On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Mae, her ire plain to see, fists clenched until her knuckles were white, raised three of her tails. Emerald wind element, citrine flame element, and a crackling, shimmering cloud of lightning element, which encompassed the prior two, formed above her. The three glowing, flamelike orbs flickered and trembled, seemingly eager to be unleashed, but Mae’s cold green eyes were focussed only on the enemies trying to break into the chamber we were defending.

“Begone, remnants of a past long become dust.” Mae declared, the three elemental energies behind her suddenly swirling into one, growing stronger, the brilliance lighting up the chamber, shining brighter than even Sekka’s icy illumination.

“Fox Thunder!” Mae spoke, almost a whisper, and the raging energy was converted into a glaring beam, sweeping past the surprised pair of Oni, leaving brilliant afterimages in its wake, as well as a thunderous boom, like thunder trapped in an enclosed space. The icy walls cracked, and the torrent of energy unleashed blasted into the oncoming undead bears, and the front few were simply disintegrated, blasted apart into numerous tiny fragments, filthy ooze and remnants of dust element burning up in the foxfires.

“Hey, the old bitch is still going strong!” Red chuckled, only to fall silent as Mae’s glower turned to him.

“Red, ya might want to keep ya mouth shut. I don’t think she’s in the mood for ya banter.” Blue warned, surreptitiously brushing off the stony dust that had fallen onto her hair and shoulders as the cavern shook.

“Har. Maybe not.” After his grunted exclamation of amusement, he clutched his club tightly. “Still, it’s grand to see that the years haven’t dulled your edge. Looks like our instincts were right. It’ll be like old times. But for now…” More of the undead bears were widening the passageway, and we could hear the shattering of pillars of rock and ice from outside, the mountainous cavern rumbling as if a small, localised earthquake was shaking it. “…I’m glad you left us some prey. Come on, Blue. Let’s get cracking.” He exposed his wicked tusk-like fangs as he smirked. “They’ve even been so good as to widen the entrance for us. I didn’t fancy fighting all crouched down! Lacks dignity.” With that he rushed into the corridor, and indeed had to stoop, his horns scouring lines in the stone above.

“Dignity? Ya think we have much of that?” Blue scoffed but followed him into the tunnel. “Wait for me, ya fool! Ya be blocking the line of fire!”

“This is most irritating.” Sekka sighed mournfully. “My beautiful hall is being further destroyed. My domain is ruined. But…” She glanced back at us, or more precisely, back at the fountains of elemental ice that had made up the heart of the Formation. “…it is a place far too precious for me to relinquish.”

“Then do not do so.” Mae growled. “These relics of our past shall be returned to the dust from which they were born. You have my word, Sekka, that you will not be ousted from this place.”

“Oh my. You have changed. Though your temper remains the same.” She cast her gaze to the swarming mass of bears. Red reached them, roaring, the cavern now widened enough to support his full height. His club smashed into one bear, shattering brittle bones, but muck splattered his bare skin, and the crimson flesh began to blacken, though he paid it no mind. “While you were often wildly generous depending on your whims… you seldom knew how to repay a favour.”

“They say-say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.” Shaeula stirred the pot with a wicked smile. “But that is not-not true at all. Anyone can learn, if they have the will, and… a good-good reason and role-model.” She winked at Mae, who pretended to ignore her, idly picking at her nails, tails lashing.

“Your insolence seems much like that of your mother.” Mae remarked. “Those two fools are blocking my way…”

Red and Blue had bulldozed to the entrance of the passage and were enjoying a vicious brawl against the bears. One, larger than the others, with remnants of bluish-black fur draped around its skeletal corpse, lashed out, and Blue grunted, acrid blood spilling. Three great gashes were also carved in the stone behind her, and for a moment she stumbled, her blue complexion shading a sickly green, before her punch cleaved the head from the foe, smashing its skull.

“Nasty bastards…” she muttered, shaking her own head, muscles trembling. “…not just the elemental poison, there’s… more to it, ya know?”

Red nodded, his icy club effortlessly ripping apart the bears. “Yeah, best watch out, Blue. There’s a curse on those claws. An old one. Old as Great Nurarihyon, I reckon. Har. Makes it more interesting. I was getting bored…”

“Ya can be a fool sometimes, Red.” Blue snorted, headbutting another bear, her horns shredding bone like it was rotten wood.

