Finally, after a few more minutes of walking, we reach the city.

I find it surprisingly normal, at least in comparison to what I thought it would be. The houses seem to have an old Japanese theme, and do not seem out of place despite being underground. Buildings stack upon buildings in many places; utilizing the natural bumps and ridges of the cave floor. These crowded streets are lit with brilliant lanterns. It is bright enough to where I feel comfortable not using the flashlight here.

As we slowly walk through the entrance of the town and into the city, I take a look around at the shops and stalls lining this street. Dealers offering all kinds of specialty foods, rare commodities, and exotic collectibles stand along the street and offer their wares to passersby. It's odd overall.

But even stranger are the residents. There are many youkai here, all kinds that I don't know. There are also quite a few oni as well. From tough looking monster ogres like the one I met, to more human-like people. There are also several winged and magically skilled youkai who have the ability to fly easily hovering above the crowded streets. Others use their powers in strange ways to get around, including teleportation and phasing through walls. It's all a busy and chaotic mess.

I chance using my devil's sight here, and am nearly blinded by the sheer amount of magic here. There are a lot of strong and potentially dangerous people here, and I have to wade through it.

You are very near your objective. But you must find your way.

Yeah… I need to find that hell raven.

I spot what looks like a winged girl right away, but she doesn't look any special from the other few walking around this road. I can't go around asking every single important looking person I see or I'll never get anywhere.

Hmm… I need some kind of information hotspot. Some place I can go to ask for directions or information.

"Well we're here! Thanks for bringing me."

That was Yamame. I turn to face her. She's standing a bit off to the side now, ready to set off down a side road and leave us.

I ask one more question. "Sure. One last thing before you go? Can you tell me where I might find some info? I need to do some searching."

She thinks. "Well… you can always go to a bar. I know the oni can be a little… you know. But they're a friendly people when they have alcohol in them. You can always try asking one of them. Other than that… there's the Palace of Earth Spirits. The palace doesn't usually have visitors, but you can always try. The satori master there is pretty smart I hear."

Let's try the oni. "Thanks. I think I'll ask around town first."

"Sure thing. Well, I'm going now so…"

I give a slight smile and wave goodbye. "Alright. Good to have you. Bye then."

Cirno enthusiastically waves. "Bye!"

"Goodbye Yamame." Letty says without a wave.

Yamame waves back as she walks off. "Bye you three! Good luck!"

With that, she leaves and blurs into the distant crowd.

I turn back to Cirno and Letty. "Well. Ready to keep going."

Cirno glances around in awe. "Look at all these buildings though… where do we start?"

Letty is a bit nervous as well. "I must admit, I've never been in a city before. I'm not quite sure what would be the best place for this."

"Well… first things first, if we're going to be splitting up, and I assume we still are, then we need a meeting place. Let's keep going and see if we can find a landmark." I suggest.

They agree with that and we head deeper into the city, with Letty and Cirno sticking close to me to avoid the crowd.

Well, it was warmer down here a second ago… I think with a slight shiver.

Suddenly, someone comes barreling down the street ahead, yelling loudly in warning.

"Coming through!"

Whoever this person is, they seem to be in some kind of rush. More importantly, they seem to be carrying something very heavy.

I quickly step aside and pull the two girls aside with me. We only barely avoid getting crushed by this stranger as they go roaring by. I only caught a faint glimpse of red hair and dark clothes as they pass.

Whoever that was, they are gone now. I notice no one seemed to think that strange, and everyone is already going about their business.

Hm. Must be a common thing here?

It matters not. This city is full of lesser filth that whose suffering is worth little. I have no patience for this place. Hurry forward. There seems to be a place where you can get a navigational foothold here.

I notice what he is talking about right away. Ahead is a large round plaza. Looking back, I can see the now distant entrance from here, so that should help it stand out location wise. There is also a small clock statue with a ticking clock that say eleven fifteen. This should work as a landmark.

I lead us off to the side of the plaza and set the girls in front of me. "Ok. Let's meet up here. I'm going off to look for some info while you do your winter thing. I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll try and be back here as quick as I can. Don't spend all day out there, keep checking back here very hour or so. Oh, and don't cause trouble either. Got all that? Now… what are you going to do?"

