Chapter 74: Island Hoppers
Potions class in Primp Magic School was normal business, so fast-forward to Ms. Accord's class... and we gathered with pretty much everyone, except for Lemres, Feli and Witch. I knew that Lemres and Feli would be brought to us later on, so I wasn't too concerned about that. As for Witch, she had to grade a lot of things; therefore, she couldn't come with us. "So, are we ready to go for today?" Ex looked at the rest of us. "Of course we are, Mr. Ex. Why wouldn't we be?" Raffina nodded. "Fair point. Right then, let's all get inside the ship." He led the way. Once we got inside, some of us debated on where we should go to next in Ringo's world. I waited until the perfect moment to give my input. "Guys, I think we should take a look at the Japanese islands. They're isolated locations and such…" I told them. "...? Why the Japanese islands specifically, Dave?" Ringo looked at me. "Because, I have a strong gut feeling that the Yog is on one of them. I don't know why I have that feeling, but I do." I carefully answered. "Well… since they're small, we can search around more than one of them today. I think it's only fair that we crack down on places like these. And who knows? We might actually find it in one of them." Satan went with it. "So, is anyone opposed to Dave's idea of looking around some islands?" Ex waited for someone to possibly say something. "... …" Everyone remained silent. "I'm guessing no one's opposed to it…" He spoke up again. "It's not like we have anything that can help us find the Yog; we have to essentially guess where it could be." Schezo made a point.
I have a possible lead, but I can't say it because then the others will get suspicious of me. I don't think the Yog is on the island of Iwo Jima, because we didn't find it in my nightmare. So if everyone goes with the idea to search Iwo Jima, there's nothing that I can do about it without drawing suspicion to myself. I have to bear with the fact that we may lose precious time. We're already a bit strapped for time at this point. "Then which island shall we look at first?" Ex asked me. Oh thank God he's asking me… "Um… ... I was thinking perhaps we should work our way through this archipelago… going from northeast to southwest." I said. "You mean you want us to go through the Ryukyu Islands, one by one?" Ringo was a little surprised. "Hey, it's a group of islands bunched up together. It'll be convenient if we do it this way, Ringo." I spoke logically. "That's true... we would be able to quickly hop from one island to the next in this case." She placed a hand up to her chin. "Then it's decided. So, what's the name of the island that is north of all the other Ryukyu Islands, Ringo?" Ex said, then asked.
Are you really gonna ask that, Ex? "Does it really matter, Ex? We just need to go through the most populated islands. Thankfully, I know exactly which ones are and the number one populated island just so happens to be Okinawa." Ringo sighed before becoming smug, like some know-it-all. I rolled my eyes from the kind of stance she made. Schezo also rolled his eyes from that, knowing how I felt about it. "Just to be sure, let's skim through other islands that we pass by along the way. We might miss something if we don't at least take a look from a distance." Satan said. "Yeah. … Ess, do you have Okinawa locked in as our destination?" Ex nodded and turned the navigator. "Yes Captain, I got the island's coordinates." She answered. "Then it's only a matter of time until we get there…" Ex sat down on a chair. You have no idea how much that's going to matter for all of us, Ex... And so, we made our way to the Ryukyu Islands and skimmed through a few without finding anything.
Several minutes after the school day would've normally ended... Lemres and Feli both ended up in the Tetra with the rest of us, thanks to Satan bringing them in by using a portal. "Hey, how's the search goin' today?" Lemres greeted us. Ex brought Lemres and Feli up to speed with what we planned on doing for today. "So Dave has a strong feeling that the Yog is on one of these islands... that's rather sudden." Feli thought out loud. "It just... kinda came into my mind. I don't really know how it suddenly came to me, but it did." I lied convincingly. "Well regardless, we have somewhat of a decent chance of findin' the Yog on one of the islands. As usual, ya make some smart decisions, Dave." Lemres smiled. "Heh. I figured that hopping around each of these islands briefly will allow our search to bear more results." I told him. "So... what do we do while we stay here?" Feli wondered. "Really, all we can do right now is casually talk to each other." Tee joined our conversation.
