Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

A raging tempest of steps echoed endlessly as tens of thousands of footsteps rang out. An army of warriors wielded blades, possessed varying number of tails, and they pressed forward to unhesitantly sweep through the village towards the northeast.

In this sea of people, this ocean of warriors, this race of Kitsune, was a young boy with stubby legs running about with all his might. His small-sized armor and immature appearance seemed a stark contrast to his solemn expression and pitch black eyes and teeth. He seemed like a small demon coming out from hell, ready to reap away the lives of its enemies, yet at the same time, cute.

This was Akio, Akane’s Brother.

Tsumi was also beside him, closely following him while pressing one hand on her chest. Her incense laid there, her mommy laid there, and she had to protect her mommy from those who wish to bring her harm - even if it meant giving up her life today.

From birth, the children of the Kitsune were trained in a regime that would put spartans in mortal tales to shame. At the age of three, they could easily slaughter a field of men of countless times their ages and do so without a single blink of an eye. The indifference and viciousness would bewilder man, and their battle experience and strategy was beyond superb.

While the village had never been attacked, it did not mean they lacked battle experience by any means. In fact, if compared to the entire Heavenly Origin Grounds, a child of three may have more combat experience than an expert of one hundred thousand years.

"Tsumi! Stay near me!" Akio spoke in his immature voice, making him seem momentarily like a battle-worn man. His tone was warm, and he looked at her with a rare form of decisiveness and caring. It was as if he was saying, "despite me being able to see you in the future, I don’t want to lose you now."

Tsumi looked at Akio, her eyes became slightly wet and she calmly nodded. Whatever differences they had, they were much more mature than normal kids, and they understood how to read the heart of a fellow warrior clearly.

They didn’t have thoughts of "we’ll definitely survive" but "we’ll definitely kill all in our paths!"

They traveled until they came upon the village’s wall. The army slowly came to a stop as their gazes looked up. They saw a pitch-black, surreal-like medieval castle floating in the sky like a shadow reflected by the light of the sun. It was night but this pitch-black shadow gave off a sharp and unforgettable contrast.

"What is...that?" Akio muttered.

Elder Hiroji walked beside him, his eyes focused on the castle with a heavy expression, "Our enemies."

Briefly startled, Akio nodded. His gaze never left the castle.

Woom!

A throne flew out of the castle. It didn’t directly exit from a door, window, or opening of any sort, but simply phased through the castle’s two-dimensionally looking walls. The throne, however, was three dimensional and looked much less surreal than the castle itself. A man sat on the throne, as blackest as the blackest of nights, yet as clear as the burning sun within the sky.

He looked downwards revealing dark eyes that contrasted his black appearance as it was lighter. He smiled revealing a teeth of pearly whites so bright that it seemed to be made of jade. He wore a plate armor, with a helmet that protected his head, neck, and sides, but its facial area had an opening of a spade shape.

He clenched his armored gloved fingers causing the resounding clanking of metal sounds. Lifting up his right hand, he pointed at the people below, "Give us The Grail!" A voice like ghosts sweeping through the air echoed. The Kitsune all had changes of expression.

However, Clan Lord Kaito took the lead, his hand wielding his naginata and pointing it directly at the figure in the throne. "I do not know who you are or what you want, but you are not welcome! You have a few moments of time before we, the Kitsune, make this place your burial ground! Do not be reckless!!" He shouted valiantly like a commander of the skies and heavens.

A cold smile formed on the black figure’s face as he eerily chuckled as if expecting this result. "Then..." his voice trailed off for a bit, lingering in everyone’s heart causing it to beat slightly faster, "Die!!!"

No more negotiations or words were spoken between leaders.

The man in the throne raised his hand and then drove it towards the Kitsune army of tens of thousands. A bugle seemed to sound from nowhere, echoing everywhere yet nowhere, but it suffused a sense of dread in the Kitsune.

"ATTACK!!!" No one knows who spoke this, but it seemed to have been a trigger for the other side as a sea of black exited from the castle in much the same way as the man on the throne.

