Shrine cleaning

The edge of the cherry blossom forest was starting to near, light finally properly penetrating the leaves and shining upon the ground. Not too long and she would be out of Sakuramori. And then straight to Eagle’s Rest to ensure that Shirome was doing fine. However, things were not about to go the way the girl had hoped they would. The Jami from before, a blue ghost resembling a combination of a transitional oriental serpent-dragon and a feline of some sort had appeared from behind her, quickly getting in front in a successfully attempt to stop the girl in her tracks.

“What is it? I cannot sense any more hunters in the forest, so you should be just fine-” A whisper of sorts was carried by the wind, caressing the cat’s furry ears. Only she and other yōkai could understand it, so there was no need to even remotely worry about unwanted guests listening in. But sure enough, the message relayed was interesting enough to make Kurome stand perfectly still and ponder for a moment, one of her harms tightly going across her stomach and the other one rest right in front of her face, slightly clenched. “A newly built shrine, you say…”

It wasn’t that strange for several priests to be in a place like this. Sakuramori was known to be a hot spot for spirit activity, so those who wished to destroy it would travel to this place from great distances as well. But if there was a shrine nearby, it would get much worse for the other-worldly creatures in this place. As such, the girl had decided. Before she would return home to her late sister, she would make a small diversion. “Very well, point me in the direction. I shall… take care of them.” A voice so cold that it could almost freeze the air around them.

Another whisper did just that, giving the girl an exact coordinates where the structure could be found. Letting out an audible sigh, the girl would nod and the Jami disappeared once more. “To built a shrine this close to this forest… they are growing quite bold.” Narrowing her eyes, the black cat would turn around so that she could head in nearly the opposite direction. Though that was swiftly stopped, as her feline senses caught something approaching her, drawing very close now. And the sound was a familiar one, making her frown a bit. “Still following me?”

Getting so very close obviously did not sit too well with Kurome, and she was prepared to drive him back by any means necessary if it came down to it. But she certainly had no interested in showing weakness by backing away or visible shielding herself in any way. And what the man said did not please her in the slightest either. He clearly found this situation at least somewhat humorous and perhaps even imagined himself to be above it all. Or to be above her. Such a ridiculous notion was also quite dangerous for someone like him, as his body would be pierced by Kurome’s sharp gaze.

“Do not play games with me, mortal. You say that you follow a yōkai rather than me and yet, you do not see one, nor did you see it before it left. Ah, but if you’re not following me… then it will be of no interest to you if I leave. Fare thee well.” With that, she would simply walk past him and head in the desired direction. It was obvious to her that she herself was his target, not some random yōkai. Not after what transpired in these woods. He clearly witnessed what this place is.

All of the yōkai were now also staying far away from Kurome, as they could clearly feel her bloodthirst. And while it was not directed toward them, nor ever would be, they still recognized that it would be a very bad decision for them to get in the way of one of their kin that desired nothing more than to kill those who would willingly hurt her and everything she held dear in her life. Above all, she was not going to be stopped by anything or anyone. The newly formed shrine and all the priests there… their fates were sealed the moment she had learned of them.

The girl slowly stopped and started turning away. With the words she heard, she could almost feel something snapping inside of her. Because if there was something other than her own sister that Kurome cared about, it was her own pride and that of her clan. And for that man to have such an insolence to contest her words in such an absurd manner, well… it clearly did not sit well with her. As she turned around fully to face Ghost, her eyes would glow bright red, blood-lust filling them and so tangible in the air that it could be felt.

“You think that longevity makes you any better than the worms beneath our feet? Do you think that using such magic is a feat worthy of praise or celebrating?! Perhaps I should show you just how fragile your life truly is!” Extending her hand, the ground beneath Ghost would buckle as the dirt and grass seemed to have been replaced by a sea of corpses, all grasping at the man’s feet, wailing in pain and calling for help. At the same time, the bakeneko would smirk and laugh. “What could you ever know about balance? There is none in our worlds. And you are merely an outsider.”

Next, tips of giant blades started emerging from between the corpses, slowly dancing among them and dangerously pointing at Ghost. Though, of course, none of them would attack him unless given a reason. “So cease your lectures when you know nothing of us and our strife. Before I decide that killing a Rising Star would benefit me more than keeping you alive.” Calming down a bit, the sea of death beneath him would start to slowly dissipated into thin air. But what would happen next depended on Ghost himself. Because if he were to agitate the girl any more, she could very well actually attack him.

Aaah, Kurome truly hated dealing with men like these. Either far too arrogant and naive to realize the truth, or plain insane. Whichever one this Ghost was, she cared little. He was getting on her nerves with his constant talk of light and dark, balance here and there, non-stop justifications for everything. It made her blood boil. So when he finished his little talk, one of the many blades in the ground actually jutted out. It was one almost directly in front of the boy and it extended far enough to graze his neck just barely enough to cause a tiny amount of bleeding, but nothing more.

Naturally, she could have tried to decapitate him. Though doing so would be rather inconvenient for her with regards to her own magic. In any way, she kept the blade there, its cold steel pressed against his soft neck to make sure that her words would finally have some proper weight behind them and would reach him. “Do you really think you are something special? You, me, the magic council… we are all nothing more than worms in the end. And the organization you put so much faith into… haha.. Ahaha~”

She couldn’t help but laugh at least a tiny bit. “Can’t afford a war with them? How naive! That war has started on the day I was born! How many Rune knights and mages employed by the council do you think I have killed? Dozen! Perhaps even hundreds by now. But I still breathe. And so do all other that are labeled as ‘dark mages’. Your beloved council is even more corrupted than some of the dark guilds. And they will never, ever be able to reach and stop us. Burn that into your mind. A bit of reality over those delusions of yours will do you good.”

