So.
Who should I go for first?
I reach for my sword.
Cao Cao promptly leaps back, holding his spear out, the tip of the blade pointed my way as he calls, "Leonardo! Now! Georg! Bring in the others!"
As soon as he finished speaking, sparkles erupted from the tip of his spear, before turning into a beam of pure white death…heading straight for me.
I hold out my aura-cloaked hand with a scoff, the light exploding and cascading harmlessly out around me as it reaches its mark.
It does little besides make me scoot back a tad. Light may not affect me, but still, Lance of Longinus. That thing can pack a punch.
I should try not to get stabbed directly by it. It might have some sort of god-slaying attribute I'm not aware of.
Especially because…
I shake my head off that existential train of thought and look down as shadows spread across the ground, passing harmlessly underneath my feet.
Of course, though, that's not their true purpose.
With a wave of my hand, the light beam striking me completely disperses, and I'm treated with a spectacular sight.
I feel the air fill with some sort of dark and chilling aura, not entirely unlike the one that fills the air when a Devil with malignant intentions summons their Demonic Power.
It's similar, but not quite.
Regardless, where Cao Cao was standing, now stood a boy.
He was short, looked kind of Italian, wore a school uniform like all the rest, and couldn't have been more than…I'd say twelve?
…And it's all coming from him.
The feeling, the shadows…the monsters crawling up from the shadows as though they were pulling themselves from the vilest pits of hell.
Annihilation Maker.
As the shadows continued to swell, more and more monsters continued to spawn.
One became ten, became dozens, turned into a hundred, more.
Every single monster looked the same though; large bestial creatures on two legs, built like brick houses with tough and thick-looking hides, long sharp claws, and gaping maws filled with razor-sharp teeth.
They all made animal-like sounds, growls, and roars, and some clinked their teeth together stupidly, but all these things still did the same thing.
Surround me, then charge.
I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips, as I drew out my sword.
And step forward–
Clear Blue Sky.
…swinging once.
In a circular motion, around my entire body, my blade ignited in flames as it cut through the air.
The ring of fire that formed around me from that simple attack, careened out with my will.
In an instant, dozens of monsters were severed in half. The spiraling flaming ring cut through them all like a hot knife through butter.
Or maybe, like light through the darkness is a more apt description?
In any case, the boy's bargain bin monster army fell into literal pieces, seconds after it was formed.
The poor kid couldn't have looked any more shocked before his face twisted into something akin to concentration.
I let out another sigh.
To be honest…I really didn't want to kill the kid.
Sure, I could blitz him down right now, knock him out…
But it's not like I have a prison to put him in, or a method to take away or seal up his Longinus to make that option viable in the first place.
If I could tear the gears out of people like Indra…man, I'd have one hell of a collection after tonight.
The darkness began swelling around Leonardo more, bubbling and pulsing.
He's trying to summon something bigger, isn't he?
Luckily for him, a hand on his shoulder from someone who came walking from the petrified crowd behind him stopped him.
Ah? I recognize this guy!
Thin and tall, white hair, red eyes. An exorcist coat over the school uniform, all those swords hanging from his waistline…
Except, unlike his small cousin, Freed, this guy here looked less like a maniac, and more like a dignified gentleman.
Bizarre contrast.
"Leonardo." The man, Siegfried, smiled down softly at the boy, "Please, there's no need to force it…It's my turn to step up, you simply concentrate on focusing your power."
The boy looked up at him, and nodded, resolute.
Siegfried ruffled his short hair a bit, giving one last smile before walking right up before me.
"Hello there, Arahitogami Kusanagi. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." He rests his hands on swords along his belt, "I am Sieg, Descendant of the Hero Siegfried. My companions call me as such, though I'll leave what you wish to call me to you."
I blink at this guy.
"You…" I start, slowly, as though talking to someone incredibly dumb, "You do realize we're fighting to the death right now, right?"
He gave a rueful smile at that, "Shame it's come to that, but yes, I am aware. There are just a few words I'd like to share, between swordsmen, before I begin. This didn't go anywhere near as planned, but I must admit…your strength…" He slowly smiled, not entirely unlike his little cousin, "A part of me is glad you are stronger than we thought. Balance, Break!"
