The volley of water droplets tore into the packed ranks of the fiery spirits. Steam hissed, acrid and toxic, before the powerful Spirit Water teracted the taint and the struck creatures melted, fmes dimming and the ethereal bodies within boiling away. As they did so, for a moment the fragmented wisps of ether formed a faint silhouette of the beings within the fmes, and from the more humanoid ones I got a fleeting sense of gratitude, some faint fragmehoughts. I see. I remember Shaeu running into some enemies like these when she was in Kyoto, and it was from them she found out about mount Atago and the fme element there in the first pce…

  Even as I was sidering this I attacked without pause, the barrage of water bullets a staccato burst like a number of mae guns, tearing through the ranks. I was not alone, Haru’s bolts of light also striking home, though the effect wasn’t as she hoped. This is where my sis would be handy with her sunlight element, or even Ren-san…

  “Stay calm, during battle, a cool head and precise thinking is required.” Bell was saying to Motoko and Natsumi. As the ground around the burning wraiths bed and shrivelled, she nocked an arrow. “At a distance, we have the advantage. A true warrior, a Way-Warden, leverages every gain they get. After all, if we fall, then the Seelie Court is in danger.” Her arrow flew out, but the rge bear-like fme she struck merely shrugged it off. Motoko and Natsumi followed suit, but as their wind arrows made tact, it only scattered droplets of burning yellow and sooty red, before the pierced foes increased in size.

  “Don’t use air! It feeds fme.” I said urgently. “They aren’t corporeal, so they are a pain to fight. Luckily, Spirit Water is effective…”

  On hearing that, Daiyu gave me a slight smile. “I see. Then I shall be the vanguard. I o show my improvement, to the master of all.” She leapt forwards, her dark hair streaming behind her, and her water cws sliced apart a wolf-fme, before cutting down several small child-like creatures.

  “You heard that, huh? Now I feel a bit embarrassed.” Setting that aside, I took stock of the situation, never letting up on my barrage of water bullets. Though my supply is hardly inexhaustible. Fortunately ealy he barest trickle of Spirit Water to be effective… With most of my Split Thoughts trated here in the Boundary, since my iations ierial didn’t require extra processing power, I was able to maintain my effectiveness. “If these were more of those blue-skinned little shits this would be easy. Then, spirits have always given us trouble…”

  “That’s prejudice.” Haru-san said, sniffing, and I turned my head, surprised, only to see a small smile bloom on her face after a moment. Realising she was teasing me, I sighed, and she ughed. “Don’t mind me, Akio-san. As a ghost, I’m allowed to be mean to hosts, but you ’t. Dead rivilege!” she unleashed more light beams, her foarrowing, and this time the struck creature of fme disied. “I thought so.” She muttered. “Light is dangerous to those like me. It just he proper adjustments…” her face screwed up momentarily, her expression grim. “They sure are noisy though. A stant babble of thoughts aions. Most of them hateful and vile. But… we should y them to rest. It would be simple mercy.”

  “I thought the bugs were bad… I hate this more!” Kana cried, but she was still thinking of how to act, despite her face beihly pale. “My vision… they burn with a rainbow of abnormality, but the colours are all dark and tainted, like they are covered in muck. It’s ing. Stay away!” The ground began to draw in the spirits, liquefied earth and rock sug them down. Unfortunately it was a stopgap at best, as they began to ighe flowing mud, and foul steam was rising.

  “Many thanks to you.” Daiyu called, taking advantage of the brief moment where the spirits were helpless. Her clothing was starting to smoke and burn, her skin likewise bing before healing instantly, dead fkes peeing off to reveal pink skin underh, before that too started to burn. She winced, her eyes narrowing, before the water-element cws disied, f up again into a long, thin bde. With her extra reach she sshed apart numerous foes, scattering them iher.

  “She’s certainly a natural genius.” I muttered, tinuing te our eurning to Motoko, Natsumi and Bell, I had an idea. “Give me your arrows.”

