Tides Of Protomis XCV
The Stoic Dayspus
While Zhao continued his fight against the demonic wolf, Lupus, another battle occurred in the city of Sapporo. The forces of Yamato clashed with the lower-class demons and fought them off as best they could. On the street, a quadruped demon with a gray armored shell dashed across the asphalt. As it did so, it knocked away whatever was in its path. Whether it be people, cars, or simple debris. Observing this were the squads of armored soldiers in the buildings around the road. Which were five stories at the most.
“Dammit, where is our armor?!” A feminine voice yelled.
“Caught up with a big one a few blocks over! We’ll have to take care of this one ourselves!” A more masculine one responded. Eventually, the sound of static was heard on their radios, and a voice sounded through.
“All troops stand by and prepare to attack. Miyazaki and his squad are here!” This caused some chatter to begin between all the troops in the buildings. Miyazaki Mamoru was certainly a sight for sore eyes. He had become a somewhat legendary figure within the Yamato forces. Though just a regular human and having just been enlisted to boot, his strategies helped to contain the Kaemerge Threat during the war. After all, everyone knew of the Miracle of Sendai. Part of the reason they were able to beat that “Project Ziqq”, As the Kaemerge called it, was the fact that he kept support from getting to the relatively slow human weapon. At this point, it looked to Yamato's troops that the tables would turn, at least here. If anyone could help them out of this, it was him.
On the end of the street, the aforementioned soldier stood on a roof with a large gun carried on the shoulder of himself and two other members of the squad. The weapon itself, the Odenta. An anti-Armor weapon the Yamato infantry, earthside and space-bound alike, had used extensively since it entered service. It had always been a reliable option, and hopefully, it stayed that way now. The rails within the cannon’s barrel flowed with electricity as the trigger was pulled.
“Odenta, Firing!” Mamoru shouted. What followed was a round flying out of the barrel with a boom. Before the demon could even recognize what was happening, the hypersonic round flew past it, taking out 2 legs and forcing it to the ground… This much, however, only slowed it down a bit as the beast continued going forward,
“It’s not dead yet?” One of the soldiers in the structures questioned.
Now rushing toward the Miyazaki squad, but the veteran soldier was undisturbed by this fact. Issuing out his commands.
“Miyuki, Give us another round. We’re firing again!”
“Right!” The woman, Miyuki, promptly loaded another shot into the weapon and closed the hatch at the back. No sooner did electricity begin to run through the barrel once more, with another projectile fired outward. This one hit the creature’s head directly, pillaring through. Within moments, the beast fell limp. Apparently, Mamoru’s attack had succeeded in putting down the rampaging beast.
Cheers erupted from the troops as they noted this. Though it was a small victory, that was more than enough for the forces on the street. Especially given how much of their number’s the creature had cut through. While Yamato's forces continued their battle against the demons, reinforcements were quickly approaching. Kazimir flew over the city, ready to meet this enemy. Strangely enough, the devastation was restricted to a small section of the city.
“That’s strange… Considering what we’ve seen so far, outside of that part of town, this looks nearly untouched for a city the demons got into. Speaking of, where is the one we’re looking for?”
As he questioned this, he sighted a demon who strangely looked calm and had a different presence compared to the rest as he lay on the roof within its shell, which had 9 bands, with his long tail laying limply just below the legs. There were a few grayed hairs on its head, showing its age.
“Well… Going by your looks, I can only assume that you aren’t human.”
The Armadillo-like demon yawned as it got to its feet, a yawn escaping afterward.
“Your assumption is correct. I am Dayspus, a member of the untamed. And, you must be one of the four tides. Trust me, I hold no ill will toward you, but if this gets that “Malleggan” To stop pestering me, then I will do this. Let’s get this over with, human…”
The aging demon said nothing more, instead tucking his legs and arms within as his body rolled into a ball. Kazimir’s auras flared up as he watched this. Within his mind, he questioned what the being was planning. The answer to his question was to come soon. The armored ball in front of him had begun to spin like a wheel. It was relatively slow at first, with nothing appearing to be influenced. But this much quickly changed as the power within Dayspus grew.
The revolutions became faster as dust from the roof began to be kicked up, even more so as the spinning demon began to shear through the concrete. If his presence alone wasn’t enough to show his power, then what followed was. A black blur shot across the ground and came right toward Kazimir. The man looked on in surprise but reflexively activated his telekinesis, outstretching a hand and attempting to keep his opponent at bay. For the moment, it looked as if it was working. Unbeknownst to kazimir, however, his opponent did not share this opinion.
“That won’t be enough.” Dayspus thought, nonplussed.
The speed of the revolutions increased as a ring of flame-like glare cloaked Dayspus’ body. The rapid increase in power is accompanied by two words.
“Mach Charge!!!”
In a moment, Kazimir’s influence over the demon was shattered, and he was barreling toward him once more, with a wave of force pushed behind the demon, obliterating that half of the building and whatever else lay behind him. But, outside of the fact that he’d broken from his influence was the fact that he was significantly faster than Kazimir was expecting. He needed to do something, but as it looked now, there wouldn’t be enough time.
