".....Right, because why should I ever expect thought-out and complex battle strats from a goblin?", Kerry commented to herself, rolling her eyes before following up Skarsneek.
Seeing him dart to the left after swatting a basket at the Warlock, Kerry went to the right and the duo engaged their enemy in a pincer formation. As Skar attacked with his club-staff, the hornet would send a series of thrusts and swipes at the Varjan, using her weapon's range to stay out of the range of his own weapon.
However, that range advantage may prove to be pointless if the Warlock starts incorporating spells in his attacks.
Yuki, Sam.....Please tell me you got those hostages out of the house., Kerry thought, twirling Dusk before send another thrust.
Io nodded wordlessly at Ayu's thoughts. It was true that the task force was... unconventional. It was actually a benefit, in Io's eyes. She had already encountered things that living things wouldn't see in dozens of lifetimes on her first day.
She saw Ayu off, taking a moment to scan the temple grounds before returning to taking notes; sketches, thoughts, theories as she considered some of the task force members she had just recently met. In this case, the extremely rare male. 'I must study more closely in the future. Perhaps tonight. I'll need some spells to sneak through the area...'
Io began studying her grimoire, mentally sorting through her accumulated knowledge to find the right spells for the job. Something simple so as to not take much energy... Something that would let her blend into the shadows. Her eyes closed as her grimoire's pages quickly flipped to and fro, mimicking her internal search. There were other spells she should prepare, but this was important. This was for the sake of rare knowledge, basically uncatalogued by others. If Io's heart could beat, it would be pounding with excitement.
Her outer appearance of deep, thoughtful meditation was incongruous with her inner desire to gawk at her fellow task force members in secret, but luckily nobody else could possibly know what was going on in her head.
Kalaj remembered the days when he and the Scarce Legion fought off monsters to keep his fellow humans safe. All that changed during Serena's Rebellion and he had not fought a monster since then. Always, the enemy was an Ortusian or a Pure Dwarf or a Serena loyalist. He did not mind fighting them, they sometimes entertained him. But he missed the days of being able to rend a monster's flesh with his magical gifts.
And now, his wishes were granted. At an, admittedly, unlikely place.
The Hornet came at him from one side and the Goblin from another, flinging a basket at him for distraction. Kalaj sliced the straw object into two as the two monsters closed in on him in a pincer attack. But Kalaj was fast despite his armor, he would not be Scarce Legion otherwise. Not falling for Skarsneek's feints, Kalaj swatted away the strike aimed at his knees.
But Kalaj could not counterattack, for Kerry began thrusting and swiping her spear at the legionnaire. Kalaj tried his best to evade but he was struck several times, though his armor protected him from the hits. But then the Warlock saw an opportunity! After a missed thrust, Kalaj grasped the polearm to hold Kerry in place and swung his flaming blade at the Hornet. His khopesh's range did not reach, but it was not meant to. The swing created a wave of fire hurtling at Kerry, who managed to get away but losing her weapon in the process.
With the Hornet's weapon on his hand, Kalaj imbued it with quickening magic before hurling it at Skarsneek. With a speed too fast to simply dodge.
Sorae said nothing more about Takeshi and the two other yokai, immediately focusing on the business at hand. "Sogen is competent. He knows how to hide his tracks well, but his brother Dosan... not so much. I just saw him cart food for the refugees here." The woman then sported the most unsettling smile. "We will take what I need from him."
---
The last Tokinomiya led the taskforce trio out of Terauchi Temple, following Dosan's trail. They immediately caught up with him, easily hiding from sight within the dense woods of this part of the Onrai region. Dosan, himself, was pretty average-looking save for his stout belly and seemingly carefree attitude. He looked and dressed like any other Shizuyaman villager and with him was a small wagon with a roof made of hay, covering up any goods he had.
Dosan was utterly unaware of the group discreetly following him, although he spared the occassional glance behind him. Unfortunately for him, his unkeen eyes spotted nothing suspicious. "If we run into Varjans, Niji. You're on your own, hahaha!" He told his horse.
"He's completely oblivious to us. Once we get near enough, jump him." Sorae said to the taskforce trio.
Although, the taskforce could suggest something else to the vengeful woman. Maybe they need not ambush Dosan, considering his route might lead them to a hideout. And they should also consider that Sorae might... lose control again.
"Found!? I'm being attacked and you're asking questions like that! Help me!"
Takeshi witnessed Alice attack Gringor as soon as the two met up. Or perhaps a retaliatory attack, Gringor did initiate this whole conflict, after all. Although, Alice did draw the first weapon. Regardless, Gringor fought back and Takeshi decided to disembark his horse and help Alice to break up this petty fight.
Unfortunately, it was over before Takeshi could draw his blade. Gringor had kicked down Alice and held his axe near her face and a foot on her chest, pinning her down. The male High Orc, declaring his victory, demanded Alice's intentions. Of course, the Mad Hatter was not amused by this chicanery and opted not to indulge her attacker.
"I would put myself to the sword first, and fall upon the blade, before I gave you the satisfaction of leading me... Solve your own problems, since it's so easy for you to ambush and defeat a woman weakened by battle."
Alice began to walk away and left Gringor and a facepalming Takeshi. Maybe this taskforce was a bad idea, after all, and his faith in them misplaced as the others have told him.
"So what youz planning to do now? Continue?"
"You don't seem to be interested in others' opinions, Gringor. So what's the use of asking me?" Takeshi tiredly replied before whistling for his white horse.
The stallion dutifully galloped towards his master who embarked. "You're free to pursue the people Alice was after. But you should know that she came back severely wounded after a fight with just three of them, so be careful if you're fighting them." Takeshi told the male High Orc. "...Or you can come with me and apologize to your own teammate. But I believe that isn't your style."
"Let's go, Kuro!" And with that, the young Oja rode away.
