7:40PM
FAMILY GROUNDS, SANJURO MANSION
*door creaking*
“Hm?”
A lavender–haired, middle–aged woman was seated in a reclining chair watching the news, when the mansion’s main door opened.
“I was wondering what those two kids would be doing back home so early…so, you finally come back to your own house for once?”
It was Lord Gado’s wife, Miri, and greeting her was her own husband, the man himself.
“What, I’m not allowed in here anymore?” he asked her.
“I don’t know, you tell me?” she responded. He’d returned from a meeting with the Hunters regarding the kidnapping, advised by them to get some proper rest for once in a while.
“You come up with a plan to save those high school kids?” she asked.
“Well, we’ve been working on it. We made a hypothesis and assumed that the primary target is tied to an Ancient Clan. So, we found a reason for kidnapping, but their intentions are up in the air. Beyond that, the challenge is pinpointing where they’re holed up,” he explained.
“How’s that girl’s mother doing? Was it, Inoue-san?”
“Worried, as a mother should be…Tenchi had his wife talk with her today,” he informed.
“…you miss him, don’t you?” Gado asked her about their youngest son.
“…how can I not?” she sighed. “Not only him, but my biggest son who’s trying to carry the world on his shoulders.”
“I’m more than grateful to have Ilmar and Gina around…but I want us to be together again. As a family.”
Gado closed his eyes as he remembered his youngest son, then spoke,
“Reckless as Fudo can be…he’s doing it all for his kid brother, and Tenchi’s son. He’s probably on a closer trail than any of us.”
“…whatever you’re doing, just try not to go overboard,” he thought to himself.
COLONY NO. 2
FUJIWARA RUINS, ANCIENT CATHEDRAL
*woosh*
*BOOM*
From his position, Fudo punched the air, sending a huge shockwave over where the Dragons stood, raising a dust cloud that blocked their vision. Mamoru underwent Full Transformation, mutating his body to make full use of his powers, as he went on guard, anticipating a counterattack. He felt that Fudo would appear from one of his flanks, but instead, a barrage of giant nail–shaped projectiles of fire pierced the dust, all aimed at him. His hardened skin protected him as he guarded, but Fudo suddenly appeared from his left, no longer armed with daggers, but instead brass knuckles made from Flame Control.
!!
“These nails were all thrown by hand…he managed to get over here, while they’re still airborne?!” the Dragon wondered to himself.
Fudo drew in close while his opponent put up a guard with his arm. He sent a right jab into the center of the arm that blocked his face, the knuckle digging through the hardened skin, but the Dragon didn’t budge. He withstood the heavy attack as he prepared his own:
“I’m somewhat of a hard–hitter myself.”
With these words, Mamoru returned a punch which, although blocked, rocketed Fudo’s body across the room, slamming him into one of the stone pillars.
“Hot damn!…if I hadn’t focused Body Reinforcement into my back, that would’ve been GG,” he thought to himself.
Demon Bats • 飛行悪魔 (Hi-kou Aku-ma)
From above, loud screeching noises rang out, and Fudo looked up to see large–winged bats with long fangs headed straight for him, summoned by Arata. He fled around the building, creating a medium length sword, which he used to gradually exorcise them as they pursued him.
“Haha!!” Kentaro laughed as he watched him. “A user of the Intelligent Flames, and one blessed with immense physical talent!”
“Show me more! Dance for me more, Hunter!!”
As he yelled in excitement, Kentaro activated a technique; strangely, Fudo was now running down a long, narrow hallway with many doors.
“…an Illusionary Technique?...no, my energy isn’t being disturbed. This is real?”
As he was in thought, he instinctively looked above him to see Kentaro on the ceiling, reaching down with his Partially Transformed hand. Fudo moved swiftly, using the same sword to lob off the Dragon’s arm.
Immediately, the hallway started to grow what seemed like branches and leaves all along the ceiling and walls. Suddenly, the doors started to open, and from them came long, sharp tree roots that locked on to Fudo, desperately trying to impale him. His reflexes were sharp enough to evade and cut them down for about the space of a minute.