  Wordlessly, they handed over their quivers, and I jured water element, dousing the arrowheads in the purifying liquid. “This should make you effective. I’d do your swords too, but getting close to them isn’t something I’d reend…”

  Motoko that, seeing the stant trickle of damage Daiyu was taking from proximity alone. “Yes, we should choose the most appropriate as, as Belera has indicated.” She paused for a moment, before chiding me gently, something she rarely did. “And you should not merely bel Daiyu a genius. That dismisses the hard work she has put in her whole life, since she was a child. I respect her deeply as a senior in the bat arts.”

  As Kana burst out ughing, her disgust momentarily fotten, I shrugged. “You certainly told me there. I get it. She’s definitely a hard worker. But… hard workers be geoo. She’s the best of both worlds. Now…” I turo Kana. “… your turn.” I created a rge ball of water with one hand while my other tio fire into the crowd of bzing spirits. “I’ll ihis into your mud…”

  “I get it…” Kana said, while behind us, Bell and the two girls were lining up their arrows.

  “Remember, the arrowhead is wet and has extra weight, so that o be taken into at…” Bell’s arrot free, and this time the perfectly pced shot to the head of a bzi felled it, the Spirit Water burning like purifying acid. Natsumi pumped her fist as her own arrow took down a bzing wolf, while Motoko smiled elegantly, reag for another soaked arrow as her own shaft stuck deep.

  “Here we go then…” Kana said, the now sodden mud turning into a sea of sharp spikes, rushing into the mob, breaking them apart.

  “I’m not cut out for this…” Yasaka-san said, addressing Prince Shōtoku, atg the raging battle calmly. The numbers of our enemy were signifit, and more were ing out of the trees and down from mount Atago, but overall we were making steady inroads. “… though it is a bit shameful letting a bunch of young girls fight for me.”

  “Women are just as capable as men.” The Prince replied. “Tsukiko-sama is proof of that. And many kami and powerful Yōkai are female.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep our male dignity intact.” I ughed. Haru-san shook her head at that, more light p down, like a luminous rairoying a swathe of the attag creatures.

  “The only problem is, I’m burning water element keeping everyone else fighting…” I tinued. I could probably unleash one huge attad clear the area, but that would give the majority of the gains to me. While the danger is manageable it’s better to let everyone else shine… Drawing St Moonlight, I drehe bde, but that didn’t seem to be enough. I have an idea… usiher I chilled the metal, until the Spirit Water froze, f a yer of ice, shimmering white, blue, pink and e oal. “Daiyu, I’m ing to support you!” I called to her, and she gestured with her free hand, not looking away from her bzing oppo, steps graceful as she darted in, dispatg it with a ssh of her slowly evaporating water bde.

  “All right then.” I decred, my oppo some sort of bzing mountain lion, which leapt at me, eyes burning bck pits of anguish and hatred. “Go to your rest!” My steps were the footwork of Tsumura Arts, and keeping my bance perfect, while my body was in a position to effortlessly shift in any dire, I pivoted, the icy sword pierced the head of the lion, and it fell in two halves, the ice disiing it. For a moment the bck fmes in the eyes died down, and I thought I could see gratitude, before it was goher scattering.

  More fming humanoids rushed at me, and I quickly began to hack them down, my speed a number of times greater than my oppos. The enemy ranks were thinning more and more under mine and Daiyu’s attacks, while arrows from the girls were taking out a number more. Kana was using her soaked mud to prowl the perimeter, sug in groups of ining enemies and rendering them helpless as they melted away, and Haru-san, perhaps sympathising with the tormented spirts, utting out great efforts, surrounded by a shimmering halo of indigo and gold, looking almost as if she was Kannon herself, brilliant rains of light falling over the area, purging the fming enemies.

