Chapter 9
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(Eirin?s position)
?Are you awake??? Eirin held Reisen by her cheeks, squeezing it ever so slightly to awaken her state of unconsciousness.
Her eyes opened, but quickly shut again, and opened again, as though her consciousness is fleeting as candlelight. Her mouth however, murmured a confident ?yes? although it was only her lips moving.
?Good, then get up? we have no time to rest, your blood I extracted has gave me a pop of an idea just now. I found something interesting?? Eirin commented.
Reisen finally opened her eyes, her eyes looked blank, before some form of color flooded back into her cheeks. Technically, she has just died once, and resurrected like her master did all the time, only with much more painful means.
The drug she took was a unique Lunarian military laboratory product, made with such abundance at some point during the Lunarian conflicts between royals that they were left unconsumed when the factory was forced to close down. The same medical genius behind it is none other than Eirin herself, but she was never caught or sentenced? after all, without her genius there is no Lunarian advantage to begin with. The drug was found to be a treatment too inhumane, and the more humanitarian of the Lunarians with their moral high grounds forced the drug to be illegalized through proper means; the reason being none other than their need to curb their guilt from recycling perfectly sane and actual lives of those rabbits.
Lunarians can die too, but why can?t the rabbits be allowed to die? Are their worth so little their very existence should be played by the palms of the rancid believers of their own worthless causes? It is not of course, and thus a lengthy discussion and debate followed by another war happened. The Lunarians are almost always at war, not surprising when someone came up with such a drug to save the costs of manpower, and not surprisingly as well a war was followed to close the issue down with an iron lock.
Eventually, the rabbits were given whatever little left of their dignity, to march into battle and die only once? but the drug that was made cannot be un-made. Whatever that is left is hidden, into a maximum security throve of things the Lunarians wanted to sweep under the carpet with. Files and such are stored there, and only a few members of the higher echelons of the Lunarian capital have access to this throve of wealth, filled with information too illicit even for the eyes of royals and governments, too much treasure in the form of weapons, drugs, data, history that can destroy this very world when given access to the wrong hands.
Eirin is one such person who have smuggled more than a few ?emergency? vials. She doubted she ever had to use it, but she was glad she brought it along. It is the most powerful antidote after all, and it is made from her blood. Her immortal blood is the base to the most powerful drug ever existed on earth and the moon, enough to wipe out this virus once it becomes available commercially. She doesn?t have to concern herself with the humans though, if they are all dead, she wouldn?t actually care.
The virus however, is the thing she came from. She has gotten her perfect sample, now inside her bag; her mission here is done, she should return to Gensokyo and leave the rest to the others who came along to ?solve? the mystery. However, something in her stopped her, and that something was Reisen?s painful grasping of her life once more from the edges of death?s cliff.
She has climbed back up, and for a moment there, she must have seen hell for a furiously long time in her mind. They say coming back from the dead kills the very essence of being mortal, and not limited to humans alone. To Eirin, death is everyday business, she isn?t afraid to die for real, if only she could. She has experienced death so many times it bores her to tears, but to most others who can only experience it once, to climb back is an epic journey of the mind to survive in the madness of hell.
Reisen slowly lifted herself up, with rickety movements as though she has just been born an infant, and that learning how to walk is the first thing she has to do without any prior knowledge or guide in how to begin. Her head seemed to turn to one side, desperate to turn back but couldn?t. Her eyes seemed to daze, looking up down and sideways as though she is looking for something that is not there.
?This is natural, if you do this enough times your body will recall how to gain back the nerve controls for everything with a snap of a finger. I am going to send you back to Gensokyo? I need you to take something for me? from my lab.? Eirin mentioned.
?An errand already? Can?t I get some rest, Master??
?You rest here, you are going to get eaten again? so no buts, I want you to hang as tightly as you can to my back. We are flying back and you will have to get what I am telling you to get? don?t forget, this will save humanity. You have a chance to do what no rabbit has ever done before.? Eirin smiled, and promptly lifted Reisen to her back.
