Kozuna
Anari and I had locked the map in our heads from the moment we left the command center, but after a short while of following directions, there wasn't any point. Blast marks, scorches, and embers littered the halls, alongside burnt corpses. The sights were grim, but the way forward was also clear.
Every guard we came across had already been brutally slaughtered. At some point, we slowed down, and Anari covered Tyuyo's face for whatever little good it would do. The rotting smell of dead bodies was pungent, and the ones who hadn't died groaned weakly. Soullessly.
Nikai really did do a number on this place.
My eyes quivered at the gruesome scenes, but I kept myself from showing it too much. While stepping around and across bodies, I noticed a familiar face among the piles of flesh, blood, and sinew. A woman whose face had the skin ripped away, eyes red as roses. She was motionless on the floor, still bleeding from many spots and missing parts of her limbs. We found an arm that had been torn away, while one of her legs had been crushed. Some of her teeth were busted in, too.
And she wasn't just some run-of-the-mill soldier.
"Is that… Councilor Carmen?" Anari mumbled beneath her breath.
The old bag…
I nodded silently. I couldn't decide how I felt about the situation.
"Let's just keep moving."
We're bound to find Nikai eventually.
***
My thoughts panned to Shin and his motives as we kept moving. I couldn't have his sacrifice go to waste, but his existence was clearly clouding Anari's mind. She stumbled more than usual. Seemed less focused. Looked to me for direction- not her usual squad-leader self.
The tear that rolled from his eye- Anari may not have seen it, but I knew full well what was going through Shin's head when it came to Anari. I was left wondering why he'd switched sides again, though. He couldn't have had feelings before betraying us, right?
There was no use dwelling on it. A hulking apparition of shadows had made an appearance before a silver stairwell. And mounds of corpses were piled up by the sides. We'd caught up to Nikai, and it appeared he'd found the way out. He was busy running his shadowy claw through a screaming soldier, leaving them flailing on the ground before the inevitable explosive, fiery demise.
And right in front of Tyuyo, no less. But Tyuyo's high-pitched shrieking caused Nikai and his shadows to suddenly pull away from the dying man. He approached for a second, but Tyuyo backed behind Anari and me, and that was enough to freeze Nikai in place.
"Easy, Tyuyo, it's me."
"Wh-who? What are you?"
I quickly caught on.
Tyuyo's never seen Nikai's transformation before this, has he? We didn't even consider that angle.
Nikai's shadows shrank in on themselves. He fell silent. Anari and I could only exchange worried looks with one another. No amount of explaining could make a traumatized child comprehend the situation. It didn't help that both Nikai and Anari weren't in the right headspaces.
I flashed a fake smile and twisted back to Tyuyo. "H-he's a friend. Don't worry, you're not in danger anymore, Tyuyo."
Nikai turned his back on us. He started his way up the steps, mumbling, "Wish I was never born this way. Let's go. I'm tired."
He smashed his fist against a switch on the wall, causing some sort of gateway to slide open atop the stairwell. Anari and I made weird, curious faces, but we followed. Getting out of there with Tyuyo intact was the top priority.
***
The four of us found ourselves in what appeared to be a fucking living room. A fake fireplace had opened up, leading to the subterranean depths that were the council's headquarters. Things were beginning to really make sense.
The lights were out, and to our luck, we weren't greeted with more council guards. However, when we peeked out the window, we quickly realized just how many soldiers were prowling through the streets of The Primary.
"Sun's setting, and soldiers are all over the damn place. Probably looking for us, Kozuna."
I joined Nikai beside the window with a nod. "Definitely me. Maybe you. I dunno who knows about your curse, but I wouldn't be shocked if the council or Izanai said I'd gone missing."
We stood there for, maybe, a few more seconds before I noticed Nikai's shadows beginning to grow from the corner of my eye. And I wasn't the only one. Anari and Tyuyo slowly distanced themselves. I turned my head just as Nikai began stepping away from me.
"No-" He began to frantically pull at his own shadows, trying to stop them from going any further. "No, no, no! Not now!"
Anari and I spoke in near-perfect unison as we backed away. "N-Nikai?"
"Get away! I-I'm losing control again!"
Nikai's shadows vibrated, causing the foundations themselves to quake. The rest of us hit the ground, but in a panic, Nikai turned and busted the front door down in a scorching fury!
"Not in here! I'm not losin' control near Tyuyo!"
A massive gust of wind struck us. Nikai dashed outside in front of the soldiers, the sun setting, and the moon rising. It wasn't long before we began hearing useless gunfire. Anari, Tyuyo, and I had taken cover behind couches and furniture as Nikai roared outside and started blowing shit up and vaporizing anyone who got in his way.
