Chapter 63

"Assaratana!" Cao Cao commands mid-dash, one of the orbs at his back juts down closer to him, and abruptly, he vanishes.

I turn to meet him as he reappears, my sword batting away a spear thrust aimed straight at my heart.

Cao Cao, however, doesn't let up despite my easily warding him off.

He turns with the parry, spinning his spear back around for another attack.

This time though, as it arcs around, the tip of the spear starts sparkling with pure white light.

My sword ignites with flames as it meets his spear a second time, our blades clashing, causing the entire bridge to creak as fire and light bellow out in equal measure.

Well, at the start.

Cao Cao is still only human after all.

I start pushing him down with my raw physical strength and the heft of my blade, forcing him to block with the shaft of his spear or be cleaved in two.

"Tch! Hatthiratana!" Cao Cao grunts in pain, causing one of his orbs to vibrate behind him.

A feeling of weightlessness overcomes me.

Cao Cao immediately jumps and seemingly starts floating in the air.

Meanwhile, I suddenly lost the thing I was applying force to, so my downward push continued, but with my newfound weightlessness, I ended up doing a makeshift Fire Wheel.

I flip in place and cut a deep fiery gash into the bridge before halting my momentum with my power over flight.

My senses scream at me, and I automatically start flying across the bridge, avoiding the ridiculously long spear blade that rammed through right where I was floating a second ago.

I flip back around, so I can see Cao Cao, and find exactly that. The spear tip itself elongates at a bullet's pace and retracts just as fast.

Undeterred from my dodging it the first time, Cao Cao retracts the blade and sends it off again.

I dodge it just as easily as the first time.

Though, if there's one thing I'm willing to give the man credit for, it's his stubborn persistence.

So he keeps doing it.

Retracts the blade, sends it back, it gets dodged, repeat.

And it kept getting faster as time went on, every second that dragged on, the bridge we fought on was peppered with dozens of new holes.

I click my tongue in annoyance, before holding up a single one-handed seal to my chest and breathing in.

The next time he retracts the blade, I send him a gift for the attempted stabbings, by breathing out a ball of fiery death.

Cao Cao reacts quickly, and calls out, "Maniratana!"

An orb immediately flies forth, a whirlwind generating before the sphere, catching and essentially sucking up all the flames.

I'm not idle, however.

The bridge shatters beneath my feet as I kick off it, I pretty much appear at his back, just as did to me earlier.

Dance.

My blade ignites with flames as it comes down, straight for his neck.

He vanishes, once again, as my sword cuts through empty open air all of a sudden.

…Wait, no.

I moved this time.

I turn, finding Cao Cao once again behind me, yet unmoved. One of the orbs behind him jutting out slightly more than the others.

"...A-Assaratana." Cao Cao states, a hand gingerly rubbing the burn spot against the side of his, "That…was a bit too close."

I deadpanned at him.

This is going to be a thing, isn't it?

Well, I suppose he is wielding the True Longinus…he's got to be at least annoying to fight.

I turn my head, finding that same whirlwind, minus the orb, right next to my face.

Oh yeah. That orb that absorbed my fire lets him redirect attacks, right?

I turn back to Cao Cao with a smirk as I'm quickly engulfed by my flames…and completely unaffected.

I don't give Cao Cao any time to even look surprised at that development, instead straight away getting right back in his face.

The flames part and burst around me as I sped toward him, forcing Cao Cao to back away as quickly as possible, a panicked expression overtaking his face.

He can barely keep up speed-wise. He can't keep up strength-wise. The only reason he hasn't already lost his head is because of his Balance Breaker's myriad abilities.

"Damn it all…!" Cao Cao curses as I start to rapidly catch up to him.

He grits his teeth and holds out his spear to the side, one of the orbs quickly moving to rest right above the spear point.

"Parinayakaratana!" Cao Cao shouts, as he stabs the spear toward me, the spear blade elongating and shooting off with the force of a railgun straight toward me, carrying the orb with it.

Hmm, I wonder…!

I stab forward as well to meet his attack, my blade igniting in a spiral of flames!

Sunflower Thrust.

My blade meets his orb, and almost casually…gets blown aside.

…Oh. Well, I guess that answers that.

