Wait! I'm not a Demigod, I'm a Gamer!

Chapter 33: Attack

Orion's Pax make their way to the castle, Yuuya raising his arms in a long stretch. "Hmmm! This week has been rough, but I'm glad we're relaxing today." Damian walks alongside him with a tired expression, the week's events also taking a toll on him. "You can say that again, but I don't think reading old books is that relaxing. We still can't read half of them." Sam nods while covering his mouth as he yawns, "Yeah, just when we think we're a step closer to understanding the kitsunes, we get sent back three steps." Even though they had access to the room, more than half the books were in different languages. Sam and Damian couldn't understand while only Yuuya could. The books were written in languages back from his past life's world. Some were in Spanish, some in French, some were even in Russian. There were many more in other languages, but weirdly though, Yuuya could understand them all even though he only knew English and Japanese, helps to come from a Japanese family, and had barely passed high school level Spanish. It took Yuuya a while to figure out why until he remembers that when he was Sakura that she had maxed out Yuuya's intelligence in the game that allows him to read and speak in several languages, some that were even dead. She had done that to complete a hidden quest that required a certain intelligence stat to proceed, the magical item involved wouldn't let him touch it till he was deemed 'worthy' enough. Such an item was called the necklace of Garuda, the magic item that can protect the wearer from any mental manipulation attacks, the one he still wears around his neck that is hidden under his shirt. Yuuya looks at his friends, "I know you guys can't read them, but that's why I gave you the glasses." The spectacles of Thoth, a pair of gold and blue glasses with a crescent moon on each arm, it that allows the wearer to read anything in any language. Sadly, he only had one so Damian and Sam had to share, rather they fight over who can use them first. Sam and Damian give him a deadpan look as the blue haired man says, "Yeah, but it would be better if you had more than one of those glasses." Damian cracks his neck as he groans out, "And a lot less bruising." They reach the side entrance of the castle, a young maid with mint green hair tied in a pony tail and chocolate brown eyes is waiting for them by the door. "Welcome back, Master Yuuya, Master Damian, Master Samuel. Will you be going into the special room today again?" She greets with a kind smile and a small bow. Yuuya waves to her and answers back with a smile of his own, "Hey Barbara! Yes we are. Thank you for meeting us out here again." She smiles slightly wider at him and raises her arm up, the sleeve of her outfit lowers slightly to reveal a simple bronze bracelet. "It is no trouble at all. Especially with this gift you have given me." The bronzed bracelet of Taurus, a magical item that warms the wearer. A useful tool during the colder seasons. More than half of the year has gone by since Yuuya first woke up in this world, the seasons have change, making the weather a bit colder, but no snow fell. Only the lands of the demons and beast-men snowed, making Yuuya slightly depressed that he couldn't see it snow here. Yuuya simply waves her off, "It's all good, I'm glad that thing is working. It doesn't work on me for some reason..." He thinks out loud, missing the blank looks from everyone. "That's because you have fire magic..." They all think at the same time. Sam is also wearing a bronze bracelet, he sighs, "If you had more of these then maybe you could've started your own shop. This magic item is amazing." Damian merely shrugs his shoulders, "Doubt it, this thing ain't that special." His own fire magic working to keep his body from freezing, otherwise he would've gladly taken a bronze bracelet, happy he can use his magic without constantly chanting. Barbara chuckles when Sam sends him a glare and moves to the side, "Please follow me. I have prepared tea and snacks for you three. I hope they will help you relax more." Yuuya smiles brightly at her, "Thank you Barbara! You're amazing." She blushes slightly, finding his smile cute. They reach their destination in no time, she raises her hands to showcase the doors with a slight bow, "Of course, please let me know if you need anything else." They nod to her and enter the room, shutting the door behind them.
