章 10: Chapter 10
To start things off, Shiro struck first, being someone who preferred to attack first to get the upper hand on the battlefield as quickly as possible. He struck by launching Rashomon forth towards the enemy from the left flank, the massive, animalistic and bloodthirsty black Beast roaring like the beast it truly was. It's maw opened wide as it made a bite into the Apostle known as the Elder Centipede in the side of its head, causing the said Apostle to hiss as it lowered it's body downwards to get out of the way.
Although, this didn't faze Rashomon's user very much if the smirk on his lips was anything to go by, with the reason why becoming clear in the next few seconds, when Ushi dashed across the Temple yard, smacking into their adversary whilst launching a downward swing of her sword. The Elder Centipede, sensing the divinity within that sword, quickly realized it's identity as something from the Gods thus shouldn't be allowed on her flesh, thus she quickly aligned her body so that it would strike her Carapace instead of the flesh underneath. As such, her bloe got deflected, launching Ushi backwards before the Elder Centipede lunged at her, unknowingly avoiding an overhead lunge from Rashomon who gave chase to her.
To counter this, Ushi quickly jumped throughout the yard, using the various statues as leverage to vault her way throughout the battlefield. Every time she did so, the massive creature smashed through those statues like they were nothing but glass mirrors before her titanic might, evading Rashomon's lunges barely though.
'Tch, looks like this one has learned much from the previous encounter…' Shiro couldn't help but think as he saw this, pondering on how she could dodge Rashomon so well whilst still giving chase towards Ushi. Said warrior girl kept her grip on her Katana as she kept slashing away at the creature's mandibles which tried to carve out her flesh, her eyes showcasing the hunger which defined an Apostle's view of those not a member of its own kind. 'Ushi may have made an error when she said it was the second Apostle, since this one is the same one which I fought before. I remember that feminine face from back then. Nevertheless, the fact that she's been able to dodge my Rashomon shows considerable intelligence. Perhaps in addition to this, she also passed this information to that other Apostle, which should be around here still if it's who I think it is…' Shiro thought to himself.
If that was really the case, then things will only get more complicated from here on out… although, that didn't mean that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to squash that damn bug. It only needed a bit more strategy than what he usually dealt with, but Shiro felt fine with that. Complex puzzles and lack of progress may frustrate him, but if it was part of a battle like this then he had better tolerance for it. It almost made him feel like he BELONGED on the battlefield… which wouldn't be too far fetched considering his background.
Anyways, seeing that Rashomon's attacks were being dodged, Shiro pulled it back to his side and then back into his Coat, calling out to Ushi at the opposite side of the yard. "Oi, warrior girl!"
"It's USHI!"
"Whatever, anyways bring the enemy to me, i'll get a good hit on her fat ass!"
A frustrated growl escaped her lips as Ushi began making her way back to her companion regardless of how he had gotten her name wrong. All the while, the Senior Centipede Apostle hissed at this, still trying to bite down on her prey instead of letting them regroup and possibly develop some kind of annoying strategy that they'd 'think' would kick her almighty backside. Just as she once again made to lunge at Ushi's backside when she had been in the middle of a jump, however…
SCHULUCK!
"?!"
One shrill gasp escaped her when the Senior Centipede felt various sharp spikey things push through her body from below, making her glance downwards to see various black and red spikes jutting out of the ground and into her body. She could hardly move thanks to them, even her physiology couldn't have stopped them from going right through her flesh, including her normally hard defensive shell. Judging by the way that her eyes looked like they were about to explode with how wide they were, it would be easy to assume that she did NOT see this coming, even with her previous knowledge of his Sacred Gear from their last battle. Guess this would be her punishment for that particular error, then… which would lead her to her death if he had his way.
"That's…!"
In any case, Shiro decided to answer Ushi's unasked question as she slid to a halt and wound up by his side, multiple threads from Rashomon impaling the ground behind him. "Thank Rashomon. My Sacred Gear's abilities make it so that it can be used in all sorts of ways, be it offensive and defensive. I assume you know what those are?" he questioned her at the end, getting a nod from her in return. "Well, in Rashomon's case, he's a bit of an omnivore, capable of devouring and cutting through anything, even space itself. Thus, it's only natural that it can pierce through Apostle flesh." he explained as Rashomon retracted into the ground and then back into his coat. All before it launched itself in it's true form at the Apostle once again, this time too fast for it to react in time and thus she found it biting into and chomping through a good portion of her body. Shiro smirked a bit more when he saw this, remembering how the smaller centipede had repeatedly tried to evade his Sacred Gear because of its lethality. 'Shame that its high speed regen is a bit of an annoyance…' he couldn't help but think though as he summoned his Rashomon threads whilst the creature raised her head, glaring at him with such bloodlust that if looks could kill then an entire forest would have been melted due to that gaze.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
A loud shriek burst forth from it as the creature burst forwards at high speeds, speeds which caught both of them by surprise since it easily surpassed what had been shown to the two (especially Shiro) so far. As such, the boy quickly switched to more defensive means by retracting his Threads and forming his Barrier in front of him. Just in time too, because the centipede head slammed into him in the following split second, sending him flying across the yard and into one of the walls.
"SHIRO!" Ushi called, but soon had to focus on her own survival when she saw the Apostle quickly switch her gaze towards her before lunging at her, quickly encircling around her to try and restrain her like a serpent. Fortunately, she sliced through several legs whilst flipping forwards, allowing her to escape that trap in time and end up rolling across the ground before getting right back up into a kneeling position. Raising her head, Ushi looked towards the enemy and found her lunging down at the warrior once more, to which said warrior waited till the last second before rolling to the side to avoid the lunge.
