Grand Olympia: Further Horizon - Chapter 10: Ued

  Gee Washington remained perched in his hiding spot still having an overcoat jacket on his shoulders and gsses, positioned high above the battlefield o a sturdy, charred tree trunk that still barely held its ground after the chaos. The battlefield stretched below him in a swirling storm of fire, steel, and sweat—Musashi, Lappu, and Yasuke’s brutal csh in the ter, Edward and Zheng Yi Sao keeps defending on tless assaults, and Billy pying the uable element in this situation.

  Gee’s on, a heavily modified long-barrel rifle with two bdes at the end, gleamed in the dim light of the burning wreckage around him. With practiced precision, he tinued firing calcuted shots, each bullet meant to do one of three things—harass Edward and Zheng Yi Sao, pick off stray mohat threateo swarm Musashi and Lapu-Lapu, and stay on the move to prevent being tracked.

  His breathing remained calm as he pulled the trigger—another shot fired. The bullet whizzed toward Edward’s arm just grazing it, f him to retract his whip mid-swing. “Tch!” Edward growled, momentarily thrown off bance.

  Another shot—this time toward a lunging wolf-like beast, its grotesque, cyclopean eye glowing as it sprioward the fray. The bullet found its mark, pierg through its skull, sending it crashing lifelessly to the ground before it could interfere in the duel below.

  Gee exhaled, watg through his different hiding spot as the battle below unfolded.

  “This reminds me of my days leading troops into battle.” His thoughts drifted back to the Revolutionary War.

  “I don’t know if they were good times or bad. But either way, I always wonder—did I do enough? Did I make the right choices? I have no idea what happeo America after my death… but I hope the people I fought for, the people I led, now live better lives.”

  He fired another round—Zheng Yi Sao ducked just in time, the bullet grazing past her shoulder.

  She snarled, gng toward his dire. “That damn coward is starting to piss me off!”

  But Gee was already repositioning. “e and fihen.”

  But two figures standing behind unnoticed.

  …

  The ground was scarred and unstable, littered with scorched craters and uonated ndmines.

  Yet within this minefield of death, three warriors stood locked in a relentless exge of steel, sweat, and instinct.

  Musashi’s bdes moved like water, fast and uable. He weaved, cut, and redirected attacks in an ever-flowing dance of destru, exploiting every small gap in Yasuke’s defense. His eyes sed tinuously, measuring every movement, every breath of his oppo.

  Lappu was a fortress. He held his shield like an iron wall, abs powerful blows that would shatter lesser men. His kampin sword struck precisely, his thrusts executed with mathematical precision.

  And Yasuke-Yasuke was like a storm. His kanabo swung in arcs that could crush boulders, his sheer brute strength f both Musashi and Lappu into stant motion. He was already bloodied, fresh wounds criss-crossing his arms and chest, yet his resolve never wavered.

  His voice, deep and unwavering, broke through the battlefield. “You two are formidable warriors. But you fight differently.”

  He parried a rapid strike from Musashi, barely dodged a thrust from Lapu-Lapu, then spun his kanabo in a defensive circle, keeping them both at bay.

  “One of you fights like a predator—calg, always adapting.” Yasuke smirked beh his fearsome mask, gng at Musashi. “The hts like a shield—a guardian of something greater.” His gaze flickered toward Lapu-Lapu. “Tell me, what drives you?”

  Lapupu’s expression was firm. “My people. My home.”

  Musashi scoffed. “Myself.”

  The moment of brief versation ended in an instant.

  Yasuke charged forward, targeting Lapupu with brute force.

  Lapupu braced, lifting his shield just in time, but the impact still forced him back. His feet skidded over the soil, nearly stepping onto one of the hidden ndmines exposing the dozen gold s.

  Musashi took this ce to exploit Yasuke’s blind spot. He moved with lightning speed, striking from Yasuke’s exposed side.

  But Yasuke had anticipated it.

  Rather than blog, he stepped forward, letting the wooden bde graze his ribs—thealiated with a crushing bad swing.

  Musashi barely ducked in time, the bck kanabo missing his skull by inches.

  But before Yasuke could follow up—

  Lapupu terattacked.

  With a forceful step forward, he thrust his kampin toward Yasuke’s shoulder.

  Yasuke had no choice but to twist his body, defleg the strike with his kanabo, barely avoiding another wound.

  The fight was shifting.

  Yasuke was strong, but against two warriors of equal caliber, his body was taking its toll. Small cuts and bruises covered his arms and torso.