“Blocking your way?” Sekka retorted, after watching the two Oni fight for a moment. “You need more… finesse.” Sekka suddenly breathed out, a cloud of shimmering pinkish energies filling the corridor. “I freeze what I wish to freeze, and only that.” The roiling mass of ice element bathed the Oni and bears, but whereas Red and Blue did little more than shiver, the bears began to falter.

Wisps of cold air were leaking from them, their movements slowing, as a creeping growth of shimmering white frost spread up their bodies. The turbid, oozing dust element within them resisted, but it too soon bloomed ice, and a dozen of the massive undead bears became solid, icy statues, only for Red and Blue to quickly shatter them with heavy blows.

Seeing that, Sekka raised one eyebrow competitively, but Mae merely snorted. “I have finesse, should I wish it. But I am simply furious right now, and wish to vent my ire. As you know, I do not take well to disappointment.” Mae raised a hand, and this time another of her tails swayed, the ruby glow of earth element shimmering. Great rocky spikes shot out from the frozen stone floor of Sekka’s domain, piercing a number of the bears, though one nicked Red, drawing a line of blood from one of his huge, muscular arms.

“Hey, watch it, fox!” he snapped. “You did that on purpose, just because I called you an old bitch, right? It’s not like you aren’t, isn’t that right?”

“Leave me out of it, will ya?” Blue grumbled. “It’s not nice calling her old, ya know?”

“So you are saying I am… a bitch…” Mae narrowed her eyes dangerously, and Blue shuddered, despite not looking at her, perhaps a keen sixth sense kicking in.

“It isn’t like ya don’t have a reputation for enjoying the company of men and women both, ya know?” Blue muttered.

“Is this-this the time for such squabbles? Foxes are always such-such a pain…” Shaeula grinned, hands tight on the hilt of her Mortal Fragarach. “…besides, perhaps she had just not-not met the right male.” Shaeula winked at Mae, who merely tilted her head, exasperated. “Now then…” Shaeula continued. “I can not-not bear to watch all this delightful experience being taken by others. Daiyu, I can-can trust you to keep them safe. As for you-you…” She scowled at Hana, perhaps due to her… history… with Shaeula’s family, or the mess she’d caused with Eri and the Kijo. “…just-just behave.”

“You can trust me, Shaeula. You may not be greatly fond of me, but you know that to be true.” Hana replied, and Shaeula shrugged, lifting her nose imperiously.

“I suppose that-that is true, much as it pains me to admit. Very-very well then. I shall join the battle!” With that, Shaeula raced down the corridor, and being far smaller than the Oni or the undead bears, quickly found a gap and hurled herself into the fray.

“Emerald Wind Prison!” Her words caused a number of the bears to be trapped in a swirling dome of cutting elemental wind, but Shaeula still wasn’t done. “Second Stage! Blaze Prison!” Her fire element joined in, turning it into a fiery maelstrom. Steam rose, the ice around them melting, and the bears trapped within cried out, a mournful, almost silent rattling of dust and bone. Several others attacked Shaeula, but she dodged aside, and Mortal Fragarach slashed through one as if it was made of ice itself. Foul muck and poison scattered, but the wind from her blade protected her, throwing aside the ooze.

“Ya seem to have grown stronger. Urakaze must be proud of ya.” Blue mused, even as she thrust her fist into the skull of a bear, shattering bone, though her fingers were darkening as the dust element started burning away her tough skin like strong acid.

“I should very-very well hope so.” Shaeula puffed out her chest in pride, before slicing the arm off another opponent. “I have come a long-long way. With far-far further to go…”

Meanwhile, I was largely ignoring the battles raging behind us, almost all of my attention focussed on the impossible task before me. The damn two-headed Yǐngzidúyè centipede was near impossible to track, even with my Eyes, and Su Caihong and Su Liena were in no state to brook any delay to their recovery, as they were in a far worse state than even I had imagined.

“Shit. Indiscernible shadow is right… it’s impossible to pin down. Patriarch Zixin certainly is a bastard. Whether he just used this centipede to torture them or was using them as a tool to strengthen and breed it, or even just as a little insurance in case Mae came to take them away, just like what actually happened… shit.” I cursed again, taking deep breaths, willing my Resilience to calm me down. “I can still do this though. My Skills are buffed, I’ve recharged my batteries a decent amount after a lazy day yesterday… and… I don’t want to let Mae down, not after she fought for Asha.”

I bit my lip so hard it bled, and through the temporary, fragile bonds I had established, I continued to pour in Ether Healing, preventing their bodies from shutting down completely to the shock of surfacing from the slowed time and their grievously wounded, depleted bodies. “It’s like trying to plug a leaking bucket, but whenever I patch a hole, it explodes back with a vengeance.”