This resulted in the female Apostle burying herself into the Temple grounds, somewhere which Ushi knew she would use to strike at her from somewhere she would not expect. 'Tch, looks like i'll have to use my ears for this one…' she thought as she heard sounds of crumbling dirt beneath her feet. Glancing downwards, she saw the cracks forming and immediately jumped out of the way, being about 2 seconds away from being impaled according to her mental calculations since that was the amount of time that had passed before the female Apostle resurfaced. She didn't stop there though as she lunged once more at Ushi, swinging at her with her Mandibles in an attempt to bisect her, though those attempts got thwarted by her sword play until Ushi saw an opening and howled, thrusting her Katana towards the feminine humanoid face above the centipede head.
However…
"Hah!"
"?!"
… Ushi cursed under her breath as the following seconds passed by in almost a flash of motion. She neglected to take into consideration the Antennae which grabbed onto her arms and held them above her head before she could complete her strike. "Ugh!?" she exclaimed, grunting as she tried to break free from the creature's grasp to no avail. Her attempts only increased when she saw the female Apostle's Mandibles rear themselves backwards in preparation to slice her in half at the waist. 'What the hell…?! S-So strong…!' she exclaimed further in her mind.
"Now, die in despair, worm!"
Howling in victory, the female Apostle brought her Mandibles in for a nice, clean cut, intending to do something which she had done to countless humans she had hunted down over the centuries she had been alive…
Only, at the last second Ushi performed an action which surprised her. She went and lifted her lower body upward and kicked the air above her, effectively pulling off a flip-like motion which swung her body out of her Mandibles path… as well as allowed her to bring her heels down onto the female Apostle's humanoid face with as much power as she could muster… what Ushi DIDN'T intend on doing was adding in a burst of divine power to the mix, something which she as a descendent of Hachiman and Raikou, had the ability to do. Hence, the resulting SMACK of her heels against the creature's face made her shriek loud enough that the entire Temple could hear it as well as force her to let go of her arms, allowing Ushi the chance to land on the ground then jump forwards to swing her Katana down on it's centipede head.
A strike…
Which got blocked by a reflexive movement from her Mandibles.
'Tch, guess I didn't hit hard enough-GURGH!' She began to think, before a smack from the Centipede head knocked the wind out of her and sent Ushi rolling across the ground. She didn't let this stop her though and instead used the momentum to get onto her feet again, stabbing her sword into the ground to help slow herself to a halt… although she quickly jumped back again to avoid an overhead slam resulting in her clearing some extra distance between them. 'Grrr, looks like fighting an Apostle's harder than I thought…' Ushi mused mentally, gritting her teeth as various wounds appeared over her body. Seemed as though she hadn't managed to escape that last attack unscathed, though the wounds were comparatively light compared to the one she'd dished out.
Still, she couldn't help but think about that surge of energy she had just felt before launching that heel kick. From what it had felt like, it seemed like some sort of divine intervention or something, but more… personal. She remembered once asking Jinako how she fought and apparently she got some strange energy in her which helped amplify her attacks like those Dongos she used in her 'Godly Trigger' as she called it. 'Was that what I just used? I'm similar to her and Shiro, so perhaps it's indeed possible… but that was just instinct, how the heck do I call it out manually...?' she wondered, growling in frustration. Though, one good thing was that she hadn't lost her sword yet, the sword gifted to her and the other Ronin by her ancestor Hachiman. Losing a sword in this battle could very well mean certain death, since it had the god's will empowering it making it quite difficult for those of the monster and the demonic variety. She bet that the only reason she hadn't died yet was EXACTLY because the Apostle had been cautious of this sword.
"GGGGRRRRRR… Foolish mortal… to think that you are… a descendent of THEM…"
Of course, once the female Apostle had recovered (which only took a couple seconds), she growled angrily under her breath as she loomed over the defensive samurai woman, Lady Asano (who had been able to amazingly keep out of the fight so far) watching on in worry for her sister figure's safety. Meanwhile, Ushi just sneered at the Apostle, not being afraid of her whatsoever. "Oh buzz off shit breath…" she stated. "Of course someone as dishonorable and pathetic as you would be losing. He who fights without honor, lives and dies without it." she declared, her sword gleaming menacingly.
"Silence, bitch! You are nothing but a spec to me! Now, die!"
"You forget about me, bitch?"
"?!"
Just then, a familiar male voice broke out and wound up silencing the two fighters, resulting in the voice's owner jumping out of the wall where he had been knocked into earlier. That person, Shiro, scowled as he held his Kurogane in one hand, reared it backwards, then with a mighty PSHEW threw it downwards like a deity striking someone down from the heavens before the two of them could even react.
At the last second though, the female apostle managed to shift her body and dodge the Spear at the last second, letting it impale the ground right up to the tip of its blade. Looking back upwards, the female Apostle snickered mockingly at him, thinking that his attack had failed.
"What a waste. I had wondered if that Spear of yours was special, but-"
BOOM!
