'This must be fiction…'
Yuso huffed, his Shirugeto eyes whirling as he gazed at Regashi Ketsueki. The brown-haired maniac mercilessly slaughtered Earth's strongest warriors like cattle, showing no sign of difficulty. Regashi had uncanny abilities that made Lord Phoenix look premature. The only warriors remaining, other than Tanjo and Yuso, were the previous rulers of Furusato; however, it was quite obvious that their efforts would be more than just futile. It was no mystery as to how Regashi was the one bossing the Furusato Unit around.
After absorbing Shototsu's soul, Regashi straightened his posture and tilted his head toward Yuso, his green eyes shimmering malevolently. A grin was stretched across his face as she slowly shifted his body, taking tiny steps toward Tanjo and Yuso. Although his cloak was open, draped around his shoulders, there was no light present beneath it. Regashi's torso was veiled by darkness, making it impossible to discern any movement beneath his cloak.
"Your grandfather was a good tool, Yu." Regashi spoke out, addressing Yuso with a nickname.
Yuso scowled, gritting his teeth. "What for? Killing the vessel of Moeru would be trivial for you. Why use Lucifer?"
Despite holding nothing but contempt for Reiwa Takuetsu, Yuso still had lingering curiosity about the work done by his grandfather. Was Regashi stronger than Reiwa? Even if such was true, why bring him back to Earth? Nothing but mysteries and doubts revolved around Regashi Ketsueki, making him a living enigmatic catastrophe.
"Oh, I'm not only referring to the death of Imawashiki. He caused the Keisan War in my place, so I have him to thank for all that transpired afterward." Regashi informed the redhead, taking another subtle step closer.
Yuso took a cautious step backward as the brown-haired man approached gradually, his gaze briefly straying from Regashi to Tanjo, who was still kneeling over Kaminari Nozomu's body.
"Impossible." Yuso spat, prepared to snatch the teenager and create some distance between them and Regashi. "I heard of you: you're the son of Oritsu Ketsueki, the last king of Furusato. The Keisan War was decades before his time."
It was quite fortunate in most situations for Yuso to have a detailed knowledge regarding the history of Adonai, especially when he was previously attempting to cleanse it like his grandfather had.
Regashi let out a faint laugh, his head craned back.
"Are you sure your information is accurate, Yu?"
Suddenly, Tanjo's eyes widened at those words. A small breath escaped his mouth as he registered Regashi's words, a multitude of thoughts racing through his mind. There it was—the explanation behind why Tanjo's universe harbored a Regashi Ketsueki with an utterly despicable nature that had Kronos himself worried. Tanjo always questioned how Regashi became so powerful, despite receiving his power from the same deity as Lord Phoenix. A conclusion inevitably reached the teenager.
"Yuso," Tanjo's voice rang through the redhead's ears. "There's only one way to beat him."
Tanjo lifted himself up from his crouched position, his blue eyes peering at Regashi behind his jet-black hair. Once again, both Tanjo and Regashi stared each other down, neither of them willing to look away. Despite the mutual staring, the two had differing thoughts yielded behind their eyes. Tanjo conjured all of his confidence and determination while Regashi adopted an amused expression.
"Out with it, Tanjo!" Yuso hollered, disliking the silence.
"We have to let everyone die." Tanjo spoke with melancholy, his heart aching at his own words.
Yuso's head swiveled as he glanced at Tanjo, a stumped visage apparent on the redhead. "Let everyone die!? So we have to just stay put!?"
The teenager shook his head, inhaling. Tanjo had no desire to simply let those around him perish, but the more he reflected on Regashi Ketsueki's existence, the more he had to come to terms with the gravity of his current reality. Sometimes the smartest decision is the most gruesome.
"We have to disregard collateral damage for the sake of the fight. We can't afford to divert our attention to anything other than exterminating him." Tanjo said resolutely, his eyes glued to Regashi.
Yuso knew what Tanjo meant, and he hated it. The youngest Takuetsu had only just been freed from his prolonged mental confines and was now capable of acting humanely—but as soon as he returned to Earth, Yuso was required to fight animalistically once again. There would be no lives for Yuso to save for as long as Regashi lives, and the same went for Tanjo. Would dying for a cause nobody could change be worse than dying to the indifference of reality?
