The Esper Devil ( Esper OC X Highschool DxD )

by Esper-from-beyond

The era of heroes is over, with the hero association almost extinct and espers now living in secrecy, the talented son of a legendary esper couple starts attending a school which is under the control of devils. Raised with the mentality that all demons and evil spirits are enemies and carrying an enormous power that is still unknown to most devils, how will he fit in this new life?

67. Fox Blood

Part 1

It all happened four years ago, in a dark night at Kyoto's countryside

I was 13 at the time, preparing for my first large scale battle

"Is that where they are?" - I asked, my voice filled with spite

Kuriko and I, along with an entire company of soldiers from the Community were laying siege to an area at the outskirts of the city

(Correct, after they launched a counterattack they had to hide afterwards)

Kuriko calmly answered with her telepathy, she's older than me and at the time already had the airs of a woman... but her attitude wasn't any better than it is today

I gripped my fist

"Cowards, so they kill our members but don't have the guts to come after us, huh?"

Kuriko just shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the death of two of our companions, she was the complete opposite of me

(They were just unlucky, the other youkais were your run-of-the-mill ones, they didn't expected a Great Youkai to show up out of nowhere. It seems they got a tad too close to the youkai stronghold)

I frowned at Kuriko's nonchalant attitude towards their deaths.

"Do we have permission invade the capital? I mean, we are already here, might as well..."

I asked, thrilled with the idea of putting an end to all of that, but the commander of the operation quickly shutted me down

"No, we can't, our orders are just to purify the youkais from the area, upper echelon doesn't want to start a war..."

He answered in a technical way, but there was anger in his eyes as he turned his head and spat out

"For now..."

Me and Kuriko were high levels already, but our ranks in the actual hierarchy were still very low at the time, we couldn't possibly command a mission, much less one of this caliber.

And even commanders have to answer to other people, and those people didn't had a good excuse to start a large scale conflict.

"They say that untill a voting has been held, containing the Great Youkai is our mission and since he's considered to be guilty of the killings, this should cause the other youkais to fall in line, however, and I really shouldn't be saying this..."

He sighed

"I really hope they fucking don't"

Listening to our conversation, other members of the operation turned to look at the captain

"All I want at the moment is to say fuck protocol and give the order to kill every single non-human thing in town, with permission or not"

The lieutnant, a foreign esper also in charge of this operation, decided to step in after hearing the words of the captain

"Sir... we can't do that"

She voiced her concern, and the commander shook his head

"I know... I know we can't"

He declared disappointed, but feeling his anger was as strong, if not even greater than mine considering the two dead soldiers were his men, I tried to back him up

"I understand how the captain feels"

The two of them looked back at me

"I want to destroy all of them too, but if the guys upstairs say they can't start a war yet then it can't be helped... All we can do is hope to make a good enough impression here and maybe we can get what we want."

The lieutnant looked at me with a strange expression, but the commander laughed at my enthusiasm and patted my back

"I wouldn't worry about that son, with two level fives and Maribel leading her squad on our side we can't lose. So just follow my lead."

The captain turned to the lieutnant and asked

"Is the perimeter secured and the air team in position?"

"Yes sir! The air team is ready to deploy and perimeter is secured, even if the enemy tries to escape, it won't go far!"

His second-in-command replied

The battle plan was a full on blietzkrieg, the reconnaissance teams and oracles of the Community assured us we had the upper hand and that no hostages were taken by the enemy, but they also warned about the tight guard and traps they had laid in the area.

So it was decided that Kuriko and the air squads would bomb their positions from above while me and the ground troops would demolish what's left of them.

Honestly, I was confused when they said there would be two squads helping Kuriko, with her powers she could do it all on her own. But just like me, she was still a teenager, even for the Esper Community, it would be seem as irresponsible to leave such a huge responsibility on her alone.

"Company, prepare to strike!"

He shouted and the soldiers promptly answered

"Yes, sir!"

"Saiki, Kageyama, we are counting on you!"

(I'll join the air team now then) - Kuriko said, turning away from the ground troops and hoovering in the air

I looked in her direction, a bit embarassed and nervous

"We... I might need you in the big fight"

She stared into the distance with an uninterested expression

(I'll come to the ground if you need help, but you are strong Tatseyo, don't worry, you won't be needing me)

Despite the way she said it, I remember Kuriko's words brought me a sense of relieve, I wasn't experienced with these large scale conflicts at the time and if Kuriko, my powerful senior, believed I was capable of doing this, it reassured me even if her attitude was so nonchalant

I shook my head, trying to stay focused only on what I had to do right now.

"Kageyama-dono" - The lieutnant called my name and I sighed

"I already told you to call me by name, Maribel-san"

She nodded

"Of course, I'm sorry, Tatseyo"

Maribel-san is an esper that idolized my mom and came from abroad to train with us and exchange some knowledge between both Communities, but since she idolizes my mother so much, she tends to be a bit formal with me.

A concerned expression was hung on her face as she spoke

"It's just... I was against sending you on this mission, but they said you needed to start preparing for situations like this"

I sighed

"You think I'm too young..." - I felt frustratred, usually Espers so young aren't sent on missions like this, but our levels made me and Kuriko an exception at the eyes of the Community.

Maribel is an old friend of my mother so it's usual for her to act like this, but...

"I don't think, you are too young. Look around Tatseyo, you are 13 and they are putting you in the front of a battle that could lead to a war!"

"If we do our job right, there won't be a war!"

I answered, a little rougher than I wanted to.

"S-sorry... it's just, I'm different, I have to be prepared"

I promptly apologized, she gave a sad smile

"They may say that, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a lot of responsability on someone so young. You are a level 4.5 and the Community will start throwing more missions on your way because they want you to become strong, I can't say I agree with something like that and if you also desire that then there's nothing I can do, but I still don't think it's good for you"

I shook my head

"It's nothing I can't deal with, mom and dad already fought monsters at my age."

Maribel-san sighed

"That doesn't mean it was good... for either of them."

She then placed a hand on my shoulder

"Just remember that everyone here cares deeply for you, so if you ever feel overwhelmed, you can talk to us."

I smiled back at her, Maribel-san is a good woman and a teacher to a lot espers, including Ayumu, so I guess I couldn't blame her for being like this

"Thanks Maribel-san"

I thanked her and headed towards the front

"And Kage- I mean, Tatseyo"

I turned back

"Be safe, alright?"

I nodded back

"Don't worry, I'll be"

Jumping forwards, I took my position in the very front of the ground force

"Commander, give us the order!"

The captain nodded with confidence and stood in front of us, ready to deliver his speech

"Soldiers, I'm used to fight for a noble cause, just like all of you. Fighting for the salvation of mankind, fighting for the improvement of this world, fighting for safety for our families, safety from the creatures that slaughtered two of our comrades on this very forest."

He stated calmly while pointing to the woods

"But tonight I want you to forget that."

He said, causing confusion amongst some of us, including me

"Tonight we are not fighting for a noble cause... because tonight we are fighting for vengeance"

He stated

"There are no hostages in that forest, there is nothing to be rescued or taken from them but their lives."

The captain floated in the air and his voice began to rise

"Two of our own died in here! They died protecting what we believed, they died fighting for this world, for it's people, fighting for us against these monsters! And their lives will be payed in blood!"

I smiled to myself and the soldiers began to cheer, including the air brigade who could hear us from their devices

"THIS IS A FIGHT FOR VENGEANCE! Your orders are to take no prisioners! Let's pull these filthy demons out of their holes and drag them across their own blood to remind them to NEVER MESS WITH HUMANKIND!"

"HURRAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The soldiers began to shout

"Mitsuo, Wakana, this is your farewell party! Air troops, FIRE!"

As soon the words left the captain's mouth, the air raid team quickly rained down a shower of aura, fireballs and lightning that destroyed the path in front us

FIUUUUUUUUUUUU

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

I began to advance, but suddenly, an enormous ball of white light engulfed the path in front of us, so bright I had to protect my eyes from it.

When I looked forward again, the path in front us was clean.

Not just destroyed, clean.

There was only a path of sterile scorched earth in front of us

That last attack was definitely Kuriko's

The troops hesitated for a moment upon witnessing her power

They must have been warned about Kuriko, but no one could expect this much just from seeing her

Even the captain seemed speechless for a moment before regaining his composure

"Ground force! ATTACK!"

He ordered, I took one deep breath and charged forward

The rest of the troop followed behind, as the spearhead of the ground force, my first mission was to destroy any traps and enemies that could have survived the air attack.

And just as expected

""""Hurraaaaaaahhh!""""

Groups of fox soldiers wearing Kimonos and brandishing swords started crawling out of the forest, likely realizing that staying in there would only get them killed by the air strikes

"Approaching enemy, Kageyama, prepare to strike... now!"

The commander ordered and I raised my hand in the air, charging an aura blast that wrecks everything in front of me, sending trees and chunks of youkai flesh flying into the air

"Arrrghhhhh!"

"Aughhhhh!"

I heard the anguished screams of dying youkais and I remember the bliss I felt back then, they felt good, it felt like justice was being made

""""Caaaaaww! Take down their air forces!"""""

Groups of tengus also flied from the forest, trying to fight the air troops or at least stall them enough to give their friends at the ground time to run or fight us

But Kuriko was having none of that

(What a nuisance)

I could still hear her voice in my head and looked up to see what she had done, only to see a bunch of feathers floating down towards the ground

No sign of the dozens of tengus that had just started attacking

I remember the fear I felt, she dispatched all of them before I could even look in her direction.

Shaking my head, I tried again to focus on the mission

"Termination squad, kill the remainings and keep up!"

"Yes, sir!"

The commander ordered and one of the squads jumped in to strike down and kill the youkais who survived or escaped the blast

The youkais tried to push back, but it's useless

"Guahhhh!"

"Hold them back! Don't let them keep going!"

"There's too many!"

The order was followed with ruthless efficiency and I could hear the screams of the youkais being slaughtered by the troops who were behind

I smiled to myself, with their help in taking care of the small fries I could go ahead and just focus on destroying their bases and taking down their leader.

