Chapter 52: The Demon Tribe

“Kiara is right,” the message went as Danson opened his wanderer's note.

It took longer than he expected to feel everyone else's presence, with Keigo joining last.

“About something happening to the conductor?” He said when he did.

“Yeah. I just fought a pretty bad match-up. Considering how everything was going before, I think it’s safe to say the board has flipped. How have things been for you two?”

“Just bad spirits for me. Nothing more difficult than before.” Keigo replied.

“Me too,” Diana did as well. “I haven’t fought anything that made me break a sweat.” Danson could feel her thinking. “Are they targeting you and Kiara then?” She asked at last.

“I don’t think so. If they were they could have matched me up against someone worse than that or outnumbered me. I had trouble, but he wasn’t impossible to beat.”

Kiara affirmed it, “I think, if I knew what I was doing I could have won. Shuraat took him down easily though.” He got the feeling of her shaking her head. “Besides, if the Yoshiki Sect got her, I feel like they would have killed me, considering the Astral Wraith.”

“So it’s not them then,” Keigo agreed. “But then who? A fourth party? Could the warden have other enemies?”

“Could it be a spirit instead?” Diana offered. “Doesn’t seem like the spell stopped, just changed in a bad way.”

Silence fell over them, each mind considering what was going on.

Danson thought about his opponent, and if he had to say anything, it felt like someone just wanted to see a good fight. Could he say the same for Kiara? Her opponent was a Wyada-turned-demon, one part able to grasp mana and one part a demonic answer to a loss of familial power. He shook his head. Kiara’s opponent seemed too specific. Even if Hyunwoo heard something about elves through stories, it didn’t compare to Kiara fighting someone from her ancestral homeland. What did that mean then? Could it really be a spirit?

“I don’t think so,” Keigo said as if he read his mind. “Considering the domain’s spiritual purpose, it shouldn’t create anything that would cause this type of change. Even its bad spirits are related, acting more like invasive flora than something that doesn’t line up. If it was invasive spirits then I could…” He trailed off.

"What?" Danson replied.

“Chiaki is here and she’s an amazing channeler. If she channeled a spirit from outside the domain, some of the reiki could change. It's not impossible for it to be a spirit." He offered.

"It's random enough, right?" Diana said. "If a spirit did something to the conductor that'd explain why things changed, but didn't go turn against us."

“But is it a spirit?” Danson asked. “Wouldn’t you be able to tell?”

"I could tell when she channels them. But I can't tell what type of spirit she summons. It's like adding a stroke to a canvas. I can tell that there's a new color, but the picture is too big for that color to make a difference." Keigo replied.

“And what if it doesn’t matter?” Kiara said, and Danson had to admit he was shocked. She seemed to feel that, because she went on, “It’s not like we can find the conductor, and even if we could, would it be better to try that instead of going to the center?”

"No," Keigo said. "If she was dead the spell would probably break, so she's not in danger at least. If we free the spirit from the sect, it can take control of its domain again. And there's still the fact that the change might not be a spirit."

“Then let’s focus on the sect for now,” Danson wrote. “What have we figured out so far?”

“First, they’re working with an astral wraith and it has the power to possess spirits.” Diana started, speaking of her fight.

“Second,” Kiara followed with Shuraat’s experience, “Shuraat found out about them because malevolent spirits were escaping their domains.”

"Third," Keigo came up behind her, speaking of his fight. "This isn't the first domain the sect has attacked, but whatever they're doing doesn't necessarily hurt the patron spirit."

"Fourth," Danson continued, "And this is new to the table, the sect is responding to the Jade Wardens, apparently. There's a thing going on right now where the wardens are going after powerful demon seeds."

“What does that mean exactly?” Kiara asked.

“It’s like spirit domains, isn’t it?” Keigo replied. “Demonic power just sort of finds its way into the world. You leave it alone and it grows strong enough to become a full demon.”

“Almost,” Danson shook his head. “Demons are closer to elementals than spirits when it comes to things like that. They are formed in the maelstrom, where its chaotic nature slams magyeon together. Demons don’t have souls like we do, their soul is entirely formed of magyeon.’