I suppose that's all that we can realistically do until we decide to get out for a more meticulous search. "Hey Tee, how's it hangin' these days?" Lemres suddenly asked him. "W-well, I've been a good assistant captain for this ship ever since Yui helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel, metaphorically speaking." Tee stuttered out an answer. "Yes, you have... ... Tee's been very hard at work these days, only taking breaks when I allow him to. Not to say that I've been strict, but I always want him to get the job done first and foremost. Tee became diligent and stayed like that." Ex turned to him, then to us. "That's right, I have been valuing my position. Anyway... Thank you for allowing me to see the light, Yui!" Tee said before throwing his voice out to her. "You're welcome, Tee." She replied. "Oh yeah, how have you treated Yui more recently?" I asked him. "Oh, her? I have treated Yui with absolute respect, Dave. After all, she's Captain Ex's adopted daughter." He told me.
It's so cool that Tee's making it up to Ex and Yui like this... "Tee, I would love to have another friendly fight with ya at some point after we stop this whole Yog thing. We still haven't got to ever since we met around five years ago…" Lemres said to him. "Oh yeah, you did say that... ... Sure. When everything goes back to normal, I will definitely accept your challenge, Lemres." Tee remembered and nodded. We all continued to talk for a while as we briefly looked at each island we passed by. Suddenly though, Lemres made a face that concerned us. "...!" He reacted. "L-Lemres? What is it?" Feli asked him. I have a hunch that he's feeling something right now. "I sense… somethin', but I'm not really sure what it is." He answered. Seconds later, someone came up to him. "Comet Warlock, I believe I also feel what you're sensing. However, I actually KNOW what I'm feeling because I've sensed it before in the past… It's a Yog. We're definitely getting closer to wherever it's at." Schezo told him. "Really? Well then, we jus' hafta pinpoint its location. It's on one of these islands that we haven't come to yet." Lemres looked at him, then said to us.
Well, that limits potential islands that the Yog can be on. "Still, easier said than done... there are a lot of islands here." Ringo commented. "Ha! That shouldn't be an issue! I'll know for sure if the Yog is on a particular island, so let's keep going until I say we should stop." Schezo smirked. "Well, SOMEONE'S in high spirits today…" Rulue pointed out. "Rulue, it should be obvious why I'm currently in a good mood... I get to take out a Yog without any help for once. I never had the chance to do that back in our world, so I consider this to be a great time for me to do so." He continued to smirk. Oh, good luck with that, pal. These Yogs are no joke and he'll see how that can be. "Okay, good luck with taking it on alone, Schezo…" Arle began walking away from us. "H-huh? Wait, what's with that tone, Arle?! It almost sounds like you think I'll be destroyed by it! Tch. … Clearly you haven't been training lately... My new strength and training have allowed me to become stronger than ever. How can you NOT feel my power?" Schezo went.
Actually, now that he said that... I do feel something from him. "There's only one way to see if that's really the case; I'm gonna watch you fight the Yog, Schezo." Arle told him. "Fine by me. You will be stunned with how I perform now... I'm not exactly the same Schezo you knew from before, Arle." Schezo briefly took out his new sword before putting it away. "We'll see about that…" Arle walked away from us completely. "... Arle is still naive these days, even though she is an adult... She has a lot to learn before she can comprehend my current lever of power." Schezo sighed. "I'll say this: It was entertainin' watchin' ya talk with her like that. Not to make fun of ya or anythin', it just felt like the good old times without much in the way of hostility." Lemres admitted to him. Schezo didn't say anything, not because he didn't like what Lemres said… but because he wasn't sure how to take in that comment.
We kept going southwest until Schezo spoke up. "I'm sensing the Yog on that small island there. Land the ship." He pointed. "You heard him, Ess." Ex told her. She complied with the request and landed the ship on this island that seemed to have no inhabitants living on it. "Not exactly where we would've expected the Yog to be hiding at... It makes more sense for it to hide in an island that's actually populated with people." I walked outside. "Then it must have an ulterior motive that involves this specific island. Why else would it choose this one out of all of them?" Schezo said, coming out of the ship. "As important as that question may be to try and answer, we've come to defeat the Yog." Ex followed suit. "But don't you think it's strange, Ex? These things want their wicked seeds to put in work. But, they can't do that when a place has no humans or such to speak of. I think it's worth our time to find out why the Yog would choose this island specifically when there were obviously better choices." Schezo turned to face Ex.
