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Dark clouds cover the skies. No one dares to move a muscle to start this fight. Aoha stays in front with her blade drawn and eyes locked on the target as Vio changes her form to the same wolf appearance she had when in Arioch's office. She growls and exposes her teeth to the Oni man, who sharpens his eyes on her claws.
"A beast walking beside a human? Interesting." The Oni man comments with a nod of his head that shows he's pleased by the outcome, for some reason of his own. "Now the only mystery remaining is you." He looks at Aoha and positions himself to attack. Aoha raises her blade and shifts her weight between her feet so her stance is more balanced.
The Oni man starts to hold his weapon by the chain connected to it and, with a display of great strength, starts to spin the weapon, slowly at first but soon building enough speed to cut the air. No warning is given or any sign is displayed; only his hold on the chain weakens at the right moment, and the kanabō is shot like an arrow toward Aoha.
With little time to react, she turns her blade to the side in an attempt to parry it, but the sheer power of the throw is enough to mess up her balance and launch her backward.
Using the window of opportunity, Vio and I rush the man together. Running on her four legs, Vio gets to him first and attempts to bite his arm, managing to do so to my surprise, but soon enough I realize the problem. The man easily raises Vio, who has locked her jaw on his arm and brings her body to the floor.
The stone floor cracks at the contact, and Vio whines in pain as she releases the man's arms from her teeth. Blood trickles down his arm, but he acts unbothered, choosing to focus on me, who stopped running mindlessly at the thought of him using Vio's body against mine.
"Good eye; if you hadn't stopped, you would have lost your chance to attack."
"Shut up," I growl at him and jump from foot to foot, as with my dagger, I switch it from hand to hand. The Oni man, confused for a second, falls into my trick. I fake a punch to the left, and when he raises his arm to defend, a right hook with the dagger's blade manages to cut his leg.
Or so I thought, because retreating to once again attempt to trick him with something else reveals his leg in full view, unwounded by my attack. "You have to be kidding me."
The Oni man holds my gaze and pulls on the weapon's chain, forcing Aoha, who was about to rush him, to dodge out of the way as the kanabō comes flying back to his hand. Without even getting a chance to blink, he swings his weapon at my side, and I awkwardly backflip like a circus girl, avoiding the sure break of my bones.
Aoha and I bump our backs together, an intentional action on her part to help me regain balance again. "What is the plan?" She asks.
"He doesn't know about your fire yet; get close with me, and I'll draw one attack on myself, and you blast him."
Aoha nods her head and boosts me up with a push of her back, helping me get a few steps closer than her to the man. The Oni grips his weapon tighter and brings it up, like a steel ball about to be dropped. He lets his weight onto the weapon and tries hitting me on the head.
Rolling forward and entering his personal space, I grab my dagger, and, with all I have, I stab his feet and manage to make a small wound, only an inch of the blade piercing his hard skin.
The Oni grunts, but before he has the chance to readjust his attack, Aoha uses his weapon like a lever on the ground and jumps from it to the man's face. Her open palm runs hot, her fire for a split second turning bright blue before hitting the Oni's face square up with such strength that he is cast back, hitting his back on one of the stone lanterns painfully.
*Crack*
The sound of a broken rib is audible, like the crack of a finger. The Oni man, for the first time, smiles, bringing both a terrifying feeling to my chest and a contagious grin to my face. We pushed his button now.
The Oni, like an unbreakable demon, gets to his feet and brushes off the pain he has to be feeling. With a look at us, he sees the fire in Aoha's hands, and his expression makes even I instinctively take a step backward—a sweet smile of true happiness. For a monster to find its fulfillment in chaos is one thing, but happiness and fulfillment aren't the same; they are truly something to be scared of.
"The fire spirit, Hinoe-Uma, of the blue royal flames. The alpha of the alphas, pack leader and protector of the frozen forest, and the human capable of gluing all races together once again.
"Finally, the chosen ones came to me, Father." The Oni man looks up and takes a deep breath, calming himself and resuming his serious demeanor.
His words for me make no sense; 'human capable of gluing races' sounds exactly as I thought—ramblings of a crazy man and the king of yapping. But a look at my companions and their faces shows clear surprise and growing hatred.
"How do you know about me? Answer before I burn you alive, scum." Aoha orders with such hate that it makes clear that, for the first time I've seen her like this, she lost total control.
Vio growls so loudly that my ears hurt, her form changing to the big beast she was at the temple. She howls and makes the ground shake before standing at the side of Aoha, sharing the same feelings.
"It's time; the last trial starts now; prepare yourself." The Oni man closes his eyes, and, with the chance, Aoha and Vio rush him with killing intent. In the skies, lightning forms and strikes both of them away.
