Furyo awakes to being alone in his car, the windows down and (ミスター·ゴースト·ランタン) Mr Ghost Lantern screaming they are sinking. They aren’t. The ferry dumped them on the beach and the tide has come in, all 2 feet of it. Enough to stall in the engine and trap the tires in half a foot of water logged sand under small waves coming in through open windows to send a chill down his spine. Furyo feels no panic. He is relieved to be free some endless cycles of panic dreams that fill his sleep with dread. The car is fucked, at least for now. Unless some act of god or benevolent giants changes it. He climbs out the window and is careful to keep Mr Ghost Lantern from getting wet, as one wave would be the end of his 300 year journey. The island is bright and sunny. No evil spirits or ghostly processions of phantoms frequent the bright sunny day here. Just as he enjoys the view of Rikki and Machiko dancing nude, frolicking in the waves. He feels all his optimism leave as a horrible face rises beside him. Its skin falling off, turning from something vaguely human to a creature that seems more like a catfish or lion with rotting flesh.
He is surrounded by Giants rising from the water as if portals to hell allowed 15 foot ogres to hide in 18 inches of water. Furyo refuses to show fear as he sees the stubby horns and tusk-like teeth on hungry faces of brutes 3 times human scale. They wear skin of jaguars and other spotted cats, tiger skin and wear human heads as jewelry. They carry iron clubs, barbed whips and strange Hindu looking pitch forks like ones held by Shiva and Vishnu. Their eyes are hellish shades of fire, with corneas like stalking beasts. He remembers at least in theory these are his allies. He attempts to greet the Cannibal Giants and only enrages them. Machiko runs over to explain they hate the English language and its best to let her translate. As Furyo feels dressed down he puts on the Oni Mask of the Master and all the howling in rage ends. The Cannibal Giants bow deeply and attach a chain to the car to haul it out of the on coming tide. The Cannibal Giant’s vanguard say, (ようこそ、仲間の悪魔、私たちはこの哀れな人間の死にかけの肉の衣装の下にあなたの地獄のようなオーラを見ていませんでした。あなたを私たちの神々に会わせられることを光栄に思います。) “Yōkoso, nakama no akuma, watashitachiha kono awarena ningen no shinikake no niku no ishō no shita ni anata no jigoku no yōna ōra o mite imasendeshita. Anata o watashitachi no kamigami ni awa se rareru koto o kōei ni omoimasu.” Machiko translates. “Welcome fellow demon, we did not see your hellish aura under this pitiful human costume of dying flesh. We are honored to bring you to meet our Gods!”
Furyo and Mr Ghost Lantern are guided to a kings litter where the Giants women who are not dissimilar than human women wait with offerings of hot soup and fresh bread. The women being only 8 feet tall and with out the horrible faces or severed heads, they walk around totally nude, displaying their strange purple, blue and yellow patterned skin. From the sides of the litter glowing eyed blue apes and fire breathing basilisk run beside them in the shadows. Half human half peacock women with bountiful breasts and golden Balinese crowns frolic beside their chariot, carried by (キジムナ) Kijimuna, translucent forrest guardians. The island is tropical, far more primitive than mainland Japan, but preserving the ancient Buddhist aesthetic of temples and shrines beside the roads. Furyo watches the sky as horrific and beautiful creatures swoon in complex aerial displays of strength and lust, military formations and mating songs. The trees here have nothing similar in the human world, species lost to time grow tall enough to hold whole cemeteries of odd shapes who became like stone over millennia.
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Starving men in cages howl for water as Furyo glimpses of barbarous acts dot the countryside as cages filled with bones, impaled corpses and crucified evangelists are used as lamp posts in the deep forrest and stark cliffs. Dark Soul of Violence, Captain of the Cannibal Warlords says. (これは悪賢い二重売人を処分する荒廃の道です。悪魔の国での誓いを守るのが賢明でしょう。私たちには長い記憶があり、人類が存在しているのは、私たちが王を殺し、女性を食べることにうんざりしたからにすぎません。) “Kore wa warugashikoi nijū bainin o jobunsuru kōhai no michidesu. Akuma no kuni de no chikai o mamoru no ga kenmeideshou. Watashitachi ni wa nagai kioku ga ari, jinrui ga sonzai shite iru no wa, watashitachi ga ō o koroshi, josei o taberu koto ni unzari shitakara ni sugimasen.” Machiko translates… “This is the road of desolation, where we dispose of the unwise and double dealers. You would be wise to honor your vows among the land of demons. We have long memories and humankind only exists because we have tired of killing your kings and eating your women.” Furyo kind of jumped at the Cannibal Giants voice, it was like being beaten with a molten chain while walking across permafrost barefoot. The sound alone made his balls shrink and recede in retreat. He actually felt like this place made his eyeballs shiver. Involuntary spasms bringing more horror and otherworldly questioning of this all being some fever dream while he dies in a burning car.
Seeing his destination, a massive pagoda on a high mountain in the clouds. Furyo feels like he is in a fantasy video game, almost hearing the 8 bit theme music of his childhood Nintendo games. Every where giants pass going down the trail, holding elephants and massive fish on skewers. He sees roadside venders seeing fabulous kimonos, fruit spears and rare stones. Every time they stop, Furyo is bombarded with gifts from merchants and shy looks from venders comely giant daughters. Furyo wonders the physical nature of pleasing an 8 foot tall woman, using his whole arm or leg. This seems funny to him but he sees some of the Giant women look more human, varying in size with a feminine vibe despite being full of demon blood and a cannibal diet. Maybe he should sample some of the earthy enjoyments of this fabled land? Still as he oogles their women the smell of cooking human flesh and skinned corpses of human beings are every where in full display, being fed on by children and goatish half human creatures that defy description.
Coming to the domain of the rulers, he is happy to think food and drink await him in the Hall of the Mountain King. The pagoda is amazing, likely 900 feet tall and covered everywhere in gold and bronze statues of their great rulers. The Giant language is horrible, sounding only like deep baritone grunts, shrieks, howls and hisses. In this land of fabled beasts he sees peacock women, fu dogs and bird women working on daily tasks like sweeping, washing stone floors and drying dyed silks. Furyo thinks this place reminds him not of Japan, but more of National Geographic spreads on Thailand, India and Tibet. Some more ancient forms of design and dress than what he has found in modern Japan. Maybe this is the lost city of Shangri-la or Lemuria? Just as they arrive a massive gong rings in the distance and drums welcome their presence in the lost city. Doors 60 feet tall open showing a brilliant golden interior beyond, where smiling faces and bowing Chimera greet their procession inside.