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Thread: Ryozanpaku

  1. #221
    It took some time, but the Oni who formerly represented Rengoku produced a recommendation. Before she gave it, though, there was the reveal of her connection to one Ashikaga Kimiko. Giyu had an inkling, but he'd yet to give any proper consideration to this as a plausible outcome. Alas, the truth unfolded before his eyes. How strange it was that so many faces who knew this girl were here, dragged through this game, where an obviously secretive gamer in their circle happened to be as well. Stranger yet was the fact that none of these individuals seemed surprised by Kimiko's presence in this world. Her associate in Atlantis seemed close enough to know of a hidden hobby like this, but the others, bar Kaiba Seto, made so little sense. Could he have been wrong about the type of gamer she was? Perhaps. If he was, though, he'd be quite surprised. Whatever the case, a name was finally given. Rengoku Ibaraki was a strangely familiar name, but why did he remember it? Moreover, was it the memory of Aiba Yugi, or that of Giyu? Time would tell.

    Speaking of time, the time had come for a certain Tengu to meet with the Youkai she sought. The ashen serpent slithered off, forging a path through multiple alleyways along a path littered with ne'erdowells. Of course, these various Youkai were alerted to the Tengu's presence, but the peculiar snake she was in the company of resulted in none of them batting an eye. Soon enough, the outskirts of the city would be reached. A small marsh harbored a stone cave shrouded in darkness, within which Kuroka would see the glow of two eyes, one golden and the other a deep green. "Tadaima, Kuroka-san. I thought you would find me before I had to send for you," spoke the voice of a young male, somewhat muffled as if his mouth were covered beneath the shadows.

  2. #222
    'Of course.' A gentle clicking of the purple-haired lass' tongue happened as there was yet another crucial piece of information revealed. Tomoe knew Tamamo outside of this world, and the person she'd been speaking so highly of working for was in fact the travelling companion of her brother. This world was far too full of coincidences for Shuten's liking. Was Kimiko's gaming habit a secret or not? Did being an idol excuse her shut-in behavior or were people willing to overlook it due to the monetary incentives? Perhaps she'd end up questioning Tomoe about it later. Too bad for both Giyu and Shuten the answer to all of their queries was simply... yes. Ashikaga Kimiko was a secretive gamer, that was a point of certainty. But she allowed just a little of herself to show while she was acquiring certain individuals of her staff. This one in particular had worked previously for a gaming company owned by the Animusphere. So, while she wasn't aware of Kimiko's secret life as a secondary Geno Killer, she did at least know the girl was better than average at video games. "Really Olga, you don't have to keep us in suspense," she scoffed moving right along she turned to address Giyu directly. "Gomen gomen, Taishou, I know you aren't one for patience. She can be summoned as well if you'd like to meet her," Tomoe mentioned happily waiting to hear one way or the other. "I can take her at her word for this if she says that Rengoku Ibaraki is someone who can run this place in the absence of you two. I believe her..." she said with a casual shrug. This was a compliment from this lass in more ways than one. The first of which had to do with Olga getting a vote of confidence which wasn't always clear with someone like Kimiko and strangely the ability to defer a bit to Giyu whom she obviously had more than a bit of romantic interest in.

    Kuroka found herself following this white snake all the way through town and clear through to the outskirts. Here in a stone cave after passing several others with not so much as an awkward glance being cast in her direction. It wasn't until she reached this place that she found herself looking into two different colored eyes. "Heterochromia interesting choice," mentioned Kuroka who was greeted not as a potential hostile entity but instead as a potential ally. By his own words at some point he would have sent for her, if she hadn't come looking for him herself. How intriguing. "You planned to send for me? I can only wonder what for... after all, I didn't know I was coming here until a little while ago," the girl mused softly. Of course, she was well aware she was mostly just fishing to make sure this lad's motivations were on the up and up as far as the adventurers she'd joined up with. If this was the case, she could extend an olive branch if not... well they'd have a very short discussion.

  3. #223
    Giyu was content to leave this matter in the hands of those used to dealing with one another. He had faith in Tamamo's opinion on the matter at hand, but it seemed she decided to defer to her faith in him as well. Turning to him, the lass expressed her belief in the white-haired Oni. The ever-stoic Giyu seemed slightly surprised by this notion, and he was in fact in a state of disbelief. Why did it matter for her to state this? "If you think it's best," he said during the following moments of recovery. There was hardly another thing to be spoken in this case, but he was compelled to answer the girl somehow.

    As for answers, Kuroka had an interesting response to finding the young male in charge of her guiding snake. Clever as she clearly was, she chose to question the notion of him sending for her before she knew she'd be coming here. He had a rather different concept of reality at present. "That couple you met were obviously in charge, and you were the most capable and knowledgeable of the area. It was obvious you'd be the one best fit to come here," he claimed. Ah, but there was so much more. Kuroka had a great deal of involvement here; that much was required for true victory. "You're also the third best of your group when it comes to suspicious activity, and that's what I need ─ someone sketchy, but not more than myself. You're less at risk when it's time to overthrow our... government."

