Chapter 24: Not the Intended Route
Mido was polite as always, bowing when Naoki entered. "How may I help you today?"
"I've got some vague ideas from Baphomet, but would you clarify what all he might have meant?" he asked, coming right up to the steps.
After a short sigh, the minister replied, "He was drunk summoning again?"
"Yes, and I need to know if that's going to affect any fusions too." He glanced at the four with him; Okuninushi and Kushinada laughed at that while Feng Huang was starting to get drowsy. Onkot was grouchy from being woken up and was almost asleep again.
"There is an increased risk of a fusion accident, but not by much," Mido said. "I should have guessed he'd do that. Here, why don't we get your demons some water and time to see if they sober up?"
"I'd rather not take up too much time as I've learned where one of my magatama is," Naoki said.
After putting a hand to his cheek, he replied softer, "Feng Huang at least needs the water to cut the risk, then we can cut it further by putting them to sleep. Holy, Kinshin, Lady, Yoma… right, their clans have no particular risk additions to accidents and the full Kagutsuchi is past."
It felt like he was toeing a line, but given how many steps Baphomet wanted him to take, Naoki agreed that cutting risks was the sensible thing to do. "All right, let's do that."
Once they had the demons off to the side trying to sober up a little, Mido brought him back to the fusion chambers and called out the compendium. "What were you able to get out of Baphomet?"
"I'm supposed to fuse Kushinada and Feng Huang to get either another woman or bird demon," Naoki said.
The minister raised an eyebrow at that. "Ah, I think I get it."
"Then you're already ahead of me," Naoki joked. "After that, I'm supposed to call out the two Jirae I have to fuse them into something special, than do some special fusion with that result and Okuninushi, and then finally some even more special fusion with the two results at full Kagatuchi. But only after the two demons had been trained up to get some passive skill that the final demon won't have."
"Oh yes, that is exactly how one would get..." he flipped through the compendium, thinking. "Yes… that would be quite a beneficial fusion chain for you as long as you don't mind your group getting pared down to two followers."
"I have contracts with three other Fiends at this point that I can call on whenever I like," he said. "And due to the clan's game here, I could gain contracts with others. So that's no issue."
"And your Onkot can grow into another rare demon," Mido said. "His line grows in physical prowess, but your chain with the others will result in a potent... magician."
"Then what exactly am I doing with Okuninushi's part of the chain?" Naoki asked. "The other two seems simple enough."
"In this case, I don't mind showing you some demons you don't have registered," he said, shutting the book. When he placed his hand on the cover, a blue seal briefly appeared. Mido then opened it back up to a page that seemed like it'd been referenced often. "Here, this section contains clan listings. And this here is the Elemental Clan."
Looking at the tome from his side, he saw colorful illustrations of creatures that seemed more symbolic than anything that could live. "The name's fitting."
"An Earthys is what will result from the Jirae fusion," he explained, pointing out the yellow golem-like demon. "Elementals cause an unusual reaction in demon fusion. As you may have noticed, fusing two different clans tends to result in a demon of a third clan. When you use an Elemental, however, it ranks the other up or down within their clan. I met you with a high pixie; did she evolve from a pixie?"
Naoki nodded. "Pixie was the first demon I had a contract with."
"Within the Fairy clan, a high pixie is several ranks over a pixie. But, one of these lower ranked Elementals would be enough to evolve a pixie into a jack frost since that's the next rank up. Although you couldn't fuse any further down from a pixie, as they're of the lowest rank within the clan."
"So what I'm doing is moving Okuninushi's rank as a Kinshin up or down a level," Naoki said.
"It will rank him up," Mido said. "In fact, you will end up with Mikazuchi. From Feng Huang and Kuninushi..." he ran his fingers along the page even though it was still open to the Elementals, "you will end up with the Avatar Yagatarasu. If you simply fuse those two together, you will end up with a somewhat normal demon, albeit very strong. But what Baphomet is suggesting is that you use a sacrificial fusion to unlock an entirely different demon."
