Chapter 8: A Clash of Wills, Part 2
Domain expansion, the pinnacle of Jujutsu sorcery. It consists of expanding one's innate domain with Cursed Energy while using a barrier to construct it inside a separate space. The Sorcerer's technique gains an effect that makes their techniques able to 100% hit the target regardless of any defenses they try to use.
Geto was never able to master this technique, until today, and he was very proud of his work.
His domain had the appearance of being inside the stomach of a Curse Spirit, with green fleshy walls that gave the impression that the entire environment was rotten. Curse Spirits ranging from all grades emerged from every corner of the walls, making sure that no person would be able to hide safely unless they wanted to be devoured without warning.
The domain also had a constant toxic stench hanging that had the smell of sulfur combined with rotten eggs that had a psychedelic effect on any person that had low defenses to progressively go insane and kill themselves.
The True Absolution.
Geto took a deep breath, allowing the agonizing feeling of before wash away as he no longer felt the Aura burn him constantly. He smiled in relief.
"These are the depths of my soul… I'm truly sorry that you have to see this." Geto said as he opened his eyes and eyed Winter. "It was a good attempt, but you must know by now that you can't beat me."
Winter looked horrified, gritting her teeth at the horrifying sight that was Geto's domain. Her hands were trembling and her breath was ragged as she felt the urge to puke. She suppressed her feeling of fear and swallowed a lump in her throat.
She was lucky that her Aura was protecting her from the stench.
"So this what you have to deal with on a daily basis." She muttered as she furrowed her eyebrows and steeled her resolve. "Thank you for showing this. Now I know for sure that ending you is the best course of action."
Geto snorted, she was still not willing to give up even when faced with such an overwhelming presence? Either she was stupid or she still had an ace on her sleeve. He was inclined to believe the latter.
He could use the myriad of Curse Spirits he had at his disposal to quickly finish her off. It's not as much as he had before the war started, as he had distributed his other spirits in Anima for the war, but he should have at least 500 left, which would be more than enough to finish off one Huntress.
The Aura domain that Winter used was still in effect, but its power was already exhausted to the point that the Aura didn't affect him anymore, and all it could do was cancel the sure-hit effect of his domain.
Still, she must know this… so why did she look so confident?
A glyph appeared beside her as her Arma Gigas, Death Stalker, and Megoliath shattered like glass.
Geto's eyes widened as he watched the avatar she summoned. "T-That's—"
A large serpentine dragon creature emerged beside her as it let out a mighty roar. It had a long pearly white body that was the trademark color as all of her avatars. On the edge were its short hands and head which had a long, powerful jaw.
It shouldn't surprise him much, but it did because he recognized this creature, or rather, this Curse Spirit.
His last gift to her, the Rainbow Dragon.
A Special Grade curse spirit that has no remarkable abilities other than pure power and the hardest skin ever recorded on a cursed spirit, making it nearly indestructible. The fact that it had no Cursed Technique at its disposal meant that this was the only Curse Spirit that her Semblance could summon without using Curse Energy.
It didn't make sense on an offensive approach to reduce the numbers she had to only one singular avatar, but for this particular situation where Geto had the upper hand, it was an excellent strategy.
The Rainbow Dragon circled Winter and protected her from any outside attacks.
"Here I come..." She said as she slowly walked towards him.
Geto let out a manic grin as he silently commanded all of his Curse Spirits to at Winter with lethal force.
A swarm of flesh-eating locusts lunged towards her and scattered. The dragon was no fool and slammed its body to the ground, launching the bugs into the air and immobilizing them. The dragon used this opportunity to eat all the bugs at once.
Geto clicked his tongue, of course it wasn't going to work, the Rainbow Dragon was his strongest Curse Spirit 9 years ago. Apart from being incredibly strong offensively and defensively, it was devilishly intelligent.
Winter knew this as well, so she kept walking towards him without a care in the world. She was quickly closing the distance. A direct assault would not work on her, so he needed to get creative in order to stop her.
The Schnee stopped in her tracks as her whole body trembled as she winced audibly, which caused the Rainbow Dragon to stop in its tracks as well.
She screamed in pain as she fell to her knees and saw a humanoid Curse Spirit with a hunched back that wore an executioner's mask that had no holes to see through, so it gave the impression that it was just wearing a black bag on its face that was tied into its neck. Its face was screwed with countless rusty nails as the creature howled in pain.
P-PAIN!
The screech caused Winter to scream even more as the nails on the curse's head dug even deeper through its face.
This particular Curse had the ability to bind the soul of one target onto itself and inflict the same amount of pain it felt back to the bounded target, immobilizing them in the process. The only downside was that it was very vulnerable to attacks, so Geto didn't use it much.
For this situation however, it was perfect, as the Rainbow Dragon wouldn't leave Winter's side because it would risk her getting attacked by the rest of the curses that Geto could summon inside his domain, so it can't go on the offensive.
Geto closed his eyes in pity. He didn't want to summon the Torture Curse on her, but she left him with no choice. If she had just given up, he would have given her a quick death.
"DON'T YOU DARE STOP ME!" he heard her shout.
Geto opened his eyes and what he saw was something akin to a movie scene. Winter summoned an orange glyph on her sword, heating it up to the point that the blade glowed in bright orange color. The Rainbow Dragon grabbed Winter's sword with its small arms and impaled her through her palm, digging it deeply into her arm blood splattered through the wound as the sound of boiling flesh could be heard.
