Transformation

Grim stepped out of the aura pillar with his arms folded and dressed in full ninja garb.

The headband he wore was much longer and billowed behind him completely unimpeded by gravity.

Looking as if it were made of a combination of crimson flame and part of his aura, it was fuzed to the Zukin that covered his head. Written on the headband was a white glowing character from Japanese kanji that stood for murder/kill.

Small gold chains connected his Fukumen and Zukin. Together they kept his face completely covered except for his eyes like a balaclava.

A red vest with 6 glowing kuni made out of white Ki covered his chest. The sleeves belonging to his shozoku underneath were cut off at the shoulder, showing off his bulging biceps.

Tied to the golden cloth belt of his hakama hung a Kusarigama. It's chain was made of pure white energy connected to a weight shaped like a ring. The weapon also had two sinister looking blades attached adjacently on a single metal rod.

"Hmmph!"

With a flex of his leg muscles, he vanished from the spot he stood and appeared in the air among the zombies that had been sent flying.

'Trick Cage'

A large white dome constructed of ki suddenly appeared over a large area around him, trapping more than a hundred of the zombies and skeletons who attacked him. Black ethereal chains bound the arms and legs of them all, restricting their movements completely including the airborne zombies who were stuck floating in midair utterly helpless.

With the dome completed, Grim completely vanished from sight once again.

'Ghost Flash'

Green after-images appeared behind every last one of the undead trapped within the sphere in the blink of an eye. Together, they moved in unison as they sliced through the backs of their victims. A green wound was left behind on each one as Grim reappeared outside of the sphere while the after-images faded.

With a snap of his fingers, the dome dropped and the wounds that were left detonated at the same time.

Just like that, the undead that were within the sphere were absolutely annihilated. A massive green shockwave swept through the canyon knocking each zombie and skeleton onto it's back like a domino.

Grasping hold of the Kusarigama at his side, Grim flipped into the air and threw all 6 of the kuni on his vest into random locations among the undead. White Ki shot out from the kuni and attached itself to any undead unfortunate enough to be close to them.

With a toss of his Kusarigama, it's chain linked to each Kuni as it passed through the crowd of undead, severing each one completely in half while grim stood by with his arms crossed before boomeranging back into his grasp.

Grim snapped his fingers again and each Kuni detonated with blinding white light. Deep craters were left behind, making the area look like it was just carpet bombed.

With more than half of the undead army now laid in shambles before him, Grim chuckled. Grinning to himself, he made a mental note of how much time he had left.

After using all those attacks, his flaming headband was noticeably much shorter than before. He estimated he had only a few more minutes to finish up the stragglers.

Using Ghost Flash, he managed to destroy a hundred more undead.

Flashes of white light lit the canyon as he teleported directly to each one and sliced them to pieces with his kusarigama before his transformation finally ran out.

Weakened from exhausting his Mana and Ki, Grim's body went limp against a giant boulder he had managed to teleport over to before reverting to his base form.

The left over undead feverishly searched for his position which was obscured by bone dust that hovered throughout the air as a result of the multitude of explosions he had caused.

'If only my body could handle that form better, I wouldn't be in this damned situation!'

Silently cursing himself, Grim stared up at the moon above with the thought of death fresh in his mind.

…

Reyes awoke to the sound of a series of explosions going off in the distance. Brushing dust from clothes, he stood up. The sharp pain from his head wound caused him to stumble for a brief moment, but he sucked it up and brushed that off too.

The bone dust had dissipated completely so after a quick look around the area, he was easily able to find his pack. Unfortunately for him, when he reached his hand inside to grab the healing potion Saphira had made for him, shards of glass were the only thing that greeted his fingers.

'Fuck my life.'

Sucking his bloody fingers, he looked around and noticed his brother's footprints trailing off into the distance.

'So he just left me to die? This "An OG never leaves a brother behind" head ass motherfucker really left me here.'

Shaking his head, he slung his pack onto his back and followed his brother's footprints. As he stepped into the area with the bone alter, Reyes used mana sense to see if anyone was around.

Nothing…

Noticing the ceremonial dagger that rested on the top of the shrine, he walked over and grabbed it.

He halfway expected something to happen, but nothing did.

'Well, that's pretty anticlimactic.'

Throwing the dagger into his pack, he passed by the shrine and noticed three sets of footprints. Two of them ended abruptly while the last continued through the mud to the west.

Choosing to follow the latter of the three, he began moving west.

…

The wind rushed by Leezy as he leapt through the air above the mountain ridge he had saw from the massive piece of armor disguised as a mountain.

With a clang, he landed hard atop a helmet that was much larger than the armor fragment they stood on previously.

Distracted by the sheer size of what he stood on, a powerful wind gust passed by and nearly knocked him off it.

Looking up, he stared at a massive aura pillar that had erupted from the canyon a few miles away from him as it dispersed the clouds in the night sky between, bathing the land in the moonlight hidden behind them.

"For me to feel that all the way over here, whatever's happening in that canyon i have GOT to be a part of! To think my brother would try to hog all that action makes my blood boil."

Thinking aloud while a fiendish grin spread across his face, he leaped high into the air with adrenaline pumping through his veins.

As he drew closer to his destination, he found himself unconsciously biting his lip as multiple green and white explosions became visible within the canyon.