Battles Across the Mountains

Teiden swooped down and snatched Teo before the minotaur's ax reached him. It zoomed away, swiftly maneuvering through the forest and its inhabitants.

Sitting on the face of his blade Teo grabbed his leg and wrenched hard. The pain was intense and sharp, but his body's advanced healing allowed it to fade quickly.

He stumbled to his feet as his blade continued to travel through the mountains. The minotaur sprinted after them, ax in hand. With each step, it dwarfed hills and flattened mountains.

"Keep going, Teiden," Teo muttered, "I need to buy time for my prana to restore itself."

Although traveling as fast as currently possible, Teiden couldn't evade the minotaur, who was hot on its tail. The minotaur lifted its ax mid-sprint, preparing to shred Teo and his sword.

"Dark Prana: Corruption!"

Teo's prana enveloped the environment surrounding the sprinting minotaur, turning nearby trees, mountains, and hills black.

With the surroundings now corrupted by Teo's prana, it gave him the ability to manipulate the affected environment as a pleased.

The black environment confined the minotaur, causing it to drop to its knees under the crushing weight. The darkness slowly began to spread to the resistant minotaur.

The minotaur wriggled and strained in an attempt to break free but saw no progress as its struggles only increased the weight of Teo's darkness while also causing it to spread faster.

Teiden halted, and Teo descended to the ground, wiped his sweaty palms on the side of his legs, and took a deep breath.

"Getting pushed this far by a mere animal is embarrassing," he murmured.

The minotaur finally broke through, causing Teo's darkness to vanish from the environment. It fumed as it gripped its ax. It released a sound that embodied rage, expressing its vow to kill Teo.

The minotaur's sprint turned to leaps as it bounded toward Teo.

Teo tightened his clutch on Teiden when he suddenly felt his body surge with dark prana.

"Being a devil sure is convenient," Teo boasted, "My prana regenerates faster than any saint or elite."

"Dark Prana: Black Lagoon!"

A dense pool of darkness spread through the forest floor. It latched onto the minotaur's legs, sticking to them like tar. The thick substance slowed the minotaur's movements.

Teo held his blade vertically in front of his face, "Here's something that'll nullify this annoying size difference.

"Dark Prana: Dark Samurai!"

Teo's aura erupted as dark prana began to swirl around him. The prana lifted him into the air as it assumed the shape of a humanoid avatar.

A thick layer of dark armor formed around the samurai, and Teiden stretched further to complement Teo's increased size.

The minotaur tore through the dark prana that tangled around its legs.

Teo's samurai and the minotaur, both wielding equally large blades, stared intensely at one another.

Although equal in size, neither giant backed down.

Each fighter took a long step forward, leading with their front foot to add momentum to their hips.

Their blades collided, causing a shockwave.

The shockwave rippled through the air, slicing through mountaintops and everything in its path.

The blast tore through the cliff where Raijah was trapped. It narrowly missed his head but was still close enough to knock him and the minotaur off balance.

The shockwave pushed the minotaur diagonally. Instead of puncturing Raijah's head, it slashed his right arm off.

The cliff came crashing down on them. The minotaur being too large to escape caused him to get trapped underneath the rubble.

Raijah succeeded in escaping the crumbling cliff. He sat leaned against a nearby tree, peering over his shoulder to keep an eye on the minotaur.

"Damn," Raijah thought, "I've exhausted both my pranas, and it clipped my arm. My dominant arm at that.

"But whatever caused that blast narrowly saved me. If it hadn't come at that exact time, I'd have lost much more than an arm."

The minotaur pushed through the rubble and looked around, scanning the area for Raijah.

"Think, Raijah.

"How can you get out of this."

The minotaur swung its ax wildly, causing the forest to fall swiftly. It continued to chop down the surroundings while searching for Raijah.

The ax cut through the tree that hid Raijah, but he was already long gone.

Raijah zipped passed the minotaur's eye. He soared through the air, evading the minotaur's continuous swings and slashes.

