Hiya readers! Welcome to the first chapter of 2019! Hopefully, you all had a nice and safe Christmas and New Year. As promised, here's the story's first Master-Servant brawl, and I fittingly enough it's here on chapter thirteen so you know someone's going to be in for a rough time. Onto the story!


Fox Tails and Whirlpools

Chapter 13 - Days of Future Beginnings


It wasn't fair how the most beautiful days could serve as preludes to the worst of tragedies. Thousands who looked to the clear azure sky and the shining sun had learned that lesson the hard way and had attempted to pass it down to those who survived the coming tragedy. Sometimes there was no such teacher, misfortune merely struck without warning.

At such a young age, Karin was completely ignorant of such things like many children. Her primary concern was with sleeping in, or it would have been had her mother not gotten her out of bed. She didn't have too much room to complain as the very fact she was there for her was positive. Kicking off the sheets, the young redhead looked out the window to see only a handful of puffy white clouds drifting across the sky.

"Hey, mom!" She called, coming in just in time to find her placing their bowls on the table for breakfast. "Since you're not…working, can we go to the forest to gather mushrooms? You promised we'd go when you got some free time."

Momo Uzumaki couldn't help but giggle seeing the slight tinge of worry in her daughter's eyes even if it was warranted. "I did promise that, didn't I? I guess today's the day I make good on my word." Her words were just what her daughter wanted to hear as evident by her flying tackle hug. "Oh, and before you ask, I'm strong enough to go out so don't worry."

"I wasn't going to ask that." Firmly denied the little girl, trying to look defiant.

"Right," Giggled the older redhead. As breakfast was made, she turned her back to Karin thus ensuring she couldn't see the number of bite marks that were beginning to liter her arms. My left arm is almost entirely used up, and that's only one round of bites. Thought the healer, attempting to keep her mind steady and focused. It'd taken quite a bit of negotiation and arm-twisting to get Zōsui to give them just one day of peace and quiet. Frustrating was always the word that could be used to describe dealing with the man, but some days she got lucky. Momo supposed this was one of those days while she put the finishing touches on the morning soup. Enough of that, today is going to be our day, and I won't let anything get in the way of it.

The term "hut" wouldn't have been a misnomer for their home, though it was just spacious enough for the mother and daughter pair to move around and enjoy themselves in. Best of all, their spare bedroom was large enough for Karin to experiment with creating different types of fragrances and perfumes, a hobby that made Momo's heart flutter with joy as it reminded her of her dearly departed husband. He would have been overjoyed to see his little girl taking an interest in nature as he had. Often when they had visitors, they would comment on either the "funny" or pleasant scent coming from her room. Should Karin have taken a liking to them then she would often beam with pride that they were her "creations". Happy as she was, Momo could only dread the day her little girl began to use her talents to attract the attention of the opposite sex, or have friends who sought to use her skills to do the same. With the latter, one could have argued she didn't have much room to talk about exploitation but that was for another time.

Almost quickly as it started, breakfast ended with Karin's bowl almost completely cleaned off. In a flash, she was running back to her room to collect her things for the day's events while Momo put the dishes up. There would be time to do them later, namely after she'd spent a day with her family.

Outside, the morning sun blazed upon the Hidden Grass Village showering it with warm rays. It was welcome weather after the rainstorm that fell over the village nearly two days before. All across the village, flowers and plants opened themselves open to the golden rays, having finally received the second half of the substance that they needed to grow. Outside of the village, the near infinite greenery that surrounded the Hidden Grass it would be no different. That made today the perfect day to go exploring.

While the job was surely stressful, it came with its fair share of perks as one would call them. Being smiled upon and greeted on their way down the road was one such perk. As a healer, the best part of her job was without a doubt being able to see the smiles of the people she cared for.

"Karin, you brought a list of what it is we're looking for, haven't you?" Called Momo to her daughter who'd eagerly ran ahead.

Like a flip had been switched, the little redhead stopped dead in her tracks as she turned around to her mother with an uneasy grin. "Y-Y-Yeah, o-of course I did!" She tried hard not to think about the fact they were now standing in the middle of the bustling road with her rummaging through her backpack like a flustered academy student. Scratch that, this was almost exactly how she acted in the academy. That was when she wasn't being bullied. Through the bags and containers, she saw a few sheets of paper that caused her to sigh in relief. "Right here! Nothing to-huh?"

It was only for a second, but that second was all Karin needed to become distracted.

Having spent a good two years in the Hidden Grass Village, she liked to believe she'd come to know almost every insect that made its way into the village. The dangerous kind anyway, all the others she was still learning about. Clawing its way through the dirt was without a doubt one of the oddest insects she'd ever seen. A carapace as red as an apple with bright yellow designs. Its size was more than a little creepy as it seemed large enough to fit into the palm of her hand, perhaps even exceed it. Mere seconds after emerging from the underground, the unnaturally large beetle began to gaze upon its surroundings. Karin jumped when the creature's black beady eyes fell upon her.

W-What kind of weird bug is this? I-I don't remember reading about something like this in the books. Thought the young Uzumaki, feeling her blood run cold yet her curiosity get the better of her as she watched the creature fully dig itself out. Hardly a second afterward, she noticed the yellow markings on its body beginning to glow. "Huh?"

"KARIN!"

It was hard to tell what hit her first - the bug or her mother's body. Either way, the little girl flew from the ground as her mother wrapped her up in her arms while her body went rolling along the ground. Karin couldn't see the explosion, but she definitely heard it, a thunderous sound that had her teeth chattering and her blood turning into ice in her veins. Around her screamed dozens of voices which were followed by the cluttering of wood and metal. Through the holes in her vision, she saw dirt and rock fly into the air then come down like rain.

Mother and daughter felt their ears ring as if the explosion had happened right beside them instead of nearly ten feet away. That had done little good as Momo could feel her back aching ever so slightly despite having avoided the worst of the blast. Still holding tight to her daughter, she pushed herself up to herself upright to her knees. Her grey eyes fell upon the decent-sized crater where the bug had been, where her daughter had been. Poking her eyes out from the confines of her mother's chest, Karin saw the blast crater as well; predictably, fearful shudders racked her little body.

"M-M-M-Mommy," Her voice cracked. "W-What…what…what was that?"

Momo sucked in a mouth full of dusty air to speak, but it was never put to use. Below a clear sky and shining sun, thunder boomed almost none stop as if it were keys on a piano being played. In her arms, Karin shrieked before burying herself deeper into her mother's embrace while Momo placed a protective hand over her head in an attempt to shield her. Fire and smoke quickly overwrote the once tranquil skyline; beneath her feet, the ground rumbled in accordance with the explosions, though something told Momo there was more to it than that.

A heartbeat later and she was proven right - a bestial roar shook the skies over the Hidden Grass Village. Another roar joined it, then another, and then another until they all merged together into one horrifying sound.

