On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Eighty-Two

“Do something about what?” I asked urgently. Around us the crowd was in turmoil, so I asked Eri, Shaeula and my sis to clear a path.

“It’s all right, we’ll take him to a hospital.” Eri said, glaring at the panicked, yet inquisitive crowd.

“Yeah, back off, back off.” Aiko agreed. “Look, we’ll take care of this, so you might as well finish your show. I’d hate for this to end on a sour note, it’s been great, no, not great, incredible!.”

“Be reasonable!” Tamami-san declared, a troubled expression on her face as she saw me pulling the ravaged Ren-san into a princess-carry. There was no time for him to be worried about being shamed, we needed to act fast. “You think we can carry on now?” she spotted her fellow shrine maidens in our group. “Hey, Ito-chan? Do you know what’s going on?”

“Sorry folks, I guess the encore is finished.” Kanako-san said. “Give them some room. Come on, fans of Red and White wouldn’t be troublemakers, would they?” she struck a cutesy pose.

“I don’t know…” Itou-san was saying, as Tamami-san hopped down off the stage and hurried over. Ordinarily mingling with the crowd would be unthinkable for an idol, but the situation was grim. “… uh, anyway, these… well, these are the girls from that training school Susanoo faction was boasting about, and…”

I was barely listening to what was around me, as I raced through the crowd, Ren-san gasping out pained words in my arms.

“This… it’s bad. We… all went to the Boundary.” He managed. “All of the Susanoo students from your school. Well… other than those with you.” he coughed, groaning, as I was working Ether Healing quickly, not caring that it was painful, only that it was effective. Yeah, these wounds are sharp and cruel, but worse, they seem to be tainted with some sort of darkness element. It’s making repairing the wounds difficult…

“Why would you do that?” I was angry, and worse, the premonition wasn’t decreasing. It was as if the danger was spreading. “This isn’t my Territory at Shirohebizumi! Kyoto is dangerous, you should know that!”

“Do not-not shout at the fool.” Shaeula said sharply, a hand on my arm, knowing I was furious and worried. “I dare say he had little choice. Do continue.”

Ren-san managed a limp nod, thanking her. “Yes, we should… ugh, it’s your fault anyway! Yours and your sister and Mori-san!” he declared, shocking me.

How can that be true? I’ve not done anything. “Yamato-sama… he thinks we are all as strong as Mori-san or your sister, so that we’d be useful. My sisters did try to tell him, but…” his eyes slid shut, still leaking tears. “I’m... I’m sorry. I wanted to boast a bit. After all, I’m the son of Hikawa-Kawagoe, and I have a special gift, you said so yourself!” he wailed, mortified, filled with self-loathing at his part in this, whatever it was. “So I said I was strong too. Besides, Yamato-sama wanted the mirror.”

“The mirror?” At Shaeula’s grim tone, he flinched, and it was a good thing his eyes were shut as her expression was cold enough to freeze one’s spirit. “That was lent to you, it is not-not yours to give away…”

“I know!” he gasped. The crowd was thinning now, and there was an ambulance standing by. As I leapt into the back to have some privacy, Shaeula unleashed her befuddling winds, causing the paramedics to ignore us and get in the front.

“I told Yamato-sama that, and he said he just wanted to borrow it. He wanted to strengthen his own light element.” As more and more of the darkness element was ejected from his body, his laboured breathing grew quieter. I’m actually impressed, Ren-san is quite weak to pain, but he’s barely complaining at all, despite his injuries.

Shaeula pulled the doors of the ambulance shut, Kana hopping in with us, Eri and Aiko guarding the outside. As it shut I could see the worried faces of our friends, as well as the pale Tamami-san, and also… that foreigner, she seems to have followed along. Perhaps she’s curious. I know Westerners tend to be less polite and more inquisitive than us Japanese. Though, just to be safe… my Eye flared amber, and her blue eyes went wide as she was looking directly at me. The door shut, but it was little barrier to my vision, and I could see that she was brimming with aether. Another Candidate? Is she related to this?

“Shaeula, I’ll handle Ren-san. You go catch her, she might be unrelated, but that might be a coincidence too far right now.”

“I shall bring her to you, have no fear. And she shall tell us what she knows-knows.” Shaeula crashed through the doors, kicking them shut behind her.

“Okay, Ren-san, keep talking. Where is everyone? We don’t have much time.”

“Yes, you said that dumb girl, right?” Kana inquired desperately, worried for her cousin. “You mean Keomi-chan, right? She’s been missing all day.”

