Chapter 42: Sora
Sora was born in Wakoku, a medieval Japanese society, 200 years ago in the rural islands of the nation. He decided to join the armies in order to provide for his family at the age of 14.
Sora's mother, a skilled tailor, had made him a set of armor that was passed down from his great-grandfather, a legendary samurai who fought in the last great war. The armor was simple, made from lacquered bamboo and leather, but it was lighter than most metal armor of the time, which allowed for greater agility.
He managed to win all of the battles given to him, earning the attention of the princess, Sakura. She saw something in him that no one else did, a potential beyond the ordinary. Impressed by his valor and humility, she decided to train him personally in the art of combat. Under her tutelage, Sora's skills grew exponentially, and soon he was not only a master swordsman but also adept in the ways of strategy and leadership.
She also began to fall in love with him. The bond between them grew stronger as they spent countless hours training and discussing tactics. Sora, however, was oblivious to her feelings, seeing her only as his mentor and the embodiment of the grace and strength he aspired to achieve. Their sessions grew intense, pushing Sora to his limits and beyond, as Sakura aimed to mold him into a warrior capable of standing alongside the mightiest in the land.
After two years, she finally confessed her feelings to him. They were in the palace training hall, surrounded by the echoes of swords clashing against wooden dummies. Sakura's voice was soft yet firm as she spoke of her love, her eyes gleaming with a mix of hope and fear. Sora, taken aback, could feel the weight of her words, each one a declaration of her heart's deepest secret. He paused, his blade hovering in the air, unsure of how to respond. His mind raced with thoughts of duty, honor, and the vast difference in their social status.
"Oi. Oi. Oi. That's going too far. What're people gonna say?," Sora spoke in his island's dialect, which was melodic and harsher than the usual person of Wakoku. His cheeks flushed and his grip on the sword tightened. He had never been one for romance, his mind was always on the battlefield, on protecting his country and his family.
"Let them shove it. I'm the princess and most of my candidates are creeps and jerks only out for the money and power my clan possesses.," Sakura replied. Her voice grew stronger, her eyes never leaving his. "You, Sora, are different. You're kind, brave, and honest. You're everything I've ever wanted in a partner, in a soulmate."
Sora blinked, surprised by her words. He had never considered the possibility of a relationship with the princess. It was true that he had feelings for her, but he had buried them deep, knowing that such a bond could never be. He looked down at his feet, his heart racing.
"Since when did you fall for me?," asked Sora. His voice was thick with confusion and a hint of fear that their friendship could be jeopardized by this revelation.
"Why do you do have to make things so complicated? Men are simple in everything else except relationships.," Sakura complained. She stepped closer to him, her eyes pleading. "Since the first day you arrived, Sora. You were so earnest and eager to learn, so driven to protect those you cared about. How could I not?"
"So corny.," Sora replied.
"Shut up.," Sakura answered back.
Both then laughed. It was a strange, awkward laugh that filled the training hall with a palpable tension. The echoes of their laughter bounced off the walls, briefly masking the gravity of the moment. As their chuckles faded, Sakura took a deep breath, her hand reaching out to touch his armored forearm. The warmth of her touch seemed to burn through the layers of lacquer and leather, reaching his skin.
"Kay fine. If it makes you happy.," Sora spoke as he gave up on the fight, his eyes crinkling with a hint of a smile.
She then smiled back as she kissed him on the lips, her eyes closed. Sora froze, his hand still on the sword. The moment was electric, the air charged with something he had never felt before. He realized that he had been in love with her all along, but fear and duty had held him back. As their lips touched, it was as if all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, the armor creaking slightly.
They both gave glances as they decided to take it to a more private arrived in the private bedchambers as both undressed themselves.
Sakura's soft hands began to unbuckle the leather straps of his armor, revealing the taut muscles beneath. Sora felt a warmth spread through him that had nothing to do with the exertion of the day's training. He had never felt this vulnerable before, not even on the battlefield, but with Sakura, he felt safe.