"Sacrificial fusion?" He already didn't like the sound of it.
Mido nodded. "It may seem cruel because you have a good empathy for your demons. But many demon summoners view their demons as tools. Sacrificial fusion is a quick method to building a new demon's power as soon as they appear. One demon is sacrificed to contribute their power and life to the other two, who are then fused into one far more than the other three. However, it can only be done by the full moonlight, or full Kagutsuchi here."
"But what kind of demon would need a sacrifice simply to appear?" A cruel one like Gozu-Tennoh, most likely. Why did Baphomet think it would be good for him? Naoki might be able to dismiss it as something he couldn't understand in not being a full demon. But Mido seemed to think it was a good idea too. Maybe the minister wasn't as sane as he seemed.
"In your case, a goddess," he answered.
"Kushinada is already a goddess and both Okuninishi and Mikazuchi are gods," Naoki said.
"Yet these shades are ordinary demons," Mido said. "The one you can call on would be a shadow too. But, it is like with your own clan. This is someone who needs special ceremony to call on at all. My methods as the minister of the Cathedral of Shadows are far more simplified than traditional means, such as what you saw with Baphomet calling on Mara."
Don't worry, Naoki. Aren't you curious about what follower you'll end up with? Demons are used to the idea of sacrifice.
He didn't want to move too far away from his humanity. And yet, he really was curious what was going to happen. Similar curiosity had already gotten him a deal with Mara, to some extend Baphomet as well. Besides, most people who were demon summoners using Mido's services had to be humans. A demon summoner like Baphomet didn't need the cathedral and might only use it for convenience. This wasn't too far out of line.
"I'll think about it," Naoki said. "But I'll go ahead with fusing for Yagatarasu and Mikazuchi today."
He'd made a mistake. His rivals were going to spring on every opening to get ahead now that he couldn't do much. But they'd see. Hikawa was at his best when challenged. He could turn any loss into a gain; he had many plans already in place that he simply had to set in motion. He knew far more about the situation then they did. And if they thought they could win, he'd show them that he'd stop at nothing to make sure they didn't, even strangling the life out of them.
No, hold on. He didn't need to get that drastic, not yet. He wasn't even in condition to be that physical, even if it was tempting. That silenced people like nothing else. For now, he'd have to rely on manipulating demons and the situation of the Vortex World to keep a strong holding. Hikawa opened his eyes and sat up; he needed to assess where he was first.
It didn't take him long to recognize the lobby of the Diet building. The lofty grand room was impossible to mistake for anywhere else. Due to the large windows and decorating scheme, the light of Kagutsuchi seemed warmer in here. Hikawa had been left on the tiled floor near a dark statue. That might be due to the one who brought him here, one who wouldn't have a strong grasp on human habits.
Samael soon showed himself, flying down from the upper hall. "Ah, you're awake again. The healer said you should take things easy for a while; you need to recover."
"What exactly hit me?" Hikawa asked. He recalled a trumpet's melody as the last thing he'd noticed before blacking out.
"A deadly melody from that trumpeter's instrument," Samael said. "You had a homunculus on you, didn't you? But it wasn't of good quality since you barely survived that."
"It will take a lot of work to get another," Hikawa said. He'd made that one himself; maybe his supplier had given him bad materials.
"The fiend probably won't bother us again, but I needed somewhere safe to take you," the dragon said.
"What about the Obelisk? I'd like to try out some things with the Nightmare System."
Sameal flicked his tail. "The Nightmare System has fallen apart. The Demifiend had entered the Obelisk when you fell, so I could not take you there. While I haven't heard the details, it seems the Moirae sisters were defeated and the Maiden taken from her position."
"I'll need to study that infiltration," Hikawa said, summoning up his terminal key. That had been his best tool for keeping control in this world. However, he was here in the Diet Building. He could still regain control.
Another fallen angel entered the lobby then, a beast bound by a serpent. Despite the appearance, Mitra was a powerful demon. "Good to see you again, Hikawa." He bowed as best he could.
Nodding back, Hikawa said, "Hello, Mitra. Are you in control here?"