A silver arm exploded out from his back.
And then another. And another. And another.
Four in total, each one reaching down to snag a sword from his waist, as his true hands raise a massive meat cleaver of a sword.
His Subspecies Twice Critical Balance Breaker.
With each arm, he doubles his power, essentially each is a Boost, and of course, lets him cosplay harder as General Grievous.
A red and golden slab of metal, that amongst all of his blades, emits a clear and overwhelming Demonic Aura, far surpassing the other demonic swords of his.
No light sword though, I know he has one, though I guess he wouldn't draw it on me considering…yeah.
As for the other demonic swords, there's a blue and silver claymore, a purple and gold longsword, and a black and teal green sword along with a black a reddish violet sword, both of which look like they got ripped straight out of a video game.
I also, for the light of me, can't remember what the hell those four swords are called.
Not as though I care about them, though. The only thing that matters is the sword that he's holding, Gram, and even then…
Well, Twice Critical is a Dragon-Type Gear.
My sword has a dragon slayer attribute.
So.
Yikes.
"[Chaos Edge Asura Ravage]..." Sieg breathed out with an eerie smile, "Let's see how strong you really are."
As though you'll be able to make me go all out.
"Whatever you say, General Grievous." The aura of my sword pulses and glows, and I see the look in his eyes as he switches from confusion at my nickname of him, to painful realization.
He can sense the dragon-slaying power in my sword.
He knows he's probably fucked.
Yet regardless, the guy darts forward, anyway.
So I step forward to meet him.
I have to admit, I can respect some willingness to not step down against an overwhelming opponent.
So, swordsman honor.
He gets one attack, rather than none at all.
Three of his sword auras spun up as he charged, one more literally than the others.
Gram's aura was the most prominent, and obvious, its sickly red demonic aura thrumming with a heavy power as he swung.
The other two, the purple and the reddish violet ones.
The purple one's demonic aura literally spun up, creating a drill or whirlwind-like aura, which, with the reddish violet one and Gram, he swung all three swords down upon me.
My Holy Spirit Power and flames burst forth from my sword, and I swung up to meet him.
Only for, as our myriad of swords collide, ice, specifically from the reddish violet fantasy sword, explodes out between our clash.
It mixes with the whirlwind, and Gram's destructive aura, creating a blizzard of calamitous proportions, right on my head.
I smirk, my eyes darting between each fragment of ice in the blizzard.
Cheeky, and smart
Unfortunately, my fire can't be put out so easily.
With a not insignificant amount of will, fire erupts around me, creating a firestorm to contend with and blow away the sudden ice storm.
My eyes snap to something parting the blizzard from his side.
The blue and silver claymore, its aura burning, yet would have been lost to most amongst the sea of similar white that is the ice of the blizzard.
Not only that, he's stabbing up with it, underhandedly.
Tricky, too.
Its aura cuts through his blizzard and even starts to breach my firestorm.
Unfortunately, though…
My firestorm suddenly dispersed, as I kicked off the ground, moving, blindingly fast around him, at his back.
The ground beneath me shatters and cracks, but as I move out of the way, it ruptures as Siegfried completes his swing down.
I catch it with my eyes. The confusion as his swings go down, followed by the hope that, perhaps, he caught me?
Then my blade curves down, through the back of his neck, and the expression is etched upon his face henceforth.
One attack. Not two. No more.
A massive pillar of ice bursts forth from the ground where his swords swung down and is soon met by his decapitated corpse, as it slumps forward against it.
I turn toward the others of the Hero Faction, the mass of mook members who have been standing around listlessly this whole time, mostly in fear, after my demonstration against Leo's monsters.
They see the body of Sieg, and rather than get more afraid, their expressions morph into ones of sheer unrelenting…anger.
The stupid type of anger, the irrational wrath that pushes people to do incredibly dumb things.
Like charge a guy on mass who just casually killed one of your leaders with spectacular ease.
I feel like I've been doing this a lot lately, but I say again, as all these high schoolers brandish weapons and bombs rush me in a vain attempt to strike me down.
The kid, Leonardo, looks especially pissed.
