On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“Akio-san, several of the Buildings in the Territory have just been… destroyed, I think?” Saionji-san looked a little puzzled.

“You think?” I asked, and he nodded.

“It doesn’t feel like they were destroyed, really, but they’ve definitely vanished. Fortunately they weren’t too important.”

“Vanished, huh? Well, what matters is that we can narrow down where that woman has run to. Lead the way.” I said, and Saionji-san took off at superhuman pace, though it still felt rather slow to me. For the first time I had the opportunity to really observe Kinkaku-ji, and it was quite the impressive sight. For a Rank 2 Territory it had a lot of Buildings constructed, and quite decently upgraded ones at that, with some Rank 3 Ether Spires pulling in energy, golden and ornate, ringed with diamond-like crystals that resembled staring eyes.

“Quite gaudy for such a compassionate deity.” I grinned.

“Well, perhaps it is because the shrine here is Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Besides, gold is a symbol of purity. Here it isn’t used for wealth, but as a display of piety.”

“I see. You’re good.” I laughed, extending out my senses as far as my brain would allow, feeling the stirrings of a migraine from the stress of processing a massive amount of information. “If I’m going to be dealing with important people all the time, I’ll need to learn your way with words.”

Saionji-san shook his head, a wry chuckle escaping him. “I’ve been head of Amaterasu for many years. Of course I speak like a politician. I’ve had to contend with that old fox Kudou, as well as the fierce Uchida… well…” he trailed off, remembering that one of his rivals was now a broken man, even in Kyoto’s time of great need, unable to respond, merely shutting himself away with his comatose son.

“I’ll appreciate your help with the Ministry.” I said, changing the subject a little. It was then that I ordered him to stop, and as he ground to a halt, breathing heavily, he looked at me quizzically.

“There.” I pointed, my expanded senses picking up the near-invisible tripwires that were even harder to see under the strangely-hued silver light of the Boundary, than they would have been under the sun in the Material world. “Tripwires. Linked to… yeah, mines. Nasty”

“I didn’t see them.” Saionji-san admitted. “It really is strange, having to worry about such contrivances here in the spiritual realm.”

I nodded. With a slash of air, I cut the threads, and the mines detonated, but they too were wrapped in air, muffling the blast and preventing damage, leaving them whisper-quiet. “Hopefully this won’t alert our running prey that we’ve been this way.”

“I have to say, your versatility never fails to impress.” Saionji-san laughed. “Though I contend my Eye of Avalokiteshvara doesn’t lose in terms of power.”

“Well, sooner or later the Boundary won’t be an issue and you can use it as much as you please then.” I promised, as we picked up the chase again, passing through a glade of trees with golden-yellow blossoms, falling around us in a gilded blizzard. The golden horns of the main temple loomed overhead, soaring into the sky, casting great shadows, but there were many smaller golden pavilions dotted around the grounds, each with their own golden edifices. Really, it’s all a bit too much for me. I like tastefully understated, not this… tacky display of wealth. Not that I’d tell Saionji-san that. It’s probably sacrilegious thinking that way too…

“I still can’t see her.” I muttered, despite having extended my senses. “Wait, something’s different.” I noticed that one of the gaudy decorations had vanished at a nearby shrine. As I watched closely, a large golden bell vanished as well, a flare of aether all that remained.

Moments later, Saionji-san spotted it as well, as more and more precious metal and gemstone-encrusted items disappeared. “You think it’s her?” he asked quietly, and I nodded, pouring power into my Eye, as it glowed a vivid amber, searching for her.

“It has to be. Is she sending chunks of your Territory back to the Material? I don’t get why these hunks of gold though. If she destroyed your constructed Buildings that way it makes sense, but these are just, well… ornamental, right?”

As he agreed I continued to scan the area. I couldn’t see her, whatever she was doing was blocking even my Eye, which was impressive, but then I noticed a faint haze of what looked like Qi, rather than unrefined aether. It was tiny, nearly entirely obscured by the force of whatever ability was snatching pieces of the Territory, but my Eye was perceptive enough to pick it out. Got you.

“I think I have her. She must be using some sort of art that obscures vision. It’s good, whatever it is. If it wasn’t for a faint leakage through the cracks in it, I’d not have noticed.”