Alice had already made some distance from that humiliating altercation, searching for an inn to rest in. The sound of hooves coming up from behind probably elicited a defensive reaction from the agitated Mad Hatter, but it was only Takeshi Oja riding up to her atop his equine mount.
"Peace, Mad Hatter. I am not here to demand anything from you." The young Oja greeted the yokai. "In fact, I only offer my apologies for not breaking the fight earlier. Eeeven if you, sorta, started the whole thing by transforming into a fully-armored warrior with a scary, glowing axe."
"A-Anyway, that's besides my point." Takeshi waved his hands. "I figured you must be tired from all... that. So, wanna ride? Kuro's a big horse, after all. Consider it my apology too."
"I'll be resting in the temple for a while. But, I'm always available. Just give word if you need me for anything."
"Whew, sounds like you had a really rough time with that 'Fatal Pulse' guy." Ayu replied. "Well, at least you stopped him for now. I don't even wanna know what he wants to do with those drugs. It's a shame what happened to the shipyard, though, but this is war and stuff like that usually happens. Besides, better the place be destroyed rather than it be something the Varjans can use against Shizuyama."
"Anyway, you and Liliana have definitely earned some rest. If you'd like, we've got some nice, hot springs near here. Feel free to take a dip and relax." Ayu suggested to the weary swordsman. "Anyway, I've got other stuff to handle so I'll see you around."
---
As Shizuka and Liliana walked through the temple grounds, they would chance upon Io deep in meditation. While also hearing two villager women talking to each other.
"What do you think this yokai taskforce are really doing here?"
"They're yokai. And you know what they want..."
"What?"
"To eat us!"
"I haven't seen the yokai try to eat anyone."
"They don't do it out in the open!"
"They eat our food. I've seen that."
"Ugh, I wish you weren't so naive. They only do that to fool you, and it's working!"
"..."
~~ TAKESHI'S JOURNEY ~~
"Kazenosuke could deflect any attack with his spinning blade, and deliver slashes faster than the eye could see. I have no idea why he couldn't make it to Sanjo Beach. I know he's a ronin, but he still should have heeded my father.
Well, his house is near Terauchi Temple. Not very near, but just follow the river near the temple and we'll find his home and then we can ask for his help."
-Takeshi Oja
"Yurine has taken care of Clan Oja for as long as I can remember. Despite being a servant, I know she can swing her masakari axe pretty hard. I've little idea of her past but I know it involves tending cemeteries.
She should be in Castle Oja but my father sent her to Onrai to begin enacting some way to protect the graves from being desecrated by the invaders. I know of a famous cemetery south of Terauchi Temple. We can begin looking for her there and she'll surely help us."
-Takeshi Oja
~~ TAKAMORI TALES ~~
"Lord Takamori said that his traitorous daughter, Setsuna, is training Varjan archers in Ōmiya. I know this frightens him, even if he tries to hide it. If we don't find her and end this, there may be no stopping the archers, and no hope for Ōmiya Springs. We need to see Lord Takamori immediately." -Takeshi Oja
~~ SORAE TALES ~~
~~ TALES OF SHIZUYAMA ~~
There was a villager woman, crying alone near a large tree within Terauchi Temple.
"Yokai, could I speak with you? A group of bandits is terrorizing Sanjo. They slaughtered my whole family, like animals!
They were killed at our home, near a river. I am Saki, please avenge my family and stop those bandits."
A villager woman sitting near a bonfire was muttering to herself when the taskforce member approached.
"Poor Honoka, she'll likely starve soon. Oh, I didn't see you there. Err, Honoka's a widow, living alone in the outskirts of Yabo.
Please, if it's not too much of a bother, do you mind checking in on her?"
"..." Takeshi wanted to go with Lunatea and the Hangai sisters. But he could not stop thinking about Gringor and Alice, less so for their wellbeing and more of the damage they might cause. It would be fine if their wraths were unleashed upon the wicked Varjans, but there were still innocent Shizuyamans out there.
"I'll go with them. Make sure they don't cause too much trouble." The young Oja decided. His honest talk with the spider yokai would have to wait for now. "I'll... ask Ayu to clean, or have someone else clean, this mess later. Take care of yourselves." Nodding at the girls, Takeshi went off.
"Well, suit yourself." Lunatea told him with a firm look. "Just don't expect them to act reasonable."
Meeting up with Sorae, the last Tokinomiya was unamused at the sight of her Lord Takeshi chasing after the two taskforce members. "Is there a problem with your little taskforce, yokai?" She immediately inquired, quite aggressively. "You had better not be abusing the young master's trust, lest his disappointment be the least of your worries."
Lunatea sent a glare towards Sorae before letting out a defeated sigh. "Some of us can be... hot-tempered, I'm afraid. I don't believe it will be a problem but you have to give them space to let out steam."
"Umm. We apologize on behalf of our teammates, Sorae-san. Some of our members have very 'strong' personalities, we'll say, but we actually all work well as a team. I promise it's nothing to worry about, honest!" Hinami said in an upbeat tone, attempting to ease Sorae's ire.
Lunatea nodded in agreement at Hinami's statement. "Very aptly put, Miss Hinami."
"Anyway, I found a letter in that inn we attacked. Came from a name, 'Sogen'." Sorae spat the name out with absolute disdain. "He's the head of Ruko Farmstead. And... a servant of Clan Tokinomiya." She calmed her rage by shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ungrateful traitor..."
Lunatea raised an eyebrow at her hostile tone but opted not to say anything. Human relationships can be complicated and she would rather not touch that bee hive with a ten-foot stick.
"Indeed." Atsuha chimed in. "As we aided you in the last excursion, we will of course lend it again for this one. All three of us are ready to depart whenever you are. We will find this Sogen character and ensure that he answers for his crimes."
Answer for his crimes, huh? Since when a scholar like me is responsible for that kind of thing? I'm no judge...
