Toshio POV
The secondary shrine's grounds reeked of death before we even crossed the threshold.
I led our group through the shattered gate.
"Stay alert," I said quietly, my hand resting on Shinjūka's hilt. "If they left traps, this is where they'd place them."
The Youkai warriors moved into formation immediately, their centuries of training evident in how smoothly they positioned themselves. Hiroshi took point with me, his burning katana already manifesting in his hands. Miyako and a Tengu Youkai flanked our group, their supernatural senses scanning for threats.
Rias, Akeno, and Kiba fell into step behind us, their demonic energy carefully controlled but ready to flare at a moment's notice. I caught Akeno's eye and saw the tension in her movements, the way her hands crackled faintly with lightning she was holding back.
"The main shrine building is ahead," Hiroshi said, his voice tight. "That's where the leyline access point is located. If Lady Yasaka made her stand anywhere, it would be there."
We moved forward as a unit, following the stone pathway that wound through what should have been a beautiful garden. Instead, we walked through a battlefield. Scorch marks marred the sacred stones, fox-fire burns mixing with demonic corruption in patterns that told a story of desperate combat. Blood splattered across traditional lanterns and painted the carefully raked gravel in abstract patterns of violence.
I counted demon corpses as we passed. Most had been reduced to ash by what looked like concentrated spiritual attacks, but enough remained intact to give me an idea of what Yasaka's forces had faced. Fallen overseers. Fallen foot soldiers. A new demon type I hadn't seen that observe revealed to be demon troopers, made up the bulk.
But still no high-ranking demons. Just like at the main shrine, all cannon fodder meant to exhaust the defenders.
My Energy Sense picked up something ahead, pulling my attention toward the main shrine building. The corruption was strongest there.
"There," I pointed toward the shrine. "The leyline node. It's still active, but the corruption is spreading quickly."
We reached the entrance to the main shrine building; the corridor leading deeper into the shrine looked worse. Bodies lined the walls, all demons.
The blood was everywhere. It soaked into the wooden and concrete floors, splattered across the walls, dripped from the ceiling in places where the fighting had been particularly brutal. The metallic scent mixed with the corruption in the air.
"Smart. They funneled the larger force into a narrow passage," I idly commented. I received a few nods.
We finally reached the inner shrine chamber, and the sight stopped us all in our tracks.
The entire room was painted red. Blood—so much blood—had soaked into every surface, staining the sacred wood and stone in a crimson that seemed to pulse with residual spiritual energy. The shrine itself, the altar where the leyline node resided, emanated that red color like it had absorbed the essence of everyone who'd died here.
"Twelve," Miyako whispered, her voice breaking slightly. "All twelve of Lady Yasaka's elite guard. They died defending this place."
"Gods," Kiba breathed beside me. "This is... this is a massacre."
I walked toward the node where 5 of the Youkai guard bodies were. I kneeled down to investigate the scene.
"These Youkai all died quickly, and so close together. An extremely powerful demon must have shown up and killed them. Maybe the one who captured Yasaka?" I mused aloud.
Fighting back tears, Miyako kneeled to close the eyes of his slain brethren.
"A solid theory. Given Yasaka-sama isn't here, they had to have been." I moved my attention to where my energy sense was picking something up, pulling my focus downward. The leyline hub I'd been sensing, it wasn't in this room. It was below us. Deep below us.
I knelt next to the red flickering node, pressing my palm flat against the blood-soaked floor, and pushed my awareness deeper. The spiritual energy signature was unmistakable now, a massive concentration of power directly beneath this shrine, maybe twenty or thirty feet down.
"Hiroshi," I called out, not taking my hand off the floor. "What's below this level? Storage? A lower chamber?"
The fox Youkai moved beside me, his expression confused. "Below? There's nothing below the main shrine. This structure sits directly on bedrock—there are no lower levels."
"That's not possible." I opened my eyes, looking up at him. "I'm sensing the leyline directly beneath us. A major concentration point, probably the actual hub that connects to the rest of Kyoto's spiritual network. It's down there."
Hiroshi exchanged glances with Miyako and the Tengu. All three looked genuinely baffled.
"There's no passage down," Miyako insisted. "This shrine has stood for centuries. We would know if there were hidden chambers."
I stood, my mind analyzing the possibilities. A hidden passage that even the Youkai didn't know about? Must have been confidential. It was likely only Yasaka and her elites knew about it. Maybe only Yasaka.