With a quick thrust generated from firing a large energy arrow from his Nightingale behind him, Shiro crashed into the ground in front of the Apostle which generated a crater large enough to house a small elephant… as well as knock everyone off balance along the way. Save for the Apostle of course who used the long legs she had to dig into the ground and keep her balance. "Well, to be fair I weighed my options, gauged your characteristics and decided on a battle plan, with my Spear's abilities not being a factor." Shiro began as he formed Rashomon once again… though this time it appeared as a Tendril tipped by a large hand instead of its beast form or the claw one, which he then launched at the female Apostle faster than she could react. "First, catch you aff guard."
"Guh!"
Before she could react, the female Apostle gasped when the hand grabbed her by her head with enough force to make it so she couldn't break free no matter how hard she tried. She even tried to loop her body up so she could call her rear part back from the area behind the Temple so she could use it to strike at him, but it seemed that Shiro had anticipated that. "Second, isolate you."
A quick flicking motion later, and the hand from Rashomon flicked the female Apostle up into the air, with a strength great enough that the entire creature had ascended up to a couple hundred meters. As a shrill cry escaped her when this happened, she then looked down and noticed that Shiro had launched himself upwards with his Rashomon hand, which had retracted into him the moment that it had fully extended itself for this pseudo slingshot move towards the enemy. "Third…"
"W-What are you…?!"
As he got close enough for his final stage of his plan, a plan which he'd thought up whilst pretending to be out of the fight when he'd been knocked away (though he did have a bit of a headache temporarily), Shiro began to activate his other Trump Card than his Armor. His right arm's hand lit up in flames and formed what looked like… a flaming spear, one with various symbols over it's shaft and blade whilst also radiating a MASSIVE level of power… enough power that if it hit a continent then it would do some MAJOR reconfiguration on it.
"First time using this on a live enemy since the power's so great, but… you'll do in these conditions: BRAHMASTRA KUNDALA."
With that, Shiro threw the Spear RIGHT into the female apostle's mouth, his target being as such. He'd intended to only use this trick when necessary, and considering the circumstances he felt this qualified. Though, he had to figure out how to isolate her from the Temple and limit the collateral damage…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
With the rewards of his efforts being the atomic bomb sized explosion that consumed EVERYTHING that the female Apostle had to offer, her whole body, whilst Shiro covered his face with his arms and gritted his teeth. 'FUCK! This feels like I'm staring at a miniature freaking sun or something! Even now I feel like my arms are going to melt off!' Shiro thought to himself as he fell to the ground, though Rashomon came out in it's large hand form to slam into it in a palm-like manner and hlt his fall, allowing him to land safely before retracting into him again. '...And that was just an incomplete, unmastered version of it. If this Brahmastra is THAT powerful… what about the real thing…?' Shiro wondered as he looked up, observing the power which he had been granted by Shiva to use.
Thinking back on something, Shiro once remembered something that he'd heard from a servant: that 'with great power comes great responsibility'...
After seeing what he had right now, the male could honestly admit that he could understand that one better right now.
BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-BOOM-CRASH-HACK-SLASH-!
The sounds of clashing blades could be heard within the Temple itself, as Oishi and Jinako ruthlessly hunted down the Apostle known as Kira. Although neither of them had seen him transform as of yet, thanks to him hiding within the Temple walls, neither of them had many doubts about his identity. ESPECIALLY since the moment that the man had seen Oishi's sword he had BOLTED away from him whilst fighting with all he had to keep that blade from getting anywhere near his flesh.
Eventually, the trio found themselves within a large stone dojo-like room, surrounded by long wooden pillars. There, Oishi finally charged at Kira, who took the form of a black haired man wearing blue robes befitting someone from a noble bloodline, who wielded a Katana which he used to block several slashes from Oishi's own Katana.
This resulted in them entering a deadlock whilst Jinako (who had deactivated her Godly Trigger in exchange for her human form) held her two Axes at the ready to jump in at any time. Whilst the two men engaged in their heated deadlock, Kira looked down and sneered with no small amount of contempt, a cruel gaze behind his eyes. "You… dare to strike against a lord… Ronin…?" he spat, his words like they were poisonous venom, prompting Oishi to spit back at him. His spit flew into the man's eyes, causing him to cry out in a mixture of pain and disgust as Oishi headbutted him, knocking him backwards.
"One who turns his back on the ways of bushido… does not even DESERVE to speak like a human…" Oishi sneered back, getting into a ready stance. This was then followed by how he dashed forwards with the intent to leap onto his unbalanced adversary and end him as quick as possible, for if he truly WAS an Apostle like they strongly believed, then killing him in his human form would be much easier than if he were to transform into his Apostle one.
However, at the last second…
FWAP!
"Guh?!"
Oishi gasped, his eyes being replaced by nothing but whiteness as all the air got knocked out of his lips. The reason? From behind Kira's back, the man sprouted what looked like the lower body of a Centipede, a similar one to the body of the second Apostle that had attacked Jinako and the others back at the Shrine... only, one on a much smaller scale. After twirling around the Ronin's strike, Kira swung his hips to smack the man with this makeshift 'Tail', knocking the life out of him and sending him flying out of the room… into the outside of the Temple which came with a long drop down.
"Hah! How's that, you pathetic Ronin!"
"Ah, Old man!"
Seeing this, Jinako gasped in horror and shock, mentally confirming that Kira was indeed the Apostle which had accompanied the other one whilst also switching from attacking to a search/rescue mentality. Putting her Axes onto her hips again, she dashed forth towards the place which Oishi had been sent flying out of, sliding under a Tail swipe launched by Kira in an attempt to block her before sausage flipping over a follow-up slash. Rolling across the ground, Jinako eventually jumped right out of the Temple after her comrade, her senses informing her of Kira giving chase.
