Chapter 90: That Boy is a Monster
AN: I feel like I've learned a few new writing skills here and there thanks to Cursed Communication (my other fic if you're unaware, should totally go check it out), so don't be surprised if you notice some new style alterations.
Also, the term Asura will now be switched with "Ashura" instead since that's the correct term I was supposed to be using, apologies.
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Alduin Buné's Perspective (First-Person)
I feel cold.
The feeling is unpleasant, it's as if I'm experiencing the philosophical equivalent of rummaging through your pants only to be met with the absence of your wallet or phone.
I know why the feeling's there, I made a trade with my Mother's Demonic Ki in exchange for the power to come out of that battle not only alive, but the victor, as the two corpses laid around my feet would affirm: Georg, and the other one whose name I can't seem to recall.
Oh well, there's a more pressing issue weighing on me.
I can't quite seem to remember what it is that I've lost, all I know is that something's gone, nothing more. Which is an experience no less uncomfortable to soak in than the coldness itself, which I appear to have temporarily satiated upon consuming Georg's resentment.
But the feeling will return, I know it will. It's simply a matter of time before this coldness I've obtained demands another spark to warm it up again.
Moreover, my Mother's voice decided to just up and disappear. I can reach out to the Demonic Ki meandering through my meridians all I want, her sentience just isn't there anymore. Not in my mindscape, soul, or anywhere else. After I accepted her offer she just up and vanished.
It's a shame… I could really use her counsel right about now, but if I have to find the answers I seek on my lonesome then so be it. It's not the time for me to be a Mama's boy. I have a frustratingly active and occupied mindscape, now seems like the perfect time to put it to good use.
Oh, and there's one other thing I ought to inspect before returning to Serafall and Yasaka.
I held out my palm, suspended, flat, and horizontal and began to conjure a cluster of moisture particles in the air which I bound together with a mere thought to create an impromptu mirror in front of me. I caught a glimpse of myself in the blood puddle pooled around my heels, and I got a fairly strong impression that this transformation of mine resulted in a makeover.
A permanent one.
"Mm, that's quite the hair-do alright," I voiced my inner musings aloud. My digits gently tracing against locks that were once wild, spiked, and ashen—now smooth, dignified, and bright green. The exact same as hers, down to the color's hex code.
I could've sworn my pupils looked a little different earlier, but I guess they returned to normal once I stopped actively using Demonic Ki.
"It suits you—"
Now there's a voice I haven't heard in a while.
"You look like a proper handsome devil now, refined and all. A real lady-killa'! Hehe."
Unamused, my eyes went half-lidded. "I don't suppose you have something of actual substance to tell me? Seeing as you've finally decided to grace me with your voice and all?"
"Hey, I don't meddle where I'm not needed. And you know full well that you can come here whenever you please, if you want to talk directly, I'm only a meditation session away."
"And so is 'she'."
An inward, knowing chuckle reverberated throughout my brain.
"Yes, and so is 'she'. She's improved a great deal thanks to you, just to keep you up-to-date."
"Good for her," I replied with a purposefully palpable serving of sarcasm. "I'll be booking that meditation session soon, but in the meantime, there are some affairs I need to get in order."
I pushed my left foot downwards into the concrete, solidifying my foothold, a soon-to-explode gale whirling around my feet as I prepared to propel myself to the headquarter's front gate in one swift step. Both the instinctual and mechanical control I felt over my demonic power was practically alien even to myself, as if I had suddenly reawakened as some legendary Magician of old.
There were things I just understood better than before. It was hard to describe, but the power I had utilized against Georg and his friends attested to the change being about as real as the oxygen in the atmosphere. Absolutely irrefutable.
I wonder, did the knowledge my demonic apparition of a mother possessed somehow get assimilated with my own?
No, it's probably not theoretical knowledge since my head would be crammed with a monsoon of Lilith-knows-what by now if that were the case. It must be something that's running in the background.
I'll confront the issue head-on once I'm back in my mindscape.
All it took was a fwoosh, and I covered all the distance I needed to arrive at the West Yōkai Faction's doorstep. The feat was considerably more effortless than I remembered, honestly, it almost felt like an insult to myself to call it a 'feat' at all. People didn't hand out awards just for breathing in oxygen and letting out carbon dioxide.
Or so I hope.
"Alduin!" Serafall yelped, stood in the center of the faction's front court with four, ice-cased humans laid around her feet. Humans, I gathered, hailing from the same group as Georg, Cao Cao, and the little one. The fact that they had been captured alive was a clear indication that she planned to hold them for interrogation.
