It was the first day and looks like we're already starting running into speed bumps. But to be honest it was best to say that we ran into a path of nails rather than a speed bump. Our group decided to approach it a bit further. Hidden from sight we were in a business complex in a shop. I used my magus eyes to see how many are we facing. Just a quick look mana flowed in and out of the dead. Mostly concentrated at the brain. Seeing mana flowed within the nervous system of many made it look like seeing the texture of a willow tree. Willow trees in Japan were seen as signs of sorrow and willfulness. Just turning off my ability with wandering corpses around the area was just sorrowful enough already. Then again, almost all of us saw this as distasteful site as it is.
However what peaked into so many minds differed to us. But it wasn't hard not to think that a giant horde was just a few stories below us. We were just baffled about the site. "I don't get it...why are all these ghouls gathered here?" Rebecca asked.
"Even if ghouls are dead, they still flow within the memories of the deceased. Whatever the last memories the last host had, they follow it as their usual routine." Magna said.
"I get that but...how is it that the ghouls are able to find this place, even from far distances?" Rebecca asked.
"According to theory, even if the eyes of a wild ghoul had been disintegrated, they have this way of sensing the areas around them." Gram answered.
"So how do they do it? Do they have some kind of echolocation or something?" Tyrell asked.
"Yeah but they can sense mystical energy. Mana just bounces off of immaterial objects. Even if they follow through their last moments and 'see' through echolocation, the Mana that is surrounding gives them an image."
"So in other words...they can 'see' but the image they recreate in their heads is equivalent to a sonar but for mana?" Mr. Williams asked.
"You can say it's like a sixth sense they unlock once the body becomes a ghoul. Even regular folk can gain this skill but only if they are magically adept." Gram added further.
"That can explain why I could see just mana flowing mostly concentrated around areas at the head. All the wild ghoul's functions must be related to that area." I described.
"Yet it doesn't explain why are all these ghouls gathering here. They just keep on pouring in here." Gram said.
"If they keep on following their last memories then it must be that there used to be a charity event here." Mr. Williams says as he brings out the ad him and I found, "Before the HAP hit Tondo, there was a super typhoon that hit the Philippines. Probably the ghouls come here because of the memory of the giant program that was supposed to happen here."
"Then that can also explain why I can see a lot of irregular mana flows from some of the ghouls too." Gram says, "If you look a bit deeper in the crowd there might be a few special types in there."
Hearing that alone was enough to send chills down our spines. A horde of ghouls is one thing. But a horde of ghouls with special ones is an entirely different thing all together. The Wailers are already hard to defeat. What more if we dealt with something else entirely? Reading the situation, Sakuya claps her hands to get everybody's attention.
"Okay everyone… Get your scopes and check out the area. Try to make a tally of all the one you think are irregular and we'll make an average of the total special types we might run into." She commanded.
As the most experienced in the group, we all followed suit to what was needed from Sakuya. Whatever we had from a telescope to binoculars, we did our own tally of the number rare variant types of ghouls there might be. There were various types. Aside from the usual wailers we saw bloated ones, some with exposed rib cages and tentacles, some with irregular muscle mass, even some that are skinny as skeletons. As the numbers kicked in we all had different headcounts of the rare variant ghouls out there. Sakuya calculated for the average. The Result was an average number of twenty-five rare variant types of ghouls that might be in the area. "This is bad…this is way above our capabilities." Gram said.
"Maybe we might be able to go around it." Rebecca suggested.
"Not with all these ghouls. It's gonna be hard to intercept them with this much of a horde." Richard said.
"Should we make a diversion then?" Richard asked.
"Not if you want to be part of it, that is. With the numbers of these things, some of them might sneak from behind you." Magna disagreed.
