Temple of Shinjo(Psyre, Closed)

Adrian stood there, his face hidden behind the mask of Fu Leng. In his hand was the Devil's Teardrop, and several monks stood around him, each wielding different weaponry. Staff, Tonfa, kama, etc. There were several weapon types in the hands of his targets. The monks of this particular order were said to have been slain by a demon lord, but here they were before him. They stared at the dark haired intruder, his weapon glowing darkly in his left hand. He waited patiently, his eyes focused on the enemy before him but he just smirked under his skull mask.

The temple was tall, several stories high with gargantuan statues at each corner, supporting the building but each was different. The Temple of Death, the ancient and masterful art beautiful despite the fact that the deity of this particular temple was the "god" of death. He walked forward, spinning the Devil's Teardrop in his hand as he moved. He shot forward, vanishing before appearing behind a man with a tree section staff. His blade came back, reversed in his grip before driving it right into the monk's back, and out his chest. Adrian didn't hesitate, retracting his blade before he turned, catching the curved blade of the kama that came toward him. His right arm shifted, raising above his head to catch the blade. The back of his hand caught the flat of the black bladed weapon, adding to the support to the catch.

The monks were good. After he'd shown his speed they'd kicked up their own speed. He surmised this would be the same level of power as his own artifact activation. But he would need to be careful none the less. He had no intention of activating his artifact, but was instead intent on making this fight difficult for himself. If he had to go all out for these guys, what hope did he have against Domen'Yun. Rubi was sitting not far away, watching them as she sighed. She didn't like the fact that he was killing needlessly, but he had to get stronger.

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Adrian shifted, his body vanishing, only to reappear elsewhere, beside another person. His blade flashed out, the black metal of the Devil's Teardrop reflecting the light of the torches lighting the area he was currently in. His blade skittered along the ground as he brought it up, tearing a long line in the ground. Ten feet wide, fifty feet long, the ground, dirt, and very wind itself assaulted the monks that were within the area. He shot forward, his blade flashing out in a trio of strikes, the monks who were still falling, crying out as he cut them in half, or took parts of them off, before he spun, catching his sword against the hook of one of the monk's blades. The weapon flew from his hand as the monk jerked and kicked Adrian in the chest, throwing him to the ground.

Rolling to his feet, Adrian grunted as a Tetsubo slammed into the ground where his head had been. The iron warclub in the man's hands seemed much too large for the average person to use, but this monk was swinging it around one handed like it was nothing. Adrian shot forward, his left arm coming back before he brought his weapon to him in a swirl of black mist. Tonfa were weapons he'd never encountered. Though he knew that they had to get close to attack with them. But a Tetsubo, he'd encountered many of them. They crushed, and smashed. They had a weakness to them. But most were also designed with spikes to pierce at the same time. And this one was no different. Adrian brought the weapon around as his opponent brought the Tetsubo up. As it came down Adrian passed the other male, taking his arm off at the shoulder before he turned to the last remaining monk.

"You would dare defy death!? Lady Shinjo watches over us! She wont allow us to die." the monk said, shaking in terror.

"Death has forsaken you. Shinjo has fled this place before my power. I will hunt her and my other siblings one by one. I will strike them where they feel it the most. In their children. One by one they will fall to my sword, and my power! If you want to live... run away. Flee now and never return to this place. Spread the word. The blackest night falls from the skies. The darkness grows as all light dies! I crave your hearts and your demise! By my black hand the dead shall rise! FLEE!" he said.

With that the monk ran, his body moving as quickly as his legs could carry him from the swordsman, terror having filled him.

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"WATCH OUT!" Rubi shouted.

Adrian turned, surprised that the monk had decided to attack. He just shrugged. He could always choose another inside to send the message. He brought his weapon back and waited.When the man was inside his striking distance Adrian's blade came up, but never touched the Monk. Instead the force of the swing threw the man back and caused cuts to appear on the man's body, tearing at his clothing. As the male flew back a tear appeared in the ground going out a good fifty feet before Adrian turned and walked toward the temple.

"SHINJO! I'M COMING FOR YOU! YOUR PATHETIC CHILDREN CAN'T STOP ME!" he shouted, angrily as he walked toward the temple. "I'LL SLAUGHTER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

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Adrian ignored Psyre as he moved toward the temple, his blade spinning in his hand lightly as he walked. His body moved forward before he rushed through the open gates, his body vanishing before he reappeared disappearing into the temple.

"COME OUT, SHINJO! YOU CLAIM TO BE THE GODDESS OF DEATH AND YET HERE I STAND BEFORE YOU! DEATH MANIFEST! COME SISTER! COME AND FACE DEATH INCARNATE! THE SHADOW DRAGON IS HERE!" he shouted, as if someone were hiding from him. "COWARD! YOU WOULD FLEE BEFORE ME AND LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN TO BE SLAUGHTERED!? SO BE IT!"

