Chapter 6 - Raid
( Fly to High - Younha )
Deep in the underworld, segregated from the Devil territories, surrounded and hidden by steep, towering, gray mountains, was a piece of land the size of a small continent. The land once belonged to the Grigori, the Fallen Angel faction. Within their secluded base of operations, were forests, a larger river that ran through the center, and a town built from stone, with a medieval stone castle at the edge of the town.
However, the entire town had been abandoned during the Great War between Angels, Devils, and the Fallen. After the Grigori's retreat, they formed multiple bases of operations on Earth. The buildings were aged, and vegetation grew over them. Although no humanoid lived there, the native wildlife of the Underworld, creatures that humans would consider mythical, occasionally used these old structures as shelter and dens. The prey would bring in the predators, and an ecosystem eventually blossomed within the hidden valley.
Today, the natural serenity was interrupted. On the edge of the town, in front of the main gates, four devils wearing cloaks to hide their appearance were guarding a horseless carriage. Inside the carriage, was another being who donned a cloak, although their figure was visibly smaller than the stocky devils outside.
"Where are they?" one devil clicked his tongue and repeatedly tapped his foot on the ground. His gaze scanned the purple skies for a sign.
"They'll be here," the devil to his left reassured him, "We just need to be a bit patient, that's all,"
"We specifically agreed to make the transfer when this world is at its darkest," the first devil argued back, his deep voice resonating like a growl, "It's been half an hour and I fear that the morning cycle will be upon us before we know it,"
"It takes time to enter the Underworld without being detected," a third devil from behind the carriage told him, "We have to put our trust into them. This cargo is precious, more valuable than we ever thought, and we can't keep her here,"
"Even so," the first devil folded his arms, "We couldn't hand her to one of the Maou's? Do we really need to give her to the Fallen Angels?"
"The Grigori are known to take in and protect wielders of Sacred Gears," this time, a devil sitting on top of the carriage spoke up, "They also train them to control their abilities, it will be more beneficial and safer for her this way,"
"And what if she uses those abilities against us?"
"She won't," the second devil snapped at him, "She's a descendant. She won't be able to raise a hand against her own kind,"
"And what makes you so sure?" the first snapped back.
"Shh! Quiet," the one on top of the carriage warned, and used his head to gesture towards the surrounding forest, "They're here,"
From the dark shadows of the maze of pine trees, eight Fallen Angels seeped out one by one. They were fully clad in black steel-plate armor and only one didn't wear a helmet, instead had wrappings covering his face like a mummy. The devils presumed that he was the leader. Their suspicion was correct as the bandaged angel walked forward and gave them a short nod.
"Greetings," he said, "We are here for the transfer,"
"Of course," the second devil responded with a nod of his own, "The cargo is behind us in that dark-wood carriage,"
"Took them long enough," the first devil snarked, only to be elbowed in the side by one of his companions. The devil on the roof looked over the fallen angels and counted each of them in his head.
"Bit low in numbers for such a precious thing sittin' in here, isn't it?" he stated.
"We have left the others, another twenty-two, back at the teleportation point to guard it, to make sure that no one will see us come and go," The lead fallen angel replied.
"Smart choice," the sitting devil nodded at him.
The lead fallen angel returned the gesture and walked up to the carriage. He took a quick look through the window and after seeing the cloaked girl, he turned back to face the second devil.
"We'll keep her safe," he promised, "The Grigori won't harm her in any way. And this is not the first time we've sheltered her, or have you forgotten?"
"No, we have not, but this time it's permanent so you had better keep your word," the second devil, snapped his fingers in the direction of the devil sitting upon the carriage. He hopped down and stood beside the second devil.
"Now get going before any of the Maou notice your intrusion,"
The bandaged fallen angel nodded his thanks, and with a twirl of his hand, three of his accomplices summoned light spears for protection, while the remaining four went to the side of the carriage. Using their magic, the four lifted the carriage, unfurled their black wings, and took off into the air. The leader and his guards joined them shortly after, but not before tossing the devils, four sacks of gold.
Unbeknownst to the representatives of the two factions. A squadron of figures was watching them from a rocky plateau of a mountain nearby. Their bodies were hidden within the shadow of the summit.
The strangers all had icy-white hair, silver eyes with no pupils, and blue skin. The shades of their skin varied from light pastel blue to metallic blue to deep-sea navy. Some of the beings had hulk-like figures, while others were leaner, however, they all had muscular bodies that looked to be carved delicately from marble. They all wore barbaric clothing, the most popular outfit was the skin of the beasts that they slew wrapped around their waist, and nothing for the top, accompanied by steel boots and arm guards. Their weapons ranged from, axes to scythes, swords, and shields, nearly every melee weapon imaginable. All are made from the skeletons of mythical creatures and decorated with their custom runic engravings.
One of the beings at the front, a huge humanoid standing at seven feet, with white fur wrapped around his waist, and a large, two-handed, serrated bone greatsword strapped to his back, turned to push his way through the crowd to reach the back.
Behind the squadron was a large rock, when he reached it, he knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
"Commander," his voice was gruff, but at the same time, it was almost hollow, "The convoy has begun their return. Shall we commence the attack?"
The commander of the squadron was standing on the rock. He was relatively smaller than over half of his men, about the same size as an average human male, but was emitting a dangerously calm aura. He had a black cloak equipped covering his entire body, but his outstretched hand was a completely different complexion than the squadron. His pale fingers danced around in the wind and he stared at them from under his hood.
