Edited 05/06/2020
There weren't a lot of options. Harry tugged at the body. It weighed about as much as an elephant. He could move it. It rolled over and stopped on its side.
"I need a tractor trailer to get it out." Harry rubbed at his face as he thought of a solution. Well he had it in a near death state. It wasn't going anywhere. He could have umbrella do the transportation.
The sound of gunshots rang out through the mine. Harry was running out of time. Spiders retreated pouring into the queen's chamber. They wasted no time going on the attack.
Green aura covered his sword as he began cutting through the horde. Wand in hand he began levitating the corpses in front of the entrance. Harry sheared away a trench of rock leading down a mine shaft. The fighting continued as Harry began burning his way through the rock. Molten rock slid off the walls carried away by the ditch. The heat quickly increased burning up the weaker spider guards.
Harry sent an excavation curse up to make a hole for heat to escape. Meters of rock melted before his power giving way and forming a tunnel. Harry thrust his hand out forming ice around the queen. With the queen protected he stopped holding back.
Aura exploded around him as he moved like an erupting volcano. Tons of rock melted away as he dug out a slope wide enough for a big rig to back down.
"Did you really think you'd burn an exit before I finished off the horde?" Dick asked.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Harry grumbled.
"What does this sect have on you? I don't believe they deserve your loyalty." Dick demanded.
"This will help all qi experts who call the sect home. It will ensure more foundry experts emerge." Harry said.
"That just increases competition. Who'd want more of us? It's better to be just a handful." Dick said.
"We'll stall out in foundry that way. This stage is just temporary. Core will come to those who master their aura, and then system experts will emerge. To rise we must fight, or we'll become complacent. We must battle the gods to earn our place in this world. That is what I believe." Harry said with manic eyes. This was the corner stone of everything the ultimate lesson from the stories. It was in the history of the world.
"That's easy for you to say. There will always be more losers than winners. People will grow bitter with their weakness. They'll blame us for their incompetence and the sects will be targeted. I was never a good student until, I reached refinery. Its written in the history of the world." Richard said, he pulled his firearm free and pointed it at Harry.
A crimson aura covered the gun as they prepared for a duel. Harry left his wand behind and put both hands on his long sword. Aura bathed the blade like flames. He had to invest twenty percent of his aura into his blade any less and he couldn't pierce his opponent's barrier and any more the blade would shatter.
His opponent was more controlled, he needed less aura for similar power. Harry's output was perhaps twenty times Dick's, but his control was less. He had more aura than he could hone, and he wasted it.
The bullet was in his midst and he swung by reflex. With the flat of his blade he turned the bullet and shot forward. His aura saturated body could move with inhuman speeds. Through refinery he gained the physical strength of ten horses and with foundry that strength was fueled by aura. As powerful as he was his opponent was equally fast. He moved keeping his distance and firing off rounds. Red flashes of aura appeared in his sixth sense only to be parried.
Dick jumped over him firing down. Harry twisted to the side. Bullets grazed him ripping holes through his barrier. He couldn't get hit. Harry threw a stake. Richard's image blurred beside the stake. He changed his clip.
Harry was on him. Sword stabbing forward he felt it graze Dick's barrier. The new clip slammed home, a bullet fired ripping through Harry's barrier. He felt blinding pain as his sword pierced flesh. Another shot rang out. Harry moved his head to the side. He still felt the heat of the bullet graze his head.
His sword pierced through Dick's chest. He turned it and missed the heart. Richard fell to his knees. The thin blade of Harry's long sword had slipped between Dick's ribs and pierced a lung. For them it wasn't a deadly wound. They had little need for lungs mechanically.
"You should have killed me." He aimed his gun and Harry withdrew his sword and sliced through it. The barrel of the gun fell, the bullet had fired and flattened on Harry's barrier, and Harry sheathed his sword.
"When we're wounded our aura, control suffers. You haven't been wounded often have you?" Harry said.
