Kozuna
My vision turned red and my hearing seemed to disappear for a moment. Everything appeared to move in slow motion.
Kaiten fell motionless as blood pooled beneath him and splattered everywhere. My eyes fluttered as if I were the one in his position. I was up next; I knew that much. But that wasn't before another particular brand of bullshit was ready to rain down upon us.
My face turned to the sky as Orion closed his fist, sending the countless floating swords soaring into the sand, right for everyone he was targeting.
Anari and Zara promptly pulled Kaiten into the truck before Orion's scattered attack could reach the ground. But while they and the others were mostly protected by the armored vehicles, those of us outside couldn't avoid the incoming barrage of blades.
I froze as my face grew brighter, only for additional weight to slam on top of me. Before I could even react, Mifune used his own body as a shield, covering every vital area he could.
Even with the added heat of another human being directly in contact with me, I quickly felt the blood flush from my face. I laid there almost in a stupor until what happened actually processed in my brain.
"Mifune?" My eyelids refused to shut. There was no answer, aside from the blood coughing up onto me. "MIFUNE!"
I freed myself of him, gently but hurriedly, to find a huge sword of light stuck into his back. Like Kaiten, he was bleeding. And despite the blade being made of curse energy, it wasn't blowing away in the disappearing.
Mifune might be able to seal his own wounds, but he'll need real medical attention if he's gonna survive!
I glanced back at Izanai and the trucks, gritting my teeth.
What do I do? What do I do?
Of course, everyone else was unharmed. And consequently, Izanai was laying out orders. "Zara! Anari! Take Mifune to a hospital! We need him alive! Helix! Yvira! Take aim at Orion! Once we blast him out of the sky, he'll fall right into the fields along the ground. Helpless." Izanai pointed his gun at me once again, cocking his head to the side. "A shame Mifune was the one to get hit, and not you, Kozuna."
Hesitantly following Izanai's commands, Zara and Anari pulled up beside Mifune and me, while the second buggy started firing wildly at Orion.
Orion dodged everything they shot, over and over, blinking from one spot to another. And amidst the constant evasion, Orion manifested another light blade, much larger than the rest. One that he was wielding in hand.
I started to breathe heavier, and everything in me felt like it was beginning to boil.
"I'll be getting rid of you fodder characters first. None of you are a threat anymore."
Too many things were happening at once. Kaiten and Mifune needed hospitalization, but Zara and Anari couldn't remove the energy sword in his back. Orion was probably a few seconds away from killing Yvira and Helix in the other buggy. And finally, Izanai had begun pulling his trigger on me.
My curse seal might've been inactive, but there was still someone whose curse was unaffected. And I was most likely the only person who could put an end to everything all at once.
I twisted my feet deeper into the sand as I gripped the palm-burning handle of the sword in Mifune's back, pulling it out with every fiber in my muscles and swinging it flat side first at the bullets.
At that moment, sweat poured from every pore on my skin, and I met Izanai's gaze with a determined scowl, deflecting his shots and zooming right toward him. And based on the quick rise of his eyebrows, he was indeed shocked to see how I reacted.
Flipping the sword to my side, I kicked the absolute shit out of Izanai, watching blood fly out of his mouth. One of the most satisfying things I'd seen that night, for sure.
Izanai's limbs jerked forward while his torso took the impact and went in the opposite direction. Izanai went flying backward and crashed into his truck, effectively getting knocked the fuck out.
I'd given Izanai a taste of my raw explosive force, but it was nowhere near full capacity. The pressure of the deactivation field was like amplified gravity. But it only had any real effect if the curse itself was actually active. My gaze bounced between my curse seal and the sword in my other hand, watching as the light sword slowly faded to black.
I guess my curse is feeding off Orion's energy since it's in contact with me. But this won't last long; I need to end all of this now!
My thoughts soon came to a halt as a giant light sword came crashing down into the buggy, which Yvira and Helix had escaped from, carrying Izanai. They were actually paying attention to the enemy above.
I covered my face as the explosion sent metal and debris everywhere. Not to mention the sudden blast of smoke impairing my vision. The only remaining things were the sword sticking out of the sand and an eruption of red-hot flames.
Kinda wish they didn't save Izanai. But that means everyone- all the injured- will need to use the other truck. Mifune and Kaiten. I can't let Orion destroy that buggy too!
