At Atanasius Castle, within its foreboding walls, a conversation unfolded, shrouded in the dark schemes of its inhabitants.
"Sir, we've received intel from a few of our scouts regarding the humans who slew Baldassare. They're en route to the wasteland to confront us," a figure reported dutifully.
Atanasius, seated upon his ominous throne, greeted the news with a twisted grin. "Wonderful. More food for our ranks. Instruct the scouts to engage them. If they fail, I shall dispatch you and another to deal with them personally," he commanded, his voice laced with malice.
"Yes, sir," the subordinate acknowledged before departing.
With a sanguineous cough, Atanasius conjured forth a crow formed of his own blood, a sinister messenger poised to relay his orders and oversee the unfolding events.
Meanwhile, amidst the snow-covered expanse, Toruri and Kuroshi pressed on toward their destination.
"Only 60 more miles until we reach the desert! That's the halfway point, right?" Toruri remarked, his determination undiminished.
Kuroshi nodded, her senses suddenly alert to an unseen threat.
"Toruri, do you hear that?" she whispered, her voice tense with caution.
Without warning, two vampire scouts leaped from the shadows, launching a surprise attack.
"Toruri, use something that burns them!" Kuroshi urged, her instincts guiding their defense.
"Okay!" Toruri responded, conjuring a fiery blast that engulfed their assailants, reducing them to ash.
"That was... surprisingly easy," Toruri remarked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"Those were vampires, weak ones at best," Kuroshi assessed, her expression betraying her disappointment.
"But... if they were truly vampires, how did they survive in the sun?" Toruri pondered aloud, his brow furrowed with confusion.
"It's a good question... Perhaps they weren't vampires at all, but rather... something else," Kuroshi suggested, her thoughts lingering on the unsettling encounter.
With grim determination, they continued their journey, the mystery of their foes weighing heavily on their minds.
Meanwhile, within the depths of Atanasius Castle, plans were set into motion.
"You've got to be kidding me! That was pathetic," Atanasius growled, his frustration palpable.
"They're stronger than they look," his subordinate argued, attempting to placate their leader's ire.
"Nonsense! Heunae, I shall send you and a partner to eradicate these pests," Atanasius declared, granting permission for the mission.
"Thank you, sir," Heunae acknowledged before departing to choose a companion.
In a chamber filled with ominous cells, Heunae approached a solitary figure—a suit of armor devoid of its helmet.
"Wake up. I require your services," Heunae commanded, his voice devoid of emotion.
The suit of armor stirred, its silent compliance a harbinger of the dark deeds to come.
Heunae's voice reverberated through the still air of the castle's chamber, laden with a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of exhaustion and frustration. "There's no need to be all defensive," he remarked, his tone tinged with a hint of impatience, "now put your head back on."
As if summoned by his words, a lit jack-o'-lantern materialized atop the suit of armor's neck, its flickering flame casting eerie shadows against the stone walls.
"Good," Heunae continued briskly, his gaze unwavering, "now, if you help me kill some people, I'll grant you freedom."
The suit of armor nodded solemnly in agreement, a silent pact forged in the dim glow of the chamber.
"Great," Heunae declared with a sense of satisfaction, "now, let me get you ready to go. You see those handcuffs we got on you? Just focus your mana into it."
With a subtle shift of energy, the handcuffs fell away, clattering softly against the floor like discarded shackles of the past.
"Great, now we're all set," Heunae announced, his voice brimming with determination, "follow me outside."
Stepping out into the cool night air, Heunae and the suit of armor made their way through the castle's ancient corridors, their path illuminated by the faint glow of moonlight filtering through stained glass windows.
"Now, do what you have to do," Heunae instructed, his voice carrying a sense of urgency as they emerged into the moonlit courtyard.
The suit of armor summoned forth a giant orange and black lance, its ethereal form pulsating with arcane power.
"Oh my," Heunae exclaimed in awe, his eyes alight with fascination, "what a wonderful magical weapon you've got there."
With a flourish of magic, the suit of armor conjured a flaming skeleton horse, its fiery mane casting a ghostly glow in the darkness.
"May I get on?" Heunae inquired politely, his anticipation palpable as he eyed the spectral steed.
The suit of armor nodded in response, and Heunae wasted no time in gracefully mounting the horse's back, his cloak billowing behind him like a banner of defiance.
"I assume you know where the snow desert is, Headless Horseman," Heunae remarked, his voice tinged with excitement as they prepared to embark on their journey.
