22: Serve

The cat growled at him from the corner of the room it immediately fled to after he opened the cage. He sighed deeply. There was no time for this. This morning, before school, he had created a permanent rift to the location of his base. A clean room had been made so that the guards could defend the spot, and they were building the base as of this moment.

Kazuma had nearly killed himself last night, screening at least one hundred and fifty people, and he had begun early today too. More people arrived, and while he trusted Nashima to lead them well enough when he wasn't there, she couldn't be there all the time.

The Dark Flame Master was a particularly annoying personality to have, and only seemed to want to teach, or do anything really, when he felt like it. And he had chosen this evening as the perfect moment to create an enhancement for a living being.

He tried coaxing the cat toward him, clicking his tongue, and squatting down to make himself less looming. The cats back curved impossibly as it hissed at him.

"Difficulties with your pussy?" The mocking sound of his own voice grated against him, and he felt his anger flare, like it had yesterday morning. He pushed it down, swallowing it away.

"Just give me a damn minute." Alright, maybe not completely away. He walked out of the room, closing the door quickly to make sure the cat didn't sprint out. He came back only moments later after retrieving a piece of salmon.

The cat was still in its corner, and jumped back on its paws as soon as he entered. The hissing resumed, but when he lowered himself again and offered the fish, it slowly subsided. A minute passed before it moved, creeping closer step by step.

He didn't move, not wanting to scare the little creature… it deserved a small measure of love before the torture that an enhancement inflicts. It pawed at his hand, not trusting him. When it didn't get a reaction, it lowered its head and bit.

Sharp teeth drilled into his hand, drawing blood as he hadn't been prepared for the attack. He pulled back, grunting as the pain travelled up his arm and into his mind. The laughter that echoed around up there didn't help either.

"Alright, if you want to play it like that!" he growled. He waved his hand, and the cat stopped mid stride. Completely enveloped with solid air, the only thing it could still do was breathe, and even that barely. Its yellow eyes skittered around nervously, but it couldn't even cry out.

Gesturing, the tiny animal flew up and approached him. Mortal fear was the only thing readable in those eyes. Even such a limited mind could understand approaching death. He almost smiled, before he realized he was revelling in the pain of another creature. He shook the feeling off, sealing it away in the same place he had tried to seal his anger before.

The anger he kept this time though. Wrapped in the emotion he'd be able to do what he needed to, without stopping halfway or something. The anger made him sharper. He placed a single finger on its head. Low growling came from the beast, but the sound was dampened by the thick air so much he almost didn't pick it up.

He could feel the other him leaning forward, as he started probing the experimental meat of the thing in front of him. Fear flayed at the edges of his anger when he became aware of this primitive mind. It couldn't penetrate into his mind, he hardly took notice. That would be harder when it was Nibutani.

This was only a thing to him though. He started forcing his power into it, doing again what he had done many times before. The fear that attacked his mind increased, until it was finally overcome by pain. He was to focused on his task to notice the small smile creeping onto his face.

Minutes into creating the enhancement, which must have seemed like an eternity stretched through infinity for the creature, now already no longer a cat, he noticed the body was straining against the bonds. It was growing, and the process was accelerating.

He forced them through the Spectrum, he couldn't have his apartment to be destroyed after all. Landing in the Otherworld, he was almost shocked at the sight around him. Hundreds of Demons lumbering forward, an army at march.

The Demons were shocked at his sight. A circle quickly opened up around him, weapons drawn, from crude axes, to massive swords, to spears made to pierce creatures larger than himself easily. None of them attacked though.

Power. More power than any of them had likely ever seen or sensed. He could sense the stronger ones, the ones that might dare approach him, rush to his position. He had time still. The bonds around the former cat disappeared, and as if it had been compressed, its body immediately grew more than ten times its original size.

Mismatched legs hit the ground, claws digging into the dirt. The circle around him and the creature became bigger. The body started changing, following the legs. The back legs had grown into the claws of an eagle, and what was left that looked catlike, started taking the form of a lion. Wings sprouted from its back as it kept growing, now taller than him.