Damn it!
"D-did..? Did you guys just call that thing Nikai?"
Tyuyo's voice registered, and then I realized how Anari and I had reacted less than a minute ago. We exchanged looks once more. What the hell were we supposed to say at that point?
Fuck.
"We can explain everything later, Ty." Anari was incredibly matter-of-fact. "Short answer? Yes, that's Nikai."
"But how? What happened to him? What's even going on!?"
Gotta take command here. And I think I've got a plan brewing. I just hope it works.
"No time for questions, Ty," I coldly responded, taking to my feet. "Anari, get Tyuyo to safety. As far away from here as possible. I'll handle our Nikai situation."
"By yourself? Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I've got an idea, Anari. A terrible one, but an idea."
"Tch." Anari groaned in annoyance. She hopped to her feet and snatched Tyuyo away by the wrist, heading for a back door. "Don't do anything stupid, Kozuna! That's an order."
I rolled my eyes and waved her off. "Yeah, yeah."
Barely managed to subdue him last time, and he'll only get stronger as the moon rises. Doing something stupid is about the only real choice I've got right now if we want any chance of winning the day.
"No reason I should be this stressed at sixteen," I mumbled, gazing around at possible exits.
Back door's off limits. Don't wanna draw attention to Anari, but I do need Nikai's attention on me for my little plan to work.
My gaze tilted upward.
I know where I'm goin' from here.
My body tucked low. Senten flowed deeply into my legs, ankles, and soles, building and charging to a boiling point. I waited until I felt my feet getting red-hot with pressure, and then sprang toward the ceiling with a kick that blew a hole in the roof! In seconds, I'd forcibly emerged into the whipping whirlwinds and called all eyes to myself. I also caught sight of my destination, and thankfully, we weren't far at all!
There it is! Figured it'd be hard to miss, even during sunset!
"Am I seeing things?"
"Is that Kozuna?"
"First this thing, now him!?"
"They must be on the same side!"
I'd really like to just leave them to deal with Nikai, but I can't!
Gravity began to weigh on my human body. And the very instant my feet hit that slanted rooftop, I curved my lightning-crackling arm around and fired a wild thunderbolt straight into Nikai's shadowy skull. One that exploded into a cloud of smoke and caused him to bellow out a warbling, monstrous screech.
Got your attention now, don't I?
The smoke whirled- displaced as Nikai, in his two-story shadow transformation, barreled after me furiously. He was moving faster than expected, but that worked better for me. His curse guided his actions, and I took off, using the rooftops to my advantage as planned. The city lit up around me in flaming explosions and billowing clouds of smoke.
Really hope I'm not making a huge mistake, here. If those anti-curse fields interfere, I'll probably fail and die.
It was as if the sun had taken the night shift. As I leaped from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding death blasts at every step, Nikai's destruction set The Primary ablaze in a manner I'd never thought possible. His power was unfiltered chaos. And despite my being his prime target, he didn't hesitate to amass devastation along the way.
I shot a glance beyond my shoulder for just a moment.
Come on, Nikai! All the way to Sand Tower!
***
Another explosive burst of dark senten went off behind me. I hit another rooftop and dropped to a knee for a second, barely having a chance to catch my breath. My gaze traced the nearby outline of Sand Tower, and my face followed. It felt like the spire stretched endlessly into the sky.
Starting to feel like this was a bad idea. Scaling small buildings is one thing- but Sand Tower?
There was no going back, though. I'd already dragged Nikai through a good portion of the city, and collateral damage was unavoidable. Countless homes and buildings had already been decimated. I boosted onward and only stopped once I'd reached a building across the street from Sand Tower. That was when I took another quick peek at Nikai.
He was right on my tail, and already charging up another pair of senten-dripping blasts from both of his shadow-consumed claws. They almost looked like they were too much to contain. He was preparing to hurl them at me, and that meant I needed to move.
Electricity arced around portions of my body, and pressure steadily built in my soles the faster my heart beat. I sprang across the road, wide-handed and hoping to not fuck up.
My hands and fingers were clammy, but I only needed a moment. The second I'd hit the wall, I dug and curled my fingers against a jutting block of sandstone. It was just barely enough to grip, but it was enough! And that was when I heard a loud booming pop in the wind. My neck broke backward as I watched a pair of twin senten orbs hurtling my way.
I was short on time.
My teeth gritted on their own. I quickly planted my feet against that vertical wall, defying gravity as best as I could, and let the remaining explosive force rocket me higher. I bolted up that damn skyscraper, narrowly avoiding the vaporizing blast that obliterated the lower half of Sand Tower, as well as anyone inside. Seeing that just below, my eyes damn near bulged from the sockets. But I needed to concentrate!
