Tides Of Protomis CXXI

Message From The Enemy

An explosion of yellow light, the earth rending flourish of a blade, A ground-collapsing downward force, and a red javelin shooting through the sky. For those in the region known as the Celis Highlands, where the remnants of Sigma’s castle lay, these were visible sights. A result of those who’d taken residence as of late, making the area their personal training ground. If there was anything the battle with the general who ruled this land told them, it was that their strength needed to increase, and they needed to do so quickly.

That much brought them to their current state of combat. Arctaius dashed across the earth, sidestepping to the left and right, avoiding the sharpened pillars of earth raised from the ground, a direct result of Alarick’s abilities. The blonde launched himself off of the ground, raising a stone-constructed warhammer above his head, and bringing it down upon Arctaius. But his target’s quick action, a dodge, put him out of range of the attempted attack. Before he himself was launched away by a fist slamming into his jaw. Arctaius did not have the chance to pursue him, as he took note of Zhao bounding toward him at the edge of his vision. The youth turned to meet the monk in battle, and the two met, one firing punches, and the other, strikes of the palms. Their arms changing direction, and speed, almost like a dance, each movement counteracting that of their opponent, with very little movement wasted.

Zhao’s strategy was clear, breaking Arctaius’ rhythm of attacks. And to that end, he retreated, and began spinning around, sending out a dome of air pressure.

“Guo Art: Cyclone Sanctum!” But before long, their duel was interrupted by the appearance of a third fighter, Jirou. Who himself pushed his influence outward, gravitons appearing in a spinning dome around him. Not only stopping Zhao’s cyclone sanctum, but resulting in him rising from the ground. The very same happened to the intended target of the attack. But before the Yakuza could carry on with the next phase of his plan, a yellow ray was already shooting toward him. Something which he was forced to change the direction of. The other one caught in his attack leaped forward as well, a burst of air pressure under his feet to allow him to more easily escape the dome. The intended target took note of this, and decidedly made use of Arctaius’ attack. Directing the beam to the monk. Arctaius himself decidedly let this happen. He would disengage, and look at the next target approaching them. Alarick had returned with a vengeance, descending upon them with the very same warhammer he’d made us of earlier. Arctaius formed two fists, and flew up to meet him. Evading a lateral swing, but he found himself hit by a vertical one which came from below. His head lurched back, sending his gaze to the sky. But he did not remain this way for long. He returned to his standard position, almost as soon as Alarick was striking again. This time, he shoved both arms forward, catching the weapon within his grasp.

“So you managed to stop it…” Alarick stated.

“But Of course. That general hit harder than this…” Arctaius responded.

“A Fair Point…” Arctaius batted the hammer aside, and slammed a fist into his stomach. The blonde gritted his teeth, as he returned this attack with a one-two punch. But the Dark-skinned youth only seemed to absorb it, returning with a reeled back fist, that forced the recipient backward. But it did not take long before he was re-entering his range. The two began exchanging fists, hundreds in fractions of a second, most definitely faster than any normal human could have observed. For the time being, nobody had control of the battle. And that fact would apparently not change, especially with the adding of a new figure vying for that same thing. A downpour of metal, a direct result of Yu Liang flinging his shuriken. In short order, the two were weaving around the sky, knowing very well what was coming next. Swipe of his hand, and the cutting of the string, resulting in the weapons bouncing off of eachother, coming toward their targets at precarious angles. The two would have to use their senses, and figure out their paths as time went along. Arctaius himself, however, had a different idea.

There were many ways to use his abilities, even the ones which hadn’t been used that often anymore… Considering the makeup of the objects around him, he had something that would throw a wrench in whatever Liang had accounted for. Letting the electricity build within, and without, a magnetic field began to build around him, becoming more and more intense b y the second. One which began bouncing the shuriken in directions the Martial artist hadn’t intended… But that wasn’t nearly enough to stop his plan of attack. As he himself smirked, and fired his Qi outward, covering the shuriken in individual Azure Dragon Cloaks, Something Arctaius looked at with surprise.

“You weren’t the only ones developing new techniques…”

“Chuojiao Art: Azure Dragon Storm!” Once the shuriken began flying once more, they passed through the magnetic field undeterred. Arctaius decided that it was time to disengage, at least, for a bit. And Alarick had that same thought. The two began pulling back, and apparently, they did so at the right time. As Liang was washed away by a stone block, which sped toward him like a freight train. Kazimir had entered the fray, and more attacks were to come. More of said stones blocks began to barrel toward the two, forcing them to take evasive action, dipping and diving out of the way, moving left, right, back, and forth. For the time being, Kazimir controlled the battle. But it seemed that wouldn’t be the case for long either. Entering the rapidly changing battlefield, was Hyperion, his massive blade rending one of the blocks and two, before he himself, went right for the esper himself. In response, a shield was erected with little delay. Something which stopped the armored demon in his tracks. At least, for a moment. His blade was reeled back, and swung forward, shattering the field, and allowing him to advance.