Vio and Aoha are both struck again by another lightning strike, and they are electrocuted till the loss of their consciousness, leaving on the battlefield only me and the Oni.
"I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to warn you before, but this is a battle only you and I can take place in. You need to prove yourself to me, sword who cuts the heavens."
Walking to Aoha's unconscious body, I put her and Vio against a wall to rest and grip the katana I gave to Aoha, watching my blurry reflection reach my only eye.
Lightning strikes the temple, and rain follows. I'm starting to think that every time I'm about to die, it rains, but at least this time Aoha's flames are not going to be affected; after all, only my blade and I are the ones who will fight.
"I'm not going to take it easy with you." My word and the Oni's ring at the same time, the same words, like a connection forming through a battle until the death of one of us, the most intimate one can get to another is by death itself.
There's no hate in my heart, no sadness; the pure definition of a void is what I need to reach so my fighting style can reach full form—the one-blade style I created myself when I was a kid, effective but with a great price on my mental. Not that it matters the price anymore; I either win here or everyone dies. I won't lose.
Clothes get drenched with the heavy rain, my hair starts to block my expression, and the katana blade scratches the floor as I drag it forward. The Oni man strides in my direction as well, matching my slow pacing, and before we know it, we are face-to-face.
Like the wind, I raise my katana so quickly that the Oni, to dodge, forces his feet to push him back. Using the window of attack, I lazily hold the katana and let the tip of the blade reach his shoulder before tightening my grip on the cord wrap handle and pulling it down with all I have.
For the first time in this battle, the Oni gets an injury deep enough to make him react out of pain; the blood begins to be washed away by the rain; and the space where his armor is tied up together was easier to reach than I thought. Lifting his hand, he summons lightning to my body, and the skies respond with one, hitting me square in the shoulder. The desired effect was to make me back down or meet the same fate as Aoha and Vio, but that just isn't who I am.
My kimono starts to burn, and the rain extinguishes as soon as it starts, but the place where it hit me is exposed to his eyes; the fractal-pattern scar the lightning he used leaves on my shoulder joins the other one I have on my back.
"The look on your face right now makes it difficult to imagine you're truly human." The Oni comments and adjusts his wounded shoulder. "If I had been less careful, I believe you would have taken my shoulder from me."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
My ears have long lost interest in his words, my eye has lost the ability to see his expression, and his scent is masked by the rain. For me now, only instinct remains, and it speaks to me, telling me all that I need to know. The empty spaces where his armor fails to provide security, the red parts of his skin that take over his snow-white tone, creating the difference in where I can cut and where I cannot, and his dangerous heavy weapon.
He swings his weapon again and again, but that's the thing: in a battle between agility and strength, agility always wins. Every attack of his that I dodge grants me an opportunity to strike back, managing to get some good cuts to part his skin in all the right places.
His elbow goes first, then his knee, the back of his leg, and then the last one I go for, the head. All the cuts are superficial, but with the quantity, they weaken the Oni, though, adapting to this, he fakes an attack and gives me the perfect situation to finish this battle.
However, before I can, he wraps his chains around my body and summons his lightning once more. This time, due to the metal's conductivity, I'm unable to just shrug it off, instead being pulled towards his weapon and bashed away as he hits my stomach.
"Against you, there is no reason to go easy, so get ready for my last lightning." The Oni prepares himself, closing his eyes and not giving me the chance to get up before putting his hand forward and summoning the skies.
In a last-minute decision, I throw my katana up and let his lightning hit it, exchanging it for my safety, but this one he charged up well enough that even without hitting me directly, the chain reaction it creates reaches me anyway. My right leg is hit, and I feel my thigh muscle burn and spasm uncontrollably before contracting without releasing, like a bad cramp.
Both me and the Oni fall to our knees, one from exhaustion and the other from standing too much damage. But in the forest, if you fall in front of the hunter, you die. It seems that me and him know that very well because at the same time I push myself to my feet, he does the same. There isn't a crowd to impress, no reason to make this pretty, just two animals in the wild going at each other's throats for survival.
"I have only one attack left in me; let's end this." With the last of his strength, the Oni forces his weapon up and rushes me without thinking.
Swiftly grabbing my katana back, I push myself forward and meet him head-on. He uses the wet ground to slide himself forward and place his attack. I, on the other hand, chose to jump forward as high as I can, like a cat, forcing my muscles to go past my limit, the pain almost unbearable at this point, but it matters not anymore.