“She’s not missing. She was with my sisters and some girls from Hoeruokami shrine, and then Yamato-sama scooped them all up. He wanted everyone for the Boundary, he… no, there’s no time!” he suddenly remembered. “You have to go to the Boundary now!” his face twisted into a bitter mask of despair. “I’ve seen them die…” he muttered. “A severed head, right in front of me, and… Chiaki, she was hurt badly…” more tears fell. “They were toying with us, and we couldn’t escape, they had some sort of luminous barrier, even when we emptied out our aether like you taught us, we were stuck.”

“Who? Who was?” Kana asked, terrified by the talk of dead people, her voice rising in pitch as she panicked.

“Calm down.” I pulled her into a hug. “Just… I’ll do something.” I handed her my phone. “Call everyone. Get them here to the Imperial Palace. I’ll find out where to go. That’s the real question. Ren-san, where did Yamato-san go with you all?”

“We dived into the Boundary from the Imperial Palace, Yamato-sama borrowed a room. It was while Uchida-sama was meeting with dad and the others…” he coughed up blood which was leaking deep blue darkness under the glow of my Eye. Still, I’ve extracted most of it now. Soon it’ll be safe to leave him to the paramedics. “… at first it went fine. Yamato-sama borrowed the mirror and I showed him how to fill it. There was that girl, the punk one, she was there too, as well as a couple of others like you. So we didn’t…” he coughed more gore, speckled with fading darkness. “… struggle to start with. Apparently you told Yamato-sama that any Territory claimed would be his forever, so he thought… that he could capture the Amaterasu shrines above Kiyomizu-dera, and Saionji-sama wouldn’t be able to do anything but… rage.”

“So that’s where they are now?” I asked. “Kana, you look after him. I’ve done enough so that you’ll live, Ren-san. I’ll fix you properly later.” Shit, Yamato-san is being so petty? He did look interested when that law was proposed, but still, how is he doing it? His Territory won’t reach that far. Wait, Mine-san and the other Candidates… I mentioned relinquishing Anchors. Did they….? Did he make them do it?

As I opened the door, Kana tossed me my phone back. “I’ll go with Ren-san. I’ve spoken to my dad and yours, as well as Grulgor and that crazy black lady. They’ll all be here soon. Just… just save Keomi-chan and the others, all right? I believe in you!”

“I’ve got this. Keep pumping Ren-san for info and text it to me as soon as you get it. I don’t have much time to waste so any scrap of information can help.”

“They… they are toying with us.” Ren-san’s parting words were grim, yet offered a fragment of hope. “They enjoy it, taking their time.” He sobbed. “They want us to feel fear, terror. But… it means some of them might still be alive… Chiaki, Chiasa… I’m sorry…”

I landed outside to see Shaeula had grabbed the foreign Candidate by the arm, and during the scuffle it seemed that she had suffered some bruising, as the cheek of the blonde woman was swelling, and her dress was a bit scuffed and dirty. Even so, she seemed cheerful, and was trying to talk to Tamami-san, who was attempting to calm the situation. Shaeula was unleashing her befuddling winds to support her, but doing it on so many in so public a setting while restraining a potentially hostile opponent was taxing her greatly, and her already pale skin was even whiter from effort.

“… look, it’s just a special concert surprise, all right? An event, yeah, that’s it.” Tamami-san lied, striking a pose. “… it wasn’t our idea, but… well, we’re professionals, you know! Red and White can do anything if it’s for the fans! So… uh, the show’s over.”

“This is such a good day!” the blonde girl said in decent Japanese, only her accent giving away she wasn’t a native speaker. Ignoring the vice-grip Shaeula had on her arm, she was giggling with happiness. “To think I’d get to meet the Tamami from Red and White up close like this! I’m a little bit scared, but… can I have your autograph? And a handshake? Maybe a hug? Oh no, too forward. I’m going to be an idol myself, you know, so I should know better! Idols have to be pure after all! No hugging! A chaste handshake only! Although, we’re both girls, beautiful young shoujo…” she giggled.

As the idiotic words tumbled from her lips, I spoke to Shaeula. “You heard, right?”

She nodded, her hearing good enough to pick up our conversation from through the ambulance door. “The situation is most grave. And my winds will not-not calm the situation here indefinitely, though I am encouraging everyone to forget, which is the easiest of tasks.”

“Mio-san, Asami-san, get in the ambulance and go with Kana and Ren-san. Get Kana to call for backup. Get her father to bring Shirohebi, he should deter most threats. The rest of you, stay inside the Imperial Palace until everyone else arrives. Uh, Tamami-san, thanks for your help.” I said, before Shaeula and I sprinted across the park towards the palace, where Hyacinth would be waiting, Shaeula dragging the protesting blonde behind her.

