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Chapter 60: The Hero Faction (I)
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 16:00:16 +0000 UTC10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
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Takauji had just woken up as he strolled through the hallway to go check up on Raynare in order to ensure that the transplant had gone smoothly, his mood understandably better than ever as he decided to let Yasaka have a few more hours of sleep to herself.
But before he arrived, he stumbled across a figure he wasn't expecting to see so early in the day.
She was a woman with narrowed eyelids and black hair fashioned into loops on her head, wearing a revealing-red robe and had mannequin-like arms.
"Did you two have fun last night?" He said mischievously, glancing to the individual beside her, whom she was clutching the arm of.
He was a somewhat effeminate looking man with long silk-like hair that shimmered a brilliant light-green, wearing nothing but a plain white tunic that extended over his knees.
Of course, even though his appearance was rather tame and could even be considered inviting to some, his aura completely juxtaposed that, giving off the impression of a bloodthirsty hound that seeked only to destroy everything it came in contact with.
He was none other than Sayafushi, Takauji's blade.
You really did awaken through the power of love, someone should write a story about that.
Sayafushi was able to speak with Benihime telepathically, but his crush on her had led him to want to be able to actually interact with her physically, and the result of that was unfolding right in front of him.
"Yes! Lots of fun!" Sayafushi responded excitedly, almost in a child-like manner. Meanwhile Benihime remained tame, only smiling a little and letting out a faint nod. "Look Master! I also have a body now!" He twirled around, showing off his new form to Takauji with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Haha, I can see that." It was hard for him not to let out a smile himself in the wake of his sword's gleefulness. "Well, I don't want to be in the way so you two continue to enjoy yourselves." He attempted to continue on his way to Raynare, but Sayafushi decided to grab him by the wrist before he could do so.
"Wait! I want to show you my new abilities first."
Takauji tilted his head.
"New abilities?" Sayafushi was a very straight-forward blade, it cut extremely well, and that was it, so it didn't make sense for it to be able to perform other techniques like Benihime could.
"Look!" The Dragon's eyelids lifted as he watched Sayafushi summon a few ethereal golden-colored portals, a technique which he immediately recognised.
That's Fafnir's [Treasure Summoning] isn't it? I didn't expect him to be able to use it without my help, fascinating.
But the surprises didn't end there, his blade then proceeded to conjure a few swords from the portals, ones which Takauji also recognised.
Are those all… Sayafushi? No, their radiance is only about half as potent as the original, which is still pretty impressive if you think about it. Does this mean he's also obtained Fafnir's [Replication]? Wait, don't tell me he just outright obtained all of Fafnir's abilities?
His hunch would soon be proven correct, awestriken to see the blades envelop themselves in golden flames, all of which stemmed from Fafnir's [Fire Breath] and [Golden Aura]. However, Sayafushi didn't appear to be capable of using Takauji's [Rotted Flame], confirming that he still needed his wielder's help to activate abilities that didn't come solely from Fafnir.
"Impressive isn't it?" Sayafushi huffed, planting both hands on his hips triumphantly.
"Yes, it is. Good job, Sayafushi." He gave him a soft head pat, earning a pleased giggle from the now humanoid blade. "Now go back to Benihime, it's bad manners to keep a girl waiting."
"Okay!" Takauji could feel Benihime's mood improve the second Sayafushi returned to her side, chuckling to himself as he left his and Masashige's weapons to their own devices.
Now that he had dealt with that, Takauji was able to go to his and Raynare's room without interruption.
"H-Huh… who's there?" She said while still half-asleep, being startled awake by the sound of the door opening.
"It's me," he leaned in closer to her face. Examining both her eyes to make sure there weren't any oddities that warranted his attention. "How do you feel?"
Raynare tried to stand up, but the sudden disorientation her drastically different eyesight gave her caused her to stumble over, luckily having Takauji on standby to catch her.
"Yeah, it's pretty jarring isn't it? Don't worry, you'll get used to it in time." She blinked repeatedly, reaching her hand out in an attempt to interact with the strange currents she was seeing all around her. "That's the flow of Mana itself you're seeing, my body also probably looks different to you."
"Woah…" She turned to him, able to map out the Mana coursing through his body with her eyesight alone, and even that of her own. "This is quite… something."
"Try to remember the sensation you feel when you deactivate [Licht Vene], if you channel that same feeling into your eyes you should be able to return your eyesight to normal, and obviously change it back when you need to."
She did as he asked, relieved to have her vision stabilize.
"That's much better, thanks." Once she assumed full command over her new Draconic eyes, the path to go beyond Ultimate-Class would truly open up, a prospect the past her couldn't even dream about.
"Don't mention it," he smiled. "Follow me, yesterday someone came to meet me who should be able to help you with your training."
"Who?"
"You should know him–"
Right as he walked through the door, Takauji ended up bumping into someone.
"Oh, sorry about that." It was none other than Masashige. "You wouldn't have happened to see Benihime around? I keep calling for her but she hasn't been answering."
"Just leave it be for now, our swords are busy." He replied plainly. "As you can see Raynare's awake now, so you two can start getting to work."