The stronger Demons that had been approaching slowed, he could feel them hesitate. Seconds later, the creature that he had created roared loudly, and the Demons moved on. Fast. The earth shook as the mass started sprinting, leaving certain death behind them as quickly as they could.

The creature finally stopped growing when its wither height surpassed his own by at least half. It's tail snapped, scales replacing fur, and a snake head to top it off.

He let the creature go, and it dropped to the ground, the cord that was keeping it up cut. It breathed heavily, its yellow eyes fixated on the one that had hurt it. The smile that he had been wearing grew. The creature was strong. Likely as strong as an unrestrained Wicked Eye, or Touka at her prime.

The tail moved, the venomous head shooting towards him. "The only thing that you don't have that they do, is a mind that can't be manipulated." He pushed himself toward the creature, his essence ripping its way into that primitive mind.

It had grown smarter, but not smart enough, to defend against this. He willed to be his, bonding it to him as if it was a weapon. The anger immediately disappeared from its mind, only wanting to serve and receive 'pets' from him now.

"You will serve when I summon you. Until then, hunt to your hearts content." The chimaera bounded to its feet, and leapt after the Demons. That might upset the balance of the Other World, but if that happened to be, he'd just have to meticulously hunt down and murder some Angels. An afternoon of fun would not be amiss right now.

"What the hell am I supposed to do here?!" The yell scared Eguchi, who dropped the pen she had been using to fill in her crossword puzzle. Yuuta thoughtlessly slung the book aside that he had been reading, deeming it useless. Eguchi slowly moved to pick up the fallen pen, making an effort to not draw his attention.

When word had reached her that he nearly sliced of a limb, the rumour was somewhat worse than reality, she had stopped with any behaviour that he had reprimanded her for.

"Eguchi?" The woman trembled, dropping the pen once more.

"Yes, Togashi-sama?" her voice had lost that chipper tone that she once used.

"Bring me something to entertain myself." He could hear her audibly swallow. "No, I don't mean some woman for me to fuck. Bring me… a chess set, and a decent opponent. If there is no one here with half a brain, bring me someone who isn't yet a corrupted whelp."

She nodded, sprinting outside. She had not yet lost her speed. In fact, she might have become even faster at following his orders since the incident. He didn't feel great about using that fear, but he hadn't the patience to convert her to a more rational thinking style.

He twiddled his thumbs for a couple of minutes, until he was sure she wasn't coming back soon. With a sigh, he got up and placed the book back where he had retrieved it from. 'A treatise on mana type theory' sounded interesting, but the meagre grasp of the knowledge it tried to dissect was laughable.

Then again, most people didn't possess an alternate personality with hundreds of years of knowledge stored away in their brain. That still didn't excuse them from not progressing at all. No one has done any actual research in almost as many centuries as the Dark Flame Master remembers, and he didn't spread any knowledge he learned either. They should be able to figure it out for themselves.

Most of the books were just the same information, over and over again, re-digested so many times that errors had piled up in ways that seemed impossible, and yet, there they were. There was even one crackpot that thought any human had the talent to become an Ability User. This probably stemmed from unnoticeably weak ones growing stronger suddenly.

Void would be surpassing the temples so quick in knowledge, and therefor strength, that he started to seriously doubt he actually needed to protect them. When the base was done, he'd be able to rip away without any fear. None of these fools could destroy that.

"Uncorrupted whelps eh?" His thoughts were interrupted by a smooth voice. A man entered his offices. "I am Major-General Okino Hitoshi. Your assistant was panicked, looking for someone who was willing to play against you, Togashi-san. Apparently you scared everyone from the Middle Cadre something fierce."

A Major-General… That was three ranks above him, and only two ranks beneath the Nibutanis. "I fear I do not care for what the inner Temple deems entertaining."