“All will be well.” Hyacinth promised, a sight that would have sparked laughter if the situation wasn’t so dire. She was covered in white mushrooms, exuding pink and violet mist, so thickly coated it was as if she was a giant toadstool herself. “I dooo believe that. But we are here. You are nooot alone. Never forget that.” She looked over to Daiyu, who nodded, agreeing. “Yooou are a Cultivator. I still do nooot quite understand what that means, but… they are too, yes?”

Daiyu nodded. “This Formation is very much beyond my limits. It is as if I am trying to climb a tree to catch fish.” Even now, I found Daiyu’s Cultivator idioms amusing, and a faint smile crossed my lips. “Or perhaps it might be better to say I am a firefly trying to outshine the moon. But… I am the recipient of all the knowledge remaining to the Incorruptible Jade. And I have extrapolated a little myself…”

She squeezed shut her eyes. “Do not forget, just as Su Caihong and her daughter have been trapped in this glacial progression of time and ice, so too has the centipede. And it is no mere creature, but…a Noble Spiritual Beast, yes? One that was not wounded itself… and probably barely affected by Sekka’s ice…”

I get it. Clenching a fist, I nodded. “I see. You’re saying that it’s aware too? That it’s hungry, and… perhaps that it’s been conscious of the effect of the Formation… no wonder…” It suddenly made sense, why I couldn’t pin it down, and my Eyes seemed to agree, as now another paragraph appeared across my vision when I caught sight of its fleeting shadow.

It seems that due to being trapped in a warped flow of time, it has gained some Spatial attributes, because of a high compatibility with Spatial Element due to its incorporeal, spiritual nature. Its Soullight has a peculiar Spatial flavour, which makes perceiving it difficult, and with further Cultivation, this Yǐngzidúyè Centipede could reach the rank of an Imperial Spiritual Beast, a powerhouse amongst its kind.

Imperial? Huh, so, does it go Lesser, just a Spiritual Beast, Greater, Noble, Imperial?If it follows the way my Eyes measure the Fae, then that’s probably right… That information wasn’t much use to me right now, but it did offer a warning, and also further urgency.

“Okay then… I’ll try and use my own spatial element…” It taxed me still further, splitting my focus, but a purple glow spread out, and I tried to lock down the space we were occupying, attempting to make the intangible tangible. There was an angry squeal, one almost psychic in nature, a mental blast, but I shrugged it off. Didn’t like that, did you? Still, even now…

It was still too hard to lock down the creature, but Daiyu nodded approvingly at my efforts, before placing a hand on my shoulder. “It pains me to say this, considering how hard you strive to improve, but… you have neglected your perceptive abilities, too reliant on your Eyes. I understand it, such a gift is powerful enough that even Taṇhā, a Goddess, sought it eagerly, and my father would have sold me to you not merely as a wife, but as a slave, pet or even a toy to be played with and discarded or slain when your amusement waned. And he loved me dearly, I do not wish you to think I am disparaging him.” Her eyes misted up with regretful emotion as she thought of her deceased father. “It is simply that few Cultivators would be able to resist obtaining such a treasure. If the Spirit Water was worth selling me for, then your Eyes… no, not just me, he would have surely sold all of the Sect for it. After all, a Sect can be rebuilt from the ashes, I am proving that, but personal power… that is eternal.”

I nodded slowly as Daiyu spoke rapidly, realising time was of the essence here. “…my point is… your Eyes see, but what you see is not always what you need. There are other senses. Such as Qi Perception. And as this is a Spiritual Beast, a creature which has itself embarked upon the Path of Cultivation, for… all life has that right…” Daiyu’s Qi surged within her, and she spread out her senses, carefully probing the ragged women in my arms. “…I can sense the subtle Qi it gives off, even as it tries to hide. And we are one, Yin and Yang, Dao Companions from here until eternity… so you can feel what I feel.”

Indeed, Lovers’ Link helped with that too, and Daiyu’s senses were, while not perfectly aligned with mine, giving off the sensation of knowledge. “I see. You’re right. I have become over-reliant on my Eyes. I really should develop backups for my core Skills. Otherwise when they are countered I’ll struggle…”

At her silent agreement, I followed Daiyu’s lead, and I changed the way I was using spatial element. Instead of a blanket attempt to lock down the centipede, I focused on weaving a sort of crude spatial cage, instead limiting the area within the two women it could occupy. At first, there were no results, but then something, a translucent shadow, brushed against the bars, and violet sparks scattered. I heard, or rather felt, a screech of frustration and pain, and then I had to dodge, as a burst of venom was ejected from Su Caihong’s shoulder, squirting towards me.

