376. The conflict of the Semi-Gods.

WARNING!

The story contains graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, strong language, and/or other mature themes.

[The Demon's God Pursuit: Arc 17]

Once upon a time, on Planet Earth, a young girl was born; the story goes that her identity was never adequately clarified, but she was effectively known as the 'Holy Light.'

Her title depicted the real life of one's planet. Humankind did not know the Dimensions that had appeared alongside her birth, only of the Spirits that had been destroyed or disappeared.

The woman... The Holy Light, the heir of all the inhabitants, was not born alone. The arrival of the Demon God, whose name was Rez, caused anarchy, and humanity was on the brink of extinction.

Humans terrified him because of his recklessness and hunger for blood, and Demons started to manifest all over the Earth and The World of Zero, alongside alternate races such as The Inner Fiends, The Shades, Wraiths, and Spirits.

To combat the challenge, a new breed of people has awakened, the 'Spiritual Duelists' and 'Substitute-Duelists,' who have been dubbed the "First Army to Face Evil."

With their Legendary Weapons, the Ginken. This swarm of humans increased the world's cleanliness to the greatest extent possible, overwhelming the Demons of various grades and placing their survival at risk.

But, after several years of waiting, the 'Holy Light' gave birth to a human child, a girl of theoretically greater worth than Zero herself, but unlikely to become the next 'Holy Light,' their Goddess gave the girl to a friendly family, and since her mother needed to participate in protecting the divinity, the girl's memories were wiped.

But there is another royalty trapped within the shadows that have been concealed for millennia, even longer than the birth of a Demon...

The only one who has beaten the 'Holy Light's own is the Fiend Lord. Its lurkers will undoubtedly be wiped out, and the newfound foe will ready the battlefield...

- Yashikami City, Friday, 10:05 am -

Tsuneo and Ayuka were pitted against each other, and Ayuka was at a loss as to how to better combat him.

"... Do you consider yourself human or immortal? If you're mortal, you may think you're dying from me, but if you're not... You will use your abilities to tackle me equally... Otherwise, why would I want to murder a lunatic?" Tsuneo said this while giving Ayuka stern looks.

"Why should I spend my valuable time-fighting someone of your caliber?" Ayuka paused, then swept her blade to the side and stood up straight.

When an ice storm started to cover Ayuka's body, producing strong wind, the pressure increased, making Tsuneo grin. At that moment, fibers flew across Ayuka's body, changing her clothes when a white robe extended itself down, past her hips to the near kneecaps, when black threads squeezed themselves into a cross on her chest, the main source of holding her clothes together, when the sword glowed and extended its blade, and when a white tassel began swinging behind Ayuka's back from the sword's handle.

As the ice storm roared forward and swept right in front of Tsuneo, who grinned, her clothing tightened and became more versatile.

Finally, Ayuka's 'Henshin' was triggered, though they were stunned by the freezing storm that was sweeping the lawn with snow.

"She's significantly increased her 'Henshin' supply. It has never been this strong since the first time she used it." Looking at her, Codey explained.

"Oh... I recall those clothes from three years ago very well... Despite the fact that you were the biggest reason the guy killed Maya the last time... Maya would have annihilated your partner if you were still alive! Just you were the one to set him off!" Tsuneo grumbled as he prepared to assassinate Ayuka.

"That demonstrates that I have people who care for me. Unlike you, who was being watched over by that lady, who'd been fake caring about you..." Ayuka spoke while being motionless.

"Hey, Ayuka! Can you think you'll be able to warm up the chill zone? I'm a little chilly right now!" Codey complained, concerned; but, once Tsuneo laughed, Ayuka reached for her sword.

"Is it permissible for me to dance, or is it not permissible for me to dance? Both of those will be appreciated..." Tsuneo was the first to strike since the two were set off.

