Kanna Kamuy Descends
Hello everyone and welcome to the conclusion to the Hokkaido Arc! We've got something of a literal ride this chapter, so hopefully everyone is gonna have a fun time. As always, a quick shout out to LoneTaker, groche9655 and Noble Eight for their contributions to this story. Now then, since we've no guest review questions this week, let's dive on in!
Abashiri Prison
One thought had driven Subaru forward, one motivation, one singular purpose, one goal: stop Aesir Reia from leaving. To that end he'd dodged around random bolts of lightning, falling ice crystals that were formed in midair above them and even leapt off of a quickly forming ice wall to get to her. He had only two makiri knives, his likely frozen revolver and whatever was left in his belt pouches. It was only once he'd leapt into the air and was bearing down on the now much larger demon that it finally occurred to him, what the fuck was he gonna do with two knives against a dragon?
The initial, and painful, answer to that question came to him once he slammed his body into Asir Reia's neck, sliding down a short ways before he managed to stab his knives in between some of her scales. Thankfully, a few of said scales had formed a bit unevenly around the spikes on her body, making for prime locations to stick a climbing implement into. "You think such a pitiful attempt will stop me!" Exclaimed the ice dragon demon as she slammed her body into the frozen back wall, causing it to crack in several places, "I am Asir Reia no longer! I am Kanna Kamuy!"
She roared at the end of her statement before slamming her body into the ice wall once again, this time managing to break through it as Subaru was forced to shut his eyes against the falling icy debris. He felt several hard hits from ice chunks as he tried his best to keep his head down and maintain his death grip on the two knives that were his current and only lifeline. The large demon continued to stomp forwards, pushing herself the rest of the way through the wall while also shaking her neck from side to side in an effort to toss the Matagi off. "In hindsight," said Azakeru in Subaru's mind, "I should've asked if you had an actual plan first!"
"Not telling me anything I haven't already told myself!" Subaru shot back, "so unless you've got something else up your sleeve to help out here, I might suggest keeping it down so I can focus on not dying!"
"Well I might have one thing," replied Azakeru, "it's been getting steadily stronger over time, but I can't say how well it'll work for sure."
"If it has even a chance of stopping this bitch, I'm all for it!" Subaru thought back before the dragon woman lifted her head up and proceeded to slam her neck down into the frozen roof of the prison. Subaru just barely managed to position himself so that he didn't take a direct hit the first time, but couldn't readjust fast enough before Asir Reia whipped her head downwards a second time. The Matagi felt the full force of the impact as his hands jerked loose from the knives and he rolled off onto the icy roof, trying desperately to catch his breath.
'Shit, she knocked the wind out of me,' he realized as he looked up at the dragon's maw coming straight for him. "Subaru, I'm still working on this, try and move!" Exclaimed Azakeru. The Slayer attempted to do just that as he stumbled forward. But the shadow of the dragon loomed over him, quickly overtaking his short stride as he felt more freezing cold breath near the back of his neck, before it was suddenly gone?
Subaru dared to look back and saw that the reason was a familiar and massive flail slamming into Asir Reia's face, causing her to recoil in pain from the power of the attack. "Go for the wings! Don't let her get even the slightest bit off the ground!" Exclaimed Gyomei as he swung the ax portion of his weapon around for another attack. Asir Reia responded by closing her wings and sending out another blast of freezing snow from her mouth, deflecting the weapon and leaving it very frost covered.
This did little to deter the Stone Hashira as he swung the flail side back around while rattling the chain, shaking off the ice on his ax. Reia took a hit but quickly counterattacked with a snap of her jaws which Gyomei barely dodged by jumping to the side. "Subaru," said Isosange as she appeared and rushed to the Matagi's side, handing him the kodachi they'd taken from the demon sniper, "I coated it in extra poison before we got here. It should work even if it wasn't a nichirin blade."