With the doors shut, Yuuya drops his disguise and goes to his spot, a cushioned seat by the window that for some reason can't be seen on the outside, giving him the perfect opportunity to look out without anyone noticing his true form. "I'm gonna read this history book some more. What are you guys gonna read?" Sam and Damian each pull a book off of the shelf and show him. He reads the titles, the one in Sam's hands had a picture of a spoon and fork crossing with a title in Chinese that reads Cooking techniques from China while the one in Damian"s hands showed a picture of a pirate ship flying in the sky with a title in Italian that reads The Search of Treasure Island Amongst the Skies. He voices out their titles and they both glare at each other as if searching for some kind of advantage over the other. Yuuya gulps as he reaches into a black space, pulling out the glasses. A couple of minutes go by before they suddenly hold up their fists, shaking them up and down as they countdown from three. When they reach one, Sam holds up a couple of fingers while Damian had his palm open. "Scissors beats paper, I win!" Damian groans as Sam walks triumphantly to Yuuya, holding out his hand as the beast-man passes him the glasses. "Glad you guys enjoy rock-paper-scissors..." He says with a nervous chuckle while thinking, "It certainly is a more peaceful manner." Sam laughs as he puts on the glasses, "Oh yeah, if only you had taught us this game sooner Yuuya. It would definitely settle down a lot of fights in my home town." Damian nods as he begrudgingly sits in a chair across from the beast-man, "Yeah and at the Adventurer's Guild. Could even place some bets with this game." Sam and Yuuya chuckle and shake their heads, "I think more fights would occur if people started betting their money on this game..." Yuuya states as he opens his book. The three relax as they read, or look at a few pictures in Damian's case, quietly and peacefully. Yuuya swipes through the book carefully, old age taken a toll on the poor piece of literature. He had read the book a few times in the past, trying to understand more of the kitsunes. In quick summary, the book states that the kitsunes were the first species to ever exist in this world. They had used their powerful magic and high intelligence to build strange and fascinating buildings that were used for living, cultivating, and researching. When other species were created, the kitsunes took it upon themselves to show them how to build, farm, hunt, survive, and enjoy the little things like music and art. They were practically gods to the other races. The book didn't mention anything about the dragons, rather it told who the kitsunes were before the wars. The way the book described how the kitsunes lived got him thinking that perhaps the kitsunes were like him, a being from another world. It would certainly explain how books in languages from his world and how certain buildings resembled modern buildings would exist in this world. Yuuya quickly shakes his head and continues to read, "That's impossible! That would mean they were reincarnated souls and that I might actually be..." He smacks his forehead against the book, drawing his friends' attention onto him. Sam puts down the glasses as he stares at Yuuya questioningly, "You alright Yuuya?" He had made the mistake of letting go of the glasses, allowing a very impatient ombré haired man to seize it in a flash. Sam stutters out a retort but sighs in the end, putting his focus back on Yuuya. He moves to sit next him in another chair and leans over to see what has Yuuya so distressed. "'It was then that the kitsunes had founded the Adventurer's Guild in hopes that the human population would lend a hand in exterminating excess monsters.' Is that what's got you so down?" Yuuya shakes his head as he puts the book down on the table across from them. "No...Just having some weird thoughts, nothing to worry about." Sam didn't look like he believed the man, but he decides to drop it and change topics. He grabs a cookie off of a plate that Barbara left for them and hands it to him. "Here, have a cookie. I heard Barbara put in a little something~." He singsongs at the end, making Yuuya's ear stand up tall suddenly. He drools slightly at the sight of the cookie and quickly snatches it out of Sam's hands. "Ooo! They smell so good." He happily chomps down on the cookie, feeling his stress drift away. He smiles sweetly at Sam once he finished the entire dessert, "Thanks Sam, I almost forgot we had cookies here. With the caramel in the middle, it tastes so much better!" After a couple of weeks of plain cookies from the mint haired maid, Yuuya had enough and told her a way to make her cookies ten times better. She was the talk of the castle when she had taken his advice to add caramel and other sweet candy into the cookies. Even the royal family had asked her personally for her cookies when Yuuya shared some to Maria when she stopped by to visit them in the special room. Sam blushes at the radiant smile and starts to bite into his own cookie. Damian watches the whole scene with envy and makes his way over to the pair, pushing another chair on the other side of Yuuya, huffing in slight irritation as he grabs at an empty cup and pouring some warm tea into it. "Here. She also made us some tea too." He roughly pushes the cup into the surprised beast-man's hands, almost spilling the liquid onto himself. Yuuya chuckles at the hidden sweetness of the ombré haired man and sips on it slowly, "Mmmm...Delicious." The group decides to take a break from reading and enjoy the snack Barbara had made for them. As they