“Nope!” I waved a hand, trapping it in a ball of wind element, but then Daiyu gasped a warning, as more venom sprayed from Su Liena’s thigh. I caught that too, weaving more cages of spatial element, and sparks scattered. Though several bars fractured, as if struck by something heavy.

“It’s in both of them at once…” I realised. “So…”

“It seems that each head can act rather independently.” Daiyu observed, though her usually expressionless face showed a measure of disgust. I don’t blame her.  Girls hate bugs. I’m not a big fan of them myself… “But it still is a singular being. There must be a connection point. Though severing that likely will not kill it.”

“That’s right.” I gritted my teeth, constantly pumping restoring energies into the two in my arms. All I could do now was keep their brains intact and alive, the rest of their body were terrible, worsening messes. I was worried by the fact that their crown Chakras, and also what probably would have been their Upper Dantians, or Muddy Pellets, were trashed, which raised the grim spectre of damage to their memories and personalities. And of course to their Cultivation. Honestly, I don’t even want to imagine how hard fixing everything would be. Though I suppose by the time I have, my mastery of the ability to work Chirurgery on Cultivators would have reached the peak…

“Both heads at once, right? But how…” I was contracting the spatial cages, following Daiyu’s lead, but the centipede wasn’t a mindless insect, it was a natural Cultivator, and so it took advantage of my overtaxed senses to launch an attack on Daiyu. It sprung out, leaping for her, the head materialising into view, a disgusting sight.

It was smaller than I imagined for a powerful Spiritual Beast, The head was the size of a football, and the mandibles opened wide to the length of my forearm, but it was still small enough to fit within a person. The head was black chitin, which also seemed to ripple with blue, indigo and violet highlights, shimmering and changing depending on how it caught the light. It dived for Daiyu, a chitinous, slender body the width of my thigh emerging from Su Liena’s torso, and vicious, reeking venom was gathering at the tip of one needle-like fang.

“Here I come to help!” Hana cheerfully swung her fist, elemental energies exploding from her punch, the centipede rearing back in pain as flames scattered, clinging to its armoured shell. “You are quite the ugly fright, bug.” Her tails waved, and a piercing flash of light blinded it, the beady eyes blinking and watering. “So very… phallic. I can see why grandmother loathes this Zixin. Clearly he enjoys humiliating and torturing women.” Another fiery strike, and the venom that was going to be injected into Daiyu burned, the fang cracked. “Even looking at this thing turns my stomach.”

The centipede tried to close its vicious, barbed mandibles on Hana’s arm, glaring at her, as if it understood, which I suppose it might have done, considering it was a Spiritual Beast. Hana grabbed the sharp blades, wincing as her flesh was cut. Muscles straining, she held the head in place. “Foxfire.” she muttered, and another floating ball of flame left her tails, drifted over, and then detonated, the explosion carefully shaped to avoid harming the fragile Cultivators. The centipede screeched and thrashed, but Hana held firm.

“I’m sure you’ve seen worse in the Night Parade…” I muttered, searching for the other head, knowing that despite Hana’s powerful nature, physical might wasn’t her forte.

“Of course. Some of the Yōkai are extremely unpleasant to behold. Not all of them are beautiful, such as we Kitsune.” She wagged her tails and fluttered her ears cheerily, even as she struggled. “But I particularly dislike crawling bugs such as this.” She twisted her wrists, wrenching at the snapping head. Venom was squirting out, but Hana evaded. “Now come out!” She pulled, trying to draw it from the bodies of Su Caihong and her daughter. The elongated torso slid several feet more out of Caihong, legs flashing and scratching the delicate skin of its victims, just another set of wounds for me to heal, but then Daiyu cried out in alarm.

“It is not merely a mindless beast! I can feel Qi surging!”

Hana blinked as the head she was holding enlarged, growing to the size of a boulder. The chitin sharpened, and she cried out as several of her fingers were suddenly severed. It reared, lifting her off her feet and into the air, suddenly gaining a tenfold boost in strength, Qi fortifying it, yet Hana never let go, bombarding the now huge head with blasts of flame, wind and more.

