Chapter 10: Gratitude Arc pt.2
(Author's note: *** = chanting, <<XXX>> = spell's name in Brittanian Language.)
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At Yae village's shrine:
As my eyes recovered from the forced teleportation's bright light, I was shown a view of a destroyed shrine, where I found two people who are currently trying to fight a large fox rampaging around the area without much success on their behalf.
"Theresa-chan?" I recognized one of them as my current objective.
"Sakura?"
Kallen muttered the name of the other person having a cherry-colored hair, wearing a miko outfit. So that's the girl whom she asked me to give the cross pendant earlier on, huh?...Oh crap, they can't evade the fox's fireball attack! Gotta go save 'em fast Takeru!
Deciding that it will be better for me if all of them being protected in the same place, I immediately hugged Kallen before using Flash Step to move faster towards the two people.
"…Huh?"
That was all Kallen could say before we appeared in front of Sakura and Theresa in a split second, with us facing directly on the fox's fireball attack. I then moved Kallen behind me in a fast maneuver and shouted,
"<<AEGIS>>!"
A bright light shined throughout my body, and as the light fades out it showed an exquisite armor which then forms a barrier around us, tanking the fox's attack. Yep, it's one of my armor called Aegis Mk.1 Revised, the main armor that I've used during the demon war. The armor's design was based on a certain popular Britain King's armor design since I might as well stick to the theme as I was representing the Brittania Empire after all.
Apart from having a cliché name for an armor, it boasts the highest defensive stats amongst all the armors I had in my arsenal. It also has several other useful functions imbedded inside. However the armor has a con of sucking tons of mana if I use all the functions, thus I only used it during short decisive battles.
However I'm forced to use it right now since one, how the heck I can bring my storage rings with me into the dataspace? Two, chanting even the basic barrier spells manually will take at least a few seconds, time which I didn't have the leisure to spare with. So I'm stuck with using Aegis since it is soul-bounded to me and can be summoned at a moment's notice.
"…T-Takeru-kun?!" Theresa shouted in surprise as she finally able to see my silhouette after the light resulted from the fox's attack fades.
"Yo Theresa-chan, sorry for the long wait. Don't worry, everything's fine since I'm here after all." I replied to her candidly. Phew~ Thank god I'm fast enough.
"Y-you! What are doing, wearing a gaudy armor like that?!...No, that's not it, please help us on defeating the 12th Herrscher! If we lose, she will take over my body and then she'll destroy the world!"
Theresa pleads to me while showing me her anxious face, I think. Dunno if her blushing cheeks have got anything do to with it…Wait, is she?...Naaahh~ that's probably my own imagination. Remember the creed Takeru, YES Lolita NO Touch. You don't wanna get caught by the FBI ain't you Takeru?
"Kallen!"
"Sakura!"
Kallen and Sakura however are not focusing on the current situation, they're hugging with each other, experiencing a tearful reunion just like a lovers would do…So this world's Kallen is a yuri gal huh? Good to know.
"...So my armor is that gaudy huh? I really thought that it has a cool design, you make me sad Theresa-chan…Heeh~ so that's the 12th Herrscher huh? Looks kinda weak to me. You sure 'bout that, Theresa-chan?...Well whatever, I'll finish her in a jiffy. So be a good girl and stay over here will ya? <<Fangs, Defense Mode>>."
A pair of wing appears behind my armor and then the fang-like feathers shoots out from it, forming an impromptu barrier around Kallen, Sakura and Theresa. Now I can rest assured on their safety while I'm kicking the fox's ass.
"W-wait! There's something else I need to tell you!" Theresa tried to tell me about something more but since the fox had finally wake up from her stupor due to her attack being deflected earlier, I ignore Theresa and then begin to walk towards the fox before saying,
"Hey sorry for the wait foxy, we can fight now."
"Grrr~ One more victim for me. You can't change anything here, boy! You will all join me in this endless Samsara. HAHAHAHA!" The fox, nay, the 12th Herrscher laughed at my attempt to face her alone.
"Is that so? Dunno if that's true since you still haven't seen me fight yet. Underestimate me and you might find yourself dying today, little foxy." I taunted her a little bit.
"Grrr~ IMPUDENT HUMAN! I'LL KILL YOU FIRST AND THEN THEM! GRAAAHH!!!" She shouted angrily before jumping towards me to initiate her attack, and as her fangs and claws attacks manages to stab me she said,
"SEE?! LOOK AT THE NOTHING YOU CAN DO! GUHAHAHAHA!!!...H-huh?! Where did he go?!" the 12th Herrscher laugh happily due to her success, but it was short lived as my afterimages disappears from her view.
" 'Tis is but an afterimage, you see." I answered her question from several meters away behind her, where I'm currently at after evading her attack by Flash Stepping away.
"YOU! WHAT MANNERS OF TRICKERY DID YOU USE?" she asked me angrily.
"I didn't use any tricks though? It's just that you're too slow to detect my movements." I tried to rile her even more. Basic Fighting 101, taunt your opponent so that they'll make a mistake. Tends to work if they have a short fuse or looking you down.