Did she figure out the Torture's Cruse technique in less than 2 minutes? No scratch that, did this crazy woman turn off her Aura and willingly stab herself to be able to move?!
After all, the only way for her to get out of the immobilizing effect was to inflict even greater pain on herself.
Geto's eyes widened like saucers. "You can't be serious?!"
Winter used this opportunity to grab her sword and forcefully rip it off her arms, she nearly closed her eyes as she was fainting from the pain, but the adrenaline rushing through her body was greater. She managed to move and performed a perfect jumping attack on the curse and instantly froze it with Ice Dust.
She couldn't exorcize it, but at least she could stop it from attacking. She then turned her attention to Geto and rushed towards him alongside the Rainbow Dragon, who was still at her side and was ready to attack him on the spot.
However, Geto remained confident and decided not to move from his spot.
Winter was just inches away from Geto's face, sword ready to decapitate him.
He let out a mischievous smile. "I must admit, I didn't think you were willing to go that far for the sake of Atlas, but sadly, it's all for naught. You're in my territory now."
The blade stopped just at the top of Geto's neck as Winter froze on her spot. Grey slime covered her body as she frantically tried to move, but couldn't. The Rainbow Dragon also froze on its spot, trying its best to break free.
Just below Geto's feet, a grey, silver liquid formed around. This Grade 2 curse wasn't particularly strong, as all it did was make the floor around him sticky with an immobilizing goo, and if anyone stepped on it, their whole body would be covered by the substance.
He never knew that a Glue Curse would be so useful for this situation.
Geto then hit Winter hard on the stomach with Playful Cloud. Her whole body flickered in white color and her Aura shield shattered. Blood came out of her mouth as she dropped her weapon and fell to her knees in defeat, the pain of broken ribs wasn't something her Aura could heal.
The Rainbow Dragon's avatar shattered as Winter's Semblance lost its strength.
Her eyes were planted on the ground, ashamed about her defeat.
He sighed as he pulled out the Inventory Cuse and it spat a small knife from its mouth. "I'm glad to have met a woman as tenacious as you, so I don't want to leave you without knowing… this is not personal."
She raised her head and looked at Geto with a piercing gaze.
Geto shook his head and pressed the knife on her chest where her heart was. "I don't expect you to know my reasoning… but I will always hate monkeys, no matter who they are."
However, he stopped at the last second once he saw a small tear coming out of Winter's eyes, which threw him off guard.
"I knew, I always knew, Suguru. That's why I'm sorry… for everything." Winter muttered as she gritted her teeth and clenched both of her hands. "I'm sorry for not being there for you, for pushing you away when you needed me the most. If I listened to you from the start… then maybe things would have turned out differently."
Geto blinked owlishly at her, did she really feel that way after all this time? Was this the Huntsman's heroic mentality that made them think that they were capable of being a beacon?
No— Winter was capable of cold logic, she didn't adopt the Huntsman's mentality, but rather that of a soldier's. So why did she behave like this?
Could it be that after all this time she still—
What a stupid reasoning.
"You love to beat yourself up for the most ridiculous stuff…" Geto let out an exasperated sigh. He then placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not your failure, Winter, no matter what you did, even if you were there for me, all you could've done was delay the inevitable. I was doomed to hate monkeys from the day I was born."
She let out a rare, gentle smile, one that he remembered from a long time ago. "I refuse to believe that."
Geto stared at her as if she grew a second head, did the logical cold-hearted professional soldier say such an unbelievable, sentimental statement to him? Did she really have hope after all this time? Ridiculous.
Yet it became clear to him what her message was… no matter if she hated what he had become, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.
Geto placed his hand on his forehead and chuckled softly before it went into a full-fledged cackle. He laughed so hard that he swore that a tear was about to escape his eyes.
Finally, his laughter died down and he spoke. "We humans are hypocrites…"
They stared at each other in a time that felt like forever, a feeling of warmth came across both of them that quickly died down, knowing very well that the old days between them were long gone. Geto closed his eyes and leaned forward with his knife in hand.
Winter then lunged at Geto and her next action surprised him. She hugged him softly, enveloping her hand on his neck. It threw him off guard to the point that it froze him on the spot. This was a strange behavior from her, as she was never, ever this sentimental, but he let it slide. Maybe it was because she was about to die, she felt like she didn't have anything to lose.
How wrong he was for making that assumption.
Suddenly, his domain shook uncontrollably, its strength rapidly dwindling as cracks appeared from every corner. Geto's eyes widened.
A domain's inner layer is night indestructible on the inside, as nobody has ever been able to successfully brute force their way out of a domain unless they pull out their own. However, the outer layer is much easier to destroy, and anything with enough strength can break it apart, that's why Sorcerers make sure to trap everyone inside the domain.
A ghost of a smile appeared on Winter's face. "Before I left for this location, I gave an ultimatum to the Argus's military base; should I not return in time, then this command should be executed without hesitation at my last known coordinates. Their orders?"
Her grip on his neck tightened. "Rain fire."
Then it clicked him, and for the first time in a very long time, Geto felt fear. That's why she came alone!
"Y-You!" Geto panicked as his blood ran cold. He then motioned to the rest of his curse spirits.
"EVERYONE COVER ME!"
All of the curses covered Geto and Winter in a dome-like shield as the barrier shattered, and everything was engulfed in a ball of fire as the missile barrage erased everything in its path.