  But still—his determination burned.

  The battle had carried them dangerously close to a cluster of uonated ndmines, hiddeh dirt and gold s. Lapupu, ever observant, caught a glimpse of the scattered gold s peeking through the dirt.

  “The explosives…” he thought.

  He pivoted, keeping his movements precise, trolled.

  But Yasuke…

  Yasuke had memorized the safe zones. He had maneuvered them here iionally. With a sudden burst of speed, Yasuke pivoted and swung low, sweeping his kanabo toward Musashi’s legs.

  Musashi jumped at the st sed, but Yasuke was already following up with atack—this time toward Lapupu.

  Lapupu barely had time to react before Yasuke’s kanabo smmed against his shield.

  The force sent him reeling backward.

  His foot—inches away from stepping onto a ndmine.

  Musashi, seeing the dahrew his entire body into a.

  With lightning reflexes, he lunged frabbing Lapupu by the colr and yanking him away.

  At that moment—Yasuke thrust his kanabo downward. The tip of his on struck the edge of the ndmine.

  BOOM!

  An explosioed, the force bsting dust and debris into the air.

  Yasuke was sent flying backward, rolling across the ground.

  Musashi and Lapupu barely mao escape the bst, bruised but still standing.

  As the dust settled—Yasuke slowly rose

  Smoke curled from his armor. A fresh gash ran down his arm, blood trailing into the dirt.

  Yet his stance remained unbroken.

  His grin widened beh his mask.

  “That was well-pyed.”

  Musashi cracked his neck. “You fight like a damn demon.”

  Lapupu adjusted his stance, exhaling deeply. “And you fight like a man who refuses to die.”

  Yasuke let out a deep, hearty ugh.

  “I'll never fall ever again! Then e, warriors! Let’s see who falls first!”

  And with that—they cshed once more.

  The battlefield trembled beh the weight of their unyielding will.

  Musashi and Lapu-Lapu lunged forward in perfeison.

  Musashi’s twin wooden swords flickered like bdes of wind, cutting from every ah relentless speed. His footwork was fluid aic, making it impossible to predict his movements.

  Lapupu, in trast, drove forward with sheer force, his kampin thrusting with pinpoint precision. Each strike was calcuted to force Yasuke into a defeance, pushing him back, ering him.

  Yasuke fought back with everything he had.

  His kanabo swung in massive arcs, defleg Musashi’s rapid strikes while simultaneously knog away Lapupu’s thrusts. The g of their o echoes through the ruined battlefield, a symphony of steel and willpower.

  But despite his monstrous endurance, Yasuke was slowing down.

  The onsught of blows became too overwhelming, and his massive frame could no longer react fast enough to deflect every attack.

  Blood dripped from his arms, chest, and legs—small but numerous cuts f across his thick, battle-hardened body.

  Then—a loud, mog ugh cut through the air.

  Edward Teach.

  The pirate’s sinister chuckle rang through the battlefield, and before anyone could react, he swung his heavy steel , whipping the massive anchor at the trio.

  The anchor crashed into the grouhem.

  But no explosion followed.

  Instead, it dug deep into the dirt, embedding itself like a buried on.

  Yasuke’s instincts screamed at him. Without hesitatioook three rapid steps back, using his cloak-like jacket as a makeshift shield.

  Musashi and Lapupu, realizing the danger a sed too te, barely had time to react.

  Edward, muscles flexing with raw power, tugged the embedded anchor with a monstrous pull.

  The ground shuddered violently. From beh the soil, golden ese s—were ripped out of their hidden positions.

  A heartbeat ter—

  BOOM!

  BOOM!

  BOOM!

  A rea of explosioed.

  The first bst sent a cloud of burning shrapnel s into the sky, followed by a sed detonation that shot debris in every dire like bullets.

  Lapupu, moving on pure instinct, threw himself over Musashi, croug low and raising his massive Kasag shield to absorb the bst.

  A storm of fire and debris rained down upon them.

  The sheer force of the explosion drove them further into the dirt, their bodies rattled from the impact.

  As the dust settled, Lapu-Lapu let out a pained grunt, l his shield slightly.

  A warm trickle of blood ran down his forehead.

  Musashi’s grip on his swords tightened. His gaze darkened, his mind rag.

  “I thought Gee was keeping that ashy bastard occupied. Did something happen to him!?”

  His eyes soward the distance.

  And then he saw it.

  The battlefield was no longer just a fight between warriors.

  It had bee a feast for the monsters lurking in the shadows.

