Chapter 21: The Dark Sword

"A distress signal, huh?..", General Yoshiki grumbled while tinkering her "console command". She was wiping her enhanced "cat ears", that also serve as "night vision goggles" when worn over the eyes, right at the moment her communication device started blinking. "It's not far from here."

Yoshiki Mizuki's subordinates, Kanae, Kasumi, and Kaguya, were in the middle of a dress rehearsal on a makeshift stage when all their "console commands" began sounding the emergency alarm. There were many onlookers, mostly members of the staff in charge of their concert a few days from the current situation. Even if it was a real practice for their performance, causing suspicions among civilians about the true purpose of why they were in a small town south of Fujiishima would compromise the mission.

"Ignore it. Keep doing the steps..", whispered Kanae, as the three continued to dance on stage. Then, she stole a quick glance at their commander who was seated on the farthest of the bleachers. "We'll handle that later, and it looks like sensei is already on top of it."

After singing a few lines, Kasumi quietly responded to Kanae with a reluctant nod. "But what if it needs immediate reinforcements?"

Kanae took her turn in singing before stealing another whisper. "Whatever it is, we cannot blow our cover in this quest."

All of a sudden, the music stopped. The director of the concert cut the rehearsal abruptly to give some points. "Kaguya-chan, you missed a step before your first line. You need to put one foot forward before swinging your hips."

Kaguya almost popped a vein and frowned. "Fine, fine! I'll get it next time..", she growled. After that, she went back into position and mumbled. "Why do I even bother?"

Kasumi smiled endearingly at her teammate. "It's because you're pretty and talented, Kaguya-tan."

"It's not that, Kasumi. Sensei's doing all the work. We're just here as a distraction...", Kaguya answered stoically. But shortly after, her expression changed into a more devilish one. "And what's worse? What if that distress signal is from Chizuru-sama? This might be my chance to save her. Then, she'll owe me her life, which I can take anytime."

"You're creeping me out, as always, Kaguya..", said Kanae with a slightly disgusted face. "But even if we're just a side show, let's just do our best. Let's make the most out of this quest."

However, the director of the show signaled something to the stage crew that somehow made everyone leave their respective stations. "Let's take a break. We've been rehearsing since this morning. I'm sure the girls are tired too with all the miscues."

Both Kaguya and Kanae took the director's remark hard, which almost caused them to pop a vein and growled. But Kasumi was just as apologetic as ever. However, it turned out to be in their favor since they were able to meet up with Yoshiki to discuss the emergency.

"It's Yanagi's group..", said Yoshiki the moment the three girls approached closely. "Let's call it a day and proceed to their location."

"But Yoshiki-taichou, won't that cause some suspicions?..", asked Kanae with some worry. "This might compromise the quest."

But Yoshiki Mizuki simply grinned at her underlings. "I'm posing as your manager, right? I'll handle the director while you go get dressed and geared up."

Kanae and Kaguya nodded with a serious expression, while Kasumi began to take on an extremely worried face and shivered. They have all been in a fighting situation in duels and training. However, if misfortune permitted it, it was going to be their first actual battle where lives were at stake.

"Oh, I almost forgot..", said Yoshiki, as she realized that she was still in her enhanced leather cat suit, which enables her to passively cast an illusion that hides her presence. And then, she gestured a "download". "Download Gekitai Suru no Jumon (Ward Spell) seventeen.. Rearmament."

Almost instantaneously, a flash of light unveiled Yoshiki Mizuki's dissolving cat suit and gear, leaving only her covered bare essentials. And just as fast as she was undressed, a secretary's uniform, with matching glasses and hair bun hairstyle, covered her half naked body.

Even if they have witnessed the general's unique magic spell many times already, the three first years were still left stunned.

"It never gets old..", Kanae remarked.

"Just like that anime I watched with that goddess like transformation..", added Kaguya.

"No, no! Is it over? My eyes are being defiled..", squealed Kasumi while partially covering her eyes with her hands.

After the spell manifested, Yoshiki gave her girls a nod each. "Alright, girls.. prepare for battle."