His answer to his subordinate's question was short and simple. But his voice was collected, but cold.
"No,"
"May I ask why? We outnumber both them and the devils by fifteen men, we have the element of surprise, and, we are out in the middle of nowhere with no witness to what we are going to do,"
"We will strike, but not yet,"
"Are you disobeying the King's orders again, Commander?"
"No, Xakar. His Majesty gave me full freedom in this task. So, I'm just doing it my way,"
"By letting them go?"
The Commander smirked, "The hunt is more fun when you give the prey false hope of escape, no?"
The subordinate named Xakar thought for a moment and had to agree. There was nothing more adrenaline-boosting than chasing after and killing something who believed that they would live. Aside from being in wars, fighting to the death, drinking at banquets, mating, and raiding of course.
"Then what are your orders, sir?" he asked.
"We attack right before they exit the Underworld," The commander replied, "They can't leave without my assistance. After all, it was my power that allowed them to pass undetected. And if they wish to leave, then I, have the last say,"
It was a day after the fight in the Abandoned Church. That night, due to the addition of a new member to the peerage, Rias didn't have time to officially reveal the supernatural to Mori but had promised him that she would explain everything to him the day after, and a reasonably content Mori went home. He also finally took that shower after twenty-seven hours.
Now, he sat on one of the green leather couches of the Clubroom, with his legs crossed. On the couch opposite of him sat Rias and Akeno. Koneko sat by herself on the third couch beside them, while Yuuto preferred to stand. Issei was at home with Asia, helping her to recover and get used to her permanent new life as a different race. For some odd reason that Mori couldn't understand, the peerage were all wearing their school uniforms even though it's still the weekend.
"So let me get this straight," Mori began, glancing at each member of the peerage for a second, "You're all Devils. Beings that resemble humans physically and anatomically aside from some unique racial traits. Due to the reproduction rate being extremely low, you all live for thousands of years and don't age,"
"Correct," Rias replied.
"You reincarnate other living beings by using chess pieces to make up for your low population, as you lost nearly two-thirds of your population from a Great War, some centuries ago. Issei and Asia are examples of reincarnated devils as they were killed recently and you brought them back to life,"
"Mhmm,"
"Your worst enemies are the Fallen Angels, the black-winged people I kept seeing, and the Angel Angels since they can use the power of light which basically can insta-kill a devil if they're not strong enough,"
"Yes," Rias crossed her legs and took a sip of her tea.
"Finally, The Gods exist along with Youkai and other supernatural or mythical creatures and beings,"
"Exactly," the crimson-haired heiress smiled.
"Right," was Mori's simple reply.
"You know, I'm surprised that you're taking this very well," said Rias, placing her hand to her cheek.
"I'm surprised that I'm not surprised," Mori admitted, scratching his cheek, "It kinda feels like I already knew about all this, it's just that I forgot about it all when I woke up in the hospital,"
The Gremory peerage exchanged glances at each other, not knowing how to comprehend the azure-haired boy's situation.
Rias then cleared her throat, "Moving on then, you really don't have any memory of your fight with the stray exorcists last night?"
Mori shook his head and waved his hands out in front of him, "No! I'm telling you, I remember getting slammed into the ground then waking up buried in rubble. So I'm 90% sure it wasn't me,"
"But all the evidence points to you," said Akeno while pouring her master more tea.
"How's that possible?" Mori exclaimed, "I swear it was that monkey," he added quietly to himself.
"Well," Rias started to explain, "When we went back to dispose of the dead bodies, we examined the injuries on them. Only a quarter of them were dismembered or cut, and as Kiba had deduced, rather messily too, showing that it wasn't done by a sharp object such as a sword, and was instead most likely torn off. The remaining three-quarters died from trauma damage to the spine, neck, and or head. There were also broken joints here and there, along with ruptured organs which furthered the theory that they were all killed by someone who used their bare hands… Martial Arts if you will,"
"Someone else could've done it when I was unconscious and ran off before anyone saw," Mori suggested.
"When we first arrived, you were standing in the middle of the body pile, Dan-kun," said Kiba, "Your hands were bloodied, your clothes were tattered, and you were holding a severed arm. If you don't believe me, Koneko-chan and Issei were there as well and if you ask them, their answer would be the same as mine,"
'Wait, I was holding an arm? Why can't I remember that? Also, I didn't see any blood on me when I went home last night...then again I was probably too tired to realize' Mori thought, he'd have to ask Issei later.
The peerage all looked at him as he was going through his thoughts. Mori was rubbing his chin while looking off in different directions every few seconds, and releasing monotone thinking hums every time he moved his head.
"He's taking the news of him killing two hundred exorcists very well, don't you agree," Akeno whispered to her King.
Rias nodded and whispered back, "I'm beginning to think that he wasn't acting these past few weeks,"
"So his amnesia is real?" asked Akeno.
"It would seem so," Rias admitted, "Although, seeing how nonchalant he is about all this, it seems that he's definitely had some kind of interaction with our world, and he had to have been in a large number of fights in the past,"
"And he just...forgot," Akeno continued to whisper.
"That would be the most likely conclusion," Rias replied.
When the two young women looked back towards Mori, somehow, he was now sitting upside down with his head supporting his body. However, he had not lost his thinking pose.
Suddenly, Mori snapped his fingers, getting the attention of even Koneko, who was busy eating a strawberry and drizzled chocolate sauce crepe.