“Right, well, how do we proceed? I can use my abilities to destroy the area…”

“No, I want to take her alive if I can help it.” I said, and Saionji-san shrugged.

“That seems risky. It isn’t because she’s a woman, is it, Akio-san?” he smirked, and I fought down the urge to snap back.

“Of course not. I’m not that much of a lecher. No, I have my reasons.” The only issue is, if she tries to flee back to the Material. That could be a problem, although I did watch what Daiyu did before…

“Well, considering the number of innocent dead, I hope you’re not planning to be lenient.” Saionji-san warned.

“No, don’t worry. That ship has long sailed.” I’ve killed plenty this day. I… I don’t regret it exactly, but it still stings. Saionji-san is right. Too much innocent blood has been shed, and for what? Petty revenge… Ignoring the treacherous thought that I had made it clear I would seek revenge on anyone if those I cared about were hurt, I at least consoled myself by knowing I wouldn’t target innocents. “Right, here we go. I’ll rush in, as I’m faster.” Without waiting for his agreement, I pushed my Body Enhancement to the maximum and dashed forwards. Several more traps were strung up, but I powered through, too fast for the explosions to be effective.

The faint traces of Qi began to move away from me, almost imperceptible, but as they moved I saw faint shimmering in the air, little distortions that were there for a moment, and then everything was normal again. So that’s how she’s doing it… my Intellect allowed me to make the calculations, so it seemed like the strange ripples were the effect of bending light into a spherical shape, and the Qi leakage must have been coming from the axis where the two halves were joined. Now that I knew what to look for, I channelled earth, forming a series of rocky barriers, and wind, trying to snare her.

“How dare you, insolent wretch!” a booming voice called out in Mandarin, as the illusion protecting her shattered, a talisman in her hands burning away to ashes, the Qi dispersing. She was quite impressive, in one sense, being greatly overweight, her body wrapped in a straining yellow ballgown, which made me giggle, as it reminded me of the dress Takagi-san was wearing. Damn, I’ll have to apologise to her for even comparing them. The woman was covered in jewellery, her hands packed with tasteless yet likely expensive rings, sometimes three to a finger, and her neck was hung with a vast number of golden chains.

“Stop now and surrender!” I declared, closing the distance. I had Cutting Twilight sheathed, as I believed I could handle her without too much trouble, and wanted to appear less threatening.

“Surrender? Me? Your barbarism is simply so trying. Not that I should expect much from foreigners. No class at all!” she declared, pulling out what looked like an assault rifle from her back. “To think…” she sighed, forcing a sausage-like finger in to pull the trigger, seesawing the gun wildly, bullets arcing in all directions. “… that I would have to dirty my own delicate, elegant hands with bloodshed. This whole mess has been most disconcerting.”

I snorted, amused. Delicate? I’ve seen more delicate bears at the zoo. Most of the bullets missed me, and those few that struck home did little more than sting. On seeing that the woman panicked, dropping the gun and producing a rocket-propelled grenade. That can definitely hurt me…

“Such disrespect!” she cried as the projectile discharged, a tail of flame pushing it towards me in less than a second. I twisted my body in the air, and it sailed past, detonating as it struck a golden wall, and she clicked her tongue, rubbing at her bruised shoulder where the counterweight had flung off and struck her.

“My dress, it is ruined.” She muttered, seeing the dirt mark and torn cloth. She then remembered I was mere moments away and her eyes went wide in panic, and my Eye could see she was purging aether, trying to return to the Material. I won’t allow that. Nie Ling will be there too, and I can’t afford to lose both abilities…

The woman was saying something about missing out on more gold, but I ignored her, concentrating aether into a series of strikes that hammered into her body, scattering. Ironically, the attack worked much like Chirurgery, the ability to heal also quite capable of inflicting targeted damage. She squealed, her chins jiggling, and fell to the floor as through she was a puppet with cut strings. Her chubby hand stretched to grab the bone blade she carried, but blood scattered as sharp threads of wind whirled from my outstretched hand, dragging the blade free, heedless of the damage to her fingers, several rings reduced to cut shards.