But as we were trying to think of suggestions on what to do, we fail to notice our leader. Sakuya was hatching a plan. Eventually she snaps her fingers loud enough for us to notice. "Maybe we don't have to think of the ghouls." She said. Soon she eventually starts to talk about her plan. We waited at the room till dark. As the hours passed, the ghouls started to leave and one by one returned home. Only a few still remained but were all the usual suspects. It was the same types of ghouls that you usually saw. Some even had crystals present in them. But from what I can tell, this was the best outcome. It was hard to explain on its own but Sakuya didn't look surprised at all. She looks at the window as it was close to sundown. "I had a vision a few nights ago about wandering at a slum area with a group at time like this. When I was offered the request I figured this might as well been it. Seeing these visions still kinda surprise me even till now." She said.
The visions of Sakuya were one of the various support skills that gave an advantage outside the walls. It was hard to tell how many abilities she had and the capabilities Sakuya was capable of. But one thing's for sure we were lucky that she was on our side. "So what's the plan here?" I asked. "There should be a van in here, behind the stage. We can take the truck and head to the new area." Sakuya says, "My vision ended at the edge of the Tondo. So even if we'll be able to get out of the area, we'll still be at risk."
"But wouldn't the fuel go bad after being here for so long?" Tyrell asked.
"Diesel, yes. But since we were able to get out of here...my guess the van runs on unleaded fuel." Richard says, "Since unleaded fuels can last for three years and Tondo has only been for a year, my guess is that there wouldn't be a problem heading out here."
"Then that would mean the only thing to worry about are the ghouls." Mr. Williams pointed out.
"We got at least thirty of them so I guess that wouldn't be a problem." Richard answered.
"That's the tricky part actually. In the vision there will be eight more that would be coming. Six of them would be the regulars while two of them would be rare variants. I'm aware of the types but after the group kills those, a horde is gonna be by our backs." Sakuya disagreed.
That was something that made us feel rather conflicted. It may have been good that we were able to make it, but the fact that there was a gigantic horde coming after wasn't something at all to look forward to. But before either us newbies could say anything, Gram raised his hand. "I may be new here, but what are your orders?" The lizardfolk asked.
The plan was to be executed under Sakuya's command. She took the lead while we executed whatever was needed. It started off by just walking to slowly to the ghouls and stayed a bit quietly. Magna played Argo as he started thumping his shield. A pair started to jog forward. The orc took two down with a swing of his ax. The rest of the ghouls then started to notice the smell and wail in anger. Magna started thumping his shield and call their attention. "Itachi, illuminate the playing field with some fire magic above our heads. All range types use cover fire to watch each others back. I'll lead Stock and Itachi to the van while Kit can cover our backs. DPS and Assassins, hold and keep them busy." Sakuya orders, "Those who are able to switch to either a DPS or Assassin, please do so." Richard started to cast magic. With his incantation and a wave of his hand he throws a gem and a fireball started to ifloat above us. She kneeled and held her position. The whole cover court was illuminated and we were completely surrounded. "That gem can for ten minutes. Make it count." Richard said. Sakuya then charges forward and says, "Acknowledged."
With a draw of her katana the guildmaster hacks two heads off with a single swing. Tyrell, Magna, and Richard proceeded and pushed forward. However with the group pushing forward, most of the ghouls were more focused on the rest of us. "Why are all these ghouls only going towards us?" I asked. "The ghouls absorb mana to survive. During incantation, the zone where the caster uses magic intensifies the mana around them. Doing this would lead the ghouls to us." Gram told us.
"So in other words Richard is playing an agro at a distance while we attack the ghouls?" I asked.
"That's the idea. SO START KILLING ALREADY!" Richard shouted on comms.
It was kinda mean to shout. But before I can talk back something was kinda off. Richard's fireball was getting bigger, Gram formed a sickly expression and was barely holding up. "Um...Gram,... everything alright?" I asked.
The lizard man was sweating but queezy. But there I noticed something else. The fireball was descending downwards. But the radio fizzes again. "Oh yeah...the fireball spell was a version of black attack magic…holding the spell like this isn't actually considered…'orthodox'." Richard told me. Looking at it closely I started to notice something. It started to look as if it was getting hotter. "Richard...what the hell did you do?" I asked on comms.
