9 Ghost 物語
Chapter 20
Kiba looked back over the wall to see a sea of monsters headed directly for the fort. There were no separate forces it was similar to what his Sensei said but slightly different. All the monsters were charging the highest ground and the most fortified area.
"Are they going to try and collapse the ground again?" Thought Kiba as he shot a fireball into the air.
"Total enemy: 50,000: 25,000 Zombies, 15,000 skeletons, 5,000 orcs,
Error error Kiba the sense detection is acting up something abnormal is occurring with the enemies numbers!"
Kiba decided he would have to just rely on his eyes. As he looked out at the sea of enemies he noticed they had stopped. He could see at least ten dragons and twenty Behemoths. Kiba thought the numbers from yesterday were staggering but today is on a whole different level.
There was a shift at the enemy vanguard and Kiba prepared for the attack when suddenly a man walked out in front. He had an average height maybe 178 cm. He had white hair and he wore a fu Manchu mustache. He was wearing a black robe that he removed the top so it look like he was wearing a long skirt. He had slender but extremely muscular body. He had a marking of a hand on the center of his chest with a circle around it.
"IT'S ALL OVER FOR YOU!" He screamed maniacally. He put his hand where the hand marking was on his chest and his body lit up momentarily. As he pulled his hand away there was now just a black hole.
Black particles like sand flew out and began to cloud around the enemy's military.
Kiba could not comprehend what happened next. The enemy forces began to be absorbed by the blackened cloud.
Kiba's mouth hung open as that sea of monsters disappeared before his very eyes.
The cloud as it finished ingesting the monster floated and return to the hole in the man's chest. His chest slurped the cloud up like Kiba would to his noodles at dinner.
The man was still laughing madly but nothing happened. The man looked around in a panic.
"Did his plan fail?"
Kiba heard some asked
"Gotcha," the man grinned widely as his body began to mutate.
Kiba watched in disbelief as the man's body turned black and purple. It pulsated and his bones dislocated as his muscle mass expanded. Sharp bone like spike pierced through the skin as the man slowly turned into a monster. As the monster soared to a hundred meters in size Kiba felt that old feeling of terror back when his mother died. He was on the verge of wetting himself. He felt like gravity was crushing him.
"H-he concentrated all the monsters into Vis and became that thing." Kiba thought as he gasped.
"It's a demon lord…"
Kiba struggled to look behind him. "It was Sensei he must have seen my flare."
Sensei hit Kiba in the face shocking Kiba.
"Snap out of it, we can handle it." Kiba blinked the pressure was gone. "That's a despair aura… this is the highest ranked unnamed demon. This is probably the most powerful one I have encountered. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve!" Kiba's Sensei grinned.
"Go and fight Kiba show the world your power. I'll be there to help."
Kiba nodded and jumped off the ledge.
Chapter 21
Kiba ran toward the towering monster. The monster was hundred meters from horn to foot. It's body was grey and muscular. It had a crown of horns. It's face was scowling and grotesque with tusks jutting from the mouth. It's back and shoulders were covered in spikes. The rest of his body looked like a humans but massive. He had a sword that looked to be at least fifty meters long the blade. The only clothing was that around his loins.
As Kiba ran he shouted, "Ghost Armada!"
As Kiba ran the sky turned green and out of the ether three large ships split the sky in a triangle formation. The sailed around the sky in a spiral as they sunk lower.
"Of all the men of the sea those that died for thee
Create a barrier of dead for this bastard to be"
A weird jaunty song was playing out from the ships and the ghosts of dead sailors guided the ships to surround the demon.
"How lame…," Kiba thought
The demon swung his sword but it slid through the ships like a knife through smoke. Kiba grinned as he knew the ships were unable to be destroyed. The ships began to launch purple and green orbs at the monster which exploded on impact.
The demon looked more annoyed than injured.
"What are these annoying bugs and why can't I kill them?"
The demon lord scanned the field and saw the boy running. He was running to circle behind the demon lord. "I'll just kill this boy instead." The monster shouted as he swung the blade at lightning speed toward Kiba. The blade narrowly missed Kiba but due to its size and speed he was knocked sideways by the wind.
