Kono's past few weeks have been immensely uneventful. The blonde-haired rogue has remained hidden just beyond Buraun's walls, spying on the village vigilantly. Thankfully, the fox-like male was well-versed in stealth; masking his Aura Sense, along with whisking away a few of Buraun's warriors, was relatively easy—mundane, even.
However, since the start of the Detrimental War, Kono's boredom has greatly eased. The fox-like rogue watched as the village lined up all of their warriors, including students from the local academy.
'Kinda cruel, isn't it?' Kono chuckled quietly, leaning against a tree as he peered over the village walls. 'Sending out inexperienced teens to be scarred for life, potentially being slaughtered ruthlessly.'
The red sky was gradually darkening, and the sun was beginning to veil itself behind the horizon for the night. Although the day had started to take a break, the war was still ongoing, never leaving a moment to rest for either Adonai or Shanti. Kono doubted that Shanti would mind it much anyway. The arid nation was known for being cruel and authoritative.
'Sadly, I haven't had a chance to see how disastrous the war has gotten.' Kono sighed, resting his head against the bark of a tree.
Then, his eyes widened.
From where the fox-like rogue positioned himself, the view was less than adequate, but he could easily recognize the group of students that were nearing the front of Buraun, all equipped with professional armor and weapons—swords, bows, and secretly their own aura prints.
'That class… 1AB, was it? That was what the newspapers labeled them as, anyway.' Kono spoke to himself mentally, eyeing a particular group of students from afar.
Kono remembered his fight against the instructor. He was fortunate that the blue-haired teacher became distracted during their fight back when Lord Phoenix ordered an invasion of Buraun. It was obvious to realize that the instructor of Class 1AB was a tad more masterful than the average warrior.
'Looks like they're about to be sent off to war.' Kono noted, tapping his foot on the branch he stood atop of. 'I guess this is where I join in!'
In the blink of an eye, the fox-like rogue flickered out of sight, disappearing without trace.
XXX
"Is it okay to be terrified of this!?" Naguru Akogare, who stood in line at the front of Buraun, whispered to Ninki Meisei, who happened to stand in front of him.
Every student at the academy was hurriedly fitted in their respective armor, handed appropriate weapons, and prepared to be dispatched to the front lines. Akogare, nor any of the other students, ever expected to serve during a war in their lifetime, much less before they even graduated from Buraunmajikku Academy.
Meisei inhaled as he thought about Akogare's question.
"Just… pay attention, alright? We won't be much help if we're lost before we even arrive on the battlefield." The white-haired student replied to his classmate in a hushed tone.
Akogare was still sweating intensely. "I can hear my own heartbeat, Meisei—!"
"You! Silent!" A warrior jabbed his index finger toward Akogare, ordering for the student to stop talking.
The air-headed blonde shut himself up immediately, correcting his gaze forward.
In a separate line, two rows away from Akogare and Meisei, the two former instructors, Oshieru and Akushon, stood tall and attentive as well. At the front of all the lines was the Chief—Haishi, the pony-tailed man, accompanied by none other than Lieutenant Kou. Both were garbed in full-body armor, their expressions bereft of any visible emotion.
Haishi was formally addressing all of the warriors that were expected to be sent off to war, providing a long list of reminders, motivational words of wisdom, and where the warriors would be traveling to.
Oshieru briefly looked away, his gray eyes landing on his students from a different row.
"Don't stress yourself, Oshieru." Akushon murmured to his friend from behind, noticing that the blue-haired male was scanning the other lines full of warriors.
Oshieru blinked, returning his gaze to the front. "I'm not. Just thinking ahead of time is all."
"That's all you've done." Akushon stated plainly.
"Preparation is key, you know." Oshieru responded stoically, hearing as Akushon exhaled behind him.
Suddenly, Haishi cleared his throat at the front of the lines, garnering both Oshieru and Akushon's attention once again.
"We are about to depart, so say any prayers, take your final glances at your home village, and tell your fellow warriors good luck!" Haishi hollered, clenching his jaw. "As we head to the north side of Adonai, you will need to keep your eyes peeled! We may be under siege before we even arrive at the scene. And, remember, do not fight without the intention of winning the war!"
The warriors of Buraun stared at Haishi intently, clinging to every word that flew out of the Chief's mouth.
"We are Buraun! More importantly, we are Adonai! We have raised the toughest of men and women and had the most influential history in the entire world! Some of our years were bad, some catastrophic—but we still ended up prosperous! We commit to peace! To a strong and secure nation! Do not let Shanti strip us of our freedom!" The pony-tailed Chief exclaimed further, his voice growing louder with every passing second.
A wave of proud roars stretched through the entire village, making Haishi nod with pride.
"Now… we march! And don't stop until everyone else has stopped for us!"