"I got it," Mori said with a serious expression on his face, "I remember what I have to do right now,"
The devils unconsciously slowly leaned in to listen closely.
"It's extremely important, and I have to say this now otherwise I won't be able to hold it anymore," Mori stated.
"What is it?" Rias asked softly.
…
…
…
"I really need to pee, where's the bathroom?" Mori's serious expression dissolved and was replaced with a sheepish grin while scratching his temple.
The Gremory Devils nearly fell over from the azure-haired boy's words.
"D-Down the hall, and the second door on the right for boys," Kiba replied with a chuckle while sweat-dropping.
"Thank you," said Mori as he zoomed out the door. From inside the clubroom, they could hear him shout something about "Too much milk," and "Hydration is key". They mutually decided not to say anything about it when he came back, it would be detrimental for their mental health.
Following the Knight's instructions, Mori found the bathroom rather easily. He pushed the door open and rushed in straight towards the urinals. He let out a sigh of relief as he could finally relax after holding it in for five hours. Mori could've said something about needing to go during the conversation with the devils but he was being polite and allowed them to finish, and to answer their questions. Finally when they had quietened down a bit, was he able to ask. Mori finished and the automated flush activated right away, as he turned to go and wash his hands.
He opened the tap and let the cool water run over his hands as he scrubbed them together.
"Hah~, I thought I was going to burst," Mori sighed while applying soap, then rinsing his hands, "So everything from all the stories exists, well they do say myths and legends do have some truth to it but...this is way more real than expected Still though, why don't I feel anything about all of this being dropped onto me so suddenly?"
He cupped both his hands together and filled his palms with water. When it overflowed, Mori bent down to splash the cool liquid over his face and begun to thoroughly rub every inch of his face.
'...I should've had some sort of reaction right? That's the human thing to do...unless…no, not possible'
Truthfully, there was one question that Mori had avoided for a whole year, never bothering to seek out an answer for it, and had locked the thought to the back of his mind. Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was only after the conversation with the Devils, did the question come floating forth.
'...Where did I come from?' He wondered while gently rubbing his face, 'According to the hospital, some fishermen brought me in, so it must've been somewhere overseas. And I can speak Chinese and Korean better than anything else. One of those two countries then? But, then again…'
An ash-furred monkey sitting in front of a towering waterfall flashed by his mind. "HOME!"
'That was just a dream...right? But after what Rias said, there's the possibility that it's not...'
He vigorously smacked his cheeks, 'Wake up Mori! It was just a dream, the monkey was just a hallucination from lack of sleep, and there's no way that the island is real'
The azure-haired boy released an exhale and raised his head to the mirror while slowly opening his eyes.
Spiky black hair, a malevolent grin, and fiery-red eyes stared back at him.
Mori jumped back in a frightening shock, his back colliding against the door of a toilet stall with a loud *BANG*.
"What the heck!?" he blurted out.
When he looked back at the mirror, it was his normal reflection again. The mysterious figure from seconds ago had vanished. He blinked several times, then rushed forward to the tap to pour water over his face again, and when he looked back up. Thankfully, it was his normal reflection looking back at him. But he didn't want to stay to see if the other reflection would return and promptly left the bathroom.
He quickly made his way back to the clubroom and walked inside, quickly noticing that Koneko and Yuuto had disappeared. However, Rias and Akeno were still present, the former at her desk reading a book with her cheek resting in her hand, and the latter was wiping the windows clean.
The crimson-haired heiress looked up from her book and saw Mori with his blank expression on the other side of the room.
"You're back," she said.
Mori nodded, "Where are Koneko and Kiba?"
"Out doing contracts," Rias told him.
"Contracts?" Mori echoed.
"Yes, Contracts. They are a sort of business we run in this area, as we are the governing Devils of Kuoh, it is a way to maintain our presence here," Rias explained, "It's nothing dangerous or threatening for humans, basically just doing some odd jobs for the people who summon us,"
"Oh ok," Mori simply replied, as Rias smiled and went back to her book, "Sounds reasonable enough,"
…
…
…
A brief moment of silence flew by, and Mori was making weird, quiet noises with his lips while awkwardly looking around the room.
"You can head home now you know," Rias spoke up, looking up at the boy again, "As long as you keep our existence a secret we won't bring any harm or discomfort to you. But I trust you with this knowledge as you are Issei and Asia's good friend, and I think after everything you've seen and experienced, you have the right to know,"
Mori gave a smile and bowed, "Thank you, then I'll be taking my leave, and don't worry, I won't tell anyone, not even my reflection,"
Rias nodded and the azure-haired boy turned to reach the door. He opened it and just as he was about to step out, the heiress called out to him again.
"Mori!"
The boy in question looked back curiously. "Yeah?"
"You are free to come here and hang out as often as you desire, we'll all welcome you and I'm sure Issei and Asia would like that very much,"
"I will," Mori beamed at her, "Thank you for the offer,"
With that, the door shut behind him, and Mori left the school grounds. As he walked down the path back to his home, his gaze traveled upward to the sky. The myriad of orange, gold, pink, and purple, flooded the skies. The discussion with the Occult Research Club had taken longer than he had expected. Mori started to whistle a familiar tune to himself as he kept his pace.
Akeno watched from the window she had just finished cleaning, as Mori climb over the school's high brick wall and dropped down on the other side. From the swiftness of his actions, it seemed that this wasn't his first nor second time scaling the school's barrier. When the boy disappeared beyond the school grounds, the Queen went to rinse the cloth she had been using to clean the see-through glass panel.