With Yoshiki arranging the postponement of "3K's" rehearsal, the girls donned their battle gears. Shinazugawa Kasumi got her white robes on, while Fukuoka Kanae wore her "bear hide light armor" with the rest of her arsenal of weaponry. Sendou Kaguya, however, took a little more time to braid her hair, as they travelled to Yanagi's position.

Unfortunately for Yanagi Shinsuke's unit, they did not have the luxury to do trivial things.

The night was getting longer than it already was. The fires stoked by Seijurou's spell earlier were still blazing furiously. Waves of attacks coming from the Yakuza's militia continued to press on toward the burning cloak of the first year. Despite Haguro doing well on holding his own against the high ranking gangster, Akisu, he was still being overwhelmed with the relentless bladed assault. Not far from them, the continues clash of high grade metal echoed throughout the ruins of Minami, with Satsuki and Shirogane exchanging merciless blows. And even if Shinsuke and Himiko were left on standby, they could only do so much since they might get in the way of their more nimble comrades.

"When is this going to end? I'm running out of stamina fast..", thought Seijurou, as he continued to block the gangsters' physical and magical offensive countermeasures. Cloaking himself with fire, it burned both his stamina and magic. While at it, he glanced at Haguro and Satsuki's individual skirmishes. "Good thing is they seem to be doing well. I don't sense imminent danger as of the moment."

Meanwhile, from the far end of the unexpected conflict, Shinsuke watched over his unit for any form of misjudgment. Being a "Battlemage" and "Heir" himself of the hero title, upfront combat was not exactly his strength. But his control of magic was on another level, that he waited for an opportunity to strike once more.

"You first years have been holding well in this fight..", said Shinsuke to his subordinate, Himiko, who was hovering beside him.

"I've been only doing as told and have been indirectly involved in this..", Himiko replied with a stoic face. "However, those two classmates of mine are on a whole new level, senpai.. -sama."

Shinsuke let off a smirk. "It's somehow expected from the pupils of the late Erida Masako."

Seijurou then, blocked a gargantuan water spell with his fire cloaked armguards, which caused a loud boom. Suddenly, the area was covered with vapor that obstructed everyone's view. As soon as the cloud cleared, it revealed him effectively blocking a simultaneous attack from three gangsters with his armored knee, ethereal shield, and opposite armguard. The maneuver rendered the attackers burning with his fire cloak consequently.

"But at this rate, it still surprises me.. most especially Erida-kun..", said Shinsuke while observing Seijurou's movements. "Kinjou-kun had countless battles under her sleeve, so she should be able to pull this off properly."

A flaming shield bash came from Seijurou after the Yakuza attempted an all out attack towards him. It got everyone's attention to focus on him again. The ruffians regrouped once more, and they had their wounded healed by their mages.

"Erida Seijurou, on the other hand..", Shinsuke continued with that smirk on his face. "..continues to exceed my expectations of him."

Another wave of a relentless assault pushed forward towards Seijurou's defenses. The difficulty of warding off attacks from Yakuza underlings seemed to have been a breeze for him since none of them possessed the battle prowess of a soldier. However, being burned by him and being healed by the enemy's mages in intervals made the gangsters' offensive look like an endless endeavor. It was as if a swarm of bees stung him continuously, that it was beginning to become fatal.

Seijurou gasped for air as he was beginning to tire out. "Time's almost up. I need to switch the cloak off."

All of a sudden, a tingling sensation crept up Seijurou's spine towards his brain. The feeling felt like something may have possessed him, but fortunately for him, it was not enough to hinder his movements.

"Erida-kun, whip something up to make them regroup again..", Shinsuke's voice echoed in Seijurou's thoughts, which caught the fiery boy by surprise.

"Yanagi-senpai! You can communicate telepathically?!..", asked Seijurou in awe. "Sugoi! That's the 'Battlemage' for you!"

"No time for flattery, Erida-kun. Besides, I'm not yet the 'Battlemage'..", replied Shinsuke's voice in Seijurou's head. "So, do something when you're ready."

Seijurou nodded, as five outlaws attacked him at the same time with matching elemental spells to back them up. Right after that, he spun to evade every single attack, which ended up him facing the ground in mid air. With a single breath and almost the last ounce of his stamina, he recited one of his favorite incantations. "Moeru Tsuku (Blazing Thrust)!"

