Slayer: Well I decided that I would finish chapter since I left off the last one with a cliff hanger. Anyway I'm sure you all are wondering why I gave put Shirone into the story. One her situation was perfect for me to do so. Two she isn't human which lets me by pass a lot of issues of bringing a regular human nine year old to a school full of monsters. Three because in order for Hunter to grow he needed to actually be a pillar someone else could lean on. Sure Mizore can use him for support but she doesn't really need it at this point. Plus she's more or less his support than he is hers. As to why she's acting the way she is well… For one she was never captured and sentenced to death only to be saved last minute by some insane siscon. And it was really only a few days from the "incident". Also I won't be showing any more magical abilities until later. What you've seen is what you get for now. Still any corrections any of you could send me will be rather helpful.
Shadow: You're just too lazy to look through anything aren't you?
Shirone: Hey don't insult big brother!
Mizore: I concur… Even if what you said is true.
Slayer: Thanks I appreciate all of your support. Anyway Shadow can you do the disclaimer.
Shadow: Sure (clears throat)… Slayer infinium doesn't own anything except OCs and Reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owner. Now without further ado…
Everyone: Here's the story!
Outsider: When are you coming out with the next TOTDG?
Slayer: Probably sometime this week. Although I might have to slow down because of my new job.
"Dark inner voice"
"Light inner voice"
'other language'
'Telepathic/talking to inner voice'
Thoughts
Chapter Four: I will protect
As we left the hotel I was still working on the scripting as we walked towards town. The current plan was to get different clothes to help us blend in. Currently I placed an illusion charm on me to make my sword and gun invisible. I had also just barely gotten done with page three of the scripting so that was well in good. Still I had seven pages left and that would take a while. When we made it to the clothes store I ended up getting a dark blue trench coat with a leather cowboy hat and a black long sleeved shirt with regular black sunglasses. I also was now wearing a pair of blue jeans and had brown hiking boots. Shirone got a pink long coat with a hood that she decided to wear over her clothes and also chose some white boots. The boots were tied up with black laces. The hood of her coat she wore up to conceal her hair. Looking at her I gave her some tips to fitting in while on the run.
"Okay first we're using the names we gave Yuffie last night, second you never look around with a worried face just keep smiling and look around every once and a while. Remember they're looking for people who seem out of place. Fit in with the crowd and remain calm that way you'll just blend in and they'll over look you. You got all of that?" She thought for a moment but nodded her head. I nodded and started walking in a steady place while working on script. Shirone did what I told her to do but still kept close to me. Thinking that the only problem was her eyes I took out some glasses, I uttering a quick charm I made it so her eyes would be brown instead of gold when people looked at them. Handing her the glasses I quietly explained what they were for and she put them on.
At one we decided to stop to eat at some place, we ended up choosing an out of the way ramen stand. It wasn't bad but I knew I could make better stuff. But I let it slide as I paid the bill. As the day passed by I started to feel a little anxious mostly because things were going too smoothly and I didn't feel a single devil all day. And like I've said before I have paranoia issues. But still I needed to be strong at the moment so I didn't let my worry show and kept working on the script. So far I managed to finish up to page five. Yep all day working on it and I've only done five pages. There was still five left to do as well, this is why I couldn't just sit down and quickly write it all up. To anyone else who looked at what I was writing they'd just see random squiggles numbers and shapes. But in truth it was a highly calculated and complicated system. The language of which I was writing was actually Voidric.
Or the language of the void, highly powerful and interesting, yet so amazingly complicated it took pages to write a single chapter! That's right I've only written two whole paragraphs in Voidric so far! I decided to talk to the Outsider about this later, there had to be a better way to do all this. I looked up when I noticed a lack of noise. Looking around I could see that we were in an empty street. I cursed myself silently for being so careless. Pulling Shirone behind me I let out my senses. I was able to feel something right behind me as I blinked both of us away. Looking back to where we were before was Horace the reincarnated knight. He was holding a red and black broad sword. Apparently he tried to cut off my head but since I blinked all he got was empty space. Turning around I saw the other three fly down with their wings and joined him on the ground.
Vex the bishop was the one to first address me. "Well now look who we've found!" He snarled at us in detest. "The traitor and the runaway cat! I have some good news you don't have to run anymore! Since we'll be killing you right here and…" He never finished what he was going to say since I being me, decided to take out my pistol and shoot him in the face. Blood spilled everywhere as he quickly died despite his healing abilities. My pistol was after all made for things much stronger and bigger than he was, still the blood flowed to me and I got out my blood container. The container quickly absorbed it for later use and I sealed it again and turned towards the remaining devils. What I've told you before I don't care for monologues. However my actions brought shocked faces from everyone even Shirone. But I just shrugged my shoulders before answering the unspoken question.
"What we're fighting and he was doing a monologue, it was a perfect opportunity to take him out. To be perfectly honest it was a tactically sound move." I looked at Shirone who ended up nodding her head in agreement. Patting her head I turned back towards the remaining three devils who were now enraged. "What are you so angry about? Weren't you the ones who decided to kill us? Besides I told Xenolith what would happen if he sent anyone after us." I could tell they were about to attack so I turned to Shirone.
"Listen I need you back up and hide behind something. This will probably get messy." She nodded and ran behind a post man delivery box and peeked out behind it. Satisfied that she was out of the way enough I undid the illusion charm on my sword and drew it. The blade sparkled a bit in the remaining sun light. I took off my sunglasses and put them away, I then glared at them. "So who wants to go first?" Enraged with the death of one of their peerage members the two rooks and knight charged at me. The time to talk was over, now it was time to fight. Horace with his "knightly" speed was the first to reach me. Swinging at my right side I quickly blocked it with my own blade. Sparks cascaded to the ground as we held our swords together.
