Takeo grit his teeth before he vanished to go and search for Yukio.
The Voice of The Lord grinned despite his missing arms.
"Incredible. Now, quickly, go and commence the ritual."
His eyes widened and he started walking toward the abandoned building before he started running, a little awkwardly due to having no arms for balance.
"Was it you causing all of that commotion outside? Lord Oroshiki had told me not to interfere." A woman's voice came from the darkness before she revealed herself.
Takumi looked to be in a rush, he looked at the floor of the room and saw multiple of Shuen's feathers on the floor in a perfect circle. "Tsubaki… you gathered them all? Great!" He grinned before quickly standing in the middle with Tsubaki.
"Yes, all one hundred are here. Now we just need Lord Oroshiki to—!" Tsubaki started but got cut off as a horrible pain erupted through her body.
Both Takumi and Tsubaki both started convulsing as their bodies began expanding and shifting in vulgar ways.
The moment their bodies were about to collapse, a feather lit up and turned white, healing them completely.
"One…"
The process continued on for fifty more feathers of them being brutally mutilated over and over until the two accidentally bumped into each other, their shifting bodies fusing into one.
"Just as planned… fifty three…"
The two screamed, their voices coming at the same time in messed up perfect harmony.
The process continued, both Takumi and Tsubaki were now fully fused, souls and all.
All they could hear was each other's screams and a terrifyingly malicious laugh echoing in their minds.
…
A bony hand with long fingernails gripped the front door to the abandoned building as a tall figure wearing an extremely ragged burlap robe walked out.
Its hair was long enough to drag across the floor and was tricoloured, on the right it was white with pale blue undertones, middle it was black and on the left it was old and grey.
On either side of its head was an antler and its face was quite a sight to behold.
The 'person's' sclera was black and they had six golden eyes, four on their forehead and two where they should be. They had three mouths that were on either side of the face, breathing the same pace as the normal one.
"I… have returned."
The figure's voice sounded like three people talking at once, a deep terrifying voice, a calm female voice and an old scholarly voice.
This was Oroshiki, a being from over a thousand years ago who terrorised the world from the shadows.
And he had finally returned.
His thousand year plan to return had finally been completed, now he just needed to kill Shuen and anyone with his genes.
As Oroshiki walked out of the building, he grabbed a sharp piece of glass and sliced the long hair off.
The creature known as Oroshiki grunted as he tried to get used to this new body after not having a physical form for over a thousand years.
"This feels strange… those two weren't as strong as I needed them to be." He grit his teeth before he started moving through the village toward Shuen's temple. "Perhaps that girl would've been better. Or even her brother at this rate, though they aren't gullible enough to actually listen and do my bidding so…"
At that moment he froze and looked off into the distance.
"Kensei…"
He muttered that name before his hand started to unconsciously shake and his legs started moving in the opposite direction.
"I-I'll return after getting used to this body." He suddenly said as he started running toward the outskirts of the village.
…
Outside of Shuen's temple, another figure stepped out.
A strange pale blue androgynous person with long white/pale blue hair with golden highlights, two large white and gold wings protruding from their back and a pair of antlers on either side of their head.
They wore a long, well kept beige cloak and gave off a scholarly air. "So, it's about that time." The figure said as a manic grin appeared on their face. "This time… I'll make sure that you die an agonising death. Oroshiki."
At that exact moment, the figure's wings expanded and flew downward, accelerating the figure into the air in the direction that Oroshiki ran away.
…
Yukio's mind tensed.
Everything he had worked for, all of his dedication, everything was put to waste as his body refused to respond to the incoming attack. His legs felt rooted to the floor and his sword felt far too heavy.
This would be his final moment alive.
The masked man closed the distance instantly, his sword raised.
And then Yukio's body moved without permission.
His left arm snapped upward on pure instinct, not even in defense of his victory, just refusal to allow himself to die.
Steel flashed.
The cut was clean.
Yukio's eyes widened in horror as he saw his left arm fall onto the floor.
Then heat.
Then pressure.
Blood sprayed across the ground and all over Yukio.
The boy stumbled backward, choking on his own breaths, his vision blurring as the shock filled him. He fell onto one knee, clutching at the empty space where his arm should've been.
The masked man reset his stance, already preparing the follow up strike to finish off the child.
Yukio forced himself backward, scrambling across the sandy floor, leaving a trail of blood behind.
