Action was going on near and around Tomoe, but he trusted in his friend to handle it. That was the sort of working relationship they always had, anyway, and it had happened enough times to where Tomoe knew that it would all turn out fine. He'd charge in recklessly, and Aegis would cover for him. That was how the dynamic always was, and he wouldn't change it for anything. Did his friend feel the same way? It was unclear, with the amount of bickering that took place when they were off duty. It'd be perfectly reasonable if Tomoe was despised for his methods by those who knew him well enough, and there would be no grudges held if that were the case. It was a question that lingered, but not long enough to distract him from the task at hand. He would need to ask Aegis some day what he thought of this dynamic.

Two seconds had passed.

Tomoe smiled, the previous gust turning into a warping and twisting gale in the weapon in his hands. The time was nearly upon him to unleash the spell he had yet to use on a live target.

Three seconds.

The light in Tomoe's smile was only matched by the powerful glare reflecting off of his eyes, and the somehow visible air gathering around him. It was time.

"Let's see ya dodge this one...!", Tomoe stated proudly.

They were within 25 meters, and just as that became apparent, Tomoe brought down his sword in a vertical motion. As he did so, the built-up hurricane aura that danced around his sword was sent forth in a wave. The wave blitzed an unstoppable path directly ahead, aiming at the lycans. In their animal instinct, however... they dodged. Sidestepped and evading it as they closed the distance further, now 20 meters away from the Joyan.

It was exactly what Tomoe hoped for.

As the beasts passed by the wave, putting it out of their mind, Tomoe's smile changed from one of passion in the heat of battle to one of the victor in a battle. Immediately after passing the werewolves, the wave expanded rapidly and grew to engulf the four beasts in an instant. Within a 16 meter radius, the werewolves were completely engulfed in a fury of wind blades almost mimicking the inside of a tornado, slashing them to ribbons. The wind pressure was dense enough that not even their screams could be heard, and by the time the spell had dissipated, their silent and shredded corpses were all that was left.

With that, the werewolves in the immediate area had been taken care of. Tomoe relaxed, attaching the sword to the holster on his back once more.

"One final thing to take care of... c'mon."

Tomoe moved forward, beyond the finely shaven meat that lay around the ground and further into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, they would find themselves at a small cave. Within, Tomoe found what he was expecting. Small werewolf children, cowering together with only a few more large werewolves defiantly staring at the crimson cutthroat. Their glares were not those of beasts, but of grieving sentient lifeforms. Tomoe had considered finishing the job here and now, but his mind flashed to the people he had harmed and killed in his cultist days. Encompassing a brief second, it nevertheless made all the difference.

Without realizing it, his hand had already been reaching for his sword's handle once again. Growling ensued from the lycans, but it was clearly an intimidation tactic. The mages had thinned the tribe's numbers significantly, and though it was likely there were more than these few left, it was enough. Tomoe's gaze shifted to Aegis' for the first time since they had begun the hunt officially. It was unusual how Tomoe looked: uncertain and conflicted, with a hint of... regret, perhaps? The Joyan had no clue his face was giving off such emotions, and he likely wouldn't regardless.

"Uh... you decide what happens from here, okay? I'll wait outside. They still wanna fight if we do, but I think you could take 'em if you felt like it. The orders were to clear 'em out, right? Or maybe not. I... I dunno."

Tomoe's tone was not one of the confident warrior he prided himself to be. It wasn't of the manipulative killer that he tried to hide. There was distress in every bit of himself in that moment, and he didn't trust himself to do the right thing; whatever that might be. With the growling still persisting from the rebellious werewolves behind them, Tomoe walked away from the cave and Aegis. All it would take is a single swing, and those werewolves would be dead. Was that alright? He'd need time to think about that properly.

Before fully leaving the cave, he looked at Aegis one last time.

"You're gonna make the right call. You always do. That's always a trait I've admired about ya, honestly. You and your flying cabbage and your airship... you're always ready to defy the world to do what's right. I think that's good enough, yeah?", Tomoe paused to look to the side, breaking eye contact once more with an envious downward stare. "Yeah...", Tomoe muttered lowly, finishing his train of thought.

Afterwards, the samurai would wait outside for his partner's decision. They would go home together, naturally. The guild would probably stop turning so well if something happened to Aegis. That was the realization that Tomoe Tanaka had arrived at that night, from a point so simple he had already forgotten what it was.

---

WC: 2,125/2,125 (15% reduced)

Stats:

Equipment:

Mana/Spells:

- Exit -