A/N: 10k Words
Also, thank you guys for 100k+ views and 5k+ votes on Wattpad, along with 10k+ Comments in total (along with 3k views and 100 kudos in Ao3 after a few days), I would have actually NEVER thought my second fanfic I made for fun would get so much traction.
It encourages me to write the more interaction and discussion I have about Arknight and JJK, and yes, I do read through all 100-300 comments that are posted.
JJK x Arknights Agenda. :)
My co-author, the one who wrote chapter 26, 90% of it under my supervision, is going to be taking the reins of writing chapters while I take a break. He has the outline for practically the rest of the story with the idea docs in his hand, and you can trust him to write about the same as I have since we have the same AP Literature teacher. Of course, I'll also be supervising some parts too and editing them.
***
"Across mountains tall and prairies wide, even a howling gale will sleep.
Amongst the acres of spring's length, even the broken sun will rise.
Above the skies of summer's blister, even the shimmering light will die."
A dash of black ink immediately flashed a blackened coal across the scenery, plastering the white papers with words written upon it. It was a curtain, cruel and unassuming in whatever it blanketed in its unfurling wake, leaving all colors blanked wherever it went.
"Too mundane and repetitive," Ryomen Sukuna half-lidded four eyes grazed through the scrolls on his desk, one of his four arms hovering over the air with a brush. "Is this the best you can do, Abe-no-Seimei?" The pink-haired man glanced upwards, toward a man with wrinkled skin, short hair, and a beard. His hair was snow-white, as if winter had passed through his body time and time again, to the point where his body had become one with it.
"I merely speak for you, Ryomen Sukuna," Abe-no-Seimei spoke slowly and steadily, his perpetually squinted eyes looking like they were closed, "you asked of me to construct these poems, after you discovered this decrepit skin of mine is no longer fit to be a feast." There was not a hint of worry, "I believe not even Ashiya Doman would be a ripe fruit to pluck, either. How unfortunate for you."
"I desire no pity," Ryomen Sukuna rolled his four eyes, "perhaps I should be one pitying you. A corpse standing still while the test of time passes by your weary and unsteadfast body, leaving your skin as brittle as the parchment at our desk." His upper right arm was propped upwards by his right knee, while his lower right arm was pressed on the ground. His lower left hand laid sleeping upon his flattened left leg, while his upper left hand pressed an open palm on the ground to support his gigantic body.
"A corpse you say? What a fitting description," Abe-no-Seimei flipped the scroll of the table, before bringing upon another one, "would you like to hear a divination?"
"A Cursed Technique which grants the wielder a divination of another's fate... how foolish. Come then, what have the stars told you this time?" Ryomen Sukuna scoffed, but the man before him had been declared the Strongest Sorcerer in Japan at this time. At most, he was curious of what words he had to say.
The air crawled to a still, as the brush dipped in black ink lay hovering in the air. There were stars above their head, mingling together in a brilliant display of various light under the night sky. It was a place fraught with mystery, an unexplored world of possibilities humanity would never see for a millenia. Yet that millenia that is bound to pass... will reveal the final fate of the King of Curses.
"The day will come, where even the Honored sky above all will have its clouds split by your ferocious might. The day will come, where even the great construct of healing will fall beneath your towering cruelty. The day will come... where even your figure, depraved as it may be amongst brushes of blood, will face defeat—by your own kind."
It is said that day, two bright stars shining above the primordial sea of black—red and blue—had vanished along with an entire estate.
***
"Brandt, what do you think of that man, Fushiguro Megumi?" Werner von Hochberg turned to his Gesatzwachter, fixing his formal attire's placement while in the VIP stands. The abyss blanketing the entire theatre was pierced through by a dim amber light, like a pristine blade carving its path through whatever evils it may find.
"Hm, I'm attempting to gauge what his Arts are," Brandt Reiner tapped his helmet's cheek while his hand was placed over where his supposed mouth should be, "summoning... but it is not 'Arts' in any traditional sense. It has many similarities to it, but due to it being 'Cursed' I do not have a clue if it should be called Arts in the first place."
"The similarities are there, are they not?" Werner sighed, "there have been some recorded instances of some exotic Arts, especially in Leithanien." The Kurfurst remembered many tales of the Witch King, how he had mastered all Originium Arts that there was, "his Arts could be categorized into Wahrsagung..."
Wahrsagung, translated as Divination is considered by many throughout all of Terra to be the most unique and rarest Arts that there was. Psychic abilities, the capabilities of summoning wild animals, and altering a human's biological process—be it mind, circadian rhythm, or the like—all fall under such a category. As such, Fushiguro Megumi's summoning of his named companions could fall under such a category.
"...Summoning of wild animals and the like all support such a conclusion, the thesis of my argument. Of course, his summons also possess the capabilities of Hervorrufung..."
Hervorrufung, translated as Evocation, can conjure energy within Originium to cast what is commonly known as 'elemental' spells, even if it were a more unprofessional term used in Leithanien now. However, the abilities of fire, electricity, and water exhibited by Fushiguro Megumi most certainly fell under the category of Evocation Arts, and Werner von Hochberg was confident in saying that his Arts must be a combination of both Evocation and Divination
"...As shown by his... unique birds firing off electricity, his humanoid tiger producing and breathing flames, and that horrific elephant of his spewing water from its trunk. Although it was more likely that water was dripping from it rather than it being fired off..." Werner von Hochberg closed his eyes in concentration, "but then that begs the question of how he had fired water off of his clasped hands, too. I doubt his Arts can merely be described as Wahrsagung mixed with Hervorrufung, and that it is most likely he has many skills under those wide sleeves of his."