"... I can't argue with you there, Schezo…" The captain sighed. "Then how about we try and figure out why as we look for it?" Rulue suggested. "I suppose that will be the most time-efficient way to do both things… Everyone, follow closely behind me." Schezo stretched as he told us. We all walked behind him as he slowly directed us to where the Yog supposedly was. "It's... in that old-looking temple? It appears to be abandoned…" Ringo raised an eyebrow. "The perfect hiding spot for a Yog if we don't take wicked seeds in as a factor…" Schezo pointed out. "... Then it might've just wanted to lay low until it's ready to plant a wicked seed on a neighboring island." Ex guessed. "Tch. If it wants to do that, then it has another thing coming from me…" The sword-wielding mage scoffed before walking on ahead. The rest of us followed behind him as we approached the temple. "God, this place looks creepy…" I shook a little. "What? Don't tell me you're actually afraid of this place, Dave. Perhaps you really are a girl... mind, body, and soul." Schezo turned to face me and smirked.
That is SO not true! "I-I'm not, Schezo! ... I just think this temple is such an unsettling place, especially given that we haven't seen a SINGLE human outside our group since coming here." I pointed out. "Well, when ya put it like that... it's pretty unsettlin'." Lemres thought out loud. "Y-yeah… this place just doesn't feel right with its aesthetic." Lidelle agreed, shaking out of fear. "*sigh* Yes, it's unsettling. Now, can we go through with this so that we don't have to keep standing here? I'd hate to see Lidelle being scared by something like this." Ex got us back on track. "That's what I was about to do... before Dave got us off-track in the first place." Schezo said, with a slightly annoyed tone. I didn't say anything in response to that and just rolled with it. We all entered inside the temple and it was dark as hell. "... Light." Schezo summoned. We were able to see things somewhat ahead of us. The darkness only made everything even more unsettling. The further we explored this godforsaken temple, the more dilapidated everything seemed to be. Pretty much all of the affected parts of the structure looked like they were damaged by natural causes.
None of us knew how old this temple was exactly, not even Ringo. One by one, we searched side rooms that were away from the main path. And it made us realize that this place was a lot bigger on the inside than we initially thought. The temple itself was HUGE with how many different rooms there happened to be. Eventually, we stuck to the main hallway once more until we saw two big temple-like doors, closed together in front of us. Accompanying them, was a message in what seemed to be Japanese. "Ringo, can you read this?" I asked her. "... … If Schezo can bring his light over here, then maybe." She said. Schezo came to us and Ringo looked at the message. "... ... I can't really read this, guys. It's written mostly in Kanji... Kanji that I'm unfamiliar with on top of that. The message seems to be written in old-styled Japanese… and it's some kind of warning." She told us. "A warning...? Do you know what the message is warning about?" Ex became concerned. "Not about what specifically, but it mentioned this room in front of us. Sooo, I'm guessing this room has something to do with whatever the message is warning about." Ringo clarified.
THAT doesn't sound ominous... "U-um... How about we DON'T see what's on the other side of those doors and turn back?" I quickly suggested out of fear. "But then we came here for nothing, and I'm not about to just give up because of some "warning"." Schezo told me. As soon as he did, we heard a sudden loud noise. "...! What in the hell was that?!" Klug jumped. "Don't worry, I got ya, Klug." Lemres caught him. "I-I'm so scared, Ms. Accord...!" Lidelle rushed to Accord's side. "Don't worry, I'm sure that it was just a piece of the temple's structure falling to the floor, Lidelle." Accord said. "E-easy for you to say that when we don't really know for sure what made that sound in this creepy darkness, Ms. Accord…" I was shaken as well. "Ghosts don't exist in this world, Ringo... Ghosts don't exist in this world...!" Ringo said to herself to calm her own nerves. "Ghosts? No, there's no ghosts in here… at least, not that I'm aware of." Satan went. "Well, there could be a first for everything... you never know." Ex remarked. "I don't care if there are ghosts or not; all I care about is finding that Yog. The room past these doors is the only one in this place that we have not seen." Schezo said.
What? Is he crazy? "But, Schezo... what about that warning? We don't know what it could be warning about in that room, based on what Ringo could read. I really don't think it's a good idea to go inside…" Arle reminded him. "Arle, I don't care about this supposed warning either. I'm not scared of what could be on the other side of these doors. Hell, there may not be anything at all… It could just be a way to lead people away from possibly anything considered to be important to this place." He took out his sword. "You mean… like treasure?" I crossed my arms. "That itself is merely a possibility, but more likely than a legitimate warning. Seriously, do you all actually think something brutally dangerous is on the other side of those doors?" Schezo said. "Well, the feelin' that we share has been stronger here compared to everywhere else, Schezo…" Lemres said. "... Then, is it possible that the Yog phased through these doors and is hiding in there?" Satan wondered.