Oh well... it can't be helped, I suppose... And he did do something terrible in any monster's standards...
Sorae said nothing more about Takeshi and the two other yokai, immediately focusing on the business at hand. "Sogen is competent. He knows how to hide his tracks well, but his brother Dosan... not so much. I just saw him cart food for the refugees here." The woman then sported the most unsettling smile. "We will take what I need from him."
Sheesh, what an unsettling smile... humans really can be scary creatures, even more than us demons...
---
"He's completely oblivious to us. Once we get near enough, jump him." Sorae said to the taskforce trio.
Although, the taskforce could suggest something else to the vengeful woman. Maybe they need not ambush Dosan, considering his route might lead them to a hideout. And they should also consider that Sorae might... lose control again.
"Do we have to ambush him right away?" Lunatea argued. "We can just follow him to his hideout, no?"
"And please refrain yourself from killing him before we get the information we need."
"WHOA!", shouted Kerry, forced to let go of Dusk to jump away from the wave of fire spewed from the Warlock's weapon. The hornet hovered in the air and was about to use her own wind spells when the Warlock, still holding on to Dusk, threw the spear....toward Skar! With how fast Dusk was going, the Varjan must've used a haste spell to increase the velocity! By the time she can call Dusk back, it would be too late but maybe.... Maybe she could slow it down!
Kerry reached out with her hand, the black bracelet of her wrist humming audibly, calling the spear to return. But even with this slowing Dusk enough to be reacted to, it was still too fast for Skar to evade!
"SKAR, IT'S TOO FAST FOR ME TO CALL BACK! DEFLECT IT!"
Given that Liliana wasn't quite used to the debriefing process of the land, she was glad that Shizuka was around to handle that. She'd just head off to find a place to rest, while wondering what was up with the earlier sight of the Mad Hatter Liliana had arrived with being chased by two men, one on horseback...Shizuka didn't seem worried, so she had to assume that things were under control at the very least. She'd check up on her later...for now, she needed rest. She'd shifted to a much smaller size to conserve energy, back to her "true" size.
While it was disheartening to be viewed as a man-eating Monster when she was like...as big as a kitten, Liliana would just turn the other cheek and let them eat their own words later. After all, a Knight had to maintain some manner of dignity, even if she really felt like making those two apologize for gossiping really loud after her and Shizuka just risked their necks to save them from...some white powder stuff that made humans act funny. Whatever it was called again!
The face of the girl before her was one she wasn't familiar with, which wasn't surprising since the fairy had interacted with...like, three people outside of Shizuka thus far. Floating over to the girl, busy with her book, Liliana would peek over the edge of Io's grimoire, watching in awe as it flipped to and fro. "Woah...how's your book doing that? Is it magic? Are you a wizard!?" Liliana asked, eyes sparkling. While she was used to her queen using magic, she'd never encountered an actual, proper, "hide-in-a-tower-and-grow-a-six-foot-beard" wizard! Even if Liliana could cast magic with her sword, it wasn't really HER casting the spell. It was more the sword doing it than anything. Maybe this girl had a book like that, and that was why it was flipping around so much.
Even if the fairy was tired, her race was ever-curious.
"Peace, Mad Hatter. I am not here to demand anything from you." The young Oja greeted the yokai. "In fact, I only offer my apologies for not breaking the fight earlier. Eeeven if you, sorta, started the whole thing by transforming into a fully-armored warrior with a scary, glowing axe."
"A-Anyway, that's besides my point." Takeshi waved his hands. "I figured you must be tired from all... that. So, wanna ride? Kuro's a big horse, after all. Consider it my apology too."
It was true. Alice was tired. She’d expended a lot of energy on her back-to-back fights - barely having recovered from her real fight. The battle against Gringor was already forgotten; a brute was no challenge, nothing worth her memory. He was not worth her memory. In that same vein, she had written off the others in that moment; a flash fire did not selectively take victims, but all involved. Such was her temperament. Incinerated in her thoughts, burned husks of memories were all she would dedicate to the High Orc, the Wererabbit, and the Jurougumo, and the Jiangshi.
For a fleeting moment, those unforgiving flames of grudge reached for the Human before her, before she swatted them away with a mental sweep of her hand.
No.
He apologized.
Poorly. Sloppily.
Dared to place blame on Our defensive reaction as the catalyst...
...but, nevertheless... he apologized, as terribly as Humans do.
Eventually, he will burn you, as all Humans do.
Alice opened her eyes, and regarded Takeshi...
"I am not so tired that I cannot continue on my quest, however, I should opt for better supplies. My combat style is intensive on my Demon Energy - funny, we just called it "Magic" in Wonderland..." Alice smiled... a smile missing cheer; a sad smile that turned to a frown. "I’d like to shop for tonics to restore my Magic in combat," she says, mounting the offered horse, and riding sidesaddle like a proper queen. "If you know such a place that sells what I need, I would very much like to go there. Even if you don’t, marketplaces are always good places to ferret out such knowledge."
Despite being soft-spoken, Takeshi could tell it was no act; she was like this, defensive and demure, yet backed up by force and might... as if... she were two people... vying for control of one body.
He couldn’t be sure who was in control: Alice... or the other Alice? However, he wasn’t attacking or threatening him, so, at the very least, he could be comfortably sure that she wasn’t his foe.
"Woah...how's your book doing that? Is it magic? Are you a wizard!?"
Io opened her eyes as someone asked her a question - but she couldn't see anyone standing in front of her at first. Then she realized it was coming from someone floating in front of her. A fairy. Io had not had much contact with them, given their chaotic nature... but she trusted a member of the Task Force would behave themselves. Plus, Io could vaguely recall that there were varieties that were less... capricious than ones she knew in the past.
