Kogazen Masato entered a dark cave, his Oshimusha beside him; torch in hand. As they descended into the depths, the lord couldn't help but to feel a little nervous. But why wouldn't he feel nervous? He was about to meet again with some of the most politically powerful individuals in the world, the council of the Trade Federation Union. No one messed with the T.F.U. Not any clan of Zipangu, not the foreign Order, nor the royal makai he had heard about. The only ones who ever refused, the only ones who ever denied them anything, was the Kurogane clan.
That would soon no longer matter though.
After a few minutes the two reached the end of the cave, deep below the earth where no one could overhear them. At first glance, the average person would have stated there was nothing down here save for stone. But Masato knew better, for he knew how to hide things; no matter what form they took.
Calmly the Lord went right up to the stone wall at the end of the cave, staring at it before placing his palm on the flat surface. Then in a sliding motion, he pulled off the magical cloth he had placed; revealing an ornate mirror, decorated with gold and blue magical engravings.
Masato smiled at his reflection for a moment or two. He had to make sure that he looked presentable. Kami forbid if his clothes looked too plain or simple. Thankfully, he found himself quite dashing. So with that done, Masato tapped the mirror. This caused the mirror to ripple like water as the engravings on the sides lit up like torches.
It was only a second, before in a blinding light, he found himself somewhere completely different. Masato still was not used to this form of communication. Even more, he still wasn't used to his body being transparent as he looked at his hands and feet. Quickly pulling himself together, the lord stood straight and looked about.
Masato stood in a dimly lit room, whose walls he could not see, and stone thrones standing high above him sitting upon pillars of rock. In front of the thrones were empty desks which were also made of stone. And between the pillars and the floor, countless steps of stairs were connected to each of the thrones.
Even though he was not physically here, Masato felt cold. In fact, where did the lighting for this place come from? Everywhere he looked, the noble couldn't find any. The only explanation was that they invented some sort of new magical and invisible light source. Such a conclusion was not beyond the realms of belief for Masato, considering T.F.U. was the most rapidly advancing group in the world.
"Greetings Kogazen Masato. We are pleased to see you here." Came a booming masculine voice; Causing Masato to look up to realize now the numerous thrones had been filled with men and women. Each of them being as transparent as him. Then after a second of silence, a constant ticking sound echoed through the rooms.
Masato looked down to the base of the thrones, to see a shriveled old man tapping his fingers on a strange contraption which had paper sticking out from the top of it. "I see you have noticed another of our new inventions," Boomed the voice again.
The noble chuckled dryly, "Forgive me. I was aware you and your people are the most rapidly advancing but... already since our last talk about two weeks ago, you've seem to have made more creations already."
The seated figure who Masato assumed to be the one speaking chuckled a little as well, "Yes. You could say that with the recent... political and territorial events... our two greatest funders have been willingly providing us more of their resources for our help. And in turn we've had more funds for our inventors and tinkerers."
"We hope," interjected a feminine voice of another seated figure, "that you will join us in our... 'ascension'. That is of course if you and the rest of Zipangu will join us."
A different masculine voice then echoed, "Speaking of which, has the war started yet?"
Masato turned toward the other seated figure, his smile wavering, "As of now, the Mozo clean is leading the assault on the Kurogane stronghold known as Fort Torii. However, I regret to say this, it is a losing battle for them. In fact they will most likely be sent back retreating either today or sometime in the morning tomorrow if they are stubborn enough."
"Will you not assist them?" Asked the middle figure.
"I Already have," Reassured the noble, "In fact I had sent some of my forces to stop an attempt at a counter attack by the Fort's commander. Sadly, they failed and not one of my mercenaries seemed to have survived. I assure you, if my men had succeeded, Fort Torii would have fallen by now."
Each of the seated figures looked at each other; their faces hidden in the shadows as they silently discussed amongst themselves. Eventually the middle figure, as he had before, broke the silence, "What of the other clans?"
"The Ō-Inari clan are currently trying to convert as many kurogane members into mamono and incubi, which is no suprise. At the moment they are trying and failing at capturing Kurogane villages as footholds," Spoke Masato
Each of the council members glanced at each other, before the one to Masato's far right asked, "What of the Suijin clan?"
"The Suijin clan has yet to take any action." At those words the hushed whispering of the council grew louder; their voices almost discernable to the Zipangu lord. As they spoke, Masato noticed the elderly man tapping away at an alarming rate on the foriegn device; replacing the paper every few seconds.
Slowly the whispering grew into talking, and the chamber grew louder and louder. However before it became like some other less respectful meetings the noble had been to, the middle figure stood and raised his hand. As this happened, Masato could only see the pale white skin of the figures arm from the shadows.