That's... actually something worth wondering about. Could the Yog actually be in there, out of all rooms in this temple? "There's only one way to find out at this point... ... The doors are opening…" Schezo came to the doors, pushed, then said. The doors creaked as they were opened slowly, making things even creepier than they needed to be. We stuck our necks through the doorway and took a glance at the revealed surroundings, with the help of Schezo's light. We couldn't see everything right away, so we stepped through the doorway until everyone was in the room. This specific room was a BIG one, probably the reason why this temple was as huge as it was on the inside. After everyone stepped inside though, everything went to shit. First: The doors we previously opened had suddenly closed behind us. We knew that none of us did that, so many of us were terrified. "This is some paranormal shit, I hate this...!" I shook.
Next: Lights suddenly came on all around us in the form of old lanterns. And finally: A figure manifested itself directly in front of us. It was the Yog that we had been searching for, the one that attacked Ecolo and escaped from the farthest edge of spacetime. "...! There you are! I will defeat you here, Yog!" Schezo readied himself. "No, not here. We Yogs are not ready for our plan yet. Therefore, you will all be held here by a trap that this room has already established." The Yog told us. "What?! A trap?!" Satan exclaimed. "I won't leave you all without a parting gift though, so here is something based on this region's urban legends. I will be at least kind enough to tell you that I will be somewhere on an island called "Okinawa"." The Yog made something appear, then said before disappearing. "Okinawa…?!" Ringo's eyes widened for a bit. "No, get back-! Damn it!" Schezo gritted his teeth. The something that Yog placed down was a figure of large proportions... a monster of sorts. "... …" The monster looked and growled at us. "Oh my God, what is that?!" Klug pointed at it. "H-how is this possible...? That's an oni...!" Ringo shuddered. "What? You mean an actual demonic YOKAI has just appeared before us?! But, those things are only a myth, right?!" I slowly stepped back.
This thing is terrifying to look at! "Perhaps not... I've heard of yokai before when I was briefly in this world years back. So this is what an oni is actually like... How the hell did that Yog spawn one here?" Satan said before wondering. "Think about that later, Satan; it's coming right for us!" Ex transformed. "*roar*" The oni charged at us. "Oh God…!" I quickly transformed as well. "Let's see how you like a punch! Hah!" Ex attempted to stop it. The oni caught his arm and began crushing it. "*growl*" It exerted pressure. "Hrrgh-! Aaaaaaaugh!" Ex screamed. "E-Ex! … Damn it! Let go of him, you monster!" I watched, then charged. "...! Dave, look out!" Satan warned me. "Uh? ... Huh?! Geh-!" I looked up and faced major pain. I was swatted away by the oni's free hand and was knocked back by several feet until I hit something. "... ... Oof-! Gh-! GYAAAAAAH!" I screamed before falling to the floor. "Dave!" Most of the girls rushed to me. "Hold on guys, what in the hell is this?" Raffina noticed what I hit. "... This must be some kind of a barrier that was fully formed by the time we came in here… Remember what the Yog said to us before making that oni appear? We must have entered the barrier without realizing it and now we're all trapped inside." Satan figured it out.
This freaked me and the rest of the group out, except for Schezo. "We're trapped?!" Amitie exclaimed. "Th-this goddamn barrier really hurt me for some reason…!" I struggled to get back up. "Great… just great." Schezo muttered. "What do we do?!" Ringo panicked. "... Lemme see here... ... If we can jus' free Ex from that thing's grip, I might be able to turn it into candy." Lemres observed the situation. "... Looks like it's up to me to save him…" Schezo sighed and prepared himself. "You might as well have me be there to assist you in some form, Schezo" Rulue insisted. "Fine, but don't get in my way, Rulue." He said to her. "Dave, I'll heal you!" Arle began to fix me up. "Th-thanks, Ar-! Aaaggh! God, it hurts…!" I continued to feel a distinct sting in my body. "W-wait, Arle! let me see him." Satan requested. "... This must be really serious…" Arle stopped and allowed him to see me. I and the girls watched Satan take a closer look at my current condition. "Regular healing may not be effective here… Dave, disengage that armor; I need to actually see your body." He told me. I did so and he truly started to look at my condition.