I really didn't think this one through, and I've got one waning shot! Fuck, this was a horrible idea!
Nothing was supporting the upper half of Sand Tower anymore. Nothing. And as I dashed higher, the fucking building started plummeting and collapsing into the ground!
I lost my footing the moment the falling tower struck the earth, forced to grab and hold on for dear life. A blinding cloud of smoke and dust erupted beneath me, alongside incoherent yelling and curse words within the tower. How long did I have before the whole thing would be left in utter ruin?
Damn it, I wasn't planning on getting the entire fucking tower demolished!
My gaze tightened up. I'd nearly reached my goal, but actually busting the wall down and getting inside alive was proving impossible. Nikai's massive scale of destruction made it impossible.
Whatever his name is, he'd better be preparing to escape right now!
The world around me slowed to a crawl as my mind raced a mile a minute. My original plan had gone up in flames; I needed another way to break in, and preferably before I got fucking vaporized. It wasn't like Nikai had just stopped shooting shadowy fireballs at me.
My glare had been bouncing everywhere until I caught sight of the electricity at my disposal.
That's it! I've gotta use my curses in tandem!
I dropped my left hand from the wall and pressed my boots flat against the sandstone. I only had a bare estimate of the floor I'd been imprisoned on, but I needed precision that I wouldn't be getting any time soon!
A singular thought popped into my brain, ahead of me finally letting go of the crumbling wall.
Fuck it.
Right then, I dropped away completely. My fingers curled up tight, and thundering lightning erupted from my palm in a vibrant blast that even caused Nikai and his transformation to hesitate. I boomed from one place to another, leading with my right foot and a fuckload of explosive force.
The sheer amount of momentum and raw power was intense. My kick blew through the sandstone wall, and I ended up slamming into the steel cell bars. Conveniently, I'd managed to calculate things semi-perfectly. I landed in the same cell as my neighbor, and his already-shocked face only flew more out of whack.
His hair whipped around every which way. He'd been holding onto another cell bar for dear life thanks to the whole tower-collapsing fiasco.
"The fu- KOMA-ZUNA? WHat the SHIT is going on right now!?"
"I'll- OW! FUCK!" My fucking skull banged into something. "I'll explain later! I'm getting you outta here!"
"What?"
There was literally no time to explain. I darted across the room, snatched the other prisoner by his wrist, and bolted right back out of the "entrance" I'd created ten seconds ago. He flailed like hell during our quick descent to the dirt. And despite my senten-assisted, graceful landing, he still slammed into me, leaving both of us lying in the sand, groaning in pain. The remains of Sand Tower continued crashing down nearby, kicking up more sand, more dust, and a ton of airborne rubble.
Cannot believe that worked…
***
"You fuckin' idiot," he muttered, rolling on his side. "Gone for days, suddenly Sand Tower starts falling apart, and now you show up!? The hell's going on!?"
"Careful. Almost sounds like you missed me," I scoff-coughed out, breathing hard and staring toward the sky. "Anyway, a lot's happened. I figured out how to activate my curse, but the clan's in chaos. If you want out, now's the time."
"Heh. Thought you went an' got yourself killed. You really did all that shit just now to set me free?"
"Yeah, yeah," I nodded a couple of times, pushing myself to my feet as the dust began clearing. "Figured I could use the confusion to get you out. Now, I just gotta deal with Nikai."
"Who's Nikai?"
I pointed forward as the dust blew away just enough for the shadowy monstrosity to become visible again. We had a visual on Nikai, but he hadn't seen us yet.
"Heh." My once-cell-neighbor scoffed when he saw what I was talking about. He even smiled a little. "A transformation-type curse, eh? And you didn't want my help dealing with it?"
"I've dealt with him before- and won. I can handle it. You should get moving before the soldiers catch up, though."
"Nahh, no can do." He shook his head. "We've got unfinished business, Kozuna."
"Unfinished business?"
There was a slight break in the conversation. A world-silencing pause. "Tonura. Mifune Tonura."
My head twisted slowly when I realized what he'd said. "To- Mifune Tonura!? Are we friends now or something?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself. I just don't like being in debt." Mifune dusted himself off, stepped to my side, and cracked his knuckles. "Since I told you my name and you already know how to activate your curse, I guess I'll pay you back with a little help. You get to witness my curse in action!"
"I'm not about to refuse the help. Just don't look Nikai in the eyes unless you wanna get paralyzed."
Mifune chuckled to himself. "I'll be fine, Kozuna. Trust."
About time I see why the clan was dead set on keeping him alive and locked away.