The orb continues on its path, striking me straight in the chest. My golden aura bends and buckles beneath the force of it as it strikes my body directly.

My entire body shudders before I'm blasted out of the air, sent downward in a spiraling free fall, through the bridge below, and straight into the river beneath that, with enough force to blow a geyser of river water and rock both out around me.

I blink blearily, lying in a crater at the bottom of the river, my entire body buzzing for a few seconds.

Yet, it quickly goes away soon after.

Huh. That attack…actually hurt.

Then again, if I recall correctly, that's the strongest of his Balance Breaker's abilities, and it has some restriction or two to it as a result.

Still…I pat my chest.

All fixed up already.

I rise from my rocky bed and the river just the same, slowly, and with an easygoing smile on my face.

Cao Cao, as soon as he saw me, went from having an almost triumphant smirk to a wide-eyed fear-filled gasp.

"Not even…Parinayakaratana…" Cao Cao mutters, in complete disbelief.

I shrug at him, "What can I say? I'm just built differently. Though, I do gotta say…the names for your abilities suck."

Cao Cao scowls, his grip on his spear tightening, "You act like your opinion means anything to me."

"Well, I'm just saying…" I give him a cheeky grin, looking him directly in the eyes, "Heroes usually have cool-sounding, easy-to-understand names for their attacks, ya know? Come on…don't tell me you haven't watched an anime or two before."

Cao Cao ground his teeth together, "I have no idea what you're talking about…and frankly, I don't care for your insults!" He holds out his spear with both hands, tip pointed to the sky.

I sigh, "And here I was, just trying to give you advice before…ya know."

"Come on, this time…O' Spear, the true holy-spear that-HMMGGKH!" His chant is immediately cut off by a loud squelching sound, as a blade, my blade, passes through his back, through his chest, and right out the front.

The me that was talking, that was floating up before Cao Cao, fades away from his sight.

When I locked eyes with him, I cast a rather simple illusion that made him perceive me as still just…floating there, talking to him.

That wouldn't be unusual to him considering I stopped to talk shit before, in fact, he'd probably welcome the lull in combat.

Meanwhile, the real me suppressed my aura and snuck around behind him.

This was the quickest way I could think of to end him after seeing how he could just spam his ability to teleport on himself and me, redirect any ranged attack I throw, and…hell, who knows?

Maybe he might get a lucky shot with that last ability of his, manage to actually fuck me up, or maybe the big guys will finally respond to him.

It'd be better to not risk it, or any more property damage.

Blood sputters from Cao Cao's mouth before he slowly looks down at my sword.

Then, slowly, he looks at his spear, trembling in his fast-growing weak grip.

"W-Why…wouldn't you…?" His body starts to go slack, "Am I…truly n-not worthy…after all…?"

With those final words, he goes completely limp, the spear falling from his grasp and onto the bridge below.

As soon as the spear left his hands, the orbs and light surrounding his body flickered out of existence, disappearing like a switch was flipped off.

After a second of making sure I'm not going to get tricked in turn, I pull my sword back, unceremoniously dropping his body down to the bridge below as well, joining the spear.

Which…hasn't vanished yet?

Curious.

And slightly concerning.

I'll…get to that in a second.

First, a damage report.

Well, the bridge is probably going to have to be totaled.

I'm honestly kind of shocked the entire thing hasn't collapsed into the river yet. It's peppered with punctures, and the center of it is just…gone.

That was from when I got thrown through it, and into the river.

Speaking of, the river is…I'm not sure how you fix a river with a hole half the size of the bridge above it in it, but…yeah!

I'll pay for the damages. It's sort of my fault it got this far in the first place.

Not then, back to more present matters.

I float down to the bridge, landing right before the spear, the True Longinus, as it just kind of…sits there.

It's not doing anything. There's no holy aura charging up, the spear isn't trying to stab me by itself.

It's weird. Why hasn't it vanished already?

The True Longinus can't choose its new owner like Incinerate Anthem, another Holy Relic. That's unique to it.

Not just anyone can pick up the spear and start wielding it like they were born with it.

Is Cao Cao not dead yet?

I turn and look at his body, also similarly just lying there.