It had been a while since someone asked her that last question. "A wizard... I was, perhaps." Io didn't want to brag, but she considered herself beyond that title now. She then circled back to the initial question, "The grimoire's pages are magically linked using a small component inlaid along the edges of the page. I've learned how to subtly influence the leafing in the physical world through a minor spirit link, allowing the pages to turn themselves as I will them, which happens to be very energy efficient due to the lightness of the pages. Of course this requires decoupling the spirit to begin with, but after that it is a trifling manner to correlate certain lines of thought to the link given some training. As a bonus, if the grimoire is sealed, any interrupting noise will simply not be strong enough to open the grimoire, even in a particularly overloaded area like a graveyard. Provided you've learned certain fundamental arcane combinations, and freed your ego from a body once before, I would consider it 'easy,' even." Io doled out her torrent of words without so much as a breath in between, her eyes gaining the slightest glint of passion. "You can see the basics of it in this page's inscription." The pages quickly flipped to a page in the front of the grimoire, which was scrawled over with Io's inscrutable personal language.
Io nodded to herself, satisfied with her own description. She slightly adjusted her posture for Liliana, as if to ask, 'Any questions?'
"Anyway, you and Liliana have definitely earned some rest. If you'd like, we've got some nice, hot springs near here. Feel free to take a dip and relax. Anyway, I've got other stuff to handle so I'll see you around."
"Thank you, I might do just that." Shizuka replied. Apparently he was too tired to think of what might ensue, given that he was leading a taskforce full of mamono. Indeed, it seemed not to have crossed his mind even once.
He had grabbed some available rations while walking within the temple, mainly consisting of onigiri and some fried tofu pieces, and ate them as he walked. He past by Liliana and Io while on the way; they seemed to be engaged in causal conversation that sparked some interest to spark from them. Seeming teammates actually getting along for once brought a smile to the ronin's face. He felt it best not to disturb them for now and continued on his way. Though, he thought he might ask Io about what may have been going on with Alice. Shizuka wasn't too knowledge about cursed weaponry, and he felt strange chi coming off the mushroom on her head. It felt like it was someone else's entirely, like she had some other presence inside of her wrestling for control.
He then overheard some gossip from the locals. All he could do was mentally sigh at the ignorance of the natives. I won't say anything. He thought. Having been in isolation all this time, I guess it's no surprise they still think like that. But still... The ronin chose to forgo engaging the natives, feeling they would just see him as an incubus in the making - having fallen for their demonic charms. They probably already see him as that anyway.
His garments lying on the side, Shizuka had fully dipped into the hot spring and already felt it's rejuvenating effects. Still munching on some of his rations, he took sometime to reflect on past events and even some more personal thoughts.
"And here I thought my man-slaying days were behind me. I know Kyouko-sama explained that conflict would be a possibility, but to this extent is..." Since coming to Shizuyama, the swordsman felt that he was reliving days long since past. Days he truly wanted to put behind him.
He also thought of the miko and the group of island defenders they had briefly skirmished with the other day. He wondered if they were still alive and thought they'd be nice to have as allies. Unfortunately, chances were if they were to run into one another again they just either try to fight or flee again. "I tried to hold back on her account, but that wound I inflicted might've cut too deep. Hopefully it heals alright."
"I wonder. In doing this, I am upholding the true values of Teikoku Arashi-ryu? I wonder if father would agree."
He soon decided it'd be best not to dwell on negative thoughts for too long. After he rested up, he check on the other members in the temple and see if there was a way to keep himself busy. He might take on a quest or to with them. While Shizuka usually took on solo missions, he knew not to test his luck in this environment.
Listening to Sorae's explanation, it seemed that there first target in the hunt for Sogen would be his brother Dosan. Having gotten the since that he wasn't very good at covering his tracks, the followed her lead as they made their way through the countryside. Like she mentioned, following this trail was quite simple and keeping out of sight among the trees required little effort as well. Upon closing in on him, Sorae suggested they simply jump him now for interrogation.
"Do we have to ambush him right away? We can just follow him to his hideout, no?"
"And please refrain yourself from killing him before we get the information we need."
"Perhaps we should take heed to Luna-chan's words." Atsuha chimed in, recalling what happened during the last mission. "If we see where's he's going, he may even lead us to Sogen himself. Worst comes to worst, we should still be able to track him. After all, once mamono have read a person's chi they're not exactly hard to find." She said as she reasoned with Sorae.
Hinami drew close to Luna and poked her shoulder to get her attention. She then whispered in her ear so that only Luna would hear it.
"Please don't be too stern with Sorae-san, she's been through alot. We worry about her quite a bit.." She muttered to Luna.
"Please don't be too stern with Sorae-san, she's been through alot. We worry about her quite a bit.." She muttered to Luna.
"I know." Luna replied. "Still, no matter how much she wishes for revenge, it is in her best interest to practice patience."
To always be calm and collected, even when in a dire situation. That was what her teachers taught her back at the academy. For a scholar that had to traverse dangerous ruins, she would have perished if she hadn't exercised what they taught her.
She believed it was the same for Sorae. "Let the flame of revenge burn inside your heart but never let it cloud your mind". She remembered a poetry about revenge to that effect.
Hissing as his attack was bat aside, Skarsneek continued his assault nonetheless. He cannot afford to let up the pressure, otherwise-!
A spear being thrown towards him at a speed faster than it should, Skarsneek didn't even had the time to evade and swung both of his weapon to intercept it. At this point, he moved with pure instinct and caught the spear. Yet such was the speed that he barely glanced it away and it cut his arm instead.
Gritting his teeth, Skarsneek used the momentum to spun around and combined both club into his quarterstaff in one smooth motion before thrusting outwards.
From Kalaj perspective, it was like Skarsneek's club had extended forward into a blur as it was aimed squarely to the chest. The blow struck directly at his armor. Most of all, he took special care to avoid any head on clashes with his flaming sword.