  4. #224
    What a strange interaction was the one currently being witnessed by Shuten and Tomoe. These two individuals the Oni and the Fox were busy having a conversation about the future of Oni Kind. Faith being placed by both of these individuals was easily seen and interpreted by those present. Giyu's emotionless eyes met Tamamo's and he seemed compelled enough to speak of trusting her judgement. One might have thought it unnecessary for the extra consultation, but Tamamo and more importantly Kimiko had no intention of over-ruling or taking over the lad's plans for this area. She only meant to help out a bit if she was needed. If she could speed along with outcome at all, she'd do that keeping her on track for the goals she had personally put together for herself. Besides, they were partners and she always intended to be fair in how she dealt with the lad, whether something would be easier for her to complete on her own or not. "Hai hai, bring the girl then. Let's find out how she feels about all of this..." Tamamo said finally. It was better to find out all necessary bits of information and given this Tomoe gave a little bow and turned on her heels. She opened her left hand and a large flaming spear appeared within her grasp along with the same bow she'd been using so far. She turn on the spot, aiming for Mt. Ooe off in the distance and drew back her arrow only to fire the flaming burst of a thing off in that direction. Unlike Rengoku Kyojiro, this girl in particular had been off training on her own, well outside of the general population of Oni. Beyond that she'd taken quite a few of the 'lesser' desired Oni with her keeping them safe from her brother in the meantime.

    As the Oni Kind were being worked on by the group of adventurers at large, the insider Kuroka was now meeting with a certain Snake Lad and having a conversation which piqued her interest quite a bit. Every word spoken by this lad let her piece together his personality bit by bit. She was wondering if he was more or less the type to properly handle what was going on here. In answer to the questions presented by the pair of Adventurers she was content to follow, she was finding this lad's motivations to fit rather nicely into their overall plans. "Sou ka, you also think they are a couple. They decided to send me here for those same reasons, so mentally you fit the build of one they would work with regardless," she said softly thinking about it logically he'd come to some good conclusions and one couldn't overlook his observational abilities. "You're seeding a revolution. We thought of that... they both will have no problem with this. What is it you think you need of me though, and why am I only 3rd best in the group?" his answer to these questions would be the best way for her to tell exactly what this lad would be doing within the realm of this place. She knew by personality alone that no one would be trying to live in this place, they were instead only fixing it up so they wouldn't have to deal with it later.

  5. #225
    And so, the group in the Oni-dominated quarter of Ryozanpaku would await the arrival of one Rengoku Ibaraki. Tomoe called upon the new prospect for leadership in this quadrant, and in due time, the others nearby would understand why she would recommend this person. Firstly, there was the matter of distance this arrow of summoning traveled. She shared a family name with the former leader, so why was she so distant? The ideal answer in Giyu's mind would automatically make her an ideal candidate, and figuring this would be the outcome, he was already on his way to satisfaction. Alas, there was one problem. "Rengoku isn't the name of a powerful Oni," he stated, sharing this thought with the one person among the current Oni who possessed more than a single name to solidify a power structure.

    Meanwhile, the serpent lad's guest was upholding an interesting discussion with him. As they conversed, he slid out of the shadows that otherwise concealed his identity. Not much was accomplished by this, as he wore white bandages that covered the entire lower half of his face, even as his messy lack hair showed itself up top. A black, military-style uniform was draped over by an oversized haori featuring thick, black and white vertical stripes. The white serpent he sent after Kuroka rose from the ground, spiraling around the lad until its head hovered over its master's, granting a proper showing of its impressive size. "They are a couple," he corrected. This lad had done more than his fair share of espionage during his time in this world; he knew the truth about those two before they knew it themselves, from only a short time observing them. "You're third because those two are masters of hiding themselves. I can't even tell what type of thing they're hiding yet, and that's a feat. That's also why you'll work best. Less secrets means I can trust you more, so it's ideal because... a revolution won't work here. The Snake of Ryozanpaku is a hidden Hydra; just taking off its head will only make it stronger."