The chamber grew quiet, and eventually the elder stopped making the now increasingly annoying tapping. Then in a calm yet authorities voice, the middle figure said, "This is most concerning, friend. Keep an eye on this Suijin clan, for they cannot be trusted. We know this from some less than respectful deals we have made with them. Additionally, we will be sending some more aid for you."
"More of these cannons, guns, and some of this ammo you speak of?" Asked Masato.
"A little more than just that," replied the figure as they sat back down, "We will be sending a personal 'experiment' of ours to assist you in your war."
Masato furrowed his brow. It was not because Masato did not like help, no nothing of the sort. It was just the fact of how long it would take. Considering the overseas distance between their two continents it could take a while before this 'experiment' could arrive, and by then the war might be over. Considering how long the last war went when that Kurogane Koro joined the fray, it would be a very feasible possibility. "How long would it take to arrive?" Asked Masato
"Not long I assure you. The method we will try to bring 'it' to you is much faster than by boat or by some sort of flying mamono," Said the middle figure.
Though this made Masato wonder something, "Will it be by teleportation?"
"Though teleportation would be easier and it is similar to what we have in mind, no. For you see, the only magic users with such magic potential are not part of the T.F.U.," Came the feminine figure to Masato's left who he could tell was shaking their head.
All things considered, this was interesting. A form of transportation the Noble had never heard of. Just what would they be sending to him for this war? It must be something very unique indeed. Masato smiled, "Then, I look forward to seeing what this 'experiment', as you call it, will be." The noble then gave a slight bow as he said, "And I assure you my friends. When this is all over, we will ascend together."
Shortly after Masato spoke, the world around him began to flicker as his body started to turn solid again. And then in a flash of light, Masato was back in the cave; his Oshimusha watching him with concern in her eyes before regaining the always serious expression on her face, "Sorry my lord. I am merely not used to watching you stand there lifelessly."
"No worry my dear," Masato walked to her and placed his hand on her shoulder; causing the mamono to jolt a little at the touch, "We have work to do."
(-)
Gael stared at the forest ahead; Petre on his back, His sword in one hand, and the wine crate in his other hand. "Are you ready Gael?" Asked Petre, though Gael felt unsure, cautious. These trees were tall, unnaturally so when compared to the rest of this world he had been to. Not only that, but the forest was unbelievably thick, each tree with its countless branches blocking any potential gaps between each other. It was as if the forest was some sort of military and was in defensive formations.
But that must have been intentional, because Petre mentioned yesterday about the traps. With all these things in mind, this forest was probably going to be like- what was that fortress called? He could not remember- oh yes...Sense fortress, just with trees instead of stone walls. "I am," Said Gael slowly.
As Gael proceeded to try and walk into the forest, he immediately realized he was too tall for these trees. Not wanting to waste any more time than needed to get to the 'World's peak', Gael took a step back from the forest before leaping into the air. "WOW!" Yelled Petre in surprise as Gael jolted high into the sky. However, the trees were still too tall; making him unable to see above them. So Gael crashed back down to the ground to his feet; the pain a non undead of his size would have felt, non existent.
Petre yelled in confusion, "Gael! Why did you do that?!"
"I," Gael turned his head to look at Petre, "I wanted to see if I could do something to make our journey faster."
Petre exhaled deeply before asking, "Just give me a warning next time, ok?"
The old undead nodded and thought some more. He could just chop down all these trees one by one just to walk or some other similar idea, but he still did not want to attract attention. After all, Gael was now very aware there were people out in this world that could easily kill him.
And since that fight was because those people wanted to stop him, they would probably rush to put him down again if they realized was still alive. Though this time they might be aware of his... 'immorality'. If that was the case, and that... Poseidon? If that Poseidon woman was able to kill him, then she could just kill Gael in a loop until he went hollow. He could not allow that to happen.
This left Gael with the least comfortable choice, to crawl on all fours like how he used to to get through the forest. Bending down, Gael heard his old spine crack before he was on all fours. Then forcing himself, Gael kept himself as low to the ground as possible and walked through the forest.
At first nothing happened. That is unless you include the image of a normal human man sitting atop what at first glance appeared to be some sort of monstrosity of a steed. But then as Gael trudged through the forest, he heard something. It sounded familiar, something he had not heard since the time he and the Way of White searched for the undead who broke the curse.
It was a deep thumping sound, like a heartbeat that droned and echoed through the air; growing louder as Gael kept walking. Then Gael remembered what that sound was. "LOOK OUT!" Yelled Petre, but Gael already heard the sound of the poisonous blob flying towards him. Quickly Gael dashed out of the way; the blob of poison hitting a nearby tree, leaving a dark mark against the brown oak.