What…what…what the hell is that?! No, not that, THOSE! Realized the healer, keeping her eyes on the rising clouds of smoke and flame. Her trained ears picked up the sounds of battle; the village was responding in earnest to the unseen threat, and it wasn't doing much good. Even with her trembling daughter in her arms, Momo quieted her mind and focused. Reaching out with her senses, she felt it - chakra signatures disappearing one after another at the head of…things. Wait a minute, are these…animals? They…they look like beasts but-

Splitting the skies like a vengeful blade came the shrieks. Inhuman and terrifying, Momo and hundreds of other villagers looked up to the skies to find multiple objects moving towards them. Most of the people couldn't make out their definite shape, but Momo could, and what she saw made her eyes wide and her blood turn to ice.

Their size was grossly unnatural, that was if they weren't some sort of summoning animal. Each feathered fiend standing at almost five feet with a few coming close to six with feathers that ran the range of colors from gray to brownish-red to bronzish-yellow. Stretching across their bodies were a number of stitches as if the flyers had been put together on atop some sort of operating table. With her miraculous eyesight, Momo was able to catch a glimpse of the cold gray, red, and even green orbs contained with the heads of the giant birds. After letting out another ear-piercing shriek, many of them caught fire.

There was no hesitation in Momo's movements. Thankfully, Karin kept her face tucked tightly against her chest. That was good, the last thing Momo wanted was her innocent daughter seeing the carnage unfolding around her. Quickly filling the air was the smell of smoke, and screaming. Cries of terror and alarm went out from men and women alike as they too fled in terror of the flying demons that swept over the village, lighting anything they touched ablaze. Amongst the chaos, her trained ears picked up the sound of wings flapping, then something sharp cutting through the air. Internally, Momo winced as she pieced together what the new sound was - feathers hard as steel piercing through wood and dirt…and flesh. The death cries of her fellow villagers were but momentary, flashes of lightning in the storm of chaos that grew more violent by the second.

To her right swooped in one of the birds, not a minute later and the entire building went up in flames. Though her sensory abilities were fledging at best, Karin could probably detect at least one of the chakra signatures disappear. Momo felt the snuffing out of all five. One hand balancing Karin, she reached behind her back to retrieve a set of kunai and shuriken. Gnashing her teeth, she took a stand before throwing her arm out, sending the projectiles sailing through the air. She felt only a small bud of joy in hearing the sounds of the feathers twirl meaninglessly into the air before promptly exploding into a cloud of flames. Momo's feet were pounding against the ground again, her cautious eyes darting from side to side, looking for a safe place. Rapidly, it was becoming obvious such a thing was few and far between, and the term "safe" would only be temporary. Momo sucked in a breath and pressed forward, knowing if nothing else, she at least to get Karin to the forest where there were a few places to hide until the carnage was over, or she could escape. She hated it, but one look at the burning village and she knew those were her only options if she wanted her daughter to live.

The ground shook again, causing her heart to skip a beat. All around her, she searched for the source of the incoming source of chakra and pure aggression, she found it by directing her eyes to the ground.

Bursting upward like a water sprout, the monstrosity let its existence be known by a bestial roar that rung the ears of mother and daughter. Karin held onto her mother even tighter while Momo gritted her teeth at the seven-foot…thing that glared down at her. Normally, rhinos were frightening creatures on their own, but one possessing a humanoid shape that allowed it to stand at almost seven feet with bright red splotches of blood across its gray and black body crossed into a category all of its own. Fours eyes, all a sickly shade of green tinged with red veins darted around the street before finding the Uzumakis. A quick snort followed as the humanoid beast raised one massive fist.

Normally, to create a ten-foot crater would have taken some measure of chakra-enhancement. Even as she moved her feet to jump out of the way of the attack, Momo could tell the strange beast had used no such thing, it was simply all muscle. From atop a nearby roof, she watched the rhino monster release another dismissive snort before turning its vengeful gaze toward her. It let out a single feral roar before charging directly at the burning building she'd taken shelter atop of. Karin cried out in alarm as the ground beneath their feet shook and cracks formed in the stone and wood of the four-story structure, forcing Momo to flee to a nearby rooftop.

Who's behind this? The Hidden Stone? The Sand? Whoever it is, they snuck past the village completely undetected! We-

Her hand had a kunai in it as she glanced to her right, her eyes widen, to find another one of those strange insects. Momo knew she'd dropped her guard, and she was about to pay for it. One arm cradled Karin while the other took a swipe at the insect, now glowing brightly.

Boom!

"MOMMY!" Screamed the young girl with a terrified look, seeing the trail of blood flow from her right hand. In one look, she could tell the limb needed treatment, but in the current situation that was going to be a little difficult. Not to mention knowing the village leaders, her mother would have to treat others before her own wounds could be tended to. Picking up on her concern, Momo turned to her daughter and attempted to give her a smile.

Mother and daughter froze in place as both of their ears picked up the feral snorted seconds before the ground beneath their feet shattered. Momo cried out in alarm as did Karin, the rhino monster merely snarled in annoyance as it took the former by the throat before grabbing at the latter thus wrenching mother and daughter apart from one another. Naturally, Karin kicked and screamed with what little air she could take in while her mother futilely clawed at the massive armed hand holding her. All the beast did was snort in mild annoyance as it looked between the two of them. Seeing the monstrosity from afar was one thing, but having it so close, and glaring at her, that was more than Karin could take as her struggles came to a slow end. Bestial green eyes looked back and forth between the two redheads before they finally settled on the oldest.

Momo hadn't made it as far as she did by being stupid. From the way the humanoid rhino looked at her, she knew someone was controlling it, and they could probably hear her. "Whatever you want, I'll give it to you! Just please, let my daughter go!" There was a brief window of time in which she thought her words had fallen on deaf ears. Then came another snort followed by a subtle nodding of the head. "Karin, listen to me, I want you to run!" Her frightened gaze broke Momo's heart, but she pushed through it. "Don't look back! Run to the forest! You know where to hide so go!"

Their captor took matters into its own hands. Snarling from the back of its throat, the creature tossed the little girl to the side, or rather, directly over the edge of the rooftop.

"KARIN!"

The stitched together brute cared nothing for the human woman now kicking and struggling in its arm. Letting loose another dismissive snort, it used its superhumanly strong legs to leap off of the rooftop, the sheer force creating spider-web cracks throughout the rest of the structure, causing it to collapse inward.


"Karin, I'm going out for a little bit. I promise I'll back."

"Wait! Mommy! Please, wait! Mommy!"

"NO!" Bolting upright, Karin shot her arms out desperate to grab hold of something that was no longer there. What was there was…someone else.

"Shhh! They'll find us!" One hand caught her wrist while the other flew over her mouth. Instinctively, Karin tried to fight it but the hand was strong. Her heart continued to race even as her mind told her to calm down. Frantic, she turned to face the person who'd grabbed her. Unlike Karin, her skin was of a darker complex while her hair, in contrast to Karin's bright red, was near ashen white. What immediately caught her attention were her eyes - they were a peculiar shade of lavender with a circular pattern instead of the normal iris. Throughout her time in the Hidden Grass, Karin had been told of only one clan with eyes such as that, a clan of shinobi who were supposedly descended from those with the power given to them by dragons. Not needing anything else to go on, she identified this girl as being one of them.

