Chapter 8
Zrocker119: Not much fanfare going into this next one. Sorry for the delay, but the next couple of chapters should come out a wee bit faster as we are rapidly approaching the point where this arc comes to a head. And Yuji will once more greatly change the fates of those he encounters.
-Chapter 8-
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Seated on a small pile of rubble that used to be part of somebody's home, Issac watched on as the members of the Cult of Zeref rounded up the remaining villagers of the now-destroyed Village of Rosemary. And by the gods was he bored out of his mind. This is what he got for letting Marcus have all the fun. Sure, the old man had killed the two mages with little to no effort, but at least he had gotten to do something remotely interesting.
Meanwhile, Issac has to do nothing but sit around and look pretty. All the while making sure that the rest of the Cult members complete their goals. He was seriously starting to regret taking this job. High pay regardless.
This shit was just so boring.
"What's taking your partner so long?"
"Hmm?" Blinking, the mercenary only now noticed that one of the Cult members had approached and now stood before him. And though he couldn't see the man's gaze due to those stupid rags that hung down over the entire upper half of his face, he got the impression that he was being glared at.
Not that he gave a rat's ass. He had better things to occupy his thoughts with than the opinion of a Cultist.
"I said-"
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time," interrupted Issac uninterested. Getting to his feet, he towered over the Cultist by a good six inches, making the man take an unintentional step back while he stretched his arms above his head.
Only once the muscles in his arms and shoulders were nice and thoroughly loosened did he lower them and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Fixing his eyes on the Cultist, he gave a cocksure smirk. "So, why don't you go back and help your buddies keep your catch in line while the peons that pass for mages in your little marry group finish up that circle? Kay?"
The Cultist's body shook with visible anger. He opened his mouth, aiming to give the heathen before him a verbal lashing, but was cut off once again. Only it wasn't due to any interruption on Issac's part, but of the mercenary's partner suddenly and silently appearing beside him.
"Caught the stragglers."
Looking at the children slung over either shoulder, Issac quirked a brow. Given how long the old man had been gone, he was not impressed. "It took you over an hour to catch up to a couple of brats? Man, 50 must be hitting you harder than I thought."
Rather than dignify that comment with a response, Marcus simply dropped the kids into his arms, making his partner squawk in surprise. With his cargo unloaded onto somebody else he began to make his way over to a sizable chunk of rubble to sit, maybe even relax during the time it took for the preparations to finish when he froze midstep.
Cocking his head slightly, Marcus looked back over his shoulder. Turning on his heel, he took a single step and disappeared without making a sound.
The Cultist blinked and suddenly saw the elder of the two mercenaries, now standing where he once was, hand outstretched. The man's brain had only just begun to process that he had been shoved when there was suddenly a sharp spike of pain in his back, followed by something red bursting out from his chest.
With his brain working overtime, the world seemed to slow to a crawl for the Cultist. He could do nothing but watch as what appeared to be a blood-red beam of sorts protruded from his chest and towards the hired muscle. He needn't witness it for long as he had been in the process of falling.
Gravity did its job and pulled him down to Earth. The beam sliced through his torso before finally reaching his head, splitting his upper body cleanly in half.
The attack, having been slowed a negligible amount by the Cultist's body, sped towards Marcus. For many, it had appeared instantaneous. But the aged mercenary was far from ordinary.
He had heard it coming before it had even broken through the tree line. Smelled it even. And if he could do that, then he could react accordingly.
He pivoted slightly and the beam sailed past by mere millimeters. There was a minute shift in the flow of the beam. That was all the warning he needed. He dropped to a sprinter crouch as it suddenly whipped sideways, slicing through open air and the ruined home behind him, causing further damage to the structure and making it collapse.
With his body now obscured with dust and falling debris, Marcus moved.
With no wasted movements or breaths, he jumped to the side, planted his feet on a sizable chunk of rubble, and rocketed off in the direction he had first spotted the attack originated from. That being from deep within the forest.