I click my tongue in distaste, as I finally settle on a course of action.
I'm not sure what the others have, but regardless, I won't be slaughtering them all.
In the end, especially Leo, they're all just a bunch of incredibly stupid kids.
I'll call Inari up after this and have her deal with them.
Plan set, I go to meet the roaring wave of hormonal and very homicidal teens heading my way.
And I meet it like a fish a tidal wave.
The first one to take a swing at me is some girl wielding dual katanas.
She hits the floor as I weave past her, smacking her on the back of the neck as I pass.
The second is a girl with a flail.
She meets her friend on the floor just the same.
And so on it went.
Enraged high schoolers would wildly swing, or in some cases, shoot something at me.
I'd, in return, casually brush them off and knock them to the floor.
There were a lot of them, a testament to either teenage stupidity or Cao Cao's charisma, who could say?
I weaved my way through the horde, coming upon my target, Leonardo, in seconds.
He couldn't see me coming. I wasn't surprised by this fact, he just wasn't physically up to par, as young as he was, and what with all his training likely being so focused on his Sacred Gear.
I also wasn't surprised someone tried to stop me from taking him down…even if it wasn't effective.
Leonardo went down without even understanding what hit him, and at the same time, my aura protected my side from getting turned into a pincushion from the tidal waveof swords slamming into my side.
The tidal wave of holy swords, that is, that immediately shattered like glass upon slamming into me, spraying shards every which way.
I raise an eyebrow, following the trail of swords spitting from the ground to their owner.
Who just happens to be a kneeling young woman jamming a rapier in the ground, that I also recognize, unfortunately, with blonde hair up and slicked back in an atrocious haircut that made me think a Shinigami was nearby for a second.
She wore a school uniform like all the others, except hers had bits of medieval knight's armor, specifically a chest plate. Around her, was freshly dispersing purple mist.
"Not bad…" the Spirit Inheritor of Jeanne D' Arc clicked her tongue with a strained smile, "Arahitogami-kun's defenses are very well honed!"
I sent her a disgusted look, "One. Don't curb my language, Frenchie. Two, your haircut is atrocious, the only other thing that's made me want to kill myself more is meeting literal Shinigami. And three? You're so trash, you're not even worth bullying."
Jeanne just stared at me, mouth agape, completely frozen, like she couldn't believe what she just heard.
"W-Wha…?" She uttered, listless.
Hell, the high schoolers I haven't gotten around to knocking out have even stopped and are giving me similar looks.
Ah~...that felt good to say.
This world's Jeanne, I swear…
"W-Well…that…Tch!" She huffed, indignant, "You just…shut up!"
"...Add shit at trash talk to the list as well." I add, almost as an afterthought.
Jeanne growled, legitimately growled like a wild animal, as she raised her rapier to the sky and cried, "Balance Break!"
Swords burst from the ground around her, carrying her into the air as they began to form into a shape, twisting, curving, and stacking into a figure, that of a giant draconic-looking creature.
Upon being fully formed, it raised its head to the sky, just like its creator, and roared like a dragon as well, a metallic or mechanical dragon, to be sure, but it still did sound like one.
"[Stake Victim Dragon]! Go, my child! Kill him!" She pointed down to where I was, still just standing here, completely unamused.
I was about to move out of the way, when, all of a sudden, tendrils of darkness burst out from underneath me, wrapping around my lips, trying to forcibly keep me in one place.
Ah…isn't this that one glasses guy's power?
Not Georg. The edgy black-haired guy.
His gear lets him control shadows, if I recall correctly.
Good attempt, but using such weak dark powers against a child of one of the greatest light goddesses in the world?
Cute.
I break my binds, purely by moving as I normally would have, leaping back and avoiding the sword dragon as its maw bites down right where my upper half was located.
Taking this opportunity, I start flying up, not too high, but a bit above the bridge nonetheless.
Those below with ranged weapons try and do something, bolts, physical and magic, and swords thud against my aura listlessly as I look around, trying to find a certain someone…
Ah. Cao Cao.
There he is.
He's…holding out his spear, and…shaking it?
I can't hear him, but it looks like he's trying to get something to work, rather desperately might I add.
Truth Idea.
I snort.
