3rd Pov:
1 day later:
Xicor stood straight on a ledge, his expression neutral and cold with his fists clenched tightly as he looked down at the remnants of one of his hideouts. It was in ruins, the once secret hole he went through was blown open with destructive force, almost like sending a message.
All his equipment, everything, was turned to ash and blown away by the wind. He had sent his birds out far in the sky, out of view and found this bit more and more is shown to him by the other birds.
They're cutting off any spot he's resting, trying to make him tired and strike when they find him, a battle of attrition they believe they're winning.
They do not know the gods, who are harbouring him. But this is the perfect opportunity to set up a trap.
A cold smirk grew on his face as he moved inside his destroyed home before noticing a red blinking light in the corner of the area he entered.
'Sensors' Xicor concluded, 'They probably sent an alert to the unit of this area and are coming here right now, better start setting up'
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[Yoruzu Template: 7% ]
[Cursed Technique: Construction]
[Speciality: None]
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[Iori Template: 45% ]
[Cursed Technique: Explosive flesh]
[Speciality: RCT]
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[Uraume Template: 31% ]
[Cursed Technique: Ice formation]
[Speciality: Ice resistance]
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[Megumi Fushiguro Template: 99% ]
[Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows]
[Speciality: None]
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'Stuck on 99% with Megumi's template, which means I have to defeat Mahoraga to finish it' Xicor thought as he continued to prepare himself for an imminent attack.
'Oh well, I'll leave it for now and switch to force formation just to get it up' he thought.
"Change" Xicor raised his hand slightly as ice floated up and disappeared in the air at his palm before closing it and looking up at the barren landscape ahead of him.
1 Hour Later:
2 vehicles drove at high speeds towards the area where Xicor had tripped the sensor, their expressions focused as some of their hands twitch in slight nervousness.
The chief with them, Lilith, had her eyes constantly forward. She doesn't glance at her squadmates as her mind is preoccupied with different strategies she could think of for taking down Xicor.
They were notified and ordered to prevent Xicor from leaving the area and fight until reinforcements arrive, she eagerly accepted the order as it would allow her to make him pay for what he did, her pride as a chief and her strength had all but shattered by the beating she endured so in that time, waiting for him to show up while she trained intensely.
Beside her in the driver's seat, Nino, drove with a neutral face her fingers would tighten slightly around the steering wheel. Her mind would flash back to the stare she had with the person they were after, like a living nightmare come true.
She shook her head from the thought as she tried to hide her anxious expression but it just made her look weird.
And finally the person in the back seat behind the two, Numi, her posture straight and alert with her eyes scanning the environment around them, even above, expecting an attack from anywhere.
In total there are 8 members of the 3rd unit, sent to fight Xicor and, if possible, immobilise him. They continue to drive until they stop at a good distance away from the destroyed hideout.
They quickly and precisely got out of their vehicles and moved to the edge of the cliff overlooking his hideout after losing themselves to the ground.
Looking down at the hideout they see Xicor in his black cloak and mask walking around his hideout while occasionally picking things up and inspecting them before throwing them aside, his movements were those of a frustrated child after their sibling or friend destroyed their favourite toy.
"Merry" Lilith whispered loud enough for Merry to hear, "take the shot when ready"
Merry, a woman with wild blue hair and eyes, slowly pulled out a modified sniper rifle with several decorative arts around its metal frame.
She slowly loaded the rifle with a sharp-pointed dart, fully intending to knock Xicor out. Merry's ability, Deadeye, allows her to mark her target with an invisible Red Cross only visible to her in any spot of their body. Once marked it will show Merry the chance of hitting her target, mostly comparing the wind's direction, her body's condition for holding the rifle and the target's reaction time.
Merry exhaled slowly, steadying her breathing and clearing her mind so she could make full use of her ability.
Merry slowly let the finger touch the trigger of her rifle, using the scope to aim her shot and wait like a hunter waiting for its prey to make an opening.
Xicor seemed to have given up before sitting down on a rock with his back to the group, allowing Merry to fire and fire she did.
The dart flew through the air at high speeds before implanting itself in his back, Xicor jolted up and turned around as he raised his hand ready to use one of his techniques but they didn't come out as he stumbled around before falling on his side with his back to them.
"Nice shot Merry!" Numi cheerfully said.
