The labyrinth they were trapped in was proven to be an illusion when they managed to find the end of the tunnel merely seconds after Hima broke the illusion. With her now knowing what to do, every time there was an impossible wall right in front of them, she simply dispelled it. Only Raine knew what she was truly capable of, and she showed him that just as she once showed him many years ago.
Raine took the chance to lighten up the mood by saying, “Still thinks you’re not a divine race? Even Aranis couldn’t help us, and she’s several times older than both of us.”
“And like I told you over and over again, I am hardly a divine race,” said Hima. “Is this because of that story about kitsunes being messengers to the gods? We’re just a different kind of Vulpins from a foreign land.”
“A Vulpin with nine tails?” Raine snickered. “Go on. Tell me that’s as normal as a Felinar with two tails like in those stories your dad used to tell you. Or that story of a boy who was born out of...what is it, a peach?"
“That’s a different story, but I get your point,” said Hima. “I still maintain that the one who's divine is the sun goddess,, we're merely the messengers. Yet, that can't change this situation, now, can't it? I thought it would be as simple as finding the other kitsune, but instead we’re dealing with a dangerous entity, and I’m stuck with you trying to rescue your spiders.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“The fact that we haven’t resolved our differences is one of the many things that this is not something I’d expect. Raine, this…is the first time I’ve ever faced something like this. Something unknown. Something…more than just thugs. We’re talking about a horror that’s hard to describe. Horrors that…created those monsters. And you’re telling me I’m the only one who can deal with this? How am I supposed to react?”
Hima looked away, trying not to look vulnerable in front of the person she once trusted. However, Raine could tell that she was afraid and overwhelmed. Her shaking hands, and her eyes, told him enough.
“Hey, Hima,” said Raine. “How about if you…go foxy?”
“I told you many times not to call it that. Also, why?”
“First of all, if you think anyone would think of you differently because you have two forms, then think again. I already saw you in that form, and you looked far more confident in your true form.”
“Raine, I told you already. Once I turn into a fox, I will not be able to return for a while. This is a sensitive matter, especially for a woman.”
“Yes, I know that.”
“And you know how it’s going to be a problem since we’re—”
“I know,” insisted Raine. “Honestly, I’d prefer a nine-tailed Vulpin than a Mygalean any time. And besides, we might need your true power, now more than ever.”
Hima wanted to protest, but Raine was right. Even if he couldn’t sense the malicious energy, as they continued deeper into the cisterns, it became more and more apparent, and Raine knew it purely by his situational judgement. So, she pulled out her sword and readied her staff, knowing that she would have to fight. Raine saw this and readied his gun and his sword, preparing himself for whatever’s waiting for them.
Hima and Raine reached yet another dead-end, though Raine knew this was nothing but an illusion. Hima, however, was not as eager to dispel the illusion just yet.
“Past this illusion is where the evil energy is the strongest,” said Hima. “And…possibly the sacrificial site. Whatever’s waiting for us behind this wall…whatever horror we will face….”
Raine grabbed and squeezed Hima’s hand, prompting her to turn her attention to him. He cracked a smile, giving her the assurance that he would be there with him. The kitsune wasn’t as sure, but the cat-eared human was doing the right thing. Even if he did not know what to expect or what they were facing, Raine was always the one with a sincere, reassuring smile that everything would be alright. That was something that made Hima like him: his reassuring optimism in the face of danger.
Nodding silently to tell Raine that she understood what he was trying to do, she took a deep breath, exhale, and dispelled the illusionary wall. It disappeared almost immediately, revealing the room behind it.
Almost suddenly, a wave of strong malice swept through them like a backdraft, at least for Hima, who could sense it. For Raine, nothing was felt but a strong gust of wind. However, what he saw in the room was different from what Hima saw.
In fact, the moment Hima dispelled the wall, she disappeared in the blink of an eye. He realized this almost immediately and called out to her, but there was no response.
As for Hima, Raine was still with her, but he was staring blankly towards the room. At first, she thought he was stunned by the surprising sight, only for her to realize what happened when he did not blink and his grip on his sword loosened to the point he dropped it.
Acting quickly, she gripped Raine’s hand tightly and concentrated. There was only one thing she could do to prevent Raine from falling victim to the illusion, one that she had been doing to dispel the illusion. She was just unsure if it worked the same way to a living being. Nevertheless, she must do it before Raine was incapacitated and she would have to contend with a catatonic man in a dangerous situation.
Flowing her mana into Raine, which contained a property unique to kitsunes, she dispelled whatever was trapping Raine, finalized by snapping her fingers right in front of his face as if breaking him of a hypnosis. Raine immediately blinked, but it was apparent that the short time he was trapped in the illusion started to take a toll on him. He sweated profusely and his eyes were wide open, as if he had just witnessed something terrifying.
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“Raine. Raine, hey,” said Hima, which drew the human’s attention.
“H-Hima? But I saw you—”
“Illusion,” she said, before glancing towards the room.
The two of them witnessed a rather disturbing sight. Most, if not all, of the people in the room were motionless, some still twitching. Mygaleans, although hard to determine, humans, and beast people alike had a frightened expression on their faces. Like Raine just moments before, they were subjected to a dangerous illusion that would surely kill them if not freed.
