Two Times, One Sword (Closed)

[foodforpigs]

Neza hobbled from the center of circular stone walled room, with a floor covered in bodies, the brain-center like a proverbial cherry on top. She started feeling around the walls, eyes closed against the blood, to find anything, even the way that she came. Neza stood taller as Mei's spirit held hers up, though. Her face was grim, but it held the resolve needed to continue the mission. Neza understood too well the implications of failure. Her finger passed over a small divot; she wouldn't have recognized the inconsistency within the stone if she had complete sight. She pressed it, and her ears picked up that a hidden door was moving upward. She stumbled into the new opening and was surprised that there was no wall afterward. She was in another room already.

There was a slow clap from a far distance away. "Bravo, bravo!" the voice said sardonically.
"Save it." Neza spat some blood.
"Did you enjoy my little tomb of horrors?"
"I only waded through those pests so I can get the stone."
"You have come so far, but now there isn't anything left of you for me to play with."
"I'm not here to play."
"You've come here to die. The only thing holding you up is an insult to Tsukiyomi, my sister. I'll be taking that, of course."
"My Zae Gem? Never!" Neza already knew what it was like to have that ripped from her. She refused to feel that twice.
"You don't have a choice."
"I'm here to take the Stone. I've come too far to be denied."
"You're naive. I don't care how much you've endured; your efforts were for nothing. Continuing is pointless."
"Don't lecture me on the sunk cost fallacy. It doesn't apply here."
"One touch of my finger, one little poke, and I rip the life tainting the gem you call a heart."
"Is that why you're puppy guarding the Stone perched on your throne?" Neza insinuated. "Too scared of abandoning your leash?"
"I'll enjoy watching the life drain from your eyes!"

 

[Tone 6th]

The flames cut and tore at the water wall Jiro put up. It was thirty seconds of panic, and praying. Just as the barrier was about to give the flames dissipated, boiling off the rest of the gross water. Jiro was breathing heavy from defending against his own attack, he walked over to a scorched rock and sat upon it. "Ahh ahh ahh ahh." he breathed in and out trying to regain his composure.

"You alright?" Yori looked down at Jiro.

"Yeah... ahh... I'll be okay... just took a lot of.... ahh... energy." there was a pause as Jiro regained his stamina. "Alright help me up." he extended his hand and Yori pulled him up with easy.

"Alright what now?" he asked.

"I can feel a very faint energy signature, but it could be Husk Stone. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about this energy that doesn't feel... normal." Jiro raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah I feel it too."

"Then that seems to be our only option, come on." both started to run down the charred corridor. Chucks of still burning flesh lit their way, now it was only a matter of time before the Husk Stone was in their possession.

 

[foodforpigs]

Kissoten floated forward like a specter, but what Neza didn't expect was just how frighteningly fast such a motion could be. Neza's primary sense was of the goddess' aura; the heat from her own was drawn towards Kissoten. It was as though effort wasn't even required for motion or killing intent. The stone wall dropped down behind her, closing the entrance. Neza began to cower in Kissoten's presence, shrinking. Neza's weariness from her endurance trial grew heavier at her approach.

"Pathetic creature. You wasted your last breaths on talking. I see that I'm not the only one that hates you. Your face could use a few more marks like those."

Neza juked to the side from Kissoten's direct approach, running along the walls as her scorpion tail continually pierced the side wall, and leaped forward from a crouch to make a grab at the stone, only to be grabbed by her scorpion tail, and whipped her back, slamming her against the entrance wall. Neza tried to feint again, this time by jumping backward, then over again, only to get a full slap across the face. Necrotic energy from the slap left another black hand print mark on her face.

 

[Tone 6th]

The corridor seemed to go on for ages, and now there was no light except the fire Yori gave off. Eventually the two ran into a wall "Damn a dead end!" Yori growled. "Maybe we missed something, I can feel the energy so clearly now-"

"Shhh!" Jiro hushed sharply. "Listen." he whispered and pointed to the left side of the corridor.