Now with an additional reach, Skarsneek utilized it to the fullest by striking Kalaj wrist and fingers. Even with armor, it'll break or disable his sword arm, especially since despite goblins small stature, they possess a grand amount of strength to lift clubs that are usually as big as their body.
Hopefully, Kerry might get another weapon or intervene.
---
Gringor of the Ironhide tribe
"Youz the underboss, and this is your scrap." Gringor pointed out the obvious with a raised brow, despite his behavior, Gringor was ultimately here for the fights, and not to command. That was Takeshi's job, he has to get his opinion first before doing his own thing. He was not a savage after all. "I won't mind if you make me underboss."
"Well, youz gonna miss a fun scrapping then. I'll save some for youz if you do come." Gringor uttered in a mangled zipangese as he watched Takeshi left to go for the mad boi.
It wasn't to his taste but he was not one to judge. Some people like to stick in crazy.
Eyes turned to where the Alice general direction of where she was headed, Gringor then got onto all fours like a dog and sniffed the ground exactly like one. Taking a sniff of the air, the scent of the Alice was finally picked out. It was a day old, which meant it was the old track.
Shrugging and rolling his shoulders as he stood back up, he gave a meaty whack to his neck. Seems like it'll be a tough scrap. The technique itself was a secondary concern, no, his focus was purely the opponent that shall meet him on the way.
Gringor slammed his fist together as he trudged fearlessly, grinning from ear to ear.
Kerry breathed a quick sigh of relief as Dusk returned to her hand. Skar's instincts managed to make the black spear only nick his arm. He may have lost a bit of energy from that, but seeing as how the goblin was fully pressing into his assault, he didn't seem to even notice. Landing and stashing away her weapon, Kerry's hands came together in a clap as she closed her eyes and concentrated her mana. With the Varjan busy fending off Skar's renewed offense, it gave the hornet time to unleash a spell of her own.
"Wind Art...."
Air currents manifested and swirled around the winged insect mamono before forming into numerous small star-shaped projectiles, spinning as they hovered near her.
".....Aero Bullets!"
Thrusting her hands forward as she shouted, Kerry launched her spell, the windy stars racing toward their target: the Warlock!
While it was clear from the start that this was hopelessly out of Liliana's range of understanding, the fairy at least nodded while listening. Okay. Book magic make pages go flip flap. Got it. Pale lady can write on leaves with her fighting spirit to make the pages fear her to turn. Made sense. Pages were lightweight, so she could bully them easily. She had to break up her fighting spirit with its wife, but she's apparently used to this because she can think of lines if she works out a lot.
Man, this wizard stuff was a lot easier than Liliana thought!
But wait...why was she talking about noise now? What happened to Fighting Spirit's wife? Will they get back together? Why were graveyards crowded? Did people work out there a lot? How do you free an egg from a body?
Liliana would look at the page's inscription, nodding wide-eyed. It was all so clear! Skeletons worked out in graveyards because they weren't ground into bonemeal to feed the plants, so they use calcium to get stronger to beat up Fighting Spirit because he left his wife! It was all so simple now!
"Wow! It felt really complicated, but I think I understand it," Liliana said, unaware that in reality she didn't understand a single goddamn word the girl had said in the slightest. "Wizards have it rough...I can't imagine having to do all that to open a book. I just sorta wave my sword and magic happens," the fairy knight said, reaching behind her and peacefully holding her sword for Io to see. A blade which, by all accounts to the lich, was so suffuse with chaotic and primal magical energy that it was a wonder it hadn't blown up when it was made. "Do they make those spirit decoupling book page things in fairy size? Some of my sisters back at home only like books if they can flip through them really fast..."
With the extended reach, Skarsneek managed to strike at Kalaj's hands in their fight. A feat that had a few close calls thank to flames also extending the Warlock's khopesh range, singing the male Goblin's hair a few times. Soon, though, Skarsneek finally hit Kalaj's hands enough times for the Warlock to drop his weapon.
And Kalaj was not paying attention to Kerry, who had been preparing a spell the entire time uninterrupted. The Hornet unleashed her star-shaped bullets of air at the Warlock who was too stunned to do anything about it. All the air projectiles hit Kalaj, denting his armor, and the Scarce legionnaire fell on his back. He was defeated.
Just in time, Sam and Yuki emerged from the house, appearing to have gotten into a fight themselves. They said that there were only enemy Varjans in the building, no sign of the villager's wife and son.
"Do we have to ambush him right away? We can just follow him to his hideout, no? And please refrain yourself from killing him before we get the information we need."
"Perhaps we should take heed to Luna-chan's words. If we see where's he's going, he may even lead us to Sogen himself. Worst comes to worst, we should still be able to track him. After all, once mamono have read a person's chi they're not exactly hard to find."
Sorae frowned at her ideas being shot down by yokai outsiders, but they spoke sense. Following him to his destination was the sounder plan. She said nothing at the yokai's suggestion, merely giving a single nod as a response.
---
The party discreetly followed Dosan's cart until they reach an odd location: A lumber mill occupied by Shizuyamans. Armed Shizuyamans. With virtually no Shizuyamans actually working on the mill. In fact, there were only a few pieces of logs in sight. Although, they WERE in the middle of an invasion so it was probably understandable.
"Look, there." Sorae pointed to several of the Shizuyamans present. They differentiated themselves from the rest by the small crossbows mounted on their arms and their main weapons: large sickles probably meant to cut apart civilians rather than crops. "Wako. Bandits who know what they're doing. This is a deep plot if Sogen has a bunch of them on his payroll."
"Let's see if they can earn their pay." Sorae brandished her naginata and jumped out, revealing herself to everyone in the mill. "Where is Sogen?!"
The Shizuyaman responded by pulling out their weapons and greeting her in battle while Dosan immediately fled without his cart. So much for the element of stealth.