Good. The fact that a trio of Sacred Gear users just so happened to be working together can't have been a coincidence, something more organized has to be going on behind the scenes.
"There were three of them. I managed to execute two, the wielder of Dimension Lost and another member whose powers were never displayed. One got away, the leader of the group, he wields True Longinus. The supposed strongest Sacred Gear."
I kept my explanation curt and smile, eager to hurry onwards and find myself somewhere tranquil to meditate.
"Huh— W-Wait! W-What?! True Longinus?!" She stammered, her blinks rapid and breath hastened as she tried to make heads or tails of my words.
Strange, I don't see any real reason for him to act all befuddled. Wasn't my explanation clear enough?
"The threat's over. I trust you and Yasaka will be able to handle all the necessary negotiations between yourselves? I'd like to find somewhere quiet in the meantime to handle a few internal affairs," I walked past her, my spatial awareness creating a mindmap of the headquarter's layout to discern the most optimal area for meditation.
Although, with how noisy this place is bound to be post-attack, perhaps it'd be better for me to wander the outskirts of Urakyoto for a more secluded location.
"H-Hold on just a second! What happened to your hair?!" She yelled from my rear.
I rolled my eyes, overcome with a newfound disdain for having to explain things people should be able to figure out at a glance. "It's a different color and texture now, that's all."
I brushed her off and continued to step forward, she'll learn all she'll need to through interrogating the four humans she iced anyway. I myself didn't learn much about the group in the first place, save for a few personal dynamics that existed between a now-deceased tactician and his commander.
Now then, where should I settle down to—
"Sallos-dono! Sallos-dono!"
I stopped. The high-pitched voice of a girl, or in my eyes, another obstruction hitting my ear canals at full force. Her presence and lifeforce was so similar to Yasaka's that she could be naught but a direct family member, a daughter, I would presume.
"Sallos-dono! Mother said you'd teach me how to make ice!" And there she was, a Mini-Yasaka running towards me with her nine, fluffy white-tipped tails wagging in the air, armed with the strange belief that I had agreed to mentor her in something.
"Kunou. Behave."
But 'Kunou's' charge was cut short when a much larger trailer of the same design extended outwards from headquarter's entrance, coiling around the girl's waist and pulling her back to the side of none other than Yasaka herself, who happened to be staring at me with a profound wariness.
I see. The other Yōkai here can't perceive my Demonic Ki, can they? Not as long as I don't use it actively. But she's the exception. Even as I do my utmost to keep it concealed, she's still able to detect its presence. Is that simply because she's the strongest Yōkai here? I doubt it's a Kyuubi trait, her daughter would be able to sense it too if that were the case. It's probably a byproduct of being connected to the Leylines or some blessing the Shinto Pantheon bestowed upon her.
"But why? You said he'd teach me!" Kunou pouted, clearly aggrieved about whatever she and her Mother had discussed about me.
"I said he might teach you, that's no reason for you to rush him down with no prior courtesy." She looked up at me and offered an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry about my daughter, Sallos-dono. She tends to get a bit excited when anything magical's brought into the equation."
I offered her no verbal response, I simply stared at her in silence. My way of making it clear that I saw through the faux amiability she was trying to maintain towards me. I could see it clear as day, the terror she experienced when her daughter tried to approach me.
She wanted me distanced, especially from her daughter of all people.
It's not that I don't understand the concern, I semi-know what I am. If I see an opportunity to harvest someone's negativity, especially once the satiation from consuming Georg wares off—
I can't see a version of myself that'd hesitate to grab the chance.
"I suppose some congratulations are in order," Yasaka continued, her gaze less suppressed than before. "You've overcome your blight, Sallos-dono."
It's more like the exact opposite's happened.
"Thank you," I nodded appreciatively, my decision to approach the two of them causing Yasaka's posture to visibly tighten up. As if she were a cat I was getting close to with a spray bottle of water in hand. "Your daughter wishes to learn how to create ice, correct?"
Before she could speak, Kunou opened her mouth. "Yes! Mother said you could teach me how to make ice with Ki! I wanna do it like Leviathan-dono!"
Amused, I let out a chuckle. "Indeed, it is indeed possible to harness the elements through Ki with Nature Transformations," an area which I don't believe I have any experience in whatsoever, but somehow understand in great detail as if it were the back of my hand.
"Nature Transformations?" Curiously, she tilted her head. Clearly never having heard of the term before.
