“Keep up the assault, kill the Japanese pigs!” a soldier was shouting, as he ordered the Infantry Fighting Vehicle beside him to open fire, the mae guns rattling out a stream of tracer rounds towards the defences arrayed around Kinkaku-ji. The golden temple was truly magnifit in the Boundary, t high into the sky, golden horns the height of skyscrapers glittering, their weight truly impossible to be supported ierial. Other soldiers were opening fire with their own ons, including rocket-propelled grenades, which were impag on the shrinking barrier around the Territory. Fshes of golden energy were unched back from a number of Empts, and all around us cries, shouts and explosions were eg.

  Okay, I get it. My mom made sure Aiko and I, Eri too, we had a more banced view of history than Japanese schools taught, as we studied from some English textbooks at home a well as our Japanese schoolbooks, so I uand that Japan wasly… pleasant… during the war. We were hardly alone in that, but still, there’s a lot of justified rese between us and other Asian tries. Even so, that hardly excuses that sort of hatred. Very few people living now were even born during the War… I was worried that the advent of the Divine Favours was only going to spark further flid hatred. Already we had this mess, and the USA kidnapping citizens of other tries for nefarious purposes. That’s why I need power… a lot of power. I have to be in a position to deter war. Surely we have other eo fight. Like this golden-eyed creature. And it won’t be the st. Six Princesses. Six events or ehat threaten the whole world…

  My Eye glowed as I observed the vehicles and ons. In addition to several IFV’s, there were also several artillery pieces, and as they fired, the barrier around Kinkaku-ji finally colpsed, a spray of rainbow energies casg everywhere. It retty, but ominously so. A shell fell ihe perimeter, gouging out a crater in the ground, shredding a Defensive Empt, scatteriher. Moments ter, a circur hole in space appeared above the troops, and through it I could see a million glimmering stars of energy. Seds ter, the area uhe rift was smote by a shining wave of light element. The ese soldiers dissolved to ashes, and the artillery pieces shattered, melted metal flying and causing further casualties, before the rift winked out, leaving traces of violet spatial element behind.

  I don’t think that Gaze of Avalokiteshvara was a benevolent one… Ign the deaths, I tio observe. It seemed that the ability, the surge of aether, that was attached to the vehicles and modern ons of the troops was starting to fade, so it was only a matter of time before the items returo whehey came. At that point, the soldiers would be rgely useless. Other than zombies, that is… As if uanding that, the leader of the troops was exh his men forwards, even as they were taking fire from inside Kinkaku-ji, the Defensive Empts accurately targeting them with orbs of aether.

  Looks like it’s being handled, but… Three didates were making their own way into Kinkaku-ji, bone bdes in hand. They would be my target. But first… I moved, reag the IFV’s in a blink of an eye. Having switched Might of the Furious Earth back to enhang my strength, my power was incredible, so I simply smmed one vehicle, metal shearing uhe impact. As the side caved in, I elled fme inside, and it exploded. I leapt onto the sed, wreng off the mae gun, and opened fire. Cries went out from the soldiers, but I hardened my heart and cut them all down. As expected, their bodies twitched, despite their many wounds, beginning to zombify, so I called out a b of fme, iing them all.

  This is what I don’t want Eri and my sis to face. Being ho, my sis… with her Golden Warriors, she probably could have been useful, especially in the defence of Tsukuyomi-jinja, but… even with my sky-high Resilience, I’m going to have nightmares about this. It may be selfish, and I know I ’t protect them from this forever, but… let me have this now, as a big brother and as a lover. I want them both to stay as long as they . Hinata, Motoko and Natsumi, they shouldn’t face this either. Not yet…

  Seeing my sudden attack from the rear, the three didates pawo turo face me, a pair of men, while the third, a rather rge woman, her gaudy clothing atuated with a number of tasteless accessories such as ky rings, thieckces and more, let out a dull squawk and ran, deeper into the Territory of Kinkaku-ji, vanishing from view with surprising speed. Maybe I should have taken these out first, but… the soldiers seemed rgely ued by the dev slime, uhe Cultivators and these didates, so sending them to their deaths was ohing, but having them be devoured was quite another.

