“I thought I put up a do not disturb sign.” Ugoki scoffed, “Now die.” He spat and thurst his hand forwards aiming for Sakashimas chest.

Otsuga recognized the attack immediately, it was something he’d created, the [Water Dragon Spear]. Ugoki would rip Sakashima's heart out from his chest.

“Sakashima!” Otsuga roared trying to stop Ugoki. He could only watch as Ugokis thick meaty fingers got closer to Sakashimas chest. Too fast for Otsuga to stop but slow enough for him to see every second of it.

“Is that all you got?” Sakashima snorted.

“!?” Ugoki grunted in surprise as Sakashima flipped over him and swung his cutlass. [颱切: Typhoon Slicer Extension Technique Spidersweb]

Ugoki was assaulted by a barrage of cuts which covered his body in a grid like pattern making blood spray everywhere. “What the hell!?” He yelped in pain.

“What’s wrong big guy!? Too quick for you?!” Sakashima laughed, landing next to Otsuga and standing proud.

“Glad to see you’re still kicking even though you look terrible.” Otsuga joked, nudging Sakashima.

“The more Im hurt the stronger I get. You know that.” Sakashima snickered in response.

Ugoki turned around the cuts which covered his body now closed and the scars which took their place too began to fade. “I’ll rip you limb from limb for that.” He grinned.

# # #

Guro fell to the ground gracefully, his bones still popping back into place after being slammed onto the concrete by Kanashis [Mudd] and [Bog] combo.

Kanashi watched him closely, clutching Itachi tightly in his hands. Kenken was at the edge of the alley and hadn't moved at all since the fight began. It’d probably only been four minutes since he’d been nearly cut in half so Kanashi clung onto the hope that he might still be alive.

Guro clutched both of his [Kamage] in his two hands. He lifted his arms up one at his chest and the other above his head. He then stuck his long black tongue out which dripped saliva onto his shirt.

Kanashi, understanding what was to come next threw Itachi up to defend himself. He cranked his observation to the max putting immense stress on his sensory organs.

His eyes throbbed and his ears ached. It felt like someone had put his head into a vice grip and squeezed it slowly. But he pushed that pain into the back of his mind as best as he could. This was a member of the Toumeikan he was fighting. They’d raped, pillaged and plundered this town and this man Guro was the worst of the lot. The other officers would take care of the normal street crooks. He only needed to focus on the man in front of him.

[Kamage x2!]

Guro extended his two sickles and swung them through the air. They moved so fast that they appeared to be nothing more than blurs which zipped through the air with a loud whistle. The Sickles flew across the alley towards Kanashi who ran forwards in response. Using Itachi he deflected each sickle as it came at him.

Guro was so skilled and quick that it seemed like he had dozens of Kamage. He’d rethrow and redirect them around the alley like it was light work. Kanashi could only defend against this barrage. Though he deflected the sickles he didn’t avoid their damage completely. They Would still graze and nick him. While not enough to cause serious damage he felt the pain of being cut and sprayed blood. However, he noticed that each time Kamage would cut him it would retract automatically.

So that’s how It’s gonna be then… He thought as sweat poured down his face.

[Rock Riffle!] From behind Kanashi shot a bullet of stone which soared through the air towards Guro.

“!”

Guro redirected one of his Kamage to cut the bullet of the air but Kanashi didn’t stop at one.

[Rock Riffle x1000!]

From behind Kanashi shot out hundreds of bullets, like from a machine gun they shot towards Guro who grit his teeth as he tried to defend against them all.

The deflected bullets fell to the floor with a clack. The combined sound was like that of an intense hail storm.

I just need one to land, come on! Kanashi thought, biting his lip.

Guro continued to smack the stone bullets out of the air. He started panting as the never ending storm of projectiles continued towards him. Like a hawk his eyes darted around the alleyway watching each bullet.

Kanashi was also feeling the exhaustion, while Rock Riffle wasn’t a difficult spell to cast on its own when he was using them non stop hundreds of times in rapid succession it quickly took its toll.

“Gurrah!” Guro let out a frustrated cry as he swung his Kamage more wildly, he picked up the pace not taking as much care to watch each bullet and only deflecting the ones which would hit him directly.

Now! Kanashi thought with a furrowed brow.

[Rock Riffle!]

Kanashi shot a bullet out towards one of the bullets that's already been shot. The bullet was aiming towards the wall which posed no threat to Guro so he didn’t try to deflect it. The bullet Kanashi just shot knocked this bullet against the wall where it ricocheted and flew towards Guro shooting right through his wrist.

