On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Four Hundred And Fifty-One / Side One Hundred And Fifty-Seven – Shiratori Himeko / Oshiro Sapphire Aiko

Switching out the now useless earpiece for one we had prepared ourselves, I could at least stay connected to Shiro, Haru and the others. Now largely unable to communicate effectively with the members of the Unsheathed Blade, who were starting to descend into further panic, I continued my ministrations on the gravely wounded Jin-Ae, muttering nonsense words in a soothing tone to keep her calm. Damn, is it bad that I’m already used to this? I admit, I’m feeling a little irritated that this so-called Hunter Guild is so unprepared for heavy combat, but… Perhaps I was being uncharitable, as I was equally pathetic the first few times I fought. But then, my fights were for myself, early on. Not like this…

“You. Helping. Good!” Hee-Young managed. The wall of ice was easily holding off the incoming fire we were receiving, and while it sounded loud and threatening, to my ears there was surprisingly little coming in, and as Lee Jong-su flourished his Korean sword again, another great rent appearing in the wall, one section collapsing, forming an entrance, I couldn’t help but feel something was still very wrong. One of many things. Such a mess. Luckily this time we expected everything to go badly, if it didn’t we’d have been pleasantly surprised…

“What’s the situation there, sis, Shiro?” I asked over our own wireless communications. Beneath me, Jin-Ae was stabilising, though she was pale from blood loss, and I didn’t have the time or the aether to spare to replenish that much. Our advance here had stalled, Lee Jong-su and Eunbi seemingly paralysed by indecision, but hopefully the situations in the other theatres were going more to plan. Though the Boundary is a little sticky, I can handle it, why else have I been growing stronger?

“I’m a little worried.” My sis said slowly. “Everyone’s come running out of the building in a hurry, and they are going towards their vehicles and guns. Do you want me to do something about it? I’ve got a couple of Golden Sisters here…”

“No, keep those.” I warned. “But…”

“Get her to pull back her others.” Shiro said, her tone urgent. “They aren’t likely to be too much use here. Oh, you shut up, Violet. Sorry, can we change to English, Violet is listening in here.”

“No problem.” I said, having been talking in Japanese since it was our private channel now. “Yeah, it might not be a bad idea pulling them back. Keep us updated, sis.” I channelled a little wind and my phone floated out of my pocket, and it was soon displaying an image from her phone, showing the Korean army starting to head towards the Academy. “This is going to get messy. It’s not like we can go hard on innocent soldiers, controlled or not.”

“If it’s us or them, I’m choosing us!” Violet-noona insisted, shouting loud enough for us to hear over Shiro’s device. “Damn, what a mess, I shouldn’t have trusted the army knew what they were doing!”

Perhaps I was a little trusting of their information as well, but I prepared contingencies for if they were wrong. “All done…” I finished up healing Jin-Ae as best I could, sealing all her wounds. “Sorry, I don’t have time to worry about scarring now. When we get out of this alive, I’ll be more than happy to touch them up.” I said, not that they could understand me.

Meanwhile, my attention was being taken by the Boundary. My meteor strike of Foehn had destroyed a number of Buildings, some of which might have been Ether Spires or the like, and dozens of Dokkaebi disintegrated. They seemed frenzied though, unwilling to care about the losses or their own lives, bows singing as hails of barbed arrows were flying at us.

Kang Da was hanging back now the barrier was down, charging up again, but expanding my vision behind me, I could see the effort was fatiguing him. I guess it’s up to me then… “You guys get back…” I warned the scorpions, only for a massive Dokkaebi, nearly twice the size of the others, to land in front of me carrying a long staff, topped with a brazier, filled with flickering, smoking coals. My Eye could only see scrambled letters, but as it appeared, the surviving Korean goblins cheered and hooted, their chittering words still making no sense to me except for faint, almost understood snatches of whispers that tempted me to listen. Like I have the focus for that right now, my brain is already melting. Ugh…

A bolt of aether streaked towards me from a distant Emplacement, but I slashed it aside with Storming Moonlight. Sparks of brilliant prismatic aether scattered, and I sliced the necks of two Dokkaebi who charged me, heedless of their own lives. Lightning flashed, and the big brute before me blocked it with his staff, ashes scattering, but the smell of burnt flesh rose along with a faint steam, and it let out a painful bellow, nearly losing its weapon. Moments later light burned through it, piercing head and heart, flaring it to ether.

