by Nikita Thorn
Ippei was studying the new Polished Shell Cards in his hand. “Bad news for you, then, and for us stuck selling charms for the rest of our lives, since I think there will be a lot more to fix very soon.” He looked up at the group. “You know, these are really good Cards. Jade-level.”
Mairin raised her brow. “And you’re not happy about that?”
“Look at what these cards do. Twenty times our original troop numbers? That would give us an army of a thousand. When they’re practically giving you three Jades to burn right now, you can’t help but wonder what could be behind that door. The Eldritch Abomination?”
The kitsune’s eyes widened in delight.
“And maybe lots of traps?” said Koharu uncertainly, guessing from one of the card descriptions.
“And loot,” said Yamura hopefully.
“Yeah, and loot.” Ippei sounded amused. “Don’t disappoint Yamura now, Seiki.”
Seiki chuckled as he got to his feet. Perhaps the ryoushi was right, and unlabeled instances really pushed you hard. Ippei’s handy European-style Pocket Watch showed that less than two hours had passed since they entered the cave, but Seiki could have sworn it was much longer than that.
In varying degrees of hope and dread, the group moved toward the door, stepping aside to allow Seiki to insert the key into the keyhole.
Ippei stepped up beside him and said quietly, “Remember, whatever’s in there, it’s still your job to stay alive.”
The key twisted easily in the lock in a harrowing clang, before the heavy metal door slowly creaked open.
CHAPTER 22
A faint and unsynchronized chorus of echoes rose from within the hollow space, mimicking the clanging sound of the opened door back at them, as if an invisible host had long waited for their arrival and now said their reluctant welcome. The cool, dark air by the door hinted at mold and dirt. Seiki stopped to listen for movements.
Beyond the initial disturbance, nothing followed, and the watchful silence once again descended. Seiki carefully stepped through the threshold, and found himself in a dim cavern, several times larger than the corridor they had been following.
The door had opened in the middle of a wall, as if the architect had simply looked for the easiest way to connect existing cave systems together. Under the doorway was a narrow staircase, steep and railless, cut directly into the rocks and fortified with crude wooden planks where the ground had crumbled away. At the bottom of the steps, a lone torch stood flickering on the cavern floor, barely giving enough light to illuminate the descending passage.
The cavern was not empty. Next to the ground torch stood a man in white. His face was hidden in the shade, but the distinctive long curved sword and its matching dagger thrust through his obi were unmistakable.
Both Seiki and Ippei instinctively placed their hands on the hilts of their Hikari as soon as they spotted the man, much to the surprise of the group.
“Shousei,” said Seiki.
Shousei made no attempt to draw his weapon, and only shifted slightly to acknowledge their presence. Eyes on the swordsman, Seiki slowly made his way down the stairs, pausing midway through to gauge the situation. Behind him, his unit followed down the steps one-by-one, warily observing the fierce warrior. Genta let out a small uncomfortable exhale.
Shousei regarded them with chilly calmness as the rest of the group crowded in closer behind Seiki.
“If you ask me, your Eldritch Abomination doesn’t look very scary,” whispered Koharu.
“Not impressed?” Ippei asked.
Seiki studied the swordsman. Shousei was once again perfectly groomed, with his fine white kimono straight and spotless, which—given how they had parted a little while earlier that night—should be impossible.
“Looking for Tsujihara’s boy?” Shousei swept a cold gaze through the group, before letting out a scoff. “I see you’ve brought troops.” Seiki was not sure what to make of that comment, and the man made no attempt to clarify. “Follow me.”
Without waiting for their response, the swordsman grabbed the ground torch from the floor and started making his way down the corridor.
“So you know where Okamoto is,” Seiki called after him, still trying to guess the man’s intention.
“Yes,” said Shousei without turning around. “And you’re going to help me kill that traitor.”
Relieved at the confirmation that the young man was still alive, Seiki nodded to the group as a signal that they should probably follow. It was most likely futile trying to debate the merits of sparing Okamoto at the moment, and finding him was a priority.