“My hand. My precious rings!” she cried, sucking on her stumps, rolling around in exaggerated agony. I channelled Foehn, and the bone sword burned, a familiar process to me now. As the remaining slime it exuded blackened, shrivelling up with a piercing howl of torment, I looked down at the woman in front of me as Saionji-san caught up. Really? She’s a Candidate? Even… even Kondou Kazuo makes more sense than her… Shaking my head, I spoke coldly. “There’s no escape here. Now, I’d like some information…”

********

“It looks like the situation is under control.” Haru observed, as the final wave of pitiful zombies were engulfed in the brilliant yellow flames the ratkin and weaselkin were shooting out of their contraptions. “Really, it’s a bit anticlimactic. From what I understood, it was going to be a devastating battle here in Kyoto.” Besides, I feel a little sorry for the dead. Although… they have no sapience. Not even as much as my poor sisters retain…

“Well, it isn’t over yet, is it?” Ixitt asked, his whirring eyepieces and monocles observing the battlefield, making notes on some parchment. “Carelessness is a great danger.” He grinned. “I learned that when I was so horribly burned when an experiment went rather… wrong.” He smiled, taking a deep breath. “Well, such matters are in the past. Moira, what do you think?” he asked the rather stern, taciturn elf with the midnight black hair and pale skin.

I find her looks rather fascinating. Though she has the pale skin and dark hair of an Asian woman, her features are anything but. They don’t even look entirely Western. She let out a giggle, thinking of all the trouble Akio-san was likely to get into in the future, though she was paying attention, as Moira had more than proved herself a capable tactician and logistician.

“I think it is still too early to say.” She pursed her lips, examining the smouldering ruins of their enemies. “After the initial skirmishes, where they attempted to breach the Territory with human firepower, only to be repelled by the mortal engineers we have here…” she nodded approvingly, and Ixitt cackled at the praise. “… it seems to me they were merely going through the motions. I do not seriously believe that these dead things were to have any chance of breaking our defences. At best, they were a distraction, at worst…” she frowned. “… there must be some other purpose.”

“Well, on the bright side, I’ve gathered a fair bit of ether.” Haru said happily. I feel a bit bad taking Etherites from Akio-san to build this Territory, although it’s only here because he wants it to protect Tsukuyomi-jinja. Well, more to the point, he wants to protect Matsumuro-san. He’s so sinful! A real lady-killer. It’s lucky I’m already dead, so I can’t be killed! “I can probably rush a cheap Building or two in an emergency.”

“That should not be necessary.” Moira shook her head. “No. think of what we know. Matsumuro Tsukiko is fated to perish. We know where she is right now. Here.” She stabbed her finger down on the map where her shrine was located. “Since the situation here was well in hand, we dispatched Ulfuric and many of our forces there, to be safe. It is also layered behind our Territory, and contained within this second one. Just looking at it from a tactical standpoint, there should be no way that shrine would be attacked.”

“But something says you don’t believe that, yes?” Ixitt lashed his tail, picking up on her concerns.

“I get it.” Haru agreed. “it’s all going too well. Admittedly, we have Akio-san, Shaeula, Hyacinth and the others in our corner, but we should have come under more pressure.”

“Yes. When we consider that, I fear we must have overlooked something. After all, if the Wild Hunt can bypass the defences of the Seelie Court, then relatively weak Territories such as these… well, I worry that the defences can be suddenly destroyed, or bypassed somehow.”

Relatively weak, is it? For some reason that stings. I surprise myself, considering how scared I was of all this before. I guess being dead calms a girl down, right? “In that case, shouldn’t we call back Akio-san and the others? I wish we could communicate. If smartphones worked here… well, hey, if modern weapons can, we could bring phones in too, right?”

“Well, it seems from the information gathered, that is an ability of one of our enemies.” Moira said. “But yes, rapid communication is often more valuable than anything else in battle. He who controls the spread of information controls his enemy.”

“Well, there is little we can do but prepare for battle. The longer it goes on, the larger our advantage, as I don’t believe the princess and Akio will be defeated by such foes. Gradually we’ll eliminate them.” He lashed his tail happily. “Oh, I do so hope we can salvage some of the remaining equipment. I have studied some weapons in the mortal realm, but here…” he looked down at the table, where several assault rifles had been disassembled, still shining with fading aether. “… making their mechanical principles work despite the differences in laws, it is quite ingenious.” His tail lashed happily.