After drying off her hands, Akeno walked to Rias' side and observed her friend flipping through the pages of her book with a strong focus.
"What are you reading?" she suddenly asked, startling the heiress and with a yelp, the book she was reading flew into the air, but luckily landed back onto the desk.
"N-Nothing important, Akeno," Rias replied when she regained her composure, "Just something that Sona recommended to me,"
"If Sona-sama finds intriguing then it must be very good, would you lend it to me once you've finished?" the ravenette asked.
"Of course," Rias nodded, "Anyway, we should get going, school starts tomorrow and we have subjects to study,"
"Shall I prepare the teleportation circle then?" Akeno asked, and received a head shake from her friend.
"Not today, it's nice to walk home like normal people every once in a while, don't you think?"
"Yes, it is," Akeno agreed.
The priestess of lightning patiently waited by the desk while watching Rias packing up her things and organizing the loose items across her desk.
"Say, why didn't you offer Mori a place in the peerage?" Akeno suddenly asked, "After seeing the aftermath of what he can do, he would make a terrifyingly powerful Rook, don't you agree?"
"Because it isn't right," the crimson-haired devil replied while neatly stacking her book pile in the corner, "He has no recall of his life before arriving in Kuoh, and something about his strange confused reaction to everything we told him today, points to his amnesia being genuine, and not an act,"
Rias turned around and gestured to Akeno to walk with her out of the Old School Building.
"It isn't right to resurrect someone with amnesia into a completely new being," Rias explained, "I want to wait for him to regain at least half of his memories before offering him a chance to join us,"
Akeno nodded in understanding, "So you want him to decide if he is contempt with his old life before giving him a new one,"
"Exactly, but no one knows when that will happen, and if the remaining Rook piece has already been used by then, then I can't do anything about it,"
"I see," Akeno hummed, and the duo walked out the academy gates.
A couple of hours had passed since Mori's talk with the Occult Research Club, and the boy was currently watching a couple of sparrows pecking at the ground by a wooden bench. After leaving the school, Mori wandered through the town for a while before entering the fountain park, which he assumed would be safe now, due to the deaths of the small group of Fallen Angels from before.
He sat on the edge of the fountain and could feel light mist constantly tickling the back of his neck. He had watched the citizens of the town around him come and go, living their lives, and now the park was reasonably populated. A trio of children had chased the sparrows off, a group of elders was fast-walking along the path, a young adult couple stood together a little further down from where Mori was seated, making a wish and throwing a coin into the fountain. The ambient chatter was something he had gotten used to, and welcomed, but Mori realized that he had been sitting in the same spot for too long and had to move before his lower half went numb. He stood up and stretched his legs to allow the blood to flow back in.
Instead of leaving, Mori decided to head deeper into the park, seeking a place of quiet so he could reflect on the revelations about the world around him...or to just nap. The further he traveled down the path, the fewer people passed him, and the trees took their place. After a while, he found it strangely quiet, and it felt like the foliage on the side had gotten denser. Looking up at the night sky between the canopy of trees, he found it to be brighter than usual as if the stars were the only thing illuminating the world below. Some of the lush leaves had begun to gently fall around him while fireflies hovered at all levels along the path. The path itself also went under a strange transformation, from the cement line, into a trail of pebbles.
"I don't remember there being all of this," Mori commented as he curiously looked around.
The blue-haired teen continued strolling down the natural alley, he followed the path and took several twists and turns before finally seeing the light of an exit. Quickening his pace, Mori stepped out of the forest. Only to find himself in a large circular clearing.
The clearing was nothing but soft-looking emerald grass. The green blades bent back gently from the soft breeze flowing through and fireflies danced across the field. The breeze brought a continuous wave of the scent of fresh tea leaves to Mori's nose, it was a soothing smell and compelled the boy to walk further into the clearing. When Mori's gaze traveled up, he swore he could see the entire galaxy above him.
"Woah~ Was this place always here?" Mori's mouth parted in awe and he looked around, filled with excitement and curiosity. Momentarily forgetting about the conversation with the devils from earlier.
Suddenly, a large gust of wind smashed into Mori's face. The azure-haired boy staggered and blinked a couple of times before trying to locate the source of the wind. It seemed to be coming from the center of the clearing.
When he tried getting a bit closer, the gusts only became stronger and seemed to shoot out in every direction. Mori brought an arm slightly above his eyes to block the strong winds from irritating them and allowing him to see. From his peeked eyes he could make out a silhouette of what looked to be a man tumbling, spinning, and leaping around in a circle.
Upon closer observation, the man seemed to be twirling something around, something long and thin. Mori could also make out that the man was wearing gray robes and had a bald head. It was around that time that the wind barrage had gotten softer and was now just a series of breezes.
Mori approached until he stopped at what he deemed a safe distance. Under the light of the stars, he could now properly see who was creating the wind flurries. It was a monk, he donned a gray robe on his upper body with a black sash tied around his waist. He also had on long, baggy gray pants, and thin white socks going up to just below his knees, bound tightly by crisscrossing black straps. Black cloth shoes were equipped on his feet. In his hands, the monk was holding a wax wood staff around the same height as the wielder.
Mori stood, rooted to the ground, his eyes were locked onto the monk, mesmerized by the series of movements being acted out in front of him. Each action looked so intricate but simple at the same time. At times he would be able to see the pale staff in all its glory, only for it to disappear every time the monk started to twirl it around again, when that happened Mori could only hear the fluttering sound of the wood whipping across the grass and slicing through the air.
