Chapter 210: Yūmi Island (16)
Chapter 210: Yūmi Island (16)
The young girl introduced herself as Toriumi Arisu. Her calm face showed little emotion.
After Yuki Ham explained his situation, she seemed to understand, nodding slightly.
“I’ve grasped the basics. You’ve stumbled into a troubling situation while knowing nothing at all.”
Toriumi Arisu placed the strange lantern emitting ghostly blue flames by her feet. She crossed her arms thoughtfully, the tips of her high heels beneath the long dress tapping the ground twice.
“Then let me tell you what this place truly is…”
“Isn’t this just Yūmi Island?”
Yuki Ham shrugged it off.
He knew he was still on the island.
“Wrong…”
Toriumi Arisu shook her head.
“You were on that ‘Yūmi Island.’ But now, you’ve crossed beyond it. You’re connected to the other side of that boundary. This isn’t Yūmi Island. This is the City of Agonistes. Likely, a spatial distortion in your location twisted reality, merging it with this place of evil…”
“What did you say…?”
“The original City of Agonistes lies hidden in the forests of Albania. Legend says it was destroyed in war, its ruins swallowed by dense vegetation…”
Her voice paused. That Albania she mentioned was a small country in Southeastern Europe, on the southwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula.
“But that’s the surface history. Many scholars of Occult Studies found another secret in ancient texts. This city wasn’t fully destroyed. It’s a city steeped in evil, home to a powerful malevolent force…”
“In ancient times, its people worshipped something blasphemous. Every citizen committed grave sins, filling the city with villains. Their souls caught the attention of an evil god. This twisted blessing allowed the city to escape the cleansing fires of war. Instead, it fell… into a realm adjoining Hell itself.”
“Another tale claims the city’s evil was so great that ancient sorcerers used forbidden rites to seal it away, making the entire city plummet into Hell…”
The girl sighed as she told him the story.
“Th-that can’t be real!”
Yuki Ham naturally resisted believing her words. It was too strange.
“Believe me or not, it makes no difference. I must tell you, days ago I slipped into the catacombs beneath Paris, France. Guided by a local Medium, I crossed a passage and arrived here by chance.”
Toriumi Arisu stared intensely ahead, toward the red door. She spoke quietly, “Even if you doubt me, reality remains. Unknowingly, you’ve stumbled into the worst possible nest—a demon’s lair. Consider my presence a favor from my master. Welcome me then. This is the Tomb of the XX King.” As Toriumi Arisu uttered “XX King,” dizziness washed over him.
“Wait, what did you just call it…”
Toriumi turned, her gaze sweeping over Yuki Ham. Black cloth covered her eyes. She should see nothing, yet Yuki Ham felt an odd sense of being scrutinized. Not through vision, but some stranger sense.
“…Ah, I see. Your father or ancestor likely held a faint Spirit Medium Constitution. In this unnatural place, that trait awoke within you. Only then would you react to the ‘Elder King.’”
“Trait?”
“It’s a rare gift, varying by person. For most ordinary folk, it’s quite an unfortunate ability.”
Toriumi Arisu focused her unseen gaze on the red door. She wasn’t just looking; she was using her hearing to ‘listen.’
“This City of Agonistes was built by fools to worship the Gods of Oblivion. Called gods, they’re worse than Hell’s demons. Texts on Occult Studies or demonology rarely dare name them. Only ancient scriptures of the Mithraic cult refer to them collectively as the ‘Elder Kings.’ Seven supreme beings… The one claiming this city as its own is named in those texts as ‘Corrupted Decay.’ He is the King of Corrupted Decay.”
This time, Toriumi Arisu said the title fully.
A cold dread gripped Yuki Ham’s heart. His mind blurred into hallucination—flashes of ghostly, terrifying cyan eyes, depthless and vast.
He stumbled backward, off balance.
That’s when he distantly heard a noise… a low, guttural growl, like a beast.
Turning, Yuki Ham saw an arched corridor off the fine hall. From behind a bronze candelabrum, a huge shadow emerged. A black wolf.
No. Perhaps a dog?
A dark, dangerous beast, its fangs gleaming like razors.
Yuki Ham felt this thing hidden in the corridor stood four or five meters tall. Its looming shadow spread across the floor. Baring teeth dripping with malice, it pinned him with intense hostility.
Tension knotted Yuki Ham’s chest. Anyone facing such a beast would tighten up.
“Don’t worry. He’s a friend.”
Toriumi spoke to the corridor. The beast whined softly, padding over.
It was a Rottweiler. It trotted lightly, nuzzling affectionately against Toriumi’s skirt.
Did… did it shrink?
No. It must be a mistake. The Rottweiler was never that large to begin with.
At that exact moment, Toriumi’s brow twitched. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
“It’s here.”
She muttered, breaking the silence.
“Has the link broken?”
