Tides Of Protomis CXXV

The Transmuting Demoness

What was one to do in this situation? A strategy was needed for this opponent, that much was clear. His ranged attacks would not work, both his shuriken and azure Dragon’s had been used as fodder for her techniques, broken down by that transmutation. As it seemed, the answer was to close in and attack her directly. But did this transmutation work on organic matter as well?

“It could certainly be an issue if so…” He thought. The line of thinking was interrupted by the spheres being launched at him once more, again forcing him into the untenable situation of having to weave around anything that came his way. This wasn’t going to be easy, not by any means. But, perhaps it would be less so with what happened next, another source of protomis was quickly approaching, and Liang’s gaze flew to it, That being, Zhao descending upon the demoness, his dao raised above his head. In response, she redirected one of the spheres, forcing Zhao to move out of the way as well.

“Yu… I thought you might need some support.” Zhao landed on the ground, taking his sword stance. Well, it was more than appreciated. It seemed that the others were still occupied in their own battles. The fight between Haures, Arctaius, and Kazimir had brought them outside of the scope of the castle itself. Ane xchanged of lightnign quick strikes had begun between Arctaius, and the reptillian, Each strying thie rbest to manuever around the other’s defenses, and land the fatal strike they needed. Auras of blinding heat still flowed around them, the ashen state of the land around them certainly showed this.

Watching from afar, Kazimir had the simple idea of breaking the Demon’s rhythm of attack, and, to make this reality, he swiped his hand upward, causing the ground to crack under his influence, before rupturing into a number of deep ridges, enough to throw him off of his balance for just a second. The time wasn’t long, but for Arctaius, that was all he needed. He’d already taken advantage, slamming a fist into the creature’s ribs, before pulling back. An upward leap was followed by a roundhouse kick, a heel slamming into his jaw.

Haures began to spun as he was sent flying away, but this did not continue for long. He stopped himself once more, launching forth yet another wave of great flame. Which arctaius responded to with a wave of his own. The two waves of flame clashed once more, sending yet another Maelstrom of heat cascading outward,any vegetation burned in the vicinity, and the earth below it emitting a red glow. But this clash was interrupted, as Kazimir leaped in with his own attack, fist cloaked in a crimson glow, moreso as he slammed it into Haures’ back, Shouting out.

“Esper’s fist!” Blood shot from the reptillian’s mouth, though it was vaporized in the same breadth. The attack had done damage, but the more pressing issue was that his own attack had dispersed.. And the consequences came quickly. The Inward crescent was his back, soon flexed in the opposite direction, As Arctaius slammed a fist into his stomach. No sooner did he use the grappling he rarely used, Tightening his grip upon Haures’ arm, bending his legs, before twisting his body forward, launching him into the sky.

The two proto-humans gave each other a single nod, all the communication they needed, before they flew to follow him. But it seemed that the creature himself wasn’t exactly willing to take this assault without fighting back…

“To think I’m being pushed like this… I should’ve gone all out from the start!” These words were followed by the crimson flames around him, growing more intense, larger, and his body apparently shared this change. The scales that lined his build became thicker, their color changing into a jet black. A number of spines sprouted from his back, the two very largest being behind his shoulders. But it seemed that the two were not phased by this change, and continued forward regardless.

Elsewhere, Seir’s battle against Alarick andJirou was not going as nearly as well as she would've liked. Finding herself barely avoiding the attacks sent her way by alarick. Made worse by the constant interference to her flight by the Yakuza. She’d need to be quick, very much so… Perhaps this’d be easier on her if she attempted to find Vinea. If nothing else, the two of them together would be a better chance. And it seemed that Haures wasn’t exactly in the best state either. In a short time, she was already trying to fly out of the ring of gravity. Avoiding a cut from Alarick’s void blade, which nearly severed the wing, and grounded her. But it seemed that her two opponents pursued her with no delay, Jirou sent forth chunks of earth, which she had to eave around, twisting and turning, as she shouted out.

“Vinea!”

The armored demon glanced up, and almost immediately disengaged from his battle with Gilga and Hyperion, leaping upward, and letting her grasp him within her talons, flying him away. Gilga placed a hand on his chin as he observed this.

“Just what are they planning?”