"His weapons—artifacts even—are either imbued with some sort of advanced Arts, or he is channeling his own Arts through them." Brandt Reiner attempted to connect the dots, his Caprinae ears twitching from under his helmet, "they are some sort of shadow-like water, golden flames, and even golden lightning. They all relate to the abilities his summons possess, so I presume his ability to utilize Hervorrufung is closely tied with his Wahrsagung. There is also the fact that he is adept in some level of Wiederherstellung, seeing how his skin would burn whenever he calls upon his summons, but restores itself."
"That too..." Werner von Hochberg knew very well what Wiederherstellung was, a term translated to Restoration, as it obviously used Arts to restore whatever streaking damages the body had undertaken "...he is also deftly skilled in that application. Have you seen such grievous wounds recover so fast?"
"Even with greatly skilled Wiederherstellung Casters, the majority of them can only heal superficial wounds if given the amount of time as Herr Fushiguro had been granted during our duel. Ah, did I mention it is very likely he possesses some form of Verbesserung?" Brandt remembered the term as vividly as the day he had been promoted to a Geszatwachter, "the unnatural swirling energy of his... it strengthened his body, every single blow of his was aided by that application."
Verbesserung is Augmentation. Self-explanatory.
Werner leaned back on his chair, "hadn't he also altered his physical appearance? Umwandlung, an advanced form of it, it seems." Really, how many Arts did this young man know? Umwandlung was Transmutation, changing one matter to a completely new one at a molecular level. "To add on markings isn't much of an accomplishment, but an additional pair of eyes that seem to be functional... It could also be classified as Verbesserung, though. Perhaps a combination of the two."
"...A fearsome ability indeed, an extra pair of eyes would allow for greater perception of the world." Brandt Reiner tapped his finger against his plated armor's thigh, "Beschworung, he possesses the capability of producing inanimate slashes while I was stuck in the air. I believe they are concentrated shockwaves, animated and shaped in a way where they can tear apart wherever it is direct. If Herr Fushiguro were to be placed in any Leithanian Schools of Arts Studies, there is no doubt he would excel in each of them."
Beschworung, Conjuration. To be able to alter the outer shape of an object... one of its applications was namely producing shockwaves.
Werner von Hochberg pressed his thumb against his forehead, "a Higashinese Noble, I wouldn't doubt if he was a runaway. The price of his robes are nothing to scoff at, just from a mere glance alone. But then that begs the question, what could have led Herr Fushiguro to abandon his noble lineage?
"Ja. I have no doubt about the plausibility of such a claim." Brandt replied off-handedly. "There could have been many reasons, Kurfurst Hochberg. I'm already sure you're quite aware of the many scenarios that could have propped themselves up in face of such a background. Need I say anymore?"
"Hrm, you're right," Werner let out a rough sigh, "there's the upcoming Kaiserinnenfest... I need to prepare for another leave in about the length of a month or less."
"Just as all Nobles do," Brandt felt... watched the melodies flow through the air from the theatre. The mix of instruments should have been one to produce chaotic sounds, but the symphony of unspoken cooperation between minds and movements had created a ballad of no mere superficiality in the display of music. "Shall I file an investigative approach to Herr Fushiguro and his background?"
"Save it," Werner shook his head, "Higashinese is all the way east, the distance between us and the country far off there would be too much of a pain to cross. Even then, we lack any proper connections or hints to where to even start an investigation from all the way back there. Not even Frau Arturia had a clue of his background, and she had been the one to grant him the letter of invitation."
"...Will you bring him along?"
"Pardon me?
"Herr Fushiguro, shall you bring him along to your audience with the Kaiserins?" Brandt specified.
"Well, what else is there to do?" Werner shrugged, "we have a potential Arts genius in our hands, who wishes to build rapport with us. It would only be courteous of us to pay credence to it after he had dealt with our mess, no?"
"A fair... assessment," Brandt agreed hesitantly, "I'll make sure to keep your side and back guarded, then. Just as I always have." The Gesatzwachter still felt as if something was amiss regarding the black-haired man who possessed a wide assortment of Originium Arts applications. From the savage animals bearing their gruelling shining fangs, to the distorted appearance he undertook within a heartbeat, and also that... thing, which dared show itself as a human figure—it all felt so wrong. "A potential noble...?" The Gesatzwachter remembered all the damage he sustained during their spar. It wasn't anything to scoff at. 'His methods of disrupting Arts too,' it grated at his brain, and the Caprinae man was scrambling to understand them.
"Indeed," Werner von Hochberg cupped his chin by placing a hand over it.
Brandt's gaze turned to the group of two sitting not too far away from the. The white-haired Aegir with red eyes contrasted with the black-haired man who also possessed the same eye color as the woman. Those two strangers who had been invited as per Arturia Giallo's actions—correction, the one man, Fushiguro Megumi was the one who had been invited—had many mysteries surrounding them. He wasn't much sure about the lady beside his sparring opponent, but there was a high chance she possessed some abnormalities compared to her friend.
It would surely add on to his further increasing headache if she had the same capabilities, if not more unique ones compared to the black-haired man. Indeed, whoever this person that Arturia had found proved to be as she perfectly described, 'eccentric and surprising in all senses of the word.'
"Kurfurst Hochberg, do you trust him to deliver the letter?" Brandt's voice crawled to a lower whisper through his helmet.
"...I do."
"You said it is to Cora Lowenstein's daughter."
"Indeed I have."
"Then what if he discovers it to be fallacious?" Brandt asked.
