Since they first embarked on their travels, Unit Sakai has not once halted their march toward Furusato. The kitsune-clad warriors were directly guided by Lord Phoenix, his voice ushering them toward victory through the communication magic in every troop's ears.
Under their lord's leadership, Unit Sakai had been gradually closing in on their target. The village of Furusato was practically within sight.
"The moment we enter Furusato grounds, we quickly surround the perimeter. Lord Phoenix explicitly stated that the 'Furusato Unit' had acquired around seven to eight rogue warriors. However, each of them harbors deadly abilities. If we heed our lord's warnings, we shall prevail without fail!"
A single troop in Unit Sakai stood tall, looking back at his fellow followers. It was easy to detect the devotion the troops had toward their Hellenistic organization. So much passion and trust, all for one man—Lord Phoenix.
Over 100 troops were obtained by Unit Sakai. That alone could overwhelm the forces of several villages within the nation. Each follower within the unit has the experience of a trained warrior, obtaining full control over the power given by the gods, their Aura Sense, along with sashes full of lethal weaponry.
The same troop that spoke previously aimed his sights toward the village of Furusato. It was run down, to say the least. What stood out the most was the massive castle, its mossy stone still resistant.
"Twenty-five of us will seize the west side, another set of twenty-five will be on the east. With their low count of rogue warriors, a direct attack with two flanks should be sufficient enough to achieve victory!" The troop declared, hearing the gratifying words of Lord Phoenix silently in his ear.
The vocal troop narrowed his eyes through the kitsune mask, clenching his fists. "All right, on my command, we spl—!"
*SHING!*
In a matter of seconds, the troop was sliced in half, the entire left portion of his torso sliding off from the rest of his body. Blood pooled on the ground, followed by a thud from a falling body.
In this instance, every member of Unit Sakai was on full alert. Multiple eyes danced around, searching for the one responsible for the sudden murder.
"Brandish your weapons, brothers, and sisters! We have been spotted!"
With the shout of a different troop, several gleaming blades and weapons emerged from several leather sashes. Shortly after, the majority of Unit Sakai distanced themselves to prevent a wide-scale attack from wiping them out.
Suddenly, a figure rushed to the ground, gracefully landing in front of the entire Unit Sakai. This person appeared to be male and wielded a long sword with kanji written along the blade's length. Though bandages covered half of his face, his wicked smile could be seen for miles, and his only eye glinted with bloodlust.
"So this is who we had to wait for!?"
This man was Gimu, the swordsman of the Furusato Unit.
Behind one of the kitsune masks, a single troop yelled:
"To the trees!"
With a single command, Unit Sakai leaped to the trees, escaping Gimu's sight. The swordsman sighed, his sadistic grin disappearing. Gimu closed his eyes, seemingly frozen after his opponents fled from the scene.
"Seriously? The fiery bastard hyped these guys up way too mu—!"
*BOOM!*
With a swift dash, Gimu dodged an incoming blast from the trees. The bandaged man opened his eyes, landing steadily on the ground once more. Just from that attack alone, Gimu's spirits slowly started to incline.
"I guess they didn't run!" Gimu chuckled, twirling his Souta sword skillfully.
To Gimu's surprise, a figure managed to sneak behind him, prompting the swordsman to spin, thrusting his sword at his stealthy opponent.
*Clink!*
Then, Gimu's sword seemingly got lodged between two separate blades. The figure, now visible as a kitsune-clad Unit Sakai member, wielded two combat knives. With the knives, the Unit Sakai member trapped Gimu's Souta sword, eliciting rattling sounds from the contact.
With Gimu's sword stuck, another kitsune-clad troop emerged from the shadows of the trees, lunging at the bandaged swordsman. The incoming troop managed to land a direct blow against Gimu, sending him flying back. However, this action causes the Souta sword to be set free.
"I see how it is…" Gimu huffed, standing off, wiping the dirt from his cloak. "Let's see just how entertaining this can get!"
Before Gimu could take a single step forward, two red lights glimmered within the trees, both of those lights shot out beams that flew at Gimu with incredible speed. Gimu had quickly deduced it to be a flank attack.