talk, the sound of knocking draws their attention. Fearing it was the maid, Yuuya quickly puts on his disguise while Damian goes to the door. He opens it slowly, peeking out cautiously before noticing the culprit. He sighs and opens the door wider, "Come on in princess." As he opens the door, Maria suddenly bursts in with a bright smile. "Yuuya!" She rushes to where he was sitting and jumps on his lap, making him grunt as he manages to catch her. "Hey Maria, how are you today?" Her smile disappears when she notices the lack of fluffiness on the man, "Where's your ears and tail?" Yuuya chuckles and looks over at Damian, the man nods and closes the door. With the door shut, Yuuya lets go of the pendant and reveals his ears twitching and tail wagging in happiness. She squeals loudly, making all the men wince, and reaches with grabby hands to his ears. "Oooo yes! Fluffy!" Despite how excited she is, she still shows great care and gently pets his ears, making Yuuya sigh in content, "Sometimes I feel like you only come to visit us just to pet my ears and tail." She gasps in shock and puts her hand on her chest, "I would never! Just because your ears and tail are my favorite fluffy things, doesn't mean I don't enjoy your company." Sam laughs while Damian lets out a small chuckle while saying, "Fluffy things huh. That's a relief."
The group continue to laugh and joke amongst themselves before a loud crash is heard outside along with screams from several people. Yuuya quickly puts Maria down and looks outside, the center of the capital is smoking while there were several people trying to escape the danger. The trio rush out of the room and down the hallways in a flash. Yuuya puts on his disguise right before Barbara spots them and tries to gain their attention, "Young masters what's wrong-" She gets cut off when they rush past her, Yuuya quickly yells behind him without stopping or slowing down, "There's been an attack in the capital! Please stay here and watch over the princess!" Maria manages to see them off, her face full of fear and worry, before Barbara takes her hand to lead her to her parents. It only takes them five minutes to exit the castle and reach the center, however, knowing there were people in danger made the trip feel that much slower. "What the hell is going on!?" Damian yells as he pushes past people who are running away from something. Sam grunts as he gets pushed a bit too hard by a large man screaming in fear, "I don't know! Whatever it is, it's something really dangerous!" Yuuya says nothing as he tries to sniff out the cause of the commotion, only picking up on the terror in people's scent. "I can't tell what it is. With all these people panicking, I can't pick up on the type of monster we're dealing with." He calmly thinks as he desperately tries to figure out on the situation. He feels the ground shift and quickly slides into a stop while yelling out, "Get down!" His friends and a few people around them heed his words and duck in time as several spikes made of rock erupt from the ground, he manages to use his own earth magic to form walls that barely kept the spikes from hitting him and the people behind him. Once the ground settled down, Yuuya releases his magic to allow the walls to dissipate. His eyes widen in horror when he sees many people who failed to reach him in time. Several of them are screaming in agony as parts of their body were impaled by the spikes, blood gushing out of their wounds as tears fall from their eyes rapidly. Some were unfortunate as spikes poke out of their chests and abdomen, some out of their mouths, all immediately died from the impact. His form was frozen, his mind going into shock the longer he stares at the horrific scenes and smell the large quantity of blood in the air. All he hears is ringing as time seems to slow down through his eyes. He vaguely sees people rushing to the trapped people crying out in sorrow in seeing them in such a state. He doesn't even notice someone shaking him until a slap hits him across the face. "Yuuya! Snap out of it! We need you here right now!" Damian's loud, panicky, voice finally reaches his ears as the ombré haired man shakes his shoulders in a desperate attempt to get him back to reality. Sam is off helping some of the people that were still alive and stuck on the spikes, trusting Damian to handle the stunned beast-man. Yuuya shakes his head, dismissing the slap, and reaches into his bag as he summons the black space to bring out his Faith's Spiritstaff. He starts to chant to activate the magic item, "Faith's Spiritstaff. May the light that shines from deep inside, flow ever out, and never hide. May the shining light within my soul, heal them now, and make them whole. May the light that shines so very bright, help heal their pain, on this night. May the shining light within my core, bring peace and love, forever more!" While he chants, the orbs on the staff glow bright and little balls of light fall from the sky as if it was snowing. As the balls of light make contact, the spikes suddenly turn to dust and the various wounds on people start to disappear. Everyone gasp in confusion at the sudden loss of pain, however, those that have already passed receive nothing more than falling to the ground gently, as if they were underwater and were sinking to the bottom slowly, the spikes disappear still and their wounds disappearing. Their souls never returning to their bodies, and Yuuya knows this but still tries. With the area deemed safe, the trio continue their journey to the center of the capital, spotting the Solarclouds group. Callian and Brutus are struggling to push a