“So the seeds of their power, that’s what? Demons trying to get into this realm?” Keigo asked.

"Pretty much," Danson answered. "Have you ever noticed the starburst cracks on a demon's eyes? That is apparently what the passage to the mortal realm looks like in the maelstrom."

“And eyes are windows to the soul,” Kiara added.

“Pretty much,” Danson replied.

Diana wrote, "So the triumvirate knows when a demon's about to enter the realm and target them. Isn't this what Wardens are supposed to do?"

“Technically,” it was Keigo who replied to her this time, “They’re supposed to focus on hostile demons. From what my brother used to say, demons breach way too often for them to target each one.”

“Well, Danson, why do you think the sect is responding to them?” Diana asked.

“Just what the guy I fought said. He could be lying, but he was a former warden. Had this whole thing where the demons he went after weren’t hostile, just fleeing. They were powerful though, and he learned from one of the cardinals that the wardens have been doing this a lot.”

“Does this sound like they’re stockpiling to anyone else?” Diana asked.

Kiara replied, "Yeah, but Shuraat wants to know if something is missing. The Yoshiki sect still worships that Hanzo guy, right? And he was a warlord. So aren't they trying to summon a warlord and conquer the triumvirate either way?" She paused for a moment, then continued, "And it sounds like the stuff with the Wardens started happening recently."

“Could the Wardens be responding to the sect?” Diana asked. “Not that it makes it better, but if they’re really scared it might explain it.” Danson could feel her brow furrow. “Better question! You said he went after people who weren’t hostile. How does that work? What is a demon breach?”

Keigo answered before Danson could collect the details, “It’s just like it sounds. A demon seed manifests completely into a demon. That, or a person ends up possessed by one.”

"And while possessed, a person can turn into one. My brother-in-law is like that. He was born human and had to conquer demonic power to stop himself from being completely possessed. He's been a demon for fifty years now." Danson said.

“So it’s not impossible that they could be peaceful. And I’m guessing sensing magyeon is like sensing magic. If you can sense it you can probably guess what type of power it has?” Diana asked.

Danson didn't quite have the details of that worked out. Figuring out what type of magic someone used was partially context clues and guesswork. Still, it was close enough for him to say, "Essentially."

He could feel Diana crossing her arms, “Then that confirms they don’t have to be actively hostile, but it leaves so many questions on the table. If you could just find a demon seed and become a demon yourself, why hunt people who are possessed? Why not get to that seed first. Furthermore, why would a normal person want to find the seed? Sounds like that turns into a battle between your soul and a demon’s soul?”

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“What if they don’t get a choice?” Kiara suddenly chimed in. Their conversation went quiet, giving her the floor. “The guy I fought said that the sect gets what the Dumabi went through. Losing your gift, being targeted because of them…What if there’s a tribe of people connected to the maelstrom like the Dumabi were connected to the veil. But instead of becoming mages, they naturally become demons. And…” She paused for thought, “because demonic powers are a demon’s soul too…there are some people who are just more sensitive to those souls than others. Like, I can wield fire and wind mana, but not water or stone…What if that means they become the new form of that demon…like, reincarnation…? But not really…” Despite her uncertainty, Danson heard her every word.

Keigo did too, because he replied, "I told you guys that the people of the spirit circle left the triumvirate because people thought spiritualism was evil. Now I'm wondering if this has anything to do with what Kiara's suggesting. Spiritualists never had much power in the land's history. But demons have been in power at different times. I think a long time ago, demons were in complete control. Like Angels in the Green Lands."

“Shuraat says that Master Nohyr used to hear stories about it.” Kiara replied.

“With that history it’s not unlikely that the demon tribe got scattered. Several empires, several thousand years of mixing bloodlines, then the unique…what was that word you used before, Kiara? About energy being different?” Danson wrote as he thought.

“Signature?” She offered.

"Signature, yeah. Scattered bloodlines responding to unique signatures means you can forget you're a demon for a long time before the maelstrom forms that demon's soul or enough of the soul is there for you to awaken to it."

