A Fox's Revenge

by Brandon Varnell

When her last attack missed, something large slammed into her chest. Kotohime didn’t even have time to gasp in agonic asphyxia as her body was lifted off the ground.

  “Sister! That does it! You’re dead! Water Art: Three-Tailed Crystal Whips!”

  Before Li could do Kotohime further harm, Kirihime attacked him. Three whips composed of water had formed on her tails, glittering aquamarine hardened into several sharp crystals attached together like chain links. They moved in complex and never-ending patterns as Kirihime attacked Li from all sides: above, below, in front, behind, the left, the right. They were everywhere. Despite this, none of the whips hit. Li’s body simply seemed to blur out of focus, and the whips passed straight through him.

  Landing on the ground, Kotohime held a hand to her chest, wincing as she felt the nasty bruise forming on her skin. Her regenerative abilities, derived from her River Kitsune blood, would heal it, but if something wasn’t done, she’d eventually run out of youki.

  What sort of technique is he using?

  She watched as Li seemingly phased through Kirihime’s whips like a ghost. After dodging, Li hunched over and, like snakes attacking their prey, the five tails jutting from his tailbone leapt forward. They were heading straight for Kirihime.

  Knowing that her sister couldn’t dodge, Kotohime rushed forward, interposing herself between her sister and their opponent.

  “Ikken Hisatsu. Tsukuyomi no Hogo.”

  Kotohime’s sword became an indecipherable blur of silver. She wove her blade through the airspace between them, the silver edge flashing around her and her sister to create an impenetrable barrier. This was one of her most powerful defensive techniques—Tsukuyomi’s Defense. No technique had ever been able to breach it, be they elemental or otherwise. It should have been enough to defend against a few reinforced tails.

  It was not.

  Kotohime couldn’t figure out what happened. Her defense was perfect. Her blade created a literal wall that nothing should have been able to slip through. Yet somehow, someway, the tails that sought to attack her and her sister phased right through her defensive perimeter, slammed into her chest with incredible force, and threw her into Kirihime.

  She and Kirihime flew backwards, slammed into the ground with bone-jarring force, and tumbled across the blacktop for several feet before coming to a stop. Pushing herself into a crouch, Kotohime gasped as she held a hand to her torso. That last attack had cracked a few ribs. Wincing, she slowly stumbled to her feet, and then looked at her opponent, who hadn’t moved from his spot the entire time.

  Something is going on here. That technique reminds me of the Ghost Step, but I know for a fact that this man is a Celestial Kitsune. Ghost Step is a spirit technique. Is it speed? No. He’s not moving at all. It’s like his body simply phases in and out of existence. An illusion maybe?

  “Are you all right, Kirihime?” she asked.

  “Y-yes.” Kirihime winced as she stood up. “I am fine, sister.”

  “Can you still fight?”

  Out of her peripheral vision, Kotohime saw her sister’s malicious grin, a smile that showed off sharp canines and was filled with the intent to cause harm. It only ever came out when she was in battle or hunting people for leather. Kotohime referred to this look as Kirihime’s yandere smile.

  “Are you really asking me that?” Kirihime licked off the blood that dribbled down her mouth. “I’m more than capable of still fighting.”

  “Good. Then let us try a different approach.”

  “Right. Water Art: Drown in Despair.”

  Drown in Despair was one of her sister’s illusions. As bodyguards, they tended to focus more on attacks that did physical damage, but like any good kitsune, they knew at least a couple dozen illusions. This particular one made someone think they were drowning. It affected the part of their brain that dealt with breathing, shutting off the connection between their mind and their lungs, and then projecting the illusion that they were wrapped in chains while sitting at the bottom of a lake.

  “Water Art: Dance of Timeless Erosion.”

  Kotohime channeled youki through her tails. Water gathered around Li, thousands of crystalline droplets that glittered beautifully in the sunlight. These thousands of droplets soon began to spin around the man like a tornado, extending over his head and closing around him, encasing him inside of a dome of water that spun so fast it could slice straight through rock and steel. The dome then shrank, growing smaller and smaller, grinding down Li’s body until nothing was left.