And with that, she had the blade retracted back into the ground as all of the death disappeared. She would turn around, showing him her back as she started walking without any other words. She was done discussing this lunacy. The shrine awaited her… and she would slaughter everyone there, no matter what. Because those people killed her kind as well. It was revenge, pure and simple. If Ghost thought he could stop that, he was free to try. But no one could ever stop this vicious cycle of murder and genocide. Not even the gods themselves.

The woman could not stand any more of this man’s ramblings. He was clearly not someone who could be reasoned with, a deranged lunatic that only saw his own version of the truth and nothing else. Perhaps he was even worse than Kurome herself in that very regard, as even she was willing to try and understand others as long as she deemed them worthy in any way at all. But this one? No, he saw the world as black and white it seemed. One side clearly good and the other one indisputably bad. A view that could not have been any more wrong if he tried.

In the end, they were all willing to kill, to commit the ultimate sin. What else mattered, really? The world used to be far more virtuous in the past, but nowadays, even the ‘legal’ mages who claimed to be on the side of good were willing to slaughter those they deemed evil without any evidence to back them up. And they were even encouraged to do so if the girl were to look at the fairly newly established guild ‘Dies Irae’. Merely a group of killers who justified their actions by disguising them as acts of kindness and justice.

But alas, they were finally at the shrine. It was in their view and an unusually large amount of priests were all around, guarding. They were individuals wearing long and puffy white clothes, almost dress-like ones regardless of their gender. On top of their heads rested long and thin black hats and in their hands were either talismans or staffs they could use to cast spells. One glance behind Kuro revealed to the girl that Ghost was still there, following her like some relentless creepy stalker. But then she can quite an interesting idea.

A smile spread across her face as she turned to face the man once more and performed an elegant bow as if she was saying farewell to him. “You believe these people to be of light and me to be of dark, yes? Let us see if you still hold that belief a few minutes from now.” And with those words, her body suddenly dissipated into a green mist. It was quite good that she recently learned how to connect herself to the undead army she was in command of, now capable of using their own spells as if they belonged to her person.

What followed might have been quite unexpected. The alarm was sounded in the shrine, indicated by a loud bell ringing. It was something that could be heard miles away if one’s senses were at least somewhat more sensitive than those of an average human. Clearly, something had tipped them off, but was it Kurome who somehow attacked them after disappearing in front of Ghost? Not quite. If the man was to listen carefully, he could hear screaming from inside of the complex. “An intruder! All priests on-site, get ready for the shrine to be attacked!”

“Repel the enemy at all cost! The intruder is a younger man with blonde hair. He might try to pose as a priest himself, positioned in a praying motion, do not be deceived!” They were not worried about a girl with cat ears. They were worried about Ghost himself, who they were not convinced was their enemy. And the moment they would spot him outside of the shrine, they would attack him on sight. So what exactly would he do with this situation? Would he became same as Kurome and kill them all for this? Or would he try something different and potentially die trying?

Kurome was nowhere to be found. Regardless of how hard Ghost looked, she simply didn’t appear to be within the open yard at the center of the shrine. This was fairly normal, as she would have been attack immediately if anyone were to spot her. But she was hardly someone Ghost had to be looking out for at this moment.

Even when he used a spell to pin most of the priests and priestesses down, not all of them were affected. A good handful appeared to be strong enough to withstand the gravitational push. And from the main shrine building that rested against the back wall of the complex came a fancily dressed man.

His attire was not all that different from the white robes and long black hats that others wore. But his were adorned with golden imagery of the gods they worshiped. And a rather comfy-looking scarf hanged around his neck, completely hiding it.

“As I thought, you are here to destroy the shrine. Just waltzing in and attacking us directly like that, a bold move. One you will regret soon enough.” It appeared that he was completely unaffected by Ghost’s magic. In fact, there was some sort of green magical barrier around him.

He, too, would put his hands into a prayer-like position. And at that moment, his eyes started blazing with a crimson inferno. “Our goddess, Amaterasu, protect this shrine from this vile filth! Allow us to burn him to ashes!”

In an instant, a giant ball of flames appeared far above the shrine, almost like a second Sun that was putting forth scorching heat. But that was hardly its only purpose. All of the priests around, even the ones that were pinned down, got up again. They were empowered by the giant spell that the leader cast.

The manifested Sun was empowering them all and giving them the power of holy flames, one that could be consumed only by a God slayer of the appropriate element. Their weapons were set ablaze, but they were not bothered by this at all. Instead, they flew into a magical rage as they started attacking.

Their only goal was to kill Ghost. And if they could not do that outright, then tire him out so they could get him later. And the leader who created this powerful spell with the help of the deity that this shrine was for, he retreated behind crowds of the other priests. And even then, the barrier was still shielding him from any attacks that would be headed his way.

And the smirk on his face said it all. He was quite happy that he managed to lure Ghost directly into the shrine where he would be surrounded by the priests from every direction and subjected to the divine protection of their God who would help smite down anyone they deemed an enemy. Even if this enemy wielded holy magic, these divine beings did not care.