  “At least it’s good to have no moral dilemmas here.” I said, losing myself in the flow of battle. A burning wolf leapt at me, but I spun effortlessly, bde arg down, hag it apart. I then charged, and three humanoid fme-beasts perished, steam rising, and while I wasn’t Haru-san and didn’t have her gifts I was sure that I could feel their joy at being released. “This battle is definitely a just one. We put them to rest and gain some experiend ether for doing so.” If only everything was so clear-cut…

  As the fighting tinued, we quickly gaihe upper hand. I extended my senses with aether, the strain harder to due the two sensory streams running in different temporal els, and noticed that the creatures were still gregating to attack us, ing out of cracks in the mountain, albeit at a far slower rate that previously.

  “Keep going. We’ve got this!” I promised, and as we tio cut down the burning, cursed spirits, Daiyu turo me, eyes wide, shouting for us to retreat. At the same moment I noticed what she had, and called out urgently “ Na, barriers around us all. Now!”

  As the woman, who had been stood waiting dully while we fought, urgently called on her barriers, a dome springing up, c us all, trapping a few fiery spirits ih us, which we quickly moved to dispatch, the skies above, their usual silvery un-light overshadowed by the burning of the fmes on mount Atago, were blotted out, and a hissing sound filled the air. The barrier trembled, dull impacts boung off as arrows made from some bck stone, perhaps obsidian, scattered against it, trails e energies like miniature ets left behind, only to fade. Other arrows fell into the remaining damned spirits outside the energy shield, which started to break apart, perf much as our Spirit Water and light attacks had done.

  “You see them?” Daiyu said as she dispatched the st of the burning creatures. “My Qi sensing picked them up. From above.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, as everyone crowded around us, looking nervous. “I don’t normally extend my vision upwards, but since we are by a mountain I did so. Guess that’s an ht I’ll have to put right in future.” I turo Prince Shōtoku. “I’m guessing they are the Tengu of mount Atago then?”

  Arrows tio fall, the flow sing, but more were still striking Na’s barrier. Overhead several score humanoids flew, their wings covered ihers like a crow’s, usually bck, though brown, dark blue and eveh white feathers were seen. The white-winged one was wearing long bck robes with e detailing, and uhe others, whose faces were obscured by ornate helmets or long hoods, this one’s face was bare, and it wore a long-nosed crimson mask, the eyes peering out of the slits a deep yellow.

  “It seems so. Judging by the bd e robes…” the Prince began calmly. “… it is one of the Onmyōji of mount Atago.”

  “How you be so calm?” Kana asked, sneaking close to me. “We’re trapped in here. If they fly, I ’t do anything about them…”

  “There’s o worry.” I reassured her, stroking her hair, which calmed her down. “We knew we’d e across them sooner or ter. And if worst es to the worst, I’m fident I hold them off by myself while you all flee back to Haru-san’s Territory, it’s only a few hundred metres away.”

  As I said that, the robed Tengu began an intonation. “Genbu, Lord of Winter, Master of Water, He Who Heralds Winter… I call upon the deep bck o. Purge the unholy spirts and bring peace more to the sacred mountaihe cold stillness of winter and bck waters reign once again.” The other Tengu had formed up around the robed one in the air, every position seemingly important, aher surged.

  “Bck Water Purification: Sanzu-no-Kawa!” it cried, my eyes pig out some sort of talisman in its hand, which shattered in a surge e light.

  “Not good…” I muttered, feeling the power in it. “That’s going to hurt…” I immediately reinforced Na’s barriers with ones of stohat blocked our view, except for mine, my Eye still able to peer through and observe. A tide of water from the sky, and as it washed away the damned spirits they vanished, first freezing solid, before dissolving into mist and dispersing. The barrier trembled, water smming against it, and ice was creeping up it, putting heavy pressure on Na, who was grimag.

  “It’s all right, I think you hold.” I said, watg carefully. The ice was slowing, c half of the dome, and the circle of Tengu above broke up, many of them reag for their bows again. Arrows began to fall once more, but while they were powerful, Na was able to fend them off.

