Great Serpent erupted from the shadows behind Megumi, swatting at the woman and sending her off to his left side, the Lupo woman grinning and sliding to halt; kicking up dust from the friction.
Megumi reached into his shadows, pulling out Playful Cloud and slamming it against the fallen building, splitting it half.
His Shikigami wrapped around him in protection, a smoke screen building up as the building crashed against the ground.
'Who the hell?' Megumi couldn't see the woman now, but could vaguely sense her thanks to the... Weird energy signature the denizens of Terra possessed. 'That crazy woman had wolf ears... Is she connected to the Blood Hounds?' After all, the Blood Hounds were mainly composed of dog or wolf people.
He prepped into the Playful Cloud stance of that stranger that had killed Dagon back in Shibuya, waiting for the dust to clear.
He could see a flash of white in it, instincts flaring up as the Great Serpent unwrapped from his form, whipping at the enemy.
The snake was parried, the Lupo woman's sword scraping on its skin as she made her way past it and to Megumi.
The black haired man clashed with her, while Great Serpent slid away, letting the both of them meet in a collision.
BANG!
The force of the Playful Cloud contented against the Mad Wolf's swords, said woman was grinning ear to ear.
'He's terrifying as hell!' Lappland noted, seeing how he looked like a black outline, four eyes sticking out from his face and a great black flame erupting from his form.
It sent a primal fear down her spine, screaming at her to get away from the beast as soon as possible... But why was it so exciting at the same time?!
The two disconnected, being slightly pulled back, Megumi spinning the Playful Cloud and doing a 360 rotation as it flowed with him.
Lappland ducked her head as Great Serpent's tail swung at her head, and parried Playful Cloud's blow, both weapons sliding against each other.
The both of them blurred, vanishing from the scene as Great Serpent moved away and hid in the shadows, feeling a great reverberation echoing across the abandoned street.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Megumi weaved through the sword slashes that were capable enough to slice through buildings, moving like a fluid river as he rotated his body multiple times to get the full use out of his three-sectioned staff.
Vertical strike, watch her dodge it, and then kick on the staff to send it flying to the white Lupo's direction, but she jumped over it and went for a horizontal strike at him; but was stopped with a certain serpent slammed against her side, catching her in its mouth.
Megumi dropped the Playful Cloud, forming a bird with his hands.
"Nue!"
A bird came out as Lappland was being pulled by the gigantic snake into the sky, stabbing at it and causing slash marks to form on its head.
But then, an elephant sized bird came barreling upwards, electricity blasting outwards from its body in a beautiful spectacle.
Megumi decided to unsummon Great Serpent, watching as it disappeared and turned into liquid shadows.
This was to give Nue an opening and make sure his Shikigami didn't die, he'd be depressed if it did after all.
Lappland was now free of its grasp, shielding herself as electricity slammed into her. It wasn't the typical electricity that shocked people, no, this one could tear at concrete and rip apart buildings.
But Lappland was far more durable than a measly building, taking the electricity head on; not caring that she was being blasted into a building.
CRASH!
The white haired Lupo flew into the building, Nue flying in the air as it awaited its master's orders.
'She's still alive...' Megumi narrowed his eyes, pulling into his shadow inventory for a new weapon...
Dragon Bone
***
"Megumi," Maki spoke out, her burnt form and rather terrifying visage alerting the recipient.
"Huh, yeah?" She was a friend, so he didn't feel too intimidated.
"Catch," the green haired woman tossed a sword towards him.
"Wha-?" He caught it by the hilt, looking at the weapon that had been given to him. "Maki, what is this for?"
"I need you to store it for me, feel free to use it," Maki nonchalantly said, "I already have a better weapon anyways."
"...Isn't this a Special-Grade Cursed Tool?" Megumi stared at it in slight awe, the large katana that could be called a nodachi, basically a greatsword variation of a katana.
"It used to be smaller than that, but it got modified by some of the folks who didn't like its small size," Maki stated, "I used it to massacre the Zen'in clan, and had to dig it out of the rubble, kind of a pain to get if you ask me."
Megumi ignored the casual way she spoke of their slaughter, him being the new head and all. "Alright, I'll carry it around for you," he inspected the golden blade that had three repulsors on its non sharp side, analyzing one last time before dropping it in his shadow.
"Thanks," Maki spoke out, turning around, "oh, and besides, I probably won't use it often, since I have a better weapon anyways." The woman patted the hilt of the Split-Soul Katana, caressing it with care.
"...Alright, just ask me if you need it," Megumi scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to do with it.
