On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“First, Daiyu, you can help me with the Formation. We’ll uncover it carefully and I want to be very sure that we aren’t causing any unexpected problems breaking it.”

Daiyu nodded, though judging by the slight change of expression on her face she was troubled. “Of course I shall assist, yet a Formation of this level, made by a master of the Six Noble Pursuits… I fear my knowledge is going to be insufficient. All I know is the legacy of the Incorruptible Jade… even in the days of Kunlun we were not at the pinnacle.”

“True, but any precaution is important.” I pointed out. “Mae, you aren’t a Cultivator, but you have some idea, since you asked the Saint of Swallowed Sorrows to make this Formation. Help her out, okay?”

Sekka choked, seeing me ask Mae for aid. “Tamamo-no-Mae, you would allow him to order you so?”

Order? I wasn’t bossing her about, and besides, she wants to rescue those trapped here more than anyone…

Mae raised one golden-blonde eyebrow at my expression, before shaking her head. “It is just how he is. Pay it no mind, Sekka. I do not. Besides, he is not mistaken. I have some idea of how the Formation is arrayed. Though…” Her ears lay flat against her skull in annoyance. “…I do not like giving that wretched monk his Saintly title. I wronged him, yet…” She shuddered, tails wrapping around her body, and Sekka’s eyes were practically falling out her skull, they were so wide and shocked at Mae’s behaviour. “…I still despise him.”

“Sorry.” I apologised. “But if in the end, the outcome is good…”

“I still shall not forgive him. I am not that magnanimous.” Mae insisted. “Though I shall perhaps offer him a modicum of respect.”

Sekka blinked, looking between us, before giving up. “If I did not know you, I would perhaps think you an imposter. Or is this one of your games, again?”

“The world has moved on, and I am… not who I was.” Mae admitted. “Enough idle chatter. We must uncover the Formation layered below. Cautiously.”

“Shaeula, you’ve got a delicate touch, you help under their direction. You as well, Nebisuki…” I suggested, not using Shinkume-no-Hana’s true name out of respect for her nature. Hearing that she winked, playfully flickering her ears at me. “As for you pair…” I glanced at the two Oni. “…I don’t think you are suitable for this.”

“Ya got us there.” Blue chuckled. “We’re better at breaking stuff, not fixing it. We leave that to the foxes and the other weaklings. Don’t ya get mad, woman…” She waved a big hand at Mae. “…nobody’s saying ya are weak. We’ve been on the receiving end of violence from ya more than enough times, and never won yet. But we aren’t going to lose forever, ya know. Times are changing.”

As they argued, Daiyu was scouring lines into the ice, corresponding with the Formation below, signalling where to cut. I could have melted the ice with flame element, but that presented a risk to the Formation and frozen coffins, so for now we worked by hand. I considered using Tsurugi to cut the ice, but she was sleeping, and also precision was required. Hyacinth joined us, and soon, we had excavated the ice. It was hard labour, but none of us were weak. I used a little fire element to heat my hands, allowing them to slip through like a knife through butter, while Shaeula and Hana used wind element to achieve a similar effect.

“This is… quite the work of art.” Daiyu admitted, admiring the complex craftsmanship. The Formation itself was a large circle, resembling the classic Yin and Yang symbol, with the coffins lying at the position of the taijuti, the Yin within Yang and the Yang within Yin. “I certainly cannot begin to fathom the complexities of making this work. Though… even studying it will help my proficiency greatly.”

“Of course we’ll be taking it away.” I agreed. “Mae paid for it, if not in the way she promised.”

“It is frustrating that you are right.” Mae pouted, and once more Sekka goggled at the scene, a sight I was growing used to now. “Besides, the materials used are not common, not since Kunlun retreated, and the ether density of this world declined.” She pointed out the combination of four metals that made up the inlaid patterns. I used my eyes to examine them, discovering that the materials were Platinum, Yang Gold, Yin Silver, and Qi-Infused Iron. Three of the materials seemed to be unusual, but the fourth was a valuable metal that had been used by certain native tribes in the past, and now had massive industrial uses.

