A/N: 11.4K Words
It was fun replying to all the comments in the previous chapter, I'll probably do the same on this one. :)
Also, TSSoT has officially passed THaT in the amount of Votes, despite having fewer chapters. My baby potential man is finally growing up.
***
An Armorless Union member halted in their steps while pressing their back against the wall, moving an pointed upwards index finger up to their masked face. The rest of the group following them in a line also came to a stop, mimicking the same back to the wall action as they had done. They had become one with the shadows, their figure melting completely into them as surveying the scene became the top priority. There were many dangers which lurked, and it had become far more apparent when an entire squadron—along with a second one—had been completely wiped out. From right under their noses, too, it also didn't help that whoever had done such an act was an unknown factor.
So, they had come much more prepared, as if they were taking a trip up to the highest peak of a snowy mountain, where oxygen tanks and warm clothing were needed; along with all the gear that came with it. Change up the situation a few times, and there they were, trained assassins who were the venomous bane of even Kazimierz's greatest knights. So, failure was not an option, especially not toward the corporate overlords breathing down their necks as they always had been. When the signal was to be given, then they would get on with the mission quickly. With students of the "Platinum" himself, they would have no room for faulty actions.
It was then at that moment it was given, with a waving hand in the air that was executed with swift precision. The darkness of the tunnels which had swallowed them whole aided them in their movements, while their feet moved slowly. Some had bracelets attached to their wrists, which controlled the silenced drones around them. To avoid detection, every means had been taken in order to do so, as every factor had been taken into account in what they could do better. Sharper bolts were also given, much more potent than the previous ones that would be given for "cleansing" the Infected stuck in the ghettos. Previous times they weren't worth dumping much money or resources into, but with a threat rearing their ugly head, no measure was too great, as the current Platinum had instructed them.
They sailed across the scene in order to split up into groups composed of smaller numbers. Their gear started to silently clack against their bodies, but with excellent movements, they were able to keep it to a minimum.
Multiple twists and turns were made across the scene, scanning with a marksman precision on every corner they had found. The dust of pulverized rocks withstanding the test of tile was the smear, and so were the multitude of garbage lying around. They stunk up the scene, especially with the countless mold and fungus growing around, invading their masked noses. More turns were made, while the laser attachments of their crossbows acted as the eyes of a predator.
Unfortunately for all of them, they were the prey for a divine Sovereign wrought from vengeance and rage, ready to stake their life for the innocent. It was then a growl was heard, like the guttering malnourishment of a beast having gone unfed for a week. Crossbows were immediately turned to the sound, laser pointers lighting up the entire scene in front of them. Many turned to take cover, while some were foolish enough to stay out in the open—-but were still quite aware enough to inch close to cover, or to the shadows that they were familiar with. There was a faint dripping sound while their red dots continued to scan the scenery, for any clear sight to be granted to them, if only to cure their anxiety. Perhaps it was merely a Burdenbeast that they could light up into holed cheese...?
It was at the moment one of the Armorless Union members whispered, "fucking pussies," and turned on the light by their helmet. The moment it flashed its intense light against the darkness and overpowered the red streaks pervading the air though, did they finally come to sight of something truly atrocious, and utterly fear inducing.
It stood up with a muscular build that looked to be impossible for any human being or animal in general. Quite literally, they looked to be a lean body aligned with muscles that shouldn't be at certain places, wrung like a towel to the point where their limbs looked to be longer than they were thick. There were flame patterns on their skin, comparable to the artistic touch of a Higashinese painting brought to life, giving an unnatural message about their place in life. On their face was a deer mask with six eye holes and four antlers, providing a mystifying but horrific feel when gazing upon it. The being was like a Wendigo, holding a spear upon its hand in the harsh tundras of a place that the observers were starting to hallucinate in their minds, with burning six amber eyes boring six holes in each body it could encapsulate in its vision. All of which, were also peering through the holes of their mask in order to do so.
Bones attached to their body resembling that of a deer's anatomy was also present, acting like some kind of armor. There were many ornaments hanging off them too, namely ones that would evoke a sense of traditionalism from Higashinese culture.
The beast clenched its teeth, causing a screeching sound to reverberate across the claustrophobic arena, while it held the posture of a man gone rabid—gazing with all six of its incomprehensible eyes.
Tiger Funeral: Totality - Wendigo
(Tiger Funeral + Round Deer)
"H-holy shit! Open fire!" The one at the lead immediately screamed out when staring at the weapon in the grasp of the Totality's hands, before pulling the trigger. Right after, a chorus turning into a grand symphony was played, echoing across the confines of the tunnel into a masquerade of songs playing all at once. They book with power, holding enough might to blister and tear at the wall of air in front of them. Toward Wendigo, however, they would prove to be utterly useless at the very same time.
All it took was a single click before the gathered bolts ripping through were rendered useless, when the towering creature had completely blurred from their sights, leaving nothing but an outline of its pale mask, black stripes, orange fur, and white fur as its secondary color. A ghost or phantom—-one that had never existed in the first place—had completely blitzed through everything before anybody could truly register what had just happened. The rising heat in the maw of the tunnel however, could be felt and registered completely. It had come to fruition that the fanged mouth of what they all had truly found themselves in, was one of the Wendigo's.
BOOM
A crackling laughter broke out from the flames firing out from the Totality's open mouth, while it stood behind all of the Armorless Union members it had flashed behind. It was then the previous chorus of screaming bolts turned into the tortured yells of those who were burnt to a crisp via the undying immolation of Wendigo. There was not even time for their skin to properly feel the pain, as their nerves had already been fried and flayed from underneath the blistering heat that was melting their bodies. The drones lost function instantly, and their steel exoskeleton turned into sludge, before they dropped to the ground uselessly.
Instead of sludge, they had all turned into motionless black statues that were soon reduced to black ash, left to further be incinerated under a breath that would even make a dragon green with envy. Turning its head a few times left and right to make sure all was encompassed in its attack, Wendigo finally let its breath die out, going from an all-encompassing demise of flames, to a colossal tsunami, and then back down to sputtering spitfire from a flamethrower; before it truly died out. There was only smoke which left its mouth from under the mask, the gigantic lance held in its right hand having been useless in providing any aid with its attack. In fact, it was more accurate to say that it wasn't needed in the first place.
From just behind the Totality, Megumi appeared from its shadow, stepping out of it as the black curtain draped over himself from his Cursed Technique wore off like a billowing cloak. Despite the weight bogging him down from storing hundreds of weapons in his Endless Well of Shadows and having them all doubled in weight, his movement speed had only decreased by an... acceptable amount. Stepping in front of Wendigo to stare at the scene in front of him, the black-haired man narrowed his eyes in order to take sight of all the souls that he saw. He then turned back toward Wendigo, gauging its appearance.
