74West Meadow Terrace, October 2nd, 11:30 A.M
Kifune was transfixed on the spectacle unfolding before her eyes. Two competitors were going at each other at full force and the arena was barely holding together as steel clashed and magic verses were spoken. Kifune was looking for a match and some of the competition was terrible. However, some of them were amazing, like one of the competitors in the arena, named Jacob. His title was the Nature Spirit and he could change into any animal he wanted so long as he had made contact with it before. He was currently stomping his opponent.
"Damn, that Jacob guy is really good," Amanda noted.
"I won't argue that. He could probably kick me into next week," Kifune said.
"I second that," Gabe said.
Gabe and Amanda had decided to tailgate with Kifune during the tournament to give her support and witness some good fights. So far they hadn't been disappointed. Inside the arena Jacob was about to land the finishing blow.
"Time to finish this," Jacob said as he morphed into a wolf.
"I won't give in!" his opponent yelled as he readied his axe for a final desperation blow. "Ascendant Form! Flash, Raizugov, Axe of the North Winds!"
A massive wave flew out of the axe straight at Jacob at blazing speed. Without as much as a breath he sidestepped the blow with incredible speed and leaped straight at the man falling to Earth.
"Ripping slash!" Jacob said as he raked his claws across his opponent's chest, effectively ending the match.
"Michael, the Wind Force, has been erased." The arena announcement system bellowed. The barrier creating the arena went down. Both fighters shook hands and thanked each other for an exhilarating match.
"Here, you deserve it in full," Michael gave Jacob his seal, the Seal of the Magician's Scepter.
"Thank You. I'll win this tournament," Jacob responded.
"You better. I want to lose to the best."
The crowd started to dissipate as people went to continue their daily lives. Kifune had not found a match yet and was starting to get hungry.
"C'mon guys, let's go get something to eat," Kifune said.
"Sure," Amanda and Gabe said.
As the three of them were walking towards the restaurant seven blocks down a man suddenly appeared before them.
"You, woman, I see a seal and an emblem. I'll take them from you," the man said threateningly.
"OK, first off my name's Kifune, not woman. Second, who are you?" Kifune demanded, eyes narrowing.
"My name is Viktor, the Executioner of Hell. You have the great honor of being killed by a master of death. I promise your death will be quick and merciful," Viktor said with an edge of steel in his voice.
"The Executioner of Hell? After I'm through with you'll be seeing hell in person. They call me the Grandmaster Advance. I'll show you it's a title well deserved."
"Prove it. Arena activate."
Viktor's emblem, a scythe circled by two demons, started glowing an unearthly red on his chest. Kifune's emblem, a kunai knife and pirate cutlass crossing each other, started glowing jade green on her stomach. The emblems started projecting a dome shaped arena around both of them while keeping any others out. A crowd was starting to gather, most people there to eagerly see a fight start as both competitors began their change to battle form.
Kifune's battle form starting appearing around her. Her legs became encased by figure hugging black leggings as her enchanted boots melted into existence around her feet. Her boots were made out of a rare flexible metal alloy that had the strength of any heavy metal yet had the flexibility of tenderized leather. At the same time, the same black material started forming around her upper body, leaving a medium sized oval shape around her stomach. Around her arms her metal sleeves that came from the wrist to her elbows started forming as her spear and sword appeared in her hands. Her chest armor enveloped her torso as her ninja mask appeared around her face, covering her nose and mouth.
At the same time Viktor's battle form started appearing. His whole body became veiled in a cloak that seemingly beckoned misery and despair. His emblem also started glowing on his chest. A hood covering his head projected a shadow so dark that night would seem like a bright day if you compared the colors. His face was unable to be seen in the dark shadow. His hands and wrists became encased in massive gauntlets that could be used to break slabs of concrete. In his right hand his weapon appeared, a scythe with the blades shaped so that it looked like a double-sided axe with long and thin blades. The handle was made out of black obsidian.
"T-that scythe, it can't be…" Kifune stuttered at the sight of it, her voice faltering. "It can't be."
"Surprised? This scythe used to belong to-''
"Death himself. I know, I've tangled with Death before."
"Then you should not fear your death!" Viktor yelled as he charged at Kifune.
Kifune dodged his first sliced and just barely parried the second backhand slice with her sword. She then did a backflip to create more space between them. She knew how dangerous that scythe was if you got sliced by it. Every hit caused not only pain, but caused the victim to feel as if his spirit, his strength, his identity, their very essence of life was being drained from their body. That scythe was vicious and no other weapon was like it.
"Tell me Viktor, how do you intend to kill me if we're in this arena? The rules of the tournament are specifically designed to prevent people dying," Kifune asked.
"Like this," Viktor said. He then started reciting an incantation. "May the shadows enter this battle so that death may become unto us. He who lives born a great warrior, he who dies serve the Shadow Lord."
An ominous cloud appeared atop the arena, thunder cackling. The arena suddenly darkened, even though both fighters could see the outside and vice-versa.
"What the hell have you done!" Kifune demanded.
"I have created a shadow field in the arena. Now, we play for everything. Seals, souls, lives."
"Are you insane? You stand nothing to gain from this! Why do you need the souls of others?"
"I am a captain of the Army of the Shadow Lord, and it is my job to do his bidding through the Order."
"The Order! Damn, I should've known that the order would involve themselves at some point. What does this Shadow Lord want with the Order? I know you're all cultist zealots but I want to know your motives!"
"The world has been complacent with itself for far too long. Through the Shadow Lord we will lead the world into an era of revolution! All will hail the Lord and worship him!" Viktor proclaimed. At the same time the emblem glowing on his chest morphed into a dark circle and his eyes started glowing red. "Augment Power!"
