Miko found herself slumped, helpless, on the cold cobblestones, her eyes fixed on the nameless knight's intense battle with the vengeful warrior.
The knight swiftly disengaged from his defensive stance, attempting to thrust his longsword into the gaps of the samurai's armor. The warrior, however, had anticipated this move, swiftly jerking backward, creating distance. With his Naginata, a deadly glaive, gripped firmly in both hands, the warrior braced himself, planting his feet firmly on the unyielding ground.
The nameless knight gestured to Miko, urging her to stay back, a language barrier between them preventing understanding. Miko uttered urgent Japanese words, her voice a firm warning about the enemy's formidable power. The knight, unable to comprehend her words, kept his gaze locked on the adversary before him.
The samurai wielding the Naginata lunged, and the nameless knight responded in kind, lunging forward to meet him. As they clashed in the middle, the reverberating clash of metal echoed through the air, sparks dancing in every direction.
Miko watched in awe as the knight skillfully maneuvered despite the weight of his heavy armor, a stark contrast to the samurai's lighter attire. The two combatants exchanged thrusts and slashes, each assessing the other's skills, refraining from delivering devastating strikes until they had fully understood their opponent's capabilities.
A standstill ensued, the nameless knight grinning with excitement beneath his visor while the samurai radiated loathing. The showdown was reaching its climax when the samurai decided to initiate a lethal strike. With both hands gripping the towering Naginata, he executed rapid, successive swings, aiming to wound his armored opponent.
However, the knight, encased in plate armor, failed to grasp the samurai's true intention. In a grave oversight, he misjudged the glaive's length, nearly twice the height of its wielder. The gradual, seemingly slow whirlwind technique suddenly transformed into a lightning-fast thrust aimed at the knight's exposed neck.
As the samurai retracted the Naginata to a neutral stance, the nameless knight stood there, utterly bewildered. Fortunately, his neck was shielded by a gorget, an armor piece designed for such critical moments, preventing a fatal injury. The samurai couldn't help but laugh at the knight's momentary lapse in competence.
Miko, witnessing this turn of events, felt a surge of worry and concern for the knight's safety.
"So that's how it is," the knight uttered in a cold, angry tone that cut through the tension in the air.
Miko held her breath, her worry slowly dissipating as she watched the nameless knight approach his laughing foe, seemingly unfazed by his previous blunder.
The malevolent spirit abruptly stopped laughing as he saw the knight's determined advance, his own poise turning serious. He shifted from his neutral stance to one more suitable for defense, anticipating that the knight would lunge with a thrust and then feint.
The knight executed precisely what the spirit had predicted. With lightning speed, he lunged forward, his longsword aimed at the samurai's exposed face.
In response, the spirit yelled the Japanese word "useless," a mocking implication that the attack would be futile. He used his Naginata, gripped firmly in his hands, to parry the thrust. The parry successfully diverted the longsword's momentum away from the samurai, giving the ethereal warrior an opening to deliver a swift and blunt force blow, a concussion-inducing strike.
But just as the malevolent samurai was about to execute this decisive blow, an unexpected and powerful punch came seemingly out of nowhere. It struck the samurai with formidable force, sending him sprawling onto the cobblestones, his laughter replaced by a mouthful of dust.
The knight had employed a bold technique against the malevolent spirit, countering the counterstriker. As the spirit attempted to parry the knight's lunge, the knight had already anticipated this move. He used the broken momentum of his longsword to harness his enormous physique and weight, turning it into a forceful charge against his foe. Knowing that the Naginata required a significant action to parry an attack, the knight had taken a calculated gamble, and it had paid off. With his entire body adding force to the equation, he delivered a devastating punch straight to the evil spirit's face, shattering his facade.
The nameless knight's anger blazed like a raging inferno as he stood triumphantly over the fallen samurai. His visor concealed his features, but the intensity of his fury radiated through the slits in his helmet.
