The Five Clans
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|| CHAPTER 18 | The Five Clans ||
"Do you know of the five main clans that guard over Xenorynth?
"It is said that there are more Spirit Wielders out there that guard over other kingdoms, over other lands. The same number of clans roamed in another place, in another world, foreign to our lands.
"The same five main clans, the same number of sub-clans, the same powers wielded and the same strength shown. Why do you think that the world chooses five to protect each land?
"To answer that, we will need to take a small step first to get to the bigger one. The five main Spirit Clans in Xenorynth are possibly the strongest ones out there. Perhaps, once this tale comes to an end, we can move on to the others."
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His eyes turned red for a second as he stabbed his hand to that one demon. "A-Argh!!! YOU'RE JUST A MERE HUMAN!!! HOW DARE YOU––"
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"Shut up, shut up, shut up!!
"I'll make sure that even the underworld doesn't welcome you to its home!!"
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The fuchsia-haired boy cut him by side kicking him in the head, throwing him far away and chanted, "Winter Magic: Silver Storm!!!"
A storm of argent specks of dust covered the area as Kumo finished chanting his spell. The demons began to move much slower than before. The boy didn't have any more energy to cast a stronger spell. Kumo took this chance to flee with his brothers, "Let's go, Ruka-niisan!"
"Right!"
The honey-blonde-haired Ichimori carried his unconscious younger brother on his back. He adjusted the brunet's position quickly while running–– so that he's comfortable–– and ran for their lives to the outer parts of the collapsed cave with the bright fuchsia-haired boy.
With Kumo leading the way, Ruka worried not about the fact that they wouldn't be able to find the exit to the maze-like place.
Kumo's known for his strong memory, after all.
Bringing him with the Head Clans was a small fight the oldest Ichimori had to do due to the bad feeling creeping up on him before they set out to this meeting.
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"Otou-sama, I still insist that we bring Kumo with us."
A firm voice rang throughout the windy hall of the Ichimori's traditional estate. With wooden pillars of darkened colours creating shadows to their vision, the older male who walked in front of Ruka stopped.
Ryuusei heaved a small sigh and looked back, keeping his body and feet glued to the wooden floor below. His emerald green eyes were met with a beautiful pair of ocean-blue ones.
The older blonde raised an eyebrow and uncrossed his arms, gesturing Ruka to speak of his reasons. "And why do you think so, Ruka?"
With the chilly night winds flowing through the strands of their honey-blonde hairs, Ryuusei turned his form completely towards his first child, expression unchanging.
His lips parted and spoke, "You know full well that this is no ordinary meeting. The Ichisakis and the Ichijous are bringing their little ones for personal reasons. We have someone to take care of Kumo here–– it would be much more dangerous to bring him with us."
Ruka's mouth opened to protest, but no word came out. Instead, the soon-to-be adult sighed and relaxed his stiff shoulders. His father wasn't always this hard to persuade, why now?
"I know that, Otou-sama. However, I still think that we should bring him with us," the heir repeated firmly.
Though he could not state his reasons with words, the way his blue eyes gleamed beneath the moon's shine moved something in Ryuusei's mind. Why did Ruka want to bring his youngest brother?
The Head of the Ichimori Clan closed his eyes for a short while, crooning in acknowledgement. He knew of Ruka's protective nature towards his siblings. And on top of that, he's the heir to being the next Head Clan after himself. Surely the boy wouldn't want anything bad to happen to his younger siblings.
"Then..." Ryuusei began as he opened his eyes slowly. The man didn't look at his son, but at the moon instead. "... care to tell me why you felt that we need to bring Kumo?"
"I..." Ruka stuttered a bit, contemplating the words he needed to use. Explaining vaguely wouldn't convince his father further.
He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly in the end before looking at his father dead in the eye.
"It's... a feeling I have, Otou-sama. Though I cannot explain it in words, I fear that something big will happen in this meeting we're going to have–– I do wish that it's nothing more than an instinct of mine."
The older man looked back at his son's determined gaze. Finally, Ryuusei broke into a smile and chuckled a bit, returning to his usual gentle self.
"My, my... This part of me didn't really fit me, did it?" he asked playfully, earning a somewhat surprised look from Ruka. Chuckling once more, Ryuusei exhaled softly and nodded. "Right then, we'll bring Kumo with us."
