A navy blue blur raced across the scarred plain littered with the corpses of beasts, spirits, humans, oni, kitsune, and many other mortal races, along with their shattered weapons and armor.
"FENRIR, YOU TRAITOR!!" a golden nine-tailed fox howled in rage as it released a torrent of hellfire on the oncoming blur, swallowing it whole. However, the fox did not lower its guard. Its tails waved majestically in the air as they shimmered with power.
*hmph* A derisive snort was heard as the mass of black flames appeared to implode. A fearsome midnight blue wolf with blood-red eyes stood upon the charred earth in the heart of the blaze with its bloody maw agape, revealing a pit of endless darkness that swallowed the deadly cursed flames. "That's rich coming from you, Senko. How many of your cowardly plots to overthrow that Beta have you tried and failed? A dozen? A hundred? *Heh* You're just upset that I will be taking the place of Alpha in our pack instead of you!"
The wolf disappeared again in a blur of motion as it charged towards its former friend as it juked and jinked left and right to avoid the barrage of elemental spells the fox was unleashing towards her. 500 meters. 200 meters. 100 meters. 10. In range. The wolf lept through the remaining space between them, intent on sinking its fangs into the soft flesh of the smaller fox's neck. The fox's golden tails shone even bright as it pumped all of its remaining magic into them and thrust them forward to skewer the wolf in one last ditched resistance.
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*GRAAAAA* A gigantic brown bear with six arms covered in glowing red tribal marking cried out in pain as it toppled backward. Blood gushing like a guiser from the wound caused by the blow that would have split its skull in two if it had been a moment slower. Instead, it had merely lost its right eye. The flesh wriggled like worms around the gaping wound as it tried to stitch itself back together. Usually, it could heal an injury like this within seconds and even regrow its eye. However, this time its opponent was different. The aura of Death infesting the chasm in its skull would not permit any new life from sprouting.
"Why, Albedo? Why have you betrayed Brother!? Are you not the one that has always said that we should follow the one who gave us life!?" The titan sized bear growled as its one good golden eye tracked the black phoenix circling above it.
"Indeed," The cold yet gentle voice replied without a trace of guilt nor doubt, "but this is not about what one should do, but what one must do. Sir has offended a being we cannot oppose. This is the only path to survival. Yogi, will you not join us?"
"NEVER!" The bear roared, picking up two of its axes from the ground. It lept into the air towards the hovering firebird.
"Very well." The jet black phoenix said its last goodbyes to its old friend as icy blue flames erupted from its wings as it gathered the power of its Yin Flames to deal one final blow to the valiant beast. A swift and painless death was all it could offer it now.
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*Haa Haa Haa Haa* Through the shadowy forest, a snowy-haired woman in a maid uniform ran. The rumbling of her pursuers and the flickering light of their torches barely discernible in the distance through the thick trees.
*twang Thunk* Hearing the subtle twang of a bowstring, she abruptly shifts her momentum to the side moments before an arrow appeared quivering in the trunk of a tree centimeters from her head. The fleeing maid pays no attention to the sharp pain from pulling out several of her fluttering locks that had gotten entangled in the arrows passing as she tries to continue to run.
"Stop, monster!" However, she is stopped by a shout from directly behind her. Her face twists in anguish as she slowly turns around with her arms spread to face the leader of her pursuers. A woman dressed as a miko with a single horn protruding from her left temple standing on a thick tree branch far above her.
"Kireina. Please, we are friends." The "monster" whispers as she pants for breath.
"Shut up! How dare you try to claim we are friends. My friend was a graceful, caring woman named Belfast. Not some slime abomination trying to pass itself off as human!" the half oni shouted with anger and unshed tears shining in her eyes. The disguised monster lowers her eyes in shame at her words.
"I'm sorry. But as you can see, we had reasons for deceiving you. Please, even though I am a monster, I and everyone else always considered you a friend." She tries one last time to repair the damage their secret had caused to the young woman.
"My friend is dead. I will morn her after I have killed you monsters." the miko's words are firm with conviction as she draws her longbow once more, a yellow talisman wrapped around the shaft of the arrow.
Seeing her persuasion is useless, the maid gives her former friend one last pained look and then explodes. Azure slime splatters around as multiple slime monsters are formed and try to escape in different directions into the thick brush.
"So you finally show your true face!"
*AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH* The slime girl screams in agony from the pain of all her scattered pieces being electrocuted and reforms in the center of the formation to resist the lightning.
"Please, Kireina." She looks up and pleads with tears streaming down her beautiful face, now marred with electrical burns. Her assailant is unmoved and draws back her empty bow one last time. An arrow of pure lightning crackles into existence on her string.
"Goodbye." She whispers and unleashes the arrow of lightning.
"Forgive me, Goshujin-sama." the loyal maid sobs as she watches her death approaching, unable to even raise her gauntleted arms to try and protect herself due to the restraints of the coiling bolts of lightning around her.
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*Guh Ugh* a man with slicked-back shocking white hair dressed in a tattered navy blue long coat grunts in pain as he skids across the pitted ground. Stabbing his black guardless katana into the ground, he regains his balance though he skids for a few more feet before finally stopping.