“Here…” Mae pointed to the additional elements that made up the Formation. The metals were the base, but the internal workings were a variety of precious gems, expertly cut, easily as stunning as modern jewels, and also… “…the Spirit Stones. They are nearly exhausted.” She tapped the glowing blue spheres inserted into the metal circumference of the Formation. There were four indigo stones as well, two on each side of the frozen coffins, metallic wires running around them. “Now I see clearly, not in… desperation…” Mae’s lip curled, and though it was hard to see under the cold light of Sekka’s icy realm, I thought I saw a faint flush in her cheeks. “…that wretched monk did indeed invest all his remaining wealth and treasures into this endeavour. He was incredibly wealthy once. As a master of Formations, his work was highly sought after. I know Caihong’er paid him well… though not what he wished. Instead of being part of Kunlun as it seceded, he was left outside, in a barren, weakening world.”

Daiyu twitched at that, her expression… complicated, no doubt thinking of the history of her own Sect.

“…then, to serve my ends, he used his remaining wealth, all that he did not need to create the Sessho-Seki which later imprisoned me. No wonder he was bitter.” Mae waved her tails for emphasis. “Now… a lesson.” At her sudden change in tone, Daiyu straightened, dark eyes shining with curiosity.

“These Spirit Stones…”

As she spoke, I analysed them with my Eyes, nodding. That makes sense. If aether can be converted to Qi, then there should be something similar to Etherites, making a regular, Qi-based commodity, which can be used as a currency within Cultivator society.

“…are both currency, consumable and material. One of the most foundational Techniques of Cultivators is the art of turning a defeated creature, or in many cases… rival… into Spirit Stones. It is known that in most cases, here in the spiritual realm, most beings dissipate to ether upon death. This Technique instead traps their dispersing energies and compresses it into regular agglomerations of Qi with predictable properties.”

“In that-that case… would it not-not stop Levelling up?” Shaeula pointed out, and Mae nodded.

“This Levelling, as you call it, seems a little different to what I understand, but yes, the strong grow by defeating the weak. Still, there are other Techniques, for absorbing the contents of Spirit Stones to strengthen one’s Cultivation. Indeed, the value of such Stones were in their flexibility. All sought them.”

That… sounds interesting. I’m wondering if there’s a way to convert aether into Etherites with a similar level of efficiency. I know the Artificial Ether Spires tend to condense low-value Etherites as a side effect… but if we could optimise a process… like Spirit Stones, Etherites have a lot of uses in Mortal Engineering, and in transporting ether to far-off Territories not connected by Ring Gates…

“And they can power Formations extremely effectively. But what makes a masterwork Formation is… efficiency.” Mae pointed out some of the intricate traceries of metal and inlaid gems around the spent Spirit Stones. All of them were dull, except for a number around the edge of the pattern which had already shattered and turned to dust and shards. “The usual method is to replace the core Spirit Stones as they are used up, but here… I believe that the Stones have been resupplied slowly by careful conversion of atmospheric energies, or even this icy flow. Still, Spirit Stones are meant to be drained, not recharged, and so wear and degradation is inevitable. Yet… it is a Formation that specifically warps the flow of time within… a fortunate overachievement…”

“I see.” Daiyu was visibly excited, a rarity for her, and Shaeula chuckled fondly at her display of emotion. “The Formation itself was experiencing slowed time, therefore that reduced the drain on the Spirit Stones as well, a feedback loop. If intended, then the Saint truly was a genius.”

“Of course, but… time is not to be trifled with.” Mae sighed. “You can see the damage that has accrued on the outer workings.” When she pointed it out, it was obvious. Metal had frayed and degraded, many of the lines almost having broken. Gems were cracked, and the ground beneath was sinking, icy rock turned to sand. Mae then turned to me, a knowing expression crossing her features. “I suspect you know this better than anyone.”