He was a little bit faster than me, but I was stronger and more durable. So pushing our blades upwards I shoved him back a bit and kicked him in the stomach. He rolled a few meters before righting himself with his hand. While he recovered the two rooks attack me from the sides. They used the distraction Horace caused to gang up on me. Together they threw punches and kicks; I could tell that they were definantly stronger than me. But I was faster than them. I frowned at that thought, while this was good for me. The fact that there were two people stronger than me and someone faster than me put me at a disadvantage. Ducking underneath a punch from Yuno I grabbed her hand and used her momentum to throw her into Ferris. As they tumbled I had to quickly defend myself from Horace who was now in front of me and delivering a barrage of slashes.
Locking our swords again I saw the other two run up to us. Growling at this I quickly dropped down making Horace stumble forward from the lack of resistance. Quickly I kicked out and tripped him while jumping back from a flying kick sent at me from Ferris. Taking the opportunity I used my ice abilities to freeze the ground those two were on causing them to slip and tumble. Before I could turn them to ice however I had to take a step back from Yuno who punched at me. I noticed that Yuno was a puncher while Ferris was a kicker. It truly seemed like they had all of their bases checked. Grabbing her arm I twirled her around before swinging at her with my sword. She managed to roll forward but still got a small cut on her back from my blade. She winced as she tried to stand up, I ran towards her to finish her but I had to jump away from another sword slash from Horace.
While Ferris checked on Yuno I engaged the knight once more. This time however he was attacking with even more ferocity than before. He started to give me small nicks from his relentless barrage. Scowling I quickly moved my left hand up to the air as if I was brushing away a fly. While doing this my mark glowed an ethereal white and a gust of powerful wind smacked into him. Unexpected as the attack was he was able to defend himself as he was sent into a light post. His body ended up bending it while he slowly got up using his sword for support. I was about to send an ice spike into his gut when I felt an explosion of pain coming from my left side. This was followed by weightlessness as I flew through the air and rolled to a stop on the ground.
I got to my knees and felt my side; I winced as I felt a few broken ribs. I looked back to see that Ferris had kicked me while I was focusing on Horace. Scowling I slowly got up, by the time I did manage to get to my feet the three devils had regrouped. All of us were now battered. Scowling I quickly checked to see if Shirone was still safe, which she was thanks the Outsider for that. But she looked very worried and scared, smiling I decided to reassure her.
"Don't worry I'm not dying here and I'm not letting them hurt you. So just sit back while I finish this." My words worked a little but she still showed concern. However I turned back to my opponents that were laughing.
Yuno was the first one to mock me. "Still worried about that freak eh? Don't worry we'll kill you first so you don't have to see what we are going to do to her." Unfortunately those were her last words, with anger boiling in me as they laughed at her words I blinked behind her. Unable to follow my movements none of them could do anything as I impaled Yuno through the heart.
"I did warn you… I don't care for monologues. As for your death you can blame Xenolith for sending you after me, and your stupidity for you actually listening to him." Still alive but in pain I twisted my sword so the blade was facing her right side. After that I pulled outwards cutting though both lungs and right out where I kept my blade in the air held out to the side. She made some noises as she collapsed she writhed on the ground for a bit before the light in her eyes dimmed and left. I quickly absorbed her blood to heal some of my wounds; the rest was absorbed into my container. The last remaining devils jumped away from me and I could feel complete hate coming from them now. Still I had evened the odds a bit more… Even if two of my attacks were practically cheap shots.
Still they were now wary of my abilities. They had seen my blink, ice, and wind powers. It would be harder to get the jump on them from now on. But they would at least be easier to handle. My wounds were now a dull pain but I could still feel that my ribs were cracked. I needed to finish this and use their blood to increase my powers. If this was just four of them I didn't want to know how strong the other six were. Refocusing on my enemies we waited to see who would make the first move. Narrowing my eyes I ran at them at full speed but when I was a few feet from them I blinked to the left side of Ferris. I decided that I was done playing around; I quickly swung at her with my blade. She managed to back up but I still gave her a long cut along her arm. At this time I was focusing all my senses and so when Horace went in to cut me across my back I blinked away.
Hitting air he turned towards me while I was a few meters away. Using my cryokinesis I launched a few ice spikes at him while blinking back to the rook. He was able to block all of them with quick sword cuts. However I lined both him and Ferris in my sights and sent another strong blast of wind at both of them. This caused them to crash into each other. Rolling a few dozen yards away they untangled themselves and got up. I was breathing hard from exertion while they were breathing hard out of pain. Acting quickly I sent a few ice shards at them which Horace put Ferris behind him and once again blocked them. However when I launched them I ran right behind them. Looking at me in surprise from suddenly being so close to each other I gave him an upper diagonal sword strike. Unable to block it I successfully wounded him only to be kicked in the stomach by Ferris.
This time I was sent flying into a building in which I created a crater in. Wincing as I felt many broken bones I was able to slightly heal off of Horace's blood before he died and my container absorbed the rest. Ferris was the only one alive, so I decided to give her a choice.
