Yae Saiguu had just swapped her book when she heard footsteps. Raiden Ei appeared, dragging a still-injured Miyushi Chiyo.
"Hey, Saiguu, I'm here to keep you company," Chiyo grinned goofily.
"What happened to you?" Saiguu asked, eyeing Chiyo's wounds.
"Got banged up fighting a beast. Normal injuries are mostly healed, but even Thunder Elixirs can't fully purge the beast's pollution. So, I'm leaving her to you to handle, and she'll stay here for a bit," Ei said.
"Oh, and Saiguu, your math book's upside down."
Saiguu fumbled to flip it, then realized she'd had it right. The math was gibberish, but not enough to make her hold it wrong.
Watching Ei leave, Saiguu sighed.
"I miss Makoto."
"Ei's a bit different now, huh?" Chiyo said, wincing as she peeled off her armor.
She hadn't even gotten it off before Ei nabbed her.
"You're pretty roughed up," Saiguu noted.
"Got chomped a few times. Not too bad, just gross," Chiyo said, grimacing at the tooth-shaped scars on her waist. "Purge the pollution for me. I feel fine, but Ei says the curse on me is thick."
"Sure, but I don't sense much curse," Saiguu replied.
Then she started the purification and froze. Black curse energy gushed out like a fountain. She and Chiyo fell silent. Had Makoto's death really weakened them this much? To miss such a heavy curse?
"Wait, something's off!" Saiguu said. "This curse seems to come from your youkai energy. Check it."
"Oh, okay!" Chiyo's youkai energy control and sensing were shaky, as she rarely used it.
But her clan's deep knowledge kicked in, and she soon pinpointed the problem.
Chiyo's Geo youkai energy, normally golden, had protected her when she tore apart the tiger beast and inside its stomach.
Now, part of it was a sinister red.
This red energy was cunning, almost sentient. When Saiguu's purification hit, it shed scraps like a decoy, then burrowed into Chiyo's other youkai energy. It took so little, it went unnoticed without close inspection.
Those scraps were the fountain-like curse energy.
They tried everything, finally trapping the curse in Chiyo's horns.
"Now what?" Both frowned, stumped.
"Normally, we'd ask the magical Reisen Riou, but who knows where he's at? Haven't seen him since Ei returned," Saiguu said.
"Ei knows," Chiyo replied. They had guesses about Reisen's work.
After all, Banjiao Yanya, a living example, was always around. Hard not to speculate.
But the chamber's door was controlled by the Sky-Veiling System, and only Ei had access. They couldn't open it.
Sometimes, they couldn't even find the door, thanks to the system's weird cycles and indiscriminate mist.
…
Post-Seven Archons War, Khaenri'ah's heart was a wasteland of lava and ruins, devoid of life.
Red-black cubes littered the nation.
In border cities, refugees from the capital dwindled.
Enjou, leaning on a stick, felt a fresh breeze ahead.
He saw the Palace Guard captain chatting with a blond foreign boy.
"Long time no see, Dainsleif," Enjou greeted.
"Scholar Enjou? You're alive?" Dainsleif jumped.
"Ha, let me introduce you. This is Traveler Aether, searching for his sister," Enjou said.
"Ho, lost sister? Need help? I may not look it, but I know people," Enjou offered.
"Hm, stick with the Traveler for now. I'll handle defenses. Security's… ugh," Dainsleif sighed.
After assigning patrol routes to squad leaders, Dainsleif heard a report.
"Come in," he nodded to the leaders, who left for their tasks.
"Captain, trouble! They're back! They're back!" a knight shouted.
"What!?" Dainsleif stood.
"The bandits we executed yesterday and the soldiers who died in battle—they're revived!" the knight said. "Captain, come see!"
Dainsleif arrived to find yesterday's dead bandits fighting knights. Palace guards joined, ending it quickly.
He eyed a knight who'd died yesterday, now fighting for them.
"What's with this revival?"
"Lord Dainsleif!" The knight saluted. "I don't know what happened. I died yesterday—wound here," he gestured at his neck. "But now, no injuries. Like I just woke up."
"No memory of how you revived?"
"Felt like someone called me, then I was back."
"…Return to duty."
"Yes, sir!"
"Guard these bodies. See if they revive again," Dainsleif ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
The worst part? They could revive multiple times. Khaenri'ahns hadn't found a limit.
Good news: they revived. Bad news: so did enemies.
…
Inazuma, Tenshukaku, Serenitea Pot.
"Even Saiguu couldn't purge Chiyo's curse?" Reisen asked.
"Yeah," Ei nodded. "They want you to check it out."
"Hm, my work here's stalled anyway. I'll take a look. No big deal."