However, the arrow never landed.
Midair, it shivered as a violet wall covered its path. The arrow abruptly reversed back from where it came.
Erodima just barely dove to the side as the arrow shattered a tree behind him. "What the hell?!"
Pia now grumbled, the most emotion she had shown in the battle. "Erodima, you missed?"
"No!" Erodima panicked, "the damn thing got turned around!"
From behind Yodoma, a quiet but lethal voice rang out across the forest, "found you."
Yodoma swung wildly in the direction of the voice, but her strike was caught. There stood Tona, his expression unreadable.
"All fun in games until a bigger predator comes around… right?" He mocked. He swept her legs out from below, dropping her hard to the ground.
In a blink, Tona vanished into a gate, reappearing beside Shintaro.
"Hey, I'll take it from here. Get you and your friend out of here."
Shintaro was in awe. He couldn't grasp the words he was looking for. "Y-You're t-the… Ghost!"
"Mhm, now, go through this gate. It'll take you close to a Memento camp here in Galion."
Shintaro nodded, raising himself off the ground. Hideki was still struggling to keep himself awake.
"Also, don't mention I was here. Or fought. Don't need work getting back to Maro, yeah?"
"Got it sir! Thank you!" Shintaro said, dragging his friend through the gate.
"Sir, eh?" Tona chuckled, almost whispering to himself. "I like the sound of that."
He turned back to the matter at hand. Erodima now stood up, preparing another arrow. Yodoma and Pia now stood close together in defense.
Pia broke the brief silence. "We weren't expecting the Ghost here."
"Nobody ever expects me. Kind of the charm when I do come to kick your ass," Tona grinned.
Yodoma shrieked. "We'll wipe that grin right off your face, Ghost!"
She launched forward, her voice creating an illusion around Tona. The tree's distorted, the sky turned an evil gray, and his own body below seemed to sway in the upkicking wind.
That's right, he thought. The Hellsinger, Yodo? Yodema? Yododo? Something with a 'yo.' Ah, whatever.
Tona closed his eyes, his calm confidence soothing every muscle.
Erodima taunted the man, his vision clear from outside the radius. "Closing your eyes won't help you Ghost! Nobody escapes the illusions of Yodoma! Not even someone wicked like you!"
Tona didn't respond. Instead, he allowed his other senses to take over. His masterization of Najutsu he had learned from Maro years ago.
He stood still, feeling every vibration of the surrounding air. The approaching heat signature behind him, and locked on to his target.
"Is that right?" Tona asked in a delayed response to Erodima, before he ducked low avoiding a jab from Yodoma. He pivoted upwards into her torso which had continued momentum. She launched upwards with a gasp.
Tona wasn't done with her, though. He opened a gate right above where she floated, with the other side opening below him. He kicked her as she rose through the gate below, and she hit the ground with a sickening crack.
"First Gate, Enhancement," he said, before practically teleporting behind Erodima.
His bow was drawn, but he couldn't track Tona's movement.
"He's too fast!" Erodima shouted, before Tona backhanded him into a tree.
Pia clenched her fists. "We know your tricks, Ghost! Those first and second gates you have can be overcome!" A wicked grin formed from ear to ear. "You have nothing else. The reports say everything."
Tona turned toward her with no urgency. A small smirk curved his lips. "Nothing else you say…"
Pia's cocky grin remained. Almost daring him to charge her.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he said.
Pia's eyes widened momentarily, before she focused again on Tona's face. His eyes burned with a silent confidence that tore through her very soul.
"What… what are you talking about?"
Tona turned his back to her as he spoke. "Don't worry about it. Anything beyond the first two are overkill for you three anyways."
As he finished, he disappeared in a bright violet light. Pia turned to see a fist flying at her from behind. She narrowly dodged it, freezing Tona's momentum. She followed it with a strike of her own, sending Tona backwards.
It was in vain, however. Tona opened a gate behind him, sending himself behind Pia again, and this time, she couldn't react. He kicked her directly in the back, a devastating blow. She launched downwards, directly into the moisty grass of the forest.
Tona turned back to the two others, who had since gotten up. Erodima and Yodoma were now equally pissed.
"Round two already?" Tona cracked his knuckles, before bringing his hand to his silver ring. A faint smirk. "So be it."
He slowly slid it to the tip of his index. The stalkers watched in anticipation and fear as he pulled it off. "Third Gate of Alden," he smiled, before reality around him distorted.