Chapter LIX: Purging the Corruption IV

Demonic Wildlands

Month of the Tortoise 33, 172 ,328 DE

The female is not trying to provoke us with her declaration. A mix of fear and anger rule the female's thoughts. If anything, she is trying to convince herself.

A collage of images flash though the female's Mind. They all center around another human female, a black-haired, grey-eyed gaijin woman. I do not determine the attractiveness of humans in quite same manner as humans do, but the beauty of the woman in the female's memories cannot be denied. Her facial features bear some similarity to Vorn. She should be his insane aunt. Is she the Handmaiden of God? What is that supposed to mean?

Vorn and I exchange looks, but I do not say anything about the female's memories.

"What is this Handmaiden of God shit supposes to mean?" Vorn's question comes out in a cold, malicious tone of voice.

A macabre smile paints the female's face. "She has been Chosen by the One True God, the Great Nine-Headed Dragon."

As Vorn glances at me once more, I shrug. I have never heard of any Great Dragon.

The last known True Dragon has nine heads. It calls itself God. Tia's chilly thoughts slip softly into my Mind.

I glance over my shoulder at my knives, still floating on either side of the ball of black and silver flames. So this bitch and bitch aunt are just a couple more Dragon worshipers?

Perhaps. But God is more than just another Dragon God. He is being that has lived within the Primal Powers themselves. It seek the destruction of all within our metaverse. The indifference underlying Tia's simple thought seems to hide something else. Hate? Rage? Something more?

"You're bitch aunt is a traitor to all existence. So is the cunt. Their God is an insane Dragon that wants to destroy everything." As Vorn has been doing, I speak in the Northern Trade Tongue. Since most Engineers, Alchemists, and other practice of advanced crafting disciplines use the Norther Trade Tongue for their technical writings, I learned to read and speak it at a young age.

The female, of course, understands my words. Exploding rage and indignation crush the fear that has been influencing her thoughts. She tries to twist her head, but Vorn's two-finger grip on her her chin prevents her from doing more than glare at me out of the corner of her eye. "We owe all, our very existence, to God! If he wishes to reclaim what he has given us, we have no right to complain!"

"What is the cunt of God doing?"

The female continues to glare at me. "I'll die before I tell you!"

Another kaleidoscope of Images flashes through the female's Mind.

* * * * *

Seen through the bridge window of the War Knife , one of large transport airships was visible. It came to rest above the ruins. The cargo ramp at the front was lowered. Several dozen bound and apparently unconscious Ferocious Beasts were unloaded from the airship.

* * * * *

Night time. Burning torches surrounded a twenty plus meter deep pit. Two Demonic Beast, an ape and a bull, stood in the pit. As the Beasts glared at one another, their eyes glowed like sanguine coals. They looked like they were struggling against invisible bonds.

Behind the ape, the black-haired female, who should be Vorn's aunt, had a cold smile on her face, as she stared down in to the pit. She raised her hand and drew a polychromatic pattern in the air. As she touched her finger to the center of the pattern, the ape let out a roar and sprang forward.

On the far side of the pit, a human male, wearing robes in the style of those worn in the four Middle Empires, touched his finger to a similar patter. With a thunderous low, the bull lowered its head charged at the ape.

* * * * *

A caged Demonic Ape clung to the bars of its cage. While growling, it glared at the crowd of humans gathered a short distance from its cage.

"Amaly, your turn." The words were spoken in the Northern Trade Tongue, and the speaker was the black-haired female, who should be Vorn's aunt.

The female reached her hand out to a pedestal or podium with a very strange sigil inlaid into its flat top. As she touched it pain flooded through her Body and Mind. Screaming, she collapsed to the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, which was probably not very long, the female opened her eyes and saw the black-haired female looking down at her. She rolled onto her stomach and smashed her face onto the stone floor.

"Holy Handmaiden, I apologize!"

"You fail. Leave. Harad. Your turn."

The female wandered away from the others. Eventually, she entered a tunnel leading beneath the ruins that covered the peak. After descending for more than a hundred meters, the tunnel opened into a huge chamber. Cages lined the walls of the chamber, and many of the cages housed Demonic Beasts.

