54

Chapter 54: Conquest III

Summary:

I almost managed a weekly upload... so close but so far away. Still, this is far quicker than the last two and I'm happy with that for now. After this arc is Slash/Dog which means Ibaraki and the Golden Dragons will wrap this up in two months in storytime. That should be enough time for everything to be properly settled I think. Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning that is that I'm naming the next arc Cats and Dogs which I find disproportionately funny compared to how funny it actually is. I am cringe. Ahem, please enjoy the chapter and feel free to leave a comment as always.

Chapter Text

As Tobio follows his… soon to be teacher, guide to the supernatural, or ticket to rescuing his friends approaching the warehouse in front of them, he is struck by how surreal the situation is.

Just over a week ago he had been a normal student, living in a mundane world where magic was the topic of fictional tales. Now he was about to spectate two Oni -one of which is a child- fighting while he is being protected by a spectral tiger with a 'god-slaying' dog on his shoulder.

The entire situation is far too outlandish to be real, yet here he is.

The hairs stand up on the back of his neck as Ibaraki's posture shifts and out of the corner of his eye he sees Jin perk up in interest.

Ibaraki's gait and how she transfers her weight change completely, her footfalls suddenly becoming silent.

Her body language becomes closed and her overall movement becomes tighter, precise. Yet the fluidity of her movements is magnified at the same time; sinuous steps and liquid motions become the new normal of her motion.

Compared to the sharp, heavy, way she moved before. She seemed to dominate the space with her motion before, conquering the ground beneath her. Now she flows through it languidly.

Right now she reminds him of alley cats he had seen before stalking their prey. Feline grace would be an apt description for the change, but that too feels insufficient.

Even her breathing rhythms change. Where prior, her breaths were short and confident like a creature who had all the time and energy in the world, now they are shallow and long. The biggest change there is how eerily silent her breathing becomes, though that is a hallmark of the entire shift in posture.

Finally, something else about her is altered and his eyes begin to slide off her form unconsciously.

His mind feels hazy as it tries to process the difference between her now and the more animated individual from earlier.

He realizes that the change is massive and due to that he can pick up the differences between then and now.

If you had asked him to comment on her movement before the change he wouldn't have found anything out of the ordinary, nor would he have been able to describe it outside 'walking'. He lacks the depth of knowledge to understand everything but the stark change allows him to grasp something, and he holds onto that something because it feels important.

Tobio shakes his head and focuses, trying to watch her carefully. Even if he isn't sure what he is supposed to learn from this, he tries to burn it into his mind so he can sort it out later.

Ibaraki's little sister, Shuten he recalls, seems to be completely unconcerned about potential danger. She's casually strolling alongside her sister, tongue poking out the side of her mouth and brows furrowed as she focuses on something else.

Now with his attention on her, Tobio notices that faint wisps of purple and green are billowing off her hands. The colours keep shifting in vibrancy and concentration - a clear display of something supernatural, something magic.

The tiger beside him -Byakko, Ibaraki had called him- exhales a heavy burst of air which disperses the wisps that had drifted towards them.

He then speaks again with his deep masculine voice, "Contain your poison, Shuten. You have better control than this."

The girl in question turns her head and sticks her tongue out at the tiger petulantly. "It wouldn't have harmed Tobi or his puppy at that concentration."

The tiger sighs and his ears twitch minutely as he looks toward the roof of the warehouse they're approaching.

He frowns then, a far too humanlike expression for his feline face, "Her steps are too loud and heavy."

Tobio tilts his head upward to follow Byakko's gaze only to find that Ibaraki is no longer with them but rather on top of the roof.

She has her hand wrapped around the throat of a guard up there and for a second it looks like she'll tear his throat out. Her free hand is even flexing at her side, twitching between a loose resting position and angry hooked claws.

Instead of painting the roof in blood, she drops the guard onto the roof after seemingly strangling him into unconsciousness. The body lands with a soft thump that even he can hear from this distance and she shakes her head in an expression of… dissatisfaction, perhaps?

Tobio is unsure whether that dissatisfaction is aimed at her performance, as Byakko commented, or not spilling blood.