"Forgive me for the damage," I said, already channeling Reiryoku through my hands as I stepped back from the blood-soaked floor.
My fingers traced runic patterns in the air, the formulas materializing as glowing circles that overlaid each other in precise geometric configurations. I'd spent months developing this particular spell off and on with Kuroka—a controlled earth manipulation technique designed for precision rather than destruction.
The magic circles pulsed once, twice, then locked onto a circular area roughly five feet in diameter directly in front of the altar. I pushed more power into the spell, feeling the Reiryoku flow through the runic framework and into the ground below.
The effect was immediate. The concrete and stone within my target area began to vibrate, the frequency increasing until I could hear it tremble. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the center, spreading like fractured glass as the molecular bonds holding the material together weakened under the sustained oscillation.
"Given the situation, I think we can overlook a little property damage," Hiroshi said, interested in my spell.
"Stay back," I warned, increasing the power output. "Earth dismantle."
The floor gave way with a grinding crash that echoed through the chamber. Chunks of concrete and stone tumbled downward into darkness, revealing a passage that descended at a steep angle into the depths below. The vibrations had done their job perfectly, a hole made with scientific magic rather than simple explosives.
"Smart thinking," Rias said, moving beside me to peer down into the newly revealed tunnel. "Your control over human magic continues to impress."
"Lots of practice," I replied, already analyzing what I could see of the passage. The walls were smooth stone, clearly worked by hand rather than natural formation. Ancient, if the weathering patterns were any indication, but maintained with care. "This was deliberately hidden."
Akeno stepped forward, her hands weaving patterns in the air as she summoned her power. Golden lightning coalesced into a sphere of pure illumination that she sent floating down into the passage. The magical light revealed a corridor that extended far deeper than my initial breach had uncovered, the stone walls carved with intricate patterns that looked like...
"Sealing runes," Akeno observed, her violet eyes narrowing as she studied the carvings. "Very old ones. This passage was meant to be hidden from spiritual detection."
I dropped down through the opening, landing in a crouch on the stone floor below. The air down here was different; colder, heavier, and saturated with spiritual energy. My energy sense immediately picked up the leyline hub, much closer now, its power thrumming through the very walls around us.
The others followed quickly. Rias landed with supernatural grace, her crimson hair seeming to glow in Akeno's magical light. Kiba came next, then Akeno herself, her lightning sphere expanding to illuminate more of the passage. The three Youkai warriors were last, their expressions mixing shock with professional wariness.
"I can't believe this was here the entire time," Miyako whispered, her crane features sharp with confusion. "How did we not know about this?"
"Yasaka-sama must have kept it confidential," Hiroshi said grimly, his burning katana manifesting in his hands. "Only she and perhaps her most trusted advisors would have known."
"Youkai, cover the flank," I said, already moving forward down the passage. "You probably don't know where we're going down here, so stay behind us and watch for anything coming from the rear."
The three warriors exchanged glances before nodding. "Understood," Hiroshi confirmed. "We'll guard your backs."
I pushed my energy sense outward, trying to map the passage ahead, but the sheer concentration of spiritual power from the leyline hub was overwhelming.
"I'm picking up other entities down here, I think," I said quietly, my hand resting on Shinjūka's hilt. "Probably demons, but I can't pinpoint their exact locations. The leyline hub's energy is overwhelming my senses."
"Then we proceed carefully," Rias said, her voice carrying the authority of her heiress training. "Standard formation, Toshio takes point with his sensing abilities, Akeno and I provide magical support from the middle, Kiba guards the flanks, and our Youkai allies watch the rear."
We moved deeper into the passage, Akeno's magical light revealing more of the ancient construction. The corridor twisted and turned, branching off into smaller tunnels that created a labyrinth beneath the shrine. Whoever had built this had designed it to confuse intruders, to make navigation impossible without prior knowledge of the layout.
"Wait," Akeno called out suddenly, her attention fixed on the wall beside us. "Look at this."
I stopped, moving to examine what she'd found. Carved into the stone, barely visible beneath centuries of accumulated dust and grime, was a complex magical circle. The design was intricate, the runic patterns mixing demonic and spiritual energy in ways that made my skin crawl.
"Teleportation circle," Akeno said, her fingers tracing the outer edge without actually touching it. "I can't tell if it's new or old; the spiritual residue is too mixed with the ambient energy down here."
