Duncan faced Miguel with open palms held in an awkward stance in front of his face. He eyed the glyph on the cult leader’s face nervously, preparing to cover his eyes at the first sign of it glowing.
Miguel, on the other hand, made no attempt to attack. He remained rooted to the ground with his hands behind his back, an irritating smirk hanging on his face.
“You, sir, truly are an angel.” He was practically beaming. “You know, I was right to worship when I first saw what you could do all those years ago. But sacrificing yourself to save two people you barely know? What a true saviour… You must be the Messiah himself!”
“Who says I’m sacrificing myself?” Golden glyphs materialised around Duncan’s wrists. “I’m here to take you down for good.”
“Drop the tough guy act, ‘Charlie’ Ward. You’re not good at it. You were always a saviour, not a killer.”
Duncan tilted his head at the odd choice of words. “You knew me?”
“What can I say?” Miguel shrugged. “It was an honour serving beside you.”
Duncan faltered as the memories of the First Great War came flooding back to him. That voice, his backstory… No wonder they all felt slightly familiar to him…
“You were there…” he breathed. “At the trenches. I— You were one of the soldiers I saved…”
“And yet you left everyone else to die when the Germans attacked the hospital.” Miguel’s smile slipped slightly. “It was only thanks to my family’s black magic protection that I survived the bombing with just a disfigured face.”
“Are you blaming me for that?”
“Heavens, no. It is our fate as mortals to be subject to the whims of nature.” Black particles began swirling around Miguel. “But no more. Not if we remake ourselves in God’s image of perfection. Not if we have what you have. You saved us in the trenches. And with your power, I will save the whole world in your perfect image.”
“I am far from perfect, and so are supernatural creatures.” Duncan almost felt sorry for the man’s delusions. “We are not the answer to humanity’s sinful nature.”
“Lies… Lies!” Miguel bellowed, shaking his head violently. “Why won’t you save us? We’re suffering… The whole world is suffering! Why won’t you do more?!”
Duncan pursed his lips. “I can’t. I am but another witch, just like you.”
Miguel staggered back as though he had been shot multiple times, but a sinister look quickly spread on his face.
“You’re right…” He kept his head low, chuckling darkly. “If you won’t save the world from itself, then I will.”
The Cuban witch darted forward with supernatural speed, sinking his fingers into Duncan’s chest. A sickening discomfort shot through Duncan’s spine immediately as he felt Miguel dig deep into his soul, forcibly pulling the elixir of life from his body.
Raw magic exploded from Duncan’s body, sending his foe cringing away. Miguel landed after a performative twirl and tossed something out of his pocket.
Duncan exhaled sharply as several dozen Kiseigumos landed on the floor, scuttling towards him like a horde of bloodthirsty cockroaches.
Without wasting a beat, he fished out a satchel from his coat and flung it out as well. Inky darkness covered his surroundings as the last of his Instant Darkness Powder spread through the room rapidly.
Sure enough, the Kiseigumo went motionless on the spot, falling into hibernation from the lack of light.
Golden light burned in the witch doctor’s eyes as he magically restored his vision in the dark. He wasted no time crushing as many parasites as he could under his heel.
“Disipar!” Miguel yelled, and the darkness fled like a bat out of hell. He lunged towards Duncan without losing a beat, finally managing to pin him to the ground.
Duncan writhed as the glyph on Miguel’s face started glowing again. He shielded his eyes in a desperate attempt to block out the effects, but the glyph’s latent magic was already beginning to paralyse his magic channels.
“Impedir movimiento!” Miguel roared as a black ripple of magic ran through Duncan’s body. An invisible force bound his limbs together, not unlike his own full-body-binding spell.
The immortal watched helplessly as Miguel’s hand supernaturally entered his heart again, tugging and dragging his soul out. A choked wheeze escaped his lips, and his body spasmed slightly as Miguel pulled his fingers out along with several golden strings. Extreme fatigue seized Duncan as his eyes rolled back—
“Guh!”
Energy flooded back into Duncan’s body as Miguel let go abruptly. For some reason, Miguel was contorting his body as though he had been impaled in the back by something huge.
Duncan wasted no time shoving him to the side. Miguel snarled as he tried to stand up as well, but he released a pained cry again, grabbing his leg this time. Duncan looked around wildly. What the hell was happening—
“Hilda?” he breathed, finally spotting the girl standing almost inconspicuously in front of some rubble.
