Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.
Five Days Break - 14
Kotaro didn't blink.
He stood in one place, readied to intercept everything the enemy was about to throw at him while observing the changes in surrounding.
After the tearing effect, it was still the same town. The same deserted streets and houses untouched, not yet destroyed by the giant moving branches. Instead of a full-moon night, it was a sunny morning.
Further away, long pink hair trailed along the steps.
"Ingrid?" Kotaro muttered.
In the casual outfit consisting of the jean and the sweater that highlighted her figure, the Hell Knight seemed to wander about. She didn't notice his presence. She was talking to another person accompanying her on their stroll.
"That coffee sure is tasty, right Ingrid-sama?"
It was Lina who cheerfully spoke with a bright smile. Kotaro recognized her even though they had had little interactions in the past. But the right eye saw more in the young energetic demon girl.
It saw the Ashen Tree glitching over her face as a haunting shadow.
That wasn't Lina! That was another illusion used to trap Ingrid within the dream fabricated by the Ashen Tree! Kotaro wanted to raise his voice to warn her about the danger.
But the Ashen Tree was already a step ahead.
"Oh! Look, Ingrid-sama. There's actually someone staying here after the festival. Please wait here, I'll go ask him a few things."
The faked Lina quickly rushed to Kotaro. She looked at him in the eye, brought her face closed to him and spoke.
"You want to see the Hell Knight?" The voice didn't belong to the Lina he knew. "Well, there you go. Consider you wish granted."
The Ashen Tree smiled, the corner of its lip curled up, stretching from ear to ear and forming a crescent moon-like shape. The expression almost looked horrendous on a borrowed face.
"And unless she wakes up from this dream, you will not be able to return. Let this be your death, both mind and body."
Snap!
Its hand brought up between their faces and flicked.
At that instance, daytime shifted to night, the town became a forest, the impersonated Lina and Ingrid were gone. The giant wooded bird split in half and a young man laying next to it came into view. That young man was Kotaro. That was his current state after using Soul Art to detach his consciousness from the body and hijack the Tree's.
For a short time, it let him see this. It wanted him to witness the thing that was about to happen to his physical body. While he lost all the means to defend himself in the real world, cracks appeared on the ground. The wooded creatures rose and steadily approached Kotaro's unconscious body.
Immediately, both of his hands shot up to undo Soul Art.
"…...I can't get out?"
It didn't work!? Nothing happened! He couldn't see the pathway anymore. His soul was trapped.
Things abruptly changed before Kotaro can try something else.
Nighttime turned back to daylight and the town reappeared. The faked Lina was gone while Ingrid stood a distance away from him.
Kotaro had no time to lose.
"Ingr-?"
As Kotaro tried to reach out, the voice hitched in his throat. Something about this reality had changed.
Ingrid was not in her casual outfit, The Hell Knight sword hung by her waist as she dressed in the combat black clothes with red cape. She noticed him, but her gaze was indifferent. She was looking at him like a stranger. He didn't know what had happened to her within this world, but surely, her close subordinate's disappearance should have at least invoke a reaction.
Based on that normally stern look, Ingrid wasn't feeling anything like that. Not even a hint of curiosity was there, as if she had been reverted back to the moment they first met.
And then…
The worst thing happened.
"Hoh." Another voice came up, unamused. "You must be that Taimanin from back then."
Standing next to her was a tall, middle-aged man in a formal business suit. Even though he was just another fabricated presence controlled by the Alien Tree, Kotaro's whole body froze in a beat as fear took over.
Edwin Black the True Vampire. He was the enemy of all Taimanins. He was there besides Ingrid.
He shot Kotaro a piercing gaze that showed very little interest. Somewhere in those bloodshot eyes, the promise to deliver his death sentence was guaranteed.
This was what the Ashen Tree meant by death to both his mind and body. While the wooded creatures were on their way to deal with his unconscious body in the real world, Kotaro's mind would be trapped here and killed off by the Vampire King.
The Nameless Evil Eye didn't jolt. It did nothing in the face of inevitable dangers.
This whole situation would be Kotaro's dead end.
Still….
Calm your mind. Keep your thought in check.
Kotaro relaxed his body under the immense pressure. He took a long deep breath to steady the shaking nerves. Not just the reflex, his instinct was misled by the experience from the encounter with the real vampire himself at Tokyo Kingdom. That presence wasn't real and so was this fear. The Edwin Black in front of him was just an illusion made by the Ashen Tree's bizarre ability.