"THE MONSTER'S HERE!" Raynare yelped, hiding behind Takauji's back as she shielded herself from Masashige.
"Still calling me that? Your power certainly has changed, but your personality doesn't seem to have become all that different." Masashige chuckled, leaning over Takauji's side causing Raynare to retreat even further.
"W-Why is he here?" Raynare asked Takauji as she trembled, a hoard of unpleasant memories resurfacing in her brain.
"Like I said, he's here to help you with your training." He pretended not to notice the visceral fear Raynare was experiencing. "Since you two already seem to be acquainted I won't waste time having you introduce yourselves."
"No! I don't want to be left with the monster! He'll eat me! Pandora-sama!"
After exuding significant effort to get Raynare to unhand her grip on his shirt, he quickly scurried away, catching a glimpse of Masashige's mad scientist-like expression on the way out.
Or at least that was the plan.
All of a sudden, both Masashige and Takauji froze, confusing Raynare as she watched their expressions stiffen out of nowhere.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Someone broke through the Urakyoto barrier," her eyes widened in shock. "Masa, there wouldn't happen to be another Fallen Angel coming here without my knowing would there?" He turned to the future Governor.
"Not to my knowledge, the method the intruder used to get through the barrier is also different to mine, they didn't just make a small incision in it, they overpowered it entirely. But somehow none of the Youkai have been alerted of the intrusion." Takauji nodded, his senses arriving at the exact same conclusion. "Even I'm not capable of such a feat, which means either they're above Satan-Class in terms of strength–"
"Or they have some sort of dedicated ability that allows them to get through the barrier, maybe a Sacred Gear?" Takauji finished his sentence.
"There is a faction within the Khaos Brigade that has the highest concentration of Sacred Gear wielders out of all of them, and by no small margin. Have you ever heard of the Hero faction?"
"I have, those are the maniacs trying to brute-force some of their members towards achieving [Balance Breaker] right?" The reports had shown that most people working for the Hero Faction who possessed Sacred Gears, were being thrown into life or death battles with the hopes of attaining more subordinates with [Balance Breaker], which 99% of the time ended up in their deaths.
Basically an ends justify the means mentality.
"Yeah, among them is a top-tier Longinus user with the Sacred Gear [Dimension Lost], if there's anything that would be capable of bypassing the Urakyoto barrier so effortlessly it would be that. Even if the other Youkai haven't noticed it, Yasaka definitely has, so she's probably gathering them as we speak."
"So this is a terrorist attack, but for what purpose? They should be focusing on attacking the alliance, why come after the West Youkai Faction of all places?"
"I don't know, and the fact that I don't know makes it all the more concerning." Masashige groaned, tilting his bucket hat downwards ever so slightly.
"Raynare."
"Yes?"
"Go to Yasaka, keep her protected and coordinate with her efforts if she asks you to, should anything happen to her or the other Youkai your [Twilight Healing] will be crucial." With her new eyes, Raynare's awareness had also become five times stronger than it was before.
"Understood, but what will you be doing?"
"I'll go after their heavy hitters, with the power they possess it's simply too dangerous to let even one of their core members get close to the people here." He turned to Masashige. "You want in?"
"Is that even a question? If I capture a few of them alive I can use them to bribe Azazel, I'd be an idiot to refuse such an opportunity." He chuckled darkly alongside Takauji. "Also, since we didn't get to finish our duel I'll be able to use this as a nice substitution." Masashige differed to the current Governor in this regard, even though he adored research just as much, he also had a burning desire to increase his personal strength as much as possible. Which was part of the reason he had technically become the strongest Fallen Angel at such a young age, combined with his unrivaled talent.
"Then let's get going already, it'd be rude to keep our guests waiting."
Takauji's reputation as the West Youkai Faction's Guardian had been made extremely public at this point, which just put the audacity of the intruders on full display.
However, what they didn't know was that there wasn't just one walking nuke waiting for them at Kyoto, but two.
To say they were in for a rude awakening, would be an understatement.
"Aren't you going to call Sayafushi back?" Masashige asked.
"No, I can tell they're strong, but not strong enough to make me interrupt my blade's date."
"Oh? I didn't know you dipped your toes into hand to hand combat."
"I haven't." Masashige deadpanned.
"So you're just going to fight them as is? Are you sure that's wise?"
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, I don't see you recalling Benihime?" He raised a brow.
"If I interrupted Benihime's date she'd probably decapitate me, I'm still too young and handsome to die just yet, and it's like you said, they're strong, but not that strong."
"Then we're all good to go, it'd be good to have our blades act as extra security back here anyways." Yasaka and Raynare's safety were his priority, having both of them around Benihime and Sayafushi was nothing but a boon.
Raynare's lips quivered a little as she watched the two of them walk off into the distance ever so casually, wondering when the day where she could boast such power would come, causing her to reach up towards her new eyes before clenching her fist.
"Now isn't the time for such thoughts, my job is to keep this place safe." She steeled herself, sprinting towards Yasaka as the West Youkai Faction braced itself for impact.
And the Hero Faction, for the strongest duo of their generation.
