3rd Pov:
Yachiho stood over Himari with Yuuki down at the side, small bullet holes on his arms and legs. Himari stared up at her sister as each word she spoke hit her at the soul level, driving home the fact that she will always be a failure to her family and her unit, and, most of all.
A weakling.
All of those words still attacked her mentally even when she wanted to escape them, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried they would always poison her actions, making her flinch and glance at the corners of doorways, waiting for one of her family members to be staring at her with disdain.
She could barely hear her unit's support as her mind clouded with thoughts of defeat.
"Are you really going to give up after that" Yuuki's voice said behind her as she struggled to turn around to him.
Yuuki ignored her as he looked at Yachiho's sweating face, which was from using her trump card. "Look at her face, the ability took a toll on her," he said as he struggled to get up.
"She's exhausted, I bet she can't do that prime time again" He got onto one knee as he pulled his scarf forward so he could breathe better.
"If you quit now then I'll just fight her alone, with or without you" he said as he glanced down at her, "I'd be ashamed if my master quit right now, when we are so close, to do something so stupid"
Himari allowed a smirk as her fighting spirit returned, "For a slave who's running out of steam, you've got a mouth full" she said as she got back on Yuuki, "I'll punish you after this!" she declared.
Xicor stared down at them with a small smile on his lips, 'That's what I want to see, keep getting up despite the injury, like a warrior who bets their life on their next attack'
Yachiho stared up at them as she readied her gun, 'Their mobility should be severely less' she thought eyeing Yuuki's injuries.
Yuuki charged forward and just like how Yachiho thought he was way slower but as she was about to fire.
"Now Yuuki!" she heard her sister's voice call out before Yuuki began to glow blue as a cloud of smoke erupted from him.
Quickly reacting, Yachiho struck her pose and froze time for 5 seconds. She was hoping for Himari to be in front of her but instead, it was Yuuki in his human form with his arms spread wide, like he was trying to protect someone behind him.
Yachiho believes Himari is in the smoke and Yuuki is using himself as a shield. But if she takes him out now then she'll lose her greatest asset and will have no way to fight her.
Without hesitation, she opened fire at Yuuki and over his shoulder, hoping some of the bullets would hit through him and hit Himari. She wasn't worried about how serious the injury might be as they would be healed by Ginna.
As time resumed the two bullets went through his shoulder but a bullet hit Yachiho's neck, barely missing her jugular vein, her eyes landed on the floor where Himari lay with a pistol of her own.
Everything started to turn black for Yachiho as she slowly fell back, now realising she had used Yuuki as a distraction for her to land the final hit on her.
"Didn't think you were that desperate... Annoying little" she couldn't finish her sentence as her body fell back.
The field was silent before Himari raised her fist as the victor of this match and a sign of her growth.
Ginna announced her victory as the 7th unit cheered before the referee moved in to heal the injured combatants.
Xicor watched as his smile grew, "They used the smoke to move under the twin tails line of sight with the boy acting as bait, smart" he complimented.
Kuusetsu laid her head on his shoulder as her eyes struggled to stay open.
Xicor smiled down at her as he guided her head to his lap before gently stroking her hair. The goddess soon felt her eyes were growing even heavier but she allowed it as she slept on Xicor's lap, like a cat seeking attention.
Xicor stared down at her in a daze, saving the image of this serene woman sleeping on his lap.
"Ah~ So this is where you've been" A soft and sweet voice said behind him as Xicor stiffened.
'Ah, Shit' he thought as cold sweat formed on his face.
He silently looked at Agito beside him who shuffled away, so he turned to his last hope, that being the divine general.
Who was sinking into his shadow, flashing a peace sign?
'That motherfu-'
"Xicor" The same voice called out, a little more demanding.
Xicor slowly turned his head to find, not only Shikoku but Jouryuu and Rairen behind him.
"Hey dear~... watcha doing here?" He asked.
Shikoku's smile grew more fox-like as she addressed her lover, "Oh~ You didn't hear, we were going to use this event these humans throw to allow Rairen to test his strength against a chief to see how strong they are"
She turned to Rairen who was staring down at the humans as red flames covered his fist, "I made a bet with him, if he wins then we send the entire Shuuki horde against the humans but if he loses then he'll follow my plan"
She walked over until she sat down next to Xicor as she glanced down at Kuusetsu, "I was wondering where this mischievous little sister was" She glanced up at him as she leaned into his arm, "Good thing she was in good hands"
She turned her focus back down on the arena where Shushu from the 7th unit is wrestling with Sahara from the 6th unit.
"So what have you learned?" She asked, not taking her eyes off them.
"I've learned that one with twin tails can manipulate time to a certain degree which will be useful for Kuusetsu" He said, gently running his hand down Kuusetsu's hair.
"I see" she said as her eyes travelled to Yachiho with interest.
The two humans down below begin to use their abilities as Shushi grew in size and Sahara had an orange aura that sparked electricity with her hair flowing up.
It was destructive for humans but for the gods and Xicor, it looked primitive, slow and loud.
Boredom overtook the group as Xicor leaned back into the soft cushions and closed his eyes with Shikoku mirroring his actions.