“These don’t have anything but numbers.” I called back to Kang Da reassuringly. “I’m going to press on, if I can take out the Anchor, we can end this!” I declared, and my League was fully unleashed, the Dokkaebi faltering, looking away as if I was blinding to them. Body Enhancement pushed my limits, and as aether scattered all around me, I greedily sucked it in, beams of light and blades of wind cutting the foes down in the air around me. Another hulking Dokkaebi, this one carrying a long spear, flew down from the buildings that towered over me, only to meet the same fate, unable to evade the beams of light.

You have gained in strength. Your Level has increased from One Hundred And Thirty-Eight to One Hundred And Thirty-Nine. Your…

It’s getting harder to gain a Level now. At least this place is good hunting. But I can’t forget my objective. Saving the hostages first, then capturing or dealing with the mind-control users…

As I felt power coursing through me after my Level gain, I continued my arguments with Lee Jong-su. Now Jin-Ae was back on her feet, he certainly looked grateful, but Jin-Ae seemed to be insisting she could continue with them, despite being as pale as a ghost, her only defence her wrecked body armour and torn and bloody school uniform. Even her massive halberd seemed to be a burden to her, and she was using it as a crutch to catch her breath, pretending she was standing proud.

“She no want. To go?” Hee-Young declared, her icy wall occasionally shivering with impacts, but I was growing suspicious about the low intensity of attacks. Ever since I crippled the Chosen who could snipe, and defeated the blades of wind hidden in the smoke and gas, we had come under little pressure, only the trap that took down Jin-Ae causing us trouble. “She fight.”

“No, that’s not good.” I grimaced, and in the distance I could see the approaching Korean military. “Do you want her to die? Or worse, you to die saving her?”

Hee-Young tilted her head at me, while Eunbi brought her bow up, pulling back the empty string. I was confused for a moment, before she released an invisible arrow, the explosion sending debris everywhere. That stopped the remaining gunfire, and I could see a puddle of blood spreading from the debris.

“I really hope that wasn’t a damn hostage!” I cursed, knowing that even the soldiers and Chosen were hostages too, so it likely was. “Look, look there!” I pointed back to the oncoming military, who were catching us in a pincer manoeuvre, should they be minded to attack us.

“Helping? Or… bad? Bad?” Hee-Young asked quizzically, and I let out a bitter sigh. I definitely need to learn more languages. But when do I have the damn time? Huh, actually, if I could give Chirurgery to the tutors, I could learn in the Boundary. The lower Astral would be better, but it’d take too much effort to train someone up until they could enter there and tolerate the higher ether density. “Shiro, put Violet-noona on before I lose my temper. Can you translate for these…”

********

“Can you translate for these idiots, Violet-noona?” The voice came out over Shiro’s earpiece, the Korean woman who called herself Violet’s ears good enough to pick up the sound. “Otherwise they are only going to get themselves killed.”

“Sure thing, Akio-oppa.” she replied, as they moved towards the Boys’ Dormitory, quickly but cautiously.

I don’t much like the way she calls him Akio-oppa. Somehow it’s deeply irritating. Shiro then held in an inappropriate laugh, as it was likely annoying Aiko far, far more. All right, Tan, you’re really on edge. You mentioned a bad presence. Is it something we can’t handle, even with all our preparations? Shit, Aki will take it hard if we don’t succeed here…

As we moved towards the Dormitory building, which was dark and seemingly empty, windows looking ominously like a row of teeth in a gaping mouth, Violet was rattling off a string of Korean, as Aki had asked the Chosen he was with to retreat, but they were refusing. They should listen to those of us with more experience. This is nothing compared to Kyoto, unless…

Tan broke her silence, thoughts loud in Shiro’s mind. I do not suggest we turn tail and flee. I am merely greatly concerned. There is more to this than we expected. It is most… irregular. Tan almost sounded affronted, and Shiro struggled to hold in a giggle. Isn’t everything irregular around us, Tan? You certainly are, and you said Aki’s Territory is, and that invading frog shit…

I do not deny it. There is much that is unusual, unprecedented. Though perhaps one irregularity breeds others. I am no philosopher, no student of the ways of the wider worlds. However… this presence. Tan paused, gathering her thoughts, as Aki cried out over the communicator in frustration. “Fine, then at least persuade them to join up with my sister’s Golden Warriors and do something about the army! I haven’t gone to the trouble of healing Jin-Ae only for her to die straight after!”