"I can't—"
He never finished that sentence.
A voice cut through his mind.
It was calm, close, almost familiar.
"Stand."
Yukio froze.
The world didn't wait for him, his enemies didn't hesitate.
But Yukio wasn't interested.
"I am unable to move your body for you in this state," the voice said, steady and emotionless. "But follow my guidance nonetheless."
Another masked man started forming hand signs.
"Move to your right."
Yukio complied.
Earthen spikes erupted from the ground where Yukio had just stood.
"Keep breathing. Lower your center of gravity. Your balance is off."
His heart hammered against his ribs. His vision was blurry and the left side of his body felt ridiculously light.
"I… I am going to kill you." Yukio hissed through clenched teeth, his voice shaking but loud. "All of you… every last one of you."
He forced chakra into his throat.
The nearest masked man flinched as Yukio's voice ripped through his ears.
"Die in an unfamiliar environment." Yukio said.
The man's eyes widened beneath the mask as the world around him shifted and changed into that of darkness.
"Use the Seventh Page."
"Page Seven…" Yukio gasped.
"Voice of the Flower."
His sword moved with restraint, a minima arc delivered at the exact moment his sense alteration fractured the man's reaction. His sword slipped between ribs with perfect timing and shredded the man's insides.
That was one down.
Two attacked simultaneously from opposite sides.
"Pivot. Don't overextend. You only have one arm."
Yukio obeyed blindly, fully trusting in the voice. He ducked beneath the first strike and let the second roll off his shoulder, the pain was nothing compared to his missing arm.
"Filthy sand rats!" He spat, voice cracking due to the amount of chakra he was pouring into his words. "Come at me! I'll bury all of you filthy dogs right here and now."
The insult carried far more chakra than anger.
The two men suddenly froze, briefly trapped in an illusion long enough to disorient them.
"Use the body flicker."
Yukio didn't know what that was but he used the thing closest to a flickering body and used the teleportation technique.
He vanished and reappeared behind one, his blade carving through the back of the knee before rising into the spine.
The man fell.
The other lunged, abandoning his formation. Yukio turned into it recklessly, catching the man's blade along his own and forcing it aside with raw willpower.
"Don't try to match their strength, redirect."
Too slow.
The masked man drove a knee into Yukio's ribs, sending him skidding across the sandy floor. Yukio coughed violently, blood gushing out of his mouth.
"Y-you killed my mother!" He roared. "You killed my father!"
He forced more chakra into his voice, screaming curses laced with his technique. The air itself seemed to vibrate.
But this was just wasting his chakra, he was running low.
"May you choke on that filthy sand you step on! May you die forgotten!"
One of them faltered mid-step, eyes darting as Yukio's voice turned his world upside down.
"Now."
Yukio flew forward with all of the energy he had left, his sword descending in a brutal downward slash that cleaved the man in two.
He had killed three.
The remaining seven didn't hesitate.
They all moved as one now.
Sand erupted beneath Yukio, clutching down on his legs from behind while another man appeared in front of him and drove a kick into his chest. Yukio felt his ribs break as he was launched backward.
He slammed into a wall of a nearby house hard
enough to crater it.
The impact stole the air from his lungs.
He tried his very best to get up, to stand.
But nothing would happen.
From the waist down, he could feel nothing.
No sensation at all, not even pain.
His legs were officially deadweight, every bone shattered.
Panic surged violently in his mind.
His spine was fractured, he was unable to move.
The masked figures slowly approached him, not rushing. They spread out again, cautiously.
Out of all the villagers they had killed, none of them knew enough about chakra to fight back. This kid was the first.
Yukio dragged himself up with his one remaining arm, his fingers clawing at the stone uselessly.
"Cowards…" he rasped, his voice was raw and trembling. "Seven… against one? Come and finish me off!"
One stepped forward with his blade raised.
Yukio tried to lift his sword.
But his body wouldn't obey.
The voice appeared back in his mind.
"You did well."
The masked man swung his sword.
Steel rang out.
The sword clashed, but not against Yukio's blade.
Against another.
The strike stopped just mere inches from Yukio's throat.
The masked figures froze.
A familiar silhouette stood in front of Yukio, the figure's sword angled effortlessly, posture calm.
Takeo didn't look back at Yukio.
"Ten trained men against a child," he said quietly.
His voice was not loud, but still carried weight.
"Truly disappointing."