Didn't do much writing from Friday becuase of due assignments and nose stuffed up I can't breathe properly the whole Saturday though it ease up a bit now.
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With a "thud" he pushed the door open, what he saw made him raise an eyebrow.
A kabane..
Now why would the sight of a kabane make him raise an eyebrow you ask?
It's because of its appearance.
He'd seen plenty of Kabane before—ugly things that barely qualified as a threat.
They screamed, clawed, and rushed in like wild dogs. Nothing special.
He'd even been educated about the Kabaneri—half-human, half-Kabane.
Interesting idea, but still not something that made him look twice.
But this one… this was different.
The thing standing in front of him wasn't just another mindless corpse but a warrior.
A pair of swords can be seen in its hands.
It moved like it knew what it was doing—steady, focused. Its eyes, although weren't as wild; they weren't overly sharp either.
He blinked, tilting his head slightly, an eyebrow lifting.
"…Huh. That's new."
A swordsman kabane?
The kabane let out a low growl and crouched, ready to attack—not in the reckless way the others did, but like a fighter reading his opponent.
For the first time in a while, he actually smirked.
"Alright," he muttered, stretching his arm a little. "Let's see what you've got."
Vroom
A relatively simple katana appeared in his hands—he took his stance. A Kasumi-no-Kamae stance.
From one swordmaster to the next, ish.
"Come."
"Raaugh!"
The creature roared and charged forwards, its sword raised high before slashing down to cleave him in two.
Kaelis shifted, he used his sword to parry its strike before slicing off that arm from the shoulder.
Splurt!
Blood burst from the torn shoulder as the Kabane's arm hit the ground.
The experienced monster, upon feeling one of its arms missing immediately raged.
"Raaaauuugggh!!"
It swung its remaining sword at Kaelis neck, intending to finish him off by beheading but Kaelis stepped into its attack range.
Kaelis vanished.
A blur of motion, a faint sound of sword swinging through the air.
The kabane did not have time to react before Kaelis reappeared behind him.
It turned around to swing again but its remaining arm fell off.
Then it's head.
Then the torso.
It was all unknowingly sliced up in a second.
Kaelis merely glanced around at the remains.
"I gotta admit… it got skills… for a kabane, that is."
I need to ask about this type when I see mumei or ikuma.
He was quite curious whether Kabane could learn skills or if it was muscle memory.
He looked around the car a bit.
Hm? Now that he got a better look at the inside of the sixth car, the place looks like a mess.
There were bodies littering the floor, both human's and kabane's.
He shrugged before walking towards the seventh car.
…
The sound of the door opening caught the attention of everyone inside the seventh car.
They immediately aimed their rifles at it waiting for whatever behind it to appear.
What stepped through was…
"Kaelis!"
"What are you doing here!?"
"Oh, Kurusu, Ayame too."
Kurusu signaled for them to lower their weapons as Kaelis walked over.
"I heard an explosion while I was up there, came down to check."
"Right. A soldier got bit so he used explosions as a way to get rid of most of the kabanes while taking himself out." Kurusu scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Anyway. How were things on your end?" He asked.
"I thinned out their numbers leaving only the few that were latching on to the sides for the remaining soldiers. They should be able to handle the rest. Besides, I left one of them with 'good' equipment." Kaelis grinned.
"Equipment?" Ayame head titled in confusion.
"By the way," Kaelis looked around, as if looking for someone, "where is ikoma and mumei? I got something I want to ask them."
Kurusu pointed up. "They went up a moment ago. Said they were gonna help clear the kabanes."
"Oh ok then." He then walked over to the gaping hole caused by the explosion.
"Hey what are you gonna do?" curiously, Ayame asked.
The other soldiers also watched on.
"I'm gonna see what they are doing." He jumped out.
*Gasps*
…
"Hey! Mumei! Ikoma!" Kaelis called out.
He saw both of them running around on the train killing kabanes left and right.
The other soldiers he left up here seems to still be up here fighting. They heard his voice and glanced over.
"Men! You can go rest now!"
They responded immediately before leaving, but few were a little hesitant, especially the one that got the sword.
Seeing them leave, Kaelis journeyed over to mumei and ikoma then spoke.
"You did quite a number on the monsters, didn't you?"
"Thanks to you and the soldiers' work, we were actually of little help."
Ikoma scratched his cheeks awkwardly.
"Well I'm glad. Less work for me I guess."
Mumei would rather not fight if she doesn't have to.
"Alright. I'll just deal with the rest."
The number of kabane is probably less than 40. Dealing with them at this point would be a trivial matter.
Extending his right hand, four ordinary swords began forming around it.
"…"
"…"
Although they have not been imbued with any attributes, their materials are ones that are far stronger than diamonds.
He fired them off at blinding speed, raining down on the remaining kabanes.
And in a matter of seconds, they were all wiped clean.
"That should do it." He dusted off imaginary dust of his clothes before turning to the kids who were dazed.
"You kids fine?"
"…"
"…"
"…? Oi oi, snap out of it!" He began shaking the two.
"Ah sorry. It's just that…it's the first I saw you using your powers so vividly… before, it was too bright to see anything hehe."
Smiling awkwardly, Ikoma was also amazed.
Mumei, though, said nothing. Just simply watching with little sparkles in her eyes.
Looking at them like this, Kaelis decided it was time to head back.
"Let's go."
He released a bit of 'spirit' to envelope the two children and floated down to the gaping hole he left though before.
Soldiers crowded them as they entered.
They then informed everyone that the kabanes had been taken care of to which they immediately began cheering whether they were soldiers or not.
"Thank you again for extending a helping hand sir Kaelis."
Ayame had slipped through the cheering and gave a bow to Kaelis.
"Mhmhm. Well I will excuse the sir this time." He chuckled.
"Kami-sama!!"
The same group of soldiers he'd fought alongside earlier came rushing up to him—then, to his surprise, dropped to one knee.
Even the young man he'd given the sword to was among them.
"What's this supposed to be ?" His eyebrows raised.
"Without your help Kami-sama, we might not be alive at this moment and it's through your grace that we survived."
One soldier spoke firmly as if making a declaration.
The words spread fast.
Nearby soldiers and passengers turned their heads, whispering.
"What's going on?"
"Are they… bowing to him?"
"Did he say 'kami?'"
"Who is that person?"
Kaelis looked at them kneeling and sighed.
Chapter 17 end.