Cocking his palm backward, then thrusting it towards the ground, Seijurou caused an unnecessarily enormous explosion. It caused his gangster attackers to be flung in different directions and the rest to back away. A droplet of sweat rolled down on Shinsuke and Himiko's heads with the overly excessive damage.

When the massive ash cloud slightly cleared, Shinsuke appeared and handed a "stamina potion" to Seijurou. "Yikes.. such a big area attack for a small group of brutes."

"Yanagi-senpai..", a slightly surprised Seijurou took the small vial and drank its contents. "Thanks for the potion. But it can't be helped. I only rely on area attacks and cloak spells since I have terrible aim and offensive skills."

"Then, just keep defending. Let's hold this out together..", Shinsuke gave his kouhai a reassuring smile. "I'll hurl spells that would take most of them out. For those who'll get through, just defend normally until I carefully shoot them down. Got it?"

"Hai, Yanagi-senpai."

"Good. Let's wrap it up."

More explosions came after, as expected from Shinsuke rejoining the skirmish. Although mostly were lightning spells, there were some fire and water elements to counter the enemy's mages. Even if Seijurou was ordered to defend, it seemed like no one was able to break through Shinsuke's mercilessly destructive approach. A few did manage to get past the powerful "Battlemage", but as soon as Seijurou managed to stagger them with his defensive countermeasures, they were struck with lightning bolts.

Akisu laughed, as he spun to strike Haguro with his dual katana attack. "It's seems they're having a lot of fun there."

"Paying heed to another's problem?..", replied Haguro while blocking more attacks from his opponent. "You underestimate me, Akisu-san."

"And how will I not, Kuronuma-kun?..", Akisu smirked, as he attempted to land another decapitating slash. "I've been on the overwhelming offensive with my 'Nitoryu' (two sword style) the whole time."

"Keep at it, and you'll run out of stamina..", shot Haguro back. "Meanwhile, I barely broke a sweat."

"That's what I don't get about you 'Ittoryu' (one sword style) users, including Shirogane-sama..", said Akisu while dealing another flurry. "All you have to do is build an immense amount of stamina."

It may have seemed that the clash of steel disappeared with all of the explosions from a short distance. However, its intensity was only muffled by sound, as it unknowingly increased due to the heated battle between swordsmen. Akisu's attacks never showed signs of openings, but Haguro's defensive stance was close to perfect, as well, keeping the fight within a stalemate.

However, for the other melee of swords, the tide was beginning to turn. With no signs of fatigue and slowing down, the "Heiress of the Swordmaiden" was starting to find more and more opportunities to strike down the Yakuza leader.

Striking each other with swords in intervals like two master Samurai, Shirogane and Satsuki exchanged blows and backed down to take positions repetitively. For the untrained eye, the skirmish looked like they were equals in skill. It may have seemed that way in the beginning, but it was slowly becoming evident that Satsuki got more attacks out of her in the succeeding strikes after the initial charge.

Shirogane was gradually feeling the cost of being on the defensive and constantly doing last minute blocks and dodges. "If this were a duel of swords, I would definitely lose to your superior skills, Kinjou Satsuki."

Satsuki smiled confidently. "I don't get what you're talking about, ossan, but you're right about one thing. You lose."

With a devilish laugh coming out of him, Shirogane once more, assumed a basic defensive stance. "Come at me with all you have got, child. Then, you will understand."

"With pleasure..", said Satsuki, as she sheathed her katana. After that, she placed herself in a lowered attacking stance while holding the hilt and scabbard of her weapon. "I will now subdue you, Shirogane Hayai."

"Girl, it does not help to announce your intentions..", Shirogane laughed tauntingly.

"It matters not. You will never be able to escape..", without a moment's notice, Satsuki charged and unleashed her sword.

Shirogane tilted his blade in a hopeless attempt to block. To his surprise, the speed of the attack went faster than an eye could even blink. The Heiress' blade quickly slashed through both his wrists.

As Satsuki waited for the sound of metal and flesh crashing to the ground, she slowly sheathed her katana. Just before she was able to fully put the blade in its scabbard, she realized that something was awfully wrong.

