❦︎: The Way Of The Shadows

"Shinoa.."

Raishou appeared without his opaque armor.

Shinoa shivers in fear. He recognizes the voice and especially the face.

"Shisho..."

Shinoa looks frightened that made Megumi suspect a confusion towards the situation.

"That's right I'm your Master— Saijo Seika"

"How come you're still alive!" Shinoa looks like a lightning just stroke her down, she was about to cry, being surprised by an old friend, she doesn't know what to feel

All this time she thought that he died, but why is he infront of her now?

"Didn't Raishou killed you? Aren't you Raishou?" She look so puzzled by how the things had turned out to be

"Shinoa-sensei don't be fooled, his already dead! That's the enemy!" Megumi waking up Shinoa

She shed tears but wipe it away and let her personal feelings aside for work.

She had thought, 'This isn't true, his not my master— that's Raishou' don't be fooled by those foolish act.

"I thought it would affect you, but I guess it didn't, such a shame" Raishou put the pretend smile away

"You just didn't eat his soul but also overtaken his body" said Shinoa, even so it'll be difficult for her to fight him, after all he has Saijo Seika's body

"Saijo looks exactly like you right now, seeing his beloved wife be taken over by a cursed spirit" He'd seen the hate in Shinoa's face as she glared at him with a murderous intent. He had a small smile but eventually vanish

Shinoa step forward casting her shadow, building up a sword as it appears in her right hand, the black shadow sword was sent flying onto Raishou's neck but Shinoa stop there, she's still struggling about the fact that the body belongs to her master.

"Hesitating are we? Let me tell you a story, about how he lost, Saijo never really intent to kill me, seeing me as his wife, it was difficult to handle, I can still remember those fragile look, the look of something scared! be taken over by fear! sadness! and ANGER!, he look so miserable, just like you are now" Raishou captured Shinoa's neck before she could even run, by that sudden action she drop her sword and it disappears

Shinoa was loosing out of breath and unable to get out of Raishou's grasped. Until she lost conciouseness, by the time she's about to lose her life Megumi and Shina came to help.

The two took charged, Shina took underneath while Megumi sore up high.

Striking lightning and directly wounding the toes. They are able to retrieved Shinoa back. But she won't wake up.

Megumi and Shina tried to fight Raishou until Shinoa regain her conciouseness.

With the full intent to kill. Megumi and Shina give it their all.

Shina's cursed energy is still unknown. But still she got good skills and technique that would be very helpful for Megumi to cast his Shikigamis.

With the help of Shina they are able to buy Shinoa some time.

Megumi cast his Shikigami's one by one and it got teared apart, he won't be able to bring back all the Shikigami's he lost. So he is thinking for a better way to fight without his Shikigami's.

Shina clashes with Raishou. Throwing some smoke bomb to blind Raishou and throwing shurikens at his direction, it got on Raishou's flesh and it errupted, but Raishou was able to regain fast.

'If that won't work, this better be!' Shina's thought

Shina move faster, much faster and faster that Raishou can't keep up by her speed.

With that tremendous speed. Shina played one of her trump card. Infusing too much cursed energy on the sword will put too much pressure when it cuts through Raishou's flesh as it produces much greater damage.

After wounding Raishou badly, they've seen a slight difference from earlier. His wounds doesn't heal like that anymore. Even though, he was strong, it would be dangerous to repeat it in loop, it will drain Shina's cursed energy.

"Any plan?" Shina asked the moment she saw Megumi on her side

"I've got nothing!" He honestly said, deeply thinking of his next move

Shina sigh, "Then you follow me, I've got an idea, but it would be risky"

Shina already had given it a thought since the moment Shinoa fought with Raishou. But this is the first time she's going to try it, so she really doesn't know what will come out of it.

Megumi's thoughts gotten deeper and sigh in the end, "If it'll help us, then let's give it a try" his heavy breath...

'Hope It'll work' Shina's thought, she knew that if she failed, there'll be a greater amount of consequences.

Shina step in and was ready to fight.

In the eerie depths of the cursed realm, sorcerer Shina finds herself confronted by a sinister entity known as the Soul Eater, a malevolent curse that devours the souls of its victims to bolster its own power and that's Raishou.

"I want to keep this for the strongest, but I guess I have to resort with it" said Raishou unveiling his illutionary power

A smoke appeared from nowhere, blinding all the paths that they see.

Megumi and Shina held each other hands so they won't get separated. Then they heard a sudden crackling on the ground and a clash of metals like sword. Slowly getting nearer their direction.

