On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Three Hundred And Thirty-One / Side One Hundred And Twenty-Six – Mori Eri

“That’s just… well, I don’t know what to say.” Akio’s friend Shugo-san said, shaking his head as some of us crowded around the laptop that had been brought into the restaurant at the request of Hinata. I know how you feel. This shouldn’t be happening…

“Yes, I feel that too. This is Japan, we don’t have any danger on our streets, we’re a peaceful country.” Aimi-san said, looking downcast. My own gaze flickered down, to her rather expansive chest, and my lip curled. No wonder Akio used to like her, she’s… rather impressive. But then, he likes Shaeula too. Well, enough of such idle thoughts…

Seeing me looking away from the screen, Aimi-san forced her face to a sort of cheerfulness, brittle and fake. “Eri-chan, are you all right? Do you want me to get you a drink or anything? It must be tough, being in a wheelchair. Don’t worry, ask away, for Akio-kun’s cute childhood friend, it’s no trouble!”

“I’m fine. It isn’t like you can see much detail on the video anyway.” I answered, reassuring the older girl, who had seemed really out-of-sorts after seeing the mess Shiro was in. Though I suppose that’s understandable. Those scars are pretty horrible. At least my scars healed fine. Though I’d rather be able to move I guess… “Besides…” I continued. “I’ve seen worse…” at the expressions on their faces, I knew I had said the wrong thing, so I forced a smile. “Oh, don’t look like that. You can see I’m fine, right?” It was a bit of a struggle talking to these older people I barely knew, but they were Akio’s friends, so I wanted to make a good impression, have them like me.

“You seem pretty good at taking care of people, Aimi-san. Maybe… yes, I’ll have a drink. Not alcohol of course, unlike a certain someone…” I struggled to turn my head to look over at Aiko, who was with Kana-san, her face set in an expression of concentration, most of the Trainees around her. Aiko had been drinking sneakily, and then after Akio left, not so sneakily at all. She shrugged, and I continued talking to Aimi-san. “… a juice. My throat is a bit dry.”

“Here you go.” She said quickly, pressing it into my hand, careful I didn’t drop it. Beside her, the girl in glasses, Hina-san, smiled a little, though she too was pale and afraid.

“Of course, Aimi-san has always been looking after Shiro. She’s used to being kind and careful. It’s one reason she’s popular with both boys and girls.” She looked down where I had been looking and raised an eyebrow. “One reason.”

“Speaking of Shiro…” Yasu-san said, scratching his chin, worried. “Is she going to be okay? And aren’t you worried, Eri-chan?” I held in a frown at that rather informal way of speaking to me. “About Akio-kun and the others…”

“I’m not, no, Yasu-san.” I shook my head, the movements stiff and difficult. “Well…” I took a sip of the cold juice. “… that’s a lie. I’m not worried for their safety. Akio, Shaeula, Hyacinth, they can look after themselves, but… it’s hard to do everything alone.” I nodded to the screen, which was displaying a grainy live-feed of Kyoto, and how parts of the city were ablaze. The fighting looked mostly over now, but endless ambulances and other vehicles were moving through military blockades. “The situation looks bad. I hope they aren’t taking on too much. I wish I was there…” I sighed.

“Whoa, getting called by name by a cute younger girl is quite a thrill.” He managed, earning a look of annoyance not just from me, but from his female friends too.

“You didn’t mention Shiro.” Hayato-san, the leader of the group, a man Akio looked up to, observed shrewdly. He had been staring fixedly at the screen, taking in everything happening there, but he was still listening keenly to those of us in the room too.

“Well, I don’t know her that well, but…” I began, and Aiko cut me off. She was conjuring small flickers of flame and light for some reason, which was impressing Rika-san and Yae-san, but I didn’t see the need for that.

“… but my bro wouldn’t take her if she wasn’t capable of looking after herself, even in an emergency. Wow, he wouldn’t even take me last time. I mean, that was a good thing, or I’d probably be dead… ugh, never mind, forget I said that…” she waved a hand at the look of horror on the faces of Rika-san, Yae-san and Akio’s friends. “… what matters is, bro trusts her, so it’s fine.”

“That’s right. So… Yasu-san…” I said it again. “By the way, if you want to get all thrilled by younger girls talking to you, that’s your business, it takes all sorts…” I sniffed. “… just don’t forget, I’m already engaged, to one of your best friends. All right?”