Ibaraki leaps down from the roof, landing in front of the warehouse door without a sound and waits for them there.

She glances at the door with a frown before looking back at them, "They're setting up to attack the moment we enter."

"It doesn't matter what they do though, does it?" Shuten asks rhetorically with a predatory grin, "Prey will always be prey."

Shuten is bonked on the head for her comment, though the comedic response does nothing to halt the shiver that runs down Tobio's spine at her words.

When Ibaraki had told her sister not to kill anyone earlier, the instruction didn't feel real, nor did the image it evoked. After all, ignoring the horns, sharp teeth, and claws, he can't see Shuten as anything other than a little girl.

A murderer is the last thing that would come to a person's mind when faced with a child's youthful smile.

Looking at her now, however, with poison flowing freely from her hands and her expression of malicious glee, the image becomes believable.

Byakko stands in front of Tobio protectively, the tiger's form becoming ethereal to allow an uninterrupted view of the upcoming conflict.

After one last glance around her, Ibaraki wrenches the door open.

As the door crashes slides open and crashes into the end of its rail with a loud bang, there is a brief moment of silence before all hell breaks loose.

Gunfire barks out from all directions toward them and despite having Byakko in front of him, Tobio panics and his first instinct is to dive out of the doorway.

The bullets bounce off the tiger's fur, flattening and dropping to the concrete floor. That brief moment of disbelief hits Tobio again as this happens. Tigers die to guns, not brush them off like insects.

There are small groups of men on either side of the entryway and another large group on a catwalk above, all firing through the doorway towards Tobio and the others.

While Tobio's instinct is to sensibly avoid gunfire, the same can not be said for Shuten.

She looks almost bored as the centipede hidden in her clothing leaps out, multiplying in size. It shields her entire body from the gunfire by coiling around her.

The bullets which were poised to tear the child apart bounce off the insect's exoskeleton in a display that defies logic, much like the fur of the tiger did for him.

The centipede rears back and moves to return fire, the vile green liquid dripping from its mouth being a clear indication of its intent.

Shuten pats Anzu on the exoskeleton and speaks to it. Their conversation is too quiet to hear over the gunfire but the centipede chitters back energetically along with Shuten's gestures and words.

While this happens, the gunfire continues and the green liquid dripping from the insects maw hits the concrete floor. The substance proves to be remarkably caustic as it rapidly eats through the material, blackened pits forming wherever the liquid flows.

Anzu turns back to stare at the catwalk and rather than aiming at the firing squad, fires two globs of the corrosive spit, one at either end. The liquid sizzles violently as it collides with the metal supports, swiftly eating through the connections. The entire catwalk groans, failing catastrophically as it loses all support simultaneously.

The entire catwalk comes crashing into the floor, bringing the people it supported along for the ride.

Ibaraki on the other hand has disappeared again and for a moment Tobio can't find her.

Thankfully, Jin doesn't seem to be having trouble keeping his attention on her and Tobio follows the puppy's line of sight.

She has managed to make her way behind the firing line off to the left without them noticing and knocks them out with a series of quick strikes to the neck.

Even distracted by her own group, she notices her sister's actions and the moment the firing squad on the right turns to the fallen catwalk she rockets across the warehouse towards them.

The crash of the catwalk makes it so the final group is completely unaware of her approach.

None of the gunmen has time to refocus before she has landed in their midst. Her claws cut through their guns only for her hands to flatten and strike their throats with her palm or the side of her hand.

They too fall as swiftly as the others, unerringly accurate, vicious movements rendering them unconscious.

The entire battle, if it can even be called that, takes fifteen seconds at most.

Ibaraki cracks her neck and then suddenly glances over to the wreckage where the catwalk fell.

She stares at it for a moment and starts to walk over. After a step, she stops, shrugging her shoulders and changing direction towards her sister.

Tobio notices the quick once-over Ibaraki gives her sister, a worried scan for injuries that she barely manages to keep subtle.

The sheer disparity between the familial concern and, for lack of a better term, the slaughter that he just witnessed gives him whiplash.

"Good thinking using the environment against your enemies," Ibaraki says patting Shuten on the head.