"I've got you now kid!" The demon lord taunted as he swung the blade, but suddenly the demon lord was sent flying by a blow to the head.
A man landed on the ground near Kiba. The man's skin was blood red and had black studs and seals all over his body. One long horn protruded from behind a head of long white hair. Kiba knew that white hair could never be anyone but his Sensei's hair.
The demon lord groaned as he stood up, "what the fuck was that?" He shouted as he looked at Kiba and Sahara.
Sahara crouched down and launched into the air causing the ground to turn to rumble underneath. He was moving so fast Kiba could not see him. In the next moment the back of the Demon Lord's head exploded outward as Sahara shot through his cranium. Blood and brain fluid flew out and evaporated into the ether as the giant fell.
As the defeat monster layed on the ground it began to break a part and dissolve.
Kiba stood up and Sahara land near him. "That's the difference between an unnamed demon and a named demon."
"W-what are you a demon?" Kiba asked in shock.
"Not quite remember I am a demon cleaner and have the abilities to use demons to carry out my will. This vessel is a merger of my body with the most powerful demon I ever fought, Gurodesu."
"That incredible Sensei!" Kiba shouted.
"Do you think it is over?" A familiar voice spoke behind them.
It was a young lady wearing a bunch of wrappings and a brown robe, Hana.
"Hana!" Kiba shouted with a grin.
"Hey boyo y'all look like you are having too much fun." Hana replied with a "what am I going to do with you" expression.
"Anyway the King's men have arrived so I think we should fall back."
Sahara was in a thinking pose as he thought about who that man was, "Kiba, Hana that person was Dreg."
Kiba and Hana looked at him puzzled. "These are the highest tier of witch familiars, and this one had the ability to turn into the most powerful unnamed demon I have seen."
"What does this mean?" Kiba asked
"It means this battle has just begun." A mysterious voice cackled.
Kiba, Sahara, and Hana all turned to see a shadow of a man speaking to them.
"Oh don't look so shocked did you really think you could defeat us?" It said mockingly.
"Lady Mari hungers, so I will make this quick!" The figure pulled out a large white gourd.
"Kiba! Hana Run!" Shouted Sahara as he launched himself into the figure.
Kiba grabbed Hana and bolted. "Wait what about the Major!"
"Sensei said run," replied Kiba ask he activated his acceleration. After about thirty seconds Kiba and Hana had gotten about two kilometers away just a kilometer northwest of the fort.They were situated on the top of the hill as they watched the battlefield.
Sahara was trying to land a blow on the shadowman but he kept ducking and dodging the attacks with ease and dexterity. After a series of attacks by Sahara the figure countered with a punch to Sahara's stomach. The punch was so powerful it caused Sahara to fall to his knees. The figure then plunged a long metal spike, it had pulled out of his shadow, directly through the Sensei's chest impaling Sahara to the ground. Hana grabbed her head and screamed, "Koyo!"
On the battlefield Sahara felt heavy. He was having trouble breathing the demon in front of him was no ordinary dreg.
"Now you are going to watch as I suck up all your friends!" The creature laughed as he pointed the gourd to the Fort where the forces were gathered.
A purple gas floated out, and formed a massive cloud like that of a storm. The cloud the fell upon the fort as Sahara struggled to get free. It was no use as the spike was a sealing weapon that drains the strength and separates the will from the body.
"Fufufu," the shadow snickered, "you have a lot of power so I am not going to absorb you yet. The gourd can only fit so much Lifeforce. So I will take the King's military might out first. After I will serve you and your two friends to our beautiful leader Lady Mari.
Sahara gasped and tried one last time to free himself but to no avail. Sahara went limp as he watched the people he was trying to protect evaporate and get sucked into the gourd.
Chapter 22
Hana was sobbing uncontrollably as Kiba watched from the sidelines. He could not believe what he was seeing. Just like the monsters earlier he was watching the adventurers and soldiers being absorbed.
He tried to think about what to do, but nothing came to his mind. The only thing he could possibly consider is to fix the problem.
