ShipTeaser

  “Sister-in-w, you seem exhausted.” I said, watg Selensha leaning oaff, fur stiff with silvery sweat, her eyes tired. “Why not retreat? We-we are here now.” As if to prove a point, I raised my hand, feeling the delightfully intoxig feeling of lightning element c through my body. As it rose, shimmering energies rushing from me, a mixture of green and yellow f another, more subtle colour, tinged with purple, I could barely tain my excitement. Even so, it wars with my fears. No, there is naught to fear, I know this.

  “I’m fine, I promise.” Selensha replied tiredly, and once more I pted how she was far too good for my brother. “The Moonlight Mist Realm… and my healing… I save lives, turtle to a favourable one.”

  “Well, I do-do appud your resolve.” The lightning within me rose to a cresdo, and my amber gaze fixed oank ridden by the bck-cloaked figure and several others. Wind. Feel the movement of the air. Fire, the spark to ighe fury that smites evil. Well, I know enough to know that teically, electricity is not fire, nor is the psma geed by the high temperatures. But… well, thinking of lightning as fire to smite evil is the Fae way. I believe both, and both be true. “Begone!” I fpped one hand and the lightning was released, crashing into the tank in a solid stream, arcs shing everywhere, burning the undead horribly, superheated air scorg them. Moments ter, thunder resounded, and the defensive shield one of their didates was wielding, proteg the tank and its riders from harm, shuddered, once more shrinking inwards, and I was delighted to see sweat on the face of a female within, her expression one of desperate tration.

  I see. She is not unappealing to the eyes, by any means. A shame. She could have made a wiser choid found happiness. I cast gnces around, at the dead and dying, the fragile, damaged Moonlight Mist Realm uo restore Fae with truly grievous injuries, as well as the spirit lights that danced around me once more. Instead, only death awaits for this. Enemies… well, Akio still fights against it, but… the time where he allows those unworthy to live has passed. Pleased, I curled my lip, proud of his growth. He was always too soft, but I did rather love that about him. But a ruler required steel uhe velvet, and now Akio was being forced to develop such steel, aided by foolish enemies such as Kondou Kazuo and these. I suppose I should be grateful, so I shall grant a merciful demise.

  “Sister, I am ed for you-you!” my brother pihough the way he tio shoot his arrows of wind did satisfy me. “But, I do suppose you have no iion of retreat. Instead…” the expression on his face was a gentle one I had never seen before, and it momentarily halted my attacks. “… it must-must pain you, remaining here. I know you wished to go-go with him.”

  I raised one eyebrow, shocked. Susight, from brother Shaeraggo! Wonders shall never cease. And he is right, but… “You are indeed-indeed my brother, for you know me well.” More lightning forked from my hands, but I decided to switch to wind eleme, as I had a greater supply of it, inally being a Fae of wind. And I broke through my limits learning lightning. I have this too… withdrawing the pink jade bells that had served me well ever since we had liberated them in our desperate battle against the creature in Inuyama, I let my wind flow. “However…” a near invisible tide of wind bdes hissed from me, battering the tank and the surroundings, ming the undead and furrowing the ground. The fire elemental staggered, cut apart, but it quickly reformed, and I clicked my tongue. Yes, wind is weak to fme. A shame. “… I am needed here. After all…” I looked out at the battlefield. Shiro, or the spiritual being within her, was riding a fming chariot, duelling with the fme elemental and the tank. All around them other vehicles were briroyed, and the enemy was running out of forces.

  “… Shiro is here. I shall keep an eye on her. Akio would grieve if she falls-falls. Though she does seem stronger. Well, I trust Akio haters. Those others like him from this city, as well as Master Ulfuric, they shall not-not be defeated easily. Besides, I am needed here!” I jured more wind, fog it down into a fine spear, sending it forwards, whistling furiously. It struck the shield of energy proteg the tank, halted, but the force tinued, drilling into it, until finally it scattered, spent, yet the barrier was remely pale, and the radius had dropped signifitly. “No barrier resist forever. Apply enough force, and all-all shall break!” I said in satisfa, only to frown as a different sort of barrier appeared.

