Chapter 23: Climatic Showdown (Part 5)
Kurushimi pulled his sword out of the patch of desecrated ground, the patch of ground that Mizuwan's body used to lie before being eradicated by Kurushimi's justice hunter attack, the Hungering Oni laughed, his two sharp maws screeching and hollering like crazed psychos, Kurushimi despite his fulfillment of a challenge (even though it wasn't that hard, but at least Mizuwani was able to strike him, unlike many others.) he wasn't feeling to good, maybe its because of the fact that he was hungry, and all Mizuwani used to be was all crunch and no meat.
Kurushimi growled loudly as he glanced at Mizuwani's lone trident, with a light shrug, Kurushimi grabbed the blue trident out of the ground, he received nothing but silence from the trident, Kurushimi smiled with his two maws, Mizuwani was dead, one of the Legendary four, slain by his blade, and he didn't find the Legendary Oni Beast yet, Kurushimi roared loudly in victory, satisfied in getting his revenge from the most loud-mouthed of the Legendary Four.
With a nod, the Hungering Oni dropped the trident, not needing to worry about whether a beast or human would come close to the ornamental weapon, for Kurushimi knows that their are no spirits resting in the pole-arm.
"One Down...Three to go..." Kurushimi said to himself as he continued on his plan to satisfy his brutal hunger, he walked ever so slowly, its not like anyone is spying on him.
The Hungering Oni made it to destination, it was a cave that was blocked by a massive boulder, Kurushimi with a laugh withdrew his serrated sword, he gripped his sword like a heavily-poised samurai, his sword started to glow an aura of brown and hold.
"Fire...Braver..." Kurushimi said as he swung his sword down, causing a massive blade-like projectile to emit from the sword, the blast struck the boulder, causing the boulder to immediately turn into bits and pieces of dust and pebbles, Kurushimi nodded as he headed inside the cave, looking for the weapon that will wake up and kill the Legendary Oni Beast.
Old Norrisville...
'''Vega...Does she look familiar to you?''' Deneb said to his Lyre-playing Oni friend as both of them were disguised with hooded robes, Vega quickly threw a glance at the girl that Deneb was talking about, it was Theresa, he shook his head before going back to playing his Lyre, Deneb folded his arms as he eyed Theresa who was busy asking around the village if they had seen any of the four Legendary, not that any of the villagers would want to talk about Oni's.
"-What do you plan on doing brother?-," The Scorpion Oni said to the green and Red Oni, Deneb sighed before saying.
'''No one else is helping with her pleas, she literally asking everyone she can find and no one is aiding in her cause, no matter what that cause may be, guess that what happens when you're talking to a human and not an understanding Oni like me,''' Deneb said as he slowly walked up to Theresa who was done talking to a local townsfolk.
'''Do you need help miss?''' Deneb said to Theresa after she was done talking to a rejecting villager, Theresa was a bit confused at first, maybe due to the hooded figure's size until she realized something.
"Deneb is that you?" She said Deneb was rather taken aback by her words.
'''How do you know my name?''' He asked the girl, Theresa was about to tell Deneb everything, until she realized that this Deneb does not know his ultimate fate of having his spirit be trapped inside a necklace.
"My Mom knows you, don't worry, I won't tell your secret." Theresa lied, Deneb nodded in response, before quickly realizing something.
'''Wait, you're Monica Fowler's daughter? She would invite me and Vega for dinner whenever we bring her some captured deer, guess her reasons for not inviting us anymore because we would have scared you as a child, guess that would also explain why you'd looked so familiar.''' Theresa raised an eyebrow from Deneb's words, an ancestor interacted with Deneb and Vega, and she didn't tell anyone else about it?
"Uh, Yeah! My name is Theresa Fowler, and can you help me with something?" She asked the hooded and cloaked Red and Green Oni, snapping back into reality after that semi-shocking revelation.
'''As a personal friend to Monica, how can I be of service to you?''' Deneb asked the Former Oni Keeper.