  At least, that’s what should have happened. What really happened was that Kotohime’s attack phased right through Li, who stood in place, seemingly unaffected by her attack or Kirihime’s illusion. His clothing remained unruffled and pristine. Kotohime couldn’t see a single drop of blood anywhere.

  “It was a good idea,” Li said in the same calm tone that he had been using since the start of their fight. “Trapping me within an illusion, and then casting a technique meant to erode my body, grinding me into mulch similar to the way a river eventually eats away at the shore. On anyone else, I dare say this combination would have succeeded. However, such techniques will not work on me.”

  The way he made that statement, so calm and sure of himself, made Kotohime narrow her eyes. Li wasn’t taking their battle seriously at all. He never attacked her or her sister outright. All he’d done was counter their attacks. Did that mean his technique was some kind of counter technique similar to the Gyakujutsu used by shinobi of Japan’s Meji era to counter yōkai techniques?

  I need to see more of this man’s skill.

  “Do you know why I am the one fighting you and not one of my associates?” Li asked suddenly, making her blink.

  “Because you have five tails?”

  “A good guess, but that’s not entirely accurate.” Li’s facial expression did not change in the slightest as he spoke. It remained calm, impassive, like a block of ice shaped into the face of a person. “It is because among all those sent here to deal with your charge, I am the one most suited to combating yōkai that use physical and specialized techniques.”

  At the mention of her charge, Kotohime felt worry worm its way into her gut. She tried to keep calm, however, knowing that defeating Lilian would not be easy unless the kitsune fighting her had four tails or more. Her charge had Kevin, Christine, and Iris with her. She had faith that together they could, if nothing else, at least survive long enough for her to reach their side.

  Kotohime took a calming breath as she slid into an iaidō stance. Beside her, Kirihime conjured a set of water daggers and twirled them around, her grin widening until it threatened to split her face in half. Kotohime felt a single drop of sweat trail down her face.

  I am glad to see that my sister is at least having a good time, but I hope she remembers not to lose herself to her own battle lust.

  “You may indeed be stronger than I,” Kotohime declared in a confident voice. “However, it does not matter. Even if you manage to indefinitely hold off myself and my sister, you will not accomplish your goal.”

  For the first time since their battle had started, Li frowned. “And why is that?”

  Kotohime’s eyes danced with delightful mirth as she smiled at the man. “Because Lilian-sama is not alone, and I doubt whoever you sent after her can deal with someone who was personally trained in combat by Kiara-san and Heather-san.”

  ***

  “Now, then, Lilian Pnév̱ma, you, your friend, and your sister are going to die for me.”

  The words rang with an ominous finality, echoing across the soccer field like a thousand voices declaring their inevitable end at the same time.

  Lilian would have loved to say something, to tell this woman that she wouldn’t be dying this day, but she couldn’t. Her mouth had long since stopped working. Those last few single word sentences that she had been able to get out had zapped the last of her strength. Not even reinforcing her mouth with youki seemed to work.

  Fan stood before her. The woman’s dark eye
s were alight with vicious mirth, a single finger still pointed at her. On the tip of said finger, a tiny light had appeared, a small sphere no larger than a thumbnail.

  “Celestial Art: Yúchángjiàn. This is an assassination technique that I created after getting my third tail. I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say, this technique seeks out and instantly pierces the heart of my target. It’s fairly painless, which is why I don’t plan on killing you first.”

  Fan smirked. Had her body not been paralyzed, Lilian would have shuddered. That expression made her heart constrict as though a snake were coiling around it.

  “First, I’m going to kill your sister.”

  Lilian felt a chill settle within her, a frigid coldness that froze even the marrow in her bones. Her body shook. Her breathing stopped. Even her tails had become frozen over as though they'd been exposed to liquid nitrogen.

  “Then I’m going to kill your friend.”

  Lilian’s mind screamed at her, demanded that she continue struggling, that she break free from this entrapment technique. Yet her body still refused to move. Even when she pumped herself full of youki, she couldn’t make her body do anything, not even twitch.