"Ferris you're the only one left. If you leave now and never come after us again you may live. If not I will have no choice but to kill you." Currently she was on her knees sitting in front of the body of the dead knight. I could feel her confusion and knew she didn't know what to do. She slowly took off her blue coat and mask to reveal a teenage girl with black long hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a red cut off coat over it. She was also wearing red pants and had a black leather belt around her waist. However she was still was wearing her black combat boots. She looked at me while scowling.
"You win I'll leave and never bother you again. However know that the rest of my peerage will come after you. This leaves me no choice but to leave it, since more than likely you'll eliminate them." She turned around and flew off with her wings. Sighing I took out a blood vial and drank it. I still wasn't completely healed but I felt much better. All there was now was to get some rest and I'd be as right as rain. Still I groaned in pain when I felt something tackled hug me, looking down I saw it was Shirone who was burying her face into my coat. Smiling I hugged her back and rubbed her head softly.
When she spoke to me I could hear her sniffling. "I-I was worried that you would…" She trailed off and kept crying in relief, but I understood what she meant. She was worried that I would die and leave her, tightening the hug despite m bodies protests I tried to cheer her up.
"Hey don't worry didn't I say I wouldn't die and leave you? Besides I still need you to meet my friends back at Yokai. How would we be able to do that if I left you?" She didn't answer me but I could tell that she was calming down. And that's when I got an idea. "Hey I did tell you about my homeroom teacher?" She looked up at me and shook her head, smiling I continued. "Well her name is Shizuka Nekonome. And she's a Nekomusume and I'm positive she would love to meet you." Her eyes widened when I told her that. You see Nekomata and Nekomusume are similar but… Nekomusume are known to be more laid back. Hence cat girl instead of cat demon.
"Are you sure she would like to meet me?" I nodded my head in confirmation. Personally I also thought that Ms. Nekonome would be a good influence on her since she was of a similar breed of Yokai. Although I would have to make sure she didn't end up scratching people's faces like she did or end up becoming a spaz. At that moment I had no way of knowing that she sneezed loudly in the middle of class.
"Okay I would like to meet her as well just don't leave me, can you promise me that?" I smiled and looked her in the eye.
"I promise."
Welcome to this line break!
We ended up staying at another hotel and I told her about what I was and how I could do everything. Instead of scaring her she instead looked at me in wonder. Apparently she found my abilities and story rather amazing. During that night I also converted the blood I obtained into my own power. Surprisingly it was actually quite a lot of power those three held. I was now faster than a knight and stronger than a rook. Lucky me that Xenolith only had one knight and bishop left. Although his queen will probably be rather difficult to beat along with he himself but... if I could get rid of the last bishop and knight along with the pawns… I should be able to have enough power to beat them both.
The key word being "should"… I had no idea how strong they really were. Still if I can complete the script for Shirone than I could send her to my hunters dream and not have to worry about her safety. That way I could focus on the fight with no distractions. If I could I would take her and never bother with Xenolith again however… He was able to contact me and send me his dimensions coordinates. Which only means he can also travel dimensions, in other words Shirone won't be safe until he's dead or until he gives up. Scowling I went back to working on the scripting, there was only three pages left to go.
The next day we left and did pretty much what we did yesterday, except now I paid attention to any empty streets while working on the script. This made the process slower but it allowed me to be more observant. Which in truth was all that really mattered; I was personally hoping to get through this day without conflict so I could get Shirone to safety before going after Xenolith's head. Hopefully that would send a big enough message telling everyone to back off. But a peaceful day was not to be when I sensed some devils nearby. However they hadn't seemed to notice us yet, so picking Shirone in a one armed hug I blinked to the top of a building. Couching down and peering over the edge I was able to see five blue coated figures that were looking for us. That meant everyone besides Xenolith, this was fine with me since this let me have the opportunity to take them out quietly.
However at this distance I couldn't tell which one was the strongest. If I could take out the bishop and pawns quietly enough I could more easily handle the knight and queen. Scowling I tried to figure out which one was the queen. That was when Shirone spoke up to me.
"I think that ones the queen over there." She pointed out to the one that was talking to some people. More than likely trying to get information on our whereabouts, still I looked at Shirone in confusion.
"How do you know that ones the queen?" She seemed to think for a bit before answering me.
"If I concentrate I can feel ones power, emotions, and personalities through sensing their chakra. You see we use chakra in order to use our senjutsu and youjutsu. At least that's what my sister told me before…" She trailed off with a sad look so I put my arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry it's okay, I'll trust your word that that's the queen. To be honest I'm rather impressed you can tell that she's the strongest. Personally I have to be up close to them to feel that, although I am quite able to sense aura's from long ways off. This is how I found you in the first place so great work." She blushed at my praise, and I turned to pick my first target. Now that I knew which one was the queen I could take the others out stealthily enough. My first target was one who Shirone told me was weaker than the rest. So I had to guess it was a pawn. Currently the pawn was closing in on an alley. The perfect place to silence him, picking the Neko up again I jumped and blinked over to the alley. When the pawn was in front of the entrance I struck. Grabbing him and putting my hand over his mouth and stabbing him through the heart with my sword. Soon enough he stopped struggling and I extracted my sword and laid him against the alleys wall.
"One down four to go." Motioning for Shirone to follow me up a nearby ladder we once again made it to the top of a building.
I quickly looked over at her when we made it. "You okay?" She seemed a bit shaken from seeing me kill someone like I had but she otherwise looked fine.
"Don't worry I'll be fine I just want this all to be over." I put my hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.