She removed herself once it became clear that Karin wasn't going to cause a fuss. Looking around, Karin wasn't all that surprised to find they were in some sort of sewer runoff, which meant they were likely near one of the rivers or the lake. Even underground, the smell of blood was thick and nausea-inducing to the point Karin had to cover her nose. Turning to her right, she saw the person who had no doubt saved her from getting her brain splattered across the ground. She wasn't much older than her, perhaps six or seven at best. Unlike Karin, her clothing was a bit more formal, or it would have been if it wasn't torn and soaked in dirt. The once finely woven black mint-green kimono she wore was now sullied with dirt and grime in several places much like her own clothes. Her feet were bare, and no doubt red from all the running she'd had to have done to get this far. Once she was within arm's length of her, the girl turned around allowing their eyes to meet. Karin took immediate note of the tear-stains on her eyes.

"I'm…thank you for saving me." Began the young Uzumaki with nervousness and relief coloring her eyes, unsure of to rather bow or show some respect to the other girl. "M-My name's Karin, w-what's yours'?"

It took her a moment to collect herself before she could respond, looking at her with her eyes showed tiredness and hints of fear. "R-R-Ryūzetsu, I-I'm from the Enoshima Clan. K-Karin, d-do you know what's going on?"

"I was actually hoping you would know." Groaned the redhead. "One minute I'm walking with my mom to go to the forest to gather some ingredients, next thing I know there's this weirdo bug that explodes like a paper bomb." Her hands tightened as she thought back to the insect that had heralded such chaos. If she could, she'd go back in time and squash it with her bare hands. A mixture of rage and determination filling her, Karin pushed past Ryūzetsu to the exit of the drainage sewer they were in. Blatantly ignoring her calls for caution, she shielded her eyes as intense sunlight seemingly shined above her.

Though smoke had begun coloring the sky, the sun was still shining. In a way, that just made the sight of the burning buildings even worse. It seemed almost as if the weather were taunting them. Her feet carried her over the grass and up the hilltop until she had a ground-level view of the devastation that had befallen her village - buildings on fire, buildings crumbling, and the air itself ringing with the sounds of monstrous beasts tearing apart the streets.

But all that was second to the fact that one person who could have helped her get through it was gone.

Karin's fists tightened.

"W-Where are you going?" Came Ryūzetsu's frightened voice.

"T-To g-g-go g-get my mommy back." Stated the redhead despite her legs shaking like leaves.

Ryūzetsu's circular-patterns eyes go wide of hearing that. "B-But you can't! You'll-"

"She's all I have!" Karin didn't mean to make the darker-skinned girl jump, but her emotions were too wild to be controlled properly. "I can't…I can't lose her, not her too." Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes then began to slide down her cheeks even as she tried to keep them held in. There was a surefire chance she was going to die, but Karin decided she would at least try to see her mother's face one last time.

Believing herself resolute, she turned back, only to freeze in fear with wide eyes. Ryūzetsu followed her gaze, and what she found caused her to become still as a statue as well.

There was a vast difference between seeing animals such as wolves, panthers, lions, and tigers in a book and seeing them in real life. With all of them being not bound by a cage or a collar. And their fur soaked in blood, fresh blood.

A lone lion took a single step toward the girls, causing them to flinch. Its red eyes held nothing but bestial hatred for the pair. Echoing it came the snarls and growls of the other beasts.

Grabbing Karin's hand, Ryūzetsu spun on her heel to flee in the opposite direction. At the base of the slope, rising from the emerald grass rose a black-furred canine, its eyes just as murderous as the lion's.

"W-W-We're trapped." Realized the light-haired girl, falling to her knees with Karin joining her. New tears escaped from the redhead's eyes while Ryūzetsu's own fell in twin streams.

Knowing it was the end, the two young girls held onto one another, shivering in great fear. Death was imminent, all they could do was hope it came fast and painless for them.

The lead lion roared and the rest pounced. Saliva flew from their jaws as the mad beasts closed in on the two girls, eager to sink their fangs into their flesh. The girls closed their eyes in acceptance and terror-stricken.

SLISH! SLASH!

So filled with fear, neither of the two girls reacted much to the sound of steel cleaving through the air, and flesh. It repeated itself several times over, each time ending a life that threatened to end theirs. Not once did they look up until a small corner of their brains registered the fact that they were still alive.

There were no more growling or snarling, only the faint crackling of distant fires…and the sound of blood harmlessly dropping onto the ground.

"Hm, keep your eyes shut, little children. That is if you wish to have peaceful dreams should you survive this day." The voice was masculine, gruff, and most importantly - dismissive. It was more than attention-grabbing.

Ryūzetsu was the first to peek forward followed by Karin, their eyes slowly go wide as their lips quirked in disgust. Indeed, they weren't dead, but their would-be killers were. Lying around them in dismembered heaps on the ground, their blood pooling together into great crimson puddles along the ground. In one look, they were able to tell death had come to each beast in the form of a single blow, blows that split them down the middle, in half at the waist, and some that were beheaded. Still shivering in fear, they jointly turned their gaze to the beast slayer, their mouths dropping in shock as they took in the sight of him.

A solid six feet male figure with an aura that could only be described as "pure malice" as he faced forward, leaving only his back to them. Across said back lay a large metal pole, some sort of weapon. Beneath it lay some sort of insignia - a yellow sun with three clouds seemingly parting ways for it. From a simple glance at his clothes, they knew their savior was a samurai, an "old school" samurai at that. Black hakama,painted in red and brown as well, covered his legs while his upper body was adorned with a gray-colored haori. At his hips lay two sheaths, one for a wakizashi and the other for a katana, which was held firmly in the man's right hand.

"RRRAAWWWGGG!"

Shaking the ground and crushing through huts and buildings came a new creature, one far more terrifying to the two girls than the four-legged felines and canines. Skin that seemed to be some horrid fusion between flesh and rock, the ape looked at the girls first, then to the samurai. Its tree-trunk-like arms slammed into the ground while an insane shout of anger left its bloody mouth.

"Oh? Now they send a monkey to face me? I may just cut down that witch instead of letting you handle it, Damon." Chuckled the man, not being intimidated whatsoever.

"T-T-That thing!" Ryūzetsu cried, clenching tighter on Karin. "I-I-It f-f-followed m-me, a-a-all the way from the c-c-compound." She remembered it so well, the fear as she ran and ran to get away from the monstrous ape as it swatted aside the men and women of her clan. A few attacks got through to it as evident by the bloody wounds on its back, but none had succeeded in putting it down. Ryūzetsu had hoped she'd lost it in all the chaos, but now as it stood before her, she knew she'd only prolonged the chase.

"I see, so it has your scent. A pity, it would have been better off finding new prey." Spoke the strange man, sheathing his sword. "You two, if you wish to live, do move from this spot. I'd tell you to avert your eyes, but after what you've seen today, I doubt it'd help." His voice was almost…mocking, if either of the girls weren't terrified, they might have said something about that.

