This chapter is finally out. Everyone gave a loud claps of appreciation for Eva-Saiyajin, my good friend and beta.
Now before we begin I like to address something that has been in the review few times.
'The whole…The Strongest under Heaven and yet not having a decisive win.'
There is much reason for that. One! I hate God fics. I hate it when the main character has all the power, solution, brain, and luck to pull a rabbit out of his ass with no problem. Ichika I created is a real badass! His draw against Cecilia and Rin is his win really. You know he won, but the situation calls for something else. As for the whole 'Unable to beat Siegfried even with a large group of people.' In Code Geass it took an entire squad of Knightmares and Cornelia in some Frankenstein of Akatauki to beat it. I think that victory was a sham, considering Corneilia found its weak spot, not Lelouch.Trust me, no IS in the Light Novel, manga, or anime could beat Siegfried alone. I will make Ichika strong, but not invincible.
Also a major win is coming up. This is the Gospel arc and you know Gospel loses...Jusy watch and wait for HOW I am going to do that. if
I will make my Ichika strongest under heaven, but it will not be attained in a single jump! I will make him sweat, bleed, and shed manly tears of pain and joy before letting that happen. Honestly the sheer power he already weld is already little troublesome. Just wait until you see what I have planned for the showdown between him and Silver G in round two.
As for his skill out of his IS. Ichika is strong, but so is Yoshida Hide (Hideyoshi), Miya, Kojuro, and perhaps even Ieyasu.
They are rival warlords, warrior in Miya's case for god's sake! No rivals are too far from one another. Hide-boy is ridiculous and he will show up again. I got plan for him. As for why Miya not the head and Ieyasu, a little kid hold the Sanshogun and later ShitenOh title…tell me readers…How many anime in the world has scary or genius little girls in seat of power? And how many emotionless or skilled fighter woman has no interest in power, but interested in serving someone who was kind to her?
Finally as for Kojuro having such skill that it rivals Ichika in sword play…Watch Sengoku Basara again…If I want a right hand man than I would want him to be skilled as he is loyal to me.
Well enough of me ranting…Enjoy and review.
Ch 23 Mirror Mirror…He who stares back at thee.
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
The sound of running footsteps could be heard as Chifuyu, Maya, and Kojuro ran toward the room Ichika had been sleeping in. The moment they'd been informed of Ichika's waking, the three left the command room to check on the young Doukugan Ryu.
The three reached the wing where Ichika's room was located and paused. In the darkness in front of them lurked the shadowy figure of a man.
"I-Ichika-sama? Are you ok, my lord?" asked Kojuro in an uncertain tone. The reason for this was because of the uncomfortable aura flowing out of his lord…It felt nothing like the man's normally overwhelming confidence and strength…it felt more wild…lewd and full of malice.
"Grr…." The shadowy figure growled.
Suddenly the figure came charging at the three with his fist pulled back. Kojuro got in the front to block the incoming punch, but was surprised as the face of the attacker was revealed in the light; it was Ichika.
"Ichika-sama!" Due to his distraction Kojuro's defense faltered and he was sent flying, landing on his back with a thud.
"Katakura-kun!" exclaimed Maya, but she was cut short as Ichika nearly took her head off with a fierce round house kick, smashing her through a wall. Chifuyu managed to avoid the initial charge and took a good look at her brother.
He was covered in bandages and wearing a loose white kimono. The eye-patch that covered his injured right eye was gone. Ichika turned to Chifuyu and she got a good look at his red menacing eye.
"Ichika, what's happened to you?" she muttered.
"OOOOOUUHHHHHH!" roared Ichika as he flared his 'Dou' ki, which erupted out of his body and surged around him in a wave of crimson-gold energy. Chifuyu let out a slow, measured breath as she lowered herself into a fighting stance. A gentle and cold 'Sei' ki flared around her tightly; a deadly sharp fluttering candle, unlike the glowing bonfire that was Ichika.
Ichika was an exceedingly difficult challenge in the depths of his mind, and thus was unable to control his berserk and wild body. He was now running on sheer killing intent, wild instincts, and hormones, charging recklessly at his sister with none of the grace or form that he normally wielded. Chifuyu ducked under the wild swipe of his arm, took a quick step in towards him, and landed a powerful elbow strike.
Ichika was pushed back but while his body was hurt, he felt no pain as he charged again. This time Ichika exploded with a flurry of punches, but Chifuyu retreated instead of clashing with him directly. Behind him Kojuro appeared with his katana held backward, the dull end facing toward his lord.
"ICHIKA-SAMA! PEASE FORGIVE THIS KOJURO FOR HIS ACTIONS!" Kojuro cried, as he swung his sword aiming to knock out Ichika.
"GGUUUAAAHHH!" said boy screamed out as behind his back a mug of blackness swirled into existence and jumped at Kojuro.
"NANI!" exclaimed Kojuro as the black substance smacked into his rushing blade, halting his attack and shoving him away. The moment Kojuro landed on his feet the dark murky substance morphed into the shape of a hand and lunged at Kojuro, fingers outstretched. This time Kojuro had time to properly block the force of the blow still shook his arms.
He leaped back, disengaging, before charging forward and around the black appendage. It swung after him, and Kojuro swung his sword a few times to block its strikes and attempt to knock it away, but the unrefined hand figure blocked his advancement.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU MY LORD?!"
Ichika said nothing as the black mud from his back spread to encompass his torso and arms.
"Ichika!"
"Orimura-kun!"
The black substance covered his right arm, forming a gruesome, spiked armored gauntlet and claw. Ichika lunged at them, but the two experienced teachers rolled out of the way. Maya threw a kick at Ichika's side as did Chifuyu opposite from her, but surprisingly Ichika caught them both with his hands.
However-
"I got you!" proclaimed Kojuro as he swung his sword across his lord's back.
Viiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg!
"Huh?" Kojuro stared in disbelief his blade was blocked by an invisible wall, millimeters from his lord's back.
"Absolute Barrier? If that is the case then…" Kojuro was cut off as from Ichika's right shoulder a long black contraption in the shape of an airplane's wing morphed into being. Ichika simply turned around and batted Kojuro away.
Chifuyu landed on her feet, watching as the black mud covered more of her brother's body. Now Ichika's back and front had been engulfed, giving him the appearance of wearing armor. It was so unrefined, but some parts seemed sharp while other parts were rounded. His entire right arm was covered and bore spikes and claws, and some of the murky substance was oozing and covering his legs. On his right shoulder was a wing of some kind. His left shoulder had a large, clawed hand that was half the size of his body.
"GGUUUAAAHHHH!" roared Ichika as more of the black substance spread over him until the corner of his face from his lower jaw was covered. The eerie crimson star turned to the three teachers/assistants as he stepped forward, fixing them with a gaze wild with emotion.
"There is no mistaking it…He's undergoing 2nd shift…But I've never heard of a Second Shift ever being this violent. Is it because he's male?" Chifuyu pondered as she dodged a claw swipe and a wild punch.
"Regardless of the facts…I need to stop my stupid brother." Said the strongest woman in the world…But she was going to need to borrow a sword first.
(Ichika's mind)
Within the depths of Ichika's mind, a fight had broken out between Ichika and the personification of his ambition and killing instinct.
The two of them clashed beam katana for the tenth time. Once again, they disengaged as neither held an advantage.
"Heh! This will not do…" The dark copy tightened his grip on his weapon "…AT ALL! My Greedy Devourer of Might! Orimura Ichika!" roared the copy as he swung down, completely overpowering Ichika. The first male IS pilot slowed his descent by using the side booster, but his copy struck again as Ichika landed.
"This can't be all, right?" the copy taunted as he kicked the original's torso with his right leg and sent him back at least three steps. In return Ichika swung his blade sideways, almost managing to hit him.
"Wow!"
The two engaged in a furious exchange of sword strikes without giving a single step, but after nine clashes both backed off once again.
Equality…
Equal in strength, speed, skill, and will.
It was impossible to determine who had the upper hand, however-
"Hahhhhh!"