She soon caught sight of the falling Oishi who looked to be barely started in his regaining of his consciousness, so Jinako knew for a FACT that he wouldn't have survived a drop at this height, so with a quick activation other Godly Trigger (which also had the side effect of turning her into a literal flashbang for Kira's eyes), the indian-Japanese girl managed to catch him in her two lower arms whilst still holding onto their items, then began firing various energy-empowered Dango projectiles in order to propel them further away from the Temple.
This allowed the two of them to crash into a large plain outside of the Castle, with Jinako taking the brunt of the damage in the first impact which bounced her back into the air. This resulted in her bouncing several times, but after the fifth one she managed to right herself in mid-air before slamming both feet into the ground, sliding along it till she halted herself with Oishi in her arms like she were some prince rescuing a Princess.
Kneeling down and gently laying his body on the ground, Jinako dropped her items and began shaking the man a bit. "Oi, oi old man! Wake the hell up, ya crazy old timer!" She yelled in his face, her gaze one of urgency since she knew for a FACT that Kira would be here at any second. She could sense his energy signature rapidly getting closer as well, prompting her to do what she could in terms of healing magic to try and repair the damage done to Oishi's body. Thus, instead of a shattered rib cage, Jinako's divine energy restored all but 2 of his ribs as well as repaired the damage the bone fragments would have done to his muscles and internal organs.
As such, the man groaned as he stirred awake, his eyes barely opening before looking up to Jinako's face. "Ah… my apologies… for such an insolent sight, Lady Jinako…" he whispered, slowly getting into a sitting position and grasping his Katana's hilt, the weapon having clattered beside him by a stroke of fortune. "Looks like… we have confirmation, now…"
Jinako could only nod as well. "Yeah…" she began, getting to her feet after picking up her items. She chose not to turn off her Godly Trigger though, since she felt that its power would be needed in the fight ahead. "You got that right… Still, this just means that the guy's going to be just as hard to beat as any other Apostle…" after she said this, a small bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "As much as it makes me a hypocrite to say this, I'm not as capable at killing these things as Shiro is…"
"Then let us change that together…" Oishi declared, a small smirk on his lips as he rubbed his mouth with his robe's right sleeve. "After all, if YOU will find it hard, it shall prove an even harder trial for myself…"
"Heh, true…"
No sooner had the two confirmed this together, did they look up and see a long figure burst out of the Temple, shooting across the airspace and rapidly advancing towards their position. Quickly, the two of them jumped backwards in order to avoid the following Mandible slash which smashed into the ground beneath them, having the potential to spear through their flesh had they stayed there.
Once the two landed and got into their battle stances, Jinako and Oishi glared up at Kira… who had now transformed into his full Apostle Form: the second, smaller Centipede which had attacked them earlier. "A bug… how fitting for an honorless scumbag like yourself…" the Ronin declared whilst swinging his sword downwards, slashing through a leg which the Centipede Apostle had slashed at him with.
However, Kira didn't give a shit as he hissed ferociously at the two.
"When I'm through with you, I will thoroughly ENJOY raping that foolish Lord's daughter before your dying eyes! That is my right! That is my purpose! That! Is! My PRIVILEGE!"
With that declaration, Kira shrieked as he lunged towards them, intent on slaughtering the two once and for all. Fortunately, Kira wasn't as fast as the female Apostle so they managed to dodge by jumping out of the way and going onto opposite sides.
The first one of them to attack turned out to be Oishi, who ran forwards in order to slash at the creature's head. Kira however, noticed this and quickly launched a Tail smash from above, which the man noticed and quickly jumped back to avoid, cursing under his breath all the while. However, he didn't let that stop him and the moment he could do so, Oishi jumped forwards once more, using the Tail as a jumping platform to leap on towards the creature's head. All the while, Kira retaliated with his Antennae, swinging them at him rapidly to which Oishi responded with some rapid sword swings.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Eventually, Kira got too tired of this exchange and encircled around Oishi's form, heabutting him in the side before he could raise his Katana up in defence. "Guh!" The man exclaimed, grunting as he quickly recovered in the air and slammed into the ground, using his sword to slow to a halt by stabbing its tip into the dirt. When he stopped and looked up, Oishi gasped when he saw Kira already lunging towards him, likely intending to finish Oishi off right now before he could recover.
SMASH-SMASH-SMASH-SMASH!
"?!"
"Forget about me, fucker?!"
Unfortunately for Kira and fortunately for Oishi, both of them forgot about Jinako who had a bunch of Dangos floating around her, coated with her Divine energy. Dangos which she'd launched at the enemy and slammed into the side of its head with the force of a bunch of human sized boulders behind them. As a result, Kira gasped as he got sent crashing into the ground beside the middle aged Ronin, remaining still for a moment in a daze, one which allowed Oishi to get in close for an overhead slash which got followed by multiple stabs. As such, these attacks managed to cut through multiple parts of his Carapace as well as a few of his legs. Although, the Apostle had managed to get his head away in time to prevent them from hitting it.
"Grrr! You bitch!"
