Ryozanpaku

[Bloodedge]

Progress at last, and yet, there was another bump in the road ahead for Giyu. He could have left natural progression in charge, or even let Shuten continue to shine as the facilitator. Alas, he was chosen by Shuten herself to present the exposition. Of course this would be the end result. Even healthy, that darling sister of his was content to throw him under the bus at every opportunity. "Kisama," he muttered as narrow eyes found their target in the form of Ibaraki. A sigh escaped him prior to the explanation of why Ibaraki had been summoned. "You're here because your brother isn't fit to rule the Oni. You should know by now that metaphysical powers are necessary for our kind to grow. There must be an Oni in charge, and that Oni must show fairness. We were told you would be a suitable candidate, and I'm guessing you've known all along."

"You're not wrong... assuming it's your own freedom that keeps you occupied," the boy retorted. Moving on, it seemed Kuroka believed her companion would manage in the end, in spite of his rambunctious nature. If that were the case, it was worthwhile to have snakes continue observing things under the Yuki-Onna's area of influence. Rimuru was even being met at the time being, not by the woman he sought, by by some representative of... interest, so to speak. The lad paused his yelling to view the culprit, only to then pause whatever rebuttal he had to... well, continue viewing. "Holy─ Will something else show up if I yell? I know a hundred guys who'd be trying to 'get busy' right now. Anyway, if me yelling isn't gonna do the trick, then you yell. I've got major Adventurer stuff to do, chop chop!"

[Apollymi]

Did Shuten throw her brother under the bus? Yes. But... in her defense, she had to keep him on his toes and if it was obvious that her brother wasn't pursuing the course of action she thought he should, well there was no harm in her bothering him from time to time, to handle things. A chuckle came from Ibaraki as she witnessed this interaction, she needed to learn from this purple haired lass, who obviously knew something about handling one's older brother. The explanation she received made her eyes widen just a bit, she hadn't expected such a thing. Of course, she did consider herself a proper better fit than her brother, but she'd intended to earn such a thing, not simply have it handed over to her by veritable strangers. "Sou sou, well... I mean I probably am better. But if I don't prove it, it won't be worth anything... I can't just take a handout and expect other Oni to follow me," she said already showing a great deal of understanding. "Blood and sweat. Earn it then, and I'll give you something nice as a coronation present. A gift from an old leader to a new one~" these were the words of Shuten who seemed to have some understanding beyond even the girl behind the Avatar and tied to the original Shuten Doji. The very quiet Kitsune perked up. "If you need a proving, I might be able to provide you the means to do so, and build your future alliances with your own hands..." Tamamo mentioned, knowing that if she could get the Oni to eliminate the Spider pests of the Kitsune, she'd be able to free up more of her own time for the preparations of her fun. And while that served her purposes, it also worked out for the long term goodness of this place. It was a win-win, a great and fair deal, "Taishou, I knew you were always prepared to make a deal, but even for you this is a little fast..." mentioned Tomoe, who knew the pink haired lass to be trustworthy above all others. She gave a gentle nod to the questioning gaze of Ibaraki as if to imply it would be fine if she heard out at least what the Kitsune had to say.

In the meantime, Kuroka and the snake boy were content to wait on the outcome of a certain slimes activities. And after meeting a Yuki-onna he seemed to be a bit lost for words and quieted himself quite a bit for a moment or two. Soon enough though his words made this lass' brow raise and a look of confusion spread across it. "No, they'd die before reaching that stage. No matter. I am the light which dwells in this darkness," she said almost cryptically but she soon giggled slightly crossing her arms under her ample chest. "If you're an adventurer then you are probably here about the problem of this place. If that is why you are here, you need only speak your truth. All is heard here..." she said easily. Depending on how this lad answered, a certain other individual would begin to become visible to his eyes. She was taller with pure white hair. She wore a perfectly white kimono with red and white crystal decorations and had dead looking deep blue eyes. Like all of the leaders she was clearly very tied to this land and as she appeared the spirits which dwelled in this place would become more clear as well. Simply tying them to this place was taking all of this lady's energy and as such she could barely take manifesting in this place, much less could she facilitate the manifestation of the rest of the spirits. They whispered about the deceptions long coming, a problematic serpent and even about the rise of the three.

[Bloodedge]

Of course it had to go this way. What self-respecting Oni would take an offer to become ruler of their lands, as opposed to claiming their own glory as rightful ruler? This Ibaraki possessed all the makings of a true leader among Oni kind, but this left Giyu no less annoyed that he had to continue looking upon this pitiful excuse for a faction in modern times. Soon enough, things would be right... but 'soon' was far too slow at present. Perhaps it was time he took a page from Akashi's book, and removed himself from the equation for a spell. Already on decent enough terms in the area, he hardly saw a point in being an Oni just to get by around these others. As such, Giyu reverted to the form of the half-Celestial, Kou, leaving only the Oni skull mask in place on the side of his head. "Fuck. That's better; all that attitude was starting to build up," the now white-haired lad spoke as those starry, purple eyes of his looked onward. "That one isn't willing to wait around for... uh... the boring part? I'm a better fit for this, I guess. So, what's the job?" he asked of Tamamo.