The only important matter here was time. He had to wake Ingrid up somehow.
"It's seem you show up here to carry out your mission." Black said. "My assassination. Isn't that right, Taimanin?"
So that was how it wanted to go. A faked world, a borrowed face and a made-up story. It saw her memories, it knew those who were the closest to her. Now, it wanted to stoke Ingrid's flame.
"Unpleasant." The faked Black's tone bore a slight hint of annoyance. "Ingrid."
At her name called, Ingrid stepped forward. She understood the intention without the need to be said out loud.
From the deep voice, the intimidated expression to the collected gesture, everything resembled Black's personality. The Alien Tree really could act! No wonder Ingrid didn't even realize she was listening to a faker right there!
"Black-sama, my power has yet to return. But there will be no problem if I have my sword right here."
She couldn't use her power?
"Do not mind about your condition, Ingrid. As long as you dispose our enemy, I am pleased."
"Understood." She drew her signature weapon. "It looks like today is not your lucky day, Taimanin. You are foolish enough to interrupt Black-sama's vacation. Prepare yourself."
Ingrid pointed the sword at her target. In respond, Kotaro raised both hands, leaving himself full of openings.
"What is the matter?" She questioned. "You surrender?"
"Yeah." He didn't want to fight and hoped the idea came through. "I want to talk to you."
"A waste of time. Kill him." Black interrupted.
"Understood."
Without hesitation, Ingrid thrust forward in a flash. The sword struck empty air as Kotaro dodged out the way.
"Hold up! Ingrid, let's talk!"
"I do not believe that is necessary." What she said.
Kotaro ducked the next coming of her blade by a hair. In the corner of his eye, the faked Black showed a subtle smirk. This is bad! The Ashen Tree really had both of them dancing on its palm!
Kotaro dashed away to create some distance while Ingrid continued to rush in. At the disguised Vampire King's command, Ingrid didn't intend to let this one-sided battle last long. The sword raised for a piercing lunge. Her speed and swordplay didn't break momentum at all, it became faster. The blade was aiming for his chest and she tried to finish this in one move. If the Dark Flame involved, Kotaro would be in serious trouble.
[Igawa Asagi's Style: Koujinka]
His senses heightened threefold.
Kotaro saw the blade coming slowly as it torn apart the air through sheer strength. He doubted this demonic speed wasn't even the peak of Ingrid's capability. On her part, she probably thought her top speed would be overkill to him. As usual, Ingrid's boasted strength underestimated her opponent because they looked weak to her.
Well, she wasn't far off. It was already established that Fuuma Kotaro is the weakest among his kind. What else could he do about that?
So here came an opportunity to catch her off guard.
He lightly stepped to the side, letting the blade pass while his torso aligned vertically to her. The expression on her face started to change. The blade continued forward and ended up between the closing gap of his outstretched palms.
Next, safety measure. He definitely wouldn't want to be injured.
[Shinohara Mari's Style: Hardened Fists]
By clapping together, he caught the blade barehanded. But it won't hold, the acceleration was too great to be cut off. Good thing he predicted this, Kotaro just needed a bigger strength to crush her friction.
Kirara-senpai won't be a good match. It has to be someone else, a person who had faced Ingrid as their opponent many time before. Got it!
Using a Special Art will drain more than half of his Taima pool at once. However, Kotaro was perceiving everything faster than Ingrid. He made sure to spend only a second of his timeframe to pull this off. After one second has passed, the Jutsu will be undone.
"Murasaki-sensei, I'll be borrowing your power."
[Yatsu Murasaki's Style: Immortal's Strength]
The sword permanently stopped, residue shockwave burst at the other end.
The look of pure surprise spread on Ingrid's face as the Hell Knight Sword completely stuck in a vice-grip.
"Ingrid, we really need to talk." Kotaro said.
"Taimanin, I do not know you. What is there to talk about?"
Regaining composure, she glared at him. In return, he gave her a determined look.
"We both are running out of time. If this keeps up, the Ashen Tree will swallow us whole."
"You claim makes no sense to me."
"Because it's messing with you mind, it messed with your memories while you are being captive. This whole thing is just a dream it made up to trick you. You have to wake up now, Ingrid!"
She frowned.
"Black-sama and I are on a vacation after lengthy battles against your group. He has been in such a good mood until you soured it. How dare you foiling his precious time and called this a dream!"
