Chapter 22 - Let's Fight!

Not far from where Ivan and Thoma were fleeing from the Ronin who greatly outnumbered them, a small gang of mostly male members sat around a campfire roasting some boar meat. One in particular wiped some drool with his armored sleeve. He had moderately long and spiky white hair. Two red horns protruded from his forehead between strands of his hair. Red tattoos indicating his heritage marked his body. A large black bat with golden spikes on it rested against his shoulder.

"Ohhhh! I can smell it! It's almost done!" The Oni happily exclaimed.

"Yeah! I'm so excited!" One of the other men agreed.

Behind them, a young woman with long green hair tied in a ponytail sighed and crossed her arms, though the metal mask covering her mouth disguised her current expression. The next moment, however, she turned her head to look at some nearby cliff walls.

"Did you hear something?" She asked the others in a quiet tone.

"Hm?" The male Oni lifted his eyes from the barbecue and blinked a few times. Then, he cupped a hand around his pointy ear. A moment later, he grinned and said, "Sounds like some people are coming this way."

Before long, two young blonde men wearing somewhat similar red and black outfits rounded a bend from a pathway that curved behind the rocky cliff face. Both of them were sprinting as fast as they could. Yells and taunts echoed behind them. 

A few seconds later, one Ronin rounded the bend. Another two rounded the bend. Within seconds, several dozen Ronin charged out onto the path leading toward this small group planning to enjoy some barbecue. They were obviously chasing the two young men.

Clapping a hand over a fist, the male Oni stood up and said, "Haha! Great! A pre-barbecue workout just arrived! Wait here, guys. I'm going to go help those guys out real quick."

The other guys in the group nodded, but the green-haired girl who looked a little bit like a ninja facepalmed and sighed since she knew she might very well have to join him against that many opponents. 

Meanwhile, Ivan also noticed the ragtag group of misfits sitting around the campfire and muttered, "Huh. The Arataki Gang?"

"Oh, those guys," Thoma replied, still sprinting at top speed. "Hopefully we don't bother them. Wanna change directions?"

Right after Thoma asked that, they saw Arataki Itto grabbing his club and stomping toward them. The green-haired girl standing behind him followed him, though she seemed a little reluctant.

"Thoma, do you think we can take these guys with his help?"

"Uh… maybe? I don't know."

"What's up, blondies? You guys need some help, there?" Itto bellowed out while charging toward them. His booming voice startled some of the Ronin, but they quickly shook it off. What was one more enemy?

Ivan and Thoma glanced at each other and nodded. 

"May as well try. I've heard he's very strong," Thoma said.

"Works for me. If it goes bad, we can still flee."

"Right."

With that, they returned their gaze to the charging Oni. Ivan gave him a thumbs up. Then, he and Thoma skidded to a halt one after another. Both summoned their weapons at the same time. Honestly, Ivan still couldn't believe how easy it was to summon or dismiss his weapon with just a thought.

Arataki Itto quickly reached them and said, "Oh, you guys look like you can fight? Awesome! Ah, wait, aren't you that Thoma guy? And you… I don't know you."

"Yeah, I'm Thoma."

"Ivan."

"Great. I'm Arataki Itto. I'll help you guys out since it seems like you're in trouble. Alright! Let's fight!"

Itto charged toward the group of Ronin with a wide smile on his face. A bright yellow glow emanated from his giant club.

"Sorry if his attitude is bad. If you have any complaints, you can contact me," A feminine voice said from behind Ivan and Thoma.

Both Ivan and Thoma whipped their heads around. Then, they lowered their gaze to look at the green-haired girl's purple eyes. Ever so briefly, Ivan glanced down at her exposed abs. Her toned muscles almost made him envious.

"Sorry to distract you. We should focus on fighting for now," The girl said, staring at Ivan when his eyes returned to meet hers.

Both guys nodded and ran toward the enemies. Behind them, Kuki Shinobu activated her skill. She winced at the activation, but then Electro energy pulsed around her, spread to Ivan, Thoma, and Itto, and pulsed around them as well.

Ahead, Itto recklessly charged head-on into the group of Ronin and smashed the nearest one in the gut. Only a blur of black and gold could be seen before the rogue samurai flew into the air with his stomach armor indented all the way to his spine.

"Damn…" Ivan mumbled. Although that Ronin was not one who could wield elements, there was no way he would fall in a single hit against himself or maybe even Thoma. Even so, he shook his head and channeled elemental particles into his hand. He reached toward the sky and called down his Ray of Remembrance in the center of the enemies. Several of them flinched or tripped upon being struck by the lightning.

Meanwhile, Thoma reached the front line of rogue samurai and twirled through the air with fire leaping from his spear. Pyro shields surrounded the four temporary allies and reacted with Kuki Shinobu's Electro whip whenever it pulsed outward to whip at nearby enemies. Each time that happened, an Overload explosion shocked the enemies.

"Oh, nice! I can go crazy now!" Itto exclaimed. He then completely ignored all the swords slashing at his shield and retaliated with wild yet precise swings of his club. Most of the Vision-wielding Ronins charged forward to combat him, but they could barely withstand his strikes even with their element-imbued blades. 

The Geo particles on Itto's club reacted with the Pyro and Electro elements the Ronins wielded and generated Crystallize chunks. Both sides took advantage of the resulting shield energies floating in the battlefield. Unfortunately for the Ronin, their shields could only lessen the blow of a single strike from Itto before shattering. The constant explosions of elemental energies almost looked like fireworks.

Amidst the chaos, Kuki Shinobu darted around like a dragonfly. Her blades sliced into the chinks of the enemies' armor while she dashed back and forth between Itto and Thoma who were currently tanking most of the enemy damage. Their shields continuously broke and reformed. In the down moments, they occasionally suffered slashes from the enemies. Shinobu's Electro whip healed them more quickly whenever she was closer to them.

Charged with purple lightning arcing around his arms and weapon, Ivan fended off two nearby Ronin. Thanks to his buff, he darted circles around the opponents who did not have shields or Visions. The armored opponents withstood a few hits, but the lightning eventually knocked them out. Afterward, he felt elemental particles fill his body with energy.

He looked down at his hand. The energy made him shake as though hyped up with caffeine. Unfortunately, a Ronin with an Electro blade slashed his shield while he was distracted and Overloaded it. The shield cracked and disappeared. The enemy blade then whipped upward. Ivan barely managed to pull his Dull Blade in front of the attack using the basic blocking technique of the Iwakura Sword Arts. 

"Hm?" The Ronin stopped his attack with his sword point barely piercing Ivan's abdomen. His black eyes surrounded by aged and wrinkled skin stared at Ivan from behind his helmet with curiosity as he asked, "Are you from the same sword school?"

Taking a sharp breath to bear through the searing pain of the flaming metal poking into his gut, Ivan hesitantly replied, "...Iwakura?"

"Indeed."

"Yeah. I'm still new, though."

'Well, I cheated, but I still have the knowledge. It counts.'

"Interesting. There aren't many of us left. If you survive, this will become a good experience for you. Do your best."

Ivan stared into the man's eyes. Although the Ronin obviously still wanted to kill him, he felt a weird sense of camaraderie from him. 

The Ronin respectfully backed off and shooed away some other Ronin who seemed to practice different sword arts from attacking Ivan. He then pulled his blade to his side in a preparatory stance and resummoned the flames on his blade.

"Come at me with everything you have, young man. Even if you use your Vision to win, I don't care. Prepare yourself."

Ivan nodded. He felt the Electro ring circling him closing his wound, but still focused on entering a similar stance to his opponent, albeit less perfect. Then, the man attacked. Ivan's first real duel began in earnest.