Chapter 9
The large object thudded onto the ground sending bits of dust and debris in each direction. Immediately, Fumia and I simultaneously jumped to the side, opposite of each other. Propelling myself upward, I swiftly unsheathed my dual blades, preparing myself as the prismatic black mass flowed and stretched like liquid.
“You five, scatter!” Atake thrust herself forward, tossing her blazer aside, which gave her broad-looking shoulders. And revealed her weapon of choice strapped onto her forearm. Although it seemed pocket-sized at the moment, she flicked her wrist downward, and with a heavy thud followed by a clang, the tiny pocket-sized weapon became a massive barricade, a little over half her size.
“The Ultimate Defense,” Yuna said in awe.
The Ultimate Defense Yuna referred to was Atake’s main weapon. A shield known by all but seen by few.
Leaping from the ruble, Atake tucked herself behind her Yuna-sized shield and hurled herself through the Irregular, sending splotches of black goop across the sounding area.
Within an instant, the liquid creature began pulling themselves towards where Atake had given a heavy blow as if magnets were being attracted towards each other.
“Don’t let it reform!” I mustered up the will to shout.
As legs began to somewhat take shape. I grounded my feet, as did Fumia, and the two of us bolted forward while performing sword skills of our own. Just as we closed, the aggravating tactics of an Irregular began. Shifting into a sphere, they launched a large muscular forearm towards us.
Dropping to the floor, I evaded the attack by sliding to the right, canceling my sword skill in the process.
“Everyone, all together!” The potent Fumia shouted.
Kicking myself upward, I swung myself back and collided my swords with them. Disappointingly, the same results occurred as before. My attacks simply fell through and I almost lost my balance as my blades felt as if they had slashed at thin air.
“Oi, it’s the same thing that happened before! We’re not lying a single scratch on this thing!”
Fumia snarled. Although being slowed by our attacks, the irregular continued to reform their body. Completely disregarding us. And just a few seconds later the black prismatic mass had taken a more humanoid form. Although their body wasn’t entirely accurate. Their arms extended below their knees, and their thighs were large but the remainder of the legs were as thin as tree branches. Along with their head being egg-shaped, and their massive grotesque mouth taking up more than fifty percent of their face. With no eyes, it was as if their open jaw was compensating for it.
With their reformation complete, the Irregular sprung into action. Launching themselves mid-air, they crossed their arms before pointing them forward. I took a few steps back as they shot their pointed claws forward. And like roots from a tree, thin appendages extended directly from the tips of their fingers and shot towards us.
Atake rested her shield above her head and awaited assault from above. It was as if it had begun raining bullets at the speed the appendages shot towards us. With dexterity, Atake moved from side to side. Absorbing blow after blow with her shield.
“Gar!” Atake yelped as she began dripping red from her rear.
“Are you okay?” I asked. Being closest to her, I closed the gap between us making sure to cover her back from any other surprise back shots.
“I’m fine. But these long-range attacks just keep coming. We need to close in before we wear ourselves out.”
I nodded. And sliced the appendages that fired towards me. But with that, more came flying in my direction. My snowy white bangs felt damp and I glanced around as I saw everyone struggling the same as Atake and me. But to no avail, we just couldn’t seem to close the distance.
“Atake!”
She glanced towards me.
I shook my head. “Never mind.” She was already doing what I would have asked her. Which was to block the attack then slice off the appendage. I just needed an opening, the next time a tendril darts towards her is when I could strike.
Tightening the grip on my blades, I bent my knees and pointed my swords downward. I felt the power of the sword skill Motion as it primed. Unlike the others who were scattered and fought alone, Atake was just feet away. As the thin root-like tendrils collided with her, she used her shield as a sword and sliced the appendages to the floor.
In that split second opening when the appendages grew back and darted forward once again. I jumped in front of Atake and leapt towards the Irregular, riding along their thin yet robust tendrils. With the sword skill Motion active, I spun across their appendages and sliced at them as I twisted my blades along with myself.
Flying headfirst into the black mass, I extended my blades, slicing their arms that fell and splashed like water. Sliding beneath them, their legs grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me above the ground.
