Law of the Soul

Chapter 9: Tea Party

"Shiori, don't worry about Okami. He'll be fine. I promise." Myojo reassured her. "Hey, arrogant head with the green eyes. Can you lower your presence down a bit? I can't work properly." Rororia asked. Her red skin blistered. "No can do." Myojo replied. "Huh? Why not? You do as I say, human! If it weren't for Mama, you would've been chopped into a stew." Monodia cackled in the back. "This is my normal presence. I can't lower it much more than what it's at. I have been for a while, but I'm tired. So you'll have to deal with it. Sorry, not sorry." Myojo replied with a smirk. "Why- You!" Rororia screeched. "Calm down, you little squirts. I'll make it so you don't feel it. My presence will stay the same, but you won't be able to detect it." Myojo said. "How would you do that?" Monodia asked. They both glared at him with their bug eyes. "You squirts are only made up of Dark Art energy. You don't have any actual Kodo. If I negate my Kodo with Dark Art energy, you won't be able to feel it." "How would you have access to Dark Arts?" Rororia asked. "Because I have learned it through destroying one billion Stalkers." Their anger rose. In a single second, they could no longer feel his presence. "I don't know what you are, arrogant head, but stop calling us squirts and stop all of it. I'm making dinner for you, ya know... Mother says guests are welcome. I say, piss off. Mother gets what mother wants. Father, not so much." "Your mother is Izanami, right? So your father is Izanagi?" Myojo asked cunningly. "How do you know that?" Rororia asked. "Are you serious? The tale of Izanami here is famous. It's why we came here. Now we know that she's joined up with the strongest and elite Stalkers. What was the group name again? Altera? The Black Blood. I'd say I obliterate ninety percent of them with one attack." Myojo wiggled his toes as his feet lay on the table. He leaned back into the chair and yawned. "How do you know so much about us? Also, how did you even find this place?" Rororia asked. "Well, it's not so much as me who got the information. You see, the Giin has sixteen different members. With that, one of them is a trained assassin and former bounty hunter. She found this place with his bloodline trait. I owe it all to her. I'll happily write it out for you if you want her name and address. Don't expect that it's so easy to even lay your eyes on her before you're already dead." Myojo cackled. Ninigi smirked. They all knew who he was talking about. "I think she will be joining us soon." "What? Just who do you think you are?" Rororia set down her knife and stormed towards his spot at the table. Ninigi gripped Light-bringer from his waist. Myojo put his hand up to them. "It's alright, let her try." Myojo said. Rororia spits a glob of poison, looking good at him. It stopped dead as soon as she threw it. "What?" She tried again and again. All with no success. "You won't be able even to come five feet in my proximity. Or should I make that six?" Myojo touched his index finger to his thumb. All of a sudden, she flew back into the kitchen counter. "What is that technique?" She asked as she stood up. "Its called Museigen. My Hosoku revolves around the manipulation of space and anything in between. So, gravity as well. I won't go into full detail with a squirt like you, but I'll tell you how it works. I use the space inside a room or wherever I am and conjure it into a zone where it pushes anything my Kodo around me detects. Even if someone doesn't have Kodo or has an ability that can bypass that, my eyes automatically produce this zone subconsciously as well. You might wonder, what if someone has such infinite or immeasurable speed? Well I have conquered space, it talks to me. It might seem weird, but I have tamed space itself. It obeys me. It keeps anything I want out. Even if you have those speeds I can't see, Space is infinite. My only real downside is that if someone were to break space and time altogether, then my zone wouldn't prove as effective. I have countermeasures for these types of situations, though. You might also think that if something has no mass, it would be possible to break through, but nope. Unless you are my brother, you won't pass by. Sorry if you were lost in the process... I tend to do that. All in all, space works for me in a mutual consent agreement. So if you try to do anything that I don't like, I am sending you through those walls." Rororia and Monodia seemed stunned at his level of power. They didn't say a word back. Rororia went back into the kitchen and resumed cooking. Suddenly, the door to their side burst open, and in came another monstrous-looking creature. Golden and scaly skin, five nostrils connected to a large head, ten black eyes, a wide body that could barely squeeze through the doorway, reptilian hands and feet, and a lengthy tail that dragged itself through the door. "Brother Fenroria, good to see you." Monodia said. "Shut up, pig. You haven't finished dinner yet, but Mother will be here in a few seconds. Better hurry it up." He replied. The two of them in the kitchen panicked and sped up the process. They finished in thirty seconds, just before Mother arrived. She stood as tall as the ceiling itself. She had pale skin and bright pink eyes covered over the top with an umbrella that she held. She wore a silver kimono that trailed on the floor as she walked towards the front seat of the dinner table. "Get Mother some tea, Monodia!" Fenroria shouted. Izanami sat down on the opposite end of Myojo, and she locked eyes