NOVEL NEXT [22] An Unforeseen Calamity
Chapter 22: An Unforeseen Calamity
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[Third Person Point of View]
The Jaguar Warrior has been here in Japan for a few days now. The Kuoh Town, as he was warned, was filled with people from the Three Biblical Factions. Devils, mostly.
The lady of the House Gremory, and the lady of the House Sitri were both present here, playing as school girls. He couldn't understand why people like them would waste their time this way, but he supposed they were too young to understand. Plus, being the siblings of Satans, they perhaps felt too comfortable to use their time properly.
Whatever the case, he was told to avoid getting involved with them, and he was doing just that. Laying low and searching around. That's why yesterday, he didn't meddle when he saw a Fallen Angel mercilessly murder a human boy, who was promptly saved by a devil.
Jaguar Warrior wasn't the only one sent here, it was impractical for a search team to consist of one person, so he was accompanied by a Tzitzimitl warrior woman, who was an Avatar of Quetzalcoatl when she was still alive.
Named Xihuitl, she was strong, though weaker than her prime, since nowadays she was mostly attuned to wind arts which allowed her a great assist for searching things.
"Jaguar,"
Just now, the two of them finished eating dinner, and Xihuitl stood up from the ground. Her black and blonde hair danced as she did so, as even if her Avatar powers were mostly gone, her beauty remained.
"I sense something odd. I will go check it out, wait for me here." She looked at the distance with a frown.
The place they just had dinner at, and have been roaming around for the past few days, was called Kuoh Park; the place where the Treasure of Xolotl was last detected. They've been waiting here in the hope for the culprit to walk by, so that they can scan their mana and note if the signature was the same, to then catch them.
"Be quick," Jaguar said as she nodded and vanished. Her speed was nowhere close to him, but her wind made her quite fast anyway, she would vanish from normal human's eyes.
To his surprise, even after half an hour passed, Xihuitl didn't return. It was odd, she was usually back soon. Jaguar Warrior didn't worry much, but it still bothered him a little. When he got up to go check on her, just in case – since there were dangers in this town. Yet, before he could leave, he froze when he felt a mana scan over him.
Jaguar's head snapped to one side, his senses running after the mana to locate the person a few miles away. That was an impressive distance, but the reason why he tracked it back was that the signature matched slightly with the signature that was sensed in this park a few days ago, the energy that caused a stormy night.
"Not the exact same," Jaguar kicked the ground, vanishing towards the person. "Must be a family member. Should help me track down the real culprit."
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[First Person Point of View]
The aura led to a graveyard, which was a bit surprising. However, once I saw the state the graveyard was in, I frowned. The gravestones were broken, the terrain had marks of large claws, dozens of them, and everything was scrambled as if a strong storm had hit the place.
I slowed down as I reached closer to the person I had sensed earlier. I also instantly knew why the terrain was like how it was. Firstly, I had to pause for a second at the sheer beauty of the creature. It was a cat-girl to the normal eye, with reflective silver hair and golden slit eyes. She wore a school dress, the one from my school, with tights covering her legs, as she sat under a tree and noticed me.
[Image Here]
Behind her was a scrambled dead body, and by scrambled I mean it was cut into a dozen pieces with seemingly sharp razor claws. The dead body's blonde head was in one spot, and her ankles were on another, while her intestines lay on the ground.
"Divinity..."
I could sense a bit of divinity oozing out of the dead blonde woman that was entering the body of the cat girl. It wasn't enough to make anyone God, but it was divinity, which transformed into pure energy to make the cat girl stronger. That blondie was someone working for God, she couldn't have been weak. Yet, the cat girl didn't show any signs of damage.
The most surprising part was that I already knew who the cat girl was. Even with her hair and eyes changed, with her glasses thrown to the side, I couldn't mistake her face. Plus, she was wearing the school uniform when she went missing.
"Tsubasa?"
I landed on the ground a few meters in front of the yokai that was my friend. Even before she spoke, I knew it wasn't Tsubasa who I was talking to.
"Mhm? Who are nyou? Ah, wait," she said and blinked. "You're my daughter's friend. Ah, a naughty friend."
Daughter? I frowned. Now that I see her from a closer inspection, she's not a normal Yokai. Normal rules say she should be a Phantom, a human who died and became a cat yokai, but she didn't feel like a phantom even if she was dead and was possessing Tsubasa's body currently. Odd.
