The Oni Slayers: Chapter 16

Saiyou took his fighting stance with his fists clenched in front of him. Ryuu gave the first punch. Saiyou countered it with his palms. The exchange of fists began rapidly in all directions. Soon some kicks were thrown into the martial mix. For every kick that Ryuu made, Saiyou would dodge cleanly. For every jab that Saiyou made, Ryuu would block and defend. Like an aikido fighter, Ryuu grabbed Saiyou wrists and tore him to the ground. Moments before reaching the surface, Saiyou spun his own body and smashed Ryuu into the arena floor. The entire room shook violently. Bits of debris came off from the ceiling.

Ryuu bounced back into fighting position from his fall. Like a knife, his struck a beam of yellow at Saiyou. Quickly, Saiyou stretched both open hands in front of himself. A blue translucent shield of energy materialized. It shattered when it absorbed the yellow beam. “I have underestimated you,” said Ryuu. “I wasted too much time.” Saiyou laughed haughtily. “Hah! I have tricks up my sleeve as well.” He then shot a stream of blue energy towards Ryuu. Ryuu disappeared before the blue aura hit him. The volt of aura shattered a gaping hole in the wall revealing the outside of the Capital City. Ryuu stealthily raced to Saiyou and landed a multitude of punches. Yellow crackles of energy embedded Ryuu’s fists.

Saiyou made a swipe at his opponent’s face with his aura encrusted hands. Ryuu cocked his head and jumped backwards. However, Saiyou’s nails made a gash and blood spurt form the wound. “Wow!” said Takuya in amazement. Saiyou’s fingers were bent in claw-like fashion. His fingernails had extended themselves. He jumped into the air and shot downwards like a bullet at Ryuu. Ryuu widened his stance and bent his knees to receive the attack. The impact from Saiyou’s crash created a rumble and a huge dust cloud. As it obscured the audience’s view, sounds of bone cracking fists echoed in the room. What is this speed, thought Ryuu. He focused all his chi at his arms. No, chi is practically bursting out of his arms. What is he?

Leaping backwards, Ryuu let out a streak of electricity with a swing his arm. Rather than dodging the attack, Saiyou countered with his own blue aura. The blue aura disintegrated the electricity like two flame monsters eating each other. Saiyou appeared in front Ryuu once more and Ryuu gained the second swipe. This time, a chunk of his left shoulder suffered a deep cut.Ryuu grabbed his own shoulder. “What is this technique, human?”“Don’t you wish to know my name?”“Answer my question,” barked Ryuu.“This is my Falcon Claw.”“A falcon can grasp its prey, but a falcon cannot grab thunder.”

A huge sphere of electricity was launched in Saiyou’s direction. It crashed into Saiyou and through the throne room’s walls. Both Takuya and Shimura shouted with concern. “Saiyou!!” Saiyou laid battered to the ground. His black shirt was torn and his attire was covered in dust. He got up on his feet and dusted off the debris. “No worries,” said Saiyou collectedly. “I was off guard, but I think I know to watch out now.” Saiyou’s cool aqua green eyes now adjusted into slitted pupils. His hands grew to become more claw-like. The blue veins were growing more pronounced as he flexed his muscles.

The newly reborned fighter sped to the oni with more terrifying strikes. Each strike tore the air. An unexpected kick to the shin left Ryuu off balance. Struggling to defend, the oni tried to scramble on his feet. A claw gripped tightly around his neck restricting all air to flow through his lungs. Ryuu tried desperately to suck air in, but the crushing grip around his windpipe only increased. He clawed furiously at Saiyou’s arms. Saiyou dug his free arm into Ryuu’s abdomen. Ryuu gagged and spat out blood onto Saiyou’s face. The excruciating pain snaked from the stomach to the ends of his fingers. His captor released his grip and dropped him face down to the ground.

“Get back up you scum!” ordered Digger. The tyrant sat restlessly smashing his own throne into pieces. The other oni watched uneasily and shifted in their spots. Ryuu pulled himself up. Copious amounts of blood dripped from his abdomen. “I ... I resign,” said Ryuu weakly and flopped to the ground. Digger finally stood from his seat. “Get up, you little shit!” bellowed the monster. “Listen, you fucking bastard. We won,” stated Saiyou. “And we are here to take you down.” He hoisted Ryuu up on his shoulder. “What ... do you ... think ... you are doing,” Ryuu said angrily. “I’m saving you, dude,” said Saiyou. “Human ... I am an oni,” said Ryuu weakly as he struggled to leave. He coughed up some more blood. “Be quiet already,” ordered Saiyou.

Saiyou laid Ryuu onto the ground. Shimura had a syringe ready and injected its contents into Ryuu’s blood stream. Ryuu’s huge wound was beginning to close itself. “High speed regeneration fluid,” Shimura said proudly. “One of my inventions.” Digger left his throne and made his bone crushing stomps to Saiyou. The ground shook terribly with each step. Saiyou looked nonchalantly at Digger who was ten times more massive and ten times more ugly. “What are you doing taking away my underling?” the oni tyrant shouted. “Your underling? Ryuu is in our custody now. Who wants to be with a bastard like you?” Saiyou taunted. Takuya found the massive oni terrifying. The presence of a giant killing machine looming over you was not a good feeling. Saiyou turned to his comrades. “Take Ryuu and run. I’ll catch up with you guys later,” commanded Saiyou. Ryuu suddenly sat up, but Shimura grabbed him by the arm. “Let go, human!” said Ryuu angrily. “You’re injured!” argued Shimura. “You still want to fight?” “I sword allegiance to my lord!” said Ryuu. “He doesn’t even care about you!” shouted Takuya. “You’re just his pawn!” “I must serve him to the end.” “When you die, he won’t even remember you!” screamed Takuya. He angrily wanted to beat some sense into Ryuu’s head. Ryuu scoffed. He proceeded to ignore the warnings and walk away. Takuya grabbed him by the shoulder tightly. Ryuu flashed a piercing glare that sent chills down Takuya’s spine. A strong blood thirst clearly resounded in the quick exchange. Shimura took advantage of the small time frame and knocked Ryuu unconscious.