As trees and shrubbery blurred past he saw a brief flash of red and dove to the side just as another beam shot past him. Ricocheting off trees to throw off the attackers' aim, Marcus continued to close distance when he finally spotted his target hidden amongst the shadows.
Raising his hand, he clamped down on a low-hanging branch, his momentum swung him up. Landing on the branch, he kicked off, but not before breaking off an arm's length of it and throwing it like a spear.
It reached the target in the blink of an eye, piercing them clean through their left shoulder. At least, that had been the intent. Instead, the vaguely humanoid figure that had been hidden in the darkness seemed to shatter.
Landing nearby, Marcus knelt and examined the spot, finding only splintered wood and what appeared to be shards of something else. Picking up a shard, he examined it in the low light provided by the stars above and saw that it was ruby red. Only then did he pick up an all too familiar scent of...was that copper?
It had been a decoy. One crafted out of a tree stump and crystallized blood.
He only had an instant to ponder this discovery when the shards around him began to emit an ominous glow.
"Clever bastard."
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-Moments Earlier-
It had been the amount of magic emanating from Rosemary that clued Choso in that something was wrong. Excluding Irene, there were only two other mages who called the town home and he had long since acclimated himself to their magical presence. And none of what he had sensed upon his approach matched what he knew.
So while still over a mile out, he had perched himself atop the tallest tree he could find and had used Flowing Red Scale to enhance his eyes. While a far cry from what could be done with an ocular technique like the Six Eyes, his ability allowed him a much clearer view of what was happening in the village. Once his eyes had time to focus, he instantly regretted not putting off his annual trip to check in on Jogo and the others.
He should have waited until his brother and Irene had returned.
His signature aloof expression shattered once he caught sight of the unconscious form of Erza being dropped carelessly to the ground. H-How dare they!? He had immediately clapped his hands, charged a piercing blood, and fired. Even though the distance had been great, his accuracy had been spot on.
At least until his target, which had been the one originally carrying Erza, somehow sensed his oncoming attack and shoved one of the other invaders in the way. The unlucky bastard died almost immediately, but his body had served its purpose in slowing the piercing blood down enough for his original target to avoid it.
Cursing, Choso whipped the attack to the side, hoping to bisect the man in two, but he had avoided that as well. Dropping from his perch and to the forest floor he glared. With the effects of his technique still enhancing his eyes, he could see his opponent making his way toward his position in a mad dash. At the same time, he sensed a large build-up of magic energy coming from the village itself.
Feeling that he only had a limited window to rescue his niece, Choso acted fast. Unleashing an amount of blood that would leave anyone else dead, he willed it around a nearby stump and crystallized it in a shape that vaguely resembled a person. Positioning himself in front of it, he turned his gaze back to the rapidly approaching opposition. He fired off another Piercing Blood before lowering his cursed energy level and darting into the forest.
Utilizing the trees and shadows as cover, he kept moving in a direction parallel to the village until he felt the blood that made up his decoy shatter. He released a brief pulse of energy and was rewarded with the sound of the decoys' remains exploding.
That made two down. Only the rest to go.
Changing his course, he reinforced his body to its utmost limits and made a beeline for the village, closing the near-mile-long sprint in a few scant heartbeats.
Bursting through the treeline, Choso had only a second to suddenly slide on his knees as a bolt of lightning sailed overhead. The trees that he had burst from exploded, showering the entire area with splinters.
Locking gazes with the mage dressed in fine white clothes, the blonde smirked while Choso scowled.
This was the man that had been given Erza and young Kagura. But where were they now?
Looking past the man, Choso saw that the girls had been thrown in with the rest of the captured villagers. All of whom had noticed his arrival and were now crying out in mixtures of surprise, and relief.
"You know," Issac began, "for once, I'm glad somebody showed up. I was bored as hell!"
Holding out a palm, a large, translucent barrier outlined by electricity appeared in front of him a split second before the piercing blood could spit him in twain. Rather than be diverted to the side or halted in its tracks, the arrow-shaped tip and the continuous beam of blood were seemingly vaporized on contact.