  A purple spray of spatial element heralded the opening of a door in space, and the fire elemental howled as one arm was swallowed up, the opening then vanishing. The elemental grew a new arm, r, the very ground trembling, but I did not fail to notice that the height of it shrunk a little. Clever. That woman is strong. Beautiful too. But dark. Not a fit for Akio at all. “Well, even that barrier has weaknesses.” I said, reinf my point. “Another spatial attack, or overwhelming it from multiple dires at-at ohere is not-not any uable teique.” The ssh in space opened again, lopping off a leg, and the elemental was now shorter to all observers.

  “Now the sed one is starting to panic.” I observed, and beside me, Haru agreed.

  “Yes. And the zombie horde is sing off. That destru…” she looked at the grinning Hyath, who had turhe zombies far enough away from the fme elemental into a sea of mushrooms and mould. “… it won’t affect us here will it? I’m not worried about myself, but…”

  “It shall be fine-fine.” I assured her, smiling. From an unwilling enemy, to a good friend. Haru pleased me. She reminds me a lot of Ichika. I have been too busy to spend much time with her tely, but soon, we shall have some pead quiet for a while. I believe we shall go out. Maybe with Akio’s friends. That might be fun.

  “Hyath knows well what-what she does. Now is your moment! Help me strike through the wavering shield! You too, brother! Ixitt, bring all your ons to bear as well. This is not-not the time for caution, but destru!” As I gathered wind, a devastating, swirling mass of vibrating energies, I looked at my exhausted sister-in-w. “You really should-should learn another element, or work out how-how to attack with water effectively. There es a time when defence, healing, is not-not enough.”

  Putting that aside, I threw my attack, watg it whihrough the air. Arrows were impag the shield, and they were followed by a burst of light bright enough to force me to squint, my eyes watering. Haru had focussed all of her light into a brilliant beam, and the shield had cracked. Her expression of joy was short-lived, though, as the taurned fire, a heavy shell whirring through the air and striking her ialiation… only for it to pass right through her, exploding harmlessly against a Defensive Empt, though the Empt was destroyed.

  “I fot I was a ghost for a sed.” Haru mopped her brow, wiping away ent sweat. “I thought I was going to die again.”

  I ughed at that, but my attention was on my own attack. The fire elemental was down to half its height now, gradually beien away by the spatial arts of the imperious female with Shiro. The strange female, Suzu was there too, though she seemed to be doing little, other than cheering them on. However, the being within Shiro was never going to miss her ce. As my attack smmed into the cracked shield, flowing like the wind it was, entering within, the tank was cut and scratched, deep gouges sshed into the long on, rendering it useless, wind finding a way io kill the crew within. Of course, they were not my true target…

  The tangle of vibrating bdes of air unravelled, shing out like whips. Using my ability to perceive space, setting up such was a challengi, but one a powerful warrior such as I could hahe one who was struggling to hold the shield was caught up i and was sliced apart in a welter of gore, her limbs and head severed. Another enemy defeated. Soon I rush to Akio’s aid…

  Fmes bzed, and the fire elemental vanished, as the possessed Shiro, her hair bzing a brilliant, attractive crimson, had leapt aboard the tank as soon as the barrier flickered and vanished, bathing the surviving two enemies in her hungry fires. A shame. Those scars truly are terrible. Well, in time Bintara shall remove them, and then Akio shall make her his in truth. I shall have to offer my guidance, after all, I am quite-quite the experienced female now… as I licked my lips, expeg the battle to be over, I heard a shout. Somehow, despite my attack having killed the wielder of the energy shield, Shiro was trapped within a glowing bubble, an expression of frustration on her face.

  Moments ter simir bubbles enveloped her rades, and as the fmes died off, my eyes went wide in ahe cowled figure was surrounded by a glowing shield of his own, holding the severed head of the female who erating the barrier. Despite blood, silver and crimson, dripping from the severed stump, her eyes were still moving, mouth w soundlessly, pleading, or praying, I knew not. I see. That. Such… evil.