"It hurts, I'll get you back for this. I'll master my aura and reach core before you. Then I'll destroy your sect." His face was red, and blood covered his chest.
"Put pressure on the wound or you won't live to do anything." A smile spread across his face under the bandages. Harry stumbled and fell. His left arm hung limply. Red aura spread across the wound. The wound smelled like it was festering.
"You really are a dick." Harry said.
"I know that's my name." Richard said.
Harry took a medical knife from his bag of holding. He cut open the wound and screamed. The nerves were more delicate than ever. Puss poured from the wound yellow and with the smell of death.
"I didn't know bullets would be so effective against us." Harry said.
"It's the lead. Metals are imperfect storage devices. They leak stored aura over time. It acts as a poison in wounds." Richard let out a pained whistle. "It looks like that round it stuck in the bone." Richard said with a chuckle.
Harry stabbed into himself with forceps and gripped the bullet. He screamed and pulled. With a pop the bullet was freed. It wasn't even the most painful wound he'd experienced. Fresh blood poured from the wound as the injury began to close. The flesh knit itself together leaving behind another ugly scar. With the wrapping of his bandages the scar was hidden from the world.
"I've never seen one of us heal like that. Does it have something to do with your Path?" Richard asked.
"I started with the Dao of severing and have taken many paths since then. Severing isn't my only Dao just as reincarnation isn't yours. Guns, hunting, and detection are a few of yours." Harry said.
"No two Daos are alike. Time and history separate our experiences until the paths hardly resemble one another. Does your path now even resemble the one you started on?" Dick asked.
Harry watched Richard climb to his feet. He looked over to the giant spider woman surrounded by ice. "You can have this one. We'll meet again."
"Maybe next time we'll join forces instead of fighting each other." Harry cheerfully added.
"I doubt it. Screw you Harry, there is karma between us now." Dick said tiredly. He approached the entrance then paused. "Harry watch out for a foundry expert named Vincent House. He's better at this than me. He can do things with aura that makes us look like cavemen. If you come to odds with him don't fight run. He'll kill you." Richard said.
"You aren't such a bad bloke Richard. You're just a dick sometimes." Harry said.
"Shut up Harry and watch your back. When the losers gain power, they have a habit of ganging up and killing the winners." Richard said.
"The world is full of more than winners and losers." Harry yelled as the teen entered the dark tunnel.
"Believe what you want." Dick yelled back.
Harry waited until Dick left the edge of his senses and unleashed his flames. Molten rock filled the old mine shaft as he slowly made his way to the surface. When he was sure it was sloped enough for a truck to drive through, he pulled a phone from his bag of holding.
Twelve hours later he saw a familiar face. Carl held a serious expression on his face when he saw Harry. "It cost the company quite a penny to bring the equipment you requested. Can I see the beast?" He asked. Harry waved a hand for Carl to follow him.
"The air is stale down here. We have a team of fours to drag the sacrifice out. They won't do well in low oxygen." Carl said. Harry took out his wand and used the oxygen summoning charm.
"The air's breathable, what did you do?" Carl asked.
"Foundry has many powers that may be considered unconventional." Harry replied.
The team arrived and began surveying the long tunnel to load the spider queen. Sect employees were hard at work cutting down trees and putting down gravel for the truck. They looked at Harry on occasion before turning away.
"They're afraid of you Harry. You feel like a six but you're clearly not. Even Rose isn't at your level. What are you doing working with us instead of ruling us?" Carl asked.
The man was sweating buckets just standing near Harry. His face was pale as a ghost. This wasn't the confident recruiter Harry remembered.
"It's easier to have someone who likes to manage people to manage your sect. I'm just a private contractor. I can break ties with your sect at any time." Harry said.
The sound of winch cranks filled the air as the spider queen's body was dragged out of the tunnel. She was quickly loaded on the truck. Harry let it go. It hadn't cost him much to take the queen down. This part of the agenda was over. He'd spend the rest of the summer with his fling and work on his aura control at school. That was what he planned.
