“Lord Mashouten. Amli has put forth great efforts to realize your rebirth,” said Raskeni, kneeling beside him. “Pray, I ask that you favor her with your miracle of immortality.” “…” Kelshinha stood as still as a statue, pondering her request. As a single bead of sweat dripped from her face and hit the ground, he answered at last. “Very well.” Raskeni breathed a sigh of relief, and Kelshinha walked up to the trembling young girl and gently stroked her cheek…then gripped her by the throat and lifted her high up off the ground. “…?! Gh…ha!!” As Amli struggled in wide-eyed shock, her glass eye fell from its socket and rolled along the ground. “Won-shad-amrit, was it…? Heh-heh. Ha-ha-ha-ha!” “L-Lord Mashouten!” cried Raskeni in despair, clinging to his leg. “Why? Why?! That girl has devoted her entire life to you! To your return!” “Then she should be prepared to give herself up to me as well. Using the Mantra of Rust Extraction, she has taken the rust of this city and nurtured it inside her body. In some ways, that is the sixth Scripture. Thus, I shall take it back, and she shall enjoy eternal life…as part of my body.” “N-no…! But she is your daughter, My Lord! Your own flesh and blood!” “Indeed. And to my own flesh and blood she shall return. What bothers you? We can always make more.” He bared his teeth and grinned. In Raskeni’s paling face, the light of murder glinted in her eyes. “Mo…ther…” As Amli squirmed, a thin stream of rust flowed out of her eye socket and into Kelshinha. His body brimmed with newfound power, and he grinned. “Aha-ha-ha-ha! What powerful rust! You did well to gather this much. Or is this all from the body of that rogue Akaboshi…?” “Mo…ther…help…me…!” “Won-shad-varuler-knew!” Raskeni flew into action and fired a spear of rust from her outstretched palm. The spear impaled Kelshinha and sent him sprawling across the roof of the tower. Cough! Cough! “Ohhh, Amli…!” “…Heh-heh. Ha-ha-ha. Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Raskeni embraced her precious daughter with tears in her eyes and watched as Kelshinha stood back up. He laughed, as though the spear through his chest were no more than a scratch, and bared his teeth in a wicked smile. “I knew you, too, would betray me, Raskeni. Your love for your child would spur you to raise a hand against God. In the end, you are nothing more than another head of cattle on this breeding farm.” “…I was blind… I was blind! Amli! Amli…please forgive me…!” “However. You have indeed done well to raise and train her, and that should not go unrewarded. I had planned to tear out her guts in front of you, but I shall permit you to die first. Come.” The morning light glinted off Raskeni’s teeth as she launched herself into a spin. “Wrrraaaarrrgh!” Her spear of rust pierced his heart, dripping blood onto the floor. And yet Kelshinha did not so much as quiver. He simply smiled back, like a demon, and shot his hand toward Raskeni’s face, gripping on to her head. “An impressive thrust, for a woman. I have changed my mind. I shall make you my thrall.” “No…no…please…no… Kill me…” “Fear not. You will soon forget it all. The pain you’ve suffered and your lingering attachments…such as that child called Amli over there.” “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Kelshinha’s superhuman grip tightened like a vise. The sound coming from within, the sound of a human’s head turning to rust, was enough to make anyone cover their ears in horror. As he roared with laughter, Amli stabbed a spear into his foot with all her might, causing him to stagger and drop Raskeni. She hit the floor with a thud and curled up into a ball, trembling. “Nooo! Mother! Mother! Don’t die, Mother!” “Am…li…Amli. I’m sorry. I’m sorry… Please believe me. I never wanted…” Blood and tears swept down her face as she gently caressed her daughter’s cheek. A cruel kick to the side from Kelshinha sent her flying across the ground, where she landed in a crumpled heap. Her mind and body utterly broken, she lay there wordlessly, blood spilling from her mouth, until she stopped moving completely. “Do not touch my child with your filthy hands, whore.” Kelshinha looked at the body of the