Another chapter! Oh my goodness me here we go again. I'm gonna try to make it up to all you awesome people who follow this story by really cracking down on this. I must make it better!
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Electricity snapped over Tsukune's body, not hurting him in the slightest. As his youki raged around him, he growled, baring his teeth, canines sharp and elongated. His eyes slowly became blood red, completely covering them completely and leaving small glowing trails as they moved. His arms once again became covered in a hard, deep purple armor, coating them from his shoulders down to his fingertips, sharpening at the ends to create lethal claws. Dark brown hair swirled and became sterling silver, electricity coiling and snapping around the strands. The sheer power emanating from his body atomized his shirt, leaving him shirtless and revealing the other changes his newfound power was creating. His scars were still plain on his body, but the muscles beneath the skin swelled, roiling as they condensed and hardened. The sheer power his physical form held now was incomparable to anything on the planet, and when saturated with his powers became nigh incomprehensible.
The girls swooned as Tsukune's shirt faded and Yukari fainted from the mental image of Inner Moka and Tsukune's new form together in her bed with her between them. Luckily, she awoke moments later.
Tamel and Uven knew what was to come: a hard and fierce battle. One that all three of them would enjoy to its fullest.
Crossing his arms in front of him, Tamel roared as he snapped them down to his sides, the power of the Chaos God erupting in a deafening explosion, purple energy flaring out as his arms became encased in the same armor Tsukune's were, hair swaying in the flux of youki. The energies surrounding him twisted around his form as his insane smile became a full grin, excited at the promise of battle.
Uven sighed, a chilling, rattling sound one would hear from the Reaper. Quite fitting for the God of Death. Shadows rose from the ground, swirling around him in an intricate and complex dance. His cloak was blown backwards, exposing his arms and the chains that hung from them, connecting his arms to his shoulders and torso. The sleeves of his dark shirt were shredded just past his elbows, and his exposed forearms and hands appeared to be human, with the exception of dark runes burning on his skin, smoking slightly and pitch black nails. Uven reached out with his right arm and grabbed the shadows before swinging his arm to the outside of his body, a gristly scythe appearing from nothingness to rest on his shoulder. A two handed weapon with a blade three feet long, rusted and cracked, but seething with power.
Witnessing both gods in their respective combat forms was enough to make the entire Newspaper Club back up slightly.
As I said, don't anger these two.Inner Moka said to Outer.
Outer Moka nodded, too stunned by the display of power to speak.
As if responding to their challenge, Tsukune let out a convoluted roar, both the deep roar of a monster and the scream of another twisted into one. His energy exploded, sending a powerful shockwave coursing over the valley. Luckily it passed harmlessly around the barrier Uven had erected, so the girls were unharmed.
The ground seemed to explode beneath Tamels feet as he threw himself at Tsukune, arm raised over his head. His hand broke the ground as Tsukune dodged the powerful blow, spinning up and over Tamel before launching a kick at the back of his head. Tamel took the blow, subsequently getting thrown hundreds of feet away before bouncing off the ground to travel even further before he spun in the air and dug his hands and feet into the ground, carving a series of trenches before coming to a complete stop.
Uven took advantage of his partner's recklessness to perform a magic that scared the Newspaper Club girls to their core. Even Inner Moka was edgy at what she witnessed.
While holding the scythe on his shoulder with his right hand, Uven reached straight out with his left, darkness rolling over the skin. With a single, unintelligible word, skeletons broke free of the earth and clambered towards Tsukune. Darkness seeped from their eye sockets as their teeth chattered. The smells of death and decay flowed off their forms in waves. One of the skeletons fired an arrow at the new elemental.
Tsukune took the arrow in the chest with a grunt of surprise.
Kurumu screamed.
Looking down at the arrow, Tsukune's face was one of wonder. Had this really just happened to him? Someone actually shot him with an arrow? He growled as he reached to grab the bolt and ripped it from his flesh, roaring at the skeletal legion as it tore skin, muscle, and sinew again.
Moka and the rest of his friends stared in wonder as the broken muscles and flesh began to knit themselves back together instantaneously, healing the boy in mere seconds after removing the arrow. Tsukune looked at the arrow in his hand, then back up at the skeletons and growled.
He let go of the arrow.
As it slipped from his fingertips, the boy vanished from sight. Before the arrow had fallen an inch, he was in the midst of the skeletons.
One inch. He had crushed a skull to powder and shattered two other skeleton torsos.
One and a half inches. A sonic boom erupted from where he had been shot and nine other skeletons succumbed to the hand of the Elemental.
Four inches. Twenty seven skeletons had fallen.
Eight. Three fourths of the legion died again at the hand of the enraged Elemental.
Ten inches. By the time the arrow had fallen ten inches, Tsukune had completely crushed the entire legion of skeletons, all sixty eight of them in pieces at his feet. Even Inner Moka was in awe. This boy, this weak boy whom she constantly pushed away, was fighting with the strength of a thousand demons. Her heart sank, because she so dearly wished he could have been vampire. No matter what species he was, no vampire was ever allowed to mate another race.
Kurumu was staring, dumbfounded. Her Destined One was just… amazing! She had no other words for what she was witness to. She was so happy, because she knew no matter what he became, he was always going to be Tsukune. The same Tsukune that had rescued her from Inner Moka's rage, the one who continuously threw himself into harm's way to keep her and his friends safe. The same Tsukune who stayed as her friend when he was a human and after she tried to hurt him. She swore, right there within the protective dome, that someday she would show him her gratitude for always being there for her.