"I'll just have to pretend it's a long bayonet," said Subaru as he took the blade and drew it from its sheath, hanging the scabbard on his back before also drawing his revolver and rushing into the fray. 'Now I just need to try and do what little I can too,' thought the Ainu girl as she rushed back over to Yae, who was already firing her Nagant at the ice dragon. Obviously, this infuriated Asir even more as she released another powerful sweep of ice breath. It was aimed primarily at Subaru and Gyomei, both of whom leapt over it before slashing at the demon with their weapons.
The demon dragon reared back from some of the pain before unleashing an ice breath attack aimed at the ground. Subaru and Gyomei moved back quickly, their feet feeling a good bit of pain from the quickly forming ice that was spreading out in all directions. It only lasted for another moment before Asir ceased her attack and whipped her tail up in the air, an icy tip forming on the end which sizzled as electricity crackled around it. The slayers dove in opposite directions to avoid the sharpened appendage with Subaru having to roll forward to dodge around the tail when Asir attempted to curl it and stab him on the side.
Gyomei was quick to jump into the air, throwing his flail at the enemy who brought her tail up to repel the attack. She succeeded in blocking it but lost much of the ice on her tail while Gyomei grunted loudly in pain from some of the electricity running up his weapon. Had he been grounded, it would've hurt a lot worse, but the Hashira was no stranger to pain and remained standing after reeling his weapon back before coming into contact with the ground. Subaru used the diversion to rush in and score a slash along the front of the dragon, getting an irritated roar in response as she attempted to chomp down on him, missing him by an inch as he swung backwards and scratched her eye.
Asir snarled in pain before swinging her head back and knocking Subaru over before unleashing a quickl bolt of electricity to ward off Gyomei. She ignored the bullets and arrows that ricocheted off her hide while trying to chomp down on the Rifleman again, but he'd already leapt back up, his body now steaming from a sudden increase in his internal temperature, and was slashing at her wings in an attempt to keep her grounded. 'Damn, just what the heck kind of situation have I gotten myself into,' thought Yae as she fired, cycled her bolt, and fired again, 'I started off the week by helping a couple guys track down what I hoped was just a lone demon. Now here I am, helping those same two guys fight a fucking dragon of all things.'
Then again, she'd been the one who'd kept choosing to be their guide. And she very much doubted she'd see another sight like this any time soon. Both Subaru and Gyomei's bodies had starting emitting large amounts of steam, as if some kind of furnace had been lit within their beings. The Matagi girl had been too focused on the dragon to notice at first, but they were actually getting faster, and maybe even stronger as they dodged, evaded, rolled and spun around the barrage of ice, occasional bolts of lightning and reptilian limbs, striking at whatever small opening they could exploit. She remembered Subaru told her back at the lighthouse that he had no skill with a sword and that she'd be better off keeping the nichirin-bladed kodachi as a backup against possible future demon encounters.
But watching him now, it would be hard to think that he had no skill as he slashed at Asir Reia's scales with enough force to cut into them, and even managed some parries against her ice-covered tail. And Gyomei's flail and ax were nothing but blurs, seeming to fade in and out of existence with incredible speed as the Hashira himself leapt, rolled, slid, spun and dodged in quick succession, throwing out one technique after another as he attempted to cut off Asir Reia's head or at least injure her wings. The whole scene caused a stray thought to enter the huntress's head as she continued to fire her rifle to provide whatever support she could. 'Isosange once told me the word 'Ainu' in their language meant 'human,' she thought, 'but are the two fighting that dragon right now really human?'
Her internal question became even harder to answer as she noticed marks appearing on Subaru's body that resembled maple leafs, much like the scar over his left eye. The Matagi himself didn't seem to notice, not that it would've mattered given how busy he was dodging under another sweeping blast of ice breath in order to slash at Asir Reia's underbelly. The fight would continue to go on like this for another minute or so until the dragons' temper finally boiled over. "ENOUGH OF THIS!" declared Asir Reia as she unfurled her wings and whipped her head around erratically, blasting ice breath in all directions while also forming ice crystals in numerous places in the air.
