1992, on the edge of a hidden high land, there was a valley where warmer southwest wind visited, and the mountain water blessed the grass hill like the green silk skirt of a lady siting in the bath of the gentle sun.
On this day, the local shamans who were the Buddhist holy priests held the biggest festivity of the year at the Kumano monastery. The monastery was a one-floor high round-shaped tile-roof temple that had a gigantic rock of hundred feet in height, thirty feet in width, situated right in the middle. This monastery used to be called by the locals, the Gate of Heaven before it was looted by mob of escaped soldiers. The monastery wasn't rebuilt until a decade ago, and the pious started to come back slowly each year.
This year, in this area, the hiragana, damages of the crops from the cold weather, was one of the worst in the recent times. The local farmers and monks came together to pray for more warm weather till the end of the harvest. The high priests of the monastery would also perform rituals to communicate with God to wish for blessing.
The ceremony was a success. All devoted pilgrims traveled long distances from homes to come here for this annual celebration, kneeled just outside the walls of this holy ground to pay respect to their faith.
Four travelers also arrived that day, their clothing plain and unassuming as they kept a conspicuous distance from the pilgrims. None wished to be identified as heretics. "Here's where I first met him, at this very location." Claus spoke softly into the reverent peace, her voice attached with nostalgia as it was familiar in her memory.
The sacred rock that was being worshiped by the pilgrims stood tall and majestic. Beneath the rock was the gateway of heaven and hell, a symbol of faith and loyalty that endured by generations of Gatekeepers until the betrayal.
Master Kwon stood in anticipation; his eyes scanned the horizon as if he was willing the Gatekeeper into emersion. "He should be here anytime. There is nothing to be worried." Master Kwon had not been the same since the camp. Yet, Claus and Alice had to honor him of his achieved status.
As Master Kwon forecasted the Gatekeeper's arrival, a strong wind blew. The storm-like wind mixed with mountain fog looked as if a white dragon had descended from the clear sky. It swallowed anything on its path, including the sun. "He is here!" Master Kwon yelled.
Then the thick cloud opened to allow a beam of sunlight through. A triple rainbow appeared under the golden shine, spilled a myriad of colors across the landscape as the holy rock omniscient like a beacon when the sun set atop it.
Suddenly, a shrill female shriek snapped everyone to attention—a cockatrice had been pinned by steel tacks to the sacred rock, its lifeless eyes staring into the void. It was him: the ruthless demon lord who had terrorized this primitive yet holy highland community for centuries.
"I recognized the monster even with his decapitated limbs. The chimera was the demon lord who had tortured and imprisoned me of my body and soul for almost a decade. He kept me caged for the purpose of mastering crafts in Book of the Dark." Claus cried.
"Woo!" The pilgrims fell to their knees, their faces pale with terror as they exchanged words at an unknown figure seated atop the holy rock. His face back lighted by the setting sun, the figure's existence radiated a sublime greatness that held them all blindly in thrall, the pilgrims kneeled to worship.
"It's him." While Master Kwon tried to certify the figure of the man to be the Gatekeeper, Claus wept.
"He brought me here to testify this beast's end." Claus said in a barren voice and stared at the beast with no expression. Only the ridges on her face and callus on her hands showed her drifting years.
"I've waited for long time to right this wrong, please allow me of the honor." Master Kwon chanted in a volume so low that was hard to hear even by trained ears, his words carried by a current unseen. "For you who had no deeds on earth shall not enter heaven or hell."
The cloud opened and split the sky in two with a clap of thunder and a lance of crackling lightning, the celestial display igniting the twilight sky with flashes of blinding white and electric blue. The great beast roared as flames enveloped it, writhing in agony on its perch on the rocky outcropping, the heat of the inferno causing the very air to shimmer with distortion. Its cries heard across the canyon, vibrating within the deepest reaches of the earth, a haunting symphony of fear, and its many chapters.