Yeah, existing both Materially and Astrally, with their different flows of time, is rather taxing, and probably would be mentally destructive, apart from Split Thoughts and my high Resilience…

“So, that’s one reason they’re still alive then. But now we need to extract them safely, and… the coffins themselves are the main focus of the time dilation effect. If we meddle carelessly…”

“Indeed.” Mae agreed with me. “We risk suffering injury due to getting trapped within two flows of time. Or the Formation will simply fail, and they shall die before we free them from the coffins. Obviously, that bastard has left a solution…” She pointed to a cluster of patterns of metal and jewels. “…yet the Formation was never intended to last for millennia… I do not know if applying Qi there will silence the wardings any longer. Rather, I suspect it will simply collapse the fragile remains.”

“I have-have a question.” Shaeula asked suddenly. “And it might have a bearing on what we do-do here. Is there a twin-twin working for their Material bodies?”

“Your eyes are keen.” Mae approved. “Indeed no, their forms are consolidated here. It is not entirely dissimilar to the workings of Ling’s ability. Even back then, when the spiritual was receding, it was still far easier to move between the two realms. To protect one is to protect both. Besides… Cultivation is not merely about strength. Remember this well, Daiyu…” Even now, Mae was lecturing arrogantly, though Daiyu was eager enough to learn. “…the aim of Cultivation is longevity, power and control. Once one reaches Nascent Spirit, there is no true distinction between Material and Astral forms… and even below that, in the Golden Core realm, there are methods to temporarily achieve the same…”

“I see.” Daiyu nodded, understanding. “I now know the answer to a matter that has been bothering me. Thank you, Tamamo-no-Mae, when it is time for me to press onward, one obstacle to my advancement has been removed.”

“It is of no moment.” Mae waved her hand dismissively, though again by her ears and tails I could see she was pleased by the thanks. “My point is… the Formation could only be made to work here. So the Material was temporarily relinquished, but should they be saved then they can return.”

“I see-see. In that case… my idea will not-not work. Though, let me think…” Shaeula frowned, chewing at her lip.

“There are a couple of ways. We can destroy the Formation…” I suggested. “I’m sure Tsurugi would make short work of it. That’s not ideal, as I’d like to salvage what we can for further study, but the lives of Su Caihong and Su Liena come first. The second way is to temporarily interrupt the Formation, just long enough to retrieve the coffins. The third way… is to change either our or their flow of time, slowing us down, or speeding them up, until we can take them out without disrupting the Formation. Time and space are related, so it might be possible with spatial element… but it carries risks…”

“Indeed. Caihong’er and Liena are indeed stubborn, else they would have perished even before the Formation was finished, despite my efforts.” Mae agreed. “But that was before their long, slow withering. It would not be unexpected if they were to die within seconds of time returning to a normal flow. The shock alone…”

“I have… an idea. Though you will owe me, and Great Nurarihyon, yet another favour, Tamamo-no-Mae. And your word is not good.” Bintara spoke up. “So instead…” She glanced at me, dark eyes serious. “Would you be her guarantor?”

“Absolutely.” I declared without hesitation. “I owe Mae Asha’s life, and the lives of my children.”

“I did that for my own reasons…” Mae insisted, and Sekka, who had been listening wearily, could take no more.

“I cannot stand this. Who are you? You are not Tamamo-no-Mae! You are never this polite or easy-going! It is making me shiver, and I hate it!”

“Oh…” Hana chuckled. “I personally think it is rather refreshing. Grandmother is simply reborn. A fresh start. Do we not all crave such? I did too. Besides… actually her behaviour is rather typical for her, if you think about it…”

“Granddaughter…” Mae growled threateningly, and Hana chortled.

“I shall say no more for now then. Besides… Bintara, I would hear your idea.”

“It is quite simple. I cannot resolve the problem of how to bring them out of the slowed time without too much strain, slower would certainly be better than an abrupt halt, but… sustaining their lives for a short while… I can do that, if you aid me, Akio. You have the ability to share strength via some sort of spiritual connection, yes?”

