Guilty x Creatures Ch. 50

"I am going to use an ability to generate several clones of myself. These will not be mere illusions, Anton. Each of these clones will be fully capable of harming you." explained Leopold "You will not be able to tell which one is the real me. I will then create a veil of dust in which to hide in. You will not be able to tell from which direction you are going to be attacked from."

"...Okay?" questioned Anton as he folded his arms back over his chest "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because, capabilities aside. You are no warrior, Anton." said Leopold "You have made it abundantly clear through our past conversations that you are merely a scholar. Skilled in survival as you may be, a battlefield is no place for you. As it sits, you have no chance of winning this fight. And to not at least give you some idea of what to expect would just be cruel."

"...I see. Well, that is, very kind and, confident, of you. And I do appreciate the gesture, Leopold." said Anton as he nodded slowly "But I think it would be best if you went ahead and just got started already. You see, if it's all the same to you, I would really rather not spend the rest of the day on this..."

"...Very well then." muttered Leopold as he unclasped his wings and spread them out wide over his shoulders "If you insist..."

The dark elves both went wide eyed as they watched the shadows created by Leopold's wings begin to consolidate into seemingly solidified masses. Within the span of a moment, two clones that were identical to Leopold suddenly dropped out of the solid shadows and stood on either side of the original.

Apparently, unlike with Mica, Leopold didn't have to completely dissolve himself into a cloud of darkness to create clones. Nor did he have to remain still to do so, as he continued to walk in a circle around Anton while creating one set of clones after another.

As they were created, each set of clones would quickly dash to different positions around Anton. And by the time Leopold had made a full circle, Anton was completely surrounded.

Ignoring the clones, Anton remained stoic as he watched Leopold come to a stop in front of him.

"This is your last chance, Anton." said Leopold as he and the clones all spread their wings out as wide as they could "From here on out, the fight will begin."

"By all means." said Anton as he lifted his left hand and waved it about "Please, begin."

Without another word, all the clones began to move in unison as they beat their wings down towards the ground. In doing so they immediately raised a thick cloud of dust.

Anton kept his eyes on Leopold as around them each of the clones dropped backwards into the dust cloud and began to run at inhuman speeds in a circle, kicking up more dust as they went.

Within seconds, Anton and Leopold stood alone in the center of a swirling dust storm that now hid the still moving clones.

The watching dark elves and kiochis had completely lost sight of anything within the dust cloud and could do nothing but wait for the view to clear.

Leopold gave Anton a sly half grin before he beat his wings and launched himself backwards so as to disappear into the dust cloud himself.

Anton remained motionless as he merely stared forward and waited.

Bright flashes of sunlight reflecting off of their blades was the only warning Anton had as over a dozen Leopold's suddenly appeared out of the swirling dust cloud and went to attack him all at once.

In the next second, the sound of a single finger snap reverberated loudly across the open field, and this was followed by an immediate cease to all of the movement around the still standing Anton.

The air surrounding Anton had instantly become clear as the dust, grass and attacking shinoccubi had all been immediately crushed to the ground around him.

The two dark elves began to clap softly as the dumbfounded kiochis blinked in confusion.

"...It's quite depressing to see how times of peace without conflict can have such ugly side effects on those who carry a drive for combat in their spirits." said Anton as he glanced around at the unmoving kiogahs "The gentrification of the modern age has been especially cruel in this regard. By dealing with only the average citizen, any individual with even a modest amount of training will begin to truly believe themselves to be capable as a warrior in real combat. And it's only after encountering someone who knows what it truly takes to win the day on an actual field of battle, that these misguided individuals will not only come to comprehend the true gap in skill, but they will also come to fully understand their own place amongst their betters..."

Twisting at the waist, Anton tilted to the side to meet eyes with one of the struggling Leopold's.

"You have failed to recognize your place, Leopold. You are no warrior. You're a posh, real-estate lawyer who merely moonlights as an assassin. A blade for hire who lives at the beck and call of any fat businessman with the money to pay for your services..." said Anton as he tightened his eyes in question "Tell me truthfully. How many of your targets have ever been anything more than a a nosy accountant, a lazy son-in-law, or an unwanted whore?"

