Onimusha: Warlady

Masami raised two fingers, trying to attract her coin back to her, while Hiiragi continued to hold her weapon high, facing the threat. Yumiko crushed the coin, preventing it from floating back to its owner, her artistic aura enveloping her. No matter how much strength Sakai tried to exert, the coin remained on the ground. The air between them was thick with tension. Ayumu looked at Yumiko’s shoulder and saw the blood soaking her ruined white shirt.

‘Why?’ Yumiko moved her foot aside, allowing the blonde girl to retrieve her coin.

‘I won’t let anyone hurt you. No obstacle will stop me.’ She tore off the sleeve of her shirt, baring her arm. ‘I won’t hesitate, I won’t stop.’ Her eyes flashed a crimson red. ‘Turn everything to ashes…!’

‘Stop.’ Ayumu remained motionless behind Yumiko’s back. His body shook and perceived the fear was increasing, not knowing what to do to appease her anger. The wind swirled once again around Hiiragi’s sword, and her eyes emitted a greenish glow, leaving Sakai in astonishment. Hiiragi lunged at Yumiko while the seal of Ifrit completed itself at her feet. ‘Stop!’ Ayumu shrieked, blending with Yumiko’s cry. Hiiragi reacted to the boy’s shout, halting her attack as the tower of fire rose before them. Masami alerted her companion.

‘Nakabayashi!’ Yumiko emerged from the flames like a demon.

‘Come on, Samurai!’ Hiiragi’s powerful strike could not break through Yumiko’s martial aura. She released her sword and jumped backward, watching it disappear without a trace. Ayu fell backward because of the generated wind, covering his face and receiving some cuts on his arm.

‘Is that all!? Let me show you what a real sword is like! Chikage!’ The demonic president’s blood splattered violently. She charged straight at Hiiragi, holding the hilt of a sword whose flames cut through its invisible blade. An artistic aura surrounded Hiiragi. Her eyes reflected a greenish gleam, and a magical circle formed in the air between her and her opponent. Yumiko swung the chikage in a vertical strike, intending to cleave her opponent in two. Nakabayashi touched the ground and cast her spell.

‘Wind knife.’ The sword clashed against the wind, momentarily restraining the flames, giving Hiiragi an opportunity to step aside. Ruthlessly cutting through the air, the invisible blade left a two-meter groove and lifted the asphalt. With dread in her eyes, the girl with burgundy hair observed her opponent as she relentlessly lunged at her, maintaining her offensive. ‘Is she an asura?!’

‘Gatling!’ The blonde girl extended her hands, causing several coins floating above her head to be shot rapidly towards Yumiko. She stopped them, blocking each one. The copper, melted by Ifrit’s flames, fell onto the asphalt. The president looked up, seeing multiple magical seals glowing green above her. Hiiragi quickly crossed her arms.

‘Wind stabs!’ Wind currents of high speed and intensity shot out from the circles towards Yumiko. The sharp wind kept trying to reach her, not allowing her a moment to catch her breath. However, they could not get through the fierce flames that stood in the way of defending themselves conjured from the wind stabs. The flames danced frantically, being buffeted by the air. Yumiko gasped, her vision blurring as she struggled to hold on to ifrit’s spirit and losing blood.

‘I need… to finish them fast…’ Her strength was faltering, stopping the burgundy haired girl’s incessant offensive. ‘Please, ifrit, I don’t mind you destroying my body. I can’t lose him, not again... please.’ Yumiko’s crimson eyes flashed even brighter and a sinister expression came over her face. Her voice distorted and became deeper. ‘You’re messing with things out of your reach, snotty. Okay, I admire your madness. Let’s see if you’re up to your teacher’s standards.’

‘Not just her strength, her stamina is abnormally absurd. Anyone would already be on the ground with that open wound. It’s ridiculous!’ Hiiragi was painted heavily. She was also being at her limit afterwards as she kept squeezing out her core of magic. The other first-year student waited for her opening in Yumiko’s fierce defence to attack with her most devastating attack. The president’s crimson eyes flashed even brighter and a sinister expression came over her face. Her voice distorted and became deeper.