Letty smiles. "Bring winter of course. Cirno, are you ready?"

She eagerly nods. "Sure thing. What do you need me to do?"

She takes Cirno's hand and leads her to the center of the plaza. I stand back and watch.

She walks over to a cloaked man sitting on a bench, drinking from a bottle. I can hear her quietly ask the man of something, which causes him to move away to another bench off to the side.

Ok… she asked for the bench.

Curiosity soon shifts to nervous anticipation as Letty steps onto and stands tall on the bench. Cirno floats at her side as Letty Whiterock projects her voice in a loud announcement.

"Attention! If I could have all your attention for just a moment!" She asks aloud.

Oh geez. She's making it an announcement? I think this controlling winter thing has gone to her head. I hope she knows what she's doing.

Many stop at Letty's word. Some ignore, some only glance. She has the majority's attention though.

She goes on, proud and confident. "Dear denizens of former hell. I come with a gift today. I, Letty Whiterock, the new ruler of winter, and my dear assistant Cirno have come to bring our blessings to this fair city. We have come bringing a colder clime and a dazzling snow. We have come with bearing the late year frost and early year freeze. We have come delivering a beauty of change unlike any before! Behold, we have come with winter!"

Letty quickly leans over and whispers to Cirno. Instructions of some sort. Letty then takes a small ice-like ball out of her pocket.

So she wasn't lying about prepping a little for this. I wonder what that is.

She brings her cold magic into the orb, causing it to mysteriously grow in size. Cirno places her hand on the growing orb, channeling her magic into it as well. The orb rapidly swells as it fills with magic. The shell is clear, revealing a magical blizzard forming within.

Oh boy… I hope she's not going overboard with this… I nervously think as I watch from the side.

The orb swells until it becomes huge; large enough for a person to fit in. They take a second more, powering all of their magic and passion into the ball while everyone watches in awe. Whatever this thing is, it's going to be serious.

Then, with a gentle upward shove, they toss the orb into the air. It floats upward, swaying softly as wind pushes it back and forth. It continues to rise up over the town. The glowing magic within makes it look like a blue sun as it takes position high in the sky.

Then, it erupts.

The orb suddenly shatters in a massive nova. The entire city and everyone in it feels the force it emits as the nova reaches down to the ground. Everything is hit with a sudden burst of frozen air, bringing the temperature down to a bone-chilling freeze. Everyone cries out in surprise at the sudden cold.

But almost immediately afterwards, it lightens up. It stays colder than before though. The temperature seems to have changed permanently.

Hm?

I feel a small prick on the back of my neck. I look up and am amazed to see snow. A soft heavenly snow falls down. As I continue to look around, I notice bits of frost start to form up on the corners of buildings. It's winter weather all around.

Everyone else seems impressed to. Most are absolutely amazed. Some of the elderly looking people quietly smile, or look up in silent wonder. Loud stall vendors remain silent and awestruck.

Letty takes in her work for a moment before concluding. "Now, let us all take part in the joy and merriment of winter. I hope you enjoy our gift and have a wonderful time. Dear city of former hell, I thank you for your time."

She finishes with a polite bow; Cirno mimics. The small crowd of onlookers around the plaza give a small applause for her show. I join in with them.

It was a short but grand speech, and the spectacle was unlike anything I've seen. Even though I've gotten used to this world of monsters and madness, I still get impressed by seeing magic at work. More importantly though, she did bring winter. It looks like the snow and cold weather are staying.

Quite the show Letty. It seems everyone is ok with this after all. Glad it worked out.

Yes, impressive. But you should go.

Right, no time to lose.

Letty and Cirno step off the bench. A few young people come up to greet them and follow them as they begin to tour the city. It looks like those two aren't having any problems making friends.

It looks like they're going to be busy for a while, but I don't want to hold them up either.

With no direction in mind, I leave the plaza and head off down a busy street. The residents I pass look around in awe as the winter continues to set in. Some of the more lightly clad shiver as the temperature drops. Shops also begin to prepare different wares for the coming freeze.

I continue down this street, passing all the various people…

Where are you going? Arcane quietly asks.

