Man this chapter is a weird one, I say as the author of said chapter. JSYK, i'm out here raw doggin life, no drugs or alcohol so everything you read is me 100% sober
Art for this chapter was made by Perci22 (See story on Ao3)
Reminder:
Demi-human: genetically compatible with humans
Monster: not
CW: gore, graphic violence, vomiting, mentions of suicide. NGL, this chapter is more fucked up than most of them so feel free to skip
==========================VI==========================
[Musutafu Police Station, Japan, September 10th, 2242]
If you asked Naomasa what he thought he would be doing last year, he would've said the normal work as the liaison between the police force and the heroes. If you told him he'd encounter people from another universe, and then get dragged into the world of magic and monsters the governments of the world kept hidden he would've laughed in your face and probably put you in a padded room.
Now he wished it was all a joke, and that he'd just awoken from a terrible nightmare. Nope, he would wake up and remember that it was all real when he went to work the next day. His only solace was the knowledge that none of his co-workers would have to experience the horrors he'd seen. He couldn't imagine Shikanoin, Gori, or gods forbid Sansa having to deal with all this shit.
He'd been asked (forced) to take a few weeks vacation after being sent through the wringer of the Tenryou commission's top-secret training, a process that was supposed to take years, not a couple of months. He was surprised he was still stable after going through that. The horrors beyond his comprehension rapidly becoming comprehensible were not great for one's mental health.
Naomasa guessed the gods were being merciful to him, as he hadn't been on any official missions since. Granted the only things he'd done were a few interrogations, inspecting ritual sites and monster attacks, and learning a few basic spells from some shrine maidens in that weird domain the commission had. That place still bothered him because it was basically an internment camp with extra steps. He understood that it was to keep the creatures and normal people that decided to live there safe but still…
When he'd seen Toshinori a few weeks later, he'd punched the man in the face. Did it do anything? No. He almost broke his hand on the hero's jaw, but man it felt satisfying. It didn't break their friendship or anything, he just needed to relieve the stress which Toshinori understood.
With a sigh, he caught a glimpse of himself on his computer monitor. He'd grown to like the rugged mustache and beard he'd grown during those past few months and elected to keep it. It even earned him a few compliments around the station. Shikanoin said it made him look less boring, and he didn't know whether to take the compliment or reprimand the younger detective. He couldn't help but chuckle seeing Shikanoin and Bantan argue over who had the most arrests this month like an old married couple.
But of course, just as he was enjoying himself his phone rang with a summons from General Kujou.
==VI==
[Unregistered Tenryou Commission Compound, Japan, September 10th, 2242]
"Detective, I hope you've been well." Kamaji greeted.
"Better than last time." Naomasa sat down across from the general. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Straight to the point I see. Can I get you something to drink before we start? Tea, coffee?" Kamaji offered.
"Coffee would be great." They already knew his favorite anyway. A moment later, a kitsune wearing an army uniform walked in with a steaming mug.
He probably should've reacted more to that being a normal thing to experience now. Instead Naomasa just shrugged and took a sip.
"Tell me, detective, what do you know about Chaos Theory?" Kamaji booted up the screen behind him.
"Not much considering they have almost no presence in Japan. They are a doomsday cult led by the villain Akelous, right? A bunch of psychopaths that think wiping out all life will lead to some sort of salvation?" The emerged right after the incident in Russia, but some of the more notable members had been a bunch of ununified villains beforehand.
"Correct. That is what we tell the public. In truth, Chaos Theory is an organization comprised of half demi-humans and monsters, and the rest being humans both quirkless, stand-using, or quirked." Kamaji turned on the screen.
Chaos Theory, one of the two major villain organizations that emerged after the Dark Winter incident in Russia, the other being the mysterious Fatui. Both organizations have seen increased activity after the death of All For One. Chaos Theory has claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks against heroes, villains, the military, and civilians alike. There is no pattern to their attacks. Small towns or large cities will be targeted without regard for strategic value with the singular goal of slaughtering as many people as possible, human or otherwise. They are viewed with contempt even by other terrorist villain organizations such as the radical extremist branch of Humarise, W.I.L.D, the Creature Rejection Clan, and Al-Ahmar for their indiscriminate slaughter with no sensible goal. While the Fatui have given no public statements on the matter, there have been confirmed clashes between the two groups on several occasions.
"Their leader Akelous is one of the Council's greatest failures. This information is highly classified even amongst this organization, and shall not leave this room." The lights dimmed. "Akelous was once an honorary Adeptus, or 'illuminated beast' of China. They are creatures that have safeguarded China from supernatural threats and demons for millennia, some are spirits, others monsters or demi-humans. Akelous on the other hand is an ancient demi-human from Greece, a cyclops. The records are spotty, but he came to China around 500 BCE and converted to Buddhism."
Naomasa blinked and slowly nodded. "Right, a Greek mythological creature converted to Buddhism around its founding. That tracks." He could tell already this was going to be a long day. "So how, pray tell, does one go from a religion that preaches non-violence to the leader of the most vile cult the world has ever seen?"
The General's calm expression faltered. "We… we don't know. According to the records, he showed no signs of this mentality beforehand. About a month after the Dark Winter incident, he suddenly slaughtered almost all the monks in his temple save for a few that went with him and disappeared. However, that is not related to why I called you here today." Kamaji pointed to the screen behind him and an image of a man wearing a gas mask and what looked to be an extremely skintight suit that covered most of his body. A mugshot appeared next to the first image showing a bald man with surgical scars across his forehead, a missing nose, and cheeks mostly held together by sutures and staples.
"Good lord, who the hell is that?" Naomasa gagged.
"Meet Psycho Mantis, one of the United State's biggest shame. Former special forces hero turned high-ranking member of Chaos Theory. A few weeks ago, a HPSC asset captured him on Japanese soil and brought him in." Kamaiji explained.
Naomasa paled at the list of crimes the man had committed. "A monster like that was in Japan?"
"Yes, it's very concerning that we didn't know about it until he was captured by chance." Kamaji folded his hands. "Which brings me to why I called you here. The HPSC interrogated him, but didn't get much out of why he was in Japan, other than he lost contact with a 'harvesting operation'."
"A…" Naomasa blinked. "Harvesting operation? Harvesting what?" He asked worriedly.
"Again, we have no idea. Our best guest is they are after the yokai population of Japan, since many nonhuman body parts can be used as magical reagents. It's also possible they are kidnapping normal people for who knows what. Most of our agents have been assigned to protection duty, but the rest are investigating missing persons cases. The latter is where we are sending you." Kamaji pulled a laser pointer out of his pocket and aimed it at the screen which now displayed a map.
"The Aokigahara forest?" If he remembered correctly, that place was famous for suicides, although thanks to government programs trying to distance the forest's reputation from that the number had fallen in the past few decades.
"Correct. Normally we check the area out from time to time due to the supernatural stigma around it. Sometimes monsters like to hang around to scavenge the corpses left behind there. Can't have people stumbling across that."