He rode alongside Carl in the Big rig. The countryside passed them by while the fours followed behind in a convoy. Harry rested his hand on his hand and sighed.
"You could have returned on your own if you're bored." Carl said.
"I didn't know you had a class D license or is there an equivalent here in Japan." Harry said.
"Fine, we'll talk. I read the manual. The doctors under our payroll say that our minds aren't the same as mortals. The foreign substance in our bodies rests parts of our minds periodically. That's why we can stay up forever with no reproductions, after the second stage. They've coined it substance X." Harry raised a brow. "I'm watching the road, and you're covered in bandages." Carl reminded him.
"Substance X, I like it, but qi fits just as well. What are we going to do if we're stopped?" Harry asked.
"Look under your seat." Carl suggested.
Harry reached under and pulled a suitcase full of money out. "You're going to bribe them." Harry said.
"If that doesn't work, we'll use another solution." Harry looked behind them. They were transporting a massive trailer full of spider. She was disguised but too much looking would expose them.
"Where's the cutting?" Harry asked.
"It's being integrated. It should be ready for us when we get there." Carl said. "Bloody hell," Carl yelled as blue lights appeared behind them. He slowed to a stop.
Carl sucked in a breath. "Don't go killing him unless I give you the signal. We need to be inconspicuous. A dead cop isn't that. If he dies more will come. They may send ghoul investigators. Do you understand?" Carl said.
A lady cop exited her vehicle and approached the door. Carl rolled down the window and smiled.
"Evening officer what can I do for you?" Carl said in very British Japanese. Harry's translation spell still worked well enough.
"Sir step out of the truck and open the back. We have reason to believe you brought contraband into the country." She said.
"Officer, mam, lady cop there must be some mistake. I'm just a bloke with a job to do. I'm transporting Irish gold to Tokyo. Spuds can't be contraband." Carl said.
"My name is Officer Ao and you were reported of breaking the law. I want to see your green card." She demanded.
Harry sighed. "Would fifty thousand yen change your mind?" Harry asked.
Her beautiful face glared down at them. "Disgusting foreigner you dishonor yourself and worse you dishonor me with your words." Aoi said.
"How does a hundred-thousand-yen sound?" Harry asked.
"Out of the truck now. Prostrate yourself to be bound." Aoi said.
"Bloody damn it, Harry, I told you to let me handle it." Carl looked down at Aoi with an apologetic look. He raised his hands and opened the door to the truck. With his hands up he slipped out of the truck. The second she approached the cuff him he snatched her up by the neck.
"To be fair another fifty thousand might have done it." Harry said.
"No, now what are we going to do about her squad car?" Carl asked.
"I'll take care of it." Harry assured.
"What do you plan to do Harry?" Carl asked.
Harry turned his head towards a lake. It looked deep enough for a squad car or twelve. "That should do the job." Harry walked over to the car.
"The tracks will reveal what happened." Carl said. Aoi kicked her feet and pounded on Carl's arm.
"You could always keep her. Just bind her with her own handcuffs and toss her in the back cab." Harry suggested. The convoy had stopped while Harry approached the car.
He bent his knees and pushed the car up on two wheels. Once it was on two wheels, he found the frame and picked it up fully by it. Harry heaved mightily throwing the car high in the air. It sailed through the air for ten seconds as it crossed the distance to the middle of the lake. With a massive splash the car sunk to the bottom.
Harry dusted off his hands and walked back to the car. Aoi was in handcuffs stunned speechless. "Ghouls, you're all ghouls and you're transporting something into Tokyo. What is your plan? Monsters, what is your plan?"
"No, we aren't ghouls. We are the Umbrella organization. There are many powers that umbrella possesses that some find controversial in the business world." Harry said.
"Umbrella is fiction, you're the villains in a video game." Aoi said.