woman who was once his wife, as if he were looking at an unsightly piece of garbage in the corner of the room. Just then. “…You fiend.” Kelshinha felt an unsettling presence from behind and turned around to face it. “You fiiiend!!” yelled Amli as she gripped her open eye socket. The purple rust that flowed out of it materialized into a spear in her hands—a large and brutal weapon of rust that looked very much at odds with the young girl’s delicate appearance. “Oh? Impressive. So this is what one born of my blood is capable of.” “Diiiiie!!” Amli sprinted forward as if possessed by a god of war and swung the spear like a flash of lightning. Kelshinha blocked the strikes on his hardened rust body and simply laughed, amused. “Now this is what I call father-daughter bonding! Ha-ha-ha! Very good, my girl!” “Shut up! Shut up, shut uuuup!!” Amli was livid, tears streaming down her face. Finally, her lance pierced his neck… “Hmmm. You have passion, my child. Excellent.” “…Grh!” Kelshinha’s expression didn’t even change as the blood spurted from his neck. He simply sneered his wicked smile as Amli struggled and tried to pull the spear back out. Then, he grabbed her by the throat and began to squeeze. “You did well. You have impressive speed for a child… And a girl, at that. It is proof you are of my blood.” “…You’re not…my father…!!” “Oh? Are you at that age? Don’t speak like that. I am your only true ally in this world, a bond thicker than water… That of blood. We are family.” “I’m not…your family!! Give me Mother! I want my mother!!” “Oh, your mother? You want your mother? Let’s see, where has your mother gotten to, I wonder?” Kelshinha mimed looking around mockingly before returning to Amli, his smile wider than ever. “My child. Could this, perhaps, be the mother you speak of?” Kelshinha whistled, and Raskeni’s rusted body rose clumsily to its feet like a marionette driven by a particularly inept puppeteer. Then its right leg snapped clean in two, and the whole thing toppled to the ground again. “Do you mean this rusted puppet? I cannot tell; I am quite shortsighted in my old age…” “Ahhh… No… Nooooo!! Motheeer!!” “Rrraaah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!” As the bloodcurdling screams of his own daughter reached his ears, Kelshinha laughed as though he were listening to beautiful music. “I like you, my child!! Your name is Amli, correct? I shall keep you together with that whore mother of yours. Then, if I ever get bored living as a god, I can listen to your delicious screams.” “Sob…hic… Some…somebody help… Anyone…” “Help? Help? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Who is there left who would help you? Any allies you once had, you betrayed for my sake. The only person who can save you now, Amli, is me. Now, kneel, and swear your eternal devotion!” “Please, help me! Somebody, anybody, heeelp!” Amli screamed until her throat was about to tear. A red-hot arrow ripped through the air like a meteor, impaling the arm holding Amli and ripping it straight off Kelshinha’s body. “Hmm! Ha-ha… So you’ve come… Akaboshi!” Just as Amli herself was about to slide off the roof of the tower, a steelspider thread arrow billowed up like a parachute, hauling her into the arms of the panda-eyed Mushroom Keeper. “Amli! Grr, what have you done to her?! Bisco, be careful! He’s stronger now than ever—!” Milo went quiet when Bisco landed by his side, lowered his bow, and peered down at Amli with soft jade-green eyes. “…Mr. Bisco…sir…” “…” “I…” “…” “I never had…anyone…” “…” “I…never had a family, did I? It was all just a pathetic dream I made up…” “You do have a family.” “…” “Didn’t you say you’d make me and Milo your big brothers?” “…” “You think that’s just a pathetic dream?” “…” “I don’t. I don’t think it’s pathetic at all…” Amli didn’t answer and instead closed her eyes. A single tear ran down her cheek. Bisco’s gentle jade-green eyes soon burned with emerald fire, and he faced forward once more. Kelshinha had already regenerated his lost arm and now bore his usual toothy grin, boldly advancing toward Bisco. And so there, at the top of the Rust Tower, the Man-Eating Redcap Bisco Akaboshi and the