"You certainly are not subtle," the Sorcerer mused out loud while staring at his Shikigami. It tilted its head in his direction when hearing his words, but Megumi merely shrugged, "I just had a lot of inspiration based off of somebody else when making you. No need to make such a big fuss about it," he finished his little speech. It was at that moment that he had to take a moment and pause, before coming to a realization that he was talking to his Shikigami who couldn't reply back. 'Whatever... it's sentimental,' the black-haired man rolled his eyes to himself.
Raising his right hand and letting the sleeves flow down his arm like liquid, Megumi snapped his fingers and let a multitude of vortex portals form. Seeing the souls that he needed to capture, the chains shot out and grasped them all, Cursed Energy uncontrollably flowing from the objects that he had sent out. He narrowed his eyes and then made his analysis, watching as the souls he had taken started to become corrupted by the Cursed Energy coming out of it, the Jujutsu Sorcerer attempting to remember how exactly he had turned them into Cursed Spirits.
First of all, a mental Curse toward them with all of his might—it was simple enough—and then, let his reserves start tanking in order to turn them into Cursed Spirits. With the Binding Vow in place keeping his Cursed Energy Reserves at half, progress with training had been a huge boon. The problem still remained that he hadn't fully trained all the way back to what his normal reserves would be without the Binding Vow in place. So, the process of transforming these people into Cursed Spirits to absorb into his blade would be too expensive and thus costly.
That was if he needed to turn them into Cursed Spirits in the first place. The cost had been calculated, and Fushiguro Megumi had already decided that he would test out another theory, "Ame-no-Habakiri should have another property, but I haven't fully experimented with it..." he called out the sheathed O-Katana in his left hand, before swiftly unsheathing and sheathing it.
SLASH
An entire wave passed through the scenery, hitting every single chained soul. When it happened, they were immediately dispersed, turning into white mist which started to coalesce in the air. The Jujutsu Sorcerer took the moment to twirl Ame-no-Habakiri between his right hand's finger tips before extending it forward into a pointing motion, as the souls started to bend into natural shapes, before they were sucked in—displacing their stretched body in space. When that happened, the milky white of their color scheme immediately turned a crimson ebony. Screams could be heard from what could be identified as people undergoing a fate worse than torture, but Megumi kept his face stern.
He enhanced the Barrier Techniques imbued in both the Cursed Tool and the talismans, attempting to put into practice what he had haphazardly been training himself with. It worked more than he could have imagined, taking only one turn of the Dharmachakra before the feeling completely came back to him, and he was able to absorb them all completely. The sounds of unrest had been quelled, leaving only a vacuum of empty whispers in its place. It was calming, as he lowered the blade held in his hands, placing it back into the sheath in his sash.
Taking in a deep breath, Megumi then waved his hand in the air, making Wendigo fall back into his shadows. His eyes drew a path somewhere elsewhere, toward another canal of this waterless domain in order to see how his other Totality had been doing. As if in tandem with his thoughts, Japanese painting-like water flowed from one of the tunnels he had turned to, blood and guts mixing in with the liquid and painting it sanguine. There were broken and battered bodies, dolls which had been picked apart by their playmate, who had become bored with them and decided to discard their detached parts. Out of the corner, another Totality peered from it, possessing an unnatural look.
Max Elephant: Totality - Airavata
(Max Elephant + Rabbit Escape)
It was a pure white elephant with three heads, giving them six sharp tusks on each side of its head, along with nine trunks in total. Each time the pressurized water shot out of its trunks, they compressed into deathly beams of cerulean which tore at anything it came into contact with. It still kept flowing out like a squall, battering the already deceased corpses into nothing but fine paste. Their yells and pain had long since ended, and their souls were lingering in the air, as if begging Fushiguro Megumi to take them. Or maybe... it was just an illusion his mind had casted upon himself, with the satisfactory results he had been seeing from his Totalities recently. The philosophy for creating them was simple—lesser Totalities for a wider arsenal of them—letting him be at more places than one.
"There should be a third squadron from where I sent my third Totality..." Megumi mumbled to himself, also dispelling Airavata. The white elephant was called back into his shadows as the bloodied water flowed across the chapped metal floor which hadn't greeted moisture for quite some time. "Six of them in total... is it really worth killing a bunch of slum dwellers for whatever they want?" A disgusted look came across his face.
He had already expected something like this, and expecting any sort of reprieve when residing in these lands unknown was not going to be something he would be able to check off his bucket-list any time soon. There was no longer any need he felt from this, rather than satisfying a self-absorbed view of punishing these assassins and corporate overlords for their cruelty. If he were doing this for justice, then the Jujutsu Sorcerer would declare to anybody who stood in front of him that it wasn't the case. Whether or not he knew the true written scripture deep within, Fushiguro Megumi had become far too disillusioned to care.
Summoning Ame-no-Habakiri, another slash was initiated against the souls floating in the air, the corruptive force of the Muramasa Blade shattering the air and leaving a distorted view between black and red. Tearing them from their spiritual fetters, the obsidian sheen of blade which reflected no light once more absorbed their miserable forms, leaving a new place for their afterlife to be residing in. There was another feature added that Megumi had implemented, which was his Endless Well of Shadows. By utilizing the shadow slashes as a medium for the technique, he could summon blades to fit the size of the slash, adding on further damage—especially if the aforementioned additional weapons have been turned into Cursed Tools.
They haven't yet, as it would take too much time to get through all of them in a single day, and not enough Cursed Energy to complete in a single day either.
Standing upwards and sheathing his weapon once more and focusing on the Barrier Techniques on each and every talismans, he made sure that the souls wouldn't come bursting out. Given enough time, they would all become Cursed Spirits just as all the first reaped souls that had been attached to Ame-no-Habakiri. With all the negative emotions added together, they acted as ingredients put together to be cooked inside a metaphorical hell.
Having dealt with far worse enemies compared to these Armorless Union assassins, just letting his Totalities free would be the end of them. The Echoes of Herkunftshorn back in Leithanien were much more difficult to deal with, as it required his full attention on their movements and what Arts they were mustering forth into the material realm. It was to the point where if he wanted to clear them out without suffering any losses, he would need to consistently use Noble Eightfold Path to attack them, before they could react. An added benefit was that the Inverted Spear of Heaven and Round Deer could all deal with Arts effectively.
"That's not counting those Emperor's Blades..." Enough information was given to him via Patriot during the month he had spent back in Reunion, and the black-haired man made sure to never underestimate them more assuredly. "Especially after I almost died back then..." he whispered under his breath, recalling the three-headed elephant known as Airvata, before briskly walking to make his way toward where his third Totality was.