"You and me both, for now though I need to know if you can identify the Bishop. With it out of the way we can focus more on the rest without worrying that it'll heal them." Taking a deep breath she looked out over everyone and started to concentrate. After a few minutes her eyes stopped moving she quickly pointed out to something.
"There! The one peering around that building, I feel a stronger magical presence coming from that one." I nodded more than likely that was the Bishop, especially if Shirone didn't say it felt the strongest. Picking her up again I repeated the process with the pawn. Except now I threw the body into a large trash can. I would do what I did before but… Than her body for this bishop was a she, would be visible to everyone since this was right to the side of a building. Luckily however I'm quite fast and was able to hide it before anyone noticed. I looked at Shirone and she was glancing around nervously.
"I can feel them starting to get antsy, more than likely it's from not being able to communicate with those we've killed." After hearing her say that I gave her a stern look which surprised her.
"Shirone listen to me, you haven't killed anyone remember that. Any death that's happened is on mine and Xenolith's hands. Please remember that." She looked down but nodded. Feeling bad for upsetting her I went up to her and started petting her head. She looked up at me with a confused expression.
"Listen I'm not mad at you, I just need you to know that none of this is your fault and that you've just got caught up in something. Your hands are clean, and I want to try and keep them that way for as long as possible. Now then let's get back to it. If you can point out the next pawn that'll be great." Gaining a determined look she concentrated and pointed out to me another pawn. This one was obviously worried and was running around with frantic haste. He was obviously trying to find us before we found him although he failed in that regard. Grabbing Shirone's hand I led us over to the pawn with a calm and neutral walk. This allowed us to blend in with the crowd as I moved towards my target.
When we were close enough I grabbed his shoulder and blinked to the top of a building. I quickly threw him to the ground, but I didn't kill him right now I decided to get some answers out of him.
"No please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" Or at least I would try to get some answers if he wasn't freaking out. Rolling my eyes I went up to him and slapped him.
"Snap out of it! Look if you cooperate I won't kill you deal?!" He nodded his head although he was still whimpering. "Alright now I need to know how you keep finding us."
Somehow he was able to answer me without stuttering. "Master Xenolith is able to sense your general location by feeling out the blood of the devils you've killed. They were a part of our peerage so it's only natural for him to feel what's left of his servants." I nodded my head to what he said, it made sense.
"Okay then, now tell me why you're after Shirone." This question would help me determine whether or not to kill him.
He thought for a bit before answering me. "I'm after her because my master Xenolith told me to go after her, and to disobey his orders means death. But to be honest despite that if we follow him he's rather nice." I nodded my head again; some rulers think it's better to be feared than to be loved after all.
"Okay last question, tell me the abilities of your last knight and your queen. After that you can leave this area but if I find you again I will kill you." He quickly nodded his head before answering me and getting up.
"Well the knight's name is Ruben. Now despite him being a knight he doesn't use a sword instead he uses throwing chakram's. They're enchanted to return to the thrower. Using his speed he can use them rather effectively. He also has an eleven inch dagger just in case." I pondered this for a bit and motioned for him to continue. "As for the queen her name is Sherry. Unlike the rest of us her power comes from the use of manipulating wind. A rare ability for devils, but powerful nonetheless." I grimaced, because apparently my wind abilities would be useless against her. "However she thinks she can take you by herself, and let's pride rule her actions most of the time. Sorry but that's everything I can tell you right off the top of my head."
I nodded to him and gave him my thanks. "Yeah to be honest I'm glad to be out of this peerage. It was actually starting to worry me." He then looked at Shirone. "For what it's worth I'm sorry for what we've done. Here take this." Reaching into a coat pocket he got out two fingerless black leather gloves. Shirone looked at them with surprise but took them from him. "Yes those are your sister's gloves, I was going to use them but I think you should have them."
She looked at him with a grateful smile. "Thank you I'll remember this." Seeing this brought a smile to my face and I extended out my hand. He looked at it before grabbing it, we shook hands for a bit before letting go.
"Anyway my name is Tylor and it was good to meet you." He turned to leave but he stopped and turned back to us. "There is one last thing you should know. Everyone you've faced so far has been a reincarnated devil. Ruben and Sherry are full blooded devils. That means they'll be much stronger than the others. So be careful and watch out." I nodded my head before he took off leaving me much to think about. Quickly I increased my power with the blood I got from the other bishop and pawn. Surprisingly the pawn was the one that gave me the most power. I'd have to check into that later though. Turning to Shirone I saw her try to put the gloves on, frowning it turned out they were about five sizes too big for her.
"If you want I can make them smaller for you." Looking at me she gave a grateful smile as she handed me the gloves.
"Thanks I don't want to lose them." I nodded and used the charm until they were the right size for her. After which I handed them back and she put them on.
"Just tell me when they start getting small and I will make them bigger again." She nodded her head and we both approached the edge of the building. By now it was starting to get late, and the people below were starting to filter out of the street. Soon we wouldn't be able to hide ourselves. I decided it would be best for them to come to us, so we waited to see if they would find us. I worked on the scripting while Shirone decided to do some training. Apparently the gloves gave the wearer increased punching power. While she was doing punching and kicking I chimed in every once and a while to give her some pointers. For her age she wasn't too bad, give it a few years of practice and I believe she could give inner Moka a run for her money.