"...I can handle it, he won't find out. The Arts applied to the letter alerts me if it has been opened by the wrong hands, and the message inside should be enough for my daughter to understand the situation." Werner von Hochberg replied, "besides, they should be able to handle themselves against the Witch King's Remnants should the group of stragglers come their way."
Even if the Gesatzwachter still had some doubts about what his Kurfurst wished to do, he didn't refute it. The best option for now, was to see how the situation passed by.
***
A chorus of claps filled Arturia's ear just as her bow drew the law resonance needed to complete the orchestra. It filled the entire theatre, whether the audience sat upon the seats in front of the stage or atop the seats overlooking the scenery, everybody who stood inside the room could hear it as clear as the marigolds upon a field. The Sankta was no exception, as the emotions she felt before had suddenly shifted to one of praise and indulgence, a profound feeling that accentuated 'satisfaction.'
The other performers beside her stood up to the sound beckoning their approach, the many dresses of black and white drawing the monotony clear on the page of this book. Yet for Arturia Giallo, she did not stand. There was an understanding she had never felt before, of something so alien that no other living or dying soul could understand. The Sankta turned upwards from her position, upon the stands high above which held the subject of what she felt.
Him.
The man with hairs of ebony black, the fibers which stuck upwards in a fierce disposition that would have eyes glancing away, further proved by the form of his scowling face. There was a crimson glint in his eyes, which illuminated the entire room. It was a light only she could see, and the Sankta could clearly and divinely declare that she was the only one who understood it. Quite literally, he was an alien amongst a world not his, possessing demons which had only come from where he was at.
Awe, she was in awe. It was beautiful, nothing she had ever seen before. Who would have known? In this one-in-a-billionth chance, she had truly met something distinct from the world itself. Everything, everything had become so much clearer. The hatred, the despair, the anger, and the savagery that leaked off of his body everytime it ripped out of itself in a fitful rage, all of it stemmed from one single fact.
Love.
Love for a land he had once lost
Love for a land he had lost before the King of Curses.
Yet for this love, he declared himself that same moniker to bear the hatred only he could feel.
Only he... and she could feel.
It had become so clear.
***
Talulah could feel it, a divine eminence firing off into the sky and enveloping the entire place. She had felt it once before, and she was sure the rest of Reunion had too. It struck a chord in her body, making her instincts and senses go haywire against a potential threat that loomed in the distance.
She shook her head when peering over a corner of a shoddily built house of logs, before feeling her breath hitch. What stood in the distance was a gigantic muscled beast of pale grey, standing behind Fushiguro Megumi. Now, she knew he was a reasonable man, and that the summon behind him was somebody completely under his control, but there was always a primal reverberation across the air which just caused fear to blossom.
Turning to look around, the Draco noticed how the Reunion members were cautiously backing away from it or taking cover. When she glanced back to the summon, she finally had a clear view of what had happened. In front of Fushiguro Megumi and the Divine General was a whole platoon of dead Ursus soldiers, torn apart and ripped in vicious ways that could have never been created by a sane human being.
Blood wafted itself in the air, as if a doctor had dabbled a piece of bloodied white cotton in front of somebody's nose. There was a deafening silence which rang the loudest, because not even the wind blew during a moment like this. The ashen-haired woman took in a deep breath and gulped the saliva stuck in her throat, because she knew that she needed to be the one to inquire about the situation and see how a situation such as this had developed.
"Megumi!" Talulah called out toward the black-haired man, the Sorcerer hearing her calls and turning back to gaze at her. Mahoraga did too, making the dragon lady nearly have a continuous lapse in judgement on whether she should continue with her action—but the die had already been cast. "A-ahem! I take it that what looks to be a platoon of U-Ursus soldiers had attacked the settlement while I was gone, correct?"
"...Yes, that's right," Megumi responded calmly, the Shikigami behind himself standing motionless, yet still standing up straight. He knew it looked intimidating, but didn't give much of a heed to the hysteria and fear it caused, because he had given up ages ago with clearing the misunderstanding, "I'll get rid of the corpses, sorry for causing a mess." The Sorcerer could openly admit that he had been... quite tilted today, especially with how much he had wandered across the Tundras.
"That would be..." Talulah turned to stare at Mahoraga once more, the Shikigami seemingly smiling ever wider when her gaze met its eyeless face "...great... that would be great," the Draco could feel her hand almost instinctively move to draw her blade and ignite it with fire Arts. However, the wheel stationed above its head twitched at her motion, making the woman come back to her conscious mind and pull her hand away. 'W-why... Why do I feel so...?' Why did she feel so weak against it? Why did she hold such immense fear? Why...
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps moving across the snow cut her off from her thoughts. Talulah blinked a few times to register just exactly who was moving across the snow, it looked to be FrostNova. The Cautus girls with bangs covering some half of her face and possessing white hair compared well with the cold environment around her, as if the winter wind sang its blooming presence in her wake. Talulah wanted to call out to the woman, but found her voice dying out when she stood in front of Mahoraga, the beast standing between her and Fushiguro Megumi.
It didn't help that the Yeti Squadron had been attempting to persuade her not to approach the towering monstrosity built by what they could only feel to be celestial hands of unknown powers. Or maybe it was just their illusions made prevalent with the utterance of fear corrupting their minds at every word and prose it spoke, but that was besides the point. They worried for their Big Sister's wellbeing, even if the object of their fear was controlled by somebody who was more or less reasonable.
Megumi in particular wanted to recall Mahoraga, but paused when he found that FrostNova had stared upwards at his Shikigami. The Divine General reciprocated her action by looking down at her, its eyeless face and gaping maw not providing any sort of comfort or friendliness toward the woman below it. In fact, any outsider would say that the perpetual expression carved into his pristine face was one of pure scorn.