But it appeared that momentary delay had allowed his target to prepare himself further, as a sphere of earth promptly trapped the demon within… And it was in that moment that Kazimir got an idea, swiping his arm forth, and launching the planetoid in the direction the others were, before he made his way to Zhao, and Jirou. The object made its way toward the Liang, Alarick, and Arctaius alike. And two of them were already prepared to get rid of the threat.

“Solis Battery!”

In a few moments, streams of light spread from his body, and began to crash into the object, and break it down. While Alarick began to close the distance, cloaking his hand in the void blade, and hacking away at the stone… But unbeknownst to them, the one in the center hadn’t exactly been sitting idly. He himself launched flourishes of his blade, and began to cut his way out. And when there was no more in his way, Alarick found himself surprised by the demon emerging with a war cry. Arctaius’ eyes widened in surprise. He himself was batted into the ground by the hunk of steel. A quick rebound brought him back into range, as he slammed a solar cloaked fist, into the armor-demon’s chestplate. Who himself, was nearly knocked to the ground by Alarick’s hammer, but he wasn’t exactly willing to let that happen, he eluded the strike, and slammed his sword into his side. Spinning mid-air, and hitting Arctaius, who attempted to rush in from behind.

Twists and turns left and right, many of which those fighting hadn’t truly thought of predicting, so it seemed, but they adapted nonetheless. A spectacle that he found himself enjoying. The only one not participating in the sparring match was the holy order councilman Gilga. Who’d instead opted to watch from afar, for the time being, and think about their options. The young ones were growing, that was for sure, and they’d proved themselves, no doubt. Battling a general was unprecedented to his knowledge. In no small part due to the fact that their existence wasn’t known to most people. Having been one of the first to be capable of wielding holy energy, he certainly believed his thoughts had merit. His observant eyes moved to an area away from the fray that his stronger allies were in. The members of the demonic army Hyperion had rallied were apparently doing the same thing his human companions were. Vying for higher power by But this raised some questions in his head, If that was only one general, then what could be said for the demon heading this thing?

“I’ve conversed with that Demon, Hyperion, about the societies of this realm. One thing that was the same with all of them, was that might make right, only by one’s might does one earn rule… We may be in for something if we’re going to battle him. A preliminary strategy may be good, but where would the sources of that information be?” He questioned.

For right now, they’d simply have to continue moving forward. Perhaps it was time for him to join the fray as well. And apparently, there was one willing to make sure such a thing happened. Miyamoto descended from above, her tachi formed in her hand. The man himself, detecting the build up in demonic energy, looked above, and formed Enkidu. Stopping the attack with his own.

“Don’t get too comfortable watching.. You’re in this training session too.” Miyamoto said with a smirk.

“Alright then…”

The two began swiping their respective weapons. A lateral swipe from Miyamoto was responded to in turn, a downward swipe, which was sidestepped. And a counterattack was soon to begin, the girl leaped backward, twisting in the air, and launching an energy-forged javelin toward her opponent, the man himself just barely avoided the attack. Before long, another was coming, and he once more leaped back. This time around however, he moved forward to press a counterattack. The two were ready to strike once more… Until, suddenly, they stopped and turned their gazes left. Where a demonic form stood. A large hexaped creature, with skin of ivory, and a humanoid torso attached to its body. This was not one that either recognized.

“So… This is what you humans have been up to… Interesting indeed… But useless.” The demon stated, matter-of-factly.

A frown made its way onto Miyamoto’s face, as she directed her blade toward the Demon.

“I don’t know what you mean… But I won’t have you leaving with any information you gained.” She stated, with a deadly edge in her tone. But, the demon was nonplussed.

“Do what you want… I am but a messenger. But before you do so…. There is something you’ll want to hear. Those you hold dear have been captured by our general Gammena. You will either come to us, and give up your incursion, or they will face their end….”

Those they held dear…

“Koyama?!” Had the kind old woman been captured as well? Who else was taken? Her friends from the school? Either way, she was livid about this development. In a second, the messenger had already been cut down, and his body’s physical form had begun to unfurl into crimson particles…

“We choose neither.” She stated, coldly. The woman exchanged a look with Gilga, as the two nodded at each other. They both knew what needed to be done, and rushed forward to end the sparring match.

“DIG THE COTTON OUT OF YOUR EARS AND LISTEN UP! ONE OF THE GENERALS HAS OUR FRIENDS!” Miyamoto shouted at the top of her lungs… This much was more than enough to pause the ongoing battle. The shaking of the ground had finally ceased, and the symphony of battle had subsided. Surprise had taken all of those there. But it did not take long for said surprise, to turn to anger.

つづく

To Be Continued