On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred And Eighty-Nine

As the Matriarch continued to devour the remains of her sisters’ spirits, the darkness around her grew, thick and oily, shimmering with bruised tones of purple, green and blue. More of the serpents of fire were growing from the veil of her darkness, in a disgusting parody of Shaeula’s wind weasels, only comprised of shadowy flames. Still, Hyacinth was undeterred, and she was determined to bring the Kijo who threatened us down. Even with the curses afflicting her, she is much faster than usual. Well, she has certainly gained enough levels during this battle. It’s a glut of the sort I had genociding the Myconids… In fact, she had likely gained more strength in one go, though perhaps that was because most of the Myconids died at a distance and indirectly. No, there’s no time to ponder the intricacies of the levelling system now…

“First Woe!” Hyacinth called, the energy she had received from regrowing the spores (which was a fascinating use, as the weal had been turned into an attack as well by that method) being converted into a shimmering cloud of polluted nature energy. “Cruelsucking Vines!” The already burning and furrowed ground exploded upwards, showering us with dirt, and a number of waist-thick, thorny tendrils snaked out, growing rapidly, until they twisted and crawled around the barrier the Kijo was hiding in.

“Uh, Hyacinth…” I asked. “If the Woe doesn’t hurt her, then won’t you face backlash?” I asked, remembering the Raven Knight and the sorry state he was in after the Jaws of the Questing Beast missed me.

“I am busy right nooow Akio.” Hyacinth said, surprising me, her face twisted into an expression of concentration. “But even if I fail, I will endure, as the Woe… I can pay the backlash. But it…” her expression turned cruel once more. “Will nooot come to that. I do not wish to worry you. Nooor let her escape just punishment!” Her hand tightened, and the thorns of the vines dug into the barrier. It flexed, groaning, and the Matriarch cried out in her own madness, jeering and mocking her seemingly futile efforts.

“Useless! My barrier is strong! And fuelled by my sisters’ sufferings! Wait there, vile pests, and be consumed by the curses of my slain sisters!” she slurped up another spirit-light, the flames growing in intensity, seeming to draw in the faint light around her.

“We will see whooo is useless, arrogant pest!” Hyacinth shot back, a surge of deep blue darkness element injected into the vines. They shone brilliantly for a moment, before the light was concentrated within the thorns, which suddenly started pulsing, as though they were alive. Well, more… animal than plant, I mean. It looks like the beating of a heart… the barrier began to crumble, the thorns sucking the energy from the ward, darkness consuming it. Hyacinth was starting to look unwell, perhaps early signs of a backlash, but then a thorn pierced the shoulder of the Matriarch, her ethereal body wounded by the darkness element.

“Second Weal. Dark Moon Blossoming.” She intoned the minute the thorn struck home. The vines sprouted pale white flowers, though they were threaded with veins of blue, pulsing similarly to the thorns. As the flowers opened, looking somewhat like strange, distorted full moons, a shining light was radiated from the flowers, surrounding us and the Matriarch, looking eerily pretty yet somehow baleful at the same time.

Pandemonium Curse Flowers – This light is shed by the wicked flowers that grow around Pandemonium, the Dark Court of the Unseelie. These flowers feed upon darkness and light element, especially energies profane and cursed, as well as beings without physical forms. They then radiate a light that mitigates the effect of such curses, weakening beings that use them, allowing them to feed unopposed.

Immediately as the light fell on me, I could feel the remaining dregs of spirt water within my body react, and my Spiritually Pure Physique was temporarily strengthened. My pores ejected drips of remnant curse energy that had built up during the battle, and with renewed vigour I glared up at the hovering Matriarch, who seemed to be struggling, her translucent face somehow seeming paler than before. The spirit-lights of her dead sisters were suffering more though, starting to smoke and shrink under the light, and as one drifted too close to a thorn it was pierced, the flower greedily drinking it away to nothing as the Matriarch screeched.

“Great job, Hyacinth!” I approved, turning to her, only to see she was labouring, the light obviously having some effect on her, though her smile was reassuring. “I am fine, I assure yooou, Akio.” She huffed, drawing in a shuddering breath. “I am a Grey Fae now, the flowers shall nooot hurt me much.” She shuddered then, and not from pain. “I remember…” she whispered, silver-violet eyes distant. “The pretty flowers, yet cruel. Sometimes they threw me intooo the vines, and the thorns dug deep. I thrashed and wailed, I did cry ooout for mercy, but all they did was laugh at me, and…” she was cut off by my sudden hug, enfolding her, heedless of the Matriarch above.