I studied the circle more carefully, using Observe to analyze its structure. The spell framework was sophisticated, designed for rapid deployment, and capable of transporting multiple entities simultaneously. Definitely demonic in origin, but whether it had been carved recently or not, I couldn't determine.
"We should probably slash them as we go," I suggested. "That way we don't get flanked by demons teleporting in behind us."
"Agreed," Rias said. "Akeno, Kiba, destroy any teleportation circles we find as we move forward."
"On it," they responded in unison.
We continued deeper into the labyrinth, the passages twisting and turning in ways that would have left me hopelessly lost without my Energy Sense to guide us toward the leyline hub. Every few dozen feet, we'd encounter another teleportation circle carved into the stone walls or floor. Akeno and Kiba destroyed each one methodically.
The air grew heavier the deeper we went, thick with spiritual energy. The walls themselves seemed to pulse with power, the ancient stone saturated with centuries of accumulated energy from the leyline flowing beneath.
"How far down does this go?" Kiba asked, his voice echoing slightly in the narrow passage.
"At least another level," I replied, my senses straining against the overwhelming presence of the leyline hub. "Maybe two. The hub itself is still below us." My initial estimate of 30 feet was clearly incorrect.
We descended a steep staircase carved directly into the bedrock, the steps worn smooth by countless footsteps over the centuries. Akeno's light sphere bobbed ahead of us, casting dancing shadows that made every corner look like it might hide an ambush.
Something was wrong here, beyond the obvious horror of what we'd found in the shrine above. The demons had been too thorough, too prepared. They'd known about this hidden passage and had known exactly how to access the leyline hub that even the Youkai hadn't been aware of.
Which meant they'd had inside information. Someone had told them.
I filed that thought away for later, focusing on the immediate threat as we reached the bottom of the stairs and entered another corridor. This one was wider, the ceiling high enough that Akeno's light couldn't quite reach it. More teleportation circles dotted the walls, and we destroyed each one as we passed.
Then I felt it, a presence ahead that made my Energy Sense recoil instinctively. Strong. Very strong. Not quite at Ghom's level, but close enough to be dangerous.
"Stop," I said quietly, raising my hand to halt our group. Everyone froze immediately, weapons and magic at the ready. "There's something ahead. Behind that door."
I pointed toward the end of the corridor, where a massive wooden door stood. It was ornate, carved with protective runes and spiritual seals that glowed faintly in the dim light. The kind of door you put in front of something important.
"Demon?" Hiroshi asked, his katana blazing brighter in response to his rising battle focus.
"Definitely," I confirmed, my hand tightening around Shinjūka's hilt. "Strong one too."
Rias moved beside me, her blue-green eyes studying the door with tactical precision. "We can handle most single enemies as a team," she said, confidence clear in her voice. "Especially if we coordinate properly."
I appreciated her confidence, but the power signature behind that door made me cautious. Whatever was waiting for us in there, it wasn't going to be a simple fight.
"Formation," I said quietly. "Rias and Akeno, prepare your strongest attacks. Kiba, be ready to engage if it tries to close distance. Youkai, support from range and watch for additional threats. If this goes south, we retreat immediately. No heroics."
Everyone nodded, falling into position. I could feel the tension radiating from the group, that electric anticipation before combat that made every sense hyperaware.
I reached for the door handle, my fingers closing around the cold metal. The power signature beyond hadn't moved, hadn't reacted to our presence despite how close we'd gotten. Either it was supremely confident or completely unaware we were coming.
I pushed the door open.
The chamber beyond was massive, easily the size of a small cathedral, carved directly from the bedrock beneath Kyoto. The ceiling soared overhead, lost in shadows that even Akeno's magical light couldn't quite penetrate. The walls were lined with those same ancient protective runes we'd seen throughout the passage.
To the side, I saw the leyline hub. It was massive in comparison to what I'd seen before. It was pulses with energy, blood red. I assumed it wasn't supposed to be that color.
And in the center of the room, completely incongruous with the ancient stone architecture surrounding it, sat an enormous gothic bed.
It was absurd. The bed looked like something out of a Victorian horror novel—ornate black wood carved with demonic imagery, deep crimson sheets that seemed to shimmer in the dim light, pillows piled high in a display of deliberate decadence. The frame rose to pointed posts at each corner, and sheer black curtains hung from them in elegant drapes.