The question was to be answered soon enough. As the predicament of their comrade Haures was in became clear to them.

“Seir, You know what to do!” Vinea stated.

“Of Course!” She shouted back, The avian demoness began twirling backwards, building up momentum, before releasing his grip, launching her comrade forward. The two that were in his path suddenly stopped, sensing the rapidly approaching object. But, before they knew it, One of them, Kazimir, had been pushed out of the way by Vinea’s charge. This allowed Haures to strike back at Arctaius, knocking him to the ground… The three demons had re-united themselves into a unit. But it seemed that the humans had as well. They were still outnumbered, but the chances of victory were better now, as they saw it.

“Let’s make sure we eliminate these fools who dare intrude upon Lady Gammena’s Domain…” Vinea stated. The demoness they were working to defend was hard at work in her own battle. It seemed that the appearance of Zhao did very little to deter her, in fact, quite the opposite, the grin on her face grew larger, as she made more orbs of light appear around her, which promptly began making their way toward the two. And in a short time, they were trying to make their way out of the way once more, the hole in the wall, the same one Liang made, came into use, as the two leaped out, spreading out, as they flew through the area. But it seemed it wouldn’t be as easy as getting out of sight. The woman swiped her fingers sideways, causing the spheres to shear through the stones that made up the main building’s roof, giving her a direct view of her opponents. A dance in the sky began, as the two bounced from tower to tower, using them as springboards, shields, reversing their flight paths, attempting to feint her into changing her direction. Though this strategy had some success, not nearly enough, and soon, the two found themselves grazed by the spheres surrounding them, gradually building up damage.

This wouldn’t do… Zhao closed both of his eyes, as the skin on his forehead began to part, giving way to another eye, identical to his normal two… The formerly unclear paths they were taking, had now become less of an enigma to him. And In short time, he was using his ability to his full advantage, managing to weave around the attacks with what was seemingly practiced ease. Ducking around one, ascending to avoid another, Bringing his limbs close to his center to avoid two, which came from the left and right respectively. As for Liang, his own defense was something different. Pushing more Qi into his barrier to try to prevent entry, while not as effective, it would at the least allow him to stay in the battle longer.

The general looked upon this display with annoyance, how could these two humans be defending against her so well? To her knowledge, when they won against Sigma, they all had to fight him at once, and even then, they came out injured. One of the few who escaped from the keep to tell them of the situation said as much. But even so, they were here, causing more problems than she believed they could. It seemed more effort would be required. As such, she produced more motes of demonic energy, sending them forward in spheres once more. And soon enough, her opponent’s had two forms of attack to evade. Brilliant rays of red that streaked through the sky, and the same spheres that had chased them down earlier. Zhao found that his dodging routine wasn’t working nearly as well as it had before, glancing strikes were beginning to land once more, any attempt at dodging he did make was met by an attack coming from the other direction.

“She’s not intending on making this easy, then…We should expect as much.” Zhao thought

While the two continued their attempts to make their way around her attack, Gammena would soon have another issue to worry about. Her focus on the battle above had left her more than a bit distracted… And distraction could be deadly. Her senses just barely detected another source of demonic Energy below her. The demoness’ eyes widened as the ground burst open under her. What came to view was not another demon, but one of the Humans. Junko made her way back to the demon realm. And it was made clear how she managed to get under the general once she got a better look. Constructs formed of crimson light around her hands, two sharpened claws. Junko started her attack, a Swipe that nearly cut open the demoness’ torso, if she hadn’t moved back. But the gashes that were left instead were not exactly better.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Before long, she was sent flying back, courtesy of a kick sent into her chin, Forcing her rise to the sky… The demoness quickly stopped herself, as a scowl made it to her face. Blood was wiped from her chin, as she spoke once more.

“Make no mistake… You won’t get another hit like that.”

“And just what makes you say that? You won’t be able to evade us forever.” Junko boasted. Such insolence! to even suggest that… No, she’d keep her calm. Rather than lashing out, she let her expression return to its previous state, a smirk.

“That's the beauty of it… I won’t have to.” The change in her strategy was instant. The field of transmutation had grown larger, more intense. And, more than that, visible. Junko was almost prepared to rush back in, and attack once more, something that both of her allies noted immediately.