Their kiss grew deeper, more urgent, as they laid the armor aside. Their clothes followed, leaving them bare in the candlelit room, surrounded by the scent of cherry blossoms from the adjoining garden. The light danced across their skin, highlighting the scars of battles past and the determination etched in their expressions.
Sakura's hand traced the line of Sora's shoulder, her touch gentle and reverent. He flinched slightly, not from pain but from the unfamiliarity of such tender contact. Her eyes searched his, seeking reassurance, and he nodded, the tension in his shoulders easing. She leaned in, her breath warm against his neck, whispering words of love and admiration that he had never heard before.
Their bodies pressed together, hearts beating in sync, as if they were two halves of a single soul reunited. Sora's calloused hands found the softness of her skin, exploring the curves that had been hidden beneath layers of silk and armor. Sakura's eyes fluttered closed, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she reveled in the sensation of his touch.
They then moved onto the bed as Sakura nodded in permission as he inserted himself into her. The room was filled with a mix of pain and pleasure as Sora's inexperience was evident. Despite this, Sakura guided him through every movement, her eyes never leaving his. Each touch, each caress was a silent promise of the future they could share. Sweat glistened on their bodies as they found a rhythm that was both fierce and tender.
Sakura's breath grew ragged, her eyes wide with passion, and she whispered words of encouragement to him. Sora felt his world narrow to this one point of connection, to the feeling of her warmth surrounding him. He moved with a newfound confidence, driven by the love and desire that surged through him. The air grew thick with the scent of their union, a testament to the bond that had formed between them.
Afterward, they lay entwined, their hearts slowing to a steady beat. Sora's armor lay scattered across the floor, a symbol of the barriers they had torn down. They talked into the night, sharing secrets and dreams that had been hidden behind the masks of duty and propriety. For the first time, Sora allowed himself to imagine a life beyond the battlefield, one filled with love and companionship.
Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as an enemy army, one infamous for their cruelty would invade the country. Despite his efforts, Sora was defeated in battle and captured. The enemy general, recognizing Sora's valor, offered him a choice: swear fealty and join them or face a brutal death.
However, his attention was elsewhere as he saw Sakura being raped by the king of the enemy nation, a brutish man with intense bloodlust and carnal lust as well. Rage boiled within him, but he was bound and unable to move. His vision turned red as he watched the woman he loved, the woman he had promised to protect, be violated before his very eyes. The pain and humiliation she endured was unbearable.
He was knocked out. He awoke the next day to see something rubbing against him. The army had done its research as Sora realized that they had killed and dismembered the bodies of his family, bringing it to the site of their victory to taunt him. The pain was unbearable, the grief and anger a maelstrom inside him. He vowed that he would avenge them, that he would kill the king who had taken everything from him.
The worst was yet to come as he saw Sakura being gunned down by the king and his cabal of thugs. Her body fell to the ground, lifeless and violated. Sora's world shattered into a million pieces, the rage and grief overwhelming him. He roared with an anger that had no bottom, pulling against his bonds with a strength that surprised even the soldiers around him.
His form would quickly alter as he found the inhuman power to break his chains and attack the invading forces singlehandedly. He went from a shaggy, unkempt yet handsome youth in a blue kimono to something utterly not human.
An average-sized mummy with large black sclera eyes with round red irises exposed through the eyeholes of his bandages. He wore a ragged steel gray haori over a black, biomechanical robe, he wore fingerless gloves that showed dark skin, a color shared with his exposed feet. He wore steel sandals that were biomechanical. His hair was black and went out of his bandaged head like tendrils. His build suggested he would be a little older than a young man, but not by much. Sword pommels emerge from his back, knees, and elbows. He had a wide-eyed and large grinned expression on his face.
Sora felt his humanity slipping away, replaced by a rage that was not of this world. His skin grew cold and hard, his eyes burning with an unearthly light. His body began to transform, the armor fusing with his skin as he grew in size and power. The soldiers around him stepped back in fear, recognizing the ancient curse that had been unleashed.
