Chapter 6: Achieved
"For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: / To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman." Bible
Dark Realm, Harumi-cho
The Dark Realm was quiet. The weak demons in Harumi-cho were in a passive state where they would only watch Raidou passing by their hidden spots and remained stealthy.
The Devil Summoner had searched the Dark Realm in all of its obscure corners, but there was no sign of Kizami or what was left of her. A common summoner would know that a possessed body trapped in the demonic world would have more control over its host and the rule applied to the transformation as well.
The scared demons helped Raidou and Gouto the best they could in hopes to get rid of the maleficent woman; information, rumors, aura detection. Everything they could do failed in vain to find the transforming Kizami.
''She has to be somewhere, possessed humans don't vanish into thin air in the Dark Realm.'' said Gouto to the Devil Summoner. ''We'll look everywhere she might be hiding. The Red Light Street, Harumi-cho and even Tsukudo-cho.''
They were running short on ideas and time. The time lapse between the Dark Realm and the Real World was similar for a human, but for a demon time passed three times faster in the Dark Realm. If Kizami had reached the halfway point of her transformation they would only have a hour or so to exorcise the woman and get her out of the Dark Realm.
They searched back in the Red Light District. Unlike its always busy Real World's counterpart, the Dark Red Light District was empty which was odd because when they had come a few minutes ago, the demons were everywhere. They walked around the silent streets of the Red Light District, keeping their senses on alert. In the middle of the dirt path, Raidou and Gouto stopped.
Something growled in the buildings' shadows.
''Finally, some action.'' Gouto teased with a small smile.
The Devil Summoner unsheathed his katana and waited for the demons to appear.
The sound of slow footsteps was amplified by the unbearable passing seconds. The glowing eyes of the demons gleamed from the darkness they hid in. By the sound alone, Raidou could count ten demons surrounding him from the small alleys, all from different species and origins. It wasn't only one type of demon; it was a fusion of different pacts.
''Giiiii...veeee...'' The demons moaned with difficulty in unison to make out the single word. ''Shhiinn...yyy...''
They were talking about the chalice hidden under Raidou's cape. The beasts were under the command of Kizami or the Mother Harlot, neither the Devil Summoner or the cat could tell at this point.
''Where is Kizami Hokuto?'' The Devil Summoner asked indifferently to the hiding beasts.
He was answered by a howl and they all charged at once. The animals weren't the smartest and once out of the shadows, Raidou found out the weak opponents set on him.
Zombie Dogs.
Mostly big dogs and hunting dogs, which was the reason why there were different growls and voices.
The undead animals were easy to dispose of. A single strike with his katana and Raidou ended the afterlife of each undead beasts. They were quick, but lacked in coordination. At one moment of the brief battle, two animals tried to jump on Raidou to slow him down. He simply ducked and the two undeads knocked themselves out.
The fight was over as soon as it started. For information, Raidou left one of the zombie dogs alive, but handicapped it with one of its back legs cut off.
Raidou pointed at the zombie with the end of his pistol and stared at the demon puppy's eyes.
''I'll say it once; guide me to Kizami Hokuto.''
The demon was weak-willed- it obeyed Raidou's order and guided the Devil Summoner to the possessed woman.
The undead made Raidou and Gouto walk for a long time in the Red Light District. Raidou was going to execute the abomination, but at the moment he was going to shoot, the trio passed through an invisible barrier. Inside the walls, the air was heavy and difficult to breathe in. It was the usual feeling a Devil Summoner had when a powerful demon was nearby.
''It's probably too late now. Raidou, we have to kill Kizami.'' Gouto said to the youngster. ''Let's find her, before she truly becomes a demon.''
It was to be expected. It was a shame Raidou had to kill a possessed human, but fate decided otherwise for the woman.
Before exploring further into the protected area, Raidou coldly killed off with a single gunshot the zombie dog and followed the energy waves coming out of Kizami's body.