A strange crimson and black glow covered the arms of the giant simian as it slammed them both into the ground. Roaring a challenge at the man, it took off at him, saliva and blood flying from its mouth while the mysterious samurai remained where he was. Karin and Ryūzetsu felt fear once more seized their minds and bodies, yet they couldn't bear to look away from the charging beast.

THUMP!

Karin saw it, brief as it was. A black-blur, then a cloud of dust erupted in front of them. Instinctively, she tucked Ryūzetsu behind her. Temporarily, they lost sight of the charging ape, who continued to blindly charge ahead ignorant of what had happened.

SLIIISH!

"W-W-What…happened? K-Karin?" As their eyes shut closed, the white-haired girl coughed as she struggled to get in a mouth full of clean air through the dust.

"I-I'm right here." Mouthed the other, trying to clear the dust from her eyes. If this keeps up, something told her that it was going to be costly for her sight. "H-H-Hey, M-Mister? W-Where are you?" She cautiously called out.

She heard the sound of a sword sheathing before the voice answered her. "Open your eyes, and do please, try not to scream. I know you children have that impulse, but try to show a little composure, some day you girls will be women."

In fairness to the two of them, they didn't really scream, not in fear at least. That said, seeing the severed halves of the mad ape that had been charging at them mere seconds ago wasn't something they could easily process. The Uzumaki and Enoshima held onto one another as they stared at the split halves of the beast, crimson blood pooling around it as organs and guts spilled out. It was disgusting to look at, but the sight didn't last long. Emerald flames exploded from every pore on the ape's body, or bodies. In seconds, the two halves were engulfed in green flames like burning candles. The sight was horrific, but what they saw when they looked upward was perhaps just as terrifying.

Now facing them, the girls could get a good look at their samurai savior's face. His face was hard, and they believed it would have been so he had not been bathed in the light of the flames. A pair of deep lines glistened on his face and one on his forehead, showing his age while a well-trimmed mustache sat atop his lips. Its two ends trailed off into fine points that complimented the deep frown over his stony face. Inky black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Lastly, there were his eyes, oh yes, his eyes. Black marble carved into the shape of eyeballs then stuck into a human face.

Ryūzetsu was stunned, but Karin was horrified. The dark orbs, being actually brown but close enough to black, the confusion was imminent. They remembered her so much of Zōsui's, devoid of anything resembling compassion. Sweat broke out along her body as they swiftly moved from the bisected animal to the two of them.

Then the comparison ended. Eyes formally dark and distant cackled with a faint light of amusement.

"You there, I believe your name is Ryūzetsu, correct?" He spoke in a slightly booming voice. Slowly, the ashen-haired girl nodded. Before him, the last remains of the ape burned away depriving his face of the eerie glow, though his original icy aura remained. "I believe a thank-you is an order for slaying the beast threatening your life."

His voice seemingly snapped her out of her fear-induced stupor. "R-Right! T-T-T-T-Thank you for saving my life! Thank you very much! Mister…"

"You may call me Saber." Plainly stated the samurai, walking towards them while not at all minding the blood and gore he'd single-handedly created. Once he was upon the two of them, he looked to Karin with a smug smile; it only caused the girl to tightened her guard. "Ah, you haven't entirely written me off as a threat. Good, little red one. That shows you may just survive this yet."

"What is this? Who are you!? And where's my mom?!" Defiance rang in her voice as Karin stood firm against the swordsman. Dirty-covered and shell-shocked, yet the fire in her eyes was unmistakable.

Saber's arms disappeared into the sleeves of his kosode. "What 'this' is," he motioned to the village. "Is your world coming into contact with another world, my world. Don't bother attempting to wrap your pathetic minds around it, I doubt there's much room in there for such complex things. Go, run, hide, I will slay the rest of these monstrosities and the minds controlling them. When the last beast is slain, you may come out."

"I'm not doing that!" Shouted Karin, finally breaking from Ryūzetsu. "M-My m-mommy, s-she was carried off by one of those things! I have to find her!"

In the circle of gore stood the two children and the man known as Saber. The redhead returned the older man's glare with a determined shine in her ruby-colored eyes. Standing almost to the side, Ryūzetsu frantically looked between her savior and newfound companion. The last thing they needed to do was piss the samurai off, especially since he was likely their only chance of surviving this attack. That said, she too felt a strong desire to find her parents before something happened to them.

His black eyes unyielding, the swordsman finally removed on hand from his sleeve and pointed in a direction. "There is where your mother is. I will go slay the man holding her and the rest of the villagers captive."

Both girls followed his gaze to find him pointing at the west of their condition position. They both recognized where he was pointing to, the village lake which was connected to the river, which itself flowed past the lake and outside the village into the forest. It would be something of a long walk for the two of them, but from what they'd seen of the mysterious warrior, not so much.

"H-How do you know that's where she is?" Karin nervously questioned.

"I just do, do not question me, girl." His gaze flickered to Ryūzetsu, who flinched under it. "As for you, your clan is being held captive there." With his thumb, he jabbed to his back. "My…Master is dealing with the witch overseeing them, so make your choice."

Not another word was spoken as Saber turned on his heel and began walking in the direction he'd first indicated. Karin paused to give Ryūzetsu a single sympathetic stare before following after him. The white-haired girl stood there, alone, trembling like a leaf in the wind as she looked between the departing two and the far-off area that seemingly held her family. Desperately, she turned to the departing Saber.

"Your Master?! W-Will he be able to s-save my family?!"

Stopping yet refusing to turn around, Saber answered in a voice devoid of malice or mockery. His tone seemed flat, yet somewhat…encouraging. "He is a fool, a bloody imbecile whose head is often not where it should be." There was a pregnant pause as he looked to the sky, now darker than it was when the sun first rose. "But he is…one who saves lives. Yes, that is what my Master does. He is a doctor, that is his duty." He spared her no more words as he took a single step forward only to pause.

Karin and Ryūzetsu felt the change in the wind. Static carried across the air, slightly shocking the two of them from the inside out. Jointly, they looked in the direction of the samurai to find the source of the sudden change.

Even from such a distance, it was impossible to miss. It materialized completely and utterly out of thin air-no, not thin air. Faint traces of gold dust and whipping silver winds swirled about forming into a gigantic twister. Through the curtain of wind, they could see it - impossibly huge yet slowly surely there as it slowly emerged from the whirlwind. The bright gold that decorated the ship perfectly reflected the light off of the sun, making it seem as if the gigantic long-boat was something sent from the heavens.

And then came the laugh, the impossibly male laugh that sounded like it came from the mouth of a devil.

"Ah, there it is. Redhead, that is where your mother is. Now then, if I don't hurry, then you won't have much of her left to bury." Calmly stated Saber.

Yelping in fear, Karin threw her previous animosity to the wind and clung to the samurai's pant leg. A second later and Ryūzetsu was doing the same. Both girls were crying.

