Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 3

[DracoOmega]

>"I cleansed the corruption that had taken hold here, yes."

>How close is the demon to us, and what is its spatial relation to Rin, Kaguya, and the others?

[Oldmansour]

>"I cleansed the corruption that had taken hold here, yes."

>How close is the demon to us, and what is its spatial relation to Rin, Kaguya, and the others?

>The demon stops and laughs, it's voice as hot as an open flame, but holding the threat of a wildfire about to break loose. "Corruption, you call it. That's an ugly word, don't really like the sound of that."
>"Then what would you call what happened here, demon?" Kaguya inquires, coming to her feet and standing protectively in front of Keine.
>"I don't know, I didn't see it for myself." the demonic fox replies with aplomb as it pads along the roof lip. "Maybe you could tell me?"

>The Demon is standing on the edge of the roof, about fourteen feet in front you on top of the building, four stories up. Kaguya is standing less than a foot behind you, with Keine immediately behind her. The three police are about seven feet in front of you and just a bit furthur out from the school wall. A glance around reveals that the miko is standing twenty feet to your southeast, standing with the fourth officer, the one Keine threw earlier, supporting the officer who seems unable to put weight on her left leg.
>Komachi is also here, standing near the front gates, and she has about ten more officers behind and around her, each similarly equipped to the four you've seen so far.
>Rin is in midair standing atop her flying disc with the spinning edges, about three feet to your left and eight feet up.

[DracoOmega]

>Does that mean the 3 police officers are between us and the demon?

[Oldmansour]

>Does that mean the 3 police officers are between us and the demon?

>Discounting vertical distance, yes.

[DracoOmega]

>Then let's go and put ourselves between them and the demon instead. Calmly.
>"A dark aura drove this woman to violence and rage against some of the very things she holds most dear. What else would you choose to call that?"

[Oldmansour]

>Then let's go and put ourselves between them and the demon instead. Calmly.
>"A dark aura drove this woman to violence and rage against some of the very things she holds most dear. What else would you choose to call that?"

>The fox tilts its head back as it balances atop the building. "Weakness?" the demon guesses lightly as you move yourself.
>Kaguya's face darkens noticably. "Weakness?"
>"From what she said, it sounds like she wasn't strong enough to handle that power." The demon pauses and seems to shrug its shoulders, carrying on in the same conversational tone, "Where I come from, we call that weakness."

[DracoOmega]

>"A power so seeped in anger and darkness is not a thing worth having. And you are not where you come from."

[Oldmansour]

>"A power so seeped in anger and darkness is not a thing worth having. And you are not where you come from."

>The fox laughs gaily again. "That's obvious. If we were back home, most of us would probably be dead by now."

>"Why did you think that this... demon had something to do with this incident?" Conner the cop asks you.

[DracoOmega]

>To the cop: "I have seen others of its kind spread corruption of a similar strain, and its arrival here was timely."

>To the fox: "Which 'us' is it that you're referring to now? Yourself and your kin, or those others of us present here now?"

[Oldmansour]

>To the cop: "I have seen others of its kind spread corruption of a similar strain, and its arrival here was timely."

>To the fox: "Which 'us' is it that you're referring to now? Yourself and your kin, or those others of us present here now?"

>"So this demon is a threat?" the leading officer asks you.

>"Well, both, now that you ask."

[DracoOmega]

>"Why would you be dead if you were still in your home plane? Was that what brought you to this one?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Why would you be dead if you were still in your home plane? Was that what brought you to this one?"

>The demon laughs again. Despite the benign tone, you find the sound somehow unsettling. "What makes you think I'd have died by now if we were back there? I didn't get to be Champion of Fire for being easy to kill."

>"I asked you a question, wizard." the officer demands.

[DracoOmega]

>To the police officer: "It could be a grave threat should it wish to be, but I cannot presume its motives here."

>To the fox: "And no, I imagine not, but you did include yourself in that last statement, no?"

[Oldmansour]

>To the police officer: "It could be a grave threat should it wish to be, but I cannot presume its motives here."

>To the fox: "And no, I imagine not, but you did include yourself in that last statement, no?"

>"Why not?" Conner asks you, much less confrontational than her fellow. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of expert on this thing?"
>"She isn't, but she wants to be." the fox calls down to the oni as it pauses in step. You now find yourself between it and the police, disregarding vertical distance.

>"Hohoo, listen to you, playing with words." the fox replies, almost playfully. "Aren't you a smart one."

[DracoOmega]

>"Whether that is so or not, you are right: I do wish to understand you better. Is the realm you come from such a terrible place even to those such as yourself?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Whether that is so or not, you are right: I do wish to understand you better. Is the realm you come from such a terrible place even to those such as yourself?"