"Pathetic creature. You wasted your last breaths on talking. I see that I'm not the only one that hates you. Your face could use a few more marks like those." voices could be heard just behind the wall.
"Blow it open." Jiro pointed to the wall and stepped behind Yori.

"I hope you're right about this Jiro." Yori's energy began to flow into his sheathed sword. He too a deep breath in and exhaled "Hono Katto!" The flaming blade shot from it's sheath with great speed, and it tore the wall wide open. Brick and mortar kicked up causing a big dust cloud. The coughed as they slowly made it into the room, and when the dust cleared a very shocked and worried Goddess greeted them.

"What!" Kisshoten looked to the men, and them back down to the ground where Neza should have been. "Where is the girl!" she frantically looked around the room.

 

[foodforpigs]

The blast to enter the room had also extinguished many of the torches that lit the hallway; only a few remained in sparse areas.

Neza had taken her chance, rolling out of the way of the rubble. She didn't have much time. Having started to move again, she realized that even Kissoten's split-second slap had taken much from her already frail body. She was crawling on the ceiling, fighting consciously against the gravity that wanted to pull her down. Kissoten turned around and saw that the Stone still perched on the throne. She started forward towards it and heard the sound of something splash against the ground.

During the time it took for Kissoten to move exactly where Neza was on the ceiling, Neza pushed herself off the ceiling, and flipped over and landed on all fours, then leaped to the Stone. Kissoten already changed her path to intercept. The leap wasn't far enough to grab the stone. Neza outstretched her arm in front of her, her very joints stretching to their limits as oil spilled into them for those extra inches. Kissoten's hand was pierced by Neza's back stingers, and landed on the flat of her back. At the same time, Neza's index finger touched the edge of the Stone. Kissoten was violently launched backward as a collision of necrotic, negative energy collided on the surface of Neza's skin. Neza dragged herself up the throne, covering it with the blood of her slain enemies. Her body jolted in fatigue as she struggled once again to stand, but this time she collapsed and slipped into the seat.

The walls of the crypt were starting to break as dust and air from the surrounding area became sucked in towards the Stone. The samurai dug their swords into the ground. They could feel part their spirit energy also get drawn into the stone. Above the stone the dust started to form a shape, of a body. Gasps from the body's head began as soon as it was formed; Neza felt lighter suddenly, alarmingly so. She looked up; her eyes became locked in terror. The head started as a skull, muscles forming underneath, and the eyes bubbling into place like pearls being formed by rubbing the sand from the dust together. There was no emotion in those eyes, no hate, no ambition. It breathed when the heart in the center was first formed. The rest of the body was at first bone, then internal organs, then muscle. It was only when the fat and skin covered the being, that Neza saw what the shape would truly become. It had the same face as hers. Hair grew from the scalp at an accelerated rate, having the exact shape. The whole body was clean, naked. The eyes of the flesh golem started when a tail shot out from her backside, piercing the newly formed skin like a spear violently thrusting outward from the inside.

"Sister, what's happening? What is this?"
Neza looked up again, to see a face now awash in confusion.
"Mei." Neza gurgled. "Help..."

Mei clenched her new eyes, concentrating with new urgency. She started to move stiffly at first, because this was the first time these muscles were used, as though she had been released from being turned to stone. Every motion seemed to chip off some of that old stone, making her motions more flexible. It hurt like hell; this body knew nothing of physical exertion. She picked up Neza in her arms; the weight that she could normally carry easily put strain on the new arms. Neza felt her head against the fat of the breast of the new being. The tomb was still crumbling to the ground. Neza didn't have any more energy to speak. Her eye wandered to the end of the hallway and saw that Jiro and Yori were standing there. She grinned wickedly as the ceiling stone dropped, making it dangerous to go through with the additional cutting winds around them. Neza made direct eye contact with Yori, an arm feebly rising. She focused only on her hand now, turning it upward. The side fingers drooped, leaving the middle finger. More the ceiling fell, and Neza cradled the stone between her weak arms when Mei carried her to it. Mei moved to the opening, once again just as stiffly as before, and out of the hallway.

