Chapter 475: Scathach, A Natural Teacher.
"... What a fool, throwing away your weapon," Scathach commented but didn't stop looking at Mizuki. Then, utilizing her footwork, she vanished and reappeared behind her.
"Nurarihyon."
Scathach kicked Mizuki in the back, but Mizuki's image disappeared as if she didn't exist.
"Oh?"
'Teleportation?' She looked around and denied the thought: 'Invisibility?'
An aura of cold left Scathach's body and spread around, and while she could 'feel' that Mizuki was in one place, her eyes couldn't see her. But that didn't matter as she could feel it with her power.
'Illusion, huh... It's not like that boy from Clan Fulger who makes illusions with his brain; it's more like an illusion in the environment...'
Seeing that Scathach was going to make a move, Mizuki muttered:
"Order: Tanuki." Soon ten raccoons appeared beside Mizuki, and in the next moment, those ten raccoons became Mizuki herself.
Scathach rotated her hand, creating strong winds with just that simple gesture.
Soon, the illusions were 'swept away', and 10 Mizuki's were standing in front of it.
"Spread out." The nine other Mizuki's nodded and made a circle with Scathach in the middle.
"Kyaaa! It's like Naruto-Dattebayo!" Pepper was having fan orgasms.
"...Onmyoji Mages are quite versatile..." Lacus couldn't help but comment.
"She didn't do that before when we were training!"
"She was holding on to her power, right? After all, it was just training." Lacus answered her sister.
"Probably."
"...." Nero and Ophis had no comment; they just watched with sparkling eyes.
The 10 Mizuki lifted talismans and took a stand.
Scathach displays an amused smile; she had always enjoyed seeing new techniques and fighting styles; it was one of her few pleasures in her long life.
One of the Mizuki quickly whispered:
"Order: Kamainu."
"Let's cool things down a little..." Scathach tapped her foot to the ground lightly, but nothing happened.
"...Oya?" She looked around and saw that one of the Mizuki had their talisman glowing a light blue; she narrowed her eyes a little and noticed a dog-like animal looking at her as if watching her, preventing her from committing violence.
'She stopped me from using my birth power...?' Scathach narrowed her eyes and forced her power out, and soon a sword of ice manifested.
Scathach took hold of the sword, and when she went to throw it at Mizuki, the Dog's eyes shone, and the sword disappeared. Seeing that, Scathach's experience and her brain already gave her the answer she needed.
'Interesting... I can't use my power to 'harm' someone... It's still there, but I can't use it to attack... It's like that weird Witch's 'Peace' barrier.' Scathach thought of an incident in the past where a certain Witch, who had a pacifistic heart, made various spells that prevented beings from using their powers to 'harm' a person.
"Yami Arts..." They all mumble at the same time.
A ten-pointed dekagram appeared under Scathach.
"...A 10-point magic circle... You really are something else, huh..." Scathach tried to move but found that she couldn't.
'Oh?... She's preventing me from moving too.' She looked around and saw another Mizuki with the talisman glowing green, and floating beside her was some sort of female-headed monster.
'A medusa-like monster, but instead of petrifying me, it's paralyzing me...'
Scathach's smile widened, and memories began to pop into her head of a man who used Onmyo magic differently.
Instead of using the Japanese Gods, most of whom were Yang natured, as a 'catalyst' to use their enchantments, the man used the Youkai Monsters as a catalyst.
Monsters represented Yin and all that was negative, and because of that, he was persecuted, and his arts were labeled as Dark Arts, forbidden.
He was also hated by the Youkai and treated like a bogeyman in their group because when that man killed a Youkai, that Youkai wouldn't actually die, they would become part of his strength for his Dark Arts.
"Oni, let me use your power; I want revenge." Scathach couldn't help but chuckle at the words of the man who thought she was a Youkai. He was a straight man and didn't even mind her menacing presence.
"What's your name, boy?" Scathach asked after she stopped laughing.
The man was silent for a few seconds until he spoke:
"Ashiya Doman… Those are your techniques, huh." The voice of man and Scathach overlapped between past and present.
"...." To Mizuki's credit, she didn't express anything, but the very act of not saying anything delivered everything Scathach needed to know.
"I see; it's not just 'Light'. You've also mastered the 'Dark' side of your techniques."
Mizuki's eyes began to change from an onyx black to a blood red, and a 10-pointed magic circle appeared in her eyes, very different from the pentagram that appeared in her eyes when using the arts taught by her Master.
"If you knew that man, you must know how dangerous his techniques are."
"Indeed, unlike those hypocrites, the Youkai's power mixed with the Human's power was much more dangerous if used correctly; after all, unlike the Gods, Youkai ran in packs... At least most of them."
Looking at the circle on the floor, she said:
"This technique represents the Hyakki Yagyō, right?"
"!!!"
"Using multiple Youkai to Immobilize, trap, and eliminate an enemy, a terrifying technique if one is caught off guard by this technique and doesn't know how it works. Only death awaits this being."
'To be honest, it was a pretty ingenious technique. Unlike his rival, who limited his talents because of morals, Ashiya Doman didn't have that problem. He wanted power, and with enough will, he became strong enough to face an Elder Vampire.'
Scathach knew that most Vampires never trained as she and her disciples did; even fewer spent several years of sleep time perfecting their techniques like her favorite disciple.
Because of this, she judged that Ashiya Doman, along with the many strange abilities that his 'captured' Youkai had, with enough training, could take on an Elder Vampire, even relatively trained ones.
'And it's not like he stopped using the powers of the Gods either; after all, he was still a talented Onmyo Mage, but his talent in that area was quite inferior to his rival; he had more affinity with the Dark part of Onmyo techniques.'
