dawn of shadows

Chapter six

Back at Saigo both Chikao and Miran have returned. Oh my you aren't doing so well, Itami says as they enter the house. Come on these are hardly the worst injuries I've ever received, Miran says. In any case, let me heal you, Itami responds. Regeneration technique: reverse, this is a technique that reverses injuries back to before they were received. However it also reverses the user by one year every time they use it. Although it can be used on several people at once. And it can bring people back from the dead if they haven't been dead for long. And since Itami is immortal she will go back to her original age being seven in one month. Also she can't go further back than four years old. Miran stands now fully healed and Itami ages back one year. I assume you sent someone to deliver the information I gathered to Lord Shadow, Miran says. Yes, Ame and Kado are going to deliver that info to Shadow, Itami says.
  And in Suisei city Giichi and Kumi are getting medical treatment, Nori is also there. I already know that Miran knows our plan, Kumi says. They have probably sent someone to tell Lord Shadow of it. That is why I will ask a personal friend of mine to prevent that message from being delivered. I will ask Youko. Huh, Miran mentioned that name but who is this person, Giichi asks. She is a warrior that is on par with six shadow guards. She has fought against both the seven shadows and a few of the six shadow guards before. She knows a lot about them and has told me what she knows. I can't think of anyone better to stop that message.
  In a moonlit field there are two people running side by side. One was a girl, the third shadow Ame. She was tall and wore a grey Kimono that had a rain pattern on it. Her hair was long and brown and her eyes were glowing red. The one she ran next to wore a black cloak and their face was hidden but their eyes were visibly glowing red. The second shadow, Kado. They both stop in their tracks when they spot someone in their path. She had long pink hair and pink eyes. She wore a pink kimono with a flower pattern. This was Youko. I wasn't sure if I could catch up to you, she spoke. Although now that I have it's over for you two. Wait a second, Ame is that you, it's been so long since I kicked your ass. How have you been these past few centuries? Between that arrogant personality and acting all familiar, I didn't like you then and I still don't, Ame responds. Who's your friend? I never got the chance to kick his ass, Youko asks. Kado I will continue, please make her suffer, for me, Ame says. She then continues to run straight at Youko. Youko manifests a rather plain katana in her hands. She is about to strike Ame. Then in a flash of black Kado had clashed blades with her. Wo your fast, Youko says. Kado’s katana had a whitish glow to it like Miran’s staff. And it too had runes on it. Ame runs past them and continues running. They broke their clash and began to launch strikes at each other. But their strikes were just blocked by opposing strikes. They were soon both pushed back. Light art: flash, Youko flashed forwards to strike her opponent in an instant. Kado also flashed forwards and they stuck each other's blades at equal speeds. What the hell, she thinks to herself. I could tell he didn't use an art but he was still able to match me when I was. How could he possibly be so fast? Maybe the six shadow guards could do that but he's just one of the seven shadows. But his speed and power seem on par with them and with no arts. I can take him because it's me but this is still unbelievable. In that case I will use ranged attacks to test his abilities and desire my best action. Light art: ripple, she slashes the air five times creating that many slash ripples that travel quickly through the air towards Kado. He raises his sword in front of him. As soon as the slashes touch his blade they absorb into it. The steel that makes his blade is called moon steel. If a weapon is forged with this steel and the correct runes then it can have a special ability. And this katana has the ability to absorb elemental spells. It doesn't work on sub elements or styles though. So he can absorb things with that blade, Youko thinks. I wonder if it has limits. Fire art: flame bullet cage, she creates fire bullets to surround him. Once they fly at him from all directions he swings his sword all around him and absorbs them all. So he needs to touch it with his sword to absorb it. Good to know. Kado dashes forwards in a burst of speed like lightning. His sword approaches her neck but she raises her sword to block it. Sword technique: rapid fire slashes, she slashes at him at an ultra fast speed. He is able to keep pace and block all her attacks. Then he uses his sword to thrust her's down and kicks her away. She is now disarmed. Damn your good, she says. Earth art: rock field, a bunch of pillars erupt from the ground. She uses these to jump off of the sides and quickly grab her sword. He doesn't even try to stop her and just stands there. She goes to slash him but he blocks. Twice more and the result is the same. At this point the pillars sink back into the ground. She continues to try and attack him but he blocks her easily. He then rotates himself 360 degrees in one violent slash so powerful it creates a whirlwind. Youko is stopped in her assault as she has to keep herself on the ground. The whirlwind fades as fast as it was created. Kado attacks her, she tries to block but she cuts her blade in half. He then stabs her in her upper right chest. He then uses one of his hands to punch her repeatedly in the face. He then removes his blade and goes to stab her heart. Light art: flash, she flashes away but her arms got hit making it bleed heavily. I will overwhelm him with attacks that he can't absorb all of. She launches three arts at the same time. Light art, fire art, earth art,: relentless assault. An attack of balls, blades, birds, and bullets of countless numbers form around him and attack him all at once. He stabs his sword into the ground and uses it to launch himself in the air. He is able to dodge all of the projectiles in above him and get high above the attacks. All the attacks hit the ground and cause a massive explosion. The sword didn't absorb any of them because that power only works when the user is touching it. However moon steel is indestructible so the blade was undamaged. When he comes back down to the ground he grabs the weapon. He rushes at her with explosive speed and aims to cut off her head. However she was able to redirect that attack with what remained of her blade. But it still cut through half of her neck as he moved past her. A lot of blood began flowing out of her neck. There is no way this is it. I can't die here, she thinks to herself. She drops to her knees, this is not the end of my story.