“I do, yet sadly… Lovers’ Link won’t work, much as I want them to live, I don’t know them. But…” I nodded. “…I can probably weave a temporary connection, and perhaps if I make it rather more specialised…” I’ve made Brother’s Bond, and also made adjustments to Kin Bonding, and Lovers’ Link through that… it doesn’t need to be perfect, but… damn, I’m glad I rested yesterday, Eri was right.

Of course I am. Eri’s voice popped into my head, as she’d been listening, as she always was. You can’t always be on the edge, or you’ll have nothing left for emergencies. Me, I’m fully stocked, and at Rank twelve… she couldn’t resist that brag as always… you can plunder what you need from me. After all, today all I’m doing is making offerings and chaperoning the others. I don’t need much strength for that.

Yes, wise as ever. I might take you up on that. Fortunately I’d had Shiro buff me before heading off this morning, and now she could enhance multiple Skills at once, though with greater effort, both my Chirurgery and Ether Healing were functionally well into Rank twelve too…

“…okay, I think I can do it. It won’t be stable, but…” I withdrew all my Split Thoughts except the one my Material body was using, to brace against the differing flows of time. “…when I’ve done that, what do you need?”

“Simple. Here, they are in their spiritual bodies. The damage is terrible, I do not need your keen Eyes to see that. But spiritual beings are harder to kill than you fragile mortal beings. We can link our lives to theirs, and…” Bintara began to draw on her own powers, a surge of aether and water element gushing, forming a brilliant halo around the room, though when it entered into the slowed zone, it flickered and distorted. “…then with a little time, I must hope you have the ability to repair them.”

“Saving their lives is what matters.” I pointed out. “Even if they are ruined, so long as they live, we’ll have a chance in the future. All right, I can do it, but then we need to decide how to break the Formation…”

“Leave it tooo me, Akio.” Hyacinth declared, and that surprised us. Seeing that, she pouted adorably. “I am nooot joking, I would never when before thooose you wish to save, as you saved me. I sympathise…” Her violet eyes shone with heavy silver tones as she gazed at the two sleeping within the coffin of ice. “…they are trapped within a booox, just as I was. They toooooo are ravaged by that cruellest poisooon, time. So I shall help free them. I can dooo so.”

Mae seemed worried, but as Hyacinth met my gaze, unblinking, I agreed. “I trust you, Hyacinth. In that case, just let me establish the connections…” First I wove a bond between Bintara and myself. That was trivial, though Bintara suddenly glowered at me, grinding her teeth, looking as if she wished she could gore me with her horns.

“I did not seek such a… solid… tie between us.” she scowled, and I shrugged.

“Sorry, but again, I’ve never forgotten your aid. Besides, that one’s easy for me in the right circumstances, and I want to maintain as few of these temporary ones as possible. Besides, you only benefit, so why worry?”

“Why-why worry, he says?” Shaeula snickered to the confused Oni and Sekka. “That is so very like Akio. If I did not-not know better, I would think he has his eyes on Bintara. Though I do suppose such a healer in our camp would be most-most welcome…”

“I serve Great Nurarihyon, none other.” Bintara huffed as Shaeula teased her. I was using all my concentration elsewhere though, spinning a bond, a connection, out of little but aether, adherence and a little soullight. It seemed impossible, no different to creating a magnetic field without any magnets, but… it just seemed right. As though it was a Path I could walk. If this is what a Path truly is, a new method of stamping authority and ability over the existing rules of the multiverse, incorporating some, adding others… then adherence and some similar oddities start to make more sense… no, it’s still too complicated for me to understand, at least for now…

The time dilation was brutal, and my first few attempts at connections were shredded apart, but I persevered, and soon two heavily adjusted variants of Lovers’ Link, designed purely to share as much of my Fortitude and Resilience as I could, as well as transmit aether and soullight, touched the two unconscious women. Even though it wasn’t designed to share thoughts or emotions, unlike Lovers’ Link, I still recoiled from the sudden spike of pain. Damn, even unconscious, they radiate the suffering they’re enduring…

“The black waters of Taketomi are warm, yet deep…” Bintara began to sing. “…just like a child within a mother’s womb, or a being birthed through the bright heat of inspiration… from warm nothingness comes consciousness…”

“We’re connected…” I muttered, the time dilation here somehow more brutal than even when I experienced the upper Astral, made worse by the fact I was so close to the source of it, no separation between my senses. “…Hyacinth…”

“I shall dooo it!” She raised her hands, and spores flowed, the brown of wood element and the deep violet of spatial combining to form pale white mushrooms which sprouted all over the Formation.