Fourteen uneven steps down, they found themselves in a large underground hallway, almost four times the height of an adult human. Wall torches were still present, fixed at random heights, but much more spaced out now. Their feeble flames were strangely subdued in hue as if struggling in a losing battle against the overall gloom that haunted the space.
Shousei had paused a bit further away with his torch, impatiently waiting for the group to descend. The narrow stairs allowed only one person at a time, and the fact seemed to worry Ippei, who said something under his breath about a choke point.
Finding themselves in such a huge cavern seemed to excite the four villagers, and they looked around in awe and dread, wincing as their footsteps echoed. Rumi went up to the wall and gingerly laid a hand on its rough surface. “I think these caves are very old,” she whispered to Genta.
“They weren’t made by humans,” said Ojisan. His comment took Seiki by surprise, since it was rare that the old man spoke up out of his own volition.
“Work of the demons?” said Saburo.
“No,” Ojisan said. “Much, much older than that.”
Seiki had a feeling the information was meant for him, but he was not sure exactly what it was that he was supposed to glean from it. He had no time to ask either, since as soon as the last of Koharu’s obake troops made her way down the stair, Shousei turned and continued his journey down the cavern.
Ippei walked up beside him, looking grimly amused. “An escort quest with Shousei. Who would have thought? I mean, normally escort targets don’t end up trying to kill you.”
Seiki had no doubt his friend was right about Shousei, and he let out a little laugh as he remembered that both of Mitsue’s quests had involved her trying to engineer his demise. “Maybe it’s a ronin thing, like a theme.”
Deciding to be cautious around the man, they kept to a safe distance behind him. Seiki signaled his unit to keep close, but made sure Shousei was always within range of a very short Slide. From their last encounter, he knew that the swordsman was susceptible to unarmed physical attacks, so if Okamoto chose to show up without warning, he supposed he could try to tackle Shousei and stop him from immediately killing the young man.
“If you spot anything at all, let me know.” Seiki turned to Yamura and Mairin. The ryoushi’s Eagle Sight allowed him to see further in the dark, and Mairin’s kitsune senses often warned her of NPC presence beforehand.
“What are we looking for exactly?” said Yamura.
“Anything,” said Seiki. “I have a feeling Shousei’s going to have something up his sleeve.”
The swordsman let out a scoff. “That’s Master Shousei to you, boy.”
Mairin’s eyes widened. “I see what you mean now,” she said under her breath, before lifting her voice. “Okay, how about Precious High Lord Shousei? Will that be agreeable?”
Naturally, the swordsman made no reply.
The dim passageway continued to slope gently downward, deeper into the cool, damp air of the underground. Seiki listened for footsteps, but beyond their own and the two obake units’ rustling silky robes, he could hear nothing out of the ordinary.
“So,” Mairin said as she studied the figure ahead of them. “This guy is basically your, uh, class trainer?”
Ippei contorted his face. “In a way, yeah.”
“And he’s always trying to kill you
?”
“Yeah,” said Seiki. “Well, usually until you figure out a new ability.”
Kiku laughed. “Tough love?”
“No,” said Ippei. “Just pure murderous intent.”
“Silence,” Shousei snapped, without turning back. “If you want to stay alive.”
The samurai chuckled. “See?”
Yamura let out an annoyed sigh. “Okay, Seiki, why can’t I just shoot him, since that’s the point of the instance, right? To save this Komodo kid?”
“I doubt they would let you shoot him,” said Ippei.
“Silence,” said Shousei again. “The caves are swarming with demons.”
Despite the man’s caution, the subterranean hallway seemed deserted.
“I don’t see any demons.” Koharu glanced around. “So you think the Eldritch Abomination is going to suddenly pop up ahead?” Seiki was not sure if she was talking to the group or trying to start a conversation with Shousei.