Others would die before achieving anything by way of this Yuki-onna's physical form, so she claimed. Rimuru showed visible doubt upon hearing this, though he shrugged away the notion nonetheless. He wasn't here to debate over some random girl's breasts nor what would or wouldn't be done with them, though his gaze was fixed upon these nonetheless. Now then, her claim was that all things were heard in this place, and that he needed only to speak 'his truth' to receive the attention of the area's matron figure. Well then... there was only one thing for him to say, and he'd speak only the truth to the open air. "I don't care about the problems in this place; I'm just here to make progress. There are only three things I care about right now: moving forward, clearing this area, and knowing what the hell kind of bra fits those things!" he exclaimed, pointing directly at the young Yuki-onna's chest.

[Apollymi]

Giyu's distaste at this situation was soon made palpable by his change in appearance. It would seem that the male Oni was done waiting around for things to happen and reverted once more into the Half-Celestial with whom most of the group was familiar with, a chuckle came from Tamamo as she shrugged off the attitude the lad was talking about. "He did seem like he was done with everyone~" she chimed of his alternate personality. Not that she had a problem with this, as it was more than obvious she came off the same way more often than not. A knowing smirk came to her face as she allowed her imagination to dip just a bit, but there was something more important to be spoken of in the moment. "Okaeri, Mikon!~" she welcomed him back to his present state of existence before telling him of her plans. "Ah, well Kuono said that she's been having a problem with an infestation of spider Youkai. They've been descending from the mountains, killing her customers and trying to take over her business and turn it into something... shadier than she'd like," she quickly summarized. "If Ibaraki here is looking to establish Oni might, and claim a spot as leader, it would serve her best interests as well as Kuono's if she took care of it," she finished.

Everyone present thought over the terms and came to similar conclusions Shuten would be among the first to voice her considerations. "Oni get to establish physical dominance, gain an alliance with the Kitsune, Ibaraki gets to prove herself worthy. There don't seem to be any downsides," she said with a nod. "I mean all that would be fine, but if the kitsune aren't worth being allied with, I'd be tipping the balance in their favor for no reason. It's no secret that the power of the Kitsune has waned even more than the Oni." These were Ibaraki's words but there was a bit of information missing, something that should have been felt by all of the Oni present. Something that started with the small influx of energy to the land when Kuono stopped sapping it to feed herself and instead started cycling the energy back into the lands. Tomoe knew that the woman she worked for wouldn't have offered an unfair deal, even one she negotiated between two separate parties. If she offered this up, then at the very least these two factions were on equal terms.

Beyond all of this it seemed that Giyu wasn't the only male experiencing a breakdown of sorts. Rimuru was having an issue as well. He was to speak his truth and they'd be shared with the woman he sought. He claimed he didn't really care about the problems of this place, information confirmed by the spirit world. He claimed that he wanted only to progress, this was the truth also accepted and also he wished to know the bra size of the young woman who'd greeted him first. The pale face of Fubuki appeared with a giggle inside of the white kimono she was wearing. Her angular haircut shifting easily in the breeze. "These truths are very different. Moving forward is already happening, the end is clear and much nearer than it had been before. They will need to know about the cataclysm to fix the problems of this place. And H-cup whatever that means," said Fubuki. "That question was invasive you didn't have to answer it. Geez, what happened to privacy!" The silver haired lass found herself blushing intensely becoming immediately shy and turning away to hide herself gently, something she hadn't done in quite a while.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm not sure 'done' is how I'd describe it," Kou claimed. As Giyu, he cared only for completing the task at hand before moving on. The amount of stagnation in development was worth his ire, and nothing more. As Kou, however, he felt he could take this time to relax... and mull over a strange, vague memory he had from the time he recently spent as Akashi. He was meant to uphold a promise of some sort; that much he knew. What was the rest, though? As he mulled this over, he set his curious gaze upon Tamamo. Whatever it was, she was involved... but how exactly? Perhaps he'd have to ask later. Now though, the primary concern of the entire group should have been the suggested trial of Ibaraki. It seemed the young Oni had an issue with helping the Kitsune's faction, a notion to which Kou could only sigh and shake his head. "That's the point of it all. Before we leave this country, there won't be a balance to tip. All of Ryozanpaku's existing power structure should be consolidated, not kept separate enough that there may as well be walls between areas. There should be equality among factions, and that's the plan here."