It was clear one of them had a small edge when it came to knowledge of the usage of what he had at his disposal.
Ichika sidestepped a downward strike as he spun around for a horizontal slash. The copy raised his arm to block the slash at the price of some shield points, and counterattacked with a punch to the face.
Ichika stumbled back a few steps, than shook off his daze and slashed diagonally, cutting into the copy's shoulder. The duplicate was pushed back, staring at his damaged shoulder before smirking under his helmet as he struck back and caught Ichika on his chest plate.
"This is going nowhere my lord…Show me your Hissatsu(Killing move)."
"You want it? THEN HERE I COME!" roared Ichika, raising his sword over his head once again as GN-Particles gathered around it in a torrent of fire. The very air around him began to glow red as the heat of the concentrated energy ignited the air.
"HAHHHHH!" Ichicka swung his sword down and unleashed the untamed blaze at the copy, but his opponent simply stood calmly as the wild torrent of energy sped towards him.
"…So unrefined." Muttered the copy as he slashed down, slicing the wave of burning energy in two, both halves blowing past him on both sides for a second before dissipating.
"What!?"
"How annoying. That was a dull attack. This isn't like you my lord. Why are you continuing to use such a flawed weapon? Do you intend to take on the world with a faulty sword? My Silly Conqueror! Orimura Ichika!"
"SHUT UP WITH THE TITLES! TAKE THIS!"
WHOOSH! WHOSSH! CLANK!
"Wow! Not so fast, my Short Fuse of Dynamite! Orimura Ichika!"
The copy disappeared with a burst of Ignition Boost and reappeared in front of Ichika. His blade slashed down and collided against Ichika's own sword.
"The world is not so easy my lord. Using such a lowly sword is rather insulting to the current strongest in the world."
"Kch."
"Let me show you how this is done…".
Ichika's eyes widened as a torrent of crimson light exploded in front of him and engulfed his form.
"GUUUAAAHHHH!" Ichika roared as he threw a punch at Kojuro who gracefully rolled under it, stopping behind his lord. Kojuro spun with a sweep kick, but his armored opponent jumped over it and stomped down at Kojuro's head.
Clank!
Kojuro quickly drew his Gokuryu and blocked the leg from his low position on the ground.
"Uhhh…His blows are so heavy."
"Katakurga-kun!" Yamada Maya yelled, firing her assault rifle at the Vent on Ichika's back.
Pwing!
Bak!
Boom!
Her shots connected, but the only sign that they had any effect was that the armored teen took a step back. Kojuro took advantage of the distraction to roll away.
"Katakura-kun! You need to pull back! Without an IS it's impossible to fight him!" Maya yelled worriedly.
"Yamada-dono! How could I allow myself to run away when my lord is in such a state? I will remain even if it costs me my life!" replied Kojuro with gusto as he held his sword horizontally. Ichika turned to Maya and Kojuro charged at his unprotected side to slash with all his might.
Clank!
His strike was repelled by an armored elbow.
"Guaaaahhh!"
Ichika swung his extremely long and monstrous claw and smacked his loyal samurai away. Before Kojuro could even land, Ichika's clawed fingers uncurled and a strange contraption with four holes appeared on his palm. He pointed it at Kojuro.
The four holes began to glow.
"Oh…Shit." Kojuro uttered, as sharp and rapid GN-Particles Beams erupted from the weapon . They were nowhere near as strong as Cecilia's Starlight Mark III, but the barrage was equal to the BITs' laser attacks. The rapid fire beam attacks harassed the lone samurai, but he was saved as Maya landed near him and brought her shields on her shoulders in front of her to block the onslaught.
"What is going on?! Orimura-kun's Masurao never had such weaponry!"
"Do you even have to ask?"
Suddenly a sword slammed into Ichika's back, disrupting his beam attacks as he staggered to turn around.
It was a mistake as Orimura Chifuyu smashed the butt of her sword into her brother's visor shattering it and sending Ichika stumbling back. Ichika roared in rage as he swung at his sister, but the strongest woman in the world gracefully dodged his wild swings and sheathed her sword, taking the stance of Batojutsu, the Iai or drawing stance.
"…Batojutsu…Ichikigeki (First Strike)….Juha Reppu(Beast Tearing Gale)" whispered Chifuyu as she drew and swung her sword, which was removed from an unused Uchigane, in the blink of an eye.
"GUUUAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Ichika bellowed in pain and rage as a large gash burst into being from his torso to his left shoulder. The raging boy clawed at his injury in pain and confusion, but soon the damage was sealed by the black mud-like substance that covered him and the boy's form grew larger and more deformed as his armor solidified and sharpened.
"…Not even that works, huh." Chifuyu muttered, her gaze focused on her sword …The Anti-IS sword was riddled with cracks and fractures.
"…This is not good."
The champion of women gazed at her brother who charged at her with a beastly roar that shook the garden.
Ichika's armored right arm was covered by in spikes, and he attempted to impale his sister on them as he swung his arm at her, but the older Orimura ducked by shifting her stance so she was perpendicular to Ichika before continuing her spin and smashing her elbow into Ichika's cranium. As her brother staggered she ducked low and performed a perfect high heel kick to knock her brother's head back.
POW!
Ichika's head was smashed upwards and he was launched into the air; however he quickly turned into a flip and his leg was completely covered by the mudlike substance, forming into a talon-like appendage.
"Gaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Ichika roared as he kicked off the ground immediately upon landing, covering the distance between him and Chifuyu so quickly she could barely even react in time, instinctively falling as her brother's dark armored leg sliced above inches away from he head, leaving a sharp cutting sound in its wake.
Before Ichika could continue his assault on the off balance Chifuyu Maya dashed in from the side and tackled her student away. Ichika stumbled for a few seconds as he was forced backwards in the grip of the assistant teacher, before digging his right taloned foot into the ground and halting them both.
"Don't hurt your sister!" Shouted Maya as she grabbed Ichika's hand and twisted it behind his back. She than took a deep step in towards him and forced his arm around her shoulder and his struggling body on her IS' back-
"Hahh!"
-and threw him into the air in a classic judo throw.
Ichika spun and rolled in the air for a few seconds, but quickly succeeded in getting his bearing back, and roared. Maya pulled out two IS sized Machine guns from the Garm, and opened fire, keeping her berserk student at bay.
"Is it not done yet?!"
Chifuyu, who had gotten to her feet before Maya had even begun to throw Ichika, nodded.
"Yes…Honestly I don't know how long it will take or if a male can even go through second shift…We're treading on unknown territory."
"He will be fine!"
Chifuyu glanced behind her as Kojuro stepped out of her room holding a katana.
"My lord is the man that will one day rule this nation and the world. He will not fall to his own power!"
He jumped down and strode towards Chifuyu.
"Normally I would never even think of doing this, but I am sure my lord will forgive me under the circumstances." Kojuro stated.
"…This is…"
"One of Ichika-sama's Rokuso, the Six Swords of Samsara…The Tendo(Heaven)." Kojuro finished as he kneeled down and presented the sword to his lord's elder sibling.
Chifuyu's eyes narrowed in thought as she accepted the weapon and contemplated it…it felt right. Tendo and other six swords' hilts were made thinner than those of normal katana so as to be held easier when using three in each hand with the holding glove, however it was also made so a woman could wield it with greater ease…How considerate.
Yamada was blasted back by a powerful beam from Ichika's clawed hand on his back and was immediately forced back by her opponent as he dove in with an onslaught of swipes and punches. She was saved as Chifuyu blurred in at her sibling's side and slashed at him, cracking and splintering his armor at the area of impact…This woman is nuts.
"Haah…Ha…haa…." Ichika panted as he punched through the large debris that blocked his way as he burrowed out of the ground. He couldn't recall much besides the sheer pain of his flesh being set on fire as his Absolute Barrier worked to its limit to prevent his death.
"Ora? What's wrong my lord? You look like someone blasted you with an Anti-Fortress attack. My Exhausted Flame of Flow! Orimura Ichika!" An annoyingly familiar voice called out above him. Ichika looked up and his hyper sensor narrowed and magnified, bringing a pale imitation of himself smirking down at him into view.