"The boy at the front is bad news! Focus on the ones around and try to attack from his blind spots!"

One of the youkai soldiers shouted, they noticed they couldn't defeat me and were trying to fight the other soldiers while looking for a chance to ambush me

I turned around for a moment, thinking about taking these youkais down anyway and helping the troops, but they seemed to be doing really well, Maribel-san would freeze and shatter them in a flash and the commander shouted at me while his fist broke the sword of a kitsune before impaling it's guts.

"The flanks and rear are our responsability! Focus on the path ahead and we'll keep up!" - He ordered

I gulped down and hesitantly faced forward once again, continuing to blast open the road to their stronghold.

More and more youkais were running away from the woods, trying to escape from Kuriko's bombardment.

Most charged directly at the ground troops, but at a distance I could hear explosions, indicating that some had tried to run, but were caught by the troops holding the perimeter.

I blasted and torn to pieces as many youkais as I could, after less than a minute the soil was drenched with blood, their numbers rapidly dwindling, but still ended up getting the troops hands full, their attack was ferocious and they didn't stop fighting untill they were dead or mutilated beyond saving.

But with this we would be dispatch all of them soon

Or so had I thought...

Out of nowhere, came an announcement that made me feel like my blood had froozen

(Sir! Kuriko has disappeared!)

A voice came from our devices and the shock I felt was so brutal that I gazed into the sky

I could see the figures of the air troops, but Kuriko's silhoutte was nowhere to be seem

(What?! What you mean disappeared?!) - The captain shouted

(We don't know sir, one moment she was here and after the last bombing she simply disappeared! We can't find her anywhere!)

(No way...) - I heard Maribel-san in disbelieve

I felt a shiver crawling on my spine, could this be it?

The reason me and Kuriko were called here.

The Great Youkai.

It seems that the protector of this land is a great fox youkai and to take him down it's going to be needed an extreme ammount of firepower, so they called us.

Immediately an endless stream of thoughts started rushing through my mind

I had never seem a Great Youkai before, but could he have done this to Kuriko?

No, Kuriko wouldn't simply be defeated like this, there's no way

Maybe she had been teleported against her will? A sealing technique perhaps? Space manipulation?

Anyone with a decent aura sense would be able to tell Kuriko was easily the strongest one among us, so taking her out of the game would definitely be a smart play, but making her disappear just like that? What the hell?

As cold sweat ran through my forehead, a voice pulled me out of my paranoia

"UP THERE!"

The captain shouted and I looked towards the moon

A shadow dashed swiflty through the air, leaving fire on it's trail

(ATTACK!)

I heard the voice of the air troops as they began to try and shoot the mysterious figure, but it was futile

The fiery creature seemed to dance in the air while dodging their attacks before landing on the ground

Suddenly, both espers and youkais stopped attacking, but their reactions were very different

While the espers were all staring with apprehension at the figure in front of us, the youkais suddenly began to cheer

"THE GUARDIAN!"

"The kyuubi's guardian is here!"

"We are saved!"

"You guys are so fucked now!"

"We will win!"

Guardian...

I raised my guard in sheer instinct as I stared at the youkai in the middle of the battlefield

A tall and muscular humanoid with pale white skin that matched it's long hair, focused eyes with burning irises and five tails that swirled like they were flames sprouting from his back

Unlike it's followers, he was completely bare of any uniform or armor, simply wearing pants while barefoot and bare chested.

But just from a glance you could tell that this creature didn't need any armor

He opened his mouth, showing the room of sharp teeth and shouted in a commanding tone

"Soldiers of Kyoto, you have fought bravely and honored your land. But now, I must ask you to leave this battle to your guardian."

What?!

The youkai soldiers also stared at their leader confused

"But sir..." - One of the youkais asked, but was cut off

"Are you doubting my strength? The guardian of the Nine Tails?"

The soldier shook his head, not saying another word

"You can leave this to me, follow the trail up north... I'll hold these guys back"

The fox raised his hands and the claws on his fingers began to grow

"Return to your families and trust on your leader!"

He shouted and the youkais quickly stiffened

"Yes, sir!"

Without care for the danger they were in, the youkais turned their backs and began retreating

"Stop them! Chase these monsters down!"

The captain ordered and the ground forces charged to catch the retreating youkais

"I'm feeling lonely..."

The Guardian quickly moved, his speed was such that a trail of fire was left on the earth

"Why don't you play with me a little?"

He stood in front of the troops and stomped on the floor with such strength that the ground trembled and his flames spread around to stop their advance

"Air team!"

The air troops were already deploying in the direction of the fleeing youkais, but the fox raised it's hand and several rings of fire were shot into the sky at a huge speed, slowing them down as the team had to dodge and fight off the fire rings

"You filthy demon!"

I shouted, raising my own hand and breaking the rings of fire

The fox looked me, a bit of surprise on his face

"I take it you are the strong one on this team, will you be one I am facing?"

He said with a serious expression, I swung my arm in rage

"Cut the crap! What have you done to Kuriko?!"

He frowned

"Who is Kuriko?"

There was legit doubt in his face, but the enraged me at the time couldn't pay attention to anything else

"Where. Is. Kuriko?!"

I lashed out while jumping into the air and blasting the ground where the youkai stood

He quickly jumped to the side, avoiding my attack by a hair's thread

"You are strong and still have a lot to live for, I'm advicing you to leave now before this gets really serious"

His words ticked me in a very wrong way at the time, so much that ignoring all of my safety, I shouted

"Captain! Chase the youkais, I can take care of him myself!"

The captain looked at me with a concerned expression, but the air teams already had began to fly away, trying to catch up with the youkais that had fled.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you do that"

[Fox wedding: Sunshower Barrier]

A huge energy field engulfed the area where we were, the air troops tried blasting it away with fire and lightning, but to no avail

"I'm very sorry that this is the path you have chosen"

I could see the aura of the fox rising as he took a fighting stance

"But since the interruptions have been cut, shall we begin?"

A small smile appeared on my face even as I looked at the barrier surrounding us and halting our attempt to pursue the youkai army

"You are in this barrier with us, which means you can't get out as well..."

I gave a quick laugh and shook my head

"You just doomed your soldiers, there are troops surrounding this entire area, the moment they get too far they will be destroyed."

Despite my prediction, the fox guardian didn't seem to be fazzed at all and bluntly stated

"Why do you think I took so long to get here?"

That simple phrase sent a cold sensation down my spine

I then remembered the explosion I heard from the outside of the forest

That wasn't the contention troops halting the advance of fleeing youkais

It was this fox attacking them...

"You did... what?"

I heard the commander say in disblieve

"That can't be true" - Another soldier said

"I'm going to end you life!"

Some soldiers began crying out in rage

The wrath inside of me had began swelling to a point where I could no longer contain myself

"Captain, I'm going all out"

Those five words were all what the captain had to hear

"Wait! Kageyama-dono you-"

But before Maribel-san could protest, the captain gave an understanding nod as he ordered the unit to retreat to a safe distance he calmly said to me

"Kill this son of a bitch"

I nodded back, my eyes not letting the fox out of my sight

"That's the plan."

Watching the retreat of the soldiers, the youkai looked at me with interest

"So you're going to take me on your own, huh? Quite bold of you"

"You're going to regret it" - I said, boiling with anger

"What, exactly?"

He answered with a cocky smile

"You'll regret killing our men, regret attacking Kuriko, and most of all..."

[100%: Rage]

"YOU'LL REGRET LOCKING YOURSELF IN WITH ME!"

The foxe's eyes went wide with the realization of how much power I had hidden

My aura bursted out of control from my body, if I have little control over the usage of my full power today, I guarantee it was even worse back then. Using my 100% left me emotionally and physically drained after less than an hour of using it, but in that situation, I couldn't have given less of a shit about how I'd feel later.

"Hahaha! So that's why you were in the front even though you are not the leader! I haven't seem a child possess such power in a very long time! This is going to be an amazing battle!"

He said, without any hint of fear or malice in his voice, eyes almost sparkling as he prepared to attack

"So, are you ready n-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I had already jumped to the side and delivered a barrage of aura right into his face

"DIE!"

I shouted as the stream of power hit him and left several meters of forest absolutely destroyed, similar to Kuriko's bombing. Except I had to put my all to do something like that and she could it with barely any effort.

Not having had enough, I flew over to the end of the trail of destruction and stood over the crater created by the attack, the fox was laying down in the middle of it, but still standing on his own

For a moment I was afraid that I hadn't able to hurt him, but to my surprise he was actually injured, burned and even bleeding

However, his smile hadn't gone away.

"As I expected, that's some amazing power! Hey, what's your name?"

His carefree attitude only managed to anger me even further

"I don't have permission to disclose it! And if I did, it wouldn't be to you!"

I pushed him away with my telekinesis, his feet were swept out of the ground as I tossed him against a stone, almost splitting it in half

The youkai fell down on one knee and coughed

I raised my hand and nailed him to the floor, forcing on his hands and knees on the ground

He gave a pained smile

"Haha... you are really good for a kid, but..."

His golden aura intensified as he slowly raised his head fighting against the pressure I was placing on him to glare at me

"Let's get serious, shall we?"

The hairs on his head began to stand up and with a loud crack the the earth beneath him shattered and broke.

"Release the touki and break the dragon's maw!"

A huge of ki was released from his body and slowly he began to stand up again

"Now... my turn"

The fox stepped on the floor and charged at me with amazing speed

I could barely keep up and had to create a barrier to stop his flaming kick from hitting me in the head

"Ugh!"

The force of the kick caused a crack in my barrier and I backed off before he had the chance to break it

"Everyone, help Kageyama-dono!" - Maribel-san shouted and attacked the youkai

She managed to freeze one of his hands and stuck his feet on where he stood

"Now!"

The group under her command attacked him right away

"You guys are strong but..."

A quick burst of fire destroyed Maribel's ice

"I'm better!"

He raised his leg and with a powerful kick that created a wall of fire countered the attacks from the ground troops

"STAY BACK!"

I shouted while jumping between Maribel and the fox

"That's impossible..." - Maribel said, incredulous in the face of the youkai's strength

I gulped down, he was able to repel the attacks from an entire group while being stuck on ice

This fox is something else...