By that point, the blade in my palm had turned entirely black, with flashes of lightning arcing all around it. I had control over it, but just barely. And Orion must've seen it through the smoke, because a barrage of swords rushed down from above. However, the fiery sensation running up my arm had subsided by then, despite my hand having grown ash-gray.
I gripped the weapon harder, swinging it through the air and deflecting the attacks coming my way, just as the smoke cleared. At that point, I was mustering all of Bolt's power into the weapon, and Flash's energy into my legs.
Orion's gaze met my own. And he quite obviously wasn't happy to see me still standing, pretty much unscathed. A look of annoyance was strung across his face. His eyebrows twitched, and the corner of his mouth rose slightly, yet he was far from smiling.
I couldn't understand how I transmuted Orion's energy into my own, but I wasn't complaining. Without it, I would've already been dead. I knew that, and Orion definitely did too. I had gained his undivided attention.
"How is this possible? Black lightning? Using that technique should be impossible!"
"What do you mean?"
Orion rubbed his forehead and forcefully breathed in and out like it was painful.
"What? Mad that my curse energy is overpowering yours, Orion? Scared you can't win? Now that it's just you and me?"
Yeah, that's right. All the other contenders are down for the count. If Bolt can transform his light into lightning, then I can win this battle. This kind of energy seems a little different than my usual. If anything, it feels similar to that of Emper's.
Orion violently shook his head and took a deep breath. "Don't get ahead of yourself."
By then, Anari and Zara had finished carefully loading Mifune into their buggy and swerved back around to grab Yvira, Zara, and Izanai. But that wasn't to mention the knocked-out Nazun and Nikai. They definitely didn't have enough room to carry everyone.
I couldn't call attention to anything else. All I needed was to keep Orion's eyes on me. With that train of thought, I dashed out into the open, away from the others, and pointed my sword right at Orion.
Remaining airborne, Orion simply stared at me with a lack of emotion in his eyes.
"Is this your master plan, Kozuna?"
"What're you talking about?"
"How about I give you a demonstration?" Orion asked, chuckling.
Orion disappeared from view, blinking in front of me, wielding swords in each hand. He swung both at me simultaneously, wide-eyed and laughing.
My brow raised on its own as I was caught utterly off guard. Orion practically danced with how graceful, yet powerful his swings were. I struggled to block his strikes and found myself being pushed back.
He was faster, stronger, and more experienced. That much was apparent. The weapons were extensions of his body, while I had to bear a blade in both hands just to shakily maintain some level of stability from the recoil of his attacks.
And it still wasn't working all that well.
An opponent seemingly moving at the speed of light- even faster than me. Every time I went on the offensive, Orion would masterfully dodge with a satisfied smirk on his face. It was evident fighting alongside Nazun truly was only holding him back.
Soon, Orion sent me skidding back through the sand. I was straining myself to the absolute limits to keep any footing I could grasp. Every time our weapons clashed, I gritted my teeth, grunting as if he were actually making contact with my body.
Thin cuts had begun appearing on my skin- areas I didn't even realize were struck were bleeding, and my heart was going a mile a minute by then.
"Damn it!"
Even if I could land a hit on Orion, there's no way I could do it without getting myself killed! And HOW is he resisting the anti-curse fields on the ground!?
Surely enough, it was only a matter of time before the situation worsened. The truck was on the move for Nikai and Nazun. And the sound of that vehicle treading through the sand caught and held Orion's attention.
I used that split second to go for Orion's chest, but he still effortlessly evaded and flashed away, reappearing in front of the truck. Zara suddenly slammed on the brakes after watching what had happened earlier.
"You fools will go no further-"
Orion caught an elbow to the neck as he spoke, followed by a kick to the side, sending him off his feet for once. I breathed fast and hard, giving further chase.
"Get them back to The Primary! I'll stop Orion!"
Charging ahead, I made more attempts to land a successful hit, but it was no use while Orion had his eyes on me. I was no longer his top priority. Orion simply bashed me to the ground- damn near flipping me upside-down- and hurried after Nazun and Nikai.
"Nnngghh," I groaned, pushing myself to my wobbling feet.
I only need to stall him, really.
With one eye completely shut from pain, I turned the tip of my blade to the dirt and slowly lifted it over my shoulder. Shaking my head free of dizziness, I hurled the weapon like a javelin straight for Orion's back.
Blood splattered as Orion almost fell face-first into the dirt. He hunched forward, and electricity visibly traveled up his skin, likely burning like hell. But despite the sword being stuck inside him, I felt a mysterious attraction to the weapon. A kind of pull.