Naomasa nodded.
"But in the past month, there have been several disappearances not just in the forest, but the surrounding area as well. With the fires on Mt. Fuji a few months ago, the northern campsites and trails have seen increased activity." Several red pins appeared on the map, not just in the surrounding forests but in nearby hotels as well. "But the biggest thing was two days ago. The forest is a common spot for the JGSDF to practice navigation training for our rangers. A group of four rookie soldiers went missing from a patrol. We found their trackers abandoned near a trail with no footprints."
"Four of them… so it wouldn't be suicide. Are you sure they weren't deserting?" Naomasa wondered out loud.
"We found it highly unlikely considering their service record. We also considered the possibility of a murder-suicide, but there were no signs of struggle or gunpowder residue. Whats more, after consulting our records we discovered that no bodies have been found in the forest this year despite the rising missing persons cases."
"Zero bodies?"
"Zero bodies," Kamaji confirmed. "That in itself isn't unusual, some years we don't find any so it didn't raise any red flags. It's only when we started looking into increased missing persons cases outside the normal radius that we got concerned, especially with the rangers disappearing."
"So you want me to go investigate that? I presume that I'll be sent in with a team considering the danger and my inexperience." Naomasa guessed.
"Most of our agents are otherwise occupied, so we have requested a WHA consultant from overseas to assist you and keep you safe," Kamaji said.
Naomasa nodded in understanding, and then his eyes widened. "Wait, is it just me and whoever is being sent? Two people for this? You can't be serious!"
"This is standard procedure for investigations. You aren't expected to fight anything, just survey the area and call in backup if you find something. Of course, the person we requested is someone experienced since this is your first mission. They should be around the level of an A to S-Ranked hero." Kamaji assuaged. "Again, this is just an investigation. We wouldn't send you in if we didn't think you could handle it. As for the team size, there is a reason for that. Larger groups tend to draw more attention, and we are trying to eliminate this potential threat out of the public eye or involving unrelated heroes." Not that most heroes would go out into the middle of a national forest to search for missing people. Without proof of quirk involvement, it was a job for the police.
Naomasa pinched his nose and sighed. "Do you really think I can do this?"
The general nodded, pushing up his glasses. "I do. However, you don't have to go if you aren't up for it."
'What would Toshinori do in this situation?' Naomasa thought. 'He would see the people in danger and go charging in… I'll be more careful, and this should just be scouting.' All he had was the magic he'd been taught and special ammo for his service pistol. It wasn't supposed to be a fight, and the longer it took to investigate… "I'll do it."
==VI==
Only about three hours after the detective left, Kamaji got a call about the consultant.
"You sent who? That weirdo?" Kamaji sweatdropped. "God dammit. He's probably already met Tsukauchi by now."
==VI==
[Aokigahara Forest, Mt. Fuji, Japan, September 10th, 2242]
Naomasa didn't know what to expect from whoever would be assisting him other than the person would meet him on-site. He'd never been to the Aokigahara Forest before. He'd never had a reason to be here. One thing he noticed as he waited was that the forest was… eerily quiet.
Seeing as the parking lot was empty, he locked up his vehicle and started to establish a perimeter while he waited for his backup to arrive. No way in hell he was going off into a place where people were disappearing by himself. He was already skeptical about this mission as is. It was different than his first police raid. Sure, it had been nerve-wracking back then to make his first arrest, but this was an entirely different beast.
The most he'd seen of the Tenryou Commission's work was the aftermath of investigations. Naomasa was no stranger to gruesome sights as a veteran of the Police Force. While he wasn't a Homicide Detective he still had to view the evidence from crime scenes from time to time. He'd interviewed and questioned some truly sick and vile criminals and villains.
The aftermath of monster attacks were decidedly not that. They were more akin to finding a mauled animal than a murder, and most of the time they were so messy you couldn't even tell the victim used to be human. He understood now that he'd been shown those as a way to prepare his nerves (and stomach) for this kind of work. It still didn't make him feel any better about the possibility of being turned into an unrecognizable paste by a monster.
CRUNCH!
Before he even knew it, his gun was out of the holster and aimed at a large tree to his right. He had to resist his impulsive urge to tell whoever it was to step out from behind the tree. Whatever it was, it might not be human. It could be a monster, an animal, or just a tree branch falling from above.
Naomasa slowly made his way around the tree, flicking the safety on his pistol off. As he rounded the trunk he noticed the imprint of shoes in the moss. 'Someone is here-"
"Hands in the air like you just don't care fucko!" Naomasa heard the click of a gun cocking behind him. "Do it all slow-like, ya hear?"
He slowly raised his hands, making sure to show that his finger wasn't near the trigger.
"Now flick off the safety and drop the gun." Naomasa complied. He hoped that because he didn't have a hole in his head this person wanted him alive. "Turn around, slowly." He rotated slowly to meet the face of his ambusher. What he got was not what he expected.
The first thing he noticed was that the man was a godsdamn skeleton wearing a fancy suit and tie. He was holding what looked to be an old-fashioned revolver with glowing runes engraved on the barrel in one hand, and in the other… a pinecone?
"What the fu-"
"Shhhhshhhhh!" The skeleton held up a finger. "I'm thinking." Then he took the pinecone and took a massive bite out of it. Since he didn't have cheeks or anything to keep it in his mouth the chunks and broken shells just fell out the bottom of his jaw and onto his suit. "Hmmmmm… you wouldn't happen to be Detective Tsukauchi now wouldya?"
Naomasa nodded slowly as his mind struggled to process what the hell was happening. "Yes, that is me." He died a little inside with every word.
"Oh, neat!" With a flick of his wrist, the skeleton holstered his revolver. "You're the newbie that I'm supposed to keep from getting killed. Nice to meet ya!"
"You- you're the consultant?" Naomasa said skeptically.
"Yeppers! The name's Tanner Skinner, Tailor by day, World Heroes Association agent also by day!" He held out a bony hand to shake.
Naomasa was so, so glad that he wore gloves on cases as he shook the man's hand.
"Hmm. What country is this again? Japan? Oh yeah, you're Japanese. I shoulda bowed." Tanner shrugged. "Oh well."
"It's fine." Not everyone was used to Japanese greeting traditions. "Did you not know what country you were being sent to?"
"Oh, I kinda forgot. I was… busy." Tanner stared (presumably) at him with his empty sockets for a few seconds. "Bet you're wondering why I'm a skeleton, aren't you?"
"Not really?" He was still trying to digest Tanner eating a goddamn pinecone. "It's your quirk, isn't it?"
"Nope, I was born way before quirks. I'm just undead." Tanner cackled. "I bound my soul to my body before I was killed by those dicks from Iscariot." He shook his fist angrily at the air, then turned back to Naomasa. "Normally when you die your soul goes somewhere else unless its tied to something like vengeance or something. That's how ya get ghosts. Luckily they didn't burn me alive like when they did those witch trials or it wouldn't have worked."