The supposedly dismembered body parts did not fall. It caused Satsuki to turn around and draw her weapon again. To her shock, Shirogane's hands were still in tact and holding the sword, without a single drop of blood.

"How?..", Satsuki could only mutter, as her eyes widened in horror. "I was sure I cut you."

A loud and demonic laugh resounded from Shirogane. "Yes, you did. It was a brilliant technique, ojou-san. My eyes could not even follow. Do you want to try again?"

With her heart starting to beat faster, Satsuki began to sweat coldly. It was the first time she had encountered something like this. She desperately tried to keep her calm like her master told her once before. Pondering in her thoughts, she attempted to regain her focus. "Not good. I'll definitely make a mistake if I attack like this.. and my fast heart rate will burn my stamina quickly.. I need to calm the hell down."

After a few moments, Satsuki and Shirogane prepared to charge again by circling around each other with weapons drawn. When Shirogane smirked, he cocked back to charge again. "Well, shall we restart, Swordmaiden-ojou-sama?"

The two sword masters clashed once again with a deafening clang. However, Satsuki did not stop there and released a flurry of slashes. Diagonal strikes from left to right, and from the backhand to the forehand, came after the other. Last second countermeasures were what kept Shirogane from being cut into shreds. There was no backing away in intervals this time around. Satsuki was going for the kill.

"So fast! Maybe you should also inherit my name, 'Hayai' (quick)..", said Shirogane while desperately doing split second parrying. "But with your heart beating so fast with the relentless assault, you are doomed to lose your stamina."

Satsuki just smirked smugly with her relentless assault. "Don't worry. We won't be reaching that point."

With Satsuki's superior swordsmanship and speed, the merciless flurry was bound to create an opening. And it did when the hilt of her katana bashed Shirogane, staggering him backwards. It only took one fell swoop to cut through Shirogane's neck.

However, even if she was expecting to finally decapitate her opponent, Satsuki's well trained eyes saw through the unimaginable. As her blade slashed through Shirogane's neck, the cut that her weapon caused was instantaneously followed through by it closing and reattaching completely.

"I see. Looks like I'm going to have to cut you before you can heal..", said Satsuki, while she stepped back and gasped for air. "Instant Regeneration.. that's a troublesome magic trick you've got there, ossan."

"Are you sure that it is magic though, and cut me before I could heal myself?..", Shirogane let out another laugh. "Well, my dear girl, let us see if you can with you slowing down."

Shirogane proceeded to sheathe his sword and assumed an attacking stance. "Buki no Jutsu.. Sacrilege."

The quick charge and unsheathing by her opponent was fortunately parried by Satsuki. "I've slowed down due to my low stamina, yes, but you're still too slow."

The confident remark that Satsuki said lost its credibility the moment she saw the Yakuza boss's katana. The blade emanated a flame even darker than the cover of night around them. And what was more was it gave off a feeling of dread and pure evil.

Shirogane's weapon art somehow, got to Seijurou's senses. "Why do I feel that the odds of this battle is about to change?"

From high above, Himiko was also beginning to lose her grip on the knife that she impaled on the doll, when her hand started to tremble. "Senpai-sama was lying that he'd get in the way if he joined the battle. He only stayed with me to make sure to keep my spell active. Now, I'm running out of magic."

Just as Himiko was losing "magic points", Satsuki was running out of stamina with her continuous offensive. Even if Shirogane was just on the defensive, Satsuki was not making any progress. There were multiple times that she landed slashes on her opponent, but the cuts just healed just as fast.

Shirogane chuckled deviously while taking multiple hits. "It is no use, Kinjou Satsuki. You will knock yourself unconscious soon if you continue. You are already slowing down."

"And you'll run out of magic soon..", shot Satsuki back.

"Are you sure I was actually draining, what do you call it?..", Shirogane teased. "Ah.. magic points."

A fatigued Satsuki suddenly miscued her strike. An opportunity presented itself to Shirogane shortly after. And without any hesitation, he swung his black katana.

To his surprise, Shirogane struck metal, which produced a loud boom that caused wind to blast towards all directions. "That is one stubborn piece of armor, boy."