“…life is a flame, so easily extinguished, but life is also water. Like water, it does not cease, merely changes form…” Bintara’s song continued, as Hyacinth’s mushrooms suddenly began to drain the Formation, no, the spatial aspect that slowed time. Frost formed on the mushrooms, the ice element also being pulled in, and Hyacinth cackled.

“My Cauldrooon can create many horrors. But you taught me, Akio, and you too, mistress Shaeula… and everyooone else… it is nooot what you can do, but what you actually dooo that determines one’s future. Medicine is oooften poison, no?”

Bintara nodded, even as her song continued, and Hyacinth’s own body was shimmering with frost and sparks of spatial element. “I call it… Devouring Myrcolaxriaths!” She smirked. “I did use much ooof his remains within my pot, amongst ooother things. Just as he was stealing frooom the Spring… I tooo can steal. For…” Hyacinth was sprouting the mushrooms too, looking like a strange puffball, and I could feel the connections… no, Connections, for these were like small-scale, odd versions of Lovers’ Link, just tuned differently. “…I am the mooother of all these mushrooms. To eat space is nooot easy, but… I have experience.”

“The Ring-Ring Gates…” Shaeula breathed, impressed, and Hyacinth giggled.

“Yooou wanted slow and steady, yes, Akio? How is this?”

“Any idea what’s going on, Blue?” Red asked, confused, and the Blue Oni chuckled.

“If ya don’t know, keep ya mouth shut. I hate to look stupid. It’s obvious, isn’t it? They’re breaking the Formation. Besides…” She sniffed suddenly, grinning. “Don’t ya think we might have something else to get stuck into?”

Red shrugged his massive shoulders, and reached out a hand to Sekka. She seemed confused, but he merely grinned toothily. “Give me a club, woman. Your ice is strong as iron, yeah?”

Sekka frowned, but indeed conjured up a thick cudgel of solid ice nearly as tall as me, passing it to Red, who swung it a few times, smiling in satisfaction. Beside him, Blue was warming up, throwing punches.

“Is there a problem?” Mae asked, the tension getting to her. The Formation was slowly failing, Spirit Stones exploding one by one, blue shards scattering to dust, and the icy coffins were shivering now.

“You know we have a sixth sense for fun.” Red leaned on the icy club casually. “Looks like we have fools coming to our door.”

Sekka understood. “So soon? That is not… not usual. It has hardly been any time since the last invasion, which shattered my domain.”

“Guess either ya pissed them off, or us visiting riled the bastards up.” Blue suggested. “What does it matter the reason? They come, and we kill them dead, ya know? We’ve been itching for a good battle. Being around the fox and all ya strong folks gets the blood boiling almost as much as booze!”

“In that case…” The flow of time was starting to renormalise for Su Caihong and her daughter, and immediately, through the fragile Connections I had forged, energy was being drained from me, though it was like pouring it into a sieve. Eri immediately started flooding me, and aether actually started coming down from Rose too. I worried she was too injured and needed the strength herself, but she pridefully insisted that wasn’t the case.

Don’t worry, my Verr. I was one of the least wounded. I drained my reserves dry with the Runes, but… I recover quickly. Take what you need…

I won’t stand on ceremony then. I guess it’s like a joint bank account. Husbands and wives should share the wealth…

I like that. I’ll be sure to tease Lin. She is so close to being able to help you this way too…

I sent a mental smile, and as Bintara’s singing intensified, I gave my orders. “…Red, Blue, you want to fight, then show me your strength. Mae, Shaeula, can you back them up? Nebisuki, Daiyu, you protect Hyacinth and Bintara. We can’t be disturbed.”

