The black haired assassin crept up over the ramparts of the castle. Ruins to be more exact. Once the beginning of a budding civilization, with a city that spanned wide spreading out from the castle in the center, the castle of Tenkaichi was never preserved, victim to time and nature. What was left of the castle was the courtyard, with the main building within having already been completely leveled, leaving nothing but broken pillars, parts of walls, and crashed spires that once stood tall as towers. There was no way to traverse into the depths of the castle, leaving only the courtyard accessible through the main gate that still stood strong due to the impressive workmanship of the arches. The walls that Leah was perched on were almost overtaken by vines, but it was a good thing, as it provided her cover and footholds.
She remembered a story that she had read once, regarding the Castle of Tenkaichi. The king of the castle, known as King Daifuku had been fascinated with the legends of the gods of old. The entire castle was devoted to praying to Susanoo, the god of lightning and storms. For years, under the care and guidance of the great snake-slaying god, Tenkaichi, which was the city around the castle, had prospered, being one of the biggest kingdoms around. However, when his fame and reputation had reached far and wide, his might untouchable, King Daifuku made the same mistakes that most kings of old had.
He claimed himself not only equal but more powerful than Susanoo. With a sudden change that overtook the kingdom, King Daifuku ordered all worship of Susanoo banned, destroying the temples that had been erected in his favor. The story went on to tell the extent of the god’s fury the king’s arrogance and the storm of the century threw down its entire might on the kingdom.
Dark storm clouds hovered over the entire kingdom, pouring down heavy rain. Fields were flooded, crops destroyed. Streets were overrun, turning into canals. Thunder boomed throughout the entire three days, while bolts of lightning struck the kingdom like a hundred-headed snake. By the third day, the entire kingdom had been completely decimated, every single structure in the kingdom destroyed and charred. There were no survivors at all.
Leah was pulled out of her recollection, when she saw the person she had been stalking. He was a samurai, a member of the warrior caste of Midi. The man’s name was Todokazu Kyoshiro, warrior to a small fief in the backlands of the oriental country. Despite that, it would not be wise to belittle him. She had been tasked to assassinate the samurai, a key political figure whose continued survival would stop a small revolution from happening. As the servants of chaos, the young assassin had been sent by the Errings Rising guild to pick up the mission.
She had been following him for five days, trying but failing to find an opportunity where she could end his life. The samurai kept his guard up constantly, but Leah knew today was her chance. When he had set out, Leah had no idea where he would go. She just followed until they arrived at this place. The moment the samurai walked into the courtyard, the man pulled away an ornate badge from his waist and held it up in the air.
He closed his eyes, left hand on the hilt of his katana, while he continued to hold up the badge, chanting in the local language. Leah didn’t make any effort to listen, since she wouldn’t understand it anyway. She pulled out her submachine gun from her storage dimension as the man completed his chanting. He opened his eyes and looked around, badge still high in the air. Leah looked around as well, having lied down on the wide castle walls to get a better aim. Nothing so much as stirred, and when Leah looked back at the samurai, the man was looking at the badge in his hand. A look of sudden realization appeared on his face, as he brought his left hand up and bit on his own thumb.
With a bloodied thumb, the man smeared it vertically across the badge and then threw it up into the air before unsheathing his katana in one smooth move and thrust right through the badge, shouting, “I summon thee to stand before me! The Lord of Storms, Susanoo!”
And then the ground began to rumble. The walls began to crack and Leah began to scramble up, running along the walls with as little noise as possible. She occasionally disappeared into a black portal and reappearing on another part of the wall, avoiding the large gaps in the walls. When she finally found cover on the walls, she crouched back down and kept her weapon up, trained on the samurai.
But this time, there was another person there. Leah’s eyes widened as she thought back to what Kyoshiro had last shouted. And now there was a person there. Squinting through her scope, Leah saw that the man was buff, every part of his body pure muscle. There was not even any fat on him. His complexion was dark, with stark white hair spiking up. He was clad in oriental battle armor from the waist down, leaving the top half of his body empty save for a piece of armor over his right hand. In that right hand, he was holding a strange looking sword, a sword with seven “branches” sticking out of the blade.
“Susanoo…” Leah said breathlessly, as she recognized the god of storms from images in ancient texts. And without exchanging words, the two warriors, god and human began to clash. Using some sort of oriental magic, featuring talismans, Kyoshiro had empowered himself to go toe to toe against the God of Storms. Susanoo, on the other hand, was emitting a layer of white electricity around himself and his blade. Transfixed by the sight, Leah found no way to describe the scene, her submachine gun hanging by her side.
