The Village Disciples

Yuso Takuetsu stood on the Detrimental War battlefield, his Shirugeto eyes fixed on the wicked man in front of him—Regashi Ketsueki. Tanjo had just been tossed far into the distance, bound for an unknown portion of the country, leaving Yuso alone with the brown-haired man wielding a seemingly limitless power. The Tansu vessels had been annihilated, Tanjo had vanished, and there was nothing to keep Regashi from confronting the redhead.

The previous rulers of Furusato were still alive, but they were immensely hesitant to spring into action. More than half of the rulers doubted the potential to slay Regashi, while Oritsu Ketsueki and Kokoro Kangae considered multiple plans. 

Regashi glanced back at the rulers, grinning. 

"You guys served your purpose. Your time is up." 

The previous rulers were perplexed by the man's words, only to see Shigeko Yoha, the second ruler in Furusato's history, clutching his chest desperately. The man wheezed and collapsed to his knees as his eyes bulged. The king felt his life slowly slip away, his senses becoming dulled as all coherent thoughts faded. The rest of the rulers realized what was to come: they were having their souls extracted from their bodies, being forced to return to the land of the dead. 

"Regashi!" Oritsu called out to his son, panic etched into his features. "Don't hurt Tanjo! Don't hurt your little brother!"

With his green eyes shimmering, Regashi directed his gaze toward Oritsu Ketsueki. A humorous thought struck the brown-haired man, causing his lips to stretch upward and form a twisted grin. 

"Oh, please. You started the tradition of fighting our siblings—don't forget how you died fighting your own brother." Regashi stated, tilting his head slightly. 

Oritsu's eyes widened, his teeth grinding together. He was being toyed with by his own son, being served information that the bearded father could only wish to have known the day of his death. To think that Imawashiki was his biological brother made Oritsu question his upbringing a million times over in the span of a few seconds. Unfortunately, Oritsu had no more time to ponder as he watched the remaining rulers of Furusato drop like flies around him. 

"Tell Mother I say hello." Regashi requested with a sinister tone.

The bearded man felt his conscience fade as gravity commandeered his body downward, colliding with the earth. Every single ruler of Furusato was dead, leaving only Regashi and Yuso standing in the vicinity. 

"Killing your own family is despicable. What do you hope to bring from it?" Yuso asserted, clenching his fists as his lengthy red hair swayed in the wind. 

Regashi raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the redhead that stood in the distance. A light hum reverberated in the brown-haired man's throat, a hint of amusement brewing within him. Slowly, Regashi reached into his Furusato Unit cloak, using both of his hands to pluck something from inside the article of clothing. 

"The last Takuetsu scolding me for killing my family? Pretty hypocritical, don't you think?" Regashi taunted Yuso, grinning. 

Yuso's eyes widened, his heart proceeding to pump at a faster rate. How would he know that Yuso slaughtered his own family? It had to be a guess—a myriad of rumors regarding the Crimson Stalker had circulated throughout Adonai for years. It was impossible to know the truth entirely. 

The redhead huffed and said, "Don't flap your lips so obnoxiously, especially when you are uninformed." 

With a light shake of his head, Regashi pulled his hands out from inside his cloak, presenting two large objects that shook Yuso to his core. A cold chill swept down the redhead's spine, his mouth agape as horror and bewilderment seized him mentally and physically. Not a word escaped Yuso's lips; he refused to speak as he drank in the sight before him. 

"Your brother and sister would say otherwise!" 

In Regashi's hands, the heads of Katashi and Hina Takuetsu were hanging loosely, with their crimson-red hair in the brown-haired man's clutches. Yuso's very siblings—the two people he slayed decades ago—are now headless in Regashi's grasp. It should be impossible, due to their bodies having rotted many years after death. 

"I actually grabbed these right after you killed them, so they're in pristine condition! Isn't that great, Yuso!?" Regashi boasted, laughing maniacally. 

The redhead's breath became labored, panting for air. "Put them down!"