***
'Thanks, Maki,' Megumi slightly grinned as he placed the weapon on his shoulder. He had experience using bladed weapons, but his black sword broke against the Finger-Bearer Curse; showing its low grade quality as a Cursed Tool.
Keeping his sight on the building where his enemy crashed into. However, a presence appeared at his side, immediately making him shrink his pupils.
The gathered Cursed Energy of Dragon Bone propelled it forward, as he clashed blades once again. 'Damn it, she's strong!'
Megumi winced, even with the help of a Special-Grade Cursed Tool, he was being pushed back!
"Is that the best you've got?!" Lappland grinned, pushing him back as she put her swords to her side, lowering her posture as the Lupo rushed forward.
She leapt through the thunderous cracks of lightning shooting down on her and breaking the concrete streets, while Megumi backed away with his weapon held by his side.
Lappland had caught up, drawing her swords as Megumi blocked the blow, gritting his teeth as the impact set in.
The two of them then went into a slugging match with their weapons, while Nue tried its best to dive bomb Lappland in order to support Megumi.
Surprisingly, the woman leapt into the air as their barrage of clashes went to a halt, Megumi's muscles burning from the strain as she broke off contact with him and back flip kicked into Nue; sending the elephant sized Shikigami reeling.
"Tch, Toad!"
Megumi dropped the Dragon Bone into his shadow, summoning Toad to ensare Lappland's waist.
"Oh?" The woman looked interestedly at the new summon, wondering what exactly the man's arts were.
Megumi pulled out Dragon Bone, along with Playful Cloud as he dual wielded the weapons, charging at Lappland's dragged form.
The wolf smiled, her swords being coated in a white fiery aura... Which dispelled Toad with a graze.
'What?! She can cancel Cursed Techniques?!" Megumi's eyes widened, as the woman barreled towards him.
They slashed at each other, the propelled force of Dragon Bone and bashing force of Playful Cloud colliding with Lappland's arts infused katanas.
"Guh!" Megumi was pushed back, before recovering and defended against Lappland's relentless assault, moving through the scenery and dodging to the side as they continued their macabre dance.
The street started to shatter under them, the building's windows breaking apart as they circle around each other, the chains of Playful Cloud echoing in the scene; and the sound of an engine erupting from Dragon Bone blasted in the backdrop.
Multiple swings came out, as Megumi bent his body to the rhythm of his swings. If he swung Dragon Bone to the left, then he would tilt his body along with him to apply more force. Same motions applied to Playful Cloud, but in the opposite direction.
The problem was that the Lupo woman was grinning madly while casually deflecting his blows.
'Nue!' He called to the bird in his mind, as it appeared above and behind him, lightning crackling from its figure.
It bore down like a thunderstrike towards Lappland, who merely spun and sent an arts slash towards the lightning, dispelling it and striking the bird, immediately de-summoning it.
'Shit, I have to call them into corporeal form?!' Megumi gritted his teeth, it was going to strain his Cursed Energy.
Dropping the weapons, he called upon his greatest source of firepower:
"Divine Dog: Totality!"
A great werewolf emerged from his back shadow, growling as it protected his form from behind.
"Oh?" Lappland stared on in great interest, a further maddening grin forming on her face as the beast stared dead at her."'Divine, huh? Now isn't that just fitting?" She chuckled to herself, feeling the eminence that it radiated.
'Tch, the hell is she talking about?' Megumi didn't care much for her words, pulling out The Inverted Spear of Heaven from his shadows and getting rid of the cloth in one fluid motion.
The chains rattled as he gripped the handle, 'Totality is in physical form, so her arts and The Inverted Spear of Heaven won't dispel him instantly... But my reserves have been burnt out because of that.'
If he made it out of this fight, hopefully he would gain something.
With that thought, he strafed Lappland on the right while Totality went straight to her, its claws outstretched to its side.
Lappland grinned, as she charged forward- only to find the werewolf falling into a shadow pit and disappearing, "huh?!"
A dagger extended from a chain came towards her, but she parried the blade with her sword- 'My arts?' It had been dispelled, the white flames that came from her blade had dissipated.
Her instincts screamed at her, as Totality had appeared behind her, right hand stretched back as it shot forward.
Lappland turned around and deflected the blow, before Totality slashed with its left this time, sending the woman slightly back.
Megumi had re-spun his chain, circling the battlefield as he came behind Totality, and threw the weapon forward while leaping to the side.
It shot past the werewolf who moved to the side, somewhat catching Lappland off-guard, but the woman had senses far superior to the many other races of Terra.
She swung her swords to the right, shifting its motion in. The sound of steel clashing was heard, and Totality took the opportunity to rush forward and swipe its claw at Lappland's foot, who promptly jumped up to avoid it.