Step by step, his foot continued to trample across the fields of blood that he had created. There was no luster of plants in this area, or any growing plants which lit up the scene with their greenery, but only blood spilt across the floor to form a red river. It further came to Fushiguro Megumi's mind that the people dwelling in these parts would have to deal with the unbearable stink of multiple crushed and cooked corpses, making him scrunch his expression in slight guilt. However, he shook his head, it was better they experience something unpleasant rather than for them to die.
...But wouldn't death be a more fitting fate for their miserable lives?
Megumi stopped in his steps when those thoughts passed him as casually as the wind, before he sighed. Placing a hand over his face, his eyes glanced toward Ame-no-Habakiri, the Cursed Tool which he held in his left hand. Dispelling it without a second thought, the Jujutsu Sorcerer continued to walk through the maze of forking paths, letting his senses continue to guide him. There was a rumbling sound that he could hear, bodies being slammed against metal and thus being crushed as a result, or the squelching sounds of bones collapsing in on themselves due to an outside force; most likely leaving an absolute mess.
Still, a better fate than against Laurentina's buzzsaw for the people he was targeting—probably.
The sounds reached a crucible when he had turned the corner of the tunnel, placing his hand on the wall while he made his way through. Just as he had predicted countless times over in his mind, a grizzly monster stood at the epicenter of the slaughter it had caused. Broken pieces of gear such as sparking drones and pulverized crossbows were lining the floor. Just a faint breeze would cause them to keel over and turn to dust, so the black-haired man halted at where he was to gauge his Totality's work. It was good.
Piercing Ox: Totality - Oni
(Piercing Ox + Divine Dogs + Toad)
Blazing amber eyes, the same as Tiger Funeral and Wendigo turned toward him. The three-headed bipedal muscular machine of destruction possessing teeth of a traditional Oni peering through its helmeted red mask. They wore black armor that was meant to match a more traditional Japanese feel, but he couldn't find one that actually represented a samurai's. At best, the shop he had raided with his vast sums of money now dwindling down possessed an armor that was said to be fashioned after the designs of the now defunct Khaganate. The Totality also held Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in its right hand, while its left clawed one was grasping at the mauled throat of an Armorless Union member.
Crossing his arms while staring at the handiwork, Megumi motioned for the Totality to let go of the person it was holding, or just to consume them entirely. As a result, they were immediately gobbled up by their three heads, the Sovereign of the demon simply watching the scene with a neutral expression. A stray thought came to him during the process, that maybe he should finish the book Viviana gave him of the Last Knight of Kazimierz, and the many other ones relating to blacksmithing he had bought from Leithanien and Kazimierz. There were also the ones about weapon structures from all across the world—
—He really needed to stop procrastinating reading those books. They could easily be done while training his Cursed Energy Refinement and efficiency. While his thoughts continued to turn their cogs, Oni soon stood on all fours as it scurried across the area, its three heads eating as much as it possibly could. From the sound of bodies being torn apart and continuously splattered across the ground, the Jujutsu Sorcerer also came back to the Viviana's match that he had promised to see. Although the Elafian woman didn't mind him missing it if he had business to attend to, the fact remained that he still made a promise to her, and he wished to see it through.
Closing his eyes to reminisce about the time, the Jujutsu Sorcerer assumed about only an hour and thirty minutes had passed since he had entered the bowels of this labyrinth. That meant he had about another hour or two to clean up the trash that had been invading these tunnels along with Laurentina, who was handling her own three squadrons. For an Abyssal Hunter as she had called herself, the entire process would be lightwork, that much was for certain. Therefore, the black-haired man could sit easily from where he was and do what he wanted to.
Well of course, that would be creating another Muramasa Blade.
The problem with his current arsenal of Cursed Tools was that they were— for a lack of a better term—becoming obsolete with the new materials granted toward him in recent times. Along with that, he needed as many weapons as possible for his Shikigamis and Totalities to utilize, as they had enough intelligence to know how to utilize weapons. Especially a certain four-armed Ryomen Sukuna that he had created—the thought which still trembled his nerves—who could utilize its many arms in order to wield an entire arsenal.
Wendigo, even though he had given it some random lance, still possessed the improved features of Tiger Funeral. That meant he could still give it the upgraded Playful Cloud now dubbed as Homusubisu to utilize, a much better one than the weapon it had previously held. He had only given the lance for sentimental purposes in the first place, to remind himself of a certain somebody back in the tundras who had inadvertently—or perhaps purposefully—given him some life advice. No matter how small it was.
Reaching his hand outwards, the black-haired man observed the phenomenon happening in front of him. The dramatically curved crimson blade sheathed at a height that reached where his collarbone was could only be called a Odachi, a little similar to Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. However, this one suited his needs more in its swiftness while still possessing heavy strikes. The previous Cursed Tool was heavily outdated too, being made of inferior materials compared to the materials which made up the Emperor's Blades' weapons. Of course, Terra possessed far more superior materials compared to Earth, as the world had to face the standards of daily superhumans.
Even if he turned Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi into a Muramasa Blade—which he had planned at some point—it would still be inferior to his new weapon.
Juuchi Yosamu, the Ten-Thousand Cold Nights.
Glancing at the weapon he had decorated and made himself, through constant procedural failures, Megumi let out a satisfied breath. Having to forge and reforge the blades utilized by the Ursus Royal Guards was much more difficult than he could have ever imagined, especially with the corruptive influence that seemed to linger on it still. Through constant strain of his Cursed Energy, many Binding Vows, Cursed Techniques, and a copious amount of turns from his Dharmachakra, he was able to handle the two weapons he had gained from the Emperor's Blades and recreate it into a traditional Japanese Odachi. With a thinner blade compared to the goliath that was Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The process... the Sorcerer never wanted to go through the process again.
There were many blood-red talismans wrapped around it and infused with Barrier Techniques just as he had done with Ame-no-Habakiri. The essences he had decided to infuse into it via his Totality's Cursed Techniques was Ryomen Sukuna's Divine Dogs addition along with Cleave and Dismantle from Shrine. Why? The idea was to go for pure cutting power utilizing a Cursed Blade along with Cursed Energy.
It still wasn't a Cursed Blade such as the Muramasa Blades, that process was saved for this moment. So all it took was to summon Samyojana and drag the souls into Juuchi Yosamu, and utilize multiple adaptations from the Dharmachakra to further and complete the process. The same exhaustion from when he had first created Ame-no-Habakiri was present, but to a lesser extent.
'Progress... that's good,' Megumi huffed out while speaking in his own head, wiping his forehead and looking away. Turning the souls into Cursed Spirits and dragging them into Juuchi Yosamu by utilizing Barrier Techniques had been much easier with experience, 'Barrier Techniques... they're much more effective than I thought. So many applications Gojo-sensei never taught me...' Small controlled Barrier Techniques were extremely useful.