piece of what used to be part of a roof off of Matthew who is trapped amongst the rubble. Ivory is over on the side with an unconscious Diana in her lap, the spearwoman's head bleeding quite a bit. "Callian!" Yuuya yells, gaining their attention. "Yuuya! Sam, Damian! Thank the Goddess you're alright. Quick give us a hand!" Sam and Damian each grab a piece of the rubble and try to lift it with all their might. Yuuya frowns at the scene and hands the staff to Ivory, "Here, hold this. Keep pouring mana into it and it will heal everyone within the area." Before she could question the disguised beast-man, Yuuya had already rushed to the struggling group. He lifts his hands and yells out, "Step back!" They all look at him and obey his command, letting go of the rubble as Yuuya holds out his hands, concentrating on his dark magic, the rubble to clustered together for him to use his wind, to lift the rubble up slowly and carefully. The rubble was lifted just high enough for the archer to crawl his way out. "Th-thank y-you." The man says in a shaking tone, his life flashing before his eyes moments ago having shaken the man to his very core. Callian and Brutus pulls the frightened man into their arms, checking him over for any injuries while side eyeing the disguised beast-man. Callian thinks in his head, "He can use dark magic!? That wasn't on his info sheet. Just what other tricks you got up your sleeves, Yuuya..." Yuuya carefully puts the rubble down and goes back over to Ivory, happy to see her pouring mana into the staff despite not knowing what it did and that Diana was slowly waking up in a dizzy state. Yuuya corrects his blunder and says to the mage, "This staff can heal a wide area as long as you keep poring mana into it. I already said the chant so it doesn't anything else except mana. Go around the capital and help the civilians. My group and I will handle the threat." Just as he says that a loud roar shakes everyone, the sound getting closer by the second. Yuuya looks over at his party members, nodding to them to see if they were ready to go. They nod back and start to head in that direction, but stop short when Callian yells out in a desperate plea, "Wait! You can't go! That thing will kill you!" Sam whips his head at the captain of the Solarclouds with a shocked expression, "Wait, do you know what is causing all this?" Brutus nods as he helps Matthew up, "Yes, we were the first to the scene. It had broken in through the south gates, using powerful earth magic." Damian gives him a worried glare and asks, "What is it?" Callian answers in a deadly tone, "It's a Sacred Beast." Sam and Damian gasp while Yuuya tilts his head in confusion. "A Sacred Beast? What's that? A monster?" Everyone stare at him in shock before Ivory yells out, "How the hell do you not know what a Sacred Beast is!?" Sam goes over to him and explains in a scared voice, "Sacred Beasts are the kings of monsters. They're the ones that control the monster population. They helped in the Demigod Wars, but when the kitsunes died out, they too disappeared. They haven't been seen in centuries. Why is one attacking now?" Yuuya puts his hand on his chin as he thinks, "That guy from my dream told me I needed the Sacred Beasts help. Which means that they're probably nice, maybe this thing is misunderstood. I won't know until I see it." Yuuya nods and moves to go towards the center where the Sacred Beast is when Sam grabs his arm. "Wait! This thing is a lot stronger than anything you faced before. Even more powerful than that summoning stone you faced back at that bandit camp." He puts his head on Yuuya's chest, his anxiety skyrocketing as the mere thought of Yuuya in such a dangerous situation. "This thing could really hurt you or worse..." The strong grip on his shirt has Yuuya worried and that worry grows when another set of hands grab onto his arm. He looks over and sees Damian looking down, making him unable to see his fear stricken, golden eyes. "He's right...We've never faced anything like this before. We should let someone else handle this..." Yuuya frowns and looks over at everyone, their heads hung low at the feeling of defeat settling into their bones. He takes each of his friends' hands and gets them to look at him, "My older sister always told me that there are some things we can't handle ourselves." They continue to stare at him as he gives them a serious look, "But if we leave every problem to someone else, eventually the problems will start to pile up until it becomes impossible to fix. We can't leave this to someone else. You said it yourself this thing is too powerful and the longer we leave it alone the more people will die." He gives them an encouraging smile as he gently squeezes their hands, making them blush, "We have to try. These people are counting on us. I'll try to lead it away from the capital while the rest of you help as many civilians as you can with my staff." He looks over at Callian and asks, "Can you and your party handle that?" Callian thinks for a moment before he gives him a brave look and stands to his full height while slamming his fist to his chest, "You can count on us! We'll round up the surviving adventurers and knights and evacuate the rest of the civilians from the surrounding area." The rest of his party stand with him, shaking off the dust and shock, no longer feeling helpless. "We'll handle the wounded and leave the rest to you." They go in the opposite direction as Callian yells out, "Good luck and don't die!" As they rush down the alleyways, Callian can't help but think, "Please don't die you three. I can't bear the idea of burying you too..."
