Prelude to the Storm

[Intruder.. You will not approach…Be judged under..]

"Ah, shut up! Can you at least say something different if you're going to keep talking?"

Yuuto pulled his sword back bracing the impact he felt from the large spear headed his way and twisted his body to deflect the force away from him. Giving the echo some time to move closer to him.

Regaining his posture, he gathered moonlight to wrap around his sword and swung downwards. 

–BOOOOM

Tendrils of silver light escaped the white blade and clashed with the snow-covered ground in front of him. Leaving chunks of soil and snow to spray everywhere.

Yuuto pulled back and watched how Cocolia's echo did the same thing.

'So the echo has some sort of will instead of just being a remnant piece of data…'

Judging from his earlier clashes with the echo, Yuuto began to notice a difference in how his fight played out compared to his previous ones. 

"It's moving with more thought."

Earlier he had given the echo some distance to move closer to him to fall under his trap. But at the last second, it stopped its movements and didn't pull through with its initial plan.

As if it knew his bait would have caused major damage to her.

Being a few meters away, Yuuto adjusted his stance when he noticed Cocolia's echo raise her hand, and fragments of thick ice grew around her.

Various bells began to ring in Yuuto's mind and he quickly moved away while tracing the air around him.

[Intruders must be stopped…] 

The echo raised her hand and swung downwards causing a surge of thick spears to rain down on him. The spears pierced the ground and released a gust of sharp winds that Yuuto had to evade while keeping his guard up using the mist he had.

"She's playing peek-a-boo with me…"

Yuuto frowned when he saw the echo move away from him each time he got closer and planted spears to keep him distracted. 

So while he was dealing with the winds crashing into him, the echo would rush Yuuto before retreating when she saw that the spear had done its job.

The sharp winds would push him back and even cut his skin in places where he didn't properly protect himself.

Not wanting this to continue, he placed more energy within the barrier that [Mother's Embrace] had and grabbed the spears struck the ground. 

"[Break], [Break]."

The sharp wind clashed with him for a brief moment but halted just a few centimeters away from him. Making the sharp winds feel more like a strong breeze on a sunny day.

Each time he got closer to the echo, the spears would shatter each time he touched them and he started to feel like the echo was growing impatient.

Cocolia's echo stopped her peek-a-boo tactic and paused before rushing Yuuto in a head-on assault. He was surprised by her sudden change of pace but he welcomed it.

The sharp point reached his head and he moved his wrist to parry the attack away from him. Finding her arm holding the spear within his reach, Yuuto used his left hand to hold that part in place while he delivered a powerful kick to her chest.

But his leg felt resistance when he felt Cocolia's other arm block his kick using a solid chunk of ice as a shield. 

Cocolia's echo crouched downwards and swung her leg at the pivotal foot Yuuto had in an attempt to force him off balance. 

But that was quickly shut down as he jumped up and twisted his body. Gathering momentum in his legs so he can force a counterattack. The echo raised her arms and blocked the fast kick causing some distance to grow between them once more.

"Fighting against someone who can also think really puts my senses to test…"

Yuuto raised his sword and analyzed the enemy in front of him, finding this fight to be vastly different from his usual fights. The way his enemy adapted and countered him made him feel like he should find more opportunities to engage in fights like these.

Rather than the mindless monsters he's faced until now.

"But that ice she's using is going to be a problem." Yuuto glanced at the thick sheet of ice glued onto the echo's surface and saw how it acted as armor.

His sword attacks were steady and fast as the moonlight helped speed up his movements. Even if the moonlight also increased the sharpness by a certain amount, it was still not as substantial to strike his sword at an ice that was harder than metal.

"I can try to use that…" Yuuto thought about a certain memory he had yet to try out and looked at the echo's surroundings. "No, I should probably wait until the actual fight."

Even with [Clarity] in full use, he still hasn't felt a gaze land on him so far. But he doesn't want to expose any unnecessary parts of him. Especially a memory that he has yet to use.

"I just need a small moment where the echo's distracted…"

Yuuto straightened his posture and thought about the characteristics the echo in front of him had. 'It should have the remnant data of Cocolia that the fragmentum tried to replicate.'

Thinking about this fact a sudden glint appeared in his eyes and the corner of his lips flinched slightly.

The echo, not knowing what he was thinking, rushed him once more and spun her spear trying to gather power within her attacks. 

Yuuto guided the flat side of his sword to block these strikes and kept a defensive attitude. 

At certain times, however, the echo would expose her left side every time she pushed her spear forward. Yuuto didn't hold back and willed the moonlight around him to attack her weak points given the opportunity.

The flowing light turned sharp and zipped around her spear. Crawling along her arm and causing tiny crescents to tear apart her upper body.