“You’re such a worrier, Akio-oppa. It’ll age you prematurely!” Violet laughed, before launching into more rapid-fire Korean. She seemed annoyingly carefree, despite the potentially deadly situations occurring elsewhere, which might have been because they were encountering no opposition as of yet, everywhere eerily silent.

Good and evil are simply… matters of perspective. Tan began again, drawing Shiro’s attention. What is good for some may be evil to others, and evil deeds might be justifiable. Some… some would consider my father to be an evil being, but he merely embodies a perspective. Even destruction is part of a cycle of rebirth. In most cases. The agreement we made, your man, he called it wicked, and perhaps I could have used it so. Though now, even when I win this foolish wager you recklessly challenged me to, I shall be kind and succour all those you care for, princess. I believe I can trust them and make good use of their talents.

Yes, yes, I get it. I’m selfish, I’m definitely not as kind as Aki is. Sure, the kids trapped here are sad and pitiable, but… I’m not good enough of a person to waste my own happiness, which I’ve struggled so hard for, on people I don’t know. Unless there’s something in it for us, of course, like here.

We are very much alike, princess. Perhaps this was indeed Fated, like the moon-gazing woman says. But yes, those who you consider evil Deities, they are simply of another perspective. The Pantheons are wide, and many work together because they must. Usually. There are exceptions.

“They’ll do what you say, Akio-oppa. I’ll do what you say too.” There was a glow, and the other three non-humans that had accompanied Violet earlier reappeared, materialising out of seemingly thin air. Two of them were hurt, one with several arrow wounds, dark blood soaking their clothing, while a second was covered in nasty burns, skin peeling. “Look at you, all beaten up.” Violet clicked her tongue, raising her tattooed arm imperiously. “Making me look bad. And how’s my stupid little bro? Akio-oppa keeping an eye on him?” Shiro did note that at least she sounded concerned about her brother, even if her overconfidence here was worrying.

“He’s fine. It’s brutal in there, but Kang Da is hanging back.” The uninjured one said sibilantly, words punctuated by odd clicking.

“You know he is better at a distance.” The burned one said, wincing as his charred flesh pulled as he spoke. “He would be useless there in the fray. Dokkaebi, oh Violet Scorpion, many, many Dokkaebi.”

“We would just die, we were right to come… back.” The one holding the deep holes pierced in him cried, and Shiro noticed his blood was a strange mixture of red and green. “It is definitely not as we surmised.”

A Pantheon is centred around a single, overarching Territory. The ruler of such, a being you could call an Astral Emperor, though they are far beyond merely that, leads the Pantheon. But there will be other, lesser Territories contained within, often vast empires in their own right.

That’s like how Aki has his vassals, right? Or even allied Territories, like yours. That reminds me, I’m going to have to lay my own Anchor down soon. But where? Anyway, what’s your point? As they reached the walls of the dormitory, Violet spoke to the older man with them. After a moment, he nodded, and suddenly the area around them was filled with moisture, droplets of water surrounding them.

But not every being you call the Gods is content to maintain decorum and work together, even in the face of ruin. Some… some are truly what one would call evil, though again, they might argue differently, that they pursue the truest freedom to do as they wish, unfettered by reason or expediency.

“Don’t worry, old uncle Si-woo’s got the blessing of Aryeong Jong, Goddess of the rain.” Violet explained as the cloud of droplets surrounded them. “It may not look like much, but it should be more than enough to keep us safe. Now… come on. We don’t want the Inevitable Victory stealing our glory!”

“Sure, sure.” Shiro said, frowning. Have they already forgotten that things are going wrong? They lost communications when the base got soaked, and if it wasn’t for Aki planning ahead… anyway, Tan, you’re implying that one such is meddling here, right? If they don’t work with the other Pantheons, do they even send Divine Favours to other worlds?

Normally we would block such, were we able to. For such an… independent thinker… Tan’s thoughts were amused, and Shiro, despite the gravity of the situation, couldn’t help but feel the same way, as Tan was adopting a more colloquial way of expression recently. …would not be able to abide by the agreements we all were bound to.

Sure, just like you did. Shiro made sure to keep that thought to herself, letting Tan continue as Violet broke a window, clearing away the glass as quietly as she could, so that they could enter.

But just as I was able to find a loophole to exploit, perhaps in this case one such has as well. If so… if it is a servant of who I believe it to be, then Chaos is both their desire and their strength, and such a farce as this would make perfect sense.