The battle was nothing short of epic, with Kyoshiro utilizing every element he could with the talismans he carried, either using it to empower himself or to inflict effects on the god. Leah had no idea how long she half-kneeled there, watching the entire battle play out to its very end. The entire courtyard was decimated beyond repair, long gouges in the ground and walls from their battle. And in the very end, the samurai had been the one emerging as the would-be victor. Susanoo was down on his knees, barely supported by his sword which he thrust into the ground, eyeing the young samurai furiously.
As Kyoshiro raised his sword into the air, a grim smile on his face, the assassin from Errings Rising knew this was her only chance left. She had heard about many tales of how ordinary mages had gained the abilities to contend with gods, demons and dragons and one of the many ways was through the slaying of said creature. Eyes widening, Leah knew that the moment the samurai’s blade dropped, he would be too powerful for her to take down.
Pulling out her combat dagger, Leah leapt off the wall, right into a Dark Plane portal, disappearing from view. The next time the portal opened, it was behind Kyoshiro. Lunging out of the portal with all of the momentum from her leap intact, Leah stepped onto the ground once before taking one more step forward, her left arm snaking around Kyoshiro’s neck in a chokehold while her combat knife was jammed right through his heart, from the back. The samurai, clad in full armor at the very beginning, had lost all of it during the battle. The raised sword began to tremble and with a shudder of his hand, the katana dropped to the ground uselessly, the clank the only sound in that few seconds.
Leah pulled back her combat knife and stepped to the side, allowing the dead samurai to fall to the ground. He had died without knowing who had killed him, eyes wide, expression angry from the injustice. Susanoo watched on, too weak to put any worthwhile resistance against this newcomer but within his eyes was something different.
“You saved me from certain doom, mortal. But it’s too late. My corporeal body is too weak to preserve. If possible, I would like you to give me a quick death,” the deep baritone voice of the god spoke, still powerful and awe-inspiring despite his condition.
“What is in it for me to give you this quick death?”
Susanoo flashed a bloody grin as he regarded the young lady.
“You’re a cocky lass no doubt. So be it. I shall confer upon you my powers, my Thunder God powers. Making you a Thunder God Slayer. Does this satisfy you?”
“Definitely,” Leah replied, a wide grin on her face as she lifted her hand, combat blade ready to swing through the air.
[1502 words]
She remembered a story that she had read once, regarding the Castle of Tenkaichi. The king of the castle, known as King Daifuku had been fascinated with the legends of the gods of old. The entire castle was devoted to praying to Susanoo, the god of lightning and storms. For years, under the care and guidance of the great snake-slaying god, Tenkaichi, which was the city around the castle, had prospered, being one of the biggest kingdoms around. However, when his fame and reputation had reached far and wide, his might untouchable, King Daifuku made the same mistakes that most kings of old had.
He claimed himself not only equal but more powerful than Susanoo. With a sudden change that overtook the kingdom, King Daifuku ordered all worship of Susanoo banned, destroying the temples that had been erected in his favor. The story went on to tell the extent of the god’s fury the king’s arrogance and the storm of the century threw down its entire might on the kingdom.
Dark storm clouds hovered over the entire kingdom, pouring down heavy rain. Fields were flooded, crops destroyed. Streets were overrun, turning into canals. Thunder boomed throughout the entire three days, while bolts of lightning struck the kingdom like a hundred-headed snake. By the third day, the entire kingdom had been completely decimated, every single structure in the kingdom destroyed and charred. There were no survivors at all.
Leah was pulled out of her recollection, when she saw the person she had been stalking. He was a samurai, a member of the warrior caste of Midi. The man’s name was Todokazu Kyoshiro, warrior to a small fief in the backlands of the oriental country. Despite that, it would not be wise to belittle him. She had been tasked to assassinate the samurai, a key political figure whose continued survival would stop a small revolution from happening. As the servants of chaos, the young assassin had been sent by the Errings Rising guild to pick up the mission.
She had been following him for five days, trying but failing to find an opportunity where she could end his life. The samurai kept his guard up constantly, but Leah knew today was her chance. When he had set out, Leah had no idea where he would go. She just followed until they arrived at this place. The moment the samurai walked into the courtyard, the man pulled away an ornate badge from his waist and held it up in the air.