"Do you know where the Legendary four Oni are?" She asked the Red and Green Oni, Deneb placed a gloved finger on his chin before answering.
'''Let me to say this to start...Pichigaru is usually at the front gates of this town, the rest are usually in town, possibly helping her out, either way, you should just the front gates...''' Deneb, Theresa nodded in response and gratefully thanked the Red and Green Oni, she quickly ran off, wanting to find her friends.
Meanwhile...
Kurushimi growled as he continued his trek into the cavern, using his serrated sword's fire braver energy to provide light through the cavern, he growled and roared, the hunger taking his toll on his temperance, after some more walking he finally reached the end of the cavern.
What was at the end of the cave was a sword in a stone with a small crack giving the sword some light, it was a massive blade two-handed blade, being a full foot and a half in width, and being seven feet long, the edges of the blade were stainless white while the rest of blade was black, on the grip was a massive black shield that seemed to be useful both as a massive arm guard but also as a clubbing instrument, the Hungering Oni walked up to the massive sword, he quickly grabbed the handle of the blade and with some struggle, he managed to pull out the massive sword out of the rock it once was lunged in.
"The Blade...That was made with Oni hands..." Kurushimi recited as he inspected the massive blade, he spun the blade slowly, the massive sword almost being the same size of him in length, despite the size, the blade was light, almost like wielding a long staff made of hew rather than a sword made of metal, with a loud growl from the Hungering Oni, he trekked out of the cave, now traveling to where the Legendary Oni Beast lays dormant, so he can strike the beast down and devour the monster, bones and all.
Old Norrisville Main Gates...
"Hold The Line! We Must Not Let Them Breach The Walls!" Pichigaru said loudly as she gazed at the new wave of minion Oni's who brandished blades and clubs, they roared and screamed as their desires to ravage the city grew greater and greater every step they took, the guards that Pichigaru was assisting were fairly afraid by the large number of Oni, she scoffed at their fear, they only common Oni, Oni that weren't given any names due to their weakness and the fact that they were only formerly tiny insects and vermin such as mice and cockroach.
"Don't Just Stand There! Sometimes..." Pichigaru quickly rushed to the Oni horde, she quickly jumped up and prepared a jumping slash while she screamed at the top of her lungs
"You Just Need To Get Into It!" Pichigaru shouted with a roar as she chopped down the nearest Oni her blade could reach, she laughed loudly as she swung his katana wildly, slicing up and cutting up evil Oni's left and right, all while sporting an incredibly sharp-toothed smile on her face.
"Need a hand Pichigaru?" Pichigaru heard behind as all of the sudden Shirokuma jumped into the fray like how Pichigaru jumped into battle, Shirokuma quickly swung his axe, killing a minion Oni with a single swing of his golden-bladed axe.
"Not Really! But When You Have Humans As Your Comrades You Take What You Can Get!" Pichigaru responded as the two went back-to-back with one another as they continued their attack against the attacking Oni, all in the while the guards stood in awe at the two Oni's outstanding power.
"Our Strength will make you fall! And you will all rest forever about that!" The Golden Samurai said as he swung his axe.
"Should We Just Finish This Up Or What?" The Red Peach Girl Oni said to the Golden Samurai Oni, Shirokuma responded with a quick nod as the blade of his golden axe glowed an aura of black essentially charging up his final attack, Pichigaru's sword started to glow an aura of black.
"Full Charge!" Pichigaru said as she pointed at her side of the attacking Oni horde with her sword, and then suddenly, a buffet of fire emitted out of the blade, causing her side of the horde to be singed by the flames of the Red Peach Girl.
"Part Two!" She finished, meanwhile Shirokuma quickly did a massive horizontal chop with his golden axe, the energy of the blade becoming bigger and allowing the attack to hit multiple other targets, causing most Oni that was struck by Shirokuma's axe to be split into two halves, they all screamed and roared in pain as Shirokuma said with a loud shout.
