Chereads / EVO OF THE STRAY SOUL / Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12: CORRUPTION

Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12: CORRUPTION

The sound of Yoshitsune's footsteps fills in for the silence as he continues to follow the trail towards Tranquil.

It's been a helluva day... He sighs to himself, First, the King gave me an entire lesson, met that hybrid kid with the girl, and finally, Tranquil got attacked... He thinks to himself.

Out of boredom, the captain begins to spin his sword around as he continues to follow the trail.

His boredom doesn't last. Suddenly, he senses seven individuals close to him.

They're just regular me- Wait... Why do they have this sort of power? It's not near mine but it's still concerning... He ponders to himself.

The feeling of being watched comes to him as he stops in his tracks.

"I know you're there," He says aloud.

He looks around the area, he can feel a presence hiding in bushes, trees, and other spots near the trail.

Yoshitsune sighs and scratches his head.

"Just come on out, I don't have the time for this nonsense."

Suddenly, Yoshitsune hears a noise coming from behind him, he quickly turns his head to face the noise but, he sees that nothing is there. The blue-haired man turns back around only to be met with the same seven men standing there. Yoshitsune gives them an unimpressed look.

"Very funny, now state why you all were watching me," He says to the men.

But, the men don't budge. Yoshitsune examines them closer,

It's as if they're dead inside... He says to himself.

White aura emits from the men as they edge closer towards the captain, who is already pointing his sword at them.

"No words? Alright then, let's just end this quickly," He says with a smile of confidence.

"Okay, let's go! Frostbite!" The captain yells. He points his palm at them and suddenly, the ground beneath them lets out a huge eruption of ice which quickly impales them all!

But, the men don't flinch, even after being impaled by the ice blades, they continue to stare at Yoshitsune. He's taken aback by the men.

They're like ghouls... He says confusedly.

He slowly walks up to the men who are being held up by the ice, but whenever he gets close the empty-like men reach out at him. Yoshitsune quickly steps back in defense.

"Probably shouldn't get too close to y'all..."

The captain begins to examine the white aura surrounding the men.

This was given power, and whoever gave it to them was trying to corrupt them... and it worked. He circles around to face another one of the men.

The power ate away their mind, made them basically walking husks, whoever started this could be-no... They are a serious threat! He looks back up and examines down the trail.

"If he can give out this sort of power to some average joe's, no wonder why Tranquil has been struggling so much," He says sadly.

A serious look appears on his face.

I have to learn more so I can stop this madness! He quickly runs around the ice but stops in his tracks.

"Oh, I almost forgot something."

He turns around and points his palm once again at the ice.

"Release!" He says as balls his palm into his fist, whenever he commanded it too, the ice explodes, mercy killing the husks. Debris of the cold substance quickly surrounds the area as Yoshitsune turns back around.

"Okay! No more time to waste," He exclaims.

He sheathes his sword and begins to bolt towards the city with insane amounts of speed, dust forms behind his former area as the rushing sound of wind fills his ears.

In a matter of no time, he arrives at Tranquil. He quickly runs through the instant and he's met with a revolting smell of rotting corpses and smoke flying off of debris.

He holds his nose to avoid the stench and begins to cough.

"D-damn! It's like a war zone right here..."

The blue-haired captain covers his nose and mouth with his arm before slowly advancing into the heart of the town.

As he advances he can see piles of dead bodies, some of them innocents, others being soldiers or mindless husks. He grips his fist in anger at the scene, his fallen soldiers, and citizens who just wanted to be happy. Their deaths, it infuriates him.

His anger gets cut off shortly by the sound of weapons clashing into one and another.

They're still fighting?! He exclaims to himself.

The man quickly unsheathes his sword and begins to run towards the sound of fighting, ready to avenge his fallen comrades.

————————————————————————

Star, sticking to the shadows, avoids the clashing noises. She looks over at Ikari. He's still out cold... She worries to herself.

She continues to follow alleyways while carrying the unconscious boy.

That bastard almost drained all of my energy... She ponders on what happened with Azrail.

The girl quickly shakes off the thoughts and begins to focus on escaping again.

She continues to carry the boy until they are met with a dead end.

"You have to be kidding me..." She says under her breath. Star looks around the area, searching for any way to advance but nothing catches her eye.

I don't have that much elemental power left... Dammit! I have to use it anyways... Star plans to herself.

"Sorry, Ikari!" She yells unconfidently.

She pulls the boy up as he slowly stirs awake and throws him towards a roof.

Ikari yawns as he finally awakens, only to realize that he's flying in mid-air.

"You have to be kidding-" He's cut off as he falls onto the roof with a huge "THUD".

Star follows suit by summoning a shadow hand which picks her up and places her onto the same roof. She's met with Ikari staring at her with a red face full of anger.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He exclaims!

Star is so surprised by his awakening that she completely disregards his question.

"Y-you're awake?" She asks with confusion.

"Of course I am!" He angrily replies.

"Gods, you're so d-" Once again, Ikari is cut off, but this time by Star who quickly hugs him.

"You're awake!" She yells happily.

Ikari is taken aback by her action, he doesn't know what to do, or how to respond. He just stays silent until Star finally realizes what she did. The girl quickly pulls away and blushes.

"I was just! Uhhh... I was checking you for any injuries!" She chuckles nervously. Ikari responds by just narrowing his eyes at her as she continues to laugh the embarrassment away. The boy looks around and sees the town's condition.

Ikari continues to stay silent as he examines the town, the fight with Draven instantly flies back into his mind, along with his conflicting thoughts. He completely zones out looking at the destruction.

"Ikari?"

