The smith forge still alight as yami and kansuro waits for Kaito's return. "He is taking too long now.." yami said. "The ore is hard to find after all" kansuro said while hammering on some sword.
Suddenly at the doorway a figure appeard‚ his eyes glowing golden as he entered the forge yami noticed him. "Mister‚ who are you." Yami looked up at him‚ his face far too calm than his motives. His chest and face skin marked with faint line like veins of molten lava.
"No yami step away! That's a demon!" Kansuro screamed pulling yami back.
"You've got strong hands‚ old man. Tell me..they ever held a magic stone?" Tanzai speaks with a smirk. Kansuro blinks‚ unsure if he'd heard right. "You've mistaken‚ stranger. This is a village of smiths not treasure keepers‚ you should leave‚ you will find nothing in here."
Tanzai walks towards them. "You think I'm dumb?" Kansuro and yami's back hit the wall. "Don't come any closer!"
Three Soul Slayers guards burst in with their katanas risen. "Step away from the forge you demon!" Tanzai smirks. "To fast to bark‚ are you all as sharp is your blades?"
The youngest guard dashes towards tanzai his sword coated in lightning majutsu. "Lightning strike!" Tanzai tilts his head‚ almost lazily‚ and the blade slice through empty air.
Tanzai hit his palm on the guard's chest sending him flying out the forge. "Too slow."
The other guard moved towards tanzai with his twin blades while the other use his magic to boost his stats. "Twin blade barrage!" The guard moves his sword too fast for normal humans to even see but tanzai dodges all of it with ease. "So you we're all bark after all."
Tanzai grabs him by his neck and fly up in the air throwing him into a house. "Do your best~" Tanzai smirked widely.
"Reform barrier‚ second seal!" The third guard used his shielding magic letting Kansuro and yami escape. "Heh‚ i don't have use for this rusty oldman anyway." Tanzai said.
The guard with twin blade and the other one with lightning sword stand back up with their swords. "I'll play with you first."
Tanzai flew towards the twin blade first at high speed to land a punch. "Dodge if you could." Meanwhile yami and kansuro runs towards the inn hakari‚ noboru and noelle. "We have to tell them‚ they might be able to help us..if that demon get his hands on the magic stone‚ no one might be able to stop him and we don't know his motives yet." Kansuro said while running towards the inn at some distance.
Meanwhile tanzai one hand has already sliced through one of the guard's chest. "Weak." The remaining two guard with twin blade and lightning charges towards him. They throw multiple strikes but tanzai dodges all of them.
The lightning guard charges for a second to strike at tanzai with full speed as he does so‚ lightning explodes the sword carved across tanzai's shoulder‚ drawing no blood only a faint wisp. Tanzai grabbed his sword mid strike and flung him aside like a toy and the next moment appears behind him pressed one hand against his neck sending him flying into nearby building. "You rely too much on speed."
Suddenly tanzai feels the presence of magic stone right Beneth kansuro's shop. "So that's where you're hiding."
Tanazai flew towards the ground making a fist and lands the hit on ground just hard enough to crack open the ground to see a chest buried. "Where do you think you're going!" The twin blade guard said running towards him as he throws his blade towards tanzai to injure him but tanzai catches the blade. "Let's see how a demon can do with a blade." Tanzai said with a smirk.
The next moment the guard see tanzai flying towards him it's too fast for him to react. Tanzai leaves a "X" mark on the guard chest deep‚ the guard fells down on the ground dead.
"Lightning beam!" Tanzai see the beam coming towards him but tanzai deflect it towards the guard himself with his palm. "Have a taste yourself."
"Noboru!" Kansuro finally reached the inn seeing all three of them asleep with hakari and Noelle sleeping on the bench head on shoulders. Noboru laid on the grass.
kansuro awoke all of them with shouting. "We are under attack!" Noelle and hakari wakes up. "An attack?" Noelle said. "Who would even attack at this time?" Hakari asked while Noboru still asleep on the grass.
"There's a demon he want some type of magical stone! You have to help the guards quick!" Noboru slowly wakes up as he hears this. "What?! A demon?! But this village is meant to be hidden!"
"We don't know who he is or how strong he is‚ so please go help the guards!" Yami yelled.
"No i don't wanna fight demons not with a training sword anyway!" Noboru said already sweating.
"No need to trouble walking all the way there." Tanzai appeard in the air slowly floating downward to the ground‚ his golden eyes shining in the darkness of the night.
