The Fall of Azure Ursine

I had to admit, for about half of the time I was following Kenki I wasn't exactly sure why.

All I knew was that she was stalking Okami for some undeserved reason and she dropped her pen, so I returned it.

Before I knew it, I was standing before the towering gatehouse of Azure Ursine's guildhall though, fort was more accurate considering it was surrounded by walls that reached heights similar to the skyscrapers around us.

However, what was most shocking was that it none other then Okami herself who us there, in the middle of the night no less.

 "Now I have to know what she's after!" Kenki exclaimed, her emerald eyes, like stars beaming with anticipation.

"I dunno. I don't like this. Something bad is gonna happen. I can feel it." Kukiri warned in a tense voice as her fur stood on end.

For an awkward period of time, nothing but the distant sounds of Torik's nightlife accompanied the night.

Then a explosion echoed from the fort, followed shortly by a boy being launched through the gate with enough speed to nearly catch Okami off guard and launch her along with him.

With the quick employment of her precise wind magic Okami was able to slow the boy down enough to catch him without harming either of them.

 "Chiba!!!" Kenki shouted with no regard as she dashed to the wounded boy cradling his head in her arms.

Now that he was no longer moving through the air two things became clear to me, he was gowned in cloak like shade only his sported an Azure Ursine crest instead. The other thing I noticed was how bad of a shape he was in.

Blood seemed to pour from his mouth with every weak breath he took, his small frame was covered in bruises and deep gashes. But his biggest wound was on his back which was torn apart due to him being launched through the steel gate.

 "Kenki! What are you doing here!?" The boy shouted as his sentence was interrupted by an outburst of blood.

 Okami shared the same thoughts judging by her face.

But she didn't dare get between them. She knew as well as I that their time together was nearing its end.

 "Get out of here Kenki. I thought I could sneak behind him with my invisibility magic, I thought I could stop him. But it's not possible, he can't die. Not even Master Tuma could..." The boy rasped as his voice slowly grew meeker.

 "Chiba, don't do this, hold on. We can get someone to help." Kenki said to the boy who's body was merely a husk by now.

 "Kenki, he's -" Okami begun to say before Kenki stood in rage and transformed her pen to a blade.

 "I know he's dead. Which is why we're gonna avenge him." She answered with fury in her voice as her blade trembled in her hand.

Before I could even react, she ran to her former guild I wasted no time in perusing her followed by Okami once she covered Ciba's body in bronze leaves out of respect.

The interior of the fort was even worse then the sight we just witnessed.

The once white marbled floor was flooded in an inch of blood, the great tapestries that hung from the walls were riddled with deep gashes digging into the stone behind them.

Worst of all though were the countless corpses of Azure Ursine's members each in such shape that I wouldn't dare describe.

I couldn't recognize anyone and yet the feeling of remorse and grief struck my very soul. I could only imagine Kenki's pain.

The sound of metal scraping across stone filled the air as its source came into view.

A mountain of a man clad in the darkest of cloaks and drenched in blood.

Even with a single arm he still filled my being with dread, he wore a large ceramic mask depicting a crescent smile which showed his allegiance to The Smilers.

In his hand was a massive sword that widened at its tip to maximize its chopping power.

 "You look just like your mother. You know that?" The man spoke to Kenki in a gruff voice as he slowly approached us while pointing his blade at Kenki.

Kenki's knees gave out as she fell the ground paralyzed by the horrific sight before us.

But me and Okami while disturbed were still more than capable of fighting, and Kukiri stood strong at Kenki's side.

We both engaged the man with the fastest spell we had arriving at our destination in a fraction of a second.

Yet he was already gone from his previous location.

Instead, he was right before Kenki with his blade raised to the roof preparing to strike her down.

'Can't make it, too slow. Kenki move!!!' I thought hoping that she somehow heard me.

The man struck down with a powerful swing of his sword, yet his arm stopped just before it made contact with the very tip of Kukiri's nose who suddenly leapt in front of his blade.

"Did I just unlock some kind of telekinesis?" She asked, and for a moment that was my best guess. Until I saw the real reason.

Webs made of pure Mana stretched from the arm of our assailant to Arach Nei the bespectacled mastermind.

He used some kinda magic to form Mana webs and was holding the beast back somehow.