“Ouch, sharp put-down, girl!” Aimi-san approved. “With moves like that, you’ll fit right in with the group when you’re old enough to drink.”

“I think we are getting off-topic…” Hayato-san brought us back to the main subject. “It’s normal for us to worry, this situation is beyond our understanding. But we also have to defer to those with more experience, such as yourselves. So… this isn’t normal, right? Tokyo isn’t suddenly going to become a battlefield too?”

“Nope, no way.” Aiko answered for me. “This isn’t normal at all. Besides, even if chaos does erupt here, I’m here to protect you all!” she thumped her chest regally, and I did note that the men’s gazes were drawn to that. How predictable. Still, making a move on Aiko is one way to get on Akio’s bad side. “… although, I have to admit, and wow, this is embarrassing to say… I’m pretty much a newbie still. I’m not confident taking on someone like my bro or even Shaeula. Don’t get me wrong…” she continued, still juggling light and fire prettily, Kana-san’s eyes firmly fixed on her, staring weirdly, not even seeming to blink. “…when bro gave me this gift, I knew it came with responsibilities. I’ll get you all out, even if I can’t win.”

“That’s pretty noble of you, Ai-chan!” Rika-san laughed, though there was a touch of nerves in it.

“There’s no need to fret, the situation in Kyoto is an unusual one.” Hinata said calmly, and I was once more impressed by the younger girl. When I had first met her I didn’t know what to make of her, but she was really mature, probably far more than I.

“That’s right.” I agreed. “Maybe in the future, this will be commonplace, from what Akio and the others say, but for now… Aiko, what are you doing?” I asked, frustrated by her constant juggling, but it was Kana-san who answered.

“I’m training my eyes, Eri-chan.” She bit her lip, clearly frustrated. “Seeing this… I’ve really neglected my training. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been doing some, but… I realise, if I want to make something of myself, I need to reinvent myself, get over my loathing for hard work. And… I do. Aiko-chan here is helping me, as I’m trying to get a better handle on what my eyes can see. Akio did say that if I trained hard, I might reawaken the true form of what he called the Eyes of the Shrine Maiden. I’m not going to fight, I’m not brave like Aiko-chan, or you, Eri-san…” she smirked, obviously feeling envious of us, which was a complicated feeling for me. “… but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be left behind. Akio will need more and more support staff.” She turned to her friends and the other girls from her school. Marika-san wasn’t paying attention, instead frowning at what was displayed on her phone. “That goes for all of you as well. It’s good to be trained, to have more options, but…” she nodded towards the display. “… nobody expects us to take on that. And we don’t have to. You girls neither.” She said to Rika-san and Yae-san.

“It’s hard to wrap our heads around it. But… the Chirurgery, it was crazy. Hurt like hell, right Rika?”

“It sure did, Yae.” Rika-san answered, remembering. “And I still feel all itchy inside, it’s gross. But… I’m full of energy, and I feel smarter, maybe I’ll even get good scores on the end of year tests.” She smiled.

“I think we’re getting off topic again.” Hayato-san steered us back. “But… I have to admit, it was enlightening. I want to help Akio-kun, but I don’t want Aimi-chan or my Hina to have to fight. But then… if the fight comes to us…” he stared at the screen, pensive.

“Isn’t… isn’t this the view from Chion-in…” Marika-san said suddenly. “I’m sure it is. I’ve visited there when we had some free time in Kyoto. It’s… it’s a Susanoo faction shrine, right? And they are close… close to the family of Kashima shrine, and their children… they… they died.” Her face trembled, and I felt the urge to hug her, cursing my crippled body. Marika-san is so smart despite being a child. I never would have noticed that. Not that I’ve ever been to most of the shrines in Kyoto, we didn’t get much time for sightseeing when we were there…

“If so, that is a clear betrayal!” Hinata raged. “I grieved for their loss, and was planning to help Akio with supporting the shrines that suffered financially, but…” she looked at Motoko, who was on her mobile phone, nodding seriously. “… this matter should be handled delicately, kept as discreet as possible. To spread footage is simply unforgivable!” she clenched her fist, and for a moment I worried about the fate of Chion-in and Kashima shrine.

“It isn’t just them, though.” Hayato-san pointed out, looking at other videos he had found, one showing several burned out military vehicles, JSDF forces trying to remove them, hauling off what looked like bodies, though the screen was mercifully blurred. “This one has comments in the live feeds too.”

“Yeah. Ugh, some people…” Shugo-san shook his head, before reading some of them with a grim face.