As tanzai lands on the ground he has a head of one of the guard he was fighting. "They lost.." yami said looking scared. "Ahh?!" Noelle screamed at the head as tanzai throws it away.
"I guess i won't kill you yet old Smith‚ because I it's obvious a demon can't lift a magic stone." Tanzai said with a smirk.
"W-w-wait t-that's a demon..h-he's strong‚ where are you Kaito-kun?!" Noboru shouted nervously his knees shaking.
"Noboru you have to do something‚ i can only use healing magic i can't fight at all!" Noelle said to Noboru since she can't fight with defense magic.
"No i don't wanna fight someone like him! He'll kill me!" Noboru said despite pulling out his katana slowly.
"C'mon fight me blondie hair." Tanzai mocked Noboru.
Suddenly Noboru eyes goes widened. "What did you just said?"
"I said fight me blondie." Tanzai confirmed.
"Stone first form: Quake Edge!" Noboru says as he strike the ground with his training katana‚ spikey stone tears through the ground hitting tanzai fair and square causing him to move back to avoid damage.
"Not bad‚ but still weak." Tanzai dashes towards Noboru at very high speed to land a strike punch on Noboru's face. "Granite guard!" As Noboru says a wall comes from underneath the ground between him and tanzai causing tanzai to hit in the wall instead of Noboru the wall breaks but works.
"Not bad for a weakling like you" Tanzai exclaimd. Suddenly tanzai moves towards hakari to hit her. "Wait!" Noelle steps in making transparent magical shield between them. "Ugh‚ more majutsu." Tanzai says annoyed.
"I'm your opponent not them‚ so fight me!" Noboru yelled at tanzai dashing towards him as they both land multiple hits on each other‚ Noboru giving him small cuts on his arms or face which heals in seconds since tanzai is a demon.
Tanzai strike on Noboru's chest with his palm sending Noboru fly into nearby building. "Argh!" Noboru sits up slowly holding his chest. "This hurts."
"Of course it hurts‚ Keep up!" Tanzai dashed towards Noboru again. "Stone form: stone burst!" Noboru moves his sword in thin air to create multiple small sharp rocks and shoot them towards tanzai which tanzai easily dodges midair.
Tanzai lands a hit on Noboru crashing Noboru into ground. "Noboru!" Hakari yelled worried.
"Bind of mountain." Noboru used his spell erupting stones underneat tanzai's legs to stun him for a moment. "Quake lance!" Noboru slamed his sword down on ground a spear of compressed rock shoots upwards‚ hitting Tanzai on chest square sending him flying through nearby building.
Noboru drops to one knee‚ panting‚ sweet and blood mixing on his face.
Meanwhile Kaito was in the mine‚ picking up the ores. "Found another one!" As he crouched down to pick another rock suddenly his earrings given by Tansuro caughts on fire. "Woah fire? But I didn't used my majutsu. Wait..no.." Kaito realizes something's wrong utterly wrong‚ he takes the pouch of Scarlet ore and starts running back to the village at his full speed.
Suddenly tanzai appeard behind Noboru crouching down with his chest bleeding but slowly recovers. "You made me bleed‚ not bad after all."
"But i guess I'll get a bit serious." As tanzai said that a strong pressure of majutsu leaved his body the shir pressure enough to crack and shake ground beneth them easily.
"S-so strong..i thought i had him!" Noboru said slowly standing up just to fall down on ground again. "It seems you've used all of your energy already‚ useless Soul Slayer." Tanzai started walking towards Noboru to finish him off but suddenly Hakari and Noelle stepped in. "We won't let you hurt him anymore!"
Tanzai smirks. "Show me what you have!" Noelle used her magic to boost Hakari as hakari already growing angry because of how much tanzai had already hurted Noboru‚ a pink dark energy not exactly majutsu started leaking from her body.
"Now that's new?" Tanzai looked confused but the next moment hakari started running towards tanzai at fast speed. "You're too slow!" Tanzai appeared in front of her throwing a powerful punch on her face sending her flying backwards slightly. "Hakari-chan!" Noelle shouted feeling helpless as she crouching down besides Noboru to heal him with her magic. "Please..heal fast i can't heal all of injures because i don't have enough control over my magic..but you should be able to move atleast."
Noboru laid helpless on ground. "Hakari-chan.."
