Ikuse had fought plenty of right bastards in his life. Madman with an obsession with attaining godhood, narcissists that couldn't be trusted with even a lick of power and creatures so evil that it bordered on the levels of being cartoon-ish. But even with all that said, this was different. Far, far outside his own belief system.
Was this what it meant to be a cultivator? Was this why Ancient Senjutsu had been dismantled and remade into something that barely resembled it? Did that ancient art really just bring out the worse in people? Did it make them callous? Did it really make human value life so little that they would snuff it out so easily?
Or...was it just that Yamato Iori was just that petty of a man? Someone so stuck in their way that they would take the time in the middle of an intense fight just to 'crush some bugs'? Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Someone like this shouldn't be walking around in the modern world all willynilly and even if he couldn't put the mad fart down, leaving a strong enough impression would do. At least it would prove to him that he couldn't just walk around doing whatever he wanted in this era. That he wasn't entirely unmatched in this age.
SLASH!
A wave of blacken claws rending the air, ten massive 'cuts' followed in it's wake. Like inky breaststrokes, they flowed into reality. Each point zeroing in on a vital spot. But he wasn't done quite yet either, feet digging deep into the ground, the half man-half hound hybrid blitzed into the melee. Crimson eyes blazing to life, maw full of razor sharp fangs forced into a snarl.
But infuriatingly so, the Heavenly Demon 'flowed' through the attacks. Like a leaf in the wind, body moving and shifting mere centimeters away from those blades of death. Feet nearly falling into what appeared to be a dance. One step forward, sliding his dominant foot back while moving his other foot to the forefront. Twisting his waist, arms flowing as if he was the free-est man on this planet.
Dust exploded from Ikuse's rapid halt, clawed feet kicking up a hopefully obscuring cloud. Moving machines of death struck forward, coming in from all angles as he tried to pin the man down once more. From above, his partner nipped and snapped at the elusive figure. His massive frame blotting out the sky above them, casting a shadow so vast that it covered the other two combatants.
Not taking this for granted, shadows bubbled to life. Miniature hound leapt from the inky ocean. Massive heads that did not match the small, wispy bodies. Maws snapping open wide before snapping shut on nothing but empty air. But no matter, more came flooding from the abyss. One, seven, twelve, thirty-five. The hoard grew until a near army of glowing red eyes followed them in this dance. It didn't matter how jam-packed each hound was, how their malformed bodies bumped and nudged into each other.
Still, impossibly so, the man still found some way, some path to walk or dance and continued to swivel through the army. Right hand swirling, leaving behind verdant trails in it's wake. And where that streak landed, hundreds of hounds were destroyed. Soon, it was as if this man only existed in a world of black with nothing more than a brush and the color green. It would've been poetic, if it wasn't so frustrating.
This…this fight wasn't fair in the slightest. Ikuse could normally always rely on the fact of him being far faster than most beings out and with his ability to cut through spells, divinity and supernatural forces, just speed blitzing was his bread and butter. He knew his fighting style had one major weakness.
If his opponent could also match his speed and had more combat experience than he did, they could do exactly as this Ancient Senjutsu Practitioner was doing. In simplest terms, physical monsters were his worst match up. It didn't matter how deadly his strikes might be, if none of them landed then it was all for naught.
What they needed, was a new plan. This fight hadn't been going on for long, less than a minute at best but he could already feel the strain from this form weight heavy on his body. As if every breath was akin to a hound taking a bite out of something ethereal from him.
As one, the pair of them leapt back from the melee. Still making extra sure to surround their quarry. And with that giant mass blocking out the sun, that sea of snapping jaws faded away with a collective howl of unwillingness that shook the very ground itself.
"Tired already?" For the first time since their barrage, Iori finally ceased his dance. That verdant glow about his hand fading off into the ground. Causing a fresh layer of grass to grow rapidly wherever it touched. "You juniors should really work on your stamina or else you'll be helpless when you need to fight multiple days and nights. You're enemies won't wait for you to recover, like now."
The man blurred forward suddenly, newly ground grass both cushioning and springing him along. Only the combination of training from multiple Ultimate-Class beings, his own enhanced physique and a danger sense sharpened to a razor finish saved him from. Falling down onto all fours, the canine-human hybrid scrambled away. A lone fist stabbing into the area where his heart once lay, concussive booms shattering out in threes. The first boom shook the grass, the second caused the nearby trees to buckle and the last slammed high into the sky. Pushing back a bundle of gloomy looking clouds.
Seeing his chance, he stretched his arm and quickly formed a make-shift scythe. Spinning, it felt comfortable in his hands. And his body flowed into those practiced drills. Slashing up from his crouch, coming around from the right to both try and disembowel and to save on momentum. Of course they were dodged, but it didn't matter. This monster had already fallen into his trap, fallen into his tempo. On he twirled, speed picking up with every failed strike.
And for once, he was actually keeping his own during this fight. Actually eating up the distance between them, dominating the melee. Claws and teeth were fine, but give him a good ol' fashion scythe and he would be fine.
A trump card to be sure, after all, in this form how many people actually expected him to pull out a weapon when he looked as he would be better suited ripping and tearing like a wild animal?
And with this near constant from his blade, a mistake was almost guaranteed. As long as this tempo stayed the same, he could eventually swing down on that exposed bit of flesh and severe the head from those lofty shoulder.
But...that was when things flipped on it's head. For a man, as arrogant and proud as the Heavenly Demon, he did the one thing no one expected him to do just then. Finding a gap in the barrage, verdant energy pooled around his feet and before he could react, the man leapt back. Soaring high above him, he landed clean across the clearing on a lone branch.
Momentarily, Ikuse couldn't have believed his eyes. Was...was this geezer really going to run? Did he actually show enough to force him to rethink everything?
"I must commend you," Yamato Iori shook his head ruefully. Strands of black hair flowing from all around him. "I acknowledge your martial might, junior. To force me to retreat like this...I guess the rust hasn't entirely left my body."
"Then you'll secede this land to me?" Despite how relaxed the cultivator seemed, the hair prickling at the back of Ikuse's neck never lied. It cost him nothing to be ready for the worse.
"Alas, junior. That's impossible." He put on a faux defeat expression, shoulder's slumping as if the weight of the world was laid atop them. "I gave my word, turning back now would make people think they could hold me down."
"You said it yourself, you can't beat me in a melee." To emphasize his point, he swung the inky scythe through the air. "I will kill you, eventually."
"….?" The man tilted his head to the side, a look of genuine bewilderment atop his features. "I think you're confused, junior. You're not capable of killing me, junior. Not because I possess some life saving treasures or something to secure my life, just that you aren't strong enough to do as you said."
"You retreated from me, you talk a lot of big game for someone running away."
"While I do admit your martial skill is admirable, it's nothing special. You would've been a match for any Condensation Stage, maybe even those who touched upon Crystallization but not for people at my stage." A small smile graced his lips, hand reaching out to the side. A lone strand of energy stabbed down into the branch, before it grew and elongated into a simple stick. Thin and reedy, and without taking his eyes off him, he plucked out one of his inky locks. Tying one end off and bending the stick back.
He could feel it then, the danger spiking. Death. That's what awaited him if he allowed that man to continue. Charging forward in a blur, it was already too late.
"I am a martial artist but it's not my main specialty." The Heavenly Demon finished his little project, holding the simple bow in one hand. Drawing the string, a liquid like energy flowed. Coming together and forming an arrow that wavered in the light. Like it was underwater. A nostalgic smile across fluttering in place. "I'm an archer at heart. Stand proud, Tobio Ikuse. For you're the first being in this era to truly earn my respect."