by Nikita Thorn
Lieutenant Kato seemed to have borne the brunt of the attack, having been at point blank of the ability. He panted as he turned toward his men, his expression pale with horror.
“Retreat,” he shouted. “Get out of range.”
The demon had raised his spear again for a second charge of the invisible explosion, and the lieutenant—with half his health now missing—rushed forward in a desperate attempt to slow him down.
The shadow spear hit the ground, and the second burst of the invisible blast went off. Seiki gasped as the wave hit him once more, and he realized now what it was. The ability caused no direct damage, but instead reduced his maximum health by about twenty percent every time. His remaining health also shrank by the same percentage, which meant if this kept going on, any further tiny graze would be lethal.
Lieutenant Kato staggered as his health dipped to a fifth. This was a chance for the demon. With a quick sweep of his spear, Kagenoyari caught the young lieutenant across the torso with the shaft and slammed him against the nearest supply cart.
From the other side, the third unit ignored their lieutenant’s command and ran in with battle cries in an attempt to get the demon off their leader. However, they, too, were hanging onto only a sliver of health, and the demon easily cast them off with a powerful slug of his left arm.
“Pathetic,” said Kagenoyari as he raised his right-hand spear again to charge the next explosion.
That did it. His Hikari firmly gripped in his hand, Seiki raced toward the demon. He had no idea what he was doing, but the situation was desperate.
Kagenoyari was busy dispatching the injured third unit soldiers on the ground with quick jabs. Seiki swerved as the demon turned, hoping to remain in his blind spot for as long as possible. A few more feet and he would be within striking range.
Before Seiki could reach the demon, though, a weight fell on his shoulder. A hand grabbed him and pulled him aside. Seiki nearly tripped. It was Lieutenant Kato.
The man was deathly pale. His breathing was ragged, and he was bleeding heavily from the temple. Still, his eyes were fixed on the demon, sharp and determined. “I’ll handle him,” he said quietly. “Save the troops.”
The lieutenant thrust a piece of paper into Seiki’s hand. “Use this.”
Made of hard, thick cream-colored paper, the item was perfectly rectangular, slightly wider than a playing card but nearly twice as long. On one side was a circular symbol Seiki did not recognize. The flip side was full of graceful black characters in neat lines.
Inscribed Card of Renewed Hope - Special Card of the Light Deck. Revives all troops and players who have fallen in the past 10 minutes and heals all troops and players for 100% health, imbuing them with 200% shadow damage resistance and 200% attack power for the next 10 minutes. Burn this card at a tano-shrine to activate its effect.
There was no time to ask the lieutenant to explain because the demon let out another burst of his health-reducing magical ability. Seiki winced as his overall health dropped by another third. Gritting his teeth, Lieutenant Kato tightened his grip on his sword and pointed straight ahead.
About a hundred feet away beside the road, nearly hidden behind a bush, was a tiny gray stone shrine. It looked very much like a low lamp post; the middle of it was a white-glowing flame.
“Tano-shrine. There,” said Lieutenant Kato as he ran out to engage the demon and distract it from casting yet another explosion.
Even without full understanding of what exactly he was supposed to do, Seiki wasted no more time.
Half-running and half-sliding, Seiki burst forward toward the tiny shrine. It was barely visible behind the growth, and Seiki had no idea if it had just appeared or had been there all along.
The stone shrine was only a little more than foot tall, and Seiki dropped to his knees in front of it. The white stone was smooth. Housed safely under its tiny roof was an ethereal white flame.
The lieutenant’s instruction said burn, so Seiki thrust the card directly into the gentle flame. With a clear bright hiss, the flame went out from the shrine and leapt onto the edge of the paper. The silvery fire shimmered like liquid mercury, and almost immediately spread all over the card.
Not daring to let go, Seiki held on as the card disintegrated into sparkling powder right in his hand.
Bright light burst from the middle of the stone shrine, warm like sunlight. The notification seemed to burn itself into Seiki’s consciousness.
Card in play: Inscribed Card of Renewed Hope.