But much to everybody's surprise, including Fushiguro Megumi's, the Cautus woman actually extended a hand toward the Shikigami, the Cautus woman keeping her gaze locked upwards. What truly flabbergasted everybody, and had jaws of the more shocked observers drop dead on the ground was when she spoke up to it, striking a conversation of all things.
"...Hello."
Megumi didn't know what to say to FrostNova from behind his Shikigami, or what commands to give to the Divine General. He had never, in his life, anticipated for somebody in the Reunion Movement, where all members were practically wary of Mahoraga; to strike up a conversation with it! At this very moment in time, his logical and definitely, absolutely, thought out 'smart' decision was to let it deal with the situation in front of it as its autonomy would allow.
FrostNova extended her right hand forward, into what looked to be a position that every civilized human being should know. Yes, the immaculate positioning of her hand and arm pointing forward with a firm gesture, it told the story of a gesture used by centuries of human interactions—as a sign of equal respect for one person to another, and vice versa.
The wheel floating atop Mahoraga's head twitched. Then, it fully broke off into a spin, the object blurring at high speeds which attracted everybody's attention. The Reunion members off in the background were confused and even fearful of what the spin could indicate. Whether it would bring a calamitous storm or summon a beam of yellow light to strike them—as they still remembered the ones that were shot off in the distance during the time Emperor's Blade had arrived.
The Cautus was confused, pondering why the wheel was spinning internally in her head. It was intimidating, the indomitable Divine General which had taken an entire Ursus platoon down without taking a single speck of damage. The same being that had also laid waste to two Emperor's Blades had made the feeling of something churning in her chest much worse. However, her worries were unwarranted when the next action came.
KLNK
"...Eh?"
A hand was extended. Much larger than hers, and just as, if not more, muscled than her father's own. It was the pale ivory hand of Mahoraga, having been extended just as her own had been. It shifted slightly, before grasping the small Cautus' hand in its own, shaking it. The Shikigami's posture was still straight, its eyeless face still sporting the wings attached to it that hadn't moved, and so did it still have the gaping mouth showing off all of its teeth. Yet still...
...It was an inconceivable sight that had become conceivable.
FrostNova felt her mind blank for a second before coming back to her senses. She was still staring upwards at the face of Mahoraga, feeling a wave of both relief and terror still overcome her. Despite having shook hands with a Divine General, the unnerving face made practically of fleshy stone still evoked a sense of terror within. Once the handshake (thankfully) finished, the Cautus took the opportunity to take one step back.
On the side of Talulah, she had registered everything that happened before her. Blinking a few times to sever herself from the dazed state she had found herself in when witnessing the absurd scene, an idea immediately propped itself upwards in her head. Steeling her nerves while reiterating the scene in her head of FrostNova giving a handshake toward the summon of Fushiguro Megumi, she took in a deep breath before letting it release.
All tension flowed out of the exit passage that was her mouth. The river of endless anxiety had finally been released, and the Draco had finally gained enough strength and might to climb the arduous mountain in front of her, to complete the task that her other friend had been able to do. Clearing her throat loudly, she took a few steps forward toward the Divine General. From the corner of her view, Talulah could see FrostNova turn around and stare at her while she was making her way forward, but that was merely from her peripheral vision. She couldn't tell what the actual expression of the other woman was.
Once she found herself in front of Mahoraga, Talulah extended her own hand before speaking, "Greetings..." The Draco instantly berated herself in her mind for sounding so tone deaf at that moment. Such immense pressure pressing down on her back to make the introduction to what could possibly be a somewhat mindless monster. But she knew, for sure, that the Divine General might not be as mindless as she thought.
KLNK
Talulah almost jolted when a hand grasped her own, before it was shook. A strange feeling, but the dragon lady was utterly relieved that her soul hadn't left her body, and that her arm hadn't been ripped off at that very moment. Now that she thought about it... Mahoraga's right hand didn't have the blade attached to it.
...It was better not to delve too much on the matter, because its colossal figure along with its face was still too uncanny for her to keep eye contact on.
***
Laurentina stared at the scene, her buzzsaw cradled in her hands. Really, she knew of the summons that Fushiguro Megumi was intelligent to a degree after seeing a lot of them in action, the only one she hadn't seen was that Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. 'Funny how this is my first time experiencing this monstrosity act,' the woman dryly noted in her mind.
First, it was the little snow rabbit that had walked up to it. The Abyssal Hunter didn't like to admit it, but she definitely wanted to jump in between the two and start a fight with the summon. However, since it belonged to her Princess, then it wouldn't do her any good to attack his... 'charming' 'white knight' that had saved him once before against those 'evil-doers.' Really... was she not his knight?
The Aegir's grip tightened further on the handle of her buzzsaw. She didn't mind the divine eminence that radiated off its skin, in fact, she admired it to a certain extent as some piece of artwork that could potentially rival some of the sights she had seen back in Aegir. It was just the sheer uncanniness that she felt from the summon, for no particular reason that she could discern, that she just couldn't stand its presence in the slightest. Like a natural enemy, and Laurentina had already remembered telling it to Princess.
From where she was, the Abyssal Hunter watched as the Divine General, yes, the one which had torn apart two Facerending Liches as she had learnt their names, and acted as the strongest summon in Fushiguro Megumi's arsenal; shake hands with a white-haired Cautus woman. She had to do a double-take by rubbing her eyes, and then gazing at the scene once more. The wheel had spun once, and the next scene that presented itself before her eyes was...?