"…Hold fast to me, and whatever you do, do not leave my side unless directed. This…will not be pretty." Reaching for the both of them, he picked the girls up by the collars of their clothing then held them tightly in each arm. Karin and Ryūzetsu had barely a moment to comprehend what had happened before the samurai took off like an arrow from a bow. His destination - the gold-oriented ship slowly descending onto the village lake.

Up close, the ship was even more spectacular, but so too was the feeling of dread it carried. As the unlikely trio grew closer and closer to it, the two human girls couldn't help but feel the hairs on their bodies begin to stand out on end. They both knew this place was…wrong, different, like some sort of another world that shouldn't exist. Their companion, their protector on the other hand, reacted to the whole thing with mere indifference. It was as if he'd seen it all before.

In a single bound, Saber crossed the lake and landed on the golden railing of the ship then stepped aboard. The two girls fell from his arms, their mouths agape at the lavish…courtyard that seemed to take up one end of the ship while the other was occupied by some sort of cabin with some sort of awning stretching out from it. They were completely star-struck by what they saw, finding it harder and harder to believe they were on a boat. To them, it seemed more like a palace. They weren't entirely off base.

"Enjoy the sight while you can, because this ship is going down in the next several minutes." Snorted the samurai, taking several steps forward before stopping with his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Emperor of Fools! Show yourself now so we may end this! You are in my world now so I'm willing to show you leniency!"

A dry wind blew across the ship, ruffling the sails and causing the wind to groan. Karin and Ryūzetsu nervously glanced around expecting to see someone on the lavish-decorated vessel.

"He…hehehe…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The children jumped and clung to one another, the samurai merely maintained his dismissive frown.

"Bold words…but you forget, barbarian, this is MY ship! There is a price to pay for speaking to the Emperor of Rome in such a way on his private grounds! You should know what that price is!"

Right before their eyes, the wooden hull of the ship opened, and from them came twin torrents of red-blood. Predictable, the two girls screamed in completely warranted and unapologetic horror. Acting quickly, Saber threw his haori over them to shield them from the crimson red wind while he scowled.

"You know your pathetic attempts at intimidation don't work on me, gaijin!"

The space before him cracked open, and up rose the first man either Karin or Ryūzetsu had seen in what felt like a lifetime. Once they got a good look at him, they immediately wished they hadn't.

His build was…a tad thin, only looking a tad odder with his gold and black armor and blue-colored cape. Bellow behind him, attached to his shoulders, was a tattered purple cape with crimson-red stains on it. Stains, his arms and legs were covered in red and reeked of blood, fresh blood as did his face. He wasn't exactly handsome, but he wasn't what one could have called ugly. With the madden gleam in his gray-blue eyes, he looked like a man out of his mind. His brown hair was short and rather wild further owing to his appearance. Tightly held in his right hand was a body, a man, his gurgled groans could be heard over the sound of the mysterious murderer's childish giggles.

"Oh, I see you brought guests! Jupiter bless me! More playthings! Have no fear, children!" He exclaimed, grinning at the two only causing them to shriek back in horror. "Welcome to-"

"The ship of the Emperor of Fools, palace for the wretched and deprived." Saber dryly cut off.

Murderous anger flashed in the eyes of the man. Raising his captive upright, he squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed. The sickening snap that came next caused the two girls to jump in fright while the samurai snorted again. "You WILL learn respect, caenum!" Dropping the body, the man held out his hands causing a set of metal gauntlets to materialized around them. Not a moment later and a second, set of hands formed out of thin air, only much larger, each roughly large enough to pick up and crush a human-being with ease. "THIS IS MY SHIP! MY DOMAIN! YOU ARE IN THE DOMAIN OF THE-"

It was like lightning, striking in the blink of an eye. Being ordinary humans, Karin and Ryūzetsu couldn't see it, but the butcher could. Shaped like a crescent moon, the air mass flew with frightening speed. The metal arms followed the caped man's motions in crossing themselves before him thus taking the brute of the attack. Both metallic limbs flew out then dove straight for the samurai, now clenched tightly into fists. They crashed into the surface of the ship yet there was no blood stain where the warrior once stood.

Grunting, the emperor held up his left hand just in time to counter the sideways slash by Saber's sword. Amazingly, he did so a second time with his right arm, though deep gashes were left on both. Stomping his foot into the ground, the emperor snarled, the metal surrounding his limbs morphed so that no longer were his hands their normal shape - they were now sharpened blades. In a blur, the samurai vanished just as the two-edged swords crossed one another, the giant-sized pair of hands remained.

Karin and Ryūzetsu had long since fled, making way for the bushes at the far end of the ship where the temple-like structure stood. Neither of them pretended to know what was going on, but they knew they had to get out of the way before they were caught in the crossfire. Carrying over their heads was the samurai's haori.

"I know who it is I am dealing with, and I do not care!" They heard the samurai boom as the sound of steel meeting steel echoed in their ears. Against their better nature, they looked back to find the two men were at some sort of stand-off. Upon the brown-haired man's madden face was a cut from which blood trickled down. Standing before him in a fighting stance stood Saber, his eyes burning with spite as he leveled his katana at his opponent. "You are a blight on this land just as you were a blight on your oh-so-beloved Rome. Therefore, it falls to me, Munisai Shinmen, to do as your royal guard did - REMOVE YOU!"

From the emperor came a vengeful roar that was more beast than human. Mere seconds afterwards, the hull of the ship shuddered then rose upward, as if animated by its owner's unholy fury. The two sides crashed down yet once again, there was no blood-splatter. Above him, the two metallic hands surged forth to capture the speeding Saber.

SLISH! SLASH!

To pieces, the giant metal arms fell and forward continued Munisai, his face twisted into a cruel snarl as he raised his sword then brought it down atop of the emperor's armored hands. Metal split apart as did skin, allowing blood to gush forth from the wounds. Screaming in bloody fury, the emperor fell back into the floor, literally. Not missing a beat, the Saber looked back almost fifteen feet to see the two fleeing girls, trailing closely behind them was a dark mass moving through the wood.

"Baka! My Master and I came prepared! Ki-iro-ken!"

This time, it was literally lightning. Flew it did across the ship's hull, surpassing the speed of the moving Roman Emperor before coming to a stop inches from the girls. Yelping in shock, they stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes on the mass of lightning before them. Behind them, came up the Mad Emperor, in his hands a pair of gladius held in reverse position ready to stab at them.

"GAAHHH! IŪPITER PERDUINT TE!" Screamed the brown-haired man, falling backward before the two future kunoichi.

The lightning bolt had become a katana, one wreathed in cackling, arching golden arcs of lightning that formed into a protective dome around them. Realizing it was meant for their protection, they huddled close to the blade, wide-eyed and hearts racing.

