Yeah, I'm late. To the next chapter!
Chapter 9
Rescue
In the worlds we'd come from, it was obvious who friend and foe were.
Banners, pennons, armor colors, that sort of thing always stand out.
Here...you can't just use that.
Hell...we found that out the hard way.
I charged out of the undergrowth, Lian Shi firing a few bolts out at the enemy, felling several left right and center. I got close to the enemy, drawing my blade low with my shield forward, seeing the demons in confusion, with a few looking towards me. I smiled, seeing them coming towards me, blades high in a charge.
I slammed my shield into the first's chest, jumping back to avoid a swing and bringing my blade to block the third. I threw my boot at his crotch, watching his face shrivel up as my steel connect with his crotch, his blade falling to the ground with a clatter. Demon 2 charged once more, screaming at the top of his lungs as I turned to him, bringing his shield up to block it and stabbing him quickly in the chest. His face dropped as I twisted the blade, swinging the blade out of his chest to the side, cutting through the first's neck with the follow up, then spinning around to slash into the head of the third, each of them falling to the ground in a small heap. I swung my blade down, the blood dripping off.
"Hey Badass, we could use a hand back here!" one of the warriors shouted. The female...fist fighter. I looked to Lian Shi, seeing her smiling and nodding. I nodded back, turning to the front.
"Coming!" I shouted back, running towards them, watching her quickly side step a swing from the minotaur, the earth erupting as a crater was formed around it. The woman followed up, slamming the spike gauntlets into his arm, quickly following it up at lightning speed to jump over the arm, kicking the minotaur in the face and slamming the spike into his eye. The minotaur recoiled, the warrior rolling off the creature's back, spinning around and slamming a fist into it's spine before back flipping away.
….A bit of a show off then? She turned her head towards me as I approached, turning back to the Minotaur as I stood next to her, weapons ready to fight. The other two and the mass were fighting as hard as they could, the demon hordes too busy with them to deal with us. The woman wiped her chin before addressing me.
"Took you long enough" She told me, smiling.
"Had to sort out my support" I told her. The minotaur brought it's club back, swinging it over it's head before we both rolled out of the way, the earth shaking under me, going opposite ways before getting back up. I charged at it's arm, stabbing it as hard as I could, blood spurting upon my face as the beast recoiled. I pulled the blade back out, circling it with the woman.
"HAIEH! YOU PESKY BUGS!" He shouted, breathing heavily. "I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU! THEN I'M GONNA SMASH YOU! THEN I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"Learn to aim then maybe you will" the martial artist told it. It growled, lowering it's head and charging towards the woman full speed, attempting to gore her. She smiled, running at it and jumping, placing a hand on it's head and flipping over in midair, landing perfectly on her feet. She span around quickly, throwing a knife at the back of the minotaur's head, the beast barely getting away with a blade in it's horn. "Damn it" it spun around quickly, shaking it's head before looking back to us.
"YOU DARE SCRATCH MY HORNS!" It shouted again. I smiled, putting my sword into the ground and firing a bolt at it's other horn, watching it dig in, pissing the creature of some more.
"Great, now you just made it angry" She commented, shaking her head and cracking her knuckles. "Come on. Let's stop playing...erm..." She turned to me. "You are..."
"Two names...I think the relevant one right now is Craig" I told her. She nodded, getting back into her stance.
"You seem familiar...but regardless, Shang Xi. Daughter of Wu" hmm...well, guess she's good. "That's my brother over there by the way...Sun Xi" ….nope...can't be...
"So who's the monk?" I quickly reloaded the crossbow, firing a bolt out at a snake man going to him.
"Oh, he's some traveler. He only joined us for a small time. Hell surprised he's still here" He nodded to me as the bolt hit the skull of the snake man, effortlessly spinning the quarterstaff to knock out a snakeman. She pushed me back, jumping back to avoid a runaway train of a minotaur. I looked to her, seeing her smile.
"Thanks...guess I owe you one"
"Pay me back later" The Minotaur tripped up, Shang smiling. "Look, I've got him. Go help our allies by proxy" She wiped her chin, running off to chase down a bull. I shook my head, grabbing my sword and walking forward, getting pushed back by a halberd pole as Sun Xi came jumping by, fighting off the spider one with the Halberd, swinging his halberd so quickly just to deflect it's arms...somehow extending the pair against the steel. He occasionally took a swing back, the creature dodging quickly before returning to the event.
This was ridiculous. The amount of chaos going on around here and I was here having a leisurely stroll in the middle of the battlefield. I was there deciding what weapons to bring, where I was needed and where to fight, and yet I was relaxed...more relaxed then I ever was in China. Maybe fighting as me instead of as Fu Xi of Wu has an effect. I saw the English soldiers led by Edward charging the line, organizing themselves into squads by weapons. I saw the Samurai charging forward and fighting in mostly one on one duels with Yukimura and the Musketeer leading the way, fighting back to back, being a brutally efficient as they were known to be. And then came the misfits, led by the two odd balls, fighting however they could, killing everything in their path. I looked at them, gauging who needed the most help.
"You, Soldier!" I presume Edward shouted. "Lend us your aid!" I nodded, sighing before charging into the enemy rear. Some of the snakemen pealed off upon seeing me, running at me once more. I stopped where I was, a few feet away from the line as they started surrounding me. A group of five or six, one was still choosing which way he wanted to go.
"Sssso...a lone prey" one spoke, hissing as they held their katanas ready to strike me. They kept in their circle, moving further away from one another as I took my defensive stance. "How long do you think you can sssssssurvive?"
