The Oni Slayers: Chapter 11

The three, Takuya, Saiyou, and Shimura sped to their destination. The silver car made wild turns causing Takuya to sway left and right in his seat. As they moved further into the city, a dark hole began to tear from the sky. Crackles of red sparks came from the sky hole and the air became cloudier by the moment. A man sat cross legged on the pavement while chanting an incantation. Saiyou rushed out of the car and into the magic circle but, a barrier deflected his entrance knocking him backwards. A large oni was slowly emerging from the dark hole. Saiyou muttered an invocation and his hand glowed with an ethereal light. He chopped his hand through the barrier and shattered the enclosure. The chanting man noticed the commotion and turned to look. Saiyou quickly struck his neck and knocked him unconscious. Shimura initiated a binding spell and created golden strands from his fingers.

“Dammit, it’s too late to send the oni back,” said Shimura watching the oni fully emerge in the distorted space. “Then it’s showtime,” said Saiyou coolly with a smile. Saiyou took out his two guns from either sides of his pockets. The oni that rumbled the grounds was a 50 feet tall lion with a purplish hide and orange mane. It roared so loudly that the windows and streetlights exploded into pieces. Takuya could only shut his ears to the reverberating noise and hide behind the car. “Looks like these guns won’t be appearing in this act,” said Saiyou as he sheathed his guns. Saiyou drew his sword instead and ran towards the lion. The sword was much longer than before, twice the height of Saiyou. He did a quick swipe but, the lion clenched the blade in its teeth. Refusing to let go, Saiyou tried pulling his blade from the beast. The lion shook its head and Saiyou’s combat boots dragged across the cement and flung him in the air. While Saiyou was still conducting the tug-o-war, Shimura seized the chance to fire a bazooka-like weapon. When Shimura fired, a large black projectile flew out and divided itself into five more smaller projectiles. As each projection pierced the flesh, large streams of blood gushed out. The lion roared in pain and let go of Saiyou’s sword. Saiyou charged forward to slash the lion but, the lion threw its paw to block Saiyou’s way.

Takuya stayed far from the lion. He preceded to move forward but, backed down when Shimura and Saiyou were engaged in battle. The lion was big like the canine he fought a while back but, the lion was more ferocious. When it opened its mouth, Takuya could see the two rows of teeth and unusually pronounced fangs. Moving quickly, Takuya took a 0.5 caliber handgun and slunk behind the closest tree. Until he moved close enough to his target, Takuya aimed for between the lion’s eyes and fired. The lion moved and the bullet hit Saiyou. Or so it appeared. Saiyou caught the bullet with his hand and dropped it to the ground. The metal bullet made a “clink” sound on the pavement. “Sorry!” shouted Takuya.

He slunk back to the car. A 0.5 caliber is not going to work. The oni is too big, he thought. I am useless and a burden to my friends. Takuya stood and watched as his two mentors plunged their huge swords into the beast. The lion began to sway and wobble on its feet. At last, Saiyou hopped on to the lion’s back and dug the sword firmly into its neck. He then drew his two guns and fired at the head of the lion. A dollop of blood spilled on the ground and the lion collapsed. Saiyou and Shimura picked up their weapons and the unconscious man. “Takuya, put this guy in the car,” said Saiyou. Takuya quietly obeyed. ”What’s the matter?” asked Shimura. “Nothing,” Takuya quickly replied. “If you think you’re helpless, then quit being an oni slayer,” Saiyou snapped. “If you think you reached expert level, you’re still far from perfection.”

Takuya came home with dampened spirits and his grandfather noticed the silence. “What’s wrong? Did something go wrong with the oni hunt?” asked the grandfather. “I couldn’t help out at all today. I almost killed Saiyou,” said a distressed Takuya. “How long have you been in the oni slaying?” “About ... two months?” “How can you expect yourself to be like Saiyou within such a short period of time? Especially when you have school to keep up with and to put up with your mother. You’re putting too much stress on yourself. There’s still a lot things you don’t know. Like for instance, your ojii-chan used to be an oni slayer.” “Really?” “We went by different names. The demon cutters. The exorcists. The onmyouji. It’s a little different but, the concept is all the same. The point is you don’t become a hero in one night of sleep.” “So, how long has this oni slayer thing been going on?” “Ahh, good question. Here’s a short history lesson. To be precise, it was established back in the Heian period of Japan.” “It’s that old!”

“Well ... we didn’t exactly called it the Oni Slayers. It began as the Bureau of Onmyou in the Japanese government and changed over the hundreds of years. Of course, the true stories have been gathering dust in the annals of history. Banishing demons is a very old practice. We may call it ‘oni’ here in Japan but, they may call it ‘daemon’ in Europe or ‘yaoguai’ in China. Are they the same exact monsters that we fight against? I don’t really know. Either way, we are going against the supernatural.” “How was it like you back in the day ...” “You didn’t wear that amulet I gave you. It’s really useful for your job,” Takuya’s grandfather interrupted. “Oh ... that. I forgot about. I’ll wear it next time.” “Come down for dinner and we’ll continue afterwards.”