“... don’t worry. Those days are over. Now, we need to finish this, so we can all go home. Eri, Shaeula, they’re waiting for us to finish this.” I whispered, and she managed a smile.

“Yes. In yooour arms, I dooo not feel so scared. Not anymore.” She looked at the Matriarch as she gathered up her flame-snakes which began to fall towards us, their numbers and strength many times greater than her previous barrages, although vines and thorns snaked out, dragging some in to be absorbed.

“Second Woe!” Hyacinth declared proudly. “Poison unto poison!” as the snakes fell on us, I blocked what I could, shielding Hyacinth and deflecting strikes at our heads and vitals. Even so, we couldn’t escape injury, dark flames searing into us. Even so, the flames were… weaker… than I anticipated, and they appeared. My skin charred painfully, but then the flames went out, black ooze running down my burnt skin and dripping to the ground, the curse energy within rejected. I see. The flowers… Hyacinth was wreathed in flames too, suffering more than I was, but her newfound strength and toughness, coupled with her resistance to such curses and darkness, as well as the weakening light of the Curse Flowers, enabled her to push through. It was then the Matriarch screamed, as her own snakes rebounded at her. She dodged and weaved, only to be attacked by more ever-hungry thorny vines, the light disintegrating her slowly. She turned her attacks on the flowers rather than us, and some vines fell, but others merely smouldered fitfully under her barrage.

“Damn you, this should not be possible…” the Matriarch whined as she was struck by her own attacks. Dark light burst around her, and she stumbled, screaming. “No, this… I must…” with that she started to clothe herself in flesh once more, a disgusting sight as aether was sucked into her, forming innards, before layers of muscles, fat and flesh grew over it. When she was done, she was breathing heavily, covered in deep burns and fitfully burning indigo and black flames, yet now she was smiling bitterly, only a handful of lights remaining around her, two of which she grabbed and bit into like foul apples. “You shall surely suffer endlessly.” She crunched through her sisters. “But your ploys have failed.” The radiance of the Curse Flowers had little effect on her now she had regained flesh, and Hyacinth was weakening.

“Nooow, attack and I will prepare an opening!” Hyacinth declared. “Third Weal. From Darkness… Grow Strong.” She fell to her knees, nearly spent, as a surge of aether she had accumulated from the many slain Kijo poured into me, along with a cloud of her remaining darkness energy. Wait, what about the Third Woe? Will you be all right?

Before I could speak, she shook her head. “I will be fine. Attack nooow!”

“This curse is the most powerful I can cast.” The Matriarch said coldly, her rage having exceeded her limits and dousing her temper. The remaining soul-lights were consumed, and she stood alone, her eyes becoming inly black pits that seemed to suck in the light around her, even the flowers starting to tremble and shy away from her, the vines shifting warily, petals curling inwards. “Taste all the resentment, hatred and rage of my slain sisters, and the boiling yet freezing fury I feel within!” A single talisman, heavy with blood and curses, was produced from her ragged sleeve and burst, dyeing the skies black, so that all I could see was her.

Her eyes seemed to draw me in, but even as my consciousness was swallowed, pulled down into a sea of darkness, I had diverted some of my thoughts using Split Mind to calculate my own attack. Aether was compressed and converted, forming a shining spear of glowing energies, jade, citrine and other brilliant colours cascading from the wicked lance that my will forged from the prismatic aether…

“Such a sight. Don’t you enjoy it?” The whisper of the Matriarch was running through most of my mind, trying to break me. I was shown visions, terrible, cruel ones of Eri, her limbs pared away, her flesh stripped with cruel hooks and blades. She was tossed squealing and limbless into a pack of howling Yokai, who painted themselves with her gore as she screamed, cursing me for being pathetic, failing her, bringing her to this. No, that didn’t happen. Eri… Eri was hurt badly, and until she is completely healed, and stronger than ever before, I can’t forgive myself. Nor should I. But… she’s with Shaeula now, and thanks to Ginneka, she lived. Though it was a miracle she did. I nearly lost everything…

“Shaeula? That bratty daughter of the foolish Kamaitachi? You think she is safe?” More visions rocked me, pulling me under. Shaeula’s sightless head was staring at me, as the Red Oni cheerfully hollowed out her skull, her beautiful amber hair removed, her eyes gouged out, and I could hear her whispers on the breeze, condemning me for putting her life at risk for others. Her mother watched on, laughing, as Grulgor was pinned down by the Blue Oni, thick spears driven through his joints as they poured some sort of burning acid onto him.