"The spell...is really a mini sun. It's harmless...just don't touch it."
"Or what?"
"You'll get burned. But not to worry, once it touches the ground the thing fades away."
So...in other words...not only I have to worry about ghouls, but the flaming ball of death behind me. Hurray for anxiety. "Umm...Richard...how much time do we really have?" Rebecca asked. "On a lucky day...I'd say seven minutes." Richard hesitantly replied on comms. Knowing that was the shock of our lives. Not only we had a time limit but we might have a chance to burn under that fireball.
It was that moment I just took up the front stage. I then pounded at the first ghoul and decapitated it with a quickdraw of my sword. "Gramps! Cover me! I'm gonna take the West end!" I shouted. " Got it!" Mr. Williams complied.
"We'll take care of the east side! Rebecca, go on offensive while I'll attack on the rear guard. I'll cover you!" Gram complied.
All agreed to the conditions. Frantically scared for our lives we killed the undead one by one. As I was slashing my enemies, Mr. Williams aimed at the sides for support fire. Mr. Williams' aim was exact and straight. But after she let out his last arrow, a ghoul comes at the other side, charging towards him. I then pulled out an arrow from one of the dead ghouls and threw it at the undead. The arrow hit the eye socket but not enough. Mr. Williams then takes out her knife then stabs the other one. It drops dead and slams the ground. She then draws her bow and hits the ghoul behind me with a curve shot. The ghoul started to have spasms so I took a knife and stabbed its temple. It stopped moving and I shifted onto the next one with another vertical slice, cracking the head open like a watermelon.
'You're doing good. But I think you need to switch.' I heard Kenshin in my mind. I then turned and all of the ghouls were starting to concentrate at the west side. Rebecca was hacking away with her machete, only for one to jump from the ceiling. I then broke a picket sign into a stake and pushed Rebecca away. Just an inch away I impaled the makeshift spear at the corpse midair. The weight gave in and I lost my balance. I fell on the floor and the corpse was sliding down the shaft, toward me. I then took my left leg and kicked the ghoul in the fireball. The ghoul is just absorbed by the object and burns away. With the shaft on hand, I kip up and threw the spear. The pole stuck and the ghoul tripped. To finish it off, I sliced the head off as it tried to get up.
Already covered in black blood, I kneel at the floor as I was getting my footing. 'You're starting to fight like me.' Kenshin says, 'You're going to need to be more brutal. This is a whole new battlefield all together.' I grit my teeth and prepare your stance. He then sighs. I then look at him confused. He read my face as I didn't know what he was saying. 'Not like that, jackass.' He says, 'Niten ichi-ryu. Don't you remember you learned that technique so I can use it for my style?' I then sheathed my blade and got to a ready stance. Another memory I rather not remember. In many times, the Japanese world war two army would take random martial artist and use them to gain fighting skills to become more powerful. Even with niten ichi-ryu, I was also supposed to research on how to improve many other martial arts. However my superior officers took it a step too far with the use of live test subject. 'Test subjects' would have been an understatement to begin with. We used practitioners as punching bags, sometimes even as live samples to test weapons and techniques. My campaign happened to be at places around China and southeast Asia to gain tactical advantages in fighting rebels. I didn't like killing civilians but it made me stronger. But remembering that gave me a bad taste of my stomach. But something was wrong… At the end of the vision a ripple in my head occurred. Again one of my current life. However this was with laughing teens. What were they laughing about? I didn't have time to care. Reason being that there was a horde coming straight towards me.
There I pounced the first enemy and quickdraw my katana. After that, another leaped and quickdraw the second sword and decapitated the second corpse. Another ghoul then swings a metal pipe next to me. But parried it with my short sword and pierced the ghoul's eye socket with my katana.