  Beside me, the others were equally as horrified. My brother spat out a Seelie curse, while Haru had turned white, quite the feat, sidering how pale she was normally. Only Ixitt seemed posed, frowning. “So that is how they are doing it. Quite the dark masterpiece. I would dearly love to uand the mind of a being capable of ceiving such a mad pn.” He said, his words baded praise.

  Indeed, it was truly vile, perhaps even equal to the horrors Duke Myrcoxriath had wrought, and not dissimir, in some ways. The cowl had been burned away, revealing a pale, dark figure, burns on his hands and face, one eye a milky white. He was holding a number of bone bdes, no, holding was not the proper way to describe it. One was jammed into the severed stump of the female, while two more were pierced through the palms of the surviving enemy. He was grimag in pain, but…

  “I am extremely angry.” The man spat. “Having to work with such pathetic fools is tiresome. I had hoped they would be able to provide a worthy distra, feed the being that I must overe. I even managed all this…” he gestured to the mere handful of undead left, the despoiled dead her destroyed by light, fire, lightning or deadly spores. “… well, no matter. Death es to all, and I rule over it.” he smirked, his burned gums exposing charred teeth. “Well, I would have preferred a whole body, but…” in a dispy of horror, he bent down and kissed the severed head. “… well, she is easy to carry, at least. As for the rest of you…” I panicked, as shields started appearing. Ixitt was trapped, along with a number of his engineers. Selensha and my brother were caught too, as was the raging Grulgor, who battered the barrier with his meaty fists to little use. I leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the same fate, attag with wind, fme, light, lightning and anything else I could muster, only for them to hammer off his new shield.

  This should not be possible. Akio, he could do it, perhaps, but this monster should not have the strength to use her gift so effortlessly, especially not after trolling the undead. The ether alone… I stumbled, and howled in frustration as a sphere formed arourapping me, casting a dull yellow tint over everything else. But that moment of carelessness had been because I had realised the secret behind their power.

  “Of course he does not-not have the aether Akio does. No, he is drawing it in endlessly from another source. The bdes. And his-his body.” My mystic eyes and my experieh Chirurgery allowed me to perceive the corruption within. A vast amount of dark aether was being pulled in, transmitted by some sort of spatial energy, and it was fuelling and boosting his arts, and now hers too, trapping us here.

  “… well, she never did know how to properly leverage her skills.” He smirked, running a hand over her cheek, the bde pierced within his palm ying it open to the bone. “… almost none of the fools do. Well, I am chosen by Death himself! I judge who is fit to die, and still serve! Well, her barrier, she thought it for defence, but as you see…” he ranted. “… it is a tool of offense, a prison for the unwary. Do not fret. I see there are plenty worthy of being my corpse brides. In terms of appearand power, many of you will suit me, the Judge… no, soon to be the Emperor of Death! I shall steal all I from the vile usurper who binds me, and then…” he stepped forwards, only a few free to stop him, his one-eyed stare on Haru, who was frozen, fused and terrified.

  “… well, I believe you are the secret to setting me free. That light.” A few attacks from unbound engineers and the remaining Empts hammered off his shield harmlessly. “And is this not destiny? I rule Death, and you… you are already dead, no?”

  As Haru shuddered, I pounded my fists impotently against the barrier, enraged. Haru. You o fight back. Or else… my brain worked, trying to establish a way to break out, to go to her defence, as she floated there, like a mouse before a snake. “Haru, snap out-out of it!” I roared. The barrier did not seem to stop sound, as I could hear through it. Nht, as I see through it too. Curses, perhaps the mortal world has tainted me, for the tradis now enrage me. If it does not stop sound, I should be able to use wind through it… “You are not-not weak any more, and this fool is not-not Kondou Kazuo! Akio believes in you! I believe in you! You believe in you! Fight! Only by fighting you protect yourself, take-take what you want!”

  Haru jolted as the dark neancer approached. Brilliant light fred, radiating out from her, washing over everything, just as a vivid violet ssh opened in space…

  ********

  Reag Tsukuyomi-jinja I was surprised to see a shimmering dome preventing my entrance. I could see through it, but when I tried to pass through it was like an immovable wall. Within, the se was desperate. Cultivators, a group of rather handsome spiritual beings, and a number of enemy didates, they were all attag. One Cultivator held up a Talisman and reparing to use it against what looked like Prince Shōtoku. Annoyed, I unleashed a bolt of light, and was surprised to see the Cultivator fall, beam passing through the barrier and the back of his head with equal ease. That’s strange, so the barrier doesn’t block attacks?