"Let me tell you something…This attack is the best offensive ability we share…However, currently Masurao is unfit to use it."
"…What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. Masurao is the name of your IS' first shift. In other words it was what your IS determined as your basic skill when it synced with you the first time. You never used an IS before that and Masurao was not tested on you before your match. It was materialized in the middle of battle, which left many of its abilities undeveloped."
The copy swung his sword, releasing a smaller copy of the Anti-Fortress attack he'd nearly killed Ichika with, blasting the original down into the pillars below, shattering one that he went through. A cloud of smoke and dust burst into towards the sky, reaching for the doppelganger's feet.
Ichika slowly crawled to his knees in the midst of the crater his landing had caused, looking up as his opponent slowly dropped to the earth to be level with him.
"You should remember…Right after your IS was solidified as Masurao, you didn't have your Shoulder Shield that all IS have…The same technology that became the Gordius Wheel, the IS Vehicle. Also, you were supposed to have three Stealth & Jamming systems but only two of them were activated (Akakami&Akakiri). Only a few weeks after your match with Cecilia did Knight of Honor manifest…Don't you see? An IS is made to evolve and improve as the user does, but yours was formed so fast that even after first shift it had to go through many overhaul to catch up to you…"
The copy dashed in for a thrust which Ichika parried aside, but the copy simply spun around from his charge to turn the thrust into a spinning slash. Ichika was too slow in bringing his sword around and was rewarded with a slash to his chest, which ignited a shower of sparks. Ichika stumbled a couple of steps back, but he white copy spun around to slam his elbow right into the original's new wound and send him back.
"Guah!"
Ichika was given no time to recover, immediately raising his sword to block an incoming stab and counterattack.
Fwish! Voosh! Clank! Grank! Woosh! Clank!
The copy had to block the incoming slashes as he abandoned his attack. One of the many slashes managed to graze his arm and hip.
"Hmmmph! Not bad at all, my Persistent Hunter of the Sky! Orimura Ichika!"
"This is nothing! Doryaaa!'
Ichika jumped up and slashed for the copy's head with his beam katana in reverse grip following the path of his elbow to increase the force.
His opponent brought his katana up to block the attack, however he was unable to block the followup midair snap kick from Ichika.
"Uggh!" the copy was sent backwards.
"You're open!"
Ichika activated his thrusters, instantly bringing them to max power and body slamming his opponent and smashed the copy down to one of many stone pillars. After smashing him there Ichika flow out and activated his katana's extension blade mode. The Anti-Army long sword activated and the Doukugan Ryu was swung through the smoke at his opponent.
As he was slashing down, Ichika couldn't help but notice once again how his sword which seems brittlle, it's form unstable as it extends.
As the ten meter long and still extending sword neared the cloud of dust Ichika heard the copy's voice through his com link.
"You…Are you stupid, huh?"
"Huh?"
As Ichika's sword reached for the enemy a blast of concentrated energy shot out nearly engulfing Ichika who barrel rolled out of the way, but was greeted with his copy standing atop an undamaged pillar with his sword extended at least 20 meters and still growing. And unlike his own sword, his opponent's had retained its elegance.
"I told you…That sword…IS FLAWED!"
The copy swung his extremely long blade which Ichika blocked with his own to avoid being bisected. Ichika's sword flickered as the other blade clashed against it.
CLAAAAANNNNLKKKKKKKKKK!
Ichika's guard was broken by the sharper blade as it cut through the beam sword and dug into Masurao's side armor. Sparks of fire and electricity shot out and Ichika grimaced as his Absolute Barrier barely stopped it from slicing him in half.
"I AM TELLING YOU MY LORD! YOUR KATANA WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BEAT ME!" the pale doppelganger bellowed as his sword slammed Ichika to the ground below.
"GUAAHH!" Ichika cried out as he was cut deeper and smashed to the hard ground, causing it to crack and tear around copy flew down at the fallen Ichika and rammed his knee into his stomach.
"What wrong? Are you done my lord? If you are then you're a big ass disappointment! You simply don't have what it takes to take over the world!"
"Guahh...! Don't…Don't look down on me…TEEEMMMEEEE!"
Ichika's raging emotions turned the elegant blades on Yukihira into the untamed wild club he used against the Siegfried. Ichika blasted off the ground to swing his large club like sword, but the copy merely grinned.
"Losing control? How unsightly!" the copy declared as he dodged by a hair length.
"Not enough!" he flew up and slashed down, but he was parried and kicked up, after which Ichika flew above him and smashed him down with a powerful stomp kick.
"Mada mada!" said Ichika as he pointed his katana at the back of copy's head with a smirk on his face. His face dripped with hard earned sweat and blood, but at that moment it felt like nothing.
"Heeh! Well done! My Merciless Guillotine Blade, Orimura Ichika! "
"Unfortunately I need you alive…Now I have tons to things for you to answer ! Explain to me, how is my Masurao flawed? Even if her development was slow, it should have been completed by now! My Masurao is the strongest under the heavens!"
"Can you really say that after losing to Silver Gospel? My Forgetful Guardian of the Divine! Orimura Ichika"
"Tsk!"
"I see you're speechless…Well I'm not surprised…Compared to a unit whose 3rd generation weapons are completed, your Masurao was simple unstable."
"Nani…" Ichika growled.
"Cool your jets! Think carefully, because there is no way you never thought about it. An IS is a weapon that only has a basic design and is meant to improve and evolve around the talent and the skill of the user. Your IS was a test type IS with close range weapons in mind and an experimental energy drive attached to it. You were given an experimental sword and additional equipment to improve your fighting capabilities. However, the old Masurao was a wild card…A gamble really. "
Suddenly the copy's Absolute Barrier materialized and he jumped up, throwing Ichika off of him, though not without sacrificing numerous shield points. Ichika jumped back before falling off and raised his sword in a ready position. Then he charged forward to slash down his enemy before he could counter-attack.
Whoosh! Clank! Clank! Clank!
"If you think carefully it should have stood out. An experimental IS of the 4th generation…A work equipped with quite a bit of unknown technology, and the fact that it was used by the first male IS pilot. It had a hard time syncing and tuning to your very being. So in the rush process it was awakened before it was completed! The result was two things. One: Your uniqueness that Shinonono Tabane focused on, the characteristic of the 4th gen IS, the One Off Ability. Your Shunko was supposed to be the flawless and absolute magnification of your IS' power, however your One Off Ability turned out to be a double edged sword that harms you excessively. While no ability is perfect, your current Shunko is very dangerous. My Wielder of the Double Edged Sword, Orimura Ichika…" the copy intoned as he held the sword in a low charging stance.
The pale copy kicked off and clashed once again with Ichika. The young hero pushed hard against his counterpart's beam katana, neither willing to give up. Sparks flew between the two Ichikas as they pushed against each other.
"The second result is that you cannot perfect your sword…it is impossible for the current sword to do what it was remade to do."
"Re-Remade?"
"Correct! Shinonono Tabane's original design for your katana was Orimura Chifuyu's Yukihira. In other words the Null Void systems! It was also redesigned to extend up to 50 meters at max! However…An IS changes according to its user. When your skills were added into the IS, your sheer desire, capability, and potential completely surpassed Shinonono Tabane's expectation!"
The copy slashed rapidly at Ichika, but Ichika parried or blocked every strike.
"Because of that it had to be recalibrated when it underwent First Shift…However, when it was rushed to save you, it was made with a critical error. The sword had to be reformed for your sake and it was forged incorrectly…There was nothing Kojuro and his crew could do…It was simply made wrong. My Unfortunate Lord of the Throne! Orimura Ichika!"
The copy broke off and gazed at Ichika. His eyes showed no arrogance, hatred or malice. Only pity .
"How pitiful…You desire to conquer the world with such a flawed sword."
"Tsk!"
"There is no need for shame. It was simply that Masurao was weak. My Blameless Crown Prince, Orimura Ichika."