As he flew further into the sky, he noticed a group of thunderclouds brewing.

Upon seeing the clouds, an idea struck him.

"Just my luck," he said.

The minotaur acted first. Its ax flew at Raijah at tremendous speeds.

Raijah countered by striking his only arm down.

"Natural Lightning: Rakurai!"

A bolt of lightning descended from the thundercloud and upon the minotaur. Although the attack didn't inflict noticeable damage, it stunned the minotaur, making it fall on a knee.

Raijah flew into the storm clouds. Within seconds, they lost their thunder and became ordinary.

Raijah emerged from the clouds with his arm healed. He had an aura of blue lightning, and his crimson eyes and tattoo turned blue.

He looked down at his healed hand, which had been submerged in his electric aura.

"Natural lightning," Raijah said, "weaker than my divine lightning, but I can work with it."

The minotaur got to its feet again and looked up at Raijah, who floated directly above.

"Come," Raijah said, motioning for the minotaur.

"Judgement awaits you."

Nezumi opened his eyes, feeling dazed. His eyelids were heavy, and his memories foggy. Despite this, he felt strong. Stronger than ever.

"What'd you do?" Nezumi asked Tensai, who sat beside his bed.

"I completed my end of the deal," Tensai replied, "All that's left is for you to complete yours."

Nezumi felt his head throb.

He touched above his eyebrows and felt a horizontal line of stitches across his forehead.

"You just underwent a neurosurgery," Tensai explained.

"I transplanted my memories and knowledge of doragonken into you. That means your understanding and mastery of the art is on par with mine."

Nezumi stood up and closed his eyes. Images of doragonken and its array of techniques played through his head.

"How do you feel?" Tensai asked.

"Strong," Nezumi replied.

Cora and Val met at the border of the two villages, beside Saku's statue.

They had searched through the Kamakura village and gone through every house but to no avail.

"First, Raijah and Teo, then the entire Kamakura family," Val said, "What's going on?"

"Raijah and Teo being what they are don't need sleep," Cora replied, "but we sensed Nezumi manipulating his prana, and when we got there, the entire family was gone. Something's happened. Most likely bad."

"Not to mention, Aziel, my father, and Gado are out," Val added, "Gramps is gone too."

Cora responded, "I know Aziel, Ujinari, and Gado are out, but where is Hashira?"

"I'm not sure," Val shrugged.

They both felt the grace of a familiar yet slightly altered aura. Without saying a word, they dashed toward the source.

They arrived outside Val's room and skeptically pushed the door open.

Nezumi stood in the center of her room. He let his fingers skim across Val's blade and carefully observed its dragon engravings.

"Nezumi," Val said, "what are you doing with my blade?"

Nezumi ignored her.

"I asked you a question!" Val demanded.

Nezumi glanced at her in an uninterested manner.

Before Val and Cora could speak, they felt a fist slam into their stomachs.

They crashed through the building, going from the Shi Village to the outskirts of the mountains within seconds.

They landed in a plain and flat valley between two mountains.

The pain felt like a hole pierced through them. But they scrambled to their feet as they heard Nezumi's footsteps close in.

"Those stitches on his head," Cora said, "this weird feeling in his aura, and he swatted us away like flies.

"What's gotten into him?"

"Are you stealing my blade?" Val questioned him with a dazed look of bewilderment.

Nezumi surged with uncontrollable, absurd laughter. "You should see the looks on your faces," he mocked.

"You know me better than anyone, Valerie.

"If I were only here to steal your blade, I could've done it with my ririsu. Especially since those misfits Raijah and Teo aren't here to sense me. Although, as I am now, I doubt even they'd be able to stop me."

He tossed Val her blade, "If we're to fight one last time, I'd like for us to be at full strength."

Val caught the sheathed blade, both she and Cora still giving Nezumi a look of puzzlement.

He assumed a low fighting stance, identical to Raijah's.

"Cora, Valerie, let me show you two the extent of my newfound strength."