“No, no, I want to talk to Tamami!” she protested. “Oh, well, at least you’re quite cute too. Are you an idol as well?” she turned her attention to Shaeula innocently, taking out a lollipop with her free hand. “Want one?” at Shaeula’s flinty scowl, she merely giggled again, before popping it in her mouth, sucking at it.

“Well, you are with my juniors, Ito-chan and Tamura-chan, so I don’t mind. Besides, I’ve heard about you.” she called after us. “Still, I want to know just what this is all about, later. You owe me for ruining the encore!”

“No time for that now.” Eri said, racing after us, able to keep us as we were keeping our speed to merely Olympic level due to the numerous witnesses. “Later. This is an emergency!”

“Wow, yeah wow.” My sister said, waving at the rest of the group as she ran alongside us. “If you want to know, I’ll take you and your idol group out for dessert, Tamami-sama! My treat, promise!” Her overexuberant mood then dissipated, and just like in competition, Aiko had switched to a disciplined, calm state. “I need something to look forward to. Keomi-chan, Chiasa-chan, Chiaki-chan… I hope they are all still alive…” her face was grave, and her eyes glittered with tears, but she was holding them in so as not to worry us, not now.

I hope so too, but Ren-san said Chiaki-san was already badly hurt… As we reached the palace my phone was beeping, and I quickly read the data Kana was sending me.

It went fine at first, and they pushed up towards Heian-jingu shrine. There were some enemies, but that Yamato guy called his Golden Warriors, whatever they are, and the others like you helped out. Then one of them started trying to take the Territory. Ren-san and the others from the school didn’t have to really do anything, and at that point everyone was enjoying themselves, finding it fun and amazing…

Some priests were guarding the entrance to the Imperial Palace, but they recognised us and moved aside, shooting the foreign girl with us some curious glances. She was babbling some nonsense about Red and White, and I wondered if it was a cover for her part in this. My phone beeped again, Kana sending me more of Ren-san’s story.

Once they cleared the area of the monsters that lurked in Kyoto, they pushed on further towards Ginkaku-ji. That was the one Yamato really wanted, and apparently putting down an Anchor there would have allowed Susanoo to control a broad, unbroken stretch of Kyoto from Shisendo temple down to Chishaku-in.

I had to will myself not to crush the phone in my hand. From a tactical standpoint, yes, a move like that would definitely have benefits, but Yamato-san knew the dangers of Kyoto better than anyone, it was why he had been pinned in Kiyomizu-dera for so long. Was it a mistake, helping him and defeating that Kodoku Pot…

“It’ll be all right.” Eri said, breathing heavily. “And if not… it isn’t your fault.” She said, her dark eyes serious. “You’re strong, and you take on a lot of burdens but…”

“Yeah, you aren’t a god, bro. You’re still only human. Well, mostly, I guess?” Aiko sighed. “Shaeula, this is where you console my bro too. You know how hard he takes things like this.”

“So, I don’t know what’s going on…” the blonde girl said suddenly, not even seeming to care at the bruises Shaeula’s small hand was leaving on her arm. “… but it sounds like something bad is happening? You’re all like me, right? Amazing!” she grinned around the stick of her lollipop, blue eyes bright with excitement, inappropriate for the grim circumstances.

“Yes.” I agreed, facing her, my expression cold. “And just what are you doing here? Do you think I’ll believe it’s a coincidence that all this shit goes down just as you turned up?”

The girl tilted her head, looking confused. “Me? When I heard that Red and White were doing a guerrilla concert where you didn’t need a ticket, there was no way I could stay away, so I hopped on the Bullet Train. I’m not here for a fight, if I get in trouble, the boss won’t be happy, especially after what happened to poor Daizen and…” she paused suddenly, her expression changing. “Oh wow, a maid! She’s better than the ones in Akihabara, though they are awesome too! Hey, hey, over here!” she waved her free hand, nearly hitting my sis with her parasol. Seriously, what’s up with this girl? Is she all right in the head?

“Master, I have nooot been able to find the girl. Though there are places they will nooot let me search, and though I could quite easily have crushed and strangled them, I did nooot think you would want me to cause trouble.”

“Oh, those long vowels. It’s like she’s a character from a manga!” the blonde girl gushed. “Hey, what’s your name? Awesome, awesome! You know the Tamami, and this beauty who is crushing my arm right now. It hurts by the way, you’re being kind of mean.” She pouted. “And now this maid! I wanted to work as a maid while I audition, I’m going to be an idol, just like Red and White, you know! I’ve seen them all, AKB048, Babymetal, all of the groups from Love Live!, and more. But…” her face fell, and her rapidly changing moods were confusing. “… well, let’s just say nobody would employ me.”