with him. "Are you the human that they speak of? The Celestial Deity?" She talked with a languid pace. Her voice soothes him for some unknown reason. "Yeah, that's me. Why?" He asked, bringing his feet down from the table. "You have killed many of us Stalkers. I don't take such hostility very kindly. Not when it's a human filth." "So you're the profound Izanami, huh? The one who committed mass genocide in the Veneneaux era one hundred years ago?" Rororia brought out a metal platter filled with cups and silverware. Then Monodia came with a large platter of many different plates covered with domes. They set them down in the middle and coordinated every item with the correct person. Izanami was handed a blue cup filled with steaming tea that rose into the air, making the room a bit warmer. Then, she was handed a plate of food and silverware. The rest of them were given the same thing. The three monsters stood by the door with their arms to their side, seeming frightened. Myojo lifted the cover and revealed a cuisine that appeared to be highly decorated and flavorful. Chicken breast brushed with butter, garlic, and soy sauce. Tossed into a light batter of flour and tempura. Fried for forty-five seconds, buttered again, brushed with minced garlic, mirin, and a touch of wasabi. Placed into the oven for an hour. Served with green beans, rice, fish, and udon noodles. "This is scrumptious, thanks!" Myojo said with a mouthful of food. Ninigi and Nia began to eat as well. Shiori had her elbows on the table with her hands on her chin. "This is good. How'd you come up with the recipe?" Nia asked. Izanami sipped a bit of tea. "I found it in a woman's pocket a century ago. When I killed her." Shiori clenched her fist. "You enjoy killing people, do you?!" Myojo slammed his hand on the table. "No, I do not. You wouldn't be angry if you knew one ounce of what I've gone through to get here. Maybe you should know. Not now, though." She replied calmly. "Say it! What was the purpose of that genocide you committed? You just happened to be one of the reasons Kodame joined the Giin. Hirohisa Kodame!" Myojo said, his anger increasing. He continued to eat. She seemed stunned. "Hirohisa... Where do I recognize that name?" She pondered. A twenty-six-year-old man appeared inside of her mind. "The brat that cowered in his attic. I killed his entire family." She chuckled. "What the hell is funny about that?!" Myojo asked. "Maybe now... Someone knows even a bit of my pain." She grinned. Her smile crossed her entire face. She drank her tea. "What could have possibly happened to you that makes it okay to kill three billion people? An entire continent!" Ninigi asked. "With the Altera, I can achieve my goal. No one else can give it to me." She murmured under her umbrella. "You humans are all hypocritical. Haven't you killed billions of my kind? Who are you to tell me that I'm wrong?" "Yes, I have killed many Stalkers. Not a single one without fault, though. I can guarantee that I haven't killed one Stalker just out of spite. I am against the ones who kill and steal." He replied. Mia fed Torani a piece of chicken. "Why do Stalkers always have to cause chaos? Why don't you answer that? Every time something bad happens, it's because of a Stalker. We know they are created from unlawful actions, but why continue?" Nia wondered. Ninigi blew out some smoke. The room was so frigid that it seemed like you could feel your veins. It smelled of cherry blossom and spices. "When we discover that the law is distrustful and is not worthy to be followed, my kind tend to try and seek revenge." Myojo's body trembled with anger. The type of anger that could be felt throughout the room. "Yeah... And you end up screwing the rest of us along with it! How dare you sit in front of me with that expression of yours. No remorse, no sense of guilt! Tell me, lady." Myojo pointed his finger at her. His hand wasn't steady. "Who is the leader in your group? The one with the blue and silver hair." Myojo asked. "I can't just give you a name so easily. Tell you what... I'll tell you if that boy makes it past all my children. We have to battle first." "What level is he at right now?" Shiori asked. "The second." She answered. "That's good to hear. At least he made it past the first one." Ninigi said. "The boy has learned some new technique. Quite the specialty. It's by..." "Converting Kodo into another being. Giving them an overload, causing them to explode." Myojo finished her explanation. "He did it, huh? That kid is special. There's usually only a ten percent chance to land that with users that haven't done it before." Myojo said. "So you taught it to him?" Izanami asked. "Not exactly. I only explained it to him on the car ride here. I only said that it's every Bengoshi's biggest feat if they pull it off. What did he name it?" "Torani Pulse." She replied. They laughed. "Hear that, Torani? He named his attack after you." Nia rubbed her chin. "What would it be formally called?" Izanami asked, sipping her second cup of tea with milk and honey. "Everyone who achieves it will call it something different, but it originated as 'Conversion Spark.' I guess he named it after the tiger. What a funny kid." Izanami grinned. "What is the purpose of this?" Shiori asked. "I will use him for the purpose he was bred for. To extract him of every last drop of blood that he has." Her and Myojo quickly got to their feet. "In the extraction process, he will be transformed into a full Stalker for the remaining time. If you wish to save him, you might have to kill him."