“All clear!” Violet muttered, and Shiro followed her through the window, marvelling at how strong she was now compared to the past. Landing on her feet in the dim corridor, only lit by the trickles of sunlight leaking through windows that hadn’t been cleaned in months, crusted with dirt and debris, Shiro looked around cautiously, searching for danger.

So, can you tell me who you think is behind this? Aki and the others will need to know. And can we win? She repeated her question that Tan hadn’t answered earlier.

If it is the delighter in Chaos, the one who destroys Order and loves despair, Angra Mainyu, who has a hand in matters here… it will be challenging indeed, but I believe we are strong enough to prevail. For even those who revel in denying Order and the compacts we are all bound by cannot fight against the very concepts of existence. It will either be a lingering being such as I, or some Favour gifted to one here. In either case, we have fought such before, no?

Hearing Tan’s confident thoughts, and seeing them directed towards Aki too, Shiro grinned, though it was tinged with worry. I guess even Tan’s warming up to him, huh? Or is she just more conscious of him because of the wager? Damn, I really want to win both of the ones I’ve got going. But that’s for later… “Aki, Aiko, Haru… we’ve got problems. Tan thinks this is all a game to raise Chaos, and the one that is behind it is probably… Angra Mainyu!”

********

“Angra Mainyu? Uh… I only know that name from the anime with the Grail, right?” Aiko muttered, surprised, before smiling, her face a little flushed. “That’s the one bro told me I couldn’t look up the source Visual Novel for.” She confided in Haru-chan, who was watching the Korean military moving like a swarm of ants, mechanical and without any of the communication and bravado that would be expected normally. “Of course, I totally did. I get what mana transfer means now. Luckily bro doesn’t have to do that, though I guess…” So many miracles happen when bro is sleeping with someone, so maybe he could be a Fate protagonist. Uh, no time for this…

“How can you be so calm?” the Greek woman said, her English a bit poor but understandable. Her olive skin was now pale and her face and hands were slicked with sweat. “By the Virgin Mother, I wish to be anywhere else but here. Thanks to you, my stupid, stupid brother, you are going to get me killed! And for what? To prove yourself right? If you are right, you should just be satisfied you are, not wasting your life to try to convince others!”

“You just don’t get it, Sophia!” he began to reply, clearly annoyed. “It’s the job of all right-thinking journalists to show people the truth and to dispel ignorance! Besides, don’t you want to be rich and famous? I think…”

“You know, this isn’t the time for a family squabble.” Aiko interjected, rather irritated. She was looking at the laptop that held the images of her Golden Sisters, and they were retreating, her previous plans to use the better hidden entrance ruined. It’s a priority to hold up the army. And get more protection here. Using six Sisters on the Material was beyond her, ordinarily, but buffed up by Shiro it was possible, and while compared to in the Boundary they were far from full strength, but they were at least expendable, a good distraction. Though I do feel a bit of a twinge when Sisters that look like Eri, Shaeula or any of the others get wrecked. “I’m here to hold down the fort, so stop distracting me!”

Sophie and Constantine looked a little ashamed, before Sophia muttered an apology. “I sure could use a drink. Something strong. A glass of Ouzo would go down a treat.”

“Yeah, I like booze too.” Aiko laughed, glad they had stopped their argument. “It doesn’t agree with me, but I’m good enough with Ether Healing now to at least deal with a hangover. Though…” she tried to lighten the tense atmosphere. “…I’ll still let my bro do it. He’ll be devastated if I don’t let him dote on me like usual.”

“I see.” Constantine sighed, running a hand through his brown hair, which was soaked with sweat despite the air being cool. “You must be very used to this. You seem calm. Even you.” He looked at Ginneka, masquerading as Karen-chan. “You’re just like us, a normal person, so…”

“Oh, nyaooo, I am quite scared, you see?” Ginneka pretended to be frightened, hugging herself, and Aiko frowned to see Constantine unable to help checking out her chest under her suit shirt. Typical guy. Oh well, he’d get a shock when he sees who this one really is.

“I am hardly composed either.” Haru-chan said. “My only solace is that the worst has already happened to me. It’s not like I can die twice. No, I suppose I can, but… I have faith in Akio-kun and Shiro-san. And in Aiko-chan here.”

“Aww, you’re making me blush. But really, compared to my bro and the others, I’m just a novice. Worst fight I’ve ever been in was with an Oni…” She cheerfully regaled them with an abridged version of the fight by Chairoakitara shrine. “…but… level with me. I know you’ve got an idea, Haru-chan. I have a guess too.”