Enough with this. It seems implausible, but I doubt this idiot has anything to do with the mess in the Boundary. After all, if she was involved, she wouldn’t be here talking to us, I guess… As if to answer my question, my phone pinged again, with more information.

They ran into trouble. A group of powerful monsters. Oni, maybe. At first Yamato and the others managed to take down a few, but they quickly found themselves outmatched. Yamato ordered the trainees to help, and then it all went to hell. One… one died, beheaded, and Chiaki-chan was caught and tortured. They tried to flee, return to the Material, but… one of them created some sort of barrier using talismans, and all emptying out their aether did was leave them weak and powerless. More died, and… Ren-san was knocked near the barrier, breaking his arms. He played dead, and when attention was off him, he managed to crawl out and return…

“Fuck.” I cursed, reading the message. Assuming Ren-san had ran as fast as he could and found us immediately, time had still passed, and it went quicker in the Boundary as well, even now that a calm seemed to be approaching. I can’t do anything about the dead, but…

“There’s no time.” I opened a door into a room, and inside was a group of Amaterasu priests, holding some sort of meeting. “Out. Now!” I growled, and my face must have been terrifying, as they quickly fled from the room.

“I’m going in. Shaeula, you come too, I don’t think I can do it alone. As for you…” I glared at the foreign girl, whose name I still didn’t know, who met my gaze boldly, unintimidated. “… shit, I can’t just let you go until this situation is resolved. Hyacinth, Eri, Aiko, stay here and watch her. When Grulgor and the others get here, send Grulgor in after us.”

“No.” Eri said, shaking her head. “I’m coming too!”

We don’t have time for this. “No you aren’t. Ren-san says they have some sort of barrier that you can’t retreat from. You’ve worked hard, Eri, but…”

“But nothing!” her face screwed up as if she was going to cry. “I’m not letting you go off alone, when you might die! Not you, not Shaeula! Why else do you think I’ve been pushing myself? Do you think I want to fight? I just want to be useful, to be with you!”

There was the sound of clapping, and I turned to see the blonde woman applauding, her eyes sparkling. “That sounds like a love confession! Amazing! First a wonderful concert, now this! It was worth the scolding I’ll get from the boss when I get back to Tokyo! There’s no way you can deny her after that heartfelt plea, right? Right?”

Damn, she’s annoying, and every second counts. “I don’t know if we can protect you in there…”

“She knows that.” My sis said, fed up. “Shit bro, you don’t think I want to come along? Of course I do. Keomi-chan, the twins, the other girls. I’ve not spend much time with them, but I don’t want them to die! I’m not strong enough, even with my new classes. I know that. I’d only hold you back…” she bit her lip, troubled. “Even so, Eri, she’s not weak. Sure, she’s not anywhere near as strong as you bro, but… she’s right. If Ren-san got out, Eri can at least help evacuate the survivors while you fight.”

“Hyacinth wishes she cooould go too, I should be with you, Akiooo, mistress Eri, mistress Shaeula. But… Hyacinth knows she needs to protect you here, and watch this ooone.” Hyacinth glared at her, her violet eyes glowing silver. “Cause trouble and I will wring yooour neck. Understand?”

“Hey, I don’t know why you are picking on me! Is it just because I’m blonde and blue eyed? That girl, she has blue eyes too!” she talked more nonsense. “I’ll stay here and wait quietly. You promised to tell Tamami about this later, I was there, right? Introduce me!” she paused then. “Or… I mean, I suppose…” she tossed her head. “… I could come with you? I don’t mind.”

“No way. I don’t know you, I don’t trust you.” I denied it. “Shit, there’s no damn time. Come on.” With that I closed my eyes, heedless of the fact I was going to end up in a heap on the ground, and as my consciousness faded I could hear some last words.

“… so, can I ask you something, uh… I never caught your name?”

“Aiko.”

“Oh, Aiko. Right, did… did he say her name was…”

********

The Imperial Palace in the Boundary was a riotous sight. The roof was open to the heavens, silvery lightning flickering in the skies overhead. The walls around us were draped with chains of coloured paper lanterns, which burned with unearthly colours. The floors were tiled in stunning mosaics, and unlike many places in the Boundary that looked strange and hideous, the Palace had a beauty all of its own.

Beside me Shaeula and Eri had appeared. I still had grave misgivings about allowing Eri to come along, but she was so adamant and determined, that I had been unable to refuse, especially as my sis and Hyacinth had supported her. “Eri…” I said, my tone serious, and she looked at me, a trace of guilt warring with resolve in her onyx eyes.

“I know. I won’t take any unnecessary risks. But… do you think I could be happy if I stayed behind and more people died?” She hefted her axe. “Sure, I’m not a good person, I’m selfish, I don’t really care about other people, except those I like, but… I care about you, Akio. I know how hard you must be taking this.”