A sword aimed for Megumi's head but he saw that so he dodge it in an instant, leaving no scratch on his face.

Another attack surprises them but barely manage to survive.

Megumi cast his Shikigami, Nue once again. It flaps it wings and the smoke disappears revealing Raishou infront of them, they both got hit and ended up swinging on the ground. Megumi barely manage to sent Nue to protect Shina from falling before he sent Nue away back to the shadow.

In a nick of time, Raishou multiple, from 1 to 8 to hundreds of Raishou's clone, and their only will is to defeat them and eat their souls.

This was a bit difficult for the two of them, although it's just an illusion— they can still kill, because the attack is real.

All of Raishou's clone revealed a dagger, and aim for Shina and Megumi's head, but the thing is— Shinoa was still out there.

Daggers thrown to where Shina and Megumi is, the only way to counter attack that was too dodge and to throw it back to Raishou's clone, Shina did it many times but it hit Shinoa's arm, now it's bleeding so Megumi went their to retrieve Shinoa and put her to a safe place, having to create a barrier that will protect her.

Shina and Megumi got their swords in their right hand, emitting curse energy to the sword. Then in a flash they slattered Raishou's illusion. They are bathing in blood. It turns out the thing they killed was actually lower grade curses.

"Huff—huff—huff" they breath heavily, feeling the exhaustion

Shina and Megumi bend one of their knees and flew to Raishou's direction, clashing with swords and dagger. They hit and exchange attack one by one. But still Raishou is actually stronger in their present situation.

Megumi cast a big circle of his Shadow, getting high quality cursed weapons, he uses his time space to fight in a loop with his contigious attack, leaving Raishou stunned in a bit. He thinks it's worth it to fight along.

Shina as his back up charged in— with her tremendous speed. But still Raishou see through that, aiming for her arm, but he missed and his exchange attack was too stab Shina's leg with a dagger.

"Arggghhh!!!" The pain crippled in Shina's leg

"That's more like it, now that your leg is injured it can slow your annoying speed.." Raishou muttered having to stab Shina's other leg

Megumi sent his slytherin snakes to hold Raishou and refrain him from moving. Megumi got Shina.

But Shina's determination and will to fight didn't stop her to keep going even with her injuries.

As Shina along side with Megumi stands firm against the Soul Eater's relentless assault, she knows that defeating such a formidable foe will require her to unleash her most potent weapon: the Forbidden Curse Technique of the Beast Conjurer.

Shina slash a bit of her flesh and uses the blood to write something on the air, and saw the visible floathing words she just wrote.

'Midnight Panther'

"Come forth at once!" She whispers

With a solemn resolve, Shina channels the ancient rituals passed down through her bloodline, invoking the spirit of the mythical Midnight Panther. As shadows coalesce around her, she undergoes a transformation, as the spirit become one with her soul.

Shina's whole body lightened and went black, it slowly disappears revealing Shina's Beast Form. A dark fur of a panther, sharp claws and sharp teeth, dark black fierce eyes that possessed night vision, and a leg of a panther that is hard as metal and very fast.

"She's a beast tamer!" Megumi gasped by the sudden reveal, he can't barely recognized Shina now

With this form Shina possesses the speed of lightning. She's faster than earlier.

"What a cunning surprised?" Raishou said surprisely, he didn't saw this coming after all

"YOUR GOING TO DIE!!!" Shina's voice becomes deep because of the Panther's spirit inside her

Shina's eyes brightened. Shina uses her claws to scratch Raishou's skin. It works. Since that claws is poisonous to curses, it creeps inside Raishou's skin, it deepens to his arms, causing to ache and felt numb, until it reattached on Raishou's skin and replaced with another, but this one have another layer, a layer that even poison can't penetrate, even so not all of his body is covered with that.

Raishou summoned thunder as his aid. Bending it with all his might, striking the fastest panther he ever seen in his entire life line.

Grrrrr— kaboom! bgssssvchx! Grrrr! Baggg!

Numerous attack was made but no one stand at lost. Both sides don't tend to lose the fight.

Shina created a black arrow— aiming for Raishou the soul's eater heart — as if he had a heart to begin with so Shina change her target and went for the head instead. It was a perfect hit but it was Raishou's another illusion tricks, making Shina frustrated.

While watching the fight, Megumi is also looking out for Shinoa whose still in the brick of recovering by the sudden tension.