"Iscariot… the former secret arm of the Catholic Church?" Naomasa remembered.
"Oh, good. You've read about them. I never liked those guys. Too uptight, killed me because I was using rune magic which is apparently 'unholy' and 'blasphemous'." He airquoted. "Sucks for them though, because I'm still here and they're gone now! Nyahahaah!"
Naomasa had read a bit about the organizations that supplemented the WHA. The Iscariot organization used to be part of the old Council of Seven before the Dawn of Quirks. When quirks first emerged, they responded… poorly was the best way to put it. Due to the atrocities committed, some defected out of disgust for the atrocities committed by Iscariot.
"So you might be asking. "Tanner, why are you telling me this?". Knowing about who your teammates are is important, especially if they aren't entirely human. Take me for example. Due to the way I became an undead most magic and quirks treat me as an object. I can't be healed, only repaired. What's your quirk and what magic can you use?"
It was then that Naomasa realized that his quirk hadn't been working on Tanner the whole time. He hadn't noticed due to how bizarre the situation was. "My quirk is Lie Detector, and as for magic I just know a few light affinity spells: Magelight, Blinding Light. Since my affinity isn't very high they gave me some talismans to use instead."
Tanner nodded and scratched his chinbone. "I see. You're like me and don't have a high affinity. I can't use most magic outside my technique which isn't good for combat. I have to use magical equipment I make like my revolver and scrolls." He held out a finger. "That Blinding Light is a good one. You won't have to worry about blinding me so use it whenever if we run into trouble."
"Alright then," Naomsasa said. 'I wonder what his magical technique is?'
"Great, lets get going on the investigation!" Tanner spun around on his heel and started walking deeper into the forest.
"Eh? Just like that?" Naomasa mumbled and hurried after the undead man.
==VI==
After a few minutes of walking, Tanner pulled a sack out of his shirt which Naomasa suspected he was keeping in his stomach cavity. He reached into the bag further than he had any right to, shuffled around, and pulled out a scroll. "Here, hold this real quirk." Tanner tossed the rolled-up scroll to Naomasa and shoved the bag back into his stomach. "This forest has a long history of supernatural activity, which means the ley lines are all out of whack. Makes it hard to track magical signatures."
"Ley lines?" Naomsasa paused. "Like fault lines?" They were near a volcano after all.
"Nonono. Magical ley lines. They are like little invisible veins that pump natural magic throughout the Earth. They do all sorts of funky stuff, but more importantly, sometimes you can see past events that have happened in the area." He held out his hand. "Scroll?"
Naomasa tossed him the scroll. "What is that exactly?"
"Detection scroll." Tanner unrolled the oddly colored paper, no Naomasa realized it was some sort of leather. It was covered in some unknown text. The skeletal man said something in what sounded like Latin and the words glowed briefly.
In the clearing before them, several human forms blurred and shimmered in a blue misty glow. They walked further down the trail before vanishing.
"Well, the good news is we are on track. Where did General Kujou say the soldiers disappeared?" Tanner asked.
"Let me see…" Naomasa pulled out his phone and checked the GPS. "A few dozen meters to the South. We're pretty close."
"M'kay. Let's keep going then. We probably don't want to be out here when it gets dark."
==VI==
A few minutes later they encountered a deer carcass, or more specifically, half a deer carcass. It was cleaved almost perfectly leaving only the bottom half.
Tanner crouched down next to the deer carcass. "That's some very nice hide you got there fwend." He said while longingly caressing the dead animal's leg.
Naomasa frowned at the undead nutjob. "Mr. Skinner, for the sake of my remaining sanity could you refrain from doing… whatever it is you're doing?"
"Listen, I'm not passing up some good ol' scroll-making leather. It's pristine! Do you know how hard it is to get good deer leather?" Tanner reached into his pocket, pulled out a knife and started making incisions along the deer's lower body before Naomasa could stop him.
'I have a question for the gods…. why?' Naomasa stared at the treetops in despair. When he looked back down the deer had all of its hide removed, which was fairly disturbing. He wasn't sure how long it took to skin an animal, albeit half of one, but he was pretty sure it didn't take a few minutes.
"Oh yeah, thats the good shit right there. I'm gonna make so many book bindings with this." Tanner said giddily.
"Don't we have more important things to be doing?" Naomasa sighed in exasperation.
Tanner stood up and twirled his knife around. "Listen, my friend,"
"Not friends."
"It's really hard to get materials with all the regulations, so the WHA says I get first dibs on any corpses we find."
"Corpses… you don't mean people, do you?" Surely the WHA wouldn't allow that.
Tanner tilted his head. "I mean, yeah?"
"What the hell?!" Naomasa paled and reached for his holstered sidearm.
"Oh relax. It's all permitted. It's not like I'm going out and killing people for their skin. If they die, they aren't using it and the WHA is just going to cremate the corpses anyways." Tanner shrugged. "What did you think I was using for my scrolls?"
Naomasa looked down at his hand that had held the scroll a few minutes ago and felt a wave of nausea wash over him. "That was human skin?" He gagged.
"I suppose I should explain why." Tanner leaned against a tree and crossed his arms. "I don't have any affinity with magic like you do or a quirk. All I have is my technique, which lets me imbue properties into objects or myself. That means I can imbue magic or quirks into tools for people to use."
✴ Hexenzirkel Notebook: 𝒜 ✴
Ah, Sir Tanner Skinner. A tragic man with such a fascinating technique. The poor man sealed his soul in his body in his dying breaths but could not reanimate himself. I believe ℋ was the one who found him and brought him back. Now he works for me. He can be a bit of an odd little duck but the quality of his work speaks for itself.
His technique is a curious one. It's called
Trait Infusion. Tanner can imbue the properties of quirks and magic into any item he desires, though the result varies based on quality and magical compatibility. Curiously, he could imbue his soul into his body but is unable to do the same with other living or undead beings.
With magic, he must have the requisite object and as he is unable to cast spells himself, a donor to cast it. For quirks, he requires the deceased body of the user to create a scroll imbued with the properties of the quirk. The result is not always the same as the quirk's original function but is usually thematically related.
Tanner has helped me immensely with the research of quirks. Quirks are remarkably similar to magic in their function and I believe- ah, I should probably refrain from stating my hypotheses on that for now until I am sure…
✴ Hexenzirkel Notebook: 𝒜 ✴
"So it's magical support gear then?" Naomasa scowled with barely hidden disgust. "Even if it is allowed, I can't accept it. You're defiling people's bodies!"
"Oh yeah. You like your cremations in Japan, right? Listen, I get that my work isn't everyone's cup of tea but like it or not, it's valuable."
Naomasa glared at Tanner before relenting. It just wasn't worth getting into an argument with the skeleton at this point. Despite his grievances with the grotesque methods the man used he could put it aside until after the mission, where he would hopefully never have to see the man. "Nevermind. Let's just get going."
