Chapter 14: Fish Out of Water 8


    The bulwark-trio went into action almost instantly. Having been in thousands of battle drills, they moved


    through instinct, which seemed almost theatrical.


    Hajime and Yuuta crouched into a squat as if poised to jump.


    Megumin squealed aloud, making her raiki surge. Her arms bulged and turned a dark sepia color. She


    made a fist with her right hand, and raiki gathered around it like vapors. The maid warrior grunted again


    and punched the ground with a kitsu technique.


    Tou-kitsu earthquake!


    A tremor set off from the point of contact, rocking the pagoda on its foundations. Hakaku held onto the


    balustrade to maintain his bnce. Hajime and Yuuta had made a coordinated jump with Megumin''s


    technique and were in the air when the quake happened. The two other teams lost their bnce and


    staggered to the ground like dolls. As soon as Hajime-Yuuta set foot again, they set off their kitsu


    sequences.


    Hajime: “Doi-kitsu archer form!”


    A ming bow appeared in his grasp. He quickly loosened kitsu arrows at Hakaku.


    Yuuta: “Zei-kitsu gale st!”


    A volume of air in front of him reeled into a violent twister and raced up towards the sundeck. From the


    other side, Daigo released a fistful of petty knives in an arc. Kafu sent his fire-shrews up the steps while


    Chiyo shot icicles flying.


    Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki simply raced up the steps, dodging the attacks of others. Akako climbed a tree


    and hid in the foliage.


    The purpose of the all-around siege was to keep Hakaku upied long enough so that someone could


    touch the balustrade and win the contest. They had agreed earlier that whoever did would share the


    whale tokens with the rest of the group. It made sense to form an alliance when going up against


    someone of the rank of a kin-lord, no matter how many handicaps he provided them.


    The weather in the area seemed to have changed. Such was the quantity of raiki being drawn out. The


    colorful elementals made it seem like a festival of lights.


    The intended attacks converged. Hajime''s fire arrows, Yuuta''s twister, Daigo''s petty knives, Kafu''s fire


    shrews, Chiyo''s icicles reached their target. But to everyone''s surprise, the barrage simply passed


    through Hakaku. As if he were permeable. There was a shock wave of sorts as all the attacks met on


    the sundeck. Bricks and mortar shattered and exploded. But the impact was lost on Hakaku''s body,


    which seemed to be not interacting with the surrounding chaos. The aspirants were stunned, unable to


    wrap their heads around what happened.


    Megumin: "How is that possible?"


    Hakaku: "Surprised? Have your teachers not made you familiar with shuzen? I am standing in a


    personal raiki space."


    Hajime and Yuuta were unflustered. They gave gestures to the other units for a follow-up attack.


    Hajime: "Nadeko''s group has almost reached the sundeck. Even if Lord Hakaku has vowed not to use


    kitsu, I think he may have set a trap. We need to thwart him before he acts."


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    The Chief Strategist released his shuzen.


    Yuuta: "We need to sway his focus so that he cannot activate shuzen again. Megumin, we need


    another earthquake. Now! Megumin?"


    But Megumin was nowhere near them.


    The duo turned to see Megumin copsed several steps down the monument, her body stiff and


    unmoving. A giant tentacle wound around her. The limb belonged to a humongous octopus coasting on


    the ground.


    Yuuta: "What the-"


    A pair of tentacles raced towards the two men and wound around their ankles, dragging them down the


    steps.


    Hajime: "Goddess, help me! What in the world is that?!"


    The octopus was unnaturally oversized, its body twenty feet across. Megumin squeaked from her


    captivity.


    Megumin: "Kill it!"


    The warriors tried to shake free from the tentacles bynding both physical and kitsu attacks, but to no


    avail.


    Meanwhile, Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki found themselves surrounded by a dozen masked bandits. They


    attacked the kids with swords, and the trio barely kept up defending themselves.


    Nadeko: "What is going on?"