The monk continued with his deadly dance, spinning the weapon with both hands, then twirling it with one hand, then with his legs, then across his body and around his neck. Whenever the staff stopped moving, the monk was flipping around, doing perfect split kicks in the air, and drawing circles into the ground with his lightning-fast sweeps.
In the midst of a multiple rotation twist in midair, the monk stabbed the staff down into the grass and momentarily placed both feet on the tip of the staff. Using the weapon as an anchorage, he shot off high into the air while bringing the staff with him. As he plummeted back down, he rapidly twirled the staff around his body before bending his body back, with the staff chambered behind him. The same moment he landed, he whipped the staff down to the ground, sending a gigantic shockwave to pulsate across the clearing and into the forest. Even Mori was lifted into the air and sent back several paces, partially because he was standing a bit too close to the impact point.
Mori picked himself up off the ground and spat out some grass that had made its way into his mouth during the landing. He then looked back at the spot where the monk was, and he saw the dark-brown orbs of the monk looking back at him. It was also at that moment Mori realized that…
'Wait...did he do all that with his eyes closed?'
"Hello there," the monk greeted with a bright smile and a wave. The staff was resting on his shoulder, secured from falling off by his wrist hooking over the bottom end.
"...H-Hu...Hi..He," Mori then cleared his throat and coughed out the remnants of the grass in his windpipe, "H-Hi,"
"Did you find it interesting?" the monk asked.
"Huh?"
"The staff form," the monk clarified as he slightly bounced the wooden weapon on his shoulder.
"Y-Yeah! Of course!" Mori suddenly beamed, "It was so cool, you were basically flying and then you-"
"Then do you want to learn it?" the monk abruptly asked with an amused expression on his face.
The wind flew by, whistling its tune through the meadow. The monk's question echoed repeatedly within Mori's mind.
"Do you want to learn how to use the staff?" the monk asked again, he lowered the weapon from his shoulders and stuck it into the ground beside him.
It took a while for Mori's head to register the question, however, once it did, the answer was immediate.
"YES!" Mori blurted out with hesitation.
"Alright then, we start now," the monk gently tapped the staff and it rocketed towards Mori. Despite being caught off guard, the blue-haired teen was able to catch the wooden weapon with one hand.
The monk turned around and walked back several steps before facing Mori again, "We'll begin with the spinning,"
"Like this?" Mori started to slowly twirl the staff around, then eventually picking up speed, and to the normal eye. It would've looked identical to the monk's technique. There was something about the weapon that drew Mori's interest like a moth to a flame.
But under the narrowed gaze of the monk, something was off. He rubbed his chin and suddenly strut forward while shaping his arms to make an 'X' shape.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," Mori froze as the monk approached.
"You're raising your elbows too much," the monk stated and used his hand to push Mori's elbow lower.
"You're shrugging your shoulders every time you turn," the monk made his way behind Mori and slapped his shoulders down.
Then he grabbed one of Mori's hands and slid it down the staff until it barely touched his other hand, "Hands are too far apart, it hinders the power of the staff,"
"Why are you hunching your back?" The monk slapped down hard onto Mori's spine and the boy immediately straightened up, "And use the power from your core and hips,"
The monk finally seemed somewhat satisfied and walked back to Mori's front. He looked over the boy from a distance and for what felt like forever to the blue-haired teen, the monk nodded.
"Do it again, and remember the things I told you," the monk commanded.
Mori did as he was told and once again, began twirling the staff around his body. Only to be stopped by the monk again. This process repeated for the next three hours, and the azure-haired boy never progressed further than simply spinning a staff. Now, he was sitting on the grass, exhausted.
"...How did...spinning a stick...use up all my energy…?" Mori asked between breaths.
"That's because your form was all incorrect," the monk, who was now squatting beside him, answered, "From my observation, it looked like you've used a staff before, but, you've never taken the time to understand it, study it, bond with it. To you, it might've been just a weapon,"
'That's another piece of information to add to the Who was I list' Mori thought.
"My master once had a saying," the monk continued, "It is the staff that chooses the wielder, not the wielder who chooses the staff. Your broken form is most likely because the staff purposely didn't allow you to utilize its full potential, but it still trusted you enough for it to allow you to train with it and use it,"
"So are you saying that to the staff, I wasn't fully 'worthy'," Mori asked, making finger quotations on the last word.
The monk smiled and nodded, "Perhaps, there is an ancient belief that all staffs are somewhat sentient, as they are always crafted out of living things be it wood or bone or even the bodies of sentient stones, and a small portion of the original life stays within the weapon,"
The monk didn't speak after that and his hand glided over his wax wood weapon beside him. Mori contemplated his words for a while, and only the buzzing of the fireflies filled the clearing.
"Anyway," the monk stood up and stretched his back, "I guess this ends today's class,"
Mori mimicked his actions, and dusted off his pants when he was back on his feet, "I guess it does,"
"So, may I know the name of the one whom I'll be instructing?"
"Dan Mori," the azure-haired boy grinned, "And you?... Sir?"
The monk laughed and introduced himself, "No need for formalities like that Mori. I am Gunseng,"
"Nice to meet you,"
"Likewise,"
"I should get going now,"
"As do I,"
…
…
…
"Sooo," Mori began, remembering the odd route he took to arrive in the clearing, "How exactly do I leave this place?"
