The Swarm

The scene was horrific. Corpses were scattered all over, completely ripped apart, and the culprits, an unholy abomination that looked like a nightmarish mix or a cockroach, an ant, and a beetle. They were the size of footballs, had a disgusting brown hue, and razor sharp mandibles.

However, the Kurotai were stronger and more organized than the seventeenth battalion, so they managed to just barely hold their ground as the horrific creatures charged towards them like a wave. But some still managed to slip through, latching onto horrified soldiers and tearing through their flesh with their mandibles.

Keitaro and Toko watched from a distance. But as Toko could barely keep her eyes open, Keitaro’s were glued. It was even worse than he had imagined. And the worst part, they just kept coming. The Kurotai could mow down a hundred and a hundred more would erupt from nowhere.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to outlast these things…” Keitaro said.

“Probably not…” Musashi watched in equal horror.

“That means we’ll have to attack the source…”

“Keitaro, we don’t even know where they are.”

“We’ll lure them out by entering the fight ourselves.“

“What!? I don’t need to tell you how risky that is!”

“We’re both in a deadlock. If one side can take out the other’s Knight and Maiden then the battle is all but won, so if they think they have a chance to defeat us, they’ll take it.”

“Y-you mean you want us to go and f-fight those things!?” Toko stammered.

“Yeah.”

Toko’s eyes widened in horror as she stared into the cesspit before her.

But she was quickly given reassurance as Tomoe placed her hand on Toko’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Toko. Me and Musashi will protect you two.” Stepping forward, she readied her naginata. “And honestly…” She smirked. “I’ve been itching for some action for a while!”

Musashi sighed as he drew his katana and wakizashi. “Let’s go…” In the blink of an eye, he lunged forward, slashing his dual blades in perfect tandem, tearing through the bugs like a tornado.

Meanwhile, Tomoe cut through the horde, wielding her naginata with such precision and ferocity that it was almost as if she was some kind of goddess of battle.

The two warriors shredded through the swarm, racking up dozens of kills and clearing a way for Keitaro and Toko.

Tomoe was having the time of her life, and even Musashi, despite his earlier demeanor, was enjoying the thrill.

Soon, they reached what seemed to be the eye of the storm. There were still bugs, but significantly less than where the Kurotai were still fighting.

“I still haven’t seen them!” Musashi called out.

“They’ll show up, don’t worry!” Keitaro kept looking desperately.

With a clear, powerful swing, Tomoe was about to slice through a row of bugs, but just as she was about to make contact with the first one, her weapon bounced off as if hitting a wall even though there wasn’t anything there. This phenomenon sent her staggering, giving the bugs an opportunity to pounce. They jumped at her, ready to bury in their mandibles, but at the last second, Musashi slashed, cutting through them in midair.

Tomoe regained her balance and caught her breath. “What was that?”

“I think that was our friends.” It didn’t take long for Keitaro to find the culprit.

Just ahead, two figures rose from behind some rubble. The Yellow Knight and the Yellow Maiden.

“Keitaro and Toko Owari, right?” the Yellow Knight spoke. “My name is Enyu Yang.”

“And I am Yanmin Chen.”

“While this Genesis Tournament is unfortunate, that doesn’t change the fact that we must fight.”

Without another word, Enyu raised his hands, summoning another wave of bugs.

Musashi and Tomoe kicked it into overdrive, but every once in a while, one of their attacks would be stopped by that mysterious force from before. They always managed to recover, but it was really starting to hurt their flow.

However, Keitaro focused, investigating the phenomenon. What was happening was that an almost invisible barrier was appearing, blocking their attacks. “So that’s their other Ability…”

Creating barriers seemed powerful, but considering that she was only using them every five to ten seconds, that would imply there was a cooldown of some kind. Something important to keep in mind.

But for now, the most important thing was getting to Enyu and Yanmin. Keitaro wasn’t going to let Toko do it, so he’d have to be the one to deal the killing blows. However, the bugs were getting even more numerous, and Musashi and Tomoe were hanging on by a thread.

“Ah! H-help…!” Toko cried out in terror as one had latched onto her.

Immediately, Keitaro jumped forward, activating Destruction and disintegrating the monster before it could hurt her.

Toko breathed heavily, relieved. “Th-thanks…”

“Yeah…” He looked at Enyu. He had to take him down. “Musashi! I need to get closer!”

“We’re barely keeping up as is!” he said through gritted teeth.

Enyu and Yanmin were still a ways away, and he couldn’t get through the bug horde by himself.

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Enyu called out. “It’s called Swarm! I can create tens of thousands of these things, so don’t think you’ll win a war of attrition!”

Keitaro grimaced. Swarm was powerful, but there was something about it that irked him. Why hadn’t they used this Ability already, and why were they present without any backup?

But he didn’t have time to dwell on such things. He had to take them down now. He desperately searched for anything he could possibly use until his eyes fell on a crashed car. Its trajectory looked to have come from where Enyu and Yanmin were currently standing.

Keitaro let out a deep sigh. This was his most insane idea yet. “Toko!” he called out to his sister as he climbed onto the car and held on tight. “Use Rewind on this!”

“W-what!? A-are you sure!?”

“Just do it!”

Reluctantly, Toko used Rewind.

Musashi finally realized what was happening. “Are you insane!?”

But it was too late. The car jumped as it was repaired and then started reversing extremely fast, wheels burning against the concrete.

Keitaro was clung tightly to the car as it flew at full speed towards Enyu and Yanmin, and just as he got close enough, he leaped off, activating Destruction and aiming right for Enyu.

But he was stopped in midair by a barrier. He had overlooked that, and Destruction hadn’t worked on it either. He bounced off and fell onto his side.

“Keitaro!” Toko cried out.

“That was pretty good.” Enyu walked over to him. “But it just wasn’t enough…”

The bugs were gathering around, ready to pounce like a pack of raptors.

“Even I thought you had my number for a second, but Yanmin’s Ability, Wall, protected me at the last moment. Well, any final thoughts, Keitaro?”

“Yeah.” He panted heavily. “Watch where you step…!”

“Huh!?” Enyu looked down. He was standing on a manhole cover, and it was quickly disintegrating thanks to Keitaro’s Destruction. He tried stepping off, but it was too late. It broke into pieces, sending him hurling down below.

Without waiting a second, Keitaro jumped up, dodging the bugs as he rushed towards Yanmin. In a swift, powerful motion, he lunged at her core.

She cried out as she held up her hands, summoning a barrier, but Keitaro immediately fell back before juking around, and as Wall was still recharging, Yanmin was left wide open.

“N-no…!” Yanmin screamed as Keitaro placed his hand on her Core. Her cries of pain only grew louder as he activated Destruction, but just as the last of her life was drained, she let out her last words, “Enyu… I’m sorry…”

It almost brought a tear to Keitaro’s eye, but he steeled himself. He might’ve snuffed out another life…but it wouldn’t be the last time…

However, even as he was stuck in his thoughts, the bugs were still wreaking havoc.

Musashi ran up behind him. “Keitaro! The bugs just aren’t stopping! We have to get out of here now!”

“What about Enyu!?” He pointed to the manhole which was overflowing with bugs.

“No time! We have to go!”

Reluctantly, Keitaro followed Musashi as the party made their escape.