Last time, the group made a stop in the village of an old man named Hiwatori Gwan-Khan. The old man had some startling news for the group, predicting a long and hard journey culminating in the death of one of the members in their party. The group was soon attacked by a giant demon, Grendewu. The group managed to kill the demon, and it was soon revealed that Grendewu was just one of the demons that live in the Made Mountains. Tensei and the others now want to traverse the mountains to continue their search for the Omni Mage.

Omni Mage

Chapter 12: The Made Mountains

The next morning, Tensei awoke first and immediately checked outside to see if any demons had attacked. Yukku awoke with an undignified yawn. Denku was ever alert, ready if he turned into the beast. Kuro was now mixing some herbs and powdered leaves into a bowl, and added water to the strange mix, concentrating on the smell and color it was making.

Kasara woke last, and asked Hiwatori (who was smoking his pipe) “Where’s Tensei?”

He answered without opening his eyes “He’s outside standing guard.”

Kasara bowed in thanks, and went outside to see Tensei.

She found him sitting in a cross-legged position, eyes closed. Tensei smiled as Kasara stood next to him, then sat on the ground.

Kasara grinned, and asked him “What are you smiling about?”

Tensei turned to look at her, and said “I’m just remembering the first time we met. I must say, I never thought I would be traveling with you on this journey.”

Kasara’s grin slowly faded, and she asked him “Tensei, what’s troubling you?”

He sighed, and then looked towards the mountains. “We’re crossing the Made Mountains today. We’re going to try and cross a barrier that no human has yet crossed. I’m worried.”

“About what?” asked Kasara.

“I’m worried for your safety.” finished Tensei hesitantly. “If you were killed in the Made Mountains, I would never forgive myself. We both know that you have almost no fighting capabilities compared to the rest of the group. Even Denku is armed with a blade. However, you are relying on us to protect you, and I don’t know if we are that reliable. We are sure to meet much more powerful demons than Grendewu. I must ask you this: are you truly ready to travel with us? Because, if you want to stay here with Hiwatori, I will understand.”

Kasara stopped him by saying “Tensei, I traveled with you because I thought you could beat Vanten. He is the one that killed my family. He single handedly ruined my life as well as the lives of countless other people. I want to see him dead, to know that everyone can sleep safely again. I want to go with you Tensei.”

Tensei nodded, knowing that would be her answer. Kasara asked him “You remember what I said to you that night after you fought Metsuki?”

He smiled, and replied “We’re a team.”

Kasara nodded, and said “And that’s not going to change.”

Tensei told her “You know you can be pretty stubborn sometimes?”

They both shared a laugh at this as a giant bird flew overhead.

Inside Hiwatori’s house, Kuro was boiling water to make tea once again. He calmly stirred the herbs into the water, and as he served the green tea, he noticed something. Sipping his tea, he asked Yukku “Say, didn’t you have a broken arm three days ago? And broken ribs?”

Yukku gasped, and realized “You’re right! I wasn’t even aware of it when I was fighting Grendewu! Weird.”

Looking up from his tea, Denku asked Kuro “Could they have healed before then?”

Kuro replied skeptically “Within a day? Unlikely.”

Yukku took a rice patty out of a bag next to Hiwatori, and shrugged saying “Well, I’m not complaining about it, as long as it’s not broken.” And with that, she bit into the small cake.

Tensei came in a minute later flanked by Kasara, and announced to the group “We are leaving now. Pack all of your things.”

Yukku held up a finger to motioned them to wait, and said “Wait ‘till I finish this rice patty, will ya?”

Tensei sighed, and nodded. Hiwatori however grabbed Yukku by the back of her outfit, and said “You may want to tell your friend here to give me my 80 din back.”

“Yukku!” scolded Kasara.

Yukku sighed as she gave the coins back and said “I was going to give them back, I needed the practice!”

After the tea was finished, they finally left the safety of Hiwatori’s house who said to them before they left “Efa seby enruojr uo yyam.”

They stopped before the intimidating mountains, and Tensei told everyone to unsheathe their weapons. “Demons can attack from anywhere. Be prepared for anything.”

They started climbing the mountain, and Tensei suggested that they should all head to the peak. Unfortunately however, the group soon discovered that the further they went up the mountain, the colder it became.

