"Nagi!!!"
Nagisa turned his head towards the direction he heard someone calling him. When he did, he saw Yuuki and Kyouka gathering up their injured comrades. Seeing this, Nagisa walked over as he picked up Sahara and Yachiho. As he placed them down next to Himari and Shushu, Nagisa saw Tenka teleport them and herself away which left Nagisa with Kyouka, Yuuki, and Aoba.
"Tenka-san! Why did you return?"
"This is a familial matter, so of course I would Yuuki. Don't worry about the others, reinforcements are at the caves entrance. But from the outside, they can't communicate or "see" inside. So we have to talk face to fac-"
Just as Tenka was about to fall over, Nagisa had wrapped the girl's right arm around his neck as he helped her up while Kyouka did the same on the left side. Soon everyone turned their gaze to Aoba, a single question lingering on their mind. Since they were short on time, Nagisa spoke up.
"So, do you still plan on causing a revolt, Aoba?"
"Not anymore, Nagi. You killed all the shuuki we gathered before you got to this part of the cave again. Not only that, both Naon and Koko got kidnapped. I have to save them."
"Nee-chan, lets have the Anti-Demon Corps protect you."
"Listen, sister-in-law. When we fought, I couldn't attack you. The commander would, that's just the type of person she is. If you choose to take our protection, we'll protect you. But when you look at the current situation, staying hidden seems like a much safer option. Fortunately for us, nothing we say here can be heard outside."
Hearing this, Aoba began to think about it. If Kyouka or Tenka could pull it off then they could seek protection from them without worry. However, to do so, they need achievements. Defeating shuuki is given but if they can take down these Eight Gods of Thunder, their chances would increase. Soon another earthquake occured as everyone got on Yuuki's back in order to escape. Seeing this, Aoba looked at Nagisa and Yuuki.
"Yuuki, I'll be watching over you."
"Nee-chan, I promise.....I'll find a way to help you!!!!"
Soon Aoba took a look at Nagisa, as the girl walked up to him, she noticed how he was still breathing a bit heavily. To be honest, she never saw this side of Nagisa. Seeing him try so hard to keep people safe, seeing him actually have people he wants to protect. It was a sight to behold. Before Aoba could say anything, Nagisa simply puts his right hand on her head.
"I'll keep Yuuki safe. I promise, next time we meet, all of us can laugh like idiots together."
"Nagi-chan.....no, Nagisa. You've grown a lot and became so reliable. I'm glad Yuuki and I met you."
Before Nagisa could say anything, he felt Aoba pressing her lips against his right cheek. The moment this happened, the group began to leave. Soon both Yuuki and Nagisa were in their own thoughts.
"I use to fight because i wanted to be a hero."
"I fought so I could find my own worth, but not anymore."
"To cure/avenge my sister. That will be my purpose."
~A few hours later~
"Everyone got hospitalized aside from Kyouka, Yuuki, and myself. Apparently the corps has some really good healers, so they should be out in a few days."
After learning of his unit's condition, Nagisa simply asked Yuuki to drop him off at the sixth unit base. Right now, Nagisa was alone in the base as he began to do some push ups. Right now, he was thinking about everything he did.
"I don't think I did anything wrong. Things simply didn't turn out the way as planned. No one could've expected for those so called Eight Gods of Thunder to show up. Sucks that my sword broke during the whole thing."
Was he really giving it his all? Would things have changed if he had just used his sword from the start? These kinds of thoughts entered Nagisa's mind, but the boy quickly shook his head as he kept training.
"There's no point crying about the past. If I have a problem with what I did, I just have to produce better results next time."
~Meanwhile~
"Why did you bring two?"
That was the first question Rairen asked when he saw Naon and Koko passed out on the ground. Shikoku simply told him that Jouryuu and herself brought two just in case the guest they have rejected one of the two humanoid shuuki. As she looked in the corner, Jouryuu spoke up.
"Kuusetsu."
Emerging from the shadows was a large egg with both wings and legs. As Kuusetsu looked at Naon for a moment, it opened its mouth as began to swallow the humanoid shuuki whole. Shikoku and the rest were surprised to see the creature actually eat this time around. Truth be told, currently Kuusetsu is the only god that needed food to develop. Though, it seemed Kuusetsu wasn't quite finished yet as it walked over to Koko and began to devour her as well.
With this, now only another two was needed for the Eight Gods of Thunder to be complete. Soon they could deliver divine punishment upon humans. However, Shikoku was deep in thought. Truth be told, she was reminiscing about two things. The fight Yuuki had with Kidomaru and especially her fight with Nagisa. Soon Shikoku began to speak up to Rairen.
"It should be fine if we leave a few humans alive, right?"
"What, are you planning to keep some as a novelty?"
"There's two that come to mind. But if you ask me which I prefer......hmm. I wouldn't mind the one who promised to decapitate me."
~Outside of Mato~
"What?! Me train someone? Are you finally going senile?!"
Bang was seen sitting quietly inside of his dojo as he was now on the phone. Right now he was talking to an old acquaintance that visited Japan once that he happened to have met sometime ago. With a sigh escaping from his lips, Bang began to explain himself.
"I'm teaching him all I can about martial arts, not to mention his swordsmanship. But there is only so much he can learn from me. As I barely use weapons, i'm not fit to teach him how to use the sword. However, you would be the perfect fit for him."
"Not interested. Would doing a good deed make me money? Would teaching some brat because an old man asked nicely make me money? Even if it did, I wouldn't accept. No way!"
"He could be your masterpiece. He reminds me quite a bit of you whenever he touches the katana. His seriousness, the aura he gives off. He doesn't care for sparing people with potential but cuts them off before they get annoying. Even if you gave him a stick, he could still make it be as effective as a sword. In my eyes, he's a true weapon genius."
".........you said I simply need to train him before the meeting of chiefs in the Anti-Demon Corps begins right? If I like what I see, I might continue afterwards, for a price of course. Better have 1,000,000 won to start with or whatever that is in yen over there in Japan. Who knows, I might even make him my secret friend."
~?????~
"A weapon genius, huh. If that old fart said it, there might actually be some truth to it. Not only that, but he also managed to even break that man's arm."
As he hung up the phone, the man Bang talked to fixed his glasses. Right now, he was surrounded by countless bodies with blood staining the ground as he held a crowbar in hand. Soon a smirk began to form on the man's face as he was now booking a flight to Japan.
"Bang said he wanted to make a masterpiece. Hmmm, I wonder...."
[Weapon Genius, Kim Joon Goo]