"SHUT UP! MY MASURAO IS THE STRONGEST UNDER THE HEAVENS! THAT IS FACT! THAT WILL BE PROVEN BY ME BECOMING THE MOST POWERFUL WARLORD IN THIS WORLD!" roared Ichika as his brittle, flawed katana regained its deadly sharp edge and all the grace it once had.
"Strong resolve will end with empty words if your foundation is weak! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT TO UNITE ALL UNDER YOUR NAME WITH SUCH A WEAK SWORD?! My Naive Conqueror! Orimura Ichika!"
"Then I'm going to make you eat your words and show you what I am made of! Prepare yourself!" said Ichika as he raised his sword once again. The blade distorted as a torrent of red lights gathered and enlarged, twirling around the blade like a miniature twister.
"…That attack again huh…How foolish my lord…Didn't I tell you…"
He raised his sword and mimicked his opponent exactly.
"Your sword is flawed! My katana is the real deal! My Stubborn Flickering Torch! Orimura Ichika!"
The two of them roared to high heaven as they slashed down together. The torrents of light collided between them as it engulfed them both in the furious light storm. The very air and space were cut as the heat burned away the mindscape's land, pillars and water. By the time the attack reached its peak, everything was engulfed in a titanic explosion.
From the cloud of destruction and smoke the pale copy slashed the cloud to clear the way. His armor was shattered and broken with cracks covering every inch of it.
"Where are you my lord?! Hiding doesn't suit you! Suddenly he sensed killing intent behind him "AS IF! My Sneaky Serpent of the Garden! Orimura Ichika!" the copy roared out as he spun around to thrust his katana at the assailant behind him.
Whoosh!
Thud!
The white Ichika stabbed the real Ichika right in the stomach, straight through the Absolute Barrier and into Ichika's flesh and through the back armor.
"G…Guuah!"
Ichika coughed out a large amount of blood.
"So this was it…A sneak attack that was foiled…My Majestic Lord of the Blade…This is pathetic…Perhaps you never had a chance to take on the world." The copy muttered sadly, looking down at the Doukugan Ryu.
"Hee..hee..HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
"…What are laughing about?"
"How could I not!" Ichika gasped as he stood up straight despite the blade in his belly. "You told me you know everything that I do…You told me you are my fighting spirit and killing intent given form…So tell me…DO YOU THINK DOUKYGAN RYU, BROTHER OF ORIMURA CHIFUYU, THIS ORIMURA ICHIKA WILL END LIKE THIS?! DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE I WILL DIE A COWARD'S DEATH?! My Whisper of Peerless Height! Nameless ONE!"
Ichika grabbed the beam katana with his armored hand, a sizzling sound emerging as metal met incredibly high heat.
"Don't even joke around about that…You hold the truth…My truth…My rage…My will…My dream…My sword…MY EVERYTHING!" Ichika roared as he ignited his booster on his back, a burst of red energy blasting him forward and digging the sword further into his stomach. Ichika grind his teeth in pain as the sword burnt his stomach from the inside and the pain of burn and his flesh being torn through filled his body, never letting go as him and his opponent hurtled onwards, the copy unable to free his sword.
"Haaahhhhhhhhh!" cried out Ichika as he raised his own Yukihira Akatsuki-
"Doryaaa!"
-And smashed it down on the shoulder of the arm that was holding the katana in his belly, slicing through it deep into the skin and the flesh.
"Uggah!" the copy let out as he gripped his shoulder in pain. The shoulder armor had been severely weakened from their fighting and the enormous blast which had engulfed them earlier, allowing Ichika to penetrate it.
"Kuso…Such a meaningless assault…Just what can it achieve? My Thoughtless Tyrant, Orimura Ichika!" the copy declared as he took a step back, before realizing his mistake.
Guuhh….Guaaahhhhhhhhhh!" cried out Ichika as he grabbed the hilt of the katana in his stomach and deactivated the blade. As the beam katana's edge shrunk back into the handle Ichika pulled it out.
"Im…impossible…"
"DIE!"
Ichika held two beam swords in each hand and flew toward the copy who merely stood there, stunned into immobility.
Bloods dripped off of Ichika's body as he ignored the pain ripping through his body. The stolen katana of pale white and blue color turned pitch black and covered with red veins as his special Anti-Weapon program kicked in. THE KNIGHT OF HONOR!
The copy shook off the daze and quickly formed Kuroshiki and Byakushiki in each hand.
"DAMN IT!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Clank! Clank!
The copy desperately fended him off, but it was clear that the momentum was on Ichika's side. The two danced around each other in a deadly waltz as they slashed, thrust, and cut. The sound of metal meeting metal and sound of armor smashing into armor echoed throughout the mindscape.
"Huaaahhh!"
"Doryyaaaa!"
Clank! Clank! Fwish! Voosh! Clank! Thud! Slam! Parry!
"I should have known everything…Could it be I was wrong? My Deep Abyss of Grand Possibility! Orimura Ichika!"
Clank! Roll! Dodge! Slide! Klank! Clank! Whoosh!
"You were not wrong!" Their swords clashed, than both spun away kicking out at each other simultaneously, their feet meeting in midair with a bang, emitting a wave that shook the air "I was simply not trying hard enough! I got to thank ya-!" Their elbows collided, before they exchanged a volley of sword strikes "-For making me get serious! HOW CAN I NOT USE MY ALL WHEN YOU DESIRE TO DO THE SAME!"
Clank! Block! Punch! Punch! Punch! Slash!
Ichika ducked a sharp slash to his head and did a low upper slash that sliced off the copy's hand.
"D-DAMN IT!"
The copy slashed with the Kuroshiki in the other hand, but Ichika easily parried with his beam sword and slash at the copy's open side with his other blade. The copy brought the black serrated katana in a one hand reverse grip and slashed as he spun, but Ichika crossed both his blades and blocked. The copy followed up with a hard kick at his injured stomach.
"Kuso!"
The moment Ichika was out of balance the pale copy saw his chance.
"Ohhhh!" The copy tried to shoulder tackle him, but Ichika punched him on the side of his head while holding onto his sword than backhanded him away with his other hand. He spun around to slash into the copy's chest and shoulders with both blades at the same time.
The copy disengaged with a fierce kick and flew toward the sky.
"You're not getting away!"
Ichika thrust his stolen sword up and a flawless extremely long sword formed and stabbed into the copy's back and through his stomach.
"GGUUUUAAAHHHH!" the copy roared as his back armor was pierced through by the red beam katana and his body lay prone and still as he was suspended in the air, only held by a sword made of fire.
Ichika felt a droplet of something fall on his face. He touched his cheek and saw a liquid of darkness, darker than the shadow that is cast by his enemy's body against the light above the sky.
"Guah…" He coughed "…damn it…I guess this is it…game over for me."
He slowly turned his head around to look at the original.
"S…See…I know you had it in you….As expected…Of the person whose…killing intent…made me….My oh so noble…Majestic One Eyed Dragon, Orimura Ichika…Now….Finish me…."
"Ah…I understand."
Ichika held his own beam katana in a low rising stance.
"I'll tell you something…Knowing the name of something…Can make the biggest difference…Name carry power and your…No our strongest attack…The attack that can cut apart the sky and rain blood…its name is…^&#%^%#^."
Ichika smiled.
"Arigatou…Myself….But you have yet to tell me…What is your name?"
"Hee…" The dying copy smiled.
"Me?…Let's see…I am Masurao and yet not Masurao…I am Tama and yet not her…I am you and yet I wish for another name…I am your rage…your negative emotions…I am your fear, shame, pride, and instinct given form…I will be next to you as you battle and always solidify your resolve…I am rage…I am the wild battle lust…forever burning…I am…Hero of the Rage and Battle….I am the Claw…I am the Fang…I am the violation itself …"
"Claw and Fang of Violation, huh…That is a good name."
Ichika's eyes, one black with brownish tint and another blazing red glowed.