  “So what should we do?” Bell asked. “Being pinned down is the worst of pces to be, but we have options. The best way to win a battle is not to o fight at all. These are not the Unseelie, so…”

  “The Tengu are territorial and fierce but be reasoned with.” The Prince agreed. “The is of course how we are to open dialogue. Their arroowerful, and their Onmyōji Arts likewise. White wings are also rare and cherished, symbolising great spiritual powers. If you harm such a one, any ce of peaceful tact is forfeited.”

  “Fortunately we have a little time, although…” the bck robed Tengu was holding aalisman, the paper covered in a-looking characters. “… Na, you hold up? Good job so far, by the way.”

  She nodded, mopping at her steaming brow. “I … but not indefinitely. The ice, it is gnawing at my power, I feel it, trying to force it to stillness.”

  “I’ll do something about that.” I promised. Dismissing the wall of earth and stone I had used to reinforce the barrier, I asked Na to make a quick breach.

  “Are you sure?” Kana asked me, and I nodded.

  “Like I said, it’s fine. Worst case, if I give the signal, Na switches to bubble barriers on you all and you retreat. I’ll join you when you’re safe. But…” I looked up. “… I don’t want to abandon what we came for without trying.”

  “He will be fine.” Haru-san said. “Do it, Na-san.”

  “I shall join you…” Prince Shōtoku decred, and as we looked at him in surprise he waved his staff to emphasise his point. “You are currently the Chosen of Tsukuyomi, the heir to Tsukiko-sama, and oversee her rest. As a kami of Tsukuyomi-jinja, I must see this through. Besides…” he smiled benevolently. “…if you wish to iate with Tarōbō, even though he has disdain for us other kami of Kyoto, he will at least do me the courtesy of not killi of hand.” He paused, looking up through the barrier at the flock of Tengu, who were preparing atack. “… at least I believe such to be the case.”

  “Fine. Na, put a bubble around him. If we’re relying on the Prio attack, we’re screwed, so might as well make sure he’s properly defended. I owe Tsukiko-san that much.” There were giggles at that, and a bubble of shimmering energy formed around him. “All right then…” I tinued, grasping the protected Prih aether. “Now!”

  The shield dimmed, a seomentarily disappearing, and then we were through. It sealed up behind us and I released the breath I was holding, as well as the bubble of force shrouding the Prince. Looking up, I called out. “Hold on a minute. We aren’t enemies! We’ve e to talk!”

  A few arrows came my way, obsidian heads shining with water energies, but I quickly batted them aside harmlessly. Going to take a lot more than that now to wound me…

  “Noble Onmyōji of pure white wings…” Prince Shōtoku said solemnly, which gave it pause for a moment, the yellow eyes uhe mask swivelling to gaze at him. “We mean no harm or disrespect. sider this an emissary to the arōbō. There is no need for battle between us. Not when the foot of the sacred mountain crawls with poor, tormented spirits.”

  “Shōtoku…” the Tengu spoke, voice muffled behind the long-nosed crimson mask. “… this is not your pce. Mount Atago belongs to the Tengu, we have guarded the sacred fme of the spirits for many long years. Be it the Hyakki Yagyō, mortal interlopers or kami, we will not yield!” the Tengu paused, head tilted, and seemed to be sidering something. “Is this o, surely not. The growing rift, the pollution of the fme, the growing number and strength of damned ones… is this your ploy, Shōtoku? Have you kami worked some dark art? Is that why Kyoto, the border between here and…” it trailed off, thinking hard, before reag a decision.

  “I have no idea what you are referring to. I am simply here to escort…” he began, troubled, but with talisman in hand the Tengu started ting.

  “Looks like things have gone south.” I sighed. “Prince, get bato cover and…”

  “No, they are b under some misapprehension, surely.” He said solemnly. “We o rea accord, where we talk freely. But… if you kill any of the Tengu, Tarōbō will be furious. you subdue such a host?”

  “With all of you under cover? I think so…” I said, and he nodded.

  “Then good fortuo you, and may Tsukuyomi watch over your as kindly…”

  As he retreated, the t up above finished. “Bck Water Purification: Sanzu-no-Kawa!”