  Through the bloodied gaps, a horde of monstrous beasts surged forward—low-ranking but tless in number. Using their dead brethren and sacrifice of beied had iently torn open new paths. The ndmines, meant to keep the battlefield strategically trolled, have colpsed.

  Cyclopean wolves, matted in blood and bile, lunged forward on all fours, their grotesque fanged maws dripping with saliva.

  Serpentine creatures with bulbous, pulsating eyes slithered over the corpses of their fallen kin, hissing as they coiled toward their prey.

  A—not a single gunshot had been heard.

  Musashi’s stomach ed.

  “Sh*t!”

  His hands gripped both ons tightly.

  If Gee had been holding back the monsters, then why had they suddenly broken through?

  Where was Gee?

  His instincts screamed at him—something had gone wrong. They were outnumbered. Surrounded. And they were running out of time.

  Edward, standing atop a pile of wreckage, roared with ughter.

  “What’s wrong, boys? Ya look like you’re in a bit of trouble! Hahaha!”

  Zheng Yi Sao smirked, spinning a gold between her fingers.

  “You expected this fight to be fair? The sea never pys fair, aher do we.”

  Musashi, still breathing heavily from the st explosion, turned his gaze toward Yasuke.

  The giant warrior stood there, watg them. Despite his injuries, he was not retreating. Despite the chaos, he was not bag down.

  His eyes, still hiddeh his menag oni demonic mask, seemed to gleam with determination.

  “Yasuke!” Musashi called out. “You see what’s happening, right!? That bastard—he just tried to take us all out in one move!”

  Lapupu wiped the blood from his forehead and spoke in a steady voice. “Is this what you want? To fight alongside cowards who use tricks instead of their own strength?”

  Yasuke paused. His grip tightened on his kanabo.

  Edward’s ughter faded slightly. “Oi… what’s with that look?”

  Zheng Yi Sao narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re having sed thoughts now, Samurai.”

  Yasuke finally spoke. “This battle is not yours to decide. Leave this fight to me. Don’t ever interfere!”

  Maybe the first time in his whole entire life-being a sve for most it never spoke up towards anybody up until now. All of them shiver down their spine seeing how angered Yasuke is. But all of them except Lapupu slightly twitch the ers of their mouths.

  …

  Elsewhere, in the distance—Billy Kid moved like a ghost.

  His camoufge cloak blended into the shadows of the trees, his revolver spinning idly in his right hand while his robotid moviedly the same motions again and again. He kept firing at Edward and Zheng Yi Sao, f them to stay on the defensive.

  Occasionally, low-ranking monsters would rush him from the side.

  Without looking, he’d fire a single shot—perfect aim, kill.

  “Damn, these nasty-ass rodents look like they came straight out of a horror book.” He muttered, reloading.

  Billy tinued moving toward a new vantage point, but a sudden movement above him made his instincts fre.

  His body reacted before his mind could process—he rolled backward, dodging just in time.

  A small figure nded where he had stood moments before. Holding a spear that pointed in the ground moments before Billy was.

  Billy quickly crouched, revolver aimed.

  But the figure moved too fast.

  A spear swung toward him, aiming for his gun hand. Billy jerked his wrist, barely avoiding the strike.

  The spear suddenly shifted into a rapid thrust, f him to block with his cyberic arm. The force was strohan expected, making Billy slide back slightly.

  He fired a shot.

  The figure twisted away, flipping upward onto a tree branch, croug.

  Now, Billy could clearly see his attacker.

  A woman, barely of average height, wearing a simple almost white ese clothing with pants, jacket and one arm in a sleeve the other expose.

  Her dark navy hair was tied into two buns, strands falling over her round gsses that glinted uhe firelight.

  She smiled.

  Billy clicked his tongue. “And who the hell are you, sneakin’ up on people like that?”

  The girl tilted her head ign the question. “You’re quick. Most people don’t dodge my first attack.”

  Her voice was calm. Almost pyful.

  She twirled her spear once before pointing it to the ground.

  Billy spun his revolver. “Let’s just say I’ve shot a lot of people who thought they were smart. You one of ‘em?”

  She ughed lightly. “Why don’t you find out?”

  Billy sighed. “I swear, I ain’t never met a woman who didn’t wanna kill me.”

  And then—they cshed.

  Her spear came down like lightning, Billy sidestepped, firing a shot.

  She twisted mid-air, parrying the bullet with her spear’s shaft.

  Billy grinned. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”