The Leopold remained silent as his expression hardened.

"Mm hm, that's what I thought..." nodded Anton as he looked away from him "Underestimating your opponent is always the first step to defeat. This is something that I will make sure that Mica learns."

A hollow thud suddenly rung out as a kunai came sailing into the area and immediately slammed to the ground to lay with its point aimed at Anton.

Glancing at the fallen weapon, Anton slowly raised his eyes up to Nokko and took in her post throwing stance.

The kiochi lowered her arm to her side as a look of hated clouded her eyes.

"Release him." she growled "Now."

Anton tilted his head as he gave her an assessment.

"I said, release him!" ordered Nokko as she pulled a handgun from a holster at the small of her back and pointed it at Anton "Right now!"

Anton remained silent and still as they both stared at each other.

Nokko's eyes tightened further a split second before she pulled the trigger on her weapon, but this signal was all the warning that Anton needed to summon an aura field into existence around himself and block the bolt of concentrated mana that had been fired out of the gun.

Surprised by the sight of the glowing bubble, Nokko seethed and began to rapidly fire her weapon in anger. Aiming for Anton's head, she struck the bubble at the same spot over and over again. When no effect was made by the mana based blasts, she quickly flipped a switch on the side of her weapon and fired an actual physical bullet from the gun. After several fired shots, she became elated when a small crack suddenly appeared across the bubble's surface.

Anton's expression never altered as he calmly watched Nokko empty her weapons supply of bullets against his shield.

Pausing for a moment to assess the damage she had done, Nokko cried out in anger as the cracks she had made shrunk down into nothing and the bubble's surface became smooth again. Furious, she raised her gun back up but hesitated to fire when her mother's spade came to rest on top of it.

"That's enough." whispered Ila as she gave her a pointed look.

"...Hm, that one has a temper, and doesn't hesitate to attack." mused Anton as he watched Nokko grudgingly return her gun to its holster "That is one thing that I do actually appreciate about Mica. She can control her temper, and she doesn't immediately resort to violence. She's-"

"Ila!" cried out the Leopold's as they all struggled to turn their heads towards her "...Go!"

Ila froze for a split second as she locked gazes with the closest Leopold. Her eyes went wide with understanding as they darted to Anton.

"...Ila, we had an agreement." said Anton as his eyes narrowed in warning "Don't you dare."

Without another word the kiochi turned away and disappeared from sight only to reappear in the field that separated them from Mica and the dark elves. Dropping the stuffed frog, she began to sprint at full speed straight towards her daughter.

Sneering at Anton, Nokko turned and hastily followed after her mother. Once she caught up to her, the two kiochis made to cover the distance between themselves and their target as quickly as possible by hurling themselves into the air and teleporting parts of the way.

Her tail reflexively curling back and up over her head in surprise, Mica's eyes widened to their fullest as she stared dumbfounded at the sight of her own mother flying in through the air, and heading straight for her with dual swords and her tail spade poised to strike. The stunned shinoccubus remained completely frozen even as her mother and sister both came to a unexpected stop, floating in the air above her.

Having slammed into the side of a large curved dome that had suddenly appeared in front of them, the two kiochis paused in confusion as they stared down at an equally surprised looking Mica.

The dome they found themselves on was transparent enough to see through clearly, and was made up of thick, reinforced looking hexagon shaped plates that had been honeycombed together and were colored in an alternating pattern of neon green and pink.

"What the Hell is this!?" cried Nokko as she and her mother both attempted to pierce the dome with their weapons and bladed tails "Is Mica doing this!?"

"...No." mumbled Ila as she watched both Kianna and Fiona step up behind Mica and stand on either side of her "No she's not..."

The two attacking kiochis jumped backwards and landed on the ground just in front of Mica. They both glanced at each other before turning to face the dark elves.

Watching the kiochis clamber about and then leap down off the dome, Anton shook his head and sighed in irritation.

"Well that was foolish." he grumbled as he pointed a finger at the kunai on the ground, shot out a thin light chain that instantly wrapped around its handle and pulled the blade back up to his waiting hand.

Rolling the kunai between his fingers, he glanced down at the closest Leopold.