In response to the 'truth' of Rimuru, there was the appearance of... another buxom woman. Well, he'd certainly come to the right place out of the four options if this was going to be how everyone greeted him. "The hell is this? Is everybody in this section just a king-sized pair of honkers with a MILF attached? The two of you could feed six armies, what are yours if she's an H?!" The androgynous lad seemed well and truly upset by what he was seeing. In fact, he hardly knew which woman to stare at. One seemed a bit more provocatively-dressed, but the other was clearly closer to his size and age range. What to do, what to do? Ah! The thing he was meant to do, was... deal with Ryozanpaku's problems. Right. "Alright, so... what problems does this area have that all these milkers can't solve? If it's a guy, has either of you tried popping one in his mouth? That'd probably calm him down... or kill him, whatever."

[Apollymi]

"I don't know, he seems pretty much over everything if there isn't action afoot~" this was Tamamo's observation. To be technical about it, Shuten could only agree, Giyu as a person didn't really seem to be interested in the small talk or adventures. If Shuten thought about it, Giyu reminded her of a specific aspect of her brother. One she hadn't seen in quite a while, but that was easily attributed to him nonetheless. The more immediate problems of Ryozanpaku though, were being discussed and it appeared that Kou was at least familiar enough with what Tamamo had proposed to try and sway Ibaraki into doing a task that would set her up properly. "A united Ryozanpaku is a pipe dream, the cataclysm sunk all hope equality. There isn't anyone around who can consolidate and restore that kind of power..." Ibaraki mentioned, and she included herself in this. "Well, we've been here for only a few hours and we seem to be doing alright. As an aside, Kuono is right now one of the strongest natives here. I saw to that myself, I'm sure you can tell if you try," Tamamo's words were to be taken at face value. Any who used their powers post Kuono recovery of her hoshinotama should have understood the kind of burden she'd placed on the Ley Lines here. A moment of quiet came from Ibaraki who gave consideration to everything and used her own senses to find the truth of the words spoken by both of these people. As far as she could tell, this group was more powerful than anyone here and beyond this she could feel the surge of power from the land directly through her feet. This strange amount of energy had been missing before and the restoration of the Kitsune would explain this. If they'd managed so much, what did it matter if she helped or not? Ah, that's right they were discussing travel plans, they didn't intend to run this place directly so establishing order and then leaving was their game. "Alright, then your idea is what to have the Oni police the area while getting the others on their side?" she asked trying to piece together what had to be a very strange plan.

The excitable slime seemed to be well within his limits. He found the land of big bosomed ghost ladies and would have been living a dream if not for the amount of annoyance he seemed to be experiencing. Because of the truthfulness of his questions though they were answered by the woman known as Fubuki at every turn, even though it was somewhat comical to hear some of the answers. "Only females of the lines show such beauty. It is a blessing from the Gods though their power has all but faded," she mentioned of their apparent beauty and rather buxom figures. "Double H, is what I am told the measurement should be, but I don't understand this method of measuring... " Fubuki seemed confused but it didn't really matter. She shared all necessary information to the lad's outbursts meaning she would literally answer any questions he presented her. As for the problems of this area, it was both simple and complicated. "The cataclysm, disrupted the door to the Spirit World. It is harder to hear and harder to plan. It takes all of me, just to hold open enough space to hear the whispers of the spirits. The spirits power all, they give life to the Ley Lines, they feed the tree. But it is wrong now and it is all I can do to maintain what is current. Does this make sense?" she asked of the lad, wondering if these fragmented words would help him at all on the journey he was taking.

[Bloodedge]

"Well yeah, but..." Kou hardly had a better way of explaining the situation with his other self, at least not without incriminating himself beyond what he saw fit. Moving on, Ibaraki saw no potential for equality in Ryozanpaku. How foolish. This was always the train of thought shared by the masses. Equality could never be achieved, and this much was true only because there weren't enough bodies standing. What was the point, though? If no others would move, what difference would adding one more yelling peon make? Her mentality shifted enough after being presented with a bit of evidence, but it seemed she still wasn't managing to catch up just enough. "The Oni as a police force is ideal in most cases, but not all. The plan isn't just to restore the structure Ryozanpaku once had during the time of the Three, but to create something better. Three can't rule five, and five shouldn't rule one divided nation. That spot in the middle of this map needs a sort of... convergence. That can be cleared up after the Fox's problem is dealt with."

One annoyance came after another in the place Rimuru visited. He wasn't even sure whether he should be annoyed, or going through more puberty than he thought possible. H was the size for one, and double H adorned the torso of the other? Ridiculous! "Blessings from the gods, alright. What it means is, your rack's big enough to turn two heads per body for the next ten kilometers." He spoke another truth. This Yuki-onna had a truth of her own, however, and it was quite a doozy for the young male. He stared at the white-haired specter, blinking intermittently until she finished speaking. At the end, she asked if all she said made sense. To that, Rimuru had so little to say. What more could he say? His level of understanding in this matter was definite. Clarity was not in question for the lad, and a single phrase summed it all up.