And lounging on that bed, her body positioned in a way that could only be described as deliberately seductive, was one of the most stunningly beautiful women I'd ever seen.
My breath caught despite myself. She was tall—I could tell even with her reclining—with pale skin that seemed to glow in the magical light. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves that shifted between black, crimson, and violet depending on how the light caught them. She wore something that might generously be called a dress, though it consisted of more strategic gaps than actual fabric, revealing curves that rivaled Yasaka's.
But it was her eyes that held my attention. Golden with black sclera. Clearly a demon.
"Well, well," her voice was silk and honey, smooth enough to make my skin prickle with warning. "Visitors. How delightful."
She shifted on the bed, the movement deliberately sensual, and I felt the demonic and spiritual energy in the room shift. Not threatening, but... inviting. Welcoming. Like she was happy to see us.
"Battle formation," I said quietly, my hand tightening on Shinjūka's hilt, drawing her.
The three Youkai warriors moved immediately to the front, their weapons raised and spiritual energy flaring. Hiroshi's burning katana blazed brighter, Miyako's crane wings spread wide as wind began to gather around her, and the Tengu's staff crackled with lightning. Didn't I tell them to stay in the back?
Behind me, Rias and Akeno began gathering their power, Kiba drawing his flame sword. We formed a defensive line facing the woman on the bed.
She didn't seem concerned. If anything, her smile widened.
"Such hostility," she purred, slowly rising to her feet with movements that seemed choreographed for maximum impact. "Is that any way to greet a lady?"
She took a step toward us, and I noticed the way she moved, perfectly balanced, every motion flowing into the next with supernatural grace. Not just beautiful, but dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with physical strength.
"Stay back," Hiroshi warned, his katana pointed directly at her. "Identify yourself, demon."
"Oh, how rude." Her voice carried mock offense as she continued her slow approach, each step deliberate and measured. "I extend my hospitality, and you threaten me with violence. Where are your manners?"
Her words were wrong. Not the content, but persuasive in a way that had nothing to do with logic or reason.
"I am Aeshama," she said, her golden eyes sweeping across our group with obvious pleasure. "Bringer of pleasure, granter of desires, she who knows what you truly want." She paused, her smile becoming knowing. "And I can give it to you. All of you. Everything you've ever dreamed of."
I activated Observe, needing to know exactly what we were dealing with.
{Aeshama, Master of Illusion and Horror
Level: 178
Condition: Amused. Confident. Preparing mental assault.
Threat Level: S+ [Downgraded to C- due to skill: Gamer's Altered Mind]
WARNING: Extremely dangerous. Specializes in mind control and illusion magic. Direct confrontation inadvisable. Assassination recommended.
Descriptive Insight: High-rank succubus serving demon general Cydaea. Patient sadist who delights in breaking the strong through psychological warfare. Currently preparing to dominate entire group through combined illusion and compulsion effects.}
Fuck. Not just a demon, but a specialist in exactly the kind of combat we were least prepared for.
"Ready yourselves," I said quietly, but something was wrong with my voice. It sounded distant, muffled, like I was speaking underwater.
I glanced at Hiroshi and felt my stomach drop. His burning katana was lowering slightly, his aggressive stance softening. Beside him, Miyako's wings had stopped gathering wind, her expression becoming almost dreamy.
"Such tension," Aeshama continued, her voice wrapping around us like silk. "Such fear and anger and... oh." Her eyes fixed on Akeno, and her smile widened. "Such delicious darkness. You hide it well, little lightning bird, but I can see it. That hunger for pain, that need to both give and receive it."
"I..." Akeno's voice was breathy, her violet eyes wide and unfocused. "I wonder how good her punishment would feel."
She squirmed slightly. Akeno was getting aroused. Actually aroused by whatever this demon was doing to her mind.
"Akeno, snap out of—" I started to say, but movement caught my eye.
Aeshama raised her hand to her lips, her golden eyes locked on our group, and blew us a kiss.
The gesture was so absurdly theatrical that it took me a second to register the barely visible mist that materialized around everyone's heads. Not a physical substance, but spiritual energy so refined it was nearly invisible, wrapping around my companions like gossamer threads.
"Illusion!" I shouted, my mind snapping to full alertness. "It's an illusion attack! Everyone shield your—"
But I was too late.