...Why did Princess look like he was almost smiling happily at the scene? She had seen him slightly amused at some of the antics they made when making their way to Ursus, but not to this extent! For some inexplicable reason, Laurentina felt as if she was lacking in an aspect, when staring at the scene with clearer eyes. Eventually, they narrowed at the Divine General that was now shaking hands with a nervous Talulah. The white-haired Aegir had decided at that moment that she was not going to be one of the people that shook its hands.
***
Ch'en had her face buried in her arms. She was tired, there was no need to say anymore than that. On the side of her desk was a mountain of white papers stacked together to form a mini mountain, but not one that was of nature's creation. If she had met the person who had created the concept of paperwork itself, she would make sure to give them compliments for such an arranged and organized way of keeping records. Before socking them in the face, of course.
A clamp was on her brain, creasing her brain matter and causing a goddamned pulse to fire off everytime. It was like a potential action finally firing off for no reason at all, making the experience far worse than she would have expected. Actually, she had expected this sort of thing to come her way, especially with the rapid fire of events in the recent months that would make an Apostolic Knight look like a joke.
Her hands moved to grasp at her blue hair, rubbing it roughly a few times before springing her head upwards. There wasn't a mirror, but the crease and stress marks that she could instinctively feel under her eyes had already told her enough. Ch'en turned to the stack of papers by her desk, before sighing. The Lung's head then turned toward the large mirror behind her by swerving her office chair, granting her the sights of the cityscape of Lungmen.
The towering skyscrapers of glass and steel were blinded by intense rays of light being reflected off of them, leaving the paned and tinted mirrors black. They could not be seen through, but that wasn't what had interested the woman in the first place... something else was more accurately bothering her to a greater extent than even the paperwork that had been building up beside her. Hell, it was even the cause for all of the paperwork being built up off on her desk at the moment. A scene that looked like it came from an apocalyptic B-rated film.
But in actuality, it was as real as everything else beside her. The crashing reality that a 'Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General' had wreaked havoc across one of Lungmen's most important Districts still echoed in her mind. What were once fully structured and thought out buildings meant for practicality, and for businesses to fully realize their entrepreneurship capabilities had been reduced to steel scaffolds desperately attempting to be reconstructed into what their previous glorious form were; before their destruction.
"I can't believe it... that bastard," Ch'en could feel her anger boil once more, "leaves without a word... clears out the Bloodhounds, and drops whatever shitload this is..." her hands moved to cover her face, spouting out as many Lungmen expletives as she could humanly remember. "What... why, what was the purpose?"
The blue-haired Lung leaned back on her chair, attempting to make heads over heels what had gone wrong. Was it with the meeting with Chief Wei, or was it something else that had been bothering him, and he just hid it underneath that god awful stoic expression of his? A brittle bridge, ready to snap at any time... why hadn't she seen that earlier?
'You bastard...'
Constant bouts of stress continued to undulate into her body every time she saw a vision of that black-haired man in her mind. The neutral expression, the tired and soulless look in his eyes, the mountain of corpses that stood beneath his feet... had she been too blind, too lenient on his entire being? There were many signs, yet many splurges of paint which covered those signs, and she hated it.
Slowly, her hands moved away from her face. The glistening pupils of her eyes spotted the sword laid to rest by her desk, Chi Xiao. It had been screaming at her to draw it ever since her first encounter against Fushiguro Megumi, and it had completely let her go loose with the weapon against that... that Divine General. Yet both times it was bested, both times the entire purpose of its endless strength had been denied to it. Even then, it was replicated, copied, and defiled in the worst way she could have ever imagined.
And under the sadistic maw of a malevolent deity.
'You damned... bastard.' Ch'en groaned in her hand. 'If I don't get a straight answer from you, I'm killing him. I swear.'
The dragon lady lowered her hands and stared at the site of destruction once more. It was always a clear view she had from where her office was. Despite the Blood Hounds' upper echelons of leaders having been completely obliterated, more scum from the Slums were leaking their way into Lungmen after all the shit that had happened. Many parts of the L.G.D. and even the Rat King were forced to split their forces and get involved.
***
Now that Fushiguro Megumi thought about it, it was quite nice of Werner von Hochberg to send somebody to deliver a letter for his retainer. They weren't somebody of his immediate family and was a matter more important toward Cora Lowenstein than anything else, so it wasn't any of his problem. Still, the Kurfurst had still involved the black-haired man with the letter of the Caprinae woman in order to have her wish fulfilled. To deliver a letter to her long distance daughter...
...It was good to know his treatment of his employees was decent.
He sat on a table of an expensive restaurant meant for social gatherings. In fact, he was sure the entire place, with how large it was and bustling with people, was holding a whole ball party to commemorate the return of Werner von Hochberg or something. Even more strangely, the Kurfurst of Sturmland didn't seem to like to participate in this, keeping up a strained expression whenever he talked to other people.
Of course, his Gesatzwachter Brandt Reiner was with him, and Cora Lowenstein not too far behind. Brandt and Cora looked to know each other quite well, occasionally striking up a conversation in the background when people weren't looking. It was most likely because the two were retainers for Werner von Hochberg, the two most important ones he could trust from the looks of it.
...Trust... Why did that word hurt him so much?
Sitting by his right side was Laurentina swirling a delicate cup filled with burgundy wine. She didn't look to be as interested as he would have imagined, perhaps finding the taste to not fit her tongue or whatever. Megumi turned slightly to his other side, his left this time. It was Arturia. Of course, it was the crazy Sankta lady that wanted to dig her fingers into his heart and soul for whatever reason—using weird figures of speech that the black-haired man had been scrambling to understand for the past few days.