XXX
Tanjo was internally panicking, his eyes darting to every bit of movement and noise that shook the battlefield he was currently standing on. The Detrimental War was truly living up to its name, with the bloodshed and chaos proving to be a detriment to not only Tanjo's but everyone else's mentality.
"Tanjo, you need to use your power to free the old rulers from the curse! We need them on our side!" Oritsu, who was holding onto one of Tanjo's shoulders tightly, yelled urgently.
Breaking himself out of his horror-brimmed stupor, Tanjo glimpsed at the band of past rulers of Furusato fighting in the distance, who were still dominating the Five Great Kyuujo in the midst of the war.
Tanjo had no clue as to how he could manage to free the Furusato rulers from their zombie-like state. Sure, the Disruption of Reality purges the Kekkan no Sosei from their bodies—but they were rulers of Furusato, the village that held the highest rank within all of Adonai for years.
Would Tanjo be able to even touch them? Oritsu most likely could, but the jet-black-haired teenager was still unsure of himself, positive that he was far too inexperienced and weak to possibly rival any king or queen that originated from Furusato.
Oritsu forced the boy to look his way. "Tanjo, we need to save them! They may be fighting against the Kyuujo, but that does not mean they're on our side once they're done!"
"I'm not sure if I can even touch them! They're some of the mightiest warriors to ever live! I can't—!" Tanjo began speaking frantically, only to be cut off mid-sentence by the former king beside him.
"Hey!" Oritsu lightly smacked the side of the boy's face with his palm, staring directly into his eyes. "I may have been weakened, but you managed to last against me for quite some time! If you can endure me, you can endure them! Think of them as ancient relics! They're generations older, meaning that their Aura Sense is less potent! You're my son! You got this!"
Tanjo blinked. "Is this your way of saying that you're stronger than all of them?"
Oritsu swayed his head side-to-side. "Nothing wrong with a little bit of pride, Tanjo! Now, decide on your next move! I'll be right beside you!"
The teenager nodded quickly, swiftly looking back at the previous rulers of Furusato. Tanjo racked his mind for ideas, analyzing the fight in the distance. The Kyuujo were frighteningly powerful, annihilating entire masses of land off-handedly; however, the past rulers were eclipsing that power by almost double.
"Okay! We'll take them out one by one! That way, the Kyuujo will be kept busy with the others while we only have to focus on subduing one at a time! It also helps that the other rulers of Furusato are distracted as well!" Tanjo shouted out his plan to his biological father, clenching his fists in anticipation.
Oritsu grinned. "Works for me!"
Without a moment to waste, the father-son duo raced forward. First on the list was Kokoro Kangae, the brown-haired king who had a bearded face. Kokoro was specifically the last king before Oritsu Ketsueki, meaning that he was the second-youngest in the lineage of Furusato rulers and potentially the second-most powerful.
"Oritsu! Drag him away from the fight and keep him controlled!" Tanjo hollered to his father, maintaining a lengthy distance from the fight.
"Can do!" Oritsu complied, kicking himself off the ground and soared straight to Kokoro Kangae, tackling the past king and pushing him through the air.
Fortunately, the other Furusato rulers completely ignored that Kokoro Kangae was ripped away from the fight, continuing their battle with the Five Great Kyuujo.
Despite such, Kokoro's lifeless green eyes zipped to Oritsu, leaving a pang of nostalgia and depression shooting down the Ketsueki's spine. Oritsu did not hesitate to start launching attacks, lodging his knuckles in Kokoro's body and sending the dead king deep into the leveled ground below.
*CRASH!*
"Tanjo! Hurry!" Oritsu called out to his son, struggling to keep Kokoro pinned to the ground for a prolonged period of time.
In the matter of milliseconds, Tanjo appeared next to Oritsu, his cloak flapping in the wind as he stretched his hands outward.
*KRRSSHHH!*
Tanjo allowed the Disruption of Reality to emerge from his hands, rippling through the space between him and Kokoro Kangae. Just as the lightning-like attack was about to collide with the dead king, Oritsu leaped out of the way to prevent being struck as well.
*BOOM!*
It was instantaneous. Kokoro Kangae thrashed around on the ground violently, his entire body convulsing horrifically.
"GRAAGH!" Kokoro cried out to the skies, his green eyes magically transitioning to their normal black color.
Tanjo closed his hands the moment he heard Kokoro yelp in pain, canceling the Disruption of Reality from flowing any longer.
Oritsu hesitantly inched toward the convulsing king that was lying on the ground. "Lord Kangae…?"
Kokoro groaned painfully. "...Where am I?"
Off to the side, Tanjo heaved a heavy sigh of relief. That was not too difficult in the boy's eyes.
"Oritsu! Three more to go!" Tanjo shouted to his father happily.
Things were starting to look up, the boy thought.
XXX
Yeesh, I need to pick my tempo back up. I'm starting to fall short as a writer! As if I wasn't before. But that's beside the point! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_