by Jace Kang
“I love this neighborhood.” She smiled as she led them down a quaint road lying in a valley between skyscrapers. The road was lined with old wooden buildings, like something right out of old movies. Several of the temples interspersed among the old homes were well over fifteen hundred years old; their destination, Hozoji Temple, was close to two thousand years old.
Just as he loved watching Age of Greed martial movies, Ken also got lost in the ancient history of this land. He gestured down the street. “You know the significance of Hozoji?”
She nodded. “It is the resting place for the head of famed swordsman Kondo Isamu, leader of the last Shogun’s enforcers.”
“The heroic Shinsengumi!” Ken said.
Aya looked at him, eyes wide. “More like the notorious Shinsengumi. They were thugs and murderers.”
Considering she knew everything, he wasn’t going to argue. Though by a direct route it was just five minutes from Pontocho Park, where they’d been practicing, they’d taken time to avoid Peacekeeper patrols.
As they drew closer, his heart raced with a mix of excitement and trepidation. With this new body, he felt like he could take on the world! Still, they were facing a monster the master feared; and if Aya’s energy was so much weaker than Ken’s now, Ken must be even more pathetic compared to Master Ryu.
Clouds rolled in to obscure the moon. A chirp warbled up ahead, followed by a flash of lightning and the roll of thunder. The ground shook.
With sound feeling like it had just crushed Ken’s brain, he shuddered. All courage from his Advancement melted away.
“Stop.” Master Ryusuke’s head whipped around, and he gestured the others to him. He flipped the Kappa walking stick in his hands.
They all gathered around him, like a team of heroes from the old movies. The clouds, which had dispersed earlier, now loomed low in the night sky, as if they were pressing down on them.
“It’s what I feared: a Nue is stalking the streets, looking for victims. As I said, it is a very dangerous yokai. Right now, hold your stances and feel the energy.”
Doing as he was told, Ken dug his toes into the pavement and straightened his spine. Across from him, Aya did the same, and even Siena joined in.
A cold sensation crept up Ken’s spine, a primal fear.
“Up to now,” Master Ryusuke said, “we’ve fought bipedal creatures whose bodies more or less resemble our own. The Nue is like nothing I’ve prepared you for. Therefore, I will engage it directly. I want the rest of you to do what you can to punch or kick it.”
A shiver ran through Ken.
“Channel whatever you can at a distance.” The master said to the Elestrae before turning to the rest of them. “If it looks like we are losing, I will be forced to flee. I want you to be ready to do the same. Do you understand?”
Ken exchanged glances with Aya, then they both nodded.
A female scream rent the air.
The master’s eyes gained sharp focus, and he broke into a run.
Ken took off after him with the others on his heels.
The old buildings zipped by in his peripheral vision as he tried to keep up. Master Ryusuke disappeared around a corner, just as another one of the bone-chilling chirps echoed through the air. A crack of thunder pealed through the air.
Ken turned the corner and skidded to a halt. If worry had sent him into shivers before, it now felt as if ice water ran through his veins.
The Nue was the most bizarre creature he’d ever seen. Its head resembled a white-haired baboon, while its brown furry body resembled a badger fox with enormous testicles. Its four limbs were orange with black stripes, like a tiger’s, and a scaly green tail wagged from behind it. Easily twice as large as a person, it bared its sharp, gleaming teeth. Power rippled off it, tangible in the air.
Reared up on its hind legs, its claws were raised, ready to slash through a sobbing woman huddling by the grey-tiled temple gates.
Ken’s limbs trembled, and he had to fight the instinct to flee. At his side, Aya was backing up, lips quivering.
“Stances!” Master Ryu yelled, not looking back as he dashed in.
If only Ken’s jelly limbs would obey. They would obey. He sank into the Zhan Zhuang stance and, against his better judgement, shot his hand out to grab Aya before she turned and fled.
It didn’t seem possible that her face could turn paler. She gave him a quick nod, and then assumed the low stance the master had taught her.
Ken turned back just in time to see the Nue swipe at the woman.