"Who are you?"
"Why, don't you know already?"
I did. In the entire graveyard, even though most gravestones were destroyed in the fight earlier, a gravestone near us was intact. It didn't have any scratches at all. I recognized the name from a story Tsubasa had told me once.
"Hanekawa Shinra?" I looked at her. "You are Tsubasa's mother."
The girl... no, the woman smiled at me. Her fangs were bare, and they didn't look like they belonged to a cat. Vampire fangs, but how?
She stood up from her position, and I went on high alert. That woman was dangerous, if I am not careful I might die.
"Nyo need to be so cautious, I ain't going to harm my daughter's sweetheart. Ah, or maybe I should since you broke her heart. Bad bad boy, you need punishment." She said as she blitzed from her spot, vanishing.
I managed to move just in time as claws flashed across the spot where my neck was just a moment ago. They were not cat claws; her entire fingers were turned into ten-inch long blades. A giggle resonated in the area as she reappeared a few meters in front of me.
"Mhm, you're not bad." She said, smirking. "I thought you were a normal boy, from her memories."
"A good mother shouldn't go through her daughter's memories." I rubbed my neck as I said. "By the way, what's up with her? I understand you're a Yokai, but she is more than that. A vampire and... blood of one of the four heavenly beasts. I never noticed in the years we spent together."
She licked her blade claws as she hummed. She was wondering if she should humor me or attack me again. In the end, she decided on the former and shrugged.
"Her father is a Vampire, that's why she is half of that. It only awakened today, though, on her 18th birthday. As for the white tiger blood, it's from my family."
"The Shinra Clan?" I frowned.
I recalled reading some information on the internet that the Shinra Clan, the same clan where Tsubaki Shinra belonged, had a form of Sacred Gear, a family heirloom. It allowed the strongest member of a generation to use the power of the legendary White Tiger. Tsubasa is from that clan?
"Oh, nyou know?" She put a finger on her lips and said. "Yes, I'm from that Shinra clan, that's why I decided to commit suicide after giving birth to the child of a vampire. If I didn't, they would have hunted down my little baby. How harsh and backward my clan is, isn't it, nya?"
She sighed. "My father was the bearer of the White Tiger Sacred Beast in the last generation, so I guess I had a bit of dormant blood of that beast in me. Never awakened it though. But since Tsubasa is the child of a Vampire, maybe it resonated somehow to awaken it. She doesn't bear the White Tiger Sacred Beast though; I think it's my brother in this generation."
I understood that. I have dealt with the four heavenly beasts more than once in my life, so I was familiar with them. Oh and... I guess I was The White Tiger in my 6th life, so I am supposed to know better. She's not the real deal, rather like a child of that beast, and even that isn't fully the case since she's the grandchild of the beast's human host. She's more like a distant descendant at most, though the power can grow within her if she works.
Still weird how I never sensed this within her. Well, I never did a thorough scan of her soul before, so if it was sealed then it makes sense why I never noticed.
"Why are you doing this, by the way?" I suddenly asked. "Casually taking over your own daughter's body, I mean."
She grinned. "I died young, I didn't want to die young. There were so many things I had left to see in my life, ahh. So many men I had to devour. You're hot by the way. Why didn't you accept Tsubasa's feelings?" She suddenly changed the topic, touching her boobs suddenly. "She has big boobs, bigger than mine. I'd think boys your age would be fawning over them. Why didn't you take the chance? I know you're not as oblivious as my daughter thinks you are."
"Answer my question first," I said.
"Well. My family hunts evil spirits, which includes anything that is considered evil. Such as Devils, Vampires, and Phantoms. As the daughter of the clan patriarch, I just came across a secret way to become a Yokai after death, that's how I am here in front of you." She said, "I would have been a Phantom in normal cases, but I put a part of my soul in my cute daughter's body to awaken when she'd be 18. Funny how she came to my grave on the exact day, maybe it's fate."
So she basically gave birth to a daughter so that she could take over that body when it'll be all grown up? I don't like this woman.
"Hehe, why are you looking at me like that? Nobody wants to die, and it's not as if taking over her body is going to kill her. She is alive, within me. And she will stay like this." She grinned. "She's always so stressed, I'll take her burdens for her. And I'll start with you."