The sphere expanded and swept through the area, and Seiki gasped when his health filled to its original amount, making everything bright and crisp as if he had just woken up to a pleasant morning.
The light sphere felt like one of Ippei’s Battle Shouts as it passed through him, but much more powerful. He glanced back at the scene of combat. Dazed men and women in Shinshioka uniforms were slowly getting to their feet, having been revived by whatever power was released by the card. Near one of the remaining supply carts, Genta and the rest of the unit were at full health. Saburo, now invigorated, was leaping at one of the demonic attackers with a cry, his short sword raised above his head.
Lieutenant Kato himself was back on his feet, fully healed, trading strikes and parries with the demon. The tide was indeed turning for this battle.
Heartened, Seiki drew his Hikari. He was about to rush back to join his troops when something hit him from behind like several giant whips, taking him off his feet and slamming him onto the ground. Cold, numbing chills ran up his body where the thing had touched him, burning away his health.
Seiki blindly struck out with Sweeping Blade. His weapon knocked large shadowy tendrils away as he rolled out of range.
From the sheer force of the impact, Seiki had expected his health to drop by at least a third. But he found that he had benefited from twice the shadow damage resistance from the Card as well.
“You think your little trinket tricks can save you?” screeched a voice.
A dark figure was hovering above the stone shrine. A Demonic Sorceress [Level 17 Elite], with her red-glowing eyes and long hair that flowed like black waterfalls on both sides of her gray face, raised her long arms. They looked more like a jellyfish’s tentacles, half-physical, half-shadow, blurring into the dim light of dusk around them.
In response to the Sorceress’s move, a patch of blackness sprung up under Seiki’s feet. These shadow pools, Seiki had met before. Demonic Assassins could detach one from themselves and leave it on the ground, and Seiki knew he had to run out of them before they could grow sharp black nails.
Scrambling out of range, he steadied his Hikari and assessed the situation.
Demonic Sorceress [Level 17 Elite]. HP 2475/2475.
Compared to the main demon, this one was much more manageable, and Seiki thought he was perhaps meant to fight her. With double attack power against demons, Seiki knew he only had to get two or three good hits in to finish her off.
The demon raised both her hands again, summoning more black pools on the ground. Knowing that shadow pools did not disappear—even after the demon responsible for them was killed—Seiki planned to end this quickly before the entire area became covered with them.
He would have to trick her.
Dashing off in one direction, Seiki mapped out a curved Slide path in the opposite direction toward the Demonic Sorceress. As another pool burst out right in front of him, he let loose his Slide, swerving around the circular shadow, and immediately closing the gap between him and the demon.
The move was risky, and one of the blades managed to graze his right leg, but the reduced shadow damage was surprisingly effective. Quickly catching his balance after the awkward angle of the Slide, Seiki stepped in and rammed his Focused Strike into the demon.
It felt like slicing through thick, oily and electrified liquid rather than flesh. The Demonic Sorceress screeched in rage. Seiki clapped his left hand to the hilt of the Hikari to follow through with
Upslash, as he always did whenever he needed burst damage. If he was lucky, that would be enough to kill her.
Before he could get off the combination, though, something tackled him from the right. The force sent him crashing onto the dirt and he struggled to keep his grip on his sword. Numerous icy blades stabbed through his armor, and from the corner of his eyes Seiki found himself looking at a horrifying black tangle of spinning blades.
The Sentient Shadow Pool [Level 17] was not a creature per se but more a blurry swirling orb of long, sharp fingernails. And it wasted no time in piercing through his skin wherever it could.
The sorceress cackled. “You underestimate my powers, boy. My woken shadows are alive!” She sounded gleeful. “Kill him, my spawns! Our Lord shall prevail. Your trinkets only serve to prolong your misery!”
Hitting the shadow pool aside with a desperate Sweeping Blade, Seiki struggled to his feet. Another black orb of blades suddenly landed on him and brought him back down. The Crimsonfire Tekko was starting to warm up around his hand, like it often did when he spent a lot of energy on special moves—yet, somehow he had not been able to get it to fully charge.
