SideQuest!

Act 3 - An Untold Past

Our company walked silently as the Winter Demon led us through what seemed to be a ruined wooden arch that used to serve as a spirit gate - a structure that the citizens of Manjeong once erected to honor their guardian spirit Nima, the Ocean Serpent. I begin to look around as we neared the town, and as we push further, I gradually begin to understand why our scouts were so distraught when they came back to report.

The sight was horrifying.

Bodies pile up on the road, with some of them having their insides strewn across the soil. I saw women and children among the dead, with some having their clothes torn. Heads were stuck on pikes, and judging by the expressions on their faces, these people died an agonizing death. I averted my gaze upwards as soon as we encountered the first house going into the town, and what I saw almost made my heart sink. I saw numerous babes strung to the branches of the tall trees with ropes, their heads dangle from the noose like lanterns.

The men's eyes were wide with shock as they bore witness to an appalling atrocity for the first time in their lives. At one point, the entire company had to stop momentarily some of my men were puking profusely. Suddenly, a realization dawned upon me. I let out a sigh, as I now begin to understand why the imperial army did what they did, and performed this sort of degeneracy on the inhabitants of Manjeong. Our resistance militia consists mostly of peasant volunteers from all over the towns who have never tasted the bitterness of war. The emperor knows we'll be coming for our dead no matter what, and so sent his men to do his dirty work. Looking around me, it is clear that the emperor succeeded, as all that savagery around us is too much for my men to handle. Their spirits are dwindling and morale has fallen. It was as if their very souls left their bodies during this journey.

The Winter Demon only gave us a blank stare as he stopped, taking note of the pitiful state of my men as some of them continued to puke. He smirked at us, as if to say 'What pathetic creatures you are!'.

"They're supposed to be used to this sort of undertaking. I think your men seem to do poorly as soldiers." he remarked. "I'm starting to think that I may have mistaken your lot for imperials. I gather that this is their first time?"

"Yes. And just like what I've told you earlier, we are from the resistance and the people of Manjeong are our allies." I told him. "Most of the men within our ranks were former farm hands. I admit that we're not the most effective fighting force in the land, but since life dealt us with the short end of the stick, you have to make do with what you have."

"I see." he replied. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" I asked.

"Unlike the others, you don't seem too worried about everything you see around you."

"I am a Magyu swordsman and a former Royal Guard sworn to the late emperor Isshin Toshiro. Death is not an entirely alien concept to me." I answered.

"Ahh, so a veteran. You've dealt with this kind of business before?"

I let out a huge sigh. "Regrettably...yes. Back in the day when I was a Royal Guard. Not my proudest moment."

As soon as the men recovered their bearings, I immediately gestured them to move on as I begin to march forward. "Let's move further into the town, see if we can find hoes and spades that we can use.

I went silent for a few moments to consider my words before asking the Winter Demon another question.

"You mentioned something about meeting the imperials before this. What happened exactly?"

"This." he curtly replied, as he gestured to the death and destruction before us. "Need I say more? What you see before you is all I have to tell. They went, they r***d, they murdered...just like what you would expect from humans do to one another every now and then."

"I just want to ask. Aren't you supposed to look after souls? Does the state of a man's body hold significance in the afterlife?" I asked.

He looked at me with a blank stare. "Aren't you supposed to know about this? Judging by the sword I recovered from you, you are a Magyu swordsman, are you not? Warriors who can communicate with the elements of the natural and spiritual world?"

"I am. Yes. Haven't I told you this already?" I said. "We were taught about the spirits – particularly the gods, the shrine guardians and demons. We were taught about the afterlife as well. We know it exists, but our texts never taught of its intricacies."

"That's odd..." the demon commented. "You were never taught that the body needs to be buried in order to be released from this earth?"

"We were never taught that." I replied.

He just shook his head and went dead silent as he went on his way.

A few more steps later, in the distance our group came across what seemed to be a koi pond in the middle of town, with two steel rods erected on both of its sides – each holding a dimly lit red paper lantern. The pond is housed inside a burnt wooden shrine, its roof blackened by fire and almost on the brink of collapse. The defilement of Manjeong's sacred grounds didn't surprise me anymore, given the disgusting treatment the imperials gave to the locals. But then something near the shrine caught my eye. It was a woman wearing a glorious robe of blue and yellow laying to her side, unconscious and bathing in her own blood. She had a long black hair, tied to a bun and held in place by a long golden hairpin with a serpent wrapped around it and her slender body is stuck in place to the ground by an iron spear driven through her torso. She held in her hand a slender, single-edged sword made of fine steel, with a golden hilt shaped like two, overlapping snake fangs.

She laid there on the ground, cold and motionless as a rock and as pale and lifeless as a withered leaf. The Winter Demon decided to do a closer inspection of her features, and in seconds, I hear him gasp in shock as he immediately zooms in towards the woman in his smoky cloak-like form, uttering a name that I never imagined of hearing in this gods-forsaken place.

"Nima..." the Winter Demon said as he knelt down to her side to set his spear aside before slowly taking out the tip of the iron spear from her torso. I heard a soft hiccup coming from the shrine guardian as Onimaru successfully took out the spear and throwing it aside. The demon then held her in his arms. It was somewhat of a rare and, in a way, awe-inspiring act of compassion on the part of the demon, despite the cruel reality that led to that moment. Sad...but poetic.

We decided to rush towards them to help, but the Winter Demon waved us away, staring at us sharply and telling us to not get any more closer. We complied and took a few steps back, watching the demon as he tries to freeze the open wound with his free hand to stop her bleeding.

"You idiot...Don't...bother..." gasped the Ocean Serpent. "It's no use..."

