Moments Before the War
"Lord Death," stated Quill as he walked in before Lord Death himself. "The students are now all holed up and the shopkeepers have all left." Lord Death's eyes narrowed as he examined the map of Death Scythe. Quill was standing behind him waiting for the answer. "What's the matter?" asked Quill as he looked around the room, worried that Lord Death left him alone in the room without telling him. Lord Death had several X's marked all over the map he was examining, trying to determine the most efficient locations to place the teachers. He wasn't going to take this time lying down, he needed to create a better defense then the enemy could create an offense. It would be whoever had the best positioning of their groups would be the winner. And since Lord Death knew his opponent, he knew he would have his work cut out for him.
He didn't speak for awhile before answering Quill, "Its becoming harder and harder to figure out the right defenses. The students have been left to their own devices...they should be able to defeat some measly Kishins, real problem is going to be the person leading them. Where are the Death Scythes that I ordered to return to base immediately?"
"Enma Judge was seen in the market place the other day...causing a scene," stated Quill, "should I call him here where you can give him the orders?" Quill's hand moved away, but froze in the air as he couldn't find the mirror that Lord Death commonly used for talking to people an incredible distance away. Lord Death shook his head and leaned back.
Lord Death suddenly remembered that Quill couldn't see him shake his head and quickly responded, "no, no. There is no need. He'll probably be jumping around and trying to destroy as many Kishins as he can. What about the other one?" Lord Death turned around and faced Quill, Quill paused for a second as he thought about it. He actually hasn't heard about the other Death Scythe entering the city yet. If he truly wasn't going to come, they would be down probably about a third of their fighting force.
Quill was starting to worry about it. Their original plan was to use three Death Scythes in conjecture with Lord Death to push back the attacking forces and slowly whittle them away with the regular weapons and meisters...but without the second Death Scythe, their plan was shot to hell. They still had Enma Judge who was more then capable at defeating several Kishins, but the real problem was that if Enma Judge fought with another Meister, then Lord Death would be weaponless as he didn't have any real training using Rochelle. That meant that Lord Death would be forced to use Enma or another run-of-the-mill weapon.
Quill suddenly shook his head realizing he hadn't actually answered Lord Death, yet. Lord Death sighed as he returned his attention to the map and continued to write out battle plans. He wasn't going to be able to rest until he figured out how to better beat the enemy this time around. His messenger made it clear that HE was coming and with Marburg already been damaged and probably going into hiding, which meant that only one more was still hiding.
Chances are as soon as Marburg hit full health he'd be marching back here to reclaim the world. He still didn't like Lord Death for imprisoning him in the Prison Jar. Especially since Marburg firmly believed that all human beings deserved to die, he spent his entire time trying to keep them in line and humans kept going at it. When Marburg rose up, Lord Death managed to beat him down once, but that was only because the other two stayed out of the fight. They ignored the fight and decided that the fight should just be between Marburg and Lord Death. Luckily Lord Death won and managed to lock Marburg up...the other two were not big fans of sealing Marburg, but they accepted it as Marburg was a bit out of control.
Lord Death thought, more like hoped that would be the end of it. Things were quickly becoming more and more troublesome. If things continued like this for any longer, the Armageddon will be upon them in a few moments. The more and more time passes the more and more he was starting to worry, one-on-one he would probably be able to win, but without another Prison Jar to seal them up, they'll just keep popping up again and again. Even worse this time they all seemed to be against him. If they all came at him simultaneously...he probably would lose. He paused for a second and sighed, no...while they probably had a firm hatred for humanity and him, but they were still honorable people...they wouldn't attack him simultaneously.
Lord Death stretched backwards. "Send out a memo to all Weapons and Meisters. Tell them to be on their toes and be ready for the attack at all times. And..." said Lord Death as he sat down in a nearby seat and reclined, "tell Enma Judge to meet me here. As much as I don't want to...I suppose I'm going to have to use him as my weapon. I'm going to need to be at full power if I hope to defeat our opponent."
Quill paused and thought about it. He didn't know anything about Enma Judge, other then his rather overdone and outrageous actions towards anyone he believes committed a sin. Rumors have it that he can even sense what sins a person has committed and reacts accordingly. He could understand why Lord Death would hate him. Enma took everything to such an extreme manner, while Lord Death seemed to be so laid back...honestly this was probably the only time Quill ever saw Lord Death ever actually working. Quill nodded and quickly used the mirror to call Enma to the room. Enma would no doubt respond to it and arrive in a few moments...they would just have to wait for him to arrive.
(-in the enemy base-)
"Wa ha ha ha ha!" shouted a large man as he walked through the halls of a small movable base. Hundreds of Kishins were all gathered around him waiting for their marching orders. They all had an extreme hatred for Lord Death. They were all gathered about waiting for the one moment to come that they would storm Death City and the DWMA and finally end Lord Death once and for all. There thoughts were all about taking down and destroying the students. Once they did they could gorge themselves on all the souls they could find. True not many people could stand up to Lord Death, but they knew that their leader could.