“Indeed. Well said, Eri.” Shaeula approved, admiring the scenery. Numerous balls of flame were drifting around the skies, and my Eye identified them as an assortment of Yokai, such as Hitodama, the souls of the deceased. Around each of them clustered hundreds of lesser spirits, foggy, milky orbs, fragments of animal and human appearances jumbled together in haphazard constellations. “We should not tarry here. I sense a powerful presence deeper in the palace, it would not-not do to provoke it.” she raised her voice. “Ruler of this place, forgive our intrusion. We shall be leaving!”

Yes, this is definitely a Territory controlled by something. It felt strong, perhaps as strong as my own, although there wasn’t the oppressive resistance one felt when pressing through an Anchored one. Even so, faint wisps of aether and elemental essence were leaving us, drifting into the air to be absorbed, and Eri was finding it especially hard, her face pale and her movements slow. I think the Palace is a dungeon too, it seems noticeably bigger than it should. My Eye glowed, and I could see a faint violet tinge in the air, the space around us distorted.

“There’s no time. We have to run.” I snatched Eri up in my arms, in the same manner I had carried Ren-san. Eri blushed, despite the seriousness of the situation.

“That looks quite-quite fun. I should like that in the future, Akio.” Shaeula said, her pinwheels ready on hand. “But for now, we should make haste-haste. Grulgor, I would find his presence reassuring now, but he is not-not the fool he once was, he should be able to understand when Aiko explains the situation.”

Racing out of the magnificent palace, the Hitodama and other Yokai making a path for us, the ruler of the place obviously unwilling to fight, we bounded out into the streets of Kyoto, the riot of colours and lights feeling quite different to the suburbs of Tokyo or the mountains of my hometown. There were groups of Yokai, though most scattered when we passed, perhaps sensing our power, unwilling to engage us. One foolish group did try, a gaggle of wizened humanoids with bird legs instead of human ones, as well as gaping mouths filled with lamprey-like teeth, but Shaeula quickly swept her pinwheels across them, the thrumming wires wreathed in jade energies slicing them to ribbons. We didn’t even pause for the ether, continuing to head for the area Ren-san had told us of, Ginkaku-ji. Now we were in the Boundary there was no more need to hide our abilities, so we were running at a speed only top sportscars could reach. Eri was clinging tightly to me, her face pale, but we crossed the three kilometres like lightning, the massive silver edifice of Ginkaku-ji towering overhead, a massive silver pagoda-style tower shimmering with rainbow reflections, mirroring the skies overhead.

I hear that on the Material Ginkaku-ji isn’t actually silver, unlike Kinkaku-ji, which is covered in gold. Now, where… where are they? I concentrated aether into my Eye, as well as expanding and strengthening my already impressive vision. The riotous lights and sea of lesser spirits and Yokai that flooded Kyoto was distracting, but I quickly located something out-of-place, a faceted dome-shaped barrier of glowing reddish-violet energy, comprised of hexagons anchored by what looked like paper talismans, strange kanji-like symbols daubed on them in a reddish ink that looked like dried blood.

Kijo Occultist Restraint Talisman Barrier – This barrier uses Yokai arts, a modified form of Onmyōdō, to create an area where the spiritual body and the material body are separated. Those trapped within may not return to their material bodies, instead being sustained by the latent aether and energy within the Barrier.

That’s it! There! “Are you two ready?” I asked, changing course towards the glowing prison. “Eri, once inside, you can’t just flee the Boundary until you leave the barrier, so… be careful, all right? I know you want to help them, but I can’t lose you, not even for them!”

“I want to fight.” She said stoutly. “I wanted to be your strength, like Shaeula and Hyacinth. I can’t bring you noble connections or money like the other girls, but… I can fight!”

“Well said!” Shaeula approved as we approached the barrier. It seemed to mute sound as well, all we could hear from within dull noises, as though it was deep under the ocean, a different realm. “I shall be sure to keep an eye on you, Eri. After all, you would not-not want to die, leaving Akio to us?” Her smile was mischievous, and I could see she was trying to calm the tense Eri down, as this fight would likely be more brutal and intense than any she had faced before.

The barrier offered little physical resistance to us, and I could see how Ren-san had managed to escape. Once inside, my eyes instantly adjusted to the ruddy light within, and I lowered Eri to the ground, drawing my blades, Shaeula beside me, her eyes two brilliant stars of amber in the gloom. And what greeted us was a vision of hell… fucking hell! This is… I felt my stomach sink, bile rising, and Eri did indeed throw up, a mess of silver and grey splattering the floor. …a vision of hell indeed…

The first thing was the smell. Just like the fact we seemed to need to breathe in the Boundary, the fact that we could smell was strange, but then, thinking about it, was there any reason to be surprised? We could see, why was that different? My mind was trying to shy away from the scene with these useless, scattered ruminations, but since I had Split Thoughts, the other half of my mind was clear, taking in the situation, calculating.