"Who did this to you?" the demon asked. "H...how did they-"

"Four...warriors...ugh. Those...bastards..." she answered as she averted her gaze towards us, her words severely slurred due to the loss of blood. "I see that...Yui's people...came to help with the burial. Y...you c...came...at just...the right...time..."

"It's all right. Speak no further, Nima. Save your strength. I'll bring you to Yui. She can-!"

"No...I...I can't hold. Are you...daft? She can no longer...help me...at this state." she interrupted as she slowly raised her sword to Onimaru. "Those bastards...I underestimated them...those...Hunters..."

Lady Nima's lips then curled into a smile. "Say...weren't you...always interested...in being a shrine guardian...? You told me-"

Onimaru shook his head. "No...don't jest like that. I already have the dead to look after."

The demon was barely able to continue.

"Stop...making excuses for your languor. Don't you dare die on me, Nima."

Lady Nima gave an amused smirk amidst her coughing blood. "I am a failure...as a shrine guardian. Manjeong is...dead...because of me. The only left for me...is to resign. Onimaru, before I die...do me a favor and...return this sword...to the pond for me, will you?"

"...Why...? You can't..." Onimaru protested, perplexed and distraught with Her Grace's request.

"The game...has now started. I trust that you fulfill...my final request before I leave. Return that...which was lost. I can no longer...carry on with my duties..." she uttered as tears ran down her cheeks. "I...apologize for being too...cruel on your heart in the past. I know...these words are vain attempts to console, but...I am happy that...on my final moments...you are there..."

The demon shook his head, bewildered by Her Grace's cryptic message. "What are you saying? What game...Nima...?"

And with that, she let out her last breath.

The Winter Demon knelt there silently as he held the now lifeless body of the Ocean Serpent, slowly setting her down and relieving her of the burden of her sword. He was still for a few minutes, holding her hand. For that short moment of serenity, I didn't expect to see something within him to seep through his thick wall of a persona. Though with a straight face, I saw his eyes water as he slowly set down the Ocean Serpent on the ground and immediately walked towards the pond, her sword in hand. He bade his time as he walked, dragging the sword on the ground towards his destination. He then knelt with both of his knees in front of the pond, setting down the sword in front of the small charred shrine. With his offering, the sword began to emit a radiant golden light, followed by the lifeless body of the Ocean Serpent, fading into a swarm of wisps dissolving into the air.

In that sliver of a moment, I never imagined I would see something as rare as that which the Winter Demon displayed - an immortal showing a part of of him that...perhaps even I have lost throughout the years.

The Winter Demon wept.

I walked towards him with small, solemn steps, as an act of sympathy for his woes. Slowly, I knelt beside him and folded my hands in prayer.

"May the gods grant her entry through the gates of eternal bliss." I prayed as I bowed my head.

"As the gods will it." he added as he prostrated himself. The men knelt as the radiant wisps rose and scattering in the air.

And then, like a swarm of locusts, the wisps converged at the center of the pond, first forming what seemed to be the shape of a large lotus flower bud materializing from the bottom and then upwards. Eventually, the glitters begin to fade and slowly reveal a live lotus flower blooming in all of its color and beauty. As it opened up, however, I noticed a strange obsidian box inside of it, emitting a faint cyan glow around its edges and near the edges of a circular cavity where I think its keyhole should be.

"What is this?" the Winter Demon muttered to himself as he slowly walked towards the box to examine it. As he moved to touch it with his hand, the box pulsated with a faint glow and we heard a familiar voice emanate from it.

"Player identification failed. User authorization for *Julia* *Cheong* required." said the woman's voice.

My eyes widened at the mention of the name. How would the Ocean Serpent know of the foreigner?

"This is Nima's voice." the demon commented. "What is this? Who is this...Julia Cheong?"

"That name belonged to a foreigner we have in our custody. Perhaps we can have some answers if we bring that thing to her." I suggested. "But why would Her Grace have any particular interest in that foreigner?"

"I am at a loss myself." he replied in a soft tone. "Return that which was lost. Is this what she meant by that?"

The Winter Demon then turned to face me and flicked his hand. At that instant, I felt something heavy and solid materialize on both of my hands. "My swords." I muttered to myself. I heard a short commotion at the back as well as the men talk among themselves as the spears and swords of my fellow Magyu swordsmen also materialized.

"You're returning our weapons?" I asked, perplexed by this sudden change of heart.

"You are Yui's people, are you not?" he replied as he flicked his ghastly cape turning his back. "I trust that you will do the right thing. I shall take my leave and let Yui know of what happened here. I sense that something is afoot. Trouble stirs. This is the first time these events have occurred in Tosen-Kyushu. These...'Hunters' Nima spoke of reeks of ominous news. If there exists warriors in this realm capable of killing immortals, I fear that the emperor is a far worse threat than we have imagined."

"I see. While you are gone, we shall perform our duties here with due diligence. Lady Nima has helped Junjo during our desperate times in the past. I shall see to it that the dead will be buried properly to release their spirits from this realm, as its the least we can do to return her kindness." I replied. "I...I am sorry for your loss."

The Winter Demon lowered his head and was silent for a few moments.

"See to it that this box is delivered to this...Julia Cheong... in accordance with Lady Nima's instructions." he uttered as he wrapped himself with his cape and transformed into his raven-like form and flew into the skies.

As soon as he left, I turned to the men.

"All of you spread out! This half, round up the bodies, prioritize the babes and cut them down from their ropes. The rest of you, search the houses. Make sure every citizen in Manjeong is accounted for. We only have a few hours before nightfall, so get to it!"