He was also attempting to understand what her connection with the Witch King's Remnants even were. There was just too much happening around him even when he had visited Leithanien, that Megumi was starting to wonder if every single aspect of Terra was just a world fraught with endless conspiracies. Add on a touch of magic rock along with the socioeconomic problems it brings with its downsides, and voila! This world was Jujutsu Society but on the worst drug he could have ever imagined.
If Gojo Satoru were here, Megumi was confident even the foolhardy man would have dropped the ball and openly stated that he despised such a world as this. Despite all the goofy moments he presented and the attitude he showed to the world with glistening white teeth that looked like it could never shut, there was a deep-seated unhappiness he had with the world. Whether it be when he would 'joke' about killing the Higher-Ups or flash a neutral expression toward things he didn't like... there had always been a hidden message underneath.
What a...
"What was your home like?"
Megumi blinked once before turning his full attention to Arturia. The woman who held a... rather smug expression at times. But this time, it was graced with curiosity, the look of wonder present in somebody who had found something extremely intriguing, to the point where the Sorcerer was starting to worry for himself. However, he bit back the strange feeling he was experiencing and spoke a question of his own, "why do you want to know that?"
Laurentina gazed up from her wine glass to gauge the two who had entered a new mode of conversing. From the beginning was the pulling up of a question to ask the other person, and whether they answer it or present one of their own, would signal the human interaction known as a 'conversation.' Of course, such ones could be private or public... from the looks of it, they both wanted it to be private. But who was she if she wasn't somebody who was going to eavesdrop on it? How amusing.
***
Arturia glanced at the area above Fushiguro Megumi's head, an stalling phase in their conversation had taken place when the first question they threw at each other had been received. The golden wheel of divinity was gone. Dispelled was the more accurate word to describe it, but the Sankta wasn't going to give it much attention. It wasn't just a simple Arts Unit as everybody had been predicting or assuming, but more complex and primordial than such a thing.
What had drawn her curiosity to a nearly unhealthy amount was the place where Fushiguro Megumi had originated from. It was rich with culture, emotions, and experiences that she was sure she would never be able to experience in this lifetime, nor even the next. A complex structure interwoven by the fabric known as spacetime and reality... a far different one in contrast in what she knew as 'normal...'
She desired it, she desired to know it. This mixed ingredient of despair, sorrow, anger, and resolve held everything that was alien to Terra. The Divine General, the strange energy, the experience of the King of Curses that hadn't belonged to him in the first place... all of it. All of them were memories that she could barely catch a glimpse of, and it saddened her that it saddled the actual emotions that Fushiguro Megumi desired to express—covering it completely.
"...Well, if you wish to know, my dear Princess..." Arturia finally initiated the rest with a causal flow of her tongue, "I would say I had a simple... change of heart. Let's leave it at that, shall we?" The Sankta interlocked her fingers into a triangular formation before setting it on the table, ignoring the meal placed in front of her. She already had her fill.
She could feel the gaze of the woman named Laurentina peek from behind Fushiguro Megumi. The protective lens that they were, which attempted to pull the Sankta away from the black-haired man had always been something Arturia found amusing. But after experiencing it so many times, even she had to admit that it had become... a bother, an obstacle that was more of an annoyance than anything else at this point.
"It wasn't anything great," Fushiguro Megumi suddenly spoke up while glancing away at Arturia, picking up his own drink. It was non-alcoholic, "think Lungmen. It is about the exact same in its design..."
"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Arturia tilted her head.
"More to it than that? No, there really isn't." Megumi took a sip without a change in his expression. He pulled the cup away after having a dash of the flavor, "what do you even want to know? There are a thousand more interesting events happening across the world... especially whatever is occurring in Leithanien." His tone was accentuated in its baritone with the last part of his sentence.
"Touche, but is it so wrong to want to know about such an interesting person more?" Arturia replied.
Megumi's fingers twitched at her words "...I worked for an organization for peace-keeping, that's it."
"People like yourself?" Arturia's brows perked upwards while she tilted her head. "What a revelation... so there are more 'Cursed' people such as yourself?" The Darkness Pacification Force, the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad, the Five Void Generals... all imposing titles, and the Sankta where the black-haired man would rank amongst them. Those... other 'Cursed' beings if her connections weren't skewed.
Laurentina had already long since paused whatever analysis she had on her cup of wine, fully setting it down to listen in on the conversation that was happening.
"There's... no need for me to say anymore," Megumi grunted while taking another sip of the juice in his cup, "we'll just leave it at that." He didn't pay much heed to the curious Sankta for the rest of their stay here.
A few dances with the two women when the ball party reached its peak, along with awkward glances at their faces—which was far too close for comfort in his opinion—and the day passed as it was.
...Still, it was strange how he found Laurentina and Arturia in his room after he woke up groggily.
***
Megumi stood at the black truck he hadn't seen in quite some time. The vehicle that had traversed many miles of Terra's desolate lands,and the vehicle that had evaded countless Catastrophes off in the distance with the assistance of Cursed Energy... it was starting to grow on him. Despite the amount of troubles it had undergone and the arduous task granted to it, its exterior and interior looked to be in pristine condition. Courtesy of Reverse Cursed Technique, obviously.
"Said your goodbyes, yet?" Laurentina walked up from behind him while crossing her arms, humming in her thoughts. "That little angel seemed a bit reluctant to let you go, though..." The Abyssal Hunter amusedly pointed out, placing her index finger under her lip.