“It even grows like a…” Hana bravely made a joke, even as it spewed venom at her, now more like a high-pressure hose than mere spit.

“I think not.” My wind element blocked the poisonous rain, giving Mae some momentary relief. Even as she struggled, I was tightening the cage of spatial element around Su Liena, only for sparks to flash in a localised area, perhaps as small as a tennis ball.

“It is out of her!” Daiyu’s senses detected the exit of the second head from Su Liena. “But do not be complacent. It is gathering Qi of a particularly nasty kind…”

Behind us, explosions and roars could be heard, Mae and the others battling the intruding undead. I had no leisure to pay attention to that, trusting that they had the situation well in hand… if Mae, Sekka, Red, Blue and Shaeula can’t handle it all together, it’s not just some minor incursion, but probably a true Kamuy on the level of a Divine being like Tan… instead, I quickly began my efforts to repair Su Liena. It was hopeless trying to put her completely wrecked Chakra network into any semblance of functionality, but from the early days, I knew that a network could be vestigial and only have a barest minimum of functional features and still support life. After all, that was us humans, up until half a year ago…

Wounds closed and exploded due to the lingering venom, but without the Yǐngzidúyè centipede to reapply it, it was quickly spent, and I used Chirurgery to start rewiring her meridians and capillaries to provide a route for her body to circulate enough spiritual energy to remain alive. Her arms and legs were so raddled with critical damage it was easier just to slice them off and regrow them, which I did, though it was a painful hit to my reserves. Fortunately, Eri and Rose were more than happy to supply me, and I could also pull from the Territory as well, so I was capable of success. Shit, got to remove a few internal organs that are completely wrecked too… welcome to Su Liena, the woman of Theseus!

“It is about to launch a Technique!” Daiyu warned, as the centipede turned shadowy and intangible once more. Hana’s detonating foxfire caused it to scream shrilly, more affected in an incorporeal state by fire, but Hana then cried out as she was trapped in a constricting ball of spatial element, the Yǐngzidúyè centipede learning from my cage, perhaps. It bit down, and Hana’s right arm was severed, silver and crimson gouting, but she merely retaliated, throwing up a massive blizzard of fire and wind, barraging the creature, keeping it busy. Hana turned her head, winking despite the pain, and though I didn’t have much attention to spare, I saw the direction of her sly glance.

I see. Will that work?

Determined to assist, I wove the cage tighter within and around Su Caihong, constricting the centipede still further, even as Su Liena’s condition, while still utterly dire, passed the point of imminent death.

“Are you all right?” I called to Hana, and she merely chuckled, though there was a lot of pain in her voice.

“Oh, this is nothing. It is not my tails this time, merely an arm and some fingers, which can be replaced. Besides…” Her smile was teasing. “…it will evoke your sympathy, at how brave and selfless I have been, yes? And I believe I should be allowed to drink my fill of alcohol, for the terrible, terrible pain…”

I couldn’t help but smile, despite the grim situation. “I think if Eri was here, she’d say that you’d have been better keeping that to yourself. But… thank you. I won’t forget your aid here.”

“Then it was blood well shed.” Hana grinned, her tide of marching foxfires forming a blizzard of explosions, a curtain of green wind reaching from the ground to pierce the side of the beast where it was exposed, like a long drill. Even intangible, dark blood still scattered. Our enemy here was hard to see and contain, but not invulnerable…

All right then… we move into phase two. Getting it out of Su Caihong, or failing that, just killing it…

“It seems like your… wait, just what is your relationship with him?” Sekka was continually pouring out ice element, freezing opponents, leaving Shaeula, Red and Blue to effortlessly destroy them. Nobody was at ease, though, as the walls were trembling, and cracks were starting to spread, though Mae simply waited, arms folded imperiously, looking every inch an Empress, which indeed she had been in the past. “He will pay your debts, so…”

“If I… must say…” Mae dipped her head, her luscious head of golden-blonde hair blowing in the icy breeze Sekka was generating. “…perhaps it would be rescuer. I shall not speak of it further…” Mae’s skin, pale in the cold air, actually reddened, a faint blush spreading. “…it was a shameful time!” She raised one hand and several tails, and a bolt of lightning flashed, streaking down the passage until it burst through several skeletal bears, blasting them to fragments, showering Red, Blue and Shaeula, though the latter protected herself from the fallout with an umbrella of jade energies.

“Shameful? For a pervert like you to be mortified, it must have been dreadful indeed…” Sekka taunted, in ill-humour as ever more of her home was wrecked.