The only thing interesting that occurred was Shushu pushing her ability to its limit and Sahara fighting while still asleep.
When the referee announced it was done, only then did Xicor open his eyes and lean forward slightly, "About time it finished" he muttered under his breath.
Jouryuu standing behind him with crossed arms, "Indeed, nothing was fascinating about that fight, it was simply child's play" she said, bluntly and plainly.
Rairen nodded as he turned around and walked, "Where are you off to?" Xicor asked with a raised brow.
Rairen didn't turn but he did stop to answer, "I'm done waiting, I'm moving in with my army" With that he continued to walk.
"Agito, go with him, your main focus is that person right there" Xicor said as he pointed at someone, "But, in the event your life is in danger, you will retreat, no matter how close you are to killing one of them"
Agito, who was silently standing beside the couch, nodded silently and followed closely behind Rairen
"Good luck" was all Jouryuu said.
Back in the dome, everyone was waiting for Yuuku and Shushu to return from the dorm. Kyouka stood next to Nei as she used her ability to scout the surroundings for any suspicious activity.
"Sense any anomalies, Nei?" Kyouka asked.
"No" she replied before her brow furrowed as she spotted four figures, three of them were obviously female but the other was a blurry image, too impossible to make out any features at all.
Shikoku's eyes immediately went to where Nei was viewing them as Nei felt her voice ring out around her mind, "Oh~ Spotted already, and only when I dropped my concealment" she said in a playful tone before sticking out her tongue at her, "You'd better prepare yourselves humans"
Nei cut the connection as she backed up in shock, "Nei, are you alright?" Kyouka asked with concern.
"I-" she was about to say but the cries of Shuuki alerted everyone.
Hordes of Shuuki came in waves as some underground joined in as they burst out and charged forward like mindless drones.
Their bodies smashed against Ginna's barrier as they bounced off with some of the weaker ones getting vaporised.
The older ones held back, their instincts honed from constant survival, clashes with their own kind as well as the humans made them fully aware of the dangers that this barrier poses.
"Do not threaten everyone!" Ginna said as she stuck out her chest with pride, "They can't break my barrier, no matter how hard they try"
The horde kept poking and prodding at the barrier before them as giant Shuuki began to form within the horde with various appearances.
"This flimsy thing is a barrier" Someone laughed from within the horde as the Shuuki made a path for this person.
Rairen stood before the barrier, if he would call it a barrier that is, with Agito standing behind him like a silent sentinel as purple electricity crackled around her hands.
"I, Rairen, find this laughable!" He declared before he smashed his head against the barrier as the area around it shattered like glass, leaving a large opening, allowing the Shuuki to swarm through like desperate bugs.
Kyouka unsheathed her blade as she readied for combat, "Everyone, prepare for battle!"
"Tenka!" she called out to the 6th unit chief.
"On it, I'll take the non-combatants away from here" Tenka said as a portal opened behind her.
"And have Nei give you recon support" Kyouka added as everyone began their attack.
Rairen stood back as he watched them fight, determining which one would be a chief. He watched as Shushu and Sahara crushed Shuuku with ease and destructive force.
'Not them' he thought before his eyes moved to Kyouka as she sliced a giant Shuuku in half, Rairen's mouth formed a hungry grin, 'Her'
"Going somewhere?"
Just as he took a step forward, Himari stood in his way. Rairen immediately recognised her, 'She's the human who beat that time manipulating woman Xicor talked about, hopefully she'll be some fun'
"I'm your opponent!" she declared as she transformed her arm into a minigun and opened fire.
'Pathetic' he simply thought as he raised his palm toward her as all the bullets were stopped by his durable skin.
"Let's see if you can endure this" Rairen said as he raised his fist to the sky before swinging it down, and golden lightning struck down.
Yachiho moved immediately as she charged at Himari and pushed both of them out of the strike zone.
Rairen narrowed his eyes at her, 'The woman with the time manipulating ability'
As they both got their bearings together, Himari noticed the sweat on her sister's face meaning she used her ability to either freeze or rewind time.
They both were about to fight but the sound of greater destruction reached their ears Yachiho looked at her sister, "You go help your dog and your chief, I'll keep this freak busy"
Himari looked at her sister in concern, "But-" she couldn't say anything but the explosion in the distance grew more concerning to her as she sighed.
"You better not die" with that she ran off to support her teammate.
"Just now, you stepped in like you knew the attack was coming" Rairen said with a grin, like he was playing with a child.
Yachiho glared at Rairen with fury, "bastard"
Yuuki and Kyouka, who were on his back, were blown back by an incredible force. They both got ready as the blur blitzed around them before the blur struck Yuuki in the face before throwing a punch who managed to block it.
Her arms strain under the pressure of this figure, which is giving her a hard time.
She takes a good look at the figure, "quite a unique Shuuki they got" she commented as she pushed back.
Yuuki leapt up to catch her, bringing her down to safety. They both stared at the figure, a feminine body with a strange masked face, two small black deer antlers, tiger legs and the head of a snake at the end of its tail, it's shoulders, arms and hands were covered in some red fur that seemed to occasionally crackle purple electricity.
The Merged Beast, Agito.