A furious roar escaped his lips as Kira launched a wide sweeping motion with his Tail, knocking Oishi aside before he focused on Jinako. Oishi he could deal with quite easily and at any time, however it would appear that this woman had powers that would be quite effective against him in battle. He'd known since their last encounter back at the Shrine that she had been… different, compared to the many prey he had hunted over the years, so that could only mean that she was someone too dangerous of a threat to his life. It didn't help that she seemed to have above human capabilities just like himself, making her the one he needed to eliminate the most out of the two. Then, he'd kill Oishi and finally regroup with his servant, so they could proceed with their plans together.
Thus, Kira lunged towards Jinako with his Mandibles bared for all to see, quickly closing the distance between them whilst raising and bringing down the left one, which Jinako dodged by sidestepping. She then deflected his second strike with her Axe before raising and bringing it down, though Kira reared himself back to avoid it before following up with a bunch of whipping motions with his Antennae that Jinako blocked by throwing her hand forwards and creating a Magic Circle. One which deflected the whip-like strikes away from her and towards the ground, allowing her to jump up into the air and come down with an overhead smash with her Axe that was aimed towards Kira's humanoid face for the second time. Sadly, Kira managed to block it with his Mandibles then push her back, sending her sliding along the ground.
Oishi watched on, stunned as the battle between the two only escalated further and further with Jinako constantly dodging and slashing apart Kira's legs as the long body he had constantly tried to wrap around his opponent to no avail. Seeing what he did, the man had to grimace to himself as he got ready to jump back into the fray, his brow littered with sweat born from exerting so much throughout this entire operation. 'That bastard… no normal man should be able to wound such a beast… he just swats me aside like i'm nothing…' the man thought in a mix of irritation and frustration. At this thought, he had to wonder about Jinako and her companion Shiro who fought these beasts on more equal footing. 'Can those two, who can fight them… be really human? Or are they monsters themselves…? No, whatever they are, they aren't anything like this beast, they have had a sufficient number of opportunities to kill us, yet they didn't. In addition, Ushiwakamaru has taken a liking to them, and I believe in my daughter…' the man thought as he readied his Katana. 'I should just focus on getting one good shot in, one shot which can help do the finishing blow…'
Meanwhile, amidst the jumping, twisting and flipping she did, Jinako grimaced as she kept dodging Kira's attacks one after the other. She didn't have much of an opening to counterattack with all these strikes the bastard had been launching at her, not to mention that she has had to avoid getting surrounded by this thing since those centipede legs (which still had huge numbers even after she'd been chopping them off) would try to rip her body apart the second they got the opportunity to or she showed a brief opening. She'd already gotten a few accumulated injuries in the form of various scratches across her body thanks to them.. Scratched which fortunately didn't hurt too much, but they ran deep so she felt trails of blood running down them. 'This isn't good, if I can't figure out something soon, then I might as well die here… something that I REFUSE to let happen!' she internally raged, gritting her teeth before her eyes widened when an idea presented itself to her. 'Wait, that could work…. But, I'm not that good with it yet, so its a 50-50 chance… I'll just have to risk it…!'
"Hah! You're wide open, slut!"
"?!"
Whilst she thought of that idea, Jinako's eyes widened when she saw Kira rushing in to spear her through the gut with his Mandibles. She must have lowered her guard when that moment of realization had occurred, she theorized, to which Jinako gritted her teeth again as she made sure to pump energy into her legs to jump out of the way…
STAB!"
"Guh!"
Only for a certain Samurai to stop him by jumping onto the back of Kira's long Carapace, then use that to jump to the top of his head and stab his Katana straight into the top portion, a fierce snarl escaping his lips as he shouted the following declaration. "For my loooooooooooooooord!"
"Y-You… bastaaaaaard!"
Fury EXPLODED within his being as Kira swung himself about, eventually tossing Oishi off him and onto the ground below. The middle aged Samurai grunted at this, having been forced to let go of his Katana which now lay inside the Centipede-shaped Apostle's back… something which Kira remained aware of thanks to the searing burning sensation he felt from there. Fortunately, it wasn't something that he couldn't ignore, and he could just pull the weapon out when he was done with this annoyance as he loomed over Oishi, who had gotten onto one knee as he looked up towards him. One eye had been closed shut thanks to a trail of blood rolling down the side of his head, with some smaller blood trails coming down the sides of his mouth. Aside from that, the man looked like he had one foot in the grave already, thus Kira in his fury-driven state, prepared to put him COMPLETELY under this time. "You… you will DIE this day! Damn Ronin! Join your master in hell-!"
"GANESHA IMPACT!"
"?!"
Just before he could end the old Samurai by stabbing him through his heart with his Mandibles, Kira's eyes nearly flew out of his sockets when he heard, and then felt, this HUGE ass weight slam on top of him from behind. The weight had been so large and vast in it's reach, that he felt like he had lost contact with over half of his lower body, making him go pale even though he was in the form that he was most powerful in. In a frantic desire to know what had caused this, Kira glanced behind him as best he could… and saw nothing but a silhouette, a vague one but one big enough to rival the size of an entire Temple. This silhouette could hardly be recognizable though, but what he DID see were four large arms holding him down and preventing Kira's lower body from moving. "Wha…?! Damn bitch, let me go! LEMMEGO-LEMMEGO-LEMMEGO!" Even as Kira tried to break free, wriggling like a little worm instead of a centipede, his efforts didn't yield any results, not to mention that there was the sound of something exploding going off in the distance at this time. Something which Kira managed to see as this huge ball similar to that of a miniature sun up in the heavens above… something which got accompanied by a gaping sense of loss followed by a sense of dread. "No…!"