"Do you girls know who I am?"
Ozpin stared at both Tanuki girls with intrigue. The blonde twin had her Scroll ready on her hand with the camera pointed at him, as if it was a weapon itself, while the other brown-haired twin had a stuffed doll that was that had its neck tied up with a nose. The moment the brown-haired girl imbued the doll with Cursed Energy, it began to change shape into himself.
That's right, the Voodoo doll had the same hair, and eye color and even wore little sunglasses that gave it a sense of cuteness.
"You're Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, and considered a Special Grade Sorcerer in the Jujutsu world." The blonde tanuki said as her hands trembled a little as she kept her Scroll pointed at him.
"Then you should know better than to approach in such a reckless manner," Ozpin said as a matter of fact.
"You're a threat to Master Geto's plans. Therefore, you must be put down." The blonde girl stated with confidence.
"Your chivalry and nature as a teacher means that you will go easy on us." The brown-haired twin stated; the sweat on her forehead gave away how anxious she was. Was it because her Curse Technique was hardly having any effect on him? He did feel a tingly sensation on his neck that seemingly tried to choke him.
It was a good plan, to ambush him when he was tired. It was true that his Magic had dwindled over the years and that the spell he used to teleport Okkotsu ate through his stamina and left him very tired, so tired in fact that he had to sit and regain some air, which was probably what got the twin's attention. Sitting in enemy territory where everyone could see him in a vulnerable state was the peak of foolishness and something he would never do, as someone as old as him should know better and look after himself.
That was because he wanted to be found, as he hadn't had an opportunity to see how Sorcery has progressed over the years. He was curious about their current strength.
Their techniques have certainly gotten more creative over the years, but as far as he can tell about their strength? He wasn't impressed.
"Ah, so that's how it is," Ozpin said as he let out a cheeky grin. "You've seen that I'm tired because of my spell earlier so you decided to attack me now, plus, you know the heroic philosophy in Beacon can be detrimental against Curse Users. Smart."
The blonde girl gritted her teeth as she tapped her Scroll and widened her eyes as her technique didn't seem to have any effect on the headmaster. She looked at her sister.
"Mimiko, is your technique—"
Mimiko shook her head as she became panicky, frantically pulling the rope. "I-I'm trying Nanako!"
Ozpin disappointingly shook his head as he saw how hard they were trying to kill him with not even a single amount of regret. What would drive kids to do such a thing, and how far did they get pushed that they have been desensitized in the act of killing?
"You two are merely kids, why don't you enroll at Beacon? Since Jujutsu High doesn't let Faunus in their schools, I can make an exception for you two. You two have the opportunity to change." He said without a hint of malice. These two would make an excellent addition to his plan to unify humanity, he would teach them how to appreciate human life.
That statement caused the twins to freeze and their previous panicked faces turned into a hateful scowl, looking at Ozpin with a glare that promised death. Uh oh, did she short a fuse?
"Don't try to play games with us… we will never betray Geto and Big bro!" Nanako fearlessly declared. "The best cure is to eliminate non-Sorcerers, so people like us can finally live in peace. Someone like you who lives at the top can't possibly fathom how Sorcerers are treated outside the city!"
Ozpin closed her eyes, pitying how distrustful of the world these twins have become. They must have been through a lot of pain… and it left a bitter taste in his mouth how Geto brainwashed them with his twisted ideology.
"I do know, that's why I'm trying to change this world," Ozpin said with a grimace as he looked at the floor. He then looked back at the twins. "So I assume that your answer is no, then?"
"Save it…" Mimiko said with so much hate that Ozpin could even feel it.
Ozpin sighed as he took off his glasses and placed them on his pocket.
"It appears that you two are under one single misconception about my nature. It's true, as a teacher I should go easy on you, and avoid using lethal force as much as possible." He said as his body brightened in blue color. "But a teacher needs to have students to be one, and you two are not my students."
Mimiko and Nanako backed off in fear, probably expecting to assassinate him quickly and leave. In no way did it cross their minds that they would have to fight a Special Grade.
Ozpin's smile faded and looked at both twins with a deadly serious expression. "You two are criminals, and therefore, you will be punished as such."
Nanako gulped as she looked at her sister fearfully. "Mimiko, why isn't this guy dead already?!"
Mimiko was pulling the rope of her doll with all her might to the point that her knuckles turned white. "I'm trying, but he doesn't seem to go down! I'm putting every ounce of Curse Energy into the doll!"
"Ah, a Voodoo Doll technique, that's quite ingenious! That's why I have this tingly feeling on my neck." Ozpin praised as he let out a proud grin. "Don't worry, your technique is working, I do not doubt that. It seems that you're using a lot of Curse Energy… for your level."
"What's that's supposed to mean?!" Mimiko snarled at that statement with a mix of fury and despair.
Ozpin raised his eyebrows and sent a condescending look to the twins. "You want me to spell for you? It means that you two are incredibly weak in comparison to me."
He then blinked, realizing that he sounded like Satoru for a moment. "Oh, I apologize for my poor manners; I've recently used an object that might have had temporal aftereffects on my brain." He said with a quick, but genuine bow. "As for why your technique is useless… it's not that it's not working, it is, and you will eventually manage to kill me; in one hundred or two years, and you know why? Because no matter how slow time is, it will always keep moving forward and never go in reverse."