Cutting off his steady flow of blood before any electric currents could flow back to him, Choso instead willed the blood to form several marble-sized spheres that orbited around him. For several moments neither of them moved.
Then suddenly, something came flying from above, landing between the two with earth-shattering force.
"This one's mine."
Marcus now stood in the middle of them. And other than his clothes looking more than a bit scuffed and dirtied, the aged mercenary appeared completely unharmed. It would seem that Choso's trap had failed to inflict any lasting damage.
His partner didn't even get a chance to argue. Before anything else could be said, Marcus appeared to Choso's left in a burst of speed that even his enhanced eyes had difficulty tracking, only just managing to bring his forearm up to guard a haymaker.
It was for naught.
With strength far beyond what his magical presence would suggest, Choso's eyes widened in alarm as his arm was forced back and into the side of his head. Rocked by the blow he had no time to react as another two punches were delivered to his body, followed by a side kick that sent him crashing through one of the few standing houses.
Lowering his extended leg, Marcus reached into his jacket, retrieving a serrated long knife. One that shouldn't have been able to be stored within the clothing's confines.
Flipping the knife so that he held it in a reverse grip, he settled into a stance as the rubble began to shake. A second later Choso burst out of it. The markings on his face had extended and gained arrowhead designs to them. With the overall boost to all of his physical stats that Flowing Red Scale: Stack provided, he immediately closed the distance.
While initially caught off guard by this, as he had figured the man was a long-distance combatant and thus unwilling to engage in close quarters, Marcus took this surprise in stride and met the man halfway. As the two began to exchange blows, with neither immediately gaining the edge, it became apparent to Choso that something was off.
He was old. Even older than Yuji by 150 years. With that age came experience and a fundamental understanding of cursed energy. Regardless of one's control and efficiency, one cannot mask their energy completely. It could be minimalized or misdirected to throw off an opponent, but no Sorcerer could hide the initial spark.
Ethernano, while an evolution of cursed energy, operated much the same. But the man he fought now was proving to be a complete contradiction to that one fundamental rule. There was no change to the flow of his magical energy. Every punch and kick carried the same amount behind it.
Now there were those like Yuta Okkotsu, a sorcerer with such an overwhelming amount of cursed energy that it flowed off him continuously and at such a volume that it had masked his intentions.
But the amount his opponent gave off was laughably low, barely higher than what would qualify as a D-class mage by today's standards. So this wasn't a case like Okkotsu.
So what could it be?
Encasing his arms in a thick, rock-like layer of hardened blood, Choso brought his arms up, catching Marcus' knife between his forearms. Grinning, his opponent pressed harder, pushing Choso back as he stepped forward.
"Tell me. Are you Little Red's father?"
Choso growled, knowing that the man was referring to Erza. "She has a name! All of the people here have names!"
"I don't care."
Breaking free of the stalemate, Marcus delivered a spinning backkick to Choso's guard. The force of the blow sent him skidding back as fissures erupted along his armored arms.
"Answer the question."
Reverting the blood to a liquid state, Choso sent several charkarms hurtling at his foe who lept dodged and weaved around them. But as he did so, the projectiles suddenly broke apart and liquified, becoming dozens of densely packed droplets of blood.
Raising a hand, Choso brought his thumb and middle finger together and snapped. "Bloody Needle."
As the name implied, the droplets thinned and narrowed into finely tipped needles and skewered the target from all possible angles, leaving no room for escape. The only major weakness of the technique was that due to the low volume of each needle, their overall piercing power wasn't impressive. So theoretically, a target with high enough durability could simply tank the attack and remain relatively undamaged.
But that was where sheer numbers came into play. With such a high volume of needles, the chances of a weak point being struck were all but guaranteed. And that wasn't even factoring in the toxicity of his blood against those without an innate resistance to toxins or poisons.
A single hit was all that was required and Choso would win via a battle of attrition. Not that he would let it reach that stage. Because the moment an opportunity presented itself, he would strike down all who stood between him and his niece with no remorse.