The stench of blood, terror, sweat, and the cloying smell of fermented rice wine… it all mixed together into a hellish musk that dulled the senses. My feet were wet with smeared ruby blood, and silver vapours were rising from it, streamers of metallic mist drifting upwards. And there was… what once was a person, leaking aether. That’s Shiba-san, from… Kashima shrine. The woman was only a few years younger than me, a university student, quite fashionable and flirty, but now… now she’s nothing. Just… meat and whatever our astral body is made of… the body that had been torn in half was cradling a severed head, her young brother, who was only just in middle school. His eyes were frozen open, staring sightlessly, and the skin was already turning transparent, beginning to fade away…

“Oh… oh… uh…” Eri cried, lost for words, seeing another severed head, one of the dark-skinned girls from Hoeruokami shrine lying in a puddle of drying blood. There were several other bodies too, the sisters who were shrine maidens of Benten lying mangled and broken, a hideous foot pressed down on top of one of them, the possessor of such a monstrous humanoid nearly eight feet tall, with ruddy, leathery skin, piggish, dark eyes and a pair of impressive horns jutting from his brow. There were others too, perhaps two dozen more Oni, and also a rag-wearing female creature, with long talons and blazing crimson eyes. She was holding a staff in one hand, the long wooden stake hung with talismans and fetishes. On seeing us, she gave us a toothy grin, even as she unleashed a shimmering bolt of energy, which hammered into a cracked Golden Warrior which was fighting her desperately, wielding a long flail. The Golden Warrior staggered, crumbling, golden dust cascading as it dissolved.

“Bastard creatures!” Shaeula roared, her pinwheels darting out, forming a barrier ahead of a group of huddled people. It’s Keomi-chan, and the twins… the other girl from Hoeruokami shrine too. As the shimmering barrier of wires drove back several Oni, I moved, darting forwards. I could see that there was a dead man I didn’t recognise too, surrounded by several dead and dying Oni, but in a final indignity, his broken corpse had been stuffed into a barrel filled with sake, an expression of terror on his lifeless face, his limbs squashed and crushed.

“Yamato, you mother fucker!” I roared, incensed. So… so horrible, so tragic! Nine Golden Warriors were circling him and Naruhito-san, the priest candidate who had accompanied us on our first foray to the Boundary. They were battling the Oni, but even as I watched, several Golden Warriors were shattered by brutal clubs and long cleavers, only for the fallen warriors to reappear, though to my Eye Yamato was drained of aether, his reserves bottoming out. So he lied abut being able to call on six, the fucking rat… no, that’s unfair to Ixitt. “You… you…” my Resilience suddenly calmed me, dousing my rage as if it was plunged into icy water. Even so, I was still furious. “As for you…” I glared at the Oni that staggered back from the pinwheels, bright blood dripping from its cut arms. “… killing is one thing, my hands aren’t clean, but you fuckers are enjoying it!”

Drawing the Twin Fangs, I struck out at the callous, monstrous Oni, his mouth twisted into a joyful grin. I was faster, massively so, as I was running Body Enhancement, but even so, it was like striking a wall. Skin tore and bones cracked, but the Oni did not fall. Pulling my earth element into Might rather than my usual Fortitude, I flooded my body with strength. “Stop grinning, you bastard!” I snapped, my next blows biting through the armoured flesh, severing his arms. The Oni gaped at me, only for my fist to slam into the open mouth, shattering his teeth. “Foehn.”

“Behind you!” Eri cried, but I was already turning, even as the Oni’s head behind me exploded into flames. Shaeula’s pinwheels darted around me expertly, tangling the charging Oni, biting deep into warty flesh. Eri, her face still soiled with her vomit, was racing towards another survivor, one of the girls from Aoikaeru shrine. One of her arms was gone, and the stump was fountaining blood, her life draining away, and several of the smaller Oni were dancing around her, poking at her with bloody spears. “You get away from her, monsters!” she shouted, her voice rising into a scream.

“Save me, save me!” the girl wailed. “I don’t want to die!”

“Shaeula, help her!” I said, space shredding around me as the Fangs discharged, slicing the Oni into three pieces, chunks of meat slamming into the receding cage of wires. Racing past, I heard a cry of “Growth!” and suddenly the Oni Eri were confronting were caught by growing vines, rippling free of the ground. “Decay!” Mine-san called, and the Oni started to struggle, their flesh blackening, rot starting to sprout from them, reminding me of Hyacinth’s abilities.