Realizing that Ozpin was still walking forward unscathed, Nanako's tough attitude broke and she began to hyperventilate. "R-RUN!"
Mimiko shared the same feeling of fear as her sister and they both turned tail and ran for their lives. However, in the blink of an eye, Ozpin leaped towards them at blinking speeds and landed right in front of the twins, blocking their path.
"Where are you two running to?" He said, causing both girls to reflexively back off. "I've told you, you two are criminals, and you will be punished as such."
"DIE!" Nanako growled and pointed her Scroll at Ozpin. She tried to take a picture of him but when the image on her screen wasn't moving, she nearly broke down to cry. "WHY'S MY SCROLL NOT WORKING?!"
Ozpin chuckled, enjoying their failed attempts at trying to decipher his Curse Technique.
"You see; I pride myself in the use of my barrier techniques since I can extend my Curse Technique around them. After all, I am second only to Tengen in the mastery—"
"STOP MONOLOGUING AND TELL US!" Nanako snapped, already fed up with his bullshit.
Ozpin was genuinely taken aback by her response. Has she realized what kind of position she was in?
"Rude, but I guess it's deserved… so, as for my Curse Technique, it's quite straightforward, you can call it Timezone; it allows me to manipulate the time of inanimate objects and abilities when I lay my eyes on you, and I can either slow them down or speed them up indefinitely, all of this has to be done within a barrier. Of course, the stronger a technique means that it will place a higher strain on me, as the faster your technique is, it will become harder to slow down."
His smile widened as he saw the reactions from both girls. Mimiko had a terrible realization as all hope of winning vanished from her face, while Nanako dropped her Scroll in shock before picking it up again.
It was stupid of them to even think they had a chance against him.
"This means that manipulating the direction of objects with high mass is difficult for me, luckily, that's where this comes in!" he said as he pulled out a handle and pulled the lever, causing the stick of his trusty cane to reveal itself.
"Special Grade Cursed Tool: The Long Memory." He said as he looked at the weapon with a fond smile before looking back at the twins. He walked towards an abandoned vehicle and tapped his cane into the front. "Its innate technique allows it to ignore the mass of anything it touches, allowing me to carry anything with relative ease. From a car to an entire building, it truly has no limits and blends well with my technique."
He then pushed his cane into the car and imbued his technique on it, causing it to glow in a green light as it made fast ticking sounds. He launched the car with the same speed as if he launched a pebble and the car landed right in front of Mimiko and Nanako's faces before the two could even comprehend what just happened. Ozpin stopped his technique before the car turned their bodies into mashed potatoes and the car instantly fell to the ground, as if it didn't recognize it was traveling at Mach 4 speeds.
Mimiko blinked and widened her eyes as she saw how close she was to dying. She fell to the ground as he dragged her away from the car. Nanako fell to her knees as she took deep breaths, probably regretting her decision to even attack Ozpin in the first place.
"But of course, I won't drop an entire car or use lethal force on you! I still have a soft spot for kids after all." Ozpin said as he let out a sweet smile. He then pulled up a small box from his pocket and took two small white golf balls he always carries with him whenever he goes to play. "So these balls should be more than enough for you two."
Mimiko perked up at the threat and rushed to her sister protectively, which touched the headmaster a little bit, but criminals were criminals.
"These golf balls will reach your location in point one second," Ozpin warned which caused both girls to perk up and panic as they saw the balls glowing with a dangerous green color.
Ozpin shot the balls and the twins immediately jumped away from each other. The projectile barely grazed their outfits as they evaded the attack by the skin of their teeth. Both girls panted as evading that attack caused their bodies to move on full adrenaline.
"Great job, you two have the reaction time of the average sorcerer." Ozpin smiled in approval as he clapped. He then took out two more balls from the box and began to charge them with his technique again. This time, the balls began to glow in a much brighter color. "That's it for the warm-up then."
Mimiko's face blanched. "T-That was the warmup?"
"Yes!" Ozpin said giddily. "Ideally, I don't give any warnings and also you two would want to stop me when I'm charging my technique, as the more Curse Energy put into it, the faster it can go."
Nanako's eyes widened in horror as she stood up, her legs wobbly as she realized the horror of what was about to happen. "H-How much speed are we talking about?"
Ozpin let a mischievous grin, "LUDICROUS SPEED!"
Just as Ozpin shouted those words, the balls launched towards them at speeds impossible to comprehend to the human eye, hitting them both right into their torso before they even had a chance to react. Both twins spat a large amount of blood as the hit was so hard that the hit broke their ribs and fell to the ground out cold.
Ozpin let out sigh, it deeply saddened him that kids this young were pushed by a madman to commit atrocities. It paints a poor light on the new generation that was supposed to correct the mistakes of the old ones.
He heard footsteps approach him and glanced at the newcomer who approached him alongside a squadron of Atlas's soldiers. The man who led them was a young Faunus, who had the same appearance that he read in a report, it was one particular kid that helped Okkotsu not too long ago.
"That was amazing, sir!" the young Faunus said as he greeted Ozpin with a salute.
Ozpin blinked as he stared at the newcomer for a few minutes before realizing who he was. When he scooped for details about Yuta's involvement against the Sea Feilong, he had help from Winter Schnee and one Faunus lieutenant with the name of Marrow Amin.
"Ah, you must be the one that helped Okkotsu and Specialist Schnee on their escape from the Feilong. Marrow Amin if I'm correct." He said, causing Marrow to flinch as he wondered how he probably got a hold of that information. "I thank you for supporting their decision. What's your name?"