 

[Tone 6th]

"Just a little farther sister! Hang in there, father will fix you up." it was as though Mei was moving through quick sand, it was so hard to move. It was one clumsy step after another, but she didn't stop. It was hallway upon hallway the cryptic really was maze, but Mei continued going... she needed to. Neza's body was falling apart at the seems, black ooze spilled all over Mei's skin. The worst thing was that the chamber housing Neza's Zae Gem was falling apart. Mei could see the crimson light shine through the cracks. "Come move!" she shouted trying to get her body to move faster.

It wasn't long until she came the city of the dead, and all eyes were on her. Mei felt fear for the first time in a long time. The citizens grabbed whatever they could to use as a weapon: rock, boards, and bones to name a few. Slowly the came for Mei backing her into a up against a wall. "I will protect you sister." Mei whispered, and held the trembling golem in her arms. She look to the crowed with the eyes of a cornered snake, edgy and ready to ponce. Her silver tail rose from it's relaxed position, and with lightning speed started to take down the hoard of monsters. Clean punctures to the head every time, and slowly she pushed back through the crowd. It took all the concentration she had to keep on the offensive and continue to walk, but slowly the huge entrance started to reveal itself... the light at the end of the tunnel. Some attacks got through, a deep cut to the arm, a club to the leg, but none of it mattered. Mei was determined to save Neza, the stone, and herself. "I'm not a ghost anymore I can finally protect the ones I love again, and it's going to take a lot more then a few blows to stop me!" she started running, her body finally giving some cooperation, and she just flew. Faces became colors, colors became blurs of lines, and soon enough she met the light of the opening. She dove through the door, and time seemed to just slow down. The sweet sent of spring filled her nose, the light breeze tickled her new skin, and the bright light of the sun blinded her news eyes, but only for a moment.

"We made it Neza! We're out!" joy radiated from the newly reborn girl.

"Yes, you have. You have the look of Neza, but not her body. Who are you!" a voice commanded.

Mei looked up to see Gin with the three other generals, and an entire army behind him. She quickly knelt down "My lord it is I Mei, I was given a body thanks to the power of the Husk Stone. Please Neza is gravely injured, I beg you please help her."

"Mei? Ah yes Neza's guardian, interesting." he took the Husk Stone from Neza's body. "Her injuries will be seen to, after all she is my most useful warrior." he snapped his fingers and two brass golems took Neza away. Another one came and gave Mei a blanket to cover herself with. "Mission accomplished you are all to return to head quarters! Dismissed!" Gin gave a sick smile under his mask.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Idiots!" Kissothen shouted as her chamber started to come down. "This way quickly!" she pushed a brick in one of the rooms walls, and a door opened. The goddess was quickly followed by Jiro and Yori, who were still in shock of what they had done. It wasn't long before the reach part of the city by way of long corridor. They came out just outside of her castle, in side one of the guard barracks. She slammed the door shut and quickly turned to Jiro and Yori "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she screamed at them.

 

[Tone 6th]

​

Jiro was quick to bow "My lady I-"

"I am not your master you idiot! My servants are capable of knocking before they blow up my entire throne room! However I can easily make you a part of my ranks." her scythe appeared and swung at Jiro, stopping only inches from his neck. Her attention was drawn only when she noticed a familiar body standing in front of her. "Well Well steel man it looks like you got your body back, how nice for you." she talked down to him. However, Yori didn't move an inch eyes fixated on the wall in front of him.

"It was her..." he mumbled to himself. The image of Neza smiling at him was burned into his brain. A smile that was the perfect match for hers... Ayako's. Yori couldn't believe it, and yet he knew deep down it was her.

"Yori! You are being spoken to by a Goddess bow your head!" Jiro shouted.

"No No Jiro it's fine, just fine. First I'll beat some manners into this one, and then you."​

 

[foodforpigs]

"Manners? Now is not the time for manners!" Yori rebuked. "We need a way out of this place, now!"