Tanzai and hakari exchanged punches shaking the ground and the environment around them breaking with the force of their power. Hakari strength and speed growing with every second.
"You can grow even stronger and faster?!" Tanzai shouted. "Get more stronger I'm not even seriously fighting yet!" As he says that he place his hand on hakari face and smashes her down into ground making a large explosion.
"Hakari-chan!" Noelle screamed still healing Noboru while Tansuro and yami stands besides them shaken by the force of their fight.
Hakari kicks tanzai in his stomach to send him flying as she gets up and jumps into air to grab him by his leg and throw him back into the ground. "That's right! Get stronger!" Tanzai gets excited at Hakari growing power.
"That's the first time someone made me fight at my ma-" before he could finish hakari land a strong punch on his face her mucles growing stronger as tanzai is send flying into multiple buildings of smith village breaking each one of them from ground to top.
"How dare you hurt Noboru!" Hakari screamed as tanzai teleported back in front of her but she grabs him by his wrist and land multiple punches on his face‚ chest and stomach with one hand moving too fast for Noboru or Noelle to even see. "She's too strong.." Noelle said.
Suddenly Hakari body gives up her power fully gone since her body can't handle this much power‚ she fells to ground as tanzai slowly stands back up bleeding through his nose and mouth even eyes. "Damn that hurts‚ but it seems you've reached your limit!" Tanzai grabs Hakari by her hairs and smashing her face into ground again and again.
Noboru lays there helpless. "Stop...stop.."
Hakari face starts bleeding her head slightly opening up. "Stop this.." Noboru mumbles then suddenly Noboru's vision goes blank.
"W-where am i.." Noboru looks around to see all green field. Then he hears a familiar voice.
"You don't really learn‚ do you‚ boy?
Noboru spins around to see his gramps sitting on a cracked stone pillar legs corssed.
"Gramps?! You were dead! What are you doing here or did i die?!" Noboru choked.
"Hah‚ if you were‚ i wouldn't bother talking to you. You were so close to give up so i had to enter your thick skull before you do."
Noboru looks down at his trembling hands. "I couldn't protect them‚ i couldn't do anything to save hakari-chan. Kaito-kun left her in my care but..i can't even move my arms."
Gramps laughed. "Then stop fighting like me‚ you're holding back. You've to use it."
Noboru shouted back. "But you said it would kill me!" Gramps stands up. "And it will if you keep holding it back."
Noboru looked down at his trembling hands."But everytime i tried to call it‚ it felt like my veins were burning. My body couldn't handle it.
Gramps grab Noboru by his collar and pulls him close. His eyes blaze with the same power. "Stop fighting what you have‚ accept it."
Noboru looks confused. "Accept it?"
His gramps shouted. "Yes accept it! Accept my other half and protect the dear one to you before your friend Kaito returns‚ i know you can control it!"
He placed his hand on Noboru's chest."Save the one dear to you." With this his gramps slowly started vanishing. "Gramps..wait!"
Just then Noboru wakes up and the area where he was laying around him blow up with lightning. Kansuro‚yami and noelle is sent flying to the side softly hitting the ground. Tanzai who was still beating up hakari to a pulp looks shocked at the amount of lightning and majutsu. "What the-"
The lightning slowly goes away with Noboru standing in middle his eyes glowing with yellow lightning‚ his hairs turned spikey and his training katana coated with the same lightning.
The next moment in a blink of an eye Noboru is now standing in front of Tanzai and just move his sword in the air causing the air to rip up as he send tanzai fly into the air with just the shir pressure of his katana. Hakari looks up at how's Noboru looking different‚ eyes caught in lightning‚ hairs spikey looking less lame than usual and his body and katana coated with yellow lightning‚ expressionless face."
The katana in Kaito's hands turns into ash because of how much power Noboru just used his katana wasn't able to handle it.
"What have you become Noboru-kun.." Noelle whispers to herself not believing what she is seeing.
Kaito fly into the air just Beneth Tanzai with speed near lightning. "Lightning canon." Noboru raises his hand up and shoots a large beam with tremendous amount of majutsu. "Ahhhhhh!" Tanzai screams‚ the beam flared‚ devouring‚ the night. In seconds‚ night turned into day for few seconds.
Kaito who's still running through the hills to go back also sees the beam in the air as he remembers who's majutsu pressure this belongs to. "Noboru-san.. I've to get there fast."