It took Renauld and me a surprisingly long time to get Kazuma stabilized. The man was so brutalized that we had to actually resort to field surgery on his abdomen to remove the bone shards impeding my Gnoll friend’s healing spells. Such a thing was dangerous at the best of times, but doubly so in the incredibly unclean environs of a jungle.
While Renauld had Surgery as one of his Professions, he had to channel a specialized field surgery Spell that helped sterilize our impromptu surgery theater.
Our tent.
Seeing that we would be here for a while, Venix had made the call to set up our campsite for the day so we could better treat the opposing samurai. Once we’d moved him inside, Renauld had to maintain his concentration on his spell, while I got to work on the actual surgery with Aetherial Melding.
By that time, Tarus had set beyond the horizon, and Elys had risen to take his place. We only managed to ensure Kazuma’s life when her gentle white light was filtering in through the slits of the tent.
By that point, Renauld and I were so tired that we barely had enough energy to inform our companions about our success before passing out on cots next to our patient. I remember being told they would watch the man while we rested from our hours-long ordeal.
That was all I heard before the world sank into darkness around me.
………………………….
Thankfully, Kazuma survived the night. Not that I think either Renauld or I were worried about the possibility. I don’t know about him, but I trusted the others to wake one of us if the man was in danger of fading.
Upon awakening, I discovered that the rest of my party hadn’t taken the chance to rest. They had instead decided to keep watch over not only Kazuma, but our surroundings as well.
As Venix told me over our breakfast, while the Solstice’s Flame guys were presumed to have triumphed over the Oni they fought, the fighting may have attracted more of them. Thankfully, no further giants wandered up during the night, but the possibility had existed. The only report they had was of curious feline eyes watching from the treeline.
Once Renauld and I got some food into us, we decided it was time to wake Kazuma up and ask him what the hell had happened. The man was stable, but the last thing we had done before passing out was put him into an induced coma.
Apparently, that was another Spell in the broad repertoire of the Healing School of Magic. Renauld was a good student, it seemed.
Azarus stayed out of the tent to keep watch while the rest of us filtered inside to wake Kazuma from his ‘sleep’. Bella and Venix kept back while Renauld and I knelt at the Kawamaran man’s side. I didn’t know the Spell to wake him, even though I was technically capable of it now. My Gnollish friend spared a nod at the rest of us and then held out his hand over the resting figure of the man. After a moment of concentration on his part, it began to glow a soft pink in color.
The reaction was immediate.
Kazuma’s eyes snapped open and darted around the tent. He tensed as they took in the occupants.
Namely, us.
I don’t know how strong the samurai was, or if he had activated some kind of physical enhancement Skill. But he obviously felt threatened, because he tried to jump off the bed and escape. I don’t know where to, and honestly, I don’t think he did either.
Because tried was the operative word here.
Before any of us could even blink, Venix was there. His upper right arm slammed down on the chest of Kazuma, knocking him back down on his back. The Antium man held him there, effortlessly, as his captive scrabbled frantically at the chitinous limb holding him down. Kazuma only stilled when Bella’s cutlass came to rest on his throat.
“Hey,” Renauld said irritably, breaking the tense silence. Unafraid, he used one finger to move the blade at Kazuma’s throat away. “Be careful, yeah? I spent like six hours yesterday patching this guy up. I don’t need him bleeding all over the place again.”
Bella rolled her eyes but complied and sheathed her blade. She backed up a bit, but still kept her eyes trained on the immobile man with arms crossed.
Meanwhile, Renauld had turned to Venix and laid one hand on top of his massive shoulders. The Gnoll had to stretch up a bit in order to reach them, even with the Antium hunched over as he was. “You guys really need to work on your bedside manner. You can let go of him, big guy. Our friend here isn’t going to try and run again. Right?”
Under Renaulds's prompting stare, Kazuma’s eyes flickered around the tent again. He nodded slowly. “I will not,” He said, in a rough voice.