It reminded her when she had the younger and much smaller princess like this, hugging to her back like a child and carrying her about the Lunarian playgrounds for the royals. Her sisters, the princess?s sisters would always come running, and they would play together. If only she hasn?t been exiled, they would still have been together. Eirin missed those times, but regret is for the weak, she reminded herself mindfully and awfully quickly as she took speed to the direction of the Suwa Lake.
The portal will be open, when they are through, she can have her hands on what?s left of this wretched destroyed human race, and if she is correct, this will be the antidote to cure everything.
Reisen blushed, it wasn?t usual she gets a piggyback on her master?s back, it certainly wasn?t easy to stop her trembling either, but she feels good somehow as she did.
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(Marisa?s position, halfway to the South)
?Are we there yet?? Nitori asked.
?Not yet, I don?t sense their presence, but there is a large one that just popped out from where they headed? I reckon the enemy has shown itself.? Alice commented, her sharper youkai senses can sense the most distinct spiritual presence from anywhere, but this most recent one has something about it.
It felt extremely holy, like a spiritual essence from some heavenly being. She recalled this because the one that destroyed Reimu?s shrine last time, a celestial from the heavens that is very troublesome to handle; carried this distinctive presence. It is different from the youkai presence, it has a feeling that seemed to emanate ?wisdom?, if all the lack of words can be used to explain it. A divine presence is something much less felt at earth, so the idea that there is one to be felt now is indeed very different. Kanako, and Suwako, the two goddesses that were with them earlier before they left Gensokyo, had something much more earthly attuned, not that it was any less holy, it just felt different from this one.
?How long?? Alice asked.
?10 more minutes.? Marisa said under her breath.
Yukari?s gaps can take her everywhere within a short span of time by bending the rules of time and space, but such is also the dilemma in team efforts it seems.
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(Reimu?s position, South, in the town)
The shrill voices of screams and angry cries resonated all over. The dead have gathered by the thousands, and only blocked by a thin layer of powerful shielding that is emitted spiritually by Kanako Hachisaka, whom now is in the form of a giant worm with scales as wide as Italian pillars, and spikes that looked dangerously pointy and oozed some green poisonous mess of slime from them. Her skin is red, magma boiled within the underside of the scales, and cracks formed as it sprayed fire from them.
?The Fire Worm? Kowasu, their enemy, or rather, all of mankind?s enemy-cum-goddess spoke, ?Lives up to her name, Hachisaka, finish them!?
Thus, did Kanako, the copied version of Gensokyo Kanako Yasaka, Goddess of the Wind, and Goddess of War, lunged for Reimu first. Her revolving mouth which reaches deep with swirling rows of sharpened teeth and saliva opened, ready to swallow her.
?Holy Familiars! Yin-Yang Orbs of Heavenly Persuasion!? Reimu summoned, and four giant Yin-Yang orbs appeared from thin air, carrying each enough magic power to turn the ground they stand into a meteor crater.
The orbs glowed magnificently, casting a web of such intense power it sunk the ground she stood on, and Reimu whom before could not fly, used her familiars to gain a foothold and flew above; just as Kanako dived her head down to the ground she stood and blew up half a ton of debris and tarmac off the ground sending it in a pillar of anger to the skies.
The dust knocked against Reimu, but she has upper ground now, and proceeded to spray arm-length needles ?Persuasion Needles? from her familiars downwards while she prepares her spell for an ultimate sealing. Magic glowed in her hands, and her eyes glowed bright with power.
?INFINITE SUPER SPEED FLYING OBJECT!!? Yukari declared, and from 4 of her gaps beside her which opened, powerful shots of light carrying intense piercing force shot with blinding speed and covered all over Kanako?s hide.
Kanako howled, and twisted away before turning upwards to chase after Yukari.
?Don?t bother, let me play with her!? A command came from Kowasu.