His weapon cuts the air and misses me. The Oni face contorts in confusion as his eyes, in slow motion, meet mine. My katana gets so close to his neck that a flick of my wrist would mean his death, but killing him would bring nothing. Instead, putting my hand on his shoulder, I kick his jaw and push myself away as his eyes roll back and he meets the wet, cold ground.
To make sure, I kick his weapon away, close to Aoha and Vio, before pushing him with my feet toward the stone lantern. With some difficulty, I manage to put his back against the solid stone pillar and leave him to rest.
.
..
...
Yeah, now that I'm the only one conscious and all, what should I do?
I decide to explore the temple for the time being, though not the dungeon, but rather the locked building I saw earlier. Placing the katana on the chains holding the sliding wood door together, I pull it to the side enough to allow the door to open a small gap. With that working, I push the katana down to the wood floor and stick it there so the door doesn't close on me when I'm inside.
Squeezing past the gap, I enter the place and feel the pain from the earlier fight finally get to me. The burning sensation on my shoulder, paired with the painful purple forming on my abs, makes me breathe in sharply and lean on the nearest wall for support. The pain is enough to leave me lightheaded and with the threat of throwing up.
My eye wander around, and my gaze lands on a lone cup of water on a table. Without thinking, I grab it and gulp it down forcefully, feeling the room-temperature liquid go down my throat and push down my nausea a notch. This place... Now that my vision is finally focused, I understand what it is. It is a house, probably the Oni's.
Putting the now-empty cup down, I start searching for any medicinal items. The search starts in the kitchen and only stops when I enter the only bedroom in this place. Very simple—just a bed, a working desk, and a small closet. Beelining to the closet, I open it up and see a sea of clothes and armor, and below that, a box that smells heavily of herbs. Jackpot.
As I grab it with my hand and open the lid, I have to cover my nose from the strong smell so I can inspect it closely. It seems to be some kind of cream of herbs; it should work for the burn. Dipping my hand on the cream, I grab enough in my palm to cover all my shoulder area.
The feeling of forever burning on my wound subsides as the cool cream comes in contact with my skin, the feeling enough to make me sit down to take a breather. The hole in my shoulder area kimono will be a problem; it's not that big, but unfortunately for some people, it is enough to bug me about it.
With my tired eye, I look to the closet and spot something that might be perfect, so I push myself to my feet and grab the item. A simple, long, black scarf that should be enough to, when worn, hide the damage on my kimono, so I put it around my neck and feel the small comfort it provides.
The rain at this point has stopped; probably it was a trick of that Oni man. The timing is just so strange that to make sense, I prefer to blame magic. Thinking about the rain, my companions will be sick if they stay wet all the time they are unconscious, and the only one who can do something about it is me, huh?
With a tired sigh, I find on the house a fireplace with some cut wood on the side, so I put some wood in it and find a worn stone and a white stone, flint, and strike one against the other to bring the fireplace to life. Without success for quite some minutes, I manage to do it after putting another scarf there was in the closet in the mix.
The fire starts dancing, crackling, and proudly consuming everything the fireplace has to offer, and with that, a small amount of heat reaches me, seducing me to stay here instead of dragging three bodies inside. But someone has to do it.
Going back to the door, I find the chains held inside by two heavy stones, so by kicking the stone to the side, the chain trapped under releases, and the door strikes open. This door doesn't close properly? That's the reason for the chains, then.
Outside, I grab back the katana and free it from the chain before placing it on my kimono while looking at the three heavy bodies. Pushing my thoughts away as they will only make me want to let them be there, I walk to Vio first and carry her inside. Surprisingly, she is a lot lighter than I expected from someone who can turn into a giant beast.
After Vio, I grab Aoha and take her inside as well, placing the two of them by the fire. Doing so, I see that the two of them seem to be having some kind of bad dream, so I rush outside and grab the worst of them all; the man is even heavier than his weapon. But by persisting, I manage to drag him by the feet so he rests close to the fire as well.
I let myself fall to the ground so my body can deal with the exhaustion as I focus on the two girls beside me. The things he said that made them angry—could it be that the reason they are like this is because of that?
Shaking my head, I grab Vio and Aoha's hands and keep them close to me, each resting their heads on one of my thighs. Even if it still hurts from the lightning from before, I have to at least be able to comfort them.
Upon holding the hands of the two girls, the expression on their faces of discomfort subsides, and soon enough, Vio is curling close to me and nibbling at my hand as Aoha sheds a single tear in her sleep. I catch it on my index finger and wipe it away from her cheek.
Sometimes it's easy to forget how broken they are, not just me. That's why I know that protecting them is what I should do, even if I'm weak and pathetic. That is what Sino would have wanted as well. Tiredness starts to try claiming my eye, but with the possibility of them waking up, I need to... stay... awake...
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