Finally, when a path was cleared in front of him, he saw Arata standing at the far end of the hallway, forming a hand sign as he uttered:
Beast Manipulation • 獣の操縦 (Kemo-no no Sou-ju)
With a rumbling, a gigantic, short-limbed worm-looking creature spawned from what seemed like a large portal in the ground. Its body filled the entire hallway, and it charged full speed at Fudo, making loud grunts as it gnashed its teeth. Opting back to his dual-wield daggers, Fudo stood silent and still as he watched the monster zero in. It got right in front of him, and opened its jaws, ready to swallow him whole. Fudo timed himself, and dashed inside the beast’s mouth right before it clamped down.
The beast paused for a moment, satisfied after devouring its prey, when suddenly, it was being impaled from within by numerous, flaming, elongated purple spikes. They gradually penetrated its body in all directions, from the front end all the way to its rear, until there was a large gushing of green blood out of its lower back, from which Fudo emerged as the beast’s body evaporated.
But, as he returned to the outside world, it had changed. Just a moment ago, he left from a hallway of doors into the jaws of an ancient creature. And, upon exiting…he now stood in a neighborhood district. The place was desolate, with old abandoned buildings, and there was a drizzle of rain.
“Isn’t this…?”
He was standing in the midst of the Hunter Training Grounds.
It had been the exact same setting, and, as he would later figure out, a re–enactment of the exact same day, almost six years ago. He walked around for a while, seeing and hearing nothing. He called out a few times, but heard no answers, which led him to thinking there wasn’t much to this Illusion, beyond the location itself.
“Show yourselves, Dragons! Stop wasting my time here!” he snapped.
But, he decided to calm down, and used the moment to analyze his opponents’ techniques so far.
“Come to think of it…these techniques…”
“Not long after the Dragon War, our predecessors spent time gathering data on the techniques of the 9 Dragons. The Big-Three gang members all display traits of the Inferno, Orochi, and Apocalypse Dragons. From what I’ve seen so far with these three…”
“The Land Dragon…”
“The Sorcery Dragon…”
“…and the Supplanter Dragon.”
“The power that created the land and its greenery…the foundation of all sorcery…and the father of all lies – the demon with the voice of an angel, who can create false realities. They all match up perfectly.”
“Based on records of the past, what these guys have been doing doesn’t scratch the surface of what their originals could do. Guess they can’t access their full power…which works in my favor.”
It was at that point, something Mr. Satoshi had said in their conversation crossed his mind,
“I don’t know who commandeers the Gangs and the Religious–Group…”
“…three Gangs, three Cult Leaders…and they all have a leader. There was that intruder from that day, Mujin…and that kid who kidnapped Jamal and Tarik, whose abilities couldn’t be matched to any of the 6. Assuming there’s another, that makes a total of 9
Dragon Leaders,” he analyzed.
“9 Dragons…”
“9 Leaders…”
“…9 Revivals.”
!!
In that moment, his eyes were opened. Fudo understood everything.
“It’s…all clear! We need to kill them…we have to kill them!!”
“Big brother?”
A voice halted his footsteps. A familiar voice. As he slowly turned around…he was greeted by his youngest brother, and Tenchi’s youngest son.
“…J?...Tarik?”
“Please…we’re counting on you!” Tarik begged.
He started taking steps toward them, but quickly stopped himself by squeezing his wrist. He regained himself, remembering that he was under an Illusion. As he examined closely, he could even tell that their clothes were the same from that day. What he was seeing was not real.
“Sheesh, what am I doing…focus, Fudo. None of this is real,” he lectured himself, as he looked at their sad faces.
“My, my…the love of a brother – truly, none can comprehend how deeply it reaches, no?”
Fudo’s thoughts were interrupted by another voice. He turned to the rooftop next to him to see Kentaro, sitting down and watching everything unfold.
“Dragon…show me any more of this, and I’ll slaughter you,” Fudo declared as his twin daggers respawned within his hands.