Seiki rolled and twisted his body in an attempt to get at least one foot and one knee on the ground so he could Slide out of there. But something sharp and icy pierced right through his left leg, turning it completely numb. He had lost count of how many shadow pools the sorceress had put out. It did not matter. Whatever it was, it was already too many, and his legs and arms were now drenched in blood.
Even with the shadow damage reduction, his health was dipping from the constant damage. Seiki gritted his teeth as he felt another blade puncture his shoulder, bringing his health to a third.
“Time to die, boy,” said the Demonic Sorceress. Her eyes glowed with pleasure and Seiki felt something else blanket over him, like heavy fog, and his energy dropped to zero. “There is no escape.”
Sliding was out of the question now, and Seiki winced as he tried desperately to untangle himself from the deadly orbs. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he decided it was nearly as bad as being bitten to death by a pack of obake-Possessed wolves.
Another blade cut through his arm guard, and he could no longer feel his right arm.
“Get off him!” A female voice yelled. Rumi stepped into view and struck at one of the Shadow Pools, her short blades clanking against the spinning orb.
“You all right, Chief?” came Saburo’s voice from further away. Seiki could hear rapid footsteps approaching. Next thing he knew, Ojisan’s firm hand grabbed his shoulders and dragged him away from the swirling blades.
Genta and Saburo had joined Rumi in fending off the Shadow Pools, and Ojisan helped Seiki back up. Panting but relieved, Seiki gulped down air to clear his head before his health could drop into the single digits.
Now that he had a chance to breathe, Seiki noticed that the Demonic Sorceress was consciously maintaining the Sentient Shadow Pools, channeling a wispy thread of black into them. Two were directly connected to her hand, like tops being spun by a whip, and the third pool—much smaller—was being sustained sporadically. All around, the rest of the pools still lay on the ground, and Seiki could only guess that if they killed one, the sorceress would raise one more to replace it.
“I was doing it wrong, wasn’t I?” Seiki realized now what he was meant to do. Drinking down a potion that filled both health and energy, he stepped up and cried, “Genta, Saburo, take on the two big pools but stay safe.” He turned toward the smallest pool. “Rumi, Ojisan, help me kill this one.”
He rushed toward the weakest of the pools, sinking a sliding Focused Strike into it, before following through with Upslash, noting in relief that the black shadow spurted like spilled ink.
Sentient Shadow Pool [Level 17]. HP 327/1495.
“I’ll leave this one to you now. Keep hitting it,” Seiki said. Even without experience, Rumi and Ojisan should be able to deal at least three hundred points of damage over a few seconds, or at least hold the shadow orb off him for a while.
Seiki turned and mapped out a Slide. The sorceress drew back her hands as if to raise more Shadow Pools, but she was too slow. Very grateful for the fact that he had chosen to use his enhancement slot on his Vertical Spike, Seiki stabbed his Hikari down in the ground with both hands, feeling energy bursting through him down the weapon and exploding quietly around the demon.
The two-second stun was precious. And as the sorceress was frozen in place, Seiki punished her with another Focused Strike. That was all his energy allowed for. Still, even as the demon came out of the stun and started moving her hands, he continued to slash. Behind him, Saburo cried out as he took damage, and under his feet another shadow pool was forming. Seiki ignored it and rammed the Hikari straight into the demon’s lower abdomen.
With a long blood-curling scream, the demon crumbled to the ground.
Demonic Sorceress slain. 230 XP gained.
His heart still pounding in his chest, Seiki leapt out of the shadow pool and glanced back at his troops. With the sorceress dead, the shadow pools fell back onto the ground, and Genta dragged the injured Saburo out of their range. The troops had once again lost more than half their health, but none of them were close to imminent death.
Seiki let out a relieved breath. “Well done,” he said, rather glad he had chosen extra defense for them.
Now that his troops were safe, Seiki returned his gaze toward the main battle. He was not sure how much time had passed, but their ten minutes of extra boost was now up. The tide was starting to turn once again in the opposite direction as demon attackers continued to appear. Lieutenant Kato, still engaged in combat with the spear-armed demon, was once more down to a third of his health. His troops were trying to assist, but the spears had massive range, and a single swipe from either of the demon’s weaponized arms sent four or five men flying backward.