He closed his eyes, left hand on the hilt of his katana, while he continued to hold up the badge, chanting in the local language. Leah didn’t make any effort to listen, since she wouldn’t understand it anyway. She pulled out her submachine gun from her storage dimension as the man completed his chanting. He opened his eyes and looked around, badge still high in the air. Leah looked around as well, having lied down on the wide castle walls to get a better aim. Nothing so much as stirred, and when Leah looked back at the samurai, the man was looking at the badge in his hand. A look of sudden realization appeared on his face, as he brought his left hand up and bit on his own thumb.
With a bloodied thumb, the man smeared it vertically across the badge and then threw it up into the air before unsheathing his katana in one smooth move and thrust right through the badge, shouting, “I summon thee to stand before me! The Lord of Storms, Susanoo!”
And then the ground began to rumble. The walls began to crack and Leah began to scramble up, running along the walls with as little noise as possible. She occasionally disappeared into a black portal and reappearing on another part of the wall, avoiding the large gaps in the walls. When she finally found cover on the walls, she crouched back down and kept her weapon up, trained on the samurai.
But this time, there was another person there. Leah’s eyes widened as she thought back to what Kyoshiro had last shouted. And now there was a person there. Squinting through her scope, Leah saw that the man was buff, every part of his body pure muscle. There was not even any fat on him. His complexion was dark, with stark white hair spiking up. He was clad in oriental battle armor from the waist down, leaving the top half of his body empty save for a piece of armor over his right hand. In that right hand, he was holding a strange looking sword, a sword with seven “branches” sticking out of the blade.
“Susanoo…” Leah said breathlessly, as she recognized the god of storms from images in ancient texts. And without exchanging words, the two warriors, god and human began to clash. Using some sort of oriental magic, featuring talismans, Kyoshiro had empowered himself to go toe to toe against the God of Storms. Susanoo, on the other hand, was emitting a layer of white electricity around himself and his blade. Transfixed by the sight, Leah found no way to describe the scene, her submachine gun hanging by her side.
The battle was nothing short of epic, with Kyoshiro utilizing every element he could with the talismans he carried, either using it to empower himself or to inflict effects on the god. Leah had no idea how long she half-kneeled there, watching the entire battle play out to its very end. The entire courtyard was decimated beyond repair, long gouges in the ground and walls from their battle. And in the very end, the samurai had been the one emerging as the would-be victor. Susanoo was down on his knees, barely supported by his sword which he thrust into the ground, eyeing the young samurai furiously.
As Kyoshiro raised his sword into the air, a grim smile on his face, the assassin from Errings Rising knew this was her only chance left. She had heard about many tales of how ordinary mages had gained the abilities to contend with gods, demons and dragons and one of the many ways was through the slaying of said creature. Eyes widening, Leah knew that the moment the samurai’s blade dropped, he would be too powerful for her to take down.
Pulling out her combat dagger, Leah leapt off the wall, right into a Dark Plane portal, disappearing from view. The next time the portal opened, it was behind Kyoshiro. Lunging out of the portal with all of the momentum from her leap intact, Leah stepped onto the ground once before taking one more step forward, her left arm snaking around Kyoshiro’s neck in a chokehold while her combat knife was jammed right through his heart, from the back. The samurai, clad in full armor at the very beginning, had lost all of it during the battle. The raised sword began to tremble and with a shudder of his hand, the katana dropped to the ground uselessly, the clank the only sound in that few seconds.
Leah pulled back her combat knife and stepped to the side, allowing the dead samurai to fall to the ground. He had died without knowing who had killed him, eyes wide, expression angry from the injustice. Susanoo watched on, too weak to put any worthwhile resistance against this newcomer but within his eyes was something different.
“You saved me from certain doom, mortal. But it’s too late. My corporeal body is too weak to preserve. If possible, I would like you to give me a quick death,” the deep baritone voice of the god spoke, still powerful and awe-inspiring despite his condition.
“What is in it for me to give you this quick death?”
Susanoo flashed a bloody grin as he regarded the young lady.
“You’re a cocky lass no doubt. So be it. I shall confer upon you my powers, my Thunder God powers. Making you a Thunder God Slayer. Does this satisfy you?”
“Definitely,” Leah replied, a wide grin on her face as she lifted her hand, combat blade ready to swing through the air.
[1502 words]
