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Gaijin In Hell: Kyokenbyo Hanzai-sha lofi
(42) Hungry Eyes in the Forrests of Night 夜の森の飢えた目 Yonomori no ueta me

(42) Hungry Eyes in the Forrests of Night 夜の森の飢えた目 Yonomori no ueta me

Furyo hears a ghostly bell from a mountain top. As he surveys the place he sees buildings on fire and has a vision of the Tokyo firestorm. As multitudes of Hell Priests, Tenshin Tengu, Cannibal Giants, Akuma Boryokudan (Devil Clan) take on the Akuryō-kai (Ghost Clan), Possessed Men, Poisoners Guild… Furyo rushes up a path to the Yurei fire festival. In the foothills of Mt Fuji there is a secret time of the year when spirits hold their own memorial festival. This is when the monsters and spirits can mourn their own souls, sell services and regain some control. Furyo is shocked by the different races of Kami, Yokai and Spirit that are showing themselves.

Ghoulish sites of ritual suicide and execution litter the path. Shrill cries come from above the trees. Furyo races beside shrouded Shinto Priests with ghostly cadence set him in unease. He knows the Akuryō-kai Ghost Clan is deadly, but he doesn’t understand the mechanizations of rituals and curses… only that they exist. The Possessed Men stink of rot and open wounds, The Poison Clan are ninja that stick to the shadows. Something about the blazing line of torches climbing into the hills makes him pause to watch the horizon. In the darkness he sees golden unblinking eyes of The Vampire Clan among the treeline.

Furyo loses his cool and blows his relative cover, seizing and stabbing to death any one who makes eye contact and dashing up the path towards the festival. Ungodly screams of rage and deep bellows from evil throats fill the air. All chanting and music takes on a feverish intensity. Everywhere around him shrill flutes, war drums and jangling symbols crash. Something in the vibration in the air makes his eyes vibrate in their sockets, the air feel thin in his lungs and his legs worthless as they struggle to hold up with weight. Among the congregants more and more ghostly faces leer at him with hungry eyes and sallow complexions. Birds of prey squawk and dart at his head.

A the zenith of the mountain where an effigy of the sun goddess Amaratsu is being stabbed by swirling dancers in Oni masks. On the tops of temples and tori gates Furyo can see an army of Tenshin Tengu watch so silently and immobile they look like they are made of stone. Lines of angry priests of the Akuryō-kai Ghost Clan wildly swing swords as part of the ritual ceremony. Above the tumult of violence, Furyo sees his mother and grandmother sitting on a raised platform. Clearly they are the decision makers. With a long boney finger, both women point him out at the target for murder. All celebrants stop and only a subtle wind rings small bells ties to trees and shrines.

Like a tidal wave of darkness the entire festival comes towards him thirsting for blood. A single voice cries out above all others. Rooster is there, he has betrayed the Devil Clan. Standing aside smoking a cigarette, he just smirks and shrugs. Betrayal comes easy in the climb to power. Furyo takes no time to think and leaps forward with a punishing kick, that Rooster glances off with little effort… striking Furyo twice with mean punches as he dodges. Circling each other, Rooster begins to taunt him. “I knew you as soon as I met you, I used to live in San Fransisco… I bet you didn’t realize I was the same Rooster who betrayed your gang to the Golden Demon Triad.” A realization washes over Furyo, a story from when he was young about a missing girl who manifested as Asura a Goddess of rage and brought all the powers of hell down on the SF Chinatown underworld in the 80s.

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This pause to reminisce was all Rooster needed to plunge 2 sharp wounds into Furyo’s chest. Trying to catch his breath, he knows his lung is going to collapse. This is it, not the first time but he knows the tell tale signs of death. Feeling a delayed sting turn into a sharp ache. Muscles in his chest cramping, twisting and a hot flash of warm liquid filling his clothes. Turning his expensive silk underwear sticky and feeling like he has been running in a pond as his shoes fill with blood. Making his socks and pants cling to his skin like a whore in a wet dress. Furyo catches another strike at his neck and breaks Roosters wrist. Stepping into his danger zone in a quarter circle he catches Rooster in the solar plexus and under the chin. Taking Rooster to the threshold of a knockout and weaving his knee behind Rooster’s, twisting his body weight to break his stance. Rooster is on his back, wind knocked out and trying to look tough as Furyo stomps his skull flat.

Murmuring in the crowd has him worried, moving tentatively forward, the rivals seem unsure. Furyo is in no space to fight, but he mourns not bringing a gun. He could let off two quick shots and see what bullets do his mother and grandmothers ghosts. Furyo falls to his knees, seeing his hands now totally bright red with scarlet tears. As he awaits some coward to strike him while helpless with a killing blow, he sees the Tenshin Tengu have leaped down from the eves. A sound of rage and breaking skulls comes from the top of the path, the tori gate is knocked down as the Cannibal Giants and hundreds of his allies from the Devil Clan come running into battle. Sounds of war, sadism and suffering fill the night. Furyo sees the spirits of his Mother and Grandmother have come to deliver the killing blow themselves.

Cruel white eyes stare with unmasked hate. The two women who head the Ghost Clan have no remorse about what they came to do. Raising poisoned daggers and letting out horrible screams. Furyo feels a grace wash over him as a white light engulfs him where seconds before there were only ghostly shadows. Spirits of victims he saved, now Angels appear with the force of a war head, eviserating and disemboweling many of the creatures who seized in to strike him down. Feeling a bright light through his closes eye lids, he opens his eyes to see the spirit of Junko Furuta smiling at him. She was the most famous victim of the “Zombie Perverts” gang and she brought with her an Angelic host all the other good spirits Furyo has saved from spiritual paralysis from their bodies hidden and undiscovered. Furyo smiles up at her but can’t stop his lung from collapsing, seeming stoic but panicking inside.