Hearing it, I picked up the pitcher of water we had bought for this expedition. It had an Enchantment Disc of Water attached to the bottom of it, so we could have fresh water at all times. As Venix slowly lifted his massive hand from the other samurai’s chest and said samurai slowly sat up, I poured a glass of water. Once Kazuma was upright, I walked back over to the cot and held it out for him wordlessly. I suppressed the surge of irritation I felt at the wary look he fixed the glass with.
Look, man.
If I was going to kill you, it wouldn’t be with poison. And certainly not after spending hours putting you back together.
Thankfully, the man had the good sense to take the glass. He gulped it down greedily, and then let out a relieved sigh once the cup had been emptied. He carefully set it down once he was done, and then eyed all of us standing around the cot he was sitting on. “You…” He said slowly. “You are those Eclipsed Dawn people, are you not?”
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“Not,” I said shortly, causing his eyebrows to furrow at me. I sighed wearily. “We explained this to you already. None of us are officially members of the Order of the Eclipsed Dawn anymore. Not after the war. We’re just here on personal business. I’m…guessing that your officers didn’t believe us?”
“No,” Kazuma said quietly, setting down his glass. He braced his hands on the floor and tried to stand up, but despite the healing he had been subjected to, he still seemed weak. The man needed Renauld’s help to stand up, and he made sure to nod in thanks to the Gnoll for the assistance. “They did not. And they’re not my officers. I am not a member of the Order of Solstice’s Flame. It seems we are both unaligned.”
“Then why were you accompanying them, Kazuma Higanashi?” Venix finally spoke up. For some reason, the tone of his voice almost seemed…softer.
The samurai must have noticed, because he looked at the Antium quizzically for a moment. “I…suppose you people deserve an explanation, as thanks for saving my life,” He said slowly. Kazuma took a deep breath and nodded sharply. “I am here to restore the honor of my clan. I was...approached by Grandmaster Shacklock and his forces to act as an attache here on Goryuen, because of my family’s…history, with the island. They hoped that I would be able to assist them in their quest to truly vanquish the dread wyrm, once and for all. Then, and only then, could my family be forgiven in the eyes of the court.”
“Your family?” I asked, exchanging a glance with Renauld. “It has a history with this place?”
A small, humorless, bitter smile crossed the lips of the man then. “Yes, you could say that. Our only hopes lie here now.”
Venix slowly shook his head. “The court is mistaken,” He said strongly. “If the Higanashi clan yet lives, then it bears no legitimate fault for anything that transpired on this island.”
That just confused Kazuma even further. “Who…are you?”
At that question, Venix was halted in his tracks. For a moment, he almost looked…lost, scared at the attention that Kazuma was directing towards him.
I stepped in, literally, between the two men. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, drawing their attention. “Higanashi, what happened here? If you’re supposed to be an attache to the Solstice’s Flame, then why did they leave you behind after the battle that seemed to happen here?”
A stormcloud of frustration, anger, and hurt rolled over the man’s face then. “Betrayal, that is what happened,” He said darkly, and then abruptly shook his head. “May we continue this outside? Fresh air would do me good.”
We acquiesced, and as a group, approached the exit of the tent. I heard the rapid shuffling of mailed feet moving away from the flaps as we approached them, and when we all stepped into the sweltering sunlight, I found Azarus standing a conspicuously short distance away from us. The dwarf was deliberately not looking our way, staring faux seriously into the jungle.
I just shook my head at his antics and sat down on one of the logs around our campfire. Once seated, the Kawamaran samurai continued his explanation.
“With this treachery, I am honor bound to consider my contract with the Order null and void,” Kazuma said, a note of regret and grief in his voice. “So I shall share with you their plans, and my part in them. Shacklock…is dying.”
That made me sit up in surprise. Hell, I wasn’t the only one. Liora in particularly nearly jumped in her seat at the news.
