Forgotten World: The Promise We Made That Day

Volume 2 Chapter 12

 "Looks like your arm is fully healed. You ready to go?" Shinku sat on a rock, spinning his dagger around in his hand. Tarou looked at him for a moment, raising a brow as he stands up from his resting position. "You know you could've taken me out at any moment. Why wait?" He also stands up and tosses his dagger up before catching it. "It's simple. I need to test you. I want to see what you're capable of. Yes, I am an Uncontrolled slayer. An assassin of our world's vile creatures and you're one of them. However, I need to know just how far your years of fighting and battling have gotten you." Tarou's crimson eyes light up with anticipation, a smirk crossing his lips as his sword starts glowing. "Well, then.... Allow me to show you the fruits of my labor!!!!"

Tarou leaps into the air, raising his sword with his right hand and coming straight down at Shinku with a vertical slash. Shinku simply raises his dagger in his direction, blocking the incoming slash with it. The ground beneath Shinku begins to break, creating a rather large crater. "Hmph... How futile..." He starts to vibrate the dagger, ready to cut into Tarou's Rakuza. His eyes widen, but he quickly reacts to what was happening. "As if I'd let you!!" He releases the energy in the form of a burst which allows him to propel himself away from Shinku before his vibrating blade could cut through his weapon. Tarou slides to a stop and allows his sword to rest against his shoulder. "That's a Divinity Arms, isn't it? Where in the hell did you get it?" The assassin lets out a soft sigh and looks straight at Tarou. "If you know how they're made, it's easy to reproduce them."

"Hehe... You're no normal person, I'll give ya that. Also..... The bird you flew in on. That's an Uncontrolled. The fact that you're able to use it like that..... You've got skill no other person has. That just gives me all the more reason to brutally kick your ass!" He enters a high speed rush and charges more energy, cocking his arm back a bit as if to send out a powerful sword thrust. "How naive.... You're fast, but not as fast as your little brother. At least he had the speed to keep up with me." The thrust is launched forward and the energy is released in the form of a blade beam with flies in a straight path towards Shinku's chest. With his speed, he's able to easily dodge it before it could hit and then swings his dagger in a horizontal arc, which creates a deep gash into Tarou's left side.

"Gyah!!" Tarou's body rolls across the ground. "D-Damn it.... That really hurt, you son of a bitch! And what the hell is up with that dagger?" He looks at the dagger before looking back at him. "I made it especially for killing people like you and those Uncontrolled. The more energy I put into the blade, the more it vibrates. This vibration is like being cut multiple times. Let's say... One slash is equivalent to 100 slashes. Add more slashes and the number could end up being much higher. Much like that demon general's explosives, it's multi-hit function can bypass the healing factor and regenerative propeties of you hybrids."

Tarou slowly stands to his feet, the wound starting to heal at a slower pace. "Ehehehe.... You're a crafty son of a bitch. I'm gonna let you in on something. The next time that you say my brother is better than me..... I'll rip your friggin' head off!" It seems Tarou was angered to hear Taku was faster than him. It was a deep seated hatred since they were young. "Oh? Did I strike a nerve? What will you do about it, then?" He calmly replies. "You'll see.... but you won't live to tell anyone about it!" He raises his blade and holds the hilt with both hands, beginning to spin the sword in a clockwise motion. The sword starts to rotate at extremely high speeds as energy gathers within it. Tarou creates a crimson colored cyclone which he then launches at Shinku by throwing his sword at him. The cyclone rampages through the area, shredding the ground and nearby rocks and rubble into dust, pulverizing them in the process. A powerful move such as this was enough to level an entire city.

"You still don't understand... It's sad to see your brother has much more potential than you, despite you being older of the two. Anyway... Allow me to put you to rest.. at least for now." Shinku's dagger vibrates intensely, moving at such high speeds that the blade itself looked like a shining silver light. Shinku places his free hand against the ground and gets into a stance as if to enter a rush of his own. In the blink of an eye, he vanishes from the spot he was previously in and takes off like a shooting star. His body wasn't able to be seen by the naked eye and only resembled a comet flying by in space. The dagger slices through the city devouring cyclone in a mere millisecond, destroying it completely by cutting the sword itself in half. The cyclone turns to a calming breeze as the two halves of the Rakuza weapon hit the ground with two metallic thuds.

Tarou was in no way able to react to what comes next. In a flash, a chunk of Tarou's flesh goes flying into the distance and leaves a giant gaping wound in his right side, also lobbing off his right arm and part of his right ribcage. Blood sprays in all directions as his pupils dilate. The damage was so great that he couldn't even scream. He could only fall to the ground and lay there in a now forming pool of blood. Shinku comes to a stop, leaving behind a trail of silver light that dissipates in a glittering fashion and a long streak of blood that dripped from his blade. Heterochromic eyes glance back and lay upon the incapacitated hybrid. "As I said... you lack the conviction your brother had. Perhaps it's you who still needs training...."

A wound as serious as that was going to need quite a lot of time to heal. Shinku decided to take a rest, having a feeling that he was going to be seeing Taku very soon. Just about 15 minutes pass as Taku and Mizuki finally catch up. Their eyes widen to see Tarou lying on the ground. "T.....Tarou!!!!!" He rushes to his brother's side, whose body was slowly healing the wound. A very small amount of his ribcage was restored and the organs that were damaged were returning as well. Mizuki was affected by this even more, passing out onto the ground. Rage filled Taku's azure optics as he glares at Shinku. "How dare you do this to him...... You're going to pay!!!!!" Taku readies his weapons and takes off towards Shinku, but is stopped as soon as the tip of his dagger touches Taku's neck.

"Would it really be wise to try to attack me? You've seen what I've done to your brother. If we fight now, you'll end up just like him. I will admit that he fought with all he had and I can respect that. He has a lot of power, but not enough speed. I believe you both make up for eah other's weaknesses. This is my observation of the two of you after facing you both. You hybrids are very strong and fast, but you rely heavily on your Uncontrolled abilities and not enough on strategy." He explains as he removes the dagger away from his neck. "Tell me...." Taku responds in a soft, yet stern voice. "Tell me why you were testing us like this."

Shinku places his hands in his pockets and stands up, turning to face him as Taku retrieves Mizuki and holds her. She slowly awakens, but was still in a bad mood after seeing Tarou in that state. Luckily for them, Tarou's eyes slowly open up. He was still laying there, unable to move until his body recovers some more. "T-Taku.... M-Mizuki... L..... Looks like..... you made it. That g... guy is a monster. A... true monster." He looks down at the injured hybrid and scoffs. "Call me what you want, but I'm still human. Anyway, I'm glad you're conscious. With you all gathered here, I'd like to explain things. The reason why I tested you, use the Uncontrolled as I please, and weild my own Divinity Arms. I'll give you three the entire rundown." With this said, the three hybrids all look at him in anticipation for what he was about to tell them. Secrets are about to be revealed.