Renzo stopped in an open area and flicked stones in to four directions. Stabbing his large sword to the ground he called out to his followers "You Aren't the quietest! Show yourself!"
"Maybe you're just great prey! they always hear better." the bandit clacked the handles of his daggers together as a way to call out for reinforcements. The leader retreated to the back of the small army "Go ahead boys!" he clinked the blades together like serving dinner.
"Very well." Renzo left his blade on the ground and raised his fists. "Grah!" He back handed the bravest into the nearest ruins before using that outstretched hand to snatch the next by their head. Renzo jabs the bandit in the gut before using him to wipe out three others and then bashing him into the ground. He stomps one of the heavier bandits in the shin, bringing him down to his knees before elbowing him to the top of the skull.
"Larger groups!" Shouted the next victim that Hanzo charges at palming his full face and bashing the one close behind with their head. One managed to attempt a swing but his arm was caught in between Renzo's forearm and upper arm.
He was shoulder tossed the bandit and made sure their feet hit the next target on the head. "Attack!" The entire group charged in but as Renzo stomped a green dome shot from the sword in the ground knocking all of the bandits back.
"Fair effort, but not enough." he glanced behind him as the leader leaps out of the ground in an attempt to stab his back. "Far from enough." Renzo grabbed the leader by the arms.
"Gah! w-wait don't break me!"
"What is your name?"
"Shinshika!"
"Well Shinshika. Where is the bandit king-" Renzo looks around him "More?" he sighed.
"Some are on the roofs and others in the alley. Seven total." Renzo knocked out the leader he was holding on to "Six."
"He really wasn't the right choice. Horeou should've tested their strengths." one on the roof was a tall man with short hair, wearing a white shirt with shoulder armor replacing the sleeves, wide legged grey pants tied to the waist by a rope, and sandals with metal studs on the soles.
"He cant even use that spirit of his properly! he should just crawl in those holes of his and die!" A shaggy haired woman in a half worn cloak around the waist and a long sleeved gi. She wielded a narrow katana focused mostly for speed.
"Maybe he is just that strong, Shinshi did kill many of the other bandit leaders with that tactic." Kumotaro himself had arrived wearing a blue sash and a kimono top and simple pants.
the rest stayed silent save for the slight snicker at "Shinshi."
The sleeveless man spoke up "What ever power that mole has doesn't matter! We just kill this one first!" He leaped down with a flying kick which was blocked, but he followed up with a stomp but Renzo tossed him back.
"Hand to hand? how'd you get this far?"
"I got really good at it!" he charged in furiously.
-Fujima and Keiaru-
"Excuse me? miss-" Keiaru and Fujima were asking around. Fujima only got mumbled nothings and whispers about the same thing "Our savior." Keiaru had a bit of luck, they didn't speak much but they pointed at the tower in the far distance "That is were this land is born" an old man whispered.
"But how?" her question would sum up no answer as the old man walked away to tend to his shimmering garden.
"Any luck Fujima?" she looks back to the world of the living
"Not really" suddenly Keiaru drags Fujima closer to her before whispering. "Stay on guard. there is danger near."
"Alright. where?"
"Don't know. but its in this area." Fujima gives her a side eye but she shrugs in defense "I didn't complete all of my training, I was solving problems."
"Whatever" Fujima tensed up clenching his knife tightly as yukue uses her second sight to find any living soul.
A shadowy blur blitzed past Keiaru "Fujima-" *pak* all she could see as she looks out of the spirit world is a sleek haired man carrying an unconscious Fujima on his shoulder and running off.
"Get back here!" she tried to chase but the man was too fast, and a flat club blocked her path. "Go on ahead! I got this" a stout man drops from the roof beside Keiaru.
"Nice to meet you again!" Raimotaro noisily interrupts, cutting in front of yukue.
"Move!" She surprisingly shoved the heavy man back
"He is long gone by now!" He dropped from high in the air and brought his club down but yukue knocks it to the side with her sword
"Where is he going!" she pointed her blade at him.
"No where you should be worried about!" Raimotaro charges back in, a weird essence enveloping him. "Lets see you deflect this!" the club emitted sparks of lightning as he swung. Swing after swing with electricity trailing along the wind the club scattered. It became troubling for yukue to defend herself from the strength of the blows, and the electricity lunging at her armor. She could've defeated him easier but the electricity seemed to cut off any chance to counter.
Being pushed to the point of evasion only frustrated her more. "I don't have time for this!" her frustration made it difficult to think properly but she could scramble a few memories together. "The electricity is attracted to metal, but he seems to make enough to form a wall." She removed the armor on her arms and sheathed her sword before ripping a support beam off of a ruined house. "Do you think you are so much better than me!?" Raimotaro slammed his club to the ground to put on a show of lightning.