Instead of blood coming out, shades of black and yellow dust came out instead which showed that the echo was truly a forgery of the original.

Yuuto gradually got used to her patterns and began to slowly switch towards more offensive attacks. Forcing more of his steady moonlight to overwhelm the echo.

But he still needed a single moment to end it all.

Her flurry of attacks continued to grow and Yuuto jumped to the side and put on a shocked face that had a tinge of worry within it.

"Bronya! Be careful of the monster!!" He reached towards an area behind her.

Yuuto yelled this out which caused the echo to suddenly turn her head around and see nothing. Only the large walls that surrounded the abandoned border and the sight of snow dropping from the ground.

"So you still carry her affection despite being an echo."

A voice appeared from below the echo and she snapped her head downwards to see Yuuto keeping his sword close to his body. A deep shade of silver covered his sword and lightly shook the air around it.

The echo tried to run away but her feet were stuck after noticing a dense mist wrapping around her leg. 

A small fragment quickly flew from Yuuto's fingers and dissolved itself into the armor Cocolia quickly put on after seeing her way of escaping sealed. 

–BOOOOOM

The white sword blurred in his hands and multiple cuts grouped. All forming a cross that converged into a single point near her chest. The armor endured the attack but a crack eventually formed before shattering completely.

Supplementing some of his energy to boost the power of his moonlight, a bright flash covered his surroundings.

The echo feeling the force behind it flew through the air and crashed into the stone brick wall surrounding the abandoned border.

"I wonder if the echo survived that…" 

Getting closer to the wall, Yuuto saw the echo supporting itself with its spear and a large hole in her chest.

Its body flickered, looking more faint as if she was about to disappear right in front of his eyes. The echo grabbed her spear and threw it behind her but Yuuto didn't waste any time. 

[..Intruder… will—]

–SWISH

"That took more time and energy than what I have hoped to use." 

He swiped his sword cutting off the head of the echo and watched how her body dissolved into bits of black light. A small smirk appeared on her face which was too ominous for his liking.

Seeing her completely disappear, he found a spot hidden away and felt like it was a good time to rest.

Yuuto moved his shoulder and sat down feeling some weakness but he closed his eyes trying to force some more energy out of his engine to recover the losses he got.

Feeling the warmth covering his body, he instinctively relaxed and felt like it would be a good idea to return so he could wait for the others.

But multiple movements behind him caused those thoughts to disappear. 

—GRRRROO

"What the hell." Yuuto saw fragmentum monsters grouping up in full and gradually making their way to him and he immediately stood up. 

Doves of Shadewalkers, Frostspawns, Imaginary Weavers, and even machines corrupted by the fragmentum. All of them moved towards him.

And amidst all these monsters, there was a prominent blue spear gushing out yellow energy from its tip. 

"So you're still a pain in the ass after your death, huh."

Yuuto clicked his tongue and quickly summoned a spear of his own. Lowering his center of gravity, he kicked the butt of the shaft and launched it towards the glowing spear just a few meters away.

The two spears shattered on impact but he was now left with the horde of monsters already gathered around him.

"Let me just run. There's too many of them to handle on my own…"

As eager as he was to get away, the monsters around him didn't seem to hold the same thoughts.

"H-Hey! At least give me some time to recover, damn it!?"

Yuuto felt the air shift a few meters away from him and he waved his hand to bring a thick layer of mist to protect his right side. 

—BOOOOOOM

The mist was met with a concentrated beam of energy that exploded and chucks of crystal filled with this very energy shattered around Yuuto.

An Imaginary Weaver closed its hand seeing its attack fail and teleported away. Before coming back with two more of its friends.

"Oi! That's cheating, isn't it? Ganging up on a defenseless person is horrible on your part. Think about what your family would say if they knew you were doing this!?"

Yuuto closed his fist and a series of spikes exploded from the ground around him and pierced through a few Shadewalkers alongside a few Frostspawns. 

His ramblings went on deaf ears as the Weavers didn't care a single bit and charged up another shot which Yuuto felt was too annoying to deal with. 

He sliced up another Shadewalker attempting to hack him with the ax it had and tried to find a path he could escape to. "If I take those three machines out I can form a path and just dash through that."

Thinking of a plan to go with, Yuuto got low to dodge the axes aimed at him and sprinted towards the machines he kept his eyes on. His sword flashed and created deep slits on their bodies.

While using the chance to run towards the vast land that was away from the hoard.

"A tactical retreat is the way to go." Sprinting more to his right, Yuuto finally found some land he could stop at.

But it seems like some of the monsters were too persistent in catching him.

—VRMMMM

"Shit–"

The air vibrated and three beams of light quickly reached him. He raised the mist around him in the shape of a cocoon to block the attack but due to the quick attack, he was unable to land properly.