I don't know. I don't know what to do honestly. I feel kind of silly just going-

Do it servant. Stop wasting time.

Alright…

There is a bar on the street. It looks pretty busy too. Yamame said I could get some information from Oni here, if I talk to the right people that is. I can't keep wasting time, so I try it.

I turn and walk into the bar. Immediately, I am hit with a different sensation than outside. This place is warm, and has a thick smell of foreign booze. This place has a sort of drunken festive feel to it. Around the bar are small booths with various youkai sitting and having a drink; alcohol if the smell of this place means anything. At the main bar are more individuals enjoying various liquors.

I notice there are quite a few oni here. I've learned to distinguish oni by their horns; a unique trait to them. Many of them seem to be enjoying themselves, and are having a good time with each other.

Not sure of whom to approach, I make my way to the main bar and take a seat. May as well order a drink or something. I wond-

Stay away from that poison. Arcane instantly cuts off with a sharp growl.

Well I need some conversation opener here! I can't just go around asking questions like some freak. I need to fit in.

The bartender slowly walks over to me. I notice he is an oni; relatively human like, with a sharp horn jutting out just above his right eye.

"What'll it be?" He says in a gruff voice.

I'm not sure how to reply. "I, er, do you know what's good here? I'm a bit new and I don't know."

He chuckles a bit before replying. "New? Sure. Hehehe… I got something for ya."

He swiftly turns to the stock of alcohols behind him and pours a blend of two drinks, expertly calculating the amounts of each. He then turns back around and hands me a dish-like bowl, a sake dish I think, of foamy clear liquid. I have no idea what this is.

He smiles devilishly. "This one's a good one for starters. Real easy. Drink up."

It's a rather large sake dish; it's more of a bowl than a dish. This is an unhealthy amount of alcohol for anyone. I don't know what kind of effect this will have on me either. I've only ever had a few cakes and some tea ever since I got here. No telling what sake will do to me.

But I don't want to disrespect the bartenders work either. I gently hold the dish and tip it to my mouth.

It has a surprisingly light taste, hinting no alcohol. I taste cherry and… vanilla. It is surprisingly good. I take a big gulp from the dish.

Immediately, I begin to feel light. Almost as if I'm dreaming. But Arcane's toxic presence in my mind banishes the feeling right away.

Pestilence. I struggle to keep your idiot head clear and this is how you honor me? I should have let you suffer its effects. You would have not been standing were it not for me.

So the bartender tried to knock me out? Hazing the newbie I guess. Well I guess I'll show him then.

To Arcane's irritation, I take another gulp of the drink. I find it quite tasty actually. The smell of the alcohol starts to overwhelm me as I keep drinking, clinging to my breath and clothes. The bartender raises an eyebrow as I take a fifth drink. He looks rather impressed as I keep gulping down the apparently brutal mix.

Even though Arcane in my mind blocks the effects of alcohol, I still find myself in a better mood.

I set the depleted dish down. Filled with a slight alcohol induced confidence, I speak to the bartender.

"So… pretty busy here isn't it? You seem to run a good business." I casually ask. The place does seem to be doing well.

Still slightly impressed that I'm still conscious, he takes a moment before replying. "Oh this? This a slow day. No fights or parties or nothing. Quiet day I say. Ah, but that snow woman friend of yours not so quiet."

Hmm. I guess he heard? "Yeah. A little full of herself sometimes, but a good person all around."

He nods. "Yeah. I'd bet. You did a good thing bringing her and her winter down here. It's been too long since any of us got a decent snow."

Too long? They've gotten snow before? "Hmm. How so?"

The bartender takes a glance around the bar to see if anyone needs attention. Nothing is needed of him, so he takes a little time to talk with me.

"Was a time when we had normal weather here. We could get rain and snow all the time. That was when it was just us oni down here. Then we started to get more crowded. Youkai started showing up more and more, and the city started getting bigger."

I'm finding his rugged speech a little hard to follow, but I keep listening.