The youngest Oni preens at the compliment, "I was originally going to have Anzu melt them but I remembered to hold back and not kill them all."

The blase way she describes their potential deaths almost makes it bearable.

Ibaraki glances at the wreckage again and her ears twitch, "Well, you certainly didn't kill them."

From this distance, Tobio can see the wreckage shifting occasionally and he can hear faint groaning. They may be alive but will not be walking away from here any time soon… or under their own power.

"Are you alright, Tobio?" Ibaraki is far too close, without any indication of when she got there.

Tobio, being way over his head, rocks back on his heels in surprise nearly falling over.

Her presence is completely different from before and the contrast makes the sudden proximity too much to handle.

She just switched from a silent hunter destroying everything in her path, back to the energetic girlfriend of his cousin whom he met last week, in an instant.

It's hard for him to even think about which is the real Ibaraki and that thought scares him.

Or maybe the thought that they're both the real Ibaraki scares him more.

If Tobio is to become some… God-slayer… then what will happen to him? Which Tobio will be real, the man who can battle gods or the high school student and friend of Sae?

Taking a deep breath he shakes his head to clear his thoughts, "Yeah, sorry I'm just…"

He trails off and Ibaraki is now looking at him in clear confusion.

She blinks before a slow realization dawns on her, "This is probably a lot for an introduction, isn't it?"

"Don't worry too much about paying close attention to me, okay?" She says, totally confusing the issue, "Jin seems to be taking in my actions fine and you can catch up later."

"You can take your time and-" She disappears from his sight.

When she reappears it's at an intersection a hundred feet ahead and she punches a man in the chest as he jumps out from behind some shelving.

She moves again and is standing in front of him once more, "-slowly get used to all this."

Tobio peers around her at the man she just laid out. He's wheezing pitifully as he claws at his chest, Ibaraki's fist apparently hitting with the force of a sledgehammer.

Ibaraki puts her hand on his shoulder and smiles gently, "Byakko will keep you safe, okay? He alone could handle everyone in this warehouse, even if they came at him together. This is going to be a nice calm walk."

She laughs as she pats him on the shoulder, "Hell, in a few weeks you and Jin will be able to do the same. The people who took your girlfriend won't know what hit them."

As her final words of reassurance hit him, Tobio's spine stiffens.

In the carnage and absurdity, the analysis and introspection, he had forgotten why he was here in the first place.

His nails cut into his palms as he clenches his fist and scrunches his eyes closed tightly.

In his mind, he can still see Sae's lonely smile as she checked up on him one last time before leaving for the school trip.

This isn't the time to worry about criminals who were trying to kill them a second ago, Sae is more important.

It doesn't matter what's going on around him, he needs to focus on getting stronger. If he can't do that he'll never be able to save Sae.

After she's safe, then he can find the answers to the questions running through his mind.

Although one thing sticks out as he reaffirms his purpose here, "Sae isn't my girlfriend."

Ibaraki rolls her eyes and heads further towards the interior of the warehouse, "Sure she isn't."

Tobio seems to be doing well adapting to this in my opinion. He didn't start running when the gunfire began, nor did he flinch away from the violence.

I can tell he wasn't exactly comfortable with the level of violence that has been displayed so far, which doesn't bode well for the rest of our little trip through this warehouse, but he hasn't said anything which is worth some praise.

He also doesn't seem to be having an easy time watching me play with these humans, though given the nature of the Hunting Posture I'm using, that again isn't too bad. I'm not erasing my presence to the maximum or anything but the entire movement style lends itself to stealth. So even with that caveat, it is impressive he can catch some of my movements.

Jin on the other hand is startlingly perceptive. As is befitting of a Longinus-class Sacred Gear.

The anecdote that he had learned swordsmanship from watching Samurai films overnight is hard to conceptualize since the swordsmanship is largely useless. It was all flash and no substance that served to make his approach to combat showier. Not a bad thing because the nature of the Sacred Gear means that it was still effective but also not good.

Now that Jin is watching something with substance -even if the technique is still too rough for mine and Byakko's liking- I can see that perception devouring something practical.

It's humbling to watch this creature and see that it understands exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. Not only that, but it will probably be able to mimic it to some degree by the time we are finished here.