The black abyss behind their razor-sharp teeth called to me. And I began to bleed from my nose as the stench that leaked from the hole on their face reached my nostrils. From my peripheral vision, I spotted both Yuna and Sakura running to my rescue. In one sharp motion, their head glanced from me towards the two. In this moment of distraction, I lifted my arms and decapitated the Irregular, which made me fall onto my back.
“Kanade, are you okay?” Yuna shouted.
I nodded.
As the black mass began to reform once again, I rose to my feet and ran towards them.
“Tsk, how do we kill this bastard?”
I shrugged my shoulders and narrowed my eyes.
“I don’t know, but we have to keep trying.” Yuna gripped her rapier with two hands and propped it behind her waist and sent herself flying towards the Irregular like a shooting star.
The black mass exploded into small globs but shortly began to flow towards the central point of where they had been struck down. Unphased, they once again began to rebuild their body.
Just behind them, Yuna stood still, as the dirt began to stain red.
“Yuna!” The two of us shouted.
“Tsk, why you!” Leaning forward, Sakura swung his massive blade in a half-moon shape. But his swing was halted halfway. The Irregular began to costume his blade.
“Kanade!” Sakura lost grip of his blade and the Irregular consumed it.
“Go help Yuna. I’ll keep them busy.”
He nodded and ran to my right towards Yuna.
“Look out!”
Looking to my left, Fumia ran towards me. Glancing forward Sakura’s massive blade hurtled towards me. Throwing myself to the ground, his blade had sliced just above my ear.
“Ah!” I squeezed the right side of my head.
“Kanade, why did you look my way?”
I didn’t have an answer.
“Regardless, stand up. We’ll do this together.” She stuck out her arm. Grabbing onto her, I felt a sense of security.
“Okay.”
Sakura’s blade had retracted into the MechaBeast and their overall size had changed from before. They were more of a blob now but still maintained their height.
“Ready?”
I nodded in response.
Holding her sheathed katana, she moved swiftly and I trailed behind. Unsheathing her weapon, her brisk attacks with her katana were faster than the Irregular could react. But it added up to nothing if we didn’t know their weak points.
Using Sakura’s blade like an extension of themselves. Each time either Fumia or I attacked, they would move the Eris blade in our direction, blocking our strikes.
“We need to get rid of this blade.” I leaped to the right. “If they shot it towards me again, we could sever their hold on it.”
“That’ll work, but I think it’d be better to chop it out using brute force.” She drove her blade into the side of the MechaBeast and circled it. Trying to sever their torso.
“That seems like more work. I mean they reform their body every time we lay even a scratch on them.” I slashed at both legs, dropping the Irregular in height slightly.
“Another issue is if they’re going to--”
“Fumia!”
Their mouth began illuminating a vibrant blue, which reflected off of their entire body. Unhinging their jaw even more than it already was. They rotated their head and released a roar all around us, sending debris flying, the ground shaking, and leaving a high-pitched whistling sound in my ear for some time.
In an instant. Sakura’s massive blade was shot into the air.
“You. Just. Don’t. Let. Us. Catch. A. Break!” I gritted my teeth and activated the sword skill, Frozen Bonds.
Sakura’s behemoth blade flew towards me, clashing with mine sending blue sparks flying from the collision.
“Ahhhhh!” I was sent a few steps back, but dug my feet into the ground and kept my stance. Using this opportunity, Fumia charged towards the Irregular and dove into the air. Striking like a lightning bolt, a bright white slash sent the blade falling to the ground.
Staring towards her silhouette through the dust clouds and dim sky, she sheathed her katana and walked towards me, her scarf swaying in the wind. The dust had finally cleared and Fumia was by my side. Revealing the Irregular who had blobbed up into a mountain-like form, their body spurting liquid from their sides.
“That’s disgusting.” Fumia snarled.
“Fumia, Kanade, where are Sakura and Yuna?”
Glancing over my shoulder, Atake ran alongside Serpent.
“I don’t know, Yuna was injured and Sakura carried her off.” Fumia shrugged her shoulders with concern.
“Find those two and check in on them. We’ll hold it down here.”
Fumia and I nodded. I grabbed the mammoth blade from the ground. Running past the two of them, Serpent’s foggy eyes gleamed against my skin for a moment before returning his gaze to the Irregular and being thrown into combat.