“That’s a secondary concern. All we have to do is protect Kyoto.” Haru warned, and Ixitt nodded, understanding. “Really, I don’t know if all these prophecies are true or not. Destines and definite. The difference seems very nebulous to me.” She continued. “But what I do know is that Akio-san put everything into this. If she does die, he’ll be crushed. And I don’t want that.”

“No, it would not do to have our leader wallowing in grief. My grandfather and the other Princes have put great faith in him and Princess Shaeula. With the reclamation of the Spring of Clear Reflections, and the death of an Unseelie Duke, many are daring to dream of the tides turning in our millennia-long war…” Moira paused, noticing that Ixitt had stopped moving, his tail frozen mid-twirl.

“I think we were right.” Ixitt sighed. “Enemies are approaching. A great swarm of them.”

“More zombies?” Haru asked, floating up high so she could see. What she saw made her gasp. It was more dead beings, animated by a pestilent, corrupted aether, but this time the tide was made up of non-humans. Yokai, spirits, animal people, corpses in ancient burial kimonos, other stranger things, most of them were mangled and broken, but they marched forwards in a dread tide, followed by the dull rumbling of machinery, as several Chinese Type 99 tanks crushed the fallen rubble and decaying bodies under their heavy treads. One opened fire, main cannon launching a heavy 125mm round, which slammed into the Territory barrier, driving it inwards several inches, sparks of silver scattering like fireflies. On top of the tanks were several people, one of them in voluminous black robes, and when Haru’s gaze met the dark shadows within the cowl, she felt a piercing dread, her heart spasming as if she was still alive.

What is this? I’ve… I’ve not felt so scared, not since that day I was murdered…

More fire from the tanks, and the barrier shuddered again, beginning to fracture, and other weapons were being discharged, adding to the weight of destruction falling upon the defences.

“This is bad…” Haru muttered, slapping her cheeks to bring herself back to reality. “It’s a full scale push. It looks like they’ve gathered all of the dead in Kyoto to attack us. But I’m more worried about the tanks… and their riders…”

“Engineers!” Ixitt called, rushing to action. “Flamecallers, earthcallers, take out the mobs of the dead. Dead flesh burns just as easily as living flesh does, and returning them to the soil is a mercy. Only those as evil as the Unseelie would pervert the bodies of the dead so. Gunners, aim for those riding the tanks.” He paused, chagrined. “A shame we do not have any artillery of our own. An oversight. Yes, I intend to rectify it…”

Moira was directing the remaining forces they possessed to their positions. Luckily they had prepared a decent defensive line in the time they had, so it would hold for a while. We just need to stand firm until Akio-san or the others return…

As Haru prepared to retaliate with her own attacks, she caught sight of a bloody weaselkin heading their way… from the west. Dropping down, she surprised the running ally, who ground to a halt, panting. On recognising her, he quickly barked out his message. “I bring… word from… Master Ulfuric. Somehow… the enemy… have managed to breach …the Territory undetected. The situation is grave…”

I hate it when we are right. There was something wrong after all. Moments later the Territory barrier collapsed entirely, unable to bear the weight of attacks from the tanks, as well as the Candidates riding them.

“All right. Can Matsumuro-san be evacuated back to the Material, or even to here? We should be able to hold long enough for the Ring Gate to be used…”

The weaselkin shook his head. “They have some sort… of prison barrier. She, Master Ulfuric and many others are… trapped in it.”

I see. Prophecy, huh? I don’t like it… flying back into the sky, Haru concentrated on her light element, unleashing a massive firework-like burst into the sky, red light flaring, covering the heavens. As she drew all eyes to her, she floated back down to the ground, ready for battle, the first ranks of the undead creatures swarming into her Territory past the shattered barrier. I really hope that Akio-san and the others are watching… else when they get back, there’ll not be much left…

********

“What do you think you are doing?” the fat woman cursed me, as I bound her with air. “Unhand me, you uncouth peasant! Do you not know who I am?”

“No, so feel free to enlighten me.” I said, starting work on clearing out the slime around her Divine Favour. She squealed again, but her eyes widened when she saw the vile gunk lifting free, only to be burned by my Foehn. Her expression changed then, and though she tried to hide it, I could see calculation and avarice on her face.