* * * * *

Standing in the middle of a few hundred other people, the female watched Demonic Beasts walk onto a large transport, one after another. At the side of each, a human with a glowing pattern at the tip of his or her finger controlled the movements of the Demonic Beats.

Once the Demonic Beasts and their controllers were loaded, the black-haired female boarded another airship. It had a weave of dark grey metal covering its gas bag superstructure. Sigils for strengthening and defense glow on the surface of the metal weave. She turned to look at the humans remaining among the ruins.

"Jaanfaag, I leave this place and these people to you. Serve God well. Prepare for the day of reckoning."

Placing his had over his heart, a man dressed in what look like the robes worn by women in the four Middle Empires bowed. Like nearly all Cultivators, his features were very androgynous, and he wore makeup, which made his face look even more like a female's. "We live to serve the One True God."

Without saying anything else, the black-haired female turned and the airship's hatch closed behind her. As the two airship rose into the air and disappear into the west, the humans surrounding the female revealed dejected expressions on their faces. The man dressed like a woman, Jaanfaag, was the only one who looked pleased.

Disgust filled the female's memories, as she looked at Jaanfaag.

* * * * *

After a moments, the female's hate and rage drives out anything but her desire to kill Vorn and me. The collage of memories fade away, but the female seems to be unaware of how much she has just given away. The most recent of the memories seems to be several weeks old, so Vorn's aunt is long gone. I have no reason to back up my feeling, but I do not think I am wrong.

"Amaly."

Hearing me speak the name, the female's eyes open wide in shock. It appears to actually be her name. I gag her with a length of rope.

I look at Vorn and speak in Ningen no Gengo. "Your bitch isn't here anymore. She left weeks ago. It was probably right after we stole her yacht."

"Where did she go?"

I shrug. "No clue. This one is a nobody in the group. I think she was an officer on this airship, but she was a failure in your aunt's eyes. Jaanfaag may be the only one that knows where your bitch aunt went."

Vorn grimaces. "And that twisted bitch disappeared."

"We have more things to deal with on the mountain." I give Vorn detailed descriptions of the images I saw in the female's Mind. At least, I give as much detail as I remember. I remember most things I see, hear, smell, taste, touch, or sense, but my memory is not perfect. According to Old Man Jones, there are beings both Elemental and Amalgamate that never forget anything, but to the best of my knowledge, I have never met one.

As I speak, Vorn's grimace changes into thunderous frown. When I finish, he glares murderously at the female for several minutes, while running his fingers like a comb through his thick beard.

"Do you plan to kill her now or torture her for information?"

"Torture. But only after we deal the Demonic Beasts. We have out other prisoner, and we may capture more on the mountaintop. It would best to compare stories between them, and torture them when we find disparities. Pain will weaken their focus and make their Minds wander. If out questions provide the right trigger, they will reveal more."

When the last of the Chaos energies turn to grey powder and fade from existence, my knives float over to me. Grasping their hilts, I return them to my Core Realm.

Can the thing on the bridge be purified?

Not as we are. If you were stronger, we could.

Get stronger, cur. Being bound to you is an embarrassment. Tama's angry thoughts barge into my Mind.

Settle down, bitch

How dare you!?

Sister! Shut up! You only cause problems.

After a few seconds, Tama remains silent.

How strong? I direct my thoughts to Tia.

At least, the Third Circle of Coalescence. Perhaps higher. That thing one the bridge is many orders of magnitude more corrupted than the female was.

"Take the prisoners to the top of the gas bag superstructure and load them on the Silver Princess . I'm going to rig a bomb to blow up the bridge."

Without a word, Vorn grabs the bound female and throws her over his shoulder.

You will spread the corruption. Tia's cold thought carry an air of indifference.

I have no other options.

Following Vorn up the ladder to the gun deck, I collect the remaining cannon shells and lug them up the crew deck.

On the bridge, the lump of flesh on the command chair shows no reaction when I stack the shells up next to the outer wall of the gondola section. The powder charge for these shells are different from the experimental cannon I used for the Silver Princess . They fire-powder is wrapped in a plant fiber casing, which will burn up almost entirely up being fired. The weakness of this design is that it can be easily detonated by an open flame, or even too large of a spark.

‎