It made a whole lot of sense, bringing history together with the present, unearthing clues that would otherwise be lost to time. Even if the knowledge was lost, with time like the sect had, it wouldn’t be hard to make this deduction again. Danson was sure they could all see the current state of the Triumvirate. On one side, demon’s seeking to return their tribe to power, on the other side, Warden’s trying to seize that power for themselves. But did that tell them what the Yoshiki sect was doing?

“We’re still missing some details.” He wrote with a sigh.

"Not for long," Keigo replied. "If the conductor isn't in control anymore, we can all go to the center now, right? We'll see how the sect captured the spirit, and see why they captured it."

“In that case, we can probably meet back up too.” Diana wrote. “I’ll come to Keigo first and we’ll link back up with you guys after!”

“Come for me last. I have to recover for a bit. That fight was really a bad match up.” Danson sat and crossed his legs, ready to put his wanderer’s note away.

“Then we’ll all head to the center.” Keigo confirmed. Each of them confirmed in turn and the conversation came to an end.

Danson closed his eyes and started a light meditation, feeling out the tears Hyunwoo almost opened. This was going to take a while, but he smiled nevertheless. That conversation proved that he didn’t have to worry about the others in the slightest…

◎◎Toward the Center◎◎

L'vay chuckled to himself as he watched the mortals have their little discussion, applauding how close they got to their understanding of the demon tribe while cackling at their suspicion about what was influencing Hoka. Of course, they could never truly know, but it was still a joy to see mortal minds work, trying to capture all the secrets of time buried before their forefathers were even planned by fate. He liked what he learned from them too, twirling around like a petal in the breeze as he sang their thoughts to the world around him.

“How glorious,” he was intoxicated by the thought. “The demon tribe may make its grand return and make this realm interesting again. I cannot wait. I cannot contain my joy. The future might be interesting yet!” He twirled and twirled, stopping half-bowed with a sinister smirk upon his face.

He tilted his body back, letting his hair drape as he looked over at Hoka’s unconscious form. He twirled back to it then, touching her globe and sprouting a pixie at the center. There he found the suspended seed that held the Grass House patron, and a liquid tree with hand-like branches. Mist still rose from it like leaves, its root still disappeared into the ground beneath the pedestal. He did not take note of it when he saw it before, but now he grinned and bit his finger.

"I see what you are…" He felt it drinking in the reiki, breathing out magyeon.

He touched the pedestal, and felt others like it, standing around the world, their roots touching in the place between the realms. They all reached out to a place in the southern part of the triumvirate, and he could feel it growing bigger and better. He bit his finger so hard it bled, then laughed gleefully as he lapped the blood from it.

"It is not quite perfect though," He changed it just a bit, just enough to make it truly worth it. Time meant nothing to someone as old as he, but at the current rate, their plan would take too long. "Now, we cannot have anyone interfering can we."

At Hoka's globe, he found Syd and Jun Mi and dropped problems in their way. Maybe the girl wouldn't understand, but the afelin certainly would. He'd play his cards carefully either way. This was well worth being sealed away again.

"Let us also speed this along." He tugged the strings of fate that would make this work. "And now, fun." Throughout the domain, his pixies disappeared as he stepped away from Hoka's globe. He had watched long enough, and would never squander his chance to play.

Elsewhere still, Syd continued toward the center of the domain, his path clear as he made quick work. He had seen the device the sect set up and wanted to pull it apart, just to understand the mind behind its design. Figuring out what the sect was us to would be an added benefit, but he missed being able to observe the work of another genius. He hummed an old song as he continued forward and didn’t get the chance to yell as a beam ripped through him.

Yoshiki Miki came down behind Syd, glowing wings still spread out from his arm. The afelin—he thought it was an afelin—didn’t even try to hide himself, carrying on as if he wasn’t being hunted, and that infuriated him more than them interfering in the first place.

His wings folded back into his arm, and he was about to set out, when something shot at him, swiftly nicking his cheek. It didn't draw blood but didn't need to, turning flesh to stone like a ripple spreading across a pond. He felt the shift on the layer of his soul and cast his magic against it until the spell fell away. He glared at what shot past him. A stinger stuck up from the ground. He turned the other way and saw the afelin rising, the large hole in his body stitching itself back together.

