Tides Of Protomis CXXXVII

The battle of Zylsis had already been a complicated affair, with the weaker demons in both force’s ranks moving to and fro, and constantly changing their tactics. And that was without mentioning the changes in the battlefield brought by the stronger fighters. When the simple byproducts of their attacks tended toward demolishing a section of the city, that was evident. At the least, however, some had already begun to drift into different areas. Included in that group were Xi, Junko, and Kazimir… Their battle had already been going on for some time, and as of now, it seemed as if neither side had truly advanced in their goals. The lands south of Zylsis had been turned into a patchwork of peaks, and ravines, as more and more earth was hefted from the ground below, via telekinetic force, and launched at the general. Who himself, responded to these attempts to attack as one would expect. Ducking under one coming from above, and eluding one which came from the right. But it seemed that was not the only thing he’d have to worry about, charging in from behind, was Junko, her energy formed tachi in her hand.

The general rounded upon her, forming his own blade, one resembling a longsword, the two blades locked as the two swung, the crackle of red sparks, and the boom of an outward wave of force filled both of their ears. But the two didn't stay this way for long, drawing back, and continually trying to swing once more, but they found that their blades continued to lock with the others, try as they might to change their position. Junko bounced away, rebounding from above, and spinning in the air, increasing the force her downward swipe had, the Vashyr, however, acted quickly in ducking out of the way. But it seemed this wouldn't be enough, as she recovered from her miss quickly, and moved forth once more, nicking the surface of the demon’s body with her blade.

But he was able to make an attack that hit true, a knee slammed into her jaw, which halted her attack.

“... Make no mistake. You will not win, the price will be paid for what was done to my mate….”

This only made Junko tighten her grip on her blade.

“I don’t know what that entails… But I don’t think that’s happening.”

Above both of them, Kazimir began manipulating the structure of the chunks of earth under his control, uniform cylinders, of a higher density, before he began to speak out as well.

“Do not forget, It was you who decided to declare war on our world. Do you know how much grief you gave my… Mate? When you did what you did? She was blamed for your incursions!” Junko blushed at the word. Mate? He could have just been trying to word it in a way the demon would understand, but the implications, especially in this context… That wasn’t important, at least, not that moment.

“Put simply, you won’t win!” Miyamoto shouted. The two humans glanced at each other, that all the communication they needed. Kazimir began pressing his influence outward, sending the cylinders downward, at blinding speeds.

“Orbital Barrage!”

The first striked the general dead-on, though, it was demolished upon impact, it knocked the general off balance, leaving him open to being hit with the next. Now, being sent into the ground below, though somewhat dazed, no means out of the battle. Calling forth more of his energy from within, the general shouted out.

“Starlight Blade!”

A downright gigantic blade of energy, one which matched the size of Kazimir’s “Rounds” coalesced from what was once flowing around his body. Rending through it like a hot knife through butter, before turning, and flying toward the one approaching from behind, Junko, As she observed this, the demonic energy wielder acted immediately, pushing herself out of the way, and constructing a Javelin in her hand, launching it toward the demon. But a quick reaction allowed him to elude the attack, leaving it ineffective. In little time, both of them were charging toward him.

“We need to keep him guessing…” Thought Kazimir.

“Constantly changing methods, constantly changing ranges. If we keep him off balance for long enough…” The two continued to close the distance, Kazimir forming a fist, and Miyamoto drawing back her blade.

“He’s bound to make a mistake!” They thought in unison. Xi ducked under the fist sent at his head, and backed off from a lateral swipe, avoiding being carved through. But a high kick coming to his chest, courtesy of Miyamoto, hit its target, allowing Kazimir to jump in next, shoulder charging the demon and knocking him off balance, Interlocking his own hand with Junko’s, as she used his body as a lever, spinning, and slamming a foot into the demon’s side, and sending him barrelling into the ground below.. The carter that was created as a result, was deepened, as Junko descended upon him, fist outstretched.

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“Hell Knuckle!”

The fist created an indent upon the surface of th edemon’s armor as it impacted, but it seemed that it was nowhere near enough, as, with all his strength, he launched the woman off of him, and got to his feet, launching himself up, with a blade forged in his hand once more.. But he had not stopped all of the factors yet, there was still another factor, in the form of the Telekinetic one. He’d need to keep him at bay, long enough for him to land a fatal blow on this one.

“Severance Storm!” Hundreds of blades appeared around Kazimir, and began flying toward him, and in response, the russian began to move the stones around him in his defense. But it seemed as if the general intended for this to be done, as he redirected their paths, changing angles, and allowing them to bounce off his defenses, and begin making their way toward him. Kazimir tsked, as he watched the symphony of red lights barrel toward him, and he was forced to begin taking evasive action. All the while, Miyamoto was once more locked into an exchange of swipes, stabs, ripostes, and dodges.