The Tree actually set up a background story for her dream? And she was enjoying it? Good for her! Bad for both!
"You need proof? You got one! Why is it that you can't use your power?"
"I'm in no obligation to-"
"Okay. Rhetorical question." Kotaro cut in. "You don't have to answer that."
"Y-You...!?"
"It's the Ashen Tree's doing. You're imprisoned inside its heart and it's controlling your subconscious. It doesn't want you to use your power since the Dark Flame can harm it. Your power is deadly to the Tree. That's why you're not at your full strength right now."
"Ingrid, what are you doing? I told you to kill that human right this instant!" Black raised his voice.
Complied, she switched hand. Her left held onto the sword hilt while the right pulled back, wide-opened hand shot toward Kotaro and struck him in the face by the heel of her palm. Ingrid's knightly status and the commitment to swordplay doesn't necessarily mean she can't fight without replying on the weapon.
But Kotaro continued to persist. He straight up tanked the hit that could easily stunt an advanced level Taimanin.
"Wake up, Ingrid." Words stressed through gritted teeth. "This is just a dream."
Regardless of him trying to convince her, Ingrid was impressed as she watched him remains unfazed.
"Why didn't you avoid?"
"Because I don't want to fight you."
"Then you are indeed a fool, Black-sama order is absolute to me. You angered him. For that, you will have to perish from his sight."
She was resolute to her decision.
"Can you at least hear me out?"
"I have heard enough." Ingrid responded coldly. "Though I have to say, you are quite resilient. The enemies who stands in my way often have no luxury to be speaking while I am dealing with them."
When Black is involved, Ingrid won't think twice about anything else. The clock is ticking. At this rate, nothing will ever change her mind.
Kotaro realized the only way to convince Ingrid was to make her stop fighting.
While she couldn't access to all her power, he had the Nameless Evil Eye still running and a decent pool of Taima energy left. Kotaro had the advantage, and he would gladly make full use of it.
Crack!
Starting by breaking the sword in half.
"Wha-!?"
Kotaro threw the broken blade away and pointed at the remaining part in her grip.
"See what's left of it? If the sword was real, you wouldn't let me catch it barehanded like that. You could have easily sliced off my hands with it."
The faked Edwin Black clicked his tongue.
"I see you are struggling against a weakling, Ingrid. You have lost your edge that much from the previous battles."
"My apology, Black-sama. This Taimanin is more skilled than he look on." She stared into Kotaro's right eye. "He is masking his true ability. There is something about that eye of his, I thought he was visually impaired but that does not seem to be the case."
Eh? Visually impaired? His eye looked like that to her?
"Not only that, he appears to be as fast as Igawa Asagi and his strength is on pair with Yatsu Murasaki. I have been too hasty in my judgement, to think there is someone like this within the Taimanin troops. He will not go down without a fight."
Amazing! She was able to analyze him to that extent in a short time! Kotaro wanted to take those words as the best compliment he's never had in years. Though, it was better not to get ahead of himself. He was the weakest Taimanin with an above-than-average self-esteem, just stick to that.
"In another word, you can still do better, no?" Black inquired.
"Yes. He merely caught me off my guard because I underestimated him." Ingrid quickly regained her calm. "He will not have his way next time."
Fingers snapped. Another Hell Knight Sword conjured out of thin air, floating above Black's hand.
"Then you will be given a second chance."
Ingrid received the new sword tossed to her and faced Kotaro without giving a doubt to the gesture. Pretty sure Edwin Black wouldn't be the kind of Vampire King who casually snapped his fingers just to show off his power. Your façade was slipping, Ashen Tree!
"Use all your strength to eliminate the Taimanin. Do not waste it this time."
"Understood!"
Dust beneath her feet blew up as Ingrid dashed forward for the kill, leaving behind a fading after-image. She was coming at Kotaro with all of her current might.
Unarmed, Kotaro only had his fists and he gripped them tightly. He was ready to brace the attack.
Ingrid appeared before Kotaro after a flash of her top speed. Her heels planted firmly to the ground.
Kotaro's right eye observed the swing of her blade. His shoes spun as he pulled all his weight to the moving arm.
Her sword came down, quick and gleaming with strength. His clenched hand shot up, swift and raging with resolve.
Razor-sharp edge collided with hardened fist.
CRACK!
The echo of shattering steel silenced everything.
The poor imitation of Ingrid's true sword was knocked back to where the faked Edwin Black was standing.