"Not interested in the flesh of a woman? When I was your age…" The thick brown moustache moved when he talked. That was the only facial hair he possessed. His hair was cropped short, the sides nearly completely gone, and the rest a flat top. It didn't really fit the rest of his appearance, his clear Chinese heritage visible in his skin tone, and the shape of his eyes.

"I'm not interested in women who throw themselves at me for no reason other than their own damn boredom," he interrupted the man.

"Well, I hope that I can alleviate some of your… boredom." He walked over to the table and opened a small box. Two golden hinges sprang up and revealed a chess board, the white squares of crystal clear glass, the black obsidian, volcanic glass. Placing the board in the middle of the table, and he started setting the pieces.

Yuuta didn't move to help, just studying the man's movements. He was different from the others he had seen so far in the inner Temple. All of the others were slow, weak, muscles and powers degenerated to the point of uselessness. This man seemed like a wolf at rest, still perfectly aware of his surroundings, prepared to jump at any threat.

The man turned around his two hands extended as fists. "Pick a colour?" Yuuta tapped one of the hands, and walked past the man to the table without looking at his pick, sitting at the side of the black pieces.

The man twisted on his ankles, showing Yuuta that he indeed picked the black pawn. The chess set itself was beautiful. Just as the squares, the pieces were made of glass as well, obsidian black, clear white. All were immaculately cast, every piece looking like the bust of a creature. The white were Demons, and the black were Angels.

"An odd chess set, which likely means you play more than you should." The man showed no reaction to the almost insult. He simply shrugged.

"It keeps my mind agile. More than most of these stuffy books they give us ever will. It's been some time since I've played someone… worthy of my skill." The smug smile of the man was not just an idle boast, at least Yuuta didn't think so. A man who carries himself which such confidence is either extremely good, or horribly stupid.

Yuuta waved at him to start, and the man opened with his king's pawn.

He didn't understand. He had been pressing every advantage for the past hour, and the man slipped through every of his moves. Yuuta prided himself on being able to think ten steps ahead, even twenty steps ahead.

Every single time Okino moved his pieces in ways that Yuuta didn't suspect, often sacrificing pieces in ways were the only thing that he could see was a disadvantage. Yet, "I believe that is checkmate Togashi-san."

Yuuta didn't respond. His eyes fluttered over the board, searching for the thing that could free him. He wouldn't be able to find it, he knew he wouldn't be able to find it. "I guess… it is."

"Well, you were surprisingly good for someone of your age. Your playstyle is… too conventional however. Predictable even. You can't save every piece, nor can you cut every enemy down. Somehow, you try both."

"I play the way the game is intended. Would you sacrificing soldiers as easily as you do your pawns?"

"Naturally. As long as the goal is reached, the sacrifices don't matter. The victor writes history Togashi, not the dead." Pieces were slowly being placed in the chest once more.

"And what would the history of today's battle have been?"

"A pyrrhic victory is better than a loss."

"A pyrrhic victory is no victory at all. The king slain, surrounded by enemies on all sides, you would all die just the same." Yuuta moved away from the table, helping just as much as he had when the game was set up.

"Being surrounded only matters when you're weak. I believe you have never in your life felt surrounded, have you?"

Flashes of Shinka being dragged down by men he couldn't reach, sharp pains from every inch permeating through his body. "Not since the first time."

"You've learned then. Learn something from me now then. Sacrifices are always inevitable. People will die, cities razes, civilizations destroyed. Progress, however, progress will always be made."

"Progress for the sake of progress might be worse than the status quo," Yuuta bit.

The man smirked, "Stagnation is the danger that you don't see coming. What do you think happened to these people here? Weak, useless filth, as you might describe them. All for the sake of keeping the status quo. Peace is the most dangerous thing humans aspire to."

Yuuta kept his silence. The things he heard were echoed inside his head. On a certain level, the man was right.