Merry chuckled slightly before she glanced at Numi with a grin of confidence, "was their any doubt"
Lilith didn't comment on their banter as she watched Xicor's fallen form, waiting for anything inhuman to be done by him as this felt too easy.
Nino, Merry, Kimiko and Koharu, you four will remain with the vehicles in case any Shuuki attempts to destroy them, the rest of you are with me" Lilith said as everyone nodded seriously.
Lilith and the others moved in carefully, eyeing any spot for any Shuuki to pop out of but Lilith's gaze was on Xicor's body as his abilities were inhuman and she was expecting something more alien.
Soon they made it to his steady breathing body, Numi and Lilith gathered around it as the other two watched their backs.
Numi lightly kicked his body but the response she got was nothing just his body soundly unconscious. Numi turned to Lilith as she shrugged her shoulders, "Well that was easy, hey you two, come help me with this" she called out to the other members of their unit.
They moved forward ready to load him up on their vehicles not too far but Xicor's body began to convulse before turning into sludge and melting into the ground.
Lilith's eyes widened as she turned to the others next to her, "It's a trap, we have to leave now!"
As soon as they turned around a body was thrown in front of them but they didn't get any view of whose body it was as it kicked up smoke as it hit the ground.
They covered their faces from the smoke but Lilith didn't have time for it as she expected it to be Xicor ambushing them.
Her ability activated at her command as her body was enveloped by a purple aura before swiping her hands to the side and the smoke was blown away from them to the sides as the other readied themselves.
But it wasn't Xicor.
It was a body.
One of their own.
Merry.
Her face was in a permanent state of shock and dread, blood coating most of her face. The members forcibly turned their gaze away and looked back up at the edge of the cliff where they were positioned.
Xicor stood there his black cloak waving through the wind, slightly stained with fresh blood. He didn't move, he simply stood there with his hands at his side but there was something held in his right hand.
Xicor noticed their gazes on the thing in his right hand as he slowly lifted it for them to see.
The object was a head.
A woman's head.
Nino's head.
Lilith couldn't take her eyes off the expression she was making, similar to Merry, 'We didn't hear her, Why didn't they call out for help!?'
Xicor let out a low chuckle to himself as he lightly chucked the head towards them and it rolled to Numi's feet as she flinched back from the contact.
As soon as she subconsciously looked down at the face below her. She found Nino's face staring back, Numi covered her mouth before turning away and vomiting.
Lilith gritted her teeth, "What did you do with Kimiko and Koharu!?" She yelled out, fearing Xicor's answer.
Xicor tilted his head to the side before clicking his fingers as two wolves, one white, one black carried two women by the shoulder before dropping them down.
The women were conscious but they didn't make a move, only shivering from fear as the wolves growled at them.
Xicor picked up a woman with long brown hair and eyes by the scruff of her clothes, presenting her form to them.
"Koharu" Lilith mumbled out.
Xicor looked deep into their fearful gazes as a grin spread across his face behind his mask.
"C-Chie-" she was cut off as Xicor lit her ablaze as her screams echoed in everyone's ears.
Xicor threw her down to them but all they had of her was ash they flew away in the wind leaving nothing for them to collect.
Lilith stared at the spot Koharu was a second ago before she exploded forward directly at Xicor in a fit of rage, "you bastard!!"
Her fist, covered in rock like a gauntlet, was thrusted forward into Xicor's face but his hand was faster as he caught the fist mid-air before pulling Lilith into his other fist, striking her with Ratio.
Her body was shot away, covered in a cloud of smoke. Xicor tilted his head at his wolves before bringing his hand in the sign of a wolf as he whispered a chant they couldn't hear.
Both wolves sank into his shadow before the werewolf emerged from behind Xicor and two clones were created next to him, each one ready to fight.
As for the other woman next to him, Kimiko, Xicor swiped his hand like a sword and sliced her head cleanly off.
Without wasting a second, Xicor leapt after Lilith, to finally finish what he should have done when he encountered them.
As Xicor landed a few feet away his body was illuminated with a purple tint before he was pulled towards the smoke cloud as a dishevelled Lilith came running out with her arm reel back, still covered in rock, and struck Xicor in the chest but it didn't hit him.