“You wound me. I simply was true to my desires. Unlike you, queen of your own little demesne, as frozen and unchanging as the glacier here, I lived. But regardless, some experiences… are best left unexplored.” She chewed on one finger, another bolt of lightning flashing. “So yes, rescuer. Also… host, I suppose. I am dwelling with him now. It is… not unpleasant. The world has changed. Perhaps you should go see it, Sekka. Also… I suppose…”

There was silence from Mae, while the two battles raged on, and eventually Sekka grew tired of waiting. “It is rude to just fall silent like that.”

“Is it now?” Mae curled her lip arrogantly. “I was merely thinking… it is quite hard to define our relationship, honestly. I do not… exactly understand him. I have seen many who have power. And many who have compassion. Those with power and compassion are rarer, certainly. And usually the two clash. After all, we know it well, Sekka. The world is ruthless, and to stand at the top, one must harden their heart, be true to themselves.”

Sekka nodded, agreeing, even as their gazes turned to the wall, where more cracks were spreading.

“I shall only say I am in no position to reject such compassion. And despite my… disregard… of debts and promises, I shall return what I am given. So you have no need to request it of him, Sekka. I shall repay you. After all, are we not old friends?”

“Are we?” Sekka asked, frowning. “I did not think you had friends. In that case, help me rebuild when this is all over.”

“Oh, undoubtedly. If I may be so bold, I have a suggestion, though…” she paused, and Sekka nodded.

“It seems we will have to talk of that in a short while.” The wall shattered, and a colossal head, the size of an aurochs, ground its way out of the wall, broken, skeletal teeth dripping more of the vile mutated dust element. It had cracked and broken scales inches thick, like a suit of heavy armour, surrounding decaying bones and putrid, ooze-filled innards. And within the empty eye sockets burned a wicked, ghostly flame. It turned its head as it continued to dig its way out of the wall like an industrial boring machine, and Mae frowned.

“Yes. I hate many things, but being interrupted is certainly one thing I utterly loathe.” She clenched her fist. “Being glared at is another. I am impressed though, Sekka…” All nine of Mae’s tails were shimmering with elemental energies, each one haloed with a different hue of light. “To think you were able to repel a number of attacks such as these. You have grown stronger.”

“Flattery from you rings so hollow.” Sekka sniffed, offended. “Yes, I have weathered a number of escalating attacks. But none have been as fierce as this. Not nearly so. After all, is that not Ouri-tanne-kamuy? A servant to Kina-sut-kamuy. The burrowing snake that digs caves to dwell in.”

“So it is.” Mae agreed, eyeing the undead snake with disgust. “I remember it well. I left it impaled upon one of the great trees of Shiramba-Kamuy. It put up a mighty fight.”

“Perhaps this is all your fault then.” Sekka conjured a barrier of ice as thick as a bus, the light reflecting through it shading it blue, white, pink and green. “Perhaps…” her words were almost drowned out by the sound of crunching ice, sounding as if a grinder was being used on stone. “…if you let it eat you, it will return to the grave?” The ice shattered, dust eating through it, and the massive head flew at them deceptively quickly.

“You can hardly blame me for this.” Mae shook her head. “And I do not say that in my usual manner of not accepting fault for any of my deeds. The attacks were happening before I even returned here. And besides…” Mae glared at the snake Kamuy, her ears flickering with disdain. “…you can surely see the strangeness of this situation? You are not a fool, Sekka. The dead do not return so casually. Especially not…”

She frowned as some of the scattering dust element splattered her kimono, which she wore boldly despite the cold. Cloth began to dissolve around her ankles, and she stepped back, disgusted. “…when they all share this similarity. Now then…” The nine elements were swirling into a single, unified mass. “…it has been a while since I unleashed my might.”

Mae cricked her neck. “I am still not flawless and perfect. But perhaps this will allow me to discover where I am still in need of… a tune-up, as he might say. Now, in honour of Caihong’er… I shall use a Technique quite similar to Cultivation.” Her words came incredibly rapidly, blurring together, and they would be unintelligible to anyone who didn’t have incredibly high Alacrity, as it seemed she had accelerated her thoughts to a near impossible level.

“Jiǔ dìguó lóng! Nine Imperial Dragons!” The elemental energies Mae had gathered were discharged explosively, nine beams scything towards the corpse of Ouri-tanne-kamuy, the tips resembling the fang-filled maw of a Dragon. Fire, wind, lightning, light, darkness and more struck deep, and the undead snake shuddered, before the gigantic head exploded, rippling blasts of elemental energies cascading down the body, destroying more than two dozen metres of the snake, scattering bones, ooze and ichor everywhere, a faint black mist seeping down to merge with the frozen vapour that drifted around our ankles.