  Taking advantage of that fw, I quickly dispatched several oppos, but soon I was being blocked by a massive pair of metal hands that seemed to move indepely, flying through the air. One flew out of the barrier, moving many times faster than a person, but with the buffs from my enhanced Chakra work and the temporarily higher level of Body Enha and Split Thoughts, avoiding it was easy. As it smmed into the ground, leaving quite the impressive crater, I swung Cutting Twilight, and the rending of space sliced several of the heavy metal fingers off. The hand shuddered, balling into a fist, and it flew at me once more, bde g with knuckles, sparks flying.

  “Strong…” I muttered. “But… nowhere near strong enough!” I pushed back, bde slig deep. Foehn bzed, and the hareated, avoiding the falling droplets, which passed through the barrier after a momentary resistahe hand was taunting me, slowly starting to repair itself, the ground shattering and transf to metal, and as I attacked with wind and light the hand blocked me every time.

  Well, life would have been easy if I started with an ability like that. It’s like those magids from that famous role-pying game. Well, out here, it’s going to be hard to take it out, as it easily evade me and regee, while blog most of my attacks. Hmm…

  My thoughts were taking mere moments, which was vital as within the barrier I could see the situation was finely bahe beautiful shrine was a mass of burrees, shattered buildings and fallen archways now, and even the Empts Taishakama-san had established on the border of Tsukuyomi-jinja for added insurance were falling one by one. He was there, battling, alongside Kinkawa-san, who had called out the horrid swarm of shadowy, bald little creatures that occupied his shrine from his dark cloak. They were fighting well, using their o terbahe Cultivators, swarming up their legs and dragging them down, wielding bone and bronze knives and even heavy stoo finish them, but then a massive golden statue three metres tall, with six arms wieldis, spears and swords, crashed through them. Kinkawa-san mao use his shadowy cloak to ward off the blow from a sword, but he was hurled aside, arm broken painfully.

  Hakue-san was there too, the nephew of Bankei from the oneutral shrines was bleeding, yet he was standing firm beside Prince Shōtoku and his own kami, the Kofuku Jizo, who had ged from the genial, sandal-wearing youth into a powerful stoatue with a radiant halo of light energy behind him, his fists battling agaiions of stone spikes that were p endlessly from the ground. Within the circle of defenders was the unveiled Tsukiko-san, shaking, teary-eyed yet resolute, as if accepting her fate. I tried unleashing wind to help them, but again It was blocked by those damn hands.

  Fuck, I o get in there. Ulfuric is hurt badly, I see, looks like Daiyu is in there, Bintara too, Kamaitachi, allies from Kyoto… I ’t do shit from out here. Frustrated, I sidered my options. This barrier was tricky, if it hysical one, I could easily break it, given time. After all, I’d brokeory barriers that were Rank 2, so I doubted any personal barriers would be stro this stage, although my Eye did pick up a siing amount of aether ied into it, so perhaps I was wrong on that. No, I need something that affect the barrier itself… huh. Really… my mi back a few moments, to when the Foehn had spttered it. For a moment it had g to the barrier, before falling through. My Foehn had also been strengthened by the buff from Shiro, which was a wonder for aime. She’s a true didate now. I’m both worried and happy for her… no, think. it work?

  I had used a lot of Foehn, but with my strengthened abilities I was replenishing it at a tangible rate so… “e on, hungry fires. You spent god knows how many years feasting in the desert on that wind element, that must have been b. Try… try eating this!” Foehn sprayed through, but again it lingered for a moment, as if able to touch it. A sed try, and I thought the fires would take, but no, they merely sowed a bze around me. Cursing loudly, the hand tauntiill, I supplemehe Foehn with wind, fanning the fmes, and tried usiher too, imagining what I wanted. Aether flooded out of me, but I had never been so bursting with it, and the Territory was an allied one, so I had no worry regarding it fighting me. Foehn flickered, the yellow tinged with purple, and it then spread, f a fming doorway.