Jin will be even more of a monster if he can move silently and stealthily both in and outside the shadows. Once Tobio and the pup figure out how to add the shadow control to that, they'll be the ultimate assassins.

I'm not too sure about the idea, but I might see if I can teach Tobio about the concept of the Void. If he can erase his presence to the same level I can or even do something new utilizing the concept the final result would be amazing.

The False God Dog of Darkness could become something even scarier and that thought excites me.

My only problem with the idea is that I haven't even properly explored that concept so how would I teach anyone to use it?

Still, they aren't the only ones worthy of praise, my adorable little sister is too!

Her commanding Anzu to take out that catwalk made me so proud.

Not only that but she didn't kill any of them!

Sure, a brief scan of their bodies, through their Ki, tells me they'll all be crippled unless treated immediately. Crippling wasn't a limitation I put on her though so she didn't go against her instructions.

Besides, they shot at my sister so they deserved it.

As we pass through another section of shelving, a gang member leaps out brandishing a combat knife.

Since the enemies aren't grouped up anymore, Shuten and I are taking turns dispatching them as we proceed to their boss.

My sister ducks a sloppy slash and brushes a claw up against his arm as it passes over her. The cut she leaves on his arm can barely be called a cut, yet the faint purple tinge on her extended claw tells me all I need to know.

Shuten ignores him as she continues skipping along past him as though nothing happened, looking content.

The gangster on the other hand stumbles, the knife dropping from his hand as they both fly to cover his mouth.

My nose wrinkles in disgust as he starts to dry heave and I speed up to get away from him. I want to distance myself from that victim before the poison hits his digestive tract any harder.

"Was that Wisteria?" I ask my sister, getting a beaming grin in response.

"Mhm! At that dosage, he shouldn't die of dehydration." We both shiver as we hear the gangster begin to throw up, "Though he might die of embarrassment later."

Tobio looks between us in confusion, "Throwing up isn't that embarrassing."

As Tobio finishes speaking, a loud stomach rumble roars from within said gangster, causing me and my sister to speed up again.

I hear a weapon being readied ahead of us and slip back into my Hunting Posture, jumping up onto the shelving above us and stealthily travelling till I'm above my next target.

I drop behind him -her, as I realize once there- without a sound, dispersing my momentum with my knees.

It's almost boring to poke her in the back of the neck with just enough force to knock her unconscious. Still, I need to practice this technique if I want to perfect my new form of Touki.

If I don't fully immerse myself in the idea of what it means to be a tiger, the martial art Byakko and I are creating won't be complete.

I return to the group just in time to see Tobio turn green and glance back at where Shuten poisoned the earlier gangster.

"That poor man…" He whispers before resolutely looking forward again.

Tobio's pity apparently only goes far enough to acknowledge the man's fate, just not far enough to bear witnessing it.

Shuten looks far too amused by the plight of the gangster from before. With her being the little sadist she is, I'm unsurprised that she finds the idea of him getting extreme diarrhoea to be hilarious.

Rest in peace, nameless gangster.

Death would have been a mercy compared to this fate that you have been bound to.

Shuten glances at me and tilts her head, "Can I handle the rest of the humans, Sis? You don't seem to be having fun."

I ruffle her hair even as I smile, "I'm supposed to be showing Tobio how to hunt. Even if it isn't enjoyable I should do my best."

She gives me a flat look, "He can barely keep up and Mr Puppy already has a hang of it. Try to teach Tobi another day."

I bite my lip as I glance at Jin who barks happily, "I really shouldn't…"

"It's fine, Ibaraki. I know I'm a little over my head here," Tobio says with a wry smile. "Give me a minute to recover and let Shuten… play?"

Shuten perks up, "Tobi is a much better human than Bamboo-boy."

I cringe at my sister's assessment. I'll probably need to fix that attitude towards my other disciple eventually. Takehiko is a good kid but his relative weakness and dream of being a hero wouldn't mesh well with my sister.

I think the only reason she likes Tobio is that he agreed with her right now and let her play with Jin earlier. Other than that, his potential as a Longinus-wielder might have let her ignore his weakness for a little while.