The moment I began doubting my capacity to defeat him, the fox wasted no time in sending flying rings of fire to strike at me

I tried to dodge, but the sheer number of them was overwhelming, not to mention the fact that their heat was so intense that they didn't even had to hit me for it to hurt, so even blocking them with a barrier wouldn't be such a good idea

"This is fucking annoying!" - I yelled, sending waves of my aura to counter the flaming wheels

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

It turned out to be effective, but the clash between our powers made the wheels explode like fire bombs, which turned out to be a bad combination with a forest

"Soldiers, contain the flames!"

The commander shouted, letting this entire place burn wouldn't be a good idea considering we were stuck in there untill that fox went down

Maribel-san used her ice and water techniques to contain the flames

Everyone here was strong, even if I didn't knew most of them, the Esper Community wouldn't send anyone weak to a mission like this, but even so this fight was on another level. That fox was like an Ultimate class devil at least, so I had to control myself in order to not let them get in the crossfire of our attacks

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

I shouted and the wind began to howl

With my telekinesis I changed the pressure inside and began to make the air move in circles and absorb the flames around us

Soon the flames were gone from the woods, but concentrated on a massive swirling pillar of fire in front of me

A hurricane of flames

"If you like fire so much then you can have it all back!"

I made the flames began chasing down the fox youkai who quickly jumped into the air

"Hahahaha! How the hell did you do this?! You truly are a worthy opponent!"

He yelled, the hurricane wasn't nearly as him or my won attacks, but it constantly pulled him towards it and it was so smoldering hot that even getting close would scorch him

"But I have tricks up my sleeve as well!"

With great strength, the fox leaped into the hair with it's long and sharp claws draw

SLASH

For a moment I couldn't believe my eyes

It seemed like his claws were cutting through the fire and wind, reducing my hurricane to nothing

"Mastering the aspects of nature is a must for mastering ki, and as it just so happens..."

He stated, the touki covering his body seemed to have grown even thicker

"I'm pretty good at it myself"

I clicked my tongue, the damage on his body from clashing with the flame hurricane had burned his arm, but it seemed to be slowly recovering, just like the wounds from my first attack

That's too fast of a recovery, even for a youkai

"Senjutsu..." - I said under my breath

The fox smiled

"Indeed, you're not gonna say it's unfair, are you?"

Gritting my teeth, I bursted my aura forward

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Expecting an attack, the fox quickly raised his guard, destroying my aura attacks with his own flames

"Look up!"

I warned as I tossed a boulder over his head

He quickly reduced the huge stone to ashes with his power, only for his eyes to widen when he realized what I had done

The rock had been a distraction from my real objective

"UH?"

He exclaimed as I pushed him, not away from me, but towards me!

With his quick reflexes, he readily threw a kick with his feet covered in flames, but this time, I did not dodge.

Fighting the pain of the impact and the fire, I grabbed his leg with my right hand

"Heal from this!"

At that moment, he likely noticed what was about to happen and the smile fadded from his face

I was going to destroy him, even if it had to be piece by piece, starting by his annoying kicks and speed

My aura quickly spread from my hands to his feet

"Let's see who's tougher then!"

I expected him to counter or to try and free himself, but he pointed his hand towards me and a huge ball of fire formed into it

"!"

This time, I was the one caught by surprise, but not willing to let go out of his leg, I prepared to defend myself while simultaneously destroying his limb

"DIE!"

My aura exploded on his leg as his fire hit me at point blank range and we were both shot into different directions

"Aghhh!" - I yelled, even his fire didn't break through my defences, the heat was not something I could block so easily and I felt as if I was being scalded

Using telekinenis I quickly dispelled the flames before they could hurt me further and forced myself on the ground, landing on my feet

Several meters away, the fox also stood like I was, the sleeves of my uniform along with my left arm were burned so I was pissed, but I looked down at his feet and smiled

It wasn't enough to destroy his leg, but a piece of his foot, along with two fingers had been erased and were gushing blood through the scorched ground.

However, yet again, he didn't seem angry or annoyed

"Hahahahaha! You really did a number on me! Guess I have to stop this before I bleed out for real, huh?"

He used his flame to seal the wound and his senjutsu slowly began to heal it, but as expected, there's no healing senjutsu capable of restoring lost limbs.

"I'm going to tear you apart untill there's not an atom left of your body!"

Despite my threat, the youkai gave a troubled smile

"You have some anger issues, don't you?"

That only angered me further

"You don't know half of it!"

Raising a hand I forced the ground to open up and stones to rise in order to trap him down

"Hup!" - The fox screamed as he spun around and destroyed the rocks with a spinning kick and speed out into the air, flying into one of his flaming wheels

I chased him down and it quickly became a dogfight of my aura attacks against his flames, I was careful to destroy his flames before they could reach the forest and start burning it all down again, but the fight was going nowhere

If it kept like this I would have burned myself out before the fight ended, I had to think of something, quickly.

When I was thinking that, the fox was surprised by several attacks, which caused him to almost tumble as he had to change directions midp-air to not get hit

"We are going to help! Kageyama-dono!"

Several other espers joined the fight in the air or on the ground and were throwing attacks at him in order to help

"Idiots! Focus on defending yourselfs!" - I yelled, worried about their condition

"Hah! Quite a team you got in there, they don't seem to realize the danger they are in"

"YOU WON'T LAY A FINGER ON THEM!"

I screamed in anger and striked alongside my companions

This time, I noticed that his movement had become slower and finally realized what had taken me so long to notice in my rage

This guy didn't seemed like he could fly...

He relied on his fire and the wheels he summoned to stay in the air

And the surprise attacks from my friends managed to throw him off to the point where it seemed like he would fall

This gave me an idea

I shouted at my device

"I want all of you to fire at him! It doesn't matter if all you can do is throw rocks, EVERYONE SHOOT HIM DOWN!"

My request seemed to have amused him

"Do you think this will be enough? Your friends aren't exactly the big guns"

I frowned and pointed at him

"It's not about power this time"

His smile was gone for a moment and he expertly dodged everything that was thrown his way

"Dodge this!"

I began firing aura bursts as if they were volleyballs towards him, but the fox also dodged them or blocked them ith his fire

Eventually, the attacks intensified as all the espers had started to keep up with his rhytm

This seemed to irritate him and he quickly released his aura in all directions, sending dozens of fireballs all around in order to take down the attacks and even begin an offensive.

This was what I've been waiting for.

"Is that how you think you'll stop me?" - He asked with confidence

I smiled to him

"No, this is."

I pointed to his feet, while he was focused on the counter attack, he lost focus on the wheel for a moment

And I dispelled it.

"W-what?"

He materialized another wheel right away, but it was too late

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

I charged at him, full force, punching him in the chest with both hands and charging to the ground while keeping an iron tight grip on the sides of his body

"You are dead!"

I raised a hand and punched him square in the face as we began to fall, I wasn't letting him go.

"UGHHHH!"

He screamed, surrounding his body with flames in order to hurt me as well, his fire was too powerful, it began burning my hands and I felt tremendous pain, but the adrenaline of the moment wouldn't let me stop

"TAKE THIS!"

I placed my left hand on his face and as we both fell and pushed it back as he hit the floor with a loud crash

His head was the first thing to touch the ground, breaking the hard stone beneath us

I jumped away from him, flying just above his body that had just slammed at the ground with an incredible speed

"Ugh..."

Slowly, the fox started to stand back up, but dashing down, I grabbed his long white hair and charged a powerful blast on my hand

"YOU'LL DIE NOW!"

Placing the aura right in front of him I unleashed destruction without holding back at all, given how close I was, my clothes also began to tear and I started taking damage from my own attack

But at the time, pain was nothing

I watched as his body began to be flailed into his very flesh, but of course, he wouldn't go down peacefully

As my aura consumed him, the youkai placed his hand forward

I knew what was coming

His flames bursted forward, the unbearable heat almost making me pass out

But I persisted, blocking his flames with my own hands and grabbing both of his arms

"It's over!"

I declared, with all of his wounds he had become very weakened

I yanked his arms down and hit him with a knee to the face

"Ugh!" - He groaned, blood coming from his now broken nose

"Now the arms!"

I glued his arms together with my telekinesis and forcefully pushed them behind his back

CRECK

The sound of broken bones echoed through the forest along with the youkais screams

"I told you I'd break you."

I gleefully stated, giving a triumphant smile to my battered opponent

"And now for the finisher..."

I raised my thumb and index finger, like a gun

He was going down, and it was now.

"Bang"

Six spears made from my own aura pierced his body, nailing him to a rock

The fire in his body had begun to subside and his tails that seemed to be like fire became white like his hair

I stared at it in disbelieve, my breathing was ragged and the entire battlefield was silent

"I-it's over..."

I said

"Kageyama-dono won..."

"We... we won!" - One of the soldiers shouted

"Are you okay, Kageyama-dono?" - Maribel came to me, trying to support me on her shoulder

"WE WON!" - Suddenly more joined and some began hugging each other

It was finally over...

Or so I thought

"Hum!?"

Suddenly, white flames covered the body of the captured youkai

I felt myself shiver when the laughter of the fox echoed and I stepped away from Maribel

"H-haha..haha..." - It was a paused laughter filled with pain as I could hear him trying to catch his breath

"To think I would be forced into this situation by someone so young..."

Slowly, he twisted his broken arm back into place

"I guess I really am getting softer..."

He placed a hand on the ground and began to stand up, but I stopped him

CREACK!

"Ugh!"

He exclaimed as I broke his left leg with a single swift of hand and he fell on his knees

"Haha... so this is it, huh?"

He said with a calm smile

"I'm sorry honey, guess I won't be coming back home after all..." - He looked at the sky with a sad expression

To my surprise, the fox bit into it's own arm and drew blood from it

"But I'm sure taking as many of you down as I can"

BRRROOOOOOMMMMMM

Suddenly, the ground began shaking and the fiery aura of the fox suddenly turned entirely white, along with the fire that surrounded him

"I do not have the blood of the Kyuubi like my wife, but in exchange of my life force I can at least do this as a last resort..."