"That's the best kind of PR Carl. The whole world thinks we don't exist." Carl tossed Aoi into the back cab. Harry took his seat back and they got back on the road.
"What do you plan to do with me? Am I going to become an experiment for viruses?" Aoi asked.
"Oh, so that's what Umbrella does. Neat, is there any money in that?" Harry asked.
"It's not economically possible for us right now. Our executive board hasn't filed any surveys about future aspirations. If anyone knew, I thought it would be you Harry." Carl said.
"We aren't that Umbrella. Harry was just messing with you. Our founder was a fan of the fictional company and named us after them. As for what we're here to do, we're transporting a revolutionary device that produces near infinite free energy. This is an experiment to see if the power output is up to the predictions." Carl said.
"Then why didn't you just give me your green card?" Aoi said.
"I had one, but Harry bribed you before I could take it out." Carl said.
"Don't worry you're going to be Carl's wife now. When did you graduate officer school?" Harry asked.
"You won't get away with this." Aoi said.
"No, we will definitely get away with kidnapping you. We've left your squad car behind with no trace of what happened to it." Harry said.
"We called in some favors to get into Tokyo proper. That isn't an issue. We could leave you out here in the middle of nowhere. Our plans will be complete long before you can tell anyone." Carl said.
"No, it's too late for that. You could string her and make her a servant of the sect. She's pretty enough we could use her as a model to tempt new members. Or you could pimp her out for another string of income." Harry suggested.
"Harry mate no offense but if there is evil in this world then it's you." Harry shrugged. "I don't know when it happened, but you stopped thinking of humans as anything but mortals or puppets. You were human just like anyone else."
"I'm stronger than you, doesn't that make me right?" Harry asked.
"No Harry, that just makes you strong. No matter how strong you are two and two will be four." Carl said waving his fingers.
Carl was misunderstanding him. How could he make the man see? "Might controls everything without it you can't defend your position. Your words are meaningless no matter how true they are unless there is force behind it." Harry said. He let out a sigh and turned his head to the back cab. The Japanese woman stared in confusion. That's right they were speaking in English. A weakness in the translation spell. He should learn Japanese when he had the time.
"I don't want to be alone Carl. There was a choice. I could have gone back to being a weak mortal child or take power. I don't need two and two to make any other number than four. If I'm proven wrong, then I'll learn. Tell me Carl, why should I empathize with mortals?" Harry asked.
"Because you love them." Carl said. "There are rumors that you are chasing a mortal ghoul. You could have taken her and done whatever you wanted. Instead, you decided to work with a mortal gang to find her again." Carl finished.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Harry said. He chuckled to himself. "I think your projecting my friend. I'm shallower than you think. I want to meet the girl and I want to know her. If that police girl of yours was a threat, she would have joined her car in the lake." Harry said.
"You're lying and you know it." Harry shook his head and turned away. A smile stretched across his face. It wasn't for Carl to see. The world was changing.
They arrived at the new building. It was an older skyscraper scheduled for demolition before it was purchased. The giant spider woman was fed to a small spec of red creeping demonic taint. It quickly devoured the body growing larger and spreading to the building.
Harry felt it before the eruption. Essence of humanity deeper than he'd ever felt spewed forth from the building. The monstrous demon extended up the walls. A flesh membrane soon covered the higher floors. Green sacs expanded around the covered spider.
He cut his absorption before he left. This place wasn't good for his control.
"Where are you going Harry?" Carl asked.
"I'm done, I've finished my end of the deal. You're the regional manager get to work. I have a girl to meet." Harry said.
"Aren't you going to enjoy the power?" Harry shook his head.
"This place is useless for me." Harry said.
Author's Note: Hey thank you for reading so far. Leave a favorite tell me what you think. For the next few chapters i'm going to try at romance. Algori tree may join the Umbrella corporation and ghouls might become cultivators as well. The fallen angel prophecy will come back.