The rumbling ground and falling debris caused a less than enjoyable sound. Civilians had long left the area leaving only the giant shadow behind. The sound of ringing filled Hitsu's ears as pain covered his body. He was definitely hurt, but somehow he was alive. Slowly and cautiously opened his eyes daring to peak at the world around him. As his vision returned as did his hearing, slowly the ringing began to fade and a voice could be heard.
"Hitsu! Can you hear me? Are you okay? Hitsu!"
As Hitsu's vision cleared and the blurriness faded he began to make out his surroundings. The first thing he saw was Nox as she spun mid-dance. The voice he had heard belonged to Enai, she was the closest to him and had a worried expression on her face as she kneeled close by. Sel stood further away, his eyes stayed fixated on the giant shadow. Jinsuke stood next to Nox, his hands were in front of his body as he controlled the ground in some way.
Hitsu then realized that his vision was upside-down. He looked up to see the ground below him and it became clear he was floating several inches in the air.
"Anti-gravity dance?" Hitsu guessed, "So that's how I'm alive."
Upon hearing Hitsu's voice Nox concluded her dance. With the dance no longer in effect, Hitsu dropped the few inches to the ground with a thud.
"Thank you," he said with a groan as pain still flowed around his body.
"Are you okay?" Nox asked concerned as she rushed to Hitsu side with Enai.
"Everything hurts," Hitsu said as he sat up, "but I'll be fine."
"What the hell is with this thing?" Sel asked, "I didn't know a shadow could get this big."
"They normally can't," Jinsuke responded. Hitsu looked to see that Jinsuke had created a wall between them and the shadow. It seemed the wall had helped the group stay noticed by the giant creature.
"Why are you guys here?" Hitsu asked, "I told you to stay back on the rooftops."
"So you could get yourself killed?" Sel shot back.
"We're going to be a team right?" Nox asked, "Well a team has to work together."
Hitsu looked to each member of the group to see they all felt the same. He let out a sigh of defeat knowing he wasn't changing their minds.
"So what do you know about this thing?" Enai asked as she looked up towards the giant shadow.
"Well this thing is pretty old," Hitsu said, "so it's pretty dangerous too."
"What does age have to do with anything?" Sel asked.
"Not a lot of people know this but shadows have shown that they gain wisdom and size with age," Jinsuke explained, "most people don't know considering most shadows don't live very long."
"For real?" Sel said concerned, "If that's the case this thing is ancient."
"More importantly it's smart," Enai said.
"Yeah," Hitsu responded, "scarily smart."
"Hitsu?" Nox said weakly, the fear in her voice apparent.
Hitsu looked up to her concerned. He knew Nox was trying her hardest to never be weak so hearing her voice waver awoke anxiety inside of him.
"Is this shadow... Is it like the thing we fought in Twindawn?" Nox asked.
"No," Hitsu answered. "This shadow is different. It isn't jerky and unnatural like the monster in Twindawn. I think that this shadow is a natural one, one that has just been around for a long time."
Nox let out a sigh of relief that also helped calm Hitsu. The feeling of calm only lasted for a short time as Hitsu turned his attention back to the giant shadow. He quietly moved to the edge of Jinsuke's wall and peaked outward. The shadow stood in the same spot it did before as it still scanned the city.
"Do you have any idea how we can beat this thing?" Enai asked.
"I might have one idea," Hitsu responded.
"Let's hear it," Sel said excitedly.
"Here's the thing," Hitsu started, "this thing is extremely smart. It learned how I fought and how to counter my attacks, we can't afford to be predictable."
"So we have to do something it can't learn," Jinsuke said.
"That's the problem," Hitsu continued, "if we can't finish it fast enough it will just catch on."
"If we can't outsmart it we would have to finish it quickly, likely in one hit," Nox added.
"That doesn't seem possible," Enai said, "something that big won't go down quickly."
"What can we do then?" Sel asked annoyed.
"It's simple," Hitsu said, "we attack."
"What do you mean?" Nox asked.
"When it countered me I was fighting it one on one," Hitsu said, "that made it easy to keep up with me. Now if all five of us attacked from different places at different times, if when it tried to learn from one of us it was attacked by another, if we backed it into a corner by not allowing it to catch on..."
"...It wouldn't have a chance," Jinsuke finished as the group caught on to the plan.
"It's risky," Hitsu continued, "and it relies on all of us working together, but I think we might just be able to pull it off. Any objections?"
"It's a better plan than I could think of," Sel said with a grin.
"That's not saying much," Enai responded causing Sel to glare at her in response.
"Can you two get along for a few minutes?" Jinsuke asked, "This town is depending on us."
"All the other slayers are gone," Nox said with a smile, "It's the heroes time to shine."
"Alright!" Sel said excitedly, "Let's give this thing hell!"
"For once I agree with you," Enai said with a grin.
"Five on one, I like those odds," Jinsuke said.
"Are you ready leader?" Nox asked Hitsu with a smile.
"Yeah..." Hitsu responded. His eyes drifted from one friend to another, their faces told him they were just as nervous as he was but they smiled regardless. Today five heroes would give it their all, they would leave nothing behind, and they would do whatever it took to defeat their foe.
"...Let's save the day."
...
End of Episode 42