"You can leave the way you came," Gunseng told him, "And you can come back the same way whenever you like, only say my name three times when you pass the maple tree, and then we will continue training,"
"Right," Mori nodded and started to jog towards the gap between the trees while waving back, "Thank you, I'll see later,"
Gunseng returned the hand gesture and watched as the boy disappeared amongst the lush path.
Seeing that the coast was clear, he spun the staff around with a single hand once more but this time it shrunk into his palm and evaporated into golden dust. He then took two quick steps forward and leaped into the air, speedily soaring up high into the night sky to land on a fluffy cloud.
The cloud bounced under the sudden weight but soon seemed to harden into a proper platform. There he stood, waiting for something, or someone. Down in the fields below, all the fireflies gathered in the center and spiraled up in a DNA formation into the sky. The sparkle of fireflies pierced through the clouds several feet in front of the monk and started to fly in circles, shaping into a large sphere. The light of the hundreds of thousands of fireflies shone bright like a small sun, effectively illuminating the upper atmosphere.
As the fireflies started to disperse back to the fields below, and as the sky regained the darkness, Gunseng put his palms together and bowed.
"Guanyin Bodhisattva," the monk greeted.
"Good evening, Gunseng," the Bodhisattva returned the greeting. Her voice, warm and soothing, almost motherly.
She stood in a circular bed made from blooming lotus flowers. Her silky black hair was accented by the snowy white gown she donned, which had long, vibrant, blue sashes loosely tied around the tips of her shoulders. From her head, a white and gold veil flowed down. Her face was pale but glowed healthily, and in the center of her forehead was a red dot. In her hand, she held a vase containing pure water and a singular willow branch.
"The predictions seem to be true, Bodhisattva," said the monk as he straightened up, "There are now possibly two Stone Monkeys in this universe,"
Guanyin nodded, "Gautama knew that this would happen eventually, however, he has yet to inform anyone else aside from you and me,"
"For the knowledge of a second legitimate Sun Wukong would stir up too much commotion among the Gods and most definitely would attract the unwanted attention of ones who would use his power for their own benefit. Am I correct?"
"Indeed you are," Guanyin admitted, "I am aware that the second stone monkey currently goes by the alias Dan Mori. And, I'm sure you've sensed it but his abilities have declined by a substantial amount. Gunseng, as one of the Gautama's most trusted, most powerful warrior monks and now one of the three beings that know of this secret. You will be responsible for the retraining of the monkey,"
"Of course Bodhisattva," Gunseng politely bowed.
"Gautama feels that something is coming, a threat that hasn't been seen since the first recorded opening of The Gates of the Rift," Guanyin informed in a more serious tone.
"The Gates of the Rift?" Gunseng echoed, a tinge of confusion in his voice, "I thought that was a myth even among the Gods,"
"It exists. Gautama was there and witnessed the Catalyst which caused the Gates to form,"
"And are there other Gods who were there at the time?" the monk asked.
"There were once nine," Guanyin started to explain, "Seven of them have transcended to the next stage, leaving only two behind, but that is all I know, the names of those Gods is something Gautama has decided to keep confidential,"
"Very well," Gunseng nodded, "Then I won't pry any further,"
"Then I shall take my leave now," as soon as Guanyin finished speaking, she disappeared in a quick flash of golden light.
Gunseng swiftly followed suit and also vanished into thin air.
In the furthest reaches of the Underworld, the convoy of thirty armored Fallen Angels soared low, sticking close to the canopy of the vast shadowed forest to avoid detection. The carriage they protected was located in the middle of their hexagonal flying formation.
Soon, they spotted a plateau above a gigantic lake of dark purple water. The leader of the fallen angel squadron gestured towards it to his comrades, and they began their controlled descent.
Their boots touched down on the crimson grass, and the squadron relaxed their wings. The ones who were supporting the carriage with their magic, allowed it to rest on the ground for a while.
"We're almost home," the leader announced as he walked forward to the edge, "When I summon the portal, it will be mission accomplished, and then we can drink and celebrate after,"
The fallen angels cheered as the leader crouched down onto one knee and placed a hand in the grass. A violet-red light started to emit from his palm and the grass started to pulsate towards the edge.
Suddenly a tall but thin spiral of energy, the color of lightning burst to life at the edge. The leader looked back at his team, and with a cock of his head the first few fallen angels went through the portal.
At least that's what they thought would happen. Instead, the leading trio collided against the portal as if it were a giant wall. A confused murmur rippled through the rest of the squadron.
"Maybe I didn't put enough power into it," said The leader, and knelt to try again.
Each time proved to be a futile waste of energy as the results never changed once. Nevertheless, the fallen angels decided to try one last time. As the spiral opened again, the leading trio once again stepped forward.
Suddenly they all heard something whistle through the air.
A split second later, a spinning bone war ax lodged itself into the head of the first of the trio. From the side, a spear pierced through the neck of the second, and a chakram beheaded the last one.
"AMBUSH!" The leader shot to his feet and immediately snapped his head around to look for the attackers, "THEY'RE COMING FROM THE TREES!"
The remaining Grigori squad members summoned their light-based weapons and braced themselves as the blue-skinned barbaric horde poured out from the shadow of the forest. The assailants' battle cries varied in sounds, from a roar of a huge beast to two pieces of solid ice scraping against each other.
With the sight of their skeletal weapons unsheathed and ready to taste flesh and blood, the squad leader of the fallen angels yelled out, "GATHER WITH ME! PROTECT THE CARRIAGE! TORTOISE FORMATION NOW!"