Yuuya turn his attention back on his friends, giving them a spirited smile, "You guys ready?" They return the smile and squeeze his hand back while answering him at the same time, "Yeah!" With the group back on track, they head toworads the sounds of roaring, helping people along the way. Once they reach the center, several spikes fall from the sky, nearly impaling Damian if Yuuya hadn't tackled him. "Look out!" The spike separates them from Sam as he jumps a mile up in the air in fright. A loud growl gains their attention, they slowly look up and their jaws drop at the terrifying sight. The Sacred Beast they were warned was a tall giant lizard that resembled a t-rex from Yuuya's past life. The beast was over five meters tall, twelve meters long, and six meters wide with black scales on top and dark red scales on its belly. Its gigantic mouth reveals two rows of sharp teeth drooling with blood and saliva as its tail swings over their heads when it turns to face them. Unlike the t-Rex from Yuuya's past life, it had longer arms that allows it to crawl on all fours should it need to, bony spikes along its back and a crown made of crystal on its head. What draws their attention the most was its eyes, red as blood as it glares at them in raw rage. It roars loudly in their faces that make their bones shake. Yuuya then notices several circles in the air, spikes made of earth peeking out slightly. He quickly gets up and conjures up a shield of light over their heads just as the rain of spikes came crashing down on them. His shield was large enough to cover the entire center, shielding everyone as they scream in terror. The beast roars when it sees its attack had failed to hit anyone. It runs straight at Yuuya, the disguised beast-man glaring at the charging beast before swiftly dodging to the side, barely missing the set of teeth chopping down on at the space he once was. The beast crashes into an unstable building, making it even more unstable and crashing down on it. It roars in anger as it struggles to escape its temporary prison. While it was distracted, Yuuya goes back over to his friends and tells them in a loud voice while pulling out his trusty sword, "Go and help the civilians. I'll take care of this thing!" Before he could rush back into the fight, Sam and Damian grab onto his free arm. He looks back at them, seeing them worried and giving him a tight squeeze. "Be careful Yuuya!" Sam yells back, his eyes watering slightly with unshed tears that refuses to fall. "You better come back to us!" Damian adds in an equally loud voice, his eyes shining with worry. Only when he nods to them with a confident smile do they release their grip on him and move to help people stuck in several collapsed buildings and spikes. The beast breaks through the rubble with a loud roar, focusing once again on the disguised beast-man as it growls at him with its teeth showing and tail slamming harshly to the ground. Yuuya grips his sword, silently calming his nerves down. "It's fine it's fine! You faced many dinosaurs in the game. This giant lizard got nothing on me." It roars and several large spikes erupt from the ground heading straight at him, making him panic and curse under his breath, "Fuck..." He moves backwards quickly to avoid being impaled and putting some distance between him and the giant lizard. This only made the beast roar angrier and summon magic circles in the air, sending waves of spikes on the disguised beast-man. He yelps when a spike just barely misses his ear while dodging both spikes coming from the ground and the skies. "This-ack! Is getting-whoa! Annoying!" As he dodges, he pours mana into the blade and swings his sword in front of him, sending a wave of energy that instantly destroys both the spikes and magic circles by turning them into dust. The beast roars and charges at Yuuya again, chomping wildly in an frantic attempt to hurt the disguised beast-man. Yuuya tries to swing his sword at the thing but it simply backs off and tries to bite him again. Unfortunately when he dodged another a bite, he missed the tail coming at him until it was too late. Yuuya grunts as his side was hit hard like a train crashing into him. The hit sent him to a building far from the fight, collapsing on top of him, in perfect view of his friends as they help a small family get out of their destroyed home. "Yuuya!" They scream and try to rush to him before being stopped by a set of giant scaly legs right in their path. They halt instantly as they pull out their weapons, Sam slightly regretting not picking out a bigger weapon as his hand shook, barely holding onto the small dagger. The beast growls at them as it summons more magic circles above them, Sam quickly holds his hands out