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Deep In The Underworld177Please respect copyright.PENANAMGmrDMslZN
“Hmm-hmm mmmmm-mmmm. So how far is this ruin? The air is becoming much much more poisonous the further we go.” Konkitsu spoke as he looked over at The Scientist.177Please respect copyright.PENANAIMfyX8ph2k
“Demons get stronger out here too, we can’t-”177Please respect copyright.PENANA70iAdmfqDS
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“You breathe??” 177Please respect copyright.PENANARaLj1dtDJG
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“Wha- Of course I breathe! You think I’m like the other models, I’m special! All my systems work to all senses one way or another. Sight, taste, smell, and all!”177Please respect copyright.PENANA04nOITDKEH
“Is that so? Very very curious… Such a small body it's a wonder you work at all..tight and efficient work seems to be a staple of you Ms. Scientist.” Rose and Tachibana took great interest in Konkitsu’s body, examining him while he tried to shoo them off. When they wouldn’t move he just jogged ahead to keep proper speed with The Scientist. Their expedition lasted for quite awhile and soon The Scientist began to cough and moments after her Rose cleared her throat.177Please respect copyright.PENANAl8BW7qlhop
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“Seems you two may be reaching your levels.” Tachibana pointed out looking at the ladies, due to the potency of the female soul Miasma affects women much faster than men.
“It’s nothing. I merely didn’t expect us to go this deep into their territory.” The underworld wasn’t much different than the world man has known. The differences are slight but understood well. The underworld made lands much darker a deep shade of Miasma purple causing the sun to barely break through and the very air to become poisonous. It wasn’t advised to mess with this and due to how deep they were going they’d possibly fall soon. A remedy was in order. With a step forward Tachibana suddenly appeared in front of everyone raising his arm towards them.177Please respect copyright.PENANARmjL4yrX9V
“Stand still.”177Please respect copyright.PENANAyMh6ftX1qO
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“Whoa! Geez your magic is as vast as they say..” Konkitsu jumped in shock, soon standing still at Tachibana’s request. Tachibana’s hand began to glow bright green as he then stepped forward.177Please respect copyright.PENANADIG82d2b3Z
“Don’t take this weirdly and don’t tell Rin please.” He placed a hand on The Scientist’s chest.177Please respect copyright.PENANACxclDEX5kq
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“Huh…don’t move your hand weirdly and I won’t care.”
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“Good. Now take as big of a breath as you can then exhale.” She nodded and inhaled loudly taking in a big breath, she would exhale slowly and instantly cough intensely.177Please respect copyright.PENANA5XbRaIzBN7
“Huh??” Tachibana walked over to Rose, did the same thing and then finally to Konkitsu.177Please respect copyright.PENANAdkMn68S8ne
“There we go, now let's keep going.”
“What did ya do? I only feel a sore throat.” Rose asked, rubbing her neck before taking a breath and smelling clear air.
“Nothing too crazy. I just attuned your lungs so you can absorb more Miasma without collapsing, we’re closer to a Miasma pool going the way we are so it's best we play this smart.”
“What exactly are you Tachibana? You’re extremely strong to be able to cast something so immense with such little effort. We need not worry about any stray spells, do we?” Rose was skeptical. It was the way of things between anyone within and those without.
Don’t worry. I’m above all that bickering you all do inside the village. It doesn’t pertain to me in any way, I live there I don’t congregate with the lesser minded. I’m just helping my wife live as comfortably as possible. Now shall-”
“Move you idiots!” The Scientist called to them having been walking the entire time they stood there chattering away. Everyone bunched back up and continued walking deeper and deeper into the underworld.
Their travels finally revealed to them their goal. A massive structure it didn’t look proper to all other things but it was what it was. The Scientist grinned as she walked towards it and everyone followed behind her. It only took moments before everyone realized something they’d never thought they’d feel.
“Is the air cleaner?”
“That it is.” Tachibana took a deep breath and realized the air was pure so pure in fact he could relax his muscles. See Fiends have been trained to retain immense muscle control to exhaust as little energy as possible so they can limit the amount of air needed with every action. By minimizing the need to breathe they’ve minimized the amount of Miasma they inhale. As they closed in they noticed the purple hue of the underworld fade away and soon they basked in sunlight. It was at this point Rose began to jot down notes on her notepad examining the tower.177Please respect copyright.PENANAmSlNqBcins
“What is this?”