God… what's wrong with my body...? This stinging just won't stop, it keeps persisting. While this was happening, Schezo and Rulue had a difficult time trying to free Ex. And Lemres was waiting for whenever Ex was released from the oni's grasp."What's wrong with Dave? He normally doesn't go down so easily..." Feli wondered out of concern for me. "... ... ... I've found out the cause of Dave's sudden pain, it's from him hitting the barrier. That barrier is a sealing barrier, designed to keep in demons and the like. If a demon touches the barrier for long enough, then it's sealed away somewhere… Dave IS technically a demon, so he was susceptible to this. We are lucky that he only touched it for a few seconds. If he touched it for any longer than that, he would have most likely been gone forever. However, it'll still be tricky to cure the portion that did affect Dave. Thankfully, I have the means to do so. I'll simply get my demonic energy to go through his whole bloodstream and eliminate the sealing agent that entered inside. So, Dave... that means I'll have to place a hand on your chest, specifically around your heart." Satan explained. "... *sigh* Let me guess: You need me to take off my coat and shirt, revealing my girl chest... right?" I waited for him to say it. "... Yes, that's needed for me to do this." He sighed and nodded.
I took them off and I was cold, with goosebumps quickly showing themselves on the exposed skin. "Alright, hopefully this won't take long… I'll warn you in advance, Dave: This may or may not feel strange to you." Satan placed his hand on my heart. "As long as it doesn't kill me, then just do it." I insisted that he start the process. Lemres, Klug, Sig, Tee, Tarutaru, and Jay looked away from me just before I took my shirt off, so that I wouldn't be embarrassed. Satan started the procedure and it DID feel strange to me. It wasn't painful by itself, just unlike anything I've ever felt before. While that was happening, I sat and watched Schezo and Rulue attempt to free Ex. They were having no success at doing it whatsoever. "Dammit, I don't have time for this!" Schezo made evasive maneuvers. "It's like this oni thing is immune to any sort of physical strikes…! What the hell?" Rulue couldn't comprehend it. "Tch. It looks like magic is the only thing that can hurt it, and that's slightly. Unless... ... HAH! Thunderstorm!" Schezo plunged his sword into the oni's arm and cast his spell, causing the oni's hand to release Ex. "Oof-!" The captain fell to the floor. "Comet Warlock, now!" Schezo raised his voice. "Got it! Let's see how ya feel bein' turned into candy! Candy Laser Blast!" Lemres fired. "*growl* ...?" The oni looked at its current situation.
Bit by bit, the creature was turning into candy. This continued until it was a candy statue. "Yay! You got it, Lemres!" Amitie cheered. "Not half bad... Now, time to end this oni's life! Haaaaah!" Schezo charged at the oni. We thought that we were fine at that point, but we weren't. "...! Wha-?! Schezo, stop! Get away from it! The oni's somehow gettin' itself free from that candy prison!" Lemres warned him. "What...? HUH?!" Schezo looked up and noticed. "... ... *growl* *roar*" The oni made its prison shatter to pieces around it. "Well... fuck. That ain't good..." Lemres knew this was bad for us. "Shit... ... Stall the oni out some more for me, will you?! I still have to get rid of this sealing agent that's in Dave's body. After I'm finished with this, I might be able to do something about that oni!" Satan requested Schezo to do so. "Then hurry up! We can't seriously hurt this thing!" Schezo replied. "I'm going as fast as I can!" Satan became stressed. "You can do this, Satan. Just calm yourself and focus on where that agent can be." Ex spoke with words of inspiration. "A-Alright... ... ... ... ... Got it! Begone, sealing agent!" Satan felt around my bloodstream until he exerted some pressure. "Geh-!" I reacted.
I don't like this! "... ... ... It's gone now, Dave. Just make sure not to have your body touch the barrier anymore. Stay here, I'll go and do something about that oni… but not without some help. Arle, I need you for something! That Bayeon technique, do you still know how to use it?" He said, getting Arle's attention. Bayeon...? Arle knows how to use that as well? "I-I do, but why?" She wondered. "There's no time for that! We'll all be goners if the oni gets smart and throws me at the barrier!" Satan told her. At this point, his hand was off my chest... so I quickly put my shirt and coat back on. "O-okay, if you need me to use Bayeon, just say the word!" Arle nodded to him. "Thank you, Arle. Now, I must prepare to send this oni off!" Satan began doing so. He started speaking in an unknown language to me, dispensing dark-colored fire and making it go around the oni in a circle. "Okay, the guys can look at me now." I got their attention. "Good... I thought that would never end." Klug sighed in relief. "So hey, what the heck is Satan doing?" Amitie wondered.