Megumi felt weak for a moment. He had thought 'why am I just sitting around and not the one whose fighting, this is not like me— and so he decided to make a secluded area for Shinoa, a barrier that even a curse would have a hard time to break so he could fight a long side with Shina, but making that barrier takes time.

The showdown between Shina and Raishou unfolds in a desolate wasteland, illuminated only by the crackling sharp claw and shimmering illusions cast by the combatants. Shina launches ferocious blackballs, scorching the earth and creating fiery barriers to corner Raishou. However, Raishou deftly counters with his illusions, creating mirages that distort Shina's perception and lead her astray.

"ROAR!!!" Shina growl and Megumi felt a sudden chill

"Isn't it too early to rest—" Raishou whose starting to be tempted by more attack of a strong opponent— he haven't tasted for years

"Who told you I need rest?— after you've killed dozens of innocent people— just for fun! For food!! For power!!! I can no longer take your shit, you must die— and nows the time" Shina growl loudly

Making the same tricks again— Speed. Surrounding Raishou. This time her speed burns, flaring with scorching fire— making the ground shook and pieces of soil broke to pieces flying to tin air.

But suddenly Raishou's figure disappears and he created hundreds of his clones once again, making it so hard to distinguish between the real Raishou and his illusions. But it doesn't matter, Shina have the will to kill them all, with Megumi being her aid.

With Raishou's tremendous power and hundreds of him doing that is a very difficult task to accomplish— especially to the lower grades. But the impact wasn't so strong since Raishou is in the process of healing. By the attack he recieve earlier.

Megumi blew away Raishou's clones in group, making a shadow black hole that turns their body into liquid. The other remaining clones is taken by Shina with her blazing blackballs— more powerfull than the last time— and Raishou's clones got wiped out.

Raishou issues another illusion, this time it's not him but Shina's illusion. A mirror image of Shina, identical in every way. When Raishou cast an illusion it has greater chance that also the ability of that person can be used. Most of the time Raishou uses that to bait the enemy.

Since Shina is occupied by her illusion, Megumi will rival'd Raishou whose still got those tremendous strength that could kill a special grade— he got no choice.

The exchange of punches in the battle field was wild. On the other hand Shina's having difficulty to fight her own— as they shared the same tricks and looks.

"I thought it would be bad to fight the both of you, but since Shinoa's knock out! I'll spend the time playing a long till she wakes up, my dinner" said Raishou, popping out the veins in his muscles

"I won't be your appetizer" said Megumi clenching his fist

He knows that his strength alone will not damage Raishou, so he decided to use his trump card.

"Domain Expansion—"

Megumi cast his domain expansion. Making the surroundings between the two darken. Raishou can't see clearly in the dark but he still got his 4 senses. He can feel Megumi's move through his feet by the echoes on the ground. He was trained.

But that doesn't mean Megumi's going to lose the battle, after all he got the upper hand in this battle, the domain is his.

Megumi is expert when it comes to Shikigami, just like Suguru Geto who eat up Shikigami and use it later, Megumi hide them in the shadows and when they are needed he'll release them, and you are probably wondering where they live, of course it's inside his shadows.

The Shikigami's Megumi fully trained burst out of the shadow.

"WTF?? these weaklings for sure a lot!" Said Raishou, not showing any fear in this battle

The giant anaconda (Seraphine) appeared on the pitch black ground Raishou was walking into, it rises him and it become slippery making Raishou lose his balance and that's when the fire bender pheonix (Azura) took it's chance to emit fire, making Raishou's armor heat up— but then Raishou reshape it.

He then punches the anaconda as hard as he can, slicing it up in half, his next target was the pheonix but before he can even crash it onto the ground it escaped.

A giant squid (Garu) appeared along with the octopuse (Osa). They erupted liquid ink then it turned into sharp needle piercing through Raishou's skin but it is too late— it's Raishou's Shadow, he had gone missing.

He reappeared targetting the brain of the octopuse killing it, darting the eyes of the giant squid using a thunder illusion. Then it flooded the qrea with their black blood, it is poisonuse to humans who encounter it.

A unicorn (Raya) appeared, stabbing Raishou at the back using it's horn, Raishou wasn't an illusion, he was real and he bleeded a lot.

"Not bad!" He smiled closing his eyes slowly

Megumi released him and he bleed more. Megumi recasting his domain seeing Shina wounded, still fighting her own. He decided to help her but got stabbed at the back, he slowly move his eyes seeing a well polish wood stock in his body.

He vomitted blood feeling Raishou at his back, his knees trembled as his knees fall down on the ground seeing Raishou rejoicing in his achievement.