summoning his own magic. A thick sheet of ice hangs over their heads as spikes fall onto of them, stopping short as they pierce the ice. Sam yells in pain when the tip of a random spike manages to break through the ice just enough to stab into his shoulder, not enough for him to loose feeling in his arm, but enough to cause quite a bit of blood to fall. The beast makes an attempt to bite them when Damian stands in front and uses his fire magic right in the beast's face, making the thing roar in agony. The circles disappear, allowing Sam to let go of his magic. He grunts tiredly before yelping in surprise when Damian pushes him to the side, barely missing the giant foot that stomps where they were once standing. The beast screeches in pain as it tries to put out the fire on its face, crashing into other buildings. The pair seize their opportunity and runs towards where Yuuya was. "C'mon! We got to hurry before it-" Damian urges before being cut off as a spike suddenly appears in front of him, making him crash into it as Sam crashes into him as he holds his arm tightly to stop the bleeding. They turn their heads slowly as puffs of air hits their faces. Their eyes widen in fear as they see the beast breathing heavily, smoking coming off of it as Damian's fire had been extinguished. It roars in their faces and goes to devour them, making them scream and hold onto each other in blind panic. Just before the beast could take a bite, an invisible force slams into it, making it crash into another building.
Earlier, Yuuya is barely holding onto consciousness as he tries to get up, pieces of rubble falling off him as he slowly gets up, his disguise still holding up. His vision swims a bit that makes him stumble over before he catches himself on a half stable doorframe. "Ugh...That hurt...Almost as bad as when that truck hit me..." A loud roar draws his attention as several little earthquakes shake the building he's in. He stumbles over to what used to be the front door, now being blocked off by rubble. He kicks in effort until enough rubble was moved way for him to exit. As he gets out, his eyes widen as he sees his friends in danger, screaming their heads off as the beast opens its mouth, its intent clear as day to the disguised beast-man. He glares at the scene and raises his hand in front, his magic going crazy as his anger boils. "Get away from them!" A strong gust of wind slams into the beast right into another building on the far side. Sam and Damian breathe heavily as they try to calm their racing hearts, still holding onto each other. Yuuya rushes to them, ignoring all the scrapes and bruises he has on him. "Guys! Are you okay!?" They don't even get the chance to answer when he crashes into them, pulling them into a bone crushing hug. "Thank God you're alright! I was so worried. I almost-you almost..." He couldn't finish his words, denying the fact how close to death his friends were. He takes in their scents in attempt to calm himself, allowing his friends to do the same, relief filling their bones as they hug the disguised beast-man back. "Yuuya...thank you." Damian says in an unusually soft tone, his grip tight on his red hair. Sam hides his face in Yuuya's shoulder, taking in the warmth from the disguised beast-man, his own body growing colder for some reason..."Sam! Are you alright? You're bleeding!" Sam's eyes snap open suddenly, the wound on his shoulder still throbbing. The beast-man pulls from them to take a closer look at Sam's wound. "Hold still, it'll only take a second-" A loud roar interrupts him as stones were flung in their generally direction, none of them hitting them somehow. They look over and see the beast getting back up, no longer dazed from his wind attack. Yuuya glares darkly at it and pushes Damain and Sam behind him, never taking his eyes off of the creature. "Damian, take Sam and go. I'll be alright." They rise up slowly, still watching the beast as it growls threateningly at them, keeping its eyes on them. Once fully standing, Yuuya raises his hand, his sword flying right into his palm, and steps away from his friends. "Go on, I can handle it. You guys get to safety. Sam!" Sam raises his head, leaning more on Damian as the blood lost made him dizzy. "Use the pendant. Remember, say 'Hermes.' That's the command." Sam looks down and mentally slaps his head, one day he'll remember he's wearing this life saving miracle of a necklace. "We got it, you go!" Damian shouts as he takes Sam away, finally using the magic item as it heals his wound. Knowing his friends were a good distance away, Yuuya charges first this time, the need to defeat the beast had grown exponentially. The beast roars and more magic circles surround it, pointing straight at Yuuya.