He smiled slightly, but it wiped it off of his face soon enough to make sure he didn't look weird. There were still other things he needed to do, and clearing out these Armorless Union members while creating Cursed Tools was just one of them. There was also something else he wanted to add to it through a Binding Vow, to further increase its effectiveness, and to keep it as a last resort weapon just as Ame-no-Sakahoko was.
***
Under this Binding Vow:
Condition: Muramasa Blade Juuchi Yosamu forged by Fushiguro Megumi has a higher capability of affecting his mental state. This condition is PERMANENT, UNBREAKABLE, and CANNOT be changed.
Result: The greater the influence Muramasa Blade Juuchi Yosamu has upon Fushiguro Megumi's mind, the more potent the Muramasa Blade becomes.
***
Perfect, it wouldn't backfire him since he had hope in his mental fortitude for undertaking such a task. Even then, he was still not foolish enough to let overconfidence overtake him, and utilize the Muramasa Blade more moderately compared to Ame-no-Habakiri, whose negative effects practically had no effect upon him.
Unlike Gojo Satoru who could deal with all problems with just his fists, and by extension Ryomen Sukuna who could proceed with the same feats and capabilities, Fushiguro Megumi would have to be delegated as somebody who needed to crutch on powerful Cursed Tools. The option was further incentivized with where his skills lie. With the stationary forge that was the Dharmachakra, any method of doing so would be hilariously easy, especially with the new Binding Vow where he could adapt to multiple phenomena at once. That meant adapting to learn how to shape a blade, sharpen a blade, hammer a blade, and infuse Cursed Energy along with Cursed Technique could be done all at once.
Looking at the color of the weapon, Megumi could only feel himself being reminded of his pink-haired best friend, Itadori Yuji. If he could... he would gift it to his friend within a heartbeat, trusting his psychological strength with being able to handle the Cursed Blade—and also because the Prince of Black Sparks could most likely use the Shrine Cursed Technique more effective than even he can—if time was flowing correctly between their separate worlds. Yes, a perfect gift for Itadori Yuji whenever he came back home, to the soothing embrace of those fuzzy memories he had kept running through his mind.
He decided to move on, and check on Laurentina's...
Now that he thought about it, why had Laurentina entered the undergrounds of Kawalerielki in the first place? Just as the idea came to him, Megumi dismissed it even faster. The shark lady was a curious one, probably going wherever her sensitive nose led her—which might not be much of an accurate assessment—and most likely happened to stumble upon the ghettos hidden underground. It was then the absurd thought that the woman hadn't spent the rest of her time outside exploring the city itself, but going down in the dumps of the underground tunnels, that made her reassess what her priorities were.
'It's most likely because she was bored out of her mind,' he sighed. High chances were that she hadn't known of this "Skadi" person's whereabouts or any of her companions in the first place, so Laurentina had just spent her time doing whatever, even if they were bizarre. 'Her priorities are straight now,' they would visit the area where the other Abyssal Hunter was and question her whereabouts, while also reaching out to this Rhodes Island who seems to be associated with her.
He began walking through the tunnels, his Totality having already finished its business of eating the corpses and being recalled. 'When recalling my Shikigamis, I should just place them in my shadows instead of recalling them while in a combat prone scenario, because undergoing apoptosis while getting sneak attacked would be disastrous,' Megumi turned a corner, gazing into the darker corridors of where he was looking. His thoughts halted there as he felt something start to prickle at his skin, a sense of danger making him increase his Cursed Energy reinforcement.
There was somebody in the tunnels, far more powerful than the grunts he had just dealt with. Based on their position, they had an advantageous shot of him, and most likely didn't witness him slaughtering their companions. Making himself feel unsuspectable and also keeping note that the area of the ghettos he was at wasn't suitable for anybody to live in—to avoid potential collateral—the black-haired man placed the still hot Juuchi Yosamu at the hip where his sash was. He made sure to tilt it more toward his lower back and slightly downwards to accommodate more comfortability with its large size.
He continued with "obliviousness," glancing elsewhere while his hands rested by his side. 'I'm being tailed by them, perfect,' Megumi desired to test out his new techniques, so this provided an ample opportunity to do so. 'I've already seen how effective my Totalities are, so there's no need to bring it out against this person.'
When he had stepped into an open field after taking another turn that twisted his view of the world for the briefest of moments, a whistling sound was heard just behind him. The Jujutsu Sorcerer moved his hand upwards and swatted away the bolting projectile which had attempted to nail his head against the floor. The arrow was knocked off course when the movement was finished, twisting it into a spiral as the steel making up the bolt had bent from under the pressure of his Cursed Energy Reinforcement. Sparing not even a moment's breath to glance at where it came from, the black-haired man saw the faint flicker of white move across from one of the top platforms of the more open room.
'Taking cover, I can guess their movements after seeing their position,' Megumi narrowed his eyes, before grasping at Juuchi Yosamu with his left hand, tossing it back, and then unsheathing it with his right hand. Malice flowed out of it in a decadent red aura, making the Jujutsu Sorcerer narrow his eyes, 'more potent than I thought... I might have—miscalculated,' the sheath he threw back entered the same horizontal of his hip after clicking against Ame-no-Habakiri, before he unleashed a slash toward where the white figure had moved.
SLASH
One that surpassed Ame-no-Habakiri in cutting prowess was birthed, corrupting the environment around it in its crimson dim and leaving a red streak all across which had stood in its path. A grunt echoed across loudly, as the structures severed by Juuchi Yosamu had started to quake and fall down in large amounts, leaving pebbles and large boulders composed of steel and rocks to start hailing down from above.
CRASH
'I... ugh! Much more potent than I thought!' Megumi attempted to keep his cool while the Cursed Spirits placed inside the weapon started to crawl on his mind, 'how effective was the Binding Vow?!' Both worries stemmed from the damage he had caused, where the structure in front of him was still imploding in itself, and while his mind was being scratched at. It was then a faint glint of light inside the smoke revealed itself did he dodge to the side, where three bolts planted itself toward where he had just been. 'A bomb...!'
His eyes narrowed when seeing the faint red lights attached to the bolts, raising his Odachi vertically and planting his legs to steady himself. Heaving in a deep breath, he timed the explosion perfectly with the expansion of Noble Eightfold Path, parrying the shockwave which had erupted across the scenery with a peerless slash, sending it cleanly back at the aggressor of his.
They—he—the Kuranta man dressed in white blistered with great speed since he was already in motion, before the deflected force of the explosion dispersed against the platform where they stood. The structure was practically screaming in pain at this point, its groans mixing in with the explosive force exerted.
'Dodged again?' Megumi held Juuchi Yosamu pointed toward the side while his left hand pressed against his temple in annoyance, 'just get this over with quick, I still have to watch Viviana's match,' he could feel his black haori start to flutter as the wind inside the tunnel kicked up from his previous action, keeping alert of where the... platinum colored man had went. 'Left,' a small declaration was made in his mind.