“I am the noble Yao Chun. I do not expect you to know who I am, alas, the days of my family being internationally renowned are gone, thanks to those boorish fools in the Party. Communism. Hah.” She said bitterly. “Just know that my family is very important, and I am their youngest, most beautiful daughter.”

Young? Beautiful? Someone thinks highly of themselves, don’t they? Though if I was being fair, if she lost some… well, a lot of weight… then she might look all right.

“Is she for real?” Saionji-san muttered, amazed, and the woman shot him an angry glare.

“I would not expect foreigners to understand, least of all you barbaric Japanese. My great-aunt was abused by you foreign brutes. She was so mortified, she felt the need to take her own life, to expunge the disgrace.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I bowed, apologising, which surprised her, but moments later her haughty nature reasserted itself.

“Well I should think so. and look, you are treating a fine lady so roughly! My poor hand! How will you compensate me, I would like to know!”

“Compensation?” I said, annoyed. I was prepared to listen to her babble, as it was keeping her busy while I cleaned out the corruption, preparing to retrieve the Divine Favour, but this was a step too far to take. “You invade out country, kill our citizens? And you wish compensation?”

“Your citizens? Oh yes, well, that was that peasant girl. Nie Ling. No breeding, the daughter of a shoemaker, I hear. She was the one responsible, do not blame me for a peasant’s wrongdoings!”

“I don’t think that’s all there is to it.” Saionji-san said, looking down at her. “After all, why are you in my Territory then?”

She glanced to the side, where the building of gold had massive chunks missing from it. “Well, I can not go back to China. Ugh, exile in a barbaric foreign land. The fools from the Party, they hate us old families, and the Department… just because I was blessed by a Goddess from a foreign land, I was looked down on, even though it is clearly because the Goddess recognised my extraordinary value. Why, I do believe that with my fine taste in art and antiquities, there is none more suited…”

As she rattled on, I finished clearing out the remaining slime, growing faster with each time I tried. Yeah, I’m getting better at using adherence along with my Chirurgery, although what with the Divine Favour I’m holding draining it little by little, I can’t afford to waste much…

“… so yes.” She finished at last. “…I was barely able to flee with the rings on my fingers and the necklaces around my throat. Shameful. So I need to accumulate more wealth. This gold… it will enable me to claim asylum, and re-establish my family!” she said proudly.

“You think that’ll work?” I asked. “Surely when the gold runs out of aether it’ll return to the Boundary?”

She started to sweat, her eyes swimming, and I realised that of course she knew that. “So, you’re planning to use it like fool’s gold, are you? Here today, gone tomorrow.” I asked.

“Well… sacrifices are inevitable. But enough of that, unhand me, brute!”

“So, how were you going to escape being eaten?” I asked. “And where did you get that talisman that hid you from sight?”

“That paper? I do not quite know how it works, but those foolish idiots who called themselves sects…” she snorted. “… needed me to bring some of their equipment through. It was a simple matter to keep some for myself.” Her smile turned colder. “As for being devoured, that happens to others, to lesser people. Not to Yao Chun, no, not to me! The others will be enough of a feast, but the beast, he surely knows my value! I did my part!”

Yeah, I think she doesn’t understand how the world works. I doubt very much a creature as monstrous as this golden-eyed devourer cares about her family lineage. “I see. Well, I appreciate your optimism, but now…” I paused as her smile changed.

“It was not just that one piece of paper I pocketed from those old fools.” She grinned, and out fluttered another paper talisman, with ancient Chinese written on it. “I think they called it a Spatial Storage Tag?” she grinned, as the talisman flared to ash, releasing the contents, a number of hand grenades, the pins already pulled, right in my face. She rolled away, fighting my air bonds, as the grenades detonated.

Fuck, that hurts. I had shut my eyes and turned away my head, hands covering my ears, just before the explosion. Saionji-san had jumped backwards, but even so, he was cut and bruised, shrapnel piercing his body. As for me, my skin was scored and nicked, thin trickles of silver and red dribbling down, but other than that I was unharmed, having protected my vulnerable points.

“Are you okay?” I managed, and Saionji-san nodded.