This sea caused all the Kitune to be shocked. To others, they may be a sea of black, but to them, they could see fully armored warriors wielding all sorts of mortal weapons fly across the skies towards them like a rushing water wave meeting a calm beach shore.

"WE KILL!!!" Clan Lord Kaito roared! He was the first one to fly towards their enemies. The sky would be their battlefield, and the ground will be their burial grounds.

"WE KILL!!!" Every last Kitsune shouted, taking to the skies after their leader fearlessly. They brandished their katana’s with cold hearts and vicious intent. The battle and killing intent formed a palpable air that was ready to explode into one blazing glory. They didn’t know why their enemies were invading, but if they failed to beat them back, wouldn’t their ancestors, and their own, paths to the afterlife be severed directly?!

To them, even if gods and ghosts wished to invade at this moment, they would fight unhesitantly and lay down every drop of blood and life they had to resist! To kill!

Akio was in the back, but his blade shone with a cold light. Tsumi stayed beside him as she agreed, her eyes filled with murder. They looked no more than little children, children who should be enjoying their lives, children who should be playing around in a park, but they were marching into battle with the willingness to die.

Who knew how spectators who watched this would feel?

CRASH!!!

The first collision of forces occurred, following by grunts and screams as metal sparks flashed with each clash. The first wave of screams echoed, but only screams of pain, not a single member of either side screamed with agony, regret, or grievances as their lives were cut down.

Akio could see ahead that an elder who would always tell him stories when he was bored was directly slayed by an axe, split into blood and guts viciously and mercilessly. However, that elder stabbed his blade with heart, taking the life of an armor-plated figure as well. Their bodies fell from the skies with their lives severed.

There was no tears in his eyes, just boundless killing intent as he rushed even faster than before. He had to kill! Kill more than those who were killed! Even if they were outnumbered, he had to kill, kill, kill!!!

With a valiant roar, he wielded his katana with sufficient skill and squeezed his way into the second wave of clashes. The black-colored plated armored enemies immediately honed onto their targets, with a few seeing him as an easy kill and targeting him. Tsumi remained tightly behind, her body soaring in and out of the battlefield.

Her blade jabbed endlessly between the gaps in support of her allies, slicing off the heads of several black knights with a swiftness unlike any other.

Two black knights dashed unhesitantly towards Akio, who smiled with a viciousness unbefitting his age. He wielded his blade and welcomed their weapons with his own.

Klang!

He had blocked two weapons with one blade, causing his body to tremble, but a smile hung on his lips. He didn’t say anything aloud, but in his heart he wanted to mockingly say, "behind you!"

A silver flash passed by the neck of those two enemies as they were stalled by Akio’s blade. Tsumi’s swiftness seemed like the wind as she slid her blade across their necks. Even their armor held very little resistance as their head fell off like a broken doll. A spraying geyser of black blood tainted the surroundings.

She didn’t stop, however, staying close but becoming like a fish swimming through the battlefield. Akio rushed forward. His body bypassing the falling and decapitated bodies as he found a target. The target was fighting a young woman who clashed endlessly, defending against three people at once, but her eyes were calm and focused.

With a swiftness not unlike Tsumi, Akio appeared behind one of them. His blade pierced into its armor with unimaginable ease, as if the blade was the sharpest blade in creation. With a swipe, the armored enemy’s body was split into two.

"Behind you!" A cry came from the woman’s lips as she saw a black shadow behind Akio, but Akio only smiled. He directly fell, letting his body no longer keep its flight. The black axe tried to bisect his small body. He stopped falling after dodging the strike, but almost instantly shot directly upwards. His hands grasped tightly to his blade as he punctured it through the helmet of the axe-wielding fiend from its chin area. A wail of the recently departed shrieked as its life ended with just that piercing stab.

After that, he turned around but his expression fell. The young woman had a spear piercing through her chest, blood soaking out endlessly as her eyes contained no life. With a swing, the armored spear-wielder sent her body tumbling towards the ground to meet the other recently departed.