While Orion was impaled, the sword came flying back toward me at lightning speed. Something of a built-in boomerang effect. And that meant Orion came along with it.
I planted my foot into his back and pulled the blade out with all my might, leaving Orion lying in the dirt, with blood pooling beneath him. The swords he bore disintegrated into nothingness, and with the revelation that he was defeated, I finally let out a deep breath.
"That one was for Mifune, you asshole."
I trudged past Orion as the others loaded Nazun into their buggy. Zara was hurling out orders to the others that I didn't even hear while I was busy fighting.
"Prioritize the wounded and prisoners! We only have one buggy. We can't carry everyone!"
Anari and Yvira got out of the buggy, making whatever room they could for Zara and Helix to transport the others. But they were pretty much stacking bodies in the back seat at that point. Kaiten, Mifune, Izanai, and Nazun.
I closed my eyes briefly and started to breathe slower, only for an intense burn to pierce through my knee and drop me to the dirt. Out of nowhere, Orion zipped past me and to Nikai's side.
Hold on- I just caught it! Orion's not faster than me, it just looks that way! He doesn't just use light to teleport around, he uses it to fool people into thinking he's doing more than that!
He was no longer bleeding as well. The scar might've remained on his back, but the wound was sealed. Orion was alive and just barely clinging to life, based on how his entire body was shaking.
"You almost got me there, Kozuna. But you won't be lucky enough ever again to use that black lightning of yours. You guys can take Nazun. He's not valuable at all. But Nikai? That's a different story. I can't let you keep him."
I tried shaking off the pain to no avail, stumbling toward Orion. He was too far out of reach, and just like what I'd seen before- back when I first defeated Nazun- a swirling portal materialized behind him.
Both Orion's and Nikai's bodies started to meld with the portal, and in a last-ditch effort, I threw my sword at them once more. However, just as my weapon closed in, they disappeared through the portal.
That portal vanished into thin air like it never existed. I could only fall to my knees, gasping for oxygen, and unable to fully grasp what had just transpired. Those nearby watched everything silently.
"I smashed my fists into the dirt, gritting my teeth hard enough to feel pressure everywhere in my jaw. "DAMN IT!"
They escaped! Nikai's gone! I couldn't save him!
"Everything that happened back in the city, all just for Nikai to get away!?"
Tiny water droplets formed in my eyes, blinked away entirely in seconds as I growled in pure frustration.
All that mayhem, and in the end, I couldn't do it!
My curse seal faded on its own after everything was said and done. The black lightning blade promptly disintegrated. I just remained in place.
I watched the moon and stars as the sound of our truck growing quieter in the distance registered in my mind. A quick glance over was all it took for me to realize Zara had taken the injured and captive back to The Primary. The only ones left were Anari and Yvira. The latter of which had her hands clenched before her chest.
"Kozuna, I, um-"
"You don't have to say anything, Yvira. I couldn't save him. I couldn't stop Orion. I failed hard this time around. What a gigantic waste of time. There was no point in all this drama if he was gonna successfully defect in the end, anyway. We didn't accomplish anything. With Nikai, the Hanakai will be even more powerful. And I'm sure Izanai will want Mifune's head and mine more than ever when he wakes up."
Yvira sat next to me and put her arm over me with a comforting smile. "It's okay. We'll get through it. If you still want to save the world or whatever, then, you should think of this as just part of the journey, right? No one said uniting all the clans and restoring the world would be easy!"
I didn't respond. Dizzy and tired, I leaned my head onto Yvira's shoulder and began to flutter my eyes to a soothing shut. However, I caught sight of something atop Centra Highlands just as I was about to completely shut my eyelids.
I pointed up there weakly, squinting and blinking profusely. "Is it just me, or does it look like there's something up there?"
Anari nodded, licking her lips and folding her arms. "Choppers and other vehicles, flying the flag of the Bahsin. They're finally making their move."
"The Bahsin? Now of all times?"
"It makes the most sense. The Ozukashi Clan is at its weakest right now, and Orion is a Bahsin, remember? Wouldn't surprise me if he planned this out."
Yvira looked to the skies behind us, where a helicopter was headed our way. "Good thing Zara called for an extraction before she left."
"She did?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Yeah, and we really need it. We have to warn everyone."
With our ride on the way, all we could do was wait. Things were only about to get more complicated. I mean, from the start, I knew it was gonna happen, but it couldn't have come at a worse possible time.
The Bahsin-Ozukashi War...