It soon became a frenzy as I kept on hacking and slashing away as crossbow bolts hit beside along my side of attack. The more I swung my swords, the greater the euphoria I felt. I could feel part of Kenshin's emotions in my head. From slashing vitals, cutting off heads, to even movements such as vaulting, grappling, and sliding, all the techniques Kenshin made went straight to my brain. It lead to a point where I sliced one of the ghoul's heads off and kicked it towards a ghoul. It knocked the ghoul backwards and before it hit the ground, I sliced the top of their head. One by one all of them dropped and the number of ghouls started to dwindle. Soon there was no other ghoul that was left. I looked around and everybody was still at one piece. Richard's giant fireball already faded and there were no other threats around. Everybody staring at me, only to notice how much ghoul blood was splattered all over my body. "Damn Rin...I never thought you would go all out..." Rebecca commented.
Knowing now the extent of my actions, it was only there that I noticed how much blood was splattered at my face. I took a handkerchief from my utility belt and wiped my face. It was distasteful on how I looked from my reflection. 'What is that look at your face? You should have gotten used to it by now.' Kenshin said. I ignored that thought and got up. Surprisingly I still had energy left on my system. "I'm fine...Kenshin took over and fed me information again." I told them. "What do you remember?" Mr. Williams asked. More flashbacks came from that. More death. More blood. Two visions started to entwine. It was hard to make up. It was like static that you can find from a television. The only thing that I could make out were screams. "I rather not remember...the more I look into it, the more it makes me feel like a piece of shit." I replied.
I looked around the area. Cadavers were almost everywhere. But the weirdest part of it that almost all of the decapitated heads were still moving their jaws and biting. "Did we miss any?" I asked. "I doubt it. You killed almost all of them." Rebecca said.
"How many?" I asked.
"My guess was around the four plus most from what you killed from the east side… I'd say sixteen." Mr. Williams said.
"You were pretty good on your feet too... are you really doing alright?" Gram asked.
"I'm fine...let's just get rid of the rest of these heads." I brushed off.
I took a cleaver from the ground and put on some surgical gloves. It was at the first head I saw, I chopped it open with the first moment I saw. Just one chop was just enough to expose the crystal. Personally I always hated this part of this job, reason being of the smell and gore. But I felt rage and sorrow in my mind so I needed to keep myself occupied. Catharsis wasn't considered something suggestible for psychologist but it helps for me. Recalling those things may have helped me fight but it really didn't justify me of what I did at the time. "Grendel to Iris, we eliminated the ghouls in the area. No sign of any rare variant types. Over." Mr. Williams said on comms. "Confirmed. Keep on your toes. We're still working on the van. Apparently some parts have been stripped. We'll just get from the other van. Over." Sakuya replied.
"Copy that Ibis, over and out." Mr. Williams hung up.
It was a relief that we were given a little leg room. But then again it just proves that my actions now were considered something productive and logical. I kept on hacking away as each crystal proved as an opportunity to gain some extra merits and money. But it was there I heard some kind of rumbling sound from the floor. One of the bodies then started to move. Something then appears from under the bodies. Out came a baby. But not just any baby, a baby ghoul. "RIN! KILL THAT THING!" Gram shouted. The baby ghoul then let out a blood curdling scream. It deafened my ears and made us kneel to the ground. With quick thinking, I drew out my pistol and popped its head off.
I backed away, only to puke afterwards. My head was spinning, this didn't sit to me well. "Shit...I just killed a baby!" I cursed. "That's not the only thing you should be worried about." Gram said. I can then hear a rumbling sound. It sounded like a wheel mixed with the sound of gravel. Something started to speed towards us and started to glow. I then took a riot shield next to me and something just jumped off the shield like a ramp. It was a glowing blue wheel circling around us. It then opens up like a pill bug and turns out to be ghoul. It was covered in blue crystals from the back of the head to back and its shins and arms. It growls at us with smoke coming out from its mouth and nose, with transparent tourmaline teeth. "What the actual fuck is that?!" Rebecca asked out of shock. "It's a Speeder! Avoid getting hit by its crystals!" Gram shouted.
"What crystals?!" I asked. The ghoul then points its arm at me and projectiles started to aim at its wrist and fingers. I took the shield, only for a few pieces to penetrate through it. "Gram, Do you know how to take this down?" Mr. Williams asked. "Yeah, but it's going to be tricky." He said.
