chapter 82
--3rd person POV--
The Nogitsune had in his hands a sword too and was ready to fight the Lion in front of him.
"You know that beasts stopped being the apex predator a long time ago? It was because men developed weapons and strategies to fight them" said the void Kitsune, while rotating his katana.
The lion only replied with a snort, before charging at his enemy.
He jumped on him, but just when he was about to touch him the Nogitsune suddenly accelerated and became as fast as lightning.
The katana slashed the lion, but the latter was able to move in time and only got a light wound, thanks to his instinct which warned him.
Confusion was apparent on the face of the beast, but the mummy wouldn't leave him enough time to think about it.
The movements of the fox were strange, he looked hindered by his mummified body most of the time, but when the lion was near, it would accelerate and reach a speed the lion couldn't keep up with.
Like this the fight went on, but the same happened many time and the lion soon got various wounds.
"They works better when mixed in the opposite element, what are they?" said the Nogitsune, because of his habit to play with his prey.
By giving them hope and later crush it, the despair would just grow and that was what he liked the most.
Thomas now could maintain his reason even as a lion so it wasn't difficult for him to think normally, but riddles are made to complicate things.
Moreover he wasn't sure how much he could trust the words of such a creature, he could just be telling him lies to trick him…
Lies…
'They work better when mixed with truth, he is mixing his movements with illusions to trick me' though Thomas.
Now the only problem was how to find a way to understand what was false and what was real?
Till now the only thing that truly worked was his instinct. Although his eyes couldn't catch the movements of the Nogitsune, he was able to survive till now thanks to some quick warning he got from his mind.
The lion seeing the Nogitsune run at him another time decided to close his eyes and let his sixth sense guide him.
This would sound like bullshit normally, but in this world where predicting deaths was a thing and the supernatural existed,, it wasn't impossible.
It was then that Thomas following what could have been just a ignorant guess, evaded to his right and clawed in the opposite direction.
"Ahhhh" screamed the Kitsune.
While it was only one hit, thanks to Thomas strength even this was enough to change the sort of the battle.
"You seems to have found the trick, let's see if your friends will fair as good as you" he said before disappearing in the snow that kept falling and when Thomas turned around he could see that others Oni appeared among his allies who were fighting.
They were just illusion, but when mixed with the real ones they could become dangerous.
Thomas went toward them since the Nogitsune was nowhere to be seen. Foxes don't like to risk their lives in battles.
--Ann Evans POV--
The second is gone.
"Let's go to the next." I shouted.
Only four remained, but just when I though that we were going to make it, others Oni appeared.
"What is happening?" asked my sister as she got cut in the ankle, but no wounds formed as it wasn't a real the Oni that cut her.
"They are illusions" I said, but it wouldn't make things much better.
For me it was easy to distinguish them as I share the same power, but for the others it was impossible since these illusion were made by a thousands years old Nogitsune, even the pain they inflicted felt real.
A lion roared suddenly and jumped on one of the true Oni, who was about to slash Malia, saving her in the process.
"How do you know which are true?" I asked, but no answer came other than a roar.
Should have expected that, but maybe the fact that he didn't turn back in his half human form means that he needs to remain an animal to find them.
"I think he is using his instinct. When you turn into your animal form every sense of your get amplificated and you start to feel things you can't normally sense" she said before turning into a wolf too.
I then decided to act and went to help my sister with the Oni she was fighting.
Although I knew that the other two near us were fake, they were still able to hurt just as much as a normal one, and the pain was difficult to deal with and didn't allow me to concentrate enough to deal a fatal blow to the Oni.
My sister fell on the ground because of a fake injury at some point and I had to then start protecting her from the Oni, but just as things were starting to get more difficult one arrow hit the Oni, but differently from the previous cases this one managed to kill it.
"It is the silver. It can kill them. Tell me which ones are the true one?" said Allison from her place.
"Behind you!" I shouted, but she wouldn't make it in time to turn around.
"Ahhh" a scream was then felt, but it was sharp, powerful and supernatural.
--3rd person POV--
Lydia saw the Oni who was approaching Allison and thanks to Ann's warning she knew it was a true one.
In that precise moment she remembered the day when Malia was caught because of her, and also of that time when Ennis used Laura as an hostage and Alisson killed him with one precise arrow.
Precision.
That was something she lacked, her sound waves were strong, but at that time she was unable to control them effectively.
In her life every time she found herself lacking in something she worked hard to improve it, like she did that time with her appearance and look, before approaching Thomas.
She assumed a position similar to that of a martial artist and chopped her hand while screaming.
The sound waves assumed the form of a line and hit a precise point of the extended arm of the Oni cutting it off.
"I did it" she shouted and Allison used that moment to stab one of her silver arrow in the body of the Oni.
Some people then got injured, but they were able to deal with the Oni.
Some of the Calaveras were killed and Derek had been hit by two bullets to protect Boyd, but the battle had ended.
Only one enemy remained.
"Where is he?" asked Thomas, who had turned back to his human appearance.
"He is still here, the illusion would have disappeared if he had run away" she said closing her eyes and then she threw casually one of her needle in a specific direction and the illusion immediately stopped after it hit the wall.
If one were to look at it with attention, between the wall and the needle there was a fly.
"Eheheh time to make you pay" said Ann as she took the fly and put it in a glass vial.
"Is it dead?" asked Thomas.
"Not yet. While all kitsune usually lives for 900 hundreds years, dark kitsunes can live eternally as spirits for as long as they have some energy created by dark emotions. I'll suck it all from him during the next few days and then he'll definitely die" said Ann with an eager expression at the prospect of getting all the energy that the Nogitsune in her hand accumulated.
"For now it is under the effect of wolf lichen, so you don't have to worry about him finding a way out" she reassured the others.
Another disaster has been prevented, but this is just your everyday life in Beacon Hills.
(Sorry for the delay, but as i said previously i had to remake the new chapter and it was really bothersome to write something you already wrote once)