The jungle swallowed them instantly as the trees thick enough to block the sky. Ren and Kuro pushed to the front. Recruits spread behind in two lines.
An ashen sword slashed down on the left side.
Shiori whirled to the side of a Shroud warrior - the dirt caught its blade. In a flash, blood cascaded as its head tumbled to the earth. Shiori paused at the end of the swing and smirked, "Akira could never do this."
A spear lunged at his back. Pupils shrank.
"KENG!"
Akira noticed it first, his rusty katana collided with it. He grinned, "Nah, I do it better." He closed his eyes and roared out loud. Shoulders turned sharp.
The Shroud warrior collapsed with a thud, the upper body dropped first. Crimson pooled.
Shiori raised his brow, "Tch. I could do that myself."
"Is that a thank you?"
Kenji froze. The katana waited in his grip. All of his muscles trembled at once as he scanned the area. The other vanguards took down many of the Shrouds, and he stood there without any action.
A Shroud caught his teammate off guard. The recruit fell. Kenji noticed this but he didn't move. He couldn't move. Kenji gasped as the enemy's blade swung at the vanguard warrior.
His feet shot straight. Katana raised and tucked in his right. His heart pounded heavily against his ribcage as the blade closed in on his teammate. Too late… Kenji's breath caught at his throat. A cold rush brushed his skin, a blurry figure stood at the collapsed vanguard.
"KENG!" His katana struck the dark blade. Broke it into pieces. That person withdrew after the successful parry. His shoulders drove the swing and the katana smoothly shifted from its neck to hip.
The Shroud collapsed to dirt. He turned to Kenji after carrying the injured vanguard up, "What the hell are you doing?!"
Kenji stopped dead. His mouth hung but nothing came out at all. The katana trembled. He gritted his teeth and lowered it, "I…I don't know."
"You do! Kill them, cover your teammate!"
The thick air filled Kenji's lungs. No words came and they already walked away. His shoulders sagged yet something heavy lingered in his chest. He knew he needed to do that. But why couldn't he do it immediately?
An ashen arrow pierced through the air. Cold spread across Kenji's back but his body betrayed him, freezing in place. His pupils shrank.
"KENG!"
The pain didn't come. He dragged his eyelids up and found Homura had already blocked it with his heavy sword. Homura turned to him, "Kenji…Stay focused."
Homura lunged at the Shroud archer with his arms curled. Heavy sword, 3 meters at least. Homura swung it like it weighed nothing.
Kenji flinched. He could never find where the archer was if Homura hadn't driven at it.
No sound. Its head dropped to dirt. Nearby trees fell with the cut. Homura approached Kenji, "Don't worry. I'll be on your back."
Kenji pinned his gaze to his palms. Fingers tightened around the katana. He could do nothing but quiver. Kenji grimaced. Swallowed the heaviness in the chest, it was still there. Kenji wanted to do something. The grips strengthened. Veins grew visibly on his fists and ran to his forearms.
His jaw locked. A deep breath filled his lungs. Kenji lifted his head and glanced around the area, raising the katana higher. Revenge. He frowned as those faces faintly flashed in his mind. His heart went quiet. Kenji caught a massive shape through the corner of his eye.
Rumbled. And rumbled. He turned to the sound. His body tensed up and moved behind without knowing.
"What the...hell?"
One of the Vanguard warriors looked up from its feet to head. Eight meters, at least. Standing tall and glancing at the whole squad.
Akira and Shiori whipped around. They gasped at once, "Oi?! This thing…"
Sora stumbled and hit his side against the tree. His eyes quivered.
Homura locked his attention on it, unfazed.
Commander Ren gritted his teeth and frowned deep. What the hell. This thing is Requiem or even above. He gazed at the vanguard warriors through his shoulder. He turned to it. This is too much for the recruits. Ren scanned across the place, seeking a way to retreat.
It took a step forward.
Tension grew on his shoulders as his grip hardened around the sword handle.
Ishida Kuro moved to his side, "A Requiem."
"Here." Commander Ren turned to Kuro.
"Desires pride. Acknowledge it or"
"It executes," Ren finished.
"Damn it."
It lifted an ashen rock hammer. Eyes swept the vanguard warriors. It paused at two commanders with a grin on its face.
Sweat rolled down Kenji's chin and his body stiffened at its stare. A recruit trembled with his eyes filled with tears beside Kenji. He whimpered and crawled away from it. Kenji blinked. By the time he opened, his teammate had already fled.
Commander Ren twisted to the sound, the recruit was already gone, "Hey! Don't run!"
The massive creature curled its knees, shot both legs straight. Chunks of earth burst upward in large blocks. Trees fractured. Dust and rocks hurled into the air, landed like a meteor rain.
Ishida Kuro clenched his teeth, the shield in his grip but his body stood frozen. Too late.
The vanguards locked their jaws, watching that thing falling toward the fleeing recruit. He heard a loud noise and rumble behind - whipped around.
A huge silhouette dropped from the sky.
Heart paused a beat. His feet didn't want to move anymore. Shoulders sagged. He wanted to run, but where now. He stopped running.
"BRUUUMM!" The terrain shook as both of its legs landed on the recruit. Trees snapped and dirt flung in a large circle. Falling debris found the other vanguards.