Tsuneo swooped forward in a tactical sprint, once emerging in front of Ayuka, at which point he swung his blade, at which point Ayuka immediately crouched and vanished in a flickering body, once she emerged flickering from behind Tsuneo, right from the left side in mid-air, and prepared to slash into Tsuneo.

However, thanks to his ability, both of the bodies immediately swapped positions, with Tsuneo appearing on the same spot where Ayuka attempted to strike, and she appeared on the floor after detecting a sweep of the blade behind her back.

She quickly ducked, when circularly sweeping her feet and slicing into Tsuneo's stomach, who quickly vanished from the spot and hopped to the front of Ayuka and sliced upwardly, until she quickly stomped the floor with her right ankle and unleashed a powerful force, which pushed her under Tsuneo's armpit and instantly moved behind his back, until she stretched the sword to the right, grazing him.

She then took a jump with her left foot near Tsuneo's left ankle and joining her right knee, easily slicing backward while Tsuneo turned on the spot and sweeping his blade down.

Both blades collided with it as a shockwave was caused, destroying the earth under them and forcibly knocking the broken ground into the air above them.

Tsuneo used it to easily sweep his leg foot before throwing himself forward, shaking his finger once, and simultaneously summoning multiple versions of his time bodies.

"Chrono Dash!".

That allowed the six copies to dash at Ayuka, who quickly raised her sword and summoned icy wind before pointing the blade down at the ground and stabbing it into the ground, summoning a powerful ice storm when massive spikes of pure ice grew around her body and struck through the bodies when she quickly swept her sword backward and saw how Tsuneo appeared behind her with his body strewn around the ground.

When Tsuneo spun upside down and clashed the blade with her own, she immediately swept her blade backward, in the height of her head's peak, after noticing him with her right eye.

Tsuneo shifted his body in a backflip to land on the floor and then instantly launched himself forward, until Ayuka swept her left arm under her sword and summoning ice spikes, but right at the moment Tsuneo slashed with his blade forward, cutting the ice, thus destroying it.

However, while attempting to do so, Ayuka vanished after sliding on the floor, and Tsuneo realized that he had cut nothing, when the ice began to grow around his body from the floor, once preparing to pierce his body, but to avoid being cut or stabbed, Tsuneo summoned a time bubble, which froze the ice from closing in, when he instantly spun on the spot and unleashed intense pressure, which swung, as he twisted on the spot and released tremendous pressure, which swung itself through the spikes, but only after the time bubble had been canceled.

The ice broke into fragments, at which point Ayuka came spinning from mid-air, turned upside down, and immediately drew the blade, only to be stopped by Tsuneo, who lifted it.

With her pace, she was able to shift her body and land in a crouch behind Tsuneo, when she quickly circled her both feet on the floor and turned around, when cutting forward and seeing that Tsuneo had defended himself, and by slicing again to the front, Tsuneo blocked once more, when Ayuka prepared a step back and then instantly launched herself upward, lifting her body and cutting upward, but. Tsuneo, as planned, defended the strike, allowing Ayuka to leap over his shoulder and step behind him once more, as she landed in a crouch and swept her sword near the ground, after Tsuneo leapt over the swing and then landed, turning around.

When Tsuneo took a step back to defend, Ayuka ducked and made a split between her knees, almost causing him to trip, when she easily slid behind his back and caught the sword with both of her hands, then swept it right near Tsuneo's throat, until he snapped with his fingers.

Ayuka was forced to swap places, and this time she resumed still when she realized she was the next in line to be cut into the neck, but her body flickered, and with full speed forward, she vanished in a flickering body when Tsuneo felt a sharp hit in his hip, which stunned him and made him notice that Ayuka's enormous speed allowed her to move up behind him and then cut with her blade when a line of ice spikes formed and crashed into Tsuneo, throwing him over and straight into the wall when it shattered, his body being trapped in it.

Elliot and the others shielded their ears as the strong wind blew past them.