"Any last word? Furin no Soga(Claw and Fang of Violation)…Shika('Shi' as in 'Four' or even 'Death' and 'ka' as in Ichika's ka)?"
"Shika? Is that my name…?"
"Why not? Your name from now on is Shika…and your title is Furin no Soga, the mighty Claw and Fang of Violation." Ichika declared, his voice solemn but dignified.
The pale copy smiled.
"I see…I am Shika, the Furin no Soga…Oh yes, I can get used to that…Oh yes, my Kind and Fulfilling Lord of Man, Orimura Ichika…If you want to rise to the next level and rule the world in your image. That isn't the end. After the second step there is the third and after that a fourth. Your limit is the sky and as a dragon that soars beyond the heavens…You are…limitless."
"Ah…" Ichika's swords glowed red once again.
"I know… Claw and Fang of Violation, Shika."
Soon after the world was once again lit ablaze as a blinding red torrent of destruction engulfed the sky…And all the clouds fell apart, disintegrating into nothingness as they fled the crimson light like darkness fled from the rising sun.
"Hahh!" Chifuyu yelled out as she slashed away at her brother, but the few strikes that weren't dodged only made small dents in the unrefined armor. The monster suddenly retaliated with a smack at her with the back of his hand. Chifuyu jumped over the blow and slammed her foot into her brother's armored face with such force that he was forced back many a meter, his visor shattered into pieces, leaving a dull red imprint in its place.
"Guuuaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the untamed Ichika roared, swinging about as the large clawed appendage on his back waved about wildly letting out erratic bursts of energy. Craters formed where the beams impacted, the ground shattered in and around them, dust and tiny bits of debris filling the air.
The three fighters had managed to lure the mad beast to the coast, allowing them to fight without fear of collateral damage.
Maya took advantage of his sudden blindness to dart around him, avoid a single, errant blast with ease, and blast away at his back with two shotguns at close range.
Pshoaw! Phroaw! Boom! Vhrash! Boom!
Each shot blew off bits of murky black mud that flew into the air and disintegrated, pushing Ichika forward again and again with each impact, eventually overbalancing him and forcing him forward onto his arms and knees. The rent muddy armor quickly flowed around the damaged portions as they regenerated until they swirled away as if never there. Ichika's back hand stilled for a moment, than spun to face Maya, letting loose a gout of energy that Maya leaped aside to avoid even as Ichika turned his head to face her, his visor repaired and glowing like molten lava.
"Eeeek!" squeaked out Maya as the dark assailant spun around, all three palms facing her and spewing beams of energy almost before he'd even completed his turn. Despite Maya's apparent panic she quickly and skillfully dodged the rain of beam attacks. After several seconds, Ichika brought his left arm around to point at the charging Chifuyu while his his hand did the same with Kojuro, and opened fired, forcing them to dodge as well. They continued in this vein for what felt like hours, but was in fact less than half a minute.
"GGuuaahh!" the beast roared as he ceased firing at Maya and brought his beam katana out to point at her. Crimson streams of energy formed along the blade and surged forward to concentrate at its tip, forming a swirling blood red orb.
"What? When did he learn to do that?"
"GUAAAAHHHHHHH!" the beast roared as a beam of energy matching the sphere in color and dwarfing his usual blasts erupted from the sphere at Yamada in a flash of red light that sped for her, only to halt abruptly with a great roar only feet away from its target, arcs of energy surging away from the center of impact and curling out to Maya's sides. Before her she held her great shields, which shuddered with the intensity of the beam hurtling itself against them. The wind howled, the earth tore apart around her from the force of the clash. She could not move from her position, the beam was too fast, too powerful, too close. If she moved, the blast would push her shields aside, knock her off balance, or both, and rip through her body. Her Absolute Barrier would not save her. If she moved, she would die. But it quickly became clear that she would die if she did not move.
"Uhhhh…This is…" The intense heat and force of the blast began to take its toll , as the shields were slowly melted and ground away by the greedy crimson energy "…too…" Small pieces of her IS, Revive, began to break off and burn to nothingness. "...much."
"Hahh!"
A sword arced down to smash into the arm holding the Yukihira. The wielder of the sword was Kojuro. Having been closer to Ichika than Chifuyu, he had evaded the beams that had been fired at him and made his way through the barrage and snuck up on Ichika when his attention was diverted to Maya. The strike did little damage, merely denting the armor, but it pushed the arm, and the beam it was firing, away from Maya. It also knocked Ichika off balance long enough for Kojuro to spin around, using the force of the spin to increase the strength of his next strike.
"Bakuchishi (Dashing Earth Fiend)!" Kojuro bellowed as he smashed his sword against his master's head like a hammer. Unfortunately, the attack merely cracked the armor slightly, and by this point Ichika's attention had been firmly redirected to him.
Kojuro's eyes widened in pain and surprise as the beast punched him, hard, in the shoulder, sending him flying back more than fifteen meters to land with a thud. Even as Kojuro slowly got his bearings back, and began struggling to move, his dark assailant's form had already appeared above him, fist cocked back.
"GGGUUUAAAHHH!"
The fist shot down, and Kojuro saw his life flashing before his eyes, when a fairly large and somewhat circular object spun into view, bashing against Ichika's descending arm and bouncing off. Ichika's limb's descent had been slowed by less than a second, and diverted by only a few inches.
It was enough.
Kojuro rolled sideways as fast as he could, the armored fist which sought his death colliding with the earth inches away from him.
The effects were instantaneous.
A lightning effect of cracks spread out from the center of where his fist landed and fanned out at a distance of several dozen meters around him in seconds, followed by the ground caving in, great heaps of earth upheaving, others shattering, with dust and debris littering the air. Kojuro was sent flying, and he was lucky enough to avoid ramming into any of the sections of earth that stuck out of the ground like they'd been shoved up from underneath, before he was caught by Maya.
"Are you alright?" he asked, letting him lean on her.
"I've…Been through worse…Just not as helpless…" Kojuro groaned. Something caught his eye near Ichika, and he glanced over, realizing it was the thrown object that had probably saved his life.
It was one of Maya's shields; battered, dented, cracked, and partially melted, it had nonetheless protected him, as all shields were meant to do, albeit in an unorthodox fashion.
The beast was about to charge after them, but suddenly a flash of steel behind him left him wingless and his propulsion system damaged.
"Guuagh! Guuahah!" The beast turned back to see his sister pointing a katana at him. She narrowed her eyes and and settled down in a stance. She held her sword on her right and pointed forward sideways. Her upper body was bent forward slightly and her back leg was tensed for a sprint. Her left hand settled just above the tip of her blade…She had settled in a charging stance. The Gatotsu.
"…Stupid brother…I'm not sure how long we can keep up with you like this…If this fails I'll use my IS…And I don't want to hurt you that badly…"
"GGUUAHH! GUAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"You can't even hear my voice now can you…? But I refuse to cut you down….I'm still your sister…."
"Guuahahh! Guaagh!" the beast roared to the high heaven as the black mud completely covered his form and from the back of his head many threads of red came out…signifying that Akakami and Akakiri were online.
Ichika's form was now shrouded in a thick red mist. She can no longer read his moves by sight. But she doesn't need eyes to see him.
Chifuyu closed her eyes and concentrated…She felt the uncontrollable energy and ki released by her brother and the killing intent focused on her.
"Ah…I think this is the first time you ever glared at me with such desire to kill…This is an…Unpleasant experience, little brother." Chifuyu opened her eyes. "Big sister is going to have to teach you that there will be no more tantrums."
"GUUAAAHHHH!"
Chifuyu was silent as she charged at her brother, her arms tensing in preparation. Her speed was remarkable for someone without an IS, as she managed to outpace her brother's own wild movements. Her thrust went straight for the beast's front and Ichika raised his armored hand in the air to slash down…
"Guuuuu!...Guuaaaghhhhh!"
Suddenly Ichika grabbed the hand preparing to swing down with his other, stopping it. The clawed hand on his back whirling about wildly and started clawing at his body. His armor began swirling about in it's mud like, murky state, some parts even appearing to be dripping of him for a few seconds.
