Ryuusei felt a little more relaxed after knowing the judge hadn't pulled a plot twist move, but was still worried about him.
"Is there anything i can do to help, my lord?" he asked, running after the man. The judge seemed to be in a pretty bad shape, if he even coughed up blood, so it probably wasn't a good idea to leave him alone
The researcher looked at the papers as well and smiled twitchingly.
”Eh uh… just… uh…” she was clearly trying to make up an excuse.
”You know… soul transparency and what they can tell us about the souls themselves” the woman finally answered and gave quite a comfortable posture answering the question.
(Dushi [Eighth Judge] Likings : LVL 0 —> LVL 1)
The eighth judge turned around, a bit unsure about the question.
”Well… this might be a great time to show me what you’ve learned during the training. I’ve already weakened the damn thing a lot so it’s not as fast nor is it as strong as it was before” the eighth judge mentioned as he opened the door of the tenth court.
Outside in the misty lands, a figure can be seen in the skies. Though humanoid, the figure’s ‘arms’ were just straight up wings. They were just flying in circles.
"Is that.. a 'Corrupted'?" Ryuusei asked, looking up at the sky towards the figure. From afar it looked like a tengu of sorts though he could not be sure.
"How do we take it down?"
Koki raised her eyebrows and looked confused. "Why are you lying Miss?" She asked, tilting her head. "Well, not telling the full truth anyhow."
The eighth judge stared at the figure’s flying pattern a bit.
”Its only weak point is its neck so…” the eighth judge’s purple energy-based blade lit up and sharpened itself ”…slicing it off or piercing through it would be the ideal way to kill it” the judge mentioned as he attempted to jump towards the figure. Yes, he was capable of jumping to reach the figure but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to touch the figure even slightly. The corrupted demon’s speed was too much for the judge to follow.
Upon landing, the judge cursed silently, looking around for something that could help him in his attempt to decapitate the demon.
The woman in white shook a bit, she had to lie, she can’t let anyone in on this plan of hers.
”Uhm… little miss, it’s getting dark, maybe you should head back to the mansion…?” the woman gave a stuttered speech, her heart pounding.
After the explanation, Ryuusei too looked around for a way to help the judge, though he could not come up with anything right now. He didnt know if he could even jump as high as the man, and even if he could he probably could not control himself.
"Can we throw something at it?" he asked, trying to figure out if he could treat this demon like a flying bird and hit it in mid air, preferably with a sharp projectile.
”You can… though with the likes of him, it seems a bit too hard to be able to hit him” the eighth judge mentioned. He was a bit stressed out, knowing that his abilities and how they worked at the moment wouldn’t be extremely suitable for an aerial battle. If only someone who could fly was on their side…
The woman in white shook a bit, she had to lie, she can’t let anyone in on this plan of hers.
”Uhm… little miss, it’s getting dark, maybe you should head back to the mansion…?” the woman gave a stuttered speech, her heart pounding.
Koki huffed and let out a breath through her lips. "Ma'am, are you in some sort of trouble? You're also a horrible liar by the way." She added on with a frown. Gods above, she hated when people lied to her.
The researcher was trying her best not to freak out. She really should’ve put the do not disturb sign in front of the door. She was struggling to get out her words but it was in her favor that an announcement was made at that exact moment…
(This is to everyone)
”Attention please, attention please” the unknown announcer spoke up. ”Judges Chujiang, Yanluo, Dushi, and Pingden, please report yourselves at the Central Palace as soon as possible. The Third Master would like to word with all of you, thank you” the announcement ended abruptly.
(That would be the Second, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth judge in order)
Taken the briefest of time the announcement left for her, Hana pushed Koki out of her room with a soft and subtle sorry as she locked the door, not allowing her inside.
(Three more doors; one more you can go in)
(The Black Door)
(The Red Door)
(The Blue Door)
(So like, we stop what they're doing now?)
(Well, no, just kinda react to the announcement. The eighth judge will eventually take Ryuu there after things have been taken care of)
Ryuusei was wrecking his brains in search of a way to at least