The Cursed Iris

Sprout 66: False Solar Deity

Natsume, Nikita, and Jeanne worked in tandem to take down their two opponents, but they made no progress against them. Natsume battled against the individual in the cloak while Jeanne and Nikita handled the person who can cancel out spirit energy.

Natsume stared at the cloaked individual in annoyance. "Why aren't any of my attacks working?" she questioned. Each attack she threw at the person they just seemed to bounce off or not be effective at all. "Could he be a fire magic user?"

"Jeanne, Nikita, do you mind if I take my fight somewhere else?" she asked them.

"Yeah sure!" they both yelled.

She smiled, then she ran in the direction of the outskirts to the city, I need to have more space to where I can utilize my powers to the fullest extent. I still can't control the heat emitting from my body when I use those flames, so I'd rather not hurt Jeanne and Nikita, she thought to herself as she came to a stop after running to the foot of the mountain that was outside Phoenicia. "Also I don't want to hurt any of the citizens either."

The hooded individual stopped in front of her and Natsume could tell that they were staring daggers at her. She could tell that under the cloak that this person was a man, but something about them really made her uncomfortable, "Okay, whoever you are, you can take off that creepy cloak now," Natsume stated.

He did just that and revealed himself to be a man with caramel toned skin, a rugged face, pitch black hair tied into cornrows, golden eyes, and he had a scar above his left eyelid. He wore a somewhat tight white robe that covered most of his body, which Natsume thought was kind of redundant to wear that and a cloak at the same time. "Natsume Hoshinomiya, the student of Tsubaki Hoshinomiya," he said, his voice was extremely deep that it reverberated in Natsume's bones, "I am Itri from the country of Xhosa, a shaman from the temple of the Sun God Nyambe."

Natsume had heard of other countries from Tsubaki when she was learning about the world, but she was confused as to why someone all the way from the most southern continent doing all the way here in the east. "How exactly do you know of me and my master?"

"My people are taught about the solar deities of other cultures. I know of Apollo, Amun-Ra, Tonatiuh, Marici, Chup Kamui, and most of all Amaterasu. You girl are her reincarnation or should I say just one half of it."

He then attacked Natsume, and she barely had enough time to block it, "So you know about that too, huh? Who sent you here?" she asked as she struggled to fend him off. He may have had a slender build but he was insanely strong, way more powerful than Kiki was.

"By the order of the one true Sun God Nyambe, I have been charged with the execution of all the temples to the false solar deities. This group has helped me find the location of the main culprit to the fall of the sun. This will be your grave Natsume Hoshinomiya."

Natsume and Itri began to exchange blows, she ducked to dodge one of his high kicks but once she did that he somehow spun quickly on his heel and kicked her as he flipped away. She stumbled backwards then he closed the distance on her again, Damn he's fast, she thought while trying to regain her balance. She took in a deep breath that was followed by a powerful Solar Dragon roar, Itri dodged it, but that bought Natsume a little time.

"What a powerful attack," he mumbled, "so this must be the power of a dragon slayer?"

Natsume smiled. "Damn right it is! I'm done holding back against you, I'm going to beat your ass, then I'll get some answers from you."

He stared at her intensely. "Show me more before I kill you, Solar Dragon."

*****

Jeanne grew frustrated, it wasn't because her enemy annoyed her, it was Nikita that was in her way. "Move your ass you useless bastard!" she yelled at him while pushing him out of the way of an attack. She had to worry about making sure that he wasn't hurt.