Tides Of Protomis LXXXIII
Genbu’s Strike.
After the battle, Or, rather, scuffle with the slayer wielding Ramiel. Something which served as a bit of a wake-up call to the girl known as Junko Miyamoto. If what took place beforehand was any indicator, it looked like they gained some reason to be able to enter combat with them. While she wasn’t concerned about herself, she didn’t believe she was in that much danger. But, unfortunately, it was a different story for those around her. It was for this reason that she walked away from Koyama’s home with a bag slung over her shoulder.
“While this isn’t my preferred idea, I’d rather not get Koyama-san or everyone from school dragged into this… With the holy order running around, and now those demons, I can’t risk it… Who knows how far they’ll try to take this? I doubt they’d do something nearly as drastic as the Kaemerge...but there’s always a chance. Three days might have been too long in the first place.”
Miyamoto continued to make her way through the street, her goal being to approach the maglev station, the one that would lead her to Shima. In her mind, that was her best bet. She sure as hell wasn’t going back to those people. At first, her walk was casual. At the least, until she felt a strange feeling running through her body.
“Something isn’t right here…”
Her eyes darted around, looking to any possible angles of approach. Regardless, she saw nothing. Above her, the very same ones she sensed hid behind the entrance to a roof nearby. All of them clothed in the same white cloaks as the one who wielded Ramiel. Though they observed her, they did not take action. Opting to keep out of sight, for now, at the least. Elsewhere, the tides walked down the streets of Shima. Kazimir walked with his hands clasped behind his head, looking up into the sky.
“Looks like we have another enemy on our hands… Somehow, I doubt that guy we fought was their strongest.”
Arctaius glanced at him.
“If he was, why would Miyamoto have told us about it? He wasn’t even near any members of the Imperial Guard…”
Alarick sighed.
“It’s troublesome, but for now, We’ll just have to try what they’re doing… We’ll do some espionage work and see what we’re dealing with. As for the demons…”
Zhao stayed silent throughout the chatter around him as the skin on his forehead began to part, and part of his third eye’s black pupil became visible.
“That’s something for another time. For now, at least, they aren’t doing anything.”
Kazimir looked over his shoulder at the monk, before his arms returned to his side.
“Yeah, guess you’re right... So what now?”
Arctaius put his hand on his chin.
“Go home, I guess? There really isn’t much else for us to do here.”
Alarick nodded in agreement.
“Alright.”
However, as Zhao’s third eye opened entirely, he frowned. Then, as they prepared to break off into different paths, Zhao took the initiative, swiftly stepping in front of them and holding his hand up. And, as such, they stopped.
“Hold on, not just yet… My future sight is telling me something.”
Arctaius raised an eyebrow.
“And what might that be?”
Zhao put his hand down as he grasped the hilt of his dao.
“Soon enough, more members of the holy order are going to appear to go after Miyamoto… We may want to check that out.”
Alarick cracked his knuckles.
“Well, guess we aren’t going home yet, at least.”
With this, the Tides leaped, scaling a building and landing on its roof, before they began jumping between the rooftops, toward Miyamoto, or, at the least, where they thought she was. As for the woman herself, she’d started to move faster, as did her gaze. She wasn’t going to be caught off guard if she had anything to say about it.
“Violet Devil is in our sights… We know what our orders were, so let’s get moving!”
They spoke firmly in response.
“Right!”
They’d been preparing for some time now. Failure was not an option, especially with what was at stake. They took some time to steel themselves before they leaped off the roof and began barreling toward Miyamoto. And, as light surrounded their opened palms, weapons began to appear. A Katana, Longsword, Warhammer, And Partisan. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by their target, whose eyes darted toward them. As they entered her view, a red light grew around her hand, which led to expressions of fear appearing on their faces. At this point, it was much too late to reconsider their choice. She swiped her hand, with a red light flying outward, sending them all cascading backward. Demolishing the walls of a building behind them.
The flying rubble kicked up dust, and the sound of the impact cascaded through the surrounding area, which caught the attention of those who walked on the streets. Leading to a confused conversation beginning between them.
“What’s going on here?”
“A fight, what do you think?”
“Who were those guys?”
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Miyamoto began to dust her hands off, blocking out the chatter as she resumed her search for further opponents.
“That can’t be all of them... That demon energy reading was too high.”