"He's an Oni! an Oni!," cursed the king as he was soon slaughtered by Sora. His rage knew no bounds as he tore through the enemy forces, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. The battlefield grew quiet, the only sound the distant wails of the dying and the crunch of bones beneath his sandals. Sora had become the embodiment of malice, a creature of vengeance born from his shattered heart.
He then held Sakura in his arms, his eyes cried as later, he buried the bodies. Knowing he lacked humanity, he left Wakoku altogether. Sora had no intention of returning to the place that had taken everything from him. The only thing left was his rage, a burning ember that fueled his every step.
After sailing for what seemed an eternity, Sora ended on the continent of Berli, where he met Aome, a young woman with her head covered with bandages, exposing only her eyes that had red and blue irises respectively. She had thick, wild long black hair that reached the ground and wore a large cloak of black bio-mechanical material that obscured her figure aside from her noticeable large bust.
Like him, she felt inherently inhuman.
"You must be an Akujin. People can call us Devils, Hellions, Evil Beings, but we're masses of negativity that cause Danger Beasts and even Humans to turn into monsters of hellish power.," she explained.
Sora, still in his transformed state, looked at her with a mix of confusion and anger. "What do you want from me?," he growled.
"What you want- revenge on this world that is against us.," she replied.
From that moment, his original self died. In its place was a calculating, sadistic, and cunning monster.
He hangs back and observes many battles, looking for a single opponent who captures his interest. Once found, he pursues and provokes them with mind games until the two meet for their final battle. He also enjoys manipulating the other demons in the Akujin army and does not consider selling out Akujin who are "trash" even by the races' standards a betrayal, because in his own words, loathes those who bastardize the Great One's image of what an Akujin should be.
Sora also retains some sense of personal honor: he despises taking hostages and prefers to challenge enemies directly in combat. Extremely ruthless, sadistic, and coldblooded; Sora strongly believes in the concept of Social Darwinism, in which the weak exist for the benefit of the strong, and generally appear devoid of compassion or mercy for the former. He genuinely believes it's for the sake of bettering the world by weeding out the undesirables. However, he is not completely heartless. Despite his sinister nature, he seems genuinely in love with Aome, who he professed understood him as thoroughly as he understood her.
He also possesses a dark and twisted sense of humor, joking the reasons for atrocities were extremely petty reasons rather than the extreme intentions to reform the world to its primeval state. He was also able to form bonds with his fellow Akujin peers. However, he does seem to be a man of honor as he kept his promises and likes people who follow through with their beliefs, such as those who want peace without killing as killing for peace is a hypocrisy in his eyes.
Sora displays an extraordinary level of intelligence and insight, leaving the impression of an evil mastermind. He is extremely crafty, very manipulative, and is skilled in exploiting a person's psychology to facilitate his own devices, such as he does with future Akujin candidates. He also learns from his mistakes; he generates swords from his body in order to instantly react to another sneak attack and be able to counter such tactics.
He then joined her and became one of the most infamous of the Akujin in the caves of Berli. One that was ruthless to humans, a strong leader for the Akujin youths to follow behind, hated by the White Faction for his integrity, and being very social and charismatic in general.
Sora Mission No. 4,500,000,000
This is one of the many missions that Sora has undertaken.
Sora would be assigned to deal with the right-hand man of the former Kaiser candidate, a dear friend of Regina's father.
Kaze was very powerful- able to generate swords from his body to counter/slash/pulverize/pierce/etc his enemies. His Trump Card is Air Manipulation, being able to walk on air, generate tornados, poison through overexposure to oxygen, solidify air, negate air, detect air movements, repel projectiles via controlling air vectors, using air to lift heavier objects, using air to enhance concussive blows, air purification to reduce toxins/poisons, pressure manipulation to soften blows or crush enemies, vibration emission, turn invisible via air currents, create air barriers, become air to avoid attacks, create air portals, healing air, cyclone spinning, explosion inducement via air expansions, jet propulsion, sound absorption/nullification, erosion manipulation, being able to exist without having to breathe air, generate clouds, etc.