Lol, this has to be fake, right? Right?

I wonder, does it have anything to do with the attack on Kyoto before?

It’s an alien invasion, didn’t you see that fireball?

No way man, don’t talk shit. Are you stupid? I’m ex-JSDF, that’s clearly a Chinese ZBD-97, it’s an invasion sure, but not by any god-damned aliens!

If it was, why the hell would they be in Kyoto? It’s inland, moron! Ex-JSDF my ass, bet you just watched too much anime…

“Most of the comments are leaning towards an invasion, though one here, going by the handle is saying something interesting.” Shugo-san muttered. “He says that it’s got to be related to all the mysterious happenings around the world, which are caused by people chosen by the Gods. That… well, it could be coincidence, right, but…”

“But…?” Hayato-san asked, and I found myself straining to lean forwards, curious too.

“… he says he met one in Germany, but isn’t disclosing her identity due to her own wishes, and he says that he’s currently in South Korea, where there’s a mysterious school where all the students have disappeared, and even the army sent in… didn’t come back. It sounds crazy, but he’s linked some documents…”

“That’s bad. Hey, pull up the website. .” Yasu-san asked, and soon we were on a site that was in a foreign language. There was no Japanese option, obviously, but it had an option for an English language version.

“I can read English.” I said, and Hayato-san nodded.

“I expect you can. Akio-kun has perfect English, made our lives a lot easier sometimes. Though Shiro is a bit of a prodigy, hers is great too.”

As the site clicked over, I frowned. “The Weightlifter who claimed to be blessed by Thor then vanished. Mysterious happenings in South America. Rise of strange new cults. YouTube fakers who aren’t fake. The Kyoto incident…” I read them quickly, summarising them. “Uh, he’s pretty much right about Kyoto and what happened, really. Well, the details are all speculation, but… to have that level of detail about the Boundary… he must either be a Candidate, in which case he’s an idiot…” I said, shocked, biting my lip as I thought about it. “… or he’s talked to one, who has shared too much.”

“Luckily, the site is small and doesn’t seem to be in many search results.” Shugo-san was working the laptop, while the others were on their phones. “But… best case, even if this is seen as a Chinese invasion, won’t that lead to war?” he asked.

War? I don’t want that. Because… won’t people like Akio be forced to fight? And kill…

“Don’t look so scared, Eri-chan.” Aimi-san said, though she looked bad herself. “Isn’t that why we have a Government? To handle these things. We’re Japanese! We don’t fight wars, not anymore!”

“Indeed. We do not, unless we must.” Motoko said, having finished her phone call. “I have spoken to Grandfather and Father. The situation was fairly tense, but the Chinese forces in Kyoto have been dealt with, and only a few of our soldiers were killed.”

“That’s a relief.” Hina said softly, but Motoko shook her head.

“I wish that was the case. We have received word from Akio, via the head of Kinkaku-ji shrine. The situation in the Boundary is not resolved, though the enemies like Akio are being… dealt with… one by one.”

“Dealt with, huh?” Aiko whispered, and I knew what she meant. More blood on his hands. I hate this. I need to be able to move, so that I can console him with more than words.

“Yes.” Motoko agreed. “It seems likely we will triumph, and we have already found the location of the Material bodies of the invaders, and they should be in custody soon…”

“Hey, should this girl be getting all that classified info?” Yasu-san asked, and Hina agreed with him, before Motoko answered.

“Grandfather and father believe I need to know, considering my fiancé is the key to this operation. Apparently we have lost some of our own Candidates…” at that everyone tensed, but her relieved smile was enough to let us know Akio and the others were fine. I knew it. But I’m still worried. Why wouldn’t I be?

“… but Akio, Shaeula and the others are apparently pushing the enemy back. Sadly, there was a problem.”

Everyone was pale, wating for the news. “Civilian casualties… have been horrific.” Motoko managed at last. “One of the enemy Candidates had the ability to pull people forcibly into the Boundary. Unprotected, they stood little chance.” Natsumi took her hand as she trembled a little, and Motoko shot her a grateful smile. “Many, many innocent people have been murdered. There is no disguising this.”

Marika-san was crying softly, and Takagi-san went to comfort her, being a rather kind girl. Rika-san, Yae-san and Kana-san’s friends were all likewise flustered, but Hayato-san once more took control of the situation.