“I don’t know what it's exactly called so I just call it The Ruins. I don’t know why but for some reason it has restorative properties. It cleanses Miasma giving us this little pocket of sanctuary but I’ve learnt something else. Come on.” The Scientist leads the group ahead, using Sōzō's hand she casted its power on her feet and jumps across a gap landing ahead. Turning around she looked and saw Rose elegantly leap across what appeared to be white feathers emerging from her feet as she landed.
“Such a graceful and beautiful woman she i- G-Gah! Hey what’re you doing?!” Tachibana grabbed Konkitsu by the back of his little coat and hopped up floating across landing on the other side with the ladies.177Please respect copyright.PENANAQTdEyCRkAs
“Oi! I have a Sōzō's too! Don’t grab me next time man okay?!”
“Sorry sorry.”
“Come on.” The Scientist led the way walking through the entrance which opened up the moment she showed the Sōzō.177Please respect copyright.PENANAqUlAIR3erM
“Now look there.” She pointed to a terminal and walked over, beginning to click away at the buttons. Suddenly little Peeps stood up beeping and running around the room forming a circle around the group. The little Peeps would beep and their eyes would glow and show a holographic story play out. In the hologram they saw what appeared to be a man and a woman tearing apart hordes of demons and then following that the hologram crackled and changed to what looked to be a large monstrosity standing in front of some rift and then it cut.
“Explanation Scientist?” Rose asked, looking towards her.
“I’ve found some tablets and they’ve given some cryptic messages. One of those being as it says “He will rise again. The Destroyer given form.” Doesn’t sound too good does it?”
“Not one bit.” Konkitsu sighed.177Please respect copyright.PENANADaQQ4ZSSFY
“So. Anything else?”
“Yeah. So from what it seems to be these stones I use for the hand are all powered by the creator and thus it seems to be the key to our victory. Now before it shorted out I was able to find some more stuff. A tablet also had some more stuff the real worrisome one… It said “Valentina’s Depths must be left undisturbed.” Simple right?” Tachibana was currently tapping the little peeps tracking their energy and adding some of it to his own.
“Considering this energy is so pure I’d understand why the Miasma was taken out in this area. This is something worthwhile indeed.” Tachibana took a deep breath and let energy exhaust through his body.177Please respect copyright.PENANAOHAr8St3jU
“Do these things have any memory chips?”
“Oi oi easy there Tachibana. They’re still alive, to get those chips we’d essentially have to kill them and pull it out.”
“Yeah I know. They’ll be alive for years to come, look at this place, we don’t know anything about it or at least not as much as we should. Why not start skipping?”
“Why not just slow down. I’ve taken one of these bodies apart before. They don’t have any chips. The memory is stored in terminals and tablets and holograms only these Peeps here can show. No point breaking em apart.” The Scientist pointed to Konkitsu and everyone nodded.
“What now Scientist? What have we got?”
“I needed you all for a special purpose.” She took a deep breath and walked to a wall pushing against it she grunted and then knocked on it. The group closed in and felt that it was hollow.177Please respect copyright.PENANA7MEfGtBSWo
“To break this down. It repels all magical abilities it seems and the big brutes of the village never help me. Think you can do so?”
“Hmmmm. How about we play smarter?” Tachibana placed his fingers against the wall and shot magic at it and all the energy erupted out towards them causing everyone to scatter. Tachibana rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers. He walked over to one of the peeps and began to wave his hand in front of it. It didn’t pay attention until his hand emitted the energy within its body, the energy of Sōzō. It would begin chirping and beeping and soon it began to jog towards the wall. The rest followed it and in seconds it raised its arms and they all followed in sync, shooting a blue beam at a specific spot which caused the door to glow and then vanish away. Tachibana looked inside and the Scientist used Sōzō’s hand to create a light source in her palm, examining it there were a bunch of scrolls inside. The Scientist grabbed a few of them and began reading. She mumbled to herself quickly reading and checking out every detail before stopping and speaking out.
“Valentina must fall…”
FWOOSH!!!
“Scientist!!!” Konkitsu launched his arm out the energy of Sōzō manifested an arm that grabbed her and pulled her away. A burst of purplish black flames launched past her and destroyed all the scrolls causing everyone to cough from the smoke.
“After them!!”177Please respect copyright.PENANATufndrPzv3
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