My eyes went wide as the fox in front of me began to transform, an immense ammount of aura, far greater than what he had released before was released.

"GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The youkai's body began to grow more and more, his mouth started to become larger and filled with long sharp teeth, fur began to grow on his entire body and he finally dropped in all fours, like a true animal.

"Unleash within me the power of a divine beast!" - It was the last thing he said before his words turned into growling and howls

In a matter of seconds, the humanoid youkai standing before me became a full blow giant fox with silver white fur that howled to the moon

"What the hell is that?!" - One of the soldiers yelled

"It's the aura of a divine beast! I had seem this in the books but never thought I'd meet one in this forsaken place! Soldiers, fall back, take cover!"

The commander shouted, but I didn't moved, simply standing there looking at the majestic but terrifying creature that had transformed before my very eyes

"GROWWWWWLLLLLL!"

Not only it was huge, it was deceveingly fast, I could barely dodge it's paws as it tried to stomp me down all while spewing enormous jets of fire from it's mouth

"Tsk!"

I clicked my tongue, it would burn the entire forest down at this pace, it seemed that now he wasn't thinking about colateral damage anymore. Turning into a beast must have clouded his judgement as well.

I tried charging again, but despite only being able to fire from it's mouth, the blue flames that came out of it were much hotter and it seemed like he could control them around the air.

"WON'T YOU JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!?"

I began going on the offensive at a distance, despite being fast it's body was much larger than before, so it wasn't very hard to hit a spot with several attacks at once

GROWLLLL!

However, his body had become much tougher, it seemed like my attacks on it's body were barely doing anything at all

I tried attacking it from behind, given it's size I thought it'd be a blind spot, but I was wrong

WOOOOOOOSH

Like a wip, it's tails extended and moved incredibly fast while trying to hit me

A divine beast... does thing has no weaknessess?

"This is bad!"

I exclaimed, at my wit's end I wouldn't be able to hold this thing back much longer. I had to end it now.

(Kageyama? Can you hear me?)

The captain brought me out of my thoughts

(Yes sir, what is the situation?)

I asked, hoping no one had been seriously injured by the fox's outbreak

(Some injured on our side, but no casualties, the fox seems to be focusing on you so we are trying to stay out of your way...)

The captain hesitated for a moment before continuing

(Look... as a commander I know I shouldn't be saying this, but I have no idea how to deal with this thing on my own... do you have a plan?)

I looked down at the creature that was chasing me through the air.

Extinguishing fire and shooting aimlessly while looking for an opening didn't seem like it was working, if I wanted to take this thing down, I would have to aim for it's vitals or it would just keep healing itself.

My only chance was to come up with a plan, despite being much stronger than he was before, it seemed like it had lost all reason, so maybe tricks would work against it.

I grabbed my device and replied

"I'll go to the ground, order every troop we have to wait for when I'm standing right beneath the fox."

I looked at it one more time and focused

"When that happens, I want everyone to hold that thing on the ground and keep it's mouth shut for as long as you can. Watch out for the tails as well"

For a moment, the captain was hesitant, but Maribel-san spoke up

(You are going to go toe-to-toe with that thing?)

(... Yes)

Again, a moment of silence

(Kageyama-dono, you can't do that. We are responsible for you, if something happens-)

The captain seemed to agree

(Maribel is right, retreat so we can work on a-)

Irritated, I yelled back

(If I don't do something everyone will die!)

The captain immediately went silent

(So do what I'm telling you and prepare to nail this thing down. Over and out!)

I said while flying down and decided to let it try to stomp me

And just as expected the giant fox extended it's claws to try and grasp me

Only this time, I didn't dodge

"That's right, come to me!"

I shapped my entire aura into a giant spear and nailed the creature's paw right into the ground

If I wanted any chance to hit it's vitals, I had to stop it from moving!

With one of it's paws nailed down, I moved right bellow it's mouth

The creature prepared to shoot fire at me, at this distance, my chances fo surviving were very low.

"NOW!" - The captain's voice ordered

Suddenly, the creature's mouth shut down and I smiled

"Now you're mine!"

Maribel-san frooze the creature's paws stuck to the ground and all the other espers focused on keeping it stuck in place.

I jumped into the creature's head and aimed my aura right towards it's right eye

"GROWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLL!"

A sea of blood gushed forth while the creature moaned in pain, unable to open it's mouth, with it's tails busy and with it's paws frozen to the ground it couldn't fight back

"I'M GONNA DRILL A HOLE THROUGH YOUR SKULL!"

Even if it's supernaturally tough, it's got soft spots

I pushed further, feeling the piercing of flesh and bone

"U-ughhh-"

The creature fought back and shook it's head, but it was still trapped by the other espers

"Just a little more!"

Untill...

CRACK

I heard the sound of something breaking and the screams of soldiers

"What the hell was that?!" - I shouted

(The group holding it's tails couldn't resist for long, it's breaking free!)

"Fuck!"

(Fall back, Kageyama, it's not going to hold!)

"HOLD IT! FIND A WAY!"

(Kageyama-dono! Fall back!) - I heard Maribel's voice over the device, but didn't budge

"AHHHHHHH!" - Persisted, finding a way to dig through it's brain, but finally...

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR"

It managed to set itself free, it's paws crushed the floor beneath us and hit me on the side, pushing me away from it's face

"FUCK!"

I shouted, striking back

"GROARRRR!"

The creature screamed as I broke one of it's claws and drove it deep inside the paw

"I'll kill you, right here, RIGHT NOW!"

(Kageyama-dono, what are you going to do?) - Mirabel-san asked me

But I didn't answer, instead charging straight at the creature while trying to hold it's fire back

I had my hands forward to focus on my defence, which turned out to be a terrible mistake...

"GROWL!" - The creature charged at me and I tried to fight back, but one of my arms was slower than the other...

"AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" - In one bite, my left arm was cut off like it was butter

"FUCK!" - I yelled

(KAGEYAMA! RETREAT NOW!)

The commander ordered, but at this far, there was no way I could have escaped it

I used my power to seal the wound and screamed at the creature

"You wanna eat me? Then open your mouth!"

A telekinetic hit straight at it's open teeth, causing the sharp fangs on it's mouth to crack and the creature to howl in pain

Fire spewed from it's mouth directly at me, I tried to block and extinguish it as fast as I could, but it was too strong and soon I find myself getting burns all over, but I proceeded, straight to the mouth of the beast

"I'll be taking this!"

With my telekinesis I pulled one of it's teeth out

"AHhhhhhhhhhh!"

I pushed the teeth in the inside of the mouth and jammed it against it's throat

"I'll kill you from the inside if I have too!"

The bleeding from it's throat reduced the fire, but it didn't stop

Unbearable, white hot flames poured out of it's mouth as the fox tried to roast me and burned all the oxygen avaiable, causing me to feel like I'd pass out at any moment

"I WON'T GIVE UP!"

With a swift movement, I used my telekinesis in the bottom of it's mouth

And jumped backwards, moving away from it, but not without a gift

"I got it..."

I managed to say as I felt my very own lungs were on fire

Floating just above my hands... was the creature's tongue and part of it's throat with it

I looked at the creature that chocked on it's own blood

"Hehehe... I did it..."

I was bad, but he was going to die

Quickly, the groups of espers overwhelmed the bleeding beast and it fell down

I walked towards it, only one thought in my head

I'm going to kill this creature

Once I got close, I raised my hand, barely paying attention to my comrades who called me out worried

In this weakened state, I can exorcize him, even if I'm wounded.

"I told you I'd reduce you to nothing."

As I raised my hand and prepared to give the coup de grace, something stopped me

(That'll be enough)

Suddenly, a voice rang into my head who I immediately recognized

"Kuriko?!"

Kuriko was standing right behind me, holding my pulse

"Y-you... where were you...?" - I asked, confused

(I was needed somewhere, I told you could handle it... although)

She looked at me top to bottom

(You really look like a mess)

I looked down at my arm.

The creature had almost eaten down to my elbow and given by what I could see from the state of my skin, I must have looked like a steak left one hour too long in the pan.

"Kageyama-dono!" - Maribel screamed

"Oh my God... no..."

"...It's okay" - I tried to stand up, but almost fell down, if it wasn't for Kuriko holding my arm.

I looked up at the creature who was passed out, finally subdued

"... We won"

I said with a satisfied smile

(That's right Tatseyo, you won)

I remember a distinct playful tone in her voice as she said this, but my head was ringing so much it could have been my imagination

"Healers! Come fix him! NOW!" - She shouted as a team rushed over and grabbed me

"What did I tell you about being safe?! And you, Kuriko-dono, where the hell were you!"

I could barely see what expression she was making due to the smoke and exhaustion having affected my eyesight, but I could clearly hear the anger in her voice

"I'll be... fine" - That was the last thing I remember saying before passing out

When I woke up, instead of being in a hospital, I was at the same place

"U-uh? Where am..."

(Gooood morning, sunshine~)

A teasing female voice called up to me, I recognized it immediately and stood up

"Kuriko?!"

As I promptly stood, I realized.

"My arm?!"

Not only was my arm back on it's place like nothing happened, I was also entirely better, like nothing had happened at all.

(You took quite a hit, honestly, wasn't expecting you to get so much into it.)

I turned to her, relieve turning into anger as I remember Maribel-san's last words to her before I passed out

"Where the hell were you!?" - I screamed

"I thought that the creature had caught you! I thought you could be dead!"

Despite my attitude, Kuriko smiled as calmly as ever

(That thing? Kill me? Please, it wouldn't even be a warm up)

Not believing her attitude, I went forward and grabbed her by the neck of her shirt

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT?!"

Despite my aggresiveness, she didn't seem to have minded in slightest, replying just as calmly as before

(As I said, I was needed somewhere else)

I felt my anger boiling as she wouldn't answer me clearly

"WHAT?! What could you possibly have been doing that was more important than fighting this bloody monster?!"

"She was saving our lifes"

"Huh?"