In order to stay unscathed, Gimu jumped back, avoiding the first beam, only to hop up and dodge the second incoming beam. As Gimu was in the air, more beams were sent flying.
With no ground to use as leverage, Gimu resorted to aiming his palm in a general direction, releasing small blasts of his own to propel himself through the air, maneuvering around every magic beam with utmost swiftness.
"It's gonna take a lot more than that to kill me!" Gimu bellowed cockily, falling back to the ground.
The previous offending troop stared Gimu down, a keen sword in his grasp. The other hand of the troop was subtly extended to his side, palm facing backward.
The troop's mouth parted, proceeding to speak. "I've dealt with speed-type warriors like you, rogue—your speed alone can't save you!"
Gimu's grin deepened, bending forward slightly. "And you think your comrades will?"
The troop enhanced his venomous glare. "Under Lord Phoenix, we are unstoppable!"
Gimu then surged toward the troop, reeling his sword back, preparing to land the first strike. As soon as Gimu started sprinting, the troop clenched his hand, revealing several intricately placed wires made from his aura print.
If you can't keep up with the enemy, restrain him.
The strings made of magic had been immediately effective, wrapping around Gimu's legs, torso, and arms; the swordsman could only squirm. Due to the string being made of magic, they seared through Gimu's cloak, burning his skin upon contact.
"Grgh!" Gimu groaned, gritting his teeth.
"You speedsters are so simple-minded. You think that all you need to do is race forward without a second thought." The troop proclaimed, his voice laced with a patronizing tone.
Although Gimu was restrained, the swordsman merely laughed, making the troop perplexed. Gimu's laughter soon came to a halt, his only eye finding itself meeting the troop's eye.
The exposed part of Gimu's face exposed the most wicked smile that the troop had ever seen. "Did you really think that I was out here alone?"
Without a moment's notice, a wooden root had found itself impaling the troop through the back. "Grah!"
Blood seeped from the kitsune-clad troop's chest, the root managing to pierce through his entire body. Gimu only smiled as he watched him fade from reality.
"Gotta admit, you can be quite useful, Itami!" Gimu chuckled, gripping his Souta blade and slicing his way out from the string.
Standing about twenty feet away, Itami wielded his staff mightily, his short green hair wavering in the wind. Behind him, bloody bodies could be seen, all of them hanging from long, sharp, wooden roots.
Itami eyed Gimu. "Some of them slipped by, heading toward the castle. These are all of the ones that I found still snooping around."
"They're quite elusive. This son of a bitch actually managed to restrain me for some time. Though, even if you didn't appear, he'd be missing his head right about now." Gimu stated, rubbing his neck.
Itami deadpanned at the swordsmen. "Sure, say what you want. For some weird reason, Regashi is holding off Imawashiki and Shototsu. He apparently doesn't want them to be discovered or something. Though, it'd be quite helpful if they could pitch in a bit, instead of leaving us to do all of the dirty work."
Gimu raised his exposed eyebrow. "What about your brother?"
"He should be within the village. There are still a lot of those mask-wearing freaks left. I'm heading back to help, you should, too." Itami answered, turning around to walk back to Furusato.
Gimu remained silent, watching Itami hop away. "Well, this should be entertaining, at the very least."
XXX
Standing at the very top of the Furusato castle, Regashi looked out at the trees. He could easily sense every incoming troop. Regashi could tell that there were roughly eighty or ninety left after their encounter with Gimu and Itami.
Regashi then averted his gaze down to the palm of his right hand. Dealing with Kiyo was easy. Simply trapping the man in his own mindscape was all it took. All Regashi needed to do now was wait.
A smile stained Regashi's countenance, his eyes gleaming.
"Show me," Regashi whispered, his voice transitioning to a loud call. "Show me the power you possess, Lord Phoenix!"
XXX
Well, a full chapter dedicated to the arrival of Unit Sakai! Granted, some already died, but they also managed to reveal some of their power! Imagine, only one of them managed to restrain Gimu, now imagine 90! All against the Furusato Unit! And why are Imawashiki and Shototsu being kept away? Stay tuned to find out!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_