“Or maybe this guy is going to turn into a demon lord,” Kiku guessed. “Like those beginning quests in the haunted forest?”
As the two obake launched into a discussion about their class quests, Seiki turned toward Ippei. “So this is technically some kind of a war instance,” he began.
The samurai nodded.
“So that means your guys respawn when they’re killed?” said Seiki hopefully, looking for confirmation. Given the chance, Shousei would most likely try to force him to choose once again between his unit members and Okamoto, and he wanted to be slightly better equipped with knowledge of how things worked and recognize which threats were bluffs.
Yamura motioned toward his archers. “A few of mine already did,” he said after a quick count.
Ippei thought for a moment. “From the looks of things so far, they should respawn like normal. But to be honest, I’m not sure anymore.”
“We can handle demons, Chief,” said Genta, most likely as a hint.
“It’s not demons I’m worried about, but that guy.” Seiki nodded ahead toward the white-clad swordsman. Genta did not respond, and the rest of the unit offered no more clues.
Seiki turned to Kentaro and Mairin, the only two in the group with abilities to heal. “I’ve got a weird favor to ask.”
“Sure,” said Mairin.
“If something happens, I’d really appreciate it if you could try saving my guys.” Seiki paused for a moment. “And Okamoto. I know Okamoto is probably going to try to do something bad, and I won’t be surprised if he tries to kill us, but he’s just… angry, you know.”
Kentaro understood his concern. “I’ll try my best.” He looked seriously at Seiki. “Okamoto did ask the spear demon to save your life, so that’s a good sign that he’s still redeemable, and that the instance doesn’t actually require you to kill him.”
Seiki was grateful for the reassurance.
“We’ll save your NPCs over everyone else,” said Mairin, before turning to grin at Saburo. “Got my eyes on you, kid. So don’t try to be a hero. Your boss is worried.”
Saburo nodded. “I won’t disappoint the Chief.”
Seiki was not quite sure if Saburo’s response actually followed from what Mairin had said. Still, he gave his unit a serious look. “You heard her. Try to stay alive, especially… if there’s some kind of lengthy dialogue leading up to the situation.”
Unsurprisingly, his unit had no idea what he was talking about and simply reassured him that they were up to whatever task lay ahead.
Ippei grinned, but he said nothing as he waved his hand to rearrange his troops into two rows. Two more of his men had respawned, making a total of eight. The samurai unit was on high alert, and Seiki was not sure how his friend knew something was about to happen.
Sure enough, Shousei soon came to a stop. The torch in his hand had nearly burned out, and the swordsman tossed it aside, where it hissed and went out on a damp corner. The sudden gloom put an automatic pause on the group’s various conversations and Koharu’s unit let out tiny gasps.
Ahead of them, the hallway had widened into a high-ceilinged chamber. A curtain of cold, still air lingered at the entrance, like the front of a cold storage whose door was left open. Seiki could hardly make out the details of the room ahead of him, as the lower wall torches seemed to have gone out, leaving only the uppermost part of the chamber lit. Without a word, Shousei started walking again. The group followed him in hushed silence, their footsteps echoing in faint whispers from the empty space above.
At first, Shousei’s kimono appeared like a dark gray specter against the darkness. There was ruffling from the ground as his feet caught something, and the man let out an irritated sigh as he lifted his leg to step over the obstacle.
Seiki glanced down and gave a start as soon as his eyes adjusted. The floor of the cavern was an uneven terrain, formed by lifeless lumps of men, demons and broken weapons, piled on top of one another and carelessly littered over the ground. The sea of corpses continued as far as he could see into the chamber.
Seiki felt an involuntary chill. The cavern, cold, dim and silent, was essentially a mass tomb.
Yamura let out a cry. “What the—”
“Silence,” Shousei whispered. This time, the group heeded his advice.