The Kishins all looked up at the man who walked among them. He was their leader, and yet he was not anywhere close to a Kishin like them. He was something else altogether. He stood at a rugged and manly 6 and a half feet. He had a weird dark ochre skin color pulled taunt over bulging muscles. He looked at each of them with piercing green eyes that told them that if they weren't on the same side as he was...they'd already be dead and he wouldn't have even had to exert himself to do so.
He wore heavy armor from the waist down. The armor was bulky and looked like even if a cannon ball were to smash into his knees it wouldn't break through the layers of armor. Although based on his own bulk and rumors of his prowess, he probably didn't even need the armor for that. On top of that armor was a torn plate skirt. He didn't have a top on, which was just as well. Without the top his chest could be seen by all. Upon his chest were a grand number of tattoos all carefully chosen and extracted from warrior tribes. He was without a doubt the truest embodiment of war.
Even if one could get past all of his harsh and threatening exterior, they would be soon be frozen in their tracks as their eyes locked onto his weapon. Upon his back in a crudely designed sheath was a large, no...even large was an understatement to this immense Goliath of a weapon. The blade alone was equal in size with the man. The hilt added an additional two to three feet in length. On first look one would say the blade was mistreated and never ever tended to, its entire body was dull ashen gray that had probably never seen a polishing cloth, but the edge of it was different story. The edge was a sparkling, majestic silver that had been polished and sharpened many times over.
The man sauntered through the halls with an air of not only belonging amongst the crude Kishins, but more of ownership. He strode through the halls not once changing his direction or slowing down, Kishins panicked to get out of his way and make room for him. There was no 'if someone didn't get out of his way' they all sensed him coming whether they were looking at his entrance or not. They all felt his bestial killing intent wash over and through the halls, they all heard his heavy feet pounding against the rough surface of their floors, yes, even those who were absorbed in the idea of the impending war were sucked out of their daydreams of heroism and dashed out of his way. Yes, it was fair to say that he did, as a matter of fact, own all of them.
They all panicked and scurried about in different directions wasting no time in making sure the big man was happy. He stopped as he walked about and turned around to see the Kishins had all stopped what they were doing and staring at him. He had no idea why. Whether it was out of admiration for his skills or jealousy of his strength, perhaps both...maybe neither. He turned about and looked at his followers, he didn't know what was running through their heads at the moment these few precious seconds before battle. But he knew for sure they weren't the same as his.
He had no illusions of this fight making him a hero. He knew that when this fight was done with he would be labeled as a murderer by both friends and foes alike. He also had no fears or dreadful thoughts about the war to come. He knew that whatever happened was for the best and he knew that he wouldn't die...even Lord Death himself couldn't kill him. He was for all rights purposes during this battle, the true lord of death. He would kill as many students and teachers, and innocent bystanders as he possibly could. His mind was already brimming with different methods for murdering his opponents. And whether or not Lord Death wanted to admit, one of them was already underway.
He returned his attention to the Kishins before him. He sighed, ordinarily he wasn't one to speak, but he supposed all true wars began with a rallying speech to one's subjects. He cleared his throat loudly, the Kishin's all looked at him and he was sure that even behind the masks that several of them wore, their eyes widened with a mix of anticipation and fear. "As you all should know by now, I am Vigrid. I am the leader of our troops. I plan to destroy and do away with the pesky DWMA once and for all." He looked out at them unsure of how to continue, he normally didn't associate with Kishins. Not due to their behavioral patterns, but because they tended to be bad conversationalists.
"You guys are Kishins!" shouted Vigrid loudly, his voice booming and echoing through their halls. "You guys are innately stronger! You have more power then any human has naturally! Just remember they are worthless without their weapons while we have claws, teeth, and power! We can smash through any of their defenses!" Vigrid calmed down and lowered his voice, "while we cannot expect no causalities...we all know that if the problem of the DWMA persists they will lead to even more then this war will. So, today we fight, we die, and we win!" The Kishins agreed with a loud uproar. "That is all!" shouted Vigrid unsure of how to end a speech, while he knew a lot about war...he had no interest in these moments. They had no real reason to them, especially in war. There had no strategic or military support to them...they just wasted time and, if you were lucky, boosted team morale. He shook his head as the Kishins dismissed themselves and returned to their duty.
Vigrid smirked to himself as he looked out the nearest window at Death City. He was going to enjoy his battle with Lord Death.
Okay, honestly this was one of the hardest chapters to write and one of the easiest. I hate writing as Lord Death...he's too...wacky and insane. I mean, every single time I've seen him he's either acting like an idiot or he's being too serious. I mean there is no middle ground with that guy. But as hard as that was, writing as Vigrid was about as equally easy. I mean, serious a battle-minded fellow surrounded by millions of idiotic Kishins. EASY! Also, a special thank to ManInTheHat for submitting him. Also, for you slow people (you know who you are), Vigrid is the Horseman of War.