Hilda was holding her voodoo doll in a death grip, and Duncan could also see a small tuft of hair— which must’ve belonged to Miguel— poking out from the back of the doll. There was a small gap between the debris, which was presumably how she crawled into the room.
She stabbed the voodoo doll with a sharp piece of rock.
Miguel screamed again, falling to his knees this time. A triumphant look spread along Hilda’s face as she twisted the doll’s limbs savagely.
Attagirl!
Duncan pushed Miguel to his side just as the cult leader flung out a dangerous-looking bolt of black energy at Hilda. The girl screamed as the spell barely brushed her face. The temperature rose considerably as Duncan charged fire magic in his palm before pressing it on Miguel’s face.
Smoke sizzled as Duncan continued searing his foe’s flesh, but Miguel quickly pushed him aside. Duncan rolled away, staring grimly at him. Any moment now.
“How much do you truly believe in this cursed world?” Miguel muttered. “You’d die fighting me for it?”
“I’d live for it. And you’re right about one thing; I shall stand upon the earth until the very end. But you won’t.”
“Why not?
Duncan smirked knowingly. “Because that glyph no longer protects you.”
The cult leader hissed as he tried to use his magic, but to no avail this time. He stared in confusion at the parasite firmly attached to his forearm, its tail glowing a light green.
His hand shot up to his blistered face where his tattooed glyph should have been, only to realise that it had been burnt raw and seared away. Miguel’s face contorted into a terrifying-looking snarl.
“You foul demon—”
Hundreds of Kiseigumos overflowed from his magically enlarged pocket like water from a broken dam. Some of them crawled into the man’s mouth, while others burrowed into his skin. It didn’t take long before Miguel was reduced to a struggling figure beneath a writhing black puddle.
Duncan looked on for a few more seconds before turning to face Hilda. Miguel was already a dead man anyway; that much was obvious from the fact that everything was starting to come down. After all, a liminal place ceased to be when its creator was dead.
“Hilda, over here!” Yuri’s voice rang from behind the rubble.
Duncan slapped a glowing hand on the stone to magically reduce its weight before shoving it aside. Sure enough, Yuri was waiting anxiously on the other side. Hilda ran into her mother’s arms.
“Duncan, this place is falling apart!” Yuri exclaimed after a tearful hug to make sure her daughter was unharmed. “We need to get out of here now! Quickly, open a portal!”
“I cannot see the place clearly enough!” Duncan yelled as green magic fizzled weakly from his fingers. “There’s nothing but sand… around us…”
Hilda screamed as a piece of falling rubble barely missed her. Yuri pulled her close, putting up a purple shield. She winced as more rubble bounced off the protective charm. It was only a matter of time before something big enough shattered her shield and crushed both of them.
A golden glow illuminated his entire body as Duncan screamed with effort, pouring the rest of his magic reserves into his teleportation magic. The closest place he could think of was no less than two hundred kilometres away, but Hilda and Yuri would be dead if he failed.
“AAARGH!”
Duncan roared with a final burst of magic as a portal finally materialised in front of him. Dark golden magic leaked from his pores as though he were bleeding. His eyes rolled back almost immediately, his legs going out from under him.
The two ladies wasted no time, dragging his limp body through the gateway. One of them tripped over something, and they collectively lost their balance before collapsing in a heap.
Duncan’s body collided with gravel as his eyelids fluttered, the last of his energy rapidly leaving him. The sound of bustling people drifted to his ears as curious onlookers started gawking at the three random people in the middle of the street.
“Where… are we?” Hilda asked groggily, looking around her. “This place looks… kinda familiar.”
Duncan tried to point at a sign that read ‘Hiroshima Ghost Market’, but the lights were out before he could even lift his finger.
~ ~ ~
Duncan woke to the sound of sizzling and a salty scent filling his nostrils. His stomach growled and knotted as he sat up on a couch.
His spine cracked. Whoever put him on this marshy couch clearly didn’t have a better place for him. Bleary-eyed and grunting, he got off the cushion and put a hand against his back like the proper old man he was.
He followed the smell, walking through a quaint-looking hotel room, and found himself facing a small kitchen of sorts.
Someone was cooking a Scottish breakfast. Or at least, they were trying to. The ingredients smelled right, although the cooking leaned a little too much toward the Asian style. Not that he minded, anyway. It had been literally ages since he had a proper Scottish breakfast, and this was a good enough effort for him.
