The treasure trove of worrisome wonders, part 1

A straight line, a turn, another turn. The pounding of blood in Shin's ears and the sound of his breathing prevented him from hearing the Red Painting's footsteps, and he didn't dare to turn his head and look for it.

Instead, Tetsu was doing this, confirming that the thing was right on Shin's heels.

When he saw the large steel door ahead, Shin felt the second breath expanding his burning lungs.

The door looked like it could belong to a bank vault, or a submarine—it had rounded corners and a metal wheel instead of a normal doorknob. That door was thick enough to withstand an attack even from a Red Painting, and it required a passcode that even Shin didn't know.

But for Tetsu, that was never a problem.

'Tetsu! This is it!'

'I got it, boss!'

She emerged from Shin's body and pressed her body to the door. Clicks and clacks of machinery sounded from the inside.

Shin turned his head to the Red Painting, who was running and stumbling only a dozen meters away. A few seconds of time.

'Tetsu, hurry!'

'I'm sorry, this thing is heavy inside and out! It's so complicated and interesting, and… Just… just a second! A couple of seconds!'

Feeling a heavy cloud of doom over his head, Shin pulled out his knife and stepped in the Red Painting's way.

Tetsu perked her head and turned to him with alarm.

'Partner? What are you doing? That's too dangerous!'

Shin didn't even turn his head toward her.

'Don't get distracted, Tetsu!'

He knew he could dodge one attack, two if he was lucky, and then he was done. Red Paintings were clumsy, but still fast.

So Shin didn't wait for the creature to attack. As soon as it was a meter and a half away, he flung his knife at her chest.

It turned the wrong way, hitting the monster with a handle and cluttering to the ground. But the impact made the Red Painting stumble, and it slipped mid-step, falling to its knee.

Even Shin didn't expect this success. He just hoped to make the beast hesitate for a second. But he didn't question his luck.

He used the opportunity to reach and grab the knife from the floor before throwing his body away from the Red Painting.

Its fist landed where he just stood, but Shin was running again, this time—back to the vault door.

Tetsu met him with a bright green and a sight of the massive door opening on its hinges.

"Done, boss! All done!"

Shin smiled back at her, exhilarated and more alive than he felt in years. Without waiting for the door to open fully, he slipped through the narrow crack. Tetsu was right behind him.

Together, they pulled the door closed again right before the Red Painting slammed its fist in it from the other side.

The deafening clang made Shin wince. It was almost as bad as the gunshots. But the door was unmoving, despite the Red Painting's continuous attempts to break it, so Shin ignored it.

He let out a long breath as Tetsu silently hid within his body. Adrenaline and the feeling of success were a heady mix, but Shin wasn't here to enjoy himself.

He turned away from the door. The vault was dark, but that was why Shin bought a torchlight before and carried it around in the pockets of his jacket.

Shin used the narrow ray of light to find the switch that had turned on the overhead lamp.

The vault opened before him and Tetsu in all its glory. The place itself was only the size of an average bedroom, but it was full of things: stacked on tall shelves or just lying in boxes next to the walls.

Things that pulsed with magic and life.

'There's so much power in one place… Did these cultists simply hoard them?' Tetsu wondered.

Shin walked deeper into the vault, remembering the items he could and trying to recognize the items he couldn't.

Most of them were paintings. They weren't normal, but they weren't red. There were portraits and compositions of people, often in gruesome and disturbing situations. Despite the topic, they were seemingly normal at the first glance. On a closer look, though…

Tetsu gasped and pushed herself out of Shin to poke at one of the paintings. It pictured a row of men hung upside-down on a thin rope over a lava lake. Under Tetsu's claw, one of them twitched and twisted in visible pain.

"My friend, this is so interesting! Those are actual souls, put into paintings! I thought humans were too big to put into glass cages, but this is even better."

Shin let her explore, busy with taking stock of the rest of the vault. "This is just the cult's way of storing people so they could sacrifice them all at once. The demon they worship also likes those paintings, so they hoped to gain its favor."

"Oh yes? Well, those paintings are all ours now, and that asshole can impale himself on my dick," Tetsu swore with vitriol before flitting to another shelf.

She grabbed a painting—a replica of 'Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581', as the little plaque on the frame explained. Both people in the painting watched her with eyes frozen with horror as Tetsu brought it up to her face and grinned.

"Oh, I like that one! Boss, we will keep them, right? I want to keep one…"

Shin let out a huff.

"One. Remember the plan? You must eat to get stronger, Tetsu. Those souls are for you to eat." As he spoke, Shin opened a box and pulled a small stack of books out of it. He read the title and smiled. "And I have those."