Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the OCs I create.
Kyoto – Dreamleaf Trader
- Souta -
"Yes, Dad, I'm sure you don't need to come back. I promise I'll be safe; I've been training non-stop so I can protect myself. Just focus on your work, and I'll keep you updated."
My dad was currently in Norway for his job and would be heading to the rest of the Scandinavian countries as well, but after I told him of the few attacks that have recently happened in Kyoto, he had wanted to come back right away, but I knew this deal was big for him and the company.
I heard him sigh over the phone as he said, "I know and I trust that you can protect yourself but as a father I still worry, just please call or message if you need me and I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I will, I promise. Stay safe, Dad. Love you."
"I love you too, son."
After ending the call with my dad, I sat back down in my chair and sighed. I wasn't going to be worried about any customers any time soon, as the war with Hagoromo Gitsune had basically started.
In the past couple of days, they have shown themselves and have been sending out small teams to attack, likely probing the defences we had; a few had died on both parties' sides.
Hence, the call to my dad, updating him on the situation since he wasn't in the country.
Yasaka had been run ragged since it officially began and had teams openly searching for the sub-dimension they were hiding in.
I felt confident in my ability to survive what was coming after all the intense training I've gone through with the others, but I wasn't anywhere near someone on Yasaka's level yet.
Most of my time has been focused on physical training and improving my use of the grimoire fruit. While I had largely improved on a few of my grimoires, the one that I practised and studied the most was the one of seals that Yasaka had most recently acquired for me.
Seals are fascinating and can be used on a multitude of things, like sealing a location, a person, memories and so much more. Seals are, in essence, a contract that is enforced by the world itself, but what truly made a seal strong was symbolism. I could summon an animal and ink a seal onto its fur and have it run at my target, but it would be weak, whereas if I instead used chains etched with the same seal, it would be much more powerful.
That's also why seals used chants that involved the use of certain gods' names at times; if I wanted to seal a devil, I would invoke the use of the biblical god or even his angels.
There were also seals that involved the use of sacrifices; they were nasty to say the least, from something as simple as sacrificing a memento to instead sacrificing your life or another's. It was safe to say I would be avoiding those types of seals.
All this leads me to the seal I unlocked through rigorous studying that I would most likely be using if I got the chance: the 5 Sacred Beasts Seal. The 5 beasts were sacred to the five principal clans, and the seal used them for symbolism, which was perfect for me, as the five principal clans hated yokai, so there was no better seal to use on an ancient yokai that kept coming back. There were probably better seals in the grimoire, but there was no time left to advance further with it, so I decided this is the seal I would focus on.
After the attacks, I also experimented with combining weapons with mystic fruits, such as a sword that could have its weight altered by the user or one that could stretch and be used as a whip but remained sharp.
During these experiments I created 7 cursed blades that would be unusable at least for now. I believed that when someone with strong enough haki appeared, they could suppress the swords at will.
How I made the swords came down to extracting the major sins from the devils that Yasaka had as prisoners; each weapon was merged with 1 major sin, creating the 7 Sin Armoury. Holding the weapons, you could get a feel for what they did, but each one came with a major drawback.
First, we had Wrath: The Calamity Greatsword. With every swing you were able to release a colossal shockwave, while also storing energy from the user's physical pain to double its destructive output.
The drawback for the weapons was that they caused their users to go into a state of blind, bloodthirsty frenzy, continuously burning away the wielders' life force and making them incapable of distinguishing friend from foe.
Second was Greed: The Insatiable Hook-Sword. Was able to temporarily syphon and absorb the energy of anyone it cut, transferring that power to the user.
Its drawback was that the weapon demands a constant tribute of wealth or energy; if it does not get given blood, energy or gold within a set timeframe, it forcefully drains the user's own life force.
The third weapon I called Envy: The Doppelganger Dagger. It was able to mirror and perfectly replicate the exact attributes, mystic fruit, powers, and physical status of the strongest person within the user's line of sight.
With such a powerful ability came an even bigger drawback: prolonged use caused the user to suffer severe identity dissociation, permanently losing their original skills and memories the longer the weapon was active.
The fourth weapon was Pride: The Ruler's Longsword. It could emit a field of absolute invulnerability for a few seconds, allowing the user to deflect any attack with an effortless parry.
The drawback for the weapon was that the absolute invulnerability only functions if the user takes zero evasive action; stepping backward or dodging immediately shatters the weapon's protection and inflicts all accumulated deflected damage onto the user at once.
The fifth weapon is called Lust: The Siren Whip. It emits a psychic pulse upon hitting its target, overriding the nervous systems of the target to force absolute, obsessive obedience to the wielder.
Its drawback forced the user to feel the exact physical pain, injuries, and sensory overload experienced by those they enslave; it could also be overpowered by a stronger will.
The sixth didn't technically use a weapon but instead a shield called Gluttony: The Ouroboros Shield. It was a massive round shield capable of swallowing the energy from attacks, compressing the absorbed energy into a devastating, concentrated laser beam fired from the centre of the shield.
The drawback for the shield was that if it couldn't fire its stored energy within minutes, the shield would lash out, which would cause the maw to turn inward and consume the user's arm.
And finally, the last weapon was Sloth: The Slumbering Halberd. It completely halts in a stagnant, unmoving dome around the user, freezing enemies and attacks and even stopping air.
The drawback was that while the user could move, their organs were slowly subjected to the exact same stagnant energy, making their own body shut down slowly, eventually leading to death if it was not deactivated in time.
