"It's certainly been some time…"
Surveying the razed village before him, Kaminari Nozomu reminisced of his past, staring down the carcass of what used to be the mighty village of Furusato, the number one village in all of Adonai.
"Certainly revives some memories." The white-haired Tansu vessel mumbled, sighing.
Nozomu was just a young boy upon arriving in the village for the first time, only to unfortunately depart as a seasoned warrior that was forced to sever the ties with his home many years later. However, now he was surrounded by people—people that both shared his past and harbored mutual feelings for it.
"Kami, I don't sense anything. Do you?" Manabu called out to the lightning-wielding man, her eyes scanning the area.
Currently, the group was a mere few feet from entering Furusato, halting at the entrance of the village.
Nozomu shook his head and said, "No, nothing."
The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was gradually darkening. The Detrimental War was still ongoing, the death rate was inclining, and the Furusato Unit was still roaming free. All that was on the group's mind was ending all of those problems. Permanently.
"Perhaps we scout inside the village; we're only prolonging our mission standing here." Oritsu Ketsueki vocalized his thoughts, eyeing the back of Nozomu's head.
Tanjo, who stood off to the side, racked his mind for answers, even potential ideas. Why would none of the three Tansu vessels, nor a past king, be able to detect any of the rogues in the Furusato Unit within their own village?
Perhaps they deserted the village to participate in the war? The jet-black-haired boy shook his head at the notion, exhaling exasperatedly. The Furusato Unit harbored rogues that could end armies swiftly, including a couple of Tansu vessels. The Detrimental War would have ended shortly after its birth if the Furusato Unit had been fighting.
Suddenly, the air started to feel awfully warm. A mental alarm began to sound in the teenage boy's mind, and he had no clue as to why.
"Guys, the temperature! It's changing!" Tanjo exclaimed.
Asami's shoulders sagged. "...What? Why does that matter?"
Tanjo began to breathe heavily, his head turning in every direction. "I don't… know…"
Nozomu, unlike Asami, stared at Tanjo with a solid visage. It was rare for the boy to panic arbitrarily, especially over a minuscule change in the temperature. The lightning-wielding Tansu vessel observed the panicking teen for a few more moments, attempting to formulate a reason.
Oritsu blinked a few times. "Huh, it does feel oddly hot…"
The two black-haired individuals proceeded to inspect the air and their surroundings.
"Tanjo, we're Tansu vessels—we'd detect if anything seriously abnormal was off." Asami shrugged off the boy's concerns.
Then it clicked. Both Tanjo and Nozomu's eyes widened as the two stared at each other intensely, immediately realizing what the issue at hand truly was.
Nozomu was the first to act: "Tanjo! Oritsu! Move!"
*FWOOSH!*
Without warning, a cyclone of blazing fire combusted in the air around Tanjo and Oritsu, engulfing the two entirely.
"Old Man!" Tanjo shouted, an expression of surprise visibly permeating through his face.
Sprinting forward, Nozomu reached out to grab the black-haired duo. "Wait!"
*SWOOSH!*
The exact second Nozomu enabled arcs of lightning to bounce off of his body and try to rescue both Tanjo and Oritsu, a barrage of intense winds was expelled through the air, knocking all three of the Tansu vessels off of their feet and sending them flying.
The trio of vessels crashed through the trees of the forest that surrounded Furusato, each of them instantly regaining their equilibrium.
"Shit!" Asami cursed, landing on her feet and looking upward.
Nozomu and Manabu adorned a shocked countenance, finally pinpointing the source of the harsh winds. After a few seconds, once the trees stopped shaking erratically and the leaves no longer danced in the air, a purple-haired man stood tall.
A whirlwind of emotions spawned within everyone in the vicinity.
"I don't know if I should be happy or sad to see you guys together like this…"
The man behind the gusts of wind was none other than Heiki Shototsu, the amethyst-haired rogue of the Furusato Unit.
Asami huffed and yelled, "What are you doing, Heiki!?"
Shototsu appeared to be saddened. It was not clear whether the rogue vessel desired to be present or somewhere far away. Weakly, the Furusato Unit rogue balled his hands into fists, staring down his trio of opponents determinedly.
"I'm doing my part!" Shototsu declared, dread lacing the underbelly of his words.
*SWOOSH!*
Several waves of wind rushed through the forest as Shototsu bit the inside of his cheek.
"Please, don't make this a struggle!"
XXX
The battlefield was nothing but bloody. Explosions rang throughout the nation, practically illuminating the planet itself with each hefty blast of magic that easily decimated dozens of men every time.
Warriors from Shanti and Adonai could lunge several miles into the air at each other, or perhaps dash into the fray at velocities that shattered the sound barrier and even compared to lightspeed—all to simply spill the most blood possible.
"How did we ever consider Adonai an equal?"
As she blasted numerous warriors to their deaths with a red beam, Chinatsu, one of the five Kyuujo, glared at the demonstration of war before her, scoffing at the strength and power of the enemy nation's troops.
Leaping behind her, the Kyuujo named Chimon spoke up, "They've always been short on power, Chinatsu."