Seijurou managed to get a block in time with his custom "Orcish" armguards to save Satsuki's back. He ignored Shirogane and gestured towards Satsuki. "Kinjou, step back a bit."

Flipping backwards to a distance, Satsuki nodded with smile. "Thanks, Erida-kun."

Without a single response to his surroundings, Seijurou ignited himself with a furiously blazing fire cloak. Shirogane managed to escape the clinch in time with some minor burns.

Licking the wounds on his arms, Shirogane frowned at the seemingly infernal boy. "That actually hurt me, moeru shounen (flaming boy)."

"So, flames work on you, huh? You some sort of  'youkai', or 'oni' (demon)..", Seijurou responded while undoing his cloak.

Shirogane smirked and shook his head. "It would make things complicated if you called me that."

"You already made things complicated by hurting Kinjou..", growled Seijurou with anger. "Lay another finger on her.. I swear I'll burn you alive."

Satsuki blushed madly at the back upon hearing Seijurou's words, but she immediately shook her head back to her senses. "Erida-kun! Calm down. I'm okay. Let's take him together. He can heal really, really fast!"

"I know..", Seijurou answered stoically.

After the two teammates' brief conversation, Shirogane laughed with a devious expression. "You still are a child, after all, Swordmaiden."

Just before the three reared for another clash, an arrow suddenly pierced through Shirogane's head. It came from somewhere above them, as a tall figure of a female ranger stood atop a ruined pillar.

"Yumi no Jutsu (Art of the Bow).. Serpent's Sense..", Chizuru chanted with her eyes closed. Then, she proceeded to operate her console command. "Hayama-sensei, there are about fifty of them in the perimeter of Minami. Your orders?"

Right when the paralyzed Yakuza members woke up from Himiko's spell, Hayama Akira jumped into action. He drew his buccaneer guns with each hand and shot every enemy in sight, while he maneuvered to avoid incoming attacks as well. "Subdue the leader, Taneda-san."

"Roger that, sensei..", Chizuru responded, as she drew another arrow and shot at Shirogane.

But to everyone's shock, Shirogane pulled the arrow out of his head without any trace of a wound. "Tsk. One after another."

Keeping herself from being wide eyed since her technique required it, Chizuru calmly analyzed the situation. "It seems physical attacks don't hurt him at all. What's strange is he burns so brightly white in thermal vision."

Suddenly, a black bladed knife flew towards Chizuru. Though she was just going to catch it with her abilities. "What a pathetic way to attack. And you call yourself the Yakuza boss?"

However, a crossbow arrow deflected the knife right before it hit Chizuru.

"Tsk. Kaguya-hime..", thought Chizuru with a frown. "I was going to catch that, but great aim, nonetheless."

From a mile away, Kaguya smirked while looking through her goggles. "Got one up over Chizuru-sama. But what the hell is up with that bright monster in the middle? Is my 'Snake Eye' messing up?"

With more reinforcements coming in, the battle began to blow out of proportion. Although outnumbered, the power struggle shifted in favor of Yanagi's unit. It was very evident with Haguro's struggle with Akisu, as a shielded warrior appeared out of nowhere to bash the dual wielding Samurai.

And then, out of the shadows, Yoshiki Mizuki subdued and disarmed Akisu. "Don't you think it's such a drag keeping those attacks going when you can just lie down here with me, Lord Akisu? Surrender and let me treat you well."

"Nekokunoichi! You..", Akisu could only do too much under Yoshiki's tight grapple.

As Hayama threw his emptied guns, he proceeded to draw his dual scimitars and charged at the enemy with murderous rage. "Xi-san! I'm out of bullets. I need support. Toho-san! Help Yanagi-san."

A droplet of sweat rolled on Jax's head, as he watched his commander clean the battlefield up. "Support, huh? Like he needed it. Whatever, let's go."

Kazuma snickered, while he began hurling elemental spells towards Shinsuke's targets. "Cut the ossan some slack. He just wants to have fun with us kids."

Jax charged after a few moments. The extreme force from his power and strength caused the enemy's ranks to be flung helplessly. His giant axe seemed like a scythe that slashed through the fields of wheat, as he mercilessly dealt them damage.

