Rise of the Spiritualist: Entry Two

Rise of the Spiritualist: Entry Two

Rise of the Spiritualist: The Personal Accounts from the Events of Shiro-Ryu High School from the Memories of Leonardo Yarafen Krilangi

Second Entry.

After the meeting of all the Elementalists adjourned, I found myself walking down alleys and side-streets, weaving a complex path through the buildings clustered together near Shiro-Ryu High School. I had no idea at the time, but I was subliminally following a certain feeling I seemed to get as I walked. The air around me grew still, and the sounds of midnight faded into silence around me. I had once been told, in my youth, that such anomalies signal the coming of a great and terrible beast from the bowels of hell. It was for this very reason that warrior monks like myself existed: to eradicate these earth-bound demons and keep the balance of the planet in harmony.

On this particular night, however, I unexpectedly found myself carrying out that duty.

I emerged from an especially dark alley and happened upon a sort of central plaza. Standing in the middle of the area was a tall man in a solid black hooded cloak. Though I could not see his face, I knew his eyes were upon me, and I sank into a fighting stance, anticipating some sort of battle.

"I don't remember seeing you," I called to him.

"Of course not...I'd prefer not to soil my hands dealing with you filthy creatures."

"You have a dislike for humankind...Would that make you a beast?"

"I am...neither one. Some call me 'Oblivion'...Others call me 'Death'...But you can call me...your worst nightmare."

His words were not all too intimidating on their own, but his voice carried the words in such a horrible tone that they chilled me to the core. I became nervous, and that nervousness turned to fear as the moonlight began to dim. I looked up and saw that an ethereal darkness blotted out the silvery orb that lit the sky, and it threatened to engulf me entirely. Had I not made immediate use of the light chakra Hima, I would have been swallowed. I slammed my fist into the ground, and light tore through the inky black curtain. To my alarm, the thick layer of darkness retracted into a fold beneath the stranger's cloak. At that moment, I began to surmise his true identity, and my eyes went wide with horror.

"You have sufficient power...I suppose I can waste some time with you," the dark one said, slowly removing the hood from his head, revealing his face. "I am the king of demons...My name is Forte."

Most people would think Forte was a vampire upon first seeing him. He stood a good four inches taller than a full-grown man, with deathly pale skin and blazing red eyes. His white hair was just about as long as mine and tied back into a tail. He seemed to be unarmed and helpless, but I knew better; his eyes said otherwise. They were the eyes of a sadistic demon, one whose purpose here was only to create destruction, suffering, and death. If I were to define the lord of demons, Forte would completely match the description.

"In the name of the warrior monks, I shall exorcise you, demon lord Forte."

"Go ahead and try it, human whelp!!"

I rushed forward, hands balled into fists, as Forte stretched his arms outward. What struck me, though, was that he didn't seem at all prepared to fight back against me. Suspicious, I leaped over his head and lighted upon the roof of a nearby building.

"What, did I scare you, boy," he said with a sinister laugh.

"You've hidden your weapon from my eyes...Show it to me!"

"If you insist..."

Forte reached out into the air and seemingly pulled from it a battleax with a heavy-looking blade that shone in the moonlight.

"There...Now, can I get back to killing you?"

"You are mistaken...It is I who shall prevail tonight!"

I leaped from my perch and dove down at the cloaked demon, poised for a strike.

"Hah! How rich! You can't even strike me, amateur!!"

Placing both hands on the handle of his axe, Forte wound up for a mighty swing and heaved the axe toward me. He would've made contact, had I not used my quick step to evade his strike before he could connect.

"Interesting...You're good for a human."

He turned and looked up at me as I rocketed toward him from behind, gathering electrical energy into my fingertips.

"ZEKKA (Wind/Lightning manipulation)!!"

"I take it back. Your techniques are still weak."

Forte lazily waved one hand to his side, and suddenly a group of strange undead beasts, possibly once-reptilian, met me in mid-air. I had no choice; in order to save myself and continue the fight, I discharged lightning from my hands, piercing through the bodies of the reanimated lizards.

"Those creatures...You have control over them?"

"They have sworn their fealty to me. Should I order it, they will fight for me, protect me, even die for me."

"This raises the stakes...You are too dangerous to let live!!"

I rushed Forte again, one hand stretched to the sky. His legion of lizards rose up to defend him again with a flourish of his mighty weapon, but this time, I was prepared for his maneuver. Instead of trying to break their ranks, I planted my outstretched hand into the tarmac and focused the power of earth into it.

"JIKKA (Earth/metal manipulation)!!"

The earth chakra produced a multitude of iron spikes that pinned the ghoulish reptiles in place. I began to softly chant an incantation as the beasts struggled against their metallic prison. Removing a small pentagram from my pocket, I traced its design into the air and focused the power of light upon it. The sigil began to glow as it shone down upon the revenants, and blinding light pierced the area as the chakra went off.

"HIMEGANOTON (Exorcism)!!"

The exorcism was a success; the bodies of the already-deceased reptilian warriors fell silent and sank to the ground. I put the pentagram back into my pocket and focused again on Forte, who seemed to be fixed on the lifeless corpses he once controlled.

"Boy...You just exorcised them, didn't you...?!"

"Yes, and you will be next!"

Under the veil of shadows, I sprinted at my enemy, but to my surprise, he hit me with the flat edge of his axe, sending me crashing into the wall of a nearby building. As I tried to get the wind back into my lungs, Forte slowly walked toward me, a wicked smirk on his face.

"Using the veil of darkness to assassinate someone is a rather simple technique, boy, both to exectue and to counter. I find it hard to believe that you would try something so foolish against me when you have already realized who I am!! I suppose I need to teach you what darkness really is!!"

Darkness began to engulf me again, emerging from the demon lord's cloak and wrapping around me. I attempted to summon the power of light to disseminate the black veil again, but my body was weakened by Forte's attack, and I was unable to call upon my chakra.

Just before the curtain of darkness swallowed me up, a blast of brilliant light burst through Forte's cloak in the form of a blazing sword. I backed away and immediately recognized Raiden, standing beside his blade and facing Forte.

"Well, if it isn't Raiden," Forte said, chuckling to himself. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I've killed you once before, Forte. Don't think that I can't do it again tonight."

"Heh...You'll have to catch me first!!"

"Kril, gather the Elementalists to the school and meet me there."

"Of course."

With those words exchanged, Forte and Raiden leaped into the night sky to do battle themselves, while I rushed back to Shiro-Ryu to call upon the other Elementalists. While I ran, I thought about what role Raiden had to play with Forte. Seeing that the latter of the two was a demon lord, I could not help but guess that Raiden was his spectral opposite; namely, I assumed that he was an angel. With that idea, a question came to mind: What were angels and demons doing waging wars with each other on the human plane? I made a mental note to ask Raiden after he returned to the school.