Chifuyu narrowed her eyes and passed by her brother without striking him, immediately turning about sharply and slashing up.
"HAHHH!"
Chifuyu charged, slashed, and sheathed in the blink of an eye, she closed her eyes upon finishing. The Beast's back now sported a straight cut from the rear to the back of the head.
"Guuuhhh…Guhhhhh…." Ichika turned back to Chifuyu and walked toward her. Step by step he approached her.
"…Awaken…Ichika."
The beast gave no sign of understanding as it raised its hand…And smashed it against it's face. The black kabuto with deformed horns broke apart revealing the weary face underneath it. Slowly cracks began to materialize and spread out over the armor that caked around Ichika as it shattered bit by bit.
"Ichika?"
From the crumbling body of the deformed Masurao burst out a human hand that grabbed Chifuyu by the arm and pulled her closer. Chifuyu was caught off guard, but quickly realized quickly realized her brother had no hostile intent and was simply embracing her.
"I-Ichika!"
"Just a little…"
"What?"
"Let me hug you…Just a little longer before I head out…"
"Head out? You mean…No! I forbid it! You are still too injured!"
"The girls...they are not here to stop me…So that means they decided to take the matter into their own hands right?" asked the black haired boy. He slowly raised his head to stare at his sister with his mismatched pair of eyes.
"It is my fight to finish…Like it is my fight to protect you…My fight to put down Nobuyuki…"
"Wait my lord!" yelled Kojuro as he planted himself in front of Ichika.
"You are still too exhausted and injured! You fought the Gospel and us not too long ago! You are pushing yourself too hard! To head off to battle so soon and unrested is foolish! Please wait until the teachers retrieve the girls, you can still seek out the Gospel after you are healed!"
"Kojuro…Would you ignore it when someone messes with you? Of course not." Ichika smirked.
"But Ichika-sama!" yelled out Kojuro in worry, but Ichika waved him off.
"Not to worry. This is not a fight for revenge, but to save the idiots who decided to fight the Gospel in my name…As if! I'm still alive you know…I'm going there to get them back."
Ichika turned to Maya.
"Where is Gospel now?"
But before she could answer Kojuro stepped in front of him.
"That wouldn't do!"
"…The girls are part of me…They are my comrades and friends…They are, in a way, part of my Shin Date Gun…I don't leave a man behind. I don't let them hog the fun fights either."
Ichika smirked confidently at his friend and most loyal vassal.
"…You see?"
However Kojuro stepped forward and held firm.
"I can't allow you to go." he stated as he slowly took hold of his sheathed sword's hilt. Ichika's eyes narrowed.
"Ka-Katakura-san?" Maya murmured hesitantly as she looked back and forth between the two men in worry. Chifuyu only stared…secretly on Kojuro's side regarding this.
"You want to stop me?" asked Ichika, but Kojuro didn't even flinch.
"…Your retainers are important and your friends just as so…But for this Kojuro the most important one of all is you, Ichika-sama."
"Then come with me….protect my back like always."
Kojuro's visage hardened.
"You're fearless, always charging forward no matter the situation. You are like an arrow, which knows no return and flies high and far piercing anything in your way. You are unafraid of the world…Your will and bravery opening the path for all of us…and I Kojuro, will guard your back….That's what I promised."
Kojuro drew his sword completely and brought it up.
"But I can't allow you to go in your condition, even if I must lose my life!" finished Kojuro as he flared his fighting spirit.
"This can't be helped…" Ichika summoned his own swords from his spot buses. From a glow of lights on his hips where his Rokusos.
The two men stared as the night light beamed them…Making the scenery at the beach like a work of art. Ichika draw one of this swords, the Natakudo, the Hell's path and took a stance. He slowly closed his right eyes on reflex as he always had an eye patch on it.
"Ohh!" let out Kojuro as he struck first. The two held themselves in a sword lock trying to overpower one another; eventually Kojuro won and managed to knock Ichika back. Taking advantage of the opening Kojuro launched a fury a strikes focused on Ichika's right side. Kojuro had trained and sparred with Ichika so much that he had long since learned his fighting style. He knew how to combat his lord.
"Hahh!"
Grang!
"Soryaaa!"
Clank!
"Haahhhha!"
Prong!
Each clank filed the observers with uneasy feelings as Ichika slowly succumbed to his exhaustion.
"Tsh…Why won't you support my decision Kojuro? You've stood by my side for so long. If it's my health you worry about, why don't you simply guard my back as always and and get the mission done?"
"My heart fills with desire to do that very thing, Ichika-sama. HOWEVER!" Their swords collided again, and Kojuro pushed hard enough to shove Ichika back. "I fear that your battlefield is now one that I cannot join!"
The two clashed once again and the win kick off at the sheer pressure of their spirits.
"That is right…Since you gain the IS, this Kojurio felt ever so lost…For long time now, I was unable to protect you back from all of your battle…To protect you from any threat behind you so you may fight heroically was my sworn duty, but NOW I CAN'T EVEN FULFILL THAT!"
Fwish! Clank! Vrang! Braong! Vroosh! Clank!
"So this is the only way for me to support you my lord! Only by forcing you not to fight and to rest is all the aid I can give you!" Kojuro clashed his sword on Ichika's Hell Path and both blades ground together, sparks flying and the screech of metal on metal filling the air.
"Please…Just listen to this Kojuro's wishes"
"No way Kojuro…" Ichika pushed back, and the dance of blades began yet again that day, this time between servant and master.
"You've always had my back! IS or no IS! You're my eight eye! What I see is what you see! You're my shadow that protects and supports me! I named you my Right Eye of the Dragon not for the fact that you protect me, but the fact you're my right hand man!"
Kojuro went for a thrust to Ichika's right which was deflected by a slash.
The two men clashed again and again, but than for a second Ichika's guard lost its strength and Kojuro's eyes narrowed at his lord's.
"Forgive me…ICHIKA-SAMA!" Kojuro shouted as he went for a slash with his sword held in reverse, dull side forward. But the moment he struck at Ichika's blindside…Ichika opened his crimson right eye.
He could see the attack now.
WHOOOOSH!
CLANK!
Kojuro's strike was deflected and Ichika spun in close and smashed the back of his hand on Kojuro's side and continued his spin. Kojuro went for a back stab, but it failed as Ichika stepped back to avoid it.
Kojuro turned to continue his assault, but was stopped by a katana to his throat courtesy of Ichika.
"Yield Kojuro!"
Kojuro wanted to continue, but he was clearly the defeated in this fight.
"…Ichika-sama…I"
"Kojuro."
"Hai."
"…I am about to head off to aid my foolish friends who are fighting the Gospel…I need you to watch my back." Ichika tapped his right eye and the red eye glowed slightly.
"This mini-hyper sensor is transferring whatever it sees and analysis to friendly channel…I expect you to advise me in the battle." Said Ichika with a sft grin on his face, as if his most trusted didn't take a sword against him.
"Ichika-sama…why…?"
"I will not take a 'no' for an answer Kojuro." Ichika turned around. "…You are supposed to watch my back right? So do so, by providing me with advice and suggestions, conveniently, at my back."
Kojuro felt his eyes water at his lord's command and forced it down.
"Ha-HAIIIII!" said Kojuro as he fell to one knee and bowed.
Ichika smiled and turned to his sister and Maya.
"I hope there is no problem with that?"
Chifuyu rubbed her eyes, and sighed.
"Even if I forbid it…You'll still go right?"
"Correct. Your words are like a divine order for me, but I must do what I believe is right…forgive me Nee-san."
Chifuyu looked at her brother's resolved face and thought to herself.
'Ah…I raised him since he was a baby…and now he's a proud man…one that I acknowledge…"
"Go…and I hereby order you, Doukugan Ryu, to win!"
"HAI!"
Ichika swiftly turned around, took a deep breath to relax himself and looglancedked at his black dragon bracelet. Ichika gazed at the dark sky. His red eyes glowed brightly in the dark as his will solidified.