From the sky, Himiko dropped upon depleting all her magic. Fortunately for her, Kasumi was there to catch her and soften the landing with her "Holy Arts".

Himiko slowly opened her eyes. "Priestess-chan.. when? How?"

Kasumi smiled awkwardly but endearingly. "It's okay. We're here now, Himiko-tan."

But as soon as a fire spell exploded near the two, Kasumi squealed and ducked. Himiko looked at her classmate blankly with a droplet of sweat. "You're not very convincing, Priestess-chan."

As the battle drew towards its conclusion, Jax plowed through the remaining criminals. "What is up with these weaklings, sensei? Anybody there to give me at least a challenge?"

Hayama shook his head while tying up the captured enemies. "Show a little restraint, will you? They're not like the soldier rebels we fought. Keep them alive for interrogation."

However, Jax proceeded towards where Satsuki and Seijurou were. "Then, I'll look for a good fight."

"Xi-san! Wait! We're not sure what we're dealing with yet."

Ignoring his commander's words, Jax charged at Shirogane with a full swing, causing the ground to erupt in a dirt cloud. His target however, managed to avoid in time. "Satsuki-chan, I'm here."

Seijurou looked at Jax blankly. "I'm here too.. already.. from the start."

Jax sneered. "Well, seems you're not getting the job done, otaku-san."

Before another useless conflict escalated between the two rivals, Satsuki interrupted. "That's right! Jax's weapon has the right size to momentarily separate a limb or a head completely, preventing any form of regeneration. Let's charge at the same time!"

"A rather grim way of putting it, Kinjou..", said Seijurou with another droplet of sweat. "But are you fast enough to execute it, saru-san? This guy's a real monster."

"Don't give me that shit, otaku-san!..", provoked, Jax instantaneously charged at Shirogane for another swing, completely ignoring Satsuki's strategy.

"Xi-kun! Wait!..", Satsuki tried to stop Jax, but it was too late.

Once again, another surprise was pulled out of Shirogane's bag of tricks. He stopped the massive axe at the tip of its blade with a finger. "I admire your courage, Berserker-shounen, but such technique is a little too brash for my taste."

Shirogane disappeared with blistering speed and reappeared behind Jax. The unthinkable almost happened due to Seijurou saving the day with another armguard parry. As soon as he charged a fire spell, Shirogane immediately backed down to avoid it.

"Looks like this creature learned its lesson..", taunted Seijurou.

Shirogane growled in anger. "It? Are you mocking me, boy?"

"What're you going to do about it, Hayai-kun?..", Yoshiki Mizuki's voice teased from behind, as she dragged an all tied up Akisu.

"Drop your weapon and surrender, Shirogane Hayai! You're surrounded. Again, you're under arrest..", said Shinsuke, as he appeared from above.

A single Yakuza underling suddenly drew his sword and stood in front of his boss. "Come any closer, and I will not hesitate to kill anyone of you!"

Hayama reacted by pointing his reloaded gun at Shirogane. "Still like playing with kids, huh? Get your thug out of the way, Hayai-aniki, so I could have a clear shot at you."

"Why? Do you miss working with me, Akira-aniki?..", Shirogane teased and laughed. After a few seconds, he glanced at everyone around him. "My, my.. the presence of one of Jihon's 'Round Table of Seven' and the future member of it, with the commander of the capital's squadron, somehow flatters me."

Hayama, Shinsuke, and Satsuki slowly approached the two criminals left standing to apprehend them. The gangster underling shivered, as three top caliber soldiers singled them out. However, the poor underling stood his ground.

"I wish I could have given you all an appropriate accommodation since this was of great pleasure to me..", Shirogane said. "However, I am afraid that play time is over, and I need to take my leave."

"Don't you try anything funny, Hayai-kun, or we'll all hit you with all we've got at once!..", Yoshiki warned.

But to everyone's surprise, Shirogane's dark blade impaled his underling from the back all the way to the chest. Before the thug lost his life, he flung his subordinate towards the direction of the restrained Akisu. "There, Akira-aniki.. you can shoot me now."