Realizing that it was smarter not to ask Ozpin about the details of how he got hold of top-secret information. He decided not to question him, as he wasn't in a position to even do so to a figure of authority like him.
"L-Lieutenant Marrow Amin, sir," Marrow said with a salute. He then looked to the fallen forms of the twins and he narrowed his eyes. "Atlas's soldier will take it from her, these two should be transferred to a secure supermax prison where they should not see the light of day."
Ozpin glanced at both of the twins with pity before biting his tongue. "Very well, you can take them."
Kids these days…
Yuta normally was a calm and collected person, and while he normally was the victim of his own emotions, he has learned to keep his cool to keep control of his dangerous amounts of Curse Energy, the last thing he wanted was summoning another horde of Grimm because of his inability to control Rika.
However, right now, he was livid.
The guy in front of him was dead the moment he decided to hurt Pyrrha and Maki, Curse Energy awakened or not, he didn't care, he was ending his existence even if it was the last thing he'd do. He remembered his face very well, the first time he saved him, there won't be a second time.
And his partner that was just right beside him… why did she look so afraid of his love?
Yuta decided not to kill her immediately and looked at her with uncanny eyes.
"Did you hurt my friends?" he asked, causing Blake to flinch, but all she could do right now was look at the ground and resign to her fate.
"I tried to save them… I'm sorry that I allowed this to happen."
There were… no lies in her statement, the tone that she said it was completely genuine. After all, there was no use for her to lie to him since she was no threat to him. After all, he was the strongest in the area right now.
Yuta's gaze softened and he smiled.
"I believe you." He said as he nodded at himself, stunning the cat Faunus on the spot. "I knew that you were a good person."
Blake sent an owlish look to Yuta, as to verify if he did he had a loose screw. She couldn't believe that after their first encounter, which was far from pleasant, he was willing to give her a chance. Most people would have judged her for her past actions and arrested her on the spot, but Yuta still believed that she was worth a second chance.
Yuta didn't know it, but Blake appreciated his actions immensely.
Blake shook her head and a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "You really are too kind for your own good…"
Yuta let out a kind smile but panicked as he felt Adam lunging towards him and raised his blade just at the right moment.
"As for you…" Yuta muttered angrily as he growled menacingly. "I will make sure to inflict on you the most amount of pain for what you did."
Rika let out a cackle and punched Adam square in the face. "RIKA AGREES!"
Adam quickly recovered from the hit and shot Rika with an Ice Dust bullet, freezing her face. She snarled as she furiously scratched the ice off her face.
The Faunus capitalized on this opportunity and tried to poke a hole in Yuta's neck with his blade.
But Yuta was no longer an amateur with the blade, for he had arduously trained with both Maki and Pyrrha.
One parry. Two parries. Three parries.
Adam gritted his teeth in frustration as his swordsmanship was being deflected so easily.
Then Yuta licked his lips as strange markings appeared around his mouth.
"Blast away!"
A shockwave launched Adam to the sky to the air as he lost his balance.
Yuta then caught up to him midair and with an elbow to the gut, sent Adam crashing towards the floor.
Adam's Aura flickered in red color as it was hard for him to get up as his legs wobbled, but it would take more than fancy words to take him down. Yuta needed to strike his heart and kill him.
Both prodigies stared at each other dead in the eye, as they disconnected themselves from the world. They started to feel a one-in-a-million experience that caused their hearts to beat slower than ever.
And so, they swung their blades with powerful, black sparks coming out of them.
Black Flash.
A phenomenon of Sorcery that requires incredible concentration and no jujutsu sorcerer is capable of using it at will. It does not occur randomly and requires immense skill and combat potential to pull off. However, for the two prodigies that were facing each other right now, it came as natural as breathing.
When this phenomenon occurs within one-millionth of a second before striking, it amplifies the user's physical strikes to nearly double its output. The aftereffects of Black Flash will make their abilities more potent the next time they use them.
As their swords clashed, the sparks of black cursed energy flared and shook the entire area, which caused the wind to blow away from them and the floor beneath them to crack. Their swords clashed for a second, but the hit was so powerful that it pushed both of them away from each other in a chain reaction.
They looked at each other with contempt as they got ready to unleash 120% of their potential.
Their eyes widened as they heard footsteps approaching them from afar.
Geto Suguru made his appearance known as he came back from wherever he was fighting and he looked worse for wear, his robes were tattered and burned, and his hair looked murky and dry, as if it had gone through an oven in and out. His face had black spots of gunpowder as if he was attacked by various explosives.
However, what surprised them the most was the woman he carried in his arms.
"Miss Schnee?!"
Winter looked just the same as Geto, her face had the same black spots, and her face was bloody and beaten, and he hair was down as her buns probably fell from the fight. She looked as if she had she had been through hell and over. This bastard did this to her!
Geto gently placed Winter on the ground and rested her body on a tree as he caressed her face. He almost looked at her… fondly? What was that for even? The mad monk sighed and left Winter to rest, not laying a single hand on her.
Adam furrowed his eyebrows as the hatred for the Schnee didn't go unnoticed. "Schnee…"
Geto clapped, genuinely impressed at what he just witnessed. "Incredible, amazing even, I can't believe I've witnessed a clash of Black Flashes with my own eyes!"