"Somewhat. I've split the territory of this place with three others."
"I don't believe the other three are those you've had contact with," Samael said. "At least they don't recognize you as anything more than a Reason bearer."
"The lobby's shared, but you're welcome in my portion," Mitra said.
"Good, I'll need to speak with the others then." Hikawa closed his eyes and considered his current condition. If Mitra was sharing territory with these others, they had to be of or around equal level with each other. Samael might be able to cower them, but it'd be better to deal with the others when he could get around this large building on his own. "Later; I'm going to look into what's going on and find a way to put it all back in my favor."
"I'll be nearby," Samael said.
On entering the prison again, Naoki found it quieter and colder. A frosty mist hung in the air. As it bit into his bare skin, Naoki shifted Miasma to the fore. That made him feel more comfortable in these near freezing conditions. What magatsuhi had been here was mostly gone, either dispersed or taken by another demon. He had a feeling it'd turn out to be the latter.
Three demons accompanied him this time. Mikazuchi kept near him, ready to draw his sword at any threat to them. While he didn't have armor like Okuninushi had, he had a natural toughness that seemed just as good. Onkot hopped around the debris and surveyed the area. He was still hoping for a challenge, although that would depend on how well Heeho connected to the magatama. And flying nearby, Yagatarasu kept an eye on Onkot in case he got in trouble. She was a three-legged black crow now, which Naoki expected save for how she was still identifying as female. Although that didn't matter all that much; she was still one of his trusted followers.
"Doesn't seem like anyone's around," Onkot said.
"There's only some ghosts on these lower floors," Naoki said. "But there's a group of jack frosts with Heeho on the top floor. He feels a lot different than before, stronger."
"That's not about to stop us," Mikazuchi said.
"Of course not."
Unlike normal, it got colder the further they climbed up the stairs. By the time they reached the top floor, there were icicles overhead and some slick patches on the floor. A jack frost met them at a doorway. "Ho there, stop! You're entering the presence of the emperor! Show some hee ho respect!"
"We'll see about that," Naoki said, getting a sense of things in the other hall. "Fire's actually useless this time around, along with ice, expel, and death. No weaknesses and he is respectably powerful."
"Sounds fun," Onkot said.
"Yeah," he agreed. Fighting was a normal thing in the world, and it seemed better to focus on that rather than his desire to tear this emperor down for stealing his magatama.
"What the hee are you talking about?" the jack frost asked, suspicious of them.
"Never mind, we're going to see your emperor," Naoki said. "I claimed this prison before and I'll reclaim it again."
"Hah, then you shouldn't have left! Go on in and try it."
The ice work within this hall was actually impressive. The debris from this building's time as a school and a prison had been cleared away, allowing the frosts to redesign it with ice to be something more palatial. At the end, the wall blocking off the club area had been knocked away in favor of sparkling arches and a glacial throne, all with spiky snowflake patterns.
Heeho sat in the throne; he was definitely no jack frost. His snow had turned pitch black as a giant black frost. While he had similar clothes to the jack frosts, they had turned a dark purple with demonic patches. He still had a large smile permanently on his face, but his eyes had changed. Actually, it reminded him of his cousins' drawings of what they thought mean faces were. Heeho was darker and affected by the magatama Satan, but there was still something adorable about how he ended up.
Being adorable wouldn't be enough to save him. Heeho leaned forward on his throne on seeing him. "Well well, hee ho hello to you, Demi! I'm glad to see you come around because I wouldn't have gotten to this point without your help and encouragement."
"Hello Heeho," he replied, approaching. The lack of debris was good, as well as the missing wall. The slick parts of the floor could be a problem; he just needed to keep alert, and trust his two fighters to keep their footing.
"Isn't this great?" Heeho said, still excited over his transformation. "Once I overcame fire, it wasn't long before I became powerful, even cuter than before, and absolutely hee-evil. I'm going to conquer everybody else with winter and make the next world mine! I will use that to steal everybody's left shoe, mess up traffic lights, and make everybody act like goofy animals if they don't want to face my hee-licious wrath!"
