Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in another world
Chapter 55. Legends
Zhao keeps a heavily annoyed and bored Gray with him for an hour and a half, right as he senses Shioreta near, and he motions for Gray to leave.
Zhao: “Go, I’ll keep her occupied. If I’m correct, she shouldn’t be able to affect anything other than my ability to help any further.”
Gray: “So, I should just go back to the mayor’s office?”
Zhao: “Yes but go slowly. Now, go.”
Gray has spent his time helping as much as he can in this small area, but he finally begins walking away, keeping to the man's word. And as he predicted, Shioreta begins walking up. Her pale white skin, dark eyeliner, black spiraled eyebrows, black lipstick, pointed ears of a half-elf, and fully black kimono. Gray turns his head back, getting a good look at her.
Gray {Closed eyes, she, Julius, and Ryo do the same thing. Hell, she looks like a tired mime.}
She holds the hilt of her white Shirasaya blade, slowly unsheathing it.
Shioreta: “Zhao, a pleasure as always. A shame these clouds block the pure beauty of the moon.”
Zhao: “Don’t act familiar. We haven't spoken since the incident with the Guild hunter, and we haven't worked together since our time with the Shogun. You decided to fall to the waste side ”
Shioreta: “Oh, a shame then. We used to be Legends, but most of the world still thinks we work together. You, Toren, and I, we are unstoppable if we work together. Now do you take my offer?”
Zhao unwraps the chain from his chest, holding onto the large blade it’s attached to, resembling a large butcher's knife. He then holds onto the blade at the other end of the chain, a sickle.
Zhao: “I won’t stoop down to what I was, what gave me the title “Crimson”. Toren went to Gaia for a time. And you went back to Oni-mas, and I thought I would stay here in Saga. But here you are, working with these devilish people."
Shioreta: “You act as if you didn’t join them for a time.”
Zhao: “I joined them to see what they were doing, really trying to accomplish. But you’re with them to help that damn Shogun. We came together because of our curses. But you’ve left behind what little good was in you. I won’t let you get to Gray or the others.”
Shioreta: “Ah yes, because you saw the Truth. But you know that it has limits to its reach. It’s impossible to know if they’ll be safe.”
Zhao: “I know this as well, but all I can do is try.”
Shioreta grazes her sword across the cold air so fast most people wouldn’t even move, but Zhao does. He steps out of the way of a slim but powerful gust of wind that had just blown past him, destroying the cobblestone ground between the two.
Shioreta: “I heard you were at Walgonia’s raid, hiding, watching. Was Musashi as wondrous as everyone says he is, is he still better than me?”
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Zhao: “I think the only time he ever put his full effort into something after the Demi-Human war ended was when he defeated the Devils Shogun. His body was weak, and his mind was holding even further back, but Lincoln still gave him a fair fight.”
Shioreta: “What about Ryo, I heard he only used low-level defensive spells. I also heard he fled the scene. I know you think highly of him, but that’s just dishonorable.”
Zhao: “I think highly of him for the reason you call him dishonorable. He doesn't go overboard, and he’s a pacifist, or at least he tries to be. He is called The Spirit Knight for a reason, I’ve gone against him, you know this.”
Shioreta: “I know he almost killed you. The scar going across your torso is evidence of this, and if you’re similar in strength to him, I’ll finish the job right now.”
Zhao: “Whatever, we both know you won’t win. You only have similar skills to Musashi, but his strength, speed, and durability are transcendent compared to you. I lost to Ryo because I didn’t have the mindset to, I lost due to my bravado, but that’s gone.”
Zhao scratches his long gray sideburns while Shioreta jumps into action. He groans, showing his sharp fangs while she’s about to cut him down. In a flash, he stops her, throwing the large blade to stop her slash. The chain whips straight, creating a loud sound that could burst eardrums. Zhao then grips the ground with his bare feet, cracking the cobblestone below him, and destroys it when he rushes towards her.