==VI==
After another hour or two of tracking and having to endure Tanner's constant rambling they reached their destination. A cave entrance on the side of one of the cliffs. Tanner had used the tracking quirk scroll until it eventually burned up. The man had helpfully told Naomasa that flesh scrolls lasted longer than the single-use paper ones most people used.
"So, whatever we are hunting is in there?" Naomasa eyed the cave warily.
"Yep!" Tanner leaned forward and hummed. To Naomasa it looked like he was trying to squint. "Hold on, let me check something." Tanner carefully walked forward and disappeared a few feet into the cave.
A minute passed.
"Skinner?" Naomasa called out. He was met with silence. Just as he was about to (against his better judgment) go after the undead he reappeared.
"Yeah, so… that's not a normal cave," Tanner informed. "That's a domain."
"So its someone's base that they made?"
Tanner shook his head, paused, then half-nodded. "Well, maybe. Pop quiz newbie: What are the three different types of domains?"
Naomasa closed his eyes and thought back to all the mystical mumbo-jumbo the shrine maidens had been teaching him. "Let's see… artificial, natural, and technique?"
The skeletons scraped his fingers together in a failed attempt at a snap. "Correct!"
※There are three types of domains, divided into the temporary and permanent subtypes.
1. Artificial Domains: Domains created through a complex ritual of imbuing concepts, magic, matter, and memories into a physical pocket space. Artificial Domains can be tied to an entrance or imbued into an object for transportation. The method of creation traces back to ancient China.
2. Natural Domains: Domains created by the world itself. They usually form in locations with high ley line concentrations.
3. Technique-Based Domains: A domain created by an innate magical technique. They will normally crumble upon the death of the technique's user but some have been known to become similar to natural permanent domains and persist after the death of the user.
All types of domains can become permanent domains that require no upkeep, and all domains can be destroyed although it takes enormous power to do either.
※
"This one is a natural permanent domain. Whatever has been taking these people is using it as a hideout." Tanner continued.
"Chaos Theory?"
"Hard to say…" Tanner tapped his jawbone. "We'll have to go inside and look to be sure."
Naomasa's eyes snapped to the cave entrance and back to Tanner's empty sockets rapidly. "You mean we have to go in there?"
"Yep!" Tanner nodded excitedly.
"I'm going to die in there, aren't I?" Naomasa buried his face in his hands.
"Don't worry Detective." He felt Tanner's skeletal hand gently pat him on the back in an attempt at comfort. "If you die, I'll make sure your skin doesn't go to waste. You'll make a wonderful scroll."
An incredibly reassuring statement from the man who was supposed to keep him alive.
"I hate you." He groaned.
==VI==
Before they entered the domain, Tanner handed Naomasa an enchanted gas mask which was thankfully not made from human skin.
At least he hoped it wasn't. Considering he'd already fastened it to his face it was a little late for regrets now. At least it was silent and easy to breathe in. It also had a built-in comm device so they could communicate silently.
"Now, I'm placing markers to map this place out. If we run into anything don't worry about me, just run." Tanner instructed. It was eerie hearing the skeleton's voice in his ear without the man's mouth moving. Rune magic was weird. He wasn't sure what to make of Tanner. Despite his eccentricities and concerning desire to have Naomasa's skin he seemed to be putting his best effort into making sure Naomasa was safe and made the extra effort to teach him as they searched.
He just couldn't read this guy. Not only because he had no features to distinguish expressions, but because his quirk read Tanner as an object.
They took a sharp right in the cave which began to get darker. Ahead there was a slight glow of… he could only describe it as light without light. It was simply a cloud of white mist that was visible in the darkness without emitting any sort of brightness. Naomasa took a deep breath and stepped through the mist, feeling his stomach lurch from the sudden dimensional shift. The inside of the domain was pitch black.
"Mageligh-" He prepared a spell, only to feel Tanner's hand on his wrist.
"Don't." Tanner tapped the side of Naomasa's head and suddenly the goggles flickered and he could see like it was daytime. "Rule one of exploration: Don't give away your position with a bigass beacon." He released Naomasa's wrist. "Night vision enchanted glass. Unlike night vision goggles they won't blind you if exposed to sudden flashes of light."
"Got it. Anything else I need to know?"
"Follow my lead, watch for traps. Do not listen to anyone but me, or run ahead if you hear cries for help. If I tell you to run, we run. Oh, and watch your footing. Don't want to accidentally stop on something loud." To demonstrate his point, he picked up a crumpled piece of metal next to Naomasa's foot. "This is Chaos Theory Templar armor." He pocketed the broken armor piece.
"So we're in the right place then."
They continued ahead slowly. The tunnel was surprisingly wide for a cave, and he noticed what looked like claw marks on the walls. As they rounded a quartz structure they came across their first clue, a large smear of blood that led off into one of the side passages.
"Well that's fucking ominous," Naomasa mumbled. He watched Tanner lean down and rub the blood with the tip of his finger.
"It's fresh. It can't be more than a few days old. Definitely not the soldiers though." Tanner looked back at Naomasa.
"You think the soldiers are still alive?" Naomasa asked.
Tanner looked at the walls of the cave, tapping his foot in contemplation. "Depends on what took them. I don't think it's the cult or we would've run into guards by now." He pulled the chunk of armor out of his pocket. "All we've found is this. Either they cleared out, or something else is here and it killed them too."
Tanner seemed the slightest bit concerned from his tone of voice. A far cry from his exuberant and seemingly flippant attitude earlier. It looked like he was taking it seriously.
"Oh shit, a skeleton!" Tanner pointed further down the next tunnel, his jawbone hanging open as he faced Naomasa.
Nevermind. He wasn't going to dignify that with a response.
The corpse was slumped against the wall. It was missing its right arm and scraps of tattered red and purple fabric surrounded it. The bones were still bloody with small strips of muscle and bone barely attached. Grimacing, Naomasa tilted the corpse's head. The back of the skull was cracked open, nearly all the brains had been sucked out. He fought back the urge to vomit.
"That's a Chaos Theory grunt. I can tell by the colors." Tanner spoke up, pocketing some of the fabric scraps. "I hope it's not ghouls. Could be a jorōgumo but there isn't enough webbing…" He could hear the consultant mumbling in his ear.
The next room was even worse. There were dozens of bodies, far more than had been reported. He assumed some of them were members of Chaos Theory, or at least he hoped they were. At least nothing would be lost having people like them die. Gods, when did his view of justice become this warped?
He saw Tanner round the pile and started to follow after him again. They couldn't do anything for these people now other than find what did this so the proper authorities could put it down.
"Detective, stop." Tanner held up a hand. "Don't look over to the left as you pass. You don't need to see that."
"See wha-" The words stuck in his throat. He immediately regretted not listening to the undead, because he noticed that several of the bodies on that side were significantly smaller than the others.
He ripped off his gas mask and vomited on the floor. His stomach churned and he began to rapidly hyperventilate. Faintly, he could feel himself being picked up and dragged into the next hallway by Tanner with surprising strength for someone with no muscles.