"Well," Masashi, another Kyuujo, made his presence known. "Ever since Adonai stopped having kings and queens, along with the razing of a lot of their villages, the nation really fell apart."
Holding a dying warrior in his hands, Chikao grumbled. "This war will end faster than expected, then. Food for thought, Kyoshiro?"
Said Kyuujo scratched the back of his neck, walking away from a pile of corpses. "I suppose. This is rather dull…"
"At least we can agree on that." Chinatsu murmured, sighing.
The five resumed their relentless onslaught of rampaging through Adonai's troops, annihilating anybody that dared to stand in their way. The Kyuujo made it seem easy, dominating in the Detrimental War almost from the moment they joined in on the battling.
Admittedly, it gave the five an excuse to properly utilize their immense power. Rarely have the rulers of Shanti been able to participate in much other than national affairs.
It was evident how little the Kyuujo cared about Adonai, springing on the rival nation at the first sign of aggression. Shanti and Adonai were clearly two completely different nations in nearly every regard.
"Wait, fellas… Do you feel that?" Masashi commented in the midst of battle, pausing momentarily.
The other four Kyuujo halted upon being questioned.
"...It doesn't feel… natural." Kyoshiro added, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
Chikao grinded his teeth together. "Whatever the source may be, it's closing the distance between us as we speak!"
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Emerging from the depths of the battlefield, a copious amount of impending beams of light soared through the skies and headed directly toward the five Kyuujo.
"Incoming!" Masashi roared, flinging himself out of the way of the beams.
After, dashing out of the way, the Kyuujo hurriedly convened again, glaring in the same direction that the beams of light were discharged from.
"That must be the weird feeling from earlier!" Chimon bellowed, fueling his body with his Aura Sense.
Chinatsu groaned. "No shit…"
After a few seconds of standing attentively, the Kyuujo could eventually see another group of warriors rushing toward them.
"Here they come!" Masashi cried, forming a red Genso-Kyu in his hand.
Once the incoming group of warriors grew close enough, Chikao's mouth became agape. "...You can't be serious!"
The group of warriors were garbed in royal clothing, their eyes all similarly green and each of them wearing stolid expressions.
It was the past four rulers of Furusato.
Instantaneously, the Kyuujo were overwhelmed by the rulers' power, no longer having a strong grasp in the Detrimental War.
*BOOM!*
Tsubasa, the first ruler and queen of Furusato, released a yellow beam of light that struck Masashi in the gut, launching him into the ground violently.
"GRAH!"
Kyoshiro watched as his fellow Kyuujo was sent plummeting down. "Masashi!"
Chinatsu, Chimon, and Chikao refused to give in. The dark-skinned woman among the Kyuujo threw herself toward the past king named Shigeko Yoha, only to miss her first punch and receive a devastating blow to the underside of her chin, leading to her being tossed through the battlefield at rapid speeds.
"Who the hell are these people!?" Chimon screamed angrily.
Chikao, the elderly Kyuujo, forced himself to evade every attack sent his way. "They're the rulers of Furusato!"
Kyoshiro became irate, fuming at what the older Kyuujo declared. "What!? Have you gone senile, Chikao!?"
"They've been gone for decades!" Chinatsu boomed, returning to the fight as she wiped a trail of blood off her lips.
*CRACK!*
Before Chikao could react, Kokoro Kangae crashed his knee into his nose, knocking the elderly Kyuujo down to the ground, creating multiple elongated fissures in the earth.
"Damnit!" Chimon heaved, observing the rulers from afar.
Masashi's eyes widened. "They're getting ready to close in on us!"
The remaining four Kyuujo assumed fighting stances, awaiting for the rulers from Furusato to make a move.
*FWOOSH!*
Suddenly, up in the sky above the Kyuujo and rulers from Furusato, a wall of fire spun into existence, spawning two people and forcing them to descend to the warring grounds below uncontrollably.
"Tanjo!" One of the people shouted to the other as they fell.
"Oritsu!" The other yelled back.
*KRRSHH!*
The two managed to successfully smack into the ground safely, storing enough magic in their legs to break their fall. Taking a few seconds to pat themselves down, Oritsu instinctively held his hand out toward the teenage boy next to him.
"Tanjo! Are you alright!?" The past king queried hastily, scrutinizing the boy intently.
Tanjo nodded calmly. "Yeah, I believe so."
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Oritsu and Tanjo could then hear the deafening sounds of war all around them, prompting the two to realize where they had been transported.
"This is the Detrimental War!" Tanjo asserted quickly, seeing the horrors of war across the land.
The jet-black-haired teen glanced back at his biological father, concern etched into his face. "We need to… Oritsu?"
Tanjo instantly noticed the distant look in Oritsu's eyes, following the past king's gaze.
"...They're here too…" Oritsu mumbled.
With his eyes glued to the fight before him, the bearded man was quick to realize just who was included in the Detrimental War.
"...Kokoro…"
He was staring directly at the past rulers of Furusato.
XXX
I wanted to get everything moving, and I have a few ideas of how to segway into what needs to happen! How will Oritsu react to seeing the other rulers of Furusato? What will Shototsu do against Asami, Manabu, and Nozomu? Where is Imawashiki? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_