"Conquer and trample…Masurao."
Deep in his mind, in the land filled with water and stone pillars that rose out of it like the remnants of an a forgotten civilization, stood a woman, her eyes closed, who looked just like Chifuyu, but wore a stylish red kimono and had long red hair glowing like fire. (Think Shana from Shakugan no Shana)
Her eyes slowly opened, and a smile graced her lips.
"Yes, my master. Your wish is…My command." Ichika saw no sign of her, but her voice echoed faintly in his mind, as his body began to glow again. The armor that surged into being over his form took away the breath of all who witnessed it.
"This is…Orimura-kun…"
"Ichika-sama's-"
"-Second…shift?"
Now properly garbed and armed, Ichika checked his IS's stats on the screen. He smiled in satisfaction.
"Master?" the soft voice of Tama inquired.
"Are you ready?" Masurao asked.
"Yeah…THIS DOKUGAN RYU, ORIMURA ICHIKA HAS BEEN RESURRECTED!"
His roar of triumph shook the very heavens and the One Eyed Dragon soared once again, grand and majestic as ever.
"Houki!It's heading your way!"
"Leave it to me!"
The rouge IS spun around the air like a white fallen angel as it launched a rain of Silver Bell bombs .
A crimson red IS dove forward, blocking, parrying, and dodging the countless projectiles as they fell out of the sky like a swarm of bees, but the sheer number of targets quickly began overwhelming the red flower of the battlefield.
"There's no end to it!"
"Don't give up!" shout out a certain British girl as she fired at all the targets as fast as she could. She shifted her position and posture to get the maximum visual and angle to take down the storm of blades.
"Come on! Keep up with me, Blue Tears!"
As the blonde noble's bombardment continued, the Dragon Goddess soared behind the Silver Gospel and open fired with her cannons and Dragon Roars.
"Haaaahhhh!" the twin tailed maiden exclaimed as her atmosphere compact cannon shells ripped through the sky, but the silver IS skillfully dodged her sneak attack and fired off a group of Silver Bells at her.
"Tsk!" Rin pulled out her Souten Gagetsu and twirled the blade in front of her like how Ichika showed her during their match to skillfully block the barrage of attacks, but her lack of skill showed as multiple shots got through her blade barrier and knocked her about a little.
Before Rin's situation could get worse Charl dove in front of her with the Garden Curtain shield activated, allowing the rest of the barrage to impact her defense and explode relatively harmlessly. The instant the assault let up, the French beauty opened fire with her Vent rifle to keep the Gospel away.
"Don't you look down on us!"
Laura took the manuevering Gospel's back and fired her railguns, but the fallen angel refuse to stand still , spinning away from the rounds that zoomed past it while firing its energy bullets at Laura who quickly leaped to the side. Suddenly the gospel's eyes glowed underneath its helmet as it fired off its energy chain behind it, ensnaring Yukihana seconds before her lances could pierce it.
"Damn it! She spotted me!"
"Beep! Beep! Beeepeeep!" rang out from Gospel as it fired at Yukihana's Uchigane rom pointblank range. The resulting explosion enveloped the female warrior made her cry out. Forcing herself to ignore the pain, her eyes narrowed. Before the fires of the blast had even faded she spun her lance in three hundred and sixty degree motion, slicing off the chains that bound her. Gae Dearg in her right hand, Gae Buide in her left, she charged the Silver Gospel, engaging it in close-range combat.
"HHAAAAAHH!" let out Yukihana , thrusting Gae Buide at her white nemesis. The blow never reached it's destination as the Gospel materialized it's beam sword from the Gate of Israel and brought it sweeping sideways to smack the spear off course. Undettered, Gae Bolg dove in from the right, but it too was parried. Yukihara's thrust once, twice, again, repeat, slowly speeding up until it looked like she wielded a dozen flickering spears that blurred the air before her, lashing out again and again at the the enemy before her. Rather than fly away, or zoom behind her, the Silver Gospel stood its ground. Its blade of energy flashed in a breathtaking light show filling the air in front of it, never failing to meet the spear tips that sought it's wielders defeat. The sound of the clashing blades was like well orchestrated music. Never faltering. Never losing its intensity.
"Beeep beep beep!" Silver Gospel suddenly knocked Gae Bolg into the obvious path of Gae Buide's next strike, causing Yukihara to falter for an instant, an instant in which the it flipped behind her and nailed an upside down kick to her right shoulder. sending her flying down with a gasp. It followed up by throwing the energy saber it held at her, and nailed Yukihana's shoulder.
"GGuaah!" let out Yukihana as she clutched her shoulder, but she looked back up immediately as her alarm system rang and bore witness to a storm of blades and bullets filling her vision, coming right at her.
"Kuso!"
The storm of shots piled on her, pummeling her left and right, each instant another ten moments of pain. It lasted but seconds, and Yukihana fell down with her IS badly damaged, cracked covering it's frame..
"YUKIHANA SAN! Why you-DIE!"
"DON'T THINK YOU'RE LEAVING HERE ALIVE!"
Rin and Houki dove in from the opposite sides of Gospel and swung their blades down. Gospel unleashed its swords and chains around it in a curtain of steel that blocked both weapons.
As a result, however, Silver Gospel was immobile for a moment.
"Cecilia Alcott! Sniping the target!" yelled out Cecilia as her Starlight MkIII's laser beam pierced right Gospel's back severely damaging the silver mecha. As Gospel shuddered, sparks leaping around it's form, Houki saw an opportunity.
"HAAHHHHHHHH!"
She slashed at the enemy IS, but despite the damage it had just taken it blocked her attack with both arms crossed. Houki grinded her teeth as she pushed down on the enemy IS. Silver Gospel's senor detected movement below and open fired at Rin as she charged up. Without hesitation she used Souten Gagetsu to slash through the round, than brought out the close ranged diffusion cannons—the target the head of the Silver Gospel.
Gospel open fired with the Silver Bells at her as she sped towards it. The endless storm of attacks left no path for the girl to reach it with. Except for one.
As Rin slashed a path through the seemingly endless rain of deadly projectiles, a passing tip from Ichika ran through her mind.
"…Your Souten Gagetsu is not a speed weapon. It's meant to use the weight of the weapon to smash through the enemy armor…So for you Rin, the best way to use this weapon is to spin with it."
Te Chinese Representative spun aroun with her weapon to build up the necessary force and-
VOOOSHH! WOOOSH! CLANK!
sliced off one of the Gospel's wings.
"Haa, haa...! HOW ABOUT THAT—KU!?"
Though left with only one wing, the Gospel immediately readjusted itself and gave Rin's left arm a roundhouse kick. He smashed Rin's shoulder armor with the additional force from his leg booster and sent her flying down towards the sea.
Beep! Beep beep!
As if angry at the injury inflicted the Gospel launched more swords from the Gate of Israel , which stabbed through Rin's left Shoulder Impact Cannon and one of the side cannons. The rest of the blades slashed chunks out her arm and leg armor, and cracks erupted over her form again and again. Rin let out a yell of pain as she fell.
"RIN! DAMN IT!"
Houki, wielding one sword in each hand, hacked at the Gospel.
"SHINONONO RYU! DAI SAN NO MAI! KURO AME!" yelled out Houki as she spun vertically and slashed down at the Gospel.
As the Emergency acceleration caused it to lose balance, the Gospel got a cut on its right shoulder.
"Got it-!"
The Gospel grabbed the blades of both her swords.
"WHAT?"
The Gospel's arms spread out, pulling Houki's arms with them, leaving her wide open. The Gospel opened the cannons on its remaining wing in preparation for firing.
"HOUKI! LEAVE THE SWORDS AND ESCAPE!"
Houki didn't move.
"...If I back away here, why did I..."
The energy bullets spewed out from both weapons.
"WHY DID I WANT TO GET POWER!?"
A second before impact, Akatsubaki spun around, and the Fold-Out Armor on her feet responded to Houki's will as an energy blade emerged from from the tip of her foot. The blade ignited pink and red and it extended to at least a foot and a half in length.