Following his orders, in the fallen angels' offhand, they all summoned a large rectangular shield of light and jumped back towards him. With the carriage containing their VIP secured behind them, the fallen angels started to form a large rectangular prism using their shields.
"STEADY!"
The horde got closer. Most of them had maniacal grins on their face and were laughing.
"STEADY!"
The last of the horde exited the trees, along with the one with the serrated greatsword, Xakar. The fallen angels automatically presumed that he was the leader.
"BRACE!"
Every fallen angels' muscles tightened as they were expecting the inevitable clash. However, they were not expecting the horde to suddenly halt their assault. Xakar leaped high into the air with his weapon winded up behind him, then he came shooting down like a meteor and slammed the flat side of his greatsword into the ground just in front of the formation of fallen angels. The impact sent a fissure to run through the plateau's edge, and if the shockwave of the heavy slam wasn't enough to scatter the squadron, the wide fissures were.
Now that the Grigori squad was scattered and in disarray. The blue-skinned barbarians were able to pick them off however they liked. They were skewered, dismembered, beheaded, mutilated, and tortured. Some of the fallen angels were even half-eaten alive, with large chunks of flesh ripped from their necks, shoulders, and back. Gallons of blood were spilled at that moment, and none of it belonged to the mysterious attackers.
Along with the carriage, the leader of the fallen angel squad was nowhere to be seen. Hovering just above the waves of the lake below was the carriage. The leader was inside and another fallen angel hovering beside was using their magic to keep the carriage floating in the air.
The leader grabbed the wrist of the cloaked girl they were transporting and stuffed a pamphlet into her hand.
"On this is a magic circle, it'll teleport you to any random devil territory in the human world," he explained hastily, "You have devil blood traveling to a devil territory, so the Underworld's security system won't detect anything unusual unless they pay close attention. Now get out of here,"
The cloaked girl hesitated and was about to reply when there was a scream from the outside and something heavy landed on top of the carriage.
"GO!" The leader yelled at the top of his lungs, a large navy-blue handed tore through the wood, grabbing the leader by the back of his armor plate and ripping him out. Just before his figure disappeared from view, the cloaked girl heard his final words, "...Be safe, and survive,"
As the carriage crashed into the lake, the muffled sound of a teleportation circle could be heard.
Xakar hauled the squadron leader back over the plateau, and the bulky barbarian landed next to him with a loud thud, his greatsword sheathed on his back, and in his other hand, he was holding onto another fallen angel by the leg.
The squad leader's eyes glazed over the battlefield, there were fallen angel bodies and black feathers everywhere, but there wasn't a single blue body in sight. The realization dawned on him, he and his remaining soldier had been utterly defeated and were the only survivors.
Xakar tossed the second fallen angel survivor beside the squad leader, the helmet of that fallen angel rolled of as they hit the ground, revealing an attractive young woman with silky grape-colored hair. The horde started to form a semi-circle around the duo who had their backs against a steep drop into the currents. Upon seeing the woman, half of the horde's attention was locked onto her and they started to chuckle.
The squadron leader could only grind his teeth and click his tongue in annoyance as he already knew their fates.
The horde's attention was suddenly diverted to something from behind and they started to split in the middle, forming a path. As the newcomer walked down, his hooded black cloak fluttered slightly from the wind, and like a wave, each member of the horde dipped their heads towards him as he passed by.
"Commander," Xakar dipped his head as the cloaked individual stopped beside him.
"These are the survivors?"
"Yes, Commander," Xakar informed and gestured to the fallen angel duo, "The male is the leader of the retrieval party so we left him alive, and the female is just lucky,"
The cloaked commander nodded and approached the male Grigori member. He crouched down until they were at the same eye-level.
"Where is the girl?" he asked calmly.
The squadron leader remained silent and glared at the commander.
"You know, the one with the Sacred Gear that can control the Dragons. Where did you send her, I know you teleported her away,"
The squadron leader spat at the commander's face, who promptly flicked the saliva away, "I. Will. Never. Tell. You,"
"My bad, I should've been more polite," the cloaked figure sighed as he stood up, "Will you tell me, please?"
"I'd rather die," the squadron leader snarled.
"Mmm," The cloaked figure hummed, and replied, "Very well then,"
With his thumb, the cloaked commander lightly jabbed the left temple of the squad leader. In an instant, the fallen angel slumped to the ground and his corpse slowly began the disintegration into feathers.
"Was that wise?" Xakar asked as he walked to the Commander's side, "He could've had more information to give if we pressed on for a bit longer,"
"No, I could see it in his eyes, he's one of those 'To the death' types," The Commander explained, when he saw the doubtful look in his subordinate's pupil-less silver eyes, an amused smile appeared on his face, which was still covered under his hood, "You'll learn these things through experience in the field. It is crucial to know the difference, especially if you want to become a general someday,"
"I understand," Xakar bowed his head as he took in the Commander's words.
"THEY'LL HAVE YOUR HEADS!" the female fallen angel survivor shrieked, "AZAZEL! PENEMUE! ALL OF THEM! ONCE THEY FIND OUT ABOUT THIS THEY'LL FLAY YOU ALL ALIVE!"