They trade blow after blow, blocking each one. Shioreta moves her sword like a butterfly flapping through the wind while Zhao is almost bloodthirsty in his movements. His blades whip around, pushing against the air while Shioreta’s thin blade moves through it, clashing repeatedly. His thick unkempt hair against her well-combed hair styled into a side bun, his long yellow fingernails compared to her long pristine black painted nails, his withered down cloak and ripped pants contrasting against her long beautifully woven kimono; they’re complete opposites.
She remains still, never moving, only striking, while he curves and jumps around, bending in every direction to make sure he didn’t hit himself with his chain.
Shioreta: “Are you only going to stay in your Demi-Human state? Or are you going to try?”
Zhao: “Why would I, we’re evenly matched, just like how I want it.”
Shioreta frowns, breaking the doll-like way she likes to carry herself. She strengthens the grip she has on her sword, slamming it down, and going against the wind. The air wraps and warps to fit the strength of her attack, as if her blade gave it orders on how to move. Zhao preemptively jumps to another building, dodging her attack before she has a chance to use it, angering her even further.
As he clings to the brick building, he glares at her with a cheeky grin. His crimson eyes burned through her facade, causing her to open her eyes. There is nothing there but black voids leaking dark blood, but slowly rising from within the darkness is a dim white light. Two small openings on each side of her cheek appear and her jaw drops, showing large sharp teeth. Zhao is familiar with the sight, so he knows he must dodge because she begins wailing the deep haunting, and powerful screams of the banshee she is.
It destroys the side of the building before her scream can fully project, showing the sheer strength her abilities have.
Zhao leaps off of the building, barely dodging each of her attacks, which is pouring out like a flamethrower. As Gray jogs away, he hears the fighting piercing his eardrums. He feels it as well, wobbling around on the constantly shaking ground.
Gray: “I haven’t seen any Anarchists. Rosemary seems to be handling the Spirit Beasts, and Sokus got those zombie things…Man, I gotta get a name for those. No boss fights yet, other than Shioreta, but she’s being held back. But if he’s only holding her back, is she just gonna leave? He seems to know something I don’t, and it’s damn annoying.”
Zhao lands in front of Shioreta as she slowly returns to her normal state.
Zhao: “Did I touch a nerve?”
Shioreta: “Hush.”
Zhao clenches his fist as it slowly gets bigger. Then the rest of his body begins to grow while his gray body hair begins growing around it. His beast transformation is different from most because he’s not a Demi-Human.
Zhao: “If…you want to fight…then I have a forty percent chance of killing you, but that doesn't mean you have a sixty percent chance of killing me, it means you have a sixty percent chance of living.”
His face bends and forces it to take the shape of a wolf, being as grotesque as it sounds. His normal body is one of a human, adding further to the point that he is human. But just like Shioreta, he was cursed. He stands tall, eight feet tall to be exact, losing himself in the depths of his mind as he begins snarling at her.
Shioreta: “The Truth of the matter, heh, is you are wrong. You are a beast, one that I will tame, I’ll either give you the satisfaction that is being my dog, or your head will be mounted on the wall with the rest of my treasures.”
The Werewolf that Zhao was cursed to be takes charge, tearing his gray cloak off, and gripping his chain blades tight.
Zhao: “Truth…never…wrong… It’s truly…a curse…”
Shioreta tilts her head up to him, takes one step, then another, and walks past him. He turns his beastly head, squinting his eyes as she continues to walk down the street.
Shioreta: “It all comes down at Oni-mas right?”
Zhao: “....Yes…”
Shioreta: “Will Toren be there?”
Zhao: “...To far…to tell…puzzle…not in…place…”
Zhao begins to shrink back to his base size, grabbing his cloak as he does so.
Shioreta: “You still have that?”
Zhao: “I cherish it.”
Shioreta wipes away a bloody tear as she walks away from Zhao and Constal. She quickly vanishes from sight, allowing Zhao to rest.
Zhao: “And now it’s up to you Gray Kyojin, up to you to fail.”
End of Chapter Fifty-five