Viktor leaped at Kifune with lightning speed. Kifune just barely had time to raise her spear to block the multiple slices that followed, only getting one jab with her spear the whole time which was easily dodged.
"That speed…"Kifune panted, out of breath "It's not… natural."
"This is an augmentation of power bestowed upon me by the Shadow Lord. With it I gain extra speed and strength. All I have to do is provide him is the energy he needs for his army."
"Army? That's interesting. I'll deal with that later. In the meantime I'll take care of you," Kifune said. "Gabe, go find Monika and Bryan and tell them everything you've heard. They'll know what to do."
"On it," Gabe replied "Vanish, Bruhka" Gabe then vanished into thin air.
"Now onto you. You're a dead man," Kifune said. She charged directly at Viktor only to disappear a moment later.
"What the hell? Where are you?" Viktor yelled, perplexed with the situation. He took up a defensive stance and leapt back to the arena wall to cover the only place he couldn't, his back.
"Look up," Kifune appeared in the air directly above him and as she came down she slashed with her cutlass, creating a huge bloody arc across Viktor's body and staining his cloak a crimson red.
"Like my boots? They're magic you know. They allow me to warp across the battlefield within a certain distance as long as I have enough energy. Got them from a friend. Great gift," Kifune explained, a sly smirk on her face. "Oh, and my sword? It's coated in a deadly agent that changes depending on what I want it to be. Poison, salt, sugar, toxic metals, anything really. I chose paralytic nerve agent. Stuns for four hours and leaves you disoriented for five."
"It is no problem," Viktor said emotionlessly as he raised his left arm, much to Kifune's shock. He drew his hand across the flat of his scythe blade and produced a poison green orb. He moved the orb over his wound and wherever the orb touch his wounds seemed to heal.
"What the hell? My nerve agent uses 27 different types of poison, some of them deadly in small doses. You shouldn't even be able to speak, much less move. And how did you heal yourself?"
"The Shadow Lord's augmentation gives me inner strength as well, enough to overcome toxic substances in the body. As for the healing? My powers are based on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. That was the power of Pestilence. Pestilence is incredibly hard to kill, so it should only be fitting that he allows me to fight the battle longer by healing myself using the fallen souls of my enemies."
"There's four horsemen, right? War, Pestilence, Famine and Death. That was one of the four. Now for the other three. I'm not gonna let you use them," Kifune stated.
"And how do you intend to do that?" Viktor asked, intrigued.
"Like this. Advance Form," A blue aura enveloped Kifune as her emblem glowed a radiant green on her stomach. Four orbs appeared around her as her weapons evolved into their advanced forms. Her cutlass handle disappeared only to be replaced by a long chain that wasn't connected to anything, but seemed to float in Kifune's palm. Her spear turned into a trident that somehow disappeared into her gloves. Her belt appeared around her waist containing two pockets containing who knew what.
"How you like me now?" Kifune said with a hint of a holy echo in her voice.
"Advanced form? This will be interesting," Viktor said "Let me show you another horseman. Meet War."
Viktor's scythe suddenly became bathed in flame as charged at Kifune. Kifune leapt into the air, floating there. Viktor appeared as well and started slashing with his scythe. Kifune parried slice after slice and even sliced back once in a while. It didn't work, however, as Viktor seemed to be moving at a faster speed than usual.
"War allows me to fight faster and harder for a short time at the cost of some energy. He also bathes my scythe in flame allowing me to trail flame around the battlefield as I fight, damaging my opponent," Viktor explained. Then, with a smirk on his face, added "By the way, look out."
"Wha-" Kifune barely managed to get out before she used her boots to dodge a pillar of fire that came shooting out of the ground.
"The flames that hit the ground stay there and shoot out pillars of flame for a while before disappearing."
"Great…" Kifune managed to mutter before dodging another flame pillar.
Enough of this shit, she thought. Time to show him what she was capable of. She charged at Viktor at full speed, slowing down at the last second to unleash her hidden trident tip dig into Viktor's chest. Viktor dodged the stab by inches and slashed back, sending a trail of flame at Kifune. Kifune jumped back, barely dodging the blow, and swung her chainblade at him, landing a small hit on his arm.
"You are a troubling girl who needs to be put in her place. Since it's just a small cut, I won't use Pestilence. However, I will use Famine. Chains of Misery!" Viktor yelled, half out of anger, half out of desperation. The chains moved at lightning speed and before Kifune could do anything, they latched onto her wrists and ankles while one looped around her stomach.
"What the hell? Wh-Why do I feel so… weak?" she managed to breathe out; although it took almost everything she could muster up to say those five words.
"Famine weakens everything; communities, crops, populations. He manifests himself in the form of these chains, which keep you attached to my scythe and drain your strength over time, until you hit with the power of an insect. By the way, what I'm about to do will hurt a lot. Try to run, if you can of course," Viktor then slashed in a direction so that the flames that trailed would land directly over Kifune. Kifune tried to move but found that her legs wouldn't comply with her intentions. Kifune could do nothing but stand there and scream as the flame pillar that followed blasted her with full force.
"Kifune!" Amanda yelled from the other side of the arena. Kifune was lying on the ground, face down, still as a rock. Her clothes were covered in burn marks and the whole back of her shirt was burned off. She was either injured or dead, the latter of which Amanda tried not to think about. Just when everyone thought the match was going to be over and the smoke was clearing, Kifune suddenly started rising up, even if was extremely slow.
"Not… yet. This doesn't end yet."