Of course that was if she was on her own; with me it might be much quicker. I like to think I'm a pretty good martial artist. Heck I throw some in with my swordsmanship. It was about another about an hour later she stopped and sat down next to me to rest. To be honest things were starting to get boring…
"You said it." I frowned when I heard his voice for two reasons. One he sounded different, and two he no longer sounded like a he… instead he sounded like a she! 'Um what's happen to you?' "Don't worry everything will be explained at the right moment for now focus on the two devils coming at us." 'Wait what?' Sure enough the last two following us landed on the roof of the building. Sighing I stood up and stretched a bit.
"So you've finally shown up, took you long enough. You know we've been waiting here for the past hour and concrete isn't exactly comfortable. So are we going to do this the easy way? Or the hard way where I send you back to Xenolith in pieces?" Their answers were to get ready to fight me. The one I assumed was Ruben took out two circles that had serrated edges. I could correctly assume those were his Chakram's. While the other held out her palm and a tiny tornado appeared in it. Telling Shirone to back off to the side so she wouldn't get involved I took out my sword and waited. Ruben came at me first, in a burst of speed he ran to my side while throwing his left chakram at me.
I quickly batted it aside and rolled to the left to dodge a wind drill heading towards my face. I scowled as Ruben's chakram came back to his hand just like how Tylor said it would. He caught it and threw both of them at me. I weaved through them and blinked out of the way of a large blast of wind. I needed to take out Ruben since he was probably the weakest up close. So blinking over to him I started hacking away at him. However he was able to use his chakram's to block my attacks. Although I could hear him grunting in exertion, however another air drill made me have to break off my attack. I bit back a curse as I had to keep dodging wind drills as Ruben threw his chakram's at me. I had to find a way to disarm him.
Thinking quickly I pulled out my pistol and started to fire at him, I wasn't able to kill him but I was able to injure his right leg. With his speed halved and no bishop to heal him I could more easily take him out. If only I could get past this wind throwing maniac! Looking back to her I could see that she aimed right where I was however it was the rate of which she could fire that got me. Still I could use it to my advantage; waiting until Ruben threw his chakram's again I blinked right in front of him and started to hack away at him. He received a couple more cuts but was able to dodge most of my attacks. However this time there was no wind shooting at me. Because I was directly in between Ruben and Sherry she couldn't send off another wind blast or else she might hit him now that he didn't have his full speed.
Hearing the chakram's getting close I pressed a button on my sword handle. This extended the handle of the sword to about three feet. Using the length I grabbed the blades out of the air before he could grab them. Blinking away I put them both into my infinite pocket making it impossible for him to get them back. Growling he took out his dagger and charged at me. Twirling around my staff sword I turned it back to normal before blocking his quick knife swings. Smiling I aimed a stab at him which he jumped back to avoid. Expecting that I pressed the button and let the weapon extend again only to impale him. He coughed out some blood but smiled at me and grabbed the blade of the sword.
"Now Sherry!" Realizing what was happening I let go of my weapon and blinked away. Just in time for a large air drill to fly right past me. Scowling I took out my pistol as Ruben took the sword out of his stomach. Still smiling he tossed it into the air and Sherry used another powerful wind screw to break it in half. Sword less I now took aim at them with my pistol.
Ruben started laughing at me. "That's what you get for taking my chakram's boy!" He continued to laugh so I blinked behind him and fired my gun at his heart. He must have been rather lucky because he moved to the side at the last second, but it still blew off his right arm. He was now screaming in pain and holding his stump while I backed off while the queen ran to him firing wind blasts at me. I was able to get a breather when she kneeled down to examine the knight's wounds. Normally I would go ahead and shoot them while they were distracted but this was a bit different. Ruben was bleeding out and dying. Though is Sherry continued I would give her the same fate I at least would let them have one final moment together. Looking over to Shirone I blinked over to her to make sure they didn't try anything while my guard was down. I also popped open a blood vial just in case.
Though used to the taste by now I couldn't help but stick my tongue out in disgust. I really need to find a way to make these things taste better. Looking back to my opponents I listened to what they were saying.
"Ruben! You can't die here! Master Xenolith still needs us to complete this mission." His body was now slightly curled up on the ground while Sherry looked over him. "We're full blooded devils you can survive this!" Ruben started laughing but that stopped when he started coughing, I could see him cough out some blood as well. He wasn't going to make it and he knew it.
"Sorry, but I'm about done here. At this point you have a chance to beat him without his sword. But I'd feel better if you just left, this man is much more than we first realized." After killing pretty much their whole peerage they just now finally realize that? "I wonder when our opponents will stop underestimating us. It would be a rather nice change." 'I actually sort of agree with you there despite your new um… Change.' He… sorry I meant she stopped talking to me after that, whatever happened must have been interesting if she changed this much. My thoughts were interrupted by the knights coughing.
"Remember one thing Sherry the deaths of our friends aren't his fault." Now that was something I didn't expect. "Like us he's doing this for someone else's happiness. He's like us in a way, after all we're only doing this for master Xenolith." Closing my eyes I decided to at least tell him there's no hard feelings between us.
So I spoke out to him. "If it's any consolation any at all, know that I wish it didn't have to be this way." He laughed before coughing again.
"You and me both, the only difference is that you're not dying right now." Okay I had to give a few points for that one. However I could tell he'll expire in a few more seconds; the lights of life in his eyes were slowly leaving him. "Well I guess it's time to see where we go when we die. The last… great…. Journey….." He trailed off saying that before closing his eyes for the last time. I hate killing people like this, I truly do. Every time I do I feel as though what little piece of my humanity is lost each time. No doubt if we weren't on opposites sides… Me and Ruben probably could have been friends. Still I took advantage of the lull in combat to quickly get out the katana they gave me for just showing up. In hindsight that probably wasn't a good idea on their part but no matter.