The sound of tearing fabric reached his ears and Choso's expression became one of shock. His opponent was no longer within sight. Just the now shredded remains of his jacket, now suspended by dozens of his bloody needles.
"What-"
A blade burst from Choso's chest and clean through his heart. Blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth, he made to grab the blade, only for it to be ripped out and driven back in, piercing one of his lungs.
Gritting his teeth, he pivoted on his heel and swung his elbow but Marcus, who had gotten behind him in a dizzying display of speed, dropped low and moved to the side, not once loosening the hold on his weapon. Rather than simply pull the knife out once again, he spun around Choso. The sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones could be heard throughout the town as the blade carved through the man's chest before being ripped out the other end.
"I quite liked that jacket."
Marcus kicked out one of Choso's legs, forcing him to a knee as he tried to keep his innards where they belonged. But much to his surprise, Marcus saw that the wound began to steam. Slowly but surely, the normally fatal wound was mending closed.
Not having any of that, he Choso by the back of his head, flipped his knife to a reverse grip before driving it down the man's neck and into his spine. Making the man look up at him, Marcus stared directly into his eyes. Despite the outcome, his dying foe still managed to meet his gaze with nothing but pure, unadulterated hate and resentment.
Smirking, Marcus twisted the handle until the blade snapped off, leaving it buried in the man's neck. Stepping back, he spun around and sent Choso flying into a nearby house with a devastating spin kick to the head. Having already sustained heavy damage from the initial assault, the building collapsed, burying the blood manipulator underneath the rubble and serving as an unmarked grave.
Glancing behind him, Marcus saw his partner approaching. The man came to a stop beside him and gave a low whistle. "You working through some unresolved anger or something? Cause that last bit seemed excessive."
Issac's inquiry went unanswered as Marcus strode past him and back to the village square. Though he made sure to retrieve the remains of his jacket. None of his stored equipment had come spilling out, so the enchantment was still in place. Hopefully, that meant it could be repaired.
Hanging it off of his shoulder, he saw the surviving cult members flagging them over. Seems the teleportation spell was ready. Good. Now that he had gotten a decent workout, he was done with this place and ready to get paid.
As he and his partner stepped within the bounds of the spell, neither of them noticed the blood caked to the bottom of his boots slowly undulate before sliding off and solidifying into a small sphere. Not a moment later, it and everyone within the magic circles disappeared in a flash of light.
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Due to all of the hardships life had thrown her way, Ur was a person who had come to appreciate the small things. Because yes, while her life was full of plenty of unwanted twists and turns, there was plenty to be grateful for. The most recent being that she was currently alive. Down an arm and a leg, but alive nonetheless.
Not only was she alive, but her students had escaped from their most recent brush with death unscathed. From her perch on top of the roof of the house, she watched as the boys did what they could to keep themselves occupied while she recovered from her injuries.
For Gray that involved trying to help Ur with every little thing to make things easier for her. Whether it be assisting her with moving about, feeding her, or even helping her change clothes. While it annoyed her beyond belief to be treated as if she were some frail flower, she knew that he did so out of guilt. He had decided to go after Deliora which had led to Ur becoming injured.
Gray had never voiced this to her, but she knew her student well enough to figure this out. And it was due to her intuition that Ur knew that he wouldn't accept being told otherwise. So, for the moment, she would leave the matter alone and allow him to continue pampering her. Besides, it wasn't all that bad.
Lyon on the other hand seemed to be doing the complete opposite of his fellow student. Ever since she had regained consciousness a week ago, he had barely interacted with, let alone speak to her.
Ur knew the reason why. Her first student had been infatuated with her strength for as long as she could remember, believing that she wielded the pinnacle of magic power. In his mind, she was the mountain that he had to overcome and nothing she had said had changed that. It wasn't until her near death at the hands of Deliora that his belief in her had been shattered.
Now, Lyon did little else but trail behind their pink-haired savior like a lost puppy. Questioning him endlessly about his power and how he acquired it. But even with this newly formed(onesided) rift between them, Ur trusted that he would come to his senses sooner or later.
