He exhaled slowly. Panic and fear was the mind killer. Stupid rage as well. And he wasn't stupid. Oh now, his seething anger was completely rational. Being thrown away just after a little mistake, not even caused by his own inability but the uselessness of the tools he was using. If his goddess only supported him properly they'd have the advantage! But no, now he was chained in what could only be adamantite chains because they were all cowards! Once he got free from that wall and whatever wet, dark dungeon he was inside, he'd swim all the way back there! Take revenge on all of them! That fucking lizard, that fucking fox, all of them!
"Now that's a nice look~!"
He snapped his head up and narrowed his eyes. Even with his high level, it was unnaturally dark in here. A magic item perhaps? Either way, he could make out the shape of the intruder, his jailor, who stood right over him with crossed arms. She wore some sort of dress with a hood, not that he could make out the details. He scoffed before glaring at her.
"Night Queen."
His head snapped to the side. It didn't hurt that much, but the mere action caused his brain to freeze up. He saw the woman with her leg outstretched after kicking his jaw. She wiggled her foot a bit, humming in approval before snapping her fingers.
"Guess we're starting early." She turned away, almost casually. "Alright, you guys know the drill, food, water, this'll take a few weeks."
Rage built up in his heart once more and he snarled at her as he struggled to break the chains, his muscles bulging.
"I won't break that ea-"
This time he bit his own tongue when that bitch kicked him upwards. It even drew some blood as the Night Queen let out an exasperated noise as she leaned forward.
"Yes, yes, heard it all before. How old do you think I am?" She backhanded him, as if she was bored. "Don't answer that, it'd be rude."
She stepped away from him, turning her back to him as she gestured with her hand as if she was a small village teacher. He tugged at the chains, over and over, before smirking when the noise of rock shifting entered his ears. The chains might be indestructible but not the wall they were attached to.
"You know, I don't dislike this. This bubbling anger and what not. It's useful. I could use you as a specialized tool. So I won't break you like those headless chickens out there." She shrugged playfully, just as he took another deep breath. "Instead…well, everybody likes training, rig-?"
The wall gave in and he immediately shot his foot out. He relished the feeling and noise of weak flesh giving away, as his leg pierced her chest. He wiggled his body to get rid of the chains. Rolling his shoulders once they hit the ground, he widened his stance as he faced the servants standing in his way. He glanced back, at the unmoving corpse before shrugging. Well, apparently the Night Queen wasn't a goddess then, or else the light pillar would've appeared. With a feral laugh, he pointed at his next victims.
"I killed your leader! Get the fuck outta my way before I-"
He didn't get to finish his words. A sharp pain flared up in his side. He looked down, in shock, seeing the katana pierce through his stomach with surprising ease.
"At least let me finish before doing that."
"Wha... ?"
He didn't get to finish his words as the blade was pulled out as a foot pressed against his back and pushed him down. Coughing as he covered his bleeding flesh, he looked up with wide eyes, seeing the young woman he just killed casually stroll around him. There was no wound whatsoever on her, yet her clothes still had a hole from what he could tell, as well as blood. The paradox of events caused his head to ache. What... did he not hit her? Or was this some sort of illusion? A double? Reanimation?! What the fuck was going on?!
"I was going to take it a bit easy at first, but you really are high level. Guess we can skip the introductory level then." She dusted off her stomach with a frown before glancing at the other 'residents' of this dungeon-"Gojouno, go ahead." She pointed at the individuals behind the chuckling, distorted being. "Follow their orders."
There was no emotion. No sign of recognition. But a shiver went down his spine as they stopped hiding their presence. Each of them, their very soul, weighing down on him just from looking.
"You aren't going to use your specialty?" The echoing voice asked, vaguely female, yet inhuman. The Night Queen shrugged as she wiped her sword clean.
"Like I said, his hate and rage is useful. I'm not going to use up my Mind just to make him go on a trip." Sheathing her weapon, she opened the door, revealing light. It showed her naked stomach to the world, with a foot sized hole in her clothing as she glanced back, her eyes glowing red under her hood. "Just needs more power to back it up and some medium obedience. I still got other stuff to do."
She smirked, for an instance looking beyond gods and humans, before shutting the door.
From that moment on, his nightmare began as beings far above him forced him to evolve, forced him to become a weapon. Martial Arts that something with a limited life span could have never mastered. Foreign magic of strange fire, sounds, shifting weapons. Over and over, he was beaten to near death, only to heal again. Any attempts at escaping or ending it himself were stopped immediately. With no breaks, with no mercy, he was forced to move onwards. And to be honest at some point... he just stopped caring. If he could channel all this agony and shame in order to kill those that got him into this situation? Well, then sanity was overrated anyway.
/
"I-I have no words right now!"
"What is this level of fighting?!"