He pounded his chest furiously and inhaled "I am the thunderous!-" Before he could finish boasting about himself Keiaru hurled the pillar like a spear, hitting him right on the nose. But Keiaru already closed the distance of the stunned man and rebounded the pillar to his throat with a spin kick. While the bandit was gasping for air, Keiaru brought her sheathed blade down to the back of his neck.
Raimotaro fell with a thud, completely unconscious. Keiaru stood over him, silently considering his fate but Fujima was in danger. "Don't you dare die!" She shouted to Fujima, running toward the only place she could think they would take him. But three shadows followed her path.
-nearing the castle-
Fujima woke up from being knocked out, quicker than this sleek haired bandit probably expected since he didn't tie him up, or take his net.
Fujima pulled the net from his pocket and released enough of the net to snag on the roof they were about to dash past. Fujima was snagged off of the bandits' shoulder. Landing harshly, sliding on the dirt and stopping with a roll. He searched his surroundings and stood up quickly and ran to the alley. "I thought you would at least try to fight, boy. But i guess you're smart enough."
"Listen here slick, I don't have the time for this-" A blur cuts in front of him. "where are you..." he muttered, trying to track the bandit.
"Maybe I'm behind you?" Riku's voice was behind Fujima but Fujima could faintly hear him move elsewhere. But the moment he turned he felt his net slightly tug in the other direction. "Here-" Riku dodged the slash of a knife "Whoa... getting too smart huh?" Suddenly all noise coming from the man vanished when a small area of darkness circled his feet before he disappeared again.
Even in the dark fog Fujima could faintly see a shadow zipping between the alleyways. His eyes could barely track where the bandit was but it was enough to make the bandit hesitate with his attack. The speedy man perched on a roof silently but a moment later he evaded Fujima's net being tossed near him. "How did he find me?" He tapped his foot on the roof and no sound was released, as he expected, though the net was yet again pinpointed at him shortly after he made the noise.
Now he was getting frustrated, "You shouldn't be any trouble... Fujima?" he wasn't sure Raimotaro told him the truth of his name but Fujima wouldn't answer either. He was actually gone? The man scoured the area with his eyes but there was nothing he could see anytime soon. But the faint sound of a pebble rolling may have saved his life as he dodges a sneak attack from Fujima.
He tried to leap away But Fujima tugged at his net, causing it to rise up behind Riku like a tidal wave. Unfortunately the plan failed when Riku dashed to the side leaving the net to collapse on itself. The surprise on Riku's face turned in to that of irritation.
He vanished again, this time moving even faster and farther away. Fujima tried to track him, but he wasn't going to let Fujima catch him by chance. Riku moved like a fly, the moment Fujima got a track of his movements Riku made one small move to force Fujima to lose track of him.
"I'll just knock him out more harshly, the king didn't say to bring him back unharmed." Riku thought, pulling out a small iron ball tied to a rope. It was a bit complex and slowed him down when trying to use it, but it kept him safe from that knife and that net wasn't going to catch him any time soon. He charges in, stopping just before Fujima's range where he would swing this "baby flail" aiming to hit Fujima's head but Fujima was rather quick, to his credit.
Ducking under the iron ball, Fujima swiftly tosses his net in retaliation but misses. In that moment of vulnerability, Riku swing the iron ball again and closes the distance in a matter of seconds. Fujima dodged the ball and tried to slice at Riku but was disarmed easily. They were both too close to use the weapons they had now, so Fujima and Riku engage in hand to hand combat, something Riku had an advantage at in both speed and skill.
And from the castle the bandit king, Horeou, was watching from a platform at the top. He had an eager look in his eye that wanted to see how Fujima fought first. With that red eye shining down on he could see the battle clearly. Riku practically danced around Fujima tagging him with small hits when he could. There was little Fujima could do to fight back but his defense was good enough to force Riku to stick with small hits. But that would drag out and another voice entered his mind
"You can watch him fight forever when the world is one." a translucent, shadowy spirit in barely visible black robes, even in the lit room, appeared behind Horeou. "Do you really think of the unification all of the time?" Horeou continued to watch Fujima fight, he was still fending fairly well but wasn't fast enough to strike back. "Why do you call it unification? Cleansing seems to be better fit." Horeou sighed at the spirit "Cleansing, executing, eradication... does it matter? At the end of it all there will just be one world. The spirit world."
The spirit sat silently on the edge of the platform with Horeou. Clearly annoyed with the thought process of the simple man "You... were the one who started this." Horeou chuckled while the spirit turned to look down on the fight. "This serves no purpose. Bring him in yourself, the others can deal with those 'enlightened' ones, and we will see how well he does when we put him to use." The spirit moved inside the castle as Horeou follows shortly after "Riku can bring him in on his own."
"Can he? the fight is fairly equal now that that boy is aware of Riku." even if the hood hid her face, there was clearly a smug grin. "Have a little faith. he isn't trying to kill him."
"Why doesn't he?"
"No other person can hold the net, and it is capable of catching almost anything."
"Almost?" the spirit asked, but all Horeou did was chuckle like she would understand.