    From the foliage of a tree, Akako looked at the spectacle, bewildered. Herrades were struggling to


    move, attacking their surroundings for no particr reason. Akako descended to the ground.


    Akako: "Megumin, Nadeko, why aren''t you moving?"


    Megumin: "Can''t you see this octopus restraining us? Why don''t you help?"


    Nadeko: "Bandits have surrounded us. Help!"


    Akako racked her brains for an exnation. Octopus? Bandits? They were waving, shooting, and


    swinging at the air. Invisible attacks? Why could she not see what they could?


    She conjured a water lens through kitsu and looked through it, focusing on Hakaku. He stood


    motionless, in ce, on the sundeck. But there was something different about him. One of his eyes had


    turned a scintiting blue color. Even under the sunlight, it was unmistakable.


    Akako: "Warriors! Lord Hakako has activated Yamigan! He''s controlling your minds! Break free!"


    Hakaku: "Ah, you figured it out. As expected of the daughter of Raiden Mikashita. But that does not


    mean you are safe from my psychic attack."


    Akako felt her feet go immobile. She looked down and saw herself sinking into what looked like


    quicksand.


    Akako: "I hate sand!."


    All the contestants announced their surrender. The loss was more humbling than the bout with Yuuki.


    Hakako released his ocr ability and broke his binding psychic hold over them. The aspirants were


    less troubled by their failure and more intrigued by Hakaku''s disy of ocr powers. They gathered


    around him with a million questions.


    Nadeko: "Lord Hakaku, please tell us more about the Yamigan."


    Hakaku: "Well, first, your attacks went through me because I formed an alternate raiki space and


    stepped into it. That is the fundamental principle of the art of shuzen. Since raiki does not belong to this


    world, you can form temporary or permanent pockets which do not interact with the material world.


    These pockets can be used for both civilian and military purposes. The art of shuzen is widely used to


    store heavy weapons when setting out to war. Next, as Akako pointed out earlier, my right eye has had


    turned blue, as I had activated Yamigan, the ocr ability of the Yamazaki kin. You must have seen


    your elders at the citadel using ocr powers specific to your kin and losing eyesight for a few hours.


    Kin-lords, Hyougi, and some top warriors can use only one eye so as not to bepletely blinded in


    the middle of the battle. While the abilities of my Yamigan are a military secret, I can tell you what the


    Yamazaki ocr ability is. It can create illusions. Theplexity of what the eye creates depends on


    the user. The illusions are so real that it uses up the victim''s kitsu to make it real. For example, those


    attacked by the octopus may still have octopus slime on you. The weaker your mind, the stronger is the


    effect of the Yamigan."


    Akako: "That is a supreme ability. There is no way you can be defeated in battle."


    Hakako: "Your Overlord has shown me my ce several times during our youth and in mock battles.


    Remember that nobody is invincible. Even if your opponents have god-like powers, you can find a


    weakness and defeat them. I have tomend Hajime and Yuuta for not being rattled by my abilities. I


    wish you the best in the Legacy Trials. Now, my attendant has informed me I have an urgent matter to


    attend to. I will take your leave."


    Hakaku stepped forward and disappeared before their eyes. The aspirants gasped. Shuzen never


    failed to impress. The Chief Strategist must be already back at the floating house.


    Illumi: "I wish I''d be this powerful when I grow up."


    Nadeko: “You are going to die a weakling.”


    As the kids started their banter, the group remembered that Kento and Shigeo had missed the fun.


    Chiyo: "How long will Kento train with the preceptors?"


    Akako: "I heard they might train him into the night. They packed food and bedding. Why do you ask?


    You wanted something from him?"


    Chiyo: "No reason. Just curious."


    Daigo: "I was confident earlier that Kento would win against Uzziah even without kitsu. But after getting


    a preview of Lord Hakaku''s ability, one is left to wonder how formidable his son may have be,


    considering the Chief Strategist himself trained him. Kento is in for a surprise."


    Akako: "We''ll find out in the morning. I have a pouch of dumplings that Lady Midori packed for us.


    Who''s hungry?"


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