He's not breathing. Or moving. And I stabbed his heart.

Yeah, dead.

So then, why…?

I found myself reaching out to it before I even fully understood what I was doing.

Yet, as I did, the spear sunk into the ground, into the…shadows.

Wait a fucking minute.

I barely managed to tilt my head in time as the spear launched from my shadow without notice.

It would have gone straight through my head had I not, instead, it merely grazed my ear and cheek.

I swiftly caught the spear by its shaft before it could soar away from me, turning on my heels shortly after to hold out my free hand, palm pointed across the bridge.

Where a very pissed-off black-haired young man wearing shades sat, shadows throbbing around him.

He sees me, but he's nowhere near quick enough to escape within his shadows, before a beam of light erupts from my outstretched hand, and blows a hole clean through his chest.

I click my tongue as he falls, face still scrunched up in pain and rage, limp.

Sloppy on my part. I completely forgot about him.

Just as memorable as he was in the series, it seems.

I sigh, before raising a hand and brushing it across the cut on my face, taking a look at the blood.

…It heals slower than the orb attack from earlier, usually, a scrape like this would have stopped bleeding by now.

It also cut completely through my aura and skin like they were nothing.

With a grunt, I put a hand over the wound, as that entire part of my face starts to throb.

…It also, apparently, hurts like hell.

Probably some sort of god-slayer effect, then.

Very glad Cao Cao wasn't strong or fast enough to strike me with this thing. While I could heal the damage, even if it struck my heart per se, it'd still be fairly debilitating.

I breathe out, causing my powers to settle and dissipate, ensured now, completely, that it's all well and truly settled.

Then, I hold up the spear with my one hand.

It's kind of wild, but I sort of expected to feel…more, while holding it.

Right now, it just feels like a hunk of wood and metal. It's still not doing anything, and even like this, holding it, I can't sense a thing from it.

If I hadn't just fought Cao Cao, and seen him do all sorts of crazy shit with this thing, I'd probably assume it's just your average mundane spear.

"But you're not, are ya…" I mutter to the spear of all things, "Why haven't you vanished yet?"

I mean…should I try and claim the thing? Pull an Indra and yoink it with my divine power?

It's the strongest Longinus Sacred Gear in the world, most wouldn't have a second thought about such a notion if it was a possibility.

Yet…with what I do, and more importantly don't, know about Big G here…

Cao Cao couldn't get Truth Idea to work. Truth Idea uses the "Dying Will" of the big guy to essentially make miracles real.

With the caveat that the Will isn't commanded by the user, and it can pick sides.

I don't know if that means, in this case, the Will didn't answer Cao Cao because it picked me…or…well, that the Will isn't there.

After all, it's the Dying Will. And if He isn't dead here, then…

I don't know if I want to risk trying to connect to this thing. That'd be essentially giving him a clear-cut highway straight to my soul.

And considering I seem to be on some sort of divine system naughty list, I can't say that said highway won't be used for bad means.

But as long as the thing isn't returning to the system…I suppose there isn't any harm in finding a place to lock it up?

Maybe I'll stuff it under my bed in a box or something. I doubt anyone who comes snooping will suspect that, heh!

Now then…

I take one last look around me, and as if Murphy himself was telling me to hurry my ass up, a chunk of the bridge abruptly falls into the river below.

…I should probably start calling people to handle this, then check on everyone in Kuoh.

This shouldn't take too long!

~ A New Sun ~

Heed the warning of Murphy, and ye shall be rewarded.

It didn't take too long to call for people to come over and take care of the mess.

I ended up calling Yasaka directly and explaining what happened.

Turns out, she already kind of knew something was going on, she felt the outburst of my and Cao Cao's power, after all, as did pretty much everyone divine or without shit sensing ability.

This is why ever since the fight started, people didn't start flooding into the air trying to check out what the freaky light show, or big booms and the bridge collapsing were all about.

Her people got to work as quickly as possible, setting up a perimeter around the fight and warding everyone off.

Pleasantly surprised by all that.

They couldn't get close though, obviously, what with all the holy power and light being tossed around. The Youkai would turn into ash being in the general vicinity of it all.

Wasn't so pleasantly surprised when Yasaka refused to let me pay for the damages though.