"You are young yet, you haven't met with the cruelty of this world. If you feel like playing again, send your assistant. Next time, It might take me somewhat longer to come. She is after all, quite lovely." The man gave a mocking bow and left with a wolfish grin on his face.

Yuuta stared at the doorway the man had walked through. Gears in his mind were whirring, but they locked each time before he was able to draw a conclusion about the man.

He was exactly how he expected everyone here to be. Resting wolves, power infused into their very being, felt at their approach, feared by their lesser. A commander, a lord, a ruler. Not like the languid others he had met so far. He did resolve to one thing though.

"Eguchi has to be kept away from him," the growl lay deep in his throat, and he didn't realize why immediately.

"I don't mind sir," a quivering voice came from somewhere, "It is after all one of my intended uses."

Possessions. Even if he didn't mean to use her in any way, she was still his. And what was his was his alone. Flashes of her tanned body shook his core. "After all, she is quite lovely," this growl was inaudible to the girl.

Nashima hardly comprehended what her men were doing. Void was doing things that were never even dreamed of by the Temples, not even the Organisation would dream of building such a thing.

Ash grey blocks, infused with mana to the point of breaking, and then carved to stabilise the flow. Yuuta had explained everything in great detail, but with his grasp of mana and its uses, it might as well have been gibberish.

The stones were stronger than any material she had ever seen, with the exception maybe of some of her Master's weapons. Ganjouna infused with his mana could slice through these, with some effort, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to tear this fortress down.

The Master… it still felt odd to call him that, but he had requested it as to differentiate from the ranks they knew. Void was something entirely different.

The blocks were being stacked in a plan laid out by him as well. Winding corridors, mazes, defensive measure every step of the way, from pitfalls, to arrow slots, to more.

She had thought it would take years to finish it, but as with everything, Yuuta had propped up with another solution. A private, or Initiate in the new ranks, walked past her with three of the massive blocks on his shoulders. Manipulation of the mana within the rocks could make them lighter than air.

She had drawn a conclusion about the person she served. Clues had been pointing at it from the very start, but she might have ignored them on purpose. His mood swings, his knowledge, his power… and now, his title.

The Dark Flame Master had returned. A small shiver ran up her spine. Not all stories about that person were horrible, but all of them ended badly one way or another. The last time he was trusted, he slaughtered the father of the woman he laid with, and crippled the mother for the rest of her life.

Knowing him, she hardly believed that he would be capable of such things without reason. A reason no one understood, or knew of, was more likely.

"You are relieved. Go do your other job, I'll keep watch through the night." She almost jumped at his voice, but kept her calm, being as collected as she had always been in his eyes.

"Don't little kids have bed times?"

A smile curved his lips. "Some adults deserve bed times, and unless you want to keep watch for the next couple of days that it'll take to build this, I think you should take the offer. You aren't going to become younger, and I can spot wrinkles from a mile away."

"I was thinking!" she shouted, laughter lacing through her words.

"Oh, that explains the smoke coming out of your ears," he grinned, his green eyes locking with hers.

"You might be the master here, but I'll still old enough to swaddle your bottom young man," her response rang.

"You can swaddle my bottom, but I can do that just as well," as if to proof his point he slapped her behind softly. "Go home, go sleep. From tomorrow on, you can likely sleep here. The quarters should almost be done."

She pinched his bottom as retribution, and he clearly hadn't expected it. He jumped, and stared incredulously at her. "A little revenge never hurt anyone," she made a pinching gesture with her fingers before turning and walking away.

She almost turned the corner around the gates, when she felt a pinch on her bottom. She twisted quickly, her hair flipping through the air. He was very clearly looking away from her, and the grin on his face made it obvious he was the culprit.

"And I wonder why I don't fear the man."

"We need to dismiss him!" Okuda yelled. This meeting was kept close under wraps. If word leaked out… who knew what that crazy child would do. Only Okuda had been stupid enough not to wear a mask.

A soft and calm voice spoke soothingly, "We can't dismiss him. He's the same rank as us."