They turned on a corner of an alley and the world changed. All over the stoned walls and path was written in red kanji: 'FLYING AWAY'. The area had turned into Kizami's human subconscious. All of her memories and mental worlds were fragmented into the Dark Realm, transforming the area into her paradise. The red sky and dark version of the Capital was still there, but the words written on the walls were a sign of Kizami's influence.
''The Mother Harlot within Kizami has turned this area into a nightmare world. We have to kill it, before this becomes uncontainable.'' At those words, Raidou ran through the alleys and soon was found subject to a strange sight.
A large area was freed from houses, which were floating in the air. In the shadows of the flying houses, clear blue and pink, genderless shadows were displaying still-life scenes. The closest showed a blue shadow embarrassing the pink shadow, another displayed the pink and blue figures laughing and another showed the pink figure hitting the blue figure.
Gouto gave an uncertain look to the Devil Summoner, who only stared back indifferently at the cat.
The Devil Summoner saw the exit on the other side of the area behind all the similar shadows. He had taken a few steps towards the exit, when something caught his ankle.
It was the blue hand from a shadow he stepped on. Without thinking, Raidou cut the hand off from the grabber and it resulted in all the other shades glaring at the Devil Summoner and stretching out of the ground to manifest in physical form, distorted as they were extended, paper-thin forms of themselves.
''Raidou, run!''
The cat didn't have to yell to point out the obvious, but it was strong enough to make the Devil Summoner run like hell. The shadows extended themselves, trying to catch Raidou with their thin and icy hands. The Devil Summoner ran as fast as he could with Gouto who followed him very closely.
As he ran away, the shadows laughed at the young man who ignored their taunts. He was focusing on his escape and he wasn't going to stop.
With Gouto at his side, he passed through the alley and the shadows came back to their previous occupations as if nothing happened. Seeing he wasn't in any more danger, he took a short moment to breathe in the dense air.
''A feeble trick, we have to be careful in the future.'' Gouto schooled Raidou, which he only answered with a nod.
They got through another alley, the red kanji still written on the walls, but the walls were not the same. They were made out of human skin. Just like before, the skin walls were covered in kanji. No longer written in ink, they were made by the work of a tattooist and a horrible one. The letters were marked with the mixture of both the skin's blood and the tattoo's ink.
The duo remained quiet, although Gouto seemed alarmed by the massive change of scenery. For the Devil Summoner, he had his attention at the corridor's end. They willingly adventured into the disturbing corridor. Raidou didn't take attention to the disturbing messages decorating the wall or bothered to read them. The engraved sentences varied from one to another. The first one was 'TO FLY AWAY' and the next followed with 'WITH MY KING'. Another one, not too far away to Raidou's right began by 'FOR ANOTHER TOUCH' and ended to 'I'LL KILL'.
If those kanji were fully Kizami's thoughts, they were showing how much the woman was gloomy, but nothing could tell if they were previously held beliefs or new ones.
In the middle of the corridor, there was a strange sound that could barely be heard by human ears. That was why when Gouto's ears twitched, the youngster knew he heard something. The cat stopped and looked behind him; his human partner did the same. The sound grew as the seconds went by and it clarified that the sound was the one of female moans and groans. The sound began to intensify, evolving from simple and quiet noises to loud gasps and short cries of satisfaction.
The Devil Summoner readied his katana, waiting for the demon to reveal itself.
The cries continued to get more powerful and there were muffled words that the female voice tried to pronounce, but were quickly cut off by a gasp of satisfaction. The sound was coming from directly behind them, Raidou and Gouto were sure of that. The woman's cries were beginning to reach the climax while a single drop of sweat rolled down from the student's forehead.
They stopped when it reached its peak. Gouto was going to make a comment, when the roars of a ram disturbed the silence and an entity pierced through the skin charging at the Devil Summoner and black cat.
The youngster had only to roll backwards to evade the attack and the cat jumped onward separating the duo. When the Devil Summoner got back to his feet, he had a short moment to see the mad demon.