Sadly, she isn't exactly wrong when she says I'm bored. The problem is that I can't stress test this combat style on mundane humans. I'm at the level where a casual movement is enough to kill them, let alone a combat style designed to improve my lethality.

Just knocking them out is already hard due to how much I need to hold back.

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" I ask, giving Shuten one more chance to back out.

"Yep! I have something new to show you anyway." I sigh in relief as she reassures me.

"I'm excited to see what you've come up with," Her expression lights up and I can feel the giddiness in her aura.

"Just watch, it's really cool." I shake my head with a smile as she rushes off to find the nearest gangster.

At the same time, I move closer to the others.

Byakko huffs and sends me a stern look, "Even if you were bored, that performance was shameful."

I roll my eyes at the comment, "It wasn't that bad."

My tiger sniffs in disdain, "You don't just insult yourself with a performance like that but all tigers. I could hear you from a mile away with those lead boots you call feet."

"You say, 'all tigers' but I think you mean I insult you with that performance." His fur stiffens and I nod.

If he could blush, Byakko would be cherry red, "A tiger always does its best on the hunt, no matter the prey."

I pat him on the back and grin at Tobio over top of him, "Yes, yes, Byakko-sensei. I'll be sure that next time my prey will not notice their deaths before they arrive in the underworld. Such will be my stealth o' venerable White Tiger."

Byakko visibly puffs up and his tail swishes happily, "Hmph, that is the minimum level of skill I would expect from you."

The corners of my eyes crinkle as I mouth to Tobio, 'Tsundere'.

Tobio stifles a laugh which causes Byakko to glance at us in suspicion.

Our attention is pulled elsewhere as my sister drags back a new gangster kicking and screaming, literally.

Tobio's eyes widen in horror, much to my amusement, as he watches a grown woman roughly dragged across the concrete floor by a child.

My sister tosses her and she lands roughly in front of us. Shuten skips up and plants her foot on the woman's neck, instantly causing her to thrash wildly attempting to escape.

Shuten growls a warning and the woman stops her thrashing. The entire display reminds me of a dog catching a rabbit.

My sister clears her throat and both Tobio and I focus on her, "Right, I was playing around with the Bone Stealing Curse you taught me while you were gone."

Tobio mouths the curses name to me as a question but I wave him off, "I really enjoy using it but it gets boring occasionally."

Well, that's one way to look at it but it isn't an entertainment spell…

Shuten continues happily, unaware of my thoughts. "So I thought, 'why can't I target other parts of the body?'"

Shuten's hands are wrapped in the familiar brown aura of the Bone Stealing Curse for a few seconds. Then once she has shown off, the aura shifts into a delicate pink.

"This will only hurt a lot!" She says with a manic grin as she places her palm on the gangster's back.

Rather than Shuten's hand slipping into the woman's body, like what happens with the Bone Stealing Curse, only the pink aura around my sister's hands enters the body. The woman convulses violently and while she thrashes, all across her body, roses bloom.

The woman opens her mouth to scream and I quickly knock her out. Shuten pouts at me for a second then she poses with her arms wide, "Tada!"

Looking closes at the woman's body, the 'roses' are spirals of crystallized blood that have burst out from her body, eviscerating the flesh around the flowers, and turning the area into an utter disaster.

The carnage is beautiful.

Where the Bone Stealing Curse is a hammer that instantly cripples a target, this curse is an artist's brush that persistently brings wonder to a spectator.

"I call it 'The Curse of Blooming Blood." She smiles shyly and shuffles, "I was inspired by the garden we set up for my poisonous plants at our house."

Her inspiration is so adorable and thoughtful that my heart swells with happiness.

I coo and hug her tightly, "I'm so proud of you! Your first original curse."

I absentmindedly heal the gangster on the floor even as I spin my sister around. Shuten laughs happily as I continue to praise her.

"It's beautiful Shuten." I grin at her as I set her down, "Think about how well you'll be able to poison people after they're hit with that curse too. Any airborne poisons you use will be far more effective."

While patting Shuten on the head one last time, another gangster takes a few shots at us. I had noticed him before but was too invested in praising Shuten to deal with him. What I did do, was make sure that my body was between him and Shuten so the bullets would just bounce off me.