“I think so. Well, I hurt all over, but I don’t think I’ve taken any fatal damage. Fat old witch!” he cursed her, looking at the woman who was still trying to squirm away, stunned that a face full of explosives hadn’t finished me. Her legs were shredded, and her body was pockmarked with small daggers of twisted metal, but her bulk had prevented major damage.

“Wait, how… that should… no, this is not fair!” she cried. “Wait, that… that was unintentional. I just wished to show you what else I had taken. No, let me go!” She must have seen the expression on my face, as she went white, her jowls quivering in fear.

“Of course it was.” I agreed. “Unfortunately, you aren’t the only thief here…” She’s a snake, she can’t be trusted. Hell, calling her a snake is an insult to Shirohebi and his kin. Besides, she had brought many weapons to the Boundary, and they were being used to assail our Territories. As Yao Chun struggled, I tightened the bonds, heedless of the way the streams of wind cut into her corpulent flesh.

“What are you doing?” Saionji-san asked, curious, and I shrugged.

“Rendering her harmless.” I advised, working swiftly, cutting away the Divine Favour.

Your skill, Adherence Manipulation has increased from Rank 2 to Rank 3. Your ability to control and utilise adherence has further strengthened. You can more precisely affect the adherence of others, and are slightly more able to perceive and affect ??????????.

Question marks again. But I think I know what they hide this time… all my efforts recently had borne fruit, and as I worked I noticed I was using less adherence to perform the removal, and that while I still couldn’t identify the third, mysterious component of the Divine Favour, I was finding it noticeably simpler to cut the ties. Moments later, I had succeeded, and the woman fainted, her body spasming, her chakra network starting to collapse.

Laverna’s Grasping Hand of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld: Class: [Legendary] Type: [Law]. This divine favour is made of concentrated adherence, refined ether and ??????????. The wielder gains the ability transfer an item between the Material and Astral realms, and it will endure so long as aether remains, working as it would in the realm it came from. More complicated and larger items require more aether to make functional, so they will endure for noticeably less time. Laverna takes as she pleases, and what is stolen from Earth shall be treasured in Heaven, and what is taken from Heaven shall be lauded in the Underworld. What is pilfered from the Underworld shall surely find value in Earth.

As I admired the stolen Favour, I rejoiced. Yeah, this is the one I wanted. Now that I was holding two Favours, the drain on my adherence was brutal, and even with the noticeable amount I had gained by destroying the damaged favours, I would run dry in mere days. Worst case, I’ll break the Chimeric Winds, this one is far more useful. Remembering the helicopters that had been present here in the Boundary, I wondered just how much aether the woman had been provided by the golden-eyed devourer. Totalling up how much had been shared across all of the Chinese candidates, the amount was frightening. Orders of magnitude more than I have, that’s for certain. But then, as we’ve seen a lot today, it isn’t the raw power, it’s how you use it…

“So, what do we do with her?” Saionji-san asked, furious. “We could take her and make her face justice, but…”

“I know.” I said, preparing myself. It was then that the distant skies were dyed red, a massive surge of firework-style light rippling across the heavens. “Damn, that’s coming from the south. It must be Haru-san. Something bad must be going down… Saionji-san, I’ll leave you here, you look a bit worse for wear.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I can still fight if needed…”

“No.” I shook my head, as behind me a sharp blade of wind decapitated the unconscious woman. There was no level-up notification, perhaps because she had lost her Favour, and no longer had the stores of aether provided by the creature that had enslaved her. It was unlikely she would survive anyway, just like Yamato-san. It was a mercy, she won’t be devoured at least… telling myself that to soften the blow of something that felt very much like murder, no matter how deserved it was, I gave my orders. “We can’t afford to be careless. Go back to Yasaka-san and get what information you can out of him. If there’s anything I need to know, then you can come support us.” With that I was dashing back towards Haru-san’s Territory, my Foresight blaring warnings. And beyond there… Tsukuyomi-jinja… Tsukiko-san. I guess the reckoning you’ve dreamed of is here. But… I clenched my fist, ready for battle, against the surviving Chinese forces who invaded so callously, killing so many innocents, and threatening those I had sworn to protect. And against fate too. Definite … there’s no such thing. No, that’s not true. The only definite thing here is I’ll fight until the end…