They threw themselves away from it, "Watch out!" Some luckily made it out on time. But those who didn't got their legs folded. Ribs broken. Kenji coughed deep beneath the bush and dragged himself out of it. Homura was already there. He propped Kenji up with a frown on his face, he mumbled, "Shit…"
Kenji recoiled as he heard the leaves rustling. He turned to the sound. A dozen of the Shrouds surged through the trees and green bushes.
Spears pointed forwards. Bow strings stretched as hard as they could.
He choked out, "I-Incoming enemies!"
Kenji looked around. More and more enemies closed in. Homura followed his sight. He clenched his fists and quickly grabbed his greatsword on his back.
"Kenji. Support the Luminar. Watch your front.", Homura lunged at the enemy group.
Bow strings snapped. He veered left and right. Homura closed the gap, pivoted and swung his sword. Cut half of the enemy group. Within one swing. Blood splashed, half of their bodies met the dirt.
Kenji froze. His eyes shot wide as Homura whirled his shoulders again - all of them went down. He gasped for air and turned toward the commanders.
Shiori glanced left and right - just the Shroud, "Damn it."
"Scared?" Akira nudged him.
"Tch…Let's end this quickly," Shiori inhaled deep and returned a grin.
Commander Ren bolted back from multiple enemies. He pivoted sideways and jumped into the air. The entire unit was lured into a single area. Sword raised. His back arched to extend the swing.
Die.
"SSHBRUUUMM!" A massive golden flame sword pinned into the Shroud crowd. The surface split open in a perfect ring. Trees cracked and blew away. Smoke rose from the fading flame sword.
All of Sora's muscles trembled. None of them responded. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he just stood with his sword in hand. Quivering. His teammates were fighting out of breath. Until someone drove him forward, "Go help them!"
Sora fell to the front. A gulp ran down his chest as he found two Shroud warriors in front.
A wave of the Shroud crashed over Kuro - spears thrust straight. The earth rumbled as he charged at them. The shield was firmly drawn with ocean blue flame wrapped from arms to his feet.
"DEEEENNGGK!" Dust clouded up and burst in a circle. All spears broke into pieces as the shield met the Shroud group. Bones fractured as they hurled into the forest. Blood lingered on Kuro's shield and dripped onto the dirt.
Another wave crashed in with ashen swords charged at him. Kuro turned.
Kenji's shoulders tensed up. He locked his jaw and shot himself forward, the katana raised.
Kuro glanced toward Kenji through the corner of his right eye. He smirked. His stance locked as he thrust his shield to the front.
The ashen swords closed in. Kenji drew himself out of the swing. His chest pounded. He ducked down and found an open weak spot - its ribs. The atmosphere surrounding him darkened for two seconds. A golden line drew across the body of the Shroud. Kenji noticed his body felt warmer and his heart thundered quicker. He inhaled heavily - tightened all the muscles he had.
"SSHEEEENG!"
His half-opened eyes widened. He didn't expect to even land that swing. But it happened.
"Oh-What?!"
Half of the Shroud's body collapsed. Crimson pooled. He locked his gaze at it for two seconds. A cold ran down his spine.
Another one thrust the spear to Kenji's face. He whirled aside - not enough. The sharp blade drew a long line on his cheek. Kenji stumbled. The ashen sword cut through the air.
Kenji twisted left, pinned his foot beside the creature. Akuma's kick flashed in his eyes - the enemy was already stunned. Kenji flinched sharp but immediately angled his shoulders.
The hit didn't land. An arrow struck his katana off the swing. Kenji recoiled. He looked toward where it came from. Bow string snapped again. Breath hitched in Kenji's throat as he found himself on the ground. They didn't stop. The arrows hissed through the air, streaking at Kenji.
He tightened his abs and wrenched himself to the right. The arrows dug into the dirt. Could've been his face if he didn't move on time. Kenji stood up. His legs pivoted and dragged him out of the fight.
The surface jolted once and twice, Homura noticed it. He turned to the rumble. His eyes widened to find a bulky Shroud shoving toward Kenji, "Kenji! On your left!"
Tension grew harder on Kenji. He whipped around. The huge Shroud was already one meter away from him. If Akuma acted like a bear, this one was a mad bull. Kenji gritted his teeth, tucked his elbow to his side. Legs curled up.
"BAM!"
Its shoulder found Kenji's side. The impact threw Kenji five meters as he snapped through a tree. The air exploded in his lungs. Kenji's jaw dropped, eyes rolling to white.
He coughed once, and twice. Vision blurred out the surrounding chaos while his ears rang loud enough to swallow everything. Kenji crawled on the dirt. He gazed at the dark huge blur in front of him as he collapsed again.
"Damn it..." Kenji choked, gasping for air. He scanned around for a way out, but his body refused to move.
The terrain rumbled with each footfall. Closer and closer to Kenji. He gritted his teeth and dragged himself away from it. Pain ran from his feet to chest.
Kenji threw his gaze around. Nothing. He looked at the bulky Shroud - this felt like the Shroud archer aiming at him on the mountain. His heart stiffened.
In a flash, its head snapped. A groan left its mouth as the bulky Shroud stumbled. It glanced across the place - only Kenji was dragging himself.
A blur passed its skin - it folded at the side. It roared as glowing blue veins emerged out its body. The eyes of it followed the movement of that fuzzy figure.
"Eh? Too slow."
Its body folded on the left side and its head twisted sideways.
Souma stood between Kenji and the creature, back to him. Arms already curled - two sharp blades steadied. He glanced at Kenji, "Watch this, kid."