  “After your sister and your friend are dead, I’ll find that boy toy of yours and kill him in front of you. I’ll be sure to kill him slowly, flaying his skin, destroying his organs. I’ll make sure you get a front row seat to his screams, Lilian Pnév̱ma. You will watch as I destroy everyone you love.”

  Something inside of Lilian snapped. Strength returned to her mouth, though the rest of her body still couldn’t move.

  “Don’t…” She gritted her teeth. “Don’t… touch… my mate…”

  “Ho?” Fan’s eyes widened slightly, but she recovered from her surprise with admirable alacrity. “So you can still speak, even though all of your muscles except your heart and lungs shouldn’t be working. That mate of yours must be awfully important to you.”

  Cruel giggling filled the air. Fan’s face twisted into a gleeful expression containing the first hints of madness.

  “Maybe after I kill him, you will understand what I feel every time I gaze upon my beloved little brother as he lies in bed, his mind dead to the world. Then again, maybe not. I suppose it won’t matter in the end. Now, then…”

  Fan moved her hand until it pointed at something behind Lilian.

  “… Time for your sister to die. Celestial Art: Y—”

  Bang!

  A loud noise like thunder rang out across the distance, interrupting Fan’s technique. Lilian, Iris, and Christine suddenly fell to the grass as the Yin-Yang Entrapment dispersed, the circle beneath their feet fading. Lilian blinked several times, and then found her gaze shifting as a loud, ear-splitting scream pierced the air.

  Fan was on her knees, holding her left hand in her right as dark, crimson blood seeped from a gaping hole in her palm. Lilian couldn’t see much of the wound, mostly because the entire hand was covered in blood. It was like Fan had dipped her hand into a bucket of red paint. The three-tails stared at the injury in open horror as she continued to shriek in both shock and pain.

  The woman’s wailing was so loud that Lilian almost missed it, the sound of footsteps growing closer.

  She turned away from the sight of Fan screaming incoherently and looked over to find someone she’d recognize even if her memories were suddenly erased.

  Kevin walked forward, his steps steady and resolute. He held a gun in each hand. They were small, compact weapons, easily concealable within a pocket. Kevin had been keeping those guns concealed on his person at all times, ever since Seth had tried to kill her.

  “B… Beloved…” Lilian’s throat felt sore. It was probably because of how she had forced her muscles to move while caught within Fan’s entrapment technique.

  “Are you three all right?” Kevin asked as he stepped in front of her, Christine, and Iris. He didn’t look back at them. His gaze remained focused on Fan, who had stopped screaming some time ago and was now glaring at him, her eyes a reflection of malice.

  “We’re fine, Stud,” Iris said. “Though I think I’ll be better once we get rid of this hag, and you, me, and my Lily-pad go back home and have ourselves a twenty-four-hour fuck-a-thon.”

  “Not happening,” Kevin and Lilian declared at the same time, while Christine just muttered a harsh “perv” under her breath.

  Iris pouted at them.

  “Anyway,” Kevin started again, “I’m sorry I didn’t jump in until now.”

  “It’s fine,” Lilian said, simply grateful that she was no longer confined by that entrapment technique.

  Christine seemed a bit surlier. “Why did you wait so long? You could have shot her once she had trapped us.”

  “I also had to check the perimeter to make sure she didn’t have any back up. It would have sucked if I came to your rescue, only to get killed before I could do anything.”

  Christine conceded his point with a nod, though she still didn’t look happy.

  “I’m just wondering why you didn’t kill her,” Iris said. “A single shot to the head would have done the job.”

  Kevin didn’t answer. Lilian knew why. He had told her that he would grow stronger, that he would fight when required, and that he would even kill if it became clear that there was no other way. But Kevin didn’t like killing. He didn’t want to kill. If there was a path that led to both sides coming out alive, then he would try to find it before resorting to murder.

  “You…” Fan’s voice was harsh, grating, and filled with murderous intent. “You damn… human… How did you break through my illusion? There’s no way a lowly ape like you could have broken it!”

