3 Dragon
[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 0, Marks: 1, Followers: 9, Faith: 7]
Now that's a beautiful sight!
For the last week or so, I've been placing my mark on each masked member one at a time. I guess, people are more energetic once they aren't hungry all the time.
My method was to mark one follower, then gain one Faith at sunset until I reached enough for another mark. Then, I would create another follower with the mark, harvesting two Faith everyday. I repeated this cycle until I reached my ninth follower. With a new Mark, it meant I could get another one.
It really didn't take too long, as my Followers meant I got more Faith daily. And now, my next follower (victim) has arrived.
"Fox... You do realize the Master has reached the final points in his plan. What do you seek from me at a critical point like this?" The man's mask, which was fashioned to resemble a Chinese dragon, was ornately crafted with intricate details etched into the metal.
I still couldn't help but wonder why these guys would wear such a thing. He seemed a bit surprised when facing me and the 9 followers awaiting behind me, which was reasonable. They were my insurance, since last time I tried getting a follower, the Rabbit tried to run away. Good thing, Monkey is agile and strong at subduing people.
Foxy stood behind me and answered aloud, "Dragon! You must see this! Check the cursed spirit's pulse and ascertain what we found. It is extremely important!"
Good! This guy is following my orders... Now, I just need the little lizard to come close so I can leave my mark!
Dragon looked at Foxy, as both stood motionless. That was until Dragon pulled out a sword from his sheath and pointed it at me?!
"Gluttony, right? Based on your name, the Master assumed your technique would be related to consumption or space, but we never expected this..."
What's this guy saying? And why is he pointing a sword at me out of nowhere? If I couldn't order these nine guys behind me, I would almost feel in danger...
Dragon continued, "I never expected you to have a mind controlling technique, truly dangerous. If the Master wasn't so vigilant and warned me beforehand, I might have been affected. However, ever since you took over Rabbit three days ago, we have been monitoring you..."
Uh oh.
"It seems that just like we suspected, you force the one's under your control to make physical contact to become your puppets! Hahaha, truly a cursed being with a Special Grade level technique! At least this confirms that we have a suitable curse for the ritual!"
This time, I interrupt, "So what if you know? I have nine of these guys behind me. Can you escape without Monkey's key or outside help?"
He looks at me and explains, "Did you really think I came here to die? You surely believe that Fox is the leader under the Master, but that's simply not true. Fox is indeed the leader of the experimental sector, but I..."
"Am the leader of killing!" In one step, I felt a small breeze.
Then I look and see three heads rolling on the ground. They belonged to Foxy, Ox, and Rabbit. Even worse, I noticed something inside my mind change.
[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 0, Marks: 1, Followers: 6, Faith: 7]
Oh shit! My followers dropped! This Dragon guy is obviously the strongest among them all. Just one step forward and three of them died.
I clench my fist tightly and calm myself, "Why would you kill them?"
Dragon didn't say anything, but I could feel him smiling under the mask, "Master authorized me to kill any potential threats. Surely these guys cannot recover so easily from that technique you possess."
He then lifted his sword above his dragon mask. With one swishing motion, he bisected two more followers.
Little Pig and Rat are dead... It's okay... I still have my trump card! Even though no one has the keys to my restraints, there is someone who can save me!
"Monkey!!! Commence 'Operation: Save my Ass!' Everyone else, stall that Dragon bastard!!!" I yell to Monkey behind me, who quickly understood. The others also dashed towards Dragon's position.
However, Monkey ripped apart the talismans on my arms and slashed the chains all around my body.
He quickly picked me up and fled to the exit using his key. It seems the nonstop 'praying' I forced on him to do made it easier for him to follow my directions.
After reaching the door, I heard the slashing of flesh and the heavy smell of blood behind me.
As the door creaked open, I was pushed out by Monkey, who was bisected from the head down. Behind him, was Dragon, who's mask became bloody red.
I felt very terrified for a moment, before I dashed away and was met with a guard. He looked confused as I ran past him.
All I head behind me was Dragon shouting, "Get him! Subdue that thing!"
When I rushed out, I noticed on the horizon a setting sun! Among the trees I found outside were a large group of people. I sprinted into the middle of the large crowd gathering and touched a random little girl. With one touch on her forehead, I noticed screaming.
[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 0, Marks: 0, Followers: 1, Faith: 7]
+ 1 Faith
[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 1, Marks: 0, Followers: 1, Faith: 8]
Someone was beheaded in the way of Dragon as the sun finished setting. I also felt a strange headache when it finally set.
I mustn't get distracted, the bastard and his guards were approaching even faster.
This bastard really was relentless in finding me.
In order to not let my follower killed, I ran away from the crowd. For some reason, my body wasn't as slow as I thought, which helped me in escaping faster.
That's when I was met with a small well in the town. It was almost deserted.
The reason I stopped was simple, I could tell that I was surrounded. The smell of 'strong' humans were all around me, including Dragon's distinct smell of oppression and blood.
Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me. "What are you doing here?" It was a young woman, dressed in ancient clothing and looking at the me with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.
I ignored her, thinking about my next move. That's when I thought I should ask for directions, but before I could respond, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps once again.
It was a squad of soldiers, led by Dragon, who had caught up to me.
I raised my fists ready to defend myself if necessary. But to my surprise, the young woman stepped forward and confronted Dragon and his followers.
"Sir? What is going on here? Why are you chasing this person?" she demanded, her voice steady and strong.
Dragon hesitated for a moment, surprised by the woman's boldness. But then he drew his sword and pointed it at her. "Stay out of this, woman. This is none of your concern. That thing, may look like an innocent teenager, but it has already killed my martial brothers."
This Dragon bastard... How shameless is he? Blaming me for their deaths... Poor Monkey didn't deserve that. Eh, I guess I'm not much better, haha.
I glared at Dragon. This really seemed like the worst situation. The woman was too weak to be used and my body wasn't strong enough as a Special Grade from the anime.
Before I could even think of surrendering, an arrow pierced my back. It went so deep, I felt trouble breathing for a moment due to my surprise.
From the smell, it was coated in some kind of cinnamon fragrance. Oh... My sense of smell seems much better... Wait? Cinnamon? That might be poiso-
I felt my consciousness blur, as I fell to the ground like a hunted beast. As I lay on the ground, I heard a small conversation.
"Sir! The target is not in a great condition, but the wounds aren't fatal either! Just a puncture in the lower back and a missing pinky!" It was the voice of someone unfamiliar. Most likely a random soldier.
"Alright, I get it. No need for yelling. Have him delivered to his cell with maximum containment measures from outside... Hmm, pinky? I don't remember slicing him... Eh, maybe I just forgot." This time, I heard the familiar voice of Dragon. He seemed close, but my eyes were closing on their own.
"What should we do with this female citizen?"
"I was afraid of any possible trump cards, but we're fine. Now that the target is subdued, kill the witness and blame it on an escaped criminal."
As I heard a few mumbles, my eyes shut and I went unconscious.
...
~One week later~
It's been some time since the incident of my attempted escape. Like I thought, it was too early for my escape. Worse, now there was no one bringing me food or watching over my cell. They seemed to discover that I wasn't as strong as a Special Grade Curse, but just had an equally strong technique.
But the truth is they overestimated my technique! It really wasn't as strong as mind control! I want to cry but have no tears.
They also learned of my weakness, which is that I need to physically mark someone for it to work. This was truly a hopeless situation. However, the worst part was that Dragon was going to infuse me into a Cursed Tool today.
But all was not lost, as I gained something critical. Information and power.
[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 1, Marks: 0, Followers: 1, Faith: 14]
When I advanced to Level 1, information flooded into my head giving me a headache. I also gained two new features with my Yama's Cult.
I learned that as long as I hit a certain threshold of followers, I can advance to the next level. Since I reached 10 followers on that day before sunset, it registered as reaching the threshold for advancing (which is 10 followers). However, now that they were dead, and the sun has long since set since they died, my followers are only at 1!
The ridiculousness was that I knew I now needed 100 followers! Where would I get that shit?! Does Faith grow on trees? Do Marks grow on trees? I would be sucking Faith from my single follower for years until I advanced! It's a miracle she even still thinks about me regularly or else the Faith Mark would have disappeared already!
+ 1 Faith
Goddammit! I miss when I had 9 followers and got 9 Faith daily. Those were sweet times where brother Monkey and I practiced prayer to myself daily...
There was good news to be found, which was my lifesaver.
I obtained two new features:
By burning 5 Faith, I can give an order to a follower using telepathy. However, I could only give the order and not actually communicate.
I can leave a Mark on someone using the physical contact condition, as long as it's a piece of my body touching them.
This might not sound too great, but what it meant was that I had to gamble.
With no more Marks and just 15 Faith, I had to rely on this new feature to save my ass. Since her belief in me was very shallow compared to Monkey, it would take two simple orders just to get my plan to work.
- 5 Faith
I thought to the little girl, "Go around the town secretly spreading news of my previous escape to the people."
With this, the setup should be good.
- 5 Faith
"Mix half of the pinky finger hidden in your pocket in the food for your mother, after 5 days pass." I give out the second order. Making it as simple as possible to reduce chances of confusion or failure.
I can't ask it to be discreet, as the commands would be messed up. I can only pray on RNG that Dragon or the others won't notice this little girl's behavior.
My plan was to wait 5 days to afford another mark and put it on her mother while she was having dinner with my pinky.
Now, most would ask: How did your pinky end up with that girl?
And the answer is simple: When I advanced, the influx of information entered my head. Left with no options, I bit my finger off and stuffed it in her pocket. I also whispered an order which made the pinky seem invisible to her.
With this, I can start my mobile source of Faith farming. Even without contact from the outside and the chains imprisoning me, I can't help but chuckle...
I, Gabimaru, will make it out of this hell!
