Himiko’s laughter rang out, cold and mocking. "What's the matter? Your precious Infinite Void not working? Did you really think I wouldn’t prepare for that, foolish girl?" With a taunting grin, she sprouted two additional arms and delivered a barrage of lightning-fast punches to Nanashi's midsection.
Nanashi’s mind raced, tightening her abs to absorb the blows. With quick thinking, she yanked Himiko close, delivering a skull-shattering headbutt that left her opponent dazed. Without hesitation, she gripped Himiko’s arm, crushing the bone with terrifying strength, and hurled her towards the earth with a force that made the ground tremble as if struck by a god.
Not content to leave her foe vanquished, Nanashi ascended higher into the sky. With a swift motion, she lifted her mask, revealing a face carved with determination. Her hands blurred through a series of signs, and a red light began to glow within her, rising from her belly, through her chest, and into her mouth. As she exhaled, the light transformed into a massive fireball, illuminating the entire city with a blinding radiance. The searing heat was so intense, it evaporated all liquid within a 300-meter radius, as if the very sun had descended to earth.
Sasuke, guiding the villagers to safety, spun around in alarm. He slammed his hands onto the ground, summoning a formidable force field around the city just in time. The firestorm washed over the barrier like a tidal wave, its heat so intense that the air inside began to cook. But then, a gentle, cooling breeze swept over everyone, lulling them into a peaceful sleep.
When the inferno finally subsided, Sasuke looked around in horror. The once lush forest surrounding the city had been reduced to a charred wasteland, stripped bare and blackened by the flames.
"Boy, her sensei has his work cut out for him," Sasuke mumbled, shaking his head.
"I know. She always leaves a mess. A real headache, I tell you," a familiar voice chimed in.
Sasuke whirled around. "Tengu? You're here?"
"Indeed. I arrived at the village to find it deserted. My magic led me to you guiding the villagers through the city when all this chaos erupted."
"The villagers!" Sasuke exclaimed, suddenly scanning the area frantically.
Tengu raised a calming hand. "Worry not. I've taken care of them. When they wake, this will feel like nothing more than a dream. Everything will be restored as if nothing ever happened."
Sasuke's brow furrowed. "You can still do that after giving her half your power?"
A mischievous glint appeared in Tengu's eye. "Funny story, that. It seems when she healed us all in the forest, she not only mended my infirmities but also restored most of my power as the former guardian. So, don't you dare question my abilities, for I am Tengoku, blessed by the heavens with light and wisdom and all knowledge of the planes of—"
"Sensei! Sensei!" Nanashi's voice cut through the air as she waved frantically from above.
Hajimo let out a heavy sigh. "She won't even let you sing your own praises," he grumbled before plastering on a bright smile. "Nanashi, my dear student! How do you fare?"
"I am well, thank you—“
"Silence!"
Nanashi's words were cut short by a horrifying sight. What remained of Himiko rose from the scorched earth – a nightmarish fusion of charred flesh and exposed bone. Her lower half had melted into the ground, forcing her to stand like a macabre tombstone. The air grew thick with the stench of burning flesh and ancient malice.
Himiko's voice rasped, each word dripping with venom. "You think you've defeated me? You – a gutter rat who once roamed the streets, more corpse than child? Born from a disease-ridden whore?"
As she spoke, countless orbs materialized – each one a trapped soul wailing in agony. They swarmed towards Himiko, drawn into her ruined form. With each absorbed spirit, her body began to knit itself back together in a grotesque display.
"You dare challenge me?" Himiko's voice grew stronger, more monstrous. "I dragged you from the filth. I moulded you, taught you everything. I made you a princess, the wife of an empress!" Her laughter was like breaking glass. "But you can't hide what you truly are. Take the girl from the slums, but the slums remain in her bones."
Before their eyes, Himiko's form swelled and twisted. She towered above them, a colossal figure with navy blue skin stretched taut over rippling muscle. Multiple arms sprouted from her torso, each one grasping a deadly weapon. Her hair writhed like smoke, framing a face contorted with hatred.