  Lilian looked over at Iris, who simply shook her head. “Don’t look at me. The stud had broken out of the illusion before I even got to him.”

  “There are only two ways for a human to break out of an illusion,” Kevin said. “The first and easiest way is for a yōkai to inject the trapped human with their youki to disrupt the foreign energy used to create the illusion. The second way is to inflict pain on themselves, which disrupts the neural pathways that your youki invades when you cast an illusion.”

  Lilian looked at Kevin more closely, finally noticing the blood dribbling down his mouth, which had quirked up into an awfully sexy smirk.

  “Guess which method I used,” Kevin said.

  “D-damn you…” Fan gritted her teeth, the wound in her hand slowly healing. “H-how dare you…!”

  “No, how dare you!” Kevin’s snarl resounded across the field and set Fan back on her heels. “You think I’m gonna sit around and let you kill my mate? That I’ll allow you to just waltz in and attack her for a reason as stupid as revenge?”

  “S-stupid?!”

  “Jiāoào deserved everything that happened to him,” Kevin continued pressing his point. “Your younger brother was an arrogant, sadistic jerk who hurt others for his own pleasure. He was a spoiled brat who believed he was entitled to everything just because he came from a powerful clan. Being from a powerful clan doesn’t give you the right to enslave others. No one has the right to treat others as if they’re objects meant to be used for your own amusement! And I’ve got a newsflash for you, lady! It wasn’t Lilian who beat the crap out of your younger brother! It was me!”

  Fan’s eyes went impossibly wide. Lilian almost laughed at the expression on the kitsune’s face. She looked so stupid.

  “Y-you…? A lowly human… impossible…”

  Kevin’s grin reminded Lilian of Kiara. It reminded her so much of the inu that she should have been disgusted by it, but she wasn’t.

  Beloved looks hot when he grins like that.

  “It’s very possible. Don’t underestimate humanity. We may not have superpowers like you yōkai do, but we’re more than capable of kicking ass when the situation calls for it.”

  Iris suddenly began clapping. “That was an awesome speech, Stud. You’re becoming more shōnen with every volume.”

  “S-shut up,�
�� Kevin hissed, an embarrassed blush spreading across his cheeks. “I’m trying to be serious here!”

  Iris crossed her arms under her chest and pouted, her powerful succubus eyes narrowing in seductive allure. “Hey, so am I. I’m seriously considering jumping your bones right now.”

  “W-w-w-what—shut up!” Kevin and Christine shouted at the same time.

  “Aw, how cute. You two had a tsundere moment together.”

  “WE DID NOT! SHUT UP!” they shouted again.

  Fan slowly struggled to her feet. Her right hand still clutched her left even though the wound had healed. Blood dripped off her fingers, the carmine liquid staining the grass. Lilian also stood to her feet, causing the three who were arguing to notice what was happening and follow her lead.

  Fan’s blonde hair fell over her face, casting harsh shadows and creating hard lines that distorted her features, making them appear more foreboding than such a cute face should be. Her three tails waved about behind her, writhing like the furious tendrils of an unfathomable abomination. Several droplets of blood trailed down her lips as she gritted her teeth hard enough to cut her gums.

  “You… all of you…” The harsh, grating sound of Fan’s voice caused Lilian’s hackles to rise. “It seems I have underestimated you greatly. I played around too much and forgot my objective. That ends now. No more games. From this point on, I won’t be toying around with you…”

  Fan raised her head, and Lilian took an unconscious step back when she was greeted by the vicious snarl on the three-tail’s face.

  “… And mark my words: you four will die by my hands!” Fan shouted as though declaring their deaths to the heavens.

  CHAPTER 3

  NOT EVERY BATTLE ENDS IN VICTORY OR DEFEAT

  “Celestial Art: Ch’ang-o’s Celestial Cannon!”

  A large beam of light erupted from Fan’s tails. While Iris grabbed Christine and leapt away, Lilian wrapped an arm around Kevin’s waist and jumped in the opposite direction. The beam of celestial energy tore across the ground, ripping up the grassy field, before striking the goal post on the opposite end and erupting in an explosion of particles.