Along the way, a shivering Denku asked him “Tensei, why do we have to travel to the top? It’s freezing up here!”

Also shivering, Tensei answered back “We should be able to see the fastest route across these mountains from the peak. The shorter time we spend in these mountains, the better.”

When they got near the summit, they crossed the line where trees ceased to grow and snow started to cover their feet. Yukku was groaning the whole way. “I can’t believe this. Hibishi is hardly ever cold. Why should this place be any different?”

When they reached the top, they were able to see the other side through about seven more mountains. They also spotted several large demons, some were running at rapid speeds across the middle of the mountains. Others looked like Grendewu, only they were much larger, and their hides were flaming, burning the forests and melting the snow.

Kasara shook her head in exasperation, and asked Tensei “Do you have an idea?”

Tensei shook his head, and replied “Not unless anyone else has one.”

Kuro pointed to the right, and said “Look over there: there are fewer demons to the right. We can travel in the valleys to avoid them.”

Satisfied that they could travel a less freezing path, the group climbed down from the mountain, and continued following the valleys, being vary wary of the nearby demons. Tensei watched some of their movements and wondered “Why aren’t those demons following us? They should be able to smell us from where they are.”

“It’s the pine trees.” answered Kasara, “The scent of the trees prevents them from smelling anything else.”

Keeping his eyes on the other demons, Denku said shaking “Well then, as long as we stay close to the forests, we’ll be safe.”

Suddenly, a small, shrill laugh came from a small creature a few feet ahead. Upon closer inspection, this creature was a demon about a foot in height. It had a brown fur covered body, stood almost lightly on two small legs ending in claws, had two very sharp fangs, and short arms that possessed nails just as sharp. The head was unnaturally small in comparison to the rest of the body so that it looked like a triangle. The plumage upon the head was red and green and almost feather-like. It had a cat-like nose and two small beady black eyes.

Stepping forward, Tensei pointed his sword as a challenge to the small demon. “Who are you and what do you want?”

The small demon laughed even more, and answered in a piercingly high voice “I am Fushidarafito, and I am here to stop you in your tracks!”

Yukku laughed at the size of the small demon. “Really? You’re going to stop us? What are you going to do, trip us?”

Tensei however did not take the demon lightly. He rushed forward, sword ready to strike, and he swung the blade towards Fushidarafito. Nothing was there after he completed the strike.

Yukku’s smile faded just as quickly as it came. “Tensei, behind you!”

Tensei whipped around, but once again there was nothing but the ground in front. A laugh behind him told Tensei that Fushidarafito saw his moves way before he had started them.

The little demon started laughing again. “I’m way too fast for you! Nothing you can do to stop me, but I will stop you!”

Kuro yelled at the small demon “Yeah, well just because you’re fast doesn’t mean you can defeat us!”

Fushidarafito laughed again, but this time it was a smug laugh rather than a laugh of amusement. “I may not be able to defeat you on my own, but if you never defeat me, you’ll have to put up with these!”

He then let out an ear-piercing scream. It seemed to echo throughout the entire Made Mountains.

Tensei had to cover his ears to prevent his ear drums from exploding, and the rest of the group was surprised at the magnitude of the sound produced from a tiny demon.

“What is it doing?” yelled Kasara over the shrill scream.

“Over there!” pointed Denku.

Two demons rushed down the mountain: one nearly twenty five feet in height that looked like a giant brown bull if it weren’t for the sharp, long tail that ended in a triple point at the end. The other was long like a snake with a tan, scaly body thirty five feet in length, and five feet in width with blood red eyes and a flat mouth.

Everyone pulled out their weapons to defend themselves, except for Kasara who had to resort to hiding behind the three companions, and Tensei who was trying in vain to slash at Fushidarafito. Yukku yelled at Tensei “Tensei, forget him! We need your help here. I’ll take care of Fushidarafito!”

Turning to look at her, he nodded and rushed towards the rest of the group. Yukku sped away at lightning speed towards Fushidarafito, dagger at the ready. Fushidarafito only saw this as a chance to have more fun.

“Ooooh, you are fast too, huh? Well no one can keep up with Fushidarafito!” boasted the demon.