 "Lightning Cloak!!!" I exclaim the name of my spell before I charged at the opening Arach created.

Okami was right behind me conjuring a spear of bronze leaves which glided through the air at the cloaked figure.

I clenched my hand into a fist as I released power equivalent to that of a thunderstorm in a single punch directed at the Smiler.

"You made a huge mistake hurting a member of Draconum Familia! You're gonna pay!" I shouted just before my fist made contact. 

The expelled power was enough to shake the whole fort and even evaporate most of the puddled blood.

That combined with Okami's incredibly precise spear throw aimed at him head, should've killed him or at least encouraged him to run.

 And yet, he still stood, a pile of bronze leaves at his feet and my fist still against his chest.

 "Interesting, I don't remember doing anything to you guys. Why are you trying to kill me? Or is this a present? Are you guys offering your lives so I can experience the joy of killing you?" The man said as his ceramic mask shattered revealing a mad grin beneath, far more terrifying then the mask itself.

The man pulled Arach with his own webs pulling him across the hall where he would intercept him with a swift and powerful blow in the gut with the pummel of his giant sword, sending Arach into the stone walls of the guildhall.

The man's monstrous eyes fell upon me next, like daggers of pure malice the peered into the depths of my soul paralyzing me on the spot.

I barely noticed as he made a strong sweep with his blade nearly cutting me in half.

But fortunately, Okami managed to pull me out of harm's way.

 "Watch Kenki with Kukiri! I'll take care of this guy. And don't even think about arguing with me!" Okami ordered.

 "Will you now? You do know I've already killed a guildmaster right? Master Tuma, I believe his name was, he cut off my arm, but now he'll never cut again. You don't stand a chance you filthy dog." The man said in a voice of arrogance.

 "I wouldn't be so sure."

 Okami begun to leap from bronze leaves that hovered in the sky with wind magic bouncing around the room like a pinball at immense speeds, proving how much she held back against Ibu.

More importantly to Okami though, the Smiler was distracted from Kenki, Kukiri and I.

"Kenki, I can't even begin to understand what you're going through. But you can only avenge you friends if your head's in the right place." Kukiri said in an attempt to comfort the broken girl before us.

Yet she remained as motionless and speechless as before.

Okami was slowly cutting into the Smiler every time she blew by him with her impressive leaps.

Yet she didn't seem to have the means to puncture his skin any deeper.

The Smiler's grin somehow grew even larger as he begun to understand Okami's pattern.

Just as Okami leapt towards him he swung his monstrous blade at her before she could react, even as a wind sage she couldn't move in mid-air before his blade sliced her in two.

She winced her eyes as she accepted her fate.

 "Okami look out!" I shouted in vain, our distance was too great for me to interfere but I still extended my arm to grasp her even though I knew it wouldn't reach.

 "Ninjató!" 

Mercilessly the man's blade stopped mid swing as it came into contact with a sleek blade straight sword with a single edge and a diamond shaped guard.

 "Thought you got rid of me?" Ibu said with a noticeable crack in his mask, surprising us with his perfect timing as he held the Smiler at bay with his sword. "You don't get to just kill my Master then run away."

 "Run? Why would I run from a pest like you!" The man replied as he overpowered Ibu forcing him to retreat.

But now the battle was two verses one, and the two were both Betas no less.

 "I didn't know you were holding back against me so much." Ibu spoke referring to Okami's graceful performance. "Just don't forget our promise, save her."

Okami didn't speak and instead answered with an affirmative nod signaling her acceptance.

 The towering figure leapt at the two with inhumane speed, wasting no time on waiting for them to end their talk.

Ibu was tasked with keeping him busy with his impressive swordsmanship and agility, that combined with his arsenal of tricks made him a formidable foe, a fact I'm sure Okami was aware of.

Meanwhile Okami as a long-range fighter was occupied with throwing intense spears of bronze leaves at him each stronger then the last, even the Smiler was beginning to prioritize deflecting them over Ibu's onslaught.

Yet his strength and speed even with one arm was more than a match for the two, I could see that clear as day.

 "Kukiri, watch Kenki." I asked my furry friend as I pet her head, but I left to join the fray before she could answer making it more of a demand. "It's time to show that bastard why messing with those close to Draconum Familia is a mistake that he won't live to regret!"