Mr. Williams then loads his bolt at his crossbow. We could hear the remaining six coming from the other side. "Rin and Gram will take care of this thing. The rest us take care of the ghouls." Mr. Williams commanded. "Roger that." All of us agreed. The teams were set and the battlefield was ours to use. "I'll play agro, find a way to kill it." I volunteered. I charged towards the enemy, hoping to go for a slash. The undead however was quick on its feet. To make matters worse, my katana manage to do a hit but it left scratches rather than cuts on the thing. As I can swing, the thing kept on dodging. It then did a giant leap and spun into a ball, shooting a large barrage of crystals. The crystals were about to break the shield as I can feel the thing is getting loose. "This thing is starting to break, I don't think I can do this for much longer!" I shouted. I kept on fighting on. It started to attack me with its fist. The strikes started to get stronger by the minute. But seeing through my clear bulletproof shield, crystal started to form at its left fist. The shield broke in two as that last hit with the crystallized fist shattered it in an instant. The Speeder then flings its other arm and was ready to shoot. I was wide open and it was about to shoot at blank range.
But it was at the nick of time Gram took his spear and knocked the ghoul's arm over to the air. The crystals were diverted to the ceiling. Gram gets a hold of me and jumps back. But by the time I jump back with Gram, a bolt shoots from Gram's heavy crossbow and hits the thing at the eye. "Did we get it?" I asked. But my hopes were shattered as the thing was still standing. "It's worse than I thought." Gram says, "The ghoul even crystallized the inner parts of his body." I then used my magus eye to see if we can find a core or something. It was also in there. But with the weapons we have it was impossible. The crystal core was located inside the chest area and that alone had transparent crystal lining. It was like a thin breastplate and I doubt my sword was able to cut it. On the bright side, Rebecca and Mr. Williams took the rest of the ghouls down.
"Sakuya said there were eight of them, it didn't mean we needed to kill them all." Gram said. "Alright then... new plan. Distract the Speeder ghoul and lead them away from the rest of the group. Let the other people of group handle the rest." Mr. Williams told us.
"I'm on it." I said.
"Take turns confusing it! Even if the ghoul is able to sense the energy of our bodies and hear us, it cannot focus on all of us!" Gram told us.
I then summoned a few doll shikigami. With my mind I told them to gang up on the ghoul. The ghoul was being overpowered and pulled down. But as it was being pulled down, the ghoul shot spikes out from its back and reverted half of the shikigami back to paper. It then started to pull the rest of the shikigami, but it was all a distraction. While distracted, I took a metal pipe from the ground and smacked its head at the opposite direction. I then run and it starts chasing me. But in the middle of running, Mr. Williams shoots an arrow at its side. It didn't pierce so the ghoul got pissed and started chasing him. But soon as that happened, Gram tripped the ghoul with a spear. We kept turns on distracting it. Whether from cutting, tripping, or other methods, we took advantage of our numbers to piss it off. But it soon went too far as soon as Gram tripped it again. The Speeder got angrier and was about to shoot crystals at him. But at a heartbeat I was able to summon a barrier charm and started blocking all the crystals. The rate of fire was much like a machine gun. "Sakuya! How close are we to getting out of here?!" I shouted as I accessed comms. "Five more minutes! We just need to put a few parts." Sakuya said.
"Make it three! I don't know if we can handle this one ghoul for long!"
"We're going as fast as we can! Just hold it off a bit longer."
The Speeder then folds into a ball then rolls towards us. I then summoned a barrier seal charm. The wall was able to withstand the ghoul but I underestimated it. It went for a second pass and it went up my barrier. From above, it then shoots crystal up in midair. Again I summoned another barrier from above was barely even able to cast it. But it landed at the barrier above us. It started to shoot from above. "How many of those barrier charms do you have left?" Gram asked. "Only three. But I got something better." I answered.