“You’ll do that even if I stop, right?” he responded as he vanished, and reappeared a few meters in front of him.
“Search your heart, Fudo Sanjuro…at this rate, you’ll never move forward,” he finished speaking while pointing at him, and vanished once again.
“Just another illusion, huh…what the hell was that guy going on about…?” he asked himself, as he turned to look at the two boys who were still standing there.
“I will save you two…I promise,” he said to himself.
“Fudo–kun?”
He heard another familiar voice behind him…too familiar. He didn’t want to turn around, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he forgot everything he’d just lectured himself on…when he saw Hayami Oriki standing there, attired exactly as she was on that fateful night.
“Hayami?...You’re alive?...” – his eyes were widened. He was captivated. If this were a dream…he probably wanted to stay in it forever.
She held her arms out with a smile, inviting him for a hug. He took baby steps toward her without even noticing, until he grabbed the chest portion of his jacket, trying to stop himself.
“Damn it, get ahold of yourself! This is an illusion, Hayami’s dead!” he tried drilling into himself. Unfortunately, his attempts proved futile – he could neither stop walking, nor stop looking at her.
All the while, he barely noticed a third individual. Inside a building, behind a glass window, someone who looked like Katashi was banging the window, trying to get Fūdo’s attention.
*banging*
*inaudible speech*
“Kakkun?...” Fudo asked with the quietest voice. “I can’t hear you at all…what are you doing in there?...”
But, his attention span wavered, and he was already looking back at Hayami, and walking to her.
“I’ve missed you…Fudo-kun…” she spoke with tears running down her face.
Inside the Cathedral, Fudo’s body stood still in the midst. He was unconscious, with his head facing the ceiling and his eyes barely open.
“Isn’t it wonderful?...To become lost in your own precious memories, and just die peacefully. Truly, a death to be envious of,” these words came from Kentaro, who stood alongside Arata and Mamoru.
All this time, they had never left the Cathedral, but instead were fighting using Kentaro’s technique. His Dragon possessed the ability to create false realities, whether it be in the form of producing an artificial, tangible environment around himself and others, or casting Illusions on one or more persons based on their own memories. He’d employed usage of this technique in both manners so far, and it was during the first instance that he casted his technique on Fudo.
“Hmph…just like that,” he clapped his hands. “Once he collapses, we’ll contact Gyuwhan–sama, and await further instructions,” he said to his associates.
Fudo was still taking steps toward his past love. Whether he noticed was unlikely, but these three elements – Jamal & Tarik, Hayami, and Katashi, were all key representations. The two boys depicted his desire to rescue them, Hayami depicted his undying love for her, and Katashi was an intermediary, representing his desire to move forward. So far…his desire to move on was at its weakest, and his love for Hayami was strongest. He could not stop himself from walking toward her, because he knew he wanted to.
At the same time, Katashi’s banging ensued, and the two boys tried getting his attention, but to no avail. Fudo continued over to the illusion of his past girlfriend…not knowing that he was walking into his death. With every step he took, every single memory he shared with her resurfaced – their first meeting, first conversation, first mission, first date…and even first kiss. He saw everything he needed to see.
“Yes…come with me, Fudo–kun,” she said to him.
“I’ll never leave you again…we’ll be together, forever…”
He was within her embrace, but her arms would not close, not until he embraced first. He lifted his arms to hold her…when suddenly…
*KRRK*
*CRASH*
!!
Katashi broke through the glass! On the outside, even Kentaro was alarmed at this, and commanded the two of them,
“Mamoru, immobilize him! Arata, kill him, now!!”
Fudo was so lost at that moment that he didn’t even pay any attention. But, unhindered, Katashi opened his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs,
“SNAP OUT OF IT, FUDO!!”
“YOU HAVE TO LIVE! JAMAL, TARIK, YOU HAVE TO RESCUE THEM!!”
These words pierced his ears. And, accompanied with the words of the boys behind him,
“Big brother!!”
“Fudo–san!!”
*SLASH*
Fudo created a small sword…and slashed Hayami’s throat open.