"Old man, what the heck are you waiting for?! Can't hold this for long, so do what you said you would!"
"W-With pleasure, Jinako!" Oishi, when he heard Jinako exclaim this sentence, quickly nodded his head and regained his sanity, clenching his fists as he put a portion of his remaining energy into the following sprint he dashed into. When he cleared the distance between them, he leapt onto the Centipede Apostle's head once more, flipping himself about to avoid the lashes launched by him in defence as Kira constantly thrashed and roared about, refusing to accept this outcome. Grabbing onto his Katana after managing to climb up whilst holding on for dear life, something which Oishi almost failed to do on multiple occasions, he grabbed onto his Katana and slashed several times, the divine blade cutting into Kira's flesh with the blade cutting through his armour. There, he exposed the creature's brain, something which pulsated like it was a living heart to the man's disgust.
However, fuelled by the vengeance which he had sought after all this time, Oishi had only one thing to say as he raised his Katana up high. "Taste… my lord's… courage!" he bellowed, finally driving the sword deep into the brain and out of the humanoid face's nose. What followed, was well Kira returning to his human form but as a naked man with a sword jutting out of his head. Oishi's sword…
The sword of one of the 47 Ronin.
But, that wasn't enough for him, he wanted to make DAMN sure that this guy had been killed. As such, Oishi then walked on over to Kira, pulling the body up into an upright sitting position before he pulled his Katana free and slashed at it, cutting off Kira's head. As a result, the head went flying off somewhere, ending the long time revenge alongside the avenging of his father and Lord.
With that done, a wave of fatigue washed over Oishi, or rather it would be more accurate to say that he finally lost the thing keeping him going through the fatigue that he had already accumulated. Therefore, Oishi's arms fell to his sides as he then fell to the ground before Jinako ran on over to him, holding him steady whilst reverting back to her human form. Thanks to using that technique earlier, she had used up the divine energy she had left, burning through it like an animal ravenously devouring its food. It was a technique which she had been working on since a year ago, but hadn't quite mastered as of yet, one where she could summon a massive energy version of her father in order to smash into her opponents like those wrestlers one would see in that wrestling series Smackdown. She'd actually been inspired by the idea from those kinds of shows. Still, as she held the wounded man, Jinako ran her gaze down his form with worry in her eyes. "Hey, old man….. How are you feeling?" she questioned, frowning.
Weakly, Oishi's eyes opened as he looked up at Jinako"I feel…. Tired but without you and Shiro's help.... I would not have succeeded today, if you and Shiro hadn't found out he turned into….. Shura."
"Shura?"
"Our terms of demons when they lose their humanity. Now I must go and show them that their lord is dead."
"Ok….. take this."
She pulled out a vial that had a yellow light dot in the middle before holding it over him at an angle, a drip of liquid appearing from it's end that dripped onto his body. A second or two later, he glowed in yellow aura for a few moments until it died down. Looking down at himself, Oishi became surprised at seeing how he no longer had any of the fatigue he'd been wrecked by. It didn't take him long to realize what had happened though, as he looked back up to the young girl. "Phenex tear?"
Jinako nodded her head at this, a small sheepish smile on her lips as she rubbed the back of her head. "Bit of a long story, but essentially my overprotective dad gave me this in case I have any fatal wounds for emergencies." she explained, mentally cringing when she'd remembered how one time her father had gushed on about the possibilities of her being hurt by the Apostles in the future, freaking out like any parent she'd heard should. It reminded her of how her mother had been, when she'd been alive still, which had only made her appreciate her father all the more. She had hoped for so long back then, that her father would treat her like her mother had done, it made her feel… happy, knowing that she had a loving father.
Even if it was a bit annoying.
"Heh…. once again, you have my thanks."
"No problem, old man. Now, let's go. Wouldn't want to keep your men waiting for you, would you?"
"Indeed."
Later
Once Oishi was properly healed up, he stood on his own two feet before he took Kira's head by the hair(Which creeped out Jinako). Not too long afterwards, they walked back into the Temple where the battlefield had been raging between the Ronin and the Temple guards. There, everyone halted their battle when they saw the two of them approach, Oishi raising Kira's severed head up high as he yelled the following. "FOR LORD ASANO!"
All the soldiers and Ronins looked at Oishi before seeing their lord dead as they then dropped to their knees in defeat whilst the Ronin all cheered joyously with building tears in their eyes. Shiro, Ushi, and Mika then Ushi and Miko smiled, this sight confirming to them that they finally avenged the fallen Lord. Though, Shiro smiled more about how the other Apostle had been defeated, since the rest of them had more concerns about the fallen Lord than he would, one of the few times he'd grieve would be over the loss of someone precious to him… so the only time he had ever grieved had been after the Eclipse, when everyone whom called him comrade had been ruthlessly slain just as their dreams had been within reach.
Part of him DID wonder though, what had those Apostles done to their Beherits? When he'd used his Brahmastra before Shiro felt like he'd destroyed her Beherit with the ensuing sun-like explosion, but from the looks of things Kira had not possessed one himself… why was that? He didn't know, but then again Shiro didn't know a damn thing about those things.
Meh, he'd ponder it later, maybe he'd even ask the Hindu Gods if he had the chance.
