[Delphine pov]
With blood upon my blade, cleaned with a mere swipe of my arm, there was a moment of peace. Of silence that seemed to last forevermore.
Whence the night's moon, the glow upon my face. It only seemed to brighten. A death that had echoed forth a series of events.
Neither I nor Okami had missed the twitch, the slight movement of the beings neck as it died. A burst of faded light.
That only seemed to echo forth an impression of which I knew of.
Okami could not know, should not know. But the glint within his eye. As his paw seemed to stretch from here to there. An imitation of the technique I had used.
Only it was adapted for his paws.
A yip that echoed forth his true feelings. And the twins, they spewed upon themselves apathy and angst. Emotions that seemed to only grow stronger and stronger.
Until they reached a point of pure agony.
"That…" She called, clutched to the edge of her shoulder. The pill had stopped the bleeding, clotted the crimson fluid.
But it did not stop the pain.
"I… I could have…" Her sister, Lin, seemed to comfort her own. Naea felt the full brunt of her own emotions. A flayed mind that seemed to only…
I shook my head, laid my hand out and in reach of those paws of his.
A fragile mindset that would lead to her death.
"Steel your mind. This is not the end."
Lin and Naea, they both turned their heads, pale as they were.
"It's not?!"
A panicked shout.
"No."
I turned around, my eyes set upon the forest.
"Go, protect the town. I will wait here."
They tried to protest, to call that it was not fair that I be given the brunt of the mission.
However I merely scowled, bared teeth at their fluctuated emotions, the clouded judgment that seemed to only bring them closer to death.
"I said go."
There was no heat in my voice. Only a disappointment.
Both had been chosen, most likely given this in trust.
Meant that they had been vetted, but this… this was not what they should be.
Had they not been given near death experiences, that fear ripped from their mind.
No, from the actions and gazes I had felt over my back. Soft. That was the only word to describe such children.
And so… as they retreated. My back turned. I barely felt a hurry. A clawed hand that reached over my shoulder.
Blank eyes that seemed to hold no intelligence. Cut from their head. Blood that fell over my hair stained crimson.
In a mockery of my own eyes.
"Go."
I pointed at a horde of these beasts, Mountain goats with silver fur. Muscles taut and strong. And a rage to go along with that same strength. Drawn forth by the being within those chambers.
Who had created… summoned such monstrosities. A veil to his own actions.
I knew how they moved. The intelligence they held so high. On a pedestal greater than their minds could bring them.
It was simple. A mere deduction. And within that deduction, a plan. Formed at the behest of the twins.
They would be my lynch point, from which the rest of my plan would be launched.
And so, I breathed in… the slaughter I had reigned upon those ignorant goats. Horns and clawed feet, all aimed and poised at the two of us.
A perfect edge for the perfection of slaughter.
River Sword
I spoke, ancient hymns and esoteric lines. An echo of the power within this created technique. One of the techniques I had mastered to the edge. Where it could reign in the very gods.
Within those ancient hymns… those esoteric lines, formed the core of my cultivation. The elementary level, a mere stepping point. Where the body would be formed. Ready for the truth. The power of heavenly energy.
And this… this was the perfect point to break through. The energy that the slaughter created.
For every breath, filled with the corpses and bodies of those migrating herds of goats.
It brought another mouthful of Qi, slaughter Qi.
It was usual for those, of both sides of the equation, to find themselves stuck in a loop. Either they cultivated the five core elements. Or they cultivated pure or impure Qi. There was no inbetween.
As was common, of thought and body, that these were the only that could be cultivated.
But that was wrong. For the five core and two opposite elements were merely the most stable. The ones that, if cultivated, were easy to manipulate and grow.
Easy to place within the body.
And that was it. Most never even bothered to look further than that. They went off of this principle, made many offshoots, but in the end.
Every single one of them could be boiled down to those fundamental few.
However mine was of a different thought. That the heavens were equal. The fundamental line of my own cultivation technique.
Of course it didn't matter. Not in the elementary stage. But that didn't mean that the principles could not be heeded in this very stage.
For as my breath and body filled with tainted Qi. Heavenly energy that had been given life for the slaughter of those within it.
With lives of their own, thoughts of their own, power of their own.
Each and every living being, when killed, would produce a miniscule amount. But compounded on the other. Consuming the blood and Qi of those that had died.
It multiplied until my stomach was full. Until I could no longer move.
For I was bloated by the deathly energies within me.
I closed my eyes, Okami noticed. Merely stood to my side and protected me as I reached a stage of ascension.
Where the energy in my body could no longer hold the rest of that energy. Clashing. Forever clashing.
A symphony of battle that brought their power together. A taint and non-taint. Where each battle, each fight, each clash. There was no equal. One took the lead then the other…