Then, Master Ryusuke was there. He swung the Kappa walking stick to intercept the swipe.
The walking stick’s runes lit up for a split second, and with them a low hum Ken hadn’t noticed before; but the force of the blow sent it hurling through the air. Thankfully, the master recovered from the surprise of losing his weapon as the monster lashed out its claw again. With an arcing of his hand, Master Ryusuke grabbed the monster’s arm and torqued his hips.
With its momentum redirected, the Nue crashed into the ground, but instantly rolled up to its feet.
Master Ryu interposed himself between it and the woman. “Run!”
The woman needed no more prompting. She scuttled to the side as she climbed to her feet, then ran away.
Snarling, the Nue unleashed a barrage of slashing swipes of its claws. Master Ryu gave ground, and already his blood seeped from tears in his shirt. The creature pressed, pushing the master to the wall.
At Ken’s side, Siena barked out several words. The beads around her neck lit up. Bolts of energy shot from her fingertips, crackling through the air and striking the monster.
It cried out, then emitted a series of staccato chirps. The clouds lit up.
Siena jumped back, avoiding the forking blades of lightning, and settled into her own Elestrae fighting stance.
The ground rumbled from blackened spots in the street, and an ear-shattering boom roared. Despite his attaining First Rank, Ken’s legs wobbled. He locked his knees, maintaining his balance. Aya, however, fell.
Ignoring them, the Nue closed fast on Master Ryusuke, who’d rooted into the Xinyi Water Form stance. It leaped with zigzagging strikes of its four gleaming claws. The master took a step forward, bobbing and weaving through the barrage. When his lead foot struck the ground, he thrust his arms out and slammed both of his palms into the demon’s chest before it landed.
It went tumbling head over heels before stopping midair. Its warbles came out deep and slow, like Ken’s father when he was angry. Lighting flashed again, forking through the sky.
Master Ryu sank into Xingyi’s Wood stance just as bolts surged into him, then stomped forward with his hands forming the position of the Fire Form. The electricity crackled from his fingers into the Nue.
Monkey face contorting, the beast let out a shrill screech. The stench of singed fur hung in the air. It covered the dozen feet between it and the master, and slammed into him.
It looked as if Master Ryu had tried to sink into the Earth stance, but too late. He staggered back several feet before bending his knees and anchoring his feet into the street. The smooth pavement buckled beneath him.
Siena shouted out more sounds, and her beads glowed blue again.
When the Nue whirled and whipped its tail, it seemed to be slogging through water. Still, Master Ryusuke had yet to fully recover, and the appendage smashed into him, launching him into the air. He flipped head over heels, then landed in a crouch, fist to the ground. Cracks rippled out from the spot.
This wasn’t going well, and Ken was useless. He came out of his stance and turned to Aya, still on the ground. “We’d better—”
The girl held a hand out, a tiny image of Master Ryu coming from the holoprojector in her palm. Her eyes were glazed over.
Just what was she doing?
The image enlarged and then shot over to where the real master was rising to his feet. Arching his back, he ducked under several sweeps of the Nue’s claws, captured a forelimb, and body-slammed
it into the ground.
It let out an angry series of chirps, its monkey head sweeping back and forth between the master and his image.
Ken wasn’t sure which was which either, at least not until he curled his toes into the street. Pulsations emanated from the real person. For now, though, the projection and Master Ryu moved side-by-side in synchronicity, flowing into something that looked a little like the Xingyi Water Form.
Reaching into her interdimensional space, Siena withdrew a thin, straight sword. She started forward, with Teppin now at her side with the discarded Kappa walking stick.
The Nue chirped out, and again, the sky opened up with lightning. Master Ryu and his hologram split apart, both avoiding the bolts, then closed in with punches that moved so fast they blurred. It raised its forelimbs to fend off both, only to get pummeled backward by the real Cultivator. It crashed into the temple’s outer wall, then landed on four unsteady feet. Master Ryu swept his hand in an arc, and even from two meters away, blood sprayed from a line which opened up from its shoulder across its chest. With the reverse motion, another gash appeared across its neck.