"..." It would be an understatement to say how surprised Mizuki was that Scathach knew about this.
"Don't look at me like that; if I've met that man, it stands to reason that he tried to use this technique on me..."
"Your technique lacks originality, but it's understandable; you didn't create it, just learned it..."
"...You're just ridiculous..." Mizuki commented. It wasn't just her power that made Scathach fearsome; it was her experience. She was one of the few beings who could genuinely say they'd visited every place in the Mortal World, with secret places like the realm of the Witch Queen being an exception.
After all, Scathach was not a fool to enter 'enemy' territory. She never trusted Witches, especially their Queen.
"Fufufu."
[Give up thinking about making sense of this situation, disciple. This woman is as old as Jesus; there are few things in the world that she has not seen and experienced, and she is also responsible for the Crimson Nightmare; of course, she knows a lot about the Onmyo Mages.]
Despite saying this, Abe-No-Seimei was also surprised; he had not imagined that Scathach had met his rival.
Scathach nodded in satisfaction and with a big smile on her face.
"The current you can corner any arrogant Elder Vampire, or untrained Vampires, an incredible feat for a human who isn't using the power of the 'faith' of The Inquisition Hunters… But me? You will need a little more than that."
A red aura began to emit from Scathach's body, and with just that aura alone, cracks started to form in the magic circle, and the dog-like Youkai broke out in a cold sweat with an expression of fear.
[There it is... The true power of this Oni...] Abe-No-Seimei commented heavily.
"But... I have to acknowledge something..."
"For not getting stuck in stupid old traditions that only limit your development, for seeking power to improve yourself, even if you have to deal with the risk of being corrupted. To overcome all that and still learn and master a technique that contradicts your ways... That's..."
Scathach's smile grew, along with her aura:
"Splendid!"
BOOOOM.
Red pressure exploded outwards from Scathach and impacted Mizuki's body, throwing all 10 of Mizuki's into the air, thus stopping whatever she was about to do.
The clones and the magic circle disappeared from existence as if they hadn't even been there in the first place.
"Ugh…" She touched her head as if she had a nasty headache while ignoring her bleeding nose: "Did she do that with just her aura? Ridiculous..."
"You really are a gem, Mizuki."
"..." Mizuki opened her eyes a little and looked at Scathach in disbelief:
"...Did you remember my name?"
Scathach flashed a small smile:
"Just now."
There was only one thing in the world that Scathach liked, one thing that had always piqued her interest, and it was that very thing that made Scathach watch Victor.
Potential and Talent.
Scathach took personal pleasure in polishing gemstones to reach their most robust state.
In a way, she had an innate aptitude for being a teacher... the strongest teacher.
"Come, I will train you properly."
"…Eh?"
"Although your base is very good, it is still not at the satisfactory level for me, and I know with your talent, you will learn easily."
"…Huh?" Everything was happening so fast that Mizuki's brain was having trouble processing it.
"I can't give tips to improve your enchantment; that's not my area of expertise; you should ask the spirit in your body for that."
"!!!" Mizuki and Abe-No-Seimei shivered when they saw Scathach's gaze.
'[She knows!? How!?]' Mizuki and her Master thought at the same time.
"Fufufu, as expected, you have one, huh."
Mizuki opened her eyes wide as she realized what had just happened.
"I just figured it out. You're very talented for someone your age, and that's not a problem; the problem starts when you learn a technique that should be lost."
Mizuki swallowed hard.
"Ashiya Doman's Yami Arts is a technique unique to that man, and I highly doubt he took a disciple in his life to teach his techniques; he was so obsessed with his goal."
"And, there's a saying I created myself; a rival is something much closer than a lover."
"Only your rival knows you on a level that not even a lover could."
"..."
"While this may not apply in some cases, in most cases that I have encountered in the past, these words perfectly described their situation."
"Only one person knew Ashiya Doman well enough to know all of his techniques; after all, he had personally experienced all these techniques over and over again."
"And considering how 'excellent' that man was for his time, it wouldn't be surprising that he became a heroic spirit; I've seen several cases of that happening in the past."
"Abe-No-Seimei. He is your Master."
It would be an understatement to say how much Mizuki was in a cold sweat right now; the look Scathach gave her was as if the woman knew everything about her. In front of this woman, she appeared to be completely naked and unprotected.
Victor didn't tell Scathach about Mizuki; why?
He didn't need to because when Scathach looked at Mizuki, she could understand most things; he had complete confidence in the woman's ability.
The experience of training several eccentric and talented disciples, the knowledge gained by living for over 2000 years and getting involved in most of the wars that had occurred in the past, and the experience of teaching and dealing with Kings and Queens of the past.
None of that could be taken from Scathach.
She was a politician, a General, a warrior, a counselor. She had countless professions in the past, and she came in contact with many people, and through that contact, she learned from these people.
This was her most potent weapon, a weapon that not even Adonis's memories could fight.
One of the main reasons everyone feared her on the same level as Vlad, the King of Vampires.
Was her experience.
She had personally experienced 2000 years of constant learning and improvement. Despite having forgotten most of the little things she had done in the past, she could handle it quite naturally when faced with most situations.
After all, she had experienced most things at some point in her life.
Experience of more than 2000 years of constant training and self-improvement, training that had yet to end, even to this day.
It could even be said that she was much more excited to train in the present, all thanks to her 'disciple' who had made it possible for her to improve even more. Not to mention all the 'gifted' people her disciple seemed to find as easy as buying cake in a convenience store.
These experiences were something that not even Vlad, in the early years of his immortal life, accomplished. Humanity was undeveloped in his time, and when it started to develop, he already had a role to play and couldn't stay away from his Kingdom for a long time.
That was the kind of monster Scathach was.
A monster that learned from humanity.
......