Saiyou and Shimura were standing in the laboratory staring at the computer screen. Shimura scrolled down the page to view his results. “This is what we found in the pills we acquired during several oni sites,” said Shimura. A pie chart and some statistics appeared on the screen. “Explain,” said Saiyou. “The pills when consumed by oni can change their rankings. There is an increase in strength and further development in the brain. They also start gaining the ability to rapidly adapt. I’ve currently deduced that these pills are designed specifically for oni. We ran some experiments on the lab mice and the results were quite gruesome,” explained Shimura. “What happened exactly?” asked Saiyou. “They died painful deaths. Heartbeats doubled, tripled, and exceeded well over what a normal pulse can be. The sudden blood rush was too much for the body to bear. The pill was easily absorbed but, acted as a poison for the bodies. After the dissections, we found that all livers have corroded away,” Shimura elaborated furthermore. “I’ve also found out the pills are being widely distributed. The oni exchange with different humans at various locations like the time we went to the bar. The guy we found is working with oni but, he won’t tell us anything.” “I’ll have a little chat with him,” said Saiyou.

The man was sitting in a chair with his arms folded. Saiyou entered the cell and slammed the cell door behind him. “What do you want now, bastard?” the man scoffed rudely. Saiyou walked up and picked the man up by the scruff of his collar. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing!” the man barked in Saiyou’s face. Saiyou then slammed the man against the cell wall and picked him up by the neck. Increasing his grip, the man struggled to breathe and clutched Saiyou’s arm to release his grip. “Tell me,” said Saiyou dangerously. “Who are you? What are you doing with the oni?”

Saiyou’s deathly stare began to work its effects on the man. The man’s pupils began to dilate and his nostrils flared. Saiyou then dropped the man to the floor. The man gasped for air and began massaging his own throat. Saiyou glared at the man. “I am Morita Hiromu. I work with the oni.” said the man. “What kind of ... work?” “I g-give them pills and they give me payment,” Morita stammered. “Who is they? Are they the ones giving you payment,” asked Saiyou putting emphasis on “they”. “I belong to a group of invocators.” “Who are you invocators?” “S-some of us are here for the money. There are some that belong to some sort of cult. I’m not sure about it. I-I only heard snippets of their conversation.”

“What do they talk about?” Saiyou questioned furthered. “I heard them say that they serve the oni for a greater purpose. Something about a new world order ... it all sounded so crazy.” “And what of the incantations you were reciting the other day?” “I am in charge of summoning lesser demons that are unable to appear in the human world.” “Who is instructing you?” “I-I don’t know.” “Are you sure you don’t know,” said Saiyou in a threatening tone now jabbing at the man’s chest. “I only do what they tell me to do! We prepare the rituals to summon the demons. The higher ups relay their messages to us through group leaders.” “What about the bombing incident two months ago at Yamamoto Square? Were you involved?” “No. But I know that it was an oni that did it.” “Do you know who the oni is?” “He goes by the name Digger. That is all I know.”

Slamming the cell door shut, Saiyou left for the laboratory to look for Shimura. “Shimura. The guy we got admitted that he was the middleman for the pills and a summoner of lesser demons. I also found out that there’s an oni named Digger that was responsible for Yamamoto Square, the event that killed Takuya’s girlfriend,” said Saiyou. “Hmm. I think our next target can be Digger then,” said Shimura. “Don’t call Takuya to come with us,” instructed Saiyou. “Why not?” asked Shimura. “He has no confidence and no courage. These are essential traits of a proper oni slayer.”

“He is not you, Saiyou. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to call him on the last hunt but, you have to understand his situation.” “What is there to understand? You dedicate your life to this kind of job. I asked him to join and he agreed. Now I know that it was the wrong thing to do.” “Saiyou,” said Shimura. “You shouldn’t compare yourself to him.” “Tch! Takuya knew the consequences,” argued Saiyou. “You should know as well, of your consequences of exercising your power in the organization. Just because your past led you to become strong doesn’t mean Takuya cannot be strong as well,” defended Shimura. “I know compassion isn’t your best trait but, trust me, Takuya will grow.” Shimura let out a deep sigh. “So what else of that man? Who is he working for?” asked Shimura. “This man also said that he belonged to a group of invocators that are responsible for summoning lesser demons unable to enter the human world. I tried to find out about the perpetrator behind the faction, but it looks like they make sure these summoners don’t know who their boss is,” answered Saiyou. “This sounds very troublesome. For all we know, they’re most likely not the only group doing this. Clearly there’s some hidden agenda we are not aware of. We can’t keep clearing out the small fry if we can’t locate the big boss.” “I’m worried about this cult we now have on our hands. They keep bringing more oni into the human world and they’re teaching more people how to summon them.”

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