Most horrifying of all was the necklace adorning her thick neck – not jewels, but the severed heads of men, their faces frozen in eternal anguish. Gold bands and bracelets clinked ominously as she moved, a mockery of royal finery on this abomination.
Himiko unleashed a scream that shook the very foundations of the earth. Her serpentine tongue lashed out, tasting the air as her eyes – burning with inhuman malevolence – fixed upon Nanashi.
“Finally, you’ve decided to reveal your true form. I guess I have no choice but to go all out too. Sorry, Sensei, but I’m going to have to break the promise of keeping the mask on.”
“Will you be alright with it off?” Hajim asked, concern etched on his face.
“Worry not, I’ve had enough time to get it under a little control. Sasuke, just keep that force field up a little longer, until I’m done. Then my dear sweet Sensei can clean up afterwards,” she said, dropping the mask into the field.
Hajimo caught the mask and examined it. “I could make this fancier.” he mused.
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“I think so too.” Nanashi replied.
What followed was a metamorphosis of cosmic proportions. Nanashi's skin shifted, not merely darkening but becoming a living void, an obsidian canvas that seemed to devour light itself. Veins pulsed beneath the surface, first a searing crimson before erupting into a kaleidoscope of hues that danced across her form like auroras.
At the center of her chest, reality itself seemed to tear open. A perfect circle materialized, revealing an abyss so profound it made the darkest night seem radiant by comparison. Onlookers felt drawn to its endless depth, their very souls teetering on the edge of oblivion.
Four tails unfurled behind her, each one a testament to power beyond mortal comprehension. Her hair, once merely strands, now blazed with ethereal black flames. Within those dark infernos, pinpricks of white light glimmered like countless stars, as if entire galaxies had been woven into her very being.
Razor-sharp talons extended from her fingers, capable of rending the fabric of existence itself. Twin horns, small yet impossibly intricate, sprouted from her forehead—a crown befitting an eldritch empress.
But it was Nanashi's eyes that truly captivated and terrified. They blazed with a radiance so pure, so absolute, that it seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, laying bare the deepest secrets of those who dared meet her gaze.
Himiko, despite years of training and exposure to the extraordinary, found herself retreat several steps. Awe and terror warred within her as she beheld the being that had once been her student. When she finally managed to speak, her words emerged as a whisper, laden with both wonder and concern.
“What, have you done to yourself, this goes further than we both have ever intended.”
“I need not for your concern, it is time to end this.”
The air crackled with electric tension as Himiko lunged, her blade singing through the air. But before steel could meet flesh, reality itself seemed to ripple. The sword, along with Himiko's arms, simply ceased to exist—vanishing as if erased from the cosmic canvas.
Undeterred, Himiko attacked again, only to witness her remaining limbs fade into nothingness. Blood cascaded from her wounds, but instead of horror, a manic glee danced in her eyes.
"Fool!" Himiko cackled. "You know what happens when I bleed!"
Nanashi's voice resonated with otherworldly calm. "Indeed. Your clones arise."
As if summoned by her words, miniature versions of Himiko sprouted from the crimson pools. Yet Nanashi remained unfazed, her cosmic gaze piercing through the deception.
"But you cannot regenerate," she stated, her words carrying the weight of irrefutable truth.
Panic flashed across Himiko's face as she futilely attempted to regrow her arms. "No matter," she spat, false bravado barely masking her fear. "I have my clones, my blood powers!"
With a mere snap of her fingers, Nanashi unraveled reality once more. The clones blinked out of existence, leaving only the maimed Himiko.
Desperate, Himiko contorted her body, willing her blood to form razor-sharp shards. They rained down... on empty space. Himiko's triumphant smile froze as she realized her grievous error.
In a blur of motion too fast for mortal eyes, Nanashi seized Himiko's pinkie toe. The world became a dizzying whirlwind as Nanashi wielded her opponent like a ragdoll, smashing her against the ground with earth-shattering force. With a final, graceful spin, she hurled Himiko skyward, the former teacher rocketing past the atmosphere.
Nanashi pursued, her form streaking through the stars like a comet of divine retribution.
Floating in the void, Himiko's eyes widened in realization. "This... this is the end."
