "Huh?"
Author's Note - Alright guys, time skip next chapter. I promise Yasaka will be a part of his harem, probably along with Kunou as well, but it'll be in a few chapters. I really wanna get back to the main plot with a bit of character development for Rossweisse and Astrea. Anyways, thanks for your support everyone and I'll see you soon :)