Yet the one that immediately drew their attention was an open portal leading somewhere dark, and from within, something indescribable. Raine, curious as to what was beyond the portal, unwittingly looked into it. Almost immediately, he gasped, and screamed in terror. Even Hima unwittingly looked through the portal and she, too, saw something in there. Yet, unlike Raine, she was only unnerved, not reacting violently. She was aware of the pure malice coming out of the portal. It came from the many-eyed monster within it, one without a solid form, an ever-changing, mass of putrefying flesh.
Then, to her surprise, Raine moved his gun hand and slowly moving the revolver to his temple. Hima immediately grabbed Raine's hand, but he struggled with all his might.
“Raine, what the hell are you doing?!” said Hima, still gripping his hand.
“I…can’t look away! That thing is…staring at me! Staring into my soul!” exclaimed Raine with great exertion. “I must take that thing out of my sight!”
Raine looked at a bewildered Hima. “My eyes! Hima, take out my eyes!”
Hima wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do, but he had a good reason. Whatever they saw through the portal could not be easily described except for one thing: fear. Primal fear. Something that embodied the phrase ‘to stare into the abyss is to risk the abyss staring back’. Raine, a human with Felinari blood, would not be able to defend himself like a kitsune would, no matter how proficient he was in wielding magic.
She attempted to force Raine to avert his eyes, or at least to focus on her, but his eyes inevitably stared into the abyss and he was unable to look away. By this point, his gun was already at his temple. Even with his concentration diminished, a small burst of mana could still kill him at point blank.
Desperate, Hima realized that she couldn’t do anything but knock the man out cold. A well-placed hit on the back of his head immediately knocked him unconscious. This was so out of her elements that she desperately wanted to get away and forget about the kitsune she was supposed to save.
At least until she heard someone calling her. Someone who spoke her language and not the monster beyond the portal.
“Return to your true form immediately!” exclaimed the male voice. “You can stop it consuming you! I need your help, kitsune!”
She could not just trust a voice to tell her what to do, not when there were whispers that drove her mad.
“I am not going to be swayed, monster!” she declared. “Whatever trick you are trying to pull, I won’t heed it!”
“I am not trying to trick you! Look to your right!”
She looked towards her right, even though she assumed that it was the wrong thing to do.
She was glad that wasn’t the case.
There was a kitsune who was holding out his hands. He was no longer in his human form, but rather, his true form, which was that of an anthropomorphic fox with nine tails flowing behind him.
Seeing the sight of a kitsune in his true form convinced Hima that he was right. She did not hesitate to immediately transform, discarding her partial human disguise to reveal a bright orange furred, nine-tailed Vulpin with white accents underneath. All of the sudden, the room turned bright, and she realized it immediately.
“You have been holding it back all this time?!” she exclaimed in surprise.
“Not for long!” He then looked at her intently and said, “You’re a priestess, right? Listen to me carefully. You need to purify me to close this thing up. They used my blood and corrupted me, so you purify my soul, the blood wouldn’t be compatible, and it will close the portal to whatever dimension that thing came from!”
“Purification ritual as in the maiden dance? I’m not a maiden!”
“That’s a misnomer! You don’t need to be a maiden to complete the ritual! Who the hell’s a maiden in this time and age, anyway?”
“Hey!”
“Just do it! Now!”
“Wait! If I purify your soul, what will happen to you? My father told me purified souls are laid to rest!”
“I’m a kitsune! The worst you’ll do is giving me a heatstroke!”
“That’s not—”
The kitsune was serious when he started to be pushed by the strong force from within the portal. Hima could hear echoes and screams among the whispers. They were driving her crazy. She couldn’t even start dancing even if she wanted to; the pressure was too strong.
Soon, the indecipherable whispers turned sinister. Hima started seeing things, starting with wisps of colorful mist that filled her vision. Then, the mist showed her a premonition, one that she would deny as it showed her a dark, twisted future of the world ruled by the monster beyond the dark dimension. She saw how Raine was kept alive, but as a mass of flesh that was no longer human. He pleaded her to end his suffering, yet it was nothing but an illusion. Hima denied this vision, only to be ravaged by another, this time of her father and her friends back home. They were suffering and blaming her for their monstrous reality. It overwhelmed her, causing her to misstep and failed her dance.
Hima found herself unable to focus on her dancing as her mind was assaulted by the imageries that threatened to overwhelm her senses. In fact, she couldn’t even start; she was too preoccupied with protecting herself.
She kneeled, unable to withstand the pressure, finding herself beside Raine’s unconscious form, still clutching his revolver. The sight of the revolver and what it was capable of doing gave Hima an idea, one that she never thought would do.
Prying it off Raine’s hand, the female kitsune took the gun and aim it towards the black hole. This action caused the other kitsune to become bewildered.
“I told you to dance, not futilely shooting at the thing!” he exclaimed.
“I can’t dance with this much mental attack!” replied Hima while aiming at the hole. “But I can turn the purification ritual into something more powerful!”
“A gunshot isn’t as powerful!”
“Then watch me.”
Hima hoped she was right. This wouldn’t be something she would do unless it’s a desperate measure. Yet, she believed the revolver’s special function could save them.
Raine’s fine control of mana release was the result of a rigorous training from Hima’s father, one that she already mastered. If the cat-eared human managed to let out a straight burst of mana, then she could modify it even further.
She gave the gun purification energy straight from her soul, then closed her eyes to concentrate. Pure white energy swirled around the revolver like spiral, increasing in intensity as she purged all her doubts and fears, which were amplified by the colorful mists.
Then, without a doubt in her heart, Hima aimed towards the portal and fired.