My friends looked at him to see just what this was. "Is… that a ritual he's performing?" Klug guessed. "Probably... I think I know what he's trying to do." Ex said. "W-what is he trying to do, Mr. Ex.?" Lidelle asked him. "He might be trying to banish the oni to his domain, where it will likely suffer for eternity." He guessed. "That might be the only thing that can put the oni away for good." Lemres added. Meanwhile, Schezo and Rulue kept the oni busy... not without suffering damage along the way. "*pant* Damn this thing... AND DAMN THAT YOG! Star Strike!" Schezo stopped and fired. The oni was knocked back a little before it decided to grab Rulue and throw her at the barrier. "Gyaaaaaah! ACK-! ... Ooooouuuugh." She flew, hit the barrier, and fell to the floor. "Rulue...! …? ...!" Schezo looked back at her before dodging the oni. "Ms. Rulue, are you okay?!" Raffina rushed to her. "R-Raffina... that oni has terrifying strength. I'd suggest you let Schezo there keep it busy…" Rulue weakly said to her. "I will. I'll make sure that this thing doesn't underestimate my power... Shine Slash! Haaaah-!" Schezo's blade began to glow brightly.
Is... this a new attack? "Woah…" Lemres was looking at this. Schezo slashed the oni's chest, making it stagger for a few seconds. "...! Schezo, did you just find a way to keep that oni down?" My eyes widened. "Hah! It looks like this was a good test for one of my new light-based attacks." The swordwielder grinned arrogantly. Because of that Shine Slash, the oni was kept down for a couple more minutes and Satan finished speaking in that language. The flames closed in on the oni and Schezo backed off. "Now, may you burn in the depths of the Puyo Underworld for all eternity! Begone!" Satan spoke up and clapped his hands together. The flames engulfed the oni... burning it on both the outside, as well as on the inside. The oni roared in agony, trying to put itself out with little success. This went on until the oni faded away, causing the fire to gradually dissipate over time. Soon after that, the last of the flames gave in and we were all safe. "Yeah! We got it!" I finally got back up to my feet.
Schezo, you were definitely a big help to us... Because of you, Arle didn't have to use Bayeon and possibly expend a lot of her energy. "Schezo, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but... you were great there!" Arle smiled. "Heh. And you didn't have much faith in my abilities before… Now do you see how formidable I've become?" Schezo put his sword away. "... Unfortunately, we're still trapped in this barrier… I'll see what I can do to remove it. The rest of you should sit down and rest in the meantime; we'll need to be in good shape to deal with that Yog." Satan said to us. He approached the barrier without touching it and went to work to remove it. Lights in the room died out, returning the room to the darkened state it was in before we came. Arle healed anyone who was hurt in the fight, which were me, Ex, Rulue... and even Schezo got messed up a bit. While the healing was kicking in, Lemres was still unsure how the oni got out of its candy prison. "Dave, do ya know how it escaped? That count dude wasn't able to break free from it, so how could the oni do so?" He asked me. "... Dunno. … Ringo, do you have any idea?" I shrugged and turned to her.
Ringo had no clue either and we were left with a mystery that couldn't be solved. We all waited for Satan to finish removing the barrier. It took him a while, but it finally disappeared and we were freed. "Now, we need to follow that Yog and find it…" Satan walked back to us. "Th-the Yog said that it'll be somewhere on Okinawa, another one of the islands. I'm worried... that island is actually full of people because it's a tourist destination…" Ringo told us. "What?! Then there will be tons of people who are going to fall victim to a possible wicked seed! Everyone, run back to the ship!" Ex exclaimed. We all quickly ran through the darkness of the temple and reached the entrance. Seeing where to go, we proceeded to completely book it for the Tetra. Once every single one of us made it inside... Ess, with some assistance from Ringo, flew us to Okinawa. We worried that the people were already in danger by the time we freed ourselves from the barrier. So, we steeled ourselves for the hellish battle that we were about to engage with the Yog.