“!” Guro felt his hand go limp and his fingers unravel around Kamage. He looked to his right and saw the gaping hole in his wrist which poured blood. His exposed tendons flapped around as he tried to use his hand but to no success.

“Wryyyy!” Kanashi let out a battle cry and sprinted towards Guro holding Itachi in his Left hand.

“I still have one left you sand eating mongrel!” Guro screeched, throwing his second Kamage toward Kanashi.

preparing for what was to come next Kanashi clenched his teeth and focused on what was In front of him intently.

Guro, knowing Kanashis plan, smiled widely. He'll try to deflect my Kamage and use that emission blast that comes from his Katana again. When he deflects it I'll have the blade bounce off the wall next to him and then change direction behind him. He won't even comprehend what happened until he falls off his own legs!

Guros Kamage flew towards Kanashi aiming for his right arm. It was a perfect set up on Guros' part. All Kanashi had to do was take the bait.

Rip!

The sound of flesh ripping was ear piercing.

Blood sprayed from Kanashis shoulder as his arm flew from his body with Kamage in toe.

“WHAT!?” Guro screamed seeing his sickle slice Kanashis right arm clean off.

Kanashi enhanced his leg and leapt forwards with such force he shattered the ground beneath him.

[Deus Ex Machina!]

Kanashi punched Guro in the chest. He rotated his hips and arched his back as he did so creating the perfect punching form.

The alleyway was consumed with red and black bolts of mana and Guro was thrown backwards smashing into the wall behind him with a crash.

“Blurghhh.” Guro gurgled, choking on his own blood which welled up in his throat. “Gurrrrah!” Guro, not giving up, jumped off the wall towards Kanashi, his mouth open and ready to rip into Kanashis jugular.

[Kyoyu Style: Senretsu!]

Kanashi flipped Itahci around in his hand and swung it straight into Guros shoulder. At the same time he shot out a blast of mana from Itachi's blade. The damage was devastating, though not enough to kill Guro his mana circuits and aura nodes were set alight by the foreign mana forcing its way into his body. It was like Guro was lit up from the inside as his every orifice was illuminated with a blinding light.

“!”

Kanashi felt a searing pain in his shoulder which equaled the pain from the wound given to him by Satoshi. His grip on Itachi lessened and Guro managed to break free.

“Damnit, fuck, shit!” Guro screamed, clutching his aching body. It felt like he was on fire, the pain throbbed and burned his nerves.

“Damnit!” Kanashi croaked out on his hands and knees using Itachi as a cane. He knew losing an arm wouldn’t be pleasant but this was beyond painful.

“I need to go, I need to escape!” Guro cried, conjuring [Kamage] and using it like a zipline.

“You’re not getting away!” Kanashi roared, jumping forwards and grabbing onto Guros ankle as hard as he could. Though his grip was weak it was enough to stop the equally weakened Guro from escaping.

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“Let go!” Guro screeched using his free leg to kick Kanashi.

“No!” Kanashi barked back as Guro kicked his face in. Come on, heal! Kanashi! Heal yourself! You used that [Ex Machina] thing so heal like you did before! He thought, clenching his teeth.

Though [Deus Ex Machina] did provide an increase in one's mana pool and healing it could only do so much. Kanashi could barely heal shallow cuts so regrowing an arm was beyond the realm of a [Deus Ex Machina] boost. A sad reality Kanashi was soon to discover.

Guro kept kicking Kanash in the face. The sound was horrible and blood splashed through the air. Kanashi's eyes swelled shut and his nose crunched. But his grip held Guro in place.

“Fine you win!” Guro cried, pulling his [Kamage] back and using it to slice his foot off at the shin.

“No!” Kanashi croaked trying to get another grip of Guro.

Guro however used Kamage once again like a zipline and threw it up into the roof of a building and pulled himself up to escape.

“Guro!” Kanashi screamed with tears in his eyes, his nose poured blood and so did his mouth. Blood squirted out from his severed arm and he laid there in a puddle of it. He’d probably pissed himself as well. It was a shameful display. He’d failed completely. Move, please move! He thought, trying to force his body to comply. His legs and arm shook as he managed to pry himself up off the ground with an extreme amount of effort. He shook like a wet dog as he did so completely overtaken by exhaustion .

I did better against Satoshi! He was stronger than Guro so why am I not able to keep up here!? Kanashi let out a final scream, one which Guro heard as he swung away to escape.

“Come back you coward!” Was the final message shared between the two.

