Hope you enjoy chapter 17!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 17- The Great Thirteen and the Ten-Headed Asura
"By the way, Ayaka, I forgot to ask," Takachin comments. "Who is Ravana?"
Two days have come, and we are now walking towards the ruins of Ishiyama High School. We've gotten the others to come with us as well after showing the letter to Hilda-san and Oga. I turn to Takachin.
"Ravana is the leader of the Asura Tribe," I explain. "He's intelligent, extremely vicious, and extremely powerful, the most powerful one out of all of them, hence why he's the Lord. He also has ten heads, so he's known as the Ten-Headed Asura. Kumbhakarna and Ahiravan are his brothers, Surpanakha is his sister, and Atikaya is one of his sons."
"Wait, his son and siblings are members of the Great Thirteen?!" Oga asks.
Hilda-san nods. "Don't underestimate them," she says. "They're the most powerful out of all of the Great Thirteen."
During the walk to the ruins, I feel an uneasy sensation in my stomach. This has been happening ever since I saw that unusual banyan tree branch and those images. It's almost like that branch is an omen that's foreshadowing something even more sinister than what we already know. Takachin can sense my uneasiness and pulls me close to him. "Don't be worried, Ayaka," he reassures me. "Everything will turn out well."
I shake my head. "It's not that I'm worried about failing," I say. "I'm more worried about what those images have to do with this." I look up at him, feeling real fear. "In all honesty, I'm really scared, Takachin. I'm afraid that those images are foreshadowing something of unspeakable horror, something even more terrifying than what we already know of."
Right then, he gives me a soft kiss on the lips. "We'll cross that bridge once we get there," he tells me. "For now, Ayaka, just calm down."
"Out of all the years I've been friends with Furuichi, I've never seen him being so caring and protective over a girl," Oga comments to himself. "I don't think I've ever seen him so… in love before."
We arrive at the ruins of Ishiyama High School, which has become an almost barren wasteland, save for the foundations of the remains of the school building. It's late afternoon, and storm clouds cover the skies, creating a very sinister atmosphere in the area.
"Of course they'd choose this place to fight us," Himekawa remarks.
"Everyone, stay on your guard," Hilda-san commands.
After a while, we sense it. A purple mist suddenly forms and several figures begin to materialize. When the mist dissipates, not only are the Great Thirteen visible, but so is a large army of Asuras. Sunda steps up, sneering. "Well, well, we meet again," he comments, sneering at us. "I hope you two will put up a better fight this time."
Surpanakha glares at Takachin and me. "You two will pay dearly for what you did last time," she snarls.
"Not if we have anything to say about it." We turn and to our surprise, we see Behemoth and his Pillar Division all standing at the entrance!
"Behemoth?" Hilda-san asks, surprised. The demon smirks.
"You thought that we'd let you go into battle against the Asuras alone?" he asks.
Jabberwock turns to the soldiers. "Men, you all know what to do," he says. "I will not accept any defeats! Obliterate them if you have to!"
All the soldiers roar as they prepare themselves. Hilda-san draws her sword from her parasol, holding it at the ready. Oga holds his fist up, the Zebul Spell glowing already. Kunieda draws her wooden sword out, glowing with the energy of the minor demon she's contracted with. I pull out my dual knives while Takachin holds out his bamboo pole.
"You ready?" Hilda-san asks with the authority of a commander.
"Yeah!" we all yell out.
"Then let's do this!" she commands as she charges towards them. We all follow her and start fighting back against the Asuras, who charge at us.
Takachin and I manage to fight off a few Asuras before we are surrounded by Surpanakha and Kumbhakarna, the giant-like Asura.
"So, you two are the ones who paralyzed my sister," Kumbhakarna growls.
"And what of it?" Takachin retorts. "She was going to kill my partner!"
He simply sneers. "You humans really do a lot of stupid things when you're in love, especially when it comes to protecting your lover's life," he taunts. "Now you'll suffer the consequences of tackling with an Asura!"
They charge at us, Kumbhakarna holding up his gada and Surpanakha holding up her claws. I hold up my two fingers and strike Surpanakha in the crook of her neck, paralyzing the area. She glares at me. "You little…" she snarls.
"Sudarshana Chakra…" I say, feeling the energy coursing through me. "Talaiyitu Tantiroopayam!" I shout, striking her core, paralyzing her completely.
Kumbhakarna stares in shock before his eyes narrow into a look of pure rage. "You dare…" he growls. "Insolent little girl! You'll pay dearly!" He lunges at me but I deflect his attack with a roundhouse kick before doing a backflip over him. Takachin then paralyzes him with the powers of Graphel.
"Look out!" Oga's shout makes us notice too late to see Atikaya aiming an arrow at us. Suddenly, before we realize, a quick blur comes in front of us and strikes him, sending him flying backwards. When the dust clears, we see a demon maidservant with long blonde hair and green eyes, holding out a mop.
"I thought you might need some help, Hilda," she says, smirking slightly. Hilda-san stares in shock.
"Yolda!" she exclaims.
"Let me help you out with these guys," the demon maidservant, now known as Yolda, says.
We continue to fight the Asuras, who show no sign of giving up. "What's with these guys?!" Miki asks. "They just don't seem to be giving up!"
In the middle of a fight, I suddenly notice something strange. Coming from the back of the school, I see an eerie glow. "Takachin!" I call, pointing towards the glow. "Look over there! Do you see that?"
He follows my finger and notices it. "What is that?" he asks.
"I don't know, but we should check it out," I say. He nods and we start to run when suddenly, Sunda appears in front of us, grinning maliciously.
"You two aren't going anywhere," he taunts.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Jabberwock suddenly lunges at him from behind us. The Pillar Leader turns to face us. "You two, go ahead. I'll deal with him."
We nod. "Thank you, Jabberwock," Takachin thanks sincerely before we run towards the glow.
Sunda glares at him. "The Pillar Leader himself… Jabberwock," he says. "This will be interesting."
We continue to run in the direction of the glow. "Ayaka! Can you sense it? The demonic energy coming from that direction is really powerful!"
I nod. "I know!" Suddenly, the same images start running through my head, and the same sharp noise starts piercing through my ears. Soon, we reach the area and stare up in shock. The source of the glow is an extremely large banyan tree with glowing purple leaves, the same one in my visions!
"What… What the hell is that?" Takachin asks, looking shocked.
"That's… That's the same tree from my visions…" I whisper.
Suddenly, we hear a sinister laugh before a figure jumps down from one of the tree branches. We gasp in both shock and horror. Standing before us is an Asura, wearing only a pair of black pants and battle armour. However, what shocks us even more is that the Asura has ten heads, each one with a sinister grin on its face.
"We finally meet… Ayaka," he sneers, and my eyes widen in shock.
Lord Ravana has come.