She vanished again, rushing at me from the front this time. Her claws were dangerous, they could cut through hard soil like cheese, but I didn't back off. Sadly, at the same time, I had to accept one thing.
I can't win this fight.
Not with my power set at Gold. I might win if I use my magic spells, but that's a... Well, it's complicated. So if I am going to have to go through some hassles anyway to win this, I had something better.
Luckily, it's the White Tiger I'm against, if it was any other beast, I'll have died. Well, what I'm about to do will hurt more than a usual death, but that's different.
"Cat,"
Her claws were just an inch away from my face, as she froze in time.
"Kneel."
It hurt, as the [Tiger Icon] resonated within me, and my calm voice boomed with beastly authority. The woman couldn't resist the authority of the Void Devouring Tiger that was I, as she just sprawled to her knees, wetting her dress as she did so. The ground crackled around her until the pressure subsided.
"A mere little girl dares." I felt my eyes turn cold as I looked down at the woman who dared try to kill me.
Icons were a strange power system, and I almost feared I wouldn't be able to call them in this world. Luckily, I managed. Though it didn't manifest in the sky like it usually would have, it's fine since if it did manifest at the stage where it'll appear physically, I'd have died. It just resonated within me for now.
My body wasn't that of a tiger right now, so it hurt a lot. Gold power level was also not enough to bear the weight of an Icon; I should advance to Underlord soon. Still, my soul helped with the pain as I had lived as a White Tiger for long enough that my soul accepted me as one. It was similar to the term "Dragon Soul" but instead a Tiger one. All that is feline will submit if I let out this authority.
"W-what is..." the woman stared up at me with reverence, while I healed my internal organs with Pure Storm Baptism. I really will die if I spam this authority.
I leaned down and reached out a hand, it stroked her chin and then held her in a choke as she closed her eyes and purred.
"Leave her body or I next time the order will be less merciful than just kneel," I told her even as she purred with a blush.
To my annoyance, all she did was crawl to me and grab my legs while sniffing my crotch.
"I can't, darling. It will kill me, and Tsubasa herself will be hurt at a fundamental level. Oopsies, sorry but I saw such things coming when I planned this, so I couldn't help but take these measures." She hugged my legs as she spoke. "Leave me be? I'll stay inside her and look after her like a guardian spirit. If she's in danger, I'll come out and help. By the way, wanna give me a new child?"
I ignored what she said at the end and grabbed her by the hair. She moaned, even as she grumbled and stared at me with a sadistic smile. She stood up, her claws shaking as she really wished to sever me, but her blood refused to leash out towards its king.
"You're telling the truth," I stated.
"How can I lie to you, baby?" She said.
I stared at her. I think she was called the Sex-Addicted Cat in the Monogatari series? It made sense, given how she was acting, even in this other world.
If I spend a few days, or weeks at most, I can probably find a way to delete her soul from within Tsubasa. But... her proposal was kind of solid. Plus, she was strong. If I severe her, Tsubasa will retain her vampire powers and tiger blood, but this Yokai part will be gone.
I always considered her normal, but with this level of power and potential, she can be a great addition to my Sect. She can keep Tsubasa safe as she said, too. She wouldn't want her host body to die, even if she might not care for her daughter. Plus... I have to admit, I kind of found this situation – and more so the kitty itself – amusing. A mother in her daughter's body, their personalities clashing all the time, it sounded funny.
"Fine," I grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. "Do that. But be careful, I'll keep an eye out. If you try anything funny, I will find a way to get you out of her body."
She gave me a cheeky smile, and I had a moment of irritation where I thought if I should slap her or not. By the time I had that thought, my palm was already planted on her cheek as she stared at me once again with dagger eyes even as she moaned.
"Baby, you're so touchy. I might think-"
She stopped. As did I. We both sensed the aura rushing towards us as we went serious. Our acts dropped as we took a battle stance, and before we knew it the enemy landed in front of us.
"Oh," it was a large man with tanned skin, with spots of yellow spread on his body. He looked like a jaguar in human form, with said ears of a jaguar popping out of his head. His eyes wandered to the dead body behind us, while my eyes wandered on his hand.
He wasn't alone. He was carrying someone in his right hand, it was a blonde girl whom he was holding by her throat.
"Ruby...?"
She was unconscious so she couldn't reply, but the blood dripping from her nose and empty eye sockets were all I needed to see before I rushed forward.
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