Utsushiyo Monogatari: Crimson Shadow

Chapter Eleven: Revelations

A steady stream of dark reddish blood flowed endlessly from Katori's mouth as he struggled to grip the sword. His dishevelled air was gracefully waving in the air with his face downwards. No words were uttered. A small circular spot of greenish stain from the previously inflicted wound had now grown, disintegrating the white sleeve as the colour became concentrated. Makoto recognised the wound. Each drop of blood from his mouth was quickly absorbed into his sword causing it to radiate an ebbing yellow glow. The shadows of a night sparrow flock screeching flew over them casting an eerie shadow from the blood red moon against the odd coloured sky.

"Why don't you change to your true form...", Makoto's ice cold voice trailed off as he slipped fluidly into another attacking stance as he watched the sword nervously. The sword was giving out a more powerful yōki aura than its owner, Makoto carefully observed. To control such power would require a wielder of similar strength. In Katori's state, he might be incapable of encapsulating such power in an attack. Still, Makoto drew his tachi as a precaution. A bluish light started to glow on the tachi.

"If I changed to my true form...that would be a greater danger than being defeated by you", Katori paused thoughtfully as he coughed out more blood.

"Would you rather be vanquished than that said greater danger?", Makoto sneered. This Daiyōkai was oddly stubborn. A fight was a fight. Greater danger, what did Katori mean? It did not feel like a threat.

"Kisama...You do understand that once you are defeated, I will absorb your yōki?"

"Makoto...", Katori continued as he struggled to grip his sword. "You can't."

What does he mean? Frustration and confusion showed on Makoto's face as he narrowed the eyes. What game was Katori playing. Did he understand the situation at all?

Makoto prepared to deal the one blow with his tachi to finish the job but a large yōki energy from burst threw him back a few meters, slamming him violently against a large boulder. Katori was now standing and walking slowly towards him with the sword. Makoto struggled to get up as Katori aimed and threw his sword at him. The blade was coming closer like a lightning bolt. Unable to dodge, he prepared for his end. Out of the blue, a large blazing spark flared near his face, blinding him momentarily. A loud clinking of blades could be heard as another opponent entered the fight.

In his blurred vision, he could make out another reddish figure fighting the whitish figure of Katori. Amidst the loud clanging of the clashing blades and the exchange of Kure language between the two, the yōki energies grew more destructive as the nearby large deciduous trees vaporised rapidly into nothingness with each swing. 

Using some of his yōki, one of his undamaged spider eyes was brought forth on Makoto's  forehead. Twenty meters away, he could clearly see a woman crossing swords with Katori in the clearing outside the cave. She fitted Oyureihime's description of the mysterious woman who rescued her from the yamabushi. Emblazoned on the back of her crimson robe was the golden Suzaku-like emblem , a lineage marker of a Kure Kinu clan. They were mysteriously massacred in Echizen, Makoto's eye widen in surprise. No survivors. Yōki aura was also cycling radiantly around the robe, illuminating its deceptively silk-like delicate texture as it flowed smoothly with the owner. No ordinary yōkai would dare or have the capability to wear such a robe or wield such a sword to match Katori's. It meant connection to Suzaku (vermillion bird), Karasu (crow) and Sanzokū (tri-pedal crow) clans. 

As she swung around quickly to avoid Katori's hit, he noticed how her clothes resembled a Kure fashion seen centuries ago. It was nothing like theirs. Her face was blocked by Katori and the yōki aura swirling around their blades. Katori was oddly trying to limiting his sword's contact with hers as the crimson yōki energy from his body seemed to be absorbed by her sword. The final moment was only marred by an opening for Katori to throw a few attacking shikigami at her to distract. He took flight quickly escaping as a great blackish shadow camouflaged against the night skies.