  6. #226
    At Mt. Ooe, there was a large spear flying through the air. This flaming show of a think would come spiraling past the head of a blond young woman whose horns stood pround and true. Her hands a monstrous bloodstained red, reached up with claws to pluck this missile from the sky. And what was more she didn't even seem to mind the fires that coated it. They dissipated around her fist and she chuckled. "Hehe! Seems like its time for my return. This time I'll kill him if he crosses me!" there was something of a huge grin on her face. The last time she'd been summoned, she'd been part of the group to convince her idiot of a brother into not trying to kill some random strong Oni girl. He was so short-sighted, ill-tempered and the like. If they didn't look alike, she'd almost assume they weren't related at all. Whatever the case it would take a few extra moments as she headed towards the spot, but she had to let the group know that she was on her way back, so a scorching heat encased this spear and the girl's arm grew even more monstrous. Here and now she'd throw back that same spear with her own power emanating from it. In the meantime, it would be Shuten who shrugged off her brother's commentary. "Name? Well, that one's easily fixed by ones like us right... if she's wort..." her sentence was cut off as she jumped out of the way of the flaming spear which landed direct beside her. Something of a snarky grin spread across her face as she saw this thing and felt the flames which belonged to a different Oni than Rengoku. "Fufu, well hello there~" mused Shuten knowing when this girl showed up, she would most definitely like her.

    The words of this lad became more and more entertaining, even to one like Kuroka. She always found conversations with other clever people to be interesting and this lad seemed to be one of the smarter she'd had contact with. The size of the white snake, as well as the boy's true form were revealed in the next few moments. What was more, he was quite adamant about the idea that the pair of Adventurers he'd been monitoring were a couple. "Observational skills, patience, deeper understanding of the land. The ability to grasp the nature of this faction and understand the deeper problems surrounding you... good." Kuroka's conclusion came with a certain amount of insight. This lad was indeed on the same side of this problem as the Adventurers. Beyond that he had extra knowledge they'd definitely find useful, and he intended to use her as a bridge, because what those two hid, even he wasn't quite sure of yet. That showed a decent amount of planning and a proper bit of caution. "Caution can be rewarded in this case, if you don't plan a simple revolution, then what is it you need from us? I can without much extra information be certain that those two don't simply plan to take a head, they are here for something more complete so they can leave in good faith," she said softly. "I already agreed to do what I can to help, so I can help you as well."

  7. #227
    As they awaited an arrival, they were instead given a return message. Just in the middle of Shuten's retort to Giyu, the former was interrupted by the same projectile sent to Mt. Ooe by Tomoe... except, it was engulfed in flames as it struck the ground between them. Giyu watched the object smolder until he reached out to feel the flames for himself. There was a different quality to these than what the male Rengoku's abilities offered, and it was quite a bit more impressive if he had to judge it. "The one magical Oni even he wouldn't get rid of completely," he surmised. No matter the world, the bond of siblings was a mighty one, it seemed. Surely that Oni knew of his sister's capabilities, yet she could not have received the same treatment as the others while remaining so easily accessible.

    "Good, is it? I only do it out of necessity." With that said, the lad seemed interested in moving directly onto matters of importance. What he needed from this group was what he'd been searching for over the course of several months. He sought assistance in the form of a stealth unit, and what better could he ask for than a Tengu? What's more, a full set of 'players' taking on the task were bound to have decent success rates. "I also want to leave, but I'm stuck here by my connection to the Orochi. I've been thinking the only way to deal with him is going to be a seal, but... the one item that could do it is one that I haven't been able to find. I'm sure your friends could help with that, if they haven't already."

  8. #228
    "Siblings are always so weird," this was a passing assessment from Tamamo who always had this opinion of brothers and sisters in the ways she saw them. She might have though tit awkward that she always saw such sibling groups, but she'd spent her life watching groups of siblings interact and from an outsider perspective, they were always very strangely bonded. Whatever the case she was content to wait around while Tomoe and Shuten also did the same. Within about 20 minutes a blonde haired lass would make her way to this group. Her hair well and truly yellow as it hung down to her waist. She wore a slightly oversized Yukaka and had demonic looking hands and feet with black talons. Red in color they began to blend up into her knees and elbows in the form of tribal tattoos. This girl paused among the group, her horns large and starting black but ascending into crimson color. She stood on one foot seemingly taking in the sights, she directed her gaze to Tomoe and scoffed in addition. "Don't tell me that idiot brother of mine was threatening this group too..." she almost demanded while her hands rested on her hips. She could tell just by looking that no one in this group was truly weak, what was more there was a Kitsune here as well. Ugh, she could only imagine her brother inserting his foot into his mouth at every turn in front of such a group. "Or did you call me first?" she asked surprisingly her brother was missing from this group and she'd fully expected to find him pompously acting like he planned to get rid of a bunch of obviously magical looking Oni. "Rengoku isn't anything to worry about right now, this group took care of that..." said Tomoe softly which made her the blonde girl's brow raise slightly. "EEEEEHHH?!!!"