  “Whoa, the bde, it wants to taste this guy bad.” one of them said, turning to his panion.

  The other, a fairly tall man for an Asian, eveopping my height, nodded, holding his own bone bde, which was starting to drool clear slime and purple energies. “Yeah. I thought it wanted some food in this gaudy golden shithole, but it seems this guy is the tastiest of all.”

  “Guess he must be powerful then? You think we take him?” the first man asked, his non-descript features hard to describe. He looks so ordinary, like someone you might pass ireet. To think he’s a didate…

  “With the cursed power we have? I think…” the tall man didn’t finish his sentence, merely letting out a dull roar, an emerald shockwave striki the speed of sound. For a moment I was stuhe pressure intense, my mind ag, but it quickly cleared. Only a moment had passed, but the sed didate had rushed at me, c the distance quickly, materialising an ornate suit of crystalline armour, the bone sword in his hand being enrged, now rather than a single-handed bde, a massive, two-handed, pulsating k of bone and crystal nearly seve long.

  “Too slow.” I said, Body Enhahrumming within me, my muscles pounding with energy, and I ducked aside as the bone bde swung down, ripping a great furrow into the ground. Sharp bsts of wind were flying at me, the other didate fnking me, and I was forced to deflect them with my own wind.

  “You’re fast, bastard. That your blessing?” the armoured swordsman asked, wreng the bde free and swinging at me again.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Cutting Twilight met the bone sword, and spatial elements cshed violently, nearly jarring the sword from my oppo’s grasp. As he gasped, a typhoon of green surrounded me, trying to hem me in. The insides were sharp and humming quietly, much like Shaeu’s Emerald Wind Prison, but against my tough body the gusts were doing little damage, and I transferred Might of the Furious Earth baproving my toughness, redug the cutting gale to nothing.

  “Fire beats wind.” I decred, and suddenly I was surrounded by an inferno, the wind ed. I then hurled the fme out, and the sword-wielder staggered backwards, his armour smouldering, his face burhrough the slits of his transparent, gssy helm. This one wasn’t on the list that Yasaka-san gathered. The other must be the wind user that was…

  “Shit, my eyes…” he snarled, half-blinded, bde swinging to and fro. I ignored him though, rag towards the taller wind-wielder.

  “Fuck! Snake bindings!” he hissed, verdant air energies cloaking him, f a jade serpent of wind that darted out towards me. I could feel a rge amount of aether ied into it, bolstering the winds, but it was useless. Foehn exploded outwards, and the wind burime to use its ricks.

  “Vibration horns!” he screeched out shrilly as Foehn turself into a fiery snake, creeping towards him. Two green hored from his brow, and the Foehn scattered, torn apart by intense shockwaves. I was nearly spttered with my own fmes, which would have been a very foolish way to get hurt.

  Time to end this. Light fshed, and the foe toppled, screaming in pain. Bolts of light energy pierced his knees, and he dropped to the ground, rolling around in agony. Yeah, these two aren’t anywhere near as strong as the st pair Daiyu and I fought. “Stay down.” I advised. “I’ve already removed that damn slime from a few others. I…” darting to the side, I was gd I tio use aether to widen my vision, as the armoured man rushed at me, bde biseg the air where my head was just moments before.

  “The bastard did something to my legs!” the fallen wind-user cried, before dragging himself to his knees and summoning a massive mass of wind. “Cut him! If we feed him to it, we might live a little longer!”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got this! We don’t evehat useless fat pig to help us!” the sword-wielder cried. He charged, and I threw out bolts of light to stop him too, but the ornate, crystal armour diffused the bolts in a shower of silver and indigo light. Switg to bullets of rod water, I pelted him, driving him back, transparent chips scattering, his armour dented. Wind smmed down behind me like a dozen mighty fists, and the ground exploded. My own winds formed a shield around me, and I powered through, g my swainst that of my enemy. The bde squealed, acidic slime scattering, but I bur all to ashes with Foehn before it could reach me, the droplets of Foehn hitting the ground, coalesg, and starting to climb the legs of my foe.