The only thing I miscalculated was how poor his aim would be.

Most of the bullets bounce off my back but some miss me and hit the shelving unit near my sister and I. Again, not a problem, if not for the contents of the shelf.

The bullets rip through the packaging on the shelf and the contents explode, white powder filling the air around us.

Naturally, I don't sit idly by and the moment I realize what is happening, I pull my sister away from the cloud of magical cocaine.

After that, I knock the gunman out, holding back a bit less in my anger.

"Are you alright Shuten?" I ask, kneeling down next to her and checking her Ki to see if she's been affected by the drugs.

My sister pouts at me with a cute glare, "You didn't tell me we were at a poison manufacturing facility. I could have put some away already to study later."

She grabs a handful and tosses it in the air, "Poison in a powder form, this is gold. Why didn't I think of this yet?"

Her words bring me up short until I catch up to her thought process. I snort in amusement which causes her to pout harder, "They don't exactly manufacture poisons here. Well, I suppose they do but it's a poison that people choose to take."

"That sounds dumb," I notice Tobio nodding along to my sister's words, "Poison is for giving to other people, not yourself."

Tobio stops nodding along after she finishes her sentence, muttering under his breath. "You probably shouldn't give anyone poison…"

We both ignore him as I poke Shuten on the nose, "Unless you're really good at using poison, then you can use it on yourself. You can use it to strengthen your body or promote healing as you've already begun to. If you're good enough you can even help your allies or pets."

Shuten huffs and crosses her arms, "I know that. We were talking about the humans."

I roll my eyes as she discretely stores some powder in a pocket dimension for later study, "The 'humans', as you call them, have done wonders with 'poison'. The entire field of medicine was something they pioneered because not everyone had access to healing magic and poison is simply the other side of that coin."

Paracelsus' maxim on dosage and the prevalence of 'poison' is a wonderful example of this duality. Other cultures also have known about this relationship for millennia.

That is mostly conjecture since I don't know the differences between this world's history and my old world's history in extreme detail; With that said, my assertion is based on logic.

Tobio chimes in thankfully, "Humanity can cure a lot of illnesses and save injured people without magic through modern advances in medicine. Maybe you should check it out? Healing people has to be better than poisoning them."

Shuten loses interest in what Tobio is saying with his last statement, unlike him though, I know how to catch her attention, "Those same chemicals that are produced to heal people can harm them in a ton of interesting ways. Modern medicine can be turned into an incredible weapon with a little ingenuity!"

Tobio stares at me aghast, an expression which only deepens as he watches Shuten chew on the idea.

My sister looks between us suspiciously but tentatively nods her head, "I could look into that…"

I blow out the breath I was holding and my shoulders droop in relief as she agrees.

Ideally, she will figure out a way to heal herself through her studies. I can't be around all the time and neither can Akeno.

Shuten's natural vitality can only do so much to keep her alive against a determined enemy so her having a method to heal herself would make me less worried.

With that detour complete, we continued our trek forward, toward the back of the warehouse where the boss was.

We made our way through the production area, where the workers let us pass without trying to stop us, and only ran into a few more hostiles before we reached the office.

Shuten took care of anyone along the way and I watched Tobio's reactions.

As we went further he seemed to get more used to the violence. He still clearly didn't enjoy it but his determination to get stronger seemed to be blossoming.

I hadn't meant to bring up Sae earlier as a means of hardening his will, I simply wanted to calm him down so he could focus. That being said, I'm not going to argue with the results.

Already, the Tobio in front of me now has a significantly better look in his eyes than the one I picked up earlier today. There is a fire lit there, where before he had seemed a bit lost.

Finally, we come across the office with the boss inside.

Since showing off never hurts, I rip the entire door off its hinges and toss it to the side instead of opening it normally.

Inside, is a familiar face, the devil that Yaeko had run into when I first arrived in Kyoto.

Lillian, whom I still assume is a reincarnated pawn, hasn't grown much in strength since she ran away from Yaeko last time.

She frowns at our intrusion and flinches when she notices me and Shuten. Then she drops the hood on her robes and I get a proper look at her.

