Call of the Moon
Chapter 8 – Evil Unleashed
Byakuren, Nue, Mamizou and Shou watched stiffly as the blade glowed brighter and brighter. It rose into the air and released a blinding light. All observers winced and covered their eyes.
"What's going on?" Nue yelled.
"That sword, just what the heck is it?" Shou asked, gritting her teeth.
The light faded and everyone looked over toward the sword, or rather, where the sword was. In its place was a youkai with red eyes and silver hair. She had six wings and a silver dress, the color of moonlight.
"I'm finally free!" the youkai yelled, a crazed delight in her voice.
Byakuren narrowed her eyes at this youkai. The evil aura she was emanating was truly bone chilling. "Who are you?" Byakuren asked carefully.
"Oh? I'm called Kamiko, and I am that sword. And that sword is me. I am the embodiment of moonlight," the youkai smirked, the glow in her eyes becoming brighter. "And I'm going to destroy this land… and everything in it."
Meanwhile, Ichirin, Murasa, and Nazrin had come to see the commotion. They stood by Byakuren and warily gazed at Kamiko, who glared down at them.
"Byakuren-sama, what's going on?" Murasa whispered to Byakuren.
"Who is that?" Ichirin added.
Byakuren didn't respond, but merely stood there with the unconscious Okami in her arms. She had a feeling of impending doom in her stomach. The aura this youkai possessed was frighteningly evil, and she sounded like she would seriously destroy everything if she wasn't stopped. "We have to stop her," Byakuren muttered.
"Byakuren-sama?" Nazrin asked quietly.
"Myouren Temple," Byakuren started. "To arms! Attack that six winged youkai! We cannot let her leave temple grounds!"
Everyone readied for battle. Ichirin summoned Unzan, Murasa brought out her anchor, Nue readied her trident, Mamizou prepared her paper shikigami, and Shou held up her Jeweled Pagoda.
"Nazrin. I need you to take Okami inside the temple to Kyouko. Keep an eye on Okami," Byakuren ordered. Nazrin nodded and hoisted the unconscious Okami upon her shoulders, but due to Okami's height, her feet were dragged behind her. Nazrin dragged Okami all the way to the main building in the temple. Kyouko was inside, staring at the ground and sniffling. The yamabiko turned her head and saw Nazrin lug the unconscious Okami into the room.
"Okami!" Kyouko yelped, rushing to Nazrin. "What happened to her?"
"Byakuren told me to carry her here while she deals with her sword," Nazrin explained.
"Her sword?"
"Turns out that sword of hers is a youkai; a pretty scary youkai," Nazrin spoke, putting Okami under the kotatsu and elevating her head with a nearby pillow.
"Is Okami okay?" Kyouko asked.
"Yeah. She's just unconscious," Nazrin replied. "I'm worried about the others."
Meanwhile, Ichirin and Unzan were throwing massive punches at Kamiko, who merely deflected the attacks with a wave of moonlight. Murasa chucked her anchor towards the moonlight youkai, but Kamiko caught it with both hands and threw it back. Murasa just barely dodged her own anchor.
"She's strong. Really strong," Murasa commented, gritting her teeth.
"I'm not surprised. Have you seen what she did to Okami? Poor girl fell unconscious after that thing pretty much possessed her!" Nue remarked. She glared at Kamiko and fired multiple green curvy lasers at the youkai.
Kamiko attempted to dodge them but got nicked in the arm by one of the lasers. She narrowed her eyes at fired a beam of moonlight at the undefined youkai. The beam sped towards her at an ungodly speed, but Byakuren reflected the beam with her Star Maelstrom lasers.
This opened the path for Murasa, Ichirin and Shou to charge in. Kamiko growled and unleashed a shockwave, knocking everyone back several feet.
Byakuren grit her teeth and sighed. If this youkai could do that with one blow, then it would be far too risky to try attacking any further. "Everyone, fall back," Byakuren ordered.
"But Byakuren-sama! We're not supposed to let it off the grounds!" Shou protested.
"I can't risk continuing this battle. She's too strong… we have to regroup," Byakuren said, glaring at Kamiko. Byakuren didn't want to lose anyone.
Everyone stood back, albeit unwillingly. A crazed grin spread across Kamiko's face. "So you've given up? A smart choice. As a reward, I'll kill your little temple last," she snarled. The moonlight youkai retreated and flew off into the distance. Byakuren clenched her fist around her scroll.
"What have I released into Gensokyo?" she muttered, biting her lip.