She seemed to realize Kanako won?t get anything done by herself and she moved instead.
Like a southern belle, she moved swiftly, clearing entire paths of rock and debris with her default manipulation of earth and all its associated elements. By that, it literally includes her powers to manipulate just about every earth originated things. Being a small town, it is literally filled with wooden houses, dirt laden streets and mountains which surround it with greeneries all around. She is in her home turf, and with this in mind; two giant hands popped out forming meticulously from nothing, rising as tall and as big as a 3 storey building each.
She of course meant to slap Yukari into submission, but as the hands neared, Yukari floated further upwards, but continued her firing, turning her fire now to the hands that climbed with more dirt being pulled like a carpet with the vacuum sucking it up to form the giant arms.
Just as she took the shots, from the hands exploded dirt, but has enough power to become projectiles and Kowasu saw this; thus she made them fly with intense speed to hit at Yukari?s direction. Yukari turned quickly, using her umbrella, she blocked the oncoming boulders, which cracked under her intense multilayer barrier which opens whenever she fans out her umbrella.
A turn and a switch of position in a blink of an eye, and Yukari zipped herself into a gap quicker than Kowasu could react, and emerged from behind her back. The umbrella tip this time pointed to her back, and from it, a giant gunk of laser not unlike Marisa?s Master Spark blasted forward and blew at Kowasu, grazing her only slightly as her reactions are quicker than Yukari had expected.
Six giant pillars formed from the ground below and shot up with such intense speed, stabbing in Yukari?s location as she once again disappeared. From above 90 degrees upwards, Yukari hanged vertically down, and a gap lay open behind her like a gaping mouth. Something big came out from it, and at once at full speed did a train of all things, blasted out from it chugging along the dislocated rails that fell apart as it travelled into mid-air quite suddenly being hauled off its tracks. The train followed the law of gravity, and it gained so much speed as it thrusted full speed ahead downwards to Kowasu.
Kowasu did not block or backed away, but instead before her a wall of dirt formed, thicker than a truck, the wall of flying dirt looked like it could weigh several tons more than the train falling down on full speed. A large impact, louder than a few hundred gongs going off at once and screeches so sharp it hurts even Yukari?s eardrums was heard; as the train was crushed into a metal and steel ?tin-can? being crushed by intense force from the opposing flying wall of dirt, which broke to pieces.
The train cracked apart, its metal parts disengaging and falling haphazardly onto everywhere above the skies. Yukari was unheard, but she didn?t manage to see Kowasu move.
?Tsk?? She heard, and she turned back, only to see Kowasu there, hands reached out and breaking her always on barrier straightly, with her blackened hands which is her original color of her toad form clasping deeply into her veins in a crushing grasp that choked all her air out of her. A split second only passed, but Kowasu had her other fist ready, grouped and formed with another element she is most fond of using: minerals.
Namely, from the dirt, there is rocks, and inside rocks, under the molten layer, there exist minerals stronger than steel.
Her hands reflected light, which was clear to Yukari that what it is, are diamonds, the hardest mineral known to man. She didn?t know Suwa is a region to mine for diamonds, but then again, it is not strange if it was. So far in all of Japan, few areas remain to be places unexplored and undeveloped by the future thrusting generation that did not care for Gods or whatever else. Suwa is one of those places, untainted yet by the hands that push for the future of mankind, retaining its very image of the old and rustic, the majestic and religious, the mysterious and the unorthodox. Yukari?s thought did not manage to think much, except when she did regain her half a fraction of a second?s image of Kowasu before her, the diamond crusted fist slammed with such intense force onto her body that it sent Yukari flying into the gap, choking blood as she did.
Kowasu did not smile, not even a smirk at her small victory. She however, gave chase and went inside Yukari?s gap, only to find herself lost within as Yukari is no longer there.
?Sadly?? Yukari called from outside, surprising Kowasu in reverse as she looked back to see her enemy emerging from another quickly formed gap. She tried to rush out, but then the gap closed just as she turned around.