His smile vanished as he glared at Yuta with a deadly serious expression.
"It's time to end this, Okkotsu," Geto said as he spread his arms and a big shadow formed behind him. "As humanity began losing in a struggle against the Grimm, they needed to secure a power source to fight back, and thus, they discovered the marvelous technology that was known as Dust."
The shadow grew bigger until it was already taller than the trees, and it began to take shape. Its body was a fortress of living obsidian, its body covered in multiple Dust crystals. But these weren't ordinary crystals, as they continuously changed the color of multiple types of Dust. Each one of them glowing unnaturally bright with inner heat.
Yuta's eyes widened as he could feel the sheer amount of Curse Energy of this monster, and it was suffocating.
Geto enjoyed his fear and his manic grin widened. "However, no matter whether it's crystalline or powdered, Dust is considered a highly volatile material, and thus, fear of it has been present ever since its discovery. Creating what is known as the Vengeful Spirit, the DUST DRAGON!"
The dragon let out a roar as its crystal changed to a bright, red color, and it began charging a fireball from its mouth, which it then fired toward Yuta.
Yuta sidestepped the fireball, but the explosion pushed him and made him lose his balance. Luckily, he didn't do much damage because of his Aura shield. Rika let out a menacing growl as it charged towards the dragon and grabbed it by the neck, pushing it towards the floor and beating it up.
Geto used this opportunity and rushed towards Yuta with Adam, Playful Cloud already swinging in his arms. Adam was already on his other side as well, sword ready to strike him down.
He blocked Adam's sword with his, but the moment he did, Geto hit him square in the face with Playful Cloud.
With no way to defend himself, he took both Adam and Geto's hits repeatedly, only managing to parry fatal strikes with his blade, but each hit wore him out. His Aura flickered as his reserves were going lower and lower.
But even with all these hits, he remained calm, because he could see the critical hit.
He clapped with Boogie Woogie and switched places with Adam, confusing him as the Faunus got hit in the face by the red nunchakus and sent him flying away. Yuta took advantage of this opportunity.
With a critical kick on Geto's gut, he sent the mad monk rolling backward. He made a silent note to thank Winter later for weakening Geto so he could not easily be overwhelmed by the onslaught of these two.
Yuta had a feeling of dread as he felt a chill down his spine, because he was so focused on Geto, Adam could catch him off guard now. And his worst fears came to light as the redhead Faunus was already a couple of meters behind him.
"I got you now, OKKOTSU YUTA!" Adam grinned devilishly as he charged to him, he lunged with his blade towards him. His whole body glowed in a red light as his Semblance charged to the maximum.
And hit a completely different target, Adam's eyes widened as he saw that what he hit wasn't Yuta at all, but rather Blake, who decided to put herself in front of Okkotsu and take the hit herself, which went through her Aura shield and impaled her on the chest.
Adam snarled in fury as he pulled Blake by her hair before he calmed himself and shook his head disappointingly.
"Tch, if you decide to give your life for a nobody, then you shouldn't even have been born in the first place," Adam said as he removed his blade from her torso, causing her to fall on the ground and bleed profusely.
However, instead of being sad at her futile attempt, she merely let out a cheeky grin. "Gotcha."
With a clap, Yuta switched places with Blake and caught Adam off guard as he swung his sword and slashed him in the torso.
He clicked his tongue, and Adam managed to step away fast enough that Yuta only managed a shallow cut.
But Rika was already on Adam's side with an evil grin and finished the job by punching Adam in the face and sending him flying away a great distance away.
"If it means giving Okkotsu an edge… I'll gladly give my life..." Blake said before she closed her eyes and lost consciousness, she fell to the ground bleeding. Yuta rushed towards her and grabbed before she touched the ground, he then placed her down gently and stopped the bleeding with his healing.
"You have my thanks, Blake," Yuta muttered before his eyes widened as the dragon switched to lightning mode, its Dust crystals turning bright yellow, and was about to hurl lightning bolts at him. He made a run for it to avoid getting the girls in the crossfire.
Lightning bolts rained from the dragon's side as Yuta evaded each projectile, but was interrupted when Geto intercepted him, Playful Cloud already flailing on his arms.
Yuta panicked as he readied his blade to strike him.
"You should have kept your eyes peeled~" Geto grinned calmly as he ducked to evade the swing and was about to hit Yuta in the face. However, Rika made sure to have his back as she lowered a hammer fist right on Geto's skull.
"GET AWAY FROM YUTA!"
"And with a jump—" Geto leaped in the air as he whirled Playful Cloud, evading Rika's attack and falling right on top of Yuta's blade, the lower end of the nunchakus already swinging right at his face, and hitting him directly.
Geto let out a manic grin. "You get a bump."
The hit was so powerful that Yuta's Aura shield shattered, his whole body flickering in white color.
Yuta felt dizzy from the hit and recovered quickly, but he couldn't react as he saw the dragon's tail, which had its sharp crystals bright blue, swinging towards him at full speed.
His eyes widened as he was impaled with the dragon's tail, the immediate feeling of Ice Dust freezing his insides was palpable as he out a painstaking scream. He spat blood as the dragon dug further inside him and damaged his organs.
"YUTA! YOU HURT HIM BASTARDS!" Rika let out a feral scream as she flayed her arms onto Geto, only for the dragon to lower its head and pin Rika with its powerful, huge jaws.