She has long black hair, vibrant green eyes, pale skin, and ruby red lips. That combined with the mage's robes she wears makes it so she almost looks vampiric. Of course, If her eyes were red rather than green it would better sell that image.

She's also beautiful though far too weak for me to give her a second glance. Whether her beauty is natural or part of the devil's minor shapeshifting power, I don't know nor do I care.

The only other thing I notice is a choker around her neck that is thick and heavy enough that 'collar' would be a more apt description.

"You're damaging my King's place of business. Do you have anything to say before you die?" She says in a menacing whisper as magic circles flicker to life in front of her hands.

The circles are decent from what I can tell and contain a variety of geometric patterns around the bands, demonic text is between each band and a slowly spinning triangle is in the centre. I'm no magician though, I'm hardly a good judge of such things.

"Yeah, just one. Why do people always wait until their forces get demolished before sending in their best fighters?" My question brings her up short and Shuten giggles at her confused expression.

"I mean, wouldn't it be better to send your best first? Even if you won now, the damage to your property and troops is already enormous." Lillian's pale face turns bright red and I twist to dodge an earthen spike that shoots out of the ground at me.

She doesn't stop there and fires more projectiles which I either dodge or destroy with my bare hands.

"I'm just saying," I shrug, punching a ball of rock into dust at the same time. "It seems like a waste of resources."

"Stay still and die!" She shouts and the ground swells like a wave as her magic circles spin wildly.

Byakko has put Tobio and Shuten on his back and leaps above the wave. I choose to ride it out instead.

While I'm surfing the concrete, I pull Kenmyoren out of the pocket dimension I had stored it in.

The wave rises up over the top of me and, as it crests, it shatters, collapsing in a shower of stone and metal shelving.

Even as I slash my way through the attack, the property damage strikes me as wasteful.

Then I remember all the destruction of property I've been involved in and choose not to voice those thoughts.

The massive transformation of the groundwork leaves the building groaning as it struggles to support itself. Knowing that Tobio would be upset if I didn't, I create a clone to round up the unconscious humans before the building collapses.

With that out of the way, I focus on showing Tobio and Jin proper swordsmanship.

There are a few different styles I can use; my own swordsmanship which is heavy and powerful, Takehiko's which is focused on a single instantaneous strike to kill, or Fujiwara's which is nimble and light.

Since I'm nudging their development towards an assassin archetype, a combination of Fujiwara's and Takehiko's swordsmanship would be best.

Kenmyoren helps in that regard because the feel of the weapon lends itself to those styles, rather than my own.

Not only that but the cursed weapon is powerful enough to mimic a 'sword that can cut anything' like Ame no Ohabari.

Kenmyoren isn't that sharp, though in this situation it may as well be.

Being the magic caster she clearly is, Lillian focuses on pelting me with projectiles from afar and controlling the environment so I can't get close. This is better for me because I can show Tobio how to deal with that.

I dance nimbly through the area between us, slashing and stabbing any attacks that come near me with machine-like precision, and close the distance at the same time. I pointedly ignore attacks that aren't threats, hoping that Tobio will notice and not waste energy.

While it feels awkward for me to fight like this, I can't say it will affect the result of the battle. The disparity in our abilities is too great.

It's honestly to the point that Shuten could almost definitely beat this woman in a battle. She might not even need Anzu's help.

The spells Lillian casts are torn apart easily with Kenmyoren, no matter if they are projectiles, chains, or hands of earth. I use the snail-like speed of the spells relative to myself to ensure my edge alignment is perfect and my stabs strike the failure point of the structures. Again, the more perfect this looks for Tobio and Jin, the better their skills will be as they develop.

This is less of a fight and more of a comprehensive deconstruction of this devil's combat ability.

Finally, I break through her last set of tricks and halt my blade as it touches the side of her throat.

I can hear Shuten start clapping in the background but I'm more focused on Lillian's expression. She's terrified, and it isn't of me.

"Please don't do this, I can still win." She pleads quietly, clearly not to me, "I haven't used everything I have yet. I promise I won't fail again."

Her words become more frantic and desperate, "I can do better! Just give me another chance!"

