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Ch. 49: The Demon's Hunt: The Crown's Embrace 2
🕑 Added 2024-08-19 18:19:13 +0000 UTCYato's eyes darted around the room, taking in the gathered cultists. Pochi and Kaisha stood impassively beside Kojiro. Their vacant stares chilled him more than any threat.
"I... I'm here," Yato managed, his voice barely above a whisper. "The crown-"
"Yes, the crown," Kojiro interrupted, his smile widening to reveal teeth unnaturally sharp. "But I'm afraid we have a small problem."
Yato's breath caught in his throat. "What do you mean?"
Kojiro lifted the crown, its strange angles catching the dim light. "Your head. It's utterly incompatible with this masterpiece."
He no longer feared death. But pain? The promise of agony still held terrible power over him.
"We'll have to make some adjustments," Kojiro continued, his voice filled with a perverse excitement.
Before Yato could react, Kojiro's hand shot out, grabbing him with inhuman strength. Yato struggled instinctively, even as his mind screamed the futility of resistance.
"Hold him," he commanded. Pochi and Kaisha stepped forward, their grip tightened. There was no going back now.
Kojiro pulled out a knife. Its edge caught the light, sharp and menacing. "Now," he whispered, almost tenderly, "let's make you fit for your crown, Yato."
"Ahhhhh!"
Yato's screams filled the factory. Kojiro cut into him, removing bits of flesh and bone with cold efficiency.
"You should be honored," he said conversationally, as if discussing the weather rather than mutilating a man. "Few are chosen for such... intimate communion with the Great Old Ones."
The knife scraped against bone. Yato could hear it over his own yells. His head felt wrong, changing shape to fit the crown.
Through the haze of pain, he caught sight of Tazuna. The bridge builder cowered in a corner, his eyes wide with horror. Yato tried to speak, but only gurgled. Kojiro stepped back, eyes gleaming. "Impressive," he said.
Yato shook on the ground, fading in and out. He looked around frantically, eyes landing on Pochi. Was his friend still in there somewhere?
In those last moments of clarity, his gaze darted wildly around the room. He looked at Pochi, searching for any hint of the friend he once knew. Finding nothing but a mindless servant, his eyes shot upward, locking onto a figure lurking above. Even through the fog of agony, he recognized the silhouette.
The stranger.
The man he'd seen watching the village.
His last hope for... what?
Revenge?
Salvation for others?
With his remaining strength, he tried to call out o beg for help. "Hel..." Yato choked out, blood in his mouth. It was enough. The cultists looked up as one, following Yato's gaze.
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High above, hidden in the shadows, Zabuza cursed under his breath. Then, he rose and vanished from sight.
"Intruder!" Kojiro barked, momentarily distracted from his grisly task. "Capture him!"
The eleven ninja behind Kojiro transformed into black shadows, leaping onto the rooftop in pursuit. Below, the hundreds of cultists turned as one, rushing out of the factory.
Zabuza's eyes widened as he saw the horde pouring out of the building. They moved like zombies, but faster – much faster. Their eyes were vacant, their mouths slack, but their bodies moved with unnatural coordination.
"Damn it," he muttered, weighing his options. Too many to fight. He'd have to run, lose them in the village or pick them off one by one.
Zabuza jumped from the roof, pushing chakra into his legs. He ran, hearing the cultists chase after him, their steps in sync.
As he leapt from roof to roof, he glanced back. What he saw chilled him to the bone.
The cultists swarmed like insects, their bodies twisting in impossible ways as they scaled buildings and obstacles. Those at the front of the pack threw themselves at the walls, fingers clawing at the smooth surfaces. Many fell, their bodies hitting the ground.
But the fallen didn't slow the horde. Instead, the cultists behind simply climbed over their fallen brethren, using the growing pile of bodies as a stairway. Within seconds, a mountain of flesh had formed, allowing the pursuers to reach heights they shouldn't have been able to.