Her entire body also lit up with crackles of lightning that struck out in numerous directions, forcing Gyomei and Subaru to jump back and narrowly avoid many of the attakcs. But avoiding every last one of those attacks was nearly impossible as Yae and Isosange took several scratches from the falling debris, while Gyomei took a quick bolt of lightning while in midair. Subaru himself, felt the impact of a rather large ice crystal which nailed him in the back, tearing off his cloak and cutting into his flesh, leaving cuts and bruises. "I've no more time left to waste on you infuriating insects!" Declared Kanna Kamuy as she unfurled her wings and started flapping them while heading for the edge of the roof, "this world shall freeze along with everyone in it!"
"Gyomei," said Subaru as they both struggled to their feet, "give me a leg up, I might have an idea."
"Whatever it is, we need to hurry," coughed the Stone Hashira as he took a knee and held his chain out for Subaru to jump on. 'Ordinarily I wouldn't have the 'umph' to do this,' thought Subaru as he ran forward and jumped, pressing his feet against Gyomei's chain, 'but thanks to whatever mark this is on my body, I'm feeling stronger than ever. So let's give a new technique a try!' He launched himself off of the Hashira's chains then, nearly knocking over the large man in the process as he spiraled in the air like a bullet with the kodachi held out in front of him.
Kanna Kamuy had just managed to get airborne when Subaru slammed into her, burying the sword almost up to the hilt as his dragonic opponent howled in agony. The force was also enough to knock the demon downwards towards the ground. Had this been an ordinary demon, that last blow would've been the end of it. But Asir Reia was not an ordinary demon and somehow managed to flap her wings violently several times, keeping herself airborne before taking off towards the outskirts of Abashiri. "You can't fucking be serious right now," Subaru cursed as he felt his grip slipping on the handle of the kodachi.
In no time at all, the Kanna Kamuy imposter was already high enough in the air that falling would kill or at least gravely injure the Matagi. And she knew it too as she went even higher in the sky, corkscrewing in flight in an effort to throw him off. Subaru kept his grip on as tight as he could, yet the moment Asir righted herself, he slipped off of the makeshift climbing spike. For a split second, he felt no contact with anything but the air as he watched the dragon's scaled body pass in front of him as if in slow motion. He reached out then and grabbed onto the two makiri knives that had been left protruding out of the demon's hide ever since he'd stuck them in earlier.
"Your persistence is admirable," complimented Asir Reia, "had my people the same resolve as yours, I'd have no reason to fear us disappearing from this world."
"You lost the right to call them your people when you got yourself exiled," Subaru shouted back, "you know damn well they'd rather die themselves than become Wen Kamuys."
"And that's exactly the problem!" Exclaimed Asir Reia as she suddenly dove back towards the earth below, "they believe so strongly in the preservation of life that they name anyone who kills as evil, regardless of the reason! Do you not kill demons to protect those closest to you?!" Subaru looked down then, noting the reason for their sudden descent before swearing. The self-proclaimed Kanna Kamuy had discovered her first target, a large town.
The Matagi shifted his grip as the Wen Kamuy began releasing a blast of freezing air from her mouth. He himself couldn't hear it but he could imagine it easily enough, the sounds of terror and confusion as people dove for cover, seeking refuge in buildings or under wagons, behind walls and maybe even hiding in barrels. Some worked better than others as a wave of ice covered the already white town, leaving small frozen spires and in some less fortunate cases, frozen people as Kanna Kamuy finished her first sweep of the town before turning around to assault even more of the buildings.
But Subaru wouldn't let her continue with such a plan and managed to jam one of the Makiri knives even deeper into his foe's hide before twisting it. Asir growled in pain as she veered off course before pulling back up slightly and continued on her way across the land. "I kill demons as a means to an end," Subaru yelled in answer, "yes I'll do it to protect the ones I love, but right now the only reason I even do this job is because it's the quickest way to get what we need!"
"Who hunts demons as a means to an end?" Kanna Kamuy asked, "You're not mercenary enough to hunt demons only for the money or the thrill. So what is it you want that would have you standing in my way?!"