The young woman began to levitate to get a better vantage point. Though this was seemingly unneeded, with who appeared in front of her. A lanky, fair-skinned man. Who evidently did so without tripping her senses. A straight head of light green locks flowed in the wind, as did his uniform, which bore a resemblance to those worn by the earlier troops. He continued floating toward her, a smile making its way onto his face.
“Violet Devil… You are just as powerful as our reports say. Good, perhaps you won’t be a disappointment…”
Miyamoto frowned.
“Of course I am… Don’t forget who I’ve fought.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t dare forget… That’s why I was sent here. After all, you’re quite the stubborn one.”
Genbu opened his palm, holding it at his side. Which was soon followed by a golden light flowing around his hand.
“But there’s no issue. I, Genbu, will eliminate you regardless.”
He paused for a few moments as the luminance around his hand began to intensify. Then, as he pushed out more energy, the glow grew to encompass his entire arm.
“Come to me, Vurius!”
As he invoked his words, a white longbow, with a jet black line going down the center, appeared in his hand. With his intentions being made clear, Miyamoto cloaked her hands in demonic energy as she prepared to meet his attack, whatever it may be, head-on. The man was silent as he drew the string of the bow back, and streams of golden light that soon morphed into the shape of arrows appeared.
“Now, Let’s get this over with quickly… I have other duties I need to attend to.”
As a finger on his hand twitched, Miyamoto clenched her fists, taking notice of even that slight movement. But Genbu was undisturbed. The smile remained on his face as he released the string, and out came wave after wave of arrows. Miyamoto began to weave through the sky, moving out of the way, or swiping her hand, and destroying them with the resulting bursts of energy. She continued her routine for what felt like minutes as Genbu repeatedly produced more waves. This would turn into a battle of attrition if she wasn’t careful. This one would likely prove to be a nuisance.
“I’ll do the smart thing here and eliminate the source. But I need an opening to get to him…”
As such, she continued to dodge until she took notice of a patch of space in front of her, notably lacking arrows, and she was quick to take advantage. She advanced and let her energy take the form of a Tachi in her palm. Genbu fired another volley at her. But, the lightning-quick swipes of the blade began to cleave through the arrows, making them disappear. With this, she drew her sword back, ready to swipe at the man’s neck. But, it would not be that simple… Soon, he disappeared from her sight. She was taken aback at the situation. The man had certainly exceeded her expectations.
“He’s fast!!”
Soon Genbu began to disappear and reappear from her sight, stopping only to fire another volley of projectiles at her. The screen only became denser by the second. However, Miyamoto wasn’t going to let him win that easily, firing out rays of red light from one hand, destroying the projectiles. Dispatching the ones that made it through her screen with the blade in her hand. The rapidly thinning field of shots lead her to begin firing off attacks at the man himself.
Yet, the man had disappeared and appeared somewhere else, determining that the bursts of energy were to attack rather than defend. But his opponent quickly flashed out of her current spot, as the first few volleys were fired. It was clear to her that his plan was to keep her there… She prepared to return fire but found that Genbu would not let her way so easily. The slayer appeared behind her.
“You might not have known this… But I’m called Genbu The Swift for a reason.” He stated.
Miyamoto quickly swiveled to face him just as he fired an arrow at point-blank range. She found herself unable to completely avoid it, the arrow just grazing her skin.
“Tch…”
The young woman began a counterattack, demonic energy swirling around her fist. She slammed it into his stomach, the man’s mouth forced open as he felt the pure force of the hit. He was soon sent barreling backward. And she began her attempt to pursue. However, the man was quick to take the chance he’d found. He aimed his bow at her again as he drew the string back and quickly released it, with the streams of golden light flying at her again. Miyamoto shoved her palms out, firing pulses of red light forward. And, as the storms of energy flew toward one another, they clashed, exploding upon contact. Though the attacks were seemingly staved off, Miyamoto took notice of the fact that some of the arrows made it past her volley, whizzing dangerously close to her, something she wasn’t fond of.
“Long-range isn’t my forte… I need to close the distance.”
The beams stopped flying from Miyamoto’s hands as she flew forward. As Genbu took notice of her advance, the size of the arrows seemed to increase, and the speed as well. Something Miyamoto took note of as she weaved through the volley. But it was something she ignored. If she could break his rhythm of attack, it was possible to turn the tables on him. To that end, the light on her left hand intensified as she extended it away from her body.
“Devil slicer!!!!”
As she swiped her blade, a crescent-shaped burst of energy flew forward, quickly making its way toward Genbu. Plowing through the attack he created. To his apparent surprise, his eyes widened. Though, he would swiftly regain his composure.