Gringor strode out alone once more. This time, his objective took him up a gentle slope in the side of a mountain which eventually ended in a small plateau.
Occupied by Varjans, a crude war camp was already set up and Gringor could see blue-robed Shizuyaman warriors amongst the Varjans soldiers. These were probably the warriors that gave the Mad Hatter a hard time. It was just that there were more of them here, about five of them. And that was besides the half-dozen Varjan Brigands and Warriors there.
Once more, Gringor would be alone in this fight. Truly alone, this time, as there would not be another force to join him in this battle later.
"If you know such a place that sells what I need, I would very much like to go there. Even if you don’t, marketplaces are always good places to ferret out such knowledge."
It sure was a whiplash for Takeshi to see Alice so soft and demure after her earlier transformation into a fearsome entity, but he simply supposed it was one of her quirks as a monster. He was just glad that she trsuted him enough to take his offer and hop onto his horse, asking to be taken to somewhere that sold potions.
"I know one near here. It's one of the few potion shops here in Onrai." Takeshi replied. "I'm not sure how it's doing with the invasion and all but hopefully, it's still standing and has what you need." And with that, Takeshi spurred his white horse. "Let's go, Kuro!"
---
Kuro the white horse carried his master and the yokai dutifully, riding across the rural lands of the Onrai region. It was fortunate that they had not run into any Varjan warbands or patrols on the way, and the forests and grasslands around them was still untouched by the war.
"You are a... Mad Hatter, right?" Takeshi decided to ask his passenger, a start to a conversation. "I've heard that Mad Hatters typically don't leave their home. Uhh, I believe it's called 'Wonderland'? A-Anyway, what brings you out of there and all the way here? I also heard your kind loves tea, but I haven't really seen you search for any so far."
After a refreshing dip on the hot springs near Terauchi Temple, Shizuka made his way back to the temple grounds to reunite with the taskforce members there. He would bump into a certain somebody on his way, however.
Near the entrance of the temple, Shizuka was suddenly bumped by the load of an awkward, clearly inexperienced pole-carrier. However, the pole-carrier was someone the azure swordsman recognized. "Hey! Watch where you're-- Oh, it's you." It was the prisoner the taskforce took from Sanjo Beach, Kasseros Telmar. He still had his beautiful looks, but his shiny armor and overwhelming perfumes were gone. Now, he wore the clothes of a typical villager and it appeared he was doing typical villager tasks.
"I'll bet you're soooo proud of yourself. Being able to degrade a proud warrior of the Heavenly Children into doing menial labor, and that's beside the so-called 'cakes' your Shoggoth shoved into me." Kasseros whined to Shizuka as he put down his carrying pole to collect the spilled vegetables. "I'd rather die than spend another second in this blasted place but your babysitter, Ayu, has a firm leash on me."
"...Heh, I know you're no incubus. Yet." Kasseros smirked at Shizuka. "Why don't you do a favor for a fellow human, eh? Give me a human death. I mean, your blade's bloody already, right? What's one more life to you?"
"Kazenosuke could deflect any attack with his spinning blade, and deliver slashes faster than the eye could see. I have no idea why he couldn't make it to Sanjo Beach. I know he's a ronin, but he still should have heeded my father.
Well, his house is near Terauchi Temple. Not very near, but just follow the river near the temple and we'll find his home and then we can ask for his help."
-Takeshi Oja
"Yurine has taken care of Clan Oja for as long as I can remember. Despite being a servant, I know she can swing her masakari axe pretty hard. I've little idea of her past but I know it involves tending cemeteries.
She should be in Castle Oja but my father sent her to Onrai to begin enacting some way to protect the graves from being desecrated by the invaders. I know of a famous cemetery south of Terauchi Temple. We can begin looking for her there and she'll surely help us."
-Takeshi Oja
~~ TAKAMORI TALES ~~
"Lord Takamori said that his traitorous daughter, Setsuna, is training Varjan archers in Ōmiya. I know this frightens him, even if he tries to hide it. If we don't find her and end this, there may be no stopping the archers, and no hope for Ōmiya Springs. We need to see Lord Takamori immediately." -Takeshi Oja
~~ SORAE TALES ~~
~~ TALES OF SHIZUYAMA ~~
There was a villager woman, crying alone near a large tree within Terauchi Temple.
"Yokai, could I speak with you? A group of bandits is terrorizing Sanjo. They slaughtered my whole family, like animals!
They were killed at our home, near a river. I am Saki, please avenge my family and stop those bandits."
A villager woman sitting near a bonfire was muttering to herself when the taskforce member approached.
"Poor Honoka, she'll likely starve soon. Oh, I didn't see you there. Err, Honoka's a widow, living alone in the outskirts of Yabo.
Please, if it's not too much of a bother, do you mind checking in on her?"
Fully rested and refreshed, a now dressed Shizuka stood just outside the spring entrance while putting his hair back up in a ponytail. Fastening his sword back to his side, he began making his way back to the temple grounds. Along the way, he noticed that Io and Liliana were still conversing. He decided now would be as good a time as any to ask; he started to make his way over to ask Io if she perhaps new anything of Alice's condition. However, before he could someone had bumped into him. A look of surprise took Kannazuki's face as an assortment of vegetables spilled on the ground below them.
"Goodness, that's no good! Please accept my sincerest apologies! I wasn't looking where I w-" At the sound of the familiar voice, Shizuka was cut off and his expression was soon replaced with one of slight vexation. "Indeed. I see you're keepingg yourself busy. But instead of complaining, perhaps you should focus your energy on cleaning up the mess you made." He said.
However, the Varjan knight's rants continued as he expressed his grievances at being disgraced and having to perform menial labor at the temple for the past few days. Although, it was Kasseros's last statement that made Shizuka raise a brow.
