Above, a battle of ultimate slaughter took place. Below, a sea of black metal, blood, and flesh piled on endlessly. New additions entered every second without fail.
"Khoff Khak Khak!!" A cough abruptly broke the solemn silence of the graveyard. A few corpses and pieces of severed limbs moved away as an arm reached out. It seemed lacking in strength, but relentless as it dug upwards until it broke free from its dead-barred prison.
Pow!
A corpse from the skies fell heavily on the arm, snapping it in two as a painful wail muffedly sounded. It wasn't until a few seconds later that another arm pierced through the corpses and reached out, retaining its unrelenting desire for freedom. After grabbing ahold of a few bodies, it pushed itself upwards until a small head surfaced.
A head of violet hair and a pair of wary orange eyes revealed itself. Gasping heavily for breath as it continued upwards. It took a little bit effort before that figure could free its arm which had broken solidly in two places, the bone protruded from his lower forearm, and blood gushed outwards.
It was Akio!!
"Haa...haaa…" He touched his side and painfully grimaced. He had been pierced through by a blazing arrow. Luckily, it missed his heart and struck his stomach. At that moment, the searing flames had closed off many of the wounds. If he wasn't a child with a frailer body than an adult, the arrow would've likely stuck onto his body and burned his soul, life, and fleshy body m into nothing.
He gripped his broken arm and breathed slowly.
SNAP!!!
He placed the bone back in place decisively, blood flowing about. He gripped it hard. A bandage was created from nothing, wrapping around his arm like a perfectly done gauze that hurriedly stopped the bleeding.
"I...Tsumi!" As he was thinking about his lucky survival, his mind jolted into focus as he looked upwards, hoping to catch a small figure bobbing and weaving about in a sea of black knights and ocean of constant death. However, his eyes were already hazy and difficult to focus, leaving him only seeing vague cluster of clashing bodies and falling corpses.
Bang!
He looked at the body that had just fallen, realizing it was a member of his race. His expression turned gloomy. This was a middle-aged kitsune male, his expression fierce and his death vicious. The only thing that dropped was one half of his body - his right side.
Opening his mouth, he wanted to roar, but nothing came out. The people he grew up with was dying, but he didn't feel sad about this, but because of his own weakness people had died. He wanted to kill more, kill them all, and protect his home! He wanted a life in this world, a life with Tsumi! He was too young and he wasn't ready to be in the afterlife.
What about his sister? He didn't even know if she is or will be okay.
They were trained from birth to fight, but fighting truly was a tiring task. From young, they fought monstrous beasts produced by their clan's secret arts, they fought their Elders for experience, and they fought themselves each day in a constant bid to become stronger.
As he thought about his memories, he felt powerless. If he had trained for one more day, could he have dodged that arrow, noticed that attack, saved that young girl's life? A surge of regret flowed through his mind, and he hated that he was too young, that he was too weak! Clenching his fist, he smashed it towards a random corpse.
Pow!
Analyzing his body, he knew death was moments away. What he was living on was just borrowed time.
Whizz!!
An odd sound birthed itself from his chestplate. Shocked, he looked downwards to see his chest burning with a violet flame. "Father?!" He clutched at his breastplate with emotions. He may not have seen his father in this life of his, but he had always been with them through the ritual, waiting for him in the afterlife.
"No, not your father. Haha." A voice, resonating with the heart, sounded from the wisp of fire on the incense. Aiko found this voice unfamiliar and surreal. Who's this?
"You can call me Ancestor," the voice was as soft as clouds.
Ancestor? Aiko was confused.
"Do you want to know something?" The voice asked softly.
"Know what?" Aiko grew even more confounded by this voice and who it was. Could it be he was experiencing delusions, was he already dead? He subconsciously touched his face to feel the blood on his cheek and the warmth of his palm. He wasn't dead...
"What is a Nine Tailed Kitsune?" The voice asked a question instead of answering its own.
"Uh…" Aiko was stunned, but he furrowed his brows in thought. Only after he gathered his thoughts, that had been honed from years of schooling and instruction, did he respond, "A female Kitsune with the Legacy of the Nine."
"Then, what is a Ten Tailed Kitsune?" The voice asked once more.
"The progenitor of all Kitsune, our Ancestral Leader, Lord of Our Afterlife." Aiko responded absentmindedly. For some reason, he had forgotten about the battles and his mind was drawn in, like he was in a quiet field speaking to a senior. Even his tone was respectful.
"Do you wish to save your race, save your afterlife?" The voice said temptingly, its softness turned into a serious solemness unlike before.
"I...yes!" Aiko hesitated for a second, but decisively answered. How could he not? He didn't know why enemies were attacking, he didn't know what this grail they were after was, but their entire way of life was being threatened, so did it matter? They had to fight, they had to kill, and they had to give up their lives if needed. If he could save his entire race and their way of life, he was willing! Absolutely willing!
"Then...what are you willing to pay?"
Akio clenched his teeth viciously, "Everything!"
The voice went silent. Akio just laid there calmly, his gaze looking up at the sky. He wasn't in a position to fight, and he could barely urge himself to move, let alone taking to the skies. The likelihood is that one of his clansmen will die because of him if he rushed up there, just like that woman earlier. He was as good as dead, and it's unlikely his injuries will allow him to survive for long.
Many of his vital organs were singed and burned, his entire stomach no longer existed, and his lifeforce was being carried away with every breath. Many of his nerves had already died, he couldn't feel half of his body, and he wasn't exactly sure, but his spine was likely not correctly aligned. He knew death was coming, but what could he do?
"Eat me," The voice said.
"Eat...you?" Akio looked at his breastplate, but he didn't hesitate. He trusted his ancestors, and he was willing to do anything and everything to protect his people. He reached out and pulled his breastplate apart, grabbing the incense stick, and shoved it into his throat. He had to pound his throat so he could induce it to swallow.
A violet flame surged into his body and engulfed him entirely. However, he didn't scream, but looked absentmindedly at the sky. He knew that, in his heart, doing this will lead to unforeseen consequences, but he was willing. Even though the fire burned his body inducing hellish pain, he stayed silent. Calmly looking at the sea of people above.
A wetness surged in his left eye...it welled up until a single tear dropped from it. Unfortunately, his right eye had already been blinded, many of its nerves and functions damaged by the fall.
"Big Sis, Tsumi...Uncle Hiroji…"
The violet flame engulfed him entirely, and he vanished.