That energy I sensed from earlier, which could only be demonic energy, swell inside her. It bubbles up even as it smothers her Ki. The majority of her demonic energy rushes to her neck where the collar glows a deep red hue.

Metallic shards shaped like teeth burst out around the collar before turning around towards her neck. The shards bite down savagely, tearing into her skin and drinking her blood.

I watch in fascination as the veins around Lillian's neck swell and blood starts to drip from her eyes. Her arms and legs spasm and I can hear her bones creaking under her skin.

The collar starts to unfold outward, covering her entire body in thick metal plates and by the time the transformation finishes she's completely covered in armour. Her demonic energy continues to swell to higher levels while I wait for round two to begin.

Finally, the twitching stops and her helmet snaps upward so her eyes meet mine.

A beastly howl erupts from the helmet and she launches herself toward me. I match her howl with a grin, meeting her wild swipe with my sword.

My interest in this cursed artefact made me forget one thing.

Kenmyoren is ridiculously sharp.

The cursed sword slices through the armour and her arm like thin air. Yet even as the limb falls to the ground she continues attacking like a mindless berserker. The only difference is the beastly howl she lets out grows louder.

I bat her other attacks away with the flat of my sword so she doesn't lose more limbs but all I'm doing is delaying the inevitable. Her Ki is being devoured by the demonic energy in her body, and this cursed artefact is only hastening the rate at which it is consumed.

This collar is clearly designed to be a suicide weapon, maxing out the physical abilities of the wearer in exchange for their life.

Apparently, I'm not the only one that notices.

"Stop it, you're killing her! That howl isn't rage, she's crying in pain!" Tobio shouts out from the sidelines and as I glance at him, even he looks surprised to have spoken up.

"She's already dying," I drawl mildly.

Lillian, or what is left of her, leaps at me like an animal and I kick her in the helmet. The kick is far stronger than anything else I've tried today so her momentum is instantly reversed and she's launched into the far wall.

The devil being embedded into the wall is the final straw for the structure and it starts to collapse on top of her.

While she's busy digging herself out, I turn my attention back to Tobio, "The collar is going to kill her no matter what I do so I'm using her to show you how to use a sword."

"Can't you save her?" He asks desperately and I shrug.

"I probably could but why would I? She's an enemy and not one that would be particularly useful to me alive. I promised you I wouldn't kill anyone, letting her die doesn't affect that promise." Her armoured hand pierces through the rubble and she begins dragging herself out.

"Please save her, it wouldn't cost you anything to do so." Tobio glances between us as the devil finally frees herself.

"No, it would cost me a lot. I would have to monitor her demonic energy daily to make sure she doesn't get consumed by it and become a stray devil. The activation of that collar means her King has abandoned her, so the only one capable of keeping her sane would be me." I roll my eyes and catch Lillian's wild punch with my free hand.

She continues to struggle and I stop her by bending her wrist backwards and forcing her to her knees.

"If you want to save her so badly, do it yourself. You'll have to watch her and make sure she doesn't mess with my interests or your training. You will need to take her to me daily so she doesn't turn into a stray devil. Finally, you'll have to fix whatever cocktail of mental issues she no doubt has." I look Tobio in the eye as I lay out my conditions.

Once I'm finished, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes tightly before barking out a single command. "Jin, free her."

Canis Lykaon leaps off his shoulder, sprouting a pitch-black sword from his head and slices Lillian in half.

Tobio looks absolutely horrified and Shuten begins to cackle, my little sister goes as far as rolling on the ground laughing after seeing that result.

Byakko and I, however, know what actually happened.

Jin sliced through the cursed artefact and the armour it had formed, leaving Lillian untouched underneath. It had also completely severed the connection the artefact had formed with her.

Of course, Shuten and Tobio notice this when the armour shatters, leaving a battered devil laying on the ground beside me. She may be injured, but she is still alive.

Tobio sighs in relief even as Shuten despairs that her fun was ruined.

The ability of a Longinus-class Sacred Gear to pull off bullshit leaves me… humbled, I suppose.

What truly gets to me though, is how far Tobio would force himself to go in order to save a damsel in distress.

Damn harem protagonists.