Gael now saw where the poison came from, a small stone statue. But it was not the same small statue of a robed woman crying like the Slave Knight expected. No, it was much more detailed and something else in humanoid shape. It was a stone statue carved into the image of some sort of bone thin hollow crying out with empty sockets. Was it's expression of rage, grief, or fear? Gael could not tell.
Suddenly, the sound of the deep thumping echoed again; causing Gael to immediately dash again and barely avoid another thing of poison. However as Gael dodged, more and more of the thumping increased. Gael realized what a fool he was now. When he avoided the two attacks, he had dashed deeper into the forest and therefore deeper into the traps.
Gael started to jump and dash; his head thumping and breaking through limbs as he desperately attempted to avoid the increasing barrage. He was too deep in now! Gael had to keep going deeper into the forest! But suddenly, as Gael dodged another barrage of poison, Gael stepped in a different trap. His foot fell straight into the ground; causing him to stumble into the now unearthed ditch.
The Giant tried to fall upright, but even then he was not safe as he felt spikes somehow pierce through his armor and straight through his feet. "Gah!" Yelled Gael, which shocked him. These spikes, what were they made of!? With his hands full, Gael struggled to pull himself out of the ditch; ripping his feet free in the process. However as Gael stood up, he realized a few of the spikes managed to remain part of his feet instead of the ground they were put in.
"Gael I, I don't feel to...good here..." Muttered Petre, causing Gael to turn to realize one of the stone statues got him. That wasn't good, he needed to-. Gael stopped and looked down to see the spikes attached to his feet starting to vibrate and ring like a church bell before suddenly exploded; tearing his feet into mush as he collapsed back to the floor.
Then Gael felt it, his insides burning from the effects of poison. This stuff felt exactly like the same poison that Sunken Grotto statues fired. Forcing himself up again, Gael looked into the distance.
Petre was now in mortal danger, as Gael could already hear him beginning to groan in pain from the strong toxin. Gael could not teleport out of this, nor could he blindly chop his way through this forest.
Quickly Gael took Petre off his back and held him close with the same arm that held the wine box. Then with a great leap, Gael began to dash through the forest as fast as he could; enduring the pain of the poison and his now missing feet.
It felt like hours to the old undead; the traps never ending. Gael knew he could handle the poison in his body, even if it weakened him. But there was no telling if Petre was strong enough to survive the toxin on his own. So even as Gael tripped other traps, causing spears and arrows to fire from the trees, tear into his body, and explode, he kept going.
Eventually Gael saw the end of the forest, the dark grass feeling like a miracle as he could now finally teleport. Then in a flash, he deformed and reformed in that field before collapsing onto the ground.
Gael thought he had passed out at that moment. It wasn't until Gael heard Petre groan in pain that Gael lifted his head out of the dirt and got up groggily; leaning on his great sword for support as he heaved Petre onto his back. Looking around, Gael was now within a clearing, countless mountain tops rising in the far distance before going ascending above the clouds.
This place felt familiar to him, from the trees to the shape of the mountains. Gael almost believed he had gone back in time to an age of fire. He had almost expected to see some sort of bird humanoid or dragon fly through the sky, but no. Nothing but a single flock of birds flying through the air.
Maybe Gael could find another village, another place that could take care of Petre. There had to be. Gael turned to look at Petre, his veins showing through his skin from the poison, groaning words Gael could not understand. There was no other option here, "I'm going to get help."
"Help? Wai-" Groaned Petre before coughing, "We're in Kuragane territory, they'll kill us on site."
"I do not care about the potential danger, Petre. I... will not let that day happen again," Responded Gael.
"What da-" Asked Petre, but it was too late. Gael began to concentrate towards the distance and started teleporting across the field. Gael could not stop, he had to push himself! Again and again he teleported, the distance of his deforming and reforming becoming shorter and shorter as the strain grew.
But Gael could only handle the strain for so long, and in the end, he roared in pain as he fell to the ground with a thud; unaware of how much distance he had traveled; the odd poison still draining him of his vitality.
Gael once again forced himself up; his body sapped of almost all remaining strength. And once again the giant tried to teleport, but the instant he made the attempt he felt as though his ribs were trying to pierce his lungs and he collapsed back down to his knees. Gael couldn't let Petre die because of his foolish mistake.
Crawling, Gael continued moving forward; the sound of fire burning becoming apparent. Though Gael did not need to go far, for soon he found another village as he came down from a hill top; a wall of stone behind him. However, the village seemed to be or had been under attack
Quickly concealing himself amongst the nearby trees, Gael tried to see what was going on.
Below countless buildings and piles of bodies burned like tiny suns; the black smoke coming from them drifting in the air above. The piles of bodies themselves were not just men, but woman, and children. Even small animals were in the pile, and though it was hard to tell from how far he was, some of the humanoid bodies appeared to be mamono.
