A Fox's Rescue

by Varnell, Brandon

  Kotohime came in with a quick thrust of her katana at his chest. He raised his falchion to block the attack, but hers was merely a feint. She used her wakizashi, hidden within the shadow of her katana, to suddenly penetrate his guard and nearly impale him through the stomach. He avoided it by disengaging and hopping backwards, but Kotohime seemed to have expected this, as her wakizashi suddenly extended in length, the blue tint of the blade letting him know how she was doing it.

  She’s using her youki to extend the length of her sword!

  He tried to escape from the watery blade, but it followed him everywhere, seemingly homing in on his location like a tracking dog. It stuck with him no matter what he did. His back eventually pressed against a wall when the blade cornered him, and he realized that this was Kotohime’s intent all along. The tip of the watery youki blade stabbed right into his chest—and then he disappeared.

  If she was surprised, Kotohime did not let it show on her face. She was already moving, katana coming up in a slash that sent a crescent blade of water flying out of it.

  “Ikken Hisatsu. Hien. River Art: Crescent Wave.”

  The deadly sharp crescent of water sliced straight through the wall that Zhìlì had used to hide behind, forcing him to abandon his position, leaping into the air. Kotohime accurately predicted where he would land. She was there to meet him, her wakizashi leading the attack this time.

  Zhìlì raised his blade in time to defend himself, but he was surprised when Kotohime swung her katana in an overhand slash. He gritted his teeth and moved back just in time to avoid being sliced in twain. He was not quick enough to avoid injury, however. His left hand went to his right shoulder, feeling the warm blood that leaked from the deep wound. Kotohime’s sword had sliced right through his armor as if it wasn’t even there.

  “That’s some talent you have there,” he said in a conversational tone. “Creating a blade of water to extend the length of your attacks and then hardening it with your youki. I bet you could probably cut through diamonds like that.”

  “I can,” Kotohime stated simply. “Now prepare yourself, for am I not finished with you yet.”

  Zhìlì backpedaled quickly as Kotohime surged forward like a tidal wave. Acting as if his life depended on it—namely because it did depend on it—he channeled youki into two of his tails and quickly activated the illusion that he’d been carefully cultivating for the past few minutes of combat.

  “Celestial Art: Zhuge Liang’s Hidden Fang.”

  Kotohime’s charge suddenly halted. She stared down at her chest, at the ethereal sword sticking out of it. She blinked several times, as if she was not quite sure what to make of the blade tip poking out from between her cleavage. Her eyes then turned up, seeking him out. He offered her an apologetic smile.

  “I’m sure you remember this attack,” he said. “It is the same one that I used on you the last time we met. I am sorry for using it on you again, but it’s the most surefire way to keep you from trying to kill me.” He looked up at the sky, toward the barrier that blocked his view of Saint’s Chariot. “I suppose I should deal with that next.”

  He was just about to begin moving when his instincts screamed at him. Loud alarms blared in his head, and it was only thanks to his superb reflexes that he managed to avoid death by katana.

  “You should never take your eyes off your opponent,” Kotohime said as she charged at him again.

  “What the…?” Zhìlì’s gaping face was nearly cut in half when Kotohime swung her katana in a diagonal slash. He leaned away from the incoming blade, but still received a cut that went across his forehead. “How did you get out of my illusion? A four-tails doesn’t have enough youki to break out of an illusion that requires at least six tails to cast!”

  “Very true.” Even as she spoke, Kotohime didn’t relent in her attacks, not even for a second. Zhìlì was forced to continue dodging, lest he find himself disemboweled by her precise strokes. “And had you actually cast that illusion on me, it would have indeed been problematic.”

  “Had I actually…?” It took Zhìlì a second to figure out what she meant. He dodged left. Several strands of his hair fluttered to the ground as they were cut. When he finally did realize what she was saying, he almost felt like smacking himself. “You switched yourself out with a water clone while I wasn’t looking.”

  “That is correct.”