It was Azarus who voiced our collective question, wandering up and no longer pretending he hadn’t been listening in. “The hell could kill an old monster like that?”
Kazuma snorted. “Just that. Age itself is what has undone the Madman.”
Liora breathed in sharply. “I see. It’s Core Collapse. Shacklock is undergoing Core Collapse, and hopes to use it against Tatsugan.” She shook her head. “Does he even intend to fight the beast, or merely to die against it?”
Core Collapse.
I’d heard a few mentions of that in the past, mostly from Grey. From what I understood, it was some kind of mystical process where the march of time catches up with higher leveled, and thus higher Tiered people. The more levels you gain, the longer you lived. The thing is, though, that doesn’t make you immortal. And because you’re not immortal-
(Like a god, for example.)
-the weight of your own power crushes your still mortal soul, after an extended period of time. Centuries and centuries of it. The process itself was supposed to be…dramatic.
Explosively so, in fact.
We absorbed that for a moment before I looked over at Venix. “Would that work? To kill Tatsugan permanently?”
Venix furrowed his brow and shook his head, his antennae waving with the movement. “No, it would not. Certainly, it would kill the wyrm in this cycle. I have no doubt there. However…this has been tried before. History tells us that thirteen hundred years ago, Saitou the Wolf sacrificed himself in this manner in an attempt to slay Tatsugan permanently. He was one of the few remaining Paragons that still lived from the days of the War in Heaven, and not even his Collapse could rid Kawamara of Tatsugan. And he was at the peak of Tier 4, while Shacklock is meant to be at the base of it. You…should know this, Kazuma Higanashi,” He said, staring at the other samurai. “This is not secret knowledge.”
“I do,” Kazuma nodded sharply. “But that is not the extent of the plan. There is an…artifact that was meant to be lost here on Goryuen-”
That was as far as he got before Venix stood up sharply from his own seat, cutting off Kazuma. “You cannot mean…” He breathed. “That blade was meant to be destroyed when my mas-when the wielder was slain!”
Everyone stared at him before Kazuma spoke once again. “I…see that you are familiar with the tales of my family, warrior. But no. The weapon I speak of it was not destroyed, during the last Ryumetsu Matsuri. One of the few students of my great-grandfather who survived the battle returned, and spoke of how it was not destroyed, but instead lost on the island.”
Venix took a step forward. “Who?” He demanded, almost desperately. “Who conveyed such knowledge to the Higanashi Clan?!”
Kazuma stood up then, to stand in Venix’s shadow. Despite how much the Antium towered over him, Kazuma displayed no fear as he met his eyes. “Our records say it was Flickering Storm Jiro who stumbled into our family compound, wounded and alone. He only lived long enough to tell of the last stand of his lord and master, Gozen Higanashi of the Twin Fangs, and the fate of our family blade. He then died, and was buried with honor in the family plot.”
Oh.
I…see why Venix was so concerned with this man, now. The rest of my companions, save Bella, had realization flash across their faces as well. They had been there for Venix’s dramatic speech during our duel, after all.
At Kazuma’s words, Venix looked…lost. “Jiro lived?” I heard him whisper under his breath. “Why did he not…?”
Finally, Kazuma had enough. He stepped forward aggressively, and to my surprise, Venix backed away from him. “Who are you, stranger? Truthfully. Why are you so concerned for my family? You’ve looked at me as if you see a ghost ever since we met.”
Venix stilled. I had never seen Grey’s bodyguard so absolutely motionless before. Slowly, he craned his head down until he met Kazuma’s eyes once again, before taking a deep breath. “You…deserve to know, this is true. I…am Venix. Last surviving student of Gozen of the Twin Fangs, and the one who failed him deeper than any upon that fateful day during the Ryumetsu Matsuri. It was…my cowardice that saw him fall to the claws of Tatsugan.”
Kazuma blinked, staring up at Venix.
And then he did something I didn’t expect.
He lunged forward in a hooking punch and slammed his fist into the chitinous jaw of Venix.