Tamel came tearing down the field, zigzagging to hopefully confuse Tsukune, and was literally tearing the field apart with the force of his stride. He went low, a spinning leg sweep aimed at knocking Tsukune off balance. Tsukune jumped over the god, landed, and pushed off the ground straight into Tamel's chest, tackling him. They rolled over one another, throwing viciously destructive blows that summoned gale force winds and rendered the earth asunder. On his back, Tsukune dodged Tamel's fist by a hair and kicked him in the stomach, forcing him off and fifty feet away. Twisting nimbly, Tamel landed on both feet cleanly as Tsukune flipped over backwards onto his feet.
Their eyes met and in an instant, they both fired off the ground at one another, one with a fierce growl and the other with a deranged laugh.
They collided head on and rebounded at an angle, both still on their feet and threw themselves at each other again. The same result. The same reaction. They kept jumping at each other faster and faster until they blurred out of the visual spectrum and the only evidence they were still fighting was the smashing of bodies, the explosions of dirt, and the occasional roar.
Eventually, Tsukune leapt upwards, attempting to gain a height advantage on the God of Chaos.
Good, he remembers some of the basic training I gave him.
Ura-chan?
Gain the upper ground and use gravity to increase the weight and severity of your attacks. Craning your neck upwards is an irritating task to do, I learned from dodging all of our little succubus' attacks. Irritating, and for some creatures, distracting.
So he's fighting with your training?
No, this is something more than my training. He's melding it with what I think are his combat instincts. He's using all the painful memories from me beating the living daylights out of him and from his near death experiences subconsciously.
How could he be using those?
Inner Moka sighed. Why did she have to explain everything to people? Couldn't they see for themselves? He isn't using them intentionally. After all that, he's begun to start to see the little details that can only be gained through experience. The shifting of weight, eye movement, muscles flexing, hands tensing, all of these and more give Tsukune hints on a subconscious level that make him a more effective fighter. This is why Kokoa was never able to best me in a battle. She may have some power, but she doesn't detect these hints like I am able to.
Wow. You two are just… wow.
Uven paid no attention to the clamor before him. His attention was focused on another task. This one requiring more energy and concentration than the skeletal legion had. He planted the scythe in the ground in front of him, the blade pointing at the battle. Chains rattled as he stretched his arms out to the side, the dark powers of Death rising at the beck of their master. Uven called out to the Nothing that was beyond creation. He summoned the ones that existed beyond reality, ones that had sacrificed all and had been deemed worthy in their passing. The God of Death called forth some of this most powerful soldiers.
The Shades.
Not demons, nor Ayashi, nor even human. They once existed as such, but in their death, had hoped for something more. So Uven had given them a choice. They were permitted to bear witness to his travels, experiences, and memories. They were shown everything about their lord. And they were given a choice.
To serve, or pass.
To pass would be to fade into the cycle of creation, to continue onwards as was dictated.
To serve was an honor only given to the few who were chosen. They were allowed to retain most of their minds, not all of their memories, and be the commanders' of Death's armies.
They ordered the legions of skeletons.
Commanded the ranks of undead.
They wielded dark and powerful magics, and would follow their leader's order unto their own undoing.
Shades were rarely ever called out into battle. Their loyalty was nearing the borderline of fanaticism and their power could rival that of a high ranking vampire.
Three shades dropped out of nothingness and landed, crouched, around their lord. Without a word being spoken they turned and walked towards their target.
With a colossal crash, Tsukune was embedded twenty feet into the earth. Roaring, he shattered the rock blocking him and leapt out of the crater, only to freeze in sheer and utter horror.
"Game time is over Tsukune." Uven said coldly. "Now your final test in becoming a fully-fledged Elemental."
The three Shades held the female members of the Newspaper Club by the neck, clawed hands digging into their flesh.
One held Yukari and Ruby, another Moka and Mizore, and the last held Kurumu.
Tsukune growled, tensing.
Uven put a hand up. "Freeze boy. The instant you move my commanders will tear these girls to pieces."
Tsukune's face twisted with grief and rage. "Why are you doing this master?!" He yelled, "What are you doing?!"
Uven looked coldly down at him. "As I stated previously, this is your last test."
He walked in front of the five girls. "In combat and life, you will have to choose who lives, and who dies. This is just how the world works. It is an unchangeable, inevitable fate that falls upon all those who fight in battle."
"Not true!" Tsukune shook his head. "I've been in many fights with my friends and we have all come out alive!"
"You have not been in battle boy!" Tamel yelled at from behind him. "You have no idea what true battle is like. The glory, the excitement, the horror, the pain. Do not speak to us as though you know what that is like."
Gripping his head Tsukune shook. They have betrayed us!
"Now you must choose."
Tsukune looked up in horror, the glowing red in his eyes fading and returning them to their warm chocolate brown. "Choose?"
NO!
"Of course. In life, the decisions we make have consequences, whether for good or ill, that will affect us and others throughout our lives." He waved a hand around him. "That is how everything works."
"Choose… what?" Tsukune said, dread filling his mind and body.
Tamel's insane laughter came quietly from behind him. "Choose which one of your friends dies of course."
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OH FUCK. Now what? You don't know. I do. Hehehehehehehehee