No time could be wasted as the Emperor summoned forth another metallic gauntlet, this one ending in a wolf's head, to shield his arm from the oncoming attack. A similar gauntlet formed on his left hand as he parried a second slash. Blow after blow hammered against the bronze constructs causing their owner to continuously gnash his teeth, his opponent meanwhile maintained a cold and focused frown upon his. The two Servants met one another's gaze while their weapons clashed, their expressions polar opposites of one another. Roaring in primal rage, the emperor attempted to overpower his foe, Munisai simply stood strong and resolute as he held his ground in spite of feeing what felt like a boulder being pressed against him.

"You will pay for the words you have spoken today!" Barked the emperor, attempting to appear as threatening as possible. Against lesser enemies, it might have worked, but the man before him was no lesser enemy. He was no intimidated nor was he angry.

He was disgusted.

A quick shuffling of the foot and the samurai vanished in yet another blur. Already knowing what was coming, the brown-haired man pulled his arms inward. Around him appeared a set of rectangle-shaped shields, each one beautiful carved and designed. They stood strong against the various blasts of pressurized air that slammed into them again and again until finally came one three times the ordinary size. To pieces the shields went, only for their destruction to reveal that their summoner had vanished back into the floor of the ship.

Munisai stood on the railing, a look of annoyance upon his face. "You call yourself an emperor, a god among me yet you hide like the pathetic wretch you are! New world, same pathetic shell of a man! Come out and face me, gaijin!"

"Behind you!" Screamed Karin, her eyes wide with fear at what she was witnessing.

The Saber already knew what was coming his way, he heard it rising through the water then ascending through the air. In one show of superhuman strength, he leaped skyward causing the levitating anchor to completely crash through the railing and tear a path straight through the front deck. From the chain exploded a number of smaller chains, each one headed by either a metallic lion or wolf's head, all their jaws opened. Sucking in a quick breath, Munisai held up his sword, the silver weapon gaining a light-blue shimmer before it was swung in several lightning-fast arcs. Wind cleaved through steel as each chain was sliced apart, their destroyed remains clattering to the deck of the ship with Munisai himself eventually hitting the ground, his eyes narrowed and alert.

It was a second after he sensed what direction his foe's next attack would come from did misfortune strike. Crimson-colored arcs of electricity exploded from and raked his body, causing him to scream to the sunny sky. His sword clattered to the ground while his hands slammed against the polished deck. It felt as if every portion of his spiritual-composed body was being drained of strength. Immediately, he knew something had happened on his Master's end, a fatal blunder that was about to cost him, and perhaps the girls, their lives.

Laughing like a hyena, the Mad Emperor rose upward from his ship. His face was twisted into a hideous grin as he viciously kicked his foe's left side, sending him rolling across the deck. "Not so high and mighty now are you, samurai? This is what becomes of you for relying on a third-rate Master too weak to take life! Unrivaled under the Sun, for a man with such a title," Holding out his hand, he caused the anchor to dematerialize then re-materialize int his hand. No longer of "normal size, it was not just large enough to the Roman Servant to use a bludgeoning tool. No doubt the impact would crush swordsman's skull like a twig; he could hardly wait to see such a thing happen. "It's only fitting you meet your end while Apollo offers you some bit of mercy! Know this is the price to be paid for disrespect an Emperor of Rome!"

Karin and Ryūzetsu screamed in horror as the crude weapon descended on their savior. Jointly, they shut their eyes hoping to avoid seeing yet another display of carnage.

"AKA-IRO-KEN!"

Just as lightning had snatched away his chance to murder the children, fire did so for his second target. The Roman Emperor's cry of pain went far and wide as he stumbled backward, clenching his now-burnt hand. Curse after curse in Latin and Greek flew from his lips as he glared back at his target.

In Munisai's hand was a new katana, one with a red hilt and a blade consumed in roaring-hot flames. His eyes held a mixture of scorn and determination as he rose to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his lip only to be wiped away. "You said I had a third-rate Master, you were wrong. While there are many things about Damon that I wish I could cut out, things that boil my blood, he is not the broken shell of a human being your Master is, vermin! Even now you must feel it, as they do battle it is my Master who gains the advantage! As his Servant, I will not stall his advance!" Flipping the flaming katana into a reverse grip, Munisai rammed it into the deck of the ship. In seconds, the flames raced from the blades outward to the rest of the deck. The courtyard at the far end caught fire as greenery burned and marble cracked.

"No! NO! NO! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS SHIP!? IT HAS BEEN BLESSED BY DIANA HERSELF!" Screamed the Emperor, raising his arms upward. At either side, the water rose as if obeying his enraged command. In the background, the two girls shrieked in horror while the samurai maintained his calm composure. The emperor hated that. "I AM GAIUS JULIUS CAES-ACK!" The same red tendrils that had once shocked Munisai now wrecked the Mad Emperor, bringing his water-control to an unexpected end. Falling to his knees as the red arcs of lightning tore at his body, he glared at his opponent. The sclera of his eyes had changed from white to coal-black, his irises turned into red. "Iūpiter et in omnes deos perduint te!"

The invisible aura that Munisai had walked with since encounter the Uzumaki and Enoshima became a physical manifestation. With it came a sudden and bone-chilling gale that rocked the pleasure ship like a coming storm. Like they were possessed, Karin and Ryūzetsu looked to their savior, their mouths hanging off their jaws at the mysterious violet-tinged aura consuming him. They could feel it in the air-power, raw power, and it was gathering within Munisai like a magnet. For a brief second, the two girls thought they weren't looking at a man, they were looking a kami, a god that had descended from heaven to punish this murderous ruler.

Munisai glared daggers at his downed opponent. His voice was ice, "Iu sore nihongo de, bakayarō! No Ten Sakeru!"


"ALECTO!"

"Gamó To."

That was all she could say, plus it rather accurately summoned up the situation quite well. In fairness, she'd rounded up not just a good chunk of the so-called Enoshima Clan, but the villagers as well. Really, as far as subduing the village went, it had been almost painfully easy. All she'd done was send forth a handful of Level One Bomber Beetles to soften them up then let loose with the upper ranks of the Level One collection, afterwards, the Hidden Grass had folded with such ease it was almost criminal. A good majority of the villagers had been rounded up before her while the rest were left to her Servant. With the hundred or so assembled before her, she believed she had everything, or rather everyone, she needed.

It was quite bothersome as she'd gotten them all lined up rather perfectly to be examined when the Fox Catcher made his presence known.

Shooting from the ground they came - hundreds of brightly colored roots and vines animated by her dark-skinned counterpart. Just as with the Moon Cell, the wooden spikes jetted out of the ground as if powered by a piston. Alecto felt the death of her creation in the dozens, each of their life forces extinguished thanks to the sharpened greenery impaled them, they spread outward like a deadly flower in bloom. Her captives reacted with expected shock, horror, and even relief. Her ears picked up the sound of metal slicing through the air and responded accordingly.

"Kélyfos." At the sound of her voice, the magical energy exploded from her body and condensed into a translucent black-colored shell around her. It stood stronger against the giant saw blade that came from seemingly out of nowhere with the intent to split her in half at the waist. Sparks flew from grinding of metal against the ethereal construct. The saw disc suddenly flew backwards, recalled by its owner. Alecto spared a glance at the hundreds or so tree sprouts and vines that had risen upward in the middle of the street. "Your Leaf Green Spell's a lot stronger I can see."