>The demon considers that. "I don't think you'd believe me."
>"Why's that?" Rin asks the fox.
>"Because you're Terrans. You've never seen anything like our world, so how could you believe what it's like?"
>"You think we can only believe what we see?" The miko asks, trying to sound confidant despite the tremor you hear in her voice.
>The fox seems to shrug. "That's about the only way to believe anything. Why do you think I came here? Ice could have told me what that blot of dark power was, but seeing with my own eyes is the only way to know something for sure."

[DracoOmega]

>"There is knowledge and insight that can be gained only with one's own experiences and senses, I agree. But there is still much that can be learned from the experience of another - things, in fact, that cannot be learned merely from one's own."

[Oldmansour]

>"There is knowledge and insight that can be gained only with one's own experiences and senses, I agree. But there is still much that can be learned from the experience of another - things, in fact, that cannot be learned merely from one's own."

>"So if I told you what life was like on our side of the wall, you then would understand completely what our life is like."

[DracoOmega]

>"No, but I would understand it more than I do now, and that's a start."

[Oldmansour]

>"No, but I would understand it more than I do now, and that's a start."

>The fox stretches, and then turns to face you, crouching down a bit. "That's how you beat Water, isn't it?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I am not trying to 'beat' anyone - I am simply trying to talk with you, as one being to another. To try and understand your world and yourself a little better, if you would let me. I hold no judgement against you or your kin for the manner of being you are, and would welcome you into our world with open arms should you truly wish to live in peace here."

[Oldmansour]

>"I am not trying to 'beat' anyone - I am simply trying to talk with you, as one being to another. To try and understand your world and yourself a little better, if you would let me. I hold no judgement against you or your kin for the manner of being you are, and would welcome you into our world with open arms should you truly wish to live in peace here."

>The fire champion lets out a lot, amused breath. "How exactly did you get the power to get the best of Water?" he asks, curiously. "Assuming you mean, that of course."
>"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin demands.
>Standing again, the fox answers, "Either she's lying and laying a trap for me, to get me to let my guard down. Or, she's telling the truth, in which case there's no way she could have the kind of power to beat a Champion."
>"Why's that?"
>"Because no one that soft can have that kind of power." Fire says matter of factly.

[DracoOmega]

>"You mistake tolerance and acceptance for weakness. It is not. I would wish nothing more than to be able to treat you as a friend and to offer you the sanctuary that your world does not or cannot. There is no reason we must fight, just as that outcome was not a inescapable conclusion with the Champion of Water - a being possessed of their own will can always choose a better path for themselves, and I would hope earnestly that you might wish for such a thing as well."
>Firm expression.
>"However. Should you try to harm anyone here, I will use every ounce of my will and my power to stop you, and I will not yield. None of us will."

[Oldmansour]

>"You mistake tolerance and acceptance for weakness. It is not. I would wish nothing more than to be able to treat you as a friend and to offer you the sanctuary that your world does not or cannot. There is no reason we must fight, just as that outcome was not a inescapable conclusion with the Champion of Water - a being possessed of their own will can always choose a better path for themselves, and I would hope earnestly that you might wish for such a thing as well."
>Firm expression.
>"However. Should you try to harm anyone here, I will use every ounce of my will and my power to stop you, and I will not yield. None of us will."

>"Now that's more like it." The demonic fox says with great satisfaction, padding slowly away from you and the crowd with a canine grin on its face. "Most of the others were thinking this would be easy, that this world would offer no opposition at all. But I'm different. I've been looking forward to seeing the power of this world. Especially you." he says as he turns back to lock eyes with you. "You've bested Air's weapons twice, and you beat Water in person. I didn't think I'd see you here at all, but now that I have, I'm excited."

[DracoOmega]

>"Then you do mean to choose conflict, where none need exist?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Then you do mean to choose conflict, where none need exist?"

>"I suppose I can wait." the demon offers. "You've beaten Air's youma twice, there's not much chance you'll get killed before I have my chance."
>"And the Ice Champion?" Rin asks pointedly. "You're not worried about it beating you to the punch?"
>In response, Fire merely barks out a short, ugly laugh.

[DracoOmega]

>"If your intent is battle, then today or tomorrow matters little to the course you choose to follow. What I ask is why must terrans and demons fight at all? Why did you choose to come to this world?"

[Oldmansour]

>"If your intent is battle, then today or tomorrow matters little to the course you choose to follow. What I ask is why must terrans and demons fight at all? Why did you choose to come to this world?"

>The fox grins quietly at you again, but does not answer right away.

>"It chose?" the miko asks you. "It wasn't summoned by anyone?"

[DracoOmega]

>"No. It crossed the barrier of its own will."

[Oldmansour]

>"No. It crossed the barrier of its own will."

>The sloping-winged miko gapes.
>"I didn't choose." the demon says at last. "I was chosen. It's why I was created. To be one of the six Champions that leads our race out of its last days. Or into them." The demon turns around to face you again. "Do you speak for your race, strong one? Does every Terran feel the same way you do?"