I turned to side as one of the members had approached us without me realizing, it seems like the whole company was watching me scold Kuriko

The soldier who answered me pointed to the side of the forest

"That fucking fox attacked our group up north so he could open a path for his youkais to escape after he trapped you here. We got pretty fucked up and probably would have died if Kuriko-san hadn't noticed it and stopped those youkais after healing us."

I feel myself freeze up when he says that

In the frenzy of battle I had completely forgotten about the barrier and the contention team that had been attacked

I slowly released Kuriko's shirt

"I-I'm sorry..."

Kuriko waved her hand

(Nothing of it, considering how bad you were when I arrived it's a surprise you didn't just punched me, fufufu~)

I shook my head and looked again at the soldier

"Is everyone alright?"

He nodded

"Like straight out of the box. Kuriko used her time tricks on us and got us on top shape again, fortunately that fox didn't kill any of us, just beat us black and blue in a flash and disappeared"

The soldier scratched his head

"It probably thought the fleeing youkais would finish us off on their way out, fucking pigs... but Lady Kuriko surely showed their asses"

He spat on the floor

I looked at Kuriko once again, still mad that she suddenly disappeared and didn't report to anyone, but... she did saved their lives.

"T-thank you..." - I replied, feeling a bit ashamed

"NO! This doesn't deserve any thanks!"

Maribel-san came storming in our direction

(Oh my, something wicked this way comes~) - Kuriko jokingly said

"You may have saved them, but your actions put in jeopardy the entire operation, you didn't communicate your actions. You didn't took in consideration Tatseyo's situation as well!"

(But he won. And we all lived, did we not?)

Kuriko answered, unfazed

"That's not the point!"

Maribel-san responded with anger

(Then which is it?)

"The point is that he could have died in battle because you were not there to support him! Even if the barrier messed up with our telepaths, you could have said something before leaving instead doing something entirely out of plan without consulting anyone!"

(Straying from the plan to save lives?)

"Don't you do that, don't try to excuse what you did with this saving lives thing, what would have you done if Tatseyo didn't managed to defeat it?!"

Kuriko smiled

(I would have come back, like I said, he wasn't even a warm up. Besides, I could have intervened at anytime)

I frowned and looked back at Kuriko

"What?! Since when?"

Kuriko shrugged

(Right before he turned into a divine beast, I was watching you scrap with it)

"And you did nothing?!"

Maribel-san asked, outraged

(Of course I did, I stopped Tatseyo from killing it)

The dark skinned lieutnant shook her head

"You know that's not what I meant, Tatseyo could have died! You could have defeated that thing with a single blow, why the hell you didn't do that?"

"Yeah, what the fuck was that?! Why you only came in at the end?"

Kuriko looked at Maribel-san... and then back at me

She calmly cleaned her glasses and adjusted them on her pale face

(I believe you two have gotten things wrong... about why we are here, about why me and Tatseyo are here.)

"What are you talking about?" - Maribel-san asked

(Lieutnant Maribel, you do know why the Community sent me and Tatseyo on this dangerous mission, which involved a youkai that already killed two of our own, even though we aren't even adults yet?)

Maribel-san frowned

"They said it's because you need experience in battle"

Kuriko laughed a little and placed her hands behind her back

(Ah yeah, that cutesy excuse that the higher ups will give when they can't just say: That it's because of our power)

Me and Maribel-san looked back confused at Kuriko

I shrugged

"Of course they need our power, why would they-"

Kuriko shook her head before continuing

(Not just that, Tatseyo. It's because of our potential, it's because they need us to grow as fast and as powerful as possibe so that we can do the things that they need.)

Kuriko approaches Maribel-san and pointed at at her

(The things that you can't)

Maribel-san looked shocked, I myself was at a loss of words at Kuriko's boldness

Kuriko didn't sound mad, she didn't sound like she was scolding or berrating Maribel-san. It was like she was just... stating a fact.

(Tatseyo is about half of your age and he managed to defeat a divine beast who could have killed you and your platoon like you were breakfast. You may say I should have stopped him, but if I did, how would Tatseyo grow like we so desperately need?)

"Grow...?"

I asked, bewildered

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying that it was okay to let a fellow esper suffer just because they need to get stronger?"

(That is precisely what I am saying.)

Maribel-san was caught off guard, frowning and answering in a harsh tone

"What is wrong with you?"

Kuriko tilted her head

(Me? I believe there is nothing wrong with me, you on the other hand...)

She replied with a mischievous grin

(Have you forgot I wasn't the only one here who could have supported Tatseyo? If you are so adamant about not letting him fight that youkai, why didn't you saved him yourself?)

Everyone on the troops looked at Maribel-san, who became speechless at Kuriko's question. Because we all knew the answer.

(That's right, because you can't)

Kuriko raised her finger towards me

(Tatseyo wasn't hurt because of me, no. I could have returned and helped him at anytime I wished, but what about you? You were right there and your help from what I saw was minimal, you couldn't help him because you are weak and it seems like you are determined to stand on his way to become stronger too.)

The shocked look on Maribel-san's face was gut wrenching

"Kuriko, stop! They did tried to help me, if it wasn't for them my plan wouldn't have worked in the first place."

(You mean the plan to restrain him? Because that went so well, didn't it?)

This time I'm the one who goes silent, gulping down in front of Kuriko's cold words.

(If it wasn't for their weakness the beast wouldn't have managed to free itself and burn you like a kebab)

She looks at me, deep in the eyes

(But... you prevailed without my help. And you grew, just like I said you could do.)

Despite Kuriko complimenting me, I didn't felt happy at all, her tone was calm, but it almost felt like a threat. It even made me doubt if she would have really come to my rescue had I failed to defeat the beast.

She then turned to Maribel-san once again

(Tell me, lieutnant, you claim to be Lady Tatsumaki's follower, yet you berrate us when we risk our lives?)

Maribel-san shook her head

"The battlefield is not a place for children, it's not good for you and I still insist that it wasn't good for Lady Tatsumaki either! You shouldn't be risking your lives in here!"

Kuriko laughed, a little bit louder this time

(Children? Hahaha, you sound like my father)

She grimaced.

(We are not children, lieutnant, we are weapons of mass destruction in development. Ready to be deployed anywhere in the world to clean up the messes that you can't. You think we shouldn't risk our lives? News flash: That's. what. we. do.)

She emphazised those last words while her eyes were sharp on Maribel-san.

(Lady Tatsumaki was exhausting herself and almost dying on a daily basis so that she could protect this world, and you know why she did it?)

"It's because Lady Tatsumaki is a powerful person, who cared about human life and tried to protect everyone"

Kuriko shook her head

(Bzzzt, wrong! Almost right, but still wrong. It's not because she cared, it's not because she was asked to, or because she was a nice person. It's because she's one of the few who can)

She looked at Maribel-san dead in the eye

(If the few of us who are powerful enough don't put oursevelves in harms way, if we don't fight to grow and explore every last bit of potential we have, the world would just turn into chaos and die.)

Maribel-san gulped as Kuriko stepped closer

(Espers above level 4 are a rare minority, that's why they need us to be strong, they need us to do what it takes. And that's what Tatseyo did, that's what I do.)

"That's enough, corporal Kuriko!"

The captain shouted

"You are deep into insubordination territory!"

She looked at the captain with an uninterested looked and then behind Maribel, where her group was and smiled at them before turning back to Maribel-san

(Your feel-good philosophy of protecting the young ones from war may work out fine in your company of level three and four soldiers. But when it comes to the heavy hitters...)

She shook her head

(We are the ones that sacrifice things to protect you.)

She turned to the girl standing by Maribel-san's side and nodded

(You want to protect us? With these people? Here's my tip: Get stronger) - The last part was like a whisper inside my head as Kuriko began to step away from them

(Because when the strong decide to put their lives on the line for something, the weak have no right to stop them.)

Finally, Kuriko turned her back to Maribel-san and shrugged

(And they say that the Brazilian Association is the fifth strongest esper community in the world...)

Before giving Maribel-san one last look over her shoulder.

(But I can clearly tell that it's not thanks to you)

"Kuriko!"

I exclaimed, but she paid no mind

(It's true and I will not apologize. The captain can punish me as he may seem fit, but what we did today was good... look over there.)

She pointed in the direction of a group who was bringing the fox youkai chained

"He's alive?!"

I asked, gripping my fist

(Of course, I also reversed him, right after you)

I turned to her enraged

"Why would you do that?!"

(Because he's a youkai leader with a lot of information about them and with the ability to turn into a divine beast. Prime research material)

I groaned between my teeth, Kuriko looked back at me

(You are mad, did you want to kill him that badly? Even knowing that what he'll go through in the facilities will be ten times worse than anything you could do?)

I nodded

"You wouldn't understand Kuriko... this guy... he killed our own"

Kuriko stared at me silently for a moment before giving up and shrugging

(You are right, I can't understand. I might seem cold to you, Tatseyo, but to me you are the one who needs to grow a bit more.)

I frowned at her

"You think I'm immature?"

She tilted her head

(A bit? Don't get me wrong, I like this adorably predictable side of yours)

"Adorably predictable?!" - I felt my face becoming red, it was the first time Kuriko had given me such a compliment... at least I think it was supposed to be one?

(Indeed, but you know... someone could try to take advantage of that)

"What?"

She shrugged

(Anyway, just be careful and don't let the lieutnant get to you, what we did today was good. We can never be like they want us to be.)

Kuriko said, before disappearing, leaving her words hanging on my head

I sighed as I watched the fox youkai being shoved into a cage and teleported away for interrogation

"Kageyama-dono, are you alright?"

I nodded

"Yes... I'm sorry, Maribel-san, for Kuriko... for what I did..."

I tried to apologize for the way we both acted, but she shook her head

"No, in a sense, Kuriko was right. I'm not... strong enough"

She said, looking at her own hand

"That's not true! You are very strong, Maribel-san, Ayumu and everyone else at the Community loves you, Kuriko is just... you know..."

She laughed a little

"Thank you Kageyama-dono. I still believe I need to become stronger to protect what I love and so people like you don't have to sacrifice themselves so much, but don't forget this."

Maribel placed both of her hands on my shoulders, at the time she was taller than me so I froze up looking up at her face

"You are not a weapon. You are a person, your feelings matter, you don't need to keep sacrificing yourself and chasing power everytime."