"Is she being serious right now?" Azakeru asked in Subaru's mind as the hunter jammed the other knife further into the dragon's skin.
"She thinks she just turned herself into a dragonic version of the Ainu deity of lightning and storms," Subaru pointed out, "that's probably one of the lesser insane questions she could be asking." Though either way she clearly expected an answer, so he gave Asir one. "I honestly don't much care what the rest of the world does, but that doesn't mean I want everyone dead! And at the rate you're going, I won't even be able to hunt anything if I do happen to survive!"
"The world can recover from what I'm doing," argued Kanna Kamuy, "the game can return once there is no one to take their habitat!"
"They won't have a habitat when you're done!" Subaru yelled back, "in order to freeze everyone you'll have to make it colder than it's ever been in this day and age and that'll kill off the food for not just the people but the animals as well! The only thing left will be the sea life!"
"But the world shall be free of the pestilience that claims itself to be humanity," said Asir Reia, "I've seen the horrors they've committed over on the mainland and soon it shall spread here as well!"
"That war is over," said Subaru, "and no one made it to the mainland then. Besides, neither the Ainu nor the Matagi are interested in Japan's wars."
"You're talking as if any of us have a choice," said Asir Reia, "but each year, more and more of our lands and people disappear. Our only alternative is to fight back but my own people are unwilling to 'toss away their humanity'! They would think differently if they knew what I knew. I have seen the future, and there are no humans left!"
"Not if you get your way there won't be," said Subaru as he moved up in an attempt to reach the kodachi, "if the end result is the same, then you're no better than the ones you claim are taking our land. In fact you're worse because you're going to destroy everything that we value in the process, including the three people I have left in the world, and two of them aren't Matagi!"
Asir Reia's reaction to that was to release a freezing gale from her body, causing Subaru to slip slightly before he managed to grasp the kodachi. "I would've spared you and any others willing to follow me, but it's clear now that you haven't seen as many of the horrors of this world as I thought."
"I've lost nearly two whole families to your kind!" Subaru exclaimed as the demon mark on his body spread even more, causing the ice on his skin to steam as he plunged the short sword even deeper into the Kanna Kamuy's body, "and by that I mean demons, because that's all you are now! A demon in nature, a demon in reasoning and a demon in body! And I've seen enough horror to last a lifetime while hunting you all!"
"Then consider this the end of your lifetime," answered Asir as her body began to charge up with electricity. Subaru, knowing what was about to happen, struggled to release the belt on his uniform, fumbling with it due to his currently numb fingers. In truth, he'd stopped being able to feel much of anything some time ago thanks to the cold, and it was only because of the demon mark that he hadn't developed frostbite just yet, not that that was his primary concern. Thankfully, he managed to free his belt just as Asir released a burst of lightning around her body.
Subaru yelled in pain as he felt the muscles in his body constrict and the sudden heat attempting to fry his body. But it only lasted for a second before his belt, which had also been hit by the lightning as it was passing the dragon's wings, exploded. Every bullet, grenade and explosive that remained in his pouches ignited, showering the lower back of the dragon with flames and shrapnel as Asir herself howled in anguish. He felt their altitude drop significantly after that as he managed to get a glimpse of the burning holes on the Wen Kamuy's wings.
If he'd dared to look back even more, he might've seen the other burning holes slowly healing in Kanna Kamuy's back. Though even healed, the damage would still prove lethal over time due to the coating of wisteria he put on all of his weapons. Something Asir Reia was coming to realize as she struggled to maintain flight with her damaged wings. It would prove to be a losing battle as she finally collided with a mass of trees, tearing through several of them as her body twisted around, finally throwing the Matagi off into a clearing as the kodachi he was clutching slid out of her body.
The Rifleman grunted in pain as he rolled along the ground, keeping his head covered with one arm to avoid any serious injury to it while positioning his other arm in a way where the kodachi wouldn't cut him on accident. Thankfully, he didn't roll long before stopping in the middle of a small clearing while half of Asir Reia's body remained stuck among the trees. "Subaru," said Azakeru, "Subaru, I know you're still alive, talk to me."