“I’ve got you!” Eri grabbed the screaming girl, throwing her over her shoulder, before using her axe to fend off the Oni, though her blows were too weak to do much more than stagger them.

“Keomi, are you…” I paused, my expression grave. Keomi-chan was so pale with fright she resembled Haru-chan, and one of her legs was twisted at a brutal angle, and she had several gashes in her torso, leaking dark light like Ren-san was afflicted with. Chiaki-san was unconscious, and was as gravely wounded as Ren-san had said, so much blood staining her clothes crimson and silver, to match the red and white of her hakama. Her sister was horribly scarred, her flesh scored deep enough to see bone, yet the blows were not enough to kill, clearly torture, and the last girl, her dark skin was likewise marred, and her eyes were open but empty, a savage cut having robbed her of sight, and she was lying there, mumbling to herself, her mind shattered.

“… oh, Akio-kun…” Keomi-chan managed mechanically. “… are…” and with that she fainted, leaving Chiasa-san as the only one able to speak.

“… you came. Did Ren-sama manage to…” she croaked, her face wracked with pain. “… reach you?”

“He’ll be fine.” I assured her. “Now, you just… hold on. I’ll heal you all as soon as we’ve dealt with this. It’ll be all right, it will!”

“Dealt with? How… amusing!” the Kijo cackled, her staff waving, another flurry of talismans soaring out from it like origami birds. This time they headed towards the Golden Warriors, pasting themselves to their bodies, only to detonate, shards of golden metal flying like shrapnel, cutting into Yamato as he tried to shield himself. “Well, letting that one little mouse scarper seemed to have borne fruit, and sweet fruit at that.” She chuckled, her voice sounding dry and desiccated, as though she had barely spoken for years. “I would not have allowed him to flee our fun, but the look in his eyes, the fool was trying to bring help. And help he brought. Troublesome help at that…” an Oni fell headless, Shaeula’s pinwheels thrumming with wind, the bluesteel wires stressed to their limits, now able to cut the tough foes. “… well, we were getting tired of toying with these weak playthings, anyway.”

“Die! Die! Die! Die!” Eri was crying, tears streaking her pale face, her axe raining blow after blow on an Oni that had tried to snatch the wounded girl from her. Even so, all she could achieve was to bruise the iron skin that was a match for Grulgor. A second Oni rushed her from behind, and I called upon light element, shaping it into a powerful beam. The Oni staggered, face smoking and burning, flesh melting from his skull where it burned him, and my next attack, a volley of droplets of infused moonlight spirit water, pierced the exposed bone, exploding within the skull, popping the head like a balloon. Even so, it was too late, as the second struck at Eri with the darkness-infused blade it carried. Her armoured dress tore, slowing the blow, but even so her flesh was cleaved, a cut from her chest down to her waist deep enough to expose her ribs. The wounded girl was thrown from her back, and as a foot from another Oni was raised to stamp on her, Shaeula and I both reacted, wind and flame barraging the brute, driving it back.

“Eri!” I called, panicking, drawing on earth to shape a series of hollow-point rounds filled with Foehn, which I peppered the Oni around her with. As they were engulfed in flame, I heard Yamato calling to me, as he was being beset by many foes.

“Do something!” he cried. Naruhito-san had fallen, a long staff one Oni was wielding having shattered his legs, reducing them to a broken mess, and two more were closing in on him. Vines burst out from the ground as Mine-san tried to stop them, but then she groaned in pain, and I could see an Oni larger than all the rest had seized her by both arms, hauling her up, her shoulders dislocating with an audible pop.

Pinwheels danced and more bullets scattered from me, only for paper talismans to fly from the Kijo’s hands, forming several shining barriers that deflected them. Pushing my mind to the absolute limits, using light element to hasten my reflexes and thought speeds, an idea I had thought of but not attempted due to the risk, it was as if time had stopped. No, not stopped. Just.. slowed.

Eri was being menaced by the Oni with the cruel, cursed blade. I could see her face twisted to an expression of pain, but she was looking at me, her mouth forming words saying she was all right, even as blood spattered the ground and her skirt was turning red. Behind her, the wounded shrine maiden was about to be crushed by another Oni. Three more were ready to kill Naruhito-san and that fool Yamato, another one heading towards Keomi-chan and the girls, while the remainder were rushing towards me and Shaeula to block our progress, apart from the Kijo, who was laughing at us, and the biggest brute, holding the limp Mine-san.