"About as much sense as how you two can stand upright with those meat bags trying to tip you over."

[Apollymi]

There was no apt rebuttal from Kou about his differing personalities. Tamamo figured that this was the case because he normally hid part of himself from everyone. Whatever the case, she was fine with this. Ibaraki seemed to be working towards a proper answer, though she hadn't made it all the way through. In the moment, it seemed that Ibaraki herself was waiting for the explanation which came from Kou in a much more patient manner than it'd come from Giyu. "Sou ka, use the same base, make something bigger and better," she seemed to be processing this whole thing well enough. "I use this Kitsune problem as a way to prove myself and help get in on this 'reformation'," she said with a nod. "Fine, fire's great for killing spiders!~" it seemed she was fine with her current level of involvement. If she wasn't going to be relegated to policing alone, she was fine with helping out as long as there was actually something in it for her. Such was the nature of herself as an Oni.

The slime's questions were ones which were answered by Fubuki as a voice of the spirits. It seemed that the lad was quite enamored with the size of their bosoms. "A blessing comes with nothing other than itself. Figures such as ours were the standard of beauty. The goddess herself has such proportions," she mentioned in an offhanded manner. Perhaps one day such standards would shift or maybe become irrelevant. But for now, this was what she and many others had to work with. Beyond this point, the lad didn't necessarily understand what she said to him about the nature of the problem here. "Well, at least you know the information. I cannot explain it further, Mizore accompany him and explain in my stead. See if we can be restored along with the rest," said Fubuki and just as easily as she appeared her body began to dissipate. She wasn't lying holding this area was quite taxing for her, but she needed to remain, to keep listening, to help. "Hai hai, as you wish, Fubuki-sama," the blue eyed lass mentioned more than content to go along with this entire situation. She understood the nuances of the issue but didn't know if the woman would go along with it. Her communication with the spirits meant she was waiting for that specific moment to converse and knew who could and couldn't be trusted. Mizore often turned others away as Fubuki would only speak to those the spirits trusted.

[Bloodedge]

"... Sort of." That was all Kou currently had to say about the new order that would soon be found in Ryozanpaku. At present, the important thing was paving the way for such an ideal country. Blood had already been paid in a few locations, and blood would have to be shed again. A good start would be this alleged spider problem, which Ibaraki was clearly content to deal with after some contemplation. "Burn them if you like, I guess. While that's going on, I think I need to do some stretches or something. All this shifting is starting to feel weird," he proclaimed as he placed both hands against the back of his head, twisting his upper body to and fro. "Anybody else feeling stiff?"

"That can't be right. That's more than just one thing. Meat, there's got to be milk in those things too, and probably some sort of divine essence or something's all mixed in. Seriously, how has nobody else showed up here with these super important questions?!" Rimuru was aghast, but he had to move on. Alas, there was no further explanation to come from Fubuki herself; any further information would come from the first Yuki-onna to meet him here. Oh well; one chest with a person attached would perhaps be useful in this adventure. "Alright, so... that explanation? Let's go, Mizo, we've got some land to clear of whatever the hell's wrong with it!"

[Apollymi]

"Good enough... I'll go up then. It's over up Mt. Kurama yeah?" she asked of Tamamo, who nodded. "Hai, the western mountains are the problem there. I was told to be wary of the spider, as it seems to entrance men, but I doubt you'll have such a problem," Tamamo finished up without any questions. "Fufu, I have nothing better to do right now, I'll come with," mentioned Shuten who was content to go along with Ibaraki and oversee the lass' progress and skills with her own eyes. With that her eyes held a twinkle. According to Kou he was feeling pretty stiff after switching Avatars. "Nope, it's all you... always you. Ja ne, Nii-san!~" said Shuten with a chuckle. "Iia, Mikon, I haven't switched as many times in so short a time span though. I could probably take it from you if you'd like~" she said on open offer as she always was.

In the meantime the last ramblings of Rimuru were soon leaving. Of course, soon after Mizore was accompanying the slime boy along. While they were walking she was asked another question about a more specific explanation. "Eh, the basics of it are... that an event called the Cataclysm happened here. It disrupted the alignment of all the places. Because of the misalignment the 'gate' which the spirits come through is obscured on Fubuki-sama's end. As such it is taking all of her power to keep everything in place. A bunch of other things are apparently out of balance as well. We have no idea how to fix it on our end, but Fubuki is certain it has something to do with the tree in the neutral zone. She's also certain that the action so of the Serpent set off most of the current problems, he's the reason no one can trust each other." she gave a gentle synopsis which was more like that of a player who got stuck at a certain point in a puzzle than that of an AI.