She patted my head

"The world is not on the shoulders of the strong, Tatseyo, so don't let Kuriko pressure you like that, okay?"

I remember feeling warm at her words and smiled while nodding

"Yes, thank you Maribel-san"

The captain approached us after the rest of the youkais that managed not to die were encaged

"Well, that will be all for today folks."

I nodded

"Now what? We prepare for war?"

I asked, the captain gave me a troubled look

"Honestly kid, after this mess the guys in the top will probably be foaming at the mouth for war, this might give us the excuse we need to invade, though it's not really sure"

Maribel-san looked at me, concerned

"You know that even if there is a full invasion you likely won't be participating after this, right?"

I nodded with a bitter expression, if the Esper Community decided to invade they would call on the stronger, more experienced troops. Even if I was called it would just stay on the back, not doing much.

"I don't really care about that, all I really want is to see this place free of youkais"

"Me and you both, but for now Kageyama, you can go back to base, me and the others will have a ton of paperwork to do after this, specially after Saiki's little show..."

"Will she punished?" - I asked, the captain and Maribel-san looked at each other

"Even if we were going to waste our time trying to punish one of our strongest members, do you really think it'd work?"

I scratched my head

"Yeah... likely not"

Kuriko isn't just strong, she also has contacts in high places of the Community, no one would punish her just for talking back to a superior, specially since she single handedly saved the forces up north.

"Well, so long as she's doing her job I don't think we can complain, that girl was always a tough nut. Honestly, all thr level fives I worked so far are..."

He looked back at me

"Not you, though, Kageyama, you are a good kid. A lot like your father, compared to the others you're a fucking angel..."

Then he tilted his head

"Well... not an angel literally, since we also kill those guys, but... ah, you get my point"

I laughed, but Maribel-san frowned at the captain's words

"Hey, what about Lady Tatsumaki?"

The captain scratched his cheek and looked back at me, as if unsure as to how he should answer

I sighed

"I know, okay? Mom isn't the easiest person to work with"

Maribel-san looks at me, pouting

"What you mean?! Lady Tatsumaki is a great comrade and an amazing leader!"

The captain rolled his eyes

"Maribel, I think you are literally the only person to ever work with her to think that this is true"

"Ehhh?"

We both laughed at Maribel's confused reaction, to the point where I almost forgot the bad feeling I was having and that wouldn't just go away

At the back of my head, I couldn't stop questioning why.

Why Kuriko stopped me?

Part 2

A few hours later, I had returned home, I thought mom and dad would want to talk to me about what happened

"Tatseyo?" - I heard mom's voice as she walked downstairs

"Hi mom"

She quickly rushed down and hugged

"Thank heavens! What took you so long? I was worried sick when you told me that things went sideways during the operation, what happened?"

I nodded

"Sorry, the medics wanted to check if everything was fine with me after... you know"

Mom shook her head with a disapproving stare

"A divine beast... frankly, how the hell did they not see that coming? Those guys are going to hear it from me, they just wait!"

I waved a hand

"There was no way we could tell it was going to happen mom, I was handing the situation fine. I managed to beat him too!"

My mom smiled and patted my shoulder

"Of course you did, you are my son, I wasn't expecting any less. But that was still dangerous, just wait untill your father hear about this, he's gonna be worried sick"

My eyes went wide when she mentioned father

"No, mom please don't tell him. He already hates when I go into dangerous missions, if he hears about this he'll freak out!"

She looked back at me

"Are you telling me to hide this from your father? Tatseyo, they sent me the report, you got mauled in there, it looks like you could have died"

I shook my head

"No, Kuriko was there mom, she would have intervened if things went really bad"

When I said this, mom raised an eyebrow so high I thought it was going to leave her face

"Wait a second, she was there, with you? You lost an arm and she didn't intervened? That wasn't in the report..."

I immediately felt myself freeze and slapped myself mentally

Of course it wasn't in the report

They buried it so it wouldn't look bad on Kuriko

"Tatseyo, what the hell really happened?"

She asked me with cold threatning eyes, I could only sigh in defeat

In the end I had to narrate to her how everything had gone through in excrutiating detail, I got compliments when I described how I fought the youkai in his normal form, a worried look at the part where I thought his divine beast form, but an extremely displeased look when I got to the end with Maribel-san and Kuriko's discusion

"Kuriko said that to Maribel?! The gall of that girl! When we meet again I'll-"

I raised my hand to stop her

"Mom, please don't."

She looked at me, surprised

"It's not worth to pick a fight over this... it's not like she was wrong after all..."

Her eyes were still determined, but mom thought for a moment and eventually gave out a sigh

"Son, that girl watched you fight tooth and nail and get ripped by a beast that she could easily defeat. What part of that wasn't wrong?"

I shook my head

"Not that... the thing about we needing to be more powerful"

Mom looked back at me with the same concern in her eyes as Maribel-san

"There are plenty of strong espers out there, you don't need to put yourself on the line to become stronger, there are also other ways."

I sighed

"You know that's not true mom, people like us... training will never be enough for us to reach our full potential, I mean, how many near death situations you went through to become like you are now?"

Mom hesitated for a moment

"You still don't have to hold this responsability alone"

She grabbed my hand and squeeze

"I know, but... I know you won't be here forever, neither will dad, but demons? Those things? They can live for... forever! Also how am I supposed to live with that? Not push myself because others will? What kind of excuse is that?"

Mom's eyes went wide and she seemed to not have an answer for that

I took a frustratred sigh

"I know the Community needs us, the world needs us... as many of us as there are. Kuriko was right, we are a small minority that needs to constantly get stronger to face threats like ultimate class demons and divine beasts like that, because trully, there are very few of us who can fight them. And we have no idea how many of them are..."

When I looked back at mom, she had a smile on her face and tapped the side of the couch where she was sitting

"Come here"

I gulped down and sat beside her, expecting to get scolded for the way I talked to her, but she just... patted my head...

"Uhm?" - I uttered, confused

Mom laughed a little and looked down at the floor

"You are speaking just like I did when I was younger. Before having you, before your dad..."

She had a sad look on her face for a moment before turning back to me.

"And you still turned out great." - I said, but mom shook her head

"When I was younger I was so focused on killing monsters and becoming more powerful that I barely had time for anything else. I didn't had close friends, the only person close to me was your aunt and I pushed everyone away... even your father."

I kept silent as she talked, mom had never told me this before

"R-really? Why?"

Mom opened her mouth for a moment, but gripped her hands on her dress and stopped

"My childhood was... difficult. Not very pleasant, that's why I never spoke to my parents before your father convinced me to."

I nodded, mom never speaks about her childhood, except that it was hard and she suffered a lot. I believe it was because grandma and grandpa were abusive, but she never gets into any details.

"I thought that it was my purpose in life to fight, I thought that was I making the world safer for Fubuki, safer for everyone. That was my happines, the reason I got out of bed every morning, I thought that if I was powerful enough, if I could kill just another monster, then the world would be safe... then I would be happy..."

She looked down with a bitter expression

"But I wasn't."

"Mom..." - I replied, unable to think of a proper answer

"I believed that power would make me happy, but it didn't. It was only when I met your father..."

The sad expression on her face began to turn into a smile as mom's eyes became distant, like she was relieving a far away memory

"What he said to me, what he did for me despite how horribly I treated him at first..."

She looked at me with a smile on her face

"He saved me son. And he didn't need his powers for that."

I smiled back

Indeed, father was a good man, a good dad, a good husband.

Father was good, there is no better way to describe him than that.

"And you know what happened? After I let my guard down? After we married? After I had you?"

I shook my head

Mom laughed and shrugged

"I became a softie, hahaha!"

I jumped back on my sit, surprised

"A softie?! What do you mean, you are awesome!"

I complimented her, but mom shook her head

"You bet I am! But I'm not talking about this..."

She grasped my hand with her own and looked at me in the eyes

"People use to say that having loved ones you want to protect makes you stronger, and while that did make me more determined and drive, it also made me more... careful"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion while mom continued

"For once I was afraid to die and not seeing you growing up, I wanted to get stronger to protect all of you but I also wanted to spend all my time with you and your father, not to mention, I became too much of a mom in heart... sometimes I wondered if the creatures we slayed had children, if they could families and feelings like our own."

This shocked me, mom thought like that?

"But they-"

Mom cutted me off

"I know, they are monsters, we don't have to care of even think about them, but it's useless..."

She tilted her head

"Sometimes I wonder how I would have been if I didn't met your father, if I hadn't you and the Community in my life. I probably would have become a lot stronger, more cold, with more time to hunt and fight any creatures that come crawling into our world."

I felt a squeeze on my hand as mom continued

"But I also would have been a lot less human."

"Less human? What?"

She laughed at my clueless question

"It's a paradox, the people we hold dear make us stronger, they make us wanna grow to protect them, but they also make us more kind, compassionate, fearful and that also makes us weaker in a way."

I nodded, starting to understand what she meant

"I love you and dad, I also like Ayumu and the Community, it's not like I'm lonely. So you don't have to worry, okay?"

I tried to reassure her, but mom looked at me with a complicated expression

"I know you are a good person with everyone's interests in mind. What worries me, Tatseyo, is that someday you'll be forced to choose between the love of those you hold dear and protecting those you hold dear. And you might make the wrong choice believing it to be the right one."

I frowned deeply at her statement

"And what is the right choice then? Can't I have both? Didn't you?"

Mom laughed and patted my hand before letting it go

"You can't understand it now, but someday you'll have someone you love... then I trust you'll be able to see the right way. Could you just keep one thing in mind?"

I nodded and mom looked at me with a serious expression

"The path of domination is a lonely road."

I scratched my head

"What?"

Mom waved her hand, but before I could inquire further

DING DONG

The sound of our doorbell rang

"Uh? Who is it?" - Mom asked and I rushed to the camera to see who it was

Upon seeing our visitor I immediately hit my face with my open palm

"Shoot! It's Ayumu! I forgot I promised to visit her after I dropped back home! She must have come to see how I am"

After I turned away from the camera to open the door, mom was standing at the hallway with a smug smile

"That girl has been coming here an awful lot these past years. Maybe you already found the one?"