?I will just seal you in there? and send you to hell!? Yukari said, and forced her concentration to send Kowasu to hell, a place where not even Kamis can easily walk out once inside, for the barriers that separate there and the earthly realm is as thick as entire buildings, and the layers as many as there can ever be counted.
She felt it, confirming that she dropped Kowasu at the other side, her gaps opened, and there was no one inside.
?Problem settled? ouch?? She licked her lips, tasting her own blood for the first many years.
She now has to help Reimu.
However, Reimu was doing her job rather nicely. For as she looked, some 20 over balls of seven colored light emerged from her back which stands a magic circle. Glowing brightly the balls chased after a running Kanako, clearly somehow defeated. ?She defeated a Kami!? Yukari excited opened her mouth to say.
However, her sweat rolled down, as she heard another voice not too far behind her.
?That was unnecessary waste of strength? didn?t you know sending me there is only delaying the inevitable?? Kowasu, who somehow now stood behind her, a portal of absolute darkness opened behind her that does not belong to Yukari. It was connected to no other place than Hell.
?How???
?I don?t know, all I know is that I can.? Kowasu answered, and with immediate form, a hundred miles of dirt rolled from the ground below her, forming like a giant rolling tidal wave of earth and dirt and came rushing to Yukari.
Yukari opened her barrier, but it was too late, the entire town was sent flying above her, falling like meteor fragments as trees, buildings, cars, electric poles, various objects all fell to her direction and rained down like a rain of death.
?Why don?t you give up?? Kowasu mocked, not the least bit tired, even with so many usages of her abilities, she did not even look like she was fighting serious at all! ?You can?t defeat me.?
Yukari gulped, and looked ahead? could this be? She? Lost to a common Kami?
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(Moments before)
Reimu looked, Yukari?s lasers has stopped, the giant earthworm is reacting by stretching out its skin, forming some kind of battle armor that clasped around it like a shield as thick as 3 layers of its hide. It is amazing at how some youkai Kami are able to resist so much.
?Do not force my hand, Hachisaka? I know you are a God deep down inside, you have the virtue of the holy ones who are in the heavens, do not force me to take you down because of such needless evil deeds.?
?You don?t know anything Reimu of Hakurei!? Hachisaka yelled back in angry response, shifting her armored skin to roll up, and once again covering her entire body, which is about 20 feet long; she charged for Reimu.
Her face is marred cleanly in all directions by Reimu?s needles which quickly disappear as it punctures the layers of armors; the only problem is that Reimu?s attack sees no effect, as the skin like armor only repaired as quickly as she can cause any decent damage to it.
?This hide is the hide of the Hideryu Kami, you cannot even hope to match it with your measly God?s blessing.?
?I didn?t say I have a reliable God did I? This are MY powers, and I have a lot more to spare.? Reimu swirled, and like before, fans of talismans slipped out magically under her sleeves, and from them they glowed brightly like miniature suns were installed on them.
?Mystical Exorcism Dance: Flower of the Eastern Lobby!? With this, Reimu declared and sent what appears to be a blast of powerful wind around her swirling into pink and red colored flower petals, rolling about in a raging tornado as wide as the street can handle but 4 or 5 times its height.
Her spell carried her, still standing on her orbs which shot the needles that kept Kanako at a safe distance before, and she jumped, turning about in 4 turns as she swirled her sleeves about her. The wind followed as though listening to her orders or movements, and hundreds if not thousands of these petals turned into small squarish looking charms, flying straight for Kanako.
They are sharp, sharp as knives and they punctured mercilessly at Kanako?s hide. She howled a bit, there must be some pain, indicating she feels the effect.
Reimu kept on shooting the talismans to graze her skin, but her real intention was hidden as they only cut her. ?You call this an attack?!? Kanako roared furiously, and from her almost unending trail of a throat, fireballs of molten rock came spewing out and flying to attack at Reimu. Reimu sidestepped, and lifted two of her Yin-Yang orbs that encircled her to before her, forcing an ?8? shaped shield as they are each arranged vertically and trailing a magic line that formed the letter ?8?.
