"Here, use this for your blood container, it will prove useful in the future." Says the oni, giving you an iridescent gourd made from the petals of the ethereal flower field.
You gaze as your peripheral vision seeps into the sparkling container, "This is so pretty."
"Ah, I can make a living out of these."
You send all of your controlled blood into the gourd, the dark red fills the kanji symbol engraved on it and stains the light from the dead fruit with a delightful hue. You're pretty content with the gift while the oni is sucking most of the crystalized flower into her own black gourd. With enough experience from reading and playing games, you guess that the black fruit bottle is actually a space pocket artifact or some kind.
'Crystal Flower Gourd" acquired.
Strapping your backpack and readying the microgun, you bewilder the fever-dream scenery for one more time.
"Ah, right."
The oni prods your necklace talisman, giving it a good fix while also restocking the mana supply within the mana crystal, "Just in case."
"Why are you helping me?" You ask, still not convinced of what has happened for the past few moments.
"Hmm, probably because I wanted to do some good deeds once in a while."
A troubled face then comes after that statement, as if she is reenacting some nightmare within her head.
"Huh, why did you say that you wanted to kill me though?"
"Eh? Did I say that?"
Despite the blade on her palate, Lues shoves her words into the conversation, "Yweah kwiddo, ywou dwid."
"Ah, ahaha, that is just a bluff. I'm referring to your father of course, I had no business with his child."
"What!?"
"Whwat!?"
The oni continues, "Iyaaa, I still can't believe that my target has already had two children—a twin on top of that, I'm just weak with kids you know?"
"Uhm."
"Uwhm."
Who is going to tell her?
"So you're targeting my dad?" You say, playing along.
"Yeah, all I know is that he is actually called Long Leggy. But don't worry, your dad is actually scum."
"Have you met him before?"
"I am, he looks like a female strangely." The oni then mumbles two words, "Big boobs."
"Then don't you think that she is my mother instead?"
"Huh, isn't Chronos your mother?"
"Ahahahahah…"
"Hwahwahwa…"
"You can't fool me, child. You have Chronos's aura and almost identical soul wavelength with your father, but I still can't grasp something." The oni ponders around with her palm fondling her chin, "If your father is a female, and Chronos is a female, and your evil twin—spirit has an older soul but you're actually a twin…"
Her expression stiffens, before she gazes at you with extreme malice, "I found only one document of your existence and not your twin sister. Three days before that, all formation regarding Long Leggy had been crypted. Tell me, Little Longy, where did you live before the time you got to the hospital? What kind of catastrophe are you actually fighting against? There also has been an S rank calamity reported by the scout team made up of two people, your father is one of them. Was the heedful Long Leggy affected by the said calamity's substances? Ah, and the name of the calamity is Timorea, does that ring any bell? Little Longy? or should I say, Long Leggy—"
"AHAHAHA YES! LONG LEGGY IS ACTUALLY MY FATHER!" No longer having the tolerance to let her into a conclusion, you immediately say something that might satisfy Chronos if she is here.
The fierce oni retracts her hostility, shifting into a big smile as if she is proud of herself
"Mmm, my judgement is right!"
The person she is looking for is right in front of her! Ketanium is really powerful and that statement cannot be shaken, even your doppelganger was defeated effortlessly. Then again, this situation is really going in your favor—or not.
"Indweed, he is a scwum! Hwe left us when we were smoll! Whwat will ywu dwo if ya mweet our fatwer?" Asks Lues, trying to make the situation as worse as possible.
"Ah, that will depend if he wanted a fast torture or a slow torture. We Oni have our own way to satisfy our client, especially if the target is a tiger who abandons their cubs."
"Hwuh, that won't do. Hwe actually already dulled his senses so ya need to work extra hwarder if ya want to torture hwim."
"Ah, thank you for your advice."
Without trying to make the situation more awkward and dangerous, you cut the conversation short and depart into the dot marked on the given map. You wave your hands with a smile to Ketanium, then you wave your middle finger to Lues as she replies with two middle fingers from both hands.
You've avoided another death flag, and possibly raised another one with the misunderstanding. There will be a time where you need to act and fake your identity more to survive. Lying might be a sin but who gives a damn when you lose your head without doing so.
From all the way of your journey to the indicated place while donning a troubled smile. A giant aztec gate surrounded by peripheral blue flame, as if the reluctant souls are trying to warn you about something.
You swallow your saliva while gathering the courage to take another step forward. The moment you pass the gate, the reality changes as the sky dyes itself in crimson red. The 'Killer Dusk' is there with its bloody exterior on the sky, still staring at you with a foreboding smile.
"So guess I'm back to Kauhu Forest."
The map begins to dissolve into dust, already fulfilling its purpose. Now it is up to you to survive until tomorrow morning—
"Chronos didn't tell me when she would arrive."
With more mana available than before, you send out the frequency to the marks on the tree you placed before. It takes a while before the signal is sent back.
"Shit."
The marked area from before is more than three kilometers from the place where you stand, it will take more than a day to go back to the campsite, unless you want to risk going back to the shady realm and meeting with the oni once again. But that plan itself is rather too risky as the one who might know the realm more than you pointed you out through this direction instead of the place you came from.
Just as when you shift your view into the ancient gate, a small block of white comes crashing down and turns the gate into rubble.