As the word 'murder' slipped from Ichi he felt Miko fly out from his back. Ichi kept his eyes on Scipio as he smelled Miko running towards Renya. Miko jumped onto Renya's shoulder, both of her twin tails swinging down Renya's back. Unconsciously Renya pet the cat's head with one hand as she continued carving paneling on the fort's door with her katana in her other hand.

Scipio cocked his head as he pointed towards the cat.

"Is that a bakeneko?"

Ichi swirled his stick in his hands. Holding it aloft pointing at Scipio, he chanted to himself under his breath.

""I am the current of the river,

I am the flow in the water,

I am the leaf of the wind,

No heaven or hell rules man, only man may rule himself,

Grow like a tree, be the branches to balance all life!""

Ichi's consciousness broke as if he blacked out. When awoke, he saw his stick stopped on a dull golden blade. Scipio held the blade close to his chest. Ichi's eye snapped up to meet Scipio's, and Scipio no longer looked amused.

"Nice magic. Nice. Always good to see a fellow perfectionist like myself."

Ichi stepped back. He blurred as hundreds of strikes flashed around Scipio. Each black and white blur met a dull golden flash. From every angle the Flawless Strikes would come, but not a single one got through. Scipio arm moved like a whip, blocking every strike. Scipio didn't move his feet even once. Scipio's voice droned out as the cascade of strikes continued.

"I took you too lightly. Always had trouble making friends. You've got some powerful stuff going on here. Not nearly as good as what I've got. There's always someone better than you, and when you find out who all of those people are,"

A dull golden slash outwards knocked Ichi's stick from his hands, burying it into a distant tree.

"Let them know I'm better than all of them."

Blue portals opened up all around Ichi. Through them snaked dark countless gray tentacles. His fought them furiously to keep them from grasping him, but his strength failed. His bigfoot form wasn't nearly enough. Ichi felt the tentacles squeeze around his body, lightly, yet firm. Scipio's voice came as if it was from underwater.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Stay there. A hostage like you might come in useful, but I can't let you grow. You'll like my place, really comfortable."

Scipio walked away from Ichi who lost consciousness in the writhing tentacles. His sword dissipated into dull golden sparks.

He held up his hand to say hi to Renya. Renya turned her head on instinct, but she saw nothing. Slightly shrugging she went back to work.

Had Renya been a millisecond faster in turning her head she would have seen a blue flash. Like lightning gives the impression it lasts longer than it actually does when it strikes, her eyes would have seen a crooked blue streak for a half a second.

Soaring above the clouds, Myon's spear was stuck through Scipio. After he realized what happened, he held up his hand and snapped his fingers.

On the ground around the perimeter cleared by Renya's handiwork and Ichi's battle against the deep ones, large blue portals opened up. Stepping out halfway were dark shaded beasts. Renya readied her sword.

A orange fireball slammed into the ground. The flame cleared Tama appearing out of the dying flame. She held aloft an ornate staff with goat horns. Tama slammed it into the ground. A huge red circle with forboding markings appeared across the battlefield, sliding under the blue portals. At the instant the red circle hit the blue portals they closed, slicing the creatures crossing through into parts. Tama quickly tugged the staff free, whirling it around.

Mist condensed near Tama, and Syon stepped out of it. She held out her hand as Tama handed the staff to her.

"I don't mind you keeping it - as an apology for our behavior." Syon said.

"You'll need to do better than that to apologize to me." Tama fired back. "I don't like the color."

Syon held out a hand and a short golden scroll fell from her sleeve. She grabbed it, twirling it around in her hand she flipped a small lock on the center. The scroll popped out of her hands unravelling around her the trails of clouds in the sky at sunset. Syon pushed the staff into one of the many golden bands around her. From Syon's view, countless images of weapons flickered across the inside of the scroll. The staff dissolved and became just one more image on the scroll. Syon flicked her hand and the scroll wound itself up. It neatly flew back into her hand and she threw it up into her sleeve.

Syon walked over to the fort. Renya threw away her sword as she slid her legs apart and opened her hands wide. Stopping before Renya, Syon looked away from her bloodthirsty gaze. Then, Syon folded her legs completely to the ground bending her arms fully into a traditional apology bow.

"I'm sorry!" Syon said.