Ch 1 full
"Cover the southeast entrance!" Dominic shouted as his blade clashed with yet another of the Seigi Kishi's, the power of the knight's holy magic enhancing the strength of his blade strikes to a superhuman level.
The village of Atarashi had been a safe haven in the country of Usunomori for years, with the combined forces of the People's Army being enough to keep the Seigi Kishi at bay for a while. However, news had come in just two days before about the closest allied village they had being razed, and Dominic had and his troops had prepared their defenses to the best of their ability.
Unfortunately, once he barely managed to strike down the knight that he was battling, he looked around to see how truly hopeless the situation was. If every one of the members of his fighting force had been practicing their skills with the blade for 30 plus years like he had, they might have stood a chance. But even he struggled against the unnatural strength that their holy magic provided, and the novices that had learned to swing a sword a few months before that made up the majority of his numbers were being slaughtered like cattle.
The screams of his allies as they fell, the laughter of the knights as they came closer to the town square, and the terrified faces of the children hiding in the houses that were about to be raided was finally too much for Dominic. Grabbing the voice amplification stone that he had received as a parting gift from his master, he projected his voice as loudly as he could throughout the entire village.
"Atarashi is lost! Everyone retreat and take as many children with you as possible!" He shouted as marched toward the village's main entrance.
While he walked, he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of pride as the uproars of protests from his troops at the thought of abandoning him chorused throughout the destroyed village, but he raised his voice even louder as the main fighting force of the Seigi Kishi arrived. "20 veteran holy knights have just entered the village, we have no chance! This is not a request, this is my final order to all of you! Take the children and run! All of you dying here for the sake of pride is meaningless, and I refuse to let any more of you fall while I still stand!" He screamed into the stone before shoving it back into his pocket.
The sneers and glares that were being projected onto him by his enemies were to be expected, as Dominic couldn't think of anyone else who had given them as much trouble over the years besides the Mirai. Leaning against the stone shrine of the spirit Kami Michikibi, he sighed as he gripped his blade tightly in his right hand before he started to walk toward the group of 20 knights that were slowly marching into the village.
The technique that his master had taught him before he left all those years ago had stayed with Dominic the entire time, mostly because of the absurd concept rather than its utility. It's not as if it was the most practical ability, and even when he had been learning it, he was incredibly confused and slightly anxious by the implications of why his master even taught him the technique in the first place.
Though as he plunged into the crowd and the blades approached his neck at a rapid speed, the confused expressions from the knights did make him chuckle as he dropped his sword to the ground and folded his hands in front of his chest. Channeling the dark energy that he had felt swirling in his chest all those years ago, he hesitated for just a moment before allowing it to be released.
"Jinzei No Kizuna!" Dominic shouted as the metal of multiple blades made contact with his neck, though the concussive force of the energy dispersing from him blasted both the knights and the blades dozens of feet away.
Looking down at his hands, he saw that his normally pale skin was now a deep maroon. The immense power flowing through his body was nothing like he had ever felt before, and he couldn't begin to imagine what he could do with this strength if the ability he just used wasn't guaranteed to kill him 30 seconds later.
"The Aka Akuma, he's actually real," one of the knights said with a terrified whisper.
Dominic's shift in expression must have been obvious, because the young knight looked even more horrified when he began staring daggers at him. While the cause of the holy knights laying waste to their villages had many ongoing theories, one of the more ludicrous ones that Dominic had heard was that they claimed to be fighting a holy war against the demons of old, and that the region that they lived in was the former kingdom of these demons. Of course, Dominic and the people that lived around were not demons, only simple people who were trying to live quiet and peaceful lives, but his current appearance would do nothing to dispel the rumors that these knights would spread.
"Sorry guys, you're all too dangerous, I can't have you going after my people," Dominic said as his skin began to glow with a similar energy to the holy knight's magic. "I really hope whatever is waiting for you on the other side was worth all that you've done," he said as he looked around at all of the scared little men cowering before him.
Once his mental count reached 28 seconds, he released a small sigh as the energy being contained in his body burst from him like an overfilled water balloon. The torrent of red energy that surged through the air wrapped around the group of knights, and the final image that Dominic saw as he died was 20 evil people getting what they deserved, and he couldn't help but crack a final smile as his eyes closed.
