Chapter 2 - The Ambush

The appearance of bats meant only one thing - the presence of an evil foe!

The intensity of the squeaks increased as the odour of evil pervaded the night air.

I felt the weight of darkness over my head.

Slowly, I looked up to the foliage above me and was instantly greeted by beads of light. They had been waiting.

I have been surrounded.

Within a split second, a colony of bats had materialized overhead and was about to swoop down on me in a blanket of darkness. They formed an intimidating canopy that overshadowed me, but I was unperturbed.

Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my hands in fists and then swiftly extended my palms. I executed the Kuji-in (Nine hands seal) with a rotation motion.

“Josho - 上！“ I commanded.

Instantly, a shield of power smoothly formed over me like a canopy. With a flick of my right sword fingers, I sent it cascading upwards.

“Armies of the unseen, come to my assistance,” I muttered as I executed the move.

As the shield of energy rose through the air, it sliced through the air, churning the bats into shreds. Instantly, they turned to ashes and vaporized into the air before I could investigate.

“Dark, dark magic,” I thought.

It seems some unfriendly people have followed us to Singapore, I whispered.

A fight seemed imminent and I worried about Kelly.

I looked around. “Show yourself! Only cowards stay in darkness.” I added

My wish was fulfilled. As I looked around, I noticed the dark ashes rose like there was an invisible hand building it up.

Within seconds, it imploded into a crescendo that was double my height. The dark mass began to mutate into grotesque shapes. As it did so, it dished out a cacophony of deafening sounds.

In the climbing decibels were waves of chill.

I took a deep inhale and exerted my powers to steady my pulse.

With a robust exhale, I lifted the powers from my dantian (丹田), our energy center that was situated at the abdomen, and drove them up my veins through my limbs, to my palms. A blob of warmth grew into circles of light. I am ready for battle

The dark mass had transformed into a colossal figure with arms like a gigantic primate with a huge head.

I could sense its intimidating presence of darkness. I had just completed an exorcism assignment and my powers are below par. However, as Onmyoji, we have been taught never to fear.

Fear is nothing

I flexed my arms and raised my voice.

“Come on. I am ready for you!”

I joined my pointer and middle fingers into a sword pose and reorganized my energies.

In one jab, I directed my hands at the gargantuan. My energy sword missed his shoulder by a fraction of an inch. In defiance, it raised its head skywards and roared with a nasty, deep groan that rippled through the air and scalped my skin. It pranced towards me with each of its steps sending tremors and I calmly rotated my fingers and commanded

“Heaven and earth, armies of the worlds come to assistance.” I summoned my powers again. This time, I inhaled and held my breath, focusing my energies on breaking the gargantuan.

Instantly, I felt movement in the air as a light wind picked up. Soon I witnessed streams of energy in the environment flowing towards me like streams of energy. I rotated my hands and mustered them between my palms like a ball of energy. Once I felt the warmth of the energies, I exhaled and cried

“ 破 - metsu”

Instantly, darts of yellow powers flew at the giant in a stream, fast and furious. It hit the mammoth figure and knocked off huge masses from its torso and shoulders. It was a hit but it failed to knock out the giant, which seemed more restive. It unleashed an angry cry before pacing towards me.

It seems I had underestimated my dark foe. Before I could summon my powers, it landed two huge fists on me. I leapt backwards, and the impact crushed the bin. I somersaulted backward and landed on my feet. Barely as I felt the impact on my ankles. I dug into my jacket’s pockets, pulled out a string of triangle-sized amulets and spread them in a roll.

Then I commanded.

“Soldiers of the four directions, at my command, to my assistance.”

I steadied my heartbeat, which was beginning to gallop, and reined in the wild energy throbbing in my veins. With one decisive push, I drew the energy into the dantian area again, and this time, I ploughed and built a huge ball of energy onto my hands.

In one push, I raised my palms and lifted the ball upwards, aiming to drive it to my forehead. With one huff, I signaled with my sword fingers and commanded

“Hakai 破坏”

Instantly, the energy waves flew out like rings of light at the dark mass. The projectiles sliced off an arm and shaved off masses from its waist and limbs. The ball of energies threw the dark mammoth off balance like a bowling ball hitting helpless pins, and brought it to its knees.

However, it swiftly regained its foothold with amazing speed.

Without wasting a breath, it slammed both of its fists on the ground, sending ripples of dark energy toward me. The jolt threw me, embarrassingly, to the ground. I barely had time to wince. I noticed the lamppost nearby and ran over, swinging myself up the body.

With as much energy as I could summon, I crawled up the lamppost. My nimble moves seemed to anger the colossal figure, who reacted with a treacherous swing of his arm. The move knocked the lights off the lamp and shook the lamppost.

I have little choice now. Taking a deep breath, I took the opportunity to leap in the air and execute a somersault. It was a gamble, and I landed clumsily on the back of the figure.

It rocked its head backward and unleashed an ugly yell. It then shook violently, trying to throw me off the back. With a twitch of its left shoulder, I lost my footing and fell backward. However, with my other hand, I held onto its shoulders.

Barely.

The dark mammoth was no minion, and I could feel the deep powers of its conjurer. My act had its effect. The gargantuan unleashed a wrenching cry that was echoed by a chorus of shrieks. The dark forces were regrouping. I looked around and heard the distant but growing flapping of wings. From the random beating of air to a robust tempo that seemed to tear the air into pieces.

The bats are regrouping.

It is now or never!

I do not want to be their next meal!