Immortal Monk Kelshinha prepared to begin their bloody battle. Kelshinha was the first to speak. “You know what you are, Akaboshi? You are the only man in this entire city with the power to stand against my crusade. The power of the Rust-Eater. It grants you a spark of divinity, faint and fleeting though that spark may be. I must snuff it out while I still have the chance.” “…Amli had no one…” “…?” “…Amli had no one…except you.” “…” “You were meant to be her father. You were meant to be there for her. You’re a scumbag. A scumbag who doesn’t give two shits about his one and only daughter!!” “As if any of that crap interests me. Why should I care about whether a single child smiles or cries? Oh, I see. You want her body to screw, is that it? Well, that is no concern of mine. Swear allegiance to me, and you can do what you want with her, and that useless mother of hers as well…” Crrrackkk! The sound of bones colliding echoed far out over the city as Bisco rushed forward and struck foreheads with Kelshinha. “Ha-ha-ha-ha…!” Kelshinha bellowed as the blood dripped down his face. “Why so savage, Akaboshi? What have I done to make you detest me so?” “…I don’t have time to list all the reasons…” The light in Bisco’s glare seemed hot enough to melt through steel and met Kelshinha’s violet gaze with such intensity that it was throwing off sparks. “’Cause if I don’t rip you a new one in the next five seconds, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.” “Ha-ha-ha-ha!!” The two figures spun faster than the eye could follow and delivered a pair of kicks that clashed like crossed blades. “Witness the power of a true god, Akaboshi! Burn this sight into your eyes!” “You’re the one I’m gonna burn! To ash!!” As blood spurted from their legs, the two leaped back. Bisco drew his bow while Kelshinha made a hand sign and took up a stance as if to chant. “Shaaah!” A spear of rust flew out of the tower itself. Bisco leaped into the air to dodge it and lined up his bow on Kelshinha. “Raaargh!” Just as his arrow was about to hit the old man, a wall of rust rose out of the ground to stop it. The arrow struck the wall and exploded into a glittering golden Rust-Eater mushroom. “…He used a shield?!” “Bisco, watch out!” As Bisco wound up dazzled by the bright light from his own attack, countless rust kunai flew toward him, stabbing him as he threw up his arms to shield his eyes. “Grr…you bastard!” “Bisco!” cried Milo, firing his anchor arrow to help, but Kelshinha created a whip of rust that ensnared it midflight and snapped it clean in two. “I think not, worm.” “W-without a mantra…? He doesn’t need to speak the words anymore! He can just think them!” “What’s the matter, boy? Having trouble predicting my actions? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Know your place!” “Grah! Waaagh!” The whip kept going and struck Milo, knocking him off the tower and sending him plummeting toward the city below, while plucking Amli from his grasp and pulling her back. “No! Nooo! Mr. Milo, sir!” “Amli!!” “Graaaargh!!” Pawoo suddenly appeared and, with a slicing downward swing of her staff, severed the rust whip, freeing Amli from its grasp. The black-haired warrior woman glared at Kelshinha with spite. “What kind of father are you…? That’s your daughter!” “My, my. You demons are so very fond of that phrase,” said Kelshinha, unruffled. “Well, that daughter you love so much is about to go splat against the stones.” But Pawoo had already leaped into the air once more, reaching her arms out toward the falling Amli, when suddenly, from her blind spot, flew a short spear that stuck into her side. “Gaaagh?!” Pawoo just barely managed to grab hold of Amli and roll along the floor of the tower as blood gushed from her flank. She looked up at Amli’s face, smiled, and then was struck hard in her wound by a swift kick. “Gggaaagh! “Keep…your…hands…off…” “Nooooo! Mother! Stop this! Return to normal, Mother!” “…the…Heavenly…Child… you… heathens…” “That cur…! Are there no depths to which he will not stoop…?!” Standing above Pawoo, treading her heel into her bleeding wound, was none other than Raskeni herself, the entire top half of her face now