I know it's just me being petty, but I'm going to spank her for that one later.

After I deal with whatever the hell is going on in Kuoh.

See, I called Shirone after, and she didn't answer whatsoever.

So, after a quick pit stop back home to shove the True Longinus, of all things, under my bed, and grab Kuroka because of course she'd want to come if her little sister is in danger, we're back off to Kuoh.

We teleport in, appearing in my home outside the town.

The light from the magic circle beneath our feet had barely dispersed, yet Kuroka was already frowning.

"...There's fighting going on across the town." She states immediately while looking off in the distance.

…It's kind of astounding how fast she can go from game coma-induced sleep to completely awake and series.

I raise an eyebrow to that, "Can you tell how bad it is?"

Kuroka huffs, "No, just that there's fighting, because there's several active barriers around town."

Hmm. Logic dictates we check on the weakest in the town first and try and relieve them…but.

"You figured out where Shirone is yet?" I follow up with.

Fuck logic, I wanna make sure my white-haired cat girl is alright!

Kuroka quirks a sly smile, "Not yet, but I'm working on it, nyah~!" She jumps on me, and I instinctively catch and hold her, to stop her from falling.

Upon steadying herself, she pumps her fist in the direction of town, "Onwards, nyah~! I'll figure it out on the way!"

I roll my eyes but don't fight her on using me as a temporary ride.

For now.

Instead, I head out the door and take off into the sky.

My sensory range can't encompass an entire town and beyond quite yet, but I don't exactly need it too right now.

Up here, in the sky, with the clouds? I can see them as I stop and float over the city.

The multicolored crystalline-looking spheres that dot the city. There's a fair few, I'd say a little under a dozen.

"The Peerages probably split up to deal with…whatever is going on." I mutter.

I suppose it won't take too long to find out, just head inside one and it'll become pretty clear, I feel.

Kuroka doesn't respond to me, at least, not verbally.

She reaches up, her hand gently going over my mouth, shushing me as she closes her eyes.

I don't raise a fuss though, I can feel what she's going for.

Literally, in fact. The air around us gets charged with her ki and flows out into nature.

I can't say exactly what she's trying to do, but I trust that what she's doing will help locate Shirone quickly.

My trust was swiftly proven to not be misplaced, as Kuroka slowly opened her eyes, and moved her hand once more, this time pointing in a specific direction.

"Nature's Ki is being pulled most strongly through the barrier in that direction," she states, "that must be where Shirone is."

Ah, I get it now. She ran her ki through the world's to get a feeling for where it was flowing, and if Shirone was in the middle of a fight, then she was likely pulling on the world's ki for her Senjutsu, which leads to exactly what Kuroka said.

I give her a simple nod, and quickly follow her instructions, blasting down toward the barrier she is pointing toward.

I rocket through the barrier's shell, not breaking it, but passing through it regardless…to find a rather interesting sight.

"P-Pleazsh! Pleash!" Some guy wearing the Hero Faction's seemingly standard uniform at this point begged, cried, underneath Shirone's foot.

The cat girl had this guy pinned casually, a small dainty little foot on his chest, easily holding him against the ground.

Her twin tails and ears were out, and every time this guy spoke, they shook in irritation.

Shirone stared down at this guy, a cold glare upon her normally stoic face, "...That doesn't sound like an explanation." She states, before reeling her fist back and decking him straight in the face.

The poor guy squealed in pain, like an actual pig.

Speaking of, his face looked like one's. Not naturally, it's pink and red, bloated and puffy, and only got more so with every punch Shirone dealt down at this guy.

And around them? There's a little over half a dozen more guys, and girls, all dressed the same way, with the same type of face. All whimpering and crying.

…To be honest, now that I'm thinking about it more clearly, I'm not sure why I was worried.

Kuroka immediately switched it up upon seeing the scene before her, "Ah~! Shirone-nyah~! Are you torturing people without inviting your big sister over to help!?" She cried out in equal parts hurt and pride, as she leaped from my arms.

Shirone suddenly perked, head jerking as she turned toward us.

"Big sis, senpai– HNGH!?" She grunted as Kuroka essentially jumped on her, hugging her, and then proceeding to rapidly look her over.

