Chapter 27

“Screw this!” a kappa officer said. “Fire!”

            The kappa soldiers pulled up their guns and aimed them at Erik.

Sadako called out, “Are you insane? The humans will hear your gunshots and swarm this place. Besides, guns do fuck all against vampires. Bring in the archers and shoot the onmyoji!”

            They stepped forward and aimed their bows. A flash came through them as the bladed weasel cut their bows to pieces. Several leaves appeared in the air over the kappa gunners. They turned into anvils and fell, splattering the kappa across the ground.

            “And score for Itsuki,” the raccoon dog said. “Guess you can’t keep up, you bitch fox!”

            Hisa scowled at him as she kept hitting the same kappa with her spear, “Just you wait until I get my hands on you! I’ll tear out your massive balls and make you eat them!”

            “Ha! Just you try! I already use them for archery practice,” he stated.

            Beauregard shouted, “You did what?”

            “Yeah, I make my balls grow to massive size and let other tanuki shoot them with arrows,” Itsuki confirmed.

            “When we get back home, I’m asking that witch boy if he can remove my memory of that.”

Haru looked at the canyon below him and cast another spell. Fire lanced one of the watery women. Keiko was amazed.

            She said, “Haru-kun, your magic is incredible. Saburo’s is too. Would even a machine gun do that much damage?”

            “No. Many supernatural creatures have resistance to bullets. It would take a few shots from a machine gun to get through a kappa’s shell, but my fire spells burn right through it. And that’s not even counting undead, which you need a really big gun to be effective against them at all,” he replied.

            “They’re that powerful?” Keiko’s eyes widened. “Why haven’t they taken over the world already?”

            “Numbers, for one thing. There are far more humans than there are supernatural creatures. People like Saburo is another. He’s not as powerful a spellcaster as I am, but he’s doing better against the yokai than me. Never underestimate the power of a specialist,” Haru stated.

            “But how can they be that resistant to bullets?” she wondered.

            “Magic.”

            Keiko asked, “Magic? Is that really it?”

            “Yes,” Haru answered. “I mean, how else can you explain a turtle shell being able to withstand bullets that can cut through modern body armor like nothing?”

            “That’s…a pretty good point,” she nodded. “And all supernatural creatures are like that?”

            He cast a spell at the battle and laughed, “Oh, fuck no. There are plenty of supernatural creatures that die when you shoot them with pretty much any gun. The only thing that makes something a supernatural creature is that they have abilities that come from magic. I mean, you can have someone whose only power is that they can see through grass and they’d still be a supernatural creature.”

            “There you are, spellcaster!” a draugr jumped into the air and shot a massive bow at Haru.

            He jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding it. Keiko felt fear welling up in her. She had never seen a bow that big, neither western nor eastern. Just how much damage could a weapon like that do?

            Runes glowed on the weapon as the draugr landed and took another shot. It slammed into a rock behind them, shattering it to pieces. Haru held out his hand for a fire spell, but the draugr was faster. He lashed out with a powerful kick. There was a loud crack as the bones in Haru’s arm snapped.

            The draugr pulled back his bow for another shot; however, a kanabo slammed into his face, caving it in and breaking his helmet. He fell backwards and stumbled off the cliff. His hand reached out, digging into the side and saving him from crashing into the ground. The draugr pulled himself onto the cliff, shock coming over his face.

            Keiko’s skin had turned blue. Rippling muscles covered her body while she maintained her feminine form. Two horns grew out of her forehead.

            “Bastard draugr!” Keiko shouted. “If you hurt Haru-kun, I’ll kill you!”

            The draugr smirked. Well, he tried to, but he couldn’t move his jaw.

            “Mmphmmmm,” he said.

            Haru fought through the pain, “What did you say?”

            “Phmmphmum,” the draugr mumbled.

            Keiko stepped between it and her boyfriend, “Haru-kun, are you alright?”

            “I’ll make it,” he told her. “I can still use my other hand for spellcasting.”

            “Okay. Let me kill this one.”

            She charged at the draugr. He dropped his bow and pulled out a sword. Keiko swung the kanabo, but he deflected it and pushed it to the side. The draugr lashed out with his weapon, lunging and cutting at Keiko’s shoulder. Her hardened skin reduced the blow; however, blood flowed out of her all the same.

            Anger pulsed through Haru. He jumped to the side and uttered words of power.

            “Pozhar Shimpanze!”

            A tiny beam of fire came out, cutting the draugr’s arm off. He threw his sword at Haru; however, Keiko grabbed it and slammed it into the draugr’s head. His helmet shattered the sword into pieces but caved inward. The draugr roared and swung his fist at Keiko, sending her stumbling back.

            “Dammit! Why is this guy so hard to beat?” she asked.

            Haru answered, “Keiko-chan, you’re good, but this guy was a viking warrior. He has years more experience than you do and has probably fought in battles before. Plus, he’s undead. You need to decapitate him or incinerate his body to kill him.”

            The draugr charged Keiko. He grabbed at her kanabo, but she pulled it out of the way. Haru cast another spell, jumping forward as he did.

            “Led Voda!”

            This time, a gout of flame unleashed. It had less distance than the beam of fire, but it was more powerful. Keiko wasn’t in the flame’s path; however, she still felt heat licking her body.

            “It’s a good thing that Haru-kun has such good aim,” she thought. “I’m so close to it.”

            Haru was struggling to keep the power of the spell suppressed. It was supposed to be hotter than a flamethrower and to incinerate everything in the area other than its caster. This was the fastest way he knew to end the fight; however, keeping the spell suppressed drained away at his energy.

            It did the job all the same. The draugr was incinerated. Haru breathed a deep sigh of relief as he ended the spell, and then he collapsed onto one knee.

            Keiko held him up, “Haru-kun, are you alright?”

            “I’m tired and in pain. I have a broken arm. Keiko-chan, bring me over to the edge.”

            She said, “Are you sure?”

            “Yes, we need to keep going through this battle. Set me down by a rock and jump down. Get Anzu to protect you,” he told her.

            “No way!” Keiko objected. “I can’t abandon you, Haru-kun.”

            “You’re not abandoning me. I’ll cast a defensive spell. The best thing we can do is end the battle as soon as possible. Back up everyone who’s having trouble. With the two of us fighting together, we can finish this fight.”

            “Alright. Hang in there, Haru.”

            Keiko leaned him against a rock that overlooked the canyon. She took a deep breath and jumped down the steep cliffs, kanabo in hand.