However, this understanding didn't prevent her from worrying about him.
She shook her head. Exasperated at everything. One student wouldn't stop hovering over her like a worried mother hen and the other barely acknowledged her existence. Two young, stupid boys whom she loved like they were her own.
"You know, you really should be staying indoors."
Startled out of her thoughts, Ur placed her sole hand over her now rapidly beating heart. Once it had settled she glared at Irene. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?"
Even though Ur had been deep in her thoughts, she should have heard the redhead approach. Yet she had been as silent as a mouse. Not even the hardened snow beneath her feet had given off so much as a crunch. Her silent approach reeked of magic.
Hiding a mischievous smile behind a hand, Irene giggled. "Sorry. It was too tempting."
While Ur grumbled to herself, Irene sat in the open space beside her with her knees pulled up to her chest. "I meant what I said, by the way. You shouldn't be up here in the cold."
Ur shook her head. She was an Ice mage. Cold came with the territory along with a hefty resistance to it. If it had been her just a week ago, then she could have sat outside in negative-degree weather with nothing on but her underwear completely exposed for days on end, and not caught so much as a sniffle.
Even now, in her less-than-stellar condition, she could afford to be outside of the house's warmth till nightfall. Besides, she was tired of being cooped up for so long and needed some fresh air.
Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Irene dropped the issue. Instead choosing to bring up a different subject. "How are you feeling? Any better than yesterday?"
Ur nodded. She was indeed feeling much better, with her condition improving each day. A not so small amount of which was due to Yuji. Her savior had explained that while the ability he had used to stabilize her was less than half as effective compared to when he healed himself, he could still use it to jumpstart her body's natural healing process.
So thrice a day, when they woke up, had lunch and before heading to bed for the night, Yuji would use his healing magic, or as he called it Reverse Curse Technique. The effects weren't as immediate as the first time but each subsequent treatment would work off the residual effects of the last, slowly compounding over time. While slow compared to what he could do to himself, Yuji had effectively taken a process that would normally take months and shortened it to a single week.
Granted it was still longer than either Yuji or Irene would've liked. They had been away from home for far longer than usual and both were eager to return.
"The two of you don't need to stick around." Ur said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the two. "Another day of rest and I should be fine."
"And We already told you that we aren't going to leave the three of you behind," Irene said, sounding exasperated. "Besides, do you know how far away the nearest town is? Even if you make a prosthetic leg with your Ice magic, it'll take you weeks to get anywhere."
She smiled at the younger woman. "So, just accept the fact that you're stuck with us. Okay?"
Ur shook her head. "Do you even have enough room at your house?"
Irene waved off her concern. While their home wasn't the largest, they could handle having three extra people living with them for a few days.
Just as Ur was about to speak, something in the air changed. Gone was the comfortably warm feeling that had persisted in her soul since the death of Deliora. Said warmth had been replaced by a sudden cold. A cold that felt completely alien to the Ice mage.
It was as if a wave of negativity had washed over her and threatened to drown her in an ocean of despair. Her breathing had picked up, borderline hyperventilating when the feeling vanished.
Now covered in sweat, Ur glanced over to see that Irene, while not reacting as strongly as she had, was still affected by whatever that had been. Before she could speak, Yuji appeared on the ground before them in a burst of speed, carrying Gray and Lyon under either arm. Gray appeared to be scared and confused, but Lyon's expression was one of terror.
And his gaze was focused entirely on Yuji.
-Minutes prior-
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"Will you train me now!?"
"No."
"...How about now?"
"No."
"..."
"..."
"...and what about now?"
"Kid. If I didn't say yes the first 50 times, what makes you think I would on the 51st?"
"..."
"..."
When the silence persisted for several moments, the ancient sorcerer gave a mental cheer. The brat, Lyon if he remembered correctly, had been hounding Yuji to take him under his wing non-stop ever since he had learned that Yuji had been the one to kill the giant demon.
After a week of this, Yuji was about ready to pull his hair out!