Three bolts drenched in a white neon aura were converging on his position, his eyes locking on the design of them while he redeployed Noble Eightfold Path. In pure physicality with Cursed Energy Reinforcement and the might of Noble Eightfold Path, the black-haired man could safely say he was on the same level as a 5-6 Fingers Sukuna.
All three bolts were immediately cut in half with barely perceptible motions, each flowing with their own intent and passion—mainly with malice and malevolence—where a red streak could only be detected from Megumi's position. Stomping his feet on the ground, the Jujutsu Sorcerer expanded his barrier forward, attempting to blitz the Kuranta before he could react to his attack from inside the smoke screens they had been abusing.
His barrier had detected somebody inside, and so he let himself be launched forward, jumping in the air and spinning upside-down unnecessarily to avoid another round of quick-fired bolts his way. Flipping himself back to an upright position while falling down, the effects of Noble Eightfold Path's benefits were still active, so he unleashed the most powerful blow he could muster at that moment.
SLASH
A gigantic vertical cleave travelled across the large solitary room they were in, cursing everything in its path with a vermillion rage. It produced a screeching sound that was akin to the souls residing in the sulfur pits of hell.
The man dressed in white had dodged to the side with widened eyes, "ugh!" He let out a grunt of effort before it had severed his thin mortal coil. Sweat flicked off of his face as he skidded back, bearing sight to a whole new world drenched in blood being presented before him, like a canvas of a painting having come to life.
All Fushiguro Megumi could see from the attack's measure was that it had travelled a vast distance, to the point where his eye could not detect where the length of the damage caused by the attack ended when it dug into the far wall. Just a black abyss in the shape of where he had cut, and it further provoked his nerves, making him enter a near frenzy state when his head jerked toward where his enemy had retreated. He saw him already preparing three more arrows on their large tactical crossbow, before the Sorcerer clicked his tongue in disdain.
He snapped his left hand's fingers, before a gigantic vortex portal appeared above the Kuranata. His ears twitched while they paused their actions, eyes also widening. It was most likely their instincts screaming at them with the mass of weapons pointing toward him and falling from the portal, making them bolt away from it by backpedalling, just as the weapons had slammed at where their position was.
Megumi recalled the weapons all the while calling upon another Totality.
"Chimera Bird."
Nue: Totality was never granted a proper name, so he had decided to give one that had been granted to it by the public. It was summoned in unstable form, and only partially, making six large shadow wings sprout from the black-haired man's. They flapped toward the Armorless Union assassin who was staring at him with the most shocked expression Megumi had seen him make ever since starting the battle, much to his satisfaction.
Purple blasts of lightning shot out with an impervious gale, tearing everything in its wrathful wake. The ground shattered, along with all structures around the Jujutsu Sorcerer collapsing from the force travelling across, even lifting the ground after splitting it into two equal halves. Megumi continued grasping at Juuchi Yosamu by the hilt with both of his hands, keeping it still and pointed in front of him and slightly toward the ground.
The sheer destruction caused the Kuranta dressed in white tactical gear to avert from their path in order to formulate a retreat. However, they would find themselves to be far too slow to execute such an action, as the other half of the platform that they stood on lifted upwards from the force of six colossal wings fracturing the air itself, along with the purple lightning thundering through the environment. Their body didn't fare well in the environment, as their nerves instantly locked up when being subject to an ametrine high voltage bolt.
Megumi let the six wings dispel as the chaos he had caused had finally settled in, where the structures around the large clearing started to collapse. The concrete which had withstood itself under the pressure of the city of Kawalerielki tumbled down, leaving a large smokescreen of smoke and flying debris that was caused by the force produced by Chimera Bird's wings. Once more, the black-haired man clenched his head with a wince, before leaping out of the way of the danger, attempting to find any place where he could gain high ground.
Unfortunately, everything had been destroyed by his action. Whether they were pulverized by the intense currents of lightning or gale didn't matter to him, because the area was most likely to collapse after all the support pillars fell down. In turn, Megumi twisted his body and hastily sheathed the Juuchi Yosamu, silently cursing as the Odachi was much harder to sheath than he expected. However, he eventually achieved the action swiftly while dashing across all the falling debris, making his way toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
Jolting his body to turn sideways, a sharp pipe dug at where he was, the moisture of sewage starting to pour down. For a moment, the Jujutsu Sorcerer thought of firing off flames from Wendigo in order to explode all of the supercharged dust that had gathered from Chimera Bird, but immediately dispelled such a voraciously terrible idea. If he had done so, the ensuing damage would cause too much of a ruckus, and would most likely reach upwards toward the still active city of Kawalerielki—worse being if it reaches the people who skulk in the ghettos—this was home to a bustling city after all.
Gnashing his molars together while straining his expression, Megumi let the burst of wind flow through his body as black water gathered around him from the influence of Ame-no-Habakiri still sheathed by his left side along with Juuchi Yosamu, shooting through the world which was collapsing around him. Through all the sedimentary miasma that had formed and the sprinkles of liquid coming from shattered pipes, he had made it completely through, being granted with the intestine of Kawalerielki's underground structure once more.
Making sure to move further away and turning around, Megumi held the sheath of Juuchi Yosamu with his left hand to steady and turn it in a way where his right hand could reach for it and prepare to draw the long sword. However, it proved to be an unnecessary worry, as the path leading to where he had just exited from had been completely covered with debris, a large puff of smoke exiting from it soon after. Blinking a few times when feeling the pressure exuded from the rest of the smoke flowing out, the black-haired man decided to exhale the breath he had been holding in after exiting.
"Damn it," he released his hand from Juuchi Yosamu's handle and pressed his palm against his forehead, "what if he got away...? I should have used Samyojana or my Handcannon." Megumi had seen the Kuranta dressed in white being stunned by the currents of Chimera Bird's lightning diverged from its six perilous wings, but that didn't guarantee that they had died under the meteoric rubble falling from above. "Tch, I can't break through all of them without alerting somebody," he decided to cut his potential losses and reposition the two blades sheathed by his side to their normal placement.
Ame-no-Habakiri sheathed as a normal Katana would, and Juuchi Yosamu sheathed horizontally against his hip, tilted more toward his lower back compared to Ame-no-Habakiri due to its larger size. If he wanted to draw Juuchi Yosamu like a normal katana, he would have to throw the sheath backwards or grab the blade itself, making him consider abandoning the sheath and unsheath style that he had been using for Ame-no-Habakiri when using the Odachi. Of course, he would still use it appropriately for the obsidian O-Katana, as the sheath Cursed Tool constantly kept the blade sharp for drawing.
