Heir to the Konpaku
The moment the door to the smaller structure opens, I wrinkle my nose. There's a strange scent, acrid and chemical, assaulting my senses immediately. It's not intolerable, but it's certainly not pleasant.
As I follow Fujiwara-san inside, I can see why immediately.
On a large table, a corpse has been stretched. It's a young man, his body looking withered but without decay. I don't know much about these things, but I guess he's probably been preserved in some way.
That's only a small solace, given the fact that his entire torso has been cut open, dry flesh pinned aside, to reveal his completely emptied insides.
I can't help but step back, recoiling from the sight. It's not as if the use of corpses is surprising given it's Kaku Seiga, but I can't help but feel a wave of nausea, my stomach turning.
"Ergh, it's---" I place a hand over my mouth and try to clear my head, taking a deep breath. Whatever preservative agent is in the dead body has at least eliminated whatever scent it would be putting off. The chemical smell isn't pleasant, but it's better then the smell of death.
Aside from the obvious sight of the corpse, there's a number of other items in the chinese Necromancer's workshop. A large jar, with some faint sounds coming from inside and the top tightly sealed. A large number of scrolls and books neatly stacked on counterspace around the center. A collection of rods of wood and steel, with a faint light surrounding their tips, leaning off to one side. A large sack that looks as if it's filled with coins.
And---
I take another step back. I'd been distracted by the vivisected corpse, but there's something even more ominous than that here.
Surrounded by a few talismans is a perfect sphere that appears to be made out of a pitch-black glass. Looking at it sends a chill up my spin, my phantom half twitching back and forth beside me.
It's not simply that all these items are stolen, because there's no doubt in my mind that someone was wicked as Kaku Seiga has spent plenty of time stealing since she arrived here.
It's that there's a heavy sense of malignancy hanging in the air all around me.
And the darkest point is that head-sized jewel.
"... This is..." I trail off, "Maybe I should have expected something like this..."
@Raineh Daze@FujiwaraPhoenix
The Wandering Cat
The blue-haired woman had been uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn in the presence of one of Sanae's gods. However, the moment she disappeared, she stepped forward once more.
"I'm a little queasy, that curse was certainly unpleasant," she began, with a casual wave of her hand. If she was in more pain then she appeared, it was difficult to tell.
"But I'm quite alright, now," she continued with a friendly smile, "There's no need to be concerned. Mmm, but I
should properly introduce myself, shouldn't I..."
The somewhat ethereal-seeming woman bowed.
"While Qing'e is my name, that miko would know me far better as Kaku Seiga," she began as she rose to her feet, "I am ahermit who follows the Tao, and the one responsible for your victory. I expect thanks, you know~"
The smirk she flashed towards Sanae was something she could never have managed in the presence of Yasaka Kanako, but with the god's departure she felt perfectly confident in doing so.
In the moments after the oiran ghost's defeat, their surroundings had shifted once more. This time, there was no longer any fire, nor any signs of an open street. If anything, it felt rather cool.
Instead, it was a dusty, dark basement. Perhaps that was what had always been there, in reality.
The gory mess that had been left behind by the ghost's defeat had disappeared completely, as well, without a trace.
"... Mmm, unfortunate, it's as if her presence has been pulled away
elsewhere," commented Seiga, frowning, now, "Harnessing the abilities of such a powerful ghost would have been a lovely reward for our public service in her removal."
She let out a sigh.
"Oh well. I'm sure whoever has her bound is happy to have her back. Now then---"
The needle between her right forefinger and thumb gleamed.
"Kochiya still seems a little bit unsteady. I can help clear the remains of the curse more quickly, you know, though we'll have to return to my Senkai. It won't take long, and I'm sure a mage like yourself must be curious what a 'Senkai' is, are you not, Rayne?"
Exactly how a quick return would be possible was something of a mystery, at least until Seiga dragged the tip of her needle in a circular motion against the nearest wall.
In an instant, the solid wood and stone disappeared, a hole appearing immediately to form a passage through the earth.
"Come along~"
@DracoLunaris@FujiwaraPhoenix
The Scarlet Devil
---Tch.
Rotten. Everything here is rotten. Even these bull-beasts, despite looking fairly intact, have a faint rotten odor coming from them and no audible breath or beating heart. At this point, I'd have taken the chance if they were still alive despite their inhuman nature.
But I'd never allow rotten blood to pass my lips.
The tarnished silver of a halberd's blade comes hurtling towards me.
Right now, I don't have the power to block. As frustrating as it is, I don't have any choice but move.
The air rushes past me, cut by the edge of the undead bull-beast's weapon as I throw myself backwards. If I were properly fed, I have no doubt I'd overpower these creatures if I had to resort to using my bare hands.
But I'm hardly interested in touching them, even putting aside the fact that I don't have the energy to do it without being injured.
But feeding on that Hourai Immortal did give me enough power for something like this.
I stretch out my right arm as my feet hit the ground, channeling heat down through it and into my palm.
It won't be its true splendor. It won't be the weapon worthy of the Scarlet Devil. But it'll be enough for this much, at least.
A crimson light emerges from my palm, twisting and curling itself inwards before pushing back out into a single, needle-like point.
With a flick of my wrist I send it hurtling through the air with a crack and a scent of iron. It illuminates the tunnel for a few moments, casting everything in a red glow before striking the foremost of the undead minotaurs in the right shoulder. Living flesh can't possibly resist it, so dead flesh certainly can't.
It tears free, blowing through skin and muscle and bone and emerging from the other side, the weight of the muscular limb tearing through the tiny strands of flesh that remain and sending it falling to the ground with a full thud.
---I'd have liked to hit the head, but for now this is good enough. I'll just take---Behind?
Hmph, this person really is a coward!"
I turn on my heel. My acting maid is concealing the young fairy girl with her body as a blackened ooze flies through the air towards her.
Is everything down here about being dark and ugly and mouldy and foul?!
I channel red light through my arm and into my palm again, releasing it as swiftly as possible and sending it through the dark muck, scattering it across the stone floor.
I'm not about to let any harm come to the ones fighting alongside me, not if I can help it. And I'm certainly not going to let that girl get hurt.
What kind of self-respecting noble would slack off so much as to be unable to help?
"A big, stupid coward!"
I can't help but complain.
"Sending corpses after us, attacking from behind---And this completely rotten sense of style! I hate it, I hate all of it!"
Before they die, I'll give them a piece of my mind when we find them.
@Drifting Pollen@Lugubrious@Rezod92