Some time passed, but he wasn't sure how much. All he could hear was the faint ringing in his ears.
"Detective!"
Gods, those were fucking children back there.
"Detective!"
Why did he agree to this-
SLAP!
"Snap out of it!" Tanner hissed. "We don't have time to break down now."
Naomasa's breathing calmed down, replaced by simmering anger. "How can you not feel anything about that?"
"Just because I'm undead doesn't mean I don't have a heart detective. But I need to focus on the mission and keeping you alive. I've seen this before, and I'll probably see it again." Tanner admitted. "That's just how it is in this line of work. Don't quit on me now."
He glared at the skeleton. "Fuck you, Skinner. Those were kids!"
"I told you not to look," Tanner said coldly.
Naomasa resisted the urge to deck Tanner in the face right there and then. Instead, he let out a resigned sigh and gauged his surroundings. "Where are we?" Surrounding them were crates with the Chaos Theory insignia on the side. The floor was still stone.
"From the looks of it, Chaos Theory research station. Computers are trashed and the food is rotting, but it's somewhere to let you recover." He reached into his chest and pulled out a bottle of water. "Drink."
Naomasa reluctantly grabbed it, surprised by the chilled touch. Probably some bullshit magic in Tanner's bag. He didn't break eye contact with the undead while he drank, glaring as he downed the entire bottle.
"Better?"
"Not really." Naomasa seethed.
"Well tough it out. We need to keep moving." Tanner stood up.
"Are you just here for the spoils Skinner, or do you actually care?" He couldn't get a read on this guy. One moment he was joking, the next serious, and after seemingly indifferent to the horrors around him.
Tanner didn't turn around. "I'll tell you if we both survive this. Does that satisfy you?"
It did not.
==VI==
The Chaos Theory camp looked like something you would see in a bandit camp in a fantasy RPG with a more modern touch. Since the domain couldn't be easily modified, they had crammed their camp into a dead-end cave. The entrance to the camp was shredded, and he could make out what looked like a machine gun emplacement you would find on the top of an APC. The more distressing clue was the fact that there were no spent shell casings around the gun, meaning that whoever operated it didn't get the chance to fire it.
"Hand me a dagger, will you?" Tanner gestured to one of the weapon racks.
"You have a knife already." Naomasa reminded him.
"Yeah, but it only cuts skin." The skeleton pulled out his tailoring knife and tried to cut the strap on the box, only for it to emit a spark of magic and recoil.
"Seriously?" The detective's eye twitched in annoyance. "Fine. Here." He handed Tanner a bloodstained dagger with a huff and put his gas mask back on.
After a few quick slashes, he pried the lid off the box and rummaged through it. "Let's see, rations… oh!" He emerged with a large box in his hands. "Look at this. These are some powerful tranquilizers. You could probably knock out a minotaur with some of these."
Naomasa peered into the crate. Half of the container was filled with similar boxes, the rest rations and what looked like raw meat wrapped in glowing bags. He turned to eye the cages. "So they were holding whatever killed them in here, and they broke out then?"
"No." Tanner walked up to the cages and looked at the warped metal. "These were ripped apart from the outside. I believe this is where they were keeping the prisoners." He took an aside glance at one of the stripped corpses the broken bars of the cage, the skeleton barely held together by the remaining strands of sinew. It looked like a heteromorph judging by the unusual body, sporting what looked like a car engine in the stomach that was dented and covered in viscera but otherwise untouched.
"So we still don't know what did this…" Naomasa didn't like this situation one bit. Putting aside the victims they had no leads. The only bodies were human or human adjacent, all stripped down to the bone. There were nearly no signs of struggle save for a few bloodstained weapons and spent clips from a few of the Chaos Theory cultists that had managed to fight back. Whatever did this was smart, and it didn't leave any bodies behind if there were multiple perpetrators.
"Nope," Tanner said, and although he spoke with his usual carefree cadence Naomasa could tell the man was on edge.
==VI==
They scouted a few of the side caves to make sure that they wouldn't be attacked from behind before continuing down the main tunnel. Tanner had explained that the trail beacons leading out also doubled as motion detectors. That lessened Naomasa's worries only slightly.
The path took a slight decline for a few dozen meters, at the bottom of the path was another long hallway, but this one was different. At the end of the hallway was a large metal door, or at least the remains of one. Unlike the natural walls of the cave, this was clearly built by someone- most likely Chaos Theory based on the somewhat Buddhist-like temple stone used on the door frame. The door on the other hand was completely fucked, it had been rended into large chunks that were somehow embedded into the walls of the domain. On the floor lay some chains made out of black metal, and some thick red ropes with burn marks along the frayed ends.
Another difference from the last few rooms was the corpses. They were still mostly intact, some missing limbs or entire chunks of their bodies. All of them were Chaos Theory cultists, human, demi, and monster alike left out like a forgotten half-chewed dog toy.
Both men pulled out their guns simultaneously, Tanner motioned for Naomasa to follow him through the broken gate. It was inside that they finally found the missing soldiers, or at least their bodies inside a large circular room.
All four were arranged in a circle, kneeling with their heads slumped in some sort of demented mockery of a prayer. He could see them fairly clearly with the enchanted mask's night vision, but unlike the prior rooms, there was a dark vignette around his vision. The room was completely silent save for his breathing and their footsteps, only occasionally interrupted by water dripping from the stalactites.
"Shit, we're too late." Naomasa cursed. They were all dead. 'Something's off though…'
Drip
As they approached the bodies one thing stuck out. Every other body they had found had been picked over until only the bones remained. These soldiers were mostly untouched from what he could see.
Drip
"What the hell?" Naomasa slowly approached the bodies with Tanner. The skeleton crouched down and grabbed the dead woman's head, noticing that blood was dripping from it. At this distance, Naomasa could see that the deceased's skin was pale and shriveled.
Drip
Tanner tilted the woman's head up to see where the blood was coming from and Naomasa recoiled. Every orifice was oozing thick gooey blood, and the woman's eyes were missing. A quick glance at the other corpses revealed the same, long trails of dark red blood leaking from their faces.
Drip
A droplet of water landed on Naomasa's hand. He didn't pay it any mind as he took in the horrific scene before him.
Drip
'Devoured people, no corpses besides humans, a lack of struggle from the cult further away from the door… that narrows it down a bit.' Tanner thought, releasing the soldier's head. 'But this is different. It's like some sort of ritual. These bodies have been drained of nearly all their blood, probably all their organs too. It's hard to tell with their uniforms on and I don't think Tsukauchi would appreciate me stripping them, nor do we have time for that.'
Drip
Since Tanner didn't have nerves he didn't feel this droplet hit his head. The only reason he noticed was when he checked on the detective. A single drop of red trailed down his skull and into his eye socket.
Red?
'That's not water.'
Tanner slowly looked up. 'Oh fuck, the dripping wasn't coming from stalactites.'