The height and goat head indicated a Fornor. This kind of demon was usually seen in European regions, so this one was either lost or someone called it here. The Mother Harlot must have called it and did something to the demon to be drooling so much. Its eyes were illuminated in a yellow light and his large furred body was covered in an almost transparent ooze. Come to think of it, the ooze was dripping from the hole the goat-like monster made and Raidou had barely rolled in it when he evaded the raging demon. It didn't smell like anything he smelt before, but didn't have any demonic essence into it making it inoffensive to the human.
A distorted bleat alarmed the youngster of the Fornor's menace and he managed to push aside the giant punch from the equally large beast. The Devil Summoner saw a foolish opening in the Fornor's attack, exposing the demon's neck to the Devil Summoner's sword. With a precise slash, he cut open the goat's throat and the massive beast bleated in pain as it tried to stop the bleeding.
It was futile- the cut was deep and the demon died shortly after a few seconds of struggle. The demon fell on its stomach, after Raidou moved to the side to avoid being crushed by the weight.
It didn't take long for Gouto to completely disregard the corpse and used it like a bridge to jump onto the youngster's shoulder and rest there. The feline had more luck than the apprentice, he didn't have a single drop of the ooze on his fur and seemed to avoid it like the plague. It was clear he didn't want to talk for now and the duo continued through the skin corridor.
The student and his cat came out of the uncomfortable tunnel to exit into a stranger view of Kizami's world. No longer did stone and bricks make the paths to Kizami, but now the world itself was a plane of bone, house parts, skin and flesh. In the middle of it all, the only building not made of out of building material was standing out like a sour thumb in this disturbing vision of Kizami's mind. Not to mention the demons roaming the area, as there were a lot. All of them were beasts and raging animals killing each other to feed upon the flesh of their enemies. In the endless war, house parts were coming out of the organic floor and shadows of an indescribable blue and pink figures were watching the scene with white smiles on their familiar faces.
''Raidou. I hope you have an idea of how to pass through this.'' The cat asked in hopes the Devil Summoner knew what he was going to do.
The devouring beasts not too far away from them sniffed and all rose their head to their next meal with shining eyes. Gouto would have pushed Raidou to act, but he didn't have the time to when the youngster summoned his mount. Called by the will of its master, a large, yellow canine appeared. The two heads of the demon looked at the Devil Summoner and exclaimed, ''WHERE ARE MY BABES?!''
At the loud declaration, the alarmed demons ran towards the Devil Summoner. The youngster mounted the yellow beast and the monster charged toward the wooden building in the flesh wasteland which the demon and his master could feel an enormous energy coming out of. The chase began and Raidou was holding tightly onto the demon's green mane, while Gouto had to have his claws in the youngster's poncho to even be able to stay with him.
The yellow dog named Orthus ran as fast as it could. It was one of Raidou's fastest on land and his 'mount' when it came to quick runs like this. While Raidou's attention was on what was ahead, the blue and pink figures' stares changed from the massacre to the running Orthus when they were coming close to them. Their smile shuttered and they pointed at the wanted Devil Summoner. The feasting demons near each of those couples stopped their fights and participated in the hunt of Raidou. At what was probably near the end, there were twenty demons on their tails.
The door was in their reach, the roaring demons not too far away. Raidou jumped off of Orthus, called the demon back into his kenda and rushed to the door. He tried to push the door, but it wouldn't budge. Gouto said his name once, indirectly saying to him what little time they had before becoming demon food. He lunged at the door and it opened to the attack. As fast as lightning, Gouto and Raidou entered the building and the youngster closed the two wooden doors with a struggle.
They had finally got to the source of Kizami's world. It looked like an ordinary sauna, except with a thousand floors. After he closed the doors, the youngster turned to be greeted by two faceless women wearing white kimonos, that were standing in the middle of a luxurious looking-hall, still as statues.
In perfect synchronization, the two women bowed before Raidou and Gouto. They remained in the bowing position, and pointed in an almost dancing manner to the door to their right that wasn't there just a second ago.
''Madame Kizami is waiting for you, Master Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th.'' They said in a calm manner.