"GRRRR~ THEN I'LL JUST ERASE EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IN ONE SWEEP! GRAAH~!" The 12th Herrscher retaliates by launching multiple AOE fireball attacks, majority of them heading towards me while some of them went to the girls who are currently inside the barrier I'd erected earlier. Well I'm not worry about them girls, the barrier will be good enough against this kind of attack.
*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*
Several loud sounds due to the attack's explosion resounded throughout the area, deafening our ears. As the dusts produced cleared away due to wind, there was nothing left on the shrine apart from the rubbles and craters across all the area. Of course the girls and I are fine though, and this apparently shocked the hell outta the 12th Herrscher.
"B-BAKANA?! WHY DIDN'T MY ATTACKS WORK?"
"Well~ Maybe it's because your attacks are way too weak?...Ah whatever, since you looked kinda done with attacking me I guess it's my turn then. <<Body Reinforcement, 3rd Stage>>, <<Triple Accel>>. Ready or not, here I come, foxy~" I said merrily while I'm applying several built-in spells inside my armor, my body and armor shined in red color. And then I vanished, leaving just some dusts produced by my shockwaves due to high-speed movement.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU PUNY HU-?! GAH!"
That was all she can say before I suddenly appeared below her belly and punch her towards the sky using my reinforced fist. As she was flown towards the sky, I appeared in front of her and then starting to beat her up just like a certain fighting loving alien race. This continued on for a few minutes, and all she can do was screaming in pain while floating in the air due to my omni-directional attacks. (A/N note: cue Dragonball Z's battle BGM.)
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA~! And here's for a finisher, ORA!" Having satisfied with my work, I then finish it up with a drop-kick, producing a booming sound due to the 12th Herrscher's speed falling towards the ground and thus making a huge crater and dusts from the impact.
"<<Fangs, Anti-demon Barrier mode>>"
A few more of my Fangs separates from my wing, all of them pierce the ground around the crater and produce an anti-demon barrier to prevent the 12th Herrscher from escaping or using her power. I then descended back to the ground in order to prepare for my final attack, and thus eliminating the threat once and for all.
"Oi~ foxy~, you there? Don't keep on being silent since I know you're still somewhat fine." I asked the 12th Herrscher to reply me since I didn't hit her that strong after all. My actions before was just a way to stop her from having a time to do some shady shit towards me.
"Grrr~ what do you want human? Just finish me off already, I can't even use my corruption techniques since you've sealed me inside your barrier after all."
She replied to me weakly as the dusts clears away, showing me the injuries all across her body. Uuuh~ I didn't hit her that hard did I? I thought I'm successful in holding back enough…Errr, maybe I should just use the 2nd stage of Body Reinforcement and Double Accel for next time instead?...Yeah, I'll do just that.
"No, I'm just wondering on what the reason is for you hating on us humans. I mean I got some time so might as well ask you this. Well~ just treat it as your last words, foxy."
Oi the hell are you doing Takeru? Just end her already will ya? There's no need to stretch this situation way longer. Hey calm down fellas, I mean I'm just curious on what the Herrscher thinks about us, she could give me some clue on how to end the Honkai outbreak once and for all if I asked her nicely.
"Like hell I wanna talk anything to you, you foul creature! You can just perish alongside all humanity, baka~ baakaa~!" She taunted me like a delinquent gal instead. Oi you've went out of character just now, is this your true personality?
"Is that so, then farewell 12th Herrscher, may you rest in peace…Come, <<Balmung>>."
Well~ since she's ain't cooperating at all I'll just summon my soul-bound sword, the Holy Sword Balmung to end my job. It was given to me by Master Lyle as my graduation's present as I finished his training. The reason why he gave me this cliché named sword was because he believed that I can use it to its full potential, which I did. I'll tell more about that later on.
"Limiter released, <<Roar, Balmung>>!"
As I'm filling the sword with tons of mana while I'm making a sword-pose like I want to swing it from above, the sword shined brightly, making a blue laser-like aura towering towards the sky.
"Haaaaa~"
I shouted a war cry just like a shounen anime protagonist to keep my hype up while I'm preparing for my attack. I know my man, this attack took a little bit of time to finish its charging process. That's why I trapped the 12th Herrscher inside the barrier first so she can't evade you know?
"Have at thee, <<Bal-?!"
My attack procedure however was interrupted by a sudden chain binding my body from behind, courtesy of Theresa who somehow manages to escape from my defensive barrier erected earlier. Well, Fang's Defensive mode was not build for tanking attacks from the inside after all…But what's this, a sudden betrayal arc?
"…Oi, the hell are you doing Theresa-chan? What if your sudden interruption causes my attack to self-explode huh?! We all gonna die you know?"
I asked her while I'm trying to calm down the raging mana from Balmung by dispersing it to the surroundings. It ain't done without repercussions though. The backlash manages to injure several of my internal organs, but I forced the blood that's going out from my mouth by swallowing it back silently. Sheesh~ the things that I do from keeping women getting worry about me.
"Please, Takeru-kun! Don't kill her! She's just an innocent girl!" She told me her reason for stopping me from doing it.
"Oi, did you just smoke some weed? Ain't she's the one hell-bent on killing you first?" Stop it Theresa-chan, it's not too late for you yet. Get some help.
"That's not it!...Actually…" And then she began to tell me her story.