"You will not order me around. You let a revenge-hungry, power-mad, reckless, spiteful, arrogant, but ultimately confused and pathetically misguided ghost possess you completely, even displace your spirit from your body. I refuse to let such a weak-willed creature even think it can even kiss the dirt I walk on."

"Now you've done it." Yori snapped. "You can insult me, call me a tin can. That's nothing new. You can even rag on how I lost control because of the Reaper artifacts. However, I will not speak of Yoko in that manner."

"I know who she is." Kissoten snapped. "You wish to defend her high born honor? You can't even defend your own, low blood!"

"I've been itching for a fight. I'm pissed off that I had to wade through garbage just to see my sister get away with the stone. The garbage includes your worthless minions, by the way. Trash that couldn't even stop a single intruder from snatching the stone from under your very nose."

 

[Tone 6th]

"INSECT!" Kisshoten screamed. The handle of her staff hit the ground, two huge bony hands shot out of the ground and clamped onto Yori. In an instant she appeared in front of the samurai her scythe reared back. Yori struggled against his bonds, his joints squeaked under the pressure.

"Thrusters!" he shouted, and instantly the boosters in his feet kicked on. The flames shot him out of the hands just as Kisshoten came down for her swing. *THUNK!* He landed on his back, but Kisshoten stayed on top of him. She came down with a swing, and he brought his sword up to defend. *SHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGG!* The force that the Goddess brought with her was unparalleled. Yori's arms buckled instantly, but stopping at the boe of his elbow. Her blade was now inches from his face.

"So the insect has some skill, it matters not!" she leaned in and pushed down even harder. The tip of the blade was now at Yori's throat, and he was quickly realizing his mistake.​

 

[foodforpigs]

Yori could feel the unrelenting force press down on him, the tip of Kissoten's blade by his neck. Not even his machine parts could match Kissoten's strength. His arms were shaking and his system warnings were blaring. In a split-instant, Yori shifted so the bottoms of his feet were pointing as left as possible with the weight imposed on him. Kissoten took this immediately and pressed her strength with this shift, bringing Yori to the ground which would soon become a chopping block. His thrusters flared again, this time in full force. The rotational force caused by the thruster blasts was intended to break the lock. Sparks flew between the two blades as though Yori was a buzzsaw and Kissoten was a pillar of steel.

It didn't disarm Kissoten as it would have a regular opponent. Yori could feel his sword start to bend from the strain, glowing white in blessed light. At Yori's own breaking point, Kissoten, patient and methodical, pulled the sword from Yori's grip with the scythe like a claw. At the same time, Yori realized that while he was focusing his energy to his feet, his feet were suddenly starting to go ice cold. Kissoten had a free hand all along at her side, open towards the flame source, that spurted no flame. Extinguished like a candle.

Yori had his back on the ground, and couldn't see Kissoten's expression as she loomed over him. She had her scythe raised again for a quick execution. Yori had no more energy left. The dungeon had been a gauntlet, but Kissoten had been far more than that.

 

[Tone 6th]

"ENOUGH!" a voice cut through the action. Both Yori and Kisshoten looked up, what they saw shocked them.

​

"Am.. Amaterasu." Yori gasped.

"Sister... wh what are you doing here!" the Goddess stammered, immediately backing off Yori.

The Sun Goddess slowly started to walk up to her kin "You lost your Stone Kisshoten, and now the world is dangling by a thread because of it." her voice was stern.

"It wasn't my fault, if these two hadn't show up-"

"You mean these two humans? Humans, one of which is my chosen, you could have easily stopped. Don't blame these two for you're own arrogance!" she was now face to face with Kisshoten. "Oh and let's not forget the golem YOU let escape."

"You were watching?" Kisshoten's voice shook with nerves.

"Oh yes of course, with only a few stones of our own left how could I not? You could have killed her in one strike, that's all it took. No, you had to let your curiosity get the better of you. Now Gin has nearly completed his plans!" she yelled.

