[center][h1]The Harbingers of the Swarm[/h1][/center]
[hr]


Major Battle:  [@azoicsiren] [@AwesomeZero5]
Mentions/Possible Reinforcements: [@Dark Light]

As Rei went under the water, Enzo staggered up to the side of the pond as he rolled his eyes before glancing at Paine with a bored expression.  Enzo placed a steady hand on the hilt of his blade before sighing in exasperation.  "I swear, Rei and that silver stag will be the death of each other.  While I'm not saying love, I can definitely see that they deem each other as equals as compared to the two of us.  We're just the fucking side characters in their fucking cunt of a novel."  Enzo shrugged his shoulders as he bent down, scooping some of the pond's water in his hands.  The murky darkness of the pool was not unnerving to say at least, but Enzo wasn't sure if the others could smell that strange pungent odor which wafted by his nose as he got closer to the water.  The scent itself wasn't strong, and if it wasn't for Enzo's past experience with demonology, he would have easily missed it.

He lifted the water to his nose, taking a deep whiff of the murky liquid.  Immediately, Enzo's eyes widened, his free hand tightening on his blade.  Enzo cursed for a few seconds before finally spilling the water and lifting his moist finger to his mouth in order to taste and confirm his suspicions.  

The tangy and sour flavor of the water filled his mouth and it took everything for Enzo not to gag as he spat unto the ground.  The boy stood up, almost like a prey who sensed a predator stalking it in the vast wilderness.  There was nothing around them but miles of trees and shrubbery, and from what Enzo tasted, if the three of them screamed, no one would be there to hear.

The first thought that jettisoned inside Enzo's mind flashed like lightning in his eyes:  they were in danger.

"The water...  diluted with tons of Kappa blood, but that's not all,"  Enzo turned to Paine with a worried expression, the fatigue in his eyes replaced with the trained vigilance of an experienced killer.  "The taste of corruption...  like, the kappa has been corrupted but the corrupted blood tasted familiar...  from back home:  the [i]mambabarang[/i]..."

As Rei dove deeper, the disturbance she caused caused a bloated figure to float to the murky surface of the pond, just in front of Enzo and Paine.  The arachne legacy held up a hand to cordon Paine back from the decomposing kappa corpse as Enzo approached.  The lad drew his [i]kris[/i] and poked the kappa's putrid corpse.  However, the moment the blade touched the soggy flesh, the corpse's skin burst into horrid fissures as a swarm of insects crawled out of the crevices on the body.  Apparently immune to drowning and water, the insects began forming a dark cloud on the water's surface before attempting to creep towards land.  Much to Enzo's horror, their nightmare wasn't over:  more and more kappa corpses floated to the surface, now with insects bursting out from their bodies.

Suddenly, the corpses twitched to life, the kappas springing into action as a few of them jumped to the surface with insects pouring out from their emaciated figures.  They were definitely dead, but some dark spell was weaved into them, and these insects were now controlling them like puppets.

"There's a fucking witch..."  Enzo backed off, still making to stay in front of Paine as if protecting him.  His eyes snapped to the remaining kappas who were now reanimated in the pond.  Their dead and blank eyes blinked before they dove to pursue the serpentine legacy, to drown her for her naivety.  "How did a fucking witch get inside the academy?!"

Then, one of the kappas lunged at them, prompting Enzo to counter with a swift slash.  The kappa's soft flesh melted against Enzo's blade as it was decapitated in half.  As it fell to the forest floor in a bisected heap, insects flowed out of its halves.  But, behind them, another kappa leaped out from the shadows as it targeted Paine with the aim of burrowing its insects into him.  However, before the beast could sink its claws into the boy, Enzo muttered a chant as a large armored warrior faded into existence with a burst of hazy smoke behind Paine.  The kappa slammed against the spirit-armor before writhing on the floor, but the spirit-armor, known as the Panday, heaved its greatsword with tremendous strength and brought it down on the demon with such force that its head splattered into a bloody, insect-filled pile.

Backing away to give himself some space, Enzo knelt on the ground as he panted just as the Panday followed suit behind him.

"It's better if we flee, but we can't leave Rei to drown!"  Enzo shouted to Paine as he spun his blade.  "I'll hold off the kappas on the ground!  Try to see if you can help Rei!  Once she gets out, we bolt for the hills!  I fucking told you there's a reason this pond is off-limits!"

The remaining four kappas on the land twitched and hissed at them, their mouths frothing with black blood and swarms of black insects.  Their green flesh was turning black and blue, necrosis setting in as their eyes bled the same onyx blood.  Their movements were eccentric, unpredictable as if they were possessed.  Then, without warning, they rushed at the two with their claws outstretched.  Enzo and his spirit-armor dashed against them, meeting the kappas in combat before he turned to Paine.

"Go!  Help Rei!"  Enzo managed to shout before cleaving a kappa in two and quickly backing away to not let the spilling insects get on his body.

There was so many questions floating in his mind, but the most disturbing of them all was the query of how a witch was able to get inside the academy without any of the teachers noticing.  Something was going wrong, and Enzo had a feeling that this was just a prelude to a deadly and, probably, fatal symphony in their life as students in the School of Death.

Maybe this was the reason this school was aptly named.