"Shinobi… Sama?" General Raikuro was torn between bursting into laughter or cuffing the spunky little brat hard on the back of his neck.
What nerve he had to act that way in front of the General of the Ninth Battalion, Princess Yuki's personal battalion!
But his smile faltered slightly when Protector Kagekatsu next to him shouted with great fervor.
"Kagekatsu greets Shinobi-samaaa!!" He practically roared the words, his voice echoing off the stone walls like a fanfare before battle.
The eleven Royal Guard members also nodded solemnly, their faces completely serious as though a sixteen-year-old boy demanding to be called "Shinobi-sama" was the most natural thing in the world.
They had seen Akira in action. And although his skill and strength were by no means comparable to General Raikuro, he was still able to completely destroy them if he was to fight them all at once.
And for that reason alone… calling him Shinobi-sama was not a strange thing.
"Well, Shinobi-sama." General Raikuro said mildly with a hint of sarcasm. "You will need to follow me back to the palace for… a debriefing. Come along now."
He turned with crisp formality. "Princess Yuki, please this way."
With an entire Regiment surrounding the castle and a full Battalion escorting Princess Yuki back to the safety of the Royal Palace, there was absolutely no more threat to her safety.
The trip to the Royal Palace was supposed to be safe. Boring, even.
A routine escort. A gentle cruise in black-tinted luxury.
However…
"NAAAAAA—!! Mutated Armored Insect Monster?!" Akira's eyes bulged as the massive steel creature rumbled down the road, its engine growling like an angry beast from hell. "What are you dumbasses doing?! Protect the Princess and take down the monster!!"
Before anyone could react, Akira launched himself forward with terrifying speed, snatched a strangely shaped 'war spear' (sniper rifle) from a confused guard, and leapt onto the nearest armored troop transport like the ninja that he was.
"Wait, Shinobi-sama, what are you doing?! That's a military transport!" one of the panicked Royal Guards yelled.
Too late.
With a primal roar of righteous fury, Akira swung the strange war spear downward onto the windscreen with the full intention of stabbing it in the eye. If it was one.
Inside the vehicle, the driver blinked as a blur of white robes and wild hair came flying straight at his windshield.
"What the hell? Are we under attack by a crazy kid?"
"Vice Captain Renji! Permission to engage!" Shouted his navigator next to him.
"Hold. Let's see what this crazy punk can do." A powerful looking young man with an intensely powerful aura looked at Akira with great amusement.
WHAM!
The spear bounced off the reinforced glass like a toothpick on a turtle shell. Akira somersaulted with great agility and landed in front of the vehicle, crouched like a jungle beast, eyes narrowed.
"Hmph… Tough carapace. Must be a queen-class variant." he muttered grimly.
Princess Yuki, still standing in the lobby surrounded by her frozen in shock Royal Guard and General Raikuro, facepalmed so hard she nearly broke her makeup.
They all watched in stunned silence as Akira circled the transport, occasionally smacking it with his spear and yelling things like:
"Reveal your weak spot, foul beast!"
and
"I will not let you lay a single pseudopod on my Yuki!"
The driver couldn't help himself. He leaned on the horn to honk at Akira and shouted out the window.
"Go away you crazy bastard!"
But instead of driving him away, the honk only served to agitate Akira further.
"What a powerful roar! I have no choice but to use my full power!" Akira shouted excitedly.
With that, Akira channeled his new found Wind Energy with all of his strength.
Shua!
A tight, whirling cyclone burst to life around his 'war spear', the winds howling with high-pitched shrieks as they wrapped tightly around the barrel. The energy crackled at his fingertips, fierce and fast, giving the weapon a shocking, shredding force that could rip through solid armor like paper.
Whether or not it was strong enough to break the 'Queen-class variant insect beast'... well it was a question that would be answered very, very soon.
"Take this!" Akira roared as he swung his spear forward in a wide, explosive arc.
Crack!
A brilliant defensive forcefield instantly shimmered into view, shielding the transport from the blow.
But the howling wind struck it head on, and completely shattered it in the process!
From the back hatch of the vehicle, a hiss of air sounded as the door opened and out stepped a tall man in charcoal-black armor, a white fox emblem on his shoulder and a sword strapped to his back.
He looked excited.
"Vice Captain Renji. JINKOKU, Squad 7." the man said, cracking his neck. "My orders are to protect the convoy. If you're attacking it…"
He rolled his shoulders, smiling faintly.
"I'm authorized to respond."
Akira blinked. "Oh. The insect is capable of possessing and controlling human beings. Such powerful psychic abilities usually mean that its main body is weak. But it is not weak at all and its armor is extremely strong… There is no way that it has no weaknesses. So… It could only mean one thing. You… are weak! Die!"
Renji grinned. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."
They dashed toward each other with blinding speed. The spear and the blade clashed once, thunder cracking through the street as the impact split tiles and sent a shockwave into the palace walls.
From Renji's blade surged a violent storm of crackling lightning laced with flame, the air around him warping from the sheer intensity of his dual-element energy.
Vice Captain Renji was a dual element use of Fire and Lightning.
"He is not weak!!" Akira realized grimly. "Just what kind of emperor-class beast is this?!"
It was just one pass between the two but it was strong enough to cause every onlooker to flinch.
"THAT'S ENOUGH."
The voice tore through the air like lightning itself.
General Raikuro appeared between them in the blink of an eye, one hand on Akira's shoulder, the other gripping Renji's blade.
Barehanded.
The temperature dropped ten degrees.
"Vice Captain Renji. You almost drew blood from a state guest." Raikuro said calmly.
"And you." he turned to Akira, "Were about to skewer one of our best men because you thought he was a cockroach."
"…Queen-class cockroach." Akira muttered.
Raikuro stared at him with his emotions roiling powerfully within his heart. Should he ignore protocol and give this damned little punk a cuff in his neck??
Should he??
He really wanted to!
But finally with immense effort born of countless years of extreme discipline, he controlled himself and merely glared at him angrily.
"Shinobi-sama. Vice Captain Renji is assigned to protect us on our way back to the Royal Palace. This here… is our armored transport vehicle." Princess Yuki said gently as she pointed to the Armored Troop Transport.
Akira blinked and squinted. "What?"
"It's a vehicle. Metal. Gas. Not alive. Not mutated. FRIEND-LY."
A long silence.
Then Akira slowly approached the armored transport once more.
Everybody held their breaths.
What will that lunatic do again?
"…So this isn't one of the local megafauna?"
Princess Yuki's deadpan voice floated from behind him. "No, Shinobi-sama. That's a truck."
Another long pause.
"…Ah. Then I have gravely miscalculated." Akira said solemnly.
And he solemnly poked it one last time, just to be sure.
Everybody winced.
"General Raikuro. Where did you pick up this lunatic from? He is crazy but he is strong. I want him." Vice Captain Renji grinned with a slightly crazed look in his eyes as well.
"He is not a lunatic." General Raikuro said solemnly even though he did not believe his own words. "As I had mentioned earlier, he is a state guest. Vice Captain Renji, bring us to the Royal Palace now."
Renji burst into laughter, tossing his head back as flames and sparks crackled faintly along his shoulders.
"Hahahaha! I will find out sooner or later, General! Alright then. Squad 7, protect the convoy. Load up and move out!"