"The elements are basic applications of life, thus, they are intertwined with Ki which runs through all living things." I held out my hand and displayed four cycles: a wisp of fire, particles of rock, a gentle gale, and a buoyant bubble of water. All activated through Ki, not demonic power. "Unlike what Serafall does, Nature Transformations are channeled through the understanding of basic processes. Combustion into fire. Pressure into rock. The sun's uneven heat into wind. The chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen into water."
Most people her age wouldn't understand what I was trying to suggest, no matter how much I dumbed-down the terminology, but she seemed to be catching on. The sparkle in her eyes was of that comprehensive wonder, not mere marvelment at some unfathomable spectacle.
Not bad. Mother would like this one. She's at least a hundred times smarter than I was at her age.
"If you want to understand ice, I'd suggest starting with water. Nature Transformation requires mechanical practice and ability just as much as it does theoretical understanding." I won't hand-hold, whether or not she can figure out the rest is up to her. "Now then," I looked up at Yasaka. "Would you mind finding me somewhere secluded while you and Serafall go about your business?"
"Of course," she was more than happy to get me out of her and her daughter's hair.
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Right about now, Serafall and Yasaka were supposed to be back in the headquarter's central chamber, discussing the terms of an alliance between the Underworld and West Yōkai Faction now that the Dimension Lost ushered attack on them was over.
Only the first half of the statement held true.
"He's different," Serafall began. "His demonic power still tells me he's him, but my instincts know otherwise. That's not the same Alduin that entered that mist."
She hadn't forgotten what he had told her upon his return. True Longinus. The Sacred Gears of all Sacred Gears. The Holy Spear Saint Longinus used to impale Jesus Christ himself, soaking the armament in the Son of God's blood and blessing with the single greatest concentration of Holy Power a human could ever hope to wield, and a devil could ever have the misfortune of coming face-to-face with.
Alduin was strong, but he wasn't unbeatable. Facing that spear alone was one thing, but doing so when he was forcibly cut off from Ki? And going up against the wielder of Dimension Lost or whomever the third figure present was? That was the standard equation for death. Plain and simple.
Whenever True Longinus emerged, a hoard of devil casualties was bound to follow. It was basic cause and effect. Serafall was glad he didn't become another tally to that statistic, withal, she feared he had given up something unbelievable in order to avoid that fate.
"I don't think you realize how correct you are, Serafall." Yasaka confirmed, her understanding of Alduin's change wasn't just a gut-feeling, it was cold, accurate logic. She saw what she saw. All the blackness of resentment swimming through his meridians. Clear as day. Irrefutable. "It may have happened as some last ditch effort to save himself, but the facts are the facts. He's become the same manner of creature as his Mother, a budding calamity my benefactors are eyeing with increased caution and readied blades."
Serafall's breath sharpened, by 'benefactors', it was clear Yasaka was referring to the Shinto Pantheon.
"What do you mean, 'creature'?" More than anything, she wanted to understand what on earth it was that her employee had become. If she did, maybe it'd be possible to fix him. A conclusion she had already decided was necessary with no further deliberation.
"What else could I mean?" Yasaka raised her oval eyebrows, appalled that Serafall wasn't already aware. "A Demonic Ki Practitioner. Though some prefer to just refer to such existences as 'Demons' for simplicity. He channels the negative. Uses it to hurt others. Then feeds on the negativity they produce to repeat the cycle over and over again, amassing more and more power in the hopes of ascending to the realm of Ashura."
Yasaka's expression tightened, the very fact that Alduin was here alone, in the same structure as her daughter and subordinates bothered her to no end. What if he decided to target them? What if her daughter's lifeforce ended up trapped in the bottomless pit that was a Demonic Ki Practitioner's Meridians?
She couldn't stand the thought, and she couldn't allow it come to fruition. Not even over her dead body.
"My benefactors can't descend to personally deal with him as he's not a God or God-adjacent himself," not without earning the immediate ire and retaliation of other Pantheons. "However, they're willing to offer me an olive branch in the form of one of Amaterasu-sama's Three Imperial Regalia in order to exterminate the threat, and safeguard the people of Urakyoto."
"Pardon?"
Seeing that she didn't quite get the message, Yasaka continued. "Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The Grass-Cutting Sword. The divine properties of Amaterasu's blessed weapon are a natural counter to the Demonic Ki he possesses. The equivalent of Holy Power for a Demon, if you will." Her eyes sharpened, calm yet meaningful. "However, they are worried that even with that weapon, I won't be powerful enough or capable of withstanding enough of its power to emerge victorious against him."
