Capítulo 24: Chapter 24 - An Established Enemy
A new enemy had just been established. Whether or not he had connections to the Shade, however, was a mystery. He seemed to possess an ability that lets him duplicate himself upon death, respawning instantly. However, I couldn't understand how it worked.
I looked at Ambrosia, who had her book between her arm and her body. She took it out, opened it, and began reading from it. She looked concerned, as the rain continued to fall. She was standing underneath a staircase against the side of the valley walls, so the rain was missing her book. Shortly thereafter, she closed it and sighed.
"I would have never guessed that anyone could possess such power by consuming the heart of a monster. How did he even figure it out? Nobody would ever think to remove the heart from a corpse and eat it."
"Me neither. What would drive somebody to try something so extreme?" I asked, still pondering the logical conclusions of how authorities worked.
We stood in the alley for a short time, looking at the many corpses that were around us. They were nothing more than shells of Marius's body. It was as if he was shedding skin, like a snake or something... it was then, that we heard another voice, from above us.
"Ms. Esper Witch, mind if I join your conversation? Sorry if I'm suddenly intruding on your personal business with this young man here."
We both looked up and noticed a pair of eyes peeking down from the roof of a building. The man had a purple and black mask and headband on. He then leaped into the air and landed gracefully on the ground in front of us. I analyzed his features.
He was just shy of my height, wore a black and purple outfit complete with a mask and headband. His long jet black hair was fixed in a ponytail, and he wore black fingerless gloves. He had a katana sheathed on his back. He looked like a ninja.
"Ah, hello there Phantom Samurai, it's been a while. How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you for asking. I've been hiding on the roof for quite some time now. I witnessed both of your encounters with that weird man. To be honest, I've been stalking him for a while now. He gives me a weird vibe."
"But seeing him turn into a monster serves as definitive proof of him being an enemy of The Hero Camp. I've never seen anything like it before. How should we go about this?"
I had no idea who Phantom Samurai was, but he looked deadly. His aura was intimidating enough to send shivers down my spine. I inquired him about who he was.
"Who are you?"
"Ah yes, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. My name is Haku Reiki. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yukio, was it?"
Haku Reiki, alias "Phantom Samurai". Hero Level 7, Rank 12. A prodigy as a child, mastering many ninja techniques by the time he was only 8 years old. He was the #1 student of "Grandmaster", who taught him how to be a ninja. His specialty is his katana, which was passed down to him from his father, who received it from his father. It's a family relic, but is considered to be one of the finest swords in Etheria.
"Yes, Yukio Sazuke, alias "Scarlet Antihero". It's nice to meet you."
"Are you the one who the administration claims can tame monsters?"
"How'd you hear? Has the information already spread that quickly?"
"The entirely of level 7 has been notified of your ability. Although it's unknown how it works, we believe that with enough research, we could figure it out. But, that man who you confronted, he's a whole other story. I have no idea who he is."
Haku turned around and looked toward the streetlamp where Marius had stood moments ago. It was then, that he noticed a paper tacked to the side of it, gently flapping in the wind, berated by the rain.
"Wait, look over there, there's a note on the post. Let's go see what it says, maybe that man left a message for us."
We followed Haku across the street, and towards the streetlamp. Upon arrival, I took the note, and read it aloud, it said the following:
"We are watching, the operation has begun. The Zodiac will save the world and its inhabitants. Want to learn more about us? Tune your radio into this frequency -- (1 03--..)"
The frequency listed was blurred due to the rainfall, so we couldn't quite make out what the rest of the note said. However, it seemed like an advertisement for The Zodiac. Marius left this note behind upon making his grand escape, what if there were more scattered about?
"It's nothing more than a recruitment notice? How strange..." said Haku.
"Well, there could be more of these tacked around the camp, who knows where Marius went off to? Haku, did you catch where he vanished to when the lightning struck?" I asked, thinking perhaps he would have seen it from the rooftop.
"Unfortunately, I too was distracted by the sudden lightning bolt. It was enough to startle even the most disciplined ninja..."
"Damn, well I think we should notify the administration about this before it's too late, and Marius starts turning more people into monsters, who knows how many hearts he possesses?"
"Agreed. This is a dangerous situation. With the current mindset of the general population, I wouldn't doubt that a few of them would give in to ensured safety through the means of becoming a monster. Some people have been driven insane by these attacks..." said Haku.
"Tomorrow morning, first thing, we'll go to the admin building. Sound good?" I asked.
"Sounds like a plan. I have to go now though, you two should probably go too. It might be dangerous out here, what if Marius is watching still?"
"Perhaps he could be. Let's go Yukio. It was nice seeing you, Phantom Samurai."
The three of us went our separate ways. Haku leaped into the air, landing on a rooftop, before swiftly hopping from building to building, making his way out of the inner city. Ambrosia and I continued walking back to the hotel.
When we got there, we were soaked. We went straight to the hotel room and dried ourselves off with some towels from the bathroom. Only our clothes and hair got wet, so changing into a temporary outfit solved our problems, while we cleaned our drenched outfits.
"Welcome back you two, what happened out there?" asked Cyprus.