No. that won’t happen either. I tried to force away the deepening gloom within me that was starting to seep into the Split Thoughts I was using to craft my attack. I could feel my body rejecting it, my mind too, but even so, it knew just where to poke at me, as all I could see in my vision now was darkness and her, the Matriarch. She pointed, and I looked down, to see that only a solitary pale arm was holding onto me, Hyacinth’s body now hung on one of her own Flowers, pierced by a legion of thorns, blood seeping. I thought she was dead, but her eyes snapped open, revealing empty, dark sockets filled with hatred. “You failed me, master!” she declared, her tone so cold, so lacking love, so unlike the usual Hyacinth. “I gave everything for your victory, and you failed. I hate you! Everything you touch turns to ashes! We are all suffering, dying, because of you!”

Wait. No. Her words were strange. There were no elongated vowels, and the diction was all wrong. Blinking away tears which burned my face, I realised I was weeping a mixture of darkness element and spirit water. The darkness receded for just a second, and I could see Hyacinth, clutching my leg, her eyes trusting. Even so, this curse was indeed terribly strong, voices and images swirling relentlessly through my mind, half-seen ghosts of Aiko, Hinata, Motoko, Natsumi, Shiro and more flickering in and out of existence, accusing me of failures, wailing in pain and sorrow. My Resilience was high, yes, but even so, even knowing it was not real, I could feel my mind quaking, so realistic it was, and so close to what I feared, especially after… Today was terrible. People died. People I’d chosen to protect. Mine-san too. She died there in my arms, and I could do nothing. This has been the worst. Then Eri… she…

The darkness closed in again, the whispers increasing in volume to harrowing screams and shouts. I nearly relinquished the attack I had been building up, only for a gentle tug on my leg to break the illusion momentarily. I looked down, unable to see, but I could hear, even over the accusations and invective the shades of my loved ones were hurling at me.

“Hurry, Akiooo. It is not too late. Strike nooow, so we can go home. Eri, Shaeula, they are waiting for yooou. Now, I shall wring myself dry if I must, to proootect yooou!”

My hand gripped the spear I had created from the aether I had been bequeathed, the darkness element surging within it dyeing the whirling wind and flames that compressed it in shades of blue. No, Hyacinth, they are waiting for us. With a roar, all my League, aether, elemental essence and skills in sync, I forced aside the darkness, several more Split Thoughts sucking in the harrowing curse, freeing most of my mind for a brief moment. I could see the Matriarch descending, now only a few metres from us, her arms outstretched, claws seeking my throat, a grin of great malice on her face.

“…Grow, my cage of thorns!” Hyacinth declared, her nature energy surging, drained to the dregs, and the ground exploded, vines with thorns even longer and crueller than before, gleaming like poisonous swords, forming a hedgehog-like dome around us. The Matriarch flew into the spikes, unable to halt her charge, screaming in pain as she was tangled and pierced, though her claws were now wreathed in cursed flame, and she was quickly tearing through them, burning fragments of plant-matter falling to the ground like inky rain. Though there is no way I will miss the chance Hyacinth has given me.

I thrust, the spear leaving my hand, piercing through the dome. Even so, the Matriarch evaded, rolling clear even though the thorns and vines tore at her, her flesh shredding. “You missed.” She cackled, spittle spraying through the shield Hyacinth had created for me.

“Did I?” I said, shaking my head as the spear twisted like a living creature, bending back on itself at right angles. “No, I was just copying your curse-snakes.” the Matriarch howled as the spear pierced her, and as soon as it was penetrating her flesh, the wind and flame energy within detonated, a brilliant burst of heat and light searing my clouded eyes. Darkness rippled out too, the energy Hyacinth had bequeathed me, and it clashed with the Matriarch’s own energies, preventing her from shielding herself once more.

“I wanted to call it something impressive like Gae Bolg, but this would only be a terribly pale imitation.” I coughed, feeling viscous, wet liquid on my face. I wiped it off to see it was silvery blood, the Matriarch having been torn in two, her stinking guts spilling out of her body, tangled on the thorny briar barricade like some sort of medieval torture. “But as a delivery system for an explosive attack, it worked fine.”

“Ha. Ha. Hahahahahahaha!” the Matriarch broke out in mad, howling laughter, the pain and hate driving her into insanity. “You think you have won? Not while the energy my poor sisters provided still roars within me. Forgive me, for I have consumed you all, but with your spirits quenching my parched energies, I shall restore myself and…”

“Akiooo, leave it to Hyacinth now.” She whispered. “Third Woe. Walking Plague!” With that she grabbed the tangled briar walls, which immediately started to sprout more fungus, a tide of pestilent greens, reds and browns racing along all of the thorns towards the Matriarch. The Curse Flowers were blooming again around her, preventing her form returning to a spiritual one easily, and as she tried to tear herself free, I relished the panic in her face as the last of her insidious curse left me, purified by my Physique.