"Sister I-"

"No you don't get to speak!" she slowly turned to Yori. "Come on up off the ground, your Goddess commands it."​

 

[foodforpigs]

Just as Kissoten had drained him of his energy, the radiance of his patron goddess fueled him with renewed strength. He kicked himself up in a fluid motion and sheathed his sword. Though he did as he commanded, his expression continued to be that of dismay. Doubt flooded his mind.

"I'm disappointed in you, Yori. How many times will you allow your stubbornness get in the way of thinking clearly?"
"Kissoten chose to be an obstacle. She could've cleared the rubble for us to chase the thief down."
"You were willing to throw your life away against a being whose powers you can't even fathom. You're not fit to fight."
"I don't need your validation to know what I have to do."
"Are you just going to charge Gin's forces head on?"
"If I must. As long as we have the Aqwuis Stone, Gin has not yet won."
"If that's how you think, Gin has already won. He just has to wait until you deliver the Stone right to him."

"As for you, Jiro. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook either."

 

[Tone 6th]

Jiro bowed ready for his punishment. "I thought you were smarter then to just go breaking down walls. The dust and rubble you created gave the golem the chance she needed to slip away."

"Forgive me my lady, but my mind was not the sharpest. I was pushing my limit."

"You're telling me that because you were TIRED you leaped headfirst into an unknown situation." she sighed. "That is not how the Ieyoshi family conducts itself. Honestly I should just send you home, but... you know how to keep Yoir's head on straight."

She walked in front of the group "You three disappointed me greatly, and because of your actions the end of the world is one step closer.... However, there is still a chance. We have to take the fight to Gin..." her voice stark and quite.

 

[foodforpigs]

The armies of evil were closing in on each other near the Academy fortress walls, the Academy showing no signs to ally under either flag. The area around the Academy rang with alarm bells, signalling the imminent encounter. Kissoten's undead horde moved in a trance-like manner, while Gin's golem army moved in purposeful lockstep, clanking as they marched.

"The army has no commander. Kissoten abandoned her army to try and and handle my agent." said Gin. "That's fine by me. Crush them back into the ground. Grind their bones to dust!"

The three Generals Katsumi, Waru, and Mobroshi saluted with their fists against their chests before moving to their separate divisions. Gin's full army started to split from the pack 200 gold golems, 100 iron golems, and about 50 brass repair golems to three divisions of 75,75,50 gold golems, 35,35,30 iron golems and 20,20,10 brass golems, respectively. The smallest army of 50,30,10 went to Katsumi, who had failed her last mission, was human, and had been recently outdone by the one she hated since day one, Neza. It was an unspoken punishment and sign that she wasn't trusted to the same degree as the other generals. Though the army had technically split into divisions they were still relatively close in terms of spacing. Katsumi swore to herself that she'd kill more than the other two combined; this was the only way to win back Gin's favor.

Approximately 50 of the zombies were already dispersing from Kissoten's forces, flaking off seemingly at random. Gin deduced this to be from a lack of direction of any general; their cohesion as a single army was likely the residue of a command that was wearing off. The Academy that towered in size provided excellent visual cover for both armies, but the only army that seemed to unwittingly capitalize on this factor as a way to shield from siege tactics was the undead army, which veered from a direct confrontational path comfortably beside the Academy to directly behind the Academy. As the two armies started to close in, the visual cover given by the Academy would become more pronounced for the undead. The undead army of 300 skeleton warriors, 200 zombies, and 100 larger zombie brutes didn't appear to break off in divisions, but instead moved directly as a whole behind the Academy even more so.

"Divisions 1 and 2, wrap around the Academy on both sides. Attack both flanks of these mindless cowards." Gin commanded. "Division 3, Kissoten, with me!"

As the armies diverged with the Academy as the splitting axis, Gin raised his sword. The winds drawn by the sword weaved around the blade like silk strings, flowing outward to the two main divisions. The wind appeared to ebb and flow between the joints of the golems, they moved faster now in a steady charge.