“Hold on! That field around her, It seems to transmute anything that gets within it to energy for her to use. We don’t know what effects it’ll have on living beings.” As Zhao explained this, she silently thanked him in her head, before flying off to join them. Regrouped, the three watched as the woman floated in front of them.

“Any ideas?” Liang questioned.

“If my attack there told us anything… Even if her attacks are damaging, factoring in how you two look, and that field of her is possibly dangerous, her body itself doesn't seem as resilient compared to others that we fought… She’s a glass cannon, for sure.” Miyamoto deduced. Zhao put his hand on his chin.

“Then we’ll need an attack capable of piercing through that field and passing through quickly enough to reach her without her knowledge. If I Refine and sharpen one of my air pressure bursts, it just may work.” Zhao responded. The two nodded, and they began to put their plan into motion. Turning her attention back to the demoness. Who, strangely enough, seemed to let the meeting take place. After all, to her, whatever they were planning wouldn’t make a difference, especially with what was to happen next. With a snap of her fingers, the spheres around her turned into 10s, and then, into 100s. Some large, some small, but what she hoped to achieve was clear. Some shot from beside her, going to try to carve into the proot-humans, while others fired downright gigantic rays of demonic energy. And in a short time, the cacophony of attacks had begun. Some of the beams had barreled off into the distance, tens of Kilometers away from the general, which certainly didn’t bode well. In the skies above the demonic lands, one of the many flying, moon-sized orbs of displaced earth, had been shattered by one of these strikes.

But these were not limited to just empty lands alone. In the far east, there was a large city, constructed of whitened stone, one of the few demonic groups who saw architecture as anything more than a waste of time, had their lives end within moments, as an explosive bubble of crimson came to swallow the city itself, and large swathes of land around it. Across the demon realm, in all directions, the results were ultimately the same. The battle was destructive, there was no doubt about it. Something that the others, still caught in their own battle with the three demons, observed, even the three they were fighting…

The imminent danger of the fired attacks was noted, but regardless, they’d already decided to simply continue their attack. The damages mattered very little. Though the same could not be said for the troops who fought around, some of them had begun to grow hesitant to continue, in no small part due to those who were eviscerated by stray attacks. While some decided to fight, and ignore the situation, others began to split off. The Three Mhy’de siblings observing this watched with an especially focused attention. Kilesia scrawled on a piece of parchment, one procured from the humans. The bald one, who wanted to map their path, as she’d heard. The details of this battle would not be forgotten, not on her watch.

But the thoughts of those who were on the receiving end of the attack were nowhere near as calm. They were being hit, repeatedly, from many different angels. Try as they might to get out of the way, to defend themselves, the damage was building quickly. It seemed that what was previously intended to be a death by a thousand cuts, had shifted into what she wanted to be a quick death for all three. This was especially an issue for the one who was supposed to disappear into the unknown. Any advance Zhao made was undone, by a beam slamming into him and shoving him back, the spheres shearing through his body time and time again. If he was a less experienced fighter, one who had not grown used to suppressing his pain in the midst of battle, he likely wouldn’t have been able to move, let alone think straight.

But his Predicament didn’t go unnoticed. Around Liang, his Qi form morphed itself into the shape of the Azure dragon once more. Junko let an intense light build around her hands, pushing more, and more, of her energy into them both. Even in the midst of the rapidly falling attacks, and the destruction that was continuing to spread, the two managed to fire out their own techniques.

“AKUMA RAY!”

“Chuojiao Art- Azure Dragon Rush!”

A brilliant ray of crimson, flew from Miyamoto’s hands, and the pronounced head, long neck, and serpentine body of the Azure Dragon flew from Liang, both making their way to the General. But the demoness herself only looked upon this with a sneer… They actually thought THESE attacks were going to stop her? The woman let out a hearty laugh, as she let the attacks collide with her barrier, not even deciding to transmute them just yet, eventually, her laughing fit subsided, and she spoke once more.

“Are you kidding? THAT’S your last ditch attack? Just what is that going to do now?” Soon enough, the attacks had dispersed, as she took them in, as fodder for another two beams fired in return, ones which promptly swallowed them whole, continually ripping them apart with it’s cascading energy.