The force behind the three attacks made him fly through the air and forced him to focus on landing before anticipating any more attacks coming his way.

He dug his sword into the ground and used that to anchor himself and looked at how the three Weavers lowered their arms.

"So they're on cooldown." Yuuto saw the pattern from the time they attacked him earlier and rushed toward the Weaver close to him.

As he was about to dig his sword into its body, the Weaver's silhouette faded into the air and disappeared. Teleporting to an area far away from Yuuto.

However, what it didn't expect was that a spear had already appeared right in front of its chest. Piercing the hard exterior it had.

"I was aiming for the head but this could be fine as well."

Yuuto took a step back and felt glad that [Clarity] was helping him way more than he had expected. By enhancing his senses, he could feel the changes around him with more detail.

Making their teleporting ability all the more less effective. Which was a plus for him.

"That damn echo must be laughing her ass off right now…" Remembering the smirk she had before disappearing, she must have known that her 'gift' would have brought Yuuto so much joy. 

Various thoughts gathered in his mind as he prepared to attack once more but he paused when he noticed something strange.

A singular purple butterfly was flying through the white snow. Staining the blank area with its deep color.

"Who would have thought?" The corners of Yuuto's lips rose as he recognized this butterfly and waited for what was to come next.

As he had expected, a woman with purple hair and a large scythe suddenly appeared in the air above one of the Weavers. Ripping apart its body into two clean parts.

"Don't worry my dear friend!! The calvary is here!"

Another person wielding a glowing blue bat struck one of the weavers on the head causing their body to collapse while striking a few more times just to be safe.

–BONK BONK

–BONK

"Alright, that should be enough." Yuuto said but was interrupted.

"No! Justice must be served for ganging up on such a defenseless person. Only I can bully you like this!!"

"No the hell you're not."

Yuuto felt his mouth twitch and dug his knuckles into Stelle's head who was trying to escape saying the world was too cruel for a fair maiden such as herself.

Feeling some of the tenseness leave his body, Yuuto watched as a gale of black and white wind brushed past him. 

The man spun his spear and used the butt of the shaft to hit the center of the thin spear lodged into the last Weaver. This brought a clean hole right in the Weaver's chest and was followed by its head being cleanly ripped off.

"Yuuto! You look like you've aged ten years."

"I sure did."

March waved her hand and got closer to Yuuto and Stelle who were grouped up. Dan Heng and Seele eventually followed along. Each wearing a slightly different expression.

"Wow, so my guess of your clothes being damaged actually came true." Seele smirked as she rested her scythe on her shoulder.

"Why would you bet something like that…?"

"Who knows~."

Yuuto looked down and saw that bits of his sleeves were ripped but nothing too damaging to his appearance.

Seele wore a grin and Yuuto narrowed his eyes on a certain culprit.

"O-Oi! Mercy! I didn't say it!"

Yuuto held Stelle in an armlock and ignored the pleas coming from her. Dan Heng also ignored Stelle and approached Yuuto who looked relieved to see him.

"What made you guys come up here so early?"

"We felt the ground around us shake by a scary amount and felt like something must have happened on the surface." Dan Heng quickly briefed on some damages the Underworld took from the earthquake.

While also stating how they didn't want to leave him alone sensing that something big was about to happen.

"We met with Serval whom Stelle and March met before and said that she met you an hour ago." Dan Heng opened his mouth to say something but stopped after thinking for a while.

"We.. also saw Cyrilla who was with her. Did something happen?"

"It's a long story…"

Yuuto wore a faint smile which caused the area around him to turn silent. The four of them looked at him with worried looks but he shook his head saying that it was fine.

"That reminds me, did Bronya stay behind in the Underworld?" Trying to change the atmosphere, he asked the four about Bronya who was not with them.

"She came up with us but wanted to help out the Silvermane Guards who were currently a mess after being ghosted by their prided Supreme Guardian." Seele scoffed when she spoke of Cocolia.

'So she must have already gone up to where the Stellaron is.' Yuuto guessed. 

"Let's group up and think on—"

As Yuuto spoke about his thoughts on what to do next, he stopped when he felt the snow around him stop. The flakes that fell stopped as if they were suspended by an unknown force. 

Before moving upwards to a certain point far from them.

"What is that...?"

March pointed her finger towards an area where a large cyclone of snow began to form. All the flakes around them gravitated to the singular point as if a storm was forming.

Yuuto narrowed his eyes and using [Clarity] to focus on the storm, he saw the outline of a familiar-looking woman holding onto a large light blue lance.

Her blonde hair swayed gently in the center of the storm and her purple eyes coldly stared at the land beneath her.

"{For a better world}"

***

I think I'm cooked. This chicken-headed woman has used her voice to get a firm grasp on me.