"That's nice, but I have an objection," Naoki said, looking him right in the eyes. "You're only as powerful as you are because you have one of my magatama. I will have it back."
"WHAT?!" He beat both of his arms on the throne, knocking off some ice from it. "No way, no way, no fucking way! This is my power now, not yours! On the contrary, you will give up yours instead."
"You don't stand a chance at that," Naoki said, angered as well. He stepped back and waved his two fighters ahead. "Get him."
"No, you don't!" The jack frosts in the room hurried to Heeho's sid as he blasted them all with ice. It did nothing to Naoki and none of his followers were weak to ice, although it was still powerful enough that Yagatarasu decided to start off with healing.
Leaving the front of the battle to Onkot and Mikazuchi, Naoki used Concentrate to focus his magical powers. It had a different feel than Focus, building within his mind rather than his muscles. Then he cast Tornado. Since he was working with his magatama this time, it didn't affect his group at all. The jack frosts were immediately blown away; one of them flew out a window before dissolving away. It even broke the ice throne.
"Hoo, you're going to suffer now!" Heeho called, right before a red flash came from his eyes. The whole room seemed to slow down, but nothing changed with Heeho. The black frost filled the room with fire instead, strangely cold but it knocked Naoki back with the force of it. In the time that Naoki tried to get his footing, Heeho had called up a new squad of jack frosts, let the four of them attack Onkot and Mikazuchi, then summoned up a snowflake staff to send a powerful blow to all of them. It felt like someone had slugged him in a blind fury; Naoki gritted his teeth and clung to his life as best he could. Time returned to normal and let them act again.
Bad one, that was Dragon Eye. It lets him and his allies act with impunity for a brief time. More troublesome to us, that last attack was Satan's strongest skill. Don't let him talk! He could be more dangerous if he gets a chance to con the others into breaking their contracts, and Satan would be the one capable of that.
That was a risk he didn't want to take. While Yagatarasu healed them again, Naoki called to the other two, "Focus on Heeho, ignore the jacks!" He threw another Tornado, this one not concentrated. It was still enough to take out the jacks.
As that led to another close call with Dragon Eye, Naoki decided that he should ignore the jacks too. That worked, thankfully; as long as he had his posse, Heeho didn't see a reason to use Dragon Eye even though it gave him a huge advantage. Their group could easily keep up with them, even at times when Heeho used his fire magic as Naoki was weak to it. He relied on concentrated Shocks while Onkot and Mikazuchi had found a good rhythm in trading focus and single target attacks.
Just like Mizuchi, Heeho lost his increased size as they continued to beat him down. He got to be no larger than the jacks with him. "I am not giving this power up!" he insisted, stamping his foot down.
"You've been a good foe, but I'm not letting you get away with it," Naoki said. He was concentrated and Heeho couldn't take any more blows. "Goodbye." He cast Tornado this time, taking out all of them in a flurry of snowflakes.
"Hah, that's how a fiend would end things," Mikazuchi said, proud of him.
"Yes, but are you all right with that?" Yagatarasu asked.
Apparently her new form gave her a better understanding of him as a human. Naoki would have appreciated that earlier. As it was, it was reassuring but a reminder that he was changing. "Of course, I am a fiend," Naoki said, going over to retrieve Satan.
That was sixteen out of twenty-four. As such, it caused a brief disorientation in his senses as it connected with the rest, but Naoki wasn't affected more than a few moments where he needed Mikazuchi to help keep himself balanced. He noticed what the others had been worried about: Satan had a passive increase for charisma. He still saw Heeho as likable even in this supposedly evil form. If he'd tried to persuade Naoki's demons to his side, he might have succeeded. Most likely with Onkot, but perhaps even the other two.
What was he going to be capable of if he was more charismatic than he naturally was? It would be easier to convince other demons into making contracts with him. But there could be so much more. Charisma was a far more flexible kind of power than being able to defeat someone in battle.