"Hey, Ikari?" Star continues to ask for him.

"Ikari!"

The boy finally snaps back into present time and turns around to face Star.

"The town... It's way worse than the last time I remember..." He says with concern.

"What happened here?"

Star is about to answer his question but she stops herself.

He'll totally freak out if he knew that HE was here... She thinks to herself.

"I'll tell you later, we have to get out of here first," She replies.

Ikari looks at her with uncertainty before he sighs and nods. Star replies with a smile and begins to walk across the building. The boy tries to follow her, but he stumbles and almost trips as soon as he begins walking.

Star quickly catches Ikari before he can fall.

"Heh... I guess I'm still injured a bit..." He mutters.

"The fight must have done a total on you if you're this exhausted," Star replies.

"Eh... Could be worse," Ikari remarks.

Star gives him an uncertain smile before she begins to carry herself and Ikari to the edge of the roof.

The boy's eyes widen at the sight of a group of soldiers fighting off the same mindless husks. A man with light-blue hair catches his eyes. His power... It matches mine! He continues to watch the group fight before Star snaps him out of it.

"Let us not waste any time," She says while staring at him.

Ikari stares back at her before nodding.

"Yeah."

The pair continues to sneak roof to roof, occasionally stopping to examine the chaos.

But, the chaos ensues, a burst of dust flies into the face of Star and Ikari! As Ikari tries to protect his face he can sense another presence near him.

It's always something hu- His frustrated thoughts are cut off by the building which has started violently shaking!

"I-Its gonna collapse!" Star yells.

"I can't see anything!" Ikari yells back.

The shaking continues to get more violent as it slowly collapses. Dust quickly engulfs the area...

———————————————————————

Yoshitsune quickly turns his head to the noise of collapsing. There's even more of them?! He stresses to himself. He doesn't have too much time to think, he quickly senses a sword coming straight for his head, The captain easily ducks under it and slashes the assailant's stomach which instantly kills them.

He raises his head and looks at the men he's fighting with. It seems things are slowing down... He thinks to himself as he dodges another slash and easily finishes off another attacker.

"Hey! Do Y'all have this side covered!?" He asks.

"I-I think..." Another guard mutters.

"I need to check out that noise!" Yoshitsune replies.

"Just go then! We should be fine!" The other guard stresses.

Yoshitsune nods and begins to bolt towards the source of the sound, once again ready for battle.

————————————————————————

The area is completely destroyed, as Ikari regains his conscience he coughs up some of the dust that still lingers around the area.

It makes it even worse when he realizes that he's stuck in debris.

"Give me a break..." He sighs.

He continues to struggle against the destructed building before the dust clears which reveals Star's unconscious body.

"S-Star!"

Suddenly, he feels the same presence of strength that caused the collapse of the building approaching them.

"D-dammit! Star get up!" He continues to yell.

He can feel it getting closer. Ikari tries to shake off the debris, but it's pointless. Nothing will budge, the boy continues to struggle with the debris but his focus quickly turns to a figure walking towards them.

Ikari's eyes widen at the humongous man who continues to walk towards them with a grin on his face. Ikari makes a noise of distress before he turns his head to Star's body.

"C'mon wake up dammit!"

A dark red aura begins to surround Ikari, but it quickly gets cut off.

Something intervened with it!? He asks himself, looking back up at the man Ikari can see that the same white aura surrounds him.

Another one of Azrail's corruptions!? He continues to think to himself, but he quickly focuses on the matters at hand.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

But the huge man doesn't even acknowledge his words. Like a mindless husk, he continues to walk towards Star's unconscious body. Slowly unsheathing his large two-handed sword.

Ikari continues to scream threats at the man as he raises his sword above his head, ready to end his friend's life.

"Your next Phoenix." The man says with no emotion in his voice. He begins to slam his sword towards Star's back.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Faster than a blink of an eye, another figure arrives and parries the man's sword. The "CLANK!" echoes throughout the town. Wind flies through Yoshitsune's light-blue hair as he continues to block the large sword.

Ikari's eyes widen at the sight of Yoshitsune's sudden arrival.

It's the same guy I saw fighting earlier... The boy says to himself. Yoshitsune points his palm a the large man. Suddenly, ice erupts from the ground and engulfs the man, momentarily stopping him.

The captain lets out a sigh of relief before he turns to face Ikari. He examines the captured boy. He looks familiar... Wait... Is he a Phoenix?! His eyes widen at his own thoughts.

"Are you gonna help me or not?" Ikari asks with a cold tone.

"O-Oh right!" Yoshitsune replies.

After a couple of seconds, Yoshitsune finally helps Ikari out of the debris. Ikari instantly runs to Star's unconscious body, Yoshitsune watches with concern.

"She doesn't have any major injuries, it looks like she passed out due to shock..." Ikari says aloud.

"She'll be fine," He says with a sigh of relief.

He rises back up and looks at Yoshitsune with caution.

"Now, who are you?"

Yoshitsune smirks at the boy.

"Yoshitsune Abbera, Captain of the Knights of Vitalis."

"I'm guessing you are Ikari Phoenix?" He asks.

Ikari ignores his question and continues to coldly stare at him.

"Guess that's a yes..." Yoshitsune sighs.

A cracking noise is heard, the pair turns their head to the source of the noise. The ice prison that holds the huge man now is slowly breaking down.

"How is he-"

"That white aura around him intervenes with any other magic, so he's immune towards any element," Ikari cuts off Yoshitsune's confusion.

The captain looks at Ikari, he can see anger on the boy's face.

"I'm guessing you still have a little bit of fight in you?"

A devilish grin appears on Ikari's face.

"Always."