How… how does everyone get out of this alive? The situation was worse than even I had feared, and if the Oni were not so intent to toy with and torture their victims, this would have been all over before we even arrived. Even so, so many dead, so much suffering already…

“Fuck!” I roared, my grasp on the light element slipping, a blinding pain searing through my body as my nerves burned.

“Decay…” Mine-san called, the Oni holding her screaming in pain as his hands started to corrode. At the same moment, Shaeula unleashed a beam of concentrated water, focused by her wind, and the Kijo was forced to call upon more talisman barriers to block it. Her pinwheels swept out in two directions, and the Oni that was menacing the victim Eri had tried to save was cut at the waist, steaming guts falling out as his surprised face gaped in wonder. The wire couldn’t take the huge amount of wind Shaeula was pumping into it, and it snapped, the pinwheel itself whirring like a shuriken, flying into the distance. Her second pinwheel fared better, and one of the Oni attacking Yamato, the other target she could reach, perished, but it was too late for Naruhito-san, as one Oni stamped down, shattering his head.

“Die!” I roared, Spatial Rending activating as I flung myself at the one attacking Eri, heedless of the others around me. I warded off one blow, converting my earth energy back to Fortitude, and spikes rose from the ground, filled with boiling Foehn, and it was pierced through the chest. Flames flared, springing from its eyes and mouth, and it fell. The one facing Eri also died, tough skin and bone unable to resist as space distorted in a slashing wave, cutting one arm free and shattering its skull. The amber letters within my vision I dismissed as irrelevant.

That just leaves… I ignored the Oni closing in on me. One Fang was shattered, a massive, spiked club breaking it and bouncing off my ribs, driving the breath from me, while a spear gouged at my thigh. Shaeula was likewise taking injuries, but even so she made sure that the Oni targeting the dying girls perished, wires of wind energy wrapping around its neck, digging into bone and slicing through until the head popped free. Blood was splattering, her kimono ripped and torn, but she fought back, wind weasels, flame weasels, water weasels and light weasels snaking around her, dozens of them, giving her the look of a sort of strange hydra…

Earth element exploded in a wave, the ground detonating spectacularly, and it surged towards the Kijo as a distraction, while I focussed my Foehn down to a single, heated orb, condensing it harder than I ever had before. It fought me, so I compressed it with air, and it began to change, the yellow flame first turning orange, then finally shining a baleful blue, the air around me turning to plasma, my exposed flesh hot and starting to smoulder. The Oni attacking me shied back, protecting their eyes, and I swung my fist, the searing orb melting through the Oni, Foehn burning the life from them. I then hurled it, aiming at the Oni holding Mine-san. She was looking at me, her eyes wide, and the expression on her face was free of pain, and… I don’t like it. It’s… no, she can’t give up!

The Oni grinned, face twisted in torment from his rotting hands, swinging Mine-san into the path of the glowing orb of condensed Foehn. Mine-san squeezed shut her eyes, giving me a small smirk, as if to say at least I’ll die quickly and painlessly, but I had other ideas. Wind threads, so fine as to be essentially invisible, which I was constantly replenishing as Foehn consumed them using half of my Split Thoughts, twisted, and the orb spun, darting to the side before slamming back into the Oni, detonating soundlessly. For a moment shining blue flames bloomed, and then…

“My sister is going to be very angry with me.” The Kijo laughed. “Losing all these Oni, when this should have been nothing but some fun sport, hunting fools who trespass on our Parade. The Red bastard will be furious too, and the Blue bitch. After all, you’ve just killed his brother. Although…” the Kijo had mostly shielded herself from my earthen distraction, but some of the surprises inside had hurt her, and blood was running down her face and side. “… at least I’ll have your despair to enjoy. Give him a present.” She sneered.

What happened next was horrific, seared into my mind. There was a sickening tearing noise, and a bubbling scream, as the giant Oni, half of him ablaze, Foehn burning deep into his body, consuming his innards and bones alike, had pulled, ripping the arms from Mine-san with his rotting hands. Eri was screaming too, and Shaeula looked ashen, her face twisted into a scowl of hatred. The Oni gurgled a laugh, flecks of blue Foehn expelled from his burning throat, drifting down onto the now armless Mine-san, setting her short hair and clothes alight. As one arm disintegrated, he used it to punch through her guts, blasting a hole clean through her, and as Mine-san coughed blood to join the spray fountaining from her missing limbs, the Oni tossed her at me, before he collapsed, Foehn greedily ending his life.

My remaining Fang dropping from my hand, I didn’t even feel the blow to my side one Oni dealt me, staggering me, and as a spear stabbed me again, piercing my flesh, I caught the light, oh so terribly light body of Mine-san, heedless of her gore mingling with mine, and as more orange letters entered my vision, I could barely see, so misted were my eyes with tears…