“Know this, humans… In this realm, Power means rank. You will not defeat a general chosen by Maleggan himself. Consider this battle over. All I need to do is eliminate the Last o-” The woman suddenly paused as that thought came to her head. Where the hell was the last one?!

“Guo Art : Qǐméng xuànfēng lěisī - (Enlightened Whirlwind Lance)” As the words were shouted, she had very little time to question what had happened. As a sharpened bullet of air punched through her barrier. Time seemed to come to a near halt for the demoness, as she looked upon what looked to be her impending doom. Painfully slowly, the projectile continued moving through the space, making impact on her back. And within a fraction of a second, her chest seemingly exploded….

Leaving naught but a hole.

The attacks stopped falling, the violent trembling of the ground began to slow. Only a few more explosions ringing from the last vestiges of the beams…

27 Years Ago

The continent known as Ixis was changing rapidly. A powerful creature had appeared out of nowhere, and his goals had become clear as soon as he began expanding his influence. He was a conqueror, one of their plane’s denizens who fancied calling themselves “Lords”. But there was one thing that set him apart, he was successful in his endeavors. In a mere year, half of the continent was already conquered. Making his conquest possible as well, were the powerful creatures, who he’d dubbed his Seven Generals. Among them, were a Vrshr, and Armored-Skin Demon, known as Xi. An especially grotesque, organic suit of armor, most resembling that of the Lamellar armor used in China’s own ancient era. Though how this similarity came to be was a mystery.

And by his side, was a member of the Yssqr. A species which resembled the inhabitants of the realm known to them as Mvchk. Gammena… Since before Maleggan had appeared, these two were attached to each other, and it seemed that even now, there was no difference. What exactly was their relationship, were they lovers? Some certainly interpreted it as that. But the two did not simply tell everybody the answer to this question. After all, it was not one they knew themselves at this point. The two stood in silence, watching their subordinates work on constructing what was to become their keep.

“Gammenna… What do you make of this Maleggan character?” Xi questioned, gaining a glance from her. It was a good enough question, she supposed.

“I respect his power… By working with him, we get the maximum number of Powerful opponents to fight. Not to mention citadels built for us. And besides, perhaps it’ll be easier to keep in contact with an organized force keeping the weaklings from getting uppity. Haures, Vinea, and Seir share the same opinion.” She stated. Xi nodded, and silence returned between them. Anything resembling romance, wasn’t exactly common among most demons. Even that word itself was unknown to them. Perhaps some sort of comradery at the most. But, as the two stood there in silence once more, the Demoness drifted closer.

“Perhaps, in the future, some offspring to join us in battle would be on the table?” Xi said nothing, only nodding

…

It seemed that such dreams would not come to pass. DEMED was already occurring, her body had begun to disperse into red particles, marking her end. As she did so, the last thought which came to her head was the one she was closest to, the one she hoped to share her future with.

“Xi…”

Their old friend, their general, was gone… Such was noted by Haures, Vinea, And Seir. Many of the lower ranked demons decided this was a losing battle, beginning their swift escape from the area. But to no surprise, the retreating troops followed. And it seemed that the same was to happen to the late General’s trusted three. A swipe of the void blade cut through Vinea. After all, even his armored skin couldn't defend against a blade that could rend dimensions. The Avian Demon, Seir, found herself crushed by gravity, as Jirou closed his hand. And the last, Haures, Found himself destroyed by a point blank burst of yellow light, overriding his own flames, and cauterizing hsi body…. The battle was over, and it seemed the humans had another victory, though it certainly wasn’t easy.

The one the demoness loved, lying far outside of their current area. In what looked to be some sort of Tavern, the rather jovial general was as he usually was among his troops. Drinking what was known as “Xu’Vel”, a fermented fruit drink, that bore some resemblance to the alcohol the humans drank in their own realm. For the messenger that entered the room, there was almost a reluctance to stop the rowdiness that had been central to this keep. Though, the fact that he would find out eventually was not lost on him… As such, he began to stride toward the general, speaking out.

“Lord Xi, I have urgent news!” This much was enough to give much of the room pause. The one being addressed left his place, moving toward him.

“Is that so? Explain, then…”

“My lord… I’m sorry, but I'm afraid… The humans… Lady Gammenna.” The pauses, the nervous tone in his voice, told him what he needed to know.

つづく

To Be Continued