He peeked around the wall.
“Ah, you’re awake. Right on time,” a low-pitched female voice greeted him. “Breakfast is ready.”
Duncan approached the Kitsune, who was sliding an egg off her pan onto a plate. “Fubuki? What are you doing here?”
“That’s my line. You were the one who came charging through a portal, completely knocked out,” Fubuki replied, her fluffy white tails swaying languidly behind her. “In case you were wondering, this establishment is not my home; I just happened to be tending to my stall. You’re in Hiroshima Ghost Market’s inn. Here. I hope my cooking is to your taste.”
She slid the breakfast towards him.
“I didn’t know this market had an inn…” Duncan muttered absentmindedly. “How long was I out?”
“About a day or so.”
Crap. He hadn’t expected that portal to take so much out of him. No wonder he was so famished. He drained a nearby glass of water before pulling up a seat in front of the plate of food.
“Thank you for doing this for me, Fubuki.” His fork remained poised over a piece of bacon as he gave the woman a warm smile. “I won’t forget this favour.”
“It wasn’t my favour to give. It was hers.”
His heart leapt as a familiar figure walked into the kitchen as well.
“Lucy!” Duncan exclaimed.
“I rushed over as soon as Fubuki did inform me about you.” The female vampire strutted towards him haughtily. “Glad am I to see thee art hale.”
“You survived that fray!”
“Of course. What do you take me for? T’was a vexing bout, forsooth. That knave just would not cease his prattling of the ‘superiority of Japanese men’. Boy, did it bring me such delight to tear his head off.”
“Wasn’t his body merged with your essence? Can’t he heal from such a minor injury?”
“Nay, he may possess a vampire’s nature, but he lacks all our magic.” Lucy shrugged. “He cannot heal as we do.”
Duncan returned to his food, wolfing down the last piece of toast in a single bite. He didn’t care that much, anyway. All that mattered was that Miguel was dead and Hilda was alright—
Wait.
“Where’s Hilda and Yuri?” he asked, urgency flooding his voice. “They were with me earlier.”
“Oh, fret not.” Lucy waved her hand. “They have but sallied forth on a jaunt to procure some healing supplies for your sake. How kind of them.”
“Say…” Fubuki furrowed her eyebrows. “How long have they been gone? Surely it shouldn’t take them so long for a stroll in the market?”
Duncan opened his mouth, but was quickly interrupted by an all-too-familiar scream.
“Hilda!” he yelled, jumping out of his seat and rushing out of the inn. The two ladies followed close behind.
The sight that greeted him wasn’t exactly a surprising one, but it lit his blood on fire nevertheless. After all, it was partially his fault for forgetting about this person.
“Masao Kubo!” Duncan bellowed as the market’s residents looked on nervously, keeping a wide berth from the uniformed man holding Duncan’s Rakshashi Fan. “What more do you want from us, dammit?!”
Kubo pointed the fan at his hostages threateningly. Hilda whimpered in fear, while Yuri struggled against the man’s grip to no avail.
“Not a step closer, Duncan Ward,” the Japanese general growled. “I flick this fan in their faces and not even bones will remain.”
“How the hell did you find us?” Duncan snarled.
“You were sloppy, doctor. Or rather, your ward was.” Kubo held up a familiar-looking device victoriously. “This sensor can detect Kiseigumos, and this girl here happened to have one clinging onto her. Besides, I already had an idea where Yuri might be, after reading that telegram sent to her.”
Duncan kept his fists clenched to stop himself from simply rushing to them and snatching them away. His eyes shot to the market’s shimmering entrance just behind the man. Perhaps… With enough speed, he could—
No. Even if he were fast enough to circle behind him, Duncan wouldn’t be able to stop Kubo from sending him flying back at two hundred knots. Dammit, it was checkmate.
Why won’t this man just leave us alone?!
“You have a bad habit of showing up at the worst times,” Kubo said. “No matter. This serves my purpose well enough. It is time to take the world.”
“Let go of them!” Duncan yelled again as golden glyphs thundered down his forearms, but it was too late.
With a smirk and a firm wrist flick, a powerful gust of wind burst from the Rakshashi fan and sent the entire market flying. Magic shot to Duncan’s feet to keep him anchored, although there was no point resisting a divine relic.
He only had time to watch Kubo walk out through the market entrance before the hurricane swept him into the air as well.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKs7QppGUR
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