บท 36: Oni Hunting?
Fuyuki, Japan,
Shinto District,
"Dear, why not come join us~?"
"....I-I'm fine h-ere."
"Is that so? Fine..."
Shuten sighed at her Master, slightly displeased, and rested her head in her hand, holding up a plate with the other. The boy was alright, not too shabby looking, average statured, but she was still disappointed. As an Oni, a Master that was more 'intense' would have been more to her taste but oh well, not like she really had much choice in the matter.
The summoning was an abrupt one, "A Grail War between 7 servants hmmm.... I suppose it is good we have allies?" Shuten couldn't really see the point in it, nor the point in this becoming something of note.
"Bah! Don't need 'em. We're alright so long as we're together." Ibaraki, Shuten's sworn sibling, a fellow Oni of Mount Ooe and an individual whose power rivalled her own, raised her bottle in disagreement, still laughing.
It wasn't quite an exaggeration but it also wasn't something of fact.
These two together in their lifetimes, had terrorized ancient Kyoto, many would tremble at the very mention of their names and many had fallen to either brute raw power or sinful machinations. There were few that could rival them.
Bottom line is, they were incredibly powerful on their own. Together though? Together they were much like a force of nature.
"I suppose that's true too...." Shuten sighed again, looking at her again, Ibaraki was still as amusing as ever and, still as wild.... It seemed that the moment was peaceful but in truth, it was anything but, the corpses littered on the ground said more than enough, so did the trembling teenager in a corner of the moon... The Oni hoped she didn't traumatise her poor Master...but, she couldn't say she truly cared.
"Oh... We have guests~. This scent is...?" Shuten-douji raised her head to the side, a smile that revealed fangs crossing her face, "My...." To think that they'd meet again, fate really was weird sometimes.
"It's that wench." Ibaraki had a more adverse reaction to the presence they both seemed to notice at the same time.
"I'm gonna rip off her arm and shove it down her throat!"
Correction, she had a very adverse reaction.
Having manifested under the Berserker Class, the growls escaping the blonde Oni's truly did fit, so did the massive blade that had manifested in her scarlet hand, a sword larger than her own body and not even made of steel but rather sharpened bones instead. The bright flames dancing right behind her only served to make her more terrifying.
Vile, wild, and savage, a perfect summation of she who led the Oni of Mount Ooe.
"Don't overdo it, Ibaraki. I'll help you in my own way~." Shuten giggled, vanishing into the shadows with a hand over her mouth. She didn't have the best of histories with the servant now approaching them and she thought to make her suffer in her own way.... By torturing the Master she probably treasured.
If it confuses any, the servant they were reacting to in such a way was Minamoto no Raikou, the one who'd been involved in both of their deaths in some way, one they held no small degree of hate for with how she'd deprived either of what they desired and held dear... Fortunately or unfortunately, this hate was more than mutual.
"I knew it, it's you pests."
"Quit yer yappin', fucking harlot." Recognising the voice, Ibaraki barked back instantly, her flames growing brighter by the second until finally, she spun her massive sword around and sent them hurling towards a wall.
The attack didn't have the expected result though.
A wave of purple sizzling lightning erupted from outside, blowing straight through the wall and then clashing with Ibaraki's flames.
"I will exterminate you."
"HA?" Cackling at the outrageous declaration, the Oni shot at her opponent with her bone sword reeled back.
"No matter what it may take."
Minamoto no Raikou resolved herself and reacted quickly, raising her katana to block the hit as soon as Ibaraki smashed hers down...
A naked eye might have seen this exchange as an equal one that would result in the stalemate but, it wasn't so for the two Berserkers now engaging in a wild exchange of blows that were more clashes of brute raw power that ruined their surroundings than one of skill.
Raikou outclassed Ibaraki in strength by far but lost to her in terms of speed, their sharply contrasting figures made these two facts more important than they would usually be.
Ibaraki, knowing that a single hit to her body could be fatal, didn't really seem to care all that much as she continually swung her massive sword, a wild grin plastered on her face.