In the current times, the group of four walked out of the gate with the soldiers still kneeling down to them. All the Ronins and everybody else went out of the temple before going to the nearby village as the sun was finally coming up. It took a while, like 2 hours or so, until they arrived at the village to which they received quite… a welcome, one could say. One of the ladies openly wept before she hugged Chikara, something which the man seemed both uncomfortable yet happy with. The sight prompted the white haired descendent of Karna to guess that she had been his mother. before she let him go since they still had something to do.
Following this, the 47 Ronin, Shiro, Ushi and Jinako all walked the village before seeing what looked like a stone with japanese words on it. As they stood before it, all of them kneeled down to it before Oishi spoke. "Rest now, Father. You are avenged." He then put the sword at the gravestone which Shiro now knew before Jinako joined the others as they prayed.
Over at the side, Shiro looked at his hands for a moment, wondering if he should do anything. It wasn't like he had any connections to this Lord, but… seeing as how this man had such loyal comrades who would go this far for him, Shiro thought for a few moments before he came to a conclusion: that this Lord… he must have been a charismatic individual, to have had these men's loyalty… just like how Jamal had back when he and Shiro himself had been part of the Band of the Hawk. Therefore, with those thoughts in mind, Shiro exhaled as he slowly put his hands together in a praying posture, joining the rest of them in praying.
Though, what he didn't see was how Jinako and Ushi had looked at him during this moment, both of them being slightly surprised at the gesture that he'd done. However, this didn't last long before they smiled at him warmly.
Looked like their resident loner had a bit of a soft side in him, after all...
"I gave you a command, forbidding you to take revenge. not only you disobeyed me but also dragged the diplomats from the hindu's to take part of your plot."
The following day, the 47 Ronin all were gathered by the temple which they had entered before, during their first visit to this Village. In front of them, stood an old-looking man with four fox-like tails swinging behind him as he looked with rage down at Oishi and his Ronin. Meanwhile, Shiro and Jinako stood off to the side since they were diplomats, not actual criminals.
Internally, Shiro couldn't help but be disgusted with this man, thinking that they shouldn't have gotten revenge for someone whom they had clearly respected and wanted to avenge for his wrongful murder. It didn't help that his non-human features kept reminding him of the Apostles, making him have to hold back his urge to summon Rashomon (which was growling like a beast in his mind). If he were to guess right, this man only cared about the bigger picture to the point where he had become detached from those whom he ruled over. He'd seen such things before back in his home village, thus Shiro wanted nothing more than to run Rashomon's threads right through every single one of his vitals. However, he refrained mostly because that wouldn't benefit him much beyond personal satisfaction.
Meanwhile Oishi, who sat in the Japanese Seiza position with the 47 Ronin doing the same behind him, dared not raise his head as he responded against these allegations. "Forgive me elder, but a man-no, a shura may not live under the same heaven which lord Hachiman had granted us as the murderer of his lord." He declared.
Not like the man cared much for his words if his next few ones were of any indication. "That doesn't matter brat, I told you to not take revenge in order to not give our diplomats a bad image to us but now not only you, your ronins and that halfbreed disobeyed me but also dragged the hindu pantheon into this!" He spat, Tails fluttering angrily.
"Elder, I did not drag them….. They came of their own accord." At this point, Shiro would have just stepped in to provide proof, not liking how Oishi was being treated using HIM as a verbal lash... had Jinako not quickly grabbed his forearm to stop him, shaking her head when he looked at her.
"It doesn't matter! If lady Yasaka or Amaterasu would this they would-"
"Would what kitsune?"
Before the man could finish his words, his eyes along with the Ronin, Oishi, Shiro, Ushi and Jinako all became saucers when they heard a deep, masculine voice below across the atmosphere. A voice filled with the might of a being who could have decided all their fates right then and there, before seconds later a magic circle appeared by the elder kitsune. From that Magic Circle, a being rose out to stand before them, that thing being Hachiman, the same lord who had given the Ronin their swords and the blessing to go to heaven when they died.
The elder had his eyes widened before he stuttered. "L-L-Lord Hachi-man! Th-the, Oishi, his ronins and that halfbreed disobeyed the order and dragged the hindu diplomats into their own quarrel!"
"Halfbreed? That's my descendant which you're talking about. You're not only disrespecting her, you're disrespecting me as well."
"(GASP) wh-what?! B-but our honor!"
"I allowed them to take their revenge to help them regain their pride as Samurai, since I am a god of honor, Kitsune. I gave them the swords of Takamahaga, swords which they will now keep for the future in case that Shura would come again. Now, begone kitsune it's time that you retire….. Now." The elder stuttered in denial before he sighs as he then turned around and walked away from them.
With him gone, Hachiman heaved a small sigh, muttering something under his breath before he looked at the ronins with pride. "You all have done well, Ronin...no, Samurai. You not only regained your honor, but also stopped that Shura from spreading its influence throughout Japan. Amaterasu, Susanoo and Tsukyoimi are grateful that you all stopped them. I'm proud of you all as God of Honor, especially you my young descendant, this deed should not go unrewarded. Oishi Asano, I grant you this blade the Juuchi Yosamu or otherwise known as the 10,000 Cold Nights."
With an open mouth and a face full of shock, Oishi quickly lowered his head again whilst holding out both of his hands. Not long afterwards, a magic circle appeared at the side before a blade takes the form of an illustrious gold katana roughly .78 meters in length, a little over the average length of an average katana, with a red ribbon wrapped around the hilt.