"You know, this would have been over..." he said as his aura began to ominously spread out and blanket the area around him "But Ila chose to make a very poor decision. One that I'm going to make sure that you both regret..."

Angling his arm out to his side, he let the kunai fall point first. With the added gravity in the area, it easily pierced right through the neck of the Leopold and the apparent clone cried out before dissolving back into shadow. With a quick pull on the thin chain still attached to the handle, Anton brought the kunai back up to his hand.

"I just have to find you first..." he said as he turned and let the kunai fall through the chest of another Leopold who immediately began to dissolve "Which shouldn't take too long..."

The ringing pings of the kiochis testing the dome with the blades on their tails rang out through the air as they searched for some way into the impenetrable fortress that separated them from their target.

"...M-mommy?" whimpered Mica as she stared up the attacking kiochi.

Ila froze before slowly shifting her gaze down to her kneeling daughter.

Mica's face was stricken with a mix of both panic and sorrow as heavy tears rolled down her cheeks and fell to the ground between her knees.

"...No." she cried meekly as she reached out her hands "Mommy, please!"

Ila's eyes softened as she slowly lowered her weapons.

"Are you serious!?" declared Nokko as she struck at the dome with her tail and caused Mica to flinch back in fear "Can you be any more pathetic!?"

"Hey. Watch your mouth, you little bitch." snapped Fiona as her eyes roved over Ila's slim but curvaceous form and then darted to Nokko.

Narrowing her eyes into a glare, Nokko stared right back at her.

"This has nothing to do with you elves." she declared as she coiled her tail back above her head and menacingly flexed out her barbs "If you dirt-skinned little bubble bitches knew what was good for you, you'd both stay out of this!"

Mica made another tiny sound as she felt the the dark elves auras swell around her. Slowly looking upwards, she gulped nervously as she found both Fiona and Kianna staring forward with hardened expressions on their faces and their ears held sharp and pointed straight back behind their heads.

"I'm not sure how much you actually know about dark elves, Leopold. But I can assure you that all the worst things you've heard are true." said Anton as he dropped the kunai through the head of another clone "They're sadistic, hedonistic creatures who will enslave and dominate for nothing more than the simple pleasure of ruling over the life of another being. They were built with the soul purpose of controlling others, it's what they truly are, through and through. And as such they are nearly incapable of seeing other people as anything more than potential pets, toys or slaves... So knowing this, why do you think the people of the world would ever tolerate them? These monstrous creatures who treat all others as nothing more than living playthings. Why wouldn't the people just band together against them and make an effort to be rid of them forever?...Well, the truth is, they have tried, many, many times..."

Dropping down to sit on his haunches, Anton leaned in close to a Leopold as he continued to speak.

"Every army, every kingdom, every alliance that has ever made an effort to oppose the dark elves, drive them away or even wipe them out completely... Has failed. Spectacularly. Every, single, time..."

Anton let a broad smile spread across his face as he watched the kiogah's eyes tighten.

"The dark elves rule over others because they are powerful enough to do so. They were built, and blessed by the Gods themselves with the power to do so. And they are powerful, Leopold. Powerful enough that if they choose to, they can make even your lords, the demons, kneel before them." said Anton as he began to softly chuckle "Your kind would never stand a chance against them. And the funny thing is, at this very moment, your wife and daughter are over there right now. Trying their best to make two of these beings as angry as possible..."

"You..." breathed Kianna as she stared unblinkingly at Nokko "You're the one that attacked my Master while he wasn't looking..."

Nokko cocked her hip and smirked with her eyes in an effort to taunt the dark elf.

"Yeah, I did. And what are you going to do about it? Aside from sit in your little bubble." she mocked as she ran the tip of her bladed spade across the side of the dome and made a sharp scratching sound "If you wanna talk so big then why don't you drop this shield, and show me what you're really made of."

The dark elves were both still for a moment before their ears went from a pointed straight back stance to fully relaxed as their entire beings seemed to inexplicably become calm.

Looking back and forth between the two now seemingly serene looking dark elves, Ila took an involuntary step back as her instincts began to go off in alarm.

"Okay." whispered the dark elves in unison.

"You know, I really can't wait to see what happens here." chuckled Anton as he looked back over to the dark elves "This is going to be very, very interesting."