The headless horseman nodded solemnly, its hollow gaze fixed on the horizon with unwavering determination.
"Good," Heunae declared with a sense of purpose, "our targets will be there. Now, hurry, go!"
With a thunderous gallop, they rode off into the forest, leaving behind a fiery trail of magic in their wake.
Meanwhile, in a distant corner of the world, Ryoshi and Onri found themselves engaged in a conversation of their own.
"Nice!" Ryoshi exclaimed, his voice tinged with a sense of exhilaration, "what do I do now?"
Onri regarded him thoughtfully, her expression one of quiet contemplation as she sought to impart her knowledge.
"Summon your weapon," Onri instructed, her voice calm and measured as she guided Ryoshi through the intricacies of magic.
"And how the hell do I do that?" Ryoshi questioned, his frustration evident as he struggled to grasp the elusive concept.
"It's hard to say," Onri admitted with a shrug, "I myself don't possess a magical weapon, but I've questioned multiple magical weapon users on the matter, and it seems rather complicated."
"What's so complicated about it?" Ryoshi pressed, his curiosity piqued by the challenge before him.
"To summon your weapon, you need to give it a special call," Onri explained patiently, her words carrying the weight of wisdom accumulated over years of study, "a call that will determine the strength of your weapon."
"A call?" Ryoshi echoed, his brow furrowing in confusion, "Do I need to mentally call it? If so, how do I call it? Is it like a special chant that only I would know?"
"Yes," Onri confirmed, her tone reassuring, "it is a mental call, but no, it's not a special chant. It's more of a wake-up call."
"A wake-up call?" Ryoshi repeated, his mind racing as he tried to unravel the mysteries of magic.
Onri sighed, her patience tested by Ryoshi's relentless stream of questions. "Yeah, it takes one single call to your weapon for your weapon to understand how strong you are. If you have a weak call, your weapon will start weak but the stronger you get, the stronger it gets. If your call is strong, your weapon will start strong and slowly get stronger. If you have a neutral call, your weapon will not be weak but not strong, and it has about the same amount of potential as both the strong and weak ones."
"Ok, sorry for bugging you. It's kinda just my first time doing anything magic-related...all of this is weird," Ryoshi apologized, his tone tinged with a hint of embarrassment.
"What are your motivations, kid?" Onri inquired, her gaze steady as she sought to understand the depths of Ryoshi's resolve.
"All I want to do is become the one who gets to make the Negative Point wish," Ryoshi confessed, his voice heavy with the weight of past traumas.
"Why?" Onri pressed gently, her curiosity piqued by the intensity of Ryoshi's conviction.
"Eleven years ago, I was five, and I had a peaceful life living in my village," Ryoshi began, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion as he recounted the harrowing events of his past. "I had to do the occasional yard work, but it was all good. I only had one friend, and I and him did everything together. I was living a pretty normal life until one day while I and him were playing outside, my entire village was attacked by an army of magic users."
As memories of the fateful day flooded his mind, Ryoshi's voice faltered, his breath catching in his throat. "My mom rushed us into my house, and we hid while my dad tried to fight them off. They eventually killed my dad and found us hiding in the house and killed my mom. They took my friend and left me behind. You would think that there would be a few survivors, but you'd be wrong. I was the only survivor of this chaos. I walked around the entire village looking at all of the dead villagers and destroyed buildings. During that moment in my life, I questioned everything I saw...I was also, of course, crying."
Tears welled in Ryoshi's eyes as he recounted the horrors of that fateful day, his voice trembling with raw emotion. "I was so scared of what just happened that I ran off into the forest and got lost. While I was in the forest, I spent a few minutes thinking about what just happened. While this was happening, I remembered a little story my mom told me that I never believed until now. She told me that I had an uncle that was hundreds of years older than her. He traveled to the Negative Point at a very young age all by himself and made a wish. The wish was for him to see his family again. I didn't believe it because I thought my grandparents were like 60, even though they kept telling me that they were 1701. I tried to believe the story and told myself that one day I'll go to the Negative Point and wish for absolute world peace."
Onri's eyes widened in astonishment as Ryoshi revealed his ties to the Negative Point. "That's a good motivation but...what's the last name of this uncle of yours?"
"I can't remember it that well because I've only known my mom for 5 years but...I think it was Tsuishi...I have my dad's last name so uh.." Ryoshi trailed off, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
Onri gasped, a sudden realization dawning upon her. "No wonder this kid is related to him," she murmured to herself, her mind racing with newfound understanding. "He's a part of a family of powerhouses! That's...really interesting."