"...Heh, I know you're no incubus. Yet. Why don't you do a favor for a fellow human, eh? Give me a human death. I mean, your blade's bloody already, right? What's one more life to you?"
"Yes, I'm every bit as human as you are." He began, although saying that aloud made him mentally wince.
"Indeed, I'm no stranger to killing. But, then again, neither are you. I wonder how many natives you and your idiot men senselessly butchered while laughing up, festering in your delusions of grandeur. Which I'm sure you rationalize as being for 'the good of humanity' or the will of whatever form of degenerate royalty you serve." While Shizuka's voice was calm, his word were filled to the brim with loathing. "The decision to keep you alive was one that was decided amongst the force as a whole, therefore it is not my place to take the matter into my own hands. And besides that, I feel that death that for is a courtesy. One that you are not owed; a simple and convenient way out. Coward."
Shizuka began to make his way past Kasseros towards his mamono teammates, not even bothering to look at him. He did, however, stop for a moment. "Your army hasn't given us much choice in doing what've done up to this point, what I've done. From one murder to another: Instead of worrying about dying as a human, worry about how you'll continue to live as one. Given your current track record, being snatched up by yokai is the least of your worries. They don't tend to care for men like you, I can't say I would blame them." He said.
"Everything you've done will follow you to the afterlife anyway. Live and repent, Kasseros Telmar. To continue to live through disgrace, ridicule, hate, fear, shattered dreams, and even a broken heart. That is what it means to be human. It may surprise you that many mamono understand this viewpoint as well." Shizuka said no more as he walked off. Eventually, he made his way over to the sprite and the lich mid conversation.
He attempted to hide his sour mood while approaching them. "Exucse me, Io-san? I apologize if I'm interrupting, but I was a question in regards to Alice if you don't mind." He said. "I not too versed in cursed weaponry or in the finer properties of mamono not native to these lands. But, there seem to be combative ids in the girl that are at odds, competing for control. While she wasn't entirely at fault, it caused her to lash out at some of the other members. Do you perhaps have any insight into what may be going on with her and a way to effectively aid her?"
The sisters were relieved that Sorae had acquiesced to majority demand and opted to follow Sogen to his destination , where ever it may be. Of course, their continued use of stealth would be short-lived, much to their chagrin.
The group had eventually be led by their target to a large mill, with armored natives making a base of sorts out of it. Where they perhaps militia that had plans to strike a counterattack against the Varjans? Although, given tradition, it'd be hard to count them as potential allies of the mostly yokai comprised taskforce.
Those thoughts were quickly subdued, however, as a battle-hungry Sorea instantly made her presence known. As par for the course, all of the warriors brandished there weapons and immediately began attacking.
Hinami for a brief moment stood there with an exasperated expression, her eyes in a twitching slant while a large sweatdrop appeared on the side of her head.
"Godsdammit, Sorae-san..." Atsuha whined, pinching her brow. A couple of bandits made their way toward the rest of the group while they sulked at the situation. Raising a single talisman, Atsuha blew them away in a flurry of purple flames without even looking at them.
"...Well, I guess we should go a help out, yes?" Hinami said. She then jumped from the shrubbery and emitting a blue glow from her hands. From it formed some shuriken, she began throwing them at some of the other bandits. She foresaw the crossbows being a problem, especially for Sorae, so she opted to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Since those two had jumped into the fray, Atsuha felt that for now it would be best to remain as support for now. She would, of course, take center stage as well when the situation called for it. She casted a defensive spell on both Hinami and Sorae to reduce any damage taken from enemy attacks.
"Well, Luna-chan, shall we aid this reckless girl?" She said, preparing an attack spell this time.
"Phew! And that's that.", spoke Kerry, dusting her hands as she made her way over to Skar. Glancing the battlefield, she would find no other Varjans to engage them, either lying defeated or full-on retreating. "How you holdin' up, Skar? Feeling drained? I know my spear nicked your arm, so I'm just checkin'."
As the goblin was giving his answer, Yuki and Sam emerged from the house, saying they, too, had to fight off some Varjans.....and only Varjans.
There was no one else inside the house.
"Wha.....They're not there? But the guy said that his wife and son were held hostage here! Are you sure you checked everywhere!?"
Lunatea took a breath of relief at Sorae's decision to follow her plan, placing her hand on her chest in the process. Finally! Some sense! She glanced at Atsuha, giving her a small smile and a nod, thanking her for her help.
Unfortunately, this sense of relief didn't last long. For the moment they found the bandits their target was meeting with, Sorae decided it was a good idea to reveal herself immediately.
Oh no... She let out a groan, resting her palm on her head. Why must you be so... urghhh! Forget it!
"It's not like we have any other choice!" she replied at Atsuha before making her presence known as well. She could only hope that Sorae would not kill every single one of them before they could have the answers they wanted.
"Wind! Come to my aid!"
As usual, wind spells were her go-to whenever she wanted to knock out an opponent instead of killing them. And as usual as well, her Sylph-blessed panties responded in kind, conjuring a wind that blew up her skirt upwards as she cast her spells. The plan was for her to use her miniature tornados to swirl the bandits upwards, dizzying them enough for them to lose their consciousness.
Io quickly realized that she had went a little too far in her explanation. It had been a long time since she gave any lectures, she supposed the desire to ramble on about magic was building for a while. However, if she wanted to continue lecturing she realized that she would have to adjust for her pupil's level of magical knowledge. It would be... a challenge.
Io took some time looking over the fairy's sword as she talked, trying to find the right word to describe it. Such a chaotic and vigorous type of magic was the antithesis to Io's structured, cold magical designs. It was like an artist looking at spilled paint, trying to find a still life within it. She nearly smiled at the absurdity of the weapon. It was strangely fascinating, though Io feared what would happen if it got close enough to interact with the various enchantments she interweaved into her own body.