The Devil Summoner and the cat walked to the pointed-at door. When he slid open the door, they were welcomed by the sight of a beautiful, nude woman.
It was Kizami. Her long black hair was covering most of her upper body and breasts, only exposing the lower part of her body. She had a gentle smile on her face with glimmering green eyes, which she never had when they met back in the Real World. Behind her was a pool of steaming water, and near the pool was a set of two towels on the rocky ground.
''Raidou Kuzunoha... we meet again.'' Her words were harsh to resist the lustful urge she provoked with every word she pronounced. Any poor bastard could have fallen under the curse she was victimized with, but not him. ''I was waiting for you. The sauna was kind enough to forget about this ridiculous rule of only girls or boys in the bath. Do you want to join me, Raidou Kuzunoha?''
She kneeled at the pool and passed her fingers over the hot water. She turned her head from the youngster who had his sword in hand and ready to cut down the former human. Nimbly, she jumped into the hot water, avoiding completely the katana's strike. She emerged half of her head out of the pool and stared at her attacker.
''Raidou, Raidou... you are a very bad boy, you know that?''
The youngster almost growled in frustration at the woman's teasing and tricks. His tolerance to this world was beginning to run out and the last thing he needed was to fall into the enemies' trap.
''And you want to know what very bad boys receive for punishment?''
The water of the pool changed. The steam coming out stopped and instead the color turned into a dark crimson color with bubbles surfacing from the boiling blood. Behind them, the duo of faceless women closed the doors and left the Devil Summoner against the Mother Harlot.
The walls circling them shook before flying in the air in gusts made by the roars of something within the pool. It was quickly replaced by the same skin walls and the red kanji forming a dome over the guests and the Whore of Babylon. Although, by any sense it should have darkened, it was still bright as if the sun was passing through the solid skin. The kanji were, however, thought provoking and simply put, insulting: 'LIAR AND PERVERT', 'FOOL OF GOD', 'JUST ANOTHER ONE', 'I HATE YOU'. The list just went on, but Raidou had to ignore the written taunts and it was harder than he would have believed.
While the walls were raising, the vessel of the Mother Harlot was lifted up onto the back of a giant red beast with seven, crowned heads resurfacing from the boiling pool. Their eyes showed nothing but naivety and anger. The once known Kizami was resting on the back of the dragon-like animal. She wore a purple and red dress with a oval hat of the same color, a pair of gloves and red high heels. What could have terrified a normal human only disgusted the duo- Kizami had lost part of her flesh and skin at the bottom part of her face. Lips, cheeks and throat melted into the boiling blood leaving only her skeleton and the rest of her untouched face.
She looked almost like the picture he saw in the compendium.
''She summoned the seven-headed dragon?!'' exclaimed Gouto in shock.
''And control it," she said with amused eyes, her hands stroking the vicious monster. ''The Beast always arrives when the Mother Harlot is alive and this is all thanks to you, Raidou Kuzunoha. All I need now is my golden chalice. Give it to me now and I shall spare you. Refuse and you will suffer like the Martyrs of this world!''
The youngster kept his stare on the demonic woman and raised his katana to the unholy woman. She closed her eyes and sighed at the young man's decision.
''So be it.'' She snapped open her eyes and they turned into two voids.
She gestured her hand and the seven-headed beast lunged at the youngster. He rolled out of the way with ease and evaded the demon by a hair. He reached towards two kendas and called upon two demons.
''Oumitsunu! Moh Shuvuu! I summon you!'' At his command, two demons appeared before Raidou. One was a giant, green statue and the second one was a little girl with wine-colored winter clothing. Her purple hair formed a pair of wings.
''Beast, show them your power.'' The Mother Harlot said as she caressed the violent animal.
The demon under the control of the Whore roared and charged at Oumitsunu,who stood in front of Raidou and Gouto acting like a shield. The giant stood still as he grabbed two of the seven heads with its massive hands. In the struggle, the riding Whore let a horrible screech towards the closed sky. The skin wall began to bend to the other side, and then erupted into a Fornor covered in the same ooze as before.
