Kozuna
The wind began to chill viciously. Black-bordered, cyan vapor drifted from Mifune's shuriken-shaped curse seal, permeating the environment. Staring down Nikai in his shadow transformation, a smirky-faced Mifune rolled up the sleeves of his orange prison shirt. He flared his right arm out for a moment, then took a knee and gently pressed his palm against the sand.
"Take a step or two back, Kozuna. You're about to see why I was locked up."
What's he got up his sleeve?
I scoffed and followed the order, keeping my eyes glued to his cyan-swirling seal. However, it seemed like Nikai could sense the new source of power nearby. His shadow transformation twisted toward us with quickness, and that was the moment Mifune's seal expanded in a sharp pattern that spread just beyond his wrist. His hand vibrated, and then, an unmistakable, semi-transparent structure crystallized across his fingertips.
Undoubtedly frigid even from afar, Mifune had finally displayed the power hidden within his seal. Something I'd only ever seen in Yvira's fuckass history books.
It's no wonder they had him locked away.
Mifune grinned hard. Ice swirled in circles beneath his hand, flowing round and round until shooting across the destroyed district as a massive, rising spike-wave. One that dwarfed Nikai and his transformation, and one that Nikai couldn't possibly haveseen coming. He hurled wild shadow blasts in an attempt to obliterate everything coming his way, but Nikai couldn't destroy it all.
The ice pierced Nikai's shadows in more than one spot. His transformation waned for a moment. Flares lit up across the ice-impaled segments, working to melt away the spikes. But Mifune was in no rush to finish things. He started laughing!
He got through Nikai's shadows that easily!?
"Man, it feels GOOD to use my power for myself again! He must've just awakened his shit if I can break through THAT easily!"
Nikai bellowed out for the whole clan to hear. His shadows erupted as he roared, blowing the nearby ice down to shards and even leveling adjacent structures. It was very clear his transformation wasn't too happy.
"Gonna be the most fun I've had in a looong time," Mifune muttered. "Go catch your breath, Kozuna! Take your sweet-ass time, too! I'll take him on!"
"Sure, I'll be ready for when you mess up!"
"Me?" Mifune pointed to himself and laughed out loud. "Must have me confused with someone else! Just watch and learn, noob!"
Neither of us got another retort out. Nikai had pulled his claws together and quick-fired a scattered blast of shadowflame spheres. I prepared to leap in and fight, but a huuuuuge fucking wall of ice burst from the dirt and towered probably twenty stories high or something. Mifune hadn't moved a muscle, but he'd somehow summoned an enormous barrier that blocked Nikai's attacks.
And that wall only crumbled at the command of its creator, who also opened his hand wide and converted vapor-form senten into a blade of solid ice. I was left watching the spectacle.
This must be what it means to be in control of your curse.
Mifune shot off with a cocky smirk. His next move left me even more wide-eyed. Ice streamed from his feet, launching and propelling him through the skies! He closed the gap with Nikai before the latter could react, tore his icy blade across Nikai's shadow skull, let go, and zipped behind Nikai's transformation as two more swords manifested in his hands.
He's fluid. Really fluid!
Mifune flipped those other swords upside down and ran them through the rear of Nikai's shadow neck. That whole combination, from takeoff to stabby-town, had happened in like, less than ten seconds. I was just in the background with my jaw almost hitting the floor, feeling like a total side character in my own story.
The multitude of strikes caused Nikai's shadow head to snap back. His claws whipped around furiously, firing off formless bursts of swirling flames literally everywhere in an attempt to vaporize Mifune. Nikai obliterated the city around us, but it was no use when it came to his one target. Mifune easily held on tight, maintaining his smirk the entire time he continued humiliating Nikai. And when Mifune did let go, he seemed to intentionally buzz around Nikai like a bug, avoiding enraged swipes and landing quick cuts of his own.
Before I knew it, a large portion of the shadows, though scattered, had been severed apart. And all I'd done was watch. Mifune was clearly fine on his own. He'd only been in battle for like a minute, and he'd already made Nikai lose his cool.
However, between the warbling roars and deep groans, something similar to Nikai's voice emerged.
"Enough!"
Hearing even a single word from Nikai surprised me. Surprised both of us. Mifune jetted away and back toward me. Nikai's transformation hunched forward, venting vast amounts of smog-like senten and shadowflames from his spine. And that time, the senten wrapped over the shadows, hardening into a secondary layer of bone armor. It was like his curse was looking for a way to protect itself from the ice.