Thinking quickly, he cloaked his hands in red light and dug his feet into the ground, fortifying himself to prepare for the living cannonball rushing toward him. Then, outstretching his arms and halted the demon’s movements with his hands. Shortly, a deadlock was established. The Russian was managing to keep him at bay for a bit. But it went without saying that this was a position neither was happy with. The same thought came to their heads: this would quickly become a war of attrition if they didn’t disrupt their enemy’s defense.
To that end, Dayspus increased his speed, and Kazimir continued trying to reinforce his defenses. But ultimately, the demon won their struggle. Breaking through the Russian’s guard. He began soaring above the streets, taking his opponent for the flight. As Kazimir felt the spinning demon dig into his skin, he knew very well that he’d have to stop this soon. Pushing out more of his psychic power and trying to force him away. Which managed to bring him some amount of solace. But he was not satisfied with the small amount of pushback he produced and applied downward force, creating distance by slamming the demon onto the earth.
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“It seems like that wasn’t enough…”
He began increasing his speed, but with the time he’d granted for himself, Kazimir was seemingly prepared for this. Multiple Hexacombs appeared in front of him, crimson, as one would expect of his constructs. As he waved his hands, they began to straighten up into a line, a measure to make his strategy much easier. He continued to back up as he continually constructed more of these shields. And as Dayspus finally continued his advance, he found himself crashing into the fields each time, his momentum decreasing, while Kazimir continued to get farther away. What was happening became clear to him, and he decided he’d no longer play this game. Stopping himself there and uncurling from his ball-like state.
“I need to avoid hitting those shields. That much will keep my attack from being effective-”
His words were interrupted by what happened next. Kazimir appeared in front of him in what looked like a red comet shooting across the sky, ready to meet him. He drew his fist back and launched it into Dayspus with a right hook, making the demon recoil just a bit, his body shaking from the impact. But the Russian was not done just yet, continuing to strike him across his body. Strangely enough, the receiver of these attacks hadn’t even tried to dodge, simply continuing to take them. An attempt to reverse the situation followed, as. Dayspus grabbed hold of Kazimir’s arms and smashed his forehead against the latter’s. The youth recoiled and began to draw back before the demon shoulder charged him, creating more distance… Now, the two simply stared at one another.
“That really did nothing to him... This is gonna be hard, no doubt…”
The standoff between human and demon continued. As of right now, Kazimir didn’t like his odds, he was much too fast, and his attacks would cut deeply into him if he wasn’t careful. That much was made clear by the results of their past clashes. So the Russian prepared himself for another attack, with the red luminance around his body revolving with enhanced swiftness… And in the same way, did the same happen with Dayspus, as he began spinning once more, forcing more and more of his energy outward. Something which made Kazimir prep himself for what was to come.
“Gyro Onslaught!!!”
But it looked like these preparations were for naught. As the demon began zipping around the sky at blinding speeds. By this point, he was nearly invisible.
“I’ve been outsped by my opponents before, but this here... It’s just like back then.”
There were two battles that came to Kazimir’s mind. First, their struggle against the late 1st apostle in Niopolis and against Ardam in Tsugashuan, even if this one here, didn’t seem as strong as that form he unveiled. Outclassed by a large degree. It was a feeling he hadn’t gotten in a while but wasn’t exactly unexpected. But the man recognized if they had decided not to prepare, the chances were he would’ve died during the first attack. But now was hardly the time to reminisce about his other struggles, especially with the danger that lay directly in front of him.
Said threat smashed into his torso with great force. To the Russian, feeling as if his chest had nearly caved in. But the onslaught was not over yet. As Dayspus drew back and changed his path, bounding behind his target. Before smashing directly into his spine. This was accompanied by him moving up along it and taking point in front of the Russian once more, likely ready to attack. All the while, Kazimir attempted to hatch a strategy in his head.
“If I slow him down, he becomes a lot less of an issue… Fim to change direction enough could slow his momentum. But that raises a question, how long would I have to do that to make a difference, and what would I have to do to survive until then?”
He would not have much time to ponder this as Dayspus charged once more. And- though he’d attempt to redirect him, with his abilities, it seemed to do little to help him. Given that, within a few moments, the spines on Dayspus’ armor began to carve into him. In a rush to defend himself, a shield was formed in front of him, which Kazimir promptly tried to push on to create distance. The result, however, was the deadlock beginning once more.
Part B
As they continued to hold each other in place, the gears began to turn in Kazimir’s head. If he was to win this battle, his assault would have to stop. In that regard, he’d finally hatched a strategy.
“Alright. I’ll let him go, and when he’s carrying me. I’ll grab him, and forcefully redirect him. It is then that I’ll carry out my other plan… His momentum didn't decrease when I slammed him into the ground. The spinning continued, and he came at the same speed. The same will happen this time around.”
He acted upon the first part of his plan, Launching the demon away. Which only resulted in his opponent bounding around him once more. His eyes darted around as this took place, as he began to take in his movement paths and calculate his timing for the second part.