Raikou, in contrast, had her clothing a bit ripped, some of the hits had made it through... This was going the wrong way, understanding this, the Berserker raised her katana diagonally and smashed it down with as much strength as she could muster..
Ibaraki dodged it by simply tilting her upper body to the side and then raising her foot, the same foot she next tried to plant in her opponent's face... Keyword being 'tried'.
Raikou's hit didn't land but that was expected.. Once the blade made contact with the ground, the strength used in the swing caused a localised earthquake that disoriented Ibaraki long enough for Raikou to drive her free fist into the Oni's face, sending her crashing into the next building.
"I don't quite understand why Master sent me to help you." Tamamo no Mae, her backup and support for this battle, slightly complained, not really understanding why such a powerful servant needed support.
"Maaybe he's just worried about me, or he doesn't want to spend time with you?" Raikou smiled 'innocently', ignoring that she was in a battle then.
"Excuse me?"
Before their argument could proceed, an excited shout interrupted their exchange.
"HAHA! This is it!"
Ibaraki spoke delightedly, the building she'd been thrown into was instantly enveloped by flames which she then came shooting out of, her entire body spinning as she did. Said ball of fire then crashed into Raikou and the flames parted soon enough, revealing Ibaraki trying to cut her opponent in two halves but stopped by a massive katana... It was surprising to see Raikou hold up her sword with two hands to stop her though.
"Looks like somebody needs some help...Hm?" Tamamo was quite smug about the Berserker's slight hardship.
"You overestimate the pest." Raikou scowled, quickly grabbing an arrow from the quiver on her hip and pushing it into Ibaraki's neck.
Feeling the cold steel rip into her neck, the Oni backed away hastily, ripping it out and throwing it away mid air before proceeding to wave her hand and sending a ball of brilliant flames spiralling towards Raikou.
"Is fire all you can manage?" The taller Berserker sneered, pulling her blade down before swinging it, releasing a massive stream of thunder that stomped out the fire and collided with Ibaraki; her Master's insane amounts of magical energy made such a thing easily possible.
Ibaraki shrieked in pain, trying to reach for different parts of her body as lightning continually struck it, burning her skin to an ugly and rough black, the shitty Master she was stuck with deprived her of most of her true power,
"GRAHH!!"
Fire exploded outwards, pushing away most of the lightning instantly and raising the temperature of the area by several degrees from the sheer heat it gave off. Deprived of her strongest Noble Phantasm, Ibaraki once more raised her sword, a sword made from the bones of Oni and tempered in the fires of hell, and rushed at Raikou, appearing next to the woman faster than the eye could perceive and jamming it in her ribs... or at least that's what she tried to do before she found herself impaled on Raikou's katana.
Unfortunately for any other participants of the Grail War, they would never be able to utilise their abilities to the fullest or even fight at their maximum, why? Because for them who were boosted by being in their homeland and 'summoned' at their highest, there was no Master who could provide the adequate amount of magical energy needed for them to truly manifest said power.
With her eyes widening in surprise as she felt the cold blade pass through her shoulder, the grin etched on her face only seemed to widen, "I was reunited with Shuten, do you think I stand to lose something here?!"
"After you, I'll exterminate her as well." Raikou spoke in an annoyed tone, the bloodbath they'd left, the innocent humans they'd brutally murdered and fed on, these were vile creatures. Vile creatures that needed to be removed as soon as possible.
"Do you think that woman arriving may have been the reason for sending me here?" Tamamo seemed to be rather unconcerned about the current situation, her three golden tails moving about behind her figure.
"You won't leave here alive." Ibaraki spoke roughly before releasing crazed laughter, her hand falling off and increasing to massive proportions as she did.
Before Raikou could back away, a massive red fist with long black nails smashed into her at point blank, sending her hurling backwards.
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McDonell's second wife was Roman's mother.... On another note, McDonell's full name is McDonell Trambelio Elrod. Roman's full name is Roman Trambelio..... find out next time.
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Find up to 7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/stoned_face
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