"Well, it's a bit hard to explain at the moment, but we believe a new enemy has just been established..." said Ambrosia.
"What do you mean? You two seemed incredibly panicky when you left. What did you see out there?"
"...we ran into a problem, and a huge one at that. You see, we ran into a man who found it possible to turn himself, and others, into a monster by consuming the heart of a deceased monster."
"...you WHAT?" asked Cyprus in disbelief.
"It's exactly as it sounds. We have no idea how it works, but apparently, it does. We need to inform the administration immediately, as this could be a real threat to The Hero Camp."
"What's his goal?"
"To turn everyone into a monster so they can live peacefully, without worrying about being eaten. He's a part of a group called The Zodiac, who want a world of monsters..."
Cyprus assumed an expression of utter shock, as did Mayumi and Yui. The news came so sudden to them, that it seemed they had a hard time believing our story. However, coming from Ambrosia, they knew it was true.
"How long has this gone under the radar? It seems so sudden that something this major is possible..." asked Mayumi.
"We're not sure. He claims that Yukio is the last remaining member of The Zodiac and that he showed himself because he wants Yukio to join their organization. Yukio's ability to tame monsters set him off, he too has an ability..."
"What's his ability?"
"Well, we're not sure how it works. But apparently, each member of The Zodiac has a powerful ability, and the man, whose name is Marius by the way, his ability is to instantly re-appear when he dies..."
Ambrosia went on to explain their entire encounter to the party. They all seemed to have a difficult time understanding what was truly going on, which was understandable.
"Well, if he's as dangerous as you think he is, then I agree, we should tell the administration," said Yui, Cyprus and Mayumi agreed with her statement.
"Tomorrow morning, Yukio and I will notify the administration. You three should try to get some rest, it's late... Yukio, we need to do our energy infusion, follow me please."
As things settled down in the hotel room, Cyprus, Mayumi, and Yui got ready to go to sleep, and I followed Ambrosia into the bathroom, locking the door behind us as usual.
We returned to our normal places, the edge of the bathtub, locked hands, and began the infusion. Ambrosia then spoke to me.
"Aside from the craziness that just happened, I worked out our transfer information, Yukio. Would you like to hear the news?"
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot we're going to be transferred soon. Where did you choose to be transferred to?"
"We're going to another city camp. The five of us are going to be transferred together to Camp Omega, near the ocean. It's smaller than Alpha, but it's a coastline city, meaning we'll be on the hunt for water monsters, as well as regular land monsters."
"Plus, I think it would give you some well-rounded experience in all kinds of situations. Who knows, maybe we'll find another one of those Zodiac people there?"
Camp Omega is the furthest camp from Alpha, residing on a coastline. It neighbors a few smaller residential towns, and another city further east. It's known for its beaches, which are frequently visited in the summer, when monster activity is controlled, due to the abundance of heroes patrolling the area.
"Interesting... I wonder what the ocean is like in this world, perhaps it's similar to Earth. When are we scheduled to transfer out?"
"Two days. Tomorrow we will pack our stuff up, and finish any last-minute business in Camp Alpha, things such as finding you a sword because Mayumi is asking for her's back, and other things."
"I see. I'm excited. We'll have to buy bathing suits for the beach!"
"I already have one, but you'll need one, yes. But don't expect to do too much relaxing, we're still on a mission you know? Plus, if The Zodiac put a target on your head, you'll have to be on alert at all times."
"I understand. I just hope they aren't all as strong as Marius. I'm still so confused about how he duplicates himself. How did he even learn to do that?"
"I'm not sure... however he does it, it's by no means an ordinary ability. The closest thing I've ever seen to it is Grandmaster's "Afterimage" ability, and that's still just one body, just moving very fast."
"Who's Grandmaster?"
"He's the hero ranked under me. He's 76 years old, but his body is as healthy as a 20-year-old's. He's incredibly quick, and a master of martial arts. His afterimage is an ability that lets him create multiple images of himself by moving exceptionally quick."
"But even that isn't even close to this ability. This is creating a whole new body out of thin air..."
Grandmaster sounded fierce. For someone that old, he must be a strong hero to be ranked that high. I was surprised to hear of it.
"It seems like Marius is able to create a new body after he dies, so perhaps we need to sneak up on him before he has time to do it?" I asked. This was the most logical conclusion that I could make.
"...perhaps, although I'm not sure how we would be able to sneak up on him. He seems to be the one sneaking up on us. My esper senses could barely tell where he was when we saw him, he's evasive..."
"I think we should sleep on it for the night, and come up with a plan tomorrow. We shouldn't lose sleep over an issue that just started tonight." I said, reassuring Ambrosia.
"Agreed. The infusion is almost over anyway. How did it feel tonight? I tried to be calm, despite our circumstances."
"It felt really nice, as always. Thank you, Ambrosia."
"You're welcome, Yuki."
We got up, exited the bathroom, quietly closed the door, and made our way to our beds. We had already changed into our pajamas, and our clothes were hanging up to dry. Tomorrow, we were going to notify the administration, of a new enemy...
Estado de energía semanal
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