"So, Tsukauchi." Tanner started. "I have good news and bad news."
"What is it this time?" Naomasa looked over at Tanner and noticed the undead was staring at the ceiling. He followed the skeleton's gaze and fought back a choked gasp.
Drip
Floating near the large round stalactites were several masses of gore. It was all the internal organs and blood of the soldiers extracted and compressed neatly into various apple-sized geometric shapes. He could recognize a few spheres, cubes, and pyramids. A few of them had white masses that he realized were eyes, crushed until they were like raisins. Naomasa held up his hand and noticed the trail of red from the supposed water droplet.
"Good news," Tanner said with panic evident in his tone. "I figured out what's responsible for this. Bad news, we need to leave, now." The undead backed toward Naomasa, sockets pointed toward the ceiling.
"Why, what is it?" Naomasa started to ask. Then one of the stalactites twitched and pulsed. He squinted to get a better look.
Oh.
Those were not stalactites.
They were chrysalises.
"Skinner, what in the everliving fuck are those." Naomasa hissed, taking another step toward the exit.
"Detective we need to leave, now!" Tanner grabbed Naomasa by the arm. "We need to go before-"
Neither of them had noticed due to the mist and unnatural darkness, but the domain did not end in that room. There were several large tunnels hidden in what the two had originally thought were stalactites, and some on the walls of the room as well.
"Breidreidreidididididieeee!"
And during that brief moment of distraction, something emerged from one of the holes in the roof, dropping down silently before letting out a high-pitched cry.
Both men froze and slowly turned toward the noise, every centimeter of the turn filled with mounting terror and a sense of dread.
"Oh shitnuggets," Tanner swore breathlessly. "Those are fucking Agari."
==VI==
△ WHA Aftermath Report [Subject: London Down Protocol Initiated on July 12th, 2238 on Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina]
Responding to reports of several missing persons cases in both Chile and Argentina in about an 80-mile radius of the mountain. Several police and pro heroes were dispatched to investigate. None returned. Investigations led to the discovery of a new cave system and dozens of human remains. The Argentinian government refused aid from the WHA and sent two platoons of soldiers to eliminate the threat. There were no survivors.
In response, the Council sent a small team to survey the area. While the team did not survive, their reports did reach back thanks to the efforts of summoned familiars. A monster that had been rarely seen across the globe since the Dark Winter incident, the Flesh Eating Angel: Agari, was identified as the culprit. Scans showed a large hive of several thousand of the creatures in the tunnels below Mr. Aconcagua. Due to the danger posed by the creatures and the unforeseen amount of them, London Down Protocol was initiated. Instead of carpet bombing, a series of guided high-yield incendiary explosives were sent into the mountain until all the creatures were eradicated.
==VI==
Naomasa took in the large humanoid figure across the cave. From a distance, it looked like some sort of armored angel, clad in heavy black and red plates. One could've easily mistaken it for an angel were it not for the six insect-like wings protruding from the creature's back and the unnatural way it moved.
"Tsukauchi," Tanner whispered. "Do not, and I repeat, do not make any sudden moves. We move on my signal." He slowly unclasped his hand from Naomasa's arm, the other reaching for his revolver. "Start walking backward, slowly." Even with the undead's calm tone, Naomasa could tell that the man was terrified.
The creature's head twitched erratically, jerking left and right with sudden creaks and pops. Any illusions that it was in any way angelic were shattered. Suddenly, it stopped, and the hooded face pointed toward Naomasa. Instead of a shrouded face or even a bright blinding light, it was an odd arrangement of slightly vibrating armor. He realized now with the way the monster moved that it wasn't armor; it had to be some kind of chitinous material with the rigid yet slightly flexible way it moved.
Even without a source of light in the cave, the wings seemed to shimmer and glow with a pearlish sheen. Small flakes, like most dust, floated through the air. It was only thanks to the magic gas mask that he didn't inhale any. The Agari raised its clawed left hand and made a beckoning motion. Naomasa felt a slight pressure in the back of his mind and he resisted it.
They took another wary step back, and the creature seemed to recognize that whatever it was trying to do, wasn't working. It made a shrill whine almost like a high-pitched angelic choir mixed with a gurgle. Then its faceplate split open to reveal a mass of pulsing red flesh that looked disgustingly similar to a cloaca with several pointed teeth that spun around its maw like a blender. The monster's armor split apart, revealing red flesh in the joints as it shed its angelic disguise.
"NOW-!"
He heard Tanner shout at the same time the Agari let out a shrill, ear-piercing shriek which cut the skeletal man off. Almost in slow motion Naomasa glimpsed a flash of red, felt himself be pulled to the side, and then the sting of pain as something grazed his torso.
[Warframe OST: Consume Us]
A single gunshot rang out with what sounded like shattering glass. Naomasa caught himself on Tanner's shoulder, his other hand keeping pressure on his wound. He spared a quick look back and saw that the Agari was frozen solid by Tanner's first shot. The older man pulled out the knife he'd taken from the camp earlier and brought it down on the large tentacle-tongue the creature had launched a good fifteen or so meters across the cave, snapping the abhorrent appendage in half.
The tip of the tongue had a large razor-sharp spike on the tip followed by several serrated blades. 'If Skinner hadn't pulled me out of the way it would've impaled me or sliced me in half.' Naomasa groaned, clutching his side. The wound wasn't too deep but it was noticeable and he'd want it to get stitched up as soon as possible.
Several more shrieks echoed throughout the tunnels and three more Agari emerged.
"Blinding light, now!" Tanner ordered. Naomasa complied without hesitation, the adrenaline, pain, and desire to get the hell away from these things sharpening his focus.
"Blinding Light!"
"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Tanner, who had no eyes and was thus unaffected by the sudden brightness fired off three more shots into the craniums of the stunned creatures. The first one dropped immediately. The second monster's head exploded in a shower of depressurized blood like its gravity had been increased a hundredfold. The last Agari survived the first shot and extended its tongue through Tanner's stomach, the man only spared by virtue of having no meat to latch onto. He jerked to the side, firing the last two rounds in the cylinder into the monster's chest to finish it off.
"-the person we requested is someone experienced since this is your first mission. They should be around the level of an A to S-Ranked hero." Naomasa faintly recalled General Kujou's words from earlier. He'd nearly forgotten that Skinner was supposedly competent despite his eccentricities.
"Run now or we're both boned!" Tanner grabbed and pulled Naomasa to his feet and they both started running.
"Really? Puns, at a time like this?" Naomasa yelled over the increasing number of high-pitched shrieks behind them. "Now is not the time for joking!"
"Agreed!" Tanner shouted back, barely dodging another tongue. "Now is the time to run the fuck away!"
They ascended the long tunnel and kept running. Tanner at one point grabbed the package of tranquilizers he confiscated earlier and threw it toward the approaching Agari to slow them down. Upon reaching the room filled with corpses Naomasa tripped on a bone and tumbled to the ground. Luckily he did a combat roll and didn't land on anything sharp.