“So that one is your mate, huh…. I wouldn’t have expected that, but it’s none of my concern!” That word again. He just had to blurt that out, didn’t he… Well, it wasn’t something she didn’t at all expect. She knew Kazimir well, after all. Sometimes, he just said whatever he felt was right in the moment. But either way, she would need to focus on her current fight, she reeled her blade back, spinning back toward her opponent, only to have her blade intercepted, but she would soon supplement her attack with a sharp construct formed around her foot.

“Akuma Talon!” Though the attack got close, the general had his own way of stopping the attack, an energy forged kite shield, in no short time, he pushed the woman away by shoving the shield forward. He took advantage of her state almost immediately, leaping forward and cleaving through her torso, leaving a cut upon it. He raised his blade once more, and tried to make another diagonal slash upon her body, but the woman backflipped out of the way, and entering in her place, was Kazimir, who slammed an uppercut into the demon’s chin, while junko knocked the blade out of his hand with a kick. But It didn’t take long before they found themselves faced with a different attack, cubes of constructed light slammed into their bodies with great force, making their assault come to a quick stop, as they were pushed away from him. But he found himself in an opposite situation to his opponents. Try as he might, he could not move. As if his body could not respond to his commands.

“What is going on here?! Is one of them responsible-” That thought was stopped, as he noted that the red glow around his body seemed different from his own. Something more similar to… The rubble that human used to attack him?! Before long, he found himself facing another attack, as he heard a war cry from above, and two clasped fists being slammed upon his head, sending him crashing into the ground. And with no hesitation, the two humans moved in pursuit, ready to press the attack. The demon looked at this from below, as he slowly got to his feet. So it seemed that these two had more synergy than he first thought. In some way it reminded him of… No… That was of no importance, especially not now. She was but a memory, now. To dwell on said memory, rather than focus on the ones who made her so, would simply not do.

Rather, he had a different idea in mind, thousands of blade constructs appeared around him in a ring, and subsequently began barreling through the sky, aiming to slow down their charge, and support his own. The demon leaped skyward, and began a quick approach, forming not one, but two curved blades in his hands.

“These are more suited to quicker attacks, which will help in close range… The rest will keep them off balance, and keep whoever is farther away from interfering while I eliminate the other… By now, their plan is clear to me, to keep changing who is close, and who is far, but at this rate, that much should not matter.”

Xi increased his speed, and began closing in on her primary target, Kazimir, who himself, formed two fists, and took his stance. The first swipe from the Vashyr just barely missed, grazing his skin,and drawing blood. The swipe with the second lade cut deeper, but ultimately, he was still in the fight. Kazimir responded with a flurry of fists, which his opponent was quick to begin avoiding, before responding in tune with the blades closing in upon Kazimir, forcing him to stop his counterattack, and focus upon dodging. And while Junko was rapidly sending swipes outward with her light-forged tachi, the demon was ready to stop her advance then and there. And as such, began to close in, spinning his body, his blades held outward, and running across her own, and carving through it. Junko herself was not so quick to let him get away, however, managing to grab hold of him, and slam a DE cloaked fist into his “Chest”, one that he certainly felt, but he did not let this attack go unpunished. Returning it with a cut from both his blades, and those which flew around her. Before he himself began backing up. But before long, he found that Kazimir, though somewhat for the wear, had managed to push himself through the storm of blades, his first strike, a right straight, went wide, as the demon sidestepped. But his next, an elbow, hit its target, striking the head, and disorienting him, if only for a moment. He prepared to take advantage, but by that point, the demon had already recovered.

“Enough of this foolishness! Your strategy has already failed, Accept your fate!”

The blade in his left hand began to take a longer, thicker appearance, and he swung it down upon the youth’s torso, as Kazimir’s eyes widened, and he quickly began to push his influence outward… The blade was buried deep within, and to say the strike was damaging was an understatement. His arm was nearly removed from that strike. But it seemed that regardless, another plan of theirs had worked. He seemed to be focusing too much on one, and not on the other. He must’ve figured out their strategy, and was now intent on keeping them separated, more so than before… Of course, it wasn’t as if the opponents he faced hadn’t anticipated their adversary being able to figure something like that out. This was not the end of their strategy…

“Don’t think for a second that we’re so easily defeated… You may think that we’re just grasping at straws, but that’s your mistake.” Kazimir managed to pull away from the strike, with Junko managing to make her way to his side… The two stood against the general, and took their respective stances. While the general himself stared them down, as he summoned more blades behind him.

To Be Continued

Ending 13- Yoru No Hate