The Divine Blades

Chapter 20: Blazing

Cera unsheathed her blade and struck at the girls. Pufima took a step back to avoid the attack.. "I don’t understand. Isn’t she from the Divine Blade Academy?"

Without a word, Cera attacked again. Pufima and Priya turned and fled. Cera gave chase after them.

Meanwhile, Soujin and Bellar arrived at Crapool City. The distant sounds of destruction grew louder on their arrival. The sight that greeted them was nothing short of chaos—gigantic, green-colored Senodokidatsu lumbered through the city streets. These creatures were far larger than any they had encountered before. They resembled monstrous reptiles with thick, scaly hides.

The Senodokidatsu moved with an eerie coordination. Their massive tails swept aside anything in their path. As Soujin and Bellar watched, one of the creatures opened its cavernous maw, unleashing a devastating beam of energy that tore through a row of buildings, reducing them to rubble in an instant.

Soujin’s eyes widened. He turned to Bellar, his lieutenant. “Hold on, this ain’t right. The green ones are supposed to be the weakest, but these things are huge and way more destructive than anything I’ve heard about.”

Bellar nodded. “Yeah, these things ain't supposed to be actin' like this. Maybe something juiced 'em up.”

Soujin frowned, watching the devastation unfold. “Either way, we’ve got to take them down.”

Soujin unsheathed his blade, calling upon his sword magic: “Kaze no Monogatari!”

His eyes glowed green and his sword began to gather wind around it. The hilt turned green, and a sigil of wind appeared in Soujin's hair. Narrowing his eyes, he slashed at one of the creatures, releasing wind bullets from his sword with each slash. The Senodokidatsu cried out in pain, causing the others to turn their attention toward him.

“Shit, maybe that wasn't a good plan,” Soujin muttered. He began to move away.

Bellar lowered her eyes at him. “Ya think?”

Soujin focused on finishing off the Senodokidatsu he had attacked, unleashing rapid slashes of wind before the others could close in. The beast staggered, but before it fell, its massive tail swung around, catching Soujin off guard.

Bellar stepped in with a fierce look in her eyes. “Clap, Inaminari!” she shouted. Her sword crackled with lightning. With a swift strike, she dealt the final blow. The Senodokidatsu dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Soujin nodded to Bellar, then remembered the Senodokidatsu tactics. “Watch out!” he warned.

Suddenly, the defeated Senodokidatsu took on a black liquid form, oozing across the ground toward Bellar in desperation. She barely had time to react to the creature which now threatened to engulf her.

Soujin stepped in, holding out his blade. With a swift motion, he unleashed a vortex of wind that swirled around Bellar, repelling the liquid mass. The vortex expanded, reaching the Senodokidatsu behind her, causing it to disintegrate into nothingness.

“These creatures don’t leave corpses,” Soujin said while watching the last of the Senodokidatsu dissolve. “If they don’t disappear, then they’re playing possum. That’s how they got Cera. Don’t forget that.”

Bellar nodded, catching her breath. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Soujin gritted his teeth. "Cera," he muttered under his breath. "I have to stop her before something bad happens."

The Senodokidatsu army turned its gaze toward Soujin and Bellar. A chorus of deafening roars echoed through the air maliciously. The gigantic reptiles began to prepare devastating beams of energy from their cavernous maws.

“Oh, shit!” Soujin shouted. “We need to move!”

He sprinted to the side. Bellar followed close behind. The beams hit the ground where they had been standing moments before, causing explosions that sent debris flying in all directions.

“Big as they are, we should be able to take them down one by one if we stay smart,” Soujin said, catching his breath. “We’ve got to clean up this mess.”

Bellar peered out cautiously from behind a crumbling wall.“How many are we dealing with?”

Soujin scanned the chaotic battlefield. “First thing's first, we need to figure that out.”

He darted from cover to cover, careful to remain unseen by the Senodokidatsu. Finally, spotting an opportunity, Soujin climbed a half-demolished building and peered over the edge.

“Alright, let’s see what we’ve got..."

His eyes widened while coiunting the massive, green Senodokidatsu wreaking havoc across Crapool City. “Aw hell no,” he nearly shouted with frustration. “They couldn’t have sent that many of them out here...”

He turned to Bellar, who was cautiously hiding behind a nearby wall. “We’re dealing with over 100 of them things. We’ve got to figure out a plan. Our stamina’s going to run out if we try to take them all on one by one.”

Bellar nodded, her face serious. “Well, Cap, let me tell you, I got a move that could wipe these fools out in one shot, but I gotta focus to pull it off.”

Soujin raised an eyebrow. “Alright, what’s your play?”

Bellar raised up her sword which seemed to glow with a bluish colored energy. “Just clear me some space and keep those beasts off my tail while I set it up.”

Soujin nodded. “Got it. I’ll keep ‘em busy.”

Soujin sprinted through the chaotic streets of Crapool City. The Senodokidatsu lumbered after him. Soujin danced around the monsters, weaving between crumbling buildings and taunting the beasts with his speed. He used wind slashes to harry them. Each slash he delivered cut through the thick hide of the Senodokidatsu. He managed to disenegrate a few of them while dashing past.

Despite their formidable power, the creatures were clumsy and slow. Soujin managed to reduce their numbers by at least 25 through a combination of swift wind attacks and strategic maneuvering. The remaining Senodokidatsu roared in frustration.

With a burst of speed, Soujin leaped into the air, momentarily silhouetted against the fiery backdrop of the city. The remaining Senodokidatsu shifted their focus to him and prepared to fire off beam attacks at the same time.

“Bellar!” Soujin shouted across the battlefield. “Now’s your chance!”

