Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or
concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that i claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
The Annals of the Heroine Akane, and the Dreaded Demon King. A Tale of the Mirrorverse.
Chapter 8: Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, lest you come to be under that watchful eye. (Part 1)
Ranma surveyed the battlefield, his massive clawed feet digging into the ground as he watched the mayhem and chaos. He was no fan of war, had no love of bloodshed or wanton violence. But he would fight to defend what was his, and to try to protect his people. If only the humans were less violent, more capable of understanding. Not that all of those he ruled over were any better, after all. He personally had little love for the goblins or the orcs, both races being prone to violence and savagery. The trolls and ogres, while having greater capacity for violence at least were harder to rouse to that anger.
But, one did with what one had on hand, after all. It was the best way to handle things, to use each person and race for what they were best suited for. He knew that not all humans were like the ones that he faced now, some could be understanding. Loving, in their own way even. But getting through to them had proven difficult in the past, and now both sides yearned for the blood of the other, and there was little besides war that would ever change that. Only in the destruction of one was likely the salvation of the other, or so his war council said often.
He had found another hope, though. While traveling disguised, he had seen just how much they seemed to care for their own. Maybe it was his cursed human blood, but he just couldn't accept that death was the only option. Perhaps, if enough of the so-called heroes were stopped, the humans would give in and this pointless war could finally end.
After that, he could track down his useless lump of a father and crazy mother and put them back on the throne, and be rid of it for a while longer.
It never hurt to dream, after all.
Akane watched the battle unfolding with a determined scowl on her face. It was clear that HIS presence on the battlefield had emboldened the enemy, so it was equally clear that when she felled him, it should break them.
Akane grinned a grim smile as she unsheathed her sword and slid her shield into place once more. There was the better part of an army between her and her for. All the better to serve as a warm up, then.
Akane started to move towards the enemy, and by the time she hit the lines she had picked up a good bit of momentum. She hit the enemy line like a battering ram and smashed through the initial wall of goblins and orcs as her sword slashed and cleaved left and right as she worked at making a breach.
Akane grinned as the enemy pressed back,.even as she ducked under a swing and her sword flicked twice, taking the arm and throat of the orc she had engaged with.
Her shield intercepted a blow from an orc, the angle guiding the strike up as she stepped through and gutted the orc with brutal efficiency.
Akane was in her element now, driving a wedge into the enemies line, surrounded by foes she could just let go and let her training handle most things while she plotted sequences, moves and movements to carry her ever forward, always closer to her destined foe. This was what she had been born for, after all. To defeat the demon king and his army. In the end, nothing else mattered.
Akane turned, blocking the blade of the demon who had stepped up to confront her. His black skin and red eyes were abhorrent, the horns growing from his brow were just further proof of what kind of debased, horrible being he must surely be. His strength was monstrous, his size overbearing. He wielded a pair of wicked, jagged swords with ease despite their size. His heavy armor rattled with the chains that were wrapped around it. Surely, this was one of the mid to higher ranked demons, some sort of lieutenant or other leader.
In other words, a good warm up.
"I am Arash the Flayer! Speak your name, human, so that I can add it to the list I keep as trophies!" The demon roared as it dropped into a fighting stance now that his surprise attack had failed.
"You are not worthy to know my name, demon. And I care not for yours, you are simply more fodder for me to cut through before I take your lord's head. Chaff, to be cast aside once I am done with you." Akane said as she squared up, watching the circle of foes that surrounded her. She knew that any one of them would strike at her if she left a single opening, regardless of whether she was in a duel with one of their leaders or not. Honestly, their duplicity and dishonest natures made them the perfect foes for her, she didn't need to feel sympathy or sorrow for cutting them down.
The in earnest, the dance of steel and death two who were skilled in it's steps. Brute strength and savagery against skill, talent, and unwavering conviction. Powerful, slashing blows are met with precise and careful counters, the deliberate yet passionate swordsmanship of the Hero Akane.
Arash roared as he started a flurry of blows from his paired swords, the jagged edges glinting as he delivered blow after blow. A flurry of heavy, sweeping strikes that Akane parried and blocked, even as she felt her sword trying to be caught in the jagged edges of her opponent's blades.