"I'm probably in more pain than I actually know," Subaru thought back as he began the slow, and relatively painful, struggle to his feet. It was a strange experience, given that he could barely feel his limbs. Each step felt like he was using someone else's leg while his arms felt almost like lead weights. He was having so much trouble standing that he resorted to using the kodachi as a makeshift walking stick in order to approach the now wounded and dying dragon.
"What," groaned Asir as she managed to turn her eyes towards Subaru, "what have you done to me? My body won't really move now, and it hurts where the blades and fragments hit me."
"Wisteria poison," explained Subaru, figuring he wouldn't be getting to her very quickly at the moment, "the flowers of it repel demons for some reason and it can kill them if it gets into their bodies. As a former Ainu, you can probably figure out what I did from just that."
"Poisoned bullets, shrapnel and these blades," coughed Asir Reia, "I see, I was being continuously poisoned by these weapons in my neck. Quite clever, Matagi, applying the hunting tactics of an Ainu to your use of a rifle."
"It just made things a bit more convenient," said Subaru, "the other method would've been learning to use a sword for decapitation. But the problem with that is-,' he lifted the Kodachi and brought it down on Asir's neck, the sound of clanging metal ringing throughout the forest as the blade failed to cut into her icy skin, "what do I do once the strength in my arms runs low?"
"You wish to hasten the death of an already dying creature," asked Asir Reia.
"I'm a hunter, remember," said Subaru as he collapsed against the dragon's large frame, "I try my best to kill without causing undue suffering to my prey. Don't get me wrong, I hate demons and everything you do to the innocent, save for a small few exceptions. I restrain myself because one of my only friends left in the world is too kind for his own good. He calls you tragic creatures and given what I've seen, he's probably right. But right now I can't even fulfill my own code as a hunter, not that you really deserve to die painlessly after all that you've done."
"I….chose to become this," said Asir, "I saw it as my only way out. I was….a prisoner in Abashiri." Her body suddenly began humming as it heated up.
"The heck are you doing," said Subaru as he tried to stand up, doing so with great difficulty before sliding back down.
"You've no longer anything to fear from me," said Asir Reia, "I'm using the last of my strength to heat my body. I'd prefer an actual Ainu was hear to listen, but much like you, the circumstances have left little choice for me."
"Well, I guess neither of us is going anywhere for the moment," said Subaru, "so I guess I'll listen to, whatever in the world you think I need to hear."
"That will have to be good enough," said Asir, "however harshly you judge me, I just want you to understand why I chose to become this." Subaru simply nodded as Asir Reia proceeded to tell the tale of her life as it came back to her in her dying moments. She was but a simple Ainu save for her father being English, which was about all she knew about him given that her Mother never liked talking about it, and was a bit rebellious while growing up. Like other Ainu girls, she was taught about the nature spirits, the Kamuy, and the Ainu's respect for all life and that the taking of life unnecessarily was the path to becoming a Wen Kamuy. And she would've kept respecting her people's ways if not for what she saw.
Their lands being taken and exploited by the Japanese government. She watched as their hunting grounds shrunk and their game disappeared to make way for large towns and cities. It eventually became too much for her to bear and she pleaded with her people that now was the time to fight. But they held fast to their ways, refusing to take decisive action that might've involved them in any kind of conflict.
At one point, she'd thought she'd found a kindred spirit in her husband. Things changed drastically, however, when she made her first kill of some surveyors from the Japanese government. She received the harsh punishment tradition demanded from her people for that crime, losing her nose and ears in the process before being exiled. Her husband followed her into exile where she gave birth to a baby girl. But it was shortly after that where she believed she was betrayed again, by her own husband who pleaded with her to be a mother instead of seeking out a dangerous conflict.