"I haven't seen her fight properly since she was practicing in the 'Holy Arches.' Her strength became ferocious and violently tense..." Codey was stressed, as he said. "She didn't even have as much force the second time we were in the Underworld. How much did she progress in terms of strength?" Codey was taken aback.

Eva twitched her eyes as she carried her suitcase. "H-Hey, you look a little stunned; what happened?" Looking at Eva, Kylin was perplexed. "N-nevermind, n-nevermind..." Eva scratched her cheek as she spoke.

("And they wanted us to engage in combat with these individuals. If we fought them like this, I'd hardly be able to match them ") Eva thought as she exhaled a cold breath. Ayuka took a step forward to see if she could catch him, but when the icy mist started to rise from the melting ice, she realized that Tsuneo had vanished.

And everyone was shocked when a shadow swept behind Ayuka's body, and with her head spinning behind her, her left eye wide open from surprise, she saw how Tsuneo swept and sliced right at her throat.

With it, a loud metal was heard, and blood was splattered into the air.

- Gyuma City, Friday, 10:07 am -

Tim was perplexed as he pursued Kaoru and his crewmates into the Gyuma City agency.

When Kaoru's keycard was swiped, the door unlocked.

"There we have it..." Tim proceeded to pursue Kaoru in his white trench coat, which he had got from Eri.

"Why am I being dragged to the department in the first place?" Tim pondered as his white hair appeared to shine in the white light of the room. "Don't panic, it's nothing serious." While stepping to the front of the lady, Kaoru spoke.

"Excuse me, my name is Kaoru, and I've come here to pick up the box." When the woman glanced at his keycard, Kaoru spoke up. "Yes, indeed. The box, of course, had already delivered. Please proceed to the back office." She whispered, handing back the keycard, as the four walked up to thank her.

And in the next few minutes, the three have stepped once Kaoru entered the storage room and walked toward a locker while swiping the keycard, the locker unlocked when the steam flew out, at that point, he reached in and took a silver suitcase, once placing it on the table in front of the aquarium.

"What in the world is this?" Tim asked as Kaoru reached for the Suitcase's button and opened it, and Tim's eyes were puzzled. "They're the most recent production of the Agencies and craftsmen... They behave similarly to 'Ginkens,' but can be wielded by anybody." Kaoru said, pulling out the sword and then tossing it into Tim's hands, who was taken aback and catching it.

"I'd like for you to have it." When Tim got perplexed, Kaoru smiled. "Please, then. Let your Ginken aside for the time being; you can set it on that table." When Kaoru pointed it out, Tim became perplexed but agreed.

Tim took a step toward the table after Kaoru sat down, at which point Tim's sword was softly placed on the table.

"How come you want me to use it?" Tim was perplexed, but Kaoru burst out laughing. "It's just to put you to the test..." However, at that point, Kaoru shattered a bell, causing Tim's sword to be engulfed by steam, and as soon as he reached for it, the sword was dragged towards the machine, causing his eyes to shake as the alarm was activated, causing the area to flicker red and make a loud noise.

"What the heck is going on?!" Tim inquired as he approached Kaoru, but Kaoru grinned and slipped his right arm into his pocket. "What exactly did you do to it?" Tim inquired, irritably. "I simply set it aside... Don't be so haughty about it..." As his companions drew their swords and pointed at Tim, who looked around, Kaoru smiled.

"You're a jerk... Just don't tell me-" But it was clear that Tim was just acting to gain their trust. "We're from the 'Ghoul Reaping' party, and we're ready to eliminate the 'Spiritual Duelists' because they're our only problems!" When Tim got serious, Kaoru spoke up, laughing.

"Oh, really? So, why should I be concerned? I will easily kill all three of you; you can't beat me on your own." However, Tim spoke up. "Oh, we're aware. This is why-" When many duelists emerged, clustered around Tim, at the top of the room as well as from the entrance, Kaoru snapped his fingers.

"That's why we've assembled as many people as we possibly might, so prepare to be reaped."

To be continued...