“No, I cannot, this… my sisters, I…” she began to cough, hacking and damp, as the spores invaded her body as the vegetation rotted, collapsing into a dark soup. Her flesh was corrupting, and soon her cries were unintelligible, and a few minutes later all that remained was a vile patch of mushrooms, and some pretty yet ominous flowers blooming around it. A surge of ether was released, most of it replenishing Hyacinth, whose level increased noticeably once more, and I gained some of the remaining bounty.

You have gained in strength. Your level has increased from One Hundred And Two to One Hundred And Three. Your…

One level huh? Well, Hyacinth did most of the work. I was weary, so weary, but even so, I hauled up Hyacinth and used my Eye to assess her. Damn. Level Sixty-Four. She’s nearly capped for now, just a couple of levels to go. But that’s some insane power-levelling. Well, I guess she was responsible for killing a lot of rather elite Kijo, plus the Matriarch, who was a terrifying and powerful opponent. I guess Shaeula and Eri will be jealous, to say nothing of Aiko. Oh well…

Having Hyacinth stronger would be a boon for us all in the longer term. As I brushed off the rags that remained of her uniform, trickling in a little Ether Healing with my fading reserves to alleviate the pain from her many cursed burns, I noticed she was looking at me, her expression tense.

“What’s up?” I asked, and she looked down, nervous. “Akiooo. Does… does it nooot worry you, frighten you, that I can wreak such havoc, that where I walk, peooople die? Now the battle is ooover, I cannot help but worry. I wooould hate it if you feared me, but if you… ouch!” she looked at me, teary-eyed, as I poked her in the forehead, annoyed.

“Do you really think that? Hyacinth, I was the one who led you down this path. It is a terrible power…” as we talked earnestly, the wind dome isolating the battleground beginning to crumble, I held her close. “… which is why we need to use it sparingly. If everyone starts fighting this way, all that will remain is death. It’s like mutually assured destruction. But when we must, we will. Today… has been just awful. I could never have imagined the deaths. Though I should have. I’ve been naïve, foolish.” I was starting to see through the fading barrier of wind, and I could make out Shaeula and Eri peering through at me, Eri still with those ridiculous yet cute cat ears, and I felt relief. I knew that curse was full of shit, even so, it was so painfully real. Well, I guess it wouldn’t be much of a deadly curse if it wasn’t. If my League or Resilience was a bit lower, or I wasn’t buffered by the light from those plants, my mind could well have shattered, crippling or killing me. It was luck. Again. First against the Kitsune, now the Matriarch. “We’ve been relying too much on things going our way. And we’ve suffered for it. Eri is grievously hurt, and… people are dead. Even in the aftermath, we’ve had to ride our luck again and again. But no more. This… was a hard lesson, and one I have to bear the sorrow of for as long as I live. But…” I said, reassuring her. “You no longer have to fear being thrown into the thorns, I can assure you, you’re mine, Hyacinth, and so long as you want, I’ll never abandon you. How could I?” I sighed. “If losing people I didn’t know well like Mine-san and the trainees hurts this much, I could never bear to lose you. Though after I nearly lost Shiro, I should have realised I was weak to this sort of loss.”

“Akio, Hyacinth!” Eri called, rushing over, though her gait was unsteady, her legs looking as though she was an awkwardly put-together puppet. “How are you, did you win?”

“Calm down, Eri.” Shaeula followed, looking equally anxious. “I could tell-tell they were fine, as the Emerald Wind Prison was receiving wind energy from Akio the whole time. Well…” she grinned. “You two look awful. But…” her amber gaze took in Hyacinth. “Hmph. Your strength has increased significantly. I am quite-quite impressed. You have done well, Hyacinth.”

“Thank you, mistress Shaeula!” she said, eyes glimmering. “It was hard, but I cooould not allow her to live, if she wished to kill mistress Eri!”

“Oh, Hyacinth.” Eri joined in the hug I was sharing with Hyacinth, though her skin felt cold, clammy, which worried me. “You got so hurt… Akio, just what were you doing?”