Tanjo doubted if he could truly neglect his humanity—but, perhaps, if he convinced himself that his subsequent actions would be out of human morality, he could continue on without hesitation.
"I'm honored that you view me so highly, Brother." Regashi said with faux gratitude, sticking his right arm out from inside his cloak and patting himself on the chest.
The teenager huffed, ignoring the brown-haired man. "We need to stick together. Your transportation makes it easier for us to flee and land attacks like my Disruption of Reality—the rifts I used against you during our fight."
"How could I forget them?" Yuso replied sarcastically, remembering the oppressive force that the blue rifts reigned down every time they collided with his body.
*KRSHHH!*
Tanjo flexed his hands, allowing for a stream of blue rifts to flow between his two palms. The Disruption of Reality cackled loudly, warping the space it traveled through. Tanjo's white feathery wings fluttered reactively, ready for combat. This was it—the big fight that Tanjo needed to make everything right. To make everyone smile.
"Yuso," Tanjo called out to his partner, "put pentagrams on my body. Hopefully it will let you transport me for faster movement."
Nodding, the redhead swiftly placed his hand on Tanjo's right wrist, pouring magic into his hand. In an instant, a crimson-red pentagram became embedded on the back of the teenager's hand, glowing brilliantly. It felt entirely foreign to Tanjo's body, but if he ever needed to purge the pentagram, all he needed to was flare his Aura Sense and focus on stripping the magic from his body. The Disruption of Reality could also remove it easily.
"That is why I've spared you both for so long! The hope you both radiate is so… tangible!" Regashi clapped his hands, laughing.
*WHOOSH!*
With a grunt, Tanjo darted toward Regashi and flung his blue rifts at the brown-haired man. Regashi ducked under the attack, sliding to the left as he continued to dodge an onslaught of offensive moves thrown by Tanjo.
'He's faster than me… so let's try this!' Tanjo thought to himself, exhaling.
*BRMMM!*
Tanjo deftly materialized a red Genso-Kyu—*KRSHHH!*—and coated it with the Disruption of Reality. The teenager then forced the Genso-Kyu to pulse rapidly, causing it to implode dangerously.
*KRISHH! KRISHH! KRISHH!*
A million or more streaks of blue rifts tore through the space around Tanjo, shrouding everything around Regashi immediately. To avoid the expansive attack, Regashi melted into the earth below, vanishing from sight. The spatial rifts eventually dissipated, leaving Tanjo lost. The teenager looked at the ground, a thought striking him like a mallet.
'He went under!'
"Tanjo!" Yuso hollered, garnering the cloaked teenager's attention.
Behind Tanjo, Regashi emerged from the scorched dirt. His cloak was completely open as both of his arms were extended outward, reaching for Tanjo. The boy was able to realize where Regashi had gone but would be too slow to shift his entire body around to unleash another strike or even a block.
*VRM!*
Suddenly, Tanjo's hand glowed brightly as his body managed to face the opposite direction in a mere flicker. Thanks to Yuso and his pentagram on the teenager's hand, Tanjo was capable of rotating instantaneously by teleporting in place, the only change made being the direction he was facing.
*KRSSHHH!*
With a fist encompassed with the Disruption of Reality, Tanjo lobbed a strong punch that was aimed for Regashi's chest. Unfortunately, Regashi's hands intercepted the punch, holding the punch back with an invisible force. During this, Tanjo noticed something: Regashi refrained from making contact with the Disruption of Reality. Before, he had no problems killing the other warriors with physical contact, and even now Regashi had lurched toward Tanjo with his bare hands, only to change his movement when faced with the blue rifts.
"Your intelligence can only take you so far when I know exactly what you're thinking, Brother!" Regashi howled maniacally, thrusting his arms forward and sending the teenager tumbling back.
Internally, Tanjo imbued his red Aura Sense with yellow, increasing his speed and overall output by a significant margin. Blue rifts still danced around the teenager's body, his blue eyes narrowing at Regashi.
"Yuso! I want you to repeatedly transport me without stopping!" Tanjo yelled, leaning forward.
In the distance, Yuso complied by making his Shirugeto eyes spin faster. The action prompted Tanjo's entire body to flicker through the battlefield incessantly. Every time Tanjo reappeared—*KRSHH!*—he tossed his Disruption of Reality at Regashi, only to teleport elsewhere less than a second later. Regashi only grinned when seeing the boy's plan, his arms straightening as he watched Tanjo teleport around him.