He sighs, as if remembering some sorrow. "Then those two satori showed up. That pink-headed punk and her sister. They came down from Youkai Mountain when the rest of the satori was banished, but those two were different. They found an old passage into some of hell's ashes in the middle of the city. Found some old thingamajigs from the outside world that got the interest of these two big shots up on the mountain. They went ahead built this thing called a 'nuclear furnace' down under the ashes and fired them up again. Used the power from them to give energy to the city. Powers all sorts of nice things, heats the city, keeps us comfortable. I honestly think it just a bunch of junk, but I kept quiet."

Nuclear furnace? Really? Another thing from the outside ended up all the way in hell?

Interesting, but not significant.

The bartender goes on. "But those satori sisters and their mountain friends couldn't leave well enough alone. See, this hell raven the satori had with her ends up eating the body of this old Yatagarasu god, and turns into a living sun. After that, they kept building more to the furnace, and started using this hell raven's powers to run it better. They kept putting out more power, and started heating up the flames even more. Things keep getting hotter, and the weather goes out of whack and disappears. Not got a drop since."

That clicks a bell. Bingo. It seems I have a satori to visit. I think Yamame did mention the Palace of Earth Spirits earlier.

I'm surprised this fiend would know of it. Now, leave.

The bartender raises an eyebrow at me. "By that look I'm guessing you got to go then. You'll find the satori sisters and her animal friends in the big manor in the center of town. Good luck getting in though. "

I nod. "Sharp eye, and thanks."

He starts to turn away. "Well you thank your friends for bringing us a little cool down from all that crazy heat ok? And don't worry about that tab, anyone that can finish one of my 'Oni Slayer' in one sitting can have it."

Ah shit, I forgot I couldn't pay! I should thank him. "Thanks. Thanks again for the info too."

He waves dismissively. "Yeah. Sure. Come back later."

I get up off the bar and turn around.

Immediately bump into something soft.

I look up at the figure towering over me. She's an oni woman; a very tall, but normal looking oni. Her figure is quite feminine and curvy, yet her arms are well defined and strong, hinting at some physical might. Her oni horn juts straight out of her forehead like a spike, and is a shining red color. Her outfit consists of a tight fitting plain white shirt and a strangely semi-transparent skirt that reveals the shadows her body, both emphasizing her womanly figure.

Even stranger, her wrists and ankles are shackled and still have broken chains dangling off them; scars around the shackles indicate some great struggle where they were broken.

She's smiling a vicious smile down on me; a whole two heads above me. Her breath and glassy eyes hint at heavy drinking. I instantly feel some dark intent coming from her.

"Hey there. See you finished down an Oni Slayer. Not bad, not bad." She compliments. "That kind of drink would knock out any casual drinker with just one sip. You're not any ordinary youkai are you? "

I remain calm and assert myself. "I'm busy so if you'll excuse me…"

She puts a hand on my shoulder before I can move. "Hey now, don't go. We just met. You seemed like a pretty cool guy actually. Heavy drinker and strong looking too. If you had a horn I'd even say you're just like an oni! Haha!"

That's some off the wall logic.

I push her hand aside. "Yeah, sure. Again, I have a lot to do. Top priority stuff. So…"

I begin to walk around her, but she casually steps to the side and blocks me. The mood in the place quiets a bit as people start to stare at us.

She keeps smiling. "It can wait, right? How about a little test first? Let's see how oni like you are. Only the strongest and hardest people get my respect, and I want to make sure I'm not giving it to the wrong person here."

That sounds like a fight if I've heard one. This is not going to end well.

I glance around the room. Damn it, why isn't anyone saying anything? Are there no laws here?

The laws here are different. This is a city of youkai. Power rules. Just like when it was originally hell, the weak suffer at the strong. Now assert yourself with force.

Errr…

Do it you idiot servant! Arcane sharply hisses.

I still hesitate. I take a step back from this person, leaning back into the bar. She leans over me, challenging me with her presence.

"You aren't taking no for an answer are you?" I quietly say.

She smiles wider. "Not a chance. So come on, let's see what you got. Or are you full of hot air?"

I give one last warning. "Look… er…"

"Yuugi. Call me Yuugi."

I challenge her stare with a threating gaze. "You're messing with some dark stuff here. I've got some nasty dark magic powers that aren't native to Gensokyo, and I don't have patience for people like you getting in my way. You don't want to mess with me, and I don't want to hurt you. So back off."