On one side, a man swinging a katana so long it had no right to be used so precisely, so fast, as he moved backwards. He was slower than his opponent, yet his blade would always be in the way, avoiding a direct path between him and his opponent. The other side, a savage beast that didn't seem to have any form. Like a roaring river, he shifted as the situation called for. Uppercuts while swaying back. Powerful hooks on only one leg. Blows utilizing not only elbow, claws and the like, but even the hip and the elbow. Everything the bandaged man could feasibly use as an attack, no matter how awkward his position, he used it. Repeatedly, he dashed in, only to be forced back by the high quality weapon, yet never missing a beat to closing the distance once more. Again and again, Kojiro was forced back just a bit more. But at the moment, the most shocking thing to the audience was, that nobody got hurt ever since the first exchange.
Kojiro swung down, as if chopping wood with an axe as his opponent lowered his center of gravity, arms wide as he went for a tackle. The blade barely touched his head, before he spun around, moving with the blade to avoid it. Using that momentum, he intended to smash down the sword with his foot, but Kojiro quickly removed his weapon before it could get stuck. The moment the man landed, he flicked his right wrist, standing on his left leg only as his back leaned away. Kojiro stabbed at him in that instance before he was forced to jump back, not expecting a blow from such an awkward position. That was just one of the many exchanges that many could barely follow. That alone would have been mind boggling, but to those who were of higher level could see even more nonsense.
"That guy is level five... !"
A wide swing with his right, smacking away Kojiro's weapon. He almost lost his grip to it before using the force to spin around, increasing his speed to swing his sword. The man ducked down, hands on the ground, before performing a hand stance and kicking like that, with way more force than he had any right to. It was a wonder the Swallow Slayer wasn't overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of the mysterious man's attacks. If Finn's assessment was correct, this was indeed a two level difference. Naturally many were sweating bullets just seeing that, seeing that Hans was not overplaying things. It was impossible. How? How could someone defy the common rules like that? Jealousy. Fear. They all spread around as hands tightened up, as teeth grinded against each other. Meanwhile the referees were in a completely different mood, frowning deeply as they leaned forward.
"He knows how to fight Kojiro," Artoria muttered as she narrowed her eyes at their legs.
Every time Kojiro shifted his feet in a certain way, a way that sent a shiver down her spine due to bad memories, his opponent destroyed the ground with a savage stomp before closing in again. Sometimes there were leg sweeps or even arm sweeps when the man crawled on the ground after dodging Kojiro once more like an acrobat. Artoria leaned back, exhaling slowly.
"He knows how Tsubame Gaeshi is executed," Romulus commented as well, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Not only that, aggression is the right choice given his Knowledge of Sowa," Penthesilea stated. They all knew about that particular skill, where his accuracy in attacks never degraded as his opponents could never get used to it. Only with skills like instinct or the like did one lower its effects in loose terms. From the looks of it, his opponent might have had something like that, but he also didn't allow Kojiro to fully utilize his techniques in the first place. By keeping up the attacks, by forcing Kojiro to never have a solid footing, he was sealing off two of his weapons. But even then, Kojiro survived. However, eventually, one side would give in.
A claw shot out. The sword didn't move in time and thus Kojiro was forced to twist his body. Piercing through the cloth, nothing more but a scratch appeared on his side. However, a mark was still a mark. His opponent was beginning to touch him. A fist brushing past his cheek. His leg roughed up by a passing toe. As the barrage intensified and the amount of data Kojiro had to process in order to move before his opponent increased, the gaps grew in his defense. Not big enough for a major punishment. Minor wounds at best as his opponent rolled and jumped, growing more feral by the second. A sign of victory to the ignorant masses, who were caught up in spectacle and Kojiro's talent to survive a superior opponent. However...
"Our Assassin will lose if this keeps up," Hans muttered with a deep frown. Minor damage built up, leading to bigger damage. Right now, the momentum was entirely on the side of Mr. Mystery.
Kojiro himself was all too aware of it, as he sweated bullets while trying to withstand the wild mess of a barrage against him. He grit his teeth when his enemy slid past his sideways swing, the bandaged man moving past him on his knees before violently stabbing at him with his fingers. A small chunk of flesh was taken as Kojiro moved aside once more. However, even as his enemy cartwheeled at him, he let out a controlled breath.
His bandaged nemesis made two mistakes however. The first being the weakness of his ferocious style. It seemed to have many options available, many opportunities to move at a given moment, making him rather unpredictable and adaptable to Kojiro. To utilize parts of his body most wouldn't give him a certain edge, like almost breaking Kojiro's jaw with just a shoulder moving up. Kojiro had to lean back before stabbing at him with a reverse grip, something the Eris member escaped with ease. However, for all that versatility, it gave that man too many options. There were many moments where there was a delay between each move, giving Kojiro much needed time to act on his own. The amount of options he had at his disposal meant having to choose, which meant having to think about it. Lesser fighters than Kojiro might not have noticed at all, but he did.