I exchanged a wry look with Grulgor, who was staying back. It was amazing how tactful he had become recently. Shrugging, I spoke to Eri. “Sorry. Seriously, without Hyacinth, I don’t think I would have won. The Matriarch was terribly strong. Though like Duke Myrcolaxriath, the matchup was bad for her. Hyacinth held nothing back for you, so… consider her wounds badges of honour, marks of pride. I’m sure she sees them that way.”

“I dooo!” she nodded frantically, as the leaders of the Hyakki Yagyō approached. “Besides, you are hurt far wooorse than I, mistress Eri! How are you?”

“She is… well, not-not fine, not-not at all. But she will live. Her Material body is likely in a terrible state. We must-must attend to that soon. And the curse is almost broken, so…” exhaustion was writ on Shaeula’s face from her efforts in Ether Healing and curse-expelling.

“Well, I thought you might win.” The Kitsune chuckled, looking at the disgusting mushroom-field that was the remains of the Matriarch. “She never did know when to withdraw from a losing battle.” She sucked on her pipe, blowing out smoke, a sultry sigh on her lips. “I see you are still Seventy-First.” She told Shaeula. “I guess your man didn’t kill her himself, so Lord Nurarihyon didn’t accept it as your victory. A pity, but better for you, perhaps. Rising too far, too fast… well, look at my poor young foxling and his fate.” She grinned, biting the decorated system of her pipe playfully.

“Indeed. You should be cautious-careful, to rise is to make many foes-enemies.” Urakaze observed. She looked at Hyacinth and me, her expression tense, before her golden-amber eyes turned softer. “Well, I can hardly disapprove of you as a husband for my Shaeula now, can I? You are strong-powerful, and you care for each other. And my carelessness-inattentiveness nearly cost Shaeula her life. I am most angry-furious.”

Wait? What’s this about? Before I could answer, a frantic Yamato-san called out to me. “Oshiro-san. You survived. Well, I had no doubt you would!” he was huddling within a ring of his Golden Warriors, his face terribly pale and haggard. Numerous Yokai were surrounding him, watching, mocking smiles on their faces. “You can’t let this happen! I’m the heir to Kiyomizu-dera, and my father heads Susanoo! You came to Kyoto at our invitation!”

Damn, what did I miss? It seemed that whatever had passed between Shaeula and Urakaze wasn’t all that had happened while we fought. It was then that an even greater commotion occurred, as the great house-shrine that was the centre of the Night Parade suddenly groaned, the great door on one side opening, steam hissing out, condensing as it hit the still, cold air of the Kyoto Boundary. Out walked a single figure, who at first resembled a very tall human, a priest, wearing rich red robes and much jewellery. His robes trailed behind him, and dozens of smaller humanoid Yokai were holding them off the ground. A priest, here? No, he… he only has one eye!

“It’s the Grand Hitotsume Nyūdō!” Red declared, surprised.

“Ya, been a long time since any of the old-timers have left Lord Nurarihyon’s side.” Blue agreed. “Not a good time for it, though. The Parade has been shamed. Pretty badly, don’t ya think?”

As the cyclopean priest strode forwards, he grew in size with every step, until he was towering ten metres tall, impossibly large, the ground shaking with his steps. His train had grown too, and it was now like an army of one-eyed Grulgors. The presence, the League, was powerful too, matching, no likely even surpassing that of the Kitsune and Urakaze. I felt tense, my breath coming in hot gasps, and I exchanged a look with Shaeula, to which she shook one hand a little. Shit, Eri still needs a little more time. Even if I was fresh, full of energy, I doubt I could take him on alone. Spores? No, if we use it here, then the whole Parade will attack, and we’ll be wiped out.

No, my only option was to stall, as we had been doing up until now. Meeting his piercing gaze, I waited, until he finally spoke. With one massive hand he gestured, back towards the huge house. “Come. Lord Nurarihyon wishes to converse with you. He has wisdom and warnings to impart, and… reparations to claim.”

Wait, what? My thoughts were drowned out by the incredulous shouts and bellows of the Hyakki Yagyō, that Lord Nurarihyon would deign to ask for a mortal. Seriously? My thoughts went to Eri, who needed just a little more time, and all I could do was nod slowly. Shit, ever since Yamato-san foolishly caused this mess, we’ve been having to come up with plans on the fly to get out of trouble, the only problem is, each one succeeds, but not fully, and just lands us in a worse situation. If… when… we get back to the Material, we have to take stock, and change how we do things. Holding in a sigh, I followed the one-eyed giant, while Eri, Shaeula, Hyacinth and Grulgor looked on, their grim expressions showing exactly what they thought of this turn of events…