"Ah, you poor things... are you alright?" Mai spoke, his voice dripping with sudden, gentle concern as he swept past his lieutenants, reaching the edge of the vessel before anyone else could close the distance.
But as he stepped onto the damp wood of the port, the rancid, heavy stench of stagnant blood, sweat, and fear wafting from the cabin hit him. Mai's jaw tightened, a subtle gag catching in his throat before he forced his serene expression back into place.
'Ha... just as I thought. There are still truly kind people left in the world,' Tsushimamaru thought, his shoulders dropping in immense relief.
"Please, noble warriors," Tsushimamaru pleaded, pointing a massive, trembling hand back across the dark water toward the looming silhouette of the Sanctuary. "You must help us. All of the villagers who have been disappearing across the region... they are being kept inside that horrific place."
"Really? You don't say..." Mai responded, his voice remarkably soft, almost soothing. "And tell me... was there an Ubume residing within that place as well?"
"Ah! Yes, there is!" Tsushimamaru blurted out, too consumed by panic and hope to even wonder how this stranger knew of the beast. "How did you—"
"Wow... incredible. So it's true! Mai-dono managed to locate the Ubume's lair without any trouble at all," the troops behind him began to whisper among themselves, their admiration for their commander deepening.
"Well, I see you have many heavily wounded people aboard," Mai said smoothly, his dark eyes cutting past the giant to scan the interior of the raft. His gaze lingered coldly over the trembling, pregnant women huddled in the back, before finally settling on the young boy hiding fearfully behind the giant's massive back. "Why don't we help all of you get off this vessel?"
"That would be a greater mercy than we deserve," Tsushimamaru said, his voice thick with gratitude. "If you could only help us reach the nearby village... I know a skilled healer there who can treat them."
"A healer, ha?" Mai's lips twitched into a small, practised smile. "Yes... Why don't we do exactly that? I will personally assign some of my people to escort you and the survivors back to the safety of the village."
"Ha... truly, I will be forever in your debt!"
Overjoyed by the apparent generosity, the giant turned back toward the cabin and carefully reached inside to lift Orihime. As he gently pulled the weak woman out into the dim twilight, the heavy fabric of her blanket shifted, and Mai's sharp eyes caught a sudden glimpse of a familiar, white and purple silk.
The gentle, saviour-like facade vanished from Mai's face for a brief moment. His eyes narrowed into slits, and his voice shot out like a cracked whip, sharp and venomous.
"Ha... What is that? Where exactly did you get that garment?"
Tsushimamaru blinked, startled by the sudden, freezing drop in the commander's tone. "Oh, this? Another warrior group reached us in the marshes before you did. I believe I heard his companions address him as... Yorimitsu."
The moment the giant uttered that name, Mai's ears perked, his entire posture stiffening as his soft voice sharpened with frantic interest. "Ohhhh... and where exactly is he now?"
"The last I saw of him, he was locked in a brutal battle against a monstrous woman who could fly," Tsushimamaru answered honestly, gesturing vaguely toward the looming shadows across the water.
'Tch... Yorimitsu found the beast before me! Mai's jaw clenched, his mind racing with furious calculation. I have to get to that battlefield immediately.'
Without wasting another single second on pleasantries, Mai barked a series of cold, rapid commands. He ordered the remaining survivors to vacate the boat immediately. One by one, the trembling, weak villagers dragged themselves out of the cabin and onto the damp sand of the riverbank.
As the chaotic evacuation began, Miasaki stepped close to Mai's side once more, her voice a murmur beneath the noise. "Take Byakuya and the primary vanguard force with you. I will stay behind and look after these refugees," she spoke, already turning her back on the water.
With that, the cohort efficiently separated into two distinct units: the heavy combatants charging directly toward the heart of the Sanctuary with Mai, and a smaller guard detail remaining on the shoreline under Miasaki's command to manage the injured.
'I don't know if Mai's arrogance is blinding him, but that place across the water is utterly foul,' Miasaki thought to herself, her eyes narrowing as she looked toward the dark horizon.
Reaching into her heavy silk sleeve, her fingers brushed against her hidden companion, a small, rare Golden Mole that she carried as a spiritual familiar. Ever since they had crossed the threshold of the shrine door, the creature had been trembling uncontrollably against her skin, terrified of the massive aura dominating the domain.
'But if I can successfully shepherd these lost citizens back to their villages and have them healed... I am sure to gain some merit,' her brilliant mind calculated, then a cold, satisfied smile graced her lips as she watched Mai's group vanish into the dense, brooding fog of the Sanctuary.
'Ahhhh, it is indeed hard to be a woman. I have to work hard so I don't get discarded as such.'
...