Before, it was just those shadow spike protrusions. Has his transformation progressed even more?
Reality dawned on me when I noticed the moon hanging in the night sky. There were no more limitations holding Nikai back; his transformation began growing. He was quickly becoming comparable to Nazun's Soul Colossus in its armored form.
Of course it did. It's not like I haven't unlocked new elements of my power, either.
After a beat, Mifune landed beside me, shaking his head. "Figured it wouldn't be cut-and-dry. Makes it more fun, though!"
It almost seemed like Nikai had gained more consciousness as well. He slammed his enormous shadow claws into the sand, pulsing dark power from his fingertips and into a quaking city's foundations.
"This whole city can burn to the ground for all I care!" echoed Nikai's transformation.
Shadowflames erupted all over the place. Mifune and I glanced every which way. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by a ring of fire that spanned a wide area, towering incredibly high all around. Didn't help that the bonfire bursting from Nikai's spine flared up, and the earth kept shaking.
"This nighttime curse shit is no joke-"
"Don't just stand there, you idiot! Read the room!" Mifune blasted above, glaring down on me. "Ground's gonna blow!"
Can't just casually fuckin' fly like you, Mifune!
Mifune had used both his hands and feet as points of ice release. But me? Heh, I was stuck trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to stay afloat in the sky. I only had one working idea.
My boots pressed deepagainst the road. I had to feel the pressure building beneath the surface. Tucking low, I waited until the very last moment- the instant I felt Nikai's senten bubbling up underneath my feet- to burst sky-high with explosive force. Within probably a mile radius, everything on ground level exploded into a massive conflagration mixed with sand and dust. Mifune and I covered our faces. Stray chunks of debris blew all over.
The short-lived cries of soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire whistled in the windstorm, alongside crackling flames and the crashing of leveled homes. Nikai's power had pretty much annihilated everything it touched.
***
A transformation curse barely awakened, and it's capable of this much destruction?
When the dust had settled, Mifune and I were granted a clear view of the devastation. A substantial portion of the central district had been razed down to a circular crater of sand, dirt, and rock. And shadow-form Nikai towered at the center of it all. Saving him was beginning to feel like an impossible task, especially as the moon inched closer to its peak.
Gravity suddenly outweighed my momentum; I began plummeting back down to the crater, overwhelmed with conflict. Should I have been angry about all the people killed? The homes destroyed? Or should I have been overjoyed? My "trial" certainly showed me where I stood with the Ozukashi. But did that make it right?
Concentrate, Kozuna!
I shook my head violently. My questions couldn't be answered. Especially not then. I hit the ground, nullifying the impact with the help of my curse, and discharged excess electricity into the sand. I felt an ominous, overbearing presence, though. Nikai's piercing, chilling glare had fixated on me. As if he were the predator and I were the prey.
Suddenly, lightning flashed around every inch of my body rather than just my left arm. Even my skin glowed slightly, a mix of blackish-orange and blackish-blue. Something was shifting within my seal, but I couldn't tell what. None of it made sense to me. But right then, Mifune appeared by my side.
"Yo, Kozu-noob. Not a good idea to start letting your senten run wild."
Is that what this is? I'm clearly having trouble containing it, if that's the case.
I nodded and began clenching my fists in an attempt to forcibly pull the senten back into my bloodstream. My gaze locked on Nikai. I felt the dark temptation to look him in the eyes, but I wasn't stupid. I'd experienced that game before, and I didn't want to again.
Another powerful blast of wind-whirling, tangible shadows barreled our way. And seemingly with just the slightest pivot of his foot, Mifune generated a giant, crashing wave of ice from the ground up. One that towered ahead, acting as the perfect shield to halt Nikai's outbursts.
I saw the opportunity and took it. I leaped to the skies once more, pooling all of my overflowing electricity around my fingertips and launching a massive thunderbolt at Nikai. But I was caught way off guard. And up there, I had a clear view. I watched Nikai's shadow claws open wide, catching not only the incoming wave of ice, but also my lightning. Each one swirled into separate claw-palms.
Somehow, I felt a shift in Nikai's seal and in my own. I could only look to Mifune for answers as I landed.
"The hell did he just do?"
"How should I know? Weren't you the one who fought him?"
Ah- fuck you.