However, this is actually an extension of his true ability- Severing with the wind manipulation being a passive supplement of this power from the pressure subconsciously acting as a primary defense. Sora is able to sever concepts like time/space/divine ability in order to instantly slash a target; bypassing any defense- the attack becoming temporally intangible in order to avoid blockades to its target, genetic slicing- being able to disintegrate a trait from the collapse of the DNA strands; the severing of others' intangible traits in order to hit them; cause irreversible damage that no restoration/remodeling/regeneration can restore; sever from all directions; mutilate souls; slice through illusions/dream/hellish punishment realms to escape back to normal reality; slash through distortions in power/transformations to turn the enemy to its original basic form at minimum- negate reality warping at maximum to return it to normal; sever dimensional barriers; slash through non-corporal beings; slash through space time to create portals/ generate fields that slash everything inside of it; subspace travel via spatial slicing between distances; slice anything by phasing through them; temporal slicing in order to alter incoming events/the future, cancel time stop by restoring it to normal via slicing; slice to create rifts that release nothingness anti-matter energy to project towards enemies; slice through boundaries to cause properties to have the exact opposite effect; slice through destiny to avoid prophesied deaths; slice through magic to cancel it; and connection slicing to rob the enemy of their very identity.
Sora appeared in front of the man's window. The man was a well-built, muscular man with combed back hair of dark tan color, had piercing orange iris eyes and wore armor. His name was Lenord.
"You could just kill me now.," Lenord remarked.
"I prefer to face you one on one in a direct fight.," Sora replied.
Lenord agreed as they met again in the courtyard. His armor gleamed in the moonlight, a stark contrast to Sora's tattered, biomechanical attire. The two opponents faced each other, their eyes locked in a silent challenge.
The fight began with a clash of steel as Lenord swung his sword with the force of a hurricane. Sora, ever the strategist, observed his opponent's movements, the way he manipulated the air around him. He knew that brute strength alone would not be enough to overcome such a formidable foe.
Lenord was slashed by his wind slashes, creating a symphony of slicing air. Sora watched with cold eyes, his body moving with a grace that seemed almost inhuman. He knew he had to be careful; even with his superior speed and strength, the man's control over the very fabric of the air was something to be feared.
As the battle raged on, Sora's thoughts drifted back to Sakura, to the love that had been torn from him so brutally. The pain fueled his resolve, each strike of his sword a silent scream of anguish. His movements grew more precise, each swing a manifestation of his bloodlust and insanity.
Lenord noticed the change in Sora's demeanor, his eyes narrowing as he prepared for a fiercer onslaught. He knew that the transformed man before him was not to be underestimated, his power a result of an unspeakable tragedy. The air grew thick with the scent of ozone as the two warriors clashed, the very ground trembling beneath their feet.
Suddenly, he was slashed by a strike that seemed to slice Lenord and the background in half, a dimensional slash that caused the man to collapse onto his knees. To Sora's disgust, Lenord performed seppaku.
"You should be honored you fought a great final fight. Don't go so pitiably.," Sora said with earnesty.
"The fact I lost and I failed to protect my lieage- I deserve punishment for my shame.," Lenord replied weakly, his breathing labored.
His vision then blurred as Sora was left alone with a corpse. The once proud and powerful right-hand man of the Kaiser candidate, now nothing more than a lifeless shell. Sora felt no joy in victory, only the echoes of his own anger and sorrow. He knelt beside the man, his hand reaching out to close his eyes, a silent respect for the warrior who had stood against him.
He then left as guards began to appear.
Next Chapter: Aome
Author Notes: Sora's past is truly tragic, an inversion of Hisame/Rinzu's love with the survivor becoming a demon in response.
Next up is Aome who also suffered dearly.