The whistling of the saw blade came to a stop as it was caught by the hand of a man who seemingly materialized out of a gust of wind. As the tendrils fell away, the person responsible for derailing her plans revealed himself. A month in this strange world hadn't affected Damon all that much, at least on the surface. Glittering in the sun was the diamond-like pattern of his Mystic Code hoodie, the hoodie itself pulled down revealing the African American's angry face. His hazel-colored eyes immediately zeroed in on her as his sandal-covered feet spaced themselves apart.

"And I see you're still as twisted as ever." Snarled the young doctor, balling his fists. No one dared run near them as the now surging plant life got to work in dispatching the animalistic abominations she'd unleashed upon the village. "Alecto, I'm only going to say this once, stop."

Her own fists tightened as she returned Damon's glare with one of her own. "I will, as soon as I get what I came here for."

Sucking a breath, Damon placed his knuckles against each other. Behind him, a gray-colored ethereal seal manifested. Seven smaller circles levitated within it, each one blazing with a different color. The circle shifted like a giant gear ending with the circle glowing red at the top; immediately, the entire seal changed to the corresponding shade. Blazing red outlines covered the visible portions of Damon's skin, his own eyes gaining a fiery hue to them.

CRA-ACCCK!

Even with her protective barrier up, Alecto still felt the impact as she went skidding across the ground, shards of her turtle-shell defense scattering in all directions. Leaf Green and Fire Red, both of them are stronger than the last time! I can't afford to play around with him! Not to mention if he's here, then Munisai must be-! In a flash, the flame-colored blur was on her, its fist raised and ready to pulverize her into a scorched stain on the earth. Alecto's reflexes kicked in, her shell-like barrier reconstructed itself seconds before the empowered fist made contact. Cracks immediately formed and continued to form as Damon rained blow after blow upon her. Seconds before the next fist came down, he sensed danger from the rear and responded according. Spinning on his heel, he threw his arm out sending an arc-shaped mass of searing flames outward. Her mammalian creatures never stood a chance, but they did their part in giving her a chance to escape.

Leaping backwards, the former researcher spared a glance to the side, finding her captives were now fleeing in droves. Alecto's umber-colored eyes bulged in fury as she snapped back to her foe. "Thiriotrofeío-Level Two: Open!" Her own magic seal appeared beside her, hers almost twice as large as her opponent's but with a different set of designs. The lines clicked and turned like gears before sliding backwards, revealing blue-tinged void. First there was a hiss, then a roar and out came the beast.

Damon braced himself as the massive anaconda came, barreling towards him with its jaws open and its eyes screaming bloody murder. It hit him faster than he would have liked, forcing him to divert all his strength into his arms and legs to keep its jaw from completely crushing him. That left him with little option other than to endure as the artificially-grown reptile proceeded to ram him through building after building like a bulldozer.

Seeing her most hated obstacle now remained, Alecto turned her attention back to the fleeing masses. Her eyes wide and ringed with madness, her seal moved so it was now facing them. "Level One: Open." Instead of one snake, out came hundreds, each no bigger than her arm and moving at eye-catching speed. Into the air exploded a hoard of angry wasps and bees, their minds all tuned to a single directive. In the dozens, they fell, either from a snake bite or sting, their bodies helplessly dropping to the ground where paralysis seized them. "That's right," she whispered, stepping forward. "Just hold that samurai off for a little longer, Caligula, we're almost done here."

BOOM!

Snarling at the heat-wave, Alecto snapped her head back to find a pillar of fire shooting upward. She felt the death of another one of her creatures then readied herself as its slayer shot towards her in the form of a fireball.

Blood dripped from the right side of Damon's forehead, though he didn't seem to care. His hazel-colored eyes still maintained their furious shine as he glared at her. Briefly, his eyes flickered to the far right where the screams of the paralyzed villagers echoed. "I thought I'd run into you, that's why I came here prepared." Holding up his hands, he snapped his fingers, a sound that was unnaturally louder than it should have been. "This world is flesh and blood, and that means I've got the advantage using my Leaf Green Pallett."

The Greek woman's eyes widened as she turned to the distance. All across the village turned battlefield Damon's plants began to open up. From the budding flowers came pollen, millions upon potentially trillions of tiny golden particles that were swiftly carried by the wind. Her animalistic minions inhaled the pollen and immediately began to suffer from it. The bugs dropped from the air to the ground, their legs and wings futilely twitching while the snakes twisted and squirmed along the ground. In seconds, their bodies began the slow but steady march to biological meltdown.

"NO! NO!" Her hands went to her hair, chunks of it were pulled at in a mad fury. Tearful and furious, Alecto turned to the still resolute Damon. "Why?! Why?! WHY?! Just stay the hell out of my way and I'll go! JUST LET ME SEE MY HUSBAND!"

"Not if it means harming innocent people!" Damon shouted back. "Dammit, Alecto, you're supposed to be a doctor! This isn't what doctors do!"

"SHUT UP! IF YOU WERE IN MY POSITION, YOU'D BE DOING THE EXACT SAME FOR FRANKLIN!"

Fire exploded from the twenty-four-year-old's body at the mention of his only living relative. His eyes, already brimming with anger become flaming torches mirrored by the wrathful blaze now swirling about him. Amassing around his hands, the two limbs became flaming hammers that were raised and swung at the rogue doctor. Alecto looked to her attacker with glassy eyes, tinged with anger and tears.

Both of her own arms stretched outward. "Apomímisi: Goríllas." Behind her, the seal changed once again, at the center was a stylized image of a gorilla raising its arms. Both the seal and Alecto's body glowed the same steely gray color. Stomping her foot, the olive-skinned woman raised both arms to meet her opponent.

Like two boulders, they collided with the ground taking the brute of the impact. Around the pair, a crater immediately formed while the air exploded like a boom of thunder in a single location. Whipping about were Damon's flames as he angrily attempted to overpower the woman before him, the woman who now possessed the strength of one of nature's most savage mammals. Just as his eyes burned with righteous anger, hers did so as well, but with a glow tainted by madness. With the power of the gorilla came its savagery as well, as exemplified by her next move - a headbutt. Damon kept his cry of pain suppressed as he stumbled backwards, allowing his female enemy to drive her empowered fist directly into his gut. The second attack him right in the face, Alecto's palm quickly opened then shut with Damon's bleeding skull in her grasp.

"You don't get to criticize me!" Her teeth morphed into sharpening canines as she slammed the dark-skinned man into the ground. "You destroyed half an army trying to save your brother!" Her right fist came down with enough force, it caused a new web of spider-web cracks. Alecto raised him while holding out her left hand, which cackled with red light as she called forth her Code Cast. "You teamed up with HER, who rebooted the entire Moon Cell to save the man she loved! You don't have any right to criticize me, NONE!" Slamming her palm forward, she watched in annoyance as Damon's entire body seized, the Command Seals on his right hand exploding in red light while he himself screamed in pain. Ruthless, she began to press down on his skull knowing his Platt Swap was about to timeout due to all the damage he'd taken. The life of Damon Wyss of the Fox Catchers was about to come to an end.