Unexpected trouble returned.
The red door began to tremble.
Blood seeped between the door and its frame, leaking out.
Then, a force like an earthquake slammed into Yuki Ham’s feet, pitching him toward the ground.
Crrrrrrack-boom! The floor and walls shook violently.
Toriumi Arisu saw Yuki Ham’s strange state.
(Is the spatial distortion ending? His awakened Spirit Medium Constitution is too new, too raw to anchor him to the Elder King’s city. Unlucky… or fortunate?)
As he hit the ground, his body faded into a translucent shadow.
Thud!
He landed immersed in darkness.
Disoriented, lost in space. Then, when his senses returned, the surroundings changed again.
Like the sky and earth flipped. Only the ruins of a vast garbage mountain remained around him. Dust and dirt exploded into the sky, blotting out half of it.
A fist ripped through the swirling debris like lightning, slamming forward.
KRA-THOOOOOM!
A sonic boom detonated!
The fist held terrible force. Just cutting through the air made it crack and burst.
It struck something, producing a sickening, heavy thud.
Yuki Ham tried standing. The moment he rose, a shockwave ripped past his ear. A massive roar left him momentarily deaf.
“DIE!”
A thunderous bellow roared beside him.
Yuki Ham thumped onto his rear, limbs numb.
“What is this?!”
Before him stood a building with a quarter blown away. Its center was a gaping hole revealing a grey sky. Debris hung midair, held by violent forces. Another gut-shaking boom resonated, followed by tremors beneath his feet.
For a second, Yuki Ham thought earthquake. But he knew better.
The fragile structure groaned fiercely. Weird noises crackled overhead, sounding like something chewing thin biscuits.
Then, sudden brightness. The ceiling vanished.
Right before Yuki Ham, the air rippled.
The surroundings trembled like running water. Turbulent air currents distorted the view.
He saw the giant grey-skinned man—over three meters tall—fighting an unseen enemy. Fists fired, feet kicked, he wrestled, battled something invisible.
Each strike shrieked through the air. Violent gusts tore around the rubble, making his hair stand and his coat whip violently.
(What is he fighting?!)
It was massive. A formless mass shifting through its pseudopods and tiny hairs, crawling. No legs. Its monstrous body had a colossal appetite. Nearby buildings, ruins, bricks, tiles, floors… were swiftly disappearing, gobbled up as food for its endless hunger.
Through some weird sense and imagination, Yuki Ham pictured the “thing.” True, it was hidden, but the feeling of it projected an image within his mind.
Just then, the tall grey titan roared furiously.
Pitch-black flames erupted from his palms. Crisscrossing, they merged, releasing a wave of strange power. Intense dark light exploded mid-air.
Blazing black fire burst outwards, sweeping like a dragon’s breath towards the unseen enemy.
The radiating energy inflated the air itself. Everything nearby looked broken.
Half of the giant invisible mass flickered into view as its form was forced out. Though the whole thing remained indistinct, its shape became clearer—an immense, shapeless blob with pseudopods threatening the giant.
“Futile! Futile! FUTILE! I was wrong earlier. Or you were only at this low level?”
The grey giant’s eyes gleamed coldly. Mouth wide, he raged, “You haven’t forced even thirty percent of my power! If this is the thing hiding on this island… THEN I’M REALLY DISAPPOINTED!”
Suddenly, his left arm shot up. A clenched fist struck the indistinct mass like a cannonball.
The devastation was indescribable. Horrific power detonated like a mountain collapsing! Force tore through everything with earth-shattering might.
Even yards away, Yuki Ham felt darkness seize him. Blasted by a massive wave, his whole body shook.
Gritting his teeth, eyes bulging, Yuki Ham strained to see.
He saw the air buckle around the fist. Something shattered under the impact. Fractures spread across emptiness, revealing a broken outline. Flesh exploded into chunks—smashed, pulped, utterly destroyed. A tangle of feeler tentacles bloomed open everywhere.
A lump of cyan-glowing flesh dropped by Fang Jing’s foot. It was half a human face. It even managed a disturbing laugh, “Too late! Too late! TOO LATE! The Left Apostle of the great ‘Elder King’—Apostle Lyneless, the Nameless Finger!—has been born! She, the favored servant of the Supreme Monarch, shall cleanse this world… PRAISE HER! OBEY! Our great and absolute ruler shall make this world… our BL00DY PARADISE…”
Splortch!
Fang Jing stomped the half-face flat. With a wave of his hand, waves of Black Flame surged from the monster’s ruined remains. The rubble became a blazing inferno.
“So then…”
He turned, seeing the white-robed girl standing behind him.
“Are you Hayasaka Muko? Or… are you somehow linked to these fiends?”
The girl behind him smiled faintly and said softly, “Neither. My true name is Hayasaka Taeko.”
“Fine. What’s the purpose behind all this?”