Throwing his sheath aside, he held his chain link and scimitar in the same hand. Serpent thrust his chain link forward and reeled in the MechaBeast. All the while the Irregular began spurting acidic liquid through their geyser-like holes that sprouted from their back. But Atake was by his side, sustaining little damage. Besides their sleeves being completely burnt through.
Those two should be fine. But where did Sakura and Yuna run off to?
With no hit as to where they went, our time ran thin as we ran aimlessly and both Atake and Serpent needed our assistance.
“I’ll go--” We said simultaneously.
Glancing at her, she signaled me to continue. “I’ll go help them, focus on finding Sakura and Yuna.”
Her eyes narrowed. “No, you stay and search,” Fumia said stubbornly.
“Fumia--!” I retorted. She had already spirited away, but a grin grew over her face.
Dragging the blade across the dirt road, I waltzed into what we called the Cathedral, Kiriya’s office. Stepping onto the tile floor my footsteps echoed through the hollow hallway and the ceiling shook. It was dark inside and I knelt my head downward and thought why this was the last building standing, almost fully intact. I dropped the blade and it made a sharp clanging sound.
“Oi, who’s there!” A familiar voice shouted from the left of the doorway.
Glancing over, Sakura sat with Yuna in his arms, his spiky hair fell over his eyes and was now neck length and wavy. I stared in silence.
Is she--?
Yuna coughed red splotches and sat up slowly.
“Tsk, don’t push it.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch.” Glancing towards me, she sent a grin that lit up the dark Cathedral. “Kanade!” she coughed and wheezed.
“Sakura, we need your help out there.” Staring towards Yuna, I hesitated. The last thing I want to do is take away Yuna’s privilege to fight. But she’s in no condition to.
She scrunched her face and raised a fist, “I want to go too! If I may.” Her voice became a whisper.
My lips quaked and I clenched my fists. I’ve always hated people who gave up easily or never gave something a second thought. But I just couldn’t allow Yuna to step foot on the battlefield knowing she would lose her life. The room was quiet and the sound of liquid dripping bounced off the walls of the Cathedral. Yuna was still leaking like a faucet.
“No,” I finally spat out. “I won’t let you.”
The two galaxies which rested on her face widened, but the stars faded. Her expression was now sorrow, but she understood. Taking a knee, I removed my trench coat. Gently placing it over her shoulders, she tilted her head and rubbed it against my hand before I pulled away. Wrapping herself up in my coat, I moved her to a sitting position against the wall.
Saying nothing Sakura pushed his hair back and grabbed his blade and the two of us exited the Cathedral.
“That was hard…”
I nodded.
Slapping my back, he smirked. “Ah, but I think yea made the right decision.”
I shrugged my shoulders slightly and the two of us swiftly made our way towards Fumia and the others. As we approached we saw the three in action, with great skill the makeshift team worked adequately together. Gripping Sakura by the waist, I threw myself along with him a few feet back and to the side as a girthy and grotesque limb of the MechaBeast drove itself into the ground where we stood and began sprouting spires in a straight line.
“Where the hell’s Yuna?” Serpent gawked at us.
Getting to my feet, I ignored his question and charged into battle.
“She’s resting in the Cathedral alright, Serpent!” Sakura shouted.
The Irregular had only grown in size since I had last seen them. Steering to the right, thin yet long quill-like metallic structures began firing towards me. Evading most blows, some quills stuck into my side and arm. I closed in towards the geysers located on the back of the beast in hopes of defeating them from the inside. As I began to jump forwards into the hole, light blue almost clear flames began sprouting out and running wild, leaving burn marks across my back as I hastily turned to face away from the flames.
“GRWAhhhhhhh!” The fire stung and I dropped to the ground to stop any further pain inflicted to my body from the flames.
Getting to my knees, I shot myself upward and slashed at them. That’s all I could do, we still had zero clue as to how to defeat them.
Their body glowed an array of colors before settling on white. The MechaBeast seemed to break and shatter into millions of glass shards before mushing together and rebuilding from the bottom up.
“They’re taking a new shape!?” Atake shouted with great power in her voice.
The Irregular had only been growing in size up until now, not actually taking a new form. But now it’s the same as last time, from the prismatic shards to the change in shape, they’re taking a new form.
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