A breath of relief escaped Ruka's mouth–– a breath he didn't know he held in.
The nineteen-year-old male grinned in gratitude at his father's approval. He didn't think that it would be this hard to persuade his gentle father, but he did it anyway. Smiling to himself, Ruka didn't seem to notice the same look that Ryuusei wore towards him.
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'I do believe that you'll become a fine Head Clan one day, Ichimori Ruka. Testing you was the right action, after all.'
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'I guess trusting my instinct was the right move in the end,' Ruka kept to himself, biting his bottom lip as he struggled to run with weight on his back.
The three of them climbed out of the cave with Kumo's magic Frost Cloak. Their escape did not last long as the maniacal-looking demons were now able to move freely again.
"DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!!! THE KING WON'T BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!" one of the bigger-sized ones roared into the air.
The loudness of his voice was enough to vibrate the whole place into dust.
Another one that trailed on the other side of the cave looked fearful, yelling his reply in a high-pitched voice as his eyes bulged, "What about the other three?! They're not here ever since that dome was taken down!!"
They all suddenly stopped, seeing the strongest of the bunch slouching its body forward. Its blackened eyeballs were locked onto the heir of the Ichimori Clan's running figure.
They no longer care about the other two who were running alongside the oldest male.
"Forget about them. We only need... him."
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–– all of them began to eye the heir of the Ichimori Clan, Ichimori Ruka, hungrily.
And with one final glower, the demons began launching themselves at the young Spirit Wielders.
"O' KING'S EYE, REVEAL THYSELF!!!" they roared out together and another eye appeared on top of their foreheads. The eyeball turned uncontrollably in every possible direction, even the back of their heads.
"GET THEM!!!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! THIS IS GETTING FUN!!!"
"AND FUN IT IS, INDEED!!! KAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!!"
Kumo panicked as the–– now three-eyed–– corrupted demons were now at their tails, causing the boy to demand the white cloth to move faster.
A few of the demons burnt the giant tree that was covering the red moonlight down. The crimson-lit moon lit the area red again as it was freed from the emerald-leaved tree's covers.
The beasts of the dead and sins that were defeated before resurrected again under the moonlight's effects.
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One thousand remaining...
"Ugh…!" Kumo grunted as they tried to escape the place quickly. His eyes darted from one place to another on the holographic map he'd created with his magic. However, even with a map, he struggled to find the way out.
"Who built this place?! It's too damn big!!!" he cursed under his breath while focusing on the escape route. 'They kept coming and coming! We won't be able to escape at this rate!'
Hundreds of flamethrowers blasted out of the demon's mouth as they hit the three escaping children, burning Ruka and Kumo's back as they rolled down to the floor. They got up on their feet, but Kumo fell on his knees again.
His energy has been depleted.
Their mana pool had been drained dry by the constant spells they cast.
Ruka looked incredibly pale, and Kyou's still unconscious. Even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to do anything to help them.
The demons landed shortly after their fall, surrounding the three children of the Ichimori.
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... They were cornered.
The winged devils once again raised their hands high into the night sky that was shaded with vivid red. Black blood flowed out again from their cracked skin. The liquid flooded the area faster than before.
'We're doomed. Definitely doomed,' Kumo thought to himself with a panicked look as Ruka hold both of his siblings close behind him.
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'Oh no, you're not!!! Sorry I hadn't been contacting you, but I told you that you're not going to die before we get help, didn't I?' a familiar voice echoed loudly in their heads, interrupting the pessimistic thoughts they had that were running wildly.
"This voice...!"
"Kishi...!! Over here!!" Ruka informed hastily whilst he looked back at the demons flying at them once every few seconds. The dark-coloured liquid was inches from reaching them.
"Yeah, I can see you, all right!! And I brought the rest!!!" the violet-eyed boy yelled from above the three of them.
The rest of the clan were behind him, along with two other missing clans that had yet to show up.
"WELL HURRY UP, THEN! THOSE DEMONS AREN'T GONNA DIE BY THEMSELVES!!!" Kumo barked at him impatiently, scared for his life. Ruka could swear he saw several veins bursting on his younger sibling's head.
"All right, all right, Gaia!!! Don't be so feisty. Well, you heard the moody brat!!!"
"Kishi, we need to fix your manners," Kizuki stated in disappointment, sighing and crossing his arms.