Perhaps the sorceress had been right. The Card had only postponed the inevitable. Kagenoyari was well and alive, with more than three hundred thousand health points.
“Chief,” said Genta quietly, nodding toward the demon corpse.
Demonic Sorceress [Level 17 Elite]. HP 0/2475. Lootable.
Seiki bent down and touched the dead body, suffering the usual slight shiver as it dispersed into swirls of black smoke.
Left on the ground was a large piece of jade, greenish white, and cut in a perfect rectangle.
Cold to the touch, it was the same size as the paper card Lieutenant Kato had handed him earlier, with tidy letters carved onto its surface.
Carved Jade Card of Supreme Strength - Ronin Card of the Light Deck. Imbued with the power of light, your next ability against demons deals 1000% its normal damage.
Seiki’s jaw dropped as he read it.
There was another line at the end:
Break this card to activate its effect.
He glanced back at demon. Lieutenant Kato was bleeding black blood from a deep wound in his gut, which was most likely the result of one of the spears. Injured, the young lieutenant clumsily parried an attack, and the demon raised his foot and kicked him to the ground.
“My master knows all about you, Kato.” Kagenoyari took a step closer to the young man.
Lieutenant Kato reached for his sword, but the demon stopped him with the tip of his right spear pressed against his back.
Kagenoyari had on a twisted smile as he enunciated his next sentence, “My master said when it comes to it, make it slow.”
True to his word, the demon slowly pushed the tip of his spear downward, between the young lieutenant’s shoulder blades. Kato trembled but remained silent.
With a scoff, the demon twisted his spear, and the lieutenant finally let out a cry and went still.
Perhaps it was how the demon was gloating, or perhaps it was how he knew exactly how it felt to be on the ground—unable to move and on the receiving end of a slow death—the flare of anger propelled Seiki into action before he even knew it
.
Throwing the jade card at his feet, Seiki broke into a sprint toward Kagenoyari as the demon prepared to behead the young lieutenant. The card shattered as it hit the ground, giving off a sound almost like a stone bell.
Card in play: Carved Jade Card of Supreme Strength.
Seiki ran. The power flooded his veins, to the point of exploding, and filled his vision with the brilliance of a thousand suns. The air around him sizzled as it touched his skin.
With two more strides, Seiki leapt at the demon, caring no more about perfect forms, or the fact that the demon was already charging the next crackling lightning at the tip of his spear. He needed this to end. He had all the tools, and all he needed was that last bit of action. His Hikari was burning as bright as a cosmic explosion, and Seiki drove the blade right into the demon’s heart. The impact seemed to shatter everything out the West Gate.
The feeling left him as fast as it had entered him, and a split second later, everything shrank back into dim gloom dusk as if the released energy had imploded silently back into itself.
Kagenoyari slain. 1,275 XP gained.
Seiki was not sure when he had landed back on the ground or when the demon’s dead body had dispersed. All he knew was that he was standing in the middle of a clearing, staring blankly at the empty space in front of him where the demon had been. Then exhaustion hit him hard like after a long training session, and he sat down on the ground in a near collapse, suddenly feeling like he could close his eyes and go to sleep for a thousand years.
Not everything outside the West Gate had been demolished though, and slowly Seiki regained awareness of his surroundings. Around him, busy footsteps started sounding again. If there had been more demons around to fight, Seiki was not entirely sure he would have even tried. Luckily, as their leader fell, the demonic attackers quickly retreated back into the surrounding woods, and now the remainder of the troops was starting to tend to the dead and injured.
Someone had applied healing salves to Lieutenant Kato, and a moment later joyous cries went up as the man came to. Lieutenant Kato was still bleeding heavily from several deep spear wounds. The blood coming out was pure black, and dispersed like smoke as it hit the ground. The soldiers quickly handed him a vial of liquid, which the man drank, and he grimaced. A second later, the bleeding stopped and his health started trickling back up.