  “Fuck, I’m on fire…” he snarled. His armour shattered around his burning legs, scattering the Foehn, before ref near instantly. He used that moment to rush me again, his speed and strength far in excess of any normal person. But pared to didates specialising in such abilities, he might as well be in slow motion. His stats are what… three hundred, maybe? Four huops…

  The ground exploded under him, earth element creating a massive crater. As he fell into it, suddenly all sound stopped, and I could see a shimmering green haze around me. For a moment my breathing stopped, chest burning, before I shook my head to clear my mind. I shouldn’t o breathe here, it’s clearly psychological. Of course, the urge to breathe was such a deep-rooted biological impulse that happened automatically, so my brain was tellihat I was suffog, a most unpleasant feeling. Separating off one of my Split Thoughts to mahat reflex, I turned away from the fallen knight and headed back towards the wind-wielder.

  With my own wind I shattered his vacuum bubble, before more focussed sers plunged into his body, inflig numerous deep wounds, blood scattering. “You know, if I just wao kill you two, this would be easy…” I pined, surprising myself. I guess I’m being desensitised to the sughter. Ugh, no, I o feel every death. I ’t shy away from doing what o be done, but if I ever get too numb to it, I’ll grow callous.

  “You bastard…” he thrashed and writhed in agony. “I’ll…”

  “You’ll what?” I asked, deg to extract his Divine Favour quickly, before the other oppo could get out of the crater. “Don’t fet you are the invader here…”

  “Fine.” He slumped to the ground. “You win. But don’t bme me, I had no choice. You don’t know what it’s like, feeling yourself beien away, at the mercy of a cruel monster…”

  “No, but I’ve heard from others. If you surrender, I’ll at least remove the…” I leapt to the side, Foehn fring, as the bone sword the man held was catapulted towards me with a massive bst of wind.

  “How did that…” I nded on top of him, my feet shattering his ribs, and he vomited blood, the burning sword crashing to the ground behind us. “… miss?” he finished, despo, eyes squeezed shut.

  “Because you just don’t have the skills.” I shook my head. “The ice wielder was far more talented. Besides, I’ve learo be less careless.” I said, my Eye sing him.

  “Have you?” he managed, face a mask of blood.

  “Yes.” I said, the ground exploding again, this time into a shower of hollow bullets shaped from the earth, propelled by wind and full of Foehn. Crystal shattered, fme scattering, and the armoured didate who rushed at me was thrown back, his defences once more shattering. This time, before it could reform, light pierced him, inflig deep burned holes in his flesh. “I have. I haven’t fotten I’m up against the two of you.”

  “Shit.” The man under my trampli spat. “How you be s?”

  “Hard work and a lot of luck.” I grinned sourly. “So, care to surrender?”

  “Surrender? Surrendering just means I get eaten.”

  “Well, I remove the risk of that.” I said, and he brightened.

  “If you do that, then I‘ll surrender.” He promised. I eyed him warily, befng back at the fallen armoured didate, who was rolling around in agony. Looks like I have time…

  With my Eye, I identified the areas of slime within his body, and it was again rgely clustered around the heart and chakras, as well as the Divine Favour. I started cutting it away, burning it to ashes, and the man groaned. Even so, his eyes widened as the corruption within him was excised. “You… you do it!” he muttered, still pained from the many wounds I had bsted into his body.

  “Yes, though…” as I was w on him, my Eye picked up a surge of wind element gathering within him. The man tio praise me greasily, even as he built up his energy. It dodn’t look like an attack, but even so, he wasn’t to be trusted. I tie the slime, though now mostly around his Divine Favour, leaving his chakra untouched. It was then an almost invisible surge of wind eleme him, and for a moment I ’t tell what had happened, before realising the wind wasn’t an attack, but merely revealing something.

  “Japanese dog!” the man ughed beh me, gurgling and spitting blood. “You think I’d keep my word to you? Vengea shall be ours! When you die, Japan will be enraged and war will surely follow…”

  I ignored his ramblings, panicked, as what had been revealed was my silver cord, running from me and into the distance. Wind was ging to it, shimmering, and the fallen didate had grabbed his enhanced bone bde and was staggering towards my cord, a few dozeres distant.