Miki fired again, and the beam stopped harmlessly against his skin. His glare deepened as wings sprouted on both arms.

“Are you shocked!” The afelin laughed. “You stand before the creativity of the renown genius, Syd Blaek!” The afelin was bulkier now. “You must understand how outclassed you are!”

"Malignant chord!" Miki cast, the shriek hitting the man and making his body shake wildly. He upped the amp and only stopped when the afelin's eyes went blank.

“I see!” Syd shouted, stumbling from left to write. “One part demon, one part angel! What could this be…? Let me guess! Your possession happened young and mommy and daddy thought an angel’s tomb would break it?”

Miki’s wings bristled and he fired again. This time Syd met it with his own beam.

“Screw you!” The boy roared.

"You're right!" Syd called. "This is hardly the thing I need to focus on! If you're here and able to attack that means something happened to Hoka. But her spell is still active, so she's not dead."

Miki fired again and again and Syd sprung away like a grasshopper.

"I've figured it out! L'vay is in control! Which means, unfortunately, that my priorities have changed. How dare he! Now I have to tattle to Chiaki instead of deducing what you all are working on." His flat antennae turned wire-thin and pointed. "She's also clearly incapacitated so I should search for a diminished spirit pressure.” He searched around and oriented his body to where his eyes landed.

"Do you think you're getting away?" Miki began to transform.

“Today, young man, you will learn. Whatever the renown genius thinks is usually right!” Syd’s body thinned, and the air popped as he took off…

Elsewhere again, Jun Mi unwittingly walked into what L'vay prepared for her. It could have been a sneak attack, and nearly was, until the person lying in wait caught her face and let herself be known.

She was a strong-bodied woman, with bronze skin and her hair in a tight braid. She stood in front of Jun Mi as a clear challenge but spoke to her as if they were old friends.

“You’ve grown a lot.” The woman said.

"Is this a new Yoshiki sect tactic to avoiding conflict?" Jun Mi put up her guard.

The woman pulled her mask away and Jun Mi remembered her immediately, though it had been ten years. The Iron-skinned Nakry was a popular fighter from the mid-point of the battle mountains. Jun Mi hadn't started her warden training and spent a lot of time going to see her fight. She was there when Nakry was a nobody, fighting in whatever melee opened up at the base of the mountain. She was there when Nakry got her first title match, and when she had her first streak. Jun Mi was even there when Nakry became the iron-skinned and had her fair share of arguments as to whether that title meant she could go for blows with a Jotunn. Nakry was an important figure to her when she was a girl, and the girl inside her wept to see the woman standing there.

“I thought you and your partner left the mountain to start a life…” She let that girl speak. She remembered it too vividly. She was going to the wardens and Nakry was leaving the mountain. It felt like proof it was time to change her life.

The woman smiled, "We did. We made more than enough to never fight again. People paid well enough for our training. We decided we'd raise a kid, and adopted a little boy. You should see him, he's adorable and the joy of our lives."

"Then why are you with the sect!" Jun Mi cried.

Nakry’s smile lost some of its warmth as she touched her heart, “Our boy is a demon.”

“Wardens can help with possession.” Jun Mi shook her head.

"No, you aren't hearing me. Our boy is a demon. He has one little horn growing faster than the other and is starting to use his powers in the cutest way. He's not possessed, he's a demon. And if he could be a demon, how many more kids are like that in the triumvirate?”

Not possessed? Maybe not yet, but surely the demon seed inside him would grow. Jun Mi could easily find an exorcist for them. They kept many on hand. She was trying to find the words to explain that when Nakry shook her head.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Her smile turned sad.

“I don’t…” Jun Mi frowned. “But once I apprehend you, we can work out the details later.” She raised her shears.

Nakry took her stance. “I really hoped you would. I don’t want us to do this.”

Jun Mi took one of her own. “I don’t want to fight you, but I have to stop the Yoshiki Sect…” She settled her resolve, cursing the sect for making her crush her past…

[Chapter 52 ends…]