Bonus Chapters at 100 Power Stones!
"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
[Year X788]
~ With Shisui ~
Shisui's plan collapsed thirty minutes before midnight when alarms rang through the building. It seemed that the security of the place was more thorough than Shisui had thought. Cultists scattered, some continuing ritual preparations while others formed defensive positions. From his observation point on the hillside, Shisui watched as three figures emerged from deeper within the cathedral, clearly different from the rank-and-file members, with their robes being more elaborate.
'These are likely the elite members of Obsidian Fang.'
Shisui abandoned his original plan. With his presence discovered, stealth was no longer an option. He would engage directly.
He reentered through a side entrance, immediately encountering a group of cultists who fired purple energy bolts in his direction. Shisui weaved through their attacks with ease, neutralizing them before they could call for reinforcement. He moved deeper into the cathedral, toward the main hall where he had observed the ritual preparations.
The space had transformed in his absence. The magic circle now glowed with intense purple energy, and the torn pages from Zeref's book hovered above the altar, suspended by an unseen force. Standing near the circle's edge was a tall, thin man with intricate tattoos visible on his exposed arms and neck.
"I can smell the intruder," the man announced, his voice carrying an unnatural resonance. "Come out, little spy. Kael the Summoner would like to meet you."
Shisui assessed his opponent from the shadows. The tattoos were not decorative but magical. Summoning circles inked directly into the man's skin, a type of holder magic that allowed instant access to his creatures without external tools.
When Shisui remained hidden, Kael smiled thinly and pressed his palm to one of the larger tattoos on his forearm. "Reluctant? Let me provide some encouragement."
Dark energy spiraled from the tattoo, forming wispy, ghost-like entities that float through the air. The spirits darted toward the darker corners of the cathedral, seeking Shisui. Rather than continuing to hide, he stepped into the open, drawing Kael's attention away from the inner sanctum.
"Just one man?" Kael looked almost disappointed. "The Council usually sends full squads."
"I'm not from the Council," Shisui replied evenly.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "No matter. You'll make a fine demonstration for my newest creations."
The spirits suddenly changed direction, diving into the bodies of beasts that emerged from side chambers. Wolves, bears, and creatures Shisui couldn't immediately identify. The possession transformed them instantly.
Limbs elongated unnaturally, extra heads sprouted from shoulders, and crystalline structures burst through skin. Within seconds, Kael had created a small army of chimeric monsters, each combining features of multiple animals with the energy of the spirits.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Kael's voice held genuine admiration. "Spirits bound to flesh, creating something greater than either alone."
He pointed toward Shisui. "Kill him."
The monsters attacked in unison, converging from multiple directions. Their movements suggested a hive mind. Each creature aware of the others' positions, attacking in patterns designed to limit Shisui's escape routes.
Shisui activated his Sharingan as he tracked the beasts' movements. Rather than attempting to defeat them all at once, he focused on understanding their behavior. Each creature moved with a specific pattern, the spirit inside dictating its attacks while the animal body provided physical form.
A three-headed wolf lunged from his left while a bear with crystalline claws swiped from the right. Shisui jumped, using the creatures' momentum against them and causing them to collide.
Landing behind a particularly large beast, Shisui formed hand signs.
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower!
Multiple small fireballs shot from his mouth, each aimed not at the center of the creatures' bodies but at the points where the energy was most concentrated.
The spirits shrieked as the chakra-infused fire disrupted their connection to the physical hosts. Several beasts staggered, their forms becoming unstable as the spirits struggled to maintain control.
Kael's confident expression faltered. "Impossible! No regular fire can harm my spirits!"
Shisui did not reply, instead choosing to launch another volley of targeted flames.
As more spirits were forced to abandon their hosts, the remaining animals returned to a more natural state, though still corrupted by the dark lacrima but no longer under Kael's direct control. They retreated in confusion, some turning on each other in their disoriented state.
Kael backed away, frantically activating more tattoos. Before new spirits could fully materialize, Shisui closed the distance between them, and stabbed a Kunai straight through Kael's heart. Shock was evident on Kael's face as he collapsed, his tattoos fading to dull gray as his connection to his spirits was severed.
The last thing that Kael would have expected was for Shisui to go for the killing blow, as most mages would rather avoid killing easily.
However, Shisui had no such reservations. The only reasons why he had not killed until this point was due to the grunts not truly deserving death. He could sense their hesitation and lack of bloodlust. But with the elite members, one look at them was all he needed to decide their fate. None of them were leaving this place alive.