Finally, it clicked. Serafall's eyes shrank into two, small icy dots. "Yasaka! You can't mean—!"
"Yes. Amaterasu-sama is willing to extend that loan to you in place of me, your body is powerful enough to handle far more of Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi's than mine. With its help, you can extinguish someone who is not only an innate threat to us Yōkai, but your people too."
Yasaka made no attempt to appear her usual, ever-eloquent and diplomatic self. Right now, she was acting in her full capacity as the West Yōkai Faction's head. It's Guardian. Protector. Savior. Worshipped figurehead. A chance to stop a second Martha Sallos, perhaps a version of her that'd grow to be magnitudes more problematic was on the table.
Only a fool would dance around such a vital subject.
"Shinto artifacts don't work on the same principles and mechanisms as those of the Biblical Pantheon. The power it contains won't harm you, especially if you're doing it with Amaterasu-sama's blessing. You'll be free to channel as much of it as your body can handle with no additional burden."
Yasaka hadn't mentioned it, but the matter of using it to execute the older Sallos was also on the table. The Shinto Pantheon had considered the worst-case scenario after all.
Both Mother and Son become Ashura.
But she felt it too early to bring up, it was best to handle the situation one matter at a time. Especially when it was one as delicate as this.
"Of course, if you require more support, arrangements can be—"
"ENOUGH!" Serafall's voice didn't just boom, it roared. It sent veritable chills down the spine of a woman supported by the Gods themselves. "I am here with my capacity as the Satan Leviathan to discuss a DIPLOMATIC alliance between our people. I am NOT here to discuss the execution of my own subordinate who has committed no crime. Though from your side's point of view, it appears just existing alone is enough for him to warrant death. Despite the fact that he SAVED you from a threat that would've killed us all!"
Serafall knew True Longinus would've been too much for her, she had nothing to guard herself from Holy Power of that magnitude, and the only way Yasaka survived against it and Dimension Lost was with the help of serious divine intervention from the Shinto Pantheon.
Yasaka felt her digits tremble, it wasn't easy keeping her calm in the wake of a Satan's wrath.
Moreover, she wasn't heartless. She understood the hypocrisy of the Shinto Pantheon's decision perfectly well, at the same time, she also understood the threat Alduin posed, but that didn't change the fact that he saved her people from imminent danger.
If it were up to her, she would've preferred he simply depart from Urakyoto. Death was too much.
But it wasn't up to her, it was up to those above her, both metaphorically and literally speaking. The Shinto Pantheon's word was all that mattered in the end.
"I understand, and as someone engaged in a discussion with you, I feel it only proper to truthfully convey the thoughts of my benefactors to you."
She knew she was about to say, and the exact kind of reaction it was bound to arouse from Serafall in return. But one way or another, the words needed to be spoken.
"It pains me to tell you this, but they've come to a decision regarding him, one that now extends to his Mother too." Yasaka inhaled sharply. "If either of them reach the same realm as your Lord Beelzebub and Lord Lucifer, they'll issue a formal declaration of war on the Underworld. For they cannot find it in themselves to tolerate the existence of not only one potential Ashura, but two."
Yasaka couldn't understand her benefactors' fear, she had lived for a thousand years, but even in her lifetime, no Ashura had appeared. All she knew was that they were apparently terrifying enough for the Shinto Pantheon to be willing to put an eradication label of the devil race to ensure they remained a thing of legend. A fairytale, boogeymen to scare children with.
The only thing she could tell herself for comfort was this—
They would know better.
Serafall's brow creased with animosity, it wasn't hard to discern where this conversation was bound to end up. "It sounds like you have a response planned in case I decide not to go ahead with your sudden plan to kill my own subordinate with your benefactor's fancy little toy." Her head tilted to the side, a loose strand of hair ominously falling to her lips. "Is that what this is, Yasaka? An ultimatum?"
Yasaka let out a bone-deep sigh of resignation. "Yes."
"I see," Serafall's voice sounded calm, but anyone with half a brain could tell it was anything but. "Then I suppose we're done here, it's a shame this meeting failed to bear any fruit." She stood up, prepared to wander off to find Alduin. More than anything, she needed to have a chat with him. "The four captured attackers will be taken into the Underworld's custody, and we'll decide whether or not to share our findings with you."
The central chamber's sliding door opened.
"Farewell."
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