The Bounty Hunter

April 1st, 2090

Hikari’s POV

“For the glory of Japan!  Push them back!”  the ghost of a daimyo waved his ethereal katana in the air as he roared at his fellow phantoms to attack the Chinese soldiers.  The ghostly army of samurai retainers, loyal to their lord even in death, complied readily and did their best to overrun the enemy.  Material bullets passed through them, having no effect, but the laser fire was a different story.  The energy weapons were super effective, mowing down the ghosts instantly.  However, there were not enough soldiers with laser rifles to resist the huge swarm.  Either way, their timely interference freed me up to resume my one on one grudge match with Mannequin.

The succubus was frantically trying to avoid me, but I was steadily cornering her.  If she tried to fly away, I bombarded her with Dynamo’s magic projectiles.  The undead prevented her from using the Chinese soldiers as meat shields, and she wasn’t fast enough to put distance between us on foot.   In other words, she was helpless as I continued to whittle away at her pseudo-immortality.  “Hey, stop, let’s talk this through?”  Mannequin pleaded with me as I relentlessly lopped off limb after limb.  “Oh?  Did you stop to talk things through last time?”  I replied right before viciously decapitating her for like the fourth time.  My bloodlust was soaring, and I must admit I was rather enjoying my slow torment of Mannequin.  Is this a side effect of my species change?

Mannequin threw more green fire, which I ducked beneath with ease, having learned her tells through the course of our fight.  “Hey, can you regenerate if there’s nothing left to start from?”  I asked with an evil grin.  Mannequin blanched at my words, obviously picking up on the implication.  Before she could react, I literally cut her off at the knees.  I then kicked her in the face, caving it in as I sent her soaring some distance away.  She landed in a messy heap, her legs very slowly starting to regenerate.  Hmm, it seems like she’s running out of life force.

I pointed Dynamo straight up into the air, feeling it vibrate intensely as it responded to my will.  “It’s been fun, fatty.  However, it’s time to exit stage right.”  I said as I swung Dynamo downwards like it was the axe of an executioner.  Which I guess it was.  Similar to the night I nearly died, an enormous beam of magic burst from Dynamo.  It tore a deep canyon into the street as it headed towards Mannequin.  “YOU BITCH!!!!”  Mannequin managed to scream out before she was vaporized, leaving nothing behind.

God, that felt good.  I’ve proven to myself that I can stand alongside Minato and the others at long last.  “Well done, lassie!  If I had known women could be that fierce in battle I’d have recruited them for my armies long ago!”  The nearby phantom of a daimyo laughed as he congratulated me on my kill.  I grinned at his words, before moving with the remainder of the ghost samurai to the nearest group of Pandemonium demons.  Let’s take the city back!

Colonel Kobayashi’s POV

“Sir, we have the monstrous combatants in sight!”  The pilot of the armored helicopter yelled to me over the roar of the engines.  I looked at the monitor and had to pinch myself as a reminder that this was a reality and not a dream.  Yes, there is a pretty dark elf girl riding a giant four-tailed fox while brawling with a one-armed oni and a gargantuan 3-headed dog.  As a closet otaku, I would be having a fangasm were it not for the fact that it was occurring in Tokyo.  We’re reinforcing from the Sapporo base, here to provide air support to whoever was left fighting the invasion.  The nearby military base had gone dark since the beginning of the invasion, I bet that those Pandemonium demons took them out beforehand.

“Alright!  Listen up, we’re going to be going in hot!  Be prepared to show the Chinese and these demons not to mess with the JSDF!”  My words were met with a roar of fighting spirit from my men.  “Sir, who are we supporting?”  The heli gunner asked as he pointed at the monitor.  My response was to slap him upside the head.  “YOU IDIOT!  OBVIOUSLY, WE’LL BE HELPING THE ELF AND FOX!  WHAT KIND OF QUESTION WAS THAT!?  ARE YOU EVEN JAPANESE!?!?”  I shouted as my inner otaku was let loose.  I’m not an elf otaku, but they are definitely in my top 3.  Besides, reports indicate that the elf is on our side.

The rant I was about to go off on was interrupted as the giant dog was the first to notice us, and its left head decided to greet our arrival by breathing out fire.  The pilot swerved to the right, barely avoiding death by fire.  The damn dog wasn’t giving up, continuing his excellent dragon imitation as he spewed fire with reckless abandon.  “Sir, we’re running out of space to dodge!”  The pilot yelled as we were about to be roasted.  Damnit, are we going to die before we even do anything?

We were saved however, when a hole opened up in front of the helicopter, swallowing what would have been our fiery doom and redirecting it at the oni.  Another hole appeared nearby, through which the dark elf girl jumped out from.  She had a crossbow in her hand, which she was firing like a rifle.  She fearlessly fell towards the dog, which reached out with all three of its heads in an attempt to devour her.  At the last moment, she teleported through yet another portal to reappear elsewhere.

“Chinese mechs spotted!”  The pilot yelled out to us as we headed to our designated landing zone.  I looked out the window to see the 20-foot tall metal robotic suits stomping out the multitude of undead that were attacking them.  Finally, something that we can fight.  “Get the can openers ready!”  I shouted, referring to the AMCP (anti-mechanized combat platform) missile launchers that we had packed before leaving the base.  We rappelled from the helicopter, putting boots on the ground in the Tokyo at last.