Yeah, good look with that.
Well, if he's just going to leave his gang to the slaughter…who am I to pass up the opportunity?
My eyes swing back to the battlefield, and find bursts of purple mist appearing all along the bridge, depositing more and more people to fight.
All of whom quickly look up and see me.
More importantly though, are the shadows spreading across the bridge, gobbling up the unconscious.
For a second, I think they might have escaped, until I look off passed the bridge, behind even Cao Cao, to find them being deposited and tended to by the guy I was trying to think of.
Black hair, shades, edgy wannabe in a school uniform.
Shame to that guy, I'm pretty sure the Spirit he inherited was pretty badass in myth.
"Don't you…!"
Hmm? That sounds pretty close.
"Look down ON US!"
I turn as a man's roar, followed by an explosion, rings out, and see Heracles as he comes flying straight toward me.
Behind him, I see the ice pillar Sieg's swords made crumbling.
Ah, he jumped off that, then used an explosion to get a little boost up here, eh?
Got to admit, didn't think he could think that well.
He's still in his Balance Breaker state, I can tell due to the missile rash covering his arms and such…
I guess he was charging up energy before coming in for another blow.
Though, not going to lie, I'm getting kind of…tired of all this.
Not physically, oh no, but mentally.
That, and then mentioning Kuoh earlier…I need to sweep through the place and make sure there aren't people snooping around planning some stupid shit.
Or, hell, for all I know, they could be attacking right now.
I need to get this over with.
With that in mind, I face the 'flying' Heracles and form a single seal with one hand.
Fire Release.
He perks up, as I breathe in, deeply.
Then screams, as I breathe out a cascade of fiery death.
Majestic Destroyer Flame.
Unlike the attack I used against Vali, after all my training, this isn't simply a big flamethrower, it's much more like a dragon's breath on crack.
So, the moment it hit and engulfed Heracles, he was already screaming his death throes.
He was ash in seconds, consumed by the flames as they rushed down toward the bridge like one big fiery unending comet.
Now, I know what I thought. I know the plan.
I'm sticking to it, this is just an amendment to it.
An attack like this? If it hits the ground, everyone, beyond maybe Cao Cao, will die.
And there's only one person amongst them that can block it.
Just as the stream of cataclysmic fire is about to strike the bridge, purple mist seems to erupt from seemingly nowhere right where the point of contact would be.
The fire cascades into that mist…and disappears. Seemingly vanishing as soon as it passes through.
Not block, but redirect, the barriers of purple mist from Dimension Lost don't block things but teleport them away.
I'm kind of curious about where exactly Georg decided to teleport my flames to…shame I won't be able to find out.
Now then, I need to time this just right…
I focus my sight on the plume of mist, keeping up the fire, breathing more and more, waiting for just that moment when I see anything that isn't purple.
The mist plumes continue to plume outward, catching the fire as it comes, and slowly, it begins to focus, rather than fanning it becomes almost like an umbrella.
And as it shifts, I catch a bit red.
There!
I move so fast, so suddenly, I feel the air pop around my body as I move.
Whilst flying, I flip, spinning into the form I need to take care of this particular nuisance for good.
Sun Breathing.
I got straight past the mist umbrella, not passing through it, but spiraling around it.
Setting Sun Transformation.
He doesn't notice me there until the light of the flames of my sword clues him.
Even then, he can't raise a barrier or throw out a spell quickly enough.
He barely manages to raise a hand before my blade passes cleanly through his neck.
The ground shatters beneath me as I land, and a second after that, the young man's mage robe-clad body and head fall to it as well.
The mist he was conjuring to keep my flames from touching the ground lasted just long enough to eat what was left before dispersing, taking his odd feathered cap and flying up and away into the wind.
At first, nothing happened.
Everyone has stopped, even Jeanne, who looks horrified, hell, everyone does.
However, someone does eventually break the silence.
"GEORG!" Cao Cao cries out, before snarling, "Damn it…"
I slowly point my sword at him, and give him a very plain smile, "Are you ready to fight yet, or do you need some more time polishing your knob?"
"...You'll pay for that." Cao Cao glares, holding out his spear, "I'll make sure of it."