Totality fell into the shadows again, as Megumi changed the direction of his chained weapon, swinging it left, right, downwards, and practically in any direction at Lappland.
He had the reach advantage, creating an unceasing barrage of slashes that the Lupo was forced to parry, and unable to decrease the distance.
Totality sprouted out from the shadows again, this time in front of her, its right claw ready to strike.
Lappland deflected an upwards slash of The Inverted Spear of Heaven, sending up debris as the dagger had been dragged against the ground.
However, Totality didn't strike, it was a feint; instead lunging forward and opening its maw.
It grabbed the woman's shoulders as she held her blades together, Totality biting down on her weapon.
It couldn't pull the White Devil down, though, the woman grinning madly as they pushed against each other.
Megumi ran around from their right, the lengthened dagger speeding behind him, before he spun around in a clockwise position and dragged the weapon with him.
It formed a tornado of chains, before unraveling and shot towards Lappland's back, being pulled in a right-ward motion.
PUCK!
It dug into the woman's spine, stunning her as it was one of the most vital parts for the nervous system to work.
Totality was finally able to push her down as she recovered from the blow, slamming her against the ground and leaving a considerable crater.
Megumi took some effort to pull the weapon back, before succeeding as Lappland and Totality went into a dog fight on the ground, literally.
The crater grew bigger and bigger as echoes of clashing and breaking concrete made itself known, Megumi pulling out the black wrappings and covering The Inverted Spear in one motion, dropping it in as he pulled out Playful Cloud once more.
Dropping it to the ground with a clanging sound, he brought his hands together in a rabbit shape.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Totality was losing the battle, as multiple slashes appeared on its furred skin, leaping off of Lappland as the latter looked less injured, only some bruises and light cuts.
"Hahaha~, you're almost as much fun as Texas!" Lappland yelled out, before turning her gaze to a crowd of rabbits slamming into her.
It wasn't much, considering how weak all of them were, even if they were each sending kicks and rushing past her body.
She began swinging her blade wildly, dispelling the rabbits as the flames of her sword came back-
Her instincts alerted her of somebody coming in from behind, but also the front, forcing her to spin her body and accommodate each side with a strike of her dual blades.
CLANG!
BANG!
Playful Cloud met her blade, pulling her slightly off balance as Totality's claw scraped against her blade, finding its hand damaged against the white flames.
"Grr!" Totality roared out, sliding it past, and swiping at Lappland's neck, the latter moving back and barely getting nicked by it.
The woman then turned around into a handstand, dodging another sideways hit from Playful Cloud, Megumi stopping the weapon's momentum as he grabbed the other end after swinging it.
Lappland sent out two kicks, one slamming into Totality's chest and sending it backwards and one at Megumi, who had to block it with his three-section staff.
"Tch!" Megumi was blown back, having to recall Totality if he didn't want it to die.
He was alone now, watching as the white wolf leapt into an upright position. Megumi himself was fine, no damage in his form, but his stamina was draining.
Lappland had a few bruises and cuts, but it only proved to excite the woman further, as she flourished her blades, "aha~! You're quite an interesting fellow, no?"
Megumi didn't like that grin she was giving him, before he decided his next option. 'Nue should be available now, healed from its injuries-"
He reacted fast, blocking a blow from Lappland who had shot forward, slamming her blades against his weapon.
"Agh!" Megumi was sent flying upwards, slamming into a building and rolling against the apartment(?) floor, before he stood up-
To find Lappland already in front of him, forcing the man to ditch Playful Cloud after blocking her next blow, letting it sink in his shadow.
Lappland also found her foot stuck in the puddle he formed, slightly losing her balance as Megumi pulled out The Inverted Spear of Heaven again.
'I have to get rid of that stupid magic she's using!' It was dispelling some of the Cursed Energy he imbued in his weapons and increased her strength, if he let her continue using it; Megumi was going to be turned into chopped sashimi.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven came out, the cloth already doing itself as he dragged it by the chain, sideways slashing it with extended reach at Lappland.
The woman blocked the blow, finding her arts canceling again, "huh, damn!" The woman smiled, finally understanding the weapon.
She was blown back, slamming through the walls of the building, a dust cover forming.
Megumi continued swinging the weapon, trying to catch the woman and tearing up its interior.
Lappland dodged through them with wild grace, sliding under one and backflipping under another chain, as she circled Megumi.
The building's entire top section had already been blown off, as sweat dripped from the Ten Shadows user.
He wasn't going to catch his opponent at this rate, so he retracted his blade and focused, spinning it to his side.
Lappland circled him, watching in interest, "oh, what are ya' gonna do next?" She grinned, like a predator stalking its prey.