‘You’re messing with things out of your reach, snotty. Okay, I admire your madness. Let’s see if you’re up to your teacher’s standards.’ Ifrit’s flames exploded, engulfing the president in dense black smoke. Reddish lightning bolts bashed the ground. The flames increased in intensity, breaking through Hiiragi’s encirclement. Ayumu sensed an eerie presence of Death. Fear paralyzed him. He needed to stop Yumiko, but his voice was stuck. The President suddenly pounced on her prey. Her rosy skin had turned red, like an Oni’s. Hiiragi dreaded the ends approach, but a ray of hope reached her, turning her gaze to Sakai. Ayumu fixed his eyes on her too.

‘Railgun!’ A ravaging electric shot tore through the air, reaching and knocking Yumiko down before he unleashed his full power on Hiiragi. The black-haired girl fell a few meters away and rolled on the ground, leaving behind a significant trail of blood. ‘Is it over?’ eyes were fixed on the motionless president. Yumiko could stand, shocking them all, and sheer terror silenced each of the first-year students.

‘It can’t be.’ Hiiragi trembled. Yumiko She held out her hands, a strange magical seal drawing in the air in front of her.

‘Watch out!’ Ayu leaped towards Sakai, pushing her. Something struck him, piercing his side but leaving the blonde girl unharmed. They both fell to the ground. Hiiragi started leaping from side to side with agility, evading the bullets fired by Shirohime. Several of them impacted her magical armour, piercing through and embedding themselves in her left arm and her thigh. Red crystalline needles that were heating caused the wounds to burn horribly. The shots stopped. With an intense expression of pain, Hiiragi pulled out the needle embedded in her leg, burning her hand in contact with it. She broke it. The crystal melted, letting out a hot crimson liquid that slid down a horrified Hiiragi’s hand as she realised what it was.

‘Blood!’ Hiiragi wondered, before many magical circles appeared; surrounding each crystallised blood droplet and radiating fleeting red lights. The burgundy-haired girl gritted her teeth and cracked her arm against the ground, shattering the embedded needles. In an instant, they burst; she was propelled before rolling to the ground, but for her armour aura, her blast might have severed his arm, or something worse.

Even though the harm had been reduced, the pain was too much to handle. She was verging on losing consciousness. The only sound he was aware of was the continuous beep that echoed in his head, the result of the explosion. Hiiragi looked up at the stage, being able to see the distorted forms of the other three students. Sakai was screaming desperately next to the boy.

‘Ayumu!’ Blood flowed from the boy’s side, and the blonde girl ran towards him. The boy’s eyes emitted a brief gleam. ‘Are you okay!?’ Masami’s expression was somewhere between worry and dread. Despite the nasty wound on his side, the boy stood up. He pressed his hand against his wounds, grimacing in pain. Yumiko’s scream alerted the blonde girl, who fixed her eyes on her, only to see how that demon of feminine appearance pounced on her without regard. Ayu lunged for Yumiko and they both fell to the ground before the astonished gaze of the other two.

‘Please stop...’ the boy implored between tears. The crimson iris returned to its amber color before fatigue and loss of blood finally appeased it. Sakai also fell backwards, having witnessed his imminent death. Another voice rose.

‘It can’t be…’ Serizawa looked ahead, frozen on the road, with horror in her eyes. Ayu could only hear the beating of his heart in Sawari’s terrifying presence. Sawari fixed his gaze on the mark on Ayu’s hand. His hand gripped a sword, black-bladed, which grazed the boy’s neck. Somehow, his hand trembled. Flames engulfed the sword from hilt to tip and it was consumed by them.

‘Mitsu…’ The vice principal clenched her fist, enveloped in the aura of art, and let out a scream, ready to crush Ayumu with a savage blow. Sakai pulled the boy forcefully, and Mitsu’s fist created a large hole as the ground sank beneath their feet. Her eyes gave off a sad expression to Yumiko.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t arrive on time...’ she glared wrathfully at the young man and the blonde girl.