Another group of minions set ablaze. Parts of the forest burst into flame. The giant Tree burned darker than a smoke-filled sky.
The Dark Flame was spreading quickly as the raging sword braced the air with every swing. Kotaro didn't hesitate, he hit all of them using Ingrid's power to the fullest extent. The Ashen Tree would get the message. This was what happened had Ingrid not holding herself back against Kuchiki and went all out. Neither the Tree nor the forest it inhabited would survive in the destruction.
Edwin Black, the Ashen Tree in disguise, retreated further back while he commanded another hordes to advance. It was a futile effort, the flame from Kotaro's sword swallowed them whole once he got closer.
"What's wrong? Nostalgic much?" Kotaro pointed out.
The chaotic sight of the entire forest drowned in the fury of big fire. The many bodies fell and cruelly reduced to ashes. The houses burned, its body burned. The Ashen Tree couldn't stop gasping at the jarring resemblance.
Instead of the crimson blade, it was the Dark Flame Sword. Instead of the bright wildfire, it was the flame from the Dark World. Instead of the cold-blooded swordsman, it was a young Taimanin who had had enough.
It was all the same. It was another massacre.
The Ashen Tree was watching the reenactment of Senketsu's heartless rampage.
"Stop him!" Overwhelmed by unwelcomed emotions, the faked Edwin Black screamed at the top of his lung. "Stop him now!"
More Nomad soldiers came into view, demons and wooded creatures all charged at once. A smirk creeped onto his face, the Ashen Tree reassured itself that the Taimanin would never make it if reinforcement kept coming to aid. However, its expression changed to a ghastly pale when a wide swing of that sword wiped the army out of existence.
Ingrid's power worked best when it comes to crowd control and dismantle the mass. If a Hell Knight's discipline hadn't involved to weight down its potential, she could have become more than a noble demon without the restriction of moral values.
Ingrid knew these facts, she was fully aware of how dangerous her unique ability could become if left unchecked. That was why she has constantly clung to her own virtue, mastered the swordplay to control the flame and kept the collateral damage to a minimum in any battle she had fought.
Having understood this, Kotaro unleashed the Dark Flame's destructive nature. Against the Ashen Tree and a world born from a dream, his morals renounced and gave himself away to all of his rage. There was no need to hold back if his consciousness was all that left to help her.
"Ingrid!" The faked Edwin Black shouted. "Do not let that human come near me!"
For a moment, Ingrid had let her mind absented.
The name Fuuma Kotaro, a seemingly insignificant name to Ingrid, caused her thoughts to drift further from the surrounding chaos. She didn't have that much impression to recall by that name, and yet it filled her with an oddly familiar feeling. It sounded like an answer to the question she had forgotten.
"INGRID!"
The Ashen Tree's biggest cry snapped her out of trance. Ingrid immediately rushed in, standing between Black and the approaching Kotaro. At this moment, they were the only three left in a burning world.
"I don't know much about the Vampire King. Frankly, I imagined the real one would turn me into paste with his gravity magic and doesn't need your help. You're showing loyalty to a faker."
"Regardless of your truth, I cannot let you pass." Ingrid spread her arms wide.
"I won't stop."
"Then strike me down as you are willing to."
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Taimanin: The Weakest's Resolve
FanficFuuma Kotaro was deemed the weakest among the Taimanins, an ordinary shinobi among those with abilities beyond the norms. He had never denied that harsh truth until a series of events forced him to redefine his view. At last, the Weakest's Resolve e...