As he received it, Oishi looked down in wonder at the beautiful blade, feeling an almost indiscriminate kind of 'edge' to it. Like it didn't care what it would cut as long as it did its job well: a true blade. Glancing to the side, a firm look formed in his eyes as the man walked on over to Ushiwakamaru who was currently kneeling at the back of the Ronin. Stopping before her, Oishi smiled like a parent as he presented the blade to her instead.
Obviously this stunned everyone around them, even his daughter whose eyes shook at the action. "?! Lord Oishi why...?" she muttered, disbelievingly.
At this, Oishi's smile only widened as he gave his heartfelt response. "You have been by my side for a long time daughter, you deserve this blade more than I do, besides the blade that Lord Hachiman gave me fits well with me."
Ushi could not believe this. Here she was, being presented such a treasure as this Katana, the Juuchi Yosamu, by the man who took care of her when nobody else gave a damn about her. Before Shiro and Jinako had come along, he had been her sole confidant, parent and guide, so being presented something like this had been a first for her. She couldn't receive any gifts from anyone due to her 'halfbreed' status, not even by him in the past. This marked the first change in that, so with eyes starting to fill with tears, Ushi nodded firmly whilst pressing her lips together with her teeth from inside her mouth before she lowered her head and held her hands out to receive it. "I-I..... Thank you... father." she whispered with far more gratitude than she could ever have expressed with words.
Hachiman looked impressed, if anyone can tell without his mask, he was smiling at the camaraderie between father and daughter. Family didn't have to be blood, that was what he saw this sight before him as an example of. "A wise man you are Oishi Asano, you will be my right hand once you ascend to heaven."
Turning towards the God of Honor, Oishi lowered his head in reverence once again. "Thank you my lord." he spoke earnestly.
At this point, the Ronin (now Samurai with their honor restored) each beamed happily knowing that they had the support of one of their famed deities. Hachiman had been a rather famous deity amongst the Samurai throughout their history, being worshiped by them first due to how he represented the ways of the Samurai the most. Thus, the knowledge that he approved of their actions had fuelled them with an everlasting pride and glee, alongside the revelation that, as of this moment, their futures would be ripe with fortune no matter what.
With this done, Hachiman turned to the Hindu diplomats. "Now then, descendent of Surya and daughter of Ganesha, come with me to see the Shinto trinity. They have been waiting for the two of you." Hachiman waved his hand as a magic circle appeared next to him as he waits for the two of them
"Huh…. oh! Almost forgot about that come on Shiro. Remember, Vishnu did send us here for a diplomat."
".... (SIGH) fine."
All this stuff had made Shiro forget the reason why they had been here in the first place, only for Jinako to remind him. He'd have liked to return home at this point, so he could rest and continue his training. He wanted to use this experience to replay how he could have handled the fight against the Apostles better, what would have happened if he'd tried other tactics, he had a LOT of data to analyze. Sadly, that wouldn't be happening for a while yet, to his dismay as Shiro DESPISED anything related to politics with a passion. All he saw of it was a bunch of morons shouting at one another without getting anything done, but as Jinako had said, they had a job to do and Shiro wouldn't like it if he had left without getting it done. It was like taking a mission, he'd do it till the end even if he didn't like it, it had been something of a personal philosophy of his. Commit to your tasks and get shit done, that was something Shiro liked to keep in his heart.
Thus, they went to Hachiman's Magic Circle…
"Jinako, Shiro wait!"
Only to hear a female voice stop them. They turned around to see Ushi running up to them, the new Katana having been strapped to her waist in place of her previous one, before stopping in front of them. She placed her hands on her thighs and leaned over to catch her breath, before looking up at them with a light bout of sweat on her forehead. "Will.... Will you two be coming back?" She questioned them, frowning in worry.
At this, Shiro and Jinako glanced at one another, before looking back to her. "We will Ushi me and Shio just have to talk with them before we come back, we keep our words very serious, we promise." the latter told her with a small smile, whilst the former stayed silent but gave her a nod of agreement. Plus, he didn't say it, but Shiro wanted to know what sparring with Ushi would be like since she would likely be fighting differently compared to Jinako who fought more like a mage than a warrior.
"I see…. Alright I'll be waiting for the two of you." she declared, nodding to herself as if trying to reign in her emotions.
"Don't worry we'll be back soon goodbye Ushi."
"... good luck Ushi."
Ushi nodded her head at the two of them, smiling brightly. This prompted them to smile in return (well, a half smile from Shiro) before they raised their right hands and high fived one another above their heads. "You two Jinako and Shiro."
Once this was done, the Hindu duo entered the magic circle with Hachiman as they disappeared in it before the magic circle disappeared too.
クリエイターの想い 
Dark_Spider
Dark_Spider AN:
WHEW! FINALLY! Hunter here, and the next chapter is finally here! Not too stoked about the fight scene, but we’re nearing the end of this arc so its all good. Honestly, I’d say Frenzy is going to be one of the more original DXD stories since it does stuff I haven’t seen too much in the fandom, incorporates lesser known series and films to it. Anyways, hope you like what we did, and look forward to the next one.
PEACE OUT!
Ah man finally we’re done!....... My name is Darklord bringing you another chapter of the story! Now we have copied in the other series or movie 47 ronin but we made some changes in it to make it our own like Kira and the witch were apostles, no tengu scene, no wedding infiltrators and no execution scene. Hachiman is a god of honor so he would grant them to regain their honor. Alright thank you for reading our chapter, be sure to leave a review if you want and I’ll see you next time!
GOOD LUCK!
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