"Well then, where to now?" Yagatarasu asked when they got outside the terminal room.
"The Amala Labyrinth so we can complete the Second Kalpa," Naoki said. "Things are unclear past there, but I do want to get you all more training and that's our best place for that."
"Where is that?" Onkot asked.
"It's a place set up for Demi's training," Yagatarasu explained. "And you must know that to truly be the Demifiend, he needs to be a lot more powerful."
"Like the guy in the Obelisk? Yeah." Onkot grinned. "This'll be great!"
"I have to be figuring out where the other fiends are to challenge them too, but I'd like to be more powerful too for facing them," Naoki said, trying to ignore the reminder of that Demifiend's death.
"You certainly made the right call in sticking with us," Mikazuchi said.
"Oh yeah, this is what I've been looking for," Onkot said, excited. The three demons at least were in a good mood as they went back down to the terminal room.
Once Naoki had his hand on the top of the Amala drum, the destination mark for the labyrinth appeared. He accepted that for his destination. But it wasn't long into the transfer that he felt something was going wrong. He got drawn in a different direction and dropped into the Network, far deeper inside than he had been before. That hall had been a shore on an ocean of knowledge: this was right in the waters, with currents that tried to drag him deeper. As the network was a flow of knowledge, Naoki attempted to use Concentrate to focus his mind out of it.
"I wasn't going to call on you yet," a familiar voice said. "But I have to know: where are you going? The demons that were with you went there, but where is there?"
It was Isamu, but it wasn't Isamu as Naoki had known him. His clothes had been shredded as if he'd been through something rough. Oddly enough, his hat and belt with that giant buckle seemed untouched. Past that, he had gray veins bulging out of his body that were surrounded by strange growths that looked like moving agonized faces. He was no longer fully human; he'd adapted to the Amala Network by changing himself into something like the Vile clan of demons.
Don't let him know about the labyrinth; it's meant for you.
"If you want in there, you have to know the right words to get there," Naoki said. "It's not something that I can simply tell others."
"I can just search the network for the words you use to get there," Isamu said, floating within the currents and unaffected by them. "So you might as well just tell me."
He shook his head. "I doubt that will work."
"I can know anything with the Network." Symbols began to swirl around him. It wasn't long until he frowned.
Even though he doubted Lucifer would let Isamu get into the labyrinth, Naoki decided to see if he could use his newest magatama to distract him. "Since you dragged me here, what Reason did you come up with? I know you're a bearer now."
"Musubi," Isamu said, letting the symbols fall back into the current. "Back in our own world, hardly anybody cared to pay attention to me. I hated it then, but in this world, I realized that it no longer mattered. I didn't care about many people there and that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, most problems in the world are the result of one person troubling another, whether they mean it or not. Everyone gets in each other's way and it all leads to one big mess."
There was a brief moment where he thought of being polite. But no, he couldn't take this politely. "That's a horrible way to look at things," Naoki said.
He didn't even look annoyed, just that he no longer cared. "Whatever, I didn't expect you to see things my way. You were right, you aren't the person I thought you were. But Musubi solves that; Musubi solves everything. When it is brought into reality, everyone will be able to make their own world, for themselves alone. They will never be bothered by other people again. Because, how am I supposed to make a single world where everyone is happy? I don't care about them; I can't know who they all are, what they all might want. So let them make their own worlds where they can be happiest. The souls that live within this network agree with Musubi wholeheartedly. That's how I became what you see now."
Feeling a signal from his horn, Naoki felt like this was a dangerous place for a vision. He then felt a reassurance from his magatama; there were enough of them that they'd protect him in this place. All right, then let's see…
Kashima Naoki, see what the future may bring.
The world was made up of billions of bubbles. Every person got their own bubble. Within the bubble, you could do almost anything you wanted. An underwater city where you lived as mermaid royalty, sure, the waters would be perfectly comfortable with nearly everything you could desire at just a snap of the fingers. A giant monster stomping all over a city, sure, and the city would come back ready to topple again whenever you pleased. A cloudy paradise with plants that grew candy and rivers that flowed with sparkling soda, sure, your teeth would never rot and you'd never get sick unless you wanted that.