  My father and my mother, they were a powerful duo. My father could use so many different weapons that they called him Choso of a thousand weapons. And my mother could use five different elemental arts. Compared to them I am nothing, but I always wanted to reach their level since I was a kid. But when they were killed by the first shadow guard I made it my goal to demolish both the seven shadows and the six shadow guards. And bring down Lord Shadow. That is why I can't afford to die here. Flower god mode, this is a technique that allows a mortal or immortal to reach the level of a god. This is a temporary technique that only lasts ten minutes and once it is gone you would be drained of all your strength. But while it is active you can use divine energy to enhance your attacks and to regenerate. Youko becomes enveloped in a pink aura and her mere power stirs up the wind. Divine fire art: burning cannon, she fires a huge stream of fire at Kado. He runs to avoid it but it chases him. Kado's sword can't absorb magic enhanced by divine energy. He runs at Youko flipping over her and using her as a shield as the caster is immune to their own techniques most of the time. Once the attack was used up he jumped back. Kado's red eye ability is that he can burn mana at the same time as stamina to boost his physical abilities by a rather large extent. However the strength provided by god mode is greater than his. But not by a massive amount and Youko has awakened this for the first time in this fight. Which means her usage as well as the general technique is lacking. So there is a gap between them but not a huge one. He flashes forwards at her but she deflects his blade. She goes to punch him but he is able to dodge her. He unleashes a barrage of slashes that she has to continuously deflect. But she soon finds an opening and punches him in his face causing him to fly back. That punch had knocked down his hood and now his face stands revealed. He had long black hair with glowing red eyes. And his face was a shock to Youko. She had assumed the gender but the face of Kado was that of a girl. Youko blushes, I can't believe I thought you were a guy. She quickly pulled the hood back over her head but before she could Youko got a glimpse of something interesting. There was a scar on her throat. She hasn't said a word to me this entire time, Youko thinks. I thought she was a silent type but maybe she literally can't speak because her throat was injured. This girl is full of mystery. Kado charges forwards, she launches the slashes trying to hit Youko. But Youko jumps over these attacks and tries to slam her leg down onto Kado. But she is able to dodge to the side and Youko hits the ground which causes an impact shock wave which forces Kado to run to the side to escape it. Kado then runs to her and releases a few stabs in slashes. Her speed is increasing, Youko thinks. You see she can gain more speed by burning more mana with every strike she takes although this means she will run out a lot faster. They both use a barrage of evenly matched attacks. The air force that came from this was enough to shake trees a ways away from them. But they couldn't both keep this up and the one to let up first was Youko and Kado took advantage of this. She stuck her sword in the ground and used it to hold herself in the air while she kicked Youko away. Only five minutes left, Youko thinks to herself. At this rate I will reach my limit first. In that case I will burn through all of my remaining energy to deal massive damage. Divine technique: flower cannon, only proper gods can use divine techniques so think of this as an improvisational divine technique. One that burns through all of their energy to release several energy bombs over a wide area. Because of its wide radius it is seemingly impossible to dodge. So this leaves Kado with only one choice. Burn through all she has left to increase her speed to outrun these bombs. She turns in the direction of where her comrade had run in. She in a fraction of a second flashed past the bombs range before they could land and once she was out she jumped to carry her much further than normal. When she landed she had barely any mana or stamina left but she still continued in the direction her ally went.
  That is unfortunate to hear, Kumi says to Youko. She had told Kumi of what happened. And how she was unable to stop Shadow from finding out their plan to seal him. In that case we have no choice but to confront them in a disadvantageous battle. Even knowing our plan he probably will still show but he will know what to look for. What to defend against but I have a plan to throw him off balance. You will be a part of it so rest up and regain your strength. Only a little longer until the tomb is complete.
  Saigo now has the complete team of all seven shadows. Apart from the fourth Shadow as he is still on a mission. Although power is only gathered in mass to combat power, they will soon have to face death in the eye. They have never dealt with such targeting but they are ready to face it.