"AHHHHH!"
Houki swung her foot up, wrenching her swords from the Gospel's grip and slicing its remaining wing off, sending it plummeting towards the sea.
"Ha, haa, haa...!"
"Are you alright?"
Laura's (very) unusually panicked voice, caused Houki's erratic breathing to slow.
"I'm...alright. The Gospel, it—"
Suddenly, a ball of glowing white light emerged from the sea surface.
It hung mere feet above the water for several seconds, before the light began to fade. In its place the Silver Gospel hovered, arcs of blue electricity zapping over it's form with a continuous, unending crackle. The Gospel was curled up in a ball, knees tugged in, arms crossed over itself.
"This...!? What's going on...?"
"DAMN IT! THIS IS—SECOND SHIFT!"
As Laura's yell, the Gospel shifted, face turning towards the silver haired German. Even from the girls' distance, they could still feel the malice in it's gaze, ringing a warning bell in all the IS pilots. The Gospel's body hadn't change much, but now it has a large energy wings. Its form was majestic as it was threatening.
"We need to regroup-"
"KYAAAAAAAIIIIIII!"
The Gospel let out what sounded eerily like the roar of a wild beast and charged at Laura at incredible speeds, flapping its newly created energy wings.
"WHAT!?"
Laura got her foot grabbed before she could react.
Charlotte quickly used Rapid Switch to attack using the close-range knife. But it was blocked by the rogue IS, barehanded. She was sent flying as the Gospel backhanded her away and from its palm a long energy chain sped out. The chain entangled her and she was cast aside like a rag doll.
"CHARLOTTE! DAMN IT-MOVE AWAY! ESCAPE! THIS—"
Before she could finish, Laura found herself enshrouded by her enemy's vibrant energy wings. The wings surrounded her in a sphere with no chance to escape.
"…Glorious Imprisonment…" beeped out Gospel, the wings forming many fruits…fruits known as Silver Bell bullets.
"…Kuso." Muttered Laura as she realized her predicament.
The bullets slammed into Laura at point blank range. Her form was now covered by massive amount of fire and smoke. From the cloud of fire, Laura fell down towards the sea immediately after the barrage ended, unconscious and heavily battered.
"LAURA! DAMN IT...!"
Charlotte came back up with Yukihana. Silver Gospel formed a mass of swords of various shapes that it aimed at the two approaching enemies.
"WHA-WHAT'S THAT? THIS ABILITY...EVEN IF IT'S FOR MILITARY USE, IT'S TOO ABNORMAL—"
Charlotte was cut off as energy swords rained down at them. Charl had to deploy her shield and Yukihana Gae Dearg to block the attacks.
An energy sword in shape of a dao slashed into Yukihana's shoulder shield, shattering it. A spear shaped blade pierced the side of Yukihana's leg armor. As Yukihana stumbled she spun by accident exposing her flight unit which allowed her to fight in air despite being a hover type.
Beep beep beeeeeppp!
Swords fell down on her and destroyed her flight unit.
BOOOOMMM!
"Tsk! Curse my lack of proper wing!"
Out of the smoke Yukihana fell…Unable to soar through the sky to fight again.
Gospel spun and flap its wing to fire off multiple energy bullets to knock Charl away. The Silver IS leand to the side to avoid a shot from a distance as it turned to face Cecilia, performing Ignition Boost to blast toward Cecilia.
"WHAT?" The huge rifle was ineffective at close range. She reacted too slowly, though, and the rifle got kicked to the side.
"Why does this…"
The next moment, the Gospel began shooting from both wings on both sides, and before Cecilia could even come up with a decent counterattack, she began to fall toward the sea.
"Why does this always happen!? Why close combat!?" yelled out Cecilia as she fell. Houki watched helplessly as her friends fell one by one.
"You dare—YOU DARE TO DO THIS TO MY TEAMMATES!" Using emergency acceleration, Houki closed in and slashed away.
The fight had become one of close-range with both sides dodging each other, and having increased her output slightly, the Akatsubaki finally managed to corner the Gospel.
"Alright! If this keeps up-"
[Kyuu... beep beep beep!]
"WHAT! I RAN OUT OF ENERGY!?—KUAA!"
Using this opening, the Gospel's right hand grabbed onto Houki's collar and threw her aside. The Gospel's wings gathered around the top and a large swirling ball of energy was formed above its head. The sheer amount of pure, unadulterated power radiating from the sphere was maddening.
"Beep beep beep…Activating…Enuma Elish."
The swirling tide of energy was unleashed and sailed at Houki.
"NOOOOO!"
Houki was helplessly motionless as the massive attack approached. Without her energy, her Absolute Shield will not hold.
"I-Ichika…gomen." Muttered Houki as she closed her eyes. A single tear drop filled with regret, disgrace, and shame trailed down her face.
VOOOOOWHHHHOOOOOOSHHHHHHH!
Suddenly the blue wrath of heaven was blocked by a large red circular wall that held back the attack.
"What is that?"
"This reading…This is-!" Houki didn't know to what to think.
"Interesting."
Suddenly a shadow was cast in front of her as someone stood before her. The samurai girl looked up to see the wide and broad back of someone she didn't think would ever stand for her again.
"Yo…What are you standing there for, Houki?" In front of Houki in an IS, with a new look was…Ichika!
The black IS kept its original look to a degree, but there were many changes. For one the hip armor took a new shape as a single bladed armor plate curved in three directions. From one end it was still the same side booster armor, but on the tip on the hip were three handles of a katana, which in total made 6 swords.
The formerly hoofed feet of Masurao were now armored and had some contraption attached to the soles while the ankle and calf had more focused armor. The armor on the arms was thicker and sharper. On the center of his arm was a circular projection device that held a red orb in the middle.
The new Masurao was still black with red marks and a particle cloak, but the red mists were less wild and more refined, like a cape. On his back was many strands of red threads, which are his stealth/radar cloaking device the Akakami. The red hairs swayed around like a majestic mane of a lion…making the IS more humane and life like.
On its back was the rebuilt and improved Gordius Wheel now completely black with dark purple hull marks and red marks on the wings and claws…Yes! Just like when he was rampaging out of control, there are now two armored claws on his back. A new set of arms that were bigger and heavier armed was placed on the Gordius Wheel Mark II, sans the Luminous Beam cannon and the M15 mini guns. The huge hands had not only thick armor, but five red curved claws. On the palm were flat cone likes structure with four holes…It was the same beam weaponry he used as a beast.
And finally…Another noticeable change lay in the helmet.
The orange visor remained the same, but the side part of the samurai kabuto was more decorative and stylish. The most noticeable change was the two beetle horns. It was replaced with a yellow crescent moon like the famous helmet of Date Masamune. It glowed as the IS brimmed with power.
Ichika stood there proudly and looked down at the Silver Gospel…The two 2nd Shift IS' both releasing staggering auras, subconsciously attempting to overpower each other before even engaging in battle.
"Behold…My new and improved Infinite Stratos, the strongest IS in the world. MASURAO RINNEOH, King of the Samsara!" declared Ichika as his IS released a burst of red particles…lightening the sky like the waking dawn.
Yeah…I have completely prepared the peak of robot combat by over dosing this Rinneoh. But I'll make it fair and reasonable as I can.
Masurao Rinneoh is more like Date Masamune now in helmet, and in hit and thigh armor. However this unit now has all the collective knowledge from all its combat records and made itself into the 'Strongest IS' in the current world. You will be impressed with the thought I put into this mecha…For I am a fan of great Mechas…
I am working on the Reflection which is around 40% done, but I might need to fix at least 7 to 9 pages of it. My Kisame fic and the Claymore is a slow, slow progress unfortunately, but my Shackled King might be easier in comparison.
I love all my currently active fics and I'll try my best to work on them all. But you all experienced how long it takes me to update, so go easy on me. Also, I deleted all my old challenges in my Profile and filled it up with better challenges. I feel that I put a lot of thoughts into these. Feel free to take it up.