Now that we were in the light I could see I managed to get some of the lengths wrong for the katana. The handle was actually twelve inches long and the blade was three feet and nine inches long. Wait no I didn't get the dimensions wrong the blade actually changed size! Even the guard looks different. Indeed it did, instead of a regular plain guard that it was… It was now cross guard five inches across with the tip facing the blade pointing up, and the tip facing the back of the blade pointing down. The handle now had a new pattern on it; the diamond stitched pattern that was there was now replaced by a single diamond reaching both the bottom and the top of the handle. Attached to the pummel was now a small white chain about six inches long. And attached to the bottom of the chain was a small diamond spike, silver in color and only two inches long and a centimeter wide.
I didn't know what was going one, but for some reason the blade felt natural to me. As if it was made for me to use; this is impossible seeing how I never met the guy who made the sword in the first place! Still I decided to look into that later and prepare to fight again if Sherry didn't decide to back off. After a while she finally stood up and looked at me with a tired expression.
"It seems as though you've won for now then. I'll leave you be at the moment if you let me take Ruben's body out of here." I sighed and sheaved my sword and nodded in her direction. She gave me a small sad smile. "It seems as though you were telling the truth about not wanting to fight us, and yet we've attacked the both of you over and over again." She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. "Listen I'm…" She was abruptly interrupted when a golden spear stabbed into her. All of us stared in shock at what happened. She tried moving her hands to remove the spear from her chest but she wasn't able to bring her hands all the way up. Looking behind her was a man wearing a red long coat holding up the golden spear.
Her eyes widened even more as she recognized the figure. "Master Xenolith why?" I couldn't believe it her own king or master killed her, and for what?! To just kill a little girl who couldn't defend herself? Okay scratch that any human would be beaten into a bloody pulp including some of the weaker yokai. But this was unacceptable. Yelling in anger I dashed off to them while drawing my blade. Xenolith just kicked Sherry's body off his spear, this made me stop as I caught her. Already the blood from the fallen queen and knight were being absorbed by my container but I didn't care about that right now. Focusing my anger on Xenolith I questioned him as to what he was doing.
"Why did you kill her? I thought she was part of your peerage? Your family… A friend!" He just laughed at my questioning like a typical villain. Which just made me angrier, but this time I wanted to know why he's doing this so I waited for him to speak.
"She was weak and getting in the way of my revenge same as you boy!" Revenge now what in the void was he talking about now. I guess my face showed my confusion because he decided to answer my question. "I doubt you or the girl knew this but the one Kuroka killed was actually my brother." I inwardly groaned when hearing this, apparently this guy was a typical psychotic avenger. Don't get me wrong some of them aren't too bad; it's when they decide revenge is more important than anything else that gets me.
"You see Kuroka took my brother so I'll take her sister. It was all going according to plan to, I managed to call on the manhunt, I managed to call in an execution, and I managed to call you in a specialized tracker." This is when his voice turned angry. "But you were different than those I've tricked before you saw through my deceptions, you were the one to decide to make his own choice and chose to protect the girl! It was you that foiled all my plans!" Sighing as he continued to rant I laid Sherry's body down and looked at Shirone with a bored expression. She got what I was saying and shrugged. Taking a deep breath I decided to do what I'm mostly known for… Interrupting monologues!
Huh I hope my habits won't be a bad influence on Shirone. Seeing how he was still ranting I quickly empowered myself with the dead queen and knight's blood. At this point I was now able to fight on the same level as Xenolith. So turning around with an unamused expression I blinked in front of him and gave him a hard left right into the face. The result was quite desired, that being him flying across the rooftop to only clutch his now broken nose.
At this I decided to talk to him while he was currently down. "Listen I get it you revenge, but seriously you didn't have to rant on and on about it. Like I've told my other opponents I don't care for overly long monologues. Just get you point across so we can fight." Using my new found speed I rushed him and tried to kick him. However now recovered from my surprise punch he pushed himself out of the way and backs off to get some distance. Taking off his now cracked mask I could finally see his face. He had tan skin, black hair, and silver eyes. His nose was currently bleeding most likely from my punch but besides that he had a rugged look to him. He also looked young about in his late twenties at the most. But seeing how he was a full blooded devil his age could be much greater.
Using his thumb he snapped his nose back into place and snarled at me while hefting his spear into a Bo staff stance. Narrowing my eyes I realized that this guy was not going to be easy. Looking back to Shirone I called out to her.
"Shirone I need you to grab my bag and leave to go hide somewhere. I'll find you after I'm done here." She looked like she was about to protest but I cut her off. "Please don't argue right now, just know it would make me feel better if you weren't inside this battle zone." She hesitated before grabbing my traveler's bag and jumping off the roof. "Well that's one way to get away quickly… I think I've been a bad influence on her." I looked back to Xenolith who also looked slightly confused.
"Yeah think?" We quickly shook off those thought and turned towards each. I brought up my blade while he brought up his spear.
Welcome to this line break!
We stared each other down observing each other's postures and weapons. His golden spear was about three feet long with the shaft and had a ten inch spear blade. The blade was a rhombus in shape. The shaft was octagonal in shape, but the whole thing was just gold in color. I was worried though because I didn't know what that spear could do, and I didn't know what my sword could do. Ah the heck with it. With that thought I charged forward then blinked over to his left side and swung horizontally at him with both hands on my sword. Reacting quickly he was able to block my attack. For a few seconds we tried to overpower each other before we both brought our weapons and swung at each other with overhead swings.