"Skinner, I'm down!" He hollered.
"I'll cover you. Run to the exit." Tanner fanned the hammer of his revolver, rapidly ejecting the rounds and slotting in a speed loader. Several bulky Agari bodies began to clog the hallway, hopefully buying them a few seconds.
That hope was immediately dashed as a larger Agari sporting two extra arms tipped with glowing red blades cleaved through the mass of corpses. Each slice of the gravity-manipulating blades caused anything they touched to be rapidly compressed. Tanner responded by pulling an ivory-carved ball horn, squeezing it to let out a single loud "doot". Several floating skulls appeared around the undead. They glowed bright blue, played a guitar riff, and then rocketed toward the large Agari before exploding.
Naomasa witnessed this out of the corner of his eye as he ran around the corpse pile, electing to ignore the strange attack. Tanner fired off some exceedingly loud explosive rounds and caused the tunnel to collapse behind them as he followed Naomasa.
==VI==
The calm of the early morning was broken by the sound of one man panting as he exited the domain, followed closely behind by a skeleton in a torn suit sprinting out behind him. Tanner slapped a talisman on the wall of the cave as he exited, causing a shimmering barrier with several Kanji to appear behind him.
"Holy shit." Naomasa gasped for breath. "That was probably the scariest thing I've seen in my entire life." The Naruhata Lockdown had nothing on this, that's for sure. He leaned against a nearby rock and let himself relax after spotting the seal Tanner had deployed at the entrance of the cave. "Fucking hell."
Tanner in the meantime had whipped out his cell phone and was currently talking to someone. "- mhm, it's a small nest. Send a team immediately to secure and eliminate it. I recommend additional searches around the mountain just to make sure that they are only isolated to the domain."
He was alive. After all that, he'd made it out. Naomasa let out a quiet laugh and stood back up after Tanner finished his call. "They sending a team to wipe those things out?"
"Yep! They already had a team stationed nearby in case it was urgent. Gotta be prepared." Tanner replied.
"That's good." Naomasa scratched his head, only then noticing his hand was covered with blood. His vision darkened and he felt the throbbing pain on his side. The adrenaline from the chase had finally worn off. "Ah… crap." He managed to say before collapsing from blood loss.
"Goddammit." Tanner skullpalmed. The undead tailor rolled the detective onto his back and reached into his chest cavity to grab his toolkit. The large rolled package of knives, scrapers, hole punches, and other various leatherworking tools was unrolled onto a flat patch of moss. Tanner slipped on a pair of gloves, humming merrily to himself as he unbuttoned the detective's shirt and got to work.
==VI==
[Aokigahara Forest, Mt. Fuji, Japan, September 11th, 2242]
In the meantime, a small convoy of heavily armored purple and black painted armored personal carriers pulled into the forest, followed by a mobile command center. Several military helicopters had begun to sweep the area with thermal cameras.
From the lead APC, a tall hero with pale blue hair and a single mole on his chin emerged. His outfit was a white coat embellished with dark blue lapels and golden trim with similarly white pants. On the man's right shoulder was a single ornately crafted samurai armor plate. Underneath the fancy hero outfit was a lightweight cloth that was similar to kevlar but far more durable.
He was followed by several soldiers both demi-human and human sporting purple and black armor that was a mixture of futuristic and samurai. Most carried assault rifles or shotguns though several also had some sort of melee weapon strapped to their back, usually a katana. In total, there were about sixty men and women present.
"This is Suiyuu. We've arrived at the location of the domain." The hero radioed. "Squads one and two, you will be going with me inside. Squad three, secure the entrance. Squads four and five will establish a perimeter around the forest. Gas masks on, groups of two or more only. I want check-ins every too minutes for those on patrol. None of our targets must leave this forest."
"Yes sir!" Dozens of voices rang out followed by a mass salute.
==VI==
Naomasa awoke with a throbbing headache with his head on a soft towel. "Agh…" The exhausted man blinked away the late morning sun's rays. "What happened." He groaned, slightly slurring his words. As he turned over he felt a slightly numb pain on his side and saw Tanner crouched next to him holding a knife, his gloved hands covered in blood. "Ah! Don't take my skin!" That damn skeleton was going to kill him!
"Oi! Stop moving so much. You'll break the stitches." Tanner said with an annoyed hiss.
"Stitches?" Naomasa looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. The wound on his side was neatly stitched together and cleaned. "You treated me?"
"What, did you think I would start skinning you just because you passed out?" The older man scoffed. "I said I'd do that if you died. Of course, I'm not going to let you die for a few pounds of flesh. I'm not that crazy."
Naomasa snorted, slightly amused. "I apologize for my presumptions then. Thank you for saving my life, again." He looked back at the seal on the cave. "So, what the hell are Agari?"
Tanner shuddered. "Ah, those things. We've only known about them for a few years. They're some creepy-ass bug things that look like angels. If I'd figured it out faster we never would've gone that far in." The skeleton apologized.
"It's not your fault," Naomasa reassured.
"Still, that was too dangerous for a rookie," Tanner grumbled. His head perked up at the sound of several heavy footsteps approaching. "Looks like they're here." He raised his hands pre-emptively in surrender and spared a look at Naomasa. "I don't want them to mistake me for hostile. It doesn't exactly look good with me being an undead and all. " Plus he was covered in Naomasa's blood. "Hopefully Kujou let them know who I was beforehand."
Two soldiers stormed up the path nearby, immediately pointing their guns at Tanner. One of them put a hand to her ear and to listen to the radio. After a few seconds the two Tenryou soldiers lowered their guns "On-site assets located. One injured, but being treated by the consultant. Requesting a medic ASAP."
The other soldier knelt down next to Naomasa. "Are you able to walk?" She asked kindly.
"Agh. I think so." The woman offered him a hand, round tanuki ears twitching as she helped him up. She let him put some of his weight on her and helped him down the trail, Tanner following after stowing his tools.
At the base of the trail, a group of about three dozen soldiers and one blue-haired man in a fancy hero outfit waited. As they approached Naomasa recognized him. 'That's Kamisato Ayato… what's the Yashiro Commissioner's son doing with the military? I know he's a hero but…' He didn't know much about the man, other than Shota having a less-than-stellar opinion on him. Come to think of it he hadn't really seen Kamisato make many public appearances considering who his family was. Odd.
As they approached, Kamisato casually walked toward them. "Mr. Skinner." He bowed in greeting. "I'm glad to see both of you made it out alive. You two, take the detective to the command center and get him checked out."
"Sir!"
Naomasa was escorted away, and Ayato's gaze hardened. "So, how many do you think are in there?"
"Given the size of the nest, I'd say fifty to a hundred, give or take a dozen or two that I took out." Tanner thought for a second. "But there are more in the final room with the incubating ones, along with some smaller tunnels I didn't get to mark. I'd say to prepare for more than two hundred."
Ayato frowned. "That many? A hive that size should have more activity than that."