He watched as cultists at the top of these human pyramids launched themselves into the air, arms outstretched, fingers grasping for him. Their faces remained blank, devoid of emotion, even as they hurled themselves to certain injury or death.
"What the hell did he do to them?" Zabuza muttered, pushing himself to move faster.
He leapt across a wide street, landing on a taller building. He thought he'd gotten away, but then he heard wood breaking. Still behind me?
Turning, he saw cultists throwing themselves at the building next to his. Their combined weight and force was literally tearing the structure apart. As the building collapsed, cultists rode the falling debris like a wave, using it to propel themselves towards Zabuza's position.
He didn't wait to see if they'd make it. He was already running, his mind racing faster than his feet. These weren't normal people anymore. Whatever Kojiro had done to them, it had stripped away their humanity, leaving behind nothing but single-minded, relentless pursuers.
As he ran, Zabuza caught glimpses of the chaos spreading through the village. More and more people were joining the horde, their movements shifting from normal to that same eerie, synchronized gait in an instant. It was as if some unseen signal was turning the entire population into a mindless, hunting swarm.
"I've got to get off this island," he thought, changing direction towards the docks. But even as he formulated his escape plan, a part of him knew that running wasn't enough.
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Back in the factory, now empty save for Kojiro, Yato, and Tazuna, the gruesome scene continued to unfold.
Kojiro released his grip, and the tavern owner's body collapsed to the floor. What remained of his head, now flattened like a deflated ball, lay motionless. One eye, partially dislodged from its socket, seemed to stare directly at Tazuna.
The sight shocked him sober. His mind cleared instantly. He suddenly understood exactly what was about to happen.
"I surrender!" Tazuna cried out, his voice cracking with terror. "I surrender to Dagon! I will worship the great Cthulhu and become His servant!"
He fell to his knees, prostrating himself before Kojiro. "Praise Dagon! Praise Cthulhu!"
Kojiro turned to face Tazuna, the blood-stained crown still in his hands. His eyes, cold and calculating, assessed the bridge builder's groveling form.
"Your surrender comes too late," Kojiro said, his voice devoid of emotion. "You've already proven yourself unworthy of the Great Old One's gifts."
He gestured towards the tavern owner's corpse. "But fear not. You'll still serve a purpose."
Tazuna's eyes widened in horror as he realized his fate was sealed. "No, please! I'll do anything! I'll serve faithfully!"
Kojiro ignored his pleas, turning instead to address someone in the shadows. "Brother Akira, come forth. Show our friend here the true path to enlightenment."
From the darkness emerged the transformed figure of Akira, his fish-like eyes gleaming in the dim light. He moved with an unnatural grace, his webbed hands reaching out towards Tazuna.
"No! No!" he screamed, trying to back away. But there was nowhere to go.
Kojiro watched impassively as Akira approached Tazuna. "You spoke of our secrets to outsiders," he said. "Now, you'll become one of those secrets."
Akira touched Tazuna's face. The bridge builder's screams changed, becoming wet and strange. His skin shifted, turning a sickly green. As Tazuna changed, Kojiro heard noise from outside.
A cultist burst into the room, panting heavily. "Lord Dagon! The intruder... he's escaping! Our forces are in pursuit, but..."
Kojiro's eyes narrowed. "But what?"
The cultist swallowed hard. "He's... he's killing our brothers and sisters."
For a moment, Kojiro seemed to consider this news. Then, with a casual gesture, he placed the blood-stained crown atop Tazuna's still-transforming head.
"Let him run," Kojiro said, a cold smile playing across his lips. "He'll spread the word of our power. And when the stars align, nowhere will be beyond our reach."
He turned back to watch Tazuna's final moments of humanity slip away. "The age of man is ending. The age of Cthulhu is at hand."
As Tazuna's screams faded into inhuman gurgles, Kojiro's laughter echoed through the factory.