    The lad before her claimed that 'good' wasn't exactly what was going on here. He was instead reaching out as a matter of necessity. This too was fine, "We are all slaves of necessity, knowing your motivations makes it less concerting," she said without any real emotion in her voice. Of course, it wasn't the case that she didn't have to wait very long to find out this lad's long term goals. He seemed to be in need of an item and wanted to leave this area as well, but couldn't because he was connected to the Orochi. It wasn't so strange if he played the game and ended up stuck right here because of his works before being put here. "Sou ka, if it is an item you need, they are very likely to be able to get it. If they don't already have it, if you have a plan to deal with the problem at hand. They will likely have no problem helping you out with it," she calmly said. If the lad was looking for an item to seal the Orochi with, it had likely been inside the Origin Temple. She knew by virtue of knowing Tamamo's true personality that the girl had likely taken everything from there and would have access to whatever this young man needed. If her only goal here was to broker a bit of an exchange between groups, she had no problem making that happen.

  9. #229
    Twenty minutes of veritable silence ensued, then at last, the one called Ibaraki showed herself before the group. She was quite small, but so clearly the sibling of the male Rengoku. Upon her arrival, the blonde Oni immediately made the assumption that her brother had been up to no good, which was close enough to the truth in a manner of speaking. Rengoku had been rather bothersome since they met him, but Giyu believed that would no longer be the case. This girl, however... was just slightly bothersome in a very different, less concerning way. Oh well; Giyu could ignore that itch in the back of his mind, all in favor of progression. Something deep within did urge him to begin passing time with efficiency, after all.

    Slaves of necessity was how Kuroka referred to all parties. The young male shook his head in disagreement, following the gesture with a clear clause. "Not all of us. Some are slaves to freedom," he said, as if to imply possession information he likely shouldn't have. Did he possess such information? Perhaps he did; perhaps he didn't. Either way, this woman seemed just as amiable as he expected. This group would be of use, and he could provide the means to an end for them if they only had access to the proper tool. "Then all that's left is to wait for your last member to finish. The one that was with you... I think he's going to make a lot of commotion."

    What could the serpent lad have meant? Well, it just so happened that Rimuru had reached his designated quarter some time ago as well. He seemed to be wandering around aimlessly in his humanoid form, but he had already started yelling openly for the ruler of this region. He wasn't going to go about this patiently; he'd be done with this creepy, ghost-filled area as soon as possible. Much to his dismay, this was his first trip to Ryozanpaku's most mysterious faction... and he could understand exactly why, every time he felt a sudden chill whilst being normally unaffected by temperatures of any sort.

  10. #230
    Ibaraki's questioning was met by a sigh and the words of Shuten would be the next heard. "Yahello!~" she greeted lifting up her cup and inclining her head. This singular word resonated within the very soul of the lass known as Ibaraki and whether she realized it or not, she'd eventually be using that same greeting herself. "I didn't much like his attitude I ended up killing him..." she mentioned. "No worries though, Nii-san brought him back a couple of minutes later," she said with a gentle nod. It was such a random thing to hear that Ibaraki's face went pale, what was she to make of this, her brother had been murdered by a tiny... girl. Oh, no that wasn't just it this girl was quite powerful to say the least. How spirit breaking that must have been for him, like having all of his deepest fears confirmed, death by tiny girl, though probably not the one he imagined. "BWAHAHAHAHA!~" there was intense laughter from the girl. "I mean that's all well and good but why am I here if I don't need to do anything about him?" she questioned more directly. "Nii-san, exposition is your thing... chop chop!~" Shuten mentioned in a haphazard way. She didn't know exactly what all this lad and Tamamo planned for the area, she'd do whatever was necessary to see it through and get them on their way again. Tamamo for her part in this, had remained quiet. She was busy with thoughts of a completely different nature.

    "If freedom makes you a slave it probably isn't actually freedom. But I digress..." these were the words spoken by Kuroka. Whatever this lad meant, it could mean a great many things and she didn't currently have enough information for it to make much of a difference. He did however share the idea that a certain child slime would be making a bit of a commotion and that they were only waiting on him to finish his work. A thoughtful look came to the Tengu's face. Of everyone she knew from this world and the other, Rimuru was the most likely to take an approach which would be considered 'unconventional'. "Sou ka, well... there isn't much to be done about it now. As long as he accomplishes his task, everything else will work itself out in the end." She finalized her statements seeming quite sure about them, though... knowing Rimuru there would likely be something of a 'problem' given his more abrasive nature.

    What was going on in the lad belonging to the ghostly cold? Well, there was a youngish looking boy or girl? Making a lot of noise. A young woman was very slowly coning into being nearby. She had light grey hair and large piercing blue eyes. In addition to a rather ample bosom. She seemed to be thinking very hard about this situation. "You know she isn't just going to show up because you're yelling? She's a bit busy..." the lass mentioned seeming to float over towards this noisy person without much thought. What he couldn't know was that technically the woman he was looking for was present, but by virtue of being too close she made many uncomfortable. Here in her solid white kimono she looked upwards towards the highest hilltop in the region. And though it generally avoided the gaze of mortal eyes. She could see clearly the ghostly temple she normally called her home and knew her own ability to speak on behalf of the woman in charge here.

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