  Just one problem though… the barrier was regeing almost as fast as Foehn could devour it, so there was no way through without passing through the Foehn. But then, I’ve dohat before. Idly remembering the time I showered myself io face Shaeraggo, I grihis time I have more advantages…

  Drenched in water, wind around me as an insuting barrier, I leapt through, bursting in like a fiery et. Panig, the hand flew at me again, a sed ing from my blind side, which wasn’t blind due to my extended visual range I kept up at all times in the Boundary. “Break for me!” I roared, determio protect everyone I could, grieving for the dead, as some of my subjects had perished here, beyond even Shaeu’s restorative powers. Imbuing my bde with a tide of light element, Cutting Twilight shone like a holy sword from the myths, and it sliced through the first hand. As it retreated, I spun gracefully, the sed haing the same fate, fingers shattering.

  “reat!” I promised, earth elemeing into mud that trapped the fleeing hands. My sword fshed, light energy discharging, shimmering violet as it artially verted to spatial energy, and the first hand simply exploded, remnants sucked into the mire. The sed hand was slowly regeing, but now I had a better target in mind. There. My Eye spotted a didate I believed was the wielder, based on what intel we could scrape up from Yasaka-san’s Book. He was huge, getting on for seveall, amazing for an Asian. He had a squashed nose and a number of facial scars, and his own hands were gnarled and pitted, the fists of a fighter.

  “Just fug die!” I yelled, moving with incredible speed, upon him in mere moments. Fmes bzed as Cutting Twilight cut him from shoulder to groin before he could react, my speed in excess of five times his in my current buffed state. As his eyes widened I sent Foehn to destroy the slime within him, not out of passion or so that he wouldn’t be devoured, but merely so that I would get the gain, rather than the golden-eyed devourer. If only I had time to take out the Divine Favour… I mented as I spun around, ready for my arget. I’d be able to get a noticeably greater reward. Well, no use wishing for that. A level-up message fred in my vision. I always grow stronger, but I ’t repce the dead…

  As I flicked silver and red blood from my bde, steaming from the heat of Foehn, the remaining hand turo metallid behind me, vanishing.

  My problem was who to resext. The obvious first choice was Tsukiko-san, as she was being hard-pressed, but there were many strong allies there already, and while the golden six-armed statue and the earth attacks were overwhelming, her protectors were still holding their own. Ulfuric was in a bad way, having bee near-berserk, though his enemies were falling around him, attag with an unusual, desperate recklessness, as if they were maddened berserkers themselves.

  It seemed Daiyu was also up against it, being swarmed by Cultivators, though in her beautiful bat stahe Jade Yang Stance, she was giving a good at of herself, despite being attacked by many foes, some wieldieric arts and Talismans, the st of their Sect legacies, no doubt. I then froze, immobile. What the hell? There was a middle-aged Cultivator, his face streaked with burns, carrying a barrel-sized blob of flesh in his arms, the transparent, faintly yellow goop filled with spiky yellow bones, and ringed with dozens of open, gaping mouths, drooling slime that exuded immense amounts of dirty purple elemental energy and dark chakra, yellowing fangs curved like shark teeth. As I was frozen, a dozen tongues shed out, seizing some of the fallen warriors around Ulfuric, pulling then in, where they… disappeared, vanishing in a blur of purple mist.

  The blob ughed, making chewing noises, and I found myself wanting to throw up. My Eye bzed, and all I could get was question marks for a description, and that it arasitical e Of ????????.

  That o die, but first… my Eye had seen something else, a man that nobody else seemed to have spotted, creeping forwards, shrouded by a thick fog that made one want to look away from it. His eyes were burning with hatred, and he was raising up his bone sword high, ready to thrust it into the vulnerable back of the fallen Kinkawa-san, while in his other hand he held a heavy pistol, pointing it at the head of Prince Shōtoku. Gripping my sword tightly, I pushed, aether flowing from me to boost my speed, and the ground below me cratered inwards, the force scattering rod earth everywhere as I flew forwards…

  ShipTeaser