Gael then saw something that felt like from an age of fire long gone. Two warrios, clad in black armor from head to toe, appeared, throwing additional bodies into the piles. Their armor was of similar fashion to an eastern group of warriors from his world, The Alonne knights.
Though the general design of the armor was different. Specifically the parts of the armor for the upper body. The helmets were of odd design, the main part like some sort of metal cap that circled around the side and back of the head, and the front that of dark steel mask that snarled. And all the while above the mask and atop the cap-like helmet was a crest of some sort that almost appeared like a pair of golden horns.
Also the body armor and shoulders seemed to have the look of multiple sheets of metal fused together and placed atop the body, which if Gael had to guess, was for some sort of flexibility purpose. The rest of the armor however, looked like that of the alonne knights.
Whatever was going down there, Gael doubted these soldiers would assist him. Especially if what Petre told him was true. He had to keep going, to keep looking. If Gael could not find any place he believed would help, he'd have to get to some sort of safe place to take care of Petre. Maybe a cave. But Gael did not want to try and heal Petre himself, considering how every time Gael tried to heal someone... it always ended with their death. Gael would only try that again if he had no choice.
Quickly, Gael continued to travel on; moving past the village. But as Gael did so, he failed to notice a lone Kurogane soldier in the distance watching him; their mouth agape and face filled with fear before running off down to the village.
(-)
Smoke filled the sky, bodies burned, the walls of Fort Torri were being repaired, and the world was silent as snow gently drifted down to the ground. Lord Hacchiman Tokuri, the horsed demon of the winds, sat upon his steed atop a nearby mountain; watching the lifeless field like a hawk.
The sound of hooves against snow gently echoed in Tokuri's ears as one of his samurai rode next to him; watching the dead field beside the lord before saying, "The bodies are being burned as you ordered. Also, any of the newly formed undead and enemy survivors are being put down, as you ordered."
Tokuri closed his eyes, listening to the sound of fire before putting away his great bow. The horsed demon knew this was good, for that false goddess always tried to revive the dead, even if they wanted to die in peace. It was because of her they always had to do a special ceremony for their dead in order to prevent that goddess resurrecting them, reincarnating them, or forcing them to a path in the after life they had no desire for while keeping the body intact.
Stepping off his war horse and pulling out a gourd bottle, Lord Tokuri removed his helmet and drank sloppily; the cold sake dripping onto his beard. As he drank, the samurai said, "One of the generals will be arriving soon to reinforce us as well, sir."
Tokuri finished his long drink and smiled a little. At least there was some good news as of now. "Good. Make sure those walls are repaired as soon as possible. There is no telling when the second of the Mozo clan wave will come," Tokuri walked to a nearby cannon, where a dead Mozo soldier leaned against it; rifle in hand.
The noble grabbed the rifle and looked at it, examining its design before tossing it to the samurai, who was quick to grab it mid air as Tokuri said, "And make sure that gets to my half-brother. Until then," Tokuri grabbed the nearby corpse, "See if we can utilize these canons of theirs," Tokurri then threw the body off the mountain; causing it to fall down into a burning pile of corpses below.
(-)
Kogazen Masato stood outside his tent, staring into the starry night sky. Star gazing was always a favorite pastime of his. For even as a boy he would try to see if the stars would show him if he had any greatness in store for his fate. Sometimes he was jealous of the sun, the moon, and the stars. They were never ending and always shining like the divines. If only he could be such, to be immortal and for all to see and be dazzled by.
Suddenly, within the Kogazen war camp and right in front of Masato himself, a blinding light seemed to flicker out of nowhere in front him; like the sun itself decided to pop in and out repetitively in an attempt to say something to him while not trying to burn his eyes off. Then as fast as the flickering light came, it dissipated. And in the lights place, a lone humanoid construct stood; steam flowing out of its joints.
Their body appeared to be made of a material similar to other automatons. Its form was also feminine like an automaton, but as time progressed, its form became something far more than a simple automaton. From its back, wings of metal came out and spreaded the beadle like wings. And as it raised its head, Masato saw there was no face. Instead there was a golden disc with a single yellow glowing eye; resonating with magic.
Something about the automaton felt ancient, but it looked brand new. Something divine, yet willed into existence by mortal hands. A series of numbers and words began to glow above the forehead of the creature and above the golden eye that said, "BETA MODEL: ZERO ZERO ONE."
The automaton then began speaking, its voice emotionless and robotic, "Greetings, Kogazen Masato. My master, the council of the T.F.U., has assigned me the task to assist you in your war, once my core has recharged from the I.A.O.T. Shift. Until then, How may I be of service?"