Thankfully though, it wasn't completely impossible to unsheath Juuchi Yosamu, as he made sure to make a small opening in the sheath where the top portion of the blade could slide through without being forced into an awkward position.
"Ugh..." Megumi massaged his temple and turned away to go to where Laurentina was. She was most likely already finished with her own portion, "if that white uniformed guy saw me... it's most likely these Armorless Union people would keep targeting us." He glanced back toward Juuchi Yosamu while making his way briskly through, staring at the sealed weapon as it was now. For a weapon made out of the material an Emperor's Blade weapon used, 'it also made the mental influence much worse.'
The more he lost control of his mind using the Muramasa Blade, the more powerful it would become. He was starting to almost regret making the Binding Vow. Still, the Binding Vow created was practically a Cursed Technique of its own, showing the potency that a creative mind could accomplish when spent on creating an effective Binding Vow. Now a stray thought came to him, just an irate sensation from the Juuchi Yosamu
Moving across the moist and hard ground, Megumi flashed his phone in his right hand for a moment, glancing at what time it was, 'Still about fifty minutes left... alright, I think I can make it in time.' He hastily typed a message by dancing his thumb finger across the digital keyboard composed of blue light's artificiality, before bursting with greater speed. 'Check up on Laurentina, and see that Kuranata girl she was talking about, and then make it straight to Viviana. Easy enough.'
***
"Platinum, report in!" Pawel screamed into his communications device, his face having become the most pale it had ever been since yesterday. He hadn't been able to eat a single meal yesterday, "hello, are you there?! You're the only one who..." All other squadrons had already lost their communications, making him unable to contact a single one of their devices. In that case, he had terminated their connection as advised by Czarny in order to not have it traced back to him, or for anybody to listen in or act like one of the Armorless Union members.
"Come on, come on...!" His voice trembled while he continued to tap his foot against the ground incessantly, his free hand clutching at the edges of the table. At any moment, he was ready to flip the entire thing off of the balcony that he sat at, and jump off along with it. "Don't tell me... who the hell could have...?" Pawel's sights turned upwards, toward the cityscape's horizon. The clouds were less obstructive to the blue sky, but the depressive atmosphere only illuminated by the technological lights of the city remained.
BEEP
"Hm...?! Hello?!" He instantly tore away from the monotonous view in order to turn toward his communications device, "Platinum, are you there?" The Kuranta's voice became more frantic as his foot began to continue to tap more incessantly, further picking up in the quick rhythm that they were at.
—Glad I didn't bring Centaurea... Oh hey, you're connected," somebody's rambling voice came through, "It's a failure, the mission. Encountered two fucking monsters." The voice filled with static and perturbation said from the other side, a tone of exhaustion coming out, "you're on your own." At that moment, another beeping sound came out, making the listener to the designated "Platinum's" words completely freeze in place. The connection had ended right there, the Kuranta already imagining the device on the other side having been dropped to the floor and stomped on.
The air became more frigid around him, far worse than any record low winter that Kazimierz would spout about in the news. There was nothing that his eyes could gaze at in anticipation, and he could no longer care about his family in some luxurious hotel that he had bought for them with his current savings. If he had failed this mission, the message had been presented toward him as clear as the summer sky could have been. Heaving in a quaking breath, Pawel looked around himself, the coiling fear becoming a palpable constriction against his throat.
At that moment, he stood up from his chair, the white patterned metallic object falling down with a loud clang. His gaze continued to draw across where he had last stared, watching as a small opening was made in the clouds, a ray of light shining through. It was almost as if it were mocking him, laughing at him for the failure that he had amounted to for the second time. There was a doorbell which he could faintly hear being rung in the actual room of the hotel he was staying in. Pawel didn't even need to look back or respond to the melodious sound that was his impending doom.
If he wanted to go out, he'd go out on his own terms.
With that thought, he moved forward, hands gripping the railing as he gazed downwards. The streets could be seen, a large population of people who were downsized to ants from his view, dotting every single part of Kazimierz's sidewalks. Cars continued to move through the road, the sound of their tires screeching against the asphalt ground ringing into his ears, just as the constant sound of his doorbell had been sent across the room. Pawel's breath hitched while his pupils constricted to an impossible size, the whites of his eyes started to turn red from the red veins tearing through it.
With an exhalation, he jumped off.
***
"Breaking news! Recent testimony of shaking occurring from the underground of Area ten in Kawalerielki's capital has been felt, where faint tremors of what seemed to have been a vicious explosion had occurred. Authorities have said that it was related to a gas leak incident—"
Megumi continued to quicken his steps across the streets of Kazimierz. The Grand Knight's Arena for the nearing end of the Kazimierz Major's preliminaries were fast approaching toward his vision. There was just about thirty minutes left on the clock, but he had finished business in the dark undergrounds of the ghettos far more quickly than anticipated. First of all, he had met with Laurentina who was hanging out with the Kuranta girl she had been talking about, before he was pestered more about his new Odachi by the woman, the sharky lady asking if he had a fetish for weapons. In front of a child no less! It was a miracle that she didn't know what that meant.
Furthermore, the confusion in the Kuranta girl's eyes was a sight to witness when Laurentina had presented him as the Princess. It was almost funny, but because the little Kuranata had looked at him with such disappointment, the black-haired man was only left at a complete loss of words. After that, he decided to wave them off while Fushiguro Megumi had some other place to be, leaving the two to their devices. A few Kazimierzian marks were given to the little girl to buy something before he left, though.
Now he was moving through the excited crowd that had been far too distracted toward the billboards. The break section was already on, where news would be given toward the passerby viewers and citizens who were sitting at outdoor restaurants in order to watch the Kazimierz Major. For the black-haired man, he could enter the arena seats as Viviana had given him a ticket beforehand in order for him to have a view of what the knight's tournament was like. With a large event today that had taken up a majority of his time, the Sorcerer was willing to let his body rest for a brief moment.
Even then, he still had to be wary of any assassins who knew that he was involved with what happened in the ghettos. Even if he had destroyed the metallic drones wisping through the air like flies before their cameras could capture his appearance, there were still many variables that Megumi did not want to risk.
"Excuse me..." Megumi whispered a grunt while he pushed through the crowd, 'Cursed Energy Reserves took a decent blow after everything I did down there,' the black-haired man noted in his mind. The many faces that he would soon forget continued to pass him by while a distinct sound of chatter and footsteps continued to fill his ears to the brim. 'I wonder what Laurentina is doing now,' he let his thoughts run freely for the moment as he continued to move past the horde of human bodies.
A small headache was also persisting at the corner of his mind. Despite having been influenced by his Muramasa Blade for a little bit, the effects were still lingering like the smell of cheese. It wasn't anything like a brain splitting migraine however, so he could bear with the feeling as it was right now. Looking upwards, his steps slowed down as he realized just where he was at the moment. Pressing his index finger against his temple while gazing upon the goliath of a wide spanning structure, the black-haired man let out a sigh of relief. He had made it just in time.