''Get my chalice!'' She shouted to the enraged goat demon as she pointed at the youngster.
Gouto jumped off the youngster's shoulder as they saw the Fornor ramming toward the duo and left the hideous demon to the Devil Summoner. Moh Shuuva flew away as well, when the demon was too close and Raidou left the powerful statue with the Beast and Mother Harlot.
''Fight however you want, Raidou Kuzunoha, but you will never defeat me and you know it!'' She laughed at the youngster who barely avoided a punch from the dangerous Fornor and retaliated with a sword slash to the goat's throat.
The Beast managed to push Oumitsunu and the statue's arm began to fissure at the beast's power. The Harlot laughed at the inevitable destruction of the Devil Summoner's guard and let out another horrible screech toward the statue. The arm shattered and the seven-headed dragon broke through, the demon's body falling like Lego pieces.
''See how weak you are, Raidou?!'' She laughed madly at the youngster. ''You are a fool! A fool, I say! A-''
One of the beast's heads exploded. The Harlot's black eyes widened and saw the shattered body of the youngster's demon forming hands and furiously attacking the beast. Alone against this many foes, the seven-headed dragon stood no chance, unless the Mother Harlot had her chalice to call upon the powers of the element. Which she didn't have.
''Moh Shuuvu, get Mother Harlot off the beast!'' As ordered by her master, she flew toward the baffled woman and blew her away with a powerful gust of wind.
She hit the fleshy floor fifteen feet away from the losing beast.
The weak beast began to lose its heads and crowns by the wrathful hands of the Oumitsunu. In the fatal fight, the beast tried to back away from the angry hands, unaware it was going to dive into the bloody pool standing in the middle of the dome.
It ultimately fell into the pool as more hands savagely ripped apart the hideous animal.
The Mother Harlot was defenseless, unable to do anything to save her only companion and Raidou could now kill her without the beast's intervention. She couldn't do anything anymore but to look at the seven-headed dragon being torn apart.
''Congratulations, Raidou Kuzunoha, I'm surprised you could have killed my beast with such a weak demon. Alas, I have been defeated by the great Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th... what a shame.'' Her void eyes changed into their original green color after turning toward the Devil Summoner and his cat.
''Tell us, demon. Who gave you the golden chalice?'' Gouto had to ask before her execution.
The only answer they got was a maniacal laugh from the seductress herself as the skin walls were dying and the world around them was reverting into the Dark Red Light District.
''But little pussy, isn't obvious? Only the compendium says where the chalice is hiding and only the present Raidou knows of its location. Who is the present Raidou Kuzunoha, can you tell me that, little pussy cat?''
She kept laughing at the duo. Raidou didn't feel anything for the possessed Kizami. At this point, there was no turning point. Of her human side, the only thing remaining was the body, not the soul. He called in his demons before finishing the job.
Raidou lifted his katana in the air with both hands, ready to strike down the seductress and end all of this insanity. It was then that the Whore of Babylon let out a horrifying scream. It was not frightening or malicious, but innocent and human. The Harlot reached towards her jaw and at the contact of the skeleton she screamed once more.
''Wh-What's going on?!'' The Harlot's voice changed. It wasn't painful to hear the voice anymore, it was normal. A normal human voice. She looked up at the youngster who was still in his position to strike. She let out another scream of terror, raised her arm to form a shield in front of her face and crawled away from the Devil Summoner and his cat. ''Raidou, what are... what's going on?! What happened to my face?! Where am I?!''
The questions continued and Raidou lowered his sword, but didn't have any inclination to let it go.
''The Harlot is using Kizami's side to confuse us. Raidou, kill her.'' The cat ordered the youngster.
Something was wrong. He felt the Harlot's presence in the conscious Kizami, but his guts were telling him she was a human, an innocent. He could still save her, if he could purify her, free her, but she was awake and the Harlot could take control at any moment.
He had to kill her.