But Ingrid didn't let this surprising outcome hinder her order. Clutching the broken sword, she tried to slam him with its pommel. Kotaro caught it by the cross-guard.
"Do not be so full of yourself just because you managed to break my weapon."
"It isn't real. Otherwise, it won't break so easily. You could have felt something from the sword Black gave you."
Taunted, Ingrid closed in, using shoulder bump to push him away. Kotaro acted faster, his hand stayed on her coming shoulder and held it in place, lower body shifted to stop her advancement.
Her fighting spirit still burned, the other hand came up to strike him with the palm. His head tilted backward shortly for the swing to pass. That clear-cut attack could have shocked his brain if he wasn't careful.
The amount of reports about Ingrid's barehanded techniques were extremely sparse that others believed it was just a rumor. And here, Kotaro was experiencing it firsthand. By no means her hand-to-hand combat was sloppy. Each thrust of her arms was decisive, each step of her footwork was smooth and elegant like the way she fought with her weapon.
Edwin Black's most trusted subordinate and second-in-command in Nomad. This was the Hell Knight Ingrid who stood in the same league with the strongest Taimanins of Gosha. Even when not being at full strength, her position continued to be unshaken. If the Nameless Evil Eye hadn't awakened, she could have easily killed him a hundred time over.
All the more the reason he couldn't let her fall into that damn Alien Tree's grasp. Edwin Black needs her support as much as Nomad needs her presence to keep itself in check.
Kotaro deflected the knife-hand strike and caught both of her wrists. The battle entered a stalemate as neither made the next move.
"Why keep defending yourself and not fighting back?" She questioned.
Instead of answering, he let go much to her confusion.
"What are you doing!?"
"Let's stop this. Just listen to what I have to explain."
"I will listen to none of your nonsense."
"Ingrid!" The frown on the faked Black's face deepened into a scowl. The Ashen Tree in disguise finally ran out of patience. "It seems to me you failed to kill him. What a disappointment."
Snap!
The surrounding changed.
Demons and Nomad soldiers appeared, mixed in with a large group of wooded creatures rising from underneath the ground. Their numbers were enough to fill every street within the town.
"B-Black-sama!? I can still-!"
"Enough! You are unfit to carry out my order. It is best to step aside and let others do the work for you."
"A-As you wish."
After bowing her head at the faked Black, Ingrid reluctantly returned to his side. While doing so, she had shot a glance at Kotaro over the shoulder.
"….."
Sigh. All of this would repeat again.
He saw the look in her eyes, she was determined about everything in this dream. It would take more than this to even sway a piece of her mind. She won't give up. She won't even stop for a second to consider his words.
This had been gone on for too long from his side, and it might be too late for his physical body in the real world.
By now, his body was a hair's breadth from getting the worst treatments or already done for by the wooded creatures. As his consciousness detached and ended up in another place, he couldn't feel the pain inflicted on the body. A situation like this is what makes Soul Art a double-edged sword.
Let's face it. Unless a miracle happens, he has zero chance to come back alive.
"An equivalent to the bests of your kind or not, you will not be able to hold yourself long against this many of us." The Ashen Tree in disguise stepped forward and spoke with a confident smirk. "I win."
The Ashen Tree was laughing in early celebration of its soon-to-be victory against Kotaro. But he didn't listen. Kotaro focused his gaze on the ground. He was staring at the broken sword hilt Ingrid'd dropped to receive the second one from the faked Black.
He looked past Black and his goons, making contact with Ingrid's watchful eyes. And she blinked. To her, he was blinded, yet she had noticed something from that short exchange.
"Do you not feel fear when everything here is against you, Taimanin?" The Ashen Tree posing as Black probed. "Do you not fear me?"
He did, and he knew why it asked this question.
The Ashen Tree was using Black's appearance to manipulate Ingrid and invoke great fear in Kotaro. From the very start, this had always made sense.
Somewhere in Ingrid's memories, it must have seen him choking up on himself, forgetting to breath in front of her and within the Vampire King's presences. It was his first and most frightening encounter. Kotaro was scared of the menacing existence named Edwin Black with every fiber in his body.
The same experience also happened with Ingrid. He was fearful of her crushing pressure when she was about to kill him following Black's order back in Tokyo Kingdom.
But now…..
Now, those senses of dread were gone. The fear was not here anymore.
Kotaro wasn't fine with the situation. Yet, he didn't feel nerve-wrecking as if all the anxiety in his body has disappeared. Was this how one feeling when they fully accepted the truth that their end is inevitable?