Io had once again found herself completely sucked in by the allure of magical analysis, noticing that a long pause of silence had fallen. She quickly regained track of the conversation, eventually breaking her eyes off of the sword. "Hm. It would be interesting to see if fairies can achieve lichdom... It would be strange. I'm not sure if I should share those kinds of secrets..." Another thing Liliana said sparked Io's curiosity, and she followed up with a question of her own: "How many books are there at your home? I'm curious what fairy literature is like. Or what literature fairies prefer." A concept of fairy literature at all seemed... Well, Io didn't want to label it as "a paradox," but there may not have been a better term for it.
Before she could get an answer, another task force member came in to ask Io a question. This came as sort of a relief to the lich, given the erratic qualities of the fairy. By comparison, Shizuka was a beacon of rationality.
"I not too versed in cursed weaponry or in the finer properties of mamono not native to these lands. But, there seem to be combative ids in the girl that are at odds, competing for control. While she wasn't entirely at fault, it caused her to lash out at some of the other members. Do you perhaps have any insight into what may be going on with her and a way to effectively aid her?"
Io furrowed her brow. "Ah. Cursed weaponry." Io had made her fair share of them, though the first few were on accident. The rest... Well, it was the adventurer's fault if they found them, given she left them in a very private place, far from where she was now. "I believe Lady Kyouko said something about this. Would need to study it. There's so much variance for us. Psyche. Magical inclinations. Desire. But a different id within a weapon... No easy feat." Io considered the question of how to help, realizing she was going off on a mental tangent about its creation. "Ah. Helping her. Well... I will need to work with Alice. It depends on the details. I might be able to confer with the weapon directly, barring other options."
Io refrained from adding, 'Because I'm not that different from a spirit inhabiting an object myself.' The similarities were there, but she probably didn't want to draw comparisons to something that was putting the task force members in danger. Plus, her body was far superior to a meagre weapon. Even if she didn't need it, she took pride in it. Its magical enhancements were like a beautiful tapestry; a mere cursed weapon was a charcoal scrawling on cave rocks in comparison.
Before Liliana could get her answers in, her good (recently acquired) friend Shizuka came to ask questions about Alice. If the fairy recalled, that was the Mad Hatter she'd arrived with. ...Was she really in trouble? It sure seemed like it. But for now, she felt like those who knew what was going on should handle it. As much as her knightly demeanor had her want to help no matter what, it sounded like a delicate situation if Shizuka needed a wizard's help with it. Keeping quiet, Liliana would get a chance to answer Io's questions.
The fairy knight felt like she had a good understanding of how the wizard explained things (she absolutely did not), but was getting kind of lost at the talk of liches and literature. Lichdom was...what now? "Hmm...being honest, I don't really know what lichdom is. Is that like, being in charge of Lychen? Fairies can kind of do that. Not me though, since I'm more of a swish-stab-defend-her-majesty kind of fairy. As for books and literature...we fairies don't really have things like those, Liliana explained. She would then elaborate with: "I've heard its already hard for humans to print or write books, now imagine doing that at my size! You'd probably need super good glasses just to read a sentence off the page. Besides, fairies usually have attention spans as wide as a bee's wings."
Now that Liliana had cemented that fairies had no culture in the book department, she would take a seat on the floor, wings at rest behind her. Even though it wasn't her problem...she felt like she should try and help Alice if she was able. And thus, she'd ask Io a question of her own: "Is there um...anything you think I can do to help Alice? I-I'm not so good at magic stuff, but I could maybe go get something you need to help her?" In any case, at least the fairy was trying to live up to the loosest code of chivalry.
Skarsneek panted, sweat dripping and wetting his hair as he rubbed it away from getting into his eyes. Seeing the defeated form of his opponent, it took an agonizing amount of restraint to just not kick him into the river.
"I'm fine, it grazed me but it didn't take much." He used his club to prop himself up. Well, this idea of getting new homes better be paying off...
Then hearing that there's no one else in the house besides Varjan, that had a chilling realization as Skarsneek gritted his teeth.
Looking towards the large bonfire, he quietly moved there and used his club to shove away the burning debris. Hoping that he was wrong and that they had fled instead.
---
Gringor of the Ironhide tribe
Moving upwards, Gringor climbed the gentle slope lazily. Opting to stay out of sight as he looked towards the camp based on the small plateau.
Hmm. Tapping his axe, he saw the five of the warriors that the mad hatter brought back. Seeing them and feeling the raised hair on his nape. His guts told him enough, and it was the same when he fought those tough halberd soldiers. With five of them instead of three.
That had his blood boiled, it was a fight slanted against him.
And that was the best kind of fight.
So many ways to start.
The smaller fries was a pain, not worth but decorum says he'll have to get rid of them first.
Yet, he just wanted to dig into the good stuff right away.
Studying the area, it was uphill and they had the high ground.
But it also meant that they can't leave and run to the sides to flank him, the mountain prevents that, the ground was also a distance away and the exits a small one too which he already got. Not to mention they're all penned in.
At least there were no archers.
Or do it the old way?
Gringor smiled as he walked upwards, in full view of the camp. Brazen, daring, and foolish, Gringor kept to it as he saw them reacting to his presence and moving to arm themselves.
"BRING OUT YOUR STRONGEST, GRINGOR IRONHIDE IS HERE!" With a loudly bellow, Gringor raised a fist before settling it down on one of the five warriors of the heavenly strike.
The Varjans, they won't bother to play this game. They like war, large fights, big fights. Every trick and every move. Gringor can respect that.
Zipangnese, the Shizuyamans, like the underboss, they however play this game. A duel, strong against strong. They have to. Just like when he challenged other High Orcs, they accept or lose some face.
Which was why he challenged, upfront, where they had nowhere else to go but through him. Swarming him will only get them in each other way.
With that done, Gringor got ready for whatever they were prepared to do. They're trapped in one area after all.