The zombie stragglers from before silently returned to the edge of the battlefield, slim in nature. They had moved quickly out of sight, forming a semi-circle far and around of Gin's forces, shifting as the forces moved, looking intently.

Their shape was much more distinct now, though hidden in the forest as they wore green and brown rags as camouflage. Each pointed to potential weak spots in Gin's new formations.

As division 1 headed by Mobroshi cleared the Academy wall side, the general saw that the zombie undead army had changed into a V-formation. One of the zombies within this flank shed its outer layer instantaneously, green goo dripping from its person.

 

[Tone 6th]

"My troops have met with Gin's. I'm sorry sister but the scolding will have to wait." Kisshoten sat down in a chair and slipped into a trance.

"Will she be alright?" Jiro asked hesitantly

"She'll be fine, she's taking control of the little battle." Amaterasu smiled.

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*CLANG!* The being that shed it's skin clashed swords with Mobroshi. "Well well what do we have here? A bunch of scrap metal idiots trying to take whats not theirs?" sparks few as the two swords clashed over and over again. "Wow won't even let me introduce myself, names Inka Kisshoten's chosen." he smiled.

"You're name means nothing to me!" Mobroshi barked, coming down with a heavy slash. *CLUNK* The sword tore into a huge rock that seemed to appear out of no where. "Earth user!" the golem gasped.

"That's right!" a blade jutted out of the rock and pierced Mobroshi's shoulder. "You will witness the destruction of you're army." Inka's face was now right against his opponent's, and his hand shoved the blade further into it's target. "I thought you guys were supposed to be tough." he snickered.

"Get of my face fool." Mobroshi growled. "You think a mere stab wound can hurt me, then you are blind." he raised his to the sword and bound it with his own magnetic force. "Now get out of my way!" his hand pulsed and the sword, along with it's wielder, shot off into the distance. "If this is all the Goddess of death has then our victory is assured." the golem started his advance again, but a sudden tremor stopped him.

The ground itself stared to shift and break apart. Some chucks formed deep crevasse, and other huge slopes. On top of it all was Inka "You think you can just take the playing field? Well fuck you my friend because everything just got a lot harder!" he called down. "Brutes CHARGE!" he commanded. A battalion of heavily armored brutes came running down the hill. They all ran past Mobroshi's troops and started to do battle with the ones on either side of the Academy.The golem was starting to pursue, but a rock pillar flew up in front of him. *BOOM!* The bolder exploded revealing Inka inside "No no, your fight is with me!" he yelled. He kicked Mobroshi in the stomach sending him flying back, impacting on the side of a hill.

"What's with this guy? His strength and speed are outrageous for a corps." the golem though. He laughed himself right back out of the whole gunning straight for Inka.​

 

[foodforpigs]

When Mobroshi gunned for Inka, he had a sudden flashback of when he was the ninja that had charged straight towards the shogun on this throne. The earth churned, the magnetic ebbs and flows of its rotation. Mobroshi could feel himself become re-aligned, allowing the natural magnetic waves of the earth to meld as one with his aura. He dodged to the left before a mass of skeleton warriors popped out of the makeshift inclining hill, of dirt that had been surprisingly thin.

That is why Inka had sent the large brutes first; it was because their weight betrayed that the hill was an anthill, and the fighters above were the ants. When a bulk of Mobroshi's army had charged forward and up the hill, their weight had started to make an impression on the dirt. The base of the hill had the strength of rock and topsoil, but nearing the top, golems started to lose their balance, their feet uneven in dark but weak soil, as though it had been recently cultivated. They were sinking into the hill as though it was quicksand; skeleton warriors that would've been weaker given their frail structure took raw numbers and the weight of gravity to their advantage. Golems around him were being pulled down by skeletal and zombie hands, dragged underneath the surface of the trap. Inka gave chase with his sword in both hands, now that Yang was on the retreat with his forces. Mobroshi honed in to find a weakness, but to his dismay, nothing that Kissoten's chosen was made of metal. The sword itself, he reasoned to guess, was made out of sharpened bone, tempered by some hellish art.