  Aether and water element surged in the air as the ritual formation maghe effects of the talisman. A torrent of bck water poured down towards me, already freezing around the edges, and I found I was grinning. This is what I o clear my head. No killing, just… good ho battle. Wait, am I a battle junkie now? That ’t be right…

  That thought taking a mere moment, I gathered Foehn, the bzing energy shimmering around me. “I’ve already seen that one…” I shouted, and Foehn roared, fme meeting water and ice, exploding into a massive cloud of steam, shockwave driving me a few steps backwards. There was a squawk of pain, and several Tengu tumbled from the sky, stunned.

  Nope, not happening… I elled earth element, mimig Kana’s earlier efforts, and gloopy mud exploded upwards, arresting their falls. They still nded rather painfully, but they would live, though their armour ahers were choked in sticky mud as they thrashed about, enraged.

  “You dare?” the white-wiengu cried. “This is our nd! We know of Kyoto, and the mortals who have e pguing it. That is none of our , but…” the long nose poio Na’s barrier. “Are they in there? I smell humans…”

  I don’t t anymore, huh? I’m kind of hurt… “We’re hardly pguing it… damn it, at least st to turo a pincushion while we’re talking.” I cursed, dodging a rain of arrows, wind element knog them aside. “I haven’t used this one in a while, but…” for a brief moment I thought of Shaeu as I elled a great gale of wind energy above me. “Jupiter Desding!”

  The Tengu were pushed out of their formation and were struggling to use their bows in the gale, and a half dozehrown off bance, crashing towards the ground. “This is a casualty-free zone.” I stamped my foot, and the ground turo a sea of liquid mud, ruby energies draining from me. Their ndings were painful and i, dirt spshing everywhere, but they would survive.

  “Such troubles. I must not falter here!” the Tengu pulled out a different talisman, this oh characters in crimson ink. “Suzaku, Lord of Summer, Master of Fme, He Whs Forth Summer…” the remaining Tengu tried to position themselves into another formation, a different one, and I could see they were holdiones, rocks, bells, cups and more. Huh, is that some sort of weird Feng Shui?

  “… I call on the bright fme of the summer sun, ie these unworthy invaders, aurn peace to this sacred mountain, where your fme burernally. Endless Fire Festival! Hi-matsuri!”

  At that moment, the yellow eyes behind the mask narrowed, and a ring of deep darkness appeared behind me, ringed with a penumbra of brilliant, purple-golden light. “Prominence Dusk!”

  The fmes that poured down from the disiing talisman bathed me, but were drawn into the rotating ring at my back. Inky fmes sprang up, and I grinned. “I like festivals. How about you invite me to oher than attag!”

  “Is that a halo? Are you a kami of the Six Paths….” The Tengu said, stunned, as a rge portion of the fmes were returowards it, the dark, flickering fires menag. “… Tarōbō, I fear I have failed, the invaders will…” its words trailed off as the fire shot past, a series of perfectly pced bsts missing it and all the other Tengu, a feat that was clearly intended. It blinked in surprise, only to be struck from behind by my renewed Jupiter Desding. It was clever to use fme to ter my wind, but… I win.

  The Tengu filed, feathers scattering like a white blizzard. Others dived towards it, hands outstretched, only to falter as I wove beams of light into their paths. Jumping, I grabbed the white-wiengu by the throat and smmed it to the ground, as it let out a shrill cry. My foot was on the back of its neck, and I pointed down St Moonlight, the edge keen and toug the flesh of the Tengu below me, robe parting and flesh below leaking a little bead of blood. As the Tengu froze, I shook my head. “All right. I think it’s time we all calmed down and lowered our ons, don’t you? This flict doesn’t be anyone.”

  Below my boot, the Tengu quivered, more blood beading on its flesh. “Very well. We … we verse!” The Tengu agreed. “Let there be no more viole will only draw the damned…”

  “I think matters are resolved. e aend to the wounded.” I said to the group sheltering uhe barrier, and as the remaining Tengu fpped down to help their mired rades, the barrier dropped. Prince Shōtoku strolled over, looking at the pitiful Tengu under my boot, and sighed.