“Interesting… She’s much closer to a demon than any of us…”
He disappeared, letting the attack fly off into the distance. He glanced over his shoulder, watching as it barreled away. Miyamoto disregarded this as she flew at Genbu once again, her fist clenched and blade in hand, ready to continue her assault. But he would take notice, facing her once more. As he fired off another volley, an attempt to stave her off, she simply began to demolish his defense with the continued blade swipes and firing of demonic energy. Clearly, the situation had changed. The woman had started to figure out a pattern and tempo and adjusted her defense and counterattacks as such. Rays of red light began to whizz by the Slayer’s head, and he’d decided it was enough by this point.
“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Holy Arc: Heavenly Shot!!!”
As Genbu invoked his words, a storm of projectiles homed in on Miyamoto, numbering in the thousands. But they were not only large in number, they were large in size as well, being around the height of a small building. As the arrows barreled toward her, Miyamoto took note of the faster speed and the changed pattern of approach. She wouldn’t be able to avoid these as quickly. Miyamoto tsked before she resumed her defense. Through her efforts, she even managed to repel the first wave. But even so, she found herself overwhelmed as the projectiles began to graze her skin, leaving superficial but noticeable cuts. Some even managed to stab through her extremities.
“Not good…”
Miyamoto began to flash across the sky, attempting to elude him. But she found that the arrows simply honed in on her, wherever she appeared.
“I could wait out his stamina or attack him directly… If I had some sort of distraction, the case might be different. But my choices are limited here. Which Avenue do I want to go?”
She continued her attempts to avoid the strikes, still finding herself caught with the same glancing blows. At the least, until she decided upon a plan of attack. Her body was soon swarmed with crimson light that expanded past her, with the projectiles around her disappearing. The opening was temporary, but she would take what she could get. Miyamoto began her advance toward Genbu once more. But, he wouldn’t make things so easy, firing once more, with the resulting arrow flying toward her as more of a blur. Her sight barely even registered it as it pierced through the middle of her arm, with crimson blood spilling out as a result. She soon stopped as she glanced down, looking at the result of the attack, A gaping hole… She found that her arm would no longer move, though she would try. She suppressed her pain, and moved her gaze closer, as she spoke in a hushed tone.
“It’s still on...But it’s hanging by a thread. If I didn’t have my aura up, I would’ve had a disadvantage on my hands.”
She paused.
“Hand… Disadvantage on my hand.”
Her gaze went to Genbu once again as she spoke in her usual tone.
“I haven’t fought one of the higher leveled slayers yet… This is more trouble than I was expecting…”
“Well, if you came here thinking we were all green like those foot soldiers, You’ll be disappointed to learn that you’re incorrect!”
The man drew the string of his bow back once again.
“Now then, It’s time to end th-”
His words were soon cut off as a light-skinned fist slammed into his cheek. A left straight, courtesy of Kazimir Rhuskov. The man looked on in surprise as he was sent flying back. Kazimir dusted his hands off as he parted his lips to speak.
“We’ll see about that…”
Soon, floating behind him was Arctaius Corde.
“You seem to forget, there’s seven of us… And we can all sense what’s going on…”
Genbu’s smile remained regardless.
“Man... Just when I thought I could end things...This just got more interesting.”
As Genbu reached into his robe, pulling out a thin metal slab that soon brought up a holographic display, with a woman wearing a similar uniform appearing on his screen.
“ESP 2, Agium, Eagle, And Third-eye Have arrived… I require reinforcements…”
The soldier nodded.
“Noted- Support is en route…”
Genbu tapped the side of the device, with the display going off. He put it back into his place as he focused his gaze on Arctaius.
“Let me warn you, This ain’t my first rodeo. I’ve slain demons for over 30 years. You Might even call me a grandmaster… Let me tell you something else, I’m not one to give up my target so easily.” he blustered.
Arctaius did not respond to his words, seemingly having no interest in his background. Instead, he opted to turn his gaze to his allies. Genbu scratched the back of his head.
“What, no response?”
“Well… Looks like we’re back to what we do best… What do you say we get rid of him and whoever comes to help him?”
Alarick smirked.
“No objections”
The auburn-haired man was soon covered in a red glow as his hair began to flow above his head.
“Same here.”
Zhao removed his blade from its sheath, pointing it at Genbu.
“For me as well…”
To Be Continued.