"Yang!" Gin's voice was an imperative. It was his name. His true name. The name given to him through right of passage and not by birth. He took one side only in the wheel of life. He had once tried to compromise the life of an assassin by thinking he could kill in the name of the light, to kill Gin, only to realize he had allowed himself to be torn between the force of different worlds. Duality was an illusion. There was only the one.

Yang raised his hands and the aura around them intensified. With the golems now embedded within the earth, his perception on their value increased. These weren't meant to be toys to be buried by kids in the sand. These were gems with the craftsmanship of a master. Not a single one should be lost. Yang jumped when he was at the top of the great hill and at that moment Inka also leapt. With a cry of focused fury, Yang strengthened his polarity to the absolute zenith of its limit. Several of the golems that had sunk in the dirt broke the surface and were heading straight towards Yang. The force of the golem's expulsion broke the form of the hill immediately. Inka's attention diverted to slashing apart golems heading in all directions; suddenly it was Inka that had become surrounded.

 

[Tone 6th]

"Well it looks like you golems do posses a brain, or a at least a small one. Do you think you can really kill an undead?" Inka chuckled.

"I don't have to kill you I just need you out of my way!" Mobroshi pointed downward. The golems that were circled rained down on the warrior. The metal warriors dog piled on him "You stupid prancing monkey my wit and strength are more then you can stand." he closed his fist and the entire scrap pile collapsed inwards, trapping Inka underneath. "Idiot." Mobroshi spat.

 

[foodforpigs]

Yang continued his onslaught unimpeded, using his renewed magnetic power to manually rotate his army, positioning damaged golems as they fell to the undead directly in front of the repair golems, while at the same time pushing forward new golems. It became a closed circuit assembly line, unrelenting and frighteningly efficient. The division line for Yang steadily gained more ground against the undead forces.

Outside the perimeter of the battlefield, the 50 scouts, continued to relay complex information back to their Commander, with palms upturned, resting as though against a glass semi-spherical globe. Kissoten designated a spot for her Chosen. Their zombie brute numbers were being destroyed at an alarming rate while Inka had been taken out from battle. Green ooze seeped out from the cracks of the scrap metal pile as whatever organic matter that had been crushed popped. From a zombie brute away from the other generals, Inka had exploded out from another zombie brute.

This time, Inka had been given the priority to attack the repair golems exclusively, and to avoid the other generals entirely. This was about sheer numbers now, and not about individual martial superiority of the generals. Kissoten needed the numbers back on her side if she wanted to win.

The Academy's force-field had been keeping strong, Academy soldiers and upperclassmen maintaining the field from the inside. The sudden influx of negative energy that surrounded the field had made it weaker. Waru's magic was building up. Katsumi, meanwhile, covered Waru's flank while Gin kept himself out of combat as much as possible, visibly annoyed that the enemy was trying to make it a war of attrition. These dirt beings weren't worthy to taste his steel.


"That doesn't make any sense!" shouted Yang. "I trapped him all the way over here!"
"Katsumi!" roared Gin, pointing at the new incarnated Inka wreaking havoc. "I don't care how he got out, and I don't care if he's fast. Kill him!"
"Sir!"

Kissoten gritted her teeth as regardless of the small gain of the surprise reincarnation wasn't making up for the losses. Now it was time for her to lay her cards on the table. The 50 scouts surrounding the battlefield started to sway in place, their hands moving in a hypnotic manner, engaged in a ritual spell. Darkness starting to encroach on the land. Waru noticed the change in the air first. Enemies, outside the perimeter. The fake deserters! It would be a personal battle of 50 versus 1, while engaged against the undead army ahead of him.

 

[Tone 6th]

Inka was powering through enemies like they were straw dummies "Many thanks my lady!" he called out to Kisshoten. His speed was unparalleled to even the fastest golems. He slid to a stop and looked for his next group of victims.

*SHING!* *SQUISH!* "Huh?" Inka looked down to see a blade sticking out of his stomach.

