The Scepter of Marahuyo

Chapter 030

Nico rolls his eyes and answers, "That's outside your jurisdiction."

"You're just afraid," Master Deborah eggs him on.

"I'm good," I say. "Having you guys as my chaperons is enough."

"You don't need to patronize him, Holly. Just tell him he's weaker than you."

"I'm n--"

"Fine! I'll do it!"

Master Deborah celebrates for a while and says, "Let's start it by next weekend! What do you say about doing it monthly after we return from here?"

"Fine! Just don't blame me if you get hurt," Nico warns.

"No, really, I'm good, you don't need--"

Master Deborah puts her arms around me and says, "What are you saying, Holly. Nico wants to prove his senior-ship to you."

I frown. These two are always bantering, but most often than not, it's Nico who always gets annoyed.

Suddenly, Master Deborah pushes me, and before I can react, I see huge, sharp claws that cut the air where Master Deborah and I vacated. The owner of the nails is a colossal monster, double the height of Nico. Its hands, feet, and head are also large and disproportionate to its entire body.

"A Sarimao," I whisper.

"What did you do, Nico?"

"I should ask you the same, Master Deborah," Nico answers.

The two are referring to the Sarimao's penchant—it only goes after those with hidden guilt or is evil. Or maybe it's me that the Sarimao senses because it also goes after those who suffered injustice.

Master Deborah looks at me. "I guess you'll also say that you did nothing bad either?"

I frown at her as an answer to her question. 

Then, I prepare my gunong and my blessing. I can't use my buntot-pagi this time since Sarimao is technically not a night creature, and it won't be as effective. I situate my gunong in front of me. I'm ready.

But Master Deborah raises her hand in front of me. "Let me handle this. Sarimaos are not monsters a trainee like you can defeat. Unless you can activate your blessing in a split second," she says.

I look at Nico to see if he's okay with it. He shrugs his shoulders and says, "Just watch her. You'll understand what she's talking about."

The Sarimao looks at us and growls. Why would I need to activate my blessing that fast? It is huge. It won't be able to move swiftly. I watch it lean to its front arm, and then it launches itself. Master Deborah goes in front and parries the incoming claws. The Sarimao returns to its previous location. All of it only takes a two seconds. 

Damn. I think as I watch both Master Deborah and the Sarimao. The Sarimao has now shifted its attention to her. Then it relaunches itself, so fast that I can't even see its path. All I can ever do in this kind of battle is to continuously activate my blessing so that I won't be hurt, but that means I won't be able to do some offensive tactics. The movement of my transportation magic won't be able to help either. Not even my gunong or buntot-pagi can. 

I watch Master Deborah. She's smiling, and every time the Sarimao launches itself to her, she never fails to chip at its sharp claws. Finally, after a few more repetitions, the Sarimao senses something's wrong. It raises its claws and watches in horror when its claws disintegrate as if it is chalk.

Master Deborah laughs. I don't think it's meant to taunt the monster, but she got the same effect nevertheless. The beast growls and then hits the ground with its arm. Then it runs towards Master Deborah, who stops laughing and places her weapon in front of her. 

The Sarimao raises its huge paws to hit her from above, but suddenly, Master Deborah moves, goes behind the Sarimao, climbs its back, and pierces the back of its neck. 

The Sarimao whimpers before it falls on the ground. And since Sarimao is a physical body made from a fierce spirit, the spirit goes out of its body and travels when it dies. I watch its path, and suddenly it stops in front of the Banwaanon. We did not even notice that it was still following us. The Banwaanon looks at us and then at the spirit of the Sarimao. It made a face that tells us that it is the one the Sarimao sensed. 

It retreats from the Sarimao. Then to us, it says "Sorry" in a voice that hits us with a calming and gentle resolve. The voice bombards us with its emotion. It invades us. I'm aware when both Nico and Master Deborah kneel, the two clutching their chest. 

"Sorry," the Banwaanon repeats, and like the other two, I kneel and touch the ground. I force myself to look at the Banwaanon, who stops getting away from the Sarimao's spirit. 

I want to know what it's sorry about. Are we going to die? But Banwaanon's voice doesn't cause death to people. It can transfer what it feels, but it will only last for a few minutes, which can stun humans. Of course, it will be dangerous with a powerful monster beside it, but this one, in particular, doesn't seem to have a partner monster.

"Why?" I ask. It's hard to speak when all my emotions are overtaken by the guilt and anguish of the Banwaanon.

"Don't reach out to it. It will not let you go," Nico says. "That's a special kind of Banwaanon, a rare one."

The Banwaanon reaches out to the Sarimao spirit and touches it. The Banwaanon features change from just a little shapeless figure into that of a little child. Then it transforms again into a woman, into a man, into a dog, and then back again to its shapeless figure.

The guilt is now disappearing, and I know that the Banwaanon is being consumed by the Sarimao.

"A Banwaanon with only a few shape-shifting figures but with a voice and emotion channel?" Master Deborah asks, who seems to recover from the Banwaanon's onslaught.

The Banwaanon whimpers, and I clutch at my chest. It's in pain, but not the physical kind. It's the same pain that I felt when Olivia betrayed me in my previous timeline. The Banwaanon's not channeling anything to me anymore. Instead, it's already accepted its fate. How long has the Sarimao been tailing it?

My body moves on its own. I touch the ground and call for my anito. Anitun Tabu is very willing to help me, so I whisper the potion that I need to create. Even before it gets completed, I run towards the Sarimao and the Banwaanon. Nico tries to stop me, but he's too surprised at my movement that he only reaches for the buntot-pagi hanging on my waist which I unlatch. Once the potion is finished, I touch it to the Sarimao's spirit.

The instant my palm touches the Sarimao and the potion counteracts it, I groan in pain. This is a stupid thing to do; I think as I press my palm further into the Sarimao's little red ball of spirit. The skin on my right hand starts to melt, but I let it as I finally release all the potions I've created on the Sarimao.

Once done, I pull out my hand. I won't be able to hold a weapon for a while. I watch the Sarimao’s spirit vanish, and the Banwaanon, in the shape of a little boy, stands beside me. Then it switches back to its little shapeless figure and leaves.

I look at my hands. It's bleeding in other areas, and some parts have no more skin. I wonder what Aaron's reaction will be when he sees this. So with my left hand, I call for my anito again and make a healing salve. I touch my palms together and rub them. I grunt. This hurt.

"Why injure yourself?" Master Deborah asks. There's no sign of scorn in her voice.

"Thanks," I say.

"For what?"

"For not stopping me earlier." If she did, I doubt I'd be able to help the little Banwaanon. I know it's weird; we are not meant to help monsters.

"Oh, that? Orson has been doing it for a while, so I'm not really surprised. I wouldn't even be surprised if that Banwaanon has a relationship with him. But! You should have handled that better!"

She pauses, and for the first time, she genuinely smiles at me. "You are growing up to be just like him."

To be continued…