"Whatever," Megumi replied, "we'll be back after settling whatever matters Cora Lowenstein has back in Kazimierz with her daughter and all. We'll be routing back to Leithanien, and I believe Werner von Hochberg would want our help dealing with the Witch King's Remnants." He had already heard of the many crimes they've committed, especially with their experimentation on innocent people. How grating.
"That's true," Laurentina said, before opening the door to the side passenger seat next to the driver's, "well, Kazimierz... the Land of the Knights, how intriguing. Do you know the concept of Chivalry?" The Aegir sat on the comfy seat before asking him.
"Chivalry? I'm aware of it to some extent, it's sort of similar to... Higashinese Bushido, but they have some differences." Megumi replied, setting himself in the driver's seat, his baggy eyes staring off into the distance. "I don't really... care much for them, though."
"Did you drink too much alcohol?" Laurentina rested her chin on her palm, gauging his tired eyes.
"I didn't drink any alcohol, I'm too much of a lightweight."
...She took note of that.
"Are you alright?" Megumi deflected.
"Hm?" Laurentina perked up.
"You've been staring off into space for quite a while now, too. Especially back at the ball party..." and also when he had her as his dancing during the music rotation. The way her crimson eyes kept staring into his was...
"Oh, hehe~ there's no need to worry about it," The Abyssal Hunter waved him off before shifting in her seat, taking off her hat, and then lowering her head to rest on his lap. "We should embark on our short little journey, shouldn't we? A vast new expanse of land to explore that we haven't laid our eyes on before... isn't it quite exciting?"
"Where was all of this energy before?" Megumi responded with a huff, not paying her action much attention, "but I wouldn't be lying if I didn't see what a land that accentuates knightly Chivalry would be like."
"Mhm, put that thought somewhere else, though. I believe we have a few unwanted guests tailing us," Laurentina didn't move from her position, simply speaking her piece. "They are the ones from before, aren't they?"
Megumi sighed, before fiddling with the mechanisms that started the truck's engines. "Well, I was warned beforehand by Werner von Hochberg about us becoming targets for the Witch King's Remnants... but to think they would already target us this swiftly."
"What can we expect from such mindless buffoons?" The shark lady shrugged, "a bunch of hapless cultists, that's all their miserable existence amounts to."
"I can agree on that." Megumi's eyes turned into a glare when staring off into the distance. The car engine started, before the vehicle started accelerating forward, toward a more isolated area with greenery and shrubbery, a rather wide forest. "Then let's get it over with."
Laurentina opened her eyes with a provocative smile, "I couldn't agree more."
***
The fields draped over with an endless, green, and luscious dress that sparkled under any source of light that it absorbed. Some trees were spread out, but with such sparseness that it still revealed the beauty tucked underneath, giving a wondrous sight to any beholder's eye. Moisture clung to the grass blades which were sprung upwards like steady statues, but unlike statues, they found themselves at the mercy of the wind's sway...
...Until they were stomped on by a merciless foot. There was impatience within the step, the bearer of such chagrin being a black-haired man scanning across every shadow which lingered across the area. Fushiguro Megumi had already split up from Laurentina to lure the Echoes of Herkunftshorn—the ones who had been tailing them too obviously—into a false sense of security.
It was a foolish idea to split up against a group of enemies, but for the case of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer equivalent and a fully-fledged Abyssal Hunter; this situation was nothing that they would find difficult. If anything, a meal had been served on their platter, showing an excellent course meant for before the main dish was served. That was all this 'set-back' for their journey was.
Something sparked across the shadows, his eyes had detected it. The feeling was akin to the 'spark' that would appear just as a Cursed Technique had been activated, but in an Arts form instead. The Binding Vows which traded off his detection for Cursed Energy in other people had... proved itself further effective.
"Is that the best that they can muster?" Megumi reached his hand upwards to swat away an Arts blast, made primarily of flames. He pointed a casual finger gun toward them and swiped, before their body had been completely bifurcated, "I would have expected at least half decent Sorcer—Casters, in my path." The black-haired man moved his head to the side, before his left hand arced in a blur, leaving whatever barrage of attacks rent apart. The Dismantle travelled far past them, and bisected a group in half. "Chocolate bars... you remind me of the chocolate bars Tsumiki would buy." Easy to snap, and easy to consume. A perfect meal to have a tasting.
While running his mouth on, the Sorcerer dashed through the scenery, the ground shattering after moving from his position. Any and all Arts that were targeted toward him met the small particles and debris wrought upwards from his steps, incinerating them in a flurry of colorful lights macerating upwards.
Imbuing his legs with Cursed Energy and sliding across the ground at near imperceptible speeds, Megumi dashed his arm all across, sending a dashed brush of destruction throughout. In his shadow, Rabbit Escape was speaking the Chants needed to amplify his attacks, without the cost of any Cursed Energy. As a result, it fueled the machine powered by blood and plasma, in order to spill more of the disgraced ichor of these Echoes of Herkunftshorn.
Megumi stopped his motionary movement by balancing his arms across his body, before kneeling down. With a burst of speed that left the air attempting to catch up to his almighty dash, the Sorcerer appeared in front of two Casters who were pointing their wands toward him, "don't you have anything to do better with your life?" His hands felt a splash of blood cover them, as his hands had made a bubble of blood and burst brain matter in the air.
He was in an encirclement of Casters, all of their musical instruments and the sort pointed toward him. Sighing, he motioned upwards, before a gigantic puddle of Rabbit Escapes popped out of his shadows. The main body produced them, allowing him to burst them outwards any time while keeping the actual Rabbit Escape protected. While the occurrence happened, he interchanged a Binding Vow, letting his Shikigami bear the burden of adaptation instead of himself.