Mifune and I simply watched. I couldn't believe it at first, but it was clear what'd happened when the mass of ice vanished. Nikai's transformation's right arm manifested a deep blue glow, while his left adopted a cyan-silver hue. Spikes of ice sprouted from the bone armor over there, and his claw gained an additional layer of jagged icy armor. His right side developed a veil of electricity, riddled with black sparks around the fingertips.
He absorbed our powers? Zara wasn't joking when she said transformations were far more powerful than any other curse. But- Nikai shouldn't be capable of progressing this quickly if he can't control his power-
My eyes lit up immediately. I ended up resting my gaze just beneath Nikai's smoky red glare.
I get it.
"So, he didn't do that last time you battled him, Kozuna?"
I shook my head and took a few steps ahead of Mifune. "Nikai! Enough of this! I know you're listening! Stop this madness already! There's no way your curse could keep evolving like this! Not without you in control!"
Likely floating within that hunk of towering shadows, Nikai fell silent and ceased fire. However, it was a matter of impermanence. It wasn't long before Nikai's deepened voice echoed out across the city and resonated.
"Astute as ever, Kozuna. Didn't take you long to figure it out. I know exactly what the fuck I'm doing, and I don't plan on stopping. Like I told you before, I don't give a shit about this god-forsaken clan!"
"What about Tyuyo!? This is his home! Where will he go if you keep blowing shit up? What if he was caught in the blast? Can't you see the magnitude of what you've done?"
"I see it far more than you can, clearly! Tyuyo's fine, Kozuna! I can sense his shadow, and he's far from danger!"
You can sense him?
"But you and your new buddy keep getting in my way! All I want is to take Tyuyo and leave this fucking clan for good! I may have only regained control a few minutes ago, but this level of destruction is in line with me. This thing inside of me? Whatever's been controlling me? It's doing exactly as I would've done. I could sleep forever and let it take over."
Mifune cocked his head just a little, his bored eyes half-open. "'The thing inside of you?' What are you talking about?"
"Who the fuck are you anyway? I see those prison clothes. And you don't look like an Ozukashi. You should be helping me destroy The Primary!"
I shot a glance at Mifune, who completely shifted his gaze from Nikai. His clenched teeth began to show, and his smile had vanished.
"Does it matter if he's an Ozukashi? He's my friend, Nikai, and so are you! Stop all of this!"
Nikai didn't care to acknowledge me at that point. "Listen, guy. Wanna live? Join me. We can wreak havoc in the process and say goodbye to this shithole clan forever. How does that sound? We leave and take revenge. At the same damn time."
There was another world-silencing pause. It was the worst possible situation. Nikai's suggestion pulled my one capable ally into the middle, and I knew Mifune wasn't thrilled to be on the Ozukashi's side to begin with. He began taking hesitant steps forward, and I needed to act fast.
Damn it, I can't lose Mifune! I need him by my side- at least until Nikai's subdued!
I kept my gaze locked on Nikai. "Mifune, I know you probably want vengeance. Believe me, I get it. I'm not saying you'd be wrong for that, but don't do it! I didn't free you to just let you destroy my homeland, you know!"
"And you think you could stop me?" Mifune shouted at first, quieting his voice to a whisper thereafter. He shot a glance at me from the corner of his eye. "You've proven yourself trustworthy, Kozuna. So, now, I'm gonna need you to trust me. Just remember one thing: my ice melts quicker the further away I am."
"W-what?"
"You'll catch up," Mifune mumbled under his breath. "This is for the best, you'll see."
I slowly turned toward Mifune, dumbfounded as to what I'd just heard. But my gaze couldn't stay there- I realized ice had begun crawling up my skin. My entire body froze in shock, and then in ice. I was frozen mentally, and then physically. I could only watch what came next while encased in a block of ice.
Inside that ice, I couldn't summon up anything- I needed some sort of movement! I couldn't even muster the slightest lip curl! The only thing I could do was try to make sense of his words.
What did he mean!?
"Kozuna said your name was Mifune, right? Nice job. That should keep him out of commission for a while. Let's shred this clan down to atoms."
It's already night in the desert, and in a block of ice, I'll freeze to death before long. Is Mifune really leaving me to die? No- he wouldn't, right?
I hadn't made sense of his vague, nigh-cryptic words. Mifune took one more glance at me as he approached Nikai. He turned away, leaving me to watch them begin their departure. Helplessly.
If this is it for me, then it's up to you and the others now, Anari.