He grabbed Hana and forced her to run with him to the forest. He ran holding Hana's hand as she lost her will to fight. She just limply followed him.
To Kiba surprise in front of him was a girl beckoning him. "You are the girl from earlier !" Kiba exclaimed.
"Shhhh this forest is crawling with witches!" The freckled face girl in a green robe whispered. Kiba covered his mouth as he turned to look at Hana. Hana's eyes looked vacant and dreary.
The girl turned and walked deeper into the forest. Kiba pulling Hana followed. After a couple of minutes of sneaking through the woods. They arrive at a small stone cabin. There was firewood stack in front and one could see a large chimney attracted to the side.
The girl pressed her hand to the door which lit up and a latch was audibly unlocking.
"Hurry up," the mysterious girl whispered.
Kiba leading Hana entered the cabin.
Kiba was now sitting depressed and exhausted on a chair next to a well-crafted table. Hana was huddled up on the floor rug crying softly. Kiba's hand was trembling and he would squeeze it to make it stop.
"Who are you?" Kiba asked
"Rima, I am an alchemist and healing specialist for the soldiers stationed at Fort Prisma." She said with a bow.
"You are Shin and Mimi the big heroes who are the lowest rank for adventurers. The buzz was going around yesterday at how you two and the older man turned the battle around."
"We didn't," Kiba gritted his teeth. "Did you not see? We are the only people left… even…. even Sensei was defeated." Kiba was crying now as the emotional toll finally struck.
"We are safe for now," Rima said as she started a fire in the fireplace. I found this abandoned cabin several months ago while I was searching for herbs and bark. So I placed a seal around it and made it my base of operations.
Kiba noticed a bunch of strange glass tubes and containers on the shelves as well and a large collection of textbooks.
Kiba regained some of his composure, "We need to come up with a plan…" Kiba thought out loud.
Rima took off the green hood which revealed her long strawberry brown braid.
"I have been following a strange phenomenon going on in my home town of Kutra. About a year ago a midwife by the name of Lady Mari took over the town after exposing the Mayor as a fraud and predator. Everyone was really happy, but people started to go missing. I came up to investigate but did not really discover anything. My family told me that things were finally going well in this town. They told me they set a request to the adventurers guild to find out the cause of the missing people so they weren't worried. However, all the adventurers that have since gone through Prisma to get to Kutra have not returned."
"Do you think our situation is related?" Kiba asked
"Without a doubt," Rima said with a stern expression. "I think we could stop these creatures if we go to the root cause. There is even the possibility that we could save those lifeforce has been consumed!"
Kiba was trying to fully grasp the situation he was in, but he was having a hard time filtering the stress. "Let's do it, Shin," a voice said from across the room. It was Hana. She was standing up with a fire in her eyes.
"Aye," Kiba nodded. "Take us there."
Rima smiled and nodded fiercely.
Chapter 23
Kiba felt tense, but better than earlier as he walked out of the Northern Forest into the outskirts. They ate and rested a while at the cabin, and now it was the next day. He was being followed by Hana and Rima. The trio had used their sneaking abilities to avoid detection, but as Kiba looked around there was no one to be found. "Rami said it had been a while since she had been back here, so maybe they got absorbed like the others." Kiba thought
After a few minutes of walking, they got to the center of town where there was absolutely no one. Rami was looking around into different buildings that she knew but there was no one inside.
"I guess they were also absorbed.." Hana muttered.
Kiba noticed some building off a ways from the town. He felt drawn to them for some reason so he began to walk toward the closet one.
When he reached the building he noticed a star on the side of the building that said "Kutra Prison and Law Enforcement."
Hana and Rami quickly followed Kiba.
"Kiba I don't think anyone is there," Rami said with a slightly concerned voice.
Kiba ignored her and entered the building.
He looked around at the desks were reports were generated but the desks were completely empty. "See," Rima said. "I told you it was empty, we should go to that manor though! That's where Lady Mari was staying."
"I just want to be thorough in here. Sensei told me once that if a crisis ever occurs in a town or village check the law enforcement buildings." Kiba said as he opened a heavy door. The door opened up to rows of stone rooms with steel bar doors. Kiba walked down the hall of cells which we all empty until he got to the very end.