Rika howled as she tried to break free from the powerful bite, grabbing both ends of the mouth with her arms and pulling up.
Adam finally caught up with Geto as he caressed his ribs. "We should finish him now, or else Orimoto Rika will break free."
Geto nodded. "Agreed, he should be dead soon as his insides shut down."
Yuta felt himself losing consciousness.
Did he fail, was he going to die now without being able to save his friends?
He should be feeling an unimaginable amount of pain, enough for him to faint and never wake up again. He could see the crystal impaled on his chest, he could see the coagulated, frozen blood that dripped off his body, and yet, he didn't feel a thing.
He felt that he could take on the world right now!
His eyes lit up as he grabbed the Ice Dust crystal and ignored how his hands were turning purple from the frostbite.
Geto gawked at what he was seeing. "What the— you shouldn't be able to move from the pain!"
Adam rushed towards Yuta's side and was about to finish him off with his katana in hand, but he didn't account for one, fatal detail. Yuta's eyes flashed in white color as he manifested the Semblance of one particular serial killer and used the Ice Dust crystal, which went through the Aura shield and impaled Adam in his abdomen, causing him to flinch and fall to his knees from the pain.
Geto gritted his teeth and snarled as he was about to deliver a powerful hit with Playful Cloud, but Rika blocked the strike and grabbed one end of the weapon.
"GET EM', YUTA!" she said with an evil grin on her face.
Yuta nodded in thanks as he was about to impale Geto with his sword, only for Adam to shoot him in the hand, disarming him in the distance.
But his expression didn't change, for his focus was solely on the man in front of him. He clenched his right hand fast, and inhaled deeply, feeling the world around him slow for a little.
Then his right hand sparked erratically in black Curse Energy.
He reached it again, that eerie calmness that few Sorcerers can reach.
"Black. Flash." Yuta muttered ominously as his fist connected right to Geto's gut, causing the mad monk to let out a river of blood in his mouth as Yuta's punch broke most of his ribs. The hit was so powerful that it launched Geto back a great distance away from him, which left him with a perfect opportunity to focus on Adam, who was just recovering. He felt his Aura regenerating a bit, but it was enough for him to use another Semblance.
He then grabbed his katana and Yuta's body began to glow in bright, white energy and felt his body surging with power. With careful steps, he ran close to Adam.
And with one swing of his blade, he ripped through Adam's Aura shield and sliced his right arm off.
"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Blood gushed from his wound as Adam screamed in pain. Yuta was about to decapitate the bastard until he saw the rocky hand of the dragon swinging towards him, he raised his arm to block the attack.
And hit him with full force on his right side. He winced as he heard the bones of his right arm cracking and shattering like glass as he got launched at a far distance away from Adam.
Geto limped towards Adam's side and lifted him. "ADAM!"
The mad monk narrowed his eyes as he saw the copious amounts of blood that were coming out of his arms. He grabbed Adam's katana and ripped a crystal of Fire Dust off the Dust Spirit. He then rubbed the crystal flawlessly, careful not to set off an explosion, and then heated the blade until it was bright orange.
He then placed it on top of Adam's wound to cauterize it, as hot steam came out of the wound.
"Grr— AAAAAH!" Adam's screams of pain were music to Yuta's ear. The mad monk held him tightly to keep him from wailing until he managed to stop the bleeding.
Yuta panted as he felt great pain in his right arm, but he quickly began to heal the damage with his Aura. His whole body trembled from exhaustion, but he still managed to get up; he had to finish this.
Geto closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He then opened them again and glared at Yuta with hatred.
"Well— shit, it looks like nothing is going as I planned today, which leaves me with no choice." He said in a low, baritone voice. He then issued a silent command to the Dust Spirit and the dragon let out a powerful screech.
MaxXXXMum TEcchniqq
'Maximum Technique?!' Yuta's eyes widened as he deciphered the robot-like words that came out of the Curse's lack of vocal cords. Did this ridiculous monster have one more card on its sleeve?
The rocky dragon rose on its two feet as the crystals on its body began to change color from all types of Dust, going from fire, lightning, water, gravity, steam, and wind. It's cycling to all its Dust repertoire so fast that Yuta's eyes can't keep up unless he wants to get an epileptic attack!
The snow around the dragon melted in steam the floor quickly heated to the point that it turned into magma. Geto grabbed Adam and quickly got away from the rampaging dragon to avoid being incinerated alive.
Such a fast, unstable state can only mean one thing!
Geto let out a manic grin, seemingly reading Yuta's mind. "The maximum release of the technique of this Curse is very simple, if its technique means that it can change its shape to any type of Dust, then what happens if it concentrates all types of Dust at once? You have one minute to figure it out~"
Yuta's face morphed into horror as he picked up the silent message. It was a bomb, but for such a huge monster, it can easily be said that not only everyone in this area would be erased by the explosion, but the entire city of Argus alongside it!
"I would have said that it was a pleasure to meet you, Okkotsu, but it wasn't." Geto chuckled darkly as he snapped his fingers, releasing a small amount of Curse Energy. "I've just released this Curse, so even if you kill me now, it won't disappear."
Yuta gritted his teeth to the point that he swore that they would break.
"Have fun~"
And with a wave of his hand, he disappeared in thin air, running away with Adam on his shoulder.
He was tempted to follow and finish them off, but that's what Geto had accounted for and unleashed this menace in the process.
