Shoji gazed toward the explosion, his expression darkening as a brass-colored eagle Tama hastily absorbed his Rei. (1)
His senses on high alert, he glanced at the trees beside him, a sly smile spreading across his face.
"That's a useful trick. You created an illusion to fool us."
Emiko emerged from behind a tree, her cold gaze fixed on the duo as she approached them. A hint of a smile played on her lips.
"Who are you people? I've never wronged you."
Tsukino chuckled disdainfully:
"It's not you we're after."
Emiko's face darkened, veins bulging on her forehead.
"Don't tell me you're after the students?!"
Shoji grinned, malevolence flickering in his eyes.
"Yes, we are!"
The man charged at Emiko, his armor-coat clattering in the wind. However, just as he was about to reach her, she created thousands of illusions to distract him.
Shoji remained calm, relying on his Kensei no Jitsuryoku Tama to pinpoint Emiko's location. Before he could react, Emiko's true body unleashed a whirlwind of sharp threads at him.
"Tetsujin!" Shoji mentally summoned, his body gaining the strength to withstand the attack. He stumbled backward, stopping beside Tsukino, who cast him a worried glance.
"Are you okay?" Tsukino asked rhetorically.
Shoji shrugged, his gaze fixed firmly on Emiko:
"What do you think? Should I battle her alone?"
Tsukino maintained her cold expression, touching Shoji's shoulder.
"I won't let you out of my sight."
The moment her words faded, they reappeared in front of Emiko's true body.
Emiko's eyes narrowed, and she swiftly activated her other Tama. Sharp threads rose to shield her body, but surprisingly, the duo didn't attack. Instead, they sprinted to different ends of the mountain.
"Get back here!" Emiko roared, her rage-filled eyes blazing.
Emiko gritted her teeth, watching as the duo vanished into the horizon. However, a sly smile soon spread across her face.
"I'll make you regret ever messing with me."
Threads, or rather tentacles, emerged from beneath her feet, charging toward the duo's locations. They clutched their legs, slamming them onto the ground with brutal force, leaving their bones cracking.
"Do you understand the difference between a Grade 2 Tama Artist and you run-of-the-mill third-rate renegades?!"
The moment Emiko's words faded, Tsukino's body glowed with a dim light, and she teleported away from the tentacles' grasp, saving Shoji.
"Your Grade is just a number! Some people out there are stronger than you, but due to lack of funding, they're Grades lower than you!"
Emiko snickered at that cold, sweet voice, and the three engaged in a vicious brawl that tore the ground apart.
Despite being recent Tama Artists, Tsukino and Shoji were pressing down the veteran Emiko, their teamwork flawless as the sky.
'Just who are these people?!'
Emiko couldn't help but wonder as she dodged Tsukino's beam of light. Anger gleamed in her eyes, and just like before, Shoji's punch came at her back.
Boom!
The last-minute shield of threads she created shattered apart, and lucky for her, her body was already floating in the air, avoiding Shoji's direct punch.
Emiko's face contorted, and she glanced at the duo, her lips roaring, "I'll show you why the Katsuragi clan is feared throughout the island!"
Spider webs spread from beneath her feet, trapping the duo as they desperately tried to escape. The webs pierced through their limbs, and Emiko laughed heartily, convinced she had killed them.
She heaved a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.
"At least they're dead now... the students won't be in danger."
Emiko's words trailed off as she beheld an unbelievable sight, her eyes shrinking to pin size.
"What...am I seeing?" she muttered, her voice laced with disbelief.
The scene before her was more dreamlike than reality.
Emiko was certain she had pierced Tsukino's limbs, head, and heart with her threads, but the girl suddenly teleported in front of her boyfriend, her swords slicing through his limbs.
Emiko's eyes widened as she stumbled backward, her mind reeling with the implications. Shoji's body began to regenerate its lost limbs, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Emiko's face contorted in fright as she yelled, "Just what are you people? Zombies!"
Shoji smiled menacingly, his eyes glinting with amusement.
"I possess a phoenix-shaped Tama called Kyodaina Kizuna. As long as it's active, I can restore my body, strength, and Rei."
Emiko's complexion turned pale as she realized the significance of Shoji's Tama. She knew that Tama worked in different ways, and the resources required to create such a powerful Tama were staggering, not to mention mining it was near impossible.
Shoji noticed the fear in Emiko's eyes and turned to gaze at Tsukino's figure.
"As for her, she's just a puppet."
Before Emiko could ask what he meant, her surroundings shattered like glass particles. Her eyes danced with fright and astonishment as she took in the horrific sight before her.
The webs she had created earlier were piercing through the vitals of the students, killing them. The figure she had thought was Tsukino was just an unfortunate corpse being controlled by two pink strings descending from the sky.
Emiko's gaze followed the strings to meet the real Tsukino, who was floating in the air with an icy glare in her now-pink eyes.
"I didn't know strings could be this useful, thank you." Tsukino said, her voice dripping with malice.
Emiko's eyes dropped tears as she beheld the lifeless bodies of the students. Her lips trembled, and her gaze turned to Shoji, filled with rage and sadness.
"When did you put me in an illusion?"
Shoji chuckled slightly. "I was also in an illusion. I used my senses to avoid your students. You, however, killed them without a second thought."
Emiko muttered, wiping away her tears. "I might as well take you with me."
With a fierce cry, she spat, "Explosion! Kinhin!"
A golden light erupted from her body, but Tsukino was not about to let Emiko have her way.
With a single, icy glare, Emiko's body was teleported to a different location in Kurenai Village, leaving her to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting villagers.
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1 — Kensei no Jitsuryoku (Fierce War God's Power): Shoji's senses become heightened, granting him enhanced perception, reflexes, and combat awareness.
Tsukunari (Moon Phase Shifting): Tsukino can teleport anywhere or anyone under a full moon. - shaped like a half moon.