"You tricked me!" Megumi said, thinking Raishou died earlier, but he just uses that opportunity to make Megumi released the domain, in his current state he can't open his domain, he lost a lot of blood, therefore at any time he can die.

"What the hell are you thinking…." Megumi said to himself, gasping for air

"It's such a shame, a talent like yours is remarkable when you can finally have a grasped of it" said Raishou, complementing Megumi

"I-I won't die! Not yet! I made a promise I'll be back… Not yet…" Megumi muttered, pursuing himself to stand up and fight as he remembers that he made a promise to Yuji and Nobara, that he will come back alive

Raishou's face was disappointed on how he sees Megumi struggling just to fight, it's like Megumi is just giving his life away.

"You know what I hated the most, is when someone don't know how to give up!" said Raishou throwing power illusion towards Megumi

Megumi on the other hand countered that using his shadow cape, he made that in just a second.

Then the cape disappears and so does Megumi.

Raishou look at every surroundings in his vision, but never seen any trace of Megumi.

Then the ground shaken, Raishou had thought that it came from the fight on Shina's side, but he was mistaken.

A shikigami named Tule an expert in using mud grabbed Raishou's feet and buried him on the ground leaving the head and lightning from Nue struck Raishou's body inside the ground, making him electrified.

Raishou broke free so easily. His muscles had grown bigger and the veins inside his body become more visible.

He hit the ground. Showing how brutal his power had become.

It affected Shina and her doppelganger.

The ground went berserk, it cracked. Shina speed up and so is her illusion.

She thinks tricking the illusion would work out, she had done it tons of times but the illusion keeps mimicking her every move with flawless precision, it's like he already knew her next move.

"Grrrr…."

Sharp claws become sharper, attempting to target the flesh of the enemy, but the enemy senses the danger so it runs away, when it came back it uses it's claws to attack, it slightly got into her but Shina avoided that.

Now Shina is thinking how to defeat the Shina in front of her.

Shina continues to fight regardless of how the outcome would be, seeking if there is any flows and weaknesses the enemy is hiding.

As the battle raged on, Shina began to recognize subtle differences between herself and the illusion.

Past memories came across her mind, thinking that the only attack that the other Shina knows about is the things that she shown towards Raishou and that's all.

'That's not me! That's just an illusion! I could still win because it is me!' Shina had thought

Shina lured her illusionary double into a false sense of superiority. As the illusion closed in for what it believed to be the finishing blow, Shina unleashed a devastating counterattack, exploiting a flaw in the illusion's technique that only she could perceive.

With a swift and calculated strike, Shina shattered the illusion, dispelling the mirage and revealing the ashes of its remains.

Raishou senses the defeat of his illusion during his battle with Megumi.

Megumi's head is bleeding, intertwining both of his hands as shadow beneath Raishou's side risen and hold him over on the ground.

The anaconda earlier who got defeated by Raishou tighten the shadow strings that is keeping Raishou from moving.

Seraphine was still alive those Shikigami Raishou killed inside Megumi's domain was only a shadow.

Tule buried his whole body on the ground, doing the same move earlier, Nue struck lightning, and the shadow strings move inside Raishou's body.

Turning liquid as it gone deeper and deeper, then it stops and turn solid, striking Raishou's body into pieces with those spiky shadows.

But Megumi sense something dangerous so he removes his grasped on Raishou's body.

Taking a few steps away from him, reuniting with Shina.

Then the ground exploded, creating a huge hole, and it brightens just like what Megumi and Shinoa had seen before they got in here.

Flashback –

"It smells rotten in here" said Shinoa, passing to rotten corpse of sorcerers and ordinary human being

Megumi stood by, staring outside the window.

"What is that huge hole doing there?" he asked

They got curious so they approach the hole.

"This is where that invincible miasma is coming" said Shinoa, she's knowledgeable when it comes to these things

"It's my first time seeing such a thing" Megumi muttered, covering his mouth from that strange smell

"This is what connects the two realm, what you are seeing in the battle field is the bridge between two gates, the real world and the impurities world, so basically at any time stronger curses can lurk within this hole, because someone opened the gate to the other side of the world" Shinoa explained

End of Flashback –

"So it existed!" said Shina whose surprisingly knows about it

Raishou revealed himself as a ball of dark fire, then the pieces of his body that was sliced by Megumi stick together once again. Then after that the hole stop showing light.

Raishou's eyes gleamed with malevolent intent as he unleashed a torrent of illusions, each one more twisted and nightmarish than the last.