"...how about-"
Fighting the urge to sprint full tilt and head first into the nearest wall, Yuji mentally sighed. This went above and beyond not taking a hint. This kid simply refused to hear anything that came out of his mouth that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"How about now-"
Yuji spun around so quickly and stared at Lyon with such a lifeless gaze that the boy cut himself off. Not breaking eye contact, the man brought his hands together like a prayer and breathed in. And, with a sudden burst of motion, brought his hands down in a knife-like manner, and pointed at him.
"Boy."
He spoke in a tone that was both stern and exasperated. He was now in full-on "Dad Mode." Lyon took a step back, subconsciously sensing the mental transformation that his savior had undergone.
"I understand better than most the desire to become stronger, so I can respect your drive. But this," he twirled a finger at him. "Is not the way to go about it."
Lyon went to speak but was silenced by a sharp look. "What I can do can't be taught or passed on like most modern magic. You're either born with it or not. And besides that, you already have a perfectly capable teacher. One that nearly died protecting you and your friend, I might at."
"But Ur isn't as strong as you!" Snapped Lyon.
Ever since he had woken up, all that he could think about were the words Ur had spoken to him. Of how she wasn't the strongest. She had said so many times before but he had always figured that it was just her trying to be humble. But seeing her in her current state. Missing one of either limb.
Lyon could no longer see Ur as the insurmountable goal that he had to somehow achieve. She wasn't the strongest. Before he could delve even further into his headspace, a hand rested atop his head.
Yuji ruffled the kids' hair. A somber smile played on his lips as he turned around and walked forward a few steps before turning his head upward.
"The title of "The Strongest" isn't one to be coveted."
This was something that Yuji most definitely knew far better than most. While he may have been able to avoid the near-crippling loneliness that had afflicted his teacher, The weight that came with being "The Strongest" was one that even he struggled to carry.
Shaking his head, Yuji was about to resume lecturing the boy, when his heart suddenly skipped a beat and the blood in his veins grew cold. His pupils shrunk. The cap he normally kept on his power loosened and an enormous burst of cursed energy erupted from his stilled form.
The metaphorical lid was back in place an instant later, but the damage had already been done. Lyon had fallen onto his rear and was staring at him in abject fear.
Knowing that there was little time to waste, Yuji scooped the boy under an arm and took off running at full speed. Appearing near the border of the town, he found Gray, who had been scavaging about for more food, and took him under his other arm before the kid could even notice.
With the boys in tow, Yuij appeared back at the house that had served as their temporary home. Irene and Ur were both sat on the roof and it would seem that both had sensed his brief outburst of cursed energy. Though only Irene knew of its source.
"Choso's heart just stopped."
His words snapped Irene out of her dazed state and immediately jumped to her feet.
"What!? What do you mean? How do you-"
"We share and blood bond." Yuji unceremoniously dropped Ur's boys. Walking back a few steps, he began to speed walk in a circle, a hand held out and with his index and middle finger extended towards the ground. With subtle flicks of the wrist, runic symbols appeared, parting the snow and carving several inches into the frozen earth.
The array was crude. A far cry from the ones he had placed at his home and outside of his friends' territories. It probably would work more than once. But once was all that would be needed.
He intertwined his fingers but held off from clasping them. "Everyone in the circle! We need to go now!"
"What is happening?" Irene questioned whilst having the younger woman lean on her shoulder before jumping to ground level.
Gray and Lyon, the latter of which was still stricken with terror, required some motivation from their teacher to get moving. They did so moments later, and for the first time since they had awoken, Lyon was glued to Ur's side.
Yuji made a mental note to apologize for scaring the boy but that would have to be put on the back burner. Something had happened to his brother.
"I'm going to drop you all off at Rosemary and move out from there to find Choso," Yuji spoke, the circle around them beginning to glow.
"Yuji-"
"I don't know, Irene," Yuji said earnestly, finally answering her quest. "But I'm going to find out."
He clasped his fingers and the five disappeared in an instantaneous burst of movement. Leaving behind nothing desolate village and the rotting corpse of the deman that had made it so.
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-End-