If this fight continued at its current pace, Futakuchi-Onna would be dead within the hour. Not only did she have to fight Hana in her Mindspace, but she had to focus on these children on the outside as well! Despite fighting at a respectable Level 317, these three were unrelenting. The Galerose girl and the Burnish boy both fought with a hunger in their eyes that Futakuchi had wanted to see out of Hana for years. That Rui boy was no different – even as he fell out of the black cloud sky and rejoined the fight –, but their hunger was nothing to that Yugo’s.
He fought Futakuchi like she was her most bitter enemy! If she let her eyes off him for a second, he very well could knock her head clean off with a single strike. That wasn’t much of a surprise given his parentage, though. Futakuchi recalled the first time she ever met Yugo, back when he was still an arrogant little boy hiding behind his older brother and she was still possessing some fool who’d attempted to steal her legendary weapon. She’d spoken with Yugo and his brother briefly, though her main goal of that outing had been to catch up with her sister Yuki. She had nothing but kind words for the boys, but she’d been quite scathing about their Clan. Terrible things happened in that place. Her sister had been forced to commit horrible atrocities due to her Contractor. The thought of it always drove Futakuchi to rage, and if the brief conversation she had with Yugo about it was anything to go by, he felt even more strongly about it all than she did.
They’re all connected. Yuki. Yugo. Rui. I can’t let Hana get roped into this.
This world was going to change, and these four were going to be the ones who changed it. In a perfect world, she’d have liked to strengthen Saikou and isolate it from the rest of Minashire to ensure her people’s safety. In the real world, though, the Will of God was stronger than Futakuchi would ever be. There was a reason these four were in Saikou and not some other faction. Watching Hana develop and grow into her own woman reminded Futakuchi of the joys of motherhood. That very maternal instinct was what now drove her to do everything in her power to ensure her descendant’s safety. If Hana was to be part of whatever was coming to Minashire, it was Futakuchi’s responsibility to make sure her descendant was fully prepared.
Shuten Douji, a newer iteration of the Oni King Futakuchi had been rivals with in her era, entered the battlefield with a collection of powerful Oni pouring out of the Tiger Lily Hotel behind him. Futakuchi cursed her lack of strength. In her heyday, she’d have killed all of them without breaking a sweat. Well, maybe not Yugo, but certainly the others. Now, though, she was forced to lick her wounds and retreat. She shapeshifted into a bat, dodging one of Rui’s aura-laced punches and flying for Onna Castle. She’d asked the Honor Guard to remain on standby before her trip to the Tiger Lily Hotel, and now it was time to organize her assault.
”Honor Guard!” Futakuchi Onna shouted.
“Shogun!” Her soldiers chanted.
Onna Castle was one of Futakuchi-Onna’s most prized possessions. The central structure – the actual castle – was a multi-story building with red walls and curved white roofs. The castle was surrounded by wooden houses built as smaller-scale versions of the main castle where the Honor Guard currently resided. At the back end of Onna Castle was a Teleporter Room built by Futakuchi’s late husband, a master aura manipulator who built the unassuming wooden building by hand to allow for easy access to the downtown district from the Castle.
Futakuchi stood before her Honor Guard in the main atrium of the central structure. It looked like a larger version of Hana’s Mindspace, except the walls here were tainted by photos of Shoguns that weren’t her kin.
“This is the day we have trained for! They threaten your Shogun. Threaten your home! Will you stand for it?”
“We will not stand for it!”
Futakuchi gauged the conviction in their words and faces. Some of these men and women indeed were loyal to her. Others were simply loyal to Saikou and saw this as their opportunity to protect their home. That was fine with her. What wasn’t fine with her was the third group, the leeches who saw joining the Honor Guard as their opportunity to carry out whatever sick fantasy they had in their head. In times past, she’d have killed them for abusing the power bestowed upon them. All it took was one example and that’d never happen again. What’d changed? She knew what’d changed. Her ambition. Not that she lacked it, rather she’d been so blinded by her drive to strengthen Hana that she’d neglected to keep her soldiers in line.