Siena’s blade slashed into its tail, while the runes of the walking stick lit up as Teppin used it to hit the monster in the body. In a few zigzagging steps, each avoiding a lightning strike, Master Ryu was upon the monster. He knocked aside a defensive paw and whipped a Splashing Hands palm at its face.
It chirped again, just as Master Ryu was about to land a punch. A blast of energy rippled out, sending its three assailants stumbling back, their limbs twitching involuntarily as they fell to the ground. The hologram of the master winked out. The walking stick clattered away. The glowing blue beads around Siena’s neck faded.
And here Ken was, First Rank and useless.
Flee, the master had implored them. Even now, Aya was backing away.
Between Master Ryu and the Elestrae writhing on the ground, the Nue’s baleful glare settled on Siena’s prone form. It stalked toward her.
Summoning up every gram of courage, Ken found the discarded walking stick in the corner of his vision. It was on the other side of the Nue.
“Distract it!” Ken yelled to Aya as he dashed toward the artifact. His jump didn’t clear the blurred sweep of the Nue’s tail, and he tumbled face-first into the pavement. Pain burned across his forehead and palms, but he scrabbled across the ground toward the walking stick.
He reached out—
The tail wrapped around his ankle and yanked him.
But not before his fingers closed around the smooth wood. Energy coursed through it and into him, its three Cores sources of tangible energy now that he was First Rank. He could do this! He twisted around enough that he could swing the walking stick at the yokai’s appendage.
It shrieked as the wood connected, and the tail loosened its grip. Blood belched from the wounds the master had scored across its neck.
Ken climbed to his feet and sank into the Xingyi Metal Form stance.
Even gravely injured, the Nue radiated immense power. Its claws slashed back and forth in a blur, each scoring wounds across Ken’s chest. The pain seared into him as he staggered back.
The Nue started to leap…
Master Ryu appeared on its flank. The Nue turned its attention away from Ken and pounced on the master…
Who blinked out of existence again.
One of Aya’s holograms! Ken surged forward, stomping and swinging the walking stick at the back of its head.
The Nue whirled around blindingly fast and swept its hand into the path of the stick. The wood splintered on impact.
The horrid monster was Metal in nature. Ken switched to the Fire of Wing Chun punches, raining blow upon blow into its body. Each time, it felt like a knuckle or finger bone cracked upon impact.
The Nue took each of the punches without even flinching. Its claws ripped across Ken’s abdomen with pain like he’d never experienced before. He looked down to see his intestines spilling out.
His head began to spin, and he wobbled on his feet. Then he collapsed. As his vision faded, he made out the monster looming above.
Chapter 29:
The Cultivator
R yu pulled himself up, limbs still twitching from the electrical discharge. It was similar to the one he’d used to disable Kentaro’s nanochip, but perhaps ten thousand times more powerful. Enough to kill a normal human.
He looked over to Siena, who lay still on the ground. Was she all right? Unranked as she was, she might die, too. He reached out through the water vapor and sensed her Core—still dense and strong, though that didn’t necessarily mean she was still alive. Teppin wriggled, its legs convulsing in spasms. It might also be dead, and the twitching just a result of all the electricity still working its way through its meridians.
Thank the heavens, Aya had stayed back. The Nue wasn’t even paying attention to her, it was…
…looming over Kentaro.
The boy lay on the ground moaning, a pool of blood forming beneath him. What had happened? Ryu started over, and a closer view revealed the horrible gash across his stomach. No!
The Nue raised its claws.
Ryu dashed over and stomped on its tail with a Xingyi Water step. Howling, the creature turned to face him.
His Water Whip had earlier scored two moderate slashes across its neck; it was usually enough to cut through metal, but for the most part, the creature’s Iron Shirt had prevented decapitation. Based on an earlier scan, it was equivalent to Fifth-Ranked in Metal, and First Rank in Fire. What little Fire skill Ryu had was better than its, but wasn’t enough to affect its Metal.