That meant... all of his Rabbit Escapes could bear the burden of it.
The smokescreen of white alien rabbits were torn apart by the multitude of Arts blasts, a literal towering wall of them. However, there were too many, letting a majority of them leak through and start chomping on the Casters.
KLNK
Megumi let out a satisfied sigh, hearing all the adaptations his Shikigami were undertaking. 'There was a Binding Vow I made that let Mahoraga adapt to multiple phenomena at a time... so if the Dharmachakra undertakes two attacks at once, it stores both of them for analysis, and when the wheel turns, all of the stored phenomena are adapted to. In this case, all of the fire, electricity, wind, and whatever they're adding onto their Arts attack are instantaneously adapted to once the full rotation is complete. All at once! It's amazing...!"
KLNK
It was as if his body had been ingrained with something new. Feeling a rush of euphoria over taking him, Megumi grinned and shot outwards, barrelling through the mass of Rabbit Escapes while firing off Dismantles as many times as he liked. A small chuckle left his lips when his slashes passed through his Shikigami and tore the Witch King's Remnants, "now isn't that amazing?!" He yelled out, running through the entire scenery, bursting through tower boulders, and running over bodies like he was a speeding truck. "And the best part...?!" He leapt upwards, before turning upside down. His arms were crossed over his body while spinning upside down, before spreading outwards and sending off a multitude of invisible slashes "...The downside is negated by another Binding Vow!" He broke into a voracious laughter, the sounds coming out of his throat cracking together in a mixture of a typhoon or tornado travelling out.
KLNK
Blood met the air in a flaccid display, while nature around was put through a grinder of unseen forces. The scene immediately burst into what looked to be a macabre scene of screaming distortions formed in the air. A soup made of the parts of the human body, minerals, soil, autumn leaves, and all the like were put together as ingredients to an ever-increasing pot. The heat grew hotter and reached a boiling point, whether Fushiguro Megumi's opponents could withstand the rising temperatures or not... had yet to be seen.
Flipping himself in the air and then landing on his feet, the excellently woven fabric dedicated with care and nuance fluttered in the air. What he met was no longer the building blocks which acted as the defensive structure to hold human bodies upwards, but a finely pasted sentinel of innumerable sediments plastered all across. What once was the extravagance and majesty of a forest filled with emerald fields floundering in their happiness, and under the grace of the sun's brilliant smile, was now a hapless field that looked to have met an untimely fate at the cruel hands of a Catastrophe.
The wind whispered in his ears, the divine object atop his head finishing its final rotation. The lifeblood of slaughter which flowed through his fleshy and muscled veins were no longer coursing as intensely as it did before. His red cells doused in a liquid altered by their presence calmed down, letting the fumes of his body expel, and by proxy—his body temperatures. No longer was there a heat of passion burning in an uncontrolled furnace meant to cook souls themselves, but a sizzling of embers sparking out of existence.
A sudden flick of his arm breaking the wind was heard, and under the black sleeves of his upwards attire pulled backwards was a vicious object meant only for penetrative destruction. From within its blackened tunnel leading to hell itself, was a flash of a vermillion infernal spiralling outwards at supersonic speeds, turning into what looked to be a laser beam seen only in sci-fi films.
BANG
Metal clacked onto the ground. A portion of it which should have been refined under the intense trial of heat and intense care of its origin, was sizzling like a piece of steak atop a grill, and burnt to a state where a chef would turn away their necks with visible disgust. Steam rose at the barrel of the Handcannon, the weapon having been pulled back erratically from the recoil, but had found its place in wherever direction it was pointing—which was to the endlessness of the skies above it.
"Using the shadows to hide, despite there being none," Megumi turned his head toward where he had shot, all four of his crimson eyes narrowing in admonishment to the target. "Just shows an incompetent use of your Arts if you could still be detected." Now he had fully turned to bear the magnificent sight of a perfect circle having been formed at the body of an Echo of Herkunftshorn "...why am I even talking to a corpse?" He let out a sigh, watching it drop to the floor.
'For a phenomena that needs three rotations to fully adapt to, Mahoraga summoned via the Binding Vow I created would only require two as a result. For something that requires five, it will be reduced to three.' Megumi tapped his other hand's knuckle against his Handcannon, dispelling it into his shadows. 'So the downside of needing double the amount of rotations to fully adapt to a phenomena, is lessened as a result. I only need four rotations for a normal phenomenon, while for one as complex as Limitless, I would need six. Only one more... a worthy trade for being able to adapt to multiple at once.'
Whatever.
Megumi stretched his limbs, letting out a huff of air that had been building up in his stomach and frustrating it. There were a thousand things he needed to get sorted, such as waiting for the month-long Binding Vow to wear off, and visiting Cora Lowenstein's daughter in Kazimierz to deliver the letter. Still a weird task that had been placed upon him, but the black-haired man simply shrugged it off. It was best to build rapport and trust that a party can believe in another to start a good relationship, and he didn't want it to fall flat on this subject alone.
Besides, he wanted to visit Kazimierz at some point anyway, just as any other country. What better day than when its critically acclaimed triannual event of the 'Kazimierz Major' was occurring?
Scattering his thoughts, Megumi turned toward where his truck was. Laurentina should have finished off the rest of the Echoes of Herkunftshorn that had been tailing them ever since they had left the confines of Leithanien, so there was not much to worry about them. At best, they were the bottom of the barrel that the terrorist organization could scoop up. Unless there was somebody who could match the might of two or three Emperor's Blades, the ones he encountered back in the tundras; then he could afford to take them lightly.
'Let's head back to Laurentina.'