“I'll set up shields in front of his stopping points in the split seconds where he changes direction… Only then will I be able to slow his momentum and catch him. He should be coming toward me soon if the previous times were anything to go by.”
Apparently, his assessment was correct. The demon stopped behind him and changed his arc of movement, flying directly toward him. A shield was raised in front of the spinning creature in milliseconds, slowing him down, though not by much. But, Kazimir was not done yet. He flashed away from his previous spot, which led to Dayspus changing his direction again. After all, he simply thought this was the human’s attempt to elude him rather than any strategy. This much only worked to Kazimir’s advantage as he continued this pattern, setting up shields and letting Dayspus crash into them. Before he changed his direction, leading to another guard. Bit by bit, his opponent’s advance was getting slower. Something noted by both the Russian and the demon he battled.
“Something isn’t right here… What reason does he have to keep generating those shields, knowing I'll just end up destroying them?”
The gears began turning in his head as he thought of the many possibilities... Until it came to him, If this human couldn’t keep up with him earlier, it only made sense that he would try to slow him down… Meaning he was planning on making him change direction, on making him lose his momentum and speed as he continually crashed into the crimson combs. By this point, however, there was very little time to think.
Kazimir began to surround himself with psychic energy once more. Without any hesitation, grabbing his sides as he came close, avoiding his armor. Now, he engaged the next part of his plan, pressing his torso against him, and forcing the demon to a halt.
“I hope you didn’t think you were gonna keep charging me this whole time! Psi-Impact!!”
With those two words shouted, the Russian leveraged his physical strength and telekinetic force to launch his opponent into the ground… And as one would expect, the impact was powerful, enough to force Dayspus to unball himself. The only reason the street under them hadn’t turned into a massive crater was that Kazimir’s own telekinesis prevented this. But, he not only used it for that, he used it for another purpose, sending condensed rubble at Dayspus, subsequently knocking the demon around, up, down, left, then right. This much continued for what felt like minutes. Before he entered melee range once more and slammed a left hook into the demon. And it was at this point that the stresses on his opponent’s armor became apparent as pieces began to flake off. As Dayspus took note, he slammed his armored head into Kazimir’s fist, somewhat alleviating the damage. Before, he gave the Russian the best punch he could, enough to stun him for a second but not nearly enough to do any lasting damage, but he didn’t need that.
“You’re stronger than I expected… But that’s the limit.”
“I’ll end this. I will return to the peaceful existence I had beforehand… Before this, Maleggan came in, saying we needed to fight for him…”
After all, he was the oldest of all the untamed, being something of a … Grandfather to them. Though, such relations were sporadic among demons. Though he recalled his younger days, where he was a legend fondly, to some extent, he’d matured. After over 1000 years of life and fighting, he simply wanted to spend the rest of his life in peace, but it seemed that much would not happen unless he won. While he had no qualms with the human species, truthfully, not even knowing as much as the younglings would, this was something that he would do. His victory would be achieved by using a move he hadn’t used in many years.
Dayspus began flying away, rolling into a ball once more. Rapidly increasing his velocity all the while. Kazimir squinted his eyes as he watched what seemed to be an escape or something else. Either way, Kazimir did not intend to let him do whatever he was planning.
He began to give chase. While the demon himself traveled far away from Sapporo, within moments, he’d left the island of Hokkaido and was now careening over the pacific ocean. The waters around him roused as he passed through it. Until he arrived at his destination. Though he did not know the city he flew above, he knew something else. It was quite a distance away from his starting point. However, the old English architecture told those who knew of the world where he was… Redale, Lutheria. In other words, nearly 9,000 KM away. Now, the ring of flame-like energy appeared around his body again as he began spinning faster and faster. At this point, he began to resemble an unstoppable storm more than a spinning object. Producing swift and forceful currents that tore up whatever surrounded him. The tides became more prominent as crags formed in the ground around him. Kazimir held a red sphere of energy in his hand, ready for whatever was to come.
“Supreme Mach Buster!!!!” Dayspus shouted.
Dayspus shot forward- covering the distance in what seemed like seconds. Any ground he flew over, left burning, and destroyed. Something which clearly did not bode well for Sapporo, with demon and human alike killed by the simple aftereffects of his charge. A large amount of power took the Russian by surprise, given his widened eyes. Which only became wider as he was hit dead center on his torso. A crack sounded from his ribcage as he coughed out blood. And it didn’t take long for him to begin being carried off once more… But this time, he was ready. He choked out two words.
“Atomic… Dive!!!”
Within moments, Dayspus shared the same fate as Amelia Livert. The molecules within his body began to undergo rapid changes, breaking, and reforming, some Even transmuting. The demon did not scream, but it was clear that he felt it, given that his expression had changed. But ultimately, he decided to remain silent as his life came to an end. By the time the attack was finished, there was very little left of the demon's body, only fragments of his armored carapace Kazimir said nothing as he looked down upon this. Instead, holding his chest as he landed on the ground, beginning to huff, the exhaustion and injuries alike beginning to get to him somewhat.
“Damn, that one was something else… I'd better get moving. Sure the others could use the support if this is what we’re dealing with.” Kazimir noted.
To Be Continued.