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Futakuchi’s Honor Guard shuffled about, grouping up as they prepared to leave for the battlefield. When she overheard one of the men speaking animatedly about killing Oni and forcing a Contract out of one, that was when she decided enough was enough. She didn’t need people like this in her empire. And if Hana managed to successfully terminate their Contract, Futakuchi didn’t want men like this close to her either.
“Is this the extent of your ambition? Reckless savagery?” Futakuchi chastised, making no effort to hide her annoyance as she seized the man by the wrist.
The Honor Guard smiled. He was a scrawny man no stronger than that Burnish boy with black hair and crooked teeth. “I need power if I’m going to serve you properly, Shogun.”
“To serve me, or your own lust?!”
Futakuchi used her Leech ability, draining every last drop of life from the man without caution or grace. The Honor Guard’s screams grew more hoarse and hollow as his body shriveled like a rotten twig. Futakuchi tossed the man’s body to the ground and crushed it beneath her boot. Every eye in the room was on her now, watching with fear as she took the stage once again.
She roused the soldiers in the room, giving them a speech about the morals and tenets she expects the Honor Guard to uphold. It filled her with pride to see many of them react positively to her words, but there were a few like that man she’d just killed who poorly hid their indifference. In their eyes was unmistakable bloodlust. Bloodlust that she’d fostered in her reckless pursuit to rebuild and fortify her empire and strengthen Hana. Her descendant had noticed this before she had, hadn’t she? She’d noticed and felt unable to do anything about it.
This is my mess, not her’s. I’ll clean it up myself.
Futakuchi called every bloodthirsty Honor Guard to her. “I need you all to pursue that man with the black hair, Yugo. If he isn’t alone, isolate him and execute him.”
She knew she was sending them to their deaths, as was her intention. Yugo wasn’t Yuki’s blood sun, Futakuchi knew, but they’d spent enough time around one another that he must have her moral compass. If not, why would he be here? There was one Honor Guard in particular whose eyes lit up at the mention of Yugo, but Futakuchi paid no mind to the man. He’d be dead by the end of the night.
As for the others, she organized small groups to pursue the “Seekers” individually. Futakuchi had faith in her Honor Guard to defeat those children, but the Will of God was impartial. If it was meant to be that her Honor Guard lost tonight, then so be it. This would be a motivating night for them, the ones who survived at least. If they had any pride at all, they’d use this loss as motivation to train harder than ever. And if Futakuchi survived, she’d make sure to train them into the ground.
Once the groups were finalized, Futakuchi stepped into the Teleporter Room to return to the Tiger Lily Hotel. The room was built to be unassuming. It was a wooden shed with tools strewn about and a notepad on a desk at the far wall. She wrote her destination into the aura-enchanted pad and was enveloped by white light. When the aura vanished, she was in the same location behind the Tiger Lily where she’d recently been fighting the Seekers.
As she’d expected, they were no longer there. She did, however, sense Oni inside of the Tiger Lily. This place must’ve been their base within Saikou. If she destroyed it, it’d throw a wrench in their operation. Besides, she could make this place a castle! Should Saiku be in danger in the future, it was foolish to live so far from the center of the Prefecture.
Futakuchi summoned her Mythical Weapon but was suddenly brought to her knees without warning. The fight against Hana raged on in their shared Mindspace, and Hana was improving rapidly with her combat ability. She’d be proud if it wasn’t so debilitating. More proud, rather.
At any rate, Futakuchi twirled her weapon in her hand and charged it with aura. She’d split the Tiger Lily in half with one swift–
“Futakuchi-Onna!” A familiar, grating voice sounded from beyond the destroyed section of the city wall.
Rui Payne, the Curse boy who’d motivated Hana to fight against her, ran at her with a hand wrapped around a sword hilt on his waist. He was dressed like an Oni wearing a black and white hakama and charged at her like he truly believed he stood a chance!
Well, with how split my concentration is…
Futakuchi sneered at him, hiding the embers of doubt she truly felt. “That’s Shogun Onna to you, Curse!”