Before Shisui could advance toward the inner sanctum, a whistling sound cut through the air. He ducked instinctively as a blade passed through the space where his head had been a fraction of a second earlier. The weapon embedded itself in a wooden beam, leaving a sizzling trail of toxic purple energy in its wake.
"Such reflexes," a feminine voice noted with interest. "It's no wonder Kael died so easily."
A woman stepped from behind a pillar, her movements fluid and unnaturally fast. Multiple blades hung from her belt, each inscribed with runes that glowed with the same purple energy as the one that had nearly struck Shisui.
"Lira of the Blade," she introduced herself with a small bow that somehow managed to be both elegant and threatening. "I'll try to make this interesting for you."
She moved with speed that would have been impossible to track for most mages. But for Shusui, especially with his Sharingan activated, it was almost too easy. Lira had drawn and thrown three blades simultaneously before dashing to a new position. The weapons left toxic trails in the air, creating a deadly web of lingering energy that continued to expand after the blades had passed.
Shisui matched her speed, easily navigating the toxic patterns without touching them. Where Lira relied on pure velocity, Shisui used his understanding of motion, never moving more than necessary, each step placing him exactly where he needed to be.
"You're fast," Lira acknowledged, her tone appreciative. "But speed isn't everything."
She drew a longer blade from her back, its edge glowing intensely as she channeled more energy into it. With a vertical slash, she sent a wave of purple energy cutting through the air toward Shisui. Simultaneously, she threw smaller blades to limit his evasion options.
Shisui simply body flickered out of the attack range. The almost instantaneous movement caused Lira's eyes to widen in surprise, giving Shisui the opening he needed.
He reappeared behind her, kicking her hard towards a support pillar. One he had strategically placed an explosive seal. As she crashed into the pillar, he activated the seal with a pulse of chakra. The controlled explosion was small but was all that was needed, causing the column to crack and collapse.
Lira, disorriented from the pain, didn't notice the danger until debris rained down on her. She tried to dodge but misjudged the damage that Shisui had done to her back. A large stone struck her shoulder, throwing off her balance and sending her tumbling, unable to avoid the incoming pile of debris.
The only sign of Lira left was an outstretched arm extending from the support pillar, blood trailing as a sign that her body was clearly crushed underneath.
Before Shisui could advance further, a deafening howl tore through the cathedral, the sound waves so powerful they cracked the stone floor and sent fragments of stained glass falling from what remained of the windows. The attack would have hit Shisui, but he had already body flickered away.
"Like it?" a raspy voice asked from everywhere and nowhere. "I've amplified my magic with what we discovered here."
"Voss the Voice," Shisui stated, "Will you come out, or would you prefer I come to you?"
A figure appeared from the shadows, his mouth covered by an elaborate mask with amplification chambers built into its structure.
"Very good," Voss rasped, his voice unnaturally modulated even in normal speech. "Most don't survive the first howl with their eardrums intact."
Voss inhaled deeply, the chambers on his mask glowing as he prepared another attack. Shisui quickly reached into his pouch, withdrawing several shuriken tagged with paper bombs. As Voss released another howl—this one directed at the ceiling above Shisui—Shisui threw the bombs in a semicircle pattern.
The explosions weren't aimed at Voss directly but at the air around him. The concussive force created counter-vibrations that disrupted the sound waves before they could fully form, reducing their destructive potential. The ceiling cracked but remained intact, while Voss staggered backward, his mask's chambers temporarily destabilized by the interference pattern.
Taking advantage of the disruption, Shisui disappeared from his spot, only to reappear directly behind Voss in the same instant. Before the sound mage could turn or inhale for another attack, Shisui had already slit the man's throat.
Voss collapsed to his knees, hands clutching at his throat as he tried and failed to produce sound. With the major threats taken care of, Shisui turned his attention toward the inner sanctum. The three elite members had fallen relatively quickly, but each encounter had cost precious minutes.
The cathedral floor trembled with increasing intensity, and the purple glow from the inner chambers had grown blindingly bright.
The elimination of Obsidian Fang's elite members had cleared the path to Veran, as the rest of the dark guild mages were nothing but nuisances to him. However, Shisui suspected that the real challenge still awaited him. The Bonecaller would be prepared, possibly already in the process of merging with Khathros if the increased tremors were any indication.
Gathering his focus, Shisui moved toward the inner sanctum.
~ End of Chapter 28 ~
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