Yukku started lunging at the small demon, missing only by millimeters. She aimed a low strike to the demon’s chest, but it simply rolled out of the way. She then brought her right leg around and tried to perform a sweeping kick to Fushidarafito, but then he jumped over it, and ran to the other side of Yukku. She compensated for this, and twisted her torso to aim a straight stab, but the demon sidestepped it.

Tensei and the others were having their own problems with the giant demons. The bull charged for the center of the group to separate them into separate targets. The snake coiled up, and started to hiss threateningly at Tensei and Denku. The bull faced Kuro and Kasara, and started to charge right at them. Kuro waited until the right moment, and jumped aside, slicing a shallow line on the bull’s face. Kuro was surprised at how tough the demon’s hide was.

Kasara however was too slow to dodge completely, and as the bull turned, the tail caught her side, creating a deep wound. She cried out in pain.

Tensei and Denku were occupied enough to worry about Kasara. The snake struck, and although Denku sidestepped thestrike, the snake proceeded to wrap its long body around Denku, squeezing tightly. Denku struggled uselessly to break free, and that left Tensei to fend off the snake’s head which was hissing with anticipation.

“Kasara! Over here!” yelled Kuro. Kasara ran towards him clutching her side which was seeping blood, and Kuro pressed a hand to her side. The wound closed up immediately.

The bull charged for Kuro and Kasara again, and this time Kuro jumped out of the way taking Kasara with him. The bull charged past, tail whipping the ground near Kuro. It headed straight for Tensei and Denku.

Tensei, look out!” yelled Kasara.

Tensei barely had enough time to look around and jump out of the way. The snake had struck as soon as it saw its opponent take his eyes off of it, but by then Tensei had already jumped out of range. Instead, the teeth sank into the leg of the bull. The bull gave out a giant cry, and in sheer anger it kept running, trampling the snake’s body. The beast’s hooves nearly hit Denku as the snake let go in pain. Tensei then performed a front flip, planting the sword into the head of the snake demon.

The bull then ran into a tree, venom finally taking over. It sank to the ground and moved no more.

However it wasn’t over yet: Fushidarafito jumped backwards to avoid a slash from Yukku, and jumped forward, slamming his head into her stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of her, and she fell clutching her chest. Fushidarafito then jumped backwards again, and let out the same shrill cry he screamed not too long ago.

To answer his cry, three more demons came down from the mountains: The flaming beast the group saw earlier ran down the slopes, leaving behind fire and blazing destruction in its path. A green, thin, ten foot tall demon with no eyes or ears and the appearance of a cactus rolled down the mountain, and revealed his arms, both ending in spiny hands. The third demon was the largest, and the most impressive of all: almost forty feet in height, it had a body that could have been sculpted from stone covered in white fur. Its blue skin matched its mean brown eyes. It had spikes protruding from its shoulders and arms and the back of its legs. The claws on the demon’s paws looked sharper than the demon’s teeth, which it bared while growling, globs of spit falling to the ground which steamed on contact.

“This looks hopeless!” yelled Denku.

Staring in awe at the three large demons, Tensei yelled to Yukku “Yukku, you must destroy Fushidarafito, or we won’t last!”

Yukku however was unresponsive as Fushidarafito sprung forward and struck her again with his head, sending Yukku into a backflip. She landed awkwardly chest first where she lay in a heap. Fushidarafito started laughing again, and gloated “Come on! You won’t catch me that way!”

Denku found himself facing the forty foot tall demon. Sword trembling, he ran towards the demon, nearly earning himself a five foot wide fist. He dodged the giant right hand, and rushed forward to pierce the demon’s leg with his rapier. However, when the demon roared in anger, a fleck of spit hit Denku’s shoulder, and it immediately began to burn and sizzle. He screamed in agony as he retreated.

Kuro jumped away to avoid a clubby blow from the cactus-like demon as a giant green spiny arm crashed into the earth, leaving a large imprint upon the ground. He then lunged forward and speared the leg of the green demon. However, undaunted, the demon kicked Kuro in the back with its other leg, sending him about twenty feet away. When he landed, he was groaning in pain.

Tensei squared off against the flaming demon. It looked very intimidating indeed, for with every roar, a large plume of fire would escape from its throat.

Tensei looked at Kasara who was way too close to the fire demon. “Kasara, get away from here!”