Sword still in hand, he walked to the woman and evaded any eye contact with the cursed woman. Kizami understood her situation in a dreadful silence- she choked down a cry and looked at her killer as tears poured down from her human skin to the demonic skull, desperately crawling away, about to fall in the bloody, boiling pool where the beast rested after the stone hands finished with it.
''What... what did I do to deserve this?'' She cried out to the youngster. ''I hate my husband, you said you would fix everything! You said you would help me! BUT YOU DIDN'T! You're not a protector! You're not a savior! You're...''
Her words fell on deaf ears after a moment. The Devil Summoner couldn't go back and let Kizami live anymore. She was a danger to herself, to the Capital and to the Dark Realm. Even if she confessed to her sins, she had to be taken care of.
She kept calling Raidou by names and cursed him, backing up and oblivious to the fact that she was getting too close to the filled bloody pool. Suddenly, he took a quick step and the point of the katana stabbed through her chest.
The strike instantly killed her. She didn't even have the time to finish that last curse, and fell to the ground. Her heavy head almost touched the boiling blood, but the Harlot's hat didn't have a chance. The demon's hat fell into the blood and let loose the woman's hair floating on the red fluid.
He removed his sword from the woman's heart and removed the blood in a sweep after turning away from the corpse and seeing the world was nearly coming back to its initial form. Gouto didn't talk, he sat silently and let the Devil Summoner walk closer to him, indicating he was ready to go back home.
Tsukudo-cho, Narumi Detective's Agency
''Oh... Oh... Kizami...''
The sobs of Oto were the only continuous sound in the bureau. The grieving man was in a chair in front of Narumi and Raidou, who avoided any eye contact with the crying man.
They found Kizami's body near one of Harumi-cho's ports. The police believed she committed suicide after she found out that her husband cheated on her and stabbed herself. However, only Raidou, Gouto and Narumi knew what truly happened to the dead woman.
''If only I could... I could have done something for her.'' He cried his heart out. ''She would had figured out... about... Oh Kizami...''
''Mister Oto, Raidou and I sympathize with your loss, however we can't do anything more from this point on. Miss Kizami committed suicide and we can't interfere with police works.'' Narumi explained with a calm voice. ''We can't take the request.''
The man temporarily stopped in his crying, met Narumi's eyes and shook violently at the detective's words.
''Why?!'' He slammed his hands on the desk and stared at Narumi with red, wrathful eyes. ''Kizami was my wife, I loved her more than anything in the world!''
''Says the man who cheated on his wife.'' Narumi said frankly. ''You have no more business with us now, Mister Hokuto. Please leave now and have a good night.''
The sorrowful man sat in the visitor's chair for a moment, before leaving the agency with a heavy heart. There was nothing more the detectives could have done for the man. If they would have told the truth of Kizami's demise, he would have gone at Raidou's throat.
''Poor Kizami, I can't believe that you had to kill ...''
''What I killed today wasn't Kizami.'' Raidou said as he walked in front of Narumi's desk. ''Kizami was long dead when we first met. The demon took over her soul and mind the moment she touched the Harlot's chalice.''
There was an uneasy silence that settled in the bureau. The detective was accustomed to the Devil Summoner's business since the event with the red soldiers and the red capes. That case was the first where they met real danger and the consequences of demons wandering the Real World.
People unconsciously feeding on deformed god-like children, military forces corrupted to their higher ranks by a jealous deity and a soul who tried history by nearly killing an innocent in the process was something heavy to carry on one's consciousness. Although Raidou didn't say much about what or who he fought against at the end of the case, he felt ashamed for his act even if in the end it saved the Capital and the possessed girl Kagi.
Maybe unconsciously he felt he failed by killing the human Kizami and not only the demon within her, Narumi pondered before he felt the need to change the subject.
''Speaking of that chalice, where is it now?'' questioned the caretaker of the Devil Summoner.
''Somewhere, where nobody will find it.'' Those were the only words Raidou gave to Narumi before leaving the bureau.
Special thanks to Bonnia for the beta-reading.