There was a shriveled up man with messy hair and beard. All around him were the bones of small rodents that had wondered in. The man's face was blank and showed no acknowledgment of anyone being there. His ribs were sticking out only covered by a thin bit of skin. In fact, he looked like a skeleton with skin.
Hana and Rima walked up behind Kiba and looked at the cell.
"That's the old mayor… he must have starved to death." Rima said from behind Kiba.
"Aaah!" Hana screamed as the starved man jumped back against the wall.
"Ah, witch it's the witch!" The mayor foamed the mouth as he panicked.
"Calm down sir were adventurers here to help." Hana tried to soothe the man
"Get back she's a witch! she's pure evil! Help me!"
"Kiba that old mayor is beyond saving," Said Rima
The old man was sobbing, "the witch… witch!"
Kiba looked over at Hana who gave him a worried look.
"Yes, he is definitely mad…" Kiba said as he turned to face Rima.
"So who did you call me just know? My name is Shin." Kiba said pretending to be puzzled
The freckled girl's face was twisted in a malicious grin. Her eyes were blood red and her teeth were razor sharp. Her hair feathered out and turned black. She looked like a raven in human form.
The old man screamed as Kiba and Hana started backing down the hall. Suddenly their path was cut off by a group of black-robed women holding long knives. Three of the women grabbed Hana and were cackling, "what do we have here? Two for one!" The cut open Hana's robe and wraps. There was Hana fully nude her Reaper's black skin shined with a luster. Hana's breasts had swollen up and her abdomen was round and protruding. Kiba's eyes widen. "Hana you…"
Suddenly one of the witches charged Kiba. The next thing Kiba knew he was standing alone on the ramparts of Fort Prisma.
Chapter 24
Kiba blinked trying to adjust his vision. He stared in disbelief at his surroundings. "Why am I here?" Kiba thought in a panic. "I need to save Hana!" Kiba looked around in bewilderment trying to hone in on anything that would give him an answer.
"Kiba!" A gentle voice exclaimed inside his head. "Did you forget about me?"
"Rubarow!" Kiba felt a sense of relief as he heard her voice.
"Rubarow, I don't know what to do…" Kiba said defeated.
"Well, your instinct skill activated back at that prison. It triggered a teleportation spell. It sent you back to the Fort because it was the closest destination not under the black magic manipulation that witch Mari has let ooze into the environment."
"So she is a witch," Kiba said.
"Yes, but she isn't just any witch she's a named Supreme Witch. She could have only been created through mass sacrifice with a fusion of one hundred blood witches."
"What does that mean?" Kiba asked.
"It means that she is the most powerful form of an evil witch outside the devil witches. Witches would only join together to form a Supreme Witch for the sole purpose of resurrecting the devil witch Lemuria."
"How can you be certain ?"
Hana scoffed indignantly, "You do realize I spend all my time studying? Of course, I'd study the one enemy your Sensei has been talking about!"
"Sorry sorry!" Kiba said waving his hands, then he stopped and composed himself.
"Do you know what that gourd was? The one that absorbed everyone?"
Rubarow was silent for a moment, "it was the Gourd of Ethereal Darkness, it is a gourd that can consume not only the Vis of an individual but there entire lifeforce and body. It is the most valuable of the Black Magic tools because it can not be countered and is used as a means to increase the power of the owner. The one plus is It can only absorb a limited amount, but the limit is extremely high. I think the reason Sensei was not absorbed is due to his insanely high Vis storage. They wanted to make sure all the enemies were wiped out and needed the gourd to not max out."
Kiba nodded and bit his thumb.
"Well Hana is in danger so I need to save her, and I can sense that Sensei is not dead. If I teleport will I return to the prison?" Asked Kiba with stern determination.
"Unfortunately teleport is a limited use spell, and can only be used once a day."
Kiba frowned, "Fly it is!"
Kiba lifted off the ground and felt the cool breeze as he rose.
"Wait, Kiba!" Rubarow shouted
"W-what?" Kiba asked in shock.