The cry came too late however: the demon turned around, and some of the flames caught her left leg. She yelped in surprise as she tried to put the flames out.

The demon started to question which one it should chase after first, but its choice was swayed by the fact that a small object hit the beast at the back of the neck. It immediately turned around to face Tensei: he had thrown a rock at it.

Tensei taunted the beast by yelling “Hey, you’re way too big to catch me!” And with that, he turned and ran into the forest. Screaming in anger, the demon chased after Tensei, crashing into the trees as if they were toothpicks.

Kasara, now supporting a burn on her leg, limped over to Kuro who struggled to get to his feet. Kuro then placed a hand on Kasara’s leg, and the burn disappeared. Unfortunately, the cactus-like demon spotted Kuro and Kasara and started to run towards them.

Clutching his shoulder, Denku was running towards them from the opposite direction, and he was yelling “Out of the way! Out of the way!” The enormous white demon was bearing down upon him, and when Denku reached Kasara and Kuro, the demon kept running. Confused at why his prey had stopped running, it didn’t stop in time, and the demon crashed into the cactus demon, breaking it into at least fifty different pieces.

Kuro placed a hand on Denku’s shoulder, and the corrosion mark sealed up. As if he had the energy sucked right from him, he fell to the ground once again.

“Kuro, what is it?” asked Kasara, concerned.

Kuro weakly replied “Heh, I used up too much energy. I’m so tired from healing and fighting. I have to take a small nap. Wake me when it’s over.” And he started to sleep, leaving Kasara and Denku as the only two to face the largest demon they had ever seen. They turned to look at the giant demon, which was beating its chest in triumph.

Meanwhile,

Tensei kept running through the woods. He didn’t run at full speed however: for his plan to work, he couldn’t let the fire demon become discouraged at its chase. He had to have the fire demon follow him.

He looked behind him, and saw that the trees were either being knocked out of the way or set ablaze by the angry demon. Picking up speed, Tensei shot out into the air, and landed on the snow covered ground where there were no trees. A second later, the demon burst through the trees scattering flaming wood everywhere. Tensei flipped backwards to avoid some of the burning particles, and held his sword in front of him.

“I hope Kasara, Denku, and the others are alright.” he thought to himself.

Back to the valley,

Kasara screamed as she ran franticly to avoid the demon’s giant fists. Denku was slashing feebly at the demon’s arms, which was only making the demon angrier. Kuro was in no condition to even move. Yukku was at the mercy of Fushidarafito, the smallest demon they had ever met.

They were anything but alright.

The monstrous demon kept flailing its arms in an attempt to slam them into Denku. Denku was trying his best to wear the demon out, but the only wounds done to it so far were a few cuts on the arms where Denku counterattacked.

Breathing heavily, Denku rushed forward to charge the demon’s chest. The demon slammed its mighty arms way too close to Denku, and the resulting shockwave sent him rolling on the ground. Denku sprung right back up, and lunged for the demon’s chest.

This turned out to be a big mistake: When Denku misjudged the leap to the enormous demon’s chest, he fell and the rapier ended up piercing the demon’s left foot. Yelling in rage, it started to stomp in a wild frenzy, desperately trying to crush Denku beneath its weight. Now apprehensive, Denku backed away from the demon, nearly missing a drop of acidic saliva.

“Denku, look out!” cried Kasara.

Denku backed up way too far from the demon. It swung a fist, and missed Denku by inches. The magnitude of the hit launched him five feet towards the demon’s stomping feet. As soon as Denku landed, he screamed as he rolled to the left to avoid a foot that had landed where he was.

Yukku had her own problems. She weakly flailed out her arms in an attempt to catch any part of Fushidarafito. However, the small demon’s blows were taking their toll on Yukku as she gasped for breath.

Fushidarafito then took a small, sharp rock and held it in his hand. “This will finish you off!” he cried as he launched himself forward, intending to kill Yukku with the rock in hand.

Yukku saw her chance, and caught Fushidarafito with her left hand. With her right, she plunged the dagger into Fushidarafito’s chest.

“B-b-but, how? N-n-no one is f-faster than m-me.” gasped Fushidarafito.

Yukku grinned in triumph, and explained “Your speed is only good when you are able to push off from a surface. Once you pushed off to deliver the final blow, your feet were centimeters from the ground, but it is enough. You were committed to your strike, and therefore, easy to read. I just had to wait to see if you would keep it up.”