"You always yearned for the stars." Nanashi's voice echoed in the vacuum of space. "Now, you shall become one."
On her fingertip, a minuscule black flame danced—no larger than a dandelion seed, yet containing the fury of a dying sun.
"This," Nanashi intoned, "is just enough to unmake you."
With a delicate flick, the cosmic ember struck Himiko's core. Space itself warped and twisted, a voracious singularity blooming within her. Himiko's form distorted, stretched, and finally imploded in a burst of otherworldly radiance.
For a heartbeat, the Earth's sky blazed with ethereal light, as if a new constellation had been born and snuffed out in an instant.
Nanashi descended, the aura of cosmic power still clinging to her form. Hajimo tossed her the mask, which she donned with practiced ease. As Sasuke lowered the force field, Nanashi touched down beside them, her presence a reminder of the thin veil between the mundane and the extraordinary.
"Whoa, Tengu, you've really outdone yourself this time," Sasuke exclaimed, his eyes wide with awe. Then, a sudden realization struck him. "Wait, you killed Himiko... but where's Akiza?"
Nanashi's voice, though weary, carried a hint of triumph. "No need to worry. Raj was dropping hints about her location all along. Come, follow me." She turned to Hajimo, her otherworldly eyes softening. "Sensei, can you handle the whatever this is? I'm... exhausted. I need rest."
Hajimo's lips curled into a knowing smile. “Was I ever going to refuse?”
"That's my Sensei!" Nanashi beamed, then called out, "Oi, Sasuke, bring Sunzune along too."
Sasuke nodded, bending down to scoop up both Sunzune and Shipp.
"Hey, hey!" Nanashi protested, waving her arms dramatically. "Can't we leave him behind?"
"No," Sasuke replied, his tone flat and unyielding.
“Argh!” Nanashi groaned, waving her arms erratically.
“I hate to interrupt, but don’t we need to find someone?” Sasuke interjected.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
"Then why are you just standing there? Come on!" Nanashi urged, her voice low but insistent, as she took off running toward the largest, most infamous brothel in Fukuoka.
"A brothel?" Sasuke questioned, his brow furrowing.
"Yes, and I bet she's hidden somewhere close to the kitchen, maybe in a cabinet or a case." Nanashi replied, her voice tinged with certainty.
With quiet determination, Nanashi slipped into the brothel, her steps swift and precise as she navigated the narrow corridors. She moved through the kitchen like a shadow, opening every cabinet, searching every nook with an urgency born of instinct. But it wasn’t until she reached the storage room that she paused, a subtle smile creeping across her lips. There, nestled in one of the wine containers, was Akiza, sleeping soundly.
Nanashi carefully lifted her out, cradling her in her arms. "How peacefully you sleep when you know you are loved by me." she whispered, her voice soft and tender. A smile blossomed on Akiza’s face, as if she could feel the warmth even in her slumber.
Moments later, Sasuke appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide with a mix of surprise and admiration. "Did you… how did you know?" he asked, his voice hushed.
"Because this is where she first found me," Nanashi replied, her tone a mixture of nostalgia and quiet sadness. "And with all her talk about my mother being a prostitute, I figured this is where she would hide her. But where’s Suzune, the other one?"
"I found the closest bed and put her there," Sasuke admitted.
"Eww, no, Sasuke!" Nanashi grimaced, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "Go get her off that bed, now! But before you go, bring me the dirtiest, wettest cloth from that laundry basket."
"Why?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I want to rub it in Shippo’s face," she said with a mischievous grin.
"No. Just come out at once," Sasuke ordered, his tone firm, leaving no room for argument.
"Hai," Nanashi replied, pouting as she dragged her feet.
Once Sasuke had gathered Suzune and Shippo, he transformed into his fox form, ready to leave. Nanashi followed, still grumbling under her breath about her thwarted plans, but the warmth of Akiza's smile lingered in her heart, softening her mood.
Not knowing that her blast that ended Himiko’s life, broke a seal off an ancient prison, buried deep beneath the icy plains of Antarctica , an malevolent being, of chaos, destruction and vanity, father of the legendary and mystical Archons, the self-proclaimed supreme god- Yaldabaoth.