All three units charged at Shirogane with powerful battle techniques. An explosion followed the moment they hit the Yakuza boss, obliterating anything that stood in the way.

As soon as the smoke cleared, a sword was revealed in the middle of a small crater. Haguro picked it up to examine. "A relic. Looks like we got him."

When the rest of the dust settled, Chizuru suddenly exclaimed from above. "You got the wrong guy! He's still alive!"

A feeling of unimaginable dread engulfed the members of the three military units, when the dark blade revealed itself to be completely in tact inside Shirogane Hayai's grip. The Yakuza boss was standing unharmed beside his restrained officer, Akisu. "It seems that my poor little underling fulfilled his duties brilliantly for the last time."

"A substitution technique..", said Seijurou, as he came out of his confused silence. A feeling of rage began to take on him. "How many more cheap tricks do you have, you demon?! And why do you have to kill your loyal servant without remorse?! You monster!"

As Seijurou cloaked himself with fire again and charged at Shirogane, the Yakuza boss let out a devilishly bone chilling laughter. "Such blasphemy for a young boy like you. However, it was you who crushed him to dust. I just stabbed him."

Right before Seijurou, Chizuru's arrow, and Kaguya's shot reached the mob leader, both Shirogane and Akisu vanished through thin air.

A bewildered Seijurou slowly dispelled his flames and stared towards a blank space. "Eh?"

Translation Notes:

Hime – literally translates to "princess". It could also be used as an honorific like how Chizuru addressed Kaguya in this chapter. "Kaguya-hime" means "Princess Kaguya".

Aniki – it simply means brother or "bro". It's also commonly used as an honorific in organizations that emphasize brotherhood like the Yakuza.

Honorifics Guide:

-tan – a rather cuter and more childlike way of addressing the already adorable "-chan" honorific.

Monogatari Concepts:

The Youkai – mythical spirits, beasts, and creatures that evolved from the souls that got lost in the night of Danaya's Underworld intervention. When Danaya closed off the many holes that the White Rabbit dug to enter the Underworld, many souls never found their way back and got lost under the light of the full moon. It is said that up to this day, many still roam the wilderness and grow in power in proportion to the brightness of the moon.

Present day Jihonian mages consider them as malevolent NPCs (non player characters) that regularly attack remote villages and stray travelers. They can also be used as conjured familiars since they have ethereal magic immunity that exists in the void space between summons. That is, of course, if one was able to put under a contract with the said creatures.

Character Description:

General Yoshiki Mizuki – originally was just supposed to be an overpowered assassin. But I find it too plain for someone who sits with the seven most powerful soldiers of Jihon. So, to put more color in her character, I conceptualized her as a nod to Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Night Rises'" Catwoman, played by Anne Hathaway. With the leather suit and the "goggles turned cat ears" sort of gave it away. But to avoid copyright issues, I simply made her hair long and silver (natural hair color and not because of age. She's quite sensitive about that).

Before becoming a military general, Yoshiki Mizuki climbed through the ranks by becoming the government's best saboteur. Infiltration, information theft, and assassinations are among her specialties. It is rumored that she actually became one of the Shogun's "Oniwabanshu" for a time, but it was never proven.

Surely, such an illustrious career tells of a woman with advancing age. However, she's only 44 years old (she'll kill me for disclosing this info). But she actually looks much younger than her age (nice bounce back). She stands at a mere 158cm and weighs only at 41kg, making her nimble and stealthy enough to be called the "Nekokunoichi" of the far east. However, her stats don't do her extremely fit and voluptuous build justice. Her unique "rearmament" jutsu is a sight to behold (especially for simps), which allows her to change her outfits at will, depending on the disguise she needs for specific quests.

Mizuki-chan is a very likeable character, but don't let her catch you addressing her the way I just did. She demands respect among her colleagues and subordinates, and is actually as short fused as discussing her age with regards to this issue. Likewise, it is very difficult to earn her respect, but once you get to her good side, she will acknowledge you to the best of her capabilities. She does have a tendency to be lazy but only on things that disinterest her. She does have a flirty side only because of her frustration of not being married yet. Besides being on a mission and finding the love of her life, the only thing that she likes is sake.