Mae grimaced, blood leaking from her mouth, her kimono and one pale breast stained silver and crimson with blood oozing from her pores, and she wiped it away as best she could. “Yes, I am still not… quite… right. Fortunately, my injuries are minor, unlike my foolish granddaughter…” She waved a tail at Hana with lackadaisical effort. “…who seems to delight in being maimed. Does she not know Akio has quite enough of this Ether Healing to do?” She fastidiously spat blood into her palm, a little water element cleansing it. “Now then… it seems that matter is in hand. We, however…” Her jade gaze narrowed as she surveyed more bears, using the rotting, decapitated body of Ouri-tanne-kamuy as a blasphemous tunnel. “…have a little more work to do yet, it seems…”

Sekka nodded. “Yes, it seems so. What shocks me is I am almost grateful you are here.” With her pale, blue-tinged flesh now healed of wounds, her icy eyes hard, she raised one hand, elemental energies gathering, forming a great blizzard of snowflakes, each as sharp as the finest steel blades, barraging the oncoming mass of undead bears. “After all, I would have had no choice but to flee, attacked by such a horde, still injured.”

Mae simply nodded, waving two tails, water element boiling up in a haze of amber bubbles, quickly drawn into Sekka’s storm, freezing to long icicles the length and sharpness of spears. As they joined the barrage, propelled by the green light of Mae’s wind element, which accelerated Sekka’s efforts, she leaked a pointed sigh. “Perhaps they would have not found the sealed chamber, or perhaps they even come for the elemental energies within. But now we shall never know.” Her eyes flickered over to where the pair of Oni and Shaeula were still fighting. “Not unless we discover just what is behind these remnants of the past…”

Confident that the chaotic battle was in hand, I continued trying to trap the thrashing, struggling centipede. It finally managed to shake off the wounded Hana, head retreating for the body of Su Caihong, slamming against the spatial element, but it quickly shrunk, slipping through the cage. Blood was all over my hands, the repeated closing and explosive reopening of her wounds scattering gore everywhere, but I didn’t give up.

“Daiyu, can you narrow down its location further?” I asked, and Daiyu nodded. “I can. I am gradually adapting to its unique Qi resonance. However, I do not think it will be necessary soon. Simply keep it stressed, like a tiger harried by jackals.”

Oh? I considered what she meant, before my Eyes revealed the answer. I see. “Got it.” Drawing deeply on the aether reserves I was being offered by Eri and Rose, I continued to stave off Su Caihong’s demise, though the damage from the venom was escalating. Once more, I protected the brain and her mind as best I could, but my spatial cage was closing in, herding the Yǐngzidúyè centipede effectively, keeping it from striking critical areas. It let out a baleful hiss, confused, gathering its strength, before the heads took it in turn to ambush me, coming from both above and below Su Caihong’s body. Venom squirted towards my leg, and a lance of light element struck the beast, its shadowy, intangible form becoming momentarily solid, a hole bored in its forehead, smoke sizzling. It spasmed, and the other head withdrew, dodging another blast from me. The slain head quickly exploded, before a new, fresh head, eyes glaring with hatred, sprouted from the gory neck.

“Just a little longer…” Daiyu advised, and I continued harassing the creature with bolts of light, wincing as Su Caihong’s body bore the brunt of several nasty strikes. Of course, I’m going to have to repair and replace almost all of her body when this bastard is out anyway, so if she doesn’t die, it’s worth the cost…

“Nooow!” Hyacinth cried suddenly, an expression of satisfaction on her face, and the centipede screeched, the noise a detonation of Qi, perturbing the surrounding area, throwing up frozen mist. It writhed, both heads suddenly visible and flickering between its shadowy and more tangible states wildly, seemingly at random. I raised a hand to dispatch both heads at once, but Hyacinth stopped me.

“There is nooo need for that. Simply push it out, and Hyacinth shall take care ooof the rest.”

At her knowing smile, I acquiesced, a ripple of spatial element knocking the centipede away. A torrent of vile filth and impurity came out of Su Caihong with it, but as the centipede tried to retaliate, mouth gaping wide, there was a sudden movement, and the head exploded, a crunching sound echoing. I blinked, shocked, as the other head had taken action to destroy the first head, and it was crowned by a small, familiar white mushroom. The Devouring Myrcolaxriath mushrooms had sprouted, and even as I watched, the new head formed, but more mushrooms bloomed, and soon the centipede was motionless.

