Fairy Tail: Shinigami - CH250 (Patreon)

[Adam C. POV.]

The air of the Soul Society felt heavy, charged with the imminent arrival of Yhwach's forces. I stood alone, bracing for the inevitable confrontation. In my years of seclusion within my own soul, seeking mastery over my overwhelming abilities, I had often pondered the inevitable clash with Yhwach. 

Based on what Urahara had said... Yhwach was a formidable entity, a threat that loomed large over the delicate balance of this world. To me, he was an adversary, a threat to my friends... and a chance to test my might.

I was spying on their movements, and some of their conversations had confirmed my suspicions, there were a few Quincies my eyes couldn't see. Yhwach being one of them, the others... three members out of the four on his elite group.

Though I couldn't directly sense the whole Schutzstaffel for yet to be known reasons, I knew of their approach. Their reputation amongst their own ranks preceded them, elite warriors handpicked by Yhwach himself, each embodying terrifying powers. What those powers were? I had yet to hear anyone say something... so I was working with no info.

As I awaited their arrival, I reflected briefly on the path that had led me here. I started this new life, as a kid, who was soon enslaved... I honestly had no idea how things had led up to this, it honestly felt like my life was an RPG.

The first quest, killing a rat... the last one, killing a God. 

I chuckled.

If fate had a sense of humor, it was a dark one indeed. 

The empty sky above the Soul Society gave no hints at the coming storm. I had done my part telling the others that the Quincy were coming, now... well, it was time to kill them, most of them anyways. 

I wonder how things would've turned out without my interference in this world... Perhaps I just made things harder for everyone, who knows... not that it matters now though... war has already begun.

"Well time to kill some Nazi," I chuckled, ready to move forward to face the upcoming enemy... however. As the Quincy invasion began, four figures appeared before me, their presence blocking my path. The first to step forward was a Quincy with an air of weariness about him. He seemed almost bored, and somewhat scared by the whole affair. 

"You look scary..." He sighed, frowning. "Why does his Majesty send me to fight such a scary opponent... oh well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Askin Nakk Le Vaar, the 'Deathdealing' Quincy. Pleasure to meet you, or not."

I had to be honest, I barely heard what the man had said... I was far too busy watching the thing next to thing. A grotesque and contorted figure that exuded an aura of malevolence, far greater than anything I had faced. 

"What is that thing?" I asked with a bit of disgust. 

Askin glanced casually toward the distorted figure standing beside him. His lips curled into a wry smile, the kind that suggested he was all too familiar with the disgust his comrade could instill. "Ah, that would be my associate, Pernidas, don't mind him... he can't talk, yet." he said with a nonchalant air as if introducing a common friend rather than a creature of nightmares.

I chuckled, I liked the guy... Askin, too bad I had to kill him. "So, what are your names?" I asked, pointing my blade to the remaining two, one of them looking like a Viking.

The Viking-looking man stepped forward, grinning broadly, his form towering and clad in a blend of ancient and modern armor. His blond hair was swept back. "No worries, friend! You'll get to know us quite well in due time."

"You mean I'll get to kill you all soon," I replied, smiling at them. 

Askin sighed again, seemingly scared by my threat. "Well, aren't you a charmer," he muttered. "His name is Gerard."

I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to the last one. The guy remained silent, his eyes, one of them bearing an crosshair tattoo, focused on me with an intensity I had seen before..., like a predator assessing its prey.

"Charmed," I said, and before anyone could react, I swung my blade and sliced the twitching monstrousity beside Askin in half. If I had learned something in this life, was to kill the weird guy first, they always had the most difficult power to deal with.

But to my astonishment, even after being cut through what I assumed were his vital organs, the creature, Pernidas, didn't fall. Instead, it reformed almost instantly, its halves fusing back together with such speed that it was as if my blade had merely passed through air. 

"Surprised?" Askin chuckled, regaining his composure after the initial shock of my sudden attack. "Pernidas here isn't so easy to dispatch. He has... certain qualities that make him quite resilient, that being said, kind of glad you didn't go for me first."

I narrowed my eyes, studying Pernidas more closely now. The creature's distorted figure seemed to ripple and shiver under his suit, before it growled, shattering his clothes. Revealing... a big fucking hand.

What in the Super Smash Bros Brawl?!

Before I could, a strange sensation spread through my chest. Confused, I looked down and saw a arm-sized hole in the fabric of my shirt, surrounded by a pool of bright red blood. Surprised, I began to cough, spewing even more blood onto the floor. 

The reason I was shocked was simple. This wasn't... possible.

I wasn't so full of myself to think nobody could hurt me, that being said, an attack piercing me, like I have no defense was simply... out of the question.

I grinned inwardly.

This was getting interesting. 