The second mistake... The Swallow Slayer jumped and landed on a rock. With the high ground, his opponent hesitated, as if deciding what he should do, whether to smash the rock or just go after him directly, while being wary of his superior position. That hesitation was more than enough time as he took his stance. Kojiro couldn't help but smile slightly. Did that man truly believe he couldn't use his secret technique in such a situation?
"Hiken."
The audience gasped as the man's bloodshot eyes widened behind his bandages. He dug his feet into the ground, trying to stay out of range, but it was too late.
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
Imperfect. Outside the right conditions. Thus, the technique was performed with flaws. Thus, only two cuts came into existence, pincering the man from the left and the right. The vertical strike was amiss. Yet for a mere Fake Assassin, it suited the term 'surprise attack' more than enough. For the first time since the first clash, the underdog drew blood, as it dripped down his blade.
His enemy clutched his face, growling at the pain he must have experienced. Kojiro retook his stance, his sword pointed at his enemy as he chuckled at himself.
"Hm. I missed. Perhaps I should spend more effort into mastering this on uneven terrain."
The silence broke at his words. Screams of confusion and excitement alike shook the very air itself.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Two blades! I saw two blades all of a sudden!"
Orario itself was no different. The city known for having faced the most mysteries the world had to offer, could only gape at the sight they witnessed. In the Twilight Mansion, Alise laughed awkwardly at the open mouths they all had.
"What kinda magic was that?!" Tiona asked loudly. Yet there was no answer, as Lefiya stammered, her face pale. Riveria took a deep breath, shaking, as she slowly shook her head.
"That wasn't magic."
"Riveria?" Gareth asked, yet the high elf only looked at the screen with wide eyes, ignoring the question she was asked. Lefiya meanwhile found her voice back as Filvis held her by her shoulders, trying to comfort her friend as she seemed almost afraid at what she saw.
"How... ? How... ?!"
Mages across the world were baffled. Afraid of sheer mortal skill accomplishing such a move. One of the Valkyries fainted from sheer excitement, while Brunhilde covered her mouth to hide her saliva. Meanwhile back in Altena, Odin wiped his mouth after raising his head away from the bucket he had prepared. He blinked furiously before taking a deep breath as he patted his chest a few times. Unbeknownst to him, a certain goddess of love was in no better state, her loyal King looking more panicked than ever as he saw his deity puke her guts out.
"Of course Hestia's child can access the Kaleidoscope... " Odin muttered before steeling his mind and returning his attention to the fight, not willing to let Kojiro's very existence prevent him from seeing a good match.
Then there were those that called war and battle their domain. Who developed techniques that even other gods envied.
Takemikazuchi.
"Glorious. Absolutely glorious... "
"A-Are you crying, milord?!"
Kali.
"Shit, shit! Damn those stupid rules! I want to tear this kid apart!"
Hachiman.
"I still have much to learn."
They all oozed lust for battle. Cried tears at the beauty of what they saw. Grins so wide that could split their faces. At this moment, all the world looked upon Kojiro and wondered where that monstrous skill came from. Yet if anyone was unimpressed, there was one in the battlefield right now. With a roar, he clawed at his face, his fingers turning crimson before he tore the bandages apart, already fluttering loosely in the wind. The audience gasped at the sight before Hlokk pointed it out.
"His face is revealed! Aaaaand I have no idea who that is!"
However, there were certain individuals who paled. A certain area in the arena that fell completely silent. Kojiro nodded slowly, a knowing smile on his face.
"I see... You figured out my stance needed for my technique because you had already seen it. But you didn't know I could and would perform an imperfect version of it."
"C…"
Hlokk turned to Shiki, tilting her head in confusion at the utter horror expressed in that letter.
"Hm?"
Hachiman turned to Tsukoyomi, a look of utter disgust. The goddess herself was covering her mouth, eyes wide as if she couldn't believe this was happening. Oryou growled as Ryoma held their child close to his chest with a frown on his own. Back in the Far East, outrage was the weakest way to describe the emotions running high.
Red hair that seemed to glow, cut short, yet still messy and wild. Several scars covering his face, two new ones freshly bleeding on each cheek, revealing actual bone and teeth, with a wide cross being the most prominent of them all.
"Crimson Moon... Araki... ?" Shiki whispered. The man twitched wildly as he snapped his head at her. The woman flinched as he started to hyperventilate. Looking at Oryou, then at the rest of the Far Eastern contingent, he roared like a beast before stomping the ground hard enough to make the arena shake. At least, he turned his hate-filled expression at Kojiro while he took a stance similar to the one Haruhime had in her battle.
Being exposed to such hostility, Kojiro could only shake his head in exasperation.
"Come now, it was Oryou that beat you to a bloody pulp, what have I done to earn such hatred?"