In that case, maybe it's about time to stop being soft.
"Quit posing." Kotaro spoke up. "You're just that pretentious bastard with a God complex. I fear Edwin Black, but I don't feel a thing for a poor imitation. A. Fake. Doesn't. Scare. Me."
He crouched down and picked up the broken sword.
"I'm the weakest Taimanin out there. A simple flick from the real deal can easily snap my neck in half. You can't even do that, you have to manipulate someone else, you have to mess with their memories, warping their facts."
Quick hand signs formed.
"When this is over, I'm as good as dead. So I'm going to be a bit more forceful. I'm going to be that guy to you."
Once the Tiger hand seal was done, Kotaro held the hilt upward with both hands like the way a medieval knight ready their weapon. The action meant nothing to the Ashen Tree. To Ingrid, that posture was something she understood well. Her lip parted slightly as Kotaro's right eye shone the color she recognized at first sight, a dark shade mixing with traces of purple light.
The air began to exhibit an immense surge in temperature. The ground near his feet charred in the rising gust of blazing currents. But Kotaro wasn't affected, he stood unscathed in the middle of that boiling spot.
Finally, the burning sensation took shape. Its appearance glowed as an otherworldly counterpart of a bright fire.
The Ashen Tree dropped its smirk and showed an ugly face, it grimaced to the immediate devastating effect displayed on the minions standing closest to that fierce existence.
[Ingrid's Style: Dark Flame Sword]
Overwhelmed by disbelief, Ingrid lost all words while watching her power raged in respond to Kotaro's calling. It rose in waves, gushing and moving around him. It engulfed the broken hilt in his hands and spread to the sky, forming the body of a double edged blade.
"That's….!" Ingrid finally came through the lump in her throat. "Why is my power….!?"
"It's your style, Ingrid. It's what the Tree's scared of the most."
Something started to come up in her mind, the many questions about the young Taimanin who's shared a connection with the Dark Flame filled her thoughts.
"Ingrid! Do not be distracted by this puny human!" Before she could say a word, the faked Black intervened. "You are a proud Hell Knight! You are not that lacking to be fooled by this blatant display of deception! The Taimanin is your enemy, always remember that! Tch. And here I am expecting highly of you that you could do your job properly!"
"Don't yell as if you know everything."
Kotaro didn't raise his tone. However, the stone cold voice in contrast to the burning atmosphere squeezed into the Ashen Tree's throat.
"You're right about one thing though. We're both enemies, that fact has always been true."
Maybe it was in the spur of the moment, maybe it was due to the calling of Ingrid's power, Kotaro's temper slowly flickered.
"But that's just it. You still don't know jack shit about Ingrid, you don't get to talk to her like that. Shut your trap, damn Rotted Tree."
"You dare called me-!"
The flaming sword made the first swing, cutting off the impostor's rage. One vertical slash burst through the army, slid the top of a house and struck right in the tallest figure within the dream world.
"Being her enemy is not important to me anymore. Ingrid, I'm going to use this flame to show you just how deceiving everything in this world is to you."
The giant Ashen Tree burned, shrouded in the full extent of Ingrid's Dark Flame. The faked Edwin Black looked on in horror as Kotaro pointed his sword next at the culprit who started all of this.
"I'll wake you up, even if it means I'll have to burn your dream to a crisp."
"Taimanin. Who are you?" Ingrid finally let out the questions she wanted to know the most.
As her resolution shaken, his right eye burned with the strongest resolve.
"Captain of the Taimanin Task Force, Fuuma Kotaro. I'm here, as your companion."
Somewhere deep in her mind, that name began to click.
/
Author's Note: Well, that were some "bonding moments" they are sharing and it's not even over yet!
Joking asides, considering their roles, something like this is bounded to happen or depending on the timeline. This isn't even close to a Kotaro VS Ingrid since one is refusing the deathmatch and one is trying to follow an order from the person she loves most.
For more context, the Ingrid whom Kotaro is trying his best to persuade in this chapter actually has her mindset being altered and closely resembles to the version of the original VN TA3 and TM. She is completely loyal to Edwin Black and devotes herself to Nomad's cause. To her, Fuuma Kotaro is a stranger and Nomad's enemy. In other words, she becomes Kotaro's most difficult challenge to cross while he also has to worry about his physical body being completely exposed to dangers in the real world.
Thank you for reading. Take Care!