These weapons used to look normal, but after absorbing a mystic fruit, they each changed in appearance to take on a more matching look with the powers they gained.
I was shocked that the mystic fruits I used had so much effect on the weapons; I suppose the concept of them being formed from a major sin caused such a change. Devils were known to adapt their form; it wasn't always to the extreme, but I have seen pictures of devils with the major sin of greed being grossly overweight, so it made sense in some way the weapons would morph, but even the drawbacks were not something I expected to happen.
The weapons were for now sealed in my main room inside the suitcase, where only I could unseal them; they were much too dangerous to be used right now, let alone if they ended up in the wrong hands.
I really wanted to see what would happen if I created weapons from the seven heavenly virtues. What would the effect of the weapons be? Would their appearances also change to match the virtues like they did the sins?
Maybe one day I could get access to some angels, but it was unlikely since they kept themselves stationed inside heaven.
[Split]
Urakyoto – War Room
- Souta -
Yasaka, her guards and a few of the elders that were involved in a few battles against Hagoromo and her people, as well as I, were going over the most recent attack.
Last night at 3am one of the largest supermarkets in the city had been reduced to rubble, with many of the night guards losing their lives.
While a supermarket ceasing to exist wouldn't usually be a concern, it was who caused it that raised the alarms. Ibaraki-Doji has been spotted at the supermarket. Not only did he kill the night guards and wipe out the supermarket, but he also wiped out a unit of Tengu who had engaged him before realising who it was.
Before he left, he threw a large metal spike into the ground that we hadn't been able to remove yet due to what looks like a seal keeping it in place; for the moment it's just been sitting there in the ground, but none of us like the idea of an unknown object being placed in the centre of the city.
"Has there been any update on the object that was left in the ground?" Yasaka asked.
Mio stepped forward and began laying out what was learnt so far: "The news we received from the teams studying it has said it's an array of some kind and that there will most likely be more located throughout Kyoto."
That wasn't good news.
"Do we know what the array is for?" Yasaka said in a grim tone.
"Partially, the good news is that it wasn't designed to harm anyone; right now they believe it's either to disturb the senses of everyone within Kyoto or to be used to create a barrier barring anyone from entering or exiting." She said, finishing her report from the investigation team.
"I want them working on a way to have it removed as soon as possible; allowing them to trigger this will give them an advantage we don't want them having." Yasaka ordered.
"Sumio, what of our army?"
"My lady, all units are ready and prepared to go to war at any moment; each unit is composed of 4 regular members who are led by one of our 'specialists'; supplies are stocked and accounted for." Sumio said as he stood to attention with his arms crossed behind his back.
What he didn't mention to the rest of the room was that the few weapons that I managed to put together had been handed out secretly to Yasaka's infiltration unit, whose job was to hit fast, quiet and hard against the enemy.
"Good, be prepared for any moment; the attacks have been more frequent and daring recently. If we can take out some of her more important members, the better," she said to him.
"Now wh—"
As Yasaka goes to speak again, she is abruptly cut off as the door to the meeting room slams open as her secretary Hiromi storms in breathless and rattled, which causes the people in the room to tense and prepare for battle.
"My lady, it's urgent!" Hiromi said, her voice slightly panicked.
"Hiromi, what's wrong?"
"The metal spike that we were monitoring activated, causing miasma to pour out from the ground in the area. There are reports of 5 more spots around Kyoto suffering the same situation; a barrier also appeared around each one protecting them as well as a barrier around Kyoto sealing us inside."
"Not only that, but an army of Oni has appeared to the north. As they allowed themselves to be sealed inside Kyoto, it was reported that they have begun rampaging in the area they appeared at." She said as she took a deep breath once she was finished.
"Of course she recruited the Oni; most of them are warmongers. Any chance for a battle, they will take it."
Which was true; only a few existed in either the east or west yokai faction, and that was due to them being half-breed Oni who were kicked out of their tribe or were born from less-than-ideal circumstances.
"Everyone, it's officially begun. Mio, I want those spikes dealt with; the sooner we have it down, the sooner Nurarihyon and his group can assist us."
"You can count on me, my lady." Mio said.
"Sumio, grab a large group to go deal with the Oni; don't let them spread out any further than they already are."
"It shall be done," he said.
"Good. Have everyone appear in front of me; I have a few words to say." Yasaka said as she made her way out of the room and towards the location where the army of yokai was stationed.
As we followed her and stepped outside, we saw the pillars of miasma reaching into the sky like 6 ominous spires.
Each pillar was feeding into the barrier, fuelling it.
Turning back to Yasaka, I saw her take a step forward as everyone was lined up in front of her.
"My people, I know we did not want any of this, but it is happening. Our home is being attacked by an insane group that wants nothing but our destruction. The Oni have allied themselves with them and are now an enemy to us as well.
These people are a threat to our friends, family and loved ones; it is our duty to protect them, as it is our duty to come home to them. I believe in all of us to be able to get through this, to be able to laugh, drink and cry with our people again. Protect not only yourself but also the people around you; they are not just soldiers you walk with; they are also your family.
Those that seek to harm us will know the error of their ways; show them what it means to be yokai of Kyoto."
Yasaka was all but shouting by the end of her speech, but it had ignited a fire in each of us here; the army of yokai were hammering their chest plates and were shouting for Lady Yasaka, for the Kyoto yokai.
Even I was feeling ready to go out to war; it's hard to notice with how she usually acts, but Yasaka really did have the aura of a leader.