I blushed heavily at her provocation

"We are friends!"

I stormed down the hall while mom giggled to herself

"Tachan!"

Ayumu exclaimed as she ran in my direction and hugged me

"I was super worried! Are you okay?"

I nodded

"Y-yeah, I'm alright, Kuriko really fixed me up"

Ayumu looked behind me and I turned to see my mom there

"L-Lady Tatsumaki?!"

She immediately realized that she hadn't let go out of me and jumped back, embarassed

My mom had the same smug smile stamped on her face

"Hi there, Yatsushiro-chan. I take my idiotic son already told you he almost got killed by a divine beast?"

Ayumu nodded, stiff as she always used to get when in my mother's presence

"Y-yes ma'am, I was so worried..."

Mom shook her head

"See, Tatseyo? You should have this in mind about this next time you think about little lady Kuriko's philosophy."

Ayumu looked at me confused

"Philosophy?"

Mom pointed at me with her chin

"Why don't you two go outside? I bet you got a lot to talk"

Ayumu's eyes went wide

"Really?! Let's go then!"

She grabs me by the hand and starts dragging me outside

"Thanky you Lady Tatsumaki!"

"A-ah, see you later mom!"

Ayumu makes me run after her through the garden before finally sitting down on a bench

"Did your really need to drag me all this way? Give me a break, I just survived a fight and it's pitch black out here!"

The invasion had begun at dusk, so by now the only thing illuminating our garden were the moon and the few lights spread about

"Also, aren't the teachers going to get worried if you aren't in your room?"

Ayumu shook her head

"I already askedd Maribel-sensei, she said she doesn't mind if I sleep here... Damnit, maybe I should have asked your mother first?"

She said, looking back at my house

"Mom's already used to you being with us, I'm sure she won't mind."

I felt my face get warmer as I remember all the teasing I suffered from mom everytime Ayumu slept at our house.

"Awesome!" - She exclaimed

"By the way, you talked with Maribel-san?"

Ayumu got a look of realization on her face

"Oh, yeah! When I was on my way out she had already returned, it was after you called me, but I still followed her untill she told me everything that happened."

She declared with a smile, I could only grieve for Maribel-san imagining how tired she must have been from the battle and the reports only to come back and get pestered by Ayumu, but I also felt curious.

"What she told you?"

Ayumu placed a finger under her chin and looked at the nightsky, pensative

"Uhh, well, she said you guys invaded Kyoto's youkai forest, everyone was doing great untill that great youkai showed up, you kicked it's butt untill it turned into a divine beast and you only managed to defeat it by a hair, then Kuriko showed up, put down the beast for good and healed you up"

I look up with a pensative look

"So that's what she said..."

In the end, Maribel-san completely hid the part where Kuriko was watching the fight unfold without doing anything because she wanted to see how I'd do.

Ayumu was looking back at me with a curious look on her face

"Is there something wrong?"

I looked at her and hesitated a bit

This would likely infuriate Ayumu even more than mom, but I didn't think it would be fair or even possible to keep hiding the truth from her.

"The thing is..."

I told her about the details that Maribel-san omited, everything, including the discussion that they had.

In the end, Ayumu's expression was much more of confusion than of anger

"W-what? I don't understand... to make you stronger?"

I nodded with a bitter expression

"Yes, it seems like that was what she wanted... to see if I was strong enough. She could have stopped the fight anytime she wanted, but according to her, that fight made me grow."

Ayumu bit her own lip, now anger had started to emerge on her face

"That fucking... why the hell would she do that?! Why did Maribel-sensei cover for-"

I raised a hand, telling her to stop

"Calm down, Ayumu, Maribel-san had her reasons. And as crazy as it sounds... I think Kuriko had hers too."

Ayumu frowned

"What you mean?"

I placed a hand against my forehead

"Kuriko is a powerful member of the Community, immensely valuable. Any charges against her would be treated with utmost care and discretion, do you really think it's worth pissing her off and putting the Community in a difficult situation just because she got into an argument with a superior?"

Ayumu shook her head fiercely

"But it wasn't just that! Tachan, she was watching you die!"

"No, she wasn't."

Ayumu seemed confused at my answer

"She... wasn't?"

I shook my head

"When I was about to strike down for good that... thing. Kuriko went down and stopped right at the nick of time. She would have done the same if it was me in that situation"

Ayumu shook her head

"Still... I don't agree with what she said. Maribel-sensei was right, you shouldn't put yourself on the line so much! There are others that can do that!"

I laughed, in a way she sounded like mom

"Are you telling me I should leave it to other people to risk their lives?"

To my surprise, Ayumu nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying"

My eyes went wide with her boldness

"Isn't that a bit selfish?"

And again, she nodded

"I can be selfish, I don't care. Other people aren't my best friend, other people didn't welcome me when I was desperate, other people aren't you."

I remember feeling my heart weight almost like a stone when Ayumu began saying that.

"I don't care if it's selfish, if you have to suffer and put yourself in front of death to get stronger then I prefer you to be weak... I'd prefer to live in shelter away from any danger if it meant you wouldn't have to risk your life"

I stared at Ayumu for a moment, feeling my heart heavy but tumping like a jackhammer.

I gave a nervous laugh while trying to hide it.

"HAhaha, you really didn't pulled back your punches, huh? Even mom didn't spoke like this..."

Ayumu tilted her head

"It's what I think, what did Lady Tatsumaki said?"

I scratched my head, confused about how to put it

"Well... I didn't really understand what she meant..."

I did my best to explain to her, using word by word what mom said. But in the end, Ayumu looked as confused as I was.

"Uuhhh, I don't really understand?"

I nodded

"Yeah... I didn't really get it too..."

Ayumu placed a hand under her chin

"I think it's like: If you had to choose between becoming someone different to protect those you love or being by those people's side even if it meant you'd be weaker and unable to protect everyone, what would you choose?"

I felt my own eyes wide with Ayumu's interpretation

"That makes... a lot of sense actually?"

Ayumu looked at me

"Hey! Why do you put it like you are surprised I said something that made sense?!"

I laughed

"Sorry, sorry, but what you said made way too much sense, but... what would you choose?"

Ayumu looked confused, her previous determination fading

If mom hadn't met dad, if she didn't had our family, then maybe she would be stronger and less merciful, maybe she would have reached her dream of being able to protect everyone. But maybe she would be less happy, less... human?

"Uhm... to protect you or be by your side?"

She seemed to think hard for a moment to the point I could almost see steam coming out of her ears.

Eventually she gave up and threw her arms behind her head

"Ah, I don't know! But I don't think there'll ever come a time where I have to save you, so I'd definitely choose to be by your side and remain myself!"

Ayumu hugged my arm and I laughed

"I wouldn't want you to change anyway, Ayumu."

I smiled at Ayumu, but then turned my face to look at the moon on the sky and the smile on my face fadded

But what about me?

What would I choose?

VOOSH

I was so lost in thought that I barely heard the noise of the air being filled right next to us

We look to the sides and standing right next to us in our garden was a dark blue haired girl wearing an uniform

I recognized the girl and immediately stood up

"Akiyama?! What the hell?!"

Ayumu also looked shocked at the beautiful girl that just appeared out of nowhere, but barely had time to answer before the girl looked at us and shouted

"Kageyama! You need to come with me, now! The fox has breached containment!"

Her words hit me immediately and I almost jump back

"What?! How?!"

She shook her head, her long hair waving in the wind

"No time to explain! I actually came here to get Lady Tatsumaki, but if it's the two of us then it'll be enough!"

Akiyama-san rushed to my side and grabbed me by the shoulder

"Wait! I'm going too!"

Ayumu ran over to us and I immediately shook my head

"No way! It's too dangerous!"

"All the more reason for me to be with you!"

Akiyama stomped her foot on the grass

"We don't have time for this! We need all the help we can get!"

She exclaimed and before I could protest we had both already been teleported to the entrance to one of the Esper Community's containment facilities, the sirens were blaring and the warning of breached containment could be heard

"The inside of the facility is warded against spatial interference, so this is a far as I can teleport us"

I looked at the thick gate in front of us and cursed

"Fuck! It's going to take too long for us to get to where he is!"

"Not if we can help!"

A soldier in the facility called out to us

"Thank god you've arrived! I sent a warning to the Central, you must be Kageyama and Akiyama, right? But... who's she?"

He pointed to Ayumu, but I shook my head

"There's no time to explain! We gotta get down there before that thing breaks any other creatures out of their cells or before he kills anyone else!"

The man nodded

"Don't worry, all personal below level 4 has been evacuated, I'll open the doors so you can rush through the facility."

"Where is he right now?" - I asked

"Still hasn't left minus four, we have managed to trap him there, but I don't think it'll hold long. The teleporters have also been deactivated, so you'll have to run there."

I frowned and look at Ayumu and Akiyama

"Then let's go"

They nod

"Yes!"

"Good luck! Soon more reinforcements should arrive!"

The staff member yelled as the three of us descend towards the place where the youkai was being held

When we arrived, there were groups of espers guarding barricades around the place

"You arrived!" - One of the soldiers exclaimed

I looked beyond the fortification hoping to see or at least to hear something, most likely the fox trying to tear the facility down to escape

But instead... there was silence

We looked between each other, waiting for a noise, but again... nothing

Absolute silence, not even the alarms were blaring down there.

"It's... quiet?"

The soldier also nodded, looking nervously to the back of the facility

"We also notted that, the subject has ceased movement a while ago. It somehow managed to deactivate the security protocols placed on him and we don't know what it might be attemtping to do, but we have sealed the place, it's not going anywhere"

I nodded, Akiyama-san and Ayumu also seemed apprehensive

"Is anybody else coming?" - He asked and Akiyama nodded

"The higher ups are worried, other members are going to arrive soon"

She then turned to me

"Should we wait?"

I shook my head

"No, I'm going to finish this, right here right now"

I stepped up, walking forward

"You coming with me?"