I snort as I float down right next to them, giving the two of them a smirk, "Good to see you're in one piece, my cute little kouhai~!"

Shirone shot me a glare, but it had no heat in it, "Don't you start too."

I waved her off, only to be interrupted as Kuroka gasped loudly, "Shirone, you're hurt!" She shouted, seemingly holding onto her shoulder.

Shirone, with an absolute deadpan, held up her arm to reveal a single cut on her school uniform. A graze that didn't even touch her skin.

"I'm fine." She stated, almost hissed, "But I'm sort of…busy, at the moment." She turns her head slightly, eyes narrowing toward the guy pinned on the floor.

He whimpers and starts sobbing. Or trying to anyway, the guy's face is so swollen I can barely see his eyes.

I step forward, "Care to explain? Maybe we can help you not be busy sooner?"

Kuroka nods and hums at my words, enthusiastically agreeing.

Shirone looks between us and sighs. "...Sure, it'd probably be easier this way."

She steps off the guy, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Only for Shirone to turn, and kick him so hard in the gut he slams into a wall, slumping to the floor with a pained wheeze, unconscious.

Damn. What'd these guys do to piss her off so much?

"Earlier tonight, we were all suddenly attacked while we were out doing Devil Jobs. Both us and Sitri's Peerage." Shirone began to explain, "To be honest, I wasn't entirely listening to why they were doing it," she shrugs, "I stopped right after they started talking about being heroes and other stupid shit."

Kuroka gasped, "Shirone! Language!"

Shirone rolled her eyes and promptly ignored her as she kept going on, "So yeah. A little after the attack, a bunch of them left. Grunts and some lady with a terrible hairdo-"

Hah!

"-that could make holy swords, who were leading the attack. Purple mist just took them away. It got a little easier after that," her face scrunched up in distaste, "...Yuuto-senpai was not winning that battle, I've never seen him so ballistic before, and then, Akeno-senpai…" she clenched her fists minutely, "She was taking her time doing her…thing, and got caught by one of the tougher mob's Balance Breaker, she's trapped in some sort of barrier space, and we don't know how to get her out."

…A barrier space?

I killed Georg, all of his spaces should have collapsed by now, which means this is a different guy with a space manipulating gear?

The fuck! I don't know anyone like that!

"A barrier space, nyah…" Kuroka mused, "I'm not feeling any unique ones throughout town though?"

"The guy tried to hide it with illusions." Shirone explains, "He's actually not…bad with them," she begrudgingly admits, "I couldn't detect the barrier space either with my senses, we had to physically find it by following Akeno-senpai's…work."

Ah.

Bet that was fun.

"You tried breaking into it, yeah?" I ask, prompting Shirone to look at me with a deadpan.

"...Senpai. I love you. Really. But yes." She stressed, "Of course we did! But it was a barrier formed by a Balance Breaker, we couldn't make a dent in it!"

I chuckle easily and walk up to her, wrapping her up in my arms, "Yeah, I should have figured. Sorry." I apologize, rubbing my fingers through her hair.

"...Don't apologize." She huffed, burying her head into my chest, "I'm just…stressed. I'm sorry for getting a little snappy."

I get it, and so, I hum in acknowledgment of her words, before moving on easily, "Take us to it. I'll cut it open and free your Queen."

She snorts before stating, "Of course you will."

Yet despite her words, I don't sense an ounce of sarcasm in them.

Kuroka suddenly joins the party, jumping on and hugging us both, purring happily.

Shirone, though, isn't having it.

"...Big sis, you smell."

"Wha-!? Shiroonnee!" Kuroka cried out in dismay.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips, "Damn I missed you."

Her tail fluttered a bit as her ears perked at my words.

She didn't say anything, but the way she shimmed closer made what she thought pretty clear I'd say.

It's been a while, in person at least. It isn't like I haven't heard from her at all, we text and call and such.

But the real deal is something different entirely.

Just wish it was under better circumstances!

Wonder if I could help her speedrun getting her Evil Pieces so she can move in with me and everyone else?

Ah, thoughts for another time. For now, I have to see what this new barrier gear user is all about.

…I'm going to get blasted in the face with lightning during this, aren't I?