"Wind Style-Air Bullets!"

Dead-eyed, Alecto dropped Damon to respond to the oncoming attack. Her empowered right hand was held out as she easily withstood the four bullets of compressed air aimed at her. Slowly, she traced their trajectory to find a woman with short red-hair and gray eyes staring at her. Much like her, pure rage had taken hold of her as she glared down the Greek Master.

"Where…is…my…daughter?!" She snarled, beginning to weave another set of hand signs, causing a mighty maelstrom to coil around her. Alecto might have been slightly impressed if she wasn't already at her limit.

She kicked off without a word, covering the distance between the redhead, her response even while continuing to weave her hand signs was admirable. Instead of getting crushed, she moved out of the way just as Alecto brought her fist down. Now standing a good ten feet from her, the redhead finished the last of the head signs needed. Her arms were thrust out with her palms facing her.

"Wind Style-Dragon Gale!"

The wind that had danced around her surged forward, forming into the shape of a serpentine dragon. Again, Alecto would have admired it if she wasn't in such a foul mood. Tearing apart dirt and rock alike, it zoomed towards Alecto with its jaw open wide, a swirling vortex of air blades that would have torn her to pieces. That was if, she was an "ordinary" person.

Powerful as it might have been, the air dragon folded against the supernatural power the former researcher held within her fists. Still, there was blowback as evident by the slight throbbing in her arm and the finger-length gash that appeared on Alecto's right cheek. Around her, the wind that made up the beast dispersed, leaving her and her attacker alone. In response to her actions, the redhead snarled showing she had no intentions of giving up. That was fine, Alecto had already deduced she wasn't part of the Enoshima Clan thus her life was expendable. She readied herself to attack when she felt a tingle at the back of her neck.

Her reaction time was too slow, and Damon's was at its pick. Bright yellow arcs of lightning shot across her body, the same arcs that now pulsated across the doctor's body. His hand dug into her shoulder, sending the electric waves deep into her. "Since you were kind enough to hit me with the Servant Stunner, I'll do the same to you!" And do so he did, now it was Alecto who was screaming in discomfort while frown-shaped emblem on her right hand flashed bright red like a warning light. Paralyzed, she watched as Damon reappeared beside the redhead.

Curbing her shock and questions, the female villager began to weave another set of head signs while Damon held out his hand, a mass of lightning collecting in his palm into a solidified lightning ball. Alecto bit through the pain and forced her body to shrug off the electric shock. Murder blazed in her brown eyes as she readied herself for the coming attack, and to counterattack.

"STOP!"

All three combatants stopped, though remained no less tense as a third party made their way through the craters and scorch marks that had begun to fill the village square.

"L-Lord Shimeji!" Cried the mother, looking quite shocked to see the village head.

Obviously, the morning's events had taken their toll on the village head as evident by the various tears and blood-stains in his green-colored haori and vest. His peach-colored hair was ruffled and soaked with sweat, yet the high ponytail the thirty-five-year-old maintained stood tall. Even from beneath his triangle-shaped bang over his right-face, one could see his eyes, cardinal red orbs usually cold as ice were now tainted with unease as he worked his way toward the center of the standoff. A single glance was shot towards the redhead and Damon before he turned back to Alecto. She gave no reaction to him getting on one knee with his head bowed.

"My name is Shimeji Hachitake, leader of this village." He began before nervously looking her in the eye. "What have my people done to earn this aggression?"

Far, far in the distance, an explosion sounded rocking the ears of the surviving villagers as well as the beasts. Alecto heard Caligula's cry of intense pain, and rage, but paid it no mind. "Nothing, I'm here looking for something. I've come for the Enoshima Clan."

Shimeji's ears perked up and his face darkened. To his right, the mother began to vigorously shake her head with growing horror while Damon began to put the pieces together. "If we surrender them to you, will you leave us in peace?"

Alecto's posture did not change. "Yes, my associate and I will leave this village."

"Very well then." Standing up


, his face hard and his voice unwavering, he spoke, "Then as of this moment, I surrender to you every man, woman, and child of the Enoshima Clan to you."

There's a good place to put stop for the time. So, what do you all think? Quite a different dilemma than what happened to the Leaf and Stone, huh? I'm sure you all caught the reference in this chapter's title and what it holds for the future. The fights were a bit more choppy than I would have liked because of the buildup to them, so I apologize to you all.

Shinmen Munisai, AKA Muinosuke Miyamoto, father of legendary swordsman and warrior philosopher Musashi Miyamoto. He was name-dropped as far back as the prologue with this chapter being his formal introduction. I'll admit, while planning this story I finally started reading the manga Vagabond and instantly fell in love, rather than GO Musashi or male Musashi, I decided to take a crack at their father, the man who Musashi spent a good deal of his young life living in the shadow of since he's so rarely mentioned despite having once been touted as "Unrivaled Under the Sun".

As you all noticed, the Caligula of this story is a tad different from his GO self. Now, there is NO WAY a man with no formal combat training or experience can out fight a trained samurai or decent-fighter without trickery, back-stabbing or outside influence, oh, and no super strength or endurance on par with knights and war veterans. For all intents and purposes, the only reason Caligula is able to fight someone like Munisai is due to being on his "home turf", his ship, which is itself a Noble Phantasm. Their battle isn't over yet, though expect it to become a bit more complicated given how this chapter ended.

Caenum is Latin for "filth" and is generally used as an insult.

Ki-iro-ken is Japanese for "yellow sword".

Aka-iro-ken is Japanese for "red sword".

Iūpiter perduint te is Latin for "Jupiter damn you". The longer version roughly means "Jupiter and all the gods damn you".

Iu sore nihongo de, bakayarō roughly translates into "Say it in Japanese, asshole". Yes, I looked it up, bakayarou is a "step-up" from "baka", or step down since it's more vulgar.

No Ten Sakeru means "Tear of Heaven". It is one of Munisai's Noble Phantasms, you can say it's a "precursor" to GO Musashi's specifically the fifth slash of her Six Realms Five Planes.

Gamó To is Greek for "fuck" or "fuck me" (I think this was the most cursing I did in a single chapter).

Kélyfos is Greek for "shell" as in a turtle or snail's shell.

Thiriotrofeío is Greek for "menagerie" as in a collection of wild animals, in other words, a zoo. You all can probably guess what Alecto's magecraft revolves around, she's a "beast master". Apomímisi means "to fake" or "to simulate". Goríllas is Greek for "gorilla". I promise you all she's got quite a collection I hope you all look forward to seeing do battle against Masters, Servants, and shinobi.

That's all for now so see you all again when the curtain closes on the battle of the Hidden Grass, and another curtain rises on a new set of challenges for the Kishinami Clan!