The Masks we Wear

Chapter 7 - Phantom Thieves

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

~

April 13th 2016

I watched as Eiichiro tore the mask off of his face allowing for his blood to spill upon the floor as the cerulean flames completely enveloped his figure, morphing his appearance.

As the flames settled, he took hold of the long Odachi at his waist, unsheathing the blade and holding its handle with both hands as the figure of his Persona manifested behind him.

"Musashi, go!" He called as his persona lunged at the knights holding Morgana and me at bay, striking them off balance and allowing us to run to his side.

As we did, a malicious grin made its way upon Eiichiro's face as he examined his hand.

"So this is Persona, huh?" He asked, clutching his fist tightly. "Now that I got this power, It's time for payback!"

He glanced at both Morgana and me before taking a battle stance.

"Let's do this!"

Our Personas then manifested beside us as they closed the distance between the knights, beginning a barrage of attacks and kicks.

We began our assault on the knight that had been fighting Morgana, it had already been slightly weakened by the shots Eiichiro had fired earlier and was, therefore, more susceptible to our current attacks.

As a stream of chaos, wind, and slashes engulfed the enemy, the knight then fell into a pool of shadow.

"One down."

We turned our attention toward the other knight as Eiichiro closed the distance, delivering a swift strike with his Persona.

"Lunge at him!" He exclaimed.

As Musashi sped past the knight delivering a swift cacophony of piercing strikes, the knight was thrown off balance and fell off of its horse.

"Now's our chance! You two with me, it's time for an all-out attack!" Morgana called to us.

"Right!"

"Understood."

Gathering ourselves together it felt as though a surge of power had suddenly flown through us, allowing us to blitz past the knight, dashing all around its peripheral vision. Sending a series of attacks all across its body until we landed a fair distance away from it.

As we turned towards Nagumo, Eiichiro sheathed his blade as I retracted my claws, staring directly at Nagumo all the whilst. 

As our weapons were sheathed, the knight behind us then exploded into a stream of jet-black madness, melting away.

"Nice work, team!" Morgana chanted.

As we then slowly approached Nagumo, Mephistopheles appeared by my side before rushing towards him, his fist full of black-red chaos.

As his fist was just about to make contact with his chest, the body of a student suddenly appeared in front of him and took the blow in his place.

"What the hell?"

As Mephistopheles returned to my side, the three of us watched in morbid confusion as an army of second-year students suddenly began to swarm by Nagumo's side.

"These are cognitive beings, guys!" Morgana stated. "They aren't the actual people, so there's no reason to hold back."

"That's not the problem," I stated glancing towards him. "Eiichiro's the only one of us still at full strength, and I doubt he could handle all of them at once considering he just awakened a moment ago."