The nearest corpse, fallen on his side, was marked Dead Shinshioka Soldier. His whole body was covered in the familiar black tar-like substance, identical to the cadaver they had met at the beginning of the cave. This seemed to be the case with the other Shinshioka men around him, some of whom were completely coated with the poison from head to toe, their arms frozen in mid-motion as if they were trying to crawl away, or wipe off the substance.
Scattered among them were Dead Demonic Soldiers, who did not seem affected by the poison and whose bodies instead bore weapon wounds, their dark blood drenching the ground beneath their corpses.
Seiki could not help shivering. Most of the poison was still wet on the men’s bodies.
“Um, okay,” said Mairin. The group shifted uncomfortably and stopped at the edge of the room.
“Scenery,” Ippei reminded them. “It’s not real.”
Still, Seiki could see that the samurai was rather disturbed, and his unit of eight had unconsciously reached for their swords.
“What happened here?” Koharu asked. Her four purple-kimonoed obake had pretty much hidden behind her like scared children. “They’re not going to all turn into zombies, are they?”
“Any survivors?” Kentaro, glancing around, let out a long anxious breath.
Seiki first thought he was witnessing the aftermath of a battle, but comparing the degree of losses between both sides, he quickly realized that it had actually been a massacre.
Yamura took a step forward and dispersed one of the bodies. “No loot,” said Yamura in disappointment.
Kiku stared at him and cleared her throat.
“What?” said the ryoushi. “You always loot. Or, help their souls cross to the other side, if you prefer that. They’re Shinshioka soldiers, you know, so we’re here to, uh… avenge their deaths.”
That logic seemed to convince Kiku, and the obake stepped up to the bodies to help Yamura. After the first one, however, she let out a soft gasp as metal jaws clapped noisily over her feet.
“What’s this?” she cried. The bottom of her yellow kimono was caught between the sharp teeth of a crude animal trap, which had caused some minor damage. Confused, she easily Faded out of it, while Mairin quickly filled her health.
“The demons laid a trap for the army.” Shousei was making his way through the fallen soldiers, his voice devoid of any apparent emotion. “Literal traps, as you can see. The demons placed traps all over the chamber, and lured the regimen in.” He crouched down beside a body as if searching for something, before pushing one corpse to the side, revealing an unsprung metal trap hidden underneath. “The men didn’t stand a chance.”
“Okay, I’m Fading all the way through,” Koharu announced.<
br />
“I think we should save our energy,” Ippei said.
“Let’s just disperse everybody,” Mairin decided.
Bursting into fox form, the white kitsune ran a large circle through the nearest bodies, and white smoke went up around her, interspersed with black from the demons. More traps snapped in nasty clanks, but her Dash freed her from those and she healed herself back up.
“One healing potion.” The kitsune turned back into her human form to report, before dropping the ceramic bottle in Ippei’s hand and popping back into a fox to continue her mission.
“See? Always loot.” Yamura bent down to disperse another soldier. Since no one was comfortable with climbing over dead bodies, soon the group decided this was the best method to create a path through the chamber, except for Ippei who still kept his eyes on Shousei.
Not every dead soldier yielded items, but they soon found several more healing potions of various quality. They also managed to uncover a few more metal traps on the ground hidden beneath the bodies, which Mairin was happy to Dash through as they conveniently faded away a few seconds after they were sprung.
“So, they just put a bunch of traps here, the soldiers come, get stuck, and the demons just… splashed poison on everybody?” said Kiku. “I mean, that must have been a lot of poison.”
Seiki peered around and pointed ahead. “I think they somehow flooded the chamber with poison.” As unlikely as it sounded, at several spots on the wall were large smears of the poison more than six feet high.
“Poison’s not my favorite thing to fight against.” Kiku let out a sigh. “Maybe they have a slime mine down here?”
“Slime mine?” said Kentaro.
“Poison mud mine?” Kiku tried again.
Ippei was studying the growing collection of ceramic bottles in his hand. Since he was not actively looting, he had become the designated loot holder. “I don’t like this. They gave us those three really good Cards, and now they’re basically loading us up with potions.”