*gasp*
“Fudo…kun?...” she said his name, one last time.
“The Hayami I know…would never want me to abandon those two,” he responded, with bloody tears running down his eyes.
Following that, his eyes glowed purple with a glare, and the flame on her wound ignited rapidly, consuming her in an instant.
At this point, Mamoru had formed large tree roots surrounding Fudo’s body, trapping him inside an encircled structure, while Arata was about to cast a technique –
Hellfire Blaze!! • 地獄の火だ (Jigo-ku no Hi-da)
The ends of the tree roots were ignited, and they quickly progressed to Fudo, screeching as they blazed along. Just when they got close,
*FWOOSH*
The roots that surrounded Fudo in a swirl ignited with purple flames. The flames from Arata’s technique were stopped in their tracks, as Fudo’s flames swelled up in a huge ball, sending streaks of fire along the branches in return, consuming the flames that were already present.
“He freed himself from the Dream Realm…with sheer willpower alone?”
Kentaro was not only amazed…but overwhelmingly excited.
“Kehe…HAHAHA!!”
“Astonishing! Extraordinary! You’re truly one of a kind, FUDO SANJURO!!”
The flames surrounding Fudo’s body now cleared away, revealing his hair gently flowing upward, and his irides along with his whole body giving off a lavender glow.
He assumed a martial arts stance, his hands ignited with fire, and he uttered:
“Come…Dragons.”
8:00PM
FAMILY GROUNDS
Steffan and Katashi were standing nearby the Restaurant Bar, having drinks. Katashi was somewhat expecting to see Fudo, seeing as he vaguely hinted that he’d be on the Grounds, but he wasn’t counting on it. His absence was commonplace by this point, so he wasn’t worrying either.
Nearer to the bar were Ilmar, Satoru, and their fellow kin, spending their usual time talking and drinking.
“Being on the sidelines now…I guess we were pretty obnoxious around here back then, huh?” Katashi asked.
“That’s putting it lightly, Katashi–kun,” Steffan responded.
“Still…take us back to those days,” he said with a sigh as he finished his drink.
“Need to talk?”
Someone from the group approached them – it was Satoru.
“Hmph, I should be asking you that, kid,” Steffan responded.
“I just thought you guys seemed lonely,” he said as he sat down with them. “Are you waiting for someone, perhaps the Captain?”
“Meh, not really,” Katashi responded. “He’s not around much, anyway, after being placed in a Colony to work. We’re just killing some time.”
“I see…”
“Well, I was mostly thinking about the state of affairs…our current standing, as Hunters,” Steffan opened up.
“What about it?”
"As you'd probably already know, the Two Clans are self-sufficient; we don't actually depend on the government for anything. Land, water, electricity, research facilities, housing, food production, and even public safety personnel; we've got all of that for ourselves, thanks to stipulations imposed by the Clan Founders from back in the day. Thank God they went through all that trouble...because the current political body is filled with greedy degenerates who want nothing but control," he started to explain,
“The government’s pushing for us to take more drastic measures in dealing with the Dragons. The Religious Group, with their wide influence, actually has the power to oppose them, being in full support of the way we’ve been doing things. This puts us in an awkward spot, where the impression is given that we’re acting in accordance with the Religious Group’s desires, and by extension, opposing the government along with them,” he explained. "If those things from the beginning didn't exist, they'd be on our asses."
“There’s even a third party mixed in – these ones try to encourage the public that we’re a bunch of phonies, who act all noble in public eyes, and spill Dragon blood behind closed doors. It’s as if they’re slandering us, while not necessarily opposed to what they think we’re doing. Long story short - we’re being clowned from all directions.”
“…what solution do you think would be best?” the young Hunter asked.
“Ignoring them all, while working to fix the mistakes made by our predecessors,” Katashi promptly responded. “It isn’t the easiest thing in the world…but, that’s the life of a Hunter for you.”
“That’s…actually refreshing, coming from you, Katashi–san,” Satoru expressed.
“I want in on this one.”