  Kotohime spun around. Her wakizashi slammed against his falchion, pushing it away and leaving him wide open, which allowed her to slip her katana through his guard. He tried evading the piercing attack, but Kotohime must have predicted what he would do. Her blade suddenly changed directions, and he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

  Looking down revealed Kotohime’s katana had impaled him all the way to the hilt. Blood dripped down from the wound, staining his shirt, the liquid expanding like a puddle of rain during a storm. After staring at the wound for nearly a full second, he looked up, gazing into Kotohime’s stone-cold eyes.

  “Your first mistake was leaving me alive back when we first fought,” Kotohime informed him. “Thanks to that, I was able to discover what sort of fighter you were and devise a method to defeat you.” The blade was twisted. Nerve endings flared like a thousand stars going nova. Zhìlì barely withheld a gasp of pain. “Your second mistake was kidnapping Lilian-sama.”

  “And…” Zhìlì found his breath leaving him, making it hard to talk. “… What was… my third mistake?”

  “Underestimating me.” Kotohime’s expression remained harder than diamonds. “As the human saying goes, three strikes and you’re out. This is your third strike.”

  The blade was yanked free from his shoulder. Carnelian fluids sprayed from the now open wound, splattering against the ground. He fell onto his knees, his hand going to the injury, feeling the warm liquid gushing from it. Grimacing, he tilted his head up to see Kotohime flick her blade clean.

  “This is the end, Zhìlì-san.” Kotohime’s declaration was said with the utmost confidence.

  “You’re right,” Zhìlì agreed. “This is the end. It seems I can no longer afford to hold back.”

  “What?”

  Kotohime had just enough time to widen her eyes before the entire world lit up with the incandescent brilliance of a sun.

  “Celestial Art: Unbreakable Oath of the Bodhisattva’s Covenant.”

  A circle appeared beneath Kotohime’s face. At the same time, a massive surge of energy exploded from Zhìlì.

  Rather than be daunted by whatever was happening, Kotohime leapt into the air. Zhìlì didn’t know what she was doing, but the woman soon began spinning her blades in front of her, which created several thin layers of youki. His attack exploded seconds later. A massive beam of energy shot from the circle and into the sky. Kotohime was engulfed.

  Or so he thought.

  “Kitsune Art: Transient Counterforce. Nii.”

  Instead of Kotohime being consumed by his attack, it was his attack that began dispersing, breaking apart as it met the strange barrier, which looked like four layers of youki. His attack disappeared after running out of energy. Kotohime landed back on the ground, none the worse for wear.

  “H-how did you defeat my technique?” asked a stunned Zhìlì.

  “It called Transient Counterforce and it is a technique that I created centuries ago for the express purpose of defeating techniques stronger than myself.” Kotohime raised a hand and hid her smile behind the sleeve of her kimono. “I believe you will find that it will take far more than such a simple technique to defeat me.”

  ***

  Chao, Abercio soon found out, fought a lot like he did—except with celestial attacks instead of ghost techniques.

  Ducking under a fierce thrust from the baton in Chao’s left hand, Abercio’s muscles tensed as he slammed his own baton into it.

  “Coil.”

  Like a writhing snake, his baton became flaccid. It warped around the other baton like a constricting anaconda. Abercio then yanked Chao toward him and thrust
out the baton in his right hand, ready to break his enemy’s nose.

  It was not to be. Chao brought up the baton in his right hand and knocked the attack wide. He came in with a brutal headbutt that knocked Abercio for a loop. Stumbling back, blinking the spots from his eyes, Abercio was unable to stop Chao from unleashing his next technique.

  “Celestial Art: Prismatic Refractions Dance Upon the Surface of an Illusory World.”

  The world suddenly became blinding with a plethora of multi-colored lights. Thousands of different colors and shades and tints assaulted Abercio’s senses, leaving him unable to do anything as Chao slammed a baton into his face like an all-star batter hitting a home run. So much force was put behind the attack that, much like what happened to Chao a few minutes prior, Abercio was sent soaring.

  His body left the ground, flew back, and smashed through several buildings. Even though he was using reinforcement, pain exploded in his back. His head rung each time it slammed into, then broke through, solid brick. Cuts and nicks appeared along his skin as some of the fragments that broke off the walls when he blew them to pieces cut into him.

