. . . . . . . . . .
It was an icily cold night, with rain falling relentlessly from the dark sky.
Faint moonlight is shining through the rain clouds, flashing through the storm clouds on to the forest.
But the shadows of the dense treetops swallowed every ray of light that tried to pass through.
Shooooo....
Cold rain poured down relentlessly, passing through the gaps between the leaves before soaking the earthy ground beneath.
A frog quickly jumped back into a shallow pond.
Birds abandoned their nests with terrified cries before disappearing into the black cloud.
Elephants of every size rampaging through the forest trampled everything in their path.
All of them rushed across the wet ground with terror in their eyes.
Then suddenly—
A massive crimson flash erupted from the heart of the forest.
The darkness vanished in an instant, replaced by a blinding red light that lasted for the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed throughout the entire area.
For a brief second, the rain ceased to exist.
Then it returned.
But the trees did not.
The section of forest that had once been covered by dense vegetation, trunks, branches, and leaves. disappeared altogether as though they had never existed.
What remained was a vast clearing of exposed earth ground, drawn in a perfect circle before the rain slowly turned it to mud.
Amid the shadows of the trees that still stood, a figure stepped out and walked into the empty area.
The man wore a hood that concealed his entire face. Only his mouth became visible whenever a flash of moonlight broke through the clouds. A black cape draped over his shoulders, its rippling fabric swaying violently in the storm.
He stopped upon reaching the centre of the clearing, then pointed a finger towards the remaining forest on the other side.
"You'd better hand it over. Don't make this difficult."
Hidden beneath those shadows, there seemed to be nothing to the human eye.
But the hooded man was not a mere human. His senses went beyond that. Even without sight, he could sense something hidden within the darkness:
A man crouched behind a patch of tall weeds. A grey overcoat concealed his body, blending him into the darkness of the forest.
In his right arm rested an infant wrapped in white cloth like a cocoon.
The child slept peacefully, unaware of the thunder above or the danger in front of him.
"If you won't come out, then I will."
The hooded man shouted with a strong voice, piercing through the sound of the thunder.
But nothing seemed to move.
The hood man then slaps a hand over his bare chest, rainwater splashing across his skin.
He breathed and whispered words only he could hear.
"Conjuring."
Something began to form before him.
Reddish energy emerged from thin air and gathered above the ground. The energy condensed into a glowing sphere.
As soon as it reached the size of his palm, the hooded man gently cupped his hand around it, close enough to protect it from the rain, yet without touching it.
He looked back towards the forest and hurled it forward.
"Divyavarṣa."
Celestial Skyfall.
SWAPP
The sphere instantly split into thousands of smaller orbs over the forest. following the man's command.
And crimson light instantly radiated from all of it until the night sky was consumed.
VRROOOOMMMM!
At the same time, the man in the grey overcoat immediately slaps his left hand on the ground, casting a golden protective barrier around himself.
Luckily the barrier closed before an explosion reached them.
The energy stayed for a minute like a supernova.
When the explosion faded, the treetops of the forest had already been reduced to dust. leaving only lifeless tree trunks behind.
But the man and the child remained safe inside the golden barrier.
"There you are."
A smirk appeared on the hooded man's lips.
The man in the coat looked around and realised he was now completely exposed. There was nowhere left to hide.
Yet he did not run.
"Here to change your mind?"
Once the barrier protecting him began to fade away, the man in the coat slowly rose to his feet.
He stood nearly six feet tall, a bit taller than the woodsman. The rain-soaked black hair clung to his forehead.
While the infant remained secured in his right arm.
His brows tightened as he stepped forward, facing the hooded man in the empty area.
Despite the raging storm and the overwhelming power before him, there was not a trace of fear on his face.
The hooded man chuckled.
"Want to beg for your life?"
"Never."
The reply made the hooded man's smile disappear, replaced by an intrigued expression.
Lightning struck somewhere beyond the clearing.
At the same moment, the man gently placed the infant inside one of the few surviving bushes nearby.
He waved his hand, and golden energy flowed from his fingertips, surrounding the bush and transforming it into a protective sanctuary.
Only then did he turn back towards his enemy with his right leg stretching forward into a fighting stance.
He looked at the hooded man with fierce eyes, like a wolf signalling to its rival that it was ready to hunt.
"You're going to die."
"And so are you... for protecting that child."
The moment those words ended, the hooded man pointed a finger forward.
"Conjuring."
Crimson energy surged before his fingertip, not touching it but bound to his hand by invisible strings.
On the other side, the man who had once worn the coat swept his hand outward.
Golden energy formed around his body in the shape of transparent samurai armour.
And a dense mass of energy nearly four metres long took shape as an enormous odachi.
Meanwhile, the energy before the hooded man stopped condensing.
and he spoke the chant.
"Nāśaśara."
The energy stretched itself outward like a beam.
It surged forward like a meteor.
YAAAHHH!
The man roared and charged.
As the distance between them vanished, the earth's ground trembled with their power.
And then—
BOOM!
Crimson energy collided with golden odachi energy.
A blinding flash erupted across the battlefield, swallowing everything in sight.
For a single moment, there was nothing left in the world except white light.
Even the infant who's still dreamt in the bush.
unknowing that he just altered the fate of this world.
. . . . . . . . . .