Connecting and exuding a small shock wave from our weapons colliding we pulled them back again and I went in for a jab to his left side. He twirled his spear and knocked my blade to the side; he then stopped spinning it and went in to stab me in the gut. However I was able to swing my sword down and it connected with his spear head. Sparks flew off our weapons as they connected along with another shock wave. We pulled our weapons back and started to attack each other in earnest. Both of us unleashed a barrage of powerful and quick strikes against the other. However no one was able to gain the upper hand on each other. After knocking aside another quick stab I blinked back a ways and unleashed a barrage of ice shards at him.
This didn't affect hi, much since he just twirled his spear around to block all of the shards. We both stopped attacking after that to catch our breaths a bit. Giving a small smirk he closed his eyes and concentrated on something. I didn't know what he was doing but I wasn't about to find out, so running at him full speed I brought my blade to the side. When I almost reached him he opened his eyes and white lightning started to discharge from his weapon. Scowling I stopped and swung my sword at him and using my wind manipulation I sent a blast of wind at him. He kept smiling as he bashed the blade of wind to the side before coming at me. Thinking quickly I lunched ice spike at him and then ran at him as well. Battering my ice aside our weapons connected once more.
This time I knew I couldn't make a mistake. For a single scratch now could bring deadly consequences. Lightning is cheap that way… using my cryokenesis I created an ice sword in my left hand and swung at him with it. Not quite expecting that I managed to wound his left arm a bit. However he avoided serious damage by twirling around. While doing so he brought up the bottom of his spear and managed to hit my side with it. I yelled out in pain as electricity coursed through my body and the strength of the blow sent me tumbling a ways off. The devil was now holding his arm in order to try and stop the bleeding. But when he looked at me he smiled, he knew he was in better condition than me now.
As for me my body felt numb and I could taste copper in my mouth. I also believe the attack broke some of my ribs… Again! I tried standing up but I stumbled back down on my knees. Smirking Xenolith casually walked over to me. Breathing hard I tried to find the strength to get up. Unfortunately though when I ever I tried to breathe I felt pain coming from my chest. I believe one of my broken ribs pierced a lung. Grimacing I took out my pistol and started to fire at him. However the pistol was made for bigger things than Xenolith so he was able to weave around them until a click was heard. I was out of bullets, so acting as quick as I could I tried to get a blood vial from my coat.
However he was faster and kicked me another couple feet. Things were not looking too good right now, correction things were looking horrible! Smiling like a lunatic which I guess he kind of was… he slowly stepped towards me and raised his spear for the kill. Scowling in pain I was about to just get up despite my injuries when I saw a white and pink blur slam into him. Unexpected as it was he was sent flying and hit the ground hard. Looking at my savior I saw it was none other than Shirone who looked both terrified and furious.
However her words pulled at my heart. "Le-leave big brother alone!" I couldn't help but smile, I was both happy yet upset that she endangered herself like this. However I knew now was not the time to berate her for her actions instead I used the opportunity to take a blood vial. Soon enough my lung was healed and most of my ribs were now just cracked. By I mean most of them I mean that some were still broken not completely healed. But that was the best that I could do. So straining and picking myself off the ground I went and stood next to Shirone.
"I would say that shouldn't have come and that it was too dangerous for you but… I do appreciate the quick rescue so thank you for saving me. Now then let me handle the rest." She nodded and backed up to stand next to the far edge of the building. Looking over to my opponent I saw that the kick did more damage than I first thought. Both of us were now completely exhausted and heavily battered.
I decided to call out to him. "Well Xenolith do you want to drag this out? Or do you want to finally finish this fight once and for all?!" Once he managed to pick himself up he looked over to me with a snarl.
"Yes let's finish this, then once you're dead I'll torture the girl before killing her!" That got my blood boiling again and I let it show by unleashing my anger onto him.
"If you think I'll let you lay a hand on my sister than you have another thing coming!" This made him laugh before he started coughing, after he stopped he spit out a wad of blood.
"You're already that close eh? Then perhaps I incapacitate you and make you watch as slowly kill her."
Focusing and trying to calm my mind I looked at him with a neutral face. "That's not going to happen Xenolith now, let's end this." He only grinned and nodded his head before raising his spear over his head and twirling it. When doing so the spear instantly started crackling with white lightning, and a lightning ball formed right over his head. Ok I had to admit that was impressive… Unfortunately I didn't have anything like that. Then I heard a voice, at first I thought it was my darker half but then I noticed this one seemed calm and also gentle. It sounded like a woman's voice, I knew I've never heard this voice before but it still felt familiar.
"Do you want to cut through it?" 'What?' "Do you want to cut through the ball of lightning?" 'Yeah that would be extremely helpful… But who are you' "There is no time! Just wish to cut through it with your sword and it will be done." 'Sorry but that sounds a little too hopeful for me.' "Oh just do it!" 'You too! Ugh fine but if I get fried to a crisp I'm coming back for both of you!' So closing my eyes and concentrating on my new sword I tried to convey my wish to it. Xenolith saw me and just laughed thinking me foolish, which I personally had to agree with.