  “Akio-sama, please do let this pitiful one up. It is a great disgrace for a Tengu to be grounded so, sihey are rulers of the skies and the high mountaintops. I uand yer, but…”

  “I’m not angry.” I said, surprising everyone. “We did e uninvited. Yes, if they were ing knog on my Territory door, I wouldn’t go out all guns bzing, I’d ask questions first, dis their iions… but I’d certainly be cautious.”

  The white-wiengu seemed surprised. “Yes, that is only reasohe world is more dangerous thahere was some great event in Kyoto retly, the Boundary has been damaged greatly. This angered great Tarōbō and might perhaps be why…” it trailed off meaningfully.

  Oho, is that it? “The damned you said? A growing rift, pollution of the fme…” I repeated its words from earlier.

  “You have annoyingly good ears…” it muttered, but as I removed my foot and sword, it got to its feet, brushing itself down. Mud was staining the bck robe, and the wings were in a bit of a sorry state, missihers and caked in dirt, and the nose on the mask was bent, but other than that, it was unharmed. Looking around us at the ed aroyed battlefield, little tongues of Foehn still burning fitfully, it sighed. “But you are n. Such a shock must be the reason we are fag camity, and that is why you kami, the Hyakki Yagyō and these new humans who have taken power that does not belong to them are to bme!”

  “That’s wrong!” Haru-san said, as she emerged from safety. The Tengu scowled at her, eyes narrowed.

  “What would an evil spirit such as you know, Onryo?”

  Haru-san flinched. “Why is everyone being prejudiced against me today?” she said after a moment, trying t off the insult, and I growled menagly.

  “Don’t test my patieengu. Haru-san has been through a lot, so don’t mock or dismiss her. Besides, she was there. When a monster of incredible hunger and evil attacked. We beat if off, hurt it… but the damage to the Boundary is what you see. And it’ll be back. That’s ohing we wao discuss with Tarōbō.”

  “It indeed is a fearful being.” Prince Shōtoku agreed. “Not of this world, yet somehow it has found its way here. Were it not for the as of many, Kyoto would have beeroyed. Mount Atago would not have remained safe were the rest of us to fall.”

  “I see. I would like to believe you, but…” the Tengu let out a muffled sigh, the others around us, their faces hidden behind hoods and helms, still radiating visible uh their body nguage.

  “Look, nobody died, and those fming creatures were defeated.” I said reasonably. “We came here to iate with the Tengu of the mountain, and here you are. We might not have had a great first tact, but it’s true that we didn’t e here to fight.” Not the Tengu, at least. “So, cut the insults, a’s get down to business.”

  The Tengu paused for a moment, yellow eyes staring into mine, before nodding, a ical look with the bent-nosed and muddy mask. “Very well. This is a decision I ake myself. Great Tarōbō will likely be angry with me, but… I shall have to bear his fury without pint.”

  Great, seems like we are getting somewhere at st. Even so, there’s potential danger… seeing my meaningful g the girls, the Tengu shrugged, threadbare wings boung.

  “Do not be insulting. If I give permission for you to ehe sacred mountain Atago, then so long as you do no harm, no harm shall befall you. Our hospitality shall be bountiful, the sake shall flow. And your timing is auspicious. We are to hold a great festival, in the hopes of purifying the fme once more… that is ere hunting these doomed, cursed spirits, when we came upon yht on our borders.”

  “I see. A festival, huh?” Guess my earlier joke was right on the mark. As the girls expressed their desire to apany me, I weighed it up. Prince Shōtoku nodded, so I decided to take him at his word. I don’t want to deny them the opportunity to see something wonderful aic, but… I’ll have to be sure I keep them safe from danger… “All right then. Lead on.” My gaze drifted up the massive mountain, to the burning glow at the summit. A sacred fme of the spirits, huh? It does make me wonder…

  ShipTeaser