The strategy appeared to fail when the blue rifts departing from Tanjo's hands were thwarted by an invisible force generated from Regashi's palms every time he blocked. Regashi effortlessly threw his outstretched hands in the direction Tanjo teleported, not lowering his guard for a moment.
"Just because you can teleport doesn't make you faster than me!" Regashi asserted with a cackle, his laugh echoing throughout the empty battlefield.
With a hoarse huff, Tanjo vanished one last time, reappearing above Regashi with both of his hands stretched upward. The Disruption of Reality pulsed between his palms, being pulled into a thin line. Apparently, Regashi possessed a unique ability to negate the rifts, despite their inherent ability to warp space. This meant that Tanjo would need to warp Regashi himself, rather than just warping space.
The only time to land an attack with such an intention would be now, when Regashi was purposely letting the rifts get close in proximity.
Regashi grinned. "I know what you're planning!"
*KRSSHH!*
As if he were drawing a bow, Tanjo reeled his right arm back and aimed his blue rifts at Regashi Ketsueki, his white wings keeping him above the earth. It was clear that Regashi was able to read minds, which was instantly problematic. Fortunately, Tanjo had the perfect solution—nothing.
"Erase." Tanjo murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Letting go of the rifts, Tanjo shot the Disruption of Reality toward Regashi, who was prepared to take the brunt of the attack. The brown-haired man had both of his hands outstretched as a confident smile stretched his lips further than before.
Shockingly, the rifts permeated through Regashi's invisible barrier and passed through his body without leaving a single lasting injury. The event was akin to a breeze sweeping by. Although Tanjo's thoughts were practically audible to the brown-haired man, he had supposedly missed the plan that the teenager mentally formulated to simply let the attack do nothing.
'Hold on—'
*KRACKLE!*
Without warning, the Disruption of Reality exploded immediately after phasing through Regashi's body, wrapping around the man's body tightly. Much to Tanjo's pleasure, the rifts obeyed his command of warping Regashi himself. As it seemed to Tanjo, Regashi did not actually inhabit any particular space in reality, being undetectable by any force that he did not wish to experience. However, if Tanjo were to create the concept that Regashi did physically reside within space—done with the warping abilities of the Disruption of Reality—then physical attacks were viable.
In short, Tanjo was forcing Regashi to exist on Tanjo's plane of existence.
Regashi instinctively reached for the blue rifts that were bound to his body, ripping them off forcefully. A malevolent grin was etched onto the man's face, his eyes shimmering brighter than ever before.
"Haha! Brother! Using the spoils of Aphrodite, you actually managed to step a foot in the right direction!" Regashi hollered, his cloak swaying wildly.
Yuso's eyes were wide as he witnessed the successful attack. Tanjo did it—he struck Regashi. Something that even the Tansu vessels could not do. Tanjo was by no means stronger than the vessels yet, but the boy's mind was just enough to tap into his latent potential. Yuso would need to inquire how Tanjo made his rifts effective against the sinister leader.
'It looks like warping my own thoughts won me a bit of satisfaction,' Tanjo thought to himself, huffing. 'I had to project false thoughts to make him believe I'd act differently.'
It was ironic—both Tanjo and Regashi harnessed the powers they received from deities to battle. Regashi chose to steal the lives of an innumerable number of people, while Tanjo stands before him to save all the more innocent lives.
"Your disruption ability is not nearly potent enough to truly catch me, Brother." Regashi commented, tilting his head.
Suddenly, the man vanished, only to materialize behind Tanjo as he grabbed the boy's shoulder. The world grew still and silent once Regashi's hand made contact with the teenager, resembling the effects of a sedative. Regashi's nails dug into Tanjo's gray cloak, breaking the boy's skin underneath.
"However, as a reward for your tenacity, I'll up the ante. It would only be right for my own flesh and blood."
Once Regashi's words rang through Tanjo's ears, all the teenager could process was his body being flung in an arbitrary direction, all of his senses completely dulled as he was limp in the air.
XXX
Writing a fight with Regashi is a bit complicated, but I'm working out the kinks. Tanjo's Disruption of Reality is quite effective due to its versatile nature. Regashi's uncanny abilities are always construed the same way, only in an invisible fashion. What truly are Regashi's abilities? How powerful is he really? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_