Akiyama nodded and walked by my side

"Of course, I've been wanting to fight that thing ever since I heard about it"

Ayumu also walked forward and before I could say anything, she exclaimed

"Don't even try to stop me! I'm not staying behind while you go fight that thing"

I hesitated for a moment, but eventually relented

"I get it, just stay behind us... please"

I pleaded with Ayumu and she reluctantly agreed in staying behind me and Akiyama-san

"Are you sure that it's here?"

Ayumu asked and Akiyama nodded

"There's no way he'd be able to avoid the surveillance and tracking devices

"Akiyama-san is right, he's definitely here, can't you feel his presence?"

My redhead friend closed her eyes and tried to focus

"Ohh, yeah! I can feel it!" - She replies, a little too loud

"Shhh!"

Akiyama-san ordered, placing a hand over Ayumu's mouth

"Sorry..."

Ayumu replied, embarassingly scratching her head

We followed the energy, carefully stepping our way as to not make noise, untill we could finally see it

Sitting down on a seiza position with his eyes closed, he didn't seemed to be moving, to the point I almost thought he could have died.

But then, he spoke

"Ah, so you're finally here"

Standing up, the fox looked at us and then locked his eyes on me

"I'd never forget an energy like yours, is the pink girl not here?"

I shook my head

"We are enough to handle you"

Akiyama-san is a level 5, a member of the majestic youth.

With our combined strength, even if he turns into that beast again, we're going to win.

"That's what those two guys said..."

Ayumu tilted her head

"Two guys?"

For a moment I was confused, untill realization hitted me and my eyes went wide with his statement.

"What did you say?!"

The fox gave a sad smile

"You heard me, I don't think there's any reason to hide anymore, those two guys you said I killed..."

He sighed

"I did it..."

I winced back in surprise at this unexpected confession

Ayumu and Akiyama also seemed surprised

"Y-you..." - Ayumu stuttered

"Why are you telling us this now?"

Akiyama frowned at him and the fox shrugged

"I'm just letting it all out, after all... I'm not making out of here alive, am I?"

I could feel the aura coming from his body, it was... as strong as before?

Only then I realized something...

He had no wounds at the time.

After Kuriko reversed his injuries like she did with me this would be normal.

But before going to cointanment they definitely interrogated him, there's no way they didn't hurt him

Who healed him after that? Why would they heal him?

Me and Akiyama took the front, with Ayumu on the back summoning her flames

"It's three of you now? Who are these beautiful ladies?"

"Shut up murderer! It's due time you got what you deserve!"

She raised her sword towards the fox and suddenly, the whole place started to tremble

"Akiyama-san! Stop!"

I immediately shut her down

"We're all angry, but this would destroy the facility! Look around!"

Akiyama is very powerful, stronger than me, specially at the time.

When she goes all out her capacity for destruction is immense, pratically limitless taking in consideration her skill. But in a place like this, destruction is definitely a thing to avoid

For a moment, she seemed annoyed at my warning, but looked around at the other creatures being held and nodded

"Fine, tsk"

She declared with anger, but eventually pointed upwards

"Hey, Kageyama, think you can fight in there?"

I looked upwards, towards the roof of the facility and smiled

"Leave it to me."

I turned to the fox, who was smilling at me, but didn't took a fighting stance, simply gesturing for me to go already

"So... what are you waiting for?"

I squinted my eyes, suspicious, what was he planning?

"Akiyama-san"

"Yes."

Suddenly, the pull on the room shifted

"W-what?!"

The fox screams as he suddenly finds himself falling towards the roof as if he had just been throw off a cliff

I also found myself darting right after him towards the roof

"Ayumu!"

"Right here!"

Jets of fire were shot, the guardian braced himself, thinking the flames were for him, but I used my telekinesis to direct them towards the roof that the fox was about to land

"Go to hell!"

The fox tried to fly away with it's rings of fire, but it just kept "falling" upwards untill finally hitting the sea of flames Ayumu had created

"Aghhhh!"

The fox screamed, even if he could protect himself, the heat of Ayumu's fire will hurt

Realizing he couldn't escape Akiyama's power and fly away from the burning roof, he started trying to put down the flames

"Too late!"

I shouted, shooting a blast of energy at him, already preparing against his counter-attack

But...

"AGHHHHHHHHH!"

"What?"

He... didn't dodge

Instead, the attack hits him head on, almost breaking the ceiling

I stared in disbelieve at the fox laying down on a crater at the roof

How...

VOOOOSH

I landed on the roof, using my telekinesis to extinguish Ayumu's flames and grabbed the fox by his neck

"You! What the hell are you doing?"

The guardian gave a pained smile, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth

"Well, looks like getting my butt kicked"

I frowned at his little joke and punched the side of his face

"Say it! Why are you holding back?!"

The fox coughed blood with a smirk on his face

"Sorry kid, don't know what you're talking about"

As if to prove his point, the guardian threw a kick at my side that pushed me away from him

"Now... will you avenge your companions or what?"

I closed my fist and jumped in his direction, this time, the fox dodged my attack and answered with his own fire

I blocked the fire and shot my own aura, the youkai was hit and blocked the attack with his arms, once again I went on his direction, but this time there was a silhouette behind him

"Akiyama!"

The fox turned back, surprised, I expected him to do something, but again, he didn't move...

A small dark object hit the creature's arm and it flattened like a pancake before his very eyes

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The creature howled in pain and jumped back, only to be caught by Ayumu, who had jumped to the roof and blasted the creature with a wave of fire

Now the three of us were surrounding the badly beaten youkai, who was laying on the roof of the facility due to Akiyama's power

I walked towards him and lifted the youkai again

"What are you doing?!"

The guardian smiled and formed a sigil on his remaining hand

"I don't have to explain nothing to you, kid"

A wave of powerful fox fire came forward and I had to let go from him in order to dodge

With enough distance, the guardian fox started to draw symbols on the ceiling with blood from his destroyed arm

"What are you doing?!"

I asked, the creature looked at me and smiled

"Tearing this place down, once it's completed this whole floor will break"

My eyes went wide with this declaration

The entire floor?! If that happens, the creatures from the containment units from this floor would...

"STOP!"

I barely had time to hear Akiyama-san scream this before I was instinctively launching myself forward against the creature

"YOU WON'T!"

Using my telekinesis I managed to force him down and fly in his direction

My fist smashed into his face and I could hear the bones from his jaw shatter

But still, the guardian didn't give up, raising his aura and pointing a hand at me

"Only... one of us... is walking out of this... alive, kid"

A jet of flames was shot at me from point blank range

I answered with my own wave of aura pushing his power back at him

The already wounded fox barely resisted as my aura enveloped him and took him over

"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"

The intense heat and energy being released from the clash of our attacks also damaged me significantly, my arm began to burn and I could as if my body was being dragged on asphalt

But I kept pressuring it, unwielding, not letting it go

Untill my hands were on it's throat

He had killed two of our own...

He had confessed it in front of us...

He deserved this.

SLASH

All it took was one swift movement.

I stood up

In the end, his charred body was left on the ground, unrecognizable

I was panting, tired.

Holding the youkai's head on my hands.

"I... I did it..."

I heard footsteps behind me

"Tachan! You defeated him!"

I could hear Ayumu's voice, but I couldn't look away from the head I had just decapitated.

"Yes, I... killed him"

I remember feeling a rush of relieve and happiness at seeing the body of the dead guardian, but also of doubt and apprehension.

"Good job Kageyama, you finally got rid of this trash. The Community will be pleased"

I nodded at Akiyama's compliment, finally letting the head drop, rolling over next to the body.

"Thanks, but... something feels wrong"

"Uh?" - I heard Ayumu question

"What could it be?"

Akiyama-san questioned and I looked back at my own hands

"This was... too easy"

I remembered my fight back at the forest

Compared to that, this had been a cakewalk

Even with Akiyama-san and Ayumu's help, it felt way too easy

"Uhhh? Well, Akiyama and me were with you so maybe it's because of that?"

"No, he's right."

Akiyama-san replied to Ayumu

"I've read the report, there were other level four espers in the forest and even Maribel-sensei was barely able to scratch this youkai. Even with the three of us combined I feel like Kageyama is right, this feels like it was too easy"

She sighed and approached the lifeless body of the guardian

"How did he even managed to break free in the first place? His containment unit was supposed to be max security and he should have been interrogated."

I placed a hand under my chin

"Even if he was able to heal, maybe he didn't recover his full energy. Transforming into a divine beast must also have significantly drained his life force..."

Ayumu nodded

"I see... that must have been it then"

Akiyama-san seemed to agree, but wasn't fully convinced

"Still... we're gonna have to report this"

Both me and Ayumu agreed

Akiyama returned the gravity to normal and we both went back to the floor, along with the youkai's corpse and disembodied head.

In the end, the higher-ups decided to not invade Kyoto

The youkai that had declared himself guilty was killed and his army had been captured.

The unification party used this as an opportunity to cancel all possible plans for an invasion

To some, this was a victory, to others, a bitter defeat that denied them a chance for vengeance.

The escape was blamed on a faulty seal, though when I questioned who had healed him before our fight, no answer was given.

Me, Ayumu and Akiyama got a medal for our services, for defeating the youkai while stopping him from releasing any other non-humans.

But to me, it didn't felt good...

It didn't made sense...

How he was holding back, how he was acting before I killed him.

It was almost like... he wanted to die.

Back to today, Ayumu places her hand on my shoulder

"There was nothing you could have done, Tachan"

I shake my head

"No... I should have tried to dig further into the truth..."

What in the world happened in that facility?

Did it had something to do with the situation we are in now?

And most important, who did that? And why?

A shade of pink appeared in my mind and I place a hand against my forehead

It could be... as much as I fear the possibility, she's the only one that makes sense.

But... why?

Afterword: Alright! I had a lot of fun writting this chapter, I really hope you guys enjoyed it, please give me your feedback.

I would have posted this one earlier, but I made the "explanation chapter" along with this one in order for it to make sense.

That's right, everything that happened between the guardian being captured and Tatseyo fighting him for the last time has already been written and I don't wanna sound boastful, but I think I did a pretty good job with it. So look forward to it!