Hiroshi's katana clattered to the stone floor. Miyako's wings folded, her crane features going slack. The Tengu dropped to his knees, his staff rolling away forgotten. Behind them, I saw Rias's gathered power dissipate, her blue-green eyes becoming vacant. Kiba's sword vanished as he stumbled, catching himself against the wall.
And Akeno... Akeno's entire body was trembling, her hands moving to touch herself as soft moans escaped her lips.
They were all under her control. Every single one of them was caught in whatever nightmare or fantasy Aeshama had woven into their minds.
Every single one except me.
I felt the illusion try to take hold, felt those gossamer threads of spiritual energy attempt to burrow into my consciousness, but to no avail. Gamer's Altered Mind—the passive ability that made me immune to mental manipulation and mind control.
I'd never been so grateful for a game mechanic in my life.
Aeshama's smile faltered. Just for a moment, but I saw it; confusion flickering across her perfect features.
"Interesting," she said, her voice losing some of its honeyed quality. "You resist. How?"
Like I was going to answer her. Instead, I channeled Reiryoku through Shinjūka, the spiritual energy blazing along its edge as I launched myself forward.
She was twenty feet away. I closed the distance in less than a second using Runic Shunpo, my blade aimed directly at her throat. No warnings, no hesitation. Just a clean strike meant to decapitate.
The attack should have connected. I was fast enough, had the element of surprise, and she'd made no move to dodge.
But my blade stopped inches from her neck, blocked by a staff that hadn't been there a moment before.
I jerked back and created some distance. I was beginning to grow anxious.
Three figures stood between me and Aeshama, materializing from nothing like they'd been waiting in some pocket dimension for exactly this moment. They were nightmares given form—charred, corpse-thin knights in dark plate armor and purple tabards. Their ribcages leaked furnace-glow through cracked armor, the light pulsing with each breath like they had miniature infernos burning inside them.
Hooded golden masks hid their faces, but their mouths were exposed—lipless bone that somehow still moved, somehow still breathed. Cinders fell with each exhalation, drifting to the stone floor where they sizzled and died.
They carried weapons wreathed in flame, two with polearms, one with a massive sword. Their armored feet thudded against the stone as heat shimmered around them, the temperature in the chamber rising noticeably just from their presence.
I used Observe on all three in rapid succession.
{Cimeries, The Ashborn Walker - Morlu Legionnaire
Level: 91
Threat Level: A
Descriptive Insight: Damage reflection and Poison attacks}
{Kao'Ahn, Morlu High Lord - Morlu Legionnaire
Level: 99
Threat Level: A+
Descriptive Insight: Fast}
{Oah'Tash, The Impenetrable Bulwark - Morlu Legionnaire
Level: 88
Threat Level: A-
Descriptive Insight: Molten hot, high defense}
Morlu Legionnaires. I'm assuming elite demon warriors, each one individually likely capable of taking on mid- to high-class devils. And I was facing three of them simultaneously while my entire team was incapacitated.
This was going to be a tough fight.
"Deal with him," Aeshama said dismissively, already turning her attention back to my paralyzed companions. "I have new toys to play with, and make sure you don't ruin my fun. You won't like what happens to you~."
The fast one attacked first, and I barely dodged.
She walked past the other two Morlu, her hips swaying with each step, and approached Akeno first. I watched in alarm as she reached out, trailing one perfectly manicured nail down Akeno's cheek.
"No!" I started to move toward them, but Cimeries's polearm slammed down where I'd been standing a split second before. The weapon hit stone with enough force to crater the floor, flames spreading outward from the impact point.
I rolled away, coming up with Shinjūka raised defensively as all three Morlu moved to surround me. They moved with coordinated precision, cutting off my angles of escape, forcing me away from where Aeshama was now circling my paralyzed teammates like a predator examining prey.
Kao'Ahn struck, his flaming sword coming in fast from my right. I parried, feeling the impact reverberate up my arm, and immediately had to duck as Oah'Tash's polearm swept over my head. The heat from the flames was intense enough to singe my hair.
Cimeries came in low, his own polearm aimed at my legs. I used Shunpo to avoid the strike, appearing five feet to the left, but they adjusted immediately. No hesitation or confusion, just instant tactical repositioning.
These weren't mindless demons. They were trained warriors, and they'd clearly fought together before.
I needed to go all out.
"Unchain the Repressed, Shinjūka."