Sam and Damian rush out of the area, wanting desperately to look back, but knowing they couldn't do a thing to help should they see Yuuya in trouble. "Please be careful...Yuuya." They think at the same time. A shadowed figure jumps in their path, stopping them from progressing any further. Sam and Damian go on the defense, pulling out their weapons again, before they realize who's in front of them. "Mr. Gunter!" "Guildmaster!" They shout in relief, seeing the man panting slightly as he held his great sword, his clothes covered in dust. "Samuel, Damian. Glad you boys made it out safely." He frowns as he looks around them, not seeing a certain beast-man with them. "Where's Yuuya?" The pair share a worried look before staring back at the older man. "He's...fighting the Sacred Beast..." Sam says reluctantly in a weak voice, still hating the fact he had to abandon his friend. Gunter's eyes widen in shock for two reasons: one, a Scared Beast was the cause of all this destruction, and two, Yuuya was currently fighting said beast. He grips his sword tighter and tries to go past them in a rush. "We can't waste any time then. Yuuya needs our help." Damian puts his hand to stop the man, confusing him in the process. "No. He doesn't. The civilians need our help more. I know it may not look like it, but...*sigh* Yuuya stands a chance if we stay out of his way." Gunter furrows his brows more at Damian's explanation still not liking the idea of leaving Yuuya alone with such a powerful beast. "Are you sure he can handle it?" Sam and Damian take a moment to answer, remembering the moment Yuuya was sent flying by a tail whip, but instantly getting back on his feet and saving them. They both give him a confident glare, surprising him, as they said, "Yes." Gunter nods and pulls out a brown cylinder, "Alright then, I'll signal the rest of the guild and royal guards to keep back from the area." He pulls the string at the bottom of the cylinder and a bright light shoots out from it, flying high the sky before exploding into little balls of red, resembling a firework display. Sam and Damian look back to the Guildmaster as he walks past them. "There might be more civilians still trapped near where Yuuya is fighting. We'll stay out of his way while rescuing them. It'll allow the kid to focus more on the fight." He turns to them, an encouraging smile on his face, "You coming?" They smile back and nod, picking up on the hidden message.
The sounds of carnage could be hard along with bone chilling roars and anguish yells, a clear sign of a huge battle occurring. The beast roars as magic circles appear around it, more earth spikes flying out and heading straight for the disguised beast-man. The man swings his sword as he runs straight at the dinosaur, breaking through all the spikes sent at him. The beast growls as its eyes glow a brighter red. Yuuya's sense kicks in and dodges to the side, the marble fountain, that was somehow still in one piece, behind him suddenly turned to stone, the water feature no longer working as it too turned to stone. Yuuya's eyes widen at the sight before he dashes behind a half destroyed building, barely missing another petrification attack. "The Medusa Stare!? That's so cheating!" He thinks angrily as he sneakily looks back and ducks again as the beast sent it another glare, the messy shrubs nearby turning to stone. "How long will that thing keep using that cheap trick..." He looks again and sees more magic circles in the air above him. "Fuck!" He runs quickly from his hiding spot as spikes fall from the sky. He runs to the side, watching the beast roar as more spikes erupt towards him. "Shit!" He jumps in the air, using his wind magic to solidify the air into making steps, missing another petrification attack as the building to the side turned to stone. The wave of spikes don't stop, following him up in the air. More magic circles appear above him, making Yuuya use a dark magic spell just before the spikes fire, creating a black smoke, concealing him. The beast roars in confusion, unable to detect its opponent. A few seconds go by before Yuuya flys down to the ground, slamming his feet into the ground before pushing off to charge forwards at the beast. The creature roars and continues its attack, sending waves of spikes at him. Yuuya simply smirks and swings his sword again, making the creature angrier and trying using its Medusa Stare spell. The spell had some impact on the disguised beast-man, parts of