“The sprinklers, it’s obvious they contained something.” Haru-chan agreed. “But that’s not important.”

“It isn’t?” Sophia asked, and her brother shook his head.

“Keep up, sister! It’s not what or how, but who, right?” As Sophia glared at him, he elaborated. “It could have been the ones your brother found, I’m going to ask him how when I interview him after this… no, I have to stay on track. I don’t think it was. But there’s one obvious suspect…”

“Yeah, I agree.” Aiko sighed. “My bro says that the Territories are way stronger than they should be, and that’s not what was reported, so we believed what the army guys told us. But they were told by someone, right?” She nodded forcefully for emphasis. “So, it stands to reason he’s a suspect. You’ve been an inside man here a while, do you know what his Divine Favour was?”

“Of course I found out what I could.” He agreed proudly, and his sister gave him a flat look.

“You shouldn’t put on airs and graces. It was me who discovered that, listening in while I slaved away cooking and cleaning for the camp! We’re lucky it wasn’t the military who caught us snooping first… oh, never mind. Just tell them!”

“Apparently he has incredible speed, moving like the wind.” Constantine said. “Though his excuse for why he was unable to destroy the … Territory?” Aiko nodded at his question, and he whistled. “Good terminology. It makes it quite clear. Divine Favour is interesting too.”

“Blasphemous though.” Aiko heard the rattle of beads as Sophia put her hand in the pocket of her coat. “Maria, mother of God, this is all insane. And stupid. I’m well educated enough, a bullet is only powerful because of speed. How can someone who can move that fast be weak?”

“No kidding. But worse…” Aiko warned, and Sophia swallowed.

“He’ll be coming here, won’t he? Whether willing or controlled.” She muttered, trying to hide her fear, but Aiko could hear her teeth chattering.

“Yes.” Haru-chan followed up. “And the only question is whether he comes alone, or with others.”

“Of course.” Constantine gestured to the military encampment. “If the sprinklers can be tampered with and it works, then…”

“Assuming like the blood that makes one go berserk, if this medium is water, or something water soluble, then it can be transported. What a mess.” Haru-chan agreed.

“It is, but…” Aiko’s expression sharpened, blue eyes narrowing. “It’s beginning. Those idiots.” The several tanks that were rumbling towards the school opened fire, and Aiko willed her Golden Sisters to dodge. The ground exploded as the main guns discharged, and one Sister had her arm torn off, aether leaking from the damage. A staccato bark of machine guns, clearly audible even from several kilometres away, buzzed like hornets, and another Sister staggered, Motoko-chan’s beautiful face that it bore pockmarked and cratered, her body cracked and splintered. “…fortunately we weren’t planning on relying on them from the start. You ready?”

Haru-chan nodded. “All right, it’s time to…” Suddenly something whizzed past them at high speed, and flailing chains were whipping through the air. Aiko’s two Sisters, appearing as Shiro and Hyacinth, Shiro wielding a great mace and Hyacinth a wicked-looking scythe, both surged forwards, blocking the sudden attack, sparks scattering, ringing like bells.

“That could have been nasty if I wasn’t an Onryo.” Haru-chan said mournfully. “It did tear my outfit.” Her tights and skirt were shredded, revealing one pale thigh, but Constantine was petrified, unable to look, as the whipping chains attached to the long metal lance were held back inches from striking him by the Shiro Sister. Sophia had been protected by the Hyacinth lookalike, though her scythe was bent at a right angle, rendering it useless.

“Yeah, super speed. So weak.” Aiko narrowed her eyes. “Bro, pretty much going as we expected. Our missing source of misinformation has shown back up.”

“Can you handle him?” came back the reply. “And hold off the Korean military?”

“I should be able to. If things start going south I’ll use it, don’t worry.” Shaking off the dust that covered her from the impact of the attack, Aiko grinned, pulling free a weapon from her bag, a strange elongated rifle, almost looking like a harpoon gun, but instead of a spear, it was loaded with a long cannister. Narrowing her eyes she looked up at the man who had attacked them, sending the shaft wrapped in chains their way at greater speed than any arrows Aiko ever loosed during Kyūdō. “So, you think you’re fast, huh? Maybe you are, but… I bet you get bad mileage, especially here. And…”

“Yes.” Haru-chan agreed. “You might be fast, but are you faster than… light?”

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