“Look, what matters is that Akio-kun, Shiro and the other two girls are fine, right? We can’t be there with them, doing what they do…” he looked down at his fist, eyes solemn. “I want to help, we want to help, but not all of us are fighters. Nor do we want to be.” He looked at the juggling Aiko, winking, which made her giggle. “We’ll leave that to the heroes. But heroes and heroines need their support. I think you have the right idea, Kana-san, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I don’t know your surname.”

“It’s Izumi, but I don’t mind. A friend of Akio’s is a friend of mine. And you’re engaged, so you’re safe, I guess?”

“As if that matters, my bro’s engaged too, but he’s like an octopus, grabbing every nearby girl into his clutches…” the quip lightened the mood a little, and Hayato-san continued.

“Well, Kana-san, mind talking us through what you’re doing? Even if it doesn’t help us, it’ll be a useful insight, and we need to take our mind off… this.”

“Sure, but I doubt it’ll be much help, Hayato-san.” She looked at Aiko. “You’re the expert now, you and Mori-san. Any insights you can share?”

“Sure, we might as well hold a training camp for the next few hours. Motoko, Natsumi, you in?”

“Of course. Training is always welcome.” Motoko agreed.

“Hey, Hinata, get some more booze in here, all this talking is thirsty work…”

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough, Aiko?” she grinned. “Akio won’t be impressed if he comes back to find you passed out dead drunk.”

“Hey, my stats and Ether Healing means that’s not a worry.” She promised. “Come on, come on…”

I think that’s pretty clever. I admired the actions Akio’s friend had taken. The gloomy, almost funereal atmosphere had subsided somewhat, so with one last glance at the laptop, I decided to offer my own insights. “Well, without your chakra network, you’ll…”

********

You have gained a unique light and darkness, Prominence Twilight Rank 1. This unique combination of light and darkness was formed by an extremely fortunate clash between the brilliant light of one willing to burn their very soul like the flaming prominence of a dying star in an act of vengeance, and the dark moon of one fighting to resist until his last breath, to protect, drawing in the light and making it his own. Prominence Twilight has two states, as befits such a combination, a duality.

Prominence Dawn allows you to fortify an element with the power of light, strengthening it. This light contains traces of Shingetsu, the darkness, within it, as just as the breaking light of dawn seeps into the darkness above, creating twilight, so does the brilliant bright prominence become visible due to the eclipsing shadow.

Prominence Dusk allows you to draw in and usurp an element of the enemy, fortifying it with darkness element, which also contains the power of Mangetsu, the light, for just as the creeping darkness of dusk heralds the onset of night, so does the dark moon of the eclipse render the light all the more radiant. [Class: Imperious] [Type: Principle]

As the power flooded me, very reminiscent of how Foehn had before, settling around my throat and third eye chakra, as well as my lunar chakra, I considered it with Split Thoughts as I readied myself for my next move. Principle, huh? Yes, I can see this ability certainly does have some ties to the underlying principles of light and darkness. Perhaps if I fully master it, I can get insight into the laws behind them? I guess I’ve been talking too much to Daiyu, Dao this, Laws that. Well, more power is what I need right now, even if losing the Favour was a definite blow…

No, it was best to gain power now, rather than hope for another ally later. Besides, I’ve still got one, and we should be able to pick up that woman Nie Ling if all goes well… Surveying the momentarily-frozen battlefield, the Cultivators and the Candidate who was bombarding me with debris with some sort of telekinesis, they all looked downheartened at the death of the six-armed golden warrior, and I took that moment to shout across the ruined Tsukuyomi-jinja, my voice powerful. Damn, after that I’m low on aether and adherence. I will need to rely on my elements for a bit, I think. Narrowing my vision and reducing Body Enhancement, I still had the strength for victory.

“This battle is done.” I called, my League, Majesty and Charm capturing all eyes for a moment. “Your numbers are dwindling, and ours will only continue to grow.” I saw Shaeula, Hyacinth and Tan in the distance, heading our way, which could only mean they had successfully defended Haru-san’s Territory. I knew I could trust them to handle it. Damn, my girls are so reliable. This is definitely a battle harem!

“I am afraid the battle is far from done.” the Cultivator holding the hideous blob of flesh sighed, shaking his head. “You claim you have won, and perhaps…” he looked at Daiyu, who was breathing heavily, Qi surging through her body, which was constantly breaking down and healing rapidly. I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, and realised they must have known each other. “… you have. But this was never about winning. Nor survival, much as I would wish to live.” His own smile was sad now, mirroring Daiyu’s, and some of the few surviving Cultivators agreed with him.

