Hey guys!
This is a commission from @GalaxyWhale on Questionable Questing for about 4 thousand words. The next chapter is later today.
This comm is under the assumption that you've seen Record of Ragnarok, but the basic premise is that humans fight Gods to not be exterminated and the 13 Valkyrie help out the humans.
Hope you enjoy!
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From the moment Yoriichi was born, his fate was the sword.
Neither him or his parents realized it at first, but living in the Sengoku period proved to be very dangerous and he would need a weapon to protect himself. At the young age of 7, his mom and dad gave him a sword and an instructor for it…That he beat easily. Without breaking a sweat at all, a seven year old Yoriichi Tsugikuni beat a swordsmaster that was in the prime of his life.
That wasn't the only unique thing about him, though, his vision was also unparalleled. It was as if the world was transparent to him and only he could see through everything. He could see past any opponent's skin to peer into their muscles and tendons to predict their next strike, a skill that only got fiercer the closer his opponents got.
For anyone that crossed swords with him, they'll tell you that within a meter of him…
Yoriichi Tsugikuni is no less immortal than a God.
So his life continued on.
Over his life, his sword crossed with many different people including his own brother, but the most memorable one had to be Muzan Kibutsuji, a demon in human flesh. After a failed experiment, Muzan got turned into a monster, possessing several hearts and brains with the ability to regenerate in the blink of an eye and turn others into beings like him. Almost no man could step to him with his biokinesis and unmatched physical strength.
Yoriichi, with only a few strokes of his sword, dispatched him in less than 30 seconds.
He lived with no regrets except for one, his brother, Michikatsu. Being one of Muzan's first followers, he had to kill him along with the rest of the demons that Muzan created. Truthfully, his brother had always been jealous of him, of his skill, it was one of the biggest reasons for him to become a demon in the first place, but Yoriichi simply couldn't bring himself to hate his brother.
Instead of slaughtering Michikatsu, now known as Kokushibo, he simply gave him a swift death, putting his consciousness to rest with a swift decapitation without him even knowing how he died.
He was unknown throughout history, never letting his swordsmanship or grief guide him throughout his life. He was a relatively unknown man, feared by those who knew his strength but respected the same as those who didn't know. He had a beautiful wife and a daughter that he taught everything he knew to with a smile on his face as he passed away in his sleep at the ripe old age of 85, only 1 year after his wife passed.
And he will now participate in…Ragnarok!
"Hey Hilde, who is this guy?" A young girl asked her older sister. Although she was an immortal Valkyrie, she took the form of a small teenage girl with lilac hair that reaches down to half her neck and aqua green eyes.
"...He's desperation, Goll, our desperation." Brunhilde responded to her. She is a beautiful woman with flowing midnight blue hair that reaches her knees with long bangs swept over the right side of her face, being much taller than Goll as well. Her hair is pinned back on the side with a wing shaped large golden hairpin. Her pale skin is contrasted by piercing emerald-green eyes.
"We've already lost against Thor and Zeus and our next opponent is Poseidon, the tyrant of the seas. We have other options, but I'm not liking this pattern that is being shown to us." She commented, her eyes going over to Yoriichi. At first she thought that she wouldn't even accept the call to Ragnarok, but he surprisingly came without a second thought.
Instead of doing any training or trying any stances, he simply looked onto the ring, his eyes no different than the calm waves of the ocean itself. "Compared to our other two fighters that have gone against the Gods, Yoriichi is the only one to have slain a monster that could be compared to a God."
"W-w-what!?" Goll exclaimed, her eyes now going to Yoriichi.
"Muzan Kibutsuji was a self-proclaimed demon, having 5 brains and 7 hearts inside his extraordinarily tough body along with the ability to regenerate from close to nothing…That man right there killed him as easily as breathing air." She let out a soft smile, placing a hand on her sister's head. "I'm confident that he can match him."
After ruffling her sister's head a bit, she turned around, a more serious look on her face. "Hrist, are you ready for this?" She asked her sibling.
Hrist is a tall woman with long dark purple and straight hair with bangs covering her right eye and a long braid going from the left side of her head to her waist. "As ready as I can ever be, sister." She said with a serene smile on her face, however, Goll still couldn't take it, running over to her sister and giving her a big hug.
"It's okay, Goll." She assured her.
"We won't lose here."
***
"AAAANNNNNDD REPRESENTING THE GODS!!" Heimdall yelled, Gjallarhorn projecting his voice to every human and God alive. "The King of the seas, the tyrant of the ocean, and the God amongst Gods himself. Everyone give one hoot and holler for… POSEIDON!!!!"
The ring was a small platform in a water filled environment, though Poseidon simply walked on the water to get to it. He was a tall blonde man who wielded a trident, the weapon as magnificent as him, yet the look on Poseidon's face could freeze the very water he controlled.
"AAAANNNNNNNDDD REPRESENTING THE HUMANS!" Unlike how Poseidon came, a simple boat was pushed out for the human side. "He's called history's unknown swordsman, yet among one of the strongest in the textbooks! His enemies fear him, his friends sing only praises, today we have Yorrichi, the Sunny Swordsman!"
"The Sunny Swordsman?" Yoriichi repeated to himself, calmly walking up the stairs after the boat stopped before cracking a small smile. "I quite like that name." He commented, his hand tightening around his sword.
The Valkyrie, Hrist, had already fused with him, intertwining their fate through Volundr while providing him a weapon capable of injuring a God. The form she had taken was a standard katana, one that he used throughout his entire life.