He managed to stop it with both hands overlapping each other, his smirk grew behind his mask before pushing her back and thrusting his palm into her stomach, making her cough and step back, almost falling over.
She was about to attack but she could react in time as Xicor grabbed her by the neck and threw her into the sky as he made a hand sign of an owl.
"Nue"
Nue shot out from the shadows not far and flew above Lilith before letting a pulse of purple electricity, pushing her back down.
Xicor made another hand sign, that of a frog, "Toad"
The large frog emerged next to Xicor and shot its tongue up at Lilith and caught her before slamming her down on the ground with greater force.
Both Nue and Toad went back into Xicor's shadow as he slowly walked forward as a battle raged on not too far as smoke clouds could be seen as well as distant voices.
As the smoke cloud of Lilith's impact slowly subsided, it showed her staggering back up with blood seeping from her head, one of her eyes was half closed, struggling to open it.
"I'll kill you, and even if I fail, they're still people far stronger than I am" she said with defiance.
He let out an amused chuckle, "then I don't have to worry about anything now if you were this easy to defeat"
Lilith's eyes widened, "You're-you're a man"
Xicor slowly removed his mask, revealing his tattooed face and red eyes that bore into her soul, "Indeed, and like the other chief you won't be able to tell anyone as well as meet the similar fate she did"
Xicor put his hands together, pointing the tips at Lilith before firing a beam of blood straight through her heart.
Lilith's body fell flat on the ground as Xicor looked away with disinterest as he moved with hyper speed to their location.
It didn't take him long to reach the site and what he found was Divine Dog battling Numi as he weaved through her relentless attacks from her tendrils.
One of his clones, infused with Disaster Tide technique, fought one of their members as well as the other one, infused with Missile Fist. Both clones were toying with their opponent, throwing them around and testing new strategies with their techniques.
He lowered his mask to his face hiding the smirk on his face before turning his head to the far distance, 'Honestly, these people are just so slow to rescue their members'
He shook his head, "Change" he said, before he lifted his mask slightly and brought his hand to his chin. Xicor blew down on his hand as winds of ice flew forward towards his clones with the two members.
The clones noticed the incoming attack as they dodged a strike at the same time knocking them away, into the attack as they leapt away to a safe distance.
The girls couldn't react in time as frost crawled up their legs and arms, spreading across them like some fast-acting virus.
The fast-moving frost covered their bodies except their heads but the blanket of ice on them made their teeth chatter and breathes visible.
Numi leapt back away from one of the divine dogs' slashes as she swiped one of her tendrils at the werewolf but got down low, on all fours, as the energy tendril went above it.
As soon as the divine dog lowered itself to the ground, it revealed Numi's teammates in view, their bodies covered in ice except their heads as Xicor walked towards them, with that same overwhelming feeling she got when he was approaching Nino.
Numi's face turned to panic as she grabbed the divine dog, with her other tendril, by the ankle and threw it aside before she leapt forward to save her teammates.
She got far, almost reaching them but she was pressed against the ground by the 2 clones with divine dog walking up to its master before it sank back into his shadow. If a shikigami is still outside when the template is swapped, they can remain out for 5 minutes before an influence compels them to return where they came from.
"Please, don't hurt them" Numi pleaded but Xicor didn't spare her a glance as he placed his hand on the ice covering their bodies, silently commanding it to cover their entire bodies.
As soon as the ice covered their bodies, Numi watched in horror as Xicor moved his hands away slightly before they blurred through space and smashed the ice sculptures, completely shattering the women's forms.
Numi's eyes blurred with tears as her tendrils exploded, slicing the clones in half but as she was about to charge at Xicor, she froze.
Every muscle in her body screamed to run as Xicor's eyes bore into her, almost telling her to do something, anything.
She swiped the ground between them, creating a smoke cloud but she didn't attack as she leapt into a vehicle and drove off.
Xicor walked through the smoke as he watched the vehicle grow more distant by the minute, "I don't leave messengers anymore" he muttered to himself as he clapped his hands together before a beam of blood shot out at high speed.
The beam of crimson flew toward the vehicle before piercing through her head and the glass of the vehicle as it swerved out of control and into a wall.
"Change"
Xicor watched the wreckage light up with fire before slowly sinking into his shadow with satisfaction, 'that'll put some more fear in their ranks and make some quit'