And when Yukku pulled the dagger out, Fushidarafito evaporated into the air. She then laid on the ground, exhausted, saying “You guys better not leave me here, I hate this place.” And she closed her eyes to rest as dark clouds formed over the battlefield.

Back to Tensei,

“I only have one shot at this.” thought Tensei, sword in hand. He dug his rear leg into the snow, and waited.

The fire demon roared in anger, and rushed forward to attack. It reared up to deliver a fatal raised paw, and that’s when Tensei moved. He kicked his rear leg forward launching the snow that rested on his leg towards the demon’s neck. The fire in that area was doused for a moment, and that was all it took. Tensei twirled from the momentum, and threw his sword, embedding it into the vulnerable neck.

The demon instantly collapsed onto the ground, and its hide ceased to flame. Tensei pulled his sword out of the lifeless demon, and looked up at the sound of thunder.

“Denku.” he thought when he saw the dark clouds, and he rushed down the mountain, desperate to aid his friends.

Denku had changed into the monster from underneath the giant demon. He was still outsized by the demon, but his intensity matched that of his foe. He rushed to the injured foot and snapped his jaws on the back of the ankle, tearing some of the flesh.

This caused the demon to become angrier than ever. It threw wild punches toward its legs, but Denku would not falter. He ripped out a large chunk from the demon’s foot, spraying dark green blood onto the ground. Screaming, it fell on its rear and growled in frustration. The foot was now useless. Denku then climbed onto the back of the demon, and started biting into the back. The demon arched its back in an attempt to be rid of Denku.

Tensei rushed out of the woods, and not wasting his opportunity, he leapt the distance to the demon’s exposed neck, and slashed the throat. Drops of acid seeped from the throat, and Tensei caught a shoulder-full. Screaming, he fell to the ground, and threw dirt onto his burned shoulder to dilute the deadly solution.

Denku ran over to Tensei, and transformed back into a human. Kasara ran over, and asked Tensei “Are you alright?”

“Where’s Kuro?” he asked.

Denku answered “He’s sleeping, and so is Yukku.”

“Not anymore.” said a voice from behind the group. Yukku appeared clutching her chest, and dragging Kuro who was still knocked out. She said “Wow, I got the wind knocked out of me.”

Tensei carried Kuro on his good shoulder, and Kasara said “I think I speak for everyone when I say we should get out of these mountains as fast as we can.”

Walking towards the horizon, Tensei kept a sharp eye out for any more demons that may attack them again. Surprisingly enough, they didn’t encounter any more demons.

“Strange,” wondered Kasara, “I swear there were many more demons than the one that attacked us.”

Yukku replied “Hey, be grateful: We couldn’t possibly survive another attack.”

When they emerged from the last mountain, they beheld a small village of about five huts. Opposite of the last village however, this village was almost completely dry. Very little green surrounded the area, and farmers were spending futile efforts to till the brown land.

Tensei sighed as Yukku said “They must have a lot of imports then.”

She was right: right then a horse appeared on the beaten path, dragging a cart filled with barrels of supplies.

Setting Kuro on the ground, Tensei ran over to the thin man driving the horse, and asked him “Where is the next village?”

The man replied “Well, the next village is where I just came from: about 20 miles that way.” And he pointed down the road. “Say, are you lost?”

Tensei nodded his head. “Sorry, it’s just that we haven’t been in this part of Krayen before.”

At this, the man tilted his head in confusion, and said “Krayen? What are you talking about? What’s Krayen?”

What is this? They’re not in Krayen anymore? Where are they then? Find out next chapter!

And now to thank the reviewers:

Yamato: Woah! Thanks for catching that for me. I had to improvise, but I found out that it fits within the plot. Thanks again. Vanten isn’t THAT evil. He rewards people (or demons) who help him. You find out his motives later on, so be patient! So, this time a small demon was the most annoying one. I’m going to introduce several other demons later on who don’t use their brute strength. And I wouldn’t compare Yukku with Sango. Well, that’s it. Thanks for your review!

Raithe Lorgell: Sorry to hear that your computer’s been acting up. Thanks for your review!

Until next time!

Peace out!