Shina and Megumi coordinated their efforts with precision.

Shina used her bond with her panther to see through the illusions, while Megumi summoned forth his shikigami to provide support and protection.

Shina pounce, unleashing a devastating attack that shattered Raishou's illusions. Seizing the opportunity, Megumi unleashed a barrage of shikigami, their combined strength overwhelming Raishou's defenses.

But Raishou was not so easily defeated. Drawing upon his dark powers, he unleashed a powerful counterattack, draining the life force of nearby spirits to replenish his strength.

As the battle intensifies, Shina realizes that brute force alone won't prevail against Raishou's cunning tactics. Drawing upon her knowledge of ancient enchantments, Shina invokes a forbidden incantation, summoning a black panther to aid her in battle. The panther appears in a flash of dark light, its eyes blazing with an otherworldly fire. The majestic creature engulfs Raishou's illusions in its blazing aura, its aura burning away the false images and revealing the true form of her enemy. With his illusions shattered, Raishou is left exposed and vulnerable, his defenses weakened.

Seizing the opportunity, Shina presses her attack, using her newfound ally to gain the upper hand. The panther's claws tear through Raishou's defenses, leaving him wounded and desperate. In a final, desperate move, Raishou attempts to flee, but Shina and the panther pursue him relentlessly, determined to put an end to his reign of terror once and for all.

"Click-" a smooth sound is heard and suddenly the things Shina is seeing right now is all an illusion

When Raishou avert illusion from reality, it got Shina when she thought she's stepping on a ground but she isn't, while falling on the hill, that smooth sound is heard once again, illusion fades away and reality came in. Striking Shina's mind, she barely manages to survive with her fast reflexes.

She knows that she got away, but then it was a pictured illusion. Shina was stabbed in her heart by no other than Raishou himself.

Shina vomited blood, the pain creeps in her blood and flesh, so she got no choice but to remove the dagger place in her heart.

Megumi was stunned, so even if it hurts him to move, he still got the chance to get Shina away from Raishou.

"N-o, n-n-n-no…. this can't be, can you hear me, Shina!!!" said Megumi panicking by the sudden reality, and in just a second tears finally fall from his eyes

"Megumi, come here..." said Shina struggling to catch her breath— she still wanted to talk in her situation

Megumi whose eyes turns red from crying went to Shina's side to hear whatever she says. He comes closer so he could hear— Shina's weak voice.

"Fsiwjfhvhf" Shina chants something as she grabs Megumi's right wrist, implanting the sign on her palm to Megumi's wrist. At first it hit Megumi hard, like it's about to kill him. Then the panther of Shina appeared.

"With the ancient words echoing, and the moon's enchantment swirling, I beseech the spirits' grace to shift a soul from place to place." With a whispered incantation and a wave of her hand, Shina began the ritual to transfer the soul, calling upon the ancient words and the moon's enchanting hold to move the essence from one vessel to another

"I never thought she'll pass me down to somebody else— she just met" said the panther Kuro and had disappeared, he is now living inside of Megumi, and will only appear in times of summoning.

The pain inside Megumi's head disappears.

"It was nice meeting you, till it lasted" said Shina smiling for the very last time before she closed her eyes with tears, and at that moment Megumi collapsed, still nauseous from the transfer of the soul.

—

"Shinoa wake up!"

"Shinoa wake up! wake up!"

"Sensei" Shinoa whispered, slowly getting up and seeing reality, as she regains her memory— from the moment they entered Okinawa to the moment she fell unconscious

What in the world happened here? It is a mess. Megumi is lying on the ground unconcious and Shina, she was, she was bathing in her own blood, she's dead.

"You finally decided to woke up!" it's Raishou with my master's body

He seems pretty beat up. The two of them did this.

"So, it's just all an illusion, you're not actually a soul's eater, you just don't want to be called the Illusionist, because you think it's lame, but you can't fool me, I see through all illusion— Domain Expansion" said Shinoa gambling until the end

In seconds Raishou's shown his true form, he doesn't own a body. Just a mere black loaf. Raishou's eyes teared red. Until he slowly disappears from this world.

"That's the way of the shadows"

Shinoa retrieved her master's body. Buried it alongside Shina's body and the other innocent who died by Raishou's hands. She paid respect to all of them.

She carried the unconscious Megumi back to where they are staying, he cured his wounds and book an early flight back to Tokyo. Since their mission in here is done.

But Shinoa decided to stay for 2 to 3 days so that Megumi could pay his respect towards his lost friend Shina.