Megumi stayed silent, eyes closed as great focus came to him, Cursed Energy reinforcing his body to the limit...
Then he went wild!
Swinging it in all directions in a great frenzied barrage, one only seen from the most bloodlusted of warriors, the entire building around them started to be diced into minced pieces.
Lappland parried the strikes, a domain of slashes forming around Megumi, as he started being propelled into the air from the sheer force.
The Lupo was knocked into the air as the weapon slammed against her weapon, the silver light reflecting off the chain and blade of The Inverted Spear of Heaven shining in the dark night sky as the two were brought into the air.
Lappland continued parrying his blows, being sent further in the sky.
Megumi continued slashing with all of his effort, a barrier of slashes disallowing his opponent to attack him as he started spinning in the air, interchanging the directions in which he spun.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Once they were 50 meters in the air, Megumi retracted his blade, spinning in one direction this time as he built up speed.
A small wind tornado formed around him, before Lappland realized he was preparing for a mean blow.
"Alright then!" She would meet it head on, still falling in the air as Megumi released his charge, a sonic boom sounding; the cracking whips of the chain propelling the blade against Lappland.
The woman held her swords in a x-shaped cross, letting it bear the brunt of the pounding force, blasting her backwards and through multiple buildings.
Megumi fell down, barely making the landing as he huffed out, placing a hand on his knees as he did so.
He watched as the top section of three buildings collapsed, ever since Lappland had been blown through them... 'Is... Is she done?'
And of course, she wasn't.
Maniacal laughter filled the air, Lappland rushing towards Megumi once more, much to his shock.
"Shit!" His hands desperately grasped together, forming an ox seal, a last attempt to stop the madwoman.
"Piercing Ox!"
The ritual had formed, to tame the Shikigami, and thankfully, it formed behind him, charging towards Megumi's back.
Doing a backflip, he dodged the raging Ox and watched as it zoomed past him, slamming into Lappland's swords.
"Oh? More animals, huh?!" Lappland found it exciting, clashing against more of his animals-
Was it increasing in strength?
Her muscles tensed further as she kept being pushed back, the ground scraping against her shoes as her tail remained stiff. 'The hell?'
BOOM!
BOOM!
Lappland was pushed through two buildings as the Ox continued to press against her, its power ever changing.
"Haah!" The Lupo would not lose, pushing it back with all the power she could, halting its progress and pushing it back.
It slid against the pavement, leaving its trail on the concrete, but Lappland rushed it forward again, sending off multiple slashes that scraped against its fur and skin.
A viscera of blood formed, the ox charging through it and attempting to slam the White Devil again.
But Lappland moved to the side, running her blade into its side as it drew even more blood.
The untamed Shikigami could only halt, still moving in one direction as it lost its momentum. Despite its battered form, it turned around, preparing for one more charge. It can only move in one direction, but halting its movements would mean it could change directions.
It charged once more-
Only to find its head chopped off, flying into the air and hitting the ground. It wasn't useful as a singular Shikigami, but paired with others made it a terrifying opponent.
Too bad it had nothing to support him.
Letting out a huff, Lappland turned to Fushiguro Megumi... To find him touching the nostril of a gigantic four eyed deer.
"...Hehe, how many summons does this bastard have?" Lappland grinned even further, finding him a great meal to sink her teeth into.
Megumi was recovering a portion of his damaged using the Round Deer, recovering as much as he could by laying low from active movements. 'Damn it... She's a monster.'
Lappland slowly walked forward, "aw, you're gonna keep tryin'?"
Megumi dispelled Round Deer, standing up as he pulled Dragon Bone from his shadow, not gracing her with a response.
He remembered a certain technique he read from the Zen'in clan records after becoming its head, and seeing Naobito and Gojo using it in action...
Megumi placed the Dragon Bone in a sheathing position, as Lappland approached him.
"Not gonna talk?!" The woman grinned, watching the man close his eyes again in focus.
Falling Blossom Emotion
It was clumsy, unperfected and unrefined. It could only be called Falling Blossom Emotion in the sense that it was depressing, emulating the 'Emotion' part of the technique.
But it served its job, an offensive application of it was applied as Megumi shot the Dragon Bone forward, gathering as much Cursed Energy as he could and blew a great force to slam against Lappland's blades.
"Oh, damn! How more tricks do ya' have!" Lappland grinned-
Only to meet the dead eyes of a man in the greatest amount of focus she had ever seen. She couldn't even laugh anymore, as a sense of unease welled up in her stomach; time itself slowed as their gaze met.
A deep abyss seemed to form his pupil, as it shrunk ever further, an image of a four-eyed beast made its way in her vision again, draining all color from the world.