“I study.” Hyacinth boasted, looking down at the halted centipede. “Oooh, you must work while you listen. While I dooo want to brag, Hyacinth thinks you shooould be sure to save her. Else you will ooonly feel regret. As shall I. Be it a booox of ice or a box of wood and metal, it is still a looonely prison.”

Agreeing, I began the even more challenging task of preventing Su Caihong’s death. Her vitality was incredible, a match for Mae’s, in many ways, greatly exceeding her daughter’s, but sadly she had also suffered far more grievous harm, and there were traces of foreign Qi within her, further befouling and destroying much of her Chakra network. I joked that Su Liena was a woman of Theseus, but… the true woman who has been almost entirely replaced is here… Even what passed for her brain within the spiritual body she inhabited was fouled by lingering Qi, so I had to so very carefully incise out the minimum I could and regenerate it, tying things together with Chirurgery and then Healing it. Without the combination of my Eyes, and buffed Skills, I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to fix everything I could. And it still might not be enough. I’m certain that there will be lingering problems, but… being alive is a damn miracle, so…

“I studied, I used the Cauldrooon, I learned from mistress Asha. I watched televisiooon, I read books.” Hyacinth giggled, a touch shyly, I thought. “A servant shooould not have idle time, but… a mistress can. Besides, it was all fooor the benefit of you, Akio!” She leant back, her ample chest threatening to burst free as she pridefully explained just how she’d created such a fierce parasitic mushroom. “Like the annoooying Myconid, my mushrooms plunder elements for me. But it can alsooo usurp certain beings. Have you heard of Cordyceps, Akio?”

I shook my head as I treated Su Caihong, disintegrating chunks of her body and regenerating them, one after another, flushing her ravaged body with elements and aether, soullight and even using adherence for its miraculous properties to stabilise her. “The name sounds a little familiar, but I don’t know any details…”

As the battles around us raged on, Hana came up, curiously nudging the immobile Spiritual Beast with her foot, still cradling her missing arm and nursing missing fingers, a smirk of nasty satisfaction on her face at its fate.

“They are fungi that parasitise insects, controlling their thoooughts and actions. Ophiocordyceps sinensis…” Listening to Hyacinth mention a scientific classification of a fungus was surreal, but she seemed proud of her knowledge, so I gave her a smile of praise, despite the chaos around us and the difficulty of my current task. “…it can steal the mind ooof certain caterpillars. That is nooot good enough for my Devouring Myrcolaxriaths. I want it tooo usurp all. Though that is hard. But it can overwhelm insects and similar living beings. Like nooow.”

Hyacinth cricked a finger, and the mushrooms shone with aether, forcing the Yǐngzidúyè centipede to walk to her. With a smile, Hyacinth opened its mouth, two drops of shining venom soon on her fingers as she milked the needle-like fangs. “I see. I dooo wonder what uses this can have. If I add it tooo the Cauldron…” She began to giggle, and while it sounded like evil laughter, it had a softer, less brittle edge than her usual chuckles.

“It seems the situation has calmed, so…” I rapidly finished the rough stabilisation of Su Caihong. She wouldn’t die, though I doubted she’d regain consciousness or be functional even if she did, but the main thing was to get her into a state, like Su Liena, where we had the leeway of time to come up with a solid plan for their eventual restoration. Glancing at Hana, I quickly regrew her arm and missing fingers, which pleased her, and she gave me a sultry smile.

“You could not bear to see my beauty tarnished, I know. How sweet of you…” she began, but at my withering eyerolling, she merely snorted. I finally had a moment to properly survey the battlefield, which was a chaotic mess. Smashed and frozen skeletal bears were everywhere, and the massive headless corpse of the snake was still disgorging enemies who were being dispatched by Sekka and Mae. Seeing that, I grimaced, raising one hand.

“All right then. I’m done with this. Foehn!” A golden mist roared out from my palm, greedily seeking enemies, and moments later the giant snake was ablaze, crumbling as flames churned merrily, heat melting the ice and dispersing the mist around us. Seeing that, the remaining bears trying to force their way past Shaeula and the Oni faltered, but that only made it easier for their attacks to land, and a few minutes later, silence once more descended on Sekka’s domain, only broken by the crackling of flames, and the exhausted panting of the combatants…