  Gritting his teeth in concentration, Abercio used the extension technique. Four of his eight tails extended to incredible lengths. They speared the ground like stakes, digging in deep and halting his backward momentum with a jerk.

  Just as his feet touched solid ground, Chao burst forth from the wreckage that Abercio had made. No longer wearing just the robes of a priest, ancient armor similar to those worn by troops in the late Han Dynasty adorned his frame. He came in hot. No doubt Chao wanted to end this fight soon.

  Rather than be startled by the sudden speed Chao displayed, Abercio used his special brand of reinforcement to meet the attack head on.

  “Spirit Art: Armored Spirits, Wavering Souls.”

  His form became encased in ethereal white armor. Unlike the bronze amour of a Spartan, this gleamed with the white luminosity of several thousand souls. Faces writhed within the breastplate, flickering in and out of existence like the phantasms they were. Gauntlets and greaves of the same white protoplasmic matter offered his arms and legs not only protection from harm, but increased agility and strength.

  The two met in the center. Their batons collided, generating a massive shock wave that caused the earth around them to crater. Cracks split the road. Columns and walls crumbled as they were struck by the incredible force.

  Abercio spun around, bringing up the baton in his left hand, created through the use of Soul Forging, and swung it with all his might. It was met with an equally fierce resistance from a baton made from the divine energy of a Celestial Kitsune. The two weapons clashed. An explosion of discharged energy sent both weapons blasting away from each other.

  Not one to let himself be finished with a single attack, Abercio spun again, counterclockwise this time. He came in with an attack from the baton in his right hand, which was met by Chao’s baton once more. His other hand then came up and blocked the jab that Chao tried slipping into his defense, the repulsing force from which sent both him and his foe skidding along the ground.

  “Heh.” Abercio wore a fierce grin as he eyed Chao. “Who would have thought I’d find another person who fought with a style so similar to my own. And to think, it’s the infamous Prince of Light. An interesting twist of fate, wouldn’t you say?”

  “The only thing interesting about this is determining how long it shall take for me to kill you,” Chao said.

  Abercio released a gusty breath. “Ha… you might use the same weapons as I do, but you’re battle banter could use some serious work.”

  Chao didn’t respond with words. He merely attacked again.

  ***

  There were a lot more kitsune guarding this place than Kevin had first realized.

  He and his friends were, in essence, pinned down because the number of kitsune guarding the corridors had increased dramatically. No, pinned down wasn’t the appropriate word. They were trapped. Hemmed in. They were like those foxes that had been cornered by British hunters on horseback.

  Already Kevin had been placed under sixteen different illusions. Only his strong will and a lot of self-inflicted pain had allowed him to throw them off, to fight through them. Iris helped some, but she was too busy weaving counter illusions to break him out of their enemies’ illusions. Unfortunately, she was only a two-tails and lacked the power to truly contend with some of the other kitsune. There were at least five three-tailed kitsune within this group.

  Kevin’s vision became distorted again. Colors became desaturated. Shades suddenly inverted. Black became white and white became gray.

  Knowing what this meant, Kevin closed his eyes and decided not to rely on them. He pointed his guns and began firing. With so many targets available, there was no need to aim. Every shot fired would hit something. His only concern was inadvertently hitting his allies.

  Screams echoed around him. Some were probably from his bullets striking targets, but a few were definitely because they were in combat with either Iris or one of the yama uba.

  A sound to his left made him tense. Footsteps. Heavy. Male. Not one of his allies, then. Kevin spun, his silver gun already extending. He felt the gun smack against something hard, heard a grunt of pain, then squeezed the trigger. The bang! of gunfire superseded that of the pained scream when whoever tried hitting him from behind was shot in the face. He heard a body hitting the floor seconds later, then felt a presence in the back of his mind, like the lingering taint of regret, disappear.

  Kevin opened his eyes to see that his vision was restored, which meant that the kitsune who had tried to attack him up close was the one who’d cast the illusion. Illusions only lasted so long as their caster was conscious.