A third person chimed in to their conversation – it was Ilmar.
“It’s nothing important,” Satoru tried deterring him.
“A talk with the higher–ups isn’t important??” he asked, taking a seat. “Say it ain’t so!? The disrespect!”
Satoru felt his brain cells dying already.
“Say, Katashi–san, I’ve been wondering. Why exactly can’t we kill Dragons, anyway?” Ilmar asked.
“Basically,” he started, “when the Dragon War came to its end, the Two Warriors made an agreement with the Dragons who were left alive: turn your lives around, and in exchange, we won’t harm you; neither ourselves nor our descendants. One of the two saw potential in the Dragons, and decided it would be a waste to eradicate them. Somewhat irresponsible, but it worked…for a while.”
“So, basically…we can, but it’s some moral code?” he asked.
“That, and the fact that the Dragons were given too much time to plot in secret. They now have a bomb; one that they’re able to drop any moment now,” he responded.
“Well…if it came to it…how do you even kill a Dragon?”
“There's one main criterion to it...and a few different ways of going about it...” Steffan started to answer.
FUJIWARA RUINS
ANCIENT CATHEDRAL
Fudo flew off, making a beeline for Arata. He was attacked by numerous tree roots as he made his advance, but he skillfully dodged and burned each one that crossed his path, and within 5 seconds he was next to his first target:
“One.”
As he said this, he swiped his flaming hand upward. Two hands that had been weaving a sign were now detached from their arms, and Arata’s face was being scorched by purple flames, burning through his flesh and blinding his eyes. Fudo never spared a second to look at him as he did this – immediately, he advanced to his second target, who was startled by the attack dealt to his fellow.
“Two.”
A spearhead of fire was formed around Fudo’s fist, which he lunged into the direction of Mamoru’s chest. The Dragon quickly regained himself, and despite his skin being hardened, he caused thick solid rock to arise from the ground, to tank the attack that came. Fudo’s spearheaded fist dug into the rock formation, while his target quickly maneuvered to a safe distance.
“As I expected…just now, I saw it, too.”
During this attack, Fudo made a confirmation, both through observation as well as the enemy’s actions. At the beginning of their fight, Fudo dealt Mamoru a punch using brass knuckles made from his technique. Just now, after getting close to him once again, he was able to get a good look at the arm that blocked the attack – the hardened skin was damaged and scarred.
In addition to the fact that he avoided the attack just now, rather than blocking, it was confirmed that Flame Control was effective against the Land Dragon’s hardened skin.
“Excellent…I have the perfect attack, made just for you,” Fudo thought to himself.
“…just give me a few seconds.”
Fudo stopped moving. He held out his palm in front of him, and above it, hovered a tiny ball of fire. Mamoru was on guard, and Arata’s face was healing, but they didn’t know what to expect.
“Twenty seconds.”
The Dragons were alarmed when he said this. They didn’t know what he was doing, but Mamoru wouldn’t allow it. Instantly, a multitude of trees grew all along the Cathedral’s walls, and from them sprouted dozens of sharp roots and vines, all targeting Fudo. As they quickly approached, he went on the move once again, dodging everything that came his way. Arata was still healing, but he went on as well to summon more Demon Bats to pursue the Hunter. He could not counter any of these attacks – he could only evade, for the next 18 seconds.
Meanwhile the battle ensued, Steffan was answering Ilmar’s question,
“Killing a Dragon isn’t something just anyone can do…even for the weak ones. But, it’s nothing impossible.”
Fudo jumped from tree root to tree root, performing acrobatic stunts in the air as he was pursued, both by killer roots/vines and bats.
“The most effective way to kill a Dragon, is by landing lethal attacks with either Dragon Energy or Divine Energy, the latter being possessed only by the Two Warriors, and a few special hunters.”
As the sphere levitated above Fudo’s palm, it condensed, and Fudo bent his index finger to his thumb, forming a circle.
“Since most people, including hunters, don't possess either of those naturally, their best bet would be to use a weapon imbued with one of those energies – Spirit Weapons.”