"I looked forward to meeting them," the cloaked leader cooly replied as he turned his attention to the young woman, "I've heard so much about them,"
The fallen angel had a broken ankle from Xakar holding her leg too hard, but still started to scurry back as best she could. Her brave face from a moment ago deteriorated as the cloaked leader walked towards her. There was a calm, mysterious aura he emitted, but it felt as if all her instincts told her to run as fast as she could, however at the same time her instincts told her to just give in and accept her death as there was now no way out. The culmination of that and the sight of how frighteningly quick and easy it was for the cloaked figure to kill her squad leader, caused the young woman to shriek in fear as she desperately tried to move back.
The commander then stopped in front of the female fallen angel, he extended his hand for a second and the young woman flinched as a reaction, the cloaked figure then retracted his hand.
"I've decided that I won't kill you," he told her, "Instead I will give you a chance to live,"
"...W-What?" the female soldier sputtered.
He raised a hand and drew a circular motion in the air. The horde behind him started to move and encircled the young fallen angel.
"My soldiers will be the ones to decide your fate," said the cloaked commander quietly, so the only one that heard was the girl in front of him. His hand then lowered back to his side
"You have all worked hard today," the Commander announced as he spoke to his troops, "As a reward, I will let you all decide what to do with the survivor,"
"Slave?!" The cloaked figure looked down at the fallen angel, "Or Stock?!"
"STOCK!" The unanimous roar of the blue-skinned warriors echoed around the plateau.
"Well then, it seems that your fate has been sealed,"
The young fallen's eyes shook and widened with fear as she realized what that meant, "...No...NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS PLEASE!"
"Bind her," he simply ordered, and in an instant, several of the barbarians were upon the fallen angel tearing off her armor and tightly tying a thick, heavy rope around her limbs.
"What do we do now boss?" one of the skinnier warriors asked with his tongue hanging out.
"Prepare for the jump back to our realm," the commander replied, "Salvage whatever you can find in this area and we'll gather back here in half an hour. And regarding the prisoner, you can look at her, but don't touch,"
"But why?" another of the blue soldiers questioned, this one tall with a muscular belly.
"Her breeding partner will be selected through combat in one of the arenas back home," The hooded commander informed, "It is not every day we're able to take a fallen angel back with us. If you want her you will need to fight for it. Such is our way,"
The soldiers grunted, "Yes, Commander,"
As the blue horde started to tear apart the black-steel armor off the fallen angel carcasses. Xakar walked up to the hooded commander who was standing at the edge, staring out at the lake below.
"I do not mean to be rude sir, but wouldn't the King question the results of today's mission?" he asked.
"He might, he might not," The commander replied, "We didn't get the girl with the Sacred Gear, but we're bringing back nice armor to smelt and, someone to help in the Hybrid Warrior Project, thus she'll be the third Fallen Angel to take part in it. So I'm sure the King won't be too mad at today's result,"
"If that is your deduction, then I will honor it," Satisfied with his answer, Xakar bowed his head and headed back to help with the preparations.
Soon the horde and their spoils of the mission were ready. Seeing this the hooded commander waved his hand and above them, a large, lightning-purple circle crackled to life. The portal dropped down and engulfed all living beings in its path, sending them to the desired destination.
When they were gone, the serenity of the uninhabited reaches of the Underworld returned.
( WIN - CIX )
Chapter 6 is done.
This chapter served as the break between arcs. And, as you can see from the good number of new faces shown this time; Gunseng the Warrior Monk and Mori's Staff Instructor, The Bodhisattva Guanyin, Gautama (mentioned only), Xakar, and The Hooded One (whose name I need to keep secret until later). This chapter has also served as a bit of a set up for future arcs.
Light Novel readers should be able to guess who the person the fallen angels were transporting. The new blue-skinned faction, who and what they are will be touched upon eventually sometime after the Riser Arc. Gunseng and Guanyin talked about a Gates of the Rift along with other transcended Gods. What these are will be revealed later as well.
Regarding the harem controversy with Mori, I'm walking on a thin line between: Does he deserve one? Or. Stay in character and just give him a single pairing? Might put up a poll eventually. Personally, I'm leaning towards the latter.
And now regarding Journey to the West. I should've been a bit more detailed the last chap but better late than never. [ It is not required to read through the whole thing! Actually, you don't need to read it at all! It is only if you want to catch hidden references, callbacks, and to not get completely confused when new characters/flashbacks/locations are revealed e.g Guanyin and the Waterfall Island! If you don't want to read such a thick book, but want to know what happened, I recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions on Youtube ]
Review Segment:
Guest/Villaindeku9501/Other Guest: Thank You, I am honored, honestly, I usually feel like I don't put enough detail, haha.
Luke (Guest): Updates 1-2 times a month, depending on where I'm at in the storyline. 3 if I'm feeling inspired and have the time.
gildas13579: I can see why you thought of the Ilpyo fight, but it's actually more of a nod to the Jegal fight in the underground.
DarkZealot2: Thank you, this is just the start.
.31: I apologize, but if I give Mori his memories back now, that would be anime levels of pacing.
EMSNaruto: Gotta live up to the usual GoH arm ripping and head exploding right?
Dxhologram: It wasn't exactly Ultra Instinct, it was the monkey in his head that was controlling his body. It's kinda like if the big hair clone that fought Taejin, that strand of hair stayed on his body.
Mori has now begun proper training with the staff. Who is the new barbaric faction? What is the Gates of the Rift? Who are the transcended Gods? Who is Gautama and how does he already know of Mori's identity? Find out in the future chapters.
That's all for Chapter 6! Once again hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, and all that good stuff.
Thank You For Reading, and Goodbye!