“You see, we have struck a blow against those who betrayed us. And now… we have to pay the devil that has enslaved us. And it is so very hungry.” At his words the tongues lolled out, the ones I had cut starting to regenerate, and more hideous laughter came from it.

“I… we cannot stop!” a handsome, green-haired youth called out, amidst his duel with Ulfuric. The badgerkin was in a terrible state, his body covered in wounds, many so deep I could see bone, and the ground beneath him was soaked with blood, his, red and silver, and also blue and green. He was wielding a mace with such berserk ferocity, eyes red, and teeth gritted, that even I was shocked. A number of corpses were scattered around him, human at first glance, but turning back to their true forms, seemingly, which were a strange combination of human and fish, silver scales glittering dully as aether started to leak from their bodies. The youth managed to stop the blow from Ulfuric’s mace with his own curved sword, and I could see dazzling silver scales along his arms, radiating power.

“If we do, all our children, our elderly…” several other of his kin darted in to try and bring down Ulfuric, only for my barrage of wind blades and rock projectiles to force them back, away from him. “That beast holds them prisoner! He will devour them if we do not obey!”

While we talked, Shaeula arrived, only to slam into the dome, bouncing off with a snarled curse. “What is this? Akio, I can not-not enter.” Beside him, Tan and Hyacinth found the same.

“It only blocks you, not your attacks. Support me from out there!” I shouted quickly. “Tan, you can probably use your flames to eat your way in!”

As Shaeula acknowledged me, I continued addressing the battling warriors, as I raced towards Bintara, who was wielding one of her broken horns like a cornucopia, a strange liquid flowing from it. “And of course it’s totally trustworthy? Don’t you know how this goes?” That laughing hunk of flesh, a clone of the real thing… it’s pure evil, I can tell. Tan was greedy yes, but this exceeds her in terms of malice and hunger. And it will never give back food. After all, I’ve seen the pieces of itself trying to devour the failed and the dying… “Have you even seen your kin? And if you die here, you think it’ll let them go, rather than kill them? If so, you must know a very different blob-monster, golden-eyed devourer, to what I’ve seen!” I arrived next to Bintara, gesturing towards Ulfuric, and she nodded, understanding. Daiyu leapt back towards me, and I patted her shoulder reassuringly.

“What can we do?” the spiritual being tore at his green hair, face frustrated. “No, we have not seen, but what can we do but trust? If we betray, then all hope is lost…”

“You are quite-quite the fool.” Shaeula shouted through the barrier. Hyacinth was snaking vines along the ground, towards the Chosen with telekinesis, who was continuing to attack even as we conversed. Well, I can’t blame him. Ulfuric and his forces are still fighting, as are most of the spiritual beings. Talk isn’t a free action, after all, as much as sometimes I do like to say too much. But… the poor, deluded spiritual beings were far too pitiful. Shaeula didn’t seem to share my view though.

“You trust a creature that has shown itself to have no-no mercy or kindness. Better you fought and died, than live in such disgrace as a slave, only to face-face death in the end, knowing you sullied your spirits and honour for naught. If it was my kin, yes, I would-would kill for them, bloody my hands, stain my spirit…” she cried, wind and flame rising around her, forming blazing wind weasels. “… but I would not-not do it for one I knew would betray me in the end! I would face him and fight until my last breath!” With that she attacked, her ferocious elemental weasels surging towards the largest concentration of enemies, the ones my Eye was identifying as [Ren Yu].

Grabbing Bintara in my arms, I leapt towards Ulfuric, calling back to Daiyu “Can you handle them?” and she merely nodded.

“Curse you all!” the green-haired man, clumps of hair torn from his scalp, cried, as the wind and flame weasels bombarded him and his surviving fellows, felling several. “What can we do but fight?” he roared, watching as his people fell around him. Ulfuric snarled, mace crushing the skull of one, and as I landed, Bintara sloshed her horn, the liquid within steaming as it began to close the many near-fatal wounds on his body.

“You can stop this madness!” I cried, Cutting Twilight meeting his blade and overpowering it, even in its nicked and corroded state. Another clash of blows, and the Renyu tried to slice me with a jet of water element from his mouth, but my own water blocked it, droplets scattering everywhere. Space tore, and he was holding just a hilt, blood streaming from his arm, silver scales pierced clean through.

Behind me, the Candidate was running from the tide of vines, while Tan had indeed managed to burn her way through the barrier, and her fires whipped across some of the remaining Cultivators, turning them to mere ashes.