At my left hand I summoned a bird shikigami. It knocked off the ghoul from on top of us. But as it was about to shoot, I threw the metal pipe at his face. The ghoul fell from its bum and tried to get up again. But before it tried to shoot a round once more, I placed a paralysis charm on its forehead and threw the ghoul to the ground. There I followed up by pulling the ghoul up and place an explosive charm at its chest then threw it up in the air by using my demonic strength. As it reached a few feet away I used the tinder spell on the explosive charm and it blew it from the other side of the cover court, to a house across the street. Soon I revert back to my human form.
Close enough, my body still wasn't used to using magic in a rapid pace. Mix it with my demon form and it made my body feel as if I was being pricked a thousand needles. But eventually I was able to get on my two feet. The current ghoul threat was over. "I think I pulled a muscle with that last one." I mumbled as I went for a drink.
I took a bottle of water and some juice powder. After a bit of shaking I thought could relax. But it was soon going to be night and I was worried whether or not we were still going to make it. "Where did you learn to do that?" Mr. Williams asked. "I think I remember shoulder throwing one guy inside a trench while pulling the pin out of one of his grenades...Not the best memory I want to recall." I replied. The sound of a car engine flooded the area and it was music to my ears. Out from the back comes Richard with a van. He drives by next to us. "'Bout time, Richard." Mr. Williams said. Sakuya then opens her window. "Good work everyone." Sakuya congratulated. "Not yet. We're one ghoul short." Gram told here.
I then look around, trying to find something out of place. It was a corpse leaning behind a motorcycle. Slowly I walked towards it. As I moved closer I saw that there were empty eye sockets within the corpse's head. With a snap of my fingers I used the tinder spell on a corner of the cadaver's shirt. Once the cloth was lit, the corpse started to move. Without hesitation I quickdraw the sword with a vertical slash. The head was loft off and fell in a gentle swoop. "That makes thirty-eight." I said as I retracted my sword.
However another memory revealed as I was looking at that motorcycle. I then pushed away the corpse. I could hear the sound of the music and cheers. The smell of gas fumes and charcoal can be smelled with curry and BBQ. Everybody was laughing and cheering. That's all it was, just a happier time. It didn't feel like the usual stoic and old times of the empty hearted world war. It felt like a more recent time. It felt familiar. The only problem was that the faces were blurred. Where was this? When was this? Why is there this sense of joy I feel from all around. Where was this time? It made me uncomfortable to not remember such a time and place.
But that peace was short lived as a crystal was launched between my feet. Soon a few other crystals were being shot. Only when I took a good look, I saw the Speeder Ghoul still standing, It's skull was wide open and the a rock-like brain can be seen peeking out from it. It gave out a roar and I turned deeply annoyed. That was when I got a cleaver stuck from one of the dead bodies and placed a charm at one of the sides. Walking silently I started to creep. My aura cannot be seen from the senses of the ghouls but it doesn't mean he cannot hear me. I then get a ready stance and threw the cleaver as far as I can. It stuck at the ghoul's forehead. Once the cleaver hit the skull, I used the ignite spell to light the charm. But put too much mana in the spell causing a large explosion of fire. Debris started falling from the sky and I could hear wailing from the horizon. "Okay people time to go!" Richard ordered.
With my senses I can hear wild footsteps trampling towards us. Hoards were coming from the south. I then took all the things from the biker ghoul's body till eventually I found his keys. Lucky the motorcycle was able to turn on and it had three quarters of its gas still available. Looking back...I don't even recall using a motorcycle before. But then again, almost all the controls look so familiar. Heck not a single memory from Kenshin was him on a motorcycle. But I had no time to think of that. A threat was approaching and I don't have the power to take down an undead horde. Thinking about that now makes me think Kenshin might have a kick out of that. However if I did that, I would be saying goodbye to my daisho and the rest of my stuff. All I could do was rev up my engine and continue with the rest of my journey. There are too many inconsistencies for one day so I'd rather take a swig of alcohol and hit the sack. I had the stamina but I got too much over my head. This was Sakuya's plan after all, not mine.