She shot him in her rage, killing him before attempting to raise her child herself in the cave they'd taken refuge in for six years. Though she eventually abandoned her child near another village as she felt she was short on time. Her crusade began after that as she sabotaged, assaulted and killed whoever she could in a desperate attempt to keep the Japanese people off the Ainu lands, even resorting to taking out hits and drug peddling on the side when she and other radicals needed the money for weapons. It was short-lived, though, as the military managed to capture her after a lengthy search and threw her into Abashiri prison. It would be a hard few years for her there but she fought on, even biting an inmate's ear off at one point. Then one day, a security guard revealed himself to be a man with horns and the ability to produce strange blue flowers from his blood.
He said they'd grant her the power she sought and even told her how she might grow more if she so desired. She accepted readily, choosing to become something more than human in order to end the perceived assaults on her people's lands. The pain of the transformation caused her mind to break as the images of Europe she saw during the Great War played across her mind, as well as what might have been a possible future. She decided to test her strength against the other two Yuki-Onna's then, discovering that the current power she had might not have been enough.
"And the rest you already know," finished Asir Reia, "when I finally became this, I'd decided that it'd be better to destroy humans before they became something less than human. And now here I am, slain at the hands of a Matagi who lived isolated with his father and considered a family of Japanese people to be his second family."
"I've just never been one for big causes," said Subaru, "after losing one family, I was happy just living a simple life. I still, just want to live a simple life with those I love."
"Then you'll have to fight hard for it," said Asir Reia as her body began to dissolve, "I've done all I can to keep you from getting frostbite, but I can do nothing for the temperatures in these mountains. I know I've no right to ask, but please live and if possible, deliever my story to my daughter. Her name is-."
"Isosange," guessed Subaru, getting a silent pause in response from Kanna Kamuy, "her story and yours seem to match."
"Yes, that was her name," said Asir Reia, "so that was her with you. I regret that my mind was so broken that I couldn't recognize my own daughter, but it was a fate I brought upon myself."
"We all face the consequences for our actions sooner or later," grunted Subaru as he struggled back to his feet, "that's just how it is."
"I will leave the choice up to you then, on whether or not to tell her about me," said Asir, "I was ready to accept scorn for my decisions and I will accept her hatred as well. But I do not wish for my own poor decisions to ruin her chances at having a life anymore than they already have."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Subaru as he pulled the two Makiri knives out of Asir's neck and put them in what was left of his uniform pockets, given that his sheath was cut off with his belt. He also pulled out and sheathed the kodachi before slinging it over his back.
"Good luck, Subaru Genjirou," said Asir Reia as she faded away completely, "may you find the peace you seek."
"I just hope we didn't land too far from a town," said Azakeru in Subaru's mind as their trek began, "the demon mark I awoke in your body is pretty much used up right now. It took all I had just to keep your body heated up and you're still facing the possibility of frostbite on your limbs."
"One problem at a time," breathed Subaru as he continued to take step after step in the opposite direction of Asir Reia's flight path, "we need to get somewhere a little dryer, and with some access to heat."
"That's assuming you're even gonna be able to maintain consciousness," Azakeru pointed out, "now that the adrenaline and the demon mark are receding, every last bit of exhaustion you've racked up is hitting you now. And so is the pain, or at least what you can feel of it."
"One problem-," breathed Subaru as he nearly stumbled, "at a time." Under normal circumstances, he'd have worked at starting a fire already, but his arms were so tired he doubted he'd be able to make one using friction and two sticks. And the rest of his fire starting materials had been on his belt, so now his only choice was to keep on moving, working his fingers and toes in an effort to keep any circulation he could in his body. But like Azakeru said, he could feel his consciousness fading fast.
Then, as he exited the tree line, he saw a figure approaching him. It was very possible his eyes were playing tricks on him, in fact it was quite likely at this point given his exhaustion. But he still couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth as the figure approached. "Father," he said before everything went black.
And so, the Hokkaido Arc at last rolls to a close with the felling of the false dragon, Asir Reia. But is Subaru safe, and what are the fates of his other friends? It is a mystery which shall have to wait for next time. Until then, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as the Swordsmith Village Arc is finally able to get underway! 'Til then.