“What about you?” Daiyu asked.

“I’m fine.” I insisted, even if the strain was terrible. “And I have Tsurugi by my side. Sekka… it’s almost time… the coffins…”

“Very well. You are correct…” The indigo Spirit Stones were finally failing, and while it pained me, seeing such treasures vanish into nothingness, their energies long spent, I knew being greedy was a mistake. If you pursue two hares, both will escape, right? So let’s just make sure we get what we came for… “I shall release them when you are ready…”

Hyacinth, breathing out sparkling ice element, pink light flickering around her and the mushrooms, laughed loudly. “Hooow was that, Akio? Poison intooo medicine.”

“Yeah, you’re in for a reward when all this is said and done.” I agreed, my own silvery sweat freezing, though the temperature in the cave was rising. “Now then… Sekka, can you release the coffins?”

Sekka exchanged a look with Mae, who nodded slowly. “I shall not blame you if anything goes awry. You have done all you can and more.” Mae promised.

“You have definitely changed. Failing to get what you desired before, you would not care about reasons. Very well then… I wish you good fortune.” Sekka raised one pale, blue-tinged hand, and an explosion of energies filled the room. There was the sound like glass cracking, or rock fissuring, and then the clear coffins shuddered, turning opaque as millions of hair-thin cracks spread through them. Moments later, the coffins exploded, two fragile figures falling, only for me to scoop them both up with wind. With the slowed time, and the enforced icy hibernation, released, their ruined bodies took sluggish, shuddering breaths, and then their bodies instantly failed, too weak and ravaged to continue existing.

“Now!” I cried, carrying them to me with the jade winds, my Eyes now inspecting their traumatised bodies. I spread my energies to them via the link, while through me Bintara did the same, forming a connected web.

Fucking hell, now I can see clearly… this is bad. Not just bad… practically untenable…

Ignoring the horrific wastage of their bodies, and the severe frost damage, which was only bearable because they were spiritual bodies, every cell of a Material body would have ruptured due to the ice, the other damage was catastrophic. I could see that they had Chakra networks far different to ours, Daiyu’s was closest, yes, but these, especially Su Caihong’s, seemed more complicated. Seemed, because essentially every Chakra, as well as the Dantians, were completely ruined. Worse, mixed in was some kind of negative energy, and Bintara quickly gave me an explanation…

“The wounds were grave, beyond my means to treat. Worse, some vile Cultivation Technique has been used, and not a trivial one. The spiritual wounds return even as they are healed. I do not know if even your increased Skills will suffice. It is not like the Adherence-poisoned wounds of before, it is something equally as foul, however.”

“I see. In that case, what we have to do is clear.” I immediately began to repair the damage being frozen for centuries had caused, and restore their vitality long starvation had stolen. Bintara was helping me, her watery energies particularly adept at soothing such enervation. Immediately we saw results, flesh filling out, breathing slightly less laboured, but as my Healing spread to a gash along Su Caihong’s arm, and it closed up, flesh knitting, there was a sharp popping noise, and the wound reopened, and seemed slightly worse than before.

“Shit… no, maybe it’s a good thing…” I consoled myself. “…it’s not just a suitable method of healing we need, but… understanding…” My Eyes shone, and as I fed them more energies, the soullight especially nourishing to their withered, drained spirits, I carefully used Ether Healing on the same wound, and once more it exploded and expanded again, resisting recovery.

I see. The attack itself was soullight, knowledge of which wasn’t allowed in worlds with Boundaries, according to Lin and Rose, unless it was found out by other means. But what about before? A Saint should certainly have grasped that the Truesoul exists…

Two-headed Yǐngzidúyè Centipede [Noble Spiritual Beast]

This Spiritual Beast is a creature which has the ability to discorporate its physical form, even the spiritual form becoming translucent and intangible. It can exist in two places at once as it has two heads, and will only die if both heads are crushed at once, a difficult prospect due to its ability to become an indiscernible shadow. It secretes a venom which prevents wounds from healing, and draws sustenance from the flavours of Soullight produced when a Spirit is in great agony, often prolonging the suffering with a venom that the second head produces, which can keep a victim alive for a short time despite grievous injuries. Once the victims do perish, if enough Soullight, Aether and Qi has been gathered, the Centipede can split, forming a pair, growing new heads.