She laughs. "Ha. Hahaha! Tough talk. But, you're wrong on one thing. I do want to mess with you. So come on then!"

At that last word, she grabs me with both hands and spins around, throwing me clear out the open door.

I crash hard in the ground outside. "Ugh!"

Everyone outside starts to clear away, some even running off in fear. Yet no one does anything. It looks like this really is how things work. It seems I really do have a fight on my hands now.

Yuugi casually walks up to me, confident that I am no threat. "That's all you got? Get up, let's fight! Show me this dark power you have!"

"Gladly…" I mutter under a breath.

I summon Storm and power up my next attack from my sprawled position on the ground. I get up and instantly unleash the attack; slamming the axe into the ground and unleashing a spear of electricity that snakes towards her.

Then, she does something impossible. Yuugi crouches down and punches the ground. The street in front of her buckles under the force and rises up, forming a lump of rock that halts my attack.

Whoa…

As she rises up, she still has a grin on her face. "That's it? Come on, let's see some real power!"

Punish her.

Fine by me. I'll show you some power. I'll show you stopping power!

I summon Deceiver and reload it. Yuugi does not move, and quickly realizes her mistake at not taking cover. I fire off every one of the twenty shots into her. She recoils back as the bullets pound her, stopping against a magical barrier that has passively formed around her. The powerful impacts still cause her to stagger back into the bar's entrance

That should teach her.

When my last shot fires and the shooting ends, she brushes herself off, smiling a wide and villainous grin. "That's more like it! Now… mmm… hold on a sec. Wait, there it is."

She walks off to the side a bit, and reaches over to one of the pedestals decorating the sides of the entrance to the bar. On it is a huge sake dish, apparently belonging to her.

She looks back into the bar. "Yo, can I get a drink?"

As if by command, someone tosses her a bottle. It looks like if Yuugi wants a drink, she gets one.

Yuugi empties the contents into her dish and takes a sip. She plans to fight me with a drink in her hand!

Does this woman mock my power? Crush her for her insolence.

My pistol clicks shut as I finish reloading. Not a problem. I'm not getting pushed around by this idiot.

Before I can fire, she lowers herself and kicks the lump in the road she made with a sandaled foot. The rock shatters into debris, all heading my way.

I crouch under the flying rocks and quickly stand back up to aim.

I take aim at her, she does not move. An unnatural magic energy courses through her free hand. She has a strange magic at her command, and the strength of an oni. She's going to put up a serious fight, and I'm going to have to do it alone.

This is no ordinary opponent. Keep your guard up, and do not underestimate this woman.

She takes another drink from her dish. "Come on, let's do this!"

"I'll make you regret ever crossing me!" I challenge.

I feel nervous, fighting alone again, but I'm no stranger to combat either. I just hope I can handle her.

With reservations now gone, I prepare to challenge Yuugi in her test of strength. She's no pushover though, and I'm fighting alone again. I'm at a serious disadvantage strength wise too.

This is going to be… well… I guess I'm already in hell. In hell fighting a devil oni. Haha. Never thought I would get to say that. Now, here we go!

With nothing left to worry about, I fire another shot at her as I try to bring her down.

A/N

Thank you again for reading my latest chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

The former capital. Wasn't quite sure of how to depict it. I've read that it is like a normal city in a few places, so I kind of went with that. But as a city inhabited by youkai, I wanted to try and give it its own bits of flair with descriptions of the architecture and whatnot. Nothing too special, but I think it helped set the stage a bit.

And I also bring about Yuugi into this story. I know I really wanted to write about her, and what better place to have her meet the protagonist than at an old bar? I wanted to depict her as an aggressive and combative character. Again, just as in the case of Hina, sometimes fights start for little reason or no reason at all. In the game, Yuugi really doesn't attack the player for any reason other than to attack the player. I think I set that personality up pretty well by letting Yuugi have the first punch here; throwing Knight out the bar and into the street.

Anyways, street fighting next! This will be an interesting challenge.

Thank you again for reading my latest chapter. I hope to have the next chapter ready soon.