# # #

Guro fell down in the dirty alley below him with a crash. He bounced off the floor with a wet splash as he rolled to his side heaving. “Gah!” He gasped as blood pooled from his mouth. He had been defeated, the Sand Eating brat nearly killed him. Honeistu Guro, the one feared across all of Edoland was nearly killed by a foreign child. The thought filled Guro with hatred. He wanted to inflict unimaginable pain and anguish onto Kanashi, to torture him worse then he had ever done to any of his victims before. To make him hurt like he did right now with the searing pain in his shoulder.

Not only did his gash in his shoulder hurt but his aura nodes and mana circuits were going haywire and being fried. It felt like his nerves themselves were on fire.

“Gah! That damn bastard!” Guro croaked between gasps for air. “Food! I need to eat!”

“Grrr.” The sound of growling came from behind Guro who flicked his head around to see a large dog baring its fangs at him. Its teeth were stained brow and eyes reflecting the light from severe cataracts.

“Get away from me you mange infested mutt!” Guro screeched, kicking the dog away.

“Gra!” The dog grabbed onto Guros leg and shook its head. It’s teeth tank into his flesh ripping it apart.

“Die, die, die, die, die!” Guro screamed, conjuring [Kamage] and plunging the sickle into the dog's side.

The dog yelped in pain and released his leg.

“I’ll kill you!” Guro yelled as he jumped on the dog and stabbed it repeatedly. The dog died after only the fourth or so stab but Guro continued driving the sickle into the dog's carcass while he gasped for air.

“Eat!” He laughed, ripping the dog's intestines out and shoving them into his mouth. They tasted awful, parasitic worms fell from Guros mouth as he gagged on the rancid meat.

“I need to heal, I need to heal!” He repeated shoving the intestines down his throat.

“Bark!”

Guro heard the bark but ignored it, he was too focused on consuming what was in front of him.

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

There were more barks in the distance.

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

The few distant barks quickly grew into a symphony of canid calls.

“!?” Guro lifted his blood and feces stained face from the dog's stomach and saw another dog standing in front of him.

No, there wasn’t just one dog, there were actually hundreds. He looked behind him as well and saw an equally absurd number on that side. The dogs continued to bark their cries deafening. It was like every single dog in Izumika had gathered here to jump him.

“Gu… guaah, guaah!” Guro let out an inhuman cry like the ramblings of a mad man. The pain from his aura nodes and mana circuits didn’t dull and only grew worse as the destruction continued. The madness from the pain, the humiliation of being forced to eat dog innards and the fear of a horde of beasts in front of him broke the little bit of sanity Guro had. Guro lifted his Kamage above his head and stabbed the air wildly trying to scare the dogs away.

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

“Bark!”

The dogs only became more intense at this, their excitement rising. Their snarls and foaming mouths looked like something straight from a horror movie.

The dogs pounced.

Guro tried to defend himself, he managed to stab a single dog in the side before being overwhelmed. One of the dogs bit his single functioning wrist and tore the tendon out making him drop Kamage which deconjured as it hit the floor.

Smaller dogs grabbed at his fingers. Biting into them and then ripping them from his knuckles with a snapping sound.

“Gurrrrrah!” Guro screamed, thrashing around.

The army of dogs clamped down onto every piece of his body. Their teeth sank into his bones and they tore his flesh as he screamed and writhed on the ground.

It was a slow and agonizing process. The wild dogs took their time killing Guro. They seemingly took pleasure in his murder. They somehow avoided his vital points and instead picked him apart in a way where he would feel every little piece of pain until the end.

Despite this agonizing experience his will to live kept Guro going. His body began to regenerate through advanced enhancement. As he regenerated the dogs simply tore at the newly forming flesh. He couldn’t stop the healing either, his ruined mana circuits and aura nodes had no regulation; they just continued to pump him with healing magic.

“Gurrrrah!” Guro screamed, he screamed so hard his vocal cords snapped and then regrew letting him scream some more.

There was seemingly no end to this torture. He was ripped apart over and over again. Even when his mana pool was drained dry his soul began to burn keeping the regeneration going.

The dogs tore into his stomach, grabbing his intestines and pulling them out of his body.

“GUAAAH!” Guro screamed as the dogs began to fight over his innards pulling them apart as a sick game of tug of war.

Despite this Guros intestines continued to regrow and the dogs kept tearing them out. It wouldn't end and the constant healing magic stopped Guros body from going into shock. He felt every piece of this torture.

As the dogs in the front either got their fill or set into exhaustion they were overtaken by those in the back who came forward to continue the massacre.

How long it lasted was beyond anyone's guess, maybe only a few minutes or maybe hours. Eventually Guros soul burned out completely. After all was said and done not a single piece of the murderer remained. The dogs even took his bones.