The balls of fire and molten rock hit them, breaking apart. From below however, Reimu suddenly realized that Kanako is now there; it dawned to her that Kanako wasn?t attacking her, rather, it was a decoy. Those fireballs are a part of her, and she used them to avoid this attacking Persuasion Needles!
From below, Kanako rushed upwards, intending to swallow Reimu in one swell swoop. Reimu smiled.
?Declare, Demon Sealing Exorcism Dance!? She rushed downwards, and with Kanako?s loud movements, she didn?t manage to hear Reimu?s declaration, and only allowed Reimu to went inside her throat.
A blow of light formed, like a thousand explosives wired to a single switch being flicked on, the power of several thousands of those explosives instantly happened as Reimu spun with such ferocity and speed aided by her orbs which surround her and were swallowed as well sprayed a million if not more explosive talisman charms which blew apart Kanako from the inside.
?ARRRGGGHHHHHKKKKK!!!!? Kanako howled, desperately twitching as she tries to force Reimu out of her, but it was too late. Her insides are vulnerable, and like piercing knives, they cut through her and blasted her hide wide open; destroying her digestive tracts, her lungs and her everything else inside mercilessly. She coughed out blood, but inside Reimu continued her rampage, and before long, her lower body fell down, cut in half by the swift fanning of the talisman charms which flew from Reimu and exploded her inner tracts.
Like a defeated giant, despite her capabilities to use molten rock and even lava? she had been defeated? by a mere human.
Her pride is wounded, and worse still, she is now dangerously grazing the border of death.
Even Kamis can die, such wounds inflicted by holy spells, coming from another worshipper or believer, will pollute her body so much she cannot recover no matter how much time is given.
From the ground, Reimu mercilessly cut open the stomach, and came out. She is clean still, protected by a thin barrier that keeps her from being soaked by stomach enzymes and fluids of Kanako?s insides. It was something unorthodox, and this is the first time she did it, effective and deadly. She learned this best from her Grandmother, who is both her mentor before her own mother ever cared for her. In her guidance, she learned many traits, though she never used them in governing Gensokyo?s peace, she knows that when push comes to shove, she can do the most dastardly things that ensure her victory.
Likewise, Kanako was lynched, and she wriggled now under her feet. ?How?can a human?be so strong???
?And how can a Kami be so weak?? Reimu returned the question, further giving Kanako a blow in her mental defeated state.
?I am not weak?? Kanako tried to refute, but it is a fact, she had lost to a human worshipper.
?You weren?t before? it is only natural, now that you have allowed your virtue to sink so low that you lost your own faith. You were once a Yamato God, but you lost your position when you allowed the greed of power to contaminate you? installing yourself as a deity here was unsuitable, and then next you were sealed by a great priest under the shrine of Kanako am I correct?? Reimu took an educated guess, and without wrong at that, Kanako only writhed in silence: her reply was clear.
Reimu has got it right.
Kanako here, whatever Godly status she had before, is nothing more than a youkai worm now. True as she may be when she defeated Kowasu so many eons ago she was a dignified Kami then, she is turned into a greedy Kami and lost her virtue as one, which degraded and further contaminated her until she became an enshrined youkai?
When Kowasu was sealed, she ran.
She tried to hide from the Priest that summoned the Celestials to seal Kowasu, but she didn?t get far. After all? the priest wasn?t just a Jizou, the priest was a Jizou who became the guiding figure for his land. When he did then, he was elevated to become a Bodhisattva; referring to the fact the Priest whose real name was unknown to foul beings like herself has became an enlightened one. There are only two things more fearsome than Kamis or Celestials to a powerful youkai or demons, and that is a Boddhisattva and Buddha.