Yuta watched the dragon let out an earth-shattering roar as its weight increased and dug itself into a hole. It began to glow even brighter, its crystals emitted an even stronger light. He quickly rushed towards Winter and quickly placed her alongside the other girls.
Rika shook his shoulder in panic."Yuta, you need to get out of here, y-y-you'll get hurt!"
Yuta smiled at her worried tone but he shook his head, glancing at the people who had helped him in his journey. "Rika, I have to stop this, I just can't let them die."
Veins popped out of Rika's forehead as she growled, her jealousy overcoming her reason as he loomed menacingly on the girls, ready to tear them apart on the spot
"WHY?! WHY DO YOU NEED TO SAVE THEM?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS ABOUT THEM!"
Instead of being angry at her, he simply looked at the ground saddened as memories of his past came to him. The past which had tortured him ever since Rika died, and has never been able to have peace of mind ever since that day, he was always alone and depressed. If it wasn't for the friends he made at Jujutsu High, he would have killed himself a long time ago.
"Because… I refuse to be alone again; I refuse to revive that dreadful 6 years experience I had of loneliness after I lost you!"
Rika grabbed both of Yuta's shoulders in desperation."But you still have me!"
Yuta let out a sad smile. "Yes, I do, but it's not the same as when it was when we were little…"
Rika gasped as he let go of Yuta in fear, fully expecting him to scold her, scream at her in hatred, or even lash out at her for not being good enough.
"I know that you're still here with me, Rika, and that you don't mind being with me forever." He said as he let out a tear, remembering very well how Rika died. "But, I always go back and think of what happened ever since that day— I always wished that I could go back in time and take the hit for you."
Rika gasped as a tear came out from the lines that covered her face. "Y-You would have done that… for me?"
"Without question." He said resolutely as he grinned at her. He then hugged her, causing her to flinch. "So please, in exchange for my life, help me save them."
A Binding Vow. Contracts that are created through cursed energy that an individual can make with one's self or another person, or even a curse. The act of abiding by the rules and restrictions agreed upon in these contracts can result in greater power or the achievement of a goal, and it is said that breaking a Binding Vow has uncanny repercussions.
Yuta offering his life was the maximum sacrifice he could muster and vows that use one's life are said to be the most powerful.
But he didn't know that Rika had rejected his bow because what the Vengeful Spirt Orimoto Rika couldn't stand in this world was to watch her beloved die.
So she decided to use everything for him without desiring anything back from him, such was the power of unconditional love.
And thus by using every single drop of Curse Energy he could muster, the Curse was broken.
Rika let out an earth-shattering as he forehead pried open, revealing a big red eye that sparkled with excitement. "I. LOVE. YUTA!"
The Dust Spirit let out a huge amount of steam from its body, a few seconds remained until it exploded.
Yuta shouted. "DO IT NOW, RIKA!"
Rika let out a roar as she opened her mouth and concentrated every single drop of Curse Energy in a bright, pink ray that it reduced into a very small ball.
Until she launched a beam of pure Cursed Energy right towards the Dust Spirit, which hit it right into its torso.
The dragon let out a painful roar as it was the blast enveloped its whole body completely, erasing every single cell. A pink ball of light began to form in the vicinity as it could probably be seen from a very far distance, the light looked so beautiful that Yuta wanted to admire its beauty, but he was busy shielding his eyes from the light as he was just meters away from the blast zone.
As the light dimmed, Yuta slowly took his hand off his eyes and blinked, wondering if the attack worked. He could no longer hear the dragon rampaging, and all he could see before him was a huge crater that could probably fit an entire biodome.
Yuta limped to the crater, as exhaustion threatened to take him over. He squinted as he tried to take a look at the center of the blast zone, and he slowly lost his tension as he could no longer see a dragon, but rather, only small bits of worn-out Dust crystals littered on the ground.
He smiled triumphantly, feeling proud that he had managed to take down such a huge threat.
"Rika, we did it!" he said as he turned around "We did it, I'm so prou— Rika?"
His face fell when he could no longer see the Vengeful Spirit he always carried on his side, but rather he saw a little girl with brown hair staring at him with a soft smile. This was his childhood friend and first love, Orimoto Rika in her full human appearance.
But Yuta understood that what he was seeing was not a real human, but rather a manifestation of her soul.
Her true soul.
"I understand, Yuta…" Rika let out a sad smile as he walked towards him. "I have been happy for all these past 6 years, you gave me the opportunity to spend more time than I was allowed to with you… I can't thank you enough for it. So I think it's time for me to leave now, isn't it?"
'He gave her… the opportunity?'
His eyes widened as the horrifying realization hit him.
He couldn't help as tears came out of his eyes, resisting the urge to break down as he kneeled.
"I-I did this to you?" he said as he burrowed his eyes to his knees, not even daring to look at Rika in the face.
"Don't cry, I was very happy to be with you all this time." She said as she hugged Yuta. Her body then began to disappear in blue particles of light, the sign that a spirit was finally being put to rest. "I wish the best for you, now and always."
She let out a carefree smile as a tear came out of her eye. "See you, Yuta!"
He watched with red eyes as the soul of Orimoto Rika left for the afterlife, as she should have gone 6 years ago.
He won, but he couldn't help but break down in tears.
Because he understood it was his fault, for he was the one who cursed her.
Such was the power of unconditional love.
Chapter 9, which concludes Volume 0, will be released this same week! And after that, I will take a small break.
See you soon!