Akane gritted her teeth as she ducked under the leading blow and let her shield deflect the following stroke upwards as she stepped through and delivered a slice to his side, and a stab into his left leg from behind as she finished her step, and squared herself up once more.
Arash bellowed in pain as he turned, a blade flashing as he swung a powerful blow. He forced the Heroine back a step as he settled his weight onto his good leg. He watched her warily, his jaw clenched as he tightened his grip on his weapons.
Akane watched him carefully while making sure she was aware of what those behind her were doing, sure that at some point one of them would try and make a move. She shifted slightly, as she established a better stance. "Is that all you have to offer, demon? If so, then I think I will go and find myself a worthy challenge." Akane taunted as she listened to the horde behind her shift, the hatred almost overwhelming in its intensity towards her.
"Fine then, little human. Lets see if you can amuse me." Arash said even as he swelled, his form became larger and more brutish as he took on a more beastial appearance, a long serrated tail trailed behind him. He roared, his elongated muzzle dripping a reddish froth as he stepped forward. He faltered for a moment, as his injured leg proved a momentary hindrance for his greater bulk. That was the moment that Akane struck.
Akane had started to move as he did, her shield angled upwards, as she protected her body and hid what she was doing as the edge of her blade glowed with the divine might that she channeled through it. Even as Arash swung down, she had started to slide and let her momentum carry her clear of where the blades crashed into the ground and just narrowly missed her. Her glowing blade sliced through his knee as she took his good leg from him. She scrambled clear as the behemoth smashed into the ground.
With surprising speed, Akane rolled to her feet and stabbed down into the shoulder of the larger demon with brutal efficiency. Even as he flailed behind himself, his massive talons seeking the flesh of the human who had laid him low Akane prepared herself for the next and final blow. With a quick thrust and twist, her blade plunged into the soft spot at the back of his deformed skull and yanked free, even as she turned to meet the tide that attempted to crash over her.
She was once more swarmed by foes, the look of determined glee on her face almost caused the weaker of her foes to back off, it was only the press from behind that forced them closer to her as her blade once more started to reap a bloody harvest among the circle of foes that engaged her.
Step by step, Akane started to work her way towards the massive figure of the dragon she knew to be the current form of the Demon Lord. No foe would stop her as she made her bloody way towards her enemy. No matter how many tried to stand in her way, she would lay them low so that her friends, her family, could finally be free of this bloody war. That was the conviction that drove her ever onward, that gave her the strength and willpower to carry on. That fueled that absolute determination that filled her with divine might so that she could deliver justice.
That turned a young woman into an instrument of divine might and punishment.
She cleaved her bloody way through the masses, never did she stop. To stop was to die, even with her skills and the power bestowed on her by the goddess. To doubt, to waver, these were things that she was not allowed to do. She had been given a destiny, a higher purpose, and she would carry it out, even if it cost her everything. Even if the cost was her very life and soul.
She ducked under a blow from an ogre, her god-forged blade blazing brighter as she lopped off the arm at the elbow, the follow up taking the knee as she stepped past the falling brute. An almost casual backhanded blow severed the spine, letting the massive head fall to the ground. She glared up at the looming dragon before her, her blood and gore splattered armor gleaming where it was not covered.
"I have come for you, Demon Lord. I shall take my vengeance on you. I shall deliver divine justice! I will break you, and your army this day!" She shouted as she pointed her sword at the massive, dark beast before her. If she was exhausted from her ordeal, she did not show it. If she was wounded, it was impossible to discern. At this point, she was no longer human. She was a tool of the Goddess, a weapon forged in Light.
She was the Heroine Akane, and she was here to slay the Demon Lord Ranma.
Ranma gazed at her with those reptilian, unblinking eyes. He shifted, his long tail slithering behind him as he stretched his massive, dark wings. An almost amused light gleamed in his eye as he regarded her critically. When he spoke, the earth rumbled and the skies strained at their bonds.
"Welcome, little hero. We shall settle this, you and I. It is the only way there can be peace, if one of us falls this day. Come, let us play out the game of the Goddesses, so that they can sake their boredom in our blood, shall we?" He said in a rasping rumble, even as he started to circle her, his massive clawed feet churned the earth as he walked.
With a roar from him, matched by a cry of rage from her, the two rushed towards battle, towards destiny.