He then launched the attack at me all the while laughing at my soon to be demise. I hear Shirone shout out to me but I still concentrated on the sword. As I did any panic or anger I felt disappeared along with my fear. I felt calm and when I opened my eyes I swung the sword at the orb of lightning. What happened next shocked everyone including me, when the blade hit the orb I didn't feel it go through it. It was if I was swinging at air instead of an orb of lightning. Still the blade went through it and the attack promptly disappeared. As though I cut through the bindings of the spell itself. Not wanting to lose my advantage I decided to figure out later and I ran at Xenolith.
He however just stood there with a shocked expression. I brought my sword down cutting through most of his internal organs. I jumped back after that and started panting from both pain and exhaustion. However Xenolith just stood there and brought a hand to the wound and then brought it up to his face. Looking at the blood on his hand he closed his eyes before sighing and falling onto his back. When his blood was absorbed into my container I knew he was dead. It was over, this whole thing was over and Shirone was finally safe for now. Now with relief flooding my system I fell onto my back as well. Only I didn't die, however Shirone stilled yelled out to me and ran and knelt next to me to see if I was okay.
I gave her a strained smile while giving her a thumbs up. "Don't worry I'll live but I'm definantly going to be feeling this in the morning." She rolled her eyes at my antics before looking sadly over at Xenoliths body.
"Is it over? Can I finally be safe and go home with you?" I laughed before groaning in pain. However she turned to me and gave me an angry pout. "Hey I was being serious here!" Smiling I raised a my left hand up and patted her head affectionately.
"I know I'm just happy that I've gotten a new younger sister that's all." Her eyes lit up and she smiled happily at me, we both laughed a bit until I noticed something. "Hey um Shirone where's my bag?" Her eyes lit up in realization as she too noticed it was not up here with us. Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly she answered my question.
"Well when I heard you yell out in pain I got worried so I left the bag somewhere on the street and made my way up here." I nodded my head and with Shirone's help I managed to get to my feet. Luckily I still had enough energy for a few blinks and so I brought us down to the ground and looked around for my bag. Even though it was literally right in the middle of the street it was perfectly fine. However I did give Shirone an "are you serious look". This only made her chuckle nervously though. Sighing I grabbed it and we made our way to a bench to sit. Taking another blood vial I could feel my ribs now only being slightly cracked. But it still hurt every time I moved.
I only had about half a page left on the scripting so I decided to finish that up. Once I did I turned around to Shirone who looked pretty tired.
I cleared my throat to gain her attention. "Well I'm finally done here! But now you have a choice to make." She looked at me confused. "Now I would love to have you around and be my new sister but I want to know what you want. Do you want to come with me? Or do you want to stay here now? Truly it is up to you and I won't force you to choose, the choice is yours."
She didn't even hesitate on her answer. "I'm going with you."
I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" She just nodded her head and gave me a determined look.
"Yes I'm sure… and you know why?" I just shook my head. How could I know I'm some sort of crazy insane voidwalker that hates monologues and hunts the occasional demon. Huh I have a low opinion of myself don't I?
She just smiled at me. "Remember when I said I can feel people's chakras and through that what they're like?" I nodded my head. "Well when I feel yours I since a darker energy. But instead of it feeling cold and aggressive… It feels warm and reassuring." I started to wonder if she's mistaken since I have a dark side voice in my head. "Don't give me that look! I know what I'm talking about!" Apparently my doubt was showing on my face. "When I've talked to you I know you've never really spoke of yourself in high regard. But I know I just feel safe with you, and I also know that you didn't abandon me or hurt me. So if you think I'll leave you then you've got another thing coming big brother!" I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. She did the same and we stood there for a bit before letting go. Standing up I opened up the portal to my hunters dream and held my hand out to her. She smiled and accepted it.
It was time for her to live a new life; however she wasn't the only one who would experience it. I too felt as though this was only just a new beginning.
Character notes
Monster classes… SSS, SS+, SS, S+, S, A, B, C, D, F+, F
Moka-Vampire: Natural S class monster-current class S
Mizore-Yuki Onna: Natural B class Monster-current class B
Kurumu-Succubus: Natural A class monster-current class A
Hunter-Voidwalker/Beast hunter: Natural D class monster-current class S+
Tsukune-Human: Natural F class-current F (comparison to Navy seals-C class)
Xenolith-Devil: Natural S class monster-current class S+
Shirone-Nekoshou: Natural B class monster-current class B
Kuroka-Nekoshou: Natural B class monster-current class S+
Xenolith's Peerage-Reincarnated devils: Natural A class monsters-current classes A
Sherry-Devil: Natural S class monster-current class S
Ruben-Devil: Natural S class monster-current class S
Shizuka Nekonome- Nekomusume: Natural D class monster-current class ?
Yukari Sendo-witch: Natural C class monster/border being-current class C
Slayer: Ahh well there that's done with and over. Sheesh that chapter was a beast to write! It is actually a lot harder to write battle scenes than some of you realize. As for this we're almost done with gathering everyone to Yokai. The only thing left really is to beat Gin over the head with a stick. Or with my awesome new sword! What is it some of you may wonder… Well I'm not telling you anything!
Shadow: do you even have an idea as to what it is?
Slayer: Of course I do! What kind of idiot do you take me for?!
Shadow: You don't want me to answer that…
Slayer: I hate you. With all of my hate.
Shirone: Do you need a hug Big brother?
Slayer: From you sure, but not from the Dark wraith over there!
Kurumu: Ouch that's harsh.
Mizore: Can I also get a hug?
Slayer: Of course! Come on you to! But first before I forget this has been Slayer Infinium signing off!
Moka: Will you ever do Omakes?
Slayer: Probably… Eventually… maybe….. Now about those hugs!