"How very heroic of you!" I mock, making him snarl further.
Then we all stagger, as the very world we're in seems to shake.
Everything begins turning into mist, starting from Georg's body.
"Damn…the dimension…" Cao Cao cursed, "With Georg dead…who knows where we'll end up now…"
Fortunately, it doesn't take long for us to get that.
The world quickly becomes enveloped in mist, and seems to fade away…
Before snapping back onto the same bridge in the real world.
And would you look at that? I'm not alone.
Everyone is just as was left before, standing right where they were when the dimension fell apart.
Even Jeanne's big sword dragon thing was deposited harmlessly.
Cao Cao looks around, then back at me, and sends me the vilest of smiles.
I, meanwhile, sighed internally.
There's no way I'm getting out of or stopping this fight.
I'll have to leave it up to Yasaka and Inari to keep the damage contained, the people safe and clueless, and all that jazz.
Though they might have their work cut out for them.
Cao Cao held out his spear as intense blinding light shined out from it.
"Balance Breaker."
A flash erupts behind Cao Cao's form. A ring of light, a halo which kind of reminds me of my own appears at his back, as do seven bowling ball-sized spheres of power.
Flashy, but simple, huh?
"This is my Balance Breaker, [Polar Night Longinus Chakravartine]. Though it's still incomplete…" One of the orbs moves forward in front of him as he grins viciously, "It'll be more than enough for you."
…Doesn't one of those orbs have the power to make it so women can't use their abilities?
Heh. Cao Naoya.
"One of the Seven Treasures. Cakkaratana." Cao Cao abruptly states.
I blink, and all of a sudden, my arms rattle as a force shudders through them, I'm nearly even thrown back.
Looking toward the source, I found one of his orbs, the orb that was floating forward in fact, had slammed directly into my sword…and bounced off.
It didn't make a dent upon my blade, but it did rattle my arms a bit…so, points for effort?
Cao Cao just stared, mouth agape, much like Jeanne did when I spurred her very existence verbally earlier.
"...You…" He had trouble finding the words, "You resisted it? Just like that?"
"Seems like it." I replied, casually.
Suddenly, Cao Cao looked…much less confident himself.
He frowned, looking between me, the body of Georg behind me, and then past that…likely where Sieg's body still is.
He looked at one of his orbs, then back at me, and snarled, before pointing his spear at me.
I raise an eyebrow, as he speaks.
"No…regardless, Kusanagi! I will avenge them! Somehow, I will! I won't run away! I will kill a God!" He intones, finding his resolution.
This guy… isn't that smart, is he?
I can feel it…the release of the True Longinus' Balance Breaker. The Buddhist and Shinto Gods are taking notice, even from their shrines and temples, all across Kyoto.
The man just did the equivalent of letting off divine fireworks in the middle of December in a crowded mall, and he wants to stay?
Even if I somehow don't kill him, he'll be caught by someone in an hour after this stunt.
"Ah~...Leader~..." Jeanne, to the side of us, swooned.
Legitimately swooned.
Yeah, alright, no. I can't.
I don't even look her way, I only hold out a hand.
A spiraling sphere forms in my palm. It then, promptly, ignites.
This isn't just a fireball, oh no, it's a very undercooked elemental Rasengan.
Hell, it's not even a true Rasengan!
But it's still far more than a simple fireball.
Without a second of hesitation, I launch the attack.
Cao Cao's eyes widened, "Jeann–!"
Heat and light explode out as one as my attack meets its intended target.
I don't even need to look, I hear the falling apart of molten metal and girlish screaming that quickly dulls, as both the dragon and the thing riding it plummets off the bridge.
Cao Cao turns back to me, fury in his eyes, as I start to speak.
"You ran and hid as I tore apart your little 'faction' of heroic wannabes piece by piece." I state, cold, uncaring, "Don't misunderstand…this isn't a JRPG moment where the valiant hero kills a god, oh no…" I float up slightly above the ground, my halo shimmering into existence, and my aura bubbling as my irritation rises, "This is the time when the god prunes some mortals who are too simply too stupid to live…"
Cao Cao, whether from emotion, or instinct, feeling my impending attack, grits his teeth, and charges.