"No need. I'm perfect the way I am~" Kishi replied, putting the back of his hands under his chin, blinking his eyes towards his father while grinning mischievously.
"Argentum Saltus: Aero Alas," Ryuusei chanted hastily, yet calmly. Wings began to sprout quickly from the children's back, allowing them to barely escape the black blood in time.
"Thank you, Otou-sama," Ruka thanked quietly with a small nod, almost sounding like a whisper. He lied on the ground while panting after he put the injured Kyou down.
"Where were you?! If you had just come earlier, Kyou-niisan wouldn't–– HE WOULDN'T–– He wouldn't––...!"
Tears were already spilling out of his ocean-blue orbs. Kumo sobbed uncontrollably as his shoulders were shaking.
"Kyou-niichan... Ruka-niichan... Kumo..." Mizuki looked at the three of them sadly.
They were covered in bruises and blood.
Kiryuu frowned at the sight of the cacao brown-haired male. His indigo eyes scanning the younger boy's torn arm.
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"What happened to him?"
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The sudden question caught them off guard. Sure, they were expecting someone to ask about Kyou's state, but it seemed that they weren't ready.
"... Kyou-niisan... He–– He–– T-Two demons–– His a-arms–– Hic––" Kumo sobbed loudly as he tried to explain what happened to his older brother. He may not look like it, but he cared deeply for his family, especially Kyou.
"T-They sank their t-teeth i–– into h-his arms... They became b-black...? Th-Then they t-tore it off..." the young boy explained shakily between his sobs. His eyes were wide with horror as he remembered what happened before.
Ryuusei, his father, hugged the scared fuchsia-haired male as he cried into his father's arms. The older male soothed the boy as the other Head Clans observed the crowd of demons in front of them.
"I see there's a lot of them," a man with wavy aqua hair and dark-magenta eyes scanned the demons, counting the total of the winged beasts in his head, "There are probably about a thousand of them–– perhaps even more. How shall we deal with them then?"
The man pushed up his thin glasses. The moonlight was reflected on his lenses, preventing others to see his eyes.
He was wearing a tattered white collared shirt and black pants. His black coat was carried by his other hand.
Another one with light-grey hair and pale-yellow eyes came up behind him, putting one of his hands on the aqua-haired male's shoulder.
This one wore a simple kimono with a white top and a navy-blue bottom. His clothes were also dirty and torn apart.
"Patience, Kaien. We'll get to them soon enough," the light grey-haired man spoke gently to the other new individual, now known as Ichinosuke Kaien, assuming he's an Ichinosuke due to his hair was similar to Ichinosuke Keita.
"Hmph. The longer we wait, the longer this fight will be over, Ryoku."
"Well, we'll need to attend to the children first. They've done well fighting those corrupted demons off," the pale-yellow-eyed male, notably called Ichinose Ryoku, uttered softly.
Ruka suddenly jumped up immediately, seemingly remembering something, "Shizuka…!"
"Hmm? What about the young lass?"
"Is she with you?" Ruka inquired frantically, his concern was quite clear. Kiryuu and Kishi also frowned upon hearing his question. Others were as well.
"Was she not with you? I thought she was assisting you, children, fighting off the demons," Ryoku voiced patiently, waiting for a response. Though worry was evident on his face.
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The long silence confirmed that the platinum-blonde-haired girl was with neither of them.
Eito, however, was not worried in the slightest. Not that he showed his emotion that much anyway.
"... Eito."
Hearing his name being called by the older aqua-haired male, he looked at him with his gold orbs, humming in response, "Hmm?"
"Don't 'hmm' me. Are you not worried about your daughter in the slightest? You're usually all protective and stuff." Kaien scoffed and tore his eyes away from the younger Head Clan, knowing he would answer his query.
Eito remained quiet for a while and kept himself composed. "Of course, I am. But she's capable enough to fight back. She had sent a message to me a while before."
"Hmph, that is so like you." Kaien nodded and continued, "Well, what did she say, then?"
The gold-eyed male paused for a while, choosing his words wisely as he closed his eyes. When he opened them, they glowed brightly, competing with the crimson light that the moon radiated. He looked at them all in the eye, making them shiver a little before finally answering...
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"She said..."
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|| CHAPTER 18 | The Five Clans - To be continued... ||
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