"If you use Fly the witches will sense your magic inside their barrier. You should use your ghost concealment spell instead."
Kiba with a dejected look floated back down to the top of the fort's wall.
"Ghost Shadow!" He said.
His body slowly faded into a translucent appearance.
"Ready?" Kiba asked
"Ready!" Rubarow smiled from inside the Tenshi stasis chamber.
Chapter 25
Hana woke up. All she could see is a hazy light and shadow moving around in front of her. She blinked and tried to move. It was no use her hands were stuck. They were above her head and when she moved there was a metallic clink. She felt a string of warm liquid through the grit on her face. There was a swelling sensation on her forehead accompanied by a dull throbbing pain. She furrowed her brow and a sharp pain came from the bump on her forehead. She felt the liquid flow down her face until it reached her lips. Panting slightly she breathed it in. To her relief, it was just blood. She realized she must have been knocked out.
Her eyes slowly focused on her surroundings. They were clearly underground in what looked like a catacomb. She was feeling unusually ill. She felt a slight movement from her womb. Happiness washed over her, but then she felt intense fear. "These witches know about the baby," she began to breathe rapidly. It was a well-known fact witches enjoyed feasting on babies due to their purity.
She was looking around for any means to break free when she saw another figure tied up about ten meters away. It was a tall man with white hair. "White hair?" Hana thought for a moment. "Koyo!" She cried out.
Hana watched the white hair jostle. Slowly Sahara raised his head. It was not much but when he saw Hana's face he gave her a reassuring smile.
Hana had tears streaming down her face. When a sinister voice spoke from the other side of the room.
"My my what a joyful reunion," Lady Mari spoke her words dropping with venom as she approached. She was followed by a shadowy man holding a gourd and the black robes witches from earlier.
"Her Highness Princess Lemuria just loves eating whole families!"
Lady Mari chuckled with sadistic pleasure. "I wonder who she will eat first? The baby? No, she will probably save that for last."
Hana was truly afraid while Sahara stared at Hana with a look of shock.
He was looking at her belly which was overtly presenting a major bump.
Hana smiled wryly and spoke softly, "I wanted to tell you, but…"
"I understand," Sahara cut her off and smiled, "Surprise me later."
Hana sniffed happily and nodded.
"Wahahahahaha, you think you will survive this?" Lady Mari was laughing with a wicked grin.
"Impaler it's time." Lady Mari turned around with a flick of her robe and strolled over the alter-like platform.
She chanted something inaudible while holding her hand in a strange manner. Slowly the wall in front of cracked and slid open. Inside was something Hana found deeply disturbing. The room looked like a giant organ. It was purple and pink with strange pulsing arteries all over. Hana's eyes were drawn to the very center where there was a large transparent chamber filled with a mysterious blue fluid. Bubbles were floating to the top as the little girl inside slept in a fetal position. The girl looked like an ordinary prepubescent girl the difference was that she had two columns of horns starting at the forehead running parallel. The column went over the top of her head and down her back with her spine in between. She also had large dragon-like wings tucked and pressed against her back.
"Is that child the devil witch?" Hana thought while staring.
The fiend named Impaler handed Lady Mari the gourd and she injected it into the organ where there was a slit above the chamber.
As the gourd dumped its contents into the organ it altered the color of the egg-like chamber's fluid. It changed from blue to a murky purple color then eventually total blackness consumed the sleeping Devil witch.
The organ quivered then suddenly bone-like spikes shot out in all directions like an inverted sea urchin. Lady Mari laughed as she was skewered. "Now I will become one with the Princess of absolute evil!"
The spikes began to shudder to tear apart the witch. Chunks of her body flew around inside the area where the organ-like room was. When the spikes retracted all that was left was a pile of ground up witch.
Hana couldn't control herself and vomiting due to the scene.
The gore that was left was then dissolved by that grotesque room. Suddenly the organ shook violently. Then all the organic parts of the room evaporated into the black egg like chamber. All that remained in the area was normal bedrock and the egg chamber that laid on the floor.
Hana and Sahara stared in anticipation as it cracked open.