It seems the silent guy had an ability similar to mine in some regards. That, his weapon and his tattoo, could it be he's a sniper with the ability to pierce anything?

How fun!

"Lille, you didn't have to kill him so soon!" Gerard complained, casting a disapproving glance towards the silent man with the crosshair tattoo. "I wanted to fight him."

Lille shrugged, seemingly indifferent to Gerard’s reproach. "He lowered his guard," he stated coldly.

"Kill me?" I chuckled, punching Lille a few miles away, my wound already healed. "Yeah, not happening."

Gerard beamed at me, clearly happy I hadn't died just yet. "Aha! That's more like it! A proper challenge!" His laughter boomed across the battlefield.

"So, where's Yhwach? Tell me, and I will make your deaths quick," I said, an edge of killing intent lacing my words as I wiped the residual blood from my lips with the back of my hand.

Gerard's eyes sparkled with that warrior's glee, the promise of a good fight enlivening his features. "Oh, you'll have to earn that information," he bellowed with a wide grin, the ground trembling as his enthusiasm seemed to manifest in sheer physical presence. "Let us engage in the miracle of battle!"

I shook my head, smirking despite myself, dodging Gerard's first attack, before dodging one of Lille Barro's shots with a flash step, for know, I would keep my distance, playing on the defensive. 

As much as I wanted to blitz them, and be done with this, I had to assess what I knew, and act accordingly. Because, chances were, that if I took my preferred approach to this... things would get unnecessarily harder for me.

One.

These four were the absolute best Yhwach had in his disposal, meaning he was either confident they could kill me, or that they could hold me long enough for him to do his thing.

Two.

Out of the four of them, I could only see one of them, Askin, with my sight. The rest... were, invisible, just like Yhwach.

Three.

While I didn't know much about their abilities, Lille's attack had given me enough information to make some educated guesses. His power was able to ignore my defenses, and hurt me, that alone told me, the others had similarly dangerous abilities... what those abilities were, I had yet to find out. 

"Is dodging all you know?!" Gerard bellowed, swinging his enormous sword in a wide arc that cleaved through the air, shattering the buildings behind me as I leaped back, feeling the whoosh of displaced air as the blade missed me by inches, once again. "Show me your strength, or do you fear us that much?!"

"I'm shaking in fear," I replied, smiling at him.

Four.

Gerard seemed... overly eager to fight me, despite his power being below that of Captain Yamamoto, which made me think one of two things. One, he was holding back for the sake of making things interesting, and two... his power required something of me, leading to his eagerness to fight me.

Five...

Askin, the odd one out of the group, was playing too well the role of the weak one, avoiding direct confrontation, while leaving himself wide open... he was either truly weak, or was luring me in into a trap.

I smiled, ducking under a barrage of Lille Barro's shots, before sidestepping a sneak attack from Askin, who had shot a purple looking ball at me. 

"You dodged that?" Askin exclaimed, a mixture of surprise and annoyance in his tone. "You're fighting all of us, and you can still keep up... But I wonder how long you can keep it up," he mused, fingers twitching as he prepared another attack.

I smiled, tilting my head. "Who knows."

Out of all of them, Askin was the least likely to land a blow on me. Because unlike his friends, he wasn't invisible to my All-Seeing Eyes.

Giving him no time to fire another shot, I lunged forward, my blade aiming for his neck. However, he was quicker than I had anticipated, sidestepping my attack and narrowly avoiding a fatal blow. Instead, my blade left a deep gash stretching across his neck, blood spurted out and stained his white uniform as he stumbled backward, gasping for air. 

I smiled, blood pouring down my mouth. This bastard had no only dodged my attack, but delivered a timely counterattack.

"So scary..." Askin managed to choke out between coughs, pressing his hand against the wound. His eyes, though, betrayed no real fear; they sparkled with a perverse delight. "You're quite the monster, aren't you?"

I didn't respond, instead, I ducked under Gerard's blade, before taking a single flash step out of the incoming barrage shots, courtesy of Lille Barro.

I cracked my neck from side to side, feeling the tension in my neck. As I lifted my blade towards my throat, before dragging it across, slicing my neck open, letting my blood pour out like a broken dam, aiding its flow with my reiatsu. 

"You are nuts," Askin said with a rasping laugh, his voice bubbling through the blood.

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "The most efficient way of dealing with you little attack. Besides, it's only blood, I can easily restore it with a bit of Healing Kido." Had I been hit by that attack before my training in... hell, I would've died without a question, now, however, things like this had solutions.

Gerard stepped forward, towering over me, with a bemused expression on his face. "You're willing to go to such lengths," he rumbled, his voice deep and resonating. "You truly are something else."

"You are making me blush," I replied, the wound on my neck closing up; as the last traces of Askin's poison left my body completely.