"Don't you know standing around on a battle field will get you killed?" a voice whispered into his ear.

"H how? I couldn't hear you coming... I I'm dying.... PSYCH!" the zombies head snapped around so that he could see his back stabber. "You think a simple stab to the heart is enough to kill me? Well I got news for you blondey! I ain't got one!" he reared back and slammed his head into her nose. Katsumi tore the sword out of Inka when she recoiled. The zombie had the biggest gin on his face.

Katsumi whipped the blood from her nose and reset her position, but her opponent failed to set his. "Are you insulting me! Take your stance!" she barked.

"Don't have one. Never did. So much easier to just read opponents." he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I hope you're more fun then the magnet guy."

The General gripped her blade "Insolent worm!"

​

The two met in clash almost instantly. "See the thing about being a corps little miss." he broke his guard and let her sword sink into his flesh. "You can't feel pain!" he whipped his blade around, swinging for her neck. *CLUNK!* it met with an ice wall, bouncing off.

"You talk to much!" she powered her blade through the of the zombie, severing his arm.

"Well shit." Inka sighed. Katsumi's next attack came in no time, only stopped by a pillar of rock. "Well well it would seem that you are WAAAAAY more fun then that other guy, so I'll stop messing around." Two pillars of rock shot up from the ground and rushed to crush the General. She nimbly dodged out of the way, and was quick to retaliate with a few flying ice shards. He was quick to chop them into little pieces "Come on is the best you have!" he laughed.​

 

[foodforpigs]

Waru's attention become split between the 50 Kissoten's Eyes and the waging battle around him. He could see the darkness in the immediate enemy's eyes. Those 50 eyeless scouts saw with their hands, known by mystics as the eyelids of the soul. His army of golems were being overrun despite Waru swirling magic in his hands. The undead didn't have minds to trick, nor sight to be dazzled with an overflow of sensory information. The darkness that the zombies emanated choked, nullified life, while his was akin to a womb from which the chaos of the universe was birthed.

The 50 Kissoten's Eyes levitated off the ground as they moved in a ritualistic trance. Their hands opened dark red eyes, devoid of irises. Waru felt a chill run through his spine. Nothing could do that. He turned to the barrier of the academy. It's neutral, almost transparent color was turning black, reverberating, gradually rippling like a wave. The more that the barrier itself started to shake, the more spirit energy Waru could feel was being poured in from the desperate residents inside. The Academy was merely giving the barrier more power, not destabilizing the Death magic corrupting it.

The barrier itself was becoming unstable. An overflow of spirit energy was flowing from the ripples of the barrier, reinvigorating the Kissoten's zombie army, accelerating the regeneration of those still left standing. Waru could sense the terrible power the 50 Eyes poured into the barrier, along with the Academy itself. The barrier would reach critical mass soon... Waves of cutting wind blasted in front and behind him, turning a few loose undead that were charging at him into ribbons. Master Gin had arrived, assisting Waru's army by replenishing numbers with Kissoten's division and continuing to provider cover.

Waru looked at the barrier again. He knew what had to be done. Waru lifted both of his hands. A prismatic beam of chaos energy burst from his hands, cutting an entire flank from the enemy formation. When it joined the reverberating barrier, the chaos flowed with its currents, turning the barrier prismatic as well. The magic force of both the 50 Eyes and the Academy resisted against him; the Chaos modulated itself to feed upon it.

"Are you insane?!" Gin yelled.

The sight was very beautiful, Waru thought. Darkness, light, and the chaos of color swirling about like what might've been the creation of a universe. The barrier exploded, sending a shockwave in all directions. The walls of the Academy started to break under the force. Choatic energy bursts exploded from the downed barrier. Waru directed these bursts by reattaching himself to the chaos that he had birthed from his raw energy. They exploded like artillery shells on the ground, taking out many of the eyes from their un-moving positions, and many of the zombies still on the ground engaged with golems, the front line holding the zombies while the other golems retreated.