# # #

Kanashi limped his way to the front of the alley where Kenken was laying. He wanted to check on him to see if he was still alive. He also needed to have a quick rendezvous with Otsuga and Naori to see how well their mission had gone.

"Gah!" Kanashi coughed and fell to the floor. The pain from having his arm severed quickly formed in his mind. It was as if someone had stuck his arm in fire and acid at the same time.

If he had only been severely cut then the boost from [Deus Ex Machina] might have been able to heal it. But growing an entire limb was far beyond anything Kanashi could ever do. No, it was possible, but it'd take a lifetime to do so. The human body was a marvelous thing, hell any living organism was an amazing feat of biology.

Each tendon, muscle, veins, artery, layer of skin and follicle would need to be recreated down to the absolute perfect detail.

"Gluargh!" Kanashi hunched forward vomiting. “Why!?” He cried as tears streamed down his face. He was weak, just as weak as he was on the Witch hunt mission or the Cymba. Nothing had changed except his ego.

God dammit why! I should be stronger so why! Why am I still suffering from weakness! I’ve fought so hard and trained so much yet I’m still so weak! Kanashi thought, biting his lip hard enough that it bled.

Just then someone grabbed his ankle.

"!?"

Kanashi flicked his head In surprise but relaxed somewhat upon seeing it was Kenken.

"Kenken!?" He cried.

Kanashi wanted to reach out and hug him. He was so happy but he restrained himself.

"Are you gonna live!?"

"No." Kenken gasped between gargles of blood.

"Wait let me see if I can heal you or- Gah!" Kanashi's missing arm throbbed.

"Just shut... up and listen boy..."

Kanashi didn't reply. He was all ears.

"I'm a goner.. my- Gah! My... my organs are skewered. So I'm gonna trade my life for your arm."

"What!?"

"It's a contract, think of it as my apology for all of this."

"Wait no- Herngh!" Kanashi felt that terrible pain once again. Why why why why why why!? WHY AM I SO WEAK!?

Kenken clenched Kanashis ankle hard. So hard it felt like he was gonna pulverize his bone. An overflowing amount of mana shot through Kanashi like someone poured warm water on him in reverse.

From his toes up to his severed arm.

Kenkens grip faded entirely and his head slapped against the ground.

From the stump on Kanashis arm grew a spiral of flesh of all kinds. Tendons, muscles, veins, arteries and bone. Everything sprouted out forming a new arm. One free of scars and damage. But it wasn’t a pleasant experience. It hurt, just as bad as getting it cut off.

“GLAGH!” Kanashi screamed, smashing his head into the concrete floor. He could feel each and every piece of his arm being reconstructed, it was like having open surgery with no anesthesia.

Though it only lasted for a few seconds, Kanashi felt like he was losing his sanity. Once it ended his newly formed arm steamed like it was taken from a fire.

“Ha-ha-ha.” Kanashi panted, sweat and tears pouring down his face. He looked over at his newly formed arm, Kenkens final gift. The newly grown arm was a dark brown as if it’d been burned in a fire without the actual damage. He tried to put his aura into the arm to see if it worked but his mana circuits freaked out letting a load of painful zaps go across the limb.

“Gaaah!” Kanashi yelped, clutching the arm tightly. He knew it worked but it wasn’t perfect. His mana circuits needed time to stabilize, they were still soft and malleable and needed to harden up.

But I don't have time to wait! He thought, using Itachi as a cane and pulling himself to his feet.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha.” Kanashi wheezed, he was exhausted and could only stare at the ghost white Kenken who had just traded his life for an arm.

“Why? Why would you do something like that!? You were worth more than a stupid arm! You had a family and friends and decades left to live your life! How is your life only worth a single idiot's arm!? How can it be worth the arm of somebody who can’t even do their job right!? I let you die and Guro get away! I’m useless, I’m worse than useless, I activaley made things worse and - Gah!” Kanashi once again fell forwards before catching himself on his Katana. The hole in his stomach throbbed and his arm burned.

No, I can’t think of that right now, he gave me this arm so that I can keep going, so I can grant his wish. I won't stop until I…. defeat Ugoki.

The word Kill appeared in Kanashis mind but he quickly pushed it away.

Those are my emotions talking, I need to calm down… I’ll arrest him and do this the right way. If I kill him then I lose. Killing someone to solve your problems is the easy way out. If I start killing now I’ll never stop. I’ll end up no better than Ugoki or Guro. Someone who brings others down to bring themselves up.