covered in rust. While her mind was completely eroded into being Kelshinha’s thrall, her combat ability was as sharp as ever. It seemed she was not, in fact, dead but had been puppeted while she was still alive. “Raskeni!” “Yes…” At Kelshinha’s command, Raskeni tossed Amli into the air, and the old man snatched her up with his whip. Even as he did so, he continued to block Bisco’s arrows with walls of rust. “Rrraaah-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Is that all you have, Akaboshi? Is this the fabled power of the Mushroom Keepers? Mere child’s play before the might of the Rust Lord Kelshinha!” “Now you’ve done it… I’m gonna fill that mouth of yours with mushrooms!” Bisco deflected Kelshinha’s whip with a couple of well-placed kicks and fired an arrow right toward his leering maw. As the old man swung his spear to deflect it, Bisco closed in on him and brought his face right up before his eyes. “You must be mad, Akaboshi!!” Kelshinha grinned, and he thrust his spear, impaling Bisco in the gut. Yet even through the pain, Bisco’s eyes seemed to fire up all the more, and he moved his body forward, sticking himself deeper on the spear, and thrust the arrow in his hand deep into Kelshinha’s mouth. “Gaaaagh!!” “Can’t use your shields this close, can you, old man…?!” said Bisco, a cascade of blood falling from his mouth. Kelshinha’s tongue gradually began to glitter like the sun, but just as the Rust-Eater mushroom was about to spring forth to its full, glorious height, Kelshinha raised Amli in his hand and squeezed her body like a clamp. “Aaaaaahhh!!” As if in response to her cries of pain, a stream of rust flowed out of Amli’s eye socket. The rust engulfed Kelshinha’s tongue, holding back the burgeoning Rust-Eater stalks. “Ahhh…you sacrificed your own flesh. Very becoming of a god, Akaboshi. Your devotion is admirable.” “Y-you bastard… You’ll kill her…!” “As goes the father, so goes the daughter. What shame is there in yoking her life force to my own? …Besides, Akaboshi. The stage is nearly set. The believers of this city are gathering below, ready to watch me perform the Demon-Cleansing Tale.” “…T-tale…?!” “Now, that heavy mushroom… A leadshroom, you called it?” Kelshinha bashed his forehead into Bisco’s and grinned. “I like it. How does it work? Something like this…?” Kelshinha twisted the spear in Bisco’s gut, and there was a Boom! Boom! as several incredibly dense lumps of rust formed inside him. Kelshinha had used his mantras to copy the leadshroom’s effects. “Wraaargh!! You bastard!” “Rrraaah-ha-ha!! That look suits you, Akaboshi!!” With his other hand still firmly clasped around Amli, Kelshinha hurled Bisco into the center of the tower and leaped atop him, sending the three of them crashing through the floor. Through the great cloud of dust kicked up, the only sound was the noise of each of the lower floors collapsing one by one. “Akaboshi!!” cried Pawoo, struggling to her feet with her staff, as a lumbering, ghoulish creature blocked her path. “You shall…not pass… You must not…obstruct…the sacred battle…” “You fool! You would give up your own daughter to protect him?!” “Daughter…” Pawoo peered into Raskeni’s vacant eyes as she hesitated for a moment. Then, “I am a puppet… I have no daughter…” “…Hmph! Useless woman!” Pawoo cracked her neck, took a deep breath, and keeping her body as fluid as water, let her beautiful long black hair flutter in the breeze. “Fine. If words won’t make you understand, then perhaps my staff will.” “…Die…demon…” “My staff was originally supposed to be a nonlethal weapon. After Tetsujin’s mask, let’s see… I’ll split open that shell around your heart that Amli so fears.” “Do not speak…that name…!” Even tarnished as she was by the Rust, Raskeni’s foot was swift and her spear as true as ever. Pawoo parried the blow with her staff, fixing her attention on the small sliver of humanity still guiding her opponent’s strikes. Now, then. How exactly do I go about doing that? Raskeni’s spear scratched Pawoo’s cheek. For some reason, as she wiped away the blood, she recalled how, only a year before, that part of her face had been covered in rust.
Chapter 51
15 min read