his body turn to stone, but doesn't seem to have no effect on him, still rushing at it. His smirk doesn't disappear, seeming to grow a bit the closer he gets to it. He vaguely hears people shouting to him, making him look from the corner of his eyes. He spots Sam, Damian, and Gunter off to the side, taking cover behind a restaurant missing a ceiling. "Yuuya get away!" "Are you crazy!? You'll get killed!" "Son! Take cover now!" All three yell desperately as they watch in horror as Yuuya was turning to stone while blocking several spikes. Yuuya turns his attention back on the beast, ignoring their pleas. He jumps up in the air once he was close enough to it, ready to bring his sword down on it. "I've got you now!" The beast growls as it opens its mouth, summoning magic circles all around him, no escape in sight. Just before the spell was initiated, Yuuya spots the creature staring at him, almost in a smug way and saying, 'No it is I who's got you.' All three men scream as the earth spikes fire at the same time from all sides, hitting their target with no issue...
Everyone stares in horror as they watch Yuuya's body crash to the ground with a gruesome thud. "No..." Sam whispers as tears fall from his eyes. "Yuuya..." Damian says emotionlessly, his blood going cold as he looks at Yuuya's body laying on the ground. Gunter says nothing, guilt eating at his heart for not making a move, doing anything to save the kid. It was then, the entire Solarclouds party reached them, panting in exhaustion over the day's events. "Hey! We made it! What's the situation? Does Yuuya need-" "Captain...Look." Callian's words get cut off when Matthew points to the beast, Yuuya's body still on the ground. Callian's eyes widen in shock, his hand coming up to his face as his eyes start to water. "No...Not him, not Yuuya..." Visions of his childhood flash through his mind, a memory similar to the current scene coming to his mind that force a couple of tears to fall. They all stare sadly as the beast roar at the body. However, Gunter raises an eyebrow when he noticed there was something wrong with scene. The lack of blood was one thing, in fact, there wasn't a single drop of blood on the ground! Another strange phenomenon was the fact Yuuya's body still looked human, he had remembered that the man lost his disguise when we fell unconscious, being dead should have the same effect. He voices his observations out loud, "Wait a minute...Does anyone else notice the lack of blood on the ground or on Yuuya?" Everyone looks at him as if we was crazy before looking ahead, also noticing the beast sniffing the body cautiously. "You're right sir...Where's the blood?" Diana asks, seeing the beast look around in confusion. Hope fills their hearts as they look up, the black smoke that Yuuya summoned earlier was still hanging in the air. The creature came to the same conclusion and roars at the sky, the magic circles surrounding the dark cloud. As the spikes fly out, a blur figure races straight at the beast, managing to make a cut on its leg. The creature roars and tries to look where the figure landed. Sadly for it, the figure moved in a flash and made more cuts on its body, making it roar in pain. It slams its foot the ground, forcing the figure to jump back, allowing everyone to get a clear look at the culprit. Sam and Damian are the first to notice and first to yell out, "Yuuya!" Said man was still standing, alive and well, with a confident smirk on his face. "Weren't expecting a decoy were you?" Earlier, Yuuya had casted shadow clone. A dark magic spell that allows the caster to create an exact duplicate of themselves, made entirely out of shadows. The clone could do anything the caster could minus casting spells, it felt no pain and had no blood. The spell ends when it takes a considerable large amount of damage. Taking several spikes from all over would do it. Yuuya raises his sword, his confidence increasing as the thing growls in warning, already feeling the blood lost from the various cuts Yuuya landed on it. Yuuya narrows his eyes in concentration and races forward in the same fashion his clone did except this time, he was not surrounded by magic circles. "It's over for you!" He yells as he raises his sword above his head and moves to swing it down at it, intending to impale his blade through its skull. Just as he was about to, a young feminine voice rings in his head, calling out to him in a pained and desperate tone, "Please...help me..."