Regashi watched as Yuso's Shirugeto started to whirl in a clockwise motion, indicating vehement anger. The potency of his Aura Sense increased exponentially, causing the air around them to rise in temperature. Yuso's black, feathery wings fluttered sporadically, resembling faint flinches. Yuso no longer had the curse implanted by Ryouiki restraining his mind—he was able to act freely, liberated of any external commands. This was the first time Yuso felt immense anger due to the wellbeing of others, specifically his dead siblings. 

"That's it, big guy. A fifty-year-old that still looks like he's in his twenties. Though, you could say it's my fault." Regashi spoke continuously, swinging the heads of Yuso's siblings around. 

*WHOOSH!*

Yuso kicked himself off the ground and flew at speeds faster than light. During his brief flight, Yuso curled his right hand, allowing his Shirugeto magic to transfer to his right fist and paint his flesh with numerous crimson-red pentagrams, significantly enhancing his strength and power to unleash.

"Yeesh!" Regashi jumped, swiftly flinging Hina's head at Yuso. 

Before Hina's lifeless head could intercept Yuso's attack, the redhead immediately vanished mid-air—*VRMM!*—and reappeared behind Regashi, ramming his right fist into the back of the brown-haired man's head. 

*KABOOM!*

The punch resulted in a massive explosion swallowing the battlefield in an oppressive shockwave, soon followed by clouds of smoke and residual rays of red light that were pushed out in every direction. Yuso was confident that his knuckles had collided with Regashi's skull—he felt the man's hair rub against his fist, as he then noticed his head seemingly burst due to the explosive output. 

"Way to take it to heart, Yu-Yu!"

Regashi's voice permeated through the thick smoke, making Yuso's eyes widen. As the debris left the air, it was visible that Yuso's punch had missed, with his fist floating to the left of Regashi's head by a few inches. How had he missed? Yuso felt his knuckles crash into the back of his skull. It was a direct hit!

"Take as much time as you need!" Regashi spoke with glee, his green eyes shimmering. "I'm also currently keeping Tanjo busy, so no need to worry about him coming back any time soon! I actually just killed his friends!"

Fueled with ire, Yuso opened his hand and poured magic into the center of his palm. The act enabled hundreds of miniscule pentagrams to appear, slicing through the air and cutting Regashi's body. In a matter of seconds, the pentagrams sliced Regashi's left arm off, impaled his right eye, and left numerous lethal lacerations littered throughout the entirety of his body.

Refusing to let a piece of Regashi stay intact, the redhead lifted his hands above his head and conjured a crimson-red pentagram in the dark red sky that dwarfed the scorched land below—*BRMMMM!*—prompting it to discharge a potent beam that instantly incinerated everything in its way, including Regashi. 

"Ash is all that we all become in the end, anyway. Isn't that right?" Regashi's voice could be heard echoing throughout the area. 

With a quick intake of breath, Yuso flapped his wings and spun around, spotting Regashi standing on the charred dirt beneath him. Regashi was visibly unscathed, with his body no longer having any of the damage that Yuso's pentagrams previously dealt. 

"Well, not me, of course. You, however, still have an end." Regashi declared, grinning. 

Yuso scowled and yelled, "What are you!?"

"What am I not?"

*SHING!*

A pentagram soared through the air as the words left Regashi's mouth, prompting the brown-haired man to swat it away carelessly. Regashi then put his hands on his hips and curled the corner of his lips downward, tapping his right foot against the damaged earth with faux annoyance. 

"Are you wanting a conversation or a fight? I'm not a therapist, you know." Regashi queried rhetorically, staring at the redhead. 

*SHRRM! SHRRM! SHRRM!*

A plethora of pentagrams materialized in the air around Regashi, each pointed directly at him. Yuso was preparing another attack, his Shirugeto eyes locked on his opponent. 

"So you aren't everything!" Yuso shot back, clenching his jaw. 

Regashi grinned, tilting his head downward. "I knew you were fun!"

Without warning, Yuso's Shirugeto spun counterclockwise, making the pentagrams that surrounded Regashi suck in everything in front of them. Regashi sensed as his body was being pulled in varying directions but harbored no fear or apprehension. 