Growling low in his throat he began trembling as the shadows around him swirled and began to form long robes around him. The cloth-like shadows formed over him as his hair grayed falling out as his skin decayed, falling from his body as the hood formed. The deep hood had blood red orbs glowing within it as the transformation finished. His right arm was all that was left, blood red bones gripping the black sword within it's grasp.

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As the guards came at him he brought the weapon back before bringing it down as he'd done before. Several of them were thrown off their feet by the swing of his blade as he began to 'float' forward toward them slowly. Another group of three came from a side door, but he just waved his sword, once again blasting these new comers off their feet. This caused hesitancy in some, but others that were much stronger in faith charged him. He glanced down when one of them brought his club across his head. The hood tore away from him, revealing the red skull under it before he swung, the weapon coming up cleaving the club wielder's arms off at the elbow. He seemed to be serious now. They could hit him as hard as they wanted. But try as they might in this form they stood very little chance. But as he stood there, he began laughing. Those closest to him extending to a good ten feet away were frozen, trembling as they gazed upon the skeletal figure before them. But the hood formed around the skull once more. Though they didn't seem to recover from the fear induced paralysis that had swept them.

"Before the Shadow Dragon's strength... Shinjo has fled this place... This holy ground is sacred no more. You will find no protection from death, children of Shinjo. Bow before your master, surrender your souls to the Shadow Dragon, and I will allow you to live out the rest of your miserable existence. But if you resist further... If even ONE of you resists, I will spare none. The very Air around you is my weapon, and you will all die if you resist... Your dear friends here can see how they will die. Seek forgiveness, and be judged." he said, his voice much darker and warped than it had been before the transformation.

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The temple.perfectly square on the outside, with statues of various warriors, along the walls, supporting the building was different inside. The main cloister was an open marble floor with an opening that went all the way to the roof, twenty stories high. The building was gargantuan. Every floor was different, the first five were quarters, the ones above that were training halls, meditation chambers and other such things. At the very top floor was a gargantuan shrine with a golden statue of two horses rearing back, hooves pressing together. Coming from the horses, the riders arms raised, supporting a large naganita, the weapon legendary among the people of the Temple of Death.

The walls of the main cloister are adorned with various symbols, all of them designed as if telling a story, in a language that only the people of this temple knew.

Adrian began to laugh as the shadows around him were slashed, before they formed once again around him, restoring the cloak just like the hood had done. For the moment that it took for the shadows to reform the red skeleton of his mid section was revealed. But he wasn't laughing because she was attacking or making things more obvious. He was laughing because he knew exactly what she was.

"A Battle Maiden... I see... You must be of the Utaku family. I would recognize that fighting style anywhere." he said, turning, the blade spinning in his hand as he waited. "So be it, Utaku... You have doomed your fellow clansmen. Your friends wont survive because Shinjo has fled before her brother. I am Fu Leng, the Shadow Dragon, given human form. Human flesh. I have ALL of my strengths and none of the weaknesses your beloved master is subject to. I am beyond the will of the heavens. They may call any they wish back... They may beg and fight. But I have crafted my own world. And my forces are already moving on this one! Unlike Shinjo, Akodo, or ANY OTHER CHILDREN OF AMATERASU AND ONNOTANGU! She has fled before me, leaving you alone to stand against me. None of your dear friends will come. None!" he said, growling as he stood there.

Drawing his blade back he vanished, reappearing beside the champion before he brought the blade down toward where her neck would be. But as he brought it down he willed the air around it to warp, readying the strike. A point blank shot. If she managed to dodge the others in the way would be cut up. Even among the people here, they could only live so long. They could flee the embrace of death all they wanted. But eventually there would be too little of them to revive. If she didn't then she would either lose her head, or if she was lucky, be flung toward the door to the temple. The champions of each Kami were powerful. But even then the champions of the Kami were only human.

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"BAEeeneay-fuoh de-raah mae-ha-te" Adrian said, his voice dark.

From the sleeves of the shadow-like robes flew Sutra cards. As they slid into place over a fifty foot area the spell binding him vanished before the swordsman turned reaper vanished(Godspeed). He reappeared behind the champion before he brought his blade up to slash across her back(Normal strike; fierce damage). But he didn't hesitate to keep moving. She was going to have to keep up with him and while she was in the anti magical field created by his sutra cards her spells were as good as wasting air. His body shot around beside another monk, before he shoved the monk forward using them like a veil as he brought the sword back. He brought it up, the tip of the blade skittering against stone floor before the air was unleashed as a weapon once more. If the feint had been accurate the monk wouldn't be in the way enough to block the vortex-like strike, that his sword created with just the slash(Sonic Blade).

"You can't stop me! Shinjo herself couldn't stop me!" he declared.


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The scriptures on the walls of the temples told the story of eight kami that fell to the Earth, before they began going their separate ways. The scriptures focused on the fallen Kami Shinjo. About this same Kami building the temple around them, infusing a stone inside it with her essence. So somewhere in the temple was the object that kept the monks there alive and well. But even then the stone's powers had to regenerate somehow. Then again there wasn't much there about the Kami after that. It mostly went on to her disciples and people referred to as her 'children', and other such people of great importance.

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