Bellar’s sword radiated with a fierce lightning aura “Inaminari stage 2, Thunder Gate!”

She called out the color green, and a massive surge of lightning erupted from her sword. The energy surged across the battlefield, arcing through the air in a blinding flash. The lightning struck the remaining Senodokidatsu with pinpoint accuracy, sending them crashing to the ground in a torrent of sparks and sizzling energy. Some of the lightning veered off course, but the overwhelming majority targeted the monstrous creatures.

One by one, the Senodokidatsu collapsed into the ruins of the city.

Soujin landed beside Bellar and took a deep breath. He surveyed the battlefield, noting the scorched remains and the silence that followed the tempest of lightning.

“They’ve taken heavy damage,” Soujin said. “Now we just need to finish the job.”

Bellar wiped the sweat from her brow.

Soujin and Bellar had a bried discussion and then went their separate ways to finish off the remnants of the Senodokidatsu army. Soujin, with his swift movements and precise strikes, dealt with the remaining creatures with ruthless efficiency. His blade cut through the Senodokidatsu like a hot knife through butter which reduced them to nothing but ash and dust.

After a while, Soujin took a deep breath and sighed. He glanced around at the devastation left in the wake of their battle. “I didn’t see Cera,” he muttered to himself. “But I sure cleaned up a whole army.”

His thoughts turned to what awaited him when he returned. He imagined Miko’s stern reprimands, the disappointment of Head Captain Will, and the inevitable punishment for his defiance if Will ever found out true motves.

“Let’s just hope Mirumaru holds up her end of the deal and covers this up,” Soujin said quietly.

Soujin approached the last Senodokidatsu in his vicinity. He stood before the massive creature and addressed it.

“Alright, big guy,” Soujin said, trying to sound imposing. “Who sent you out here? Who’s pulling the strings?”

The Senodokidatsu responded with a series of guttural roars. Soujin frowned, realizing that this particular creature wasn’t capable of answering him. It began to shift, attempting to liquify and envelop him with its black, oozing form.

“Not today!” Soujin shouted. His blade cut through the liquid mass effortlessly. The creature dissolved into nothingness.

With a triumphant grin, Soujin struck a pose, holding his sword aloft. “Whoever sent you guys out didn’t account for… Super Soujin and his totally badass lieutenant”, he declared in a higher tone. “That’s right, were freaken awesome!”He chuckled to himself.

Soujin’s victorious grin faded as at that moment, he sensed an unusual and disturbing energy in the distance. The sensation was a jarring blend of Cera’s presence intertwined with something far darker. It was coming from Bellar’s direction.

His senses were further assaulted by an overwhelmingly powerful aura emanating right in front of him. It felt like a Senodokidatsu, but there was an unmistakable human element in the energy as well. Soujin’s confusion mounted. He strained to see any visual clue that might reveal the source of this strange presence, but the area remained empty and still.

A whisper, faint and feminine, floated through the air. Soujin's eyes flicked around in annoyance. “Oh, fantastic… Are you gonna be some type of ghostly diva with a bad attitude or something? Show yourself, you damn Senodokidatsu!”

Footsteps echoed through the stillness. A thick mist began to gather, curling and swirling around Soujin’s feet, shrouding the area in a haze. The mist thickened, obscuring his vision, and through it emerged the silhouette of a humanoid figure.

The figure moved with a haunting grace through the misty until Soujin could see them clearly. , Her face was a shade of bluish-gray. The cloak she wore was adorned with black stripes and was white in color. It concealed the lower part of her body. Her hair was seemingly short, but it was partly hidden by the cloak’s hood.

Her eyes were spider-like and unnaturally large. Sharp, predatory teeth peeked from her lips. Despite the disquieting elements of her appearance, there was an undeniable allure about her that came to Soujin, who cleared his head by shaking it.

The woman regarded Soujin with a calm, almost amused expression. “So you’ve finally decided to show up. I’ve been waiting for you…my child.”

Soujin, momentarily taken aback, tightened his grip on his sword. “Who….what….are you?”

Meanwhile, Bellar grumbled under her breath. She effortlessly cut through a group of nearly defeated Senodokidatsu. Her movements were precise and almost bored.

“If we had the whole squad here,” she muttered while taking out another enemy, “I wouldn’t be bustin’ my ass doing all this. I could’ve just chilled and let them do the dirty work. Isn’t that what squads are supposed to be good for?”

She shot a disdainful glance toward the horizon where Soujin had vanished. “All it would've taken was for either the Cap or me to swing back and get the others off their lazy asses. But no, he had to pull that ‘it’s fine, we’re in a rush’ crap. I should just let him handle all this by himself, but damn, I do wanna get paid…”

Flashback:

Bellar had leaned against a nearby wall, her arms crossed, looking more than a little annoyed. “Look, Cap, you go ahead and clean this shit up. I’ve got better things to do than to be running around here on my own.”

Soujin, eyes narrowed. He retorted, “Oh, really? And what exactly do you have to do that’s so important? Sit around and complain? If you don’t handle your side of the work as my lieutenant, you won’t get a single dime from the reward for this mission, if there even is one. We’re not officially sanctioned to be here. The Head Captain might not be too thrilled about that.”

Bellar grit her teeth, then sighed. “Urghhhh….. Fine. If it’ll shut you up, I’ll do it. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it.”

When she finished thinking back, Bellar heard a scream pierce through the city. Her senses tingled with Cera’s mysterious energy coming from a far alleyway. The energy was tainted with a dark, Senodokidatsu-like presence.

“God damn it,” Bellar muttered. She pushed debris and wreckage and began moving towards the alleyway. “I might be too late.”