Bodhisattvas* unlike Buddha and do not always take a path of non-violence. Some like the Vaisravana* for example, are battle hardened deities whose goals in their eternal existence is to banish the evils upon all three realms: the heaven, the earth and hell itself. One sword swing from the Vaisravana*, and not even an Oni can live, their existences will be forcefully converted, and turned into one of the many heavenly beings above the heavens, condemning them to a path of meditation and without any desire or lust. The others are like Daigan Jizou Bosatsu* whose existence serves as the guiding light in hell, the power to banish all darkness regardless of how powerful the evil is, can break demonic wills and shatter them into nothingness with a mere swing of his nimbus staff.
Their identity can always be detected when the glowing halo behind their head shines, and as it is, when they do descend from the heavens above, they always do because the light of the earth can never match their glowing embodiments of virtue. Kanako remembered when she was sealed, the way that Priest?s eyes were so full of sadness, for the fallen God, herself. He begged for her to refuse temptation, yet because she refuses to accept that and become a Bodhisattva herself, in preference for reverence and human fear in the land of Suwa which has unlimited holy energy, she was banished.
In her place, the Priest picked a snake to sit upon her shrine, giving her the exact same name as herself. The Bodhisattva then left, happily returning to sit in his shrine and meditate till He becomes a Buddha himself when his eternal work is done.
She twitched now, admitted defeat.
?I was right?? Reimu began, ?You were once a Kami, a dignified one? then you lost your virtue. That means? that Kowasu should be the same. This can only mean one thing? you two were telling lies!?
Kanako twitched, yet again, she is right.
?Yes? you are correct.?
?This disease that spread among all of mankind is not your fault? they are unrelated incidents??
?No, that is wrong, it is my work? my ability is to manipulate diseases? I can??
?No you can?t. You are merely one factor in a string of coincidences, this is all something the humans of this side cooked up and caused their own demise.? Reimu explained.
?How do you know for sure??
?Not once did you use your insect poison at me, despite me waiting for you to do it.? Reimu paused, ?not that I want you to, but I expected you to have that, instead, you used fire, and molten rock? it was clear to me whatever Kowasu mistaken you to have become after eating all those insects and youkai trapped inside her when she put you inside her body? you never changed, you weren?t powerful enough to shed your youkai being??
?You? you can?t deny me like this?? Kanako refuted.
?Then infect me, go ahead, use this virus that you see around you causing the humans to run amok and infect me, I dare you.? Reimu did just that, disengaging her barrier, she stood in front of Kanako?s hated vision.
Kanako tried to use her power, but she couldn?t. She didn?t see the effects, the youkai power she thought she had was not there, there is nothing happening. Reimu smiled slightly, ?So? in the end, you were just used? you foolish youkai, thinking someone could save you, thinking you could turnaround your fate because you can escape??
?I absorbed the energies of Suwa?s great source! I should have changed back into a Kami!!? Kanako stood, slowly regaining her human form, only without the Kanako outlook before, and stood plainly in her plainest attire and tattered ones at that.
?You cannot become a Kami by just eating out of open palms? a Kami is created by the gathering of holy energy into natural things, youkai that become Kami must be enshrined by priests or monks, beasts that become Kami must go through a phase of meditative existence? you did not do any of those? you are a fool?? With this explanation from Reimu, Kanako collapsed to her knees.
She is defeated?
Everything she knew was a lie.
Everything she believed in, was never the truth. She was guided by her nose, by the lies her enemy spread.
?Then I will tell you one thing, in exchange for my life? if you spare me??
?Go ahead, but I can?t guarantee what I might or might not do.? Reimu sighed, ?After all, you are a dangerous misguided youkai, but I can offer you to enter Gensokyo.?
?Kowasu? something happened to her that night when she returned? I don?t know if I was wrong or just the heat of the moment, but she had??
Her conversation trailed off, as a powerful tidal wave of stone and debris rolled high over them.
Kowasu!
Her attack is heading over their way?
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