"We can if we can convince someone from the upper Cadre…" another person spoke.

"No one would dare touch him. Not only is he extremely powerful, to gain this rank at such an age, he also has the ear of Takahiro and even more from our esteemed little Warleader." The last person's voice was filled with fear.

"That doesn't matter! If we band together, they'll have to listen to us!" Okuda could not hide her wish, to escape from that man. Her foot still hurt, the wound refused to heal as fast as any other wound she ever had.

"Who would dare invoke the wrath of the Nibutanis?" the fear filled voice was definitely supportive of her cause.

"More importantly, the wrath of that person. He already threatened with murder toward one of us while he was still a member. A personal vendetta against those who dismissed him is within the possibilities," the calm person said.

"Stop throwing wrenches and help. He might kill us anyway!"

"Calm down Okuda."

"You did not see him then! You do not know!" the woman shivered. "Death. That was everything you could find in those eyes! He treats us like bugs! Unwanted vermin!"

"So? He can't make a move against us. He can't actually kill us without being dismissed himself." This was the third person, the one that had been silent all along.

"They didn't care that he nearly sliced my foot clean off! No one blinked an eye! If one of us disappeared, no one would wonder, except maybe for a shrug."

"You're just letting panic influence all your thoughts," calm emanated.

"There have been rumours, that people who were involved with him vanished without a trace. There was a Captain-Commandant that no one heard anything of after Togashi manoeuvred that section into his hands," fear, believe in the truthfulness of the rumour.

"Who?! Who can help us?" Okuda broke.

"The only one that might not fear him, and the Nibutanis combined is Okino-sama."

"Might as well jump in a pot of magma for all the help he'd be! He never does anything that doesn't serve his own agenda."

"We might be able to convince him if we sketch Togashi as a threat. And not even Takahiro can dismiss an order from him without support of the upper cadre. Okino would win that debate."

"Who's going to talk to him?"

"We all are! I'm not sticking out my neck alone!"

Everyone nodded. They immediately disappeared into the night.

He snickered at the retreating backs. "The boy has really been making an effort. Everyone seems to fear coming near him."

Okino was satisfied. He didn't fear the boy he met some hours ago. He could move as these maggots had requested. They'd give him a firm grasp of the lower Cadre, without actually being revealed.

He tapped his pen against his lips, letting his mind wander. The boy was worthwhile, groomed into something that he could use as a figurehead, he'd finally have control over the whole temple within the year.

Given that he'd still be able to shape the boy. He had a tough core, though not even that core seemed to be sure of where it stood just yet. If anything, it felt like the boy was wandering a knife's edge between being a godly saviour, or a godly destroyer.

He had power, that was certain. Not more than himself, but he was young, he could still grow. And grow out of his control if he tried to keep him as a pet.

At this moment in time, it might even be impossible to convert the kid to his cause. His ideals were naïve and nigh enough the polar opposites of his own.

And then there was that splintering that happened wherever he set foot. He tried to hide it, but people were moving where they shouldn't and everything could be traced back to him. The little one might be planning a coup of his own.

"What to do, what to do?" he asked the shadows in his office.

Sinister whispering answered him.

He nodded. He didn't hear much from them, but he had to follow where they lead no matter his own thoughts.

Author's notes

I think I missed my own deadline. Again. Apologies again? It hardly matters. So new chapter, and it isn't even that long or particularly dense. Everything has been murder on my mind and body for the past few months so I can't even judge whether I want to publish this chapter or not. When reading it, I feel happy but it also feels like a massive drop in quality. Or maybe my writing was always this bad? Other stories, college, work, and everything has piled up and onwards. I actually haven't put a word on paper since two months ago until this weekend. I don't know. Maybe I'll wrap the story up after this arc. Maybe it'll find a new lease on life by the the current arc's end. We'll see... Anyway, enough rambling. Oh, a thank you to the people that have been leaving reviews. They help. Let me know what you think, and

Thank you for reading