The sphere further condensed, and Fudo also bent his middle finger down to the same thumb, while outstretching the remaining two fingers.
“And…there are also people like Gado–sama and your brother, Fudo–kun, who don't have Divine Energy...but they can produce it.”
By this time, it had been 20 seconds. The sphere was fully condensed, and Fudo prepared himself. With his other hand, he pulled back as if he were drawing a bow and arrow – his middle and index fingers pointed, while the ring and pinky bent inward, with his thumb resting on them.
“Nobody knows what exactly the Ancient Flames are…all we do know, is that it resulted from some mutation of the Two Warriors’ powers. For this reason, it could be classed under the Divine Energy I talked about earlier.”
“…the Flame Control technique, when used at full potential…”
Fudo was still dodging at this point. He spun midair, and was now upside down, maintaining the same form with his hands. The technique was ready.
“Lethal-Style…”
He aimed at Arata, who was just about to finish healing himself. He was yet defenseless, and Mamoru, seeing this, quickly maneuvered himself in front of his comrade, intending to shield him. At the same time, two large roots swirled together as they raced toward the Hunter.
“YOUR BLOOD WILL SURELY DECORATE THE VERY WALLS OF THIS CATHEDRAL, FUDO SANJURO!!” Kentaro yelled, spreading his arms open.
Fudo initiated the attack, quite literally with the flick of a finger – as the middle finger placed on his thumb, flicked forward –
“…can burn away even a person’s soul,” Steffan finished.
FLAME CONTROL BULLET • 加具土命の弾丸 (Kagu-tsuchi no Dan-gan)
*BLAM*
*WHISTLE*
*SPLATTER*
From the sphere of fire, a small beam was fired faster than any eye could follow. It instantaneously dug a pathway through the roots in front of Fudo, stopping them in their tracks, while progressing to the intended targets. The beam tore through the skulls of both Mamoru and Arata, disregarding the former’s super-hardened skin, exploding their heads along with flashes of red streaks of lightning. They were already dead by the time they could notice, but the beam was very hot – its temperature probably wasn’t anything less than 10,000 degrees. Following that, both their bodies, as well as the roots, were consumed by enormous purple flames.
“…wait?…”
Kentaro hardly had time to process what happened – in fact, Fudo denied him from having that time. He landed on the ground amidst the large flames, with a crazed look on his face. Unbeknownst to even him, a special technique was activated when that attack landed, indicated by the red flash – along with enhanced senses, his body felt fluid as water, and a wave of excitement rushed through him.
He immediately created a Kusarigama; one just long enough to close the distance between them. He spun the chain majestically for about 3 seconds, then extended it –
*SLASH*
“…huh?”
Kentaro watched as the view rotated. His head felt like it was turning farther than it naturally could.
“Arata…Mamoru…”
“…are you guys…”
His dismembered head faced his comrades’ dead bodies, as it descended. His entire life flashed before his eyes, from Day 1 until now, as he grasped the reality that his life approached its end. Yet…for some reason, he thought less of himself, and more of Mamoru & Arata.
“…don’t leave me,” he whispered as tears formed in his eyes.
“…brothers…!”
Fudo stood still for a moment, slowly deactivating most of his residual flames, as well as the weapon. He took his time walking towards Kentaro’s head, as his purple eyes and flowing hair returned to normal, while thinking to himself,
“Three down…six to go.”
And thus begins, chaos.
KENTARO
AGE: 100+ (DOB: April 19, 1904)
HEIGHT: 5'7"
OCCUPATION: Dragon Religious Group Leader
ARATA
AGE: 100+ (DOB: January 9, 1902)
HEIGHT: 5'7"
OCCUPATION: Dragon Religious Group Co-Leader
MAMORU
AGE: 100+ (DOB: February 26, 1901)
HEIGHT: 5'10"
OCCUPATION: Dragon Religious Group Co-Leader
NOTE: I never described much in the last chapter and this one, but these three Dragons DON'T look old, despite their ages. Just to let you know.