Megumi had almost considered skulking through the shadows or blasting through the cityscape at mach speeds, but doing so would attract too much attention. The shadows...? He just wanted to go for a brief walk, especially with the amount of time he still had left. Half of the distance had already been covered by traversing through the shadows, but the last half had been a speed walk through.
The loudspeakers of the arena and digital billboards alike soon shifted to the logo of the Kazimierz Major, a ruby and sapphire background with a simplified white knight piece placed at its epicenter facing right. There were three thick dash marks just under the piece, before the announcer appeared on screen. Like the last one, they were a Kuranta, but not the "Greatmouth Mob" that Megumi had remembered.
"Laaaadies~! And! Gentlemeeeen~! Tourists and citizens alike! I, Slobbermouth Nob, would like to present a little piece of information that you may~ enjoy! Well, you already guessed it! The Kazimierz Major's preliminaries are going to continue in only just a few minutes, so keep yourself at the edge of your seats, because this next match might be one for the history books! Ah? What? Don't think so? Well, anything could happen at any time of the day, just like how the Jockey Helmet Corporation would like to remind you that many fatal deaths happen—"
Nevermind, it was useless to listen in on it.
***
Viviana fiddled with the book in her hands, gazing over the contents. It was the Last Knight of Kazimierz, well-known for the disparity it had left between readers and critics alike of what message it was attempting to tell—or if it was attempting to tell a message at all. The Elafia would personally keep the meaning of the book close to her heart, as she believed all interpretation should be made by oneself before sharing it out to others. She sat in the waiting room, ignoring the many knights who passed outside the door, hoping that a certain black-haired man who wielded a Cursed Blade would come through eventually.
...Now that she delved upon the matter further, the fact that he possessed a Cursed Blade was still cause for concern. For somebody who had braved through the battlefield, the philosophy he possessed must be that if something could help him survive—no matter how decadent it was that his fingers traced upon—Fushiguro Megumi would use it without any complaints. A small assumption came through her mind again, where the weapon had paved a road for his survival in such desolate lands, the ones that granted him such decayed eyes.
'How did you ever encounter my... father?' A Higashinese man in Leithanien was not impossible, but it certainly was a weird mix, especially considering the distance between the two places. 'Too young to be a diplomat for the country, but he wears traditional clothing hailing from his own lands... a noble perhaps? That could be plausible...' Viviana was starting to find the entire thing much harder to wrap her head around, now that she dove further into the pool of details.
Her train of thought was interrupted when the speakers suddenly came on in the room.
"—Have you heard of the new shampoo product from the Goose Shampoo Corporation? Well, you can match even the most vibrant of hairs from a dashing Pegasus if you—!"
It wasn't anything she needed to hear. There were advertisements that would play at almost every second of the Kazimierz Major, and the viewers didn't care much about them, merely flipping open their phones and scrolling through wherever in order to pass the time. Admittedly, the Independent Knight had done the same a few times, but more often than not, it was a novel or book about poetry. In fact, she was quite curious about the latest happenings in Kawalerielki. Taking a few scrolls on the news channel, the woman saw everything that she was already used to seeing on the news.
Along with the many advertisements by the side, attempting to capture her view with flashy colors or bold statements enough to make even the most pompous of men feel insignificant before it. The Elafian woman just ignored them, before stumbling on an article that had caught her attention by the "Red Wine."
"The New Rewritten Book of the notorious Last Knight of Kazimierz has been rewritten a hundred times better by the Modern Knight Fables Company?! It looks like their claims weren't for naught!"
Just as Viviana was about to exit the article and see a sample of the book online to gauge her opinion of it, the door leading to the vacant waiting room had opened. Turning upwards to see who had entered, the Independent Knight's eyes widened slightly wider with a small glimmer, seeing a man dressed in a black haori, possessing a face that she found to be familiar. She opened her mouth to respond to him.
"Ah, Megumi, you arrived just on time," Viviana smiled toward the aforementioned man, watching as he paused in his steps to seemingly register her expression, something that she had found increasingly amusing everytime. It was like somebody who wasn't familiar with a smile given by a kind soul... 'which so happens to be... more accurate than I would assume it to be...'
Megumi waved his hand in the air, "hey, Viviana," his tone was as neutral as usual. "I was worried I entered the wrong room, but it looks like it worked out in the end." The black-haired man watched as the Elafian woman motioned for the seat beside her, before he began walking to it, "they also let me in with I just showed them the V.I.P. pass, I didn't expect it to hold that much influence..." he mumbled the rest out. It reminded him of his arrival in Leithanien.
"Well, that might be a cause for concern," Viviana let the view play out in her mind as accurately as she could envision it, "but I'm just glad that you were able to arrive just on time. You didn't have to hurry here, now did you?"
"Admittedly," Megumi sat beside her, "a bit. But it's nothing for you to be bothered about." He waved off any other words she would speak upon the matter with a single sentence. "What were you doing before I arrived?" He attempted to strike up a different conversation while relaxing on the couch provided. It was comfortable.
"Merely catching up on the latest news, I stumbled upon quite an interesting one," Viviana replied, "a company had been rewriting the Last Knight of Kazimierz, and its publication has already come. The article seemed quite confident in its superiority over the original."
"They're rewriting the Last Knight of Kazimierz? And it just came out?" Megumi stared at the digital novel on his phone, the object having been connected to the Nomadic City's intranet. He turned to stare at Viviana who was sitting in a seat beside him, glancing over at his shoulder and looking at the book too, "I've only just begun reading the actual book, so I might not understand much of the context behind this...?" He questioned the embodiment of flowers themselves, watching her expression hold a contemplative stance at that moment.
"Rewriting the Last Knight of Kazimierz, hm?" Viviana questioned rhetorically, "I don't believe I have recalled such news circulating in the past... unless—ah—I remember now." The Independent Knight looked as if she had recalled a small piece from her memories, "there was a corporation claiming that they would meet every critic's desires with their judgement upon the book, restructuring it in a way which they would all prefer over compared to its current one." She completed her sentence, "but I don't believe there is anything particularly wrong with the original book."
"That's certainly... interesting," Megumi did not sound interested at all, "might as well pass the time, should I bring it up?" He pulled out his phone from his Endless Well of Shadows brazenly in front of Viviana, as he had already become used to the woman witnessing his abilities, "Last Knight of Kazimierz rewrite..." he typed the keywords swiftly, before hitting enter. He was presented with exactly what he was looking for: "...There it is."
"Mhm," Viviana leaned in closer to the black-haired man, making him pause for a moment before clicking on the link. It provided them with a preview of the story, usually showing a part that would give readers a hook just at the very end to have them want to continue reading the book, "this is..."