And people were happy with that, able to live in their wildest fantasies. Within the bubbles, the worlds were as big or as small as the people inside desired. Facts and science didn't matter anymore since every person made their own rules and could break them whenever. There were no consequences. Nearly everyone chose to fly, since why walk when you could fly however you felt was most fun.
However, there was something missing from these worlds, something that no one could do. They could not contact others. There was no trade or communication between worlds. After the initial rush of freedom, many realized that and felt despair. They could not make others within their worlds. Even the beasts, fish, insects, and birds were nothing but props. Without those they loved, without others to see their amazing creations, they felt trapped and lonely within their dreams.
They decided to wake up and their bubbles became empty.
Some people did not mind the lack of others at first. They were like Isamu, feeling like they'd been ignored and deciding that they were better off alone. Or they were like Hikawa, never caring about others in the first place. For them, the new reality of Musubi seemed ideal. They were the few lights left in the darkness of space.
But over time, they encountered problems too. Each person was free to do as they pleased; their worlds were only limited by themselves. And when they found those boundaries, they found great difficulties in breaking them. There were no new ideas to stimulate thoughts and expand their worlds accordingly. They created their own games, but knew exactly how to win them. No challenges to push them, no novelties to spark new interests; every song sounded the same, every place was like the last in some way. Boredom set in.
In trying to escape that, many of them woke up and their bubbles went dark.
And when all of the world bubbles were dark and empty, they fizzled out of existence entirely.
"Why do we have to keep up with the expectations of others? Why do we have to be limited by selfish idiots who claim authority? Musubi is true freedom, don't you see? A person will only be limited by themselves and thus be entirely free."
Will you allow this future to come about?
"Since when could you see into the future?" Isamu asked, annoyed at that.
"Since I was chosen for this role, shortly before the Conception," Naoki said. "I saw what your Reason would bring about and it's awful."
"What?" His fists clenched.
If he tries to fight us here, he's at an advantage since he can influence the Network. We can protect you for now, but if he starts trying to kill us, that'll be rough without all of us.
Keeping in mind that he might need to get away, Naoki continued. "I wouldn't be happy isolated in my own little world without my family, without anyone to make friends with. Most people would be unhappy with your vision once they realize there was no one around to talk to and be with. Only sociopaths like Hikawa will be satisfied with the world resulting from your Reason. Musubi is a freedom where you are limited by yourself, and those limits are stronger than you seem to realize."
The magatsuhi around Isamu became spiced with anger and an intimidation that held him back. "That's not true! You could make others if you really have to have them around, but you won't be limited by them ever."
Naoki shook his head. "Which means that they're not real, shades that are even weaker than the demon shades of greater beings. They'll only be echoes of your own thoughts. Did you come up with this because you were trying to escape reality?"
"Musubi will be the new reality. The old world doesn't matter, let it go. Besides, who made you judge of me? You can just stay lost here until I need you." Isamu then vanished.
Due to the nature of the Amala Network, he was technically still there. Naoki snorted, not wanting to voice that judging the other Reasons was now the main role he had in Creation. Hikawa had even said it, although Naoki had missed it at the time due to being shocked that he could not participate normally. Maybe even Isamu would grow unhappy with his own world, given that he admitted to needing Naoki for something.
Whatever that was, it didn't matter. Naoki looked around. There were no paths to follow this time, only the flow of magatsuhi. Trying to follow that could overwhelm him. However, he had an idea. Calling out Sovereignty, he held the golden candelabrum in front of him. "I don't know if this is your intended use, but let's see if you can do this. Sovereignty, lead me to the place you belong, to the Second Kalpa."
The candles lit themselves with white flames; the flow of magatsuhi suddenly parted around him, divided by the light. A frail brown path that looked like it belonged to the labyrinth appeared under his feet, but vanished where the magatsuhi was flowing. Trusting himself to the candelabrum, he walked along that path to escape from the formless Network.