  Unfortunately, the moment he opened his eyes, his vision was blocked by a bushy brown tail set to skewer him through the head!

  Eyes widening, Kevin reacted on instinct, dropping to the floor and letting the tail soar over him. He fired at the tail, a single bullet that struck it hard. A squeal erupted from somewhere in front of him, and Kevin aimed his other gun at the source of the noise, firing off two more rounds and listening to the sound of someone getting blasted off their feet.

  He stood back up to see what he’d expected to see. He and his allies were, indeed, surrounded.

  Iris was managing to keep a small group of three at bay with judicious use of illusions, extension, and void fire, which the Celestial Kitsune seemed incredibly wary of. However, fighting three-on-one was clearly taxing her. It didn’t help that she was unable to land a decisive blow on any of her opponents, as they always covered each other; dispelling illusions, canceling out her void fire with their celestial techniques before they became a problem, and keeping her harried with their own illusions. She was clearly on the ropes.

  Phoebe, Polydora, Menippe, Thoe, and Euryale were keeping their enemies from getting close by working as a team. They used a combination of hit and run tactics. With two people attacking and the other two defending, they proved themselves incredibly adept at fighting off multiple enemies at once. While they bore the brunt of the assault, Thoe slipped between the enemies and attacked using stealth. Yet even they were able to do nothing but keep their foes from simply overwhelming them. Among those fighting, the five yama uba were facing off against nearly a dozen enemies.

  “Extension.”

  Kevin ducked under the tail that came for him. At the same time, loud ringing pierced his eardrums like the shrill cries of a mandrake. A sound-based illusion. He ignored the blood pouring down his ears as his eardrums were damaged, instead raising his gun at the kitsune who hid behind two other kitsune who were charging at him from the front. The silver gun in his hand flashed once. The kitsune in front threw up a shield of some kind, a shimmering golden barrier of celestial energy that protected them, but they weren’t his target. His bullet zoomed past the shield and struck the one in the back. As that kitsune crumbled to the ground like so many others, his hearing returned.

&nb
sp; “Celestial Art: Flare!”

  The two kitsune who’d been rushing him attacked in unison. Kevin needed to close his eyes as bright, white light erupted from their tails. Having sparred alongside Lilian several times, he already knew that they planned on blinding him. It was a common tactic.

  He relied on his ears again instead of his eyes, thanking the gods that Kiara had the foresight to train him in how to fight blind. He might still suck at it—blind fighting, that is—but he could at least get a general idea of where the two kitsune were based on what he’d seen before closing his eyes, and what he heard right now. He brought his guns to bear once more and fired off a dozen rounds, six from each gun. Two shouts of pain alerted him to the two kitsune going down. Most unfortunately, that did not end his problems as there were several more supernal foxes coming in to take their place.

  “We need to think up something, and quickly,” Iris said as she and Kevin found their backs pressed together. Phoebe, Polydora, Menippe, Thoe, and Euryale tried keeping the vast majority of opponents away while she and Kevin traded volleys from a distance, Kevin with his guns and Iris with judicious use of Kitsune-bi, void fire, and several well-placed illusions.

  “I might have an idea,” Kevin informed her, firing off several more rounds. Each one hit a kitsune, and each kitsune went down as they were struck by black bullets of the Void. He knew those kitsune wouldn’t be getting back up. The Void would consume them. It made him feel incredibly guilty to know that he was taking more lives, but he shoved that aside. He could release his sorrow and guilt later, when Lilian was back with him.

  “Yeah? Let’s hear it, then!”

  “All right. Phoebe, Polydora, Menippe, Thoe, Eruayle! I need you five to form a spear point! Choose a direction and take down everyone in your way! Iris and I will provide long-range support!”

  The yama uba didn’t respond to him with words. Like the trained warriors they were, the five females formed the tip of a spear formation, with Phoebe at its head, and charged straight through the kitsune they were fighting. In the lead, Phoebe’s club was a blur of motion. She didn’t rely on her sight, which he knew had been adversely affected by an illusion of some kind. Yet she still somehow managed to smash several kitsunes’ faces in with well-placed hits.