“Stay down!” I ordered, kicking the Renyu in the leg. His scales were solid, but he couldn’t endure the blow. Water then poured from his skin, forming a series of cutting tail-shaped blades, and I was pushed back, only for lightning to strike the water, followed by a boom of thunder that shattered the blades. The Renyu screamed, smoke rising from his flesh, and from beyond the dome, Shaeula laughed. “Well, lightning does-does conduct through seawater, does it not-not? You should study more, if that water was pure, you would have suffered little harm.” She then eyed me, serious. “Akio, go. You must-must see Tsukiko to safety. Even from out here, I can handle these foolish, pathetic fishes.”

Seeing that the situation was in hand, I agreed. Racing towards Tsukiko-san and her guards, the burned and hobbling Prince Shōtoku being helped along by the now solid Kofuku Jizo, I was suddenly attacked by the ground under my feet turning to a quagmire, the rock liquefying. As I sank, sharp, jagged spears of rock aimed at my head and body.

Time to try it out… reacting swiftly, I called forth the power of Prominence Dusk, and darkness, lit by a brilliant corona of light, drew in the blades. Damn, it’s just like when I first got Foehn, I don’t have a lot of it within me… My Eye flared, and I could see the energies of the two fleeing Candidates, one of which was maintaining the barrier, still hiding well below ground. Where he thinks I can’t get him…

The other Candidate had been snared by the vines Hyacinth had conjured, and he was howling and cursing as they tightened, his bones creaking ominously. The Cultivator facing Daiyu, holding the clone, let out a low moan, saying that “It is over. We have lost.” Yes, it is over. Now… as the rock spears crumbled, the mud around me starting to solidify as Prominence Dusk pulled in the earth element, permeating it, the earth element changed, becoming a corrosive, corrupting dust. I’ve seen this before. The samurai. Kiku’s dead husband…

“You can have it back!” I cried, forming the purloined, changed energy into a lance that pierced through the ground, turning what it touched to dust as well, bonds and matter breaking apart.

I heard loud, grotesque laughter, and a keening cry, followed by the shattering of multiple bones, a horrible sound like a rag being wrung out. A slobbering noise was heard, and the old Cultivator screamed in torment. My blast of dust poured down and pierced the target, which was the Candidate maintaining the barrier, and as most of his body began to corrode, the dome barrier dropped. I turned, only to see Shaeula and Tan casting forth fire, lightning and more, trying to stop…

No way, I couldn’t see it… the blob was soaring through the air, the man that was holding it on his knees, arms missing, mangled stumps gushing blood. Hyacinth had wrung her victim to death, but even as he had died he was smiling, arm outstretched. No, he didn’t!

Moving as fast as I could I realised I was too far away, as the blob was moving like a bullet towards Tsukiko-san and her group. Elements bombarded it, but it merely gulped them all down, giggling.

“Kofuku Jizo, take her and go!” The Prince declared, and the Jizo heeded him sadly. Dropping him, he reached out and grabbed Tsukiko-san, bodily throwing her aside. She soared through the air, out of the path of the beast, which lashed out with many tongues, causing grievous harm to the already hurt Prince, and tore chunks from the rocky flesh of Kofuku Jizo, who collapsed, his halo of light dimming. Seeing that, Bintara was heading this way. Shit, I hope they make it. But… a sense of relief was rising, as the trajectory of the last-ditch telekinetic throw was going to miss Tsukiko-san by quite some margin, and the minute it landed I was going to engage it and put it down, now that only a single Candidate remained, and my allies were here.

There was a slimy ripple on the flesh of the creature, and a loud popping sound echoed, flesh parting to reveal a blinking, dirty-golden eye, with a strange, amphibian cast. It rolled around wildly for a moment, getting its bearings, before the mouths all merged into one great toothy split. It gaped wide, aiming seemingly at nothing, before…

Oh fuck. No! The jaws closed on something I could only see with my Eye, a shimmering silver cord, trailing from the stunned Tsukiko-san, who had landed heavily. Then everything happened at once. The cord was severed, dark energies creeping up towards Tsukiko-san, purple hue unpleasant, while Tsukiko-san screamed, convulsing. The beast itself smiled, only to roar in rage a moment later, meaningless babble words that I somehow understood. [Such anger. Where is it? Where is my feast?]

Your feast? Who gives a shit. Right now… fuck, only one thing left to do…