Meanwhile, Digger was busy confronting Saiyou. “Human! You have no business interloping in our affairs!” “Interloping? An oni like you has been interloping in human affairs,” Saiyou stated firmly. “You took away my pawn,” said Digger. “Your pawn? He’s one of us now,” said Saiyou. “One of us? He was created to hate humans. He is the result of the evolution panacea.” “What?” said Saiyou surprised at this new found information. Digger have a booming laugh. “I’ll tell you, human, about some wonderful things the demon world has now. The evolution panacea was developed for demons to evolve into higher levels. With that one little pill, we gained so much more power!” “Who ... made this thing?” inquired Saiyou as his brow furrowed. “He’s the only human I can let him live. Thanks to him, we’ve all grown powerful,” Digger cackled. “Him?” Saiyou pressed on. “Kurogami Makoto. That’s all you need to hear before you die,”’ said Digger.

The oni king thrusted his arm to destroy the intruder. He pounded a hole large enough for the party to escape. Takuya and Shimura grabbed Ryuu’s unconscious body and jumped to the floor below. On the following ground, the three were trapped by hostile oni.Shimura hoisted Ryuu’s immobile body to Takuya. “Here, take care of him.”Shimura performed the Shadowless Sword and the oni that stood moments ago were now screaming as they were being made into mince meat. Shimura had disappeared leaving Takuya surrounded with oni corpses. He then appeared in a flash and removed Ryuu from Takuya. Very easily, he lifted the body over his own shoulder.“Let’s get going quickly,” instructed Shimura.Takuya followed his mentor’s steps promptly through the maze of scattered flesh.

Digger continuously try to pummel Saiyou. With every hit he dodged, the building shook vehemently. Chunks of the wall cracked and fell apart as sand poured from above. The ceiling was beginning to collapse. Digger landed another punch in front of Saiyou. Suddenly, he saw that his own talons were missing. Unknowingly, Saiyou had removed them with his sword leaving bloody digits in place. Now greatly riled, new arms sprouted from Digger’s body. A total of 8 arms made Digger look like an abomination from horror novels. The multi-limed demon now pursued Saiyou with a frenzy.

The dire circumstances didn't not faze Saiyou one bit. He reacted to the new challenge with unnatural glee. He began cutting the limbs off. First it was the hands. Then it was forearms, lastly it was the entire arm. Viscous blood violently erupted from the open wounds. Digger roared at the sight of it and continued to retaliate. The attempts became feeble when he felt an imbalance. In one slash, Saiyou removed both of Digger’s legs. With the one remaining arm he had, Digger feverishly tried to reclaim his limbs. Destroying all chances for regeneration, Saiyou minced the nearby arm into pulp.

Horrified at the scene, Digger made his escape dragging himself with his remaining arm. Unlike some oni, the Tsuchigumo had slower regenerative abilities. They prized their monstrous size and extendable limbs. Desperate to leave, Digger was ready to resign from the fray. Saiyou’s slitted eyes were still lit with excitement. He dropped his sword to the ground. The metal weapon clanged as it hit the floor. Slowly he walked over to Digger and grabbed hold of the monstrous forearm. Using the entire capacity of his half demonic blood, Saiyou twisted his own body at an alarming rate. Akin to alligators twisting their bodies to rip off meat from carcasses, Digger’s arm was torn off from the shoulder.

A deafening outcry of pain echoed in the castle. Takuya who had made his way downwards could hear the reverberating cry as if Digger was right beside him. He had no time to think. They were drawing close to the bottom of the castle. The steps were shaky and difficult to maneuver through. Takuya was thrown off balance with the quaking castle and his own heavy back pack. The gate was empty with no oni in sight. The uneasy feeling in Takuya’s stomach disappeared. There was one less obstacle to deal with until they finally left the demon city.

In a dark pool of blood, Digger laid hopelessly on the ground like a stubby radish. Limbless and vulnerable, he watched as Saiyou picked up his sword. The castle was crumbling quickly and pieces of the floor sunk downwards. Ever so calmly, the half demon came closer to his helpless foe. In one swift stroke, he beheaded the last demon king of the eastern lands. The head rolled off cleanly from the body. Saiyou cleaned his sword and sheathed it. He touched his gun holster. He didn’t even touch his trusty partners during the entire showdown. Just having them hang on his belt beside was reassuring. Pieces of the ceiling were now collapsing. Saiyou hopped on each piece that fell aiming to jump higher. Finally when he reached the roof, he jumped towards the purple sky. The tumbling building created a huge dust cloud consuming the vicinity. Saiyou was hovering in the air flapping his newly acquired black feathered wings. He had hoped that Takuya had escaped in time. Scanning the perimeter, he couldn’t locate his missing comrades.

“Shimura! Is Saiyou going to catch up with us?” asked Takuya. “Don’t worry. He should be fine,” answered Shimura. Takuya clutched Saiyou’s trench coat tightly as he ran behind Shimura. He was unsure where they were heading except that they had reached a large forest. Ryuu began to stir from his slumber. The demon twitched and his eyes blinked open. Immediately the rebellious oni jerked away from Shimura. Shimura also backed away. Ryuu formed a glowing orb in his hands and launched it at Shimura. The tree that Shimura was near combusted into flames and reduced to a smoking stump. Shimura appeared from the flames unharmed. They had just left Digger’s castle from a life threatening fight and a new one was about to begin.

#onislayers