***
The smell of morning dew on grass was one of Dominic's favorites, as the rain that fell in the country of Usunomori had a naturally floral aroma that complimented the natural smell of the grass beautifully. However, his immediate thought was not to the pleasant smell, but rather to how any of his sense could be functioning after what he just did.
From what his master had told him all those years before, the Jinzei No Kizuna is a technique only meant to be used when sacrificing one's life is a worthy price, as generating that much unnatural power in a body that is not used to handling it means certain death. Though as he opened his eyes and took in the sight of the grass that he had just been smelling, Dominic simply had to face the facts that he was somehow alive.
Standing to his feet was surprisingly easy as well, and considering he he had been in active combat for over 12 hours straight, the physical strain without the addition of the technique that was supposed to have killed him should have been enough to make him need a few days of bed rest.
But as he took a few steps and stretched out his limbs, he found that not only was he not exhausted, he was incredibly energetic and refreshed.
"Yeah, the first time in the garden will feel like that," a high pitched voice said from behind him, and Dominic spun around so quickly he thought he might accidentally catch the grass under his heel on fire.
Though instead of seeing the source of the voice, all he saw was the statue of Kami Michikibi, and he proceeded to slowly spin in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the voice he had just heard.
"It's rude to avoid eye contact when someone's talking to you," the voice said, and Dominic raised his eyebrows as he looked at the statue of the Himalayan cat that he had initially refused to admit was most likely the source of the voice.
The statue was in surprisingly good condition considering how brutal the battle had been, though as he spun around and took in his surroundings, he acknowledged that the pristine condition of the rest of the forest was equally as mysterious. He wondered if he had traveled in time somehow as he approached the statue, as the only evidence that a battle occurred was that he remembered one happening. He stopped once he came within a few feet of the shrine, hesitantly making eye contact with the statue's squished face.
"Quit staring at me," the voice he had been hearing said, and despite it obviously coming from the statue, the lack of any movement only continued to confuse him.
"Um…sorry," he said as looked away. Despite the absurdity of the situation, he shrugged his shoulders as he decided that leaning into his odd circumstances was his only option. "My name's Dominic, what's yours?" he asked as he made very brief but intentional eye contact.
"Hmm…you're polite. I like you," the statue said, and Dominic could have sworn for a moment that he heard the statue both purr and rumble slightly. "My title is Kami Michikibi: the Guide of the Gods, but you can call me Lucy," she said with a rehearsed pattern that gave Dominic the impression that she particularly enjoyed this introduction that she had created for herself.
"Nice to meet you, Lucy," he said as he bowed at the statue, unsure of what would the most polite way to greet an inanimate object for obvious reasons. "I'm Dominic."
"Oh, I know. We've been keeping an eye on you for a while," Lucy said with a tone that had an invisible shit eating grin behind it.
"We?" Dominic asked as he looked around for more statues of cats.
"Yes, we in the spirit world have been quite impressed with your work," she said, and Dominic couldn't help but breathe a brief sigh of relief as the possibility of being surrounded by cat statues seemed significantly less likely now. "It's rare to see someone get the blessings of multiple members of the pantheon throughout their life, but you managed to secure one from all 20! I was really impressed with Namarirantan in particular, her priests are stingy as hell," she said as she chucked judgementally.
Dominic paused for a moment as he tried to process what she was saying, then he thought back to how he had been running Atarashi before he used the Jinzei No Kizuna.
The Seigi Kishi had been runnng rampant over the region ever since they had arrived on the shores several months ago, and many of the neighboring villages feared for their lives since most capable fighters from the area had left to participate in a massive tournament on the northeastern tip of the country.
Since Atarashi was the largest village in the souther region of the country, the Lord's personal militia and retainers were enough to keep the village safe, and many refugees from the smaller villages had flocked to them for protection. Not having much to offer, many prayers and blessings were gifted to the militia members, himself included.
"Well, the only way that we had any chance of surviving was banding together," Dominic said with a sad shrug. "I'd hardly call trying to save my own ass noble, but most of the refugees were really kind and appreciative anyways. Do you know if any of them survived?" He asked, and he could have sworn that he saw the statue's expression shift for a brief moment.