"Longer then you lizard breath" I retorted, holding my blade low, my eyes moving between the group. He hissed back, spinning the blade in his hand as he group took their positions.
"We are ssssstronger then you human" He spoke. I felt movement behind me, quickly swinging my shield around to block the swing, hearing a clatter and feeling him against it. I smirked, spinning around and swinging my blade through his legs, watching him fall slowly before stabbing him quickly in the chest, blood flying upon me as I slowly turned back to the group around me.
"Yeah, it shows" I told them, smirking as I put the sword away, grabbing the spear and spinning it. "Hell, I can beat you with just this" I thrust the spear forward, holding my shield tightly as I looked at him, seeing him recoil away in order to dodge. I smiled, spinning it in my hand and stepping forward, stabbing with all I had, watching the spear dig into him, blood spurting out the back as it exited him. "Told you" He smiled, grabbing the spear shaft quickly, swinging it around as he turned, knocking me airborne, away from him and his pals.
I rolled as I hit the ground roughly, eventually slamming my back against a tree, yelling in pain as I did so. God, had it been so long since I'd been in this predicament. I shook my head, breathing as I turned back to the serpent, watching him slowly pull the spear from his chest, blood oozing along it as he eventually got to the point, yanking it out at the last moment and holding it still. I gasped, breathing heavily as I tried to get myself back up, only to be kicked by another snake head I hadn't heard coming, falling back to the ground.
The serpent breathed a few times, throwing the spear casually to one side, cracking his neck as he turned to me. I tried to lift myself up once more, feeling a pair of sharp kicks to my sides, knocking me back down once more. I breathed as I looked between the two, seeing them both eager to kill me but more so...humiliate me. I looked to the main one, seeing a clear hole in his chest, blood dripping through it.
But then...something weird happened...and that's saying a lot for this place. The hole just...slowly regrew...if that makes any sense at all. I would say regenerated, but this...this isn't healing...this is just...new stuff. I breathed a few times, looking around as he walked towards me casually, bending down in front of me and looking me in the eye...as best he could. He grabbed my hair, yanking me up by it as he made sure I was looking, his eyes, almost seeming to glow.
"You Humans will never learn will you" He spoke, giving me an evil grin. "You try to fight, you try to run, you try to hide...but whatever happens...we will find you...and we will kill you" it's killing me having this asshole in my face. The other two were still by my side, both ready to slam a boot into me. "It is futile to resist" I gritted my teeth, seeing him swing his arm back. "Your going to die like a dog..."
I closed my eyes as he swung, looking away.
BANG!
I heard the clatter of steel spinning away. I slowly opened my eyes, seeing him looking to one side, surprise evident in his body language. "WHAT!?"
"I think you'll find that that one is mine" I blinked twice, looking over to the source.
"Sa...Sayaka?" I looked at her, seeing her holding her pistols ready to fire, one smoking as it cooled from firing a bullet off.
"You really need to work on your battle plans Lord Xi" She remarked, moving the hammer with her thumb. "Besides, I never discussed our payment plan" ….crap, forgot they were practically mercenaries. Well, that's going to be something to- think about that later Craig. "Now if you don't mind. Drop him!" The snakeman smiled, pulling his arm back, his hand opening to reveal claws.
"I was going to!" Snake boy shouts back, taking a swing at my face. Sayaka's guns ring out as she fires several shots off, shredding the claws of the snake, leaving only fragments to scratch my face, but enough to feel the burn sting my face. I shook my head at this point, seeing the blood on his claw, feeling it run down my cheek. I heard a chuckled from Sayaka, followed by a pair of shots, feeling the strength holding my arms back disappear.
"Come on Tiger" She told me, the snakemen falling to the ground, I hoped dead as I threw a fist at the snakeman holding my hair, smashing my knuckles against his jaw, painfully. He recoiled, letting me go. I jumped back, grabbing the snakemens' swords and charging at him. He looked at me as I jumped, spinning around in the air as a typhoon of death. I heard a few extra bangs as he jumped away, ignoring them as I landed, swinging my leg out as he landed to trip him up, following up by slamming the blades into his chest as he started to landed, the blades digging through his chest, digging into the ground, suspending him above the ground with the steel, blood slowly dripping down them.
And yet...he still lived...He dropped his hilt, moving both of his hands to the swords as he fought to remove them. I gritted my teeth, slamming my boot down on his skull, watching him wince as he sunk down slowly. I looked at him as I removed my boot, grabbing his throat.
"What the hell are you!?" I shouted at his face. He laughed weakly back, giving me a weak smile.
"Lord Orochi...will have your...hide...Human" He spoke, grabbing my neck back and dragging me down. "This...is just...the...beginning...you... have...one...hour" He let me go, his head slumping to one side. I sighed, shaking my head, looking around. The battles were pretty much over, the demons falling back as everyone grabbed the wounded.
"Everyone, rally up!" I shouted, looking around as everyone looked at me. "We need to get out of here. NOW!"
I didn't know whether to believe him or not. All I knew was he was a bitch to kill. Why not believe him?
I've heard weird things in the past. Hell look at Zuo Ci, he brought the dead back to life.
Look at how Zhang Jiao healed the wounded, or Zhuge Liang summoned the wind.
Demons weren't that much of a long shot...but I had to hope the opposite was good as well.
Demons are here. Couldn't Angels? Whatever the case...this was just the start.
Things were about to get bad...and I mean really bad
Yeah, it's short, sorry :( couldn't think of too much for this one to be honest. But still back in a bit.