*Haa Haa Haa Haa* He pants for breath as he supports himself on his trusted katana in his right hand and holds on tight to the seven-pronged spear in his left. He raised his gaze to glare at the young woman with her foot still raised from where she had viciously kicked him. While the blood-red gauntlets and greaves she was wearing and the 2-meter halberd in her hand were appropriate for the scene of carnage around them, the fact they were on a cute 1.3-meters tall girl who looked to be about 10 years old with long sakura pink hair wearing a pure white sundress created a disturbing image. He, however, had no time to be distracted by the incongruous image his opponent made. Whatever her appearance, she had been completely dominating him throughout this battle so far. There wasn't a speck of dust nor blood on her, yet he looked like something the dog had chewed up and spat out. Felt like it too.
He blinked. The little girl suddenly moved from 10 meters away to close enough he could count the lashes on her big silver and gold heterochromia eyes. Though he was much more interested in her clenched fist barreling towards him.
Then she was through. Flying slightly above him, she stabbed forth with the spike on the top of her halberd. Too overbearing to dodge, he could only try to block. The white-haired man thrust his own spear forward, trying to catch her strike on one of its seven prongs. Alas, the power behind it and the energy wrapping around it were too great, pushing his langxian to the side as it continued its inevitable path towards his heart unimpeded.
His black katana disappeared, and a red-haired armored beauty appeared in its place. Placing a hand on her wielder's chest, the humanized weapon shoved him backward and moved her own body into the path of descending halberd spike.
"ERZA!!" the falling man screamed in anguish as he watched his beloved partner pierced by the strike meant for him. The armored woman uttered not a sound as her left shoulder was stabbed and instead grasped the shaft with her remaining right arm, a resolute set to her tight lips and shining in her brown eyes. A small smile of appreciation curled up the patronizing smirk on the little girl's face as she flicked her wrist and sent the knight that was desperately trying to restrain her shooting off her halberd. Slamming into the man trying to recover his footing in the air, they were both sent crashing into the ground, adding yet another crater to the desolate pitted landscape.
"Erza *cough cough* are you ok?" The haggard man asked as he tried to rise to his feet.
"I'm fine, Da- Watch out!" the scarlet haired knight tried to reassure her beloved before crying out in fear as she saw the cute little monster descending like a bolt from above. He struggled to move, but even with her warning, his body was too exhausted and battered to react fast enough to save himself. Just as it appeared he would inevitably be split in two by the descending axe head, a white light flashed from his spear, blinding them all.
*CLANG BOOM* When their sight recovered, they beheld a fair woman dressed in samurai armor with black and white dual-colored hair standing over the trembling man with her seven-pronged spear raised horizontally above her, defending her master.
"Run *ung*" the struggling woman grunted as the ground cracked beneath her feet from the pressure the child was exerting on her with only a single hand while hovering in the air.
"But-" He started to say but was cut off by the scarlet-haired knight. "Go! We will hold her off as long as we can. You are the one she is after, Darling. You must survive." With that, she launched herself at the hovering child, summoning a guardless jet black katana in her one working arm and slashing at her as her left arm dangled powerlessly beside her.
The small appreciative smile grew into a predator grin as the little girl twisted herself in the air to dodge the strike and disengaged from her match of strength with the samurai.
""Go!"" both the humanized weapons shouted at their master as they settled into formation together with the samurai standing behind the knight with her spear raised, ready to intercept any attack. The knight held her katana firmly, prepared to deal a deadly strike the moment their opponent attacked. True child or disguised monster, she was their opponent and would receive no quarter or mercy for daring to attack their master.
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He ran. Over the fallen leaves. Around the knarled trees. Through the grasping brush.
He ran, tears streaming down his face. Shame, anger, fear, helplessness eating away at his heart.
He ran for his survival, for the hope of all those he had left behind.
He ran that their sacrifices would not be in vain. They had said they would survive and meet again, but he knew they were lying. None of them would survive this encounter.
Still, he ran. Behind him, he could still hear them. No matter how far or how fast he ran, he could hear them as clearly as if they were right behind him.
The clashing of steel as his humanized weapons fought a true monster in the body of an innocent little girl.
The cut-off explosions of elemental magic as his teacher's attacks were devoured by his former mount.
The bestial roars and crackling of air through burning feathers as his most dependable guard was burned and torn apart by one who was once his most trusted intelligence officer.
But worst of all was the whisper he heard on the wind, the apology of a beloved and faithful servant that would be unable to continue looking after him as her body was reduced to ash by his former disciple. As if that first death was the first in a string of dominoes, the second silence quickly followed the first.
A gurgling bloody cry of reluctance and the explosions ceased.
A painfilled enraged roar of defiance and the bestial roars ceased.
A short-lived grunt of pain followed closely by a yelp of surprise, and the clashing of steel ceased.
He was alone again. Everyone he had known and loved was gone. All he could do was run. Run and curse. Run and regret. Run and wonder. [How did it come to this?]