The two began scanning the text.
"—The Last Knight stood over his opponent who was very strong, who had drained all his energy—"
Megumi raised an eyebrow, it was a weird way to describe what was happening, but it might pick up its pace.
"—The weapon he used was now in his hands after having killed his opponent—"
Viviana tilted her head at the descriptor choice, not once matching what the previous book had been like in its structure or methodology.
"—The opponent opened his mouth, saying 'it should not have been possible!!! I would have expected anything from the Last Knight—!"
"Viviana..." Megumi scrunched his eyes when glancing at the dialogue written, "is this... real?" The black-haired man continued to glance through the text that was on his phone, feeling his brain start to melt at how... generic it was? "I've read a few books and the one you gave me before, but..." This was supposed to be better than the Last Knight of Kazimierz? Even only after having read two chapters of the actual book, he could say the original was superior by a thousand miles.
The Independent Knight held a contemplative look while crossing her arms. "Hm, it seems the corporation speaks more hearsay than what they can put to the table," Viviana shut her eyes while speaking, her serene expression looking a lot more neutral than Megumi had seen before, "the 'superior' rewritten one is quite an excellent monstrosity, wouldn't you agree?" She opened her eyes with a smile, asking the black-haired man for his opinion.
Megumi had to wonder if the woman in front of him was actually Viviana, because she seemed just so passive aggressive, to an extent that he could have never expected from her. Well, something new to learn, "it's terrible, there's no need to sugarcoat it." Megumi turned away while swiping the free sample of the digital novel, before turning it off. "I'll continue to read the original book."
"I forgot to ask, how are you enjoying the book so far?" Viviana let the previous information barf of the rewritten novel, before feeling more expectant to hear the black-haired man's opinion on the book she had given him.
"I think it's good so far," Megumi replied, "I've only read two chapters, though. So I don't think I can give a full opinion yet, it reads good though."
"Ah, I see, then I will implore more of your opinion once you read the rest," Viviana nodded with satisfaction, before her attention was taken by the sudden sound of the announcer calling out to all the knights in the Kazimierz Major.
"—Contestants and audience members! The nearing end of the Kazimierz Major Preliminaries are fast approaching, in just about ten minutes, we will have—!"
Megumi spoke up, "that seems to be your cue—" however, he himself was cut off when the door leading toward their room was opened with a resounding click, making him turn his head toward who had entered, along with Viviana's own gaze.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure of...?" Viviana asked toward the person who was approaching the two. They were a Kuranta.
The person who had entered looked to be a spokesman, bearing a formal attire and look, along with the confidence that came with it, "Independent Knight Viviana Droste and V.I.P. member...?" He made himself known, before drawing out the rest of his voice.
"Fushiguro Megumi," Megumi replied, finishing the sentence for him.
"Ah, yes, V.I.P. member Fushiguro Megumi, my name is Czarny. Pleased to meet you both, I am a spokesman of the General Chamber of Commerce, you must have already known that." Czarny moved to one of the seats in front of where the two sat.
"Are you here for a Knightclub suggestion?" Viviana asked, side-eyeing the deadpan Megumi before turning back to the K.G.C.C. spokesman.
"I'm afraid not, but I do have further news to deliver upon on the whereabouts of your teammate during the duo match—they have seemingly gone missing somewhere, perhaps they had left Kawalerielki and the Kazimierz Major entirely," Czarny took a seat while speaking, before fully setting down. "I'm afraid you might have to participate in the match—alone." The Kuranata's tone was that of regret, but it certainly did not feel like it to the other two. "All other knights are busy with their own agendas, after all."
"Oh... I understand," Viviana wanted to inquire more about the information of her missing teammate, but the words died out in her throat. "I'll go into the match alone, then." There was nothing she could do about the situation, and she was sure that any complaints would fall upon deaf ears. Not that she was one to complain in the first place, she had already known what Ioleta Russel, her surrogate mother, had told her about the Kazimierz Major. 'I understand now, was it because I hadn't accepted an invitation to that one Knightclub—'
Her thoughts would not linger much longer, as a voice cut in.
"Can I participate as her teammate?" Megumi abruptly spoke up from the couch, fingers interlocked against each other while he leaned forward. There wasn't a hitch in his voice, as it held the same tone of a man who would brave across the highest peaks of mountains without a single notion of fear plaguing their minds. There was a moment of deliberation in his mind, and he had never been the type of person to delve in the limelight...
...But he just couldn't help himself when seeing the Elafian woman's downtrodden expression. At that moment, he bit the inside of his mouth for his impulsive behavior, but reasoned with himself that it would be alright.
Viviana turned to stare at him with slight shock, but kept her lips sealed. She didn't wish to be disrespectful to what the man desired, and the burning look in his eyes had also played a part in her hesitance to stop him.
"Oh?" Spokesman Czarny tilted his head in interest, gazing into the crimson orbs of the black-haired man in front of him, "you? You're willing to participate as her back-up? Well, my apologies, but I don't believe you are registered in the Kazimierz Major's preliminaries, so you can't be sent in as her aide." One of his hands left from behind his back, to cup his chin. "The Major has already started after all... unless..."
Megumi could feel the spokesman's gaze turn toward him. He didn't like it, that was already a given when he had first seen him enter the room. The cold and calculative way it seemed to assess him was slimy, making his skin feel uncomfortable under Czarny's gaze. In fact, if he were still holding Juuchi Yosamu, it would have already sprung from its sheath and beheaded the man in front of him.
"...Well, I am quite in the position to register you as a teammate of Independent Knight of Viviana Droste right here without a hitch..." Czarny's thoughts came back to Dikaiopolis, the Blazingaxe Knight that he had pushed into the Kazimierz Major despite the Minoan being an Infected. The look in Fushiguro Megumi's eyes seldom matched the one in his own, and his intuition was telling him that "...so, what do you say? You provide me with a small favor while I register you into the Kazimierz Major as an Independent Knight—hailing from the lands of Higashi—as a 'samurai,' my, quite the appealing prospect to the crowd is it not? A knight versus a samurai, two different yet similar concepts from different soils." A smile graced his lips as the hand rubbing his chin in thought moved behind himself once more.
"...What is it?" Megumi did not hesitate one bit, asking his question as clearly, and concisely as he could. "If it's unreasonable, then just call it off."
"Then, allow me to elaborate..." Czarny smiled, preparing to give his proposition.
On the side of Viviana could feel her hands clutch against her cloak in guilt.
Megumi on the other hand, continued to listen on to the terms in silence, deliberating over his decision.
***
A/N: Might have rushed a bit at the end, but I'll probably be more refreshed to write tomorrow. Also, I think I made the Last Knight of Kazimierz novel rewrite portion obvious enough to what I was alluding, lol.