Lemres ate candy to refuel his energy, Schezo calmed himself, we all did our best to mentally prepare beforehand. This battle against the fourth Yog was a very crucial one. I knew that if we go and lose to it, then all hope is lost. However, I also knew that if we win... then we prevent the Yogs from merging together for the time being. Plus, I would turn back into a guy, and it would also mean half of the eight Yogs would be defeated in total. Out of all the fights we've had against these Yogs so far... we HAVE to win this one. If we don't... then Yoggus will be formed in mere days, kill us all, and destroy Ringo's world in the process. The others don't know this and I want to tell them... but I can't. ... Damn... "D-Dave…? Are you okay?" Lidelle noticed the serious face I was currently making. "H-huh? Me? I'm... fine, Lidelle. … I'm just thinking about how this fight will affect the future of the people living on Okinawa. If we don't defeat that Yog… then those people will constantly be under the effects of a wicked seed's smoke." I told her. Technically, I was speaking the truth with what she and the others knew at the time. So I wasn't really lying, but rather, I was withholding information that only I knew then and there.
Lidelle understood my response and wished me to be the one to defeat the Yog. "Remember, Dave… we're all in this thing together to do just that. You don't need to shoulder the responsibility alone. ... That goes for you as well, Schezo." Rulue said. "*sigh* I'm well aware…" Schezo faced her for a second. "... Anyway... how about we just think positively and have faith that we can save the people on that island?" Amiitie stood up. "It would definitely be better than feeling like crap." Arle nodded. "We can certainly kick that Yog around, just like what I did with that last one." Raffina added. "With this many of us, it won't be easy for the Yog to take all of us on." I said. "Hell yeah, dude." Lemres smiled. "Then let's make sure that the other Yogs reconsider making any choices related to invading this world of Ringo's. As the former Keeper of Dimensions: I'll personally drive that into them... like a nail to a wall." Ex finished. And so, we waited around in the ship until we came to Okinawa's beach coast. Ah! This is the beach that I saw in my nightmare, right before Yoggus came! So Okinawa must've been the island we came to just before we all died in that nightmare…
Ess landed the Tetra on the sand and we got out to get a better look at things. "... …! There's some smoke over there, by those houses! Thankfully, Carby's now with us." Arle noticed. "What? When did he get here with us?" Schezo was surprised. "I teleported him to us just before we exited the ship. It seemed as though Arle forgot to bring him with her and I reminded her." Satan told him. "Ehehehe... Yeah, I kind of forgot to bring Carby... Sorry for not saying anything about that before, guys." Arle felt embarrassed. "Don't worry about that, Arle. We all forget to do something every now and then, so it's no big deal." Ringo said to her. "Yeah, and besides, now we can deal with what's most likely a wicked seed. Dave, engage your armor so that its helmet can block out the smoke." Ex said and engaged his armor. "Alright." I said. I transformed and took Carbuncle from Arle. "We'll be back, everyone. When the smoke is gone, we'll alert you. Tee, hold down the fort while we're gone." Ex began to walk away. I followed behind the captain as my friends watched us leave the group, "Very well. Be careful, you two." Tee wished us both luck.
Author's Notes: The gang hopped around the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, hoping to find the fourth Yog and defeat it. They ended up stopping at a remote island with an abandoned temple. They entered inside and got spooked while debating whether or not to go into a specific room. In the end... they entered that room, in spite of a supposed warning that Ringo couldn't read much of. Because of the group entering it, the doors behind them suddenly closed shut. At first, they thought it was something scary until the Yog showed itself to them. It talked for a bit before spawning a yokai, then it disappeared. The group was also trapped in this barrier that caused Dave to have this stinging feeling in him. Satan had to end up getting rid of an agent that entered Dave's body by using demonic energy. At one point, Lemres was able to turn the yokai into a candy statue… but then it broke out.
This forced Schezo and Rulue to stall the thing out until Satan was finished with fixing Dave up. Once he was, Satan then performed a ritual, made to send the yokai to the Puyo Underworld. Schezo managed to keep the thing down until Satan had completed his chanting. With that done, the yokai was purged from Ringo's world. After that, Satan quickly went to work on getting rid of the barrier that trapped the whole group. With Ringo telling everyone that the Yog said it was going to Okinawa, they all made a mad dash from the temple… and all the way back to the Tetra. Getting to Okinawa, they see smoke around some houses beyond the beach. Ex and Dave take Carbuncle with them to likely take out a wicked seed. The crucial fight against the fourth Yog… how will the gang defeat this next one? Next chapter, Chapter 75: Decisive Yog Battle!