Which meant Water was his only chance of beating it. It looked to have sustained damage from Siena’s channeling and his own attacks. Teppin might’ve also done some damage, and its tail dragged behind it from some injury Ryu must’ve missed.
Using a combination of Water and Fire Paths, he swept his arms in rapid circles, drawing heat from the Nue through its open wounds. Its blood thickened and its rapid movements slowed. Spinning closer, he unleashed a flurry of Water Whips. Each lash against its skin left shallow wounds, but Ryu’s transition to the heat-draining technique slowed the monster more.
He stepped in with a Crashing Wave shoulder-butt into the Nue’s chest. It felt like regular human running full-speed into a steel column, but the force sent it flying into the temple walls. The plaster and rock shattered.
Then there was a holoprojection of him at his side.
The Nue looked from one to the other, but in order to sense the Qi of the real him, it would have to lower its defenses for a split second. It was all Ryu would need to close the gap and land another attack. His holoprojection darted forward with perfect technique, drawing the yokai’s attention.
When it engaged, the holoprojection transitioned to a defense, backing away and avoiding the Nue’s swiping claws.
With a series of guttural words behind him and a flash of blue light, a blast of fire erupted in the Nue’s face.
Snarling, it batted the flames out of its face. Still, it moved slowly, and the stench of burnt fur filled the air.
Ryu glanced over his shoulder to see Siena still lying on the ground, propping herself up on an elbow.
Now the creature’s flank was exposed to Ryu’s position, so he stepped in and launched Splashing Hands into its head.
Blood, bone, and brains exploded from the impact. The Nue crumpled to the street.
Master Ryu blew out a breath and rolled his neck. The joints crackled and popped. He turned to the others. Teppin stirred, but remained unconscious, while Aya cautiously approached. Siena collapsed back to the ground.
Then his eyes fell on Kentaro, whose chest rose and fell with labored breaths.
No, no, no, he couldn’t let the boy die.
He darted to Kentaro’s side and inserted his makeshift acupuncture needles into the Shuigou point in the divot below his nose. That would hopefully keep the boy from going into shock.
“Aya, come,” Ryu said,
dashing over to the Nue’s corpse.
“What about Kentaro? We need to get him to a trauma center. They might be able to help.”
“He won’t survive me carrying him a block. How far away is the trauma center?”
“A kilometer. But we can call a transport.”
“Go ahead, but I don’t think anything can help him, except what I have in mind.” He knelt down by the ghastly remains, around which a pool of blood spread wider and wider.
Aya’s pale complexion turned almost green. Stomach heaving, she covered her mouth.
Ryu would’ve rubbed her back, but finding the Nue’s Core was of paramount importance.
“How can whatever you’re doing save Kentaro?” she asked.
“Its Core.” Which he might’ve been able to use to close the portals. Ryu rolled the creature onto its back. Walking his fingers over its belly, he stopped at a point not far from its enormous scrotum. With a flick, he straightened his hand and knifed into its gut. When he withdrew his bloodied hand, he held a plum-sized white crystal with red striations veining through it. “This.”
Aya turned her head and vomited.
He ran over to Kentaro. “Ken-kun, I need you to try to calm your breath.”
“It hurts,” the boy whispered.
“I know, but you will die without this.” He held up the Core.
The slits of Kentaro’s eyes opened wide. “You said… You said you needed it for your mission.”
“Yes, but you need it to live. Now, this is going to hurt.” Given the Core was too large to fit in Kentaro’s navel, and the fact his belly had already been slit open, Ryu set it inside the wound.
Kentaro screamed.
“You’re hurting him!” Aya yelled.
“Did you inform the trauma center?” he asked without looking at her.
“Yes. But Peacekeepers are already converging on this position.”
They had to hurry.
Ryu cradled the boy’s head. “I know it hurts, Ken-kun, but you need to perform the Microcosmic Orbit. Just like earlier today, when you integrated the Kappa Core.”
Kentaro gave a feeble nod. Each time he drew a breath, he winced.