  “Feed the beast!” the bastard roared, bringing down the bde, only to cry out as Cutting Twilight pierced through his armour, space tearing. I had hurled it like a javelin, speeding it with wind energies, and the bde was shimmering with my newly-strengthened citrine fme energy. The bde had pierced his heart, fmes ing him, and he dropped to his knees, his own sword falling to the ground near my revealed silver cord. It shrank, the effect of his ability failing as he was dying, his armour shattering like gss. “You… I… don’t want to… be eaten...” were his st words, as the amber letters signifying I had gained a level scrolled ay vision, a surge of purple mist rising from the body and the bde, eating into it. The bde itself was still crawling towards my silver cord, so I grabbed it with air, pulling it away, ign the way it was drinking the energies in, before more Foehn bathed it, redug it to quivering ashes.

  Shit, the Divine Favour has crumbled, devoured. Another one lost… well, I couldn’t take any ces. Turning back to the stunned didate I had been w on, I shook my head. “Why? Didn’t you see the differeween us? There was no way that was going to work. Your Divine Favours aren’t a good matchup, and you don’t use them that well…” I gave up trying to save him, instead proteg his Favour by clearing the slime around it very carefully, using Chirurgery aher Healing to prevent as much damage to the structure as possible.

  “What would you know?” he spat at me. “I hate you. Almost as much as I hate those who betrayed us, and the beast that ensved us!” He gathered wind element, f the sail and horns again, only for me to easily shatter his efforts with my own attack, bdes of aether dragging through his work, doing noticeable damage to his heart chakra and the es to the Divine Favour, colpsing his ws, the horns and serpent dissipating, his whole body spasming, sending further cascades of wild elemental wind through his work, inflig terrible damage. It’s been a while since I‘ve seen that happen. That takes me back… I cracked a smile, remembering when Shaeu had tried to teach me wind element initially, and the damage it did to my chakras.

  “You think… this is funny?” the man howled, and I answered him holy, gently cutting away the ties that bound the Favour to him. The slime around his heart and was exuding purple energy, and he screamed, his body starting to erode, but the Divine Favour rotected by me, gradually slipping free, causing further injury to him.

  “Funny? There’s nothing funny about this.” I said. “Ironic? Surely. Pitiful. Definitely. You would have had to face your crimes, but I’d have prevented you being devoured. Instead, you broke your word and tried to kill me not once, but twice after surrendering. Now you have to reap what you’ve… ah, got it.”

  The man screamed curses at me as the damage of the forcible removal further ruined his body. He was clearly dying, his Astral body colpsing. Ign the racial slurs and other equally unfttering howls of the defeated loser, I examihe prize I had obtained.

  Fengbo’s Chimerids: Css: [Imperious] Type: [Principle]. This Divine Favour is made of trated adherence, refiher and ??????????. The Chimerids allow oo assume a form representing Fengbo, a god of the winds, and trol air and wind energies. Horns that disrupt, tail that binds, body that hides, breath that reveals, legs that leap, the winds of Fengbo offer many abilities to hunt the unworthy, for who escape the very winds themselves?

  “I see. Wind-based, huh?” That was iing, as breaking it down would likely push my wind abilities past the first bottleneck as well, but since I had actually mao get it out funally intact, it could be passed to someone else instead. It was tinually trig Adherence from me, a slow but steady drain, so I wouldn’t be able to wait too long to find a host for it. Well, there are other abilities I want more, but I hold onto this for now I guess. Luckily the woman Nie Ling was still within my grasp, assuming she hadn’t ran away, but she didn’t seem the sort for that. Casting a go the now-silent man, I could see he had died. I didn’t receive any levels, perhaps because he was too weak, or more likely… I stretched out a hand, and Foehn ed the withered husk and the slime leaking from the corpse.

  “All right then. Time to go. Awo down.”

  ********

  “Good to see you, Akio-san.” Saionji-saed me, exhaling wearily. “Thanks for your help earlier.”

  “You saw, huh?” I shrugged, as Yasaka-san brought me some tea. I quickly swigged it, feeling a little refreshed.