The malevolent spirit struggled to rise, disoriented and battered. His earlier laughter had been replaced by a groan of pain, and he attempted to regain his footing, but his limbs trembled under the weight of the unexpected blow.
Miko watched in awe as the knight's distorted voice, muffled by his armor, carried a tone of unyielding anger. Although she couldn't understand the language he spoke, the sheer wrath in his words was unmistakable. It was the language of vengeance.
With a determined stride, the knight brought down his longsword, unleashing a furious flurry of blows upon the fallen samurai. Each strike was imbued with the knight's wrath, a relentless assault fueled by his desire to avenge his own blunder and protect Miko.
The malevolent spirit, now in a desperate struggle for survival, tried to parry and evade the knight's strikes. However, he was no match for the knight's relentless fury. Blow after blow landed, striking with unerring precision, each impact reverberating through the air.
Miko couldn't help but be afraid at the knight's transformation. From a momentary lapse in judgment to an embodiment of wrath, he had become an unstoppable force. His anger burned hotter with each swing of his blade, and the samurai's defiance began to wane.
Finally, with a final, thunderous strike, the nameless knight's longsword cleaved through the samurai's lighter armor, a resounding crash echoing through the cobblestone streets. The malevolent spirit let out a final, agonized cry before dissipating into a swirling mist, vanquished by the knight's fury.
Breathing heavily, the knight lowered his longsword, his fury gradually subsiding. He turned to Miko, a silent nod of acknowledgment in her direction. Though they couldn't communicate through words, their shared victory and the knight's unyielding protection spoke volumes.
Miko's heart swelled with gratitude and admiration for the nameless knight, who had not only saved her but had channeled his anger into a righteous fury to defeat their formidable foe.
Just as Miko was ready to move toward the nameless knight, a sudden and deafening bang reverberated through the air, shaking the very earth beneath them. The cobblestones trembled, and both Miko and the knight exchanged concerned glances, their focus now diverted to the source of this unsettling disturbance.
Miko reacted swiftly, chanting a prayer to summon spirit orbs into existence. As the orbs materialized, she commanded them to ascend and cast their glowing light upon the outside of the protective barrier.
What they saw left them in disbelief. Illuminated by the ethereal light of the spirit orbs was a colossal skeleton, a massive humanoid figure relentlessly pounding on the protective barrier. It was a destructive yokai, unlike any they had encountered before, and it posed a grave threat to the shrine's safety.
In her shock, Miko whispered the name of this nightmarish creature, "Gashadokuro." The giant yokai had rooted nearby trees around the barrier, intending to wield them as makeshift hammers to amplify its efforts in breaking the protective shield that guarded the shrine.
Each thunderous strike sent shockwaves through the barrier, causing Miko's spirit orbs to flicker and wane. The signs were clear—her protective barrier was on the brink of collapse, and with each strike from the Gashadokuro, her powers weakened, leaving the shrine vulnerable to the relentless assault of this colossal threat.
Underneath his visor, the nameless knight gritted his teeth, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a strategy to defeat the colossal Gashadokuro. Time was of the essence, and their current predicament seemed dire.
Realizing that their chances of victory were slim, the knight made a swift decision. He sprinted toward Miko, who was still dumbfounded by the colossal yokai's presence, and without hesitation, he grabbed her by her legs, hoisting her over his shoulder with a surprising ease. Miko, despite her initial shock, immediately protested, striking his armor and demanding to be put down.
However, the knight understood the gravity of the situation. He knew that facing a titanic and undead foe like the Gashadokuro was a battle they couldn't win. The vengeful spirit of a samurai had already been a formidable challenge; this colossal yokai was beyond their current capabilities.
With Miko still over his shoulder and clutching her bow and arrow, the knight swiftly made his way into the inner halls of the shrine. There, in the sacred sanctuary, he gently placed the begrudgingly compliant shrine maiden in front of the shrine's altar. Their safety and survival now depended on their ability to find a way to confront the Gashadokuro, for they couldn't hope to defeat it head-on in their current state.