And while the young elites of the Capital spun their webs of ambition on the shore, deep within the shadows of the Sanctuary.
...
"Well then, let us dance and enjoy our fleeting time together before the ritual is complete," Orochi purred. His intent seemed to physically extend out from the heavy musk of the chamber, thick and writhing like the colossal tongue of a great serpent.
'Ha...is it Lust Now?' Yorimitsu noted grimly, recognising the volatile, suffocating nature of his opponent's power.
Charging forward with explosive speed, Yorimitsu drove his blade straight down the centre. The steel clashed violently against Orochi's jade blade, but instead of locking into a standard contest of strength, Orochi's wrist moved with fluid, serpentine grace. He deftly redirected the momentum, pushing Yorimitsu's sword downward until the tip dug deep into the floor. Seizing the opening, Orochi lunged forward with a palm strike that hummed violently with concentrated Reiryoku.
Reacting on pure instinct, Yorimitsu completely let go of his hilt. Planting his foot firmly against the dull side of his stuck blade, he kicked off it with immense force, launching himself backwards to escape the blast radius.
But Orochi pursued him at the same blinding speed. He swung his jade blade in a rapid, flowing arc, the weapon moving so fast it left a deceptive trail of afterimages in its wake.
"Shit..." Yorimitsu muttered, his gaze darting frantically across the arena in search of any tactical advantage.
An idea sparked. Stamping his heel down with immense, concentrated force, he shattered the floor. A row of heavy jade tiles tore upward, creating a makeshift stone barrier directly in the sword's path. Orochi's blade cut cleanly through the solid jade as if it were nothing but silk tofu, but that split-second obstruction was all the spacing Yorimitsu needed.
Forming a rapid hand seal, he began to chant his escape technique. "Fleeting Shad—"
"Oh, no, you don't," Orochi cut him off, his voice dripping with venomous amusement.
Before the technique could manifest, Orochi's boot slammed heavily onto the edge of Yorimitsu's shadow on the floor. Instantly, paralyzing force bound Yorimitsu's feet, rendering him completely stuck to the spot for a few agonising moments.
"How did that technique of yours go again? Oh, right..." Orochi mocked, his free hand suddenly becoming cloaked in a swirling vortex of dark flame.
"Severance."
Turning his palm vertically, he snapped it forward. A razor-sharp arch of black fire shot from his hand, tearing through the air directly toward the pinned commander.
"Oh? You actually managed to break my shadow possession," Orochi mused, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his elegant features.
The razor-sharp arch of black fire shot forward, tearing through empty air. Yorimitsu was already gone, reappearing a few paces away from the impact zone, his sandals skidding across the fractured ground. Behind him, Orochi's Severance strike sliced cleanly through several distant structural pillars and sanctuary buildings that stood in its path. The ancient wood and stone instantly ignited, roaring with unquenchable black flames.
"Ohhhh... truly marvellous, just like Kagutsuchi." Orochi purred, turning his head slowly toward Yorimitsu. His eyes gleamed with a predatory light, his voice sounding deeply, ravenously hungry. "Where exactly did you learn such a flawless martial skill?"
"Hufff... hufff..."
Yorimitsu's breath came heavy and ragged, his chest heaving as his eyes remained locked onto his opponent. 'The bastard managed to read and adapt to my martial movements with a single glance,' he realised, his mind racing frantically.
It was true that Yorimitsu possessed a legendary talent; he could mimic other sorcerers' Onmyōdō arts after seeing them just once. But there was a vital, dangerous difference between copying a spell and copying a physical martial skill. A spell could be mimicked even if the execution wasn't flawless; a high-level martial skill, however, could not be wielded without total mastery of the body's muscle memory and energy flow. Orochi wasn't just mimicking the forms; he was perfectly assimilating them he had better control over then even.
'Hufff... hufff... As long as he is completely indulgent in the emotion of Lust, he will only fight me using martial arts,' Yorimitsu analysed, sweat dripping down his brow. 'It's a terrible idea to show him any more of my forms. If he manages to learn everything I know, I'm dead.'
"What? You won't tell me, ha?" Orochi sighed, a look of profound boredom suddenly washing over his face.
As he spoke, the magnificent jade sword in his right hand began to crack. With a soft, brittle hiss, the entire weapon crumbled into fine emerald dust, slipping through his fingers and scattering into the wind.
"Ha... I guess that one couldn't handle my power either," Orochi lamented, staring down at his empty palm with a theatrical pout. "I'm so sad now. Why does everything in this world break so damn easily?"
"Ha?!"
Yorimitsu's eyes widened in sudden alarm. He instinctively took a defensive step back as the very air around them grew cold.
'His Reiryoku aura... it changed again.'