When he finally got to the top of the stairs, he inspected Poseidon. He had more than a couple of inches on him so he had the reach advantage, but he had fought taller. What irked him just a small bit though was his refusal to look him in the eyes, like he had already won this match and was just doing it for fun.
"And the two fighters may now….BEGIN!"
"..."
"..."
The two didn't say anything, nor did they even move a muscle, but for different reasons. Yoriichi was sizing Poseidon up, attempting to try and estimate his opponents strength while the aforementioned God simply didn't find the need to attack first against a mere mortal.
They both stood still for more than a couple of moments, but soon enough Yoriichi began to walk over to Poseidon, almost carefree in his gait. "What's this, the mortal is approaching first!?" Heimdall hyped up as Yoriichi got ever closer, eventually getting in one meter of Poseidon before–
SHINK
Yoriichi's eyes widened, quickly lifting his sword up to block a sudden thrust from Poseidon's trident. Out of everything that he has seen since he was alive, Poseidon was by far the fastest thing that he has ever encountered. 'Fitting for a God.' He thought, taking a deep breath of air in before gripping Hrist with intent.
He went on the defensive, continuously blocking Poseidon's rapid thrusts. The clang of metal on metal was deafening, however Poseidon still seemed like he wasn't even trying. Yoriichi quickly advanced, attempting a downward slash that was quickly blocked before transitioning into a spin for a 360 slash.
Poseidon quickly moved out of the way, having to block yet another attack before letting out another series of thrusts that Yoriichi quickly parried, using two horizontal arcing slashes before rushing in and aimed for Poseidon's chest with a singular slash that seemed to carry a spiral motion.
Poseidon tried to block it, but when his trident met against Hrist, neither one gave first, Poseidon's wrist did. Although nothing major, now that his wrist was at an awkward position, Yoriichi quickly capitalized on it, jumping up and attempting to slash Poseidon's throat open.
Unfortunately, Poseidon managed to dodge, albeit by only hairs, ones that fell to the ground while Yoriichi advanced again, the pressure mounting against Poseidon. He extended Hrist to the side and attempted to slash across Poseidon's chest diagonally, however, something was different with this attack.
When Poseidon leaned back to dodge it again, he was hit!
It wasn't a deep cut, it didn't even draw much blood, but the fact remains that Poseidon, the God amongst God's was hit by a mortal. He stood there for a moment before his hand went to his chest, cupping some of the blood that was leaking from him before putting up to his hair, coating some of the beautiful golden locks in crimson.
His eyes narrowed at Yoriichi and for the first time in this match…Poseidon walked towards Yoriichi.
He had his guard up, of course, but Yoriichi couldn't anticipate the sheer strength of Poseidon's thrusts. He could manage to block them before, but now his only options were parrying them or dodging completely. He was completely on the defensive, losing ground rapidly and Poseidon knew it, the assault continuing without mercy.
And before Yoriichi knew it.
SHINK
More and more attacks came.
SHINK SHINK
And more and more cuts were accumulated on his body.
SHINK SHINK SHINK
He could barely keep up and the final nail in the coffin was when Poseidon struck his chest. Yoriichi managed to redirect it a bit, but it wasn't enough for the attack to miss him, only making a deep gash on his left side. His expression didn't change, though urgency was seen in his eyes more than ever.
Poseidon on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying this much more than before. "You look positively awful right now…YoriichiTsugikuni." He said, a wide grin on his face as he took in his opponents state right now.
"...Indeed, I do, huh?" He said. Instead of being angered by Poseidon's taunt, he seemed much more lively than when he came onto stage.
"You know, I have a brother. He was envious of me, he was envious of my skill with the sword, and one day I unfortunately had to kill him, yet…Even at the end of his life he was still my brother. Through the best of times, through the worst of times, he never tried to pretend he was only a demon or only my brother, he never tried a farce, he was simply Michikatsu."
The aforementioned God simply raised an eyebrow at Yoriichi's speech.
"You think that you are superior for being a God, yet you have no respect, only fear. I have no doubt in my mind that you are thoroughly unloved, nobody likes you, nobody would care if you died tomorrow. I must wonder if your thinking of a God is simply cope due to your utter insignificance to the people around you."
"Beneath that God of God's exterior, beneath the facade you put on to try and look calm and collected, beneath that mask, do you know what I see?" With each word, Hrist seemed to be heating up, the katana eventually turning a bright red. "I see a child in a man's skin, a sad, sad child claiming to be a God, but no better than A Mere Mortal whining." He finished, pointing the sword directly at Poseidon.
***
Someone in the stands watched Yoriichi intently.
He crossed his arms, attempting to appear collected, but he couldn't stop the involuntary jolts of fear running up and down his spine, the same dread that came all those years ago now wrecking his body through the mere sight of looking at him.
'As much as I want that damned human to lose, I'm not too keen on dying myself.' He thought.
'You better win this match, you damned slayer!' Muzan Kibutsuji screamed in his mind.
***
Poseidon schooled his expression, but his teeth gnashed against each other inside of his mouth, rushing to Yoriichi, he thrusted downwards this time, fully intent on skewering him down the middle.
That wasn't what happened, however.
Instead of skewering him, Poseidon's trident slid alongside Hrist, yet it didn't make a sound, like it was a drop of water slowly coming down a piece of metal.
"Sun Breathing Variant…"
Yoriichi's arm was extended out alongside Hrist and in only a second he was behind Poseidon whose underarm began to bleed crimson ichor.
Way Of Water."
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THE END