"Climax! Chop!" Shirokuma said with a nod as the remaining attacking Oni retreated from the fear of becoming nothing but ash or a half of themselves.
"See Everyone! That's How You Do It!" Pichigaru said loudly to the stunned Norrisville Gate Guards who had their jaws agape once Shirokuma jumped into the fray.
"Why did you all just stand there like a stunned deer? If you want to be a warrior, you must have the desire to fight." Shirokuma said as he quickly rested his axe on his shoulder, his criticizing tone brought a pang of guilt on the guards, that is until a certain voice of a Purple-haired Oni Keeper spoke up.
"At least they tried Shirokuma! You got to give them some credit!" The Guards heard behind them, quickly they turned to see Theresa, they quickly cleared the way for her to walk to the two of the Legendary Four.
"Theresa! I can't believe you're here! And you're okay for that matter!" Shirokuma said as before Theresa could even take a step forward, the Golden Samurai ran up to the former Oni Keeper and quickly hugged her tightly, she gasped loudly in response, never expecting such a caring glomp from the Golden Samurai Oni no less, she smiled softly after her loud gasp, the embrace being gruff and almost bone-crushingly strong, similar to Shirokuma himself.
"Its so wonderful that you're okay, At least I know that you're still you and not some ancestor..." Shirokuma told the purple-haired Oni keeper as she broke out of the embrace.
"It also wonderful that you're in the flesh and not in your axe, it's good to see both of you," Theresa said with a grateful smile, Pichigaru responded with a quick nod. Not wanting to speak if it meant that Theresa's image on her would be tarnished.
"Now we just need to find Mizuwani and Kazeryu, then we can go back home..." Shirokuma said, his yellow handkerchief hiding his thankful smile.
"Wani-sama..." Kazeryu said to himself as he sat down on the patch of ground that Mizuwani's body was once where, Kazeryu sighed loudly as he started to cry, his tears staining the black patch of burned grass and ground.
"I should've helped Wani-sama!" The Purple Dragon Oni shouted to himself as he slammed a fist to the desecrated ground, Kazeryu saw the entire fight, and he didn't intervene at all, he didn't know exactly why he didn't help his friend, maybe it was out fear, fear of being slain and never being able to see any of his family members ever again, but now, because of his mistakes, Mizuwani is the one that will never be able to see his family ever again.
He sniffled loudly as he quickly noticed Mizuwani's trident that was about several feet away from the patch of broken and dead ground, he sniffled and cried, some form of hope began to grow on the Purple Dragon Oni, he slowly creeped up to the trident and slowly grabbed the pole-arm, hoping to hear Mizuwani's snarky but nevertheless caring voice.
Silence...Kazeryu sobbed loudly, with shaking hands he placed the trident on his back, the weapon serving as the only form of momento that Mizuwani has.
"Mizuwani, I will kill that...Monster-baka..." Kazeryu said to himself and indirectly to Mizuwani trying to sound brave, this is the first ever time he ever used Mizuwani's full name without any honorifics of the sort.
"Even if I can hear his answer...I will kill him..." Kazeryu said to himself, sounding serious for once in his Oni life, he sniffled as he quickly wiped some tears off his face.
Meanwhile...
The Beast slept in its lightless chasm, its fel green skin almost shined brightly, almost illuminating the dark chasm, it grumbled and sniffed as it slept, its sharp claws being hinged due to its peaceful slumber, it yawned loudly, blissfully unaware of its ultimate fate, Kurushimi growled as he held his serrated sword with his left hand and held the Oni Sword with his right hand.
"The Blade that was made with Oni Hands...Yet it could only spill Oni blood...Crafted with hate-filled hands...Yet wielded with amiable-coveting hands...Smithed by an Oni...Yet its metal was provided by a human..." Kurushimi once again recited as he sheathed his serrated sword on his back, and then gripped the Oni sword tightly.
"But I Kurushimi...Will Devour Everything!..." Kurushimi said right before laughing loudly as he prepared to kill the mighty Oni Beast with the Oni Sword.