I see. It’s not just that they’ve been wounded terribly, there’s also a hidden, nearly undetectable parasite feeding off their sorrows. Even for my Eyes, noticing it was a challenge, and a few Ranks ago, I doubted I’d have spotted it. It’s like the Kijo Matriarch, when Hyacinth’s spores were attacking her, she somehow shed her… physical Astral body. That doesn’t make much sense when you say it, but… there’s definitely a tangible nature to most spiritual beings, and some, like her and Haru, are not bound by that. Hmm, is it because the Laws of the Material and Astral have a lot in common, or at least at their roots?

“There’s some sort of centipede inside them both. A noble spiritual beast?” I called to Bintara. “Any ideas how to flush it out?”

I then heard a loud explosion, and the pretty pillars of ice surrounding the corners of the room shattered. I glanced over to see Mae gritting her teeth, tails raised, elemental energies swirling around her. “Zixin, that trash. If he still lives I was going to inflict on him ten times the pain Caihong’er and Liena suffered, but it seems I was far too lenient.” She clenched her fist, wall exploding into icy shards.

“I was wrong! She is no imposter, she is definitely the Tamamo-no-Mae I know!” Sekka shivered.

“Indeed. Grandmother is herself. Never doubt it. Her behaviours are entirely due to the… company. And speaking of…” Hana pointed, and down the narrow corridor we could see several creatures trying to break in. Their claws slashed at the icy rock walls, tearing great chunks of stone and ice away.

“Your sculpture did not-not do them justice.” Shaeula observed calmly, a small smile on her face. “They are indeed ugly things. Ugly dead-dead things.”

Indeed, they were basically bears the size of an Oni, though smaller than the towering Red and Blue, but simply skeletons, held together by rotten fur reeking of decay, and oozing, slimy dust element. Ghostly flames burned in their empty eye sockets and lingered around claws that were still long and sharp as katanas, and fangs like daggers. They bellowed soundlessly, spitting the foul muck, which began to disintegrate the tunnel further, and as it widened, more and more rushed in.

“Seems like they are eager to kill you, Sekka. How unfortunate…” Bintara muttered. “…but we need peace and concentration here. We cannot be disturbed.”

“Do not-not fear…” Shaeula winked at the enraged Mae, who still hadn’t calmed down. “It has been far-far too long since I had the opportunity to earn some decent experience points. Tamamo-no-Mae, it would be most-most sensible for you to take your anger out on our uninvited guests. I fear if you do not-not… these Oni will beat you to it.”

“That’s right.” Red smirked, swinging his icy club through the air, making it whistle. “First come, first served. I’m eager to crush some of these bony bastards…”

Mae paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath, before she nodded, ears suddenly upright, tails lashing like iron whips. “Yes. I am feeling rather… intemperate… right now. I shall certainly need an outlet for my boundless rage.” She then turned to me. “Akio. I implore you, do all you can. I would not have their legacy be as food for one of Zixin’s enslaved beasts.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry… is what I’d like to say. But… I’ll certainly give it my all.” With the two bloodied, tortured and unconscious women in my arms, wearing little but rags, time and ice having rotted their robes, I flared my Eyes, trying to narrow down the exact position of the centipede, which in addition to being shadowy and intangible, was also blurred, as if its location wasn’t in the standard dimensions we knew. “Just… be careful, okay?”

“Me?” Mae was surprised. “You jest, surely? These Kamuy could not defeat me when they lived, what can they do when dead? Still… I suppose it is not unpleasant to receive words of encouragement.”

As Sekka was stunned by that admission, and Shaeula snickered, drawing her Mortal Fragarach, preparing for battle, I focussed on my own fight. All right then… come on, Eyes, don’t let me down!