"What? You know him?" Ryoshi questioned, his curiosity piqued by Onri's reaction.
"I can't say I do. Anyways, summon your weapon already!" Onri deflected, eager to change the subject.
"Ok...Time to call my weapon..." Ryoshi muttered, steeling himself for the task at hand.
"HEY WEAPON! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE NOW JUST COME OUT!!!" Ryoshi called out, his voice echoing through the stillness of the forest.
With a shimmer of magic, a silver longsword materialized before Ryoshi, its blade adorned with intricate blue runes, reminiscent of Yoshiko's own weapon.
"Woah, this is cool," Ryoshi exclaimed, his eyes widening in awe as he beheld the weapon before him.
"What's the name of your weapon?" Onri inquired, her curiosity piqued by the newfound bond between Ryoshi and his magical weapon.
"Surikku No Ha," Ryoshi replied, his voice filled with wonder. "Woah, that just came out of me! I didn't even know that."
"Mmm Indeed," Onri nodded in agreement, her gaze thoughtful. "Once you summon your weapon, the name of the weapon will permanently be imprinted in your mind."
"Ah- that sounds badass," Ryoshi remarked, a grin spreading across his face at the realization of the power at his fingertips.
"Yeah..sure. Let's practice, I'll teach you how to use that thing," Onri suggested, eager to impart her knowledge to the young magic user.
"Oh alright," Ryoshi agreed, his excitement palpable as he prepared to embark on his training.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the world, Toruri and Kuroshi found themselves nearing their destination.
"Yes! I can see the desert!" Toruri exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement as the vast expanse of sand stretched out before them.
"We'll only have 4 miles of the desert until we enter a forest, so this will be easy," Kuroshi remarked, her confidence unwavering as they pressed onward.
"Ha, you said it!" Toruri laughed, his spirits buoyed by the prospect of their imminent success.
However, their joy was short-lived as Heunae and the headless horseman suddenly appeared, blocking their path with an ambush that caught them off guard.
Toruri's voice cut through the tension like a blade, his command ringing out with authority. "No questioning, Kuroshi! Just blasting!"
"I know that!" Kuroshi retorted sharply, her resolve unyielding as he prepared to unleash his magic. "Yume No Ju skill 1: Light bullet!"
With a flick of her wrist, Kuroshi summoned a shimmering projectile of light and sent it hurtling towards Heunae. But to her astonishment, the bullet reflected off of Heunae's chest with a dazzling flare, rebounding back towards Kuroshi and striking him square in the shoulder.
"Tch-" Kuroshi grimaced in pain, her breath catching in his throat as he felt the searing heat of the impact.
"That wasn't a wise thing to do, ma'am," Heunae remarked coolly, his gaze steady as he assessed the situation with a calculating eye.
Meanwhile, Toruri wasted no time in launching a fiery assault of his own, unleashing a blazing fireball towards Heunae with a determined flick of his wrist.
But before the fireball could make contact, the headless horseman intervened with a swift counterattack, invoking the power of Hono No Yari skill 4: Heat zone. With a wave of its spectral hand, the fireball disappeared into thin air, evaporating into nothingness before it could reach its intended target.
"What the-" Toruri's voice trailed off in disbelief as he watched his attack vanish before his eyes, his mind racing to comprehend the sudden turn of events. "Shit, Kuroshi, get on my back!"
"What-" Kuroshi began to protest, but Toruri's urgency brooked no argument.
"GET ON MY BACK!" Toruri bellowed, his voice tinged with urgency as he extended a hand towards his companion.
Without hesitation, Kuroshi complied, hopping onto Toruri's back as they prepared to make their escape.
With a triumphant grin, Toruri summoned forth her latent power, his form shimmering with an otherworldly light as he grew a pair of majestic wings, their iridescent feathers glinting in the moonlight.
"Hah," Toruri chuckled triumphantly, his wings beating with a powerful rhythm as he took to the sky.
"What are you going to do?" Kuroshi questioned, her voice tinged with uncertainty as they soared into the night.
"I'm gonna make it to their base, that's what," Toruri declared boldly, his determination unwavering as they soared into the darkness, leaving Heunae and the headless horseman in their wake.
"Sigh, follow them," Heunae commanded, his voice calm and measured as he signaled for the pursuit to begin.
With a nod, the headless horseman spurred into action, its spectral form gliding effortlessly through the night as they chased after Toruri and Kuroshi, their destinies intertwined in a dance of magic and mayhem.