"I think the cult was using the victims in the forest to grow the hive for some purpose, but considering they didn't leave any evidence we don't know what that purpose was." Tanner reached into his bag and handed the hero some badly burned files. "Not sure what they were 'harvesting', but if it was the Agari it can't be anything good."
"You make magic support gear correct?" Ayato inquired. "What would you harvest the Agari for?"
Tanner hummed in thought. "Probably some gravity-related tools or maybe armor? Their chitin is durable if you treat it correctly."
"I see. Regardless, I'm not here to find that out. Our objective is the eradication of every single monster inside the domain and its destruction. We don't want it turning into a Challenge Domain that we would have to guard."
"If you are going to destroy the domain, may I request that you extract some of the Agari bodies? I was promised payment and I know Lady Alice will be disappointed with me if I come back empty-handed."
Ayato nodded. "I can't make any promises on their condition, but we will do our best. Have you uploaded the map of the domain?"
"Yepperino." Tanner made a finger-gun gesture at the hero. "I'll drop the seal, the cave should be sealed up to the first largest room assuming they haven't dug themselves out by now. They're probably cannibalizing each other though."
"Excellent. Please head back to the command center." With a swirl of his coat, Ayato marched off.
==VI==
"Charges set. Take cover!" An explosion echoed through the tunnel and filled it with smoke and dust. One soldier stood up and used his quirk to blast away the obscuring cloud. "Squad one, follow my-"
CRUNCH!
His words were cut off by an Agari bursting through the remaining debris and sending its elongated tongue straight through the face and out the back of his skull. His facemask did nothing to protect him. With a sudden jerk his corpse was reeled back toward the monster's hungry mouth before any of the other soldiers could react. As soon as it got within range the front half of the body crumpled like a juice box and the monster began to slurp the man down!"
"Captain! Die you sonuvabitch!" The rest of the soldiers opened fire knowing that their superior was already dead. The Agari was flung back by the sudden high-impact rounds. Its corpse slammed into the cave wall and the lower body of the soldier smacked against the floor with a wet slap, leaving half-eaten intestines and and blood strewn across the ground.
Several flashbang grenades were tossed into the corpse-filled room, blinding the other Agari. The Tenryou soldiers wasted no time and pushed forward through the widened gap and picking off as many Agari as they could before the monsters could recover. One soldier, an oni, barely dodged out of the way as one of the cleverer Agari dropped from the ceiling and tried to bisect him with its claw. The burly man used his strength quirk to kick the beast in the chest, sending it flying into a nearby pillar. Another kitsune soldier summoned a fish-like shinigami and impaled the monster, pinning it to the pillar. The oni followed up by rapidly unloading his shotgun into the monster's chest to turn it into a fleshy pulp.
On the other side of the cave, several soldiers were decapitated by a group of four armed Agari. Their bodies were spaghettified by the scimitar-like blades on the monsters' upper arms. A sudden flash of blue and white appeared, and all the ambushing Agari were cleaved into chunks by Suiyuu. The hero now wore a stylized breathing mask to protect him from the hypnotic properties of the monster's dust. Every swing of his sword left behind an afterimage of fine mist that was barely visible to the eye. Suiyuu took another couple of swings at the empty air and did a few elegant spins before backflipping through the mist and instantly sheathing his katana.
A second group of Agari flew out of the tunnel and through the misty afterimages. The hero stood unflinching, took a calm breath, and simply sidestepped the monsters. After a moment, they stopped moving, falling apart into several perfectly sliced chunks.
※ The quirk of Kamisato Ayato: Kinetic Mirage. While his quirk is active, Ayato will leave behind an afterimage of any melee attack he makes, even with weapons. The afterimages carry the same properties and momentum as the original strike and cannot be moved from their position even by the wind. While Ayato can move freely through the afterimages and dismiss them at any time, anyone else who touches them will take damage as if it were the actual strike.
With his katana, each swipe of his blade is akin to a field of razor wires.
※
The sounds of gunfire died down, and the group moved on to the next room.
==VI==
Naomasa lay in a medical cot after being treated by the medics. They had patched up his wounds and bandaged him up. He was currently hooked up to an IV drip for a blood transfusion with Tanner sitting next to him.
"So, how do ya feel champ!" Tanner asked.
"I could go for a stiff drink." Naomasa grumbled.
"Can't do that until you're healed, but I'm sure they have someone with a healing quirk you know."
"Yeah." Recovery Girl could probably help him, or one of the shrine maidens back at the Commission HQ. "Thank you for saving me, Skinner."
"You can call me Tanner if you'd like." The undead replied. "We've been through hell together, so it's only fair."
"I suppose so." Naomasa shifted in his bed. "For all your quirks you aren't that bad, Tanner."
Tanner did a quick little fist pump. "I have to get some enjoyment out of my unlife. In this line of work, you're gonna see some real fucked up things. We fight these things so the public doesn't have to know they exist. It's a thankless job. We aren't heroes and sometimes we even have to leave civilians behind to save our own asses. That can take a toll."
"How are you so… carefree about all this?" Naomasa asked.
"I mean, I don't have much else to be excited about. Can't eat or drink, can't have sex. Hell, I can't even feel anything that touches me. The only reason I can see or hear is because that's just something all undead can do. At least I can disguise myself as having a quirk and go outside though." Tanner shrugged.
"I never considered how hard that would be. I'm sorry." Naomasa said.
Tanner waved off his concerns. "Oh, don't be sorry. I made the choice to do this to myself, though I wish I'd had the forethought to keep my flesh preserved. Not like I had the time though."
"So you like this job?"
"I have to, otherwise I'd lose my mind. Heroes are already a bit crazy, but we face things that most of them would run screaming from. I'm just making due with what I've got an finding joy in my hobbies. At least I can put forge all the death I come across into something that can help save lives."
"It's still a bit gross though." Naomasa snorted.
"Nyeh, maybe to you. I find the process fascinating." Tanner shrugged.
"Tanner, you're taking peoples skin and making it into book bindings and scrolls." Naomasa deadpaned. The undead man responded with a bout of laughter. 'Gods, what a weirdo…'
==========================VI==========================
Tanner: Shows up, skins a deer, and drops lore bombs. The concept of a skeleton selling skin will never not be funny to me. Tanner was a NPC i made as a leatherworking merchant on a Minecraft server I helped develop, but never launched which was unfortunate. Probably not the best npc to have if people actually read his dialogue which was really unhinged for who its target audience was supposed to be.
(Also imagine that Tanner talks like a mix of Skeletor and the intro narrator from The Legend of Korra lmao)
The Agari were a monster idea I came up with and had Perci22 draw. They are flesh-eating angels, if the angels were bugs. Think of their cries sounding like king ghidorah with the "bidibidibidi" sounding more like an angelic choir sung by insects.
Also, fun fact: Japan has a 99.9% cremation rate, which is partially the reason why Naomasa was weirded out, besides the whole corpse desecration thing.
Coming up next in CH 36, New Years Eve!