"Not quite enough power, Yu-Yu! Let that hair of yours grow a bit more so you can deal some damage!" Regashi spoke condescendingly, narrowing his eyes. 

The strain on Yuso's face was evident as he tried to apply more suction power to the pentagrams, charging his body with more potent magic. His Aura Sense thrummed uncontrollably, followed by the incessant spasms of his muscles. A move that was intended to rip Regashi to pieces was quickly proving to be fruitless as the brown-haired man stood amid it all with a twisted smile on his face. To make matters worse, Regashi was goading Yuso into becoming stronger so that he may hopefully deal a hint of long-lasting damage. 

"You're definitely the strongest warrior left alive, with Tanjo being your only equal! However, your combined powers are just under a Tansu Beast's very own potency!" Regashi exclaimed, his Furusato Unit cloak flapping violently due to the pentagrams. 

Yuso groaned, pushing his Aura sense further. Red steam slowly escaped the redhead's skin, signifying the lack of control he had over the magic coursing through his system. The Shirugeto halted, spinning clockwise, only to halt again and rotate counterclockwise. Like a broken clock, Yuso's eyes failed to properly spin. 

"Come on! Pull something uncanny! I indirectly gave you the Shirugeto for a reason, Takuetsu!" 

Yuso saw what no one else could: an infinite number of crimson-red pentagrams filling the landscape. The Shirugeto's new function was being unlocked as it pulsed in his eye sockets, causing thin streaks of blood to leak from the corners of his eyes. Yuso had no idea what the new sensation was or how the new function with the pentagrams would work—but he capitalized on it and conjured the unthinkable.

*PRSHH!*

Regashi blinked as he witnessed his right arm suddenly vanish from existence, soon followed by a chunk of his waist. Gradually, the space in which Regashi stood was being erased, taking the brown-haired man's body with it. Glee brimmed within Regashi as he watched the redhead become more powerful, his green eyes glimmering brightly. 

"Haha! You reached it!" Regashi laughed dementedly, his face stretched with insanity. 

The brown-haired man reached toward Yuso from afar with his left hand, the limb stretching beyond human capability and morphing into sharp claws. As Regashi's claw quickly closed the distance between him and Yuso, a hole was punctured into the center of the extended limb, prompting the left hand to fall to the ground. The sudden erasing of space was similar to the placement of landmines: they were difficult to predict where they would strike but dealt a hefty amount of damage. 

"Punching holes into space itself is pretty nifty, Yu-Yu! I'm assuming it's because of invisible pentagrams that are scattered throughout the air, huh?" 

Yuso huffed, his demonic eyes narrowed. "Your control over our surroundings is your biggest advantage. Without it, you're just an elusive target to strike down!"

After regenerating his body, Regashi's eyes scanned the area around him, flitting between particular spaces of air. He could see where Yuso's invisible pentagrams were, which will enable him to maneuver around them with relative ease. 

"You know, you and Tanjo just revealed your newest abilities. Like your invisible pentagrams, he can spawn his spatial fissures away from his body and actually control them!" Regashi stated, closing his eyes and gathering the information he was actively from the clash between Tanjo and his second self. 

Being in two locations at once made Regashi all the more formidable as an opponent. The man was undeniably omnipresent, capable of being anywhere and everywhere at once. Escaping Regashi Ketsueki would be as futile as escaping reality itself.

Yuso remained silent, his eyes focused on Regashi's form. 

"I'd say it's about time to let you two reconvene, no?"

With a sickening grin, Regashi clapped his hands, forcing the world around Yuso to shift into a black abyss. 

XXX

This chapter was specifically meant to show why Yuso was incapable of assisting Tanjo throughout his fight with Regashi in the forest and in Buraun! Regashi is more than capable of being in two places at once, managing to keep both Tanjo and Yuso distracted. By doing such, he forced them to power up significantly! What will happen next? Stay tuned for more!

Have a Great Day!

Peace - Cr1ticalz_