.
.
.
.
In this silent world... The Sparks of Black have roared!
.
.
.
.
"BLACK FLASH!"
A fist met Lappland's cheek, sending her reeling from the red-lined black electricity forming a vortex of increased raw cursed power.
Megumi continued dragging himself forward, a maniacal grin adorning his face this time, as Lappland stayed in contact with his fist.
BOOM!
The white haired Lupo was blown back, the ground being eviscerated from the air pressure of her being blown back, motes of black electricity crackling in the air as Megumi finished his punch.
CRACK!
BANG!
All glass from the buildings around them shattered, the debris being turned into dust as a miniature mushroom cloud of dust erupted 75 meteres in front of Fushiguro Megumi.
"Haah~, haah~, I did it, I finally did it!" Megumi laughed, body shaking from the euphoric pleasure of raw power! "Hahahaha~!"
His output had been restored to an extent, tapping into 120% of his potential-
The sounds of police cars blared in the horizon, a flash of light illuminating Megumi's form.
"What the-," Megumi's eyes widened, finding multiple vehicles in front of him.
"This is the LGD, you are under arrest for-!" A familiar voice filled Megumi's ears, as he met the gaze of a dragon lady he was all too familiar with.
Armed police officers in what Megumi assumed to be advanced riot gear stood by her, a green haired Oni in particular standing out the most.
'Fuck!' Megumi lost the drug like feeling of Black Flash, bringing his arms together into a rabbit shape-
Only to be met with a blade about to approach his face, not a red powered blade, but a black one.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Narrowly dodging it, he saw the face of an angered woman letting out a grunt of frustration as the rabbits flooded her again, "damn it!"
Hoshiguma ran up to Ch'en's side, slamming into the rabbits, Megumi sinking into the shadows to escape.
The two seemed to notice it, as they yelled into their radios, "attack the shadows! The culprit is in there!'
Thus began the LGD chase.
***
Earlier before, Ch'en was leaping across buildings as she analyzed the scenes, a frustrating glare on her eyes as she had practically scanned every inch of the Slums. "This is tedious..."
"Ch'en!"
The woman turned to a voice, a woman landing by her, Hoshiguma.
"What are you doing here?" Ch'en raised an eyebrow, slightly yelling at her.
"To catch your excited ass, what else?" Hoshiguma shrugged, standing up as she planted her shield on the rooftops. "It's already night time, are you not coming back?"
"Not until I find him," Ch'en glared off into the distance, seeing the stars of the night sky blocked off from the city lights of Lungmen.
Hoshiguma sighed, rubbing her forehead as she looked up, "come on, you can investigate the Blood Hounds instead, they're far easier to deal with than this mystery person."
"You and that tiger bitch are enough," Ch'en spoke out, crossing her arms. "Somebody needs to handle this loose cannon."
"Listen, Ch'en-," before Hoshiguma could talk any further, their radios blared, a voice coming through.
They both turned to it, wondering what the urgent message was.
"Report, report! Sightings of purple lightning and shockwaves spotted in Slums district 9! Buildings collapsing and-"
The two stared at each other, in silence.
Ch'en held a serious expression, a theory forming on who one of the combatants of the scenes could be. "Let's go, call in reinforcements," the woman gripped her sword, before leaping off to district 9.
Hoshiguma stared at her parting form in silence, before relenting, "agh, that girl," she leapt to follow her.
***
Lappland sat in the rubble, staring at the night sky, this was a new feeling. No, rather, it reminded her of a certain defeat she faced long ago...
She felt a stinging sensation on her cheek, tracing it with her fingers as...
'A slash mark?' Lappland noted out in her mind, wondering where the hell that came from, as the punch that black haired bastard did was a blunt force strike. She pressed the blood on her fingers together, rubbing it slightly.
However, her attention was brought to something else.
The echoes of sirens echoed in the distance, the voice of what she assumed to be a female LGD officer rang out.
'Oh? More fun?' The woman snapped back upwards, grinning as she felt rejuvenated again. 'Ah, maybe I can use this chaos to catch that guy again?' She really wanted to have another round against him.
***
A/N:The title was pretty tongue-in-cheek, huh? :)
Anyways, he's got Playful Cloud, Inverted Spear of Heaven, and a Split-Soul Katana compensation.
Man's getting Toji's whole armory at this point.
In regards to Dragon Bone, I don't like its small size. Considering how it's supposed to be propelled forward with stored Cursed Energy like an engine. I'd expected it to be a great sword-esque weapon to deliver more force, so I changed it from a rather short katana in canon to a nodachi, making up the excuse that some dude just made it bigger.