"Oh they're fine, but we can get to them later. Let's talk about you, and more specifically, where you are," she said, and Dominic breathed a small sigh of relief upon hearing her say that. While he was more concerned about the safety of his people, the confusion of his current environment was certainly not helping the current situation at all. "First of all, do you even know what the technique that you used did?"
"Ummm…"Dominic said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "My master wasn't very specific whenever he described it, just that it was basically a self destruct technique that provides a massive boost of temporary power. The process of doing it is pretty easy, I just channeled Yashinawa matter until I felt it bursting from my body," Dominic said awkwardly as Lucy sighed like a disappointed mother.
"No no, I've spoken with Demetrius plenty of times, that makes a lot of sense," she said in an exasperated tone, and Dominic couldn't contain the surprise on his face at the name drop of his master.
"Dominic, the technique that you use is quite a bit different from how the average warrior from your order uses the spiritual power of Yashinawa. Most people can channel a minimal amount, letting them have brief moments of superhuman strength and speed that needs nearly perfect timing from years and years of training. I've been keeping an eye on you since you started leading the fighting force in Atarashi, and you don't exactly have the most refined fighting style, is that fair to say?" She asked, and Dominic avoided looking directly into the statue's eyes as his face reddened.
Throughout his time training with his master, he had earned the nickname of Stitches, due to his tendency to charge wildly into battle and coming back victorious but with an unnecessary number of injuries.
"I'm an excitable young man, what can I say?" Dominic said with a shrug.
"You sure are buddy," Lucy said condescendingly. "But despite that lack of poise or technique, you survived longer than any member of your order, and the Magic Knights ended up fearing your abilities so much that they sent their most powerful warriors in this region to take you down. Why do you think that is?" She asked, and Dominic looked up into the starry night sky as he pondered what she had just said.
During his time training with the other members of his order before the war had caused them to be split apart, he had always managed to put up a good fight in a way that was quite unorthodox. As Lucy had mentioned before, the preffered combat method of the members of his order was to find the perfect moments to briefly surge Yashinawa into their body, allowing the sudden change in momentum to catch their opponents off guard.
However, his approach had always been wild and highly improvised. Instead of studying proper techniques like his master and the other members of the order, he focused on increasing his output of Yashinawa and his body's stamina. While the other members that he sparred with and fought alongside were elegant and graceful in battle, the way that he brutally would bulldoze through most of their battles was always of source of lighthearted teasing aimed in his direction.
"I guess they might have been misinformed about me," Dominic said with a chuckle and a shrug. "I think that my fighting style might make it look like I'm this super powerful Yashinawa monster, but I'm sure once those magic knights saw me fight in person, they realized how much they overestimated me. Not counting the Jinzei No Kizuna, of course."
"No Dominic, you're not getting it," Lucy said with a level of frustration that made it seem as if she was speaking to a wall. "The other members of your order didn't output more Yashinawa because they didn't want to, it's because they couldn't! Do you understand the strain that the human body should go through to channel even a small amount of Yashinawa? This power was created and meant to be used by gods, not people," Lucy lectured, and Dominic shrunk back from the statue of a Himalayan cat, wondering how anyone ever followed him into battle.
"So…you're saying that I'm in really good shape, then? Thank you, I try to stick to a routine-" he began to say before the statue's eyes flashed with a violent red glow, and he quickly shut his mouth as a defeated meow emerged from the statue.
"…yeah, so you're impeccable routine has allowed you to be able to hold and control a tremendous amount of Yashinawa, and that's the only reason that you were able to perform the Jinzei No Kizuna in the first place. It probably would have been better if Demetrius had actually told you what the conequences of the technique were, but considering that you probably would have died otherwise, I suppose it doesn't matter too much," Lucy said as Dominic raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"Consequences?" Dominic asked nervously.
"Oh yeah, usually this technique flat out kills whoever tries to use it, so consider yourself lucky," she said before a pair of blue beams shot out of the statues eyes, eliciting a high pitched yelp from Dominic. Jumping back as the beams seemed to be coming right at him, he breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped short of him, though his relief immediately turned into confusion as the intersecting beams in front of him began to form some sort of display.
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