  “Of course, the passionate gaze of Avalokiteshvara sees all.” he said piously. “The wrathful gaze too, as.” He paused. “I did mao sy an enemy Chosen earlier, before we were forced back to Kinkaku-ji by weight of numbers. I’ve been using my blessing, despite your warnings…”

  I waved that away. “I said it was fine in life-or-death situations. And this certainly is that. Besides, I think just the presence of these ese didates and Cultivators is already damaging the Boundary. So anyway, you got ooo, huh?”

  “I expect you’ve doer.” He grinned slyly, and I nodded.

  “Well, I’ve been involved with six. Strength, Ice, Mirror Refle…” Yasaka-san shuddered at that, remembering the rather baleful description of her powers, which to be ho, didn’t do her justice. “… and the two outside, wind, and one we didn’t know about, some sort of summoned armour and on enha. They’re all dead now.” I sighed.

  “Well, you didn’t set out looking for violence, Akio-san, did you? You were merely defending our citizens. Wait, that’s only five, you said six.”

  I nodded, allowing him to e. “Yes, I also ran into one who could pull or send ordinary people to the Boundary…” I told him the story of Nie Ling, and at the end he was horrified.

  “So many i people dead. These bastards…” Saionji-san decred, enraged. “Death is too good for them, even if they were forced by this golden-eyed creature. Are you sure you should have let her go?”

  “No.” I admitted. “It’s a gamble, but a calcuted one. Her Divine Favour, I’d very much like to find someone patible, and taking it then and there was too risky.”

  “I ’t believe you remove and transpnt those abilities. I’d keep that a secret known only to a select few.” He warbled, and I agreed.

  “Yes, that’s the pn. Only the upper echelons of the Ministry, and those that receive the abilities, should know. The st thing we want is a worldwide hunt for didates. It’ll be bad enough without that, there’s still too mutive for us to prey on each other for strength…” It’s why I haven’t told you about taking Yamato-san’s favour, or that my sister has it now. Gu Vessel or not, I’ll not allow it to end up like a ‘there only be one’ situation. Too many people I care about would have to die.

  “So, what’s ? The area here seems stable, thanks to your aid.” Saionji-san mused.

  “ly. There’s one issue left…” I said, remembering that fat woman who scurried off deeper into the Territory. “I think a rat has crept in.”

  “Really?” Saionji-san asked, and I nodded, smiling at Yasaka-san.

  “So, time to get out the Book of Providence. I’d like to know how many of our enemies remain, anyway.” I gri his expression, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, after all this is sorted, you join me ba my Territory for more hard grinding. Maybe we’ll even have time for a trip to the nds of the Fae.”

  “Fine.” He sighed. “Let me ask…”

  ********

  “So, there’s already ten of them dead. The five you killed, the one I killed, and four others.” Saionji-san mused. “If you t out the girl who retreated after meeting you, that leaves twelve. We’re still on the back foot here.”

  I nodded. “Yes, but we also know that Haru-san’s Territory is currently safe, as is Tsukuyomi-jinja. It’s a shame some of them seem to be untraceable, and I’m worried by this Judge of Death… but fancy finding out our fat little rat has the ability to move items between the Boundary and the Material.” I found myself excited, g my fist. What could Ixitt do with access to that? It would advance our pns by weeks, maybe even months.

  “Right. But if she’s in here, where could she be? And what’s her objective?”

  “Well, if I had to guess, maybe she’s after your Anchor? Destroying that might give her the ce to steal your Favour, and even if it doesn’t, it’ll destroy the Territory. But aren’t your Defensive Empts triggering?” That had been br me. Kinkaku-ji was one of the stroerritories in Kyoto, and Saionji-san had not been x in prioritising defences, as I had seen briefly during my earlier e with the ese soldiers.

  “No, they haven’t been, it’s strange. Well, the Anchor is here…” he looked at the golden n behind us, shimmering with iridest energies. “… so if she es for it, then she’s done fht?”

  I agreed. “Yes. So, just what is she up to?” I looked at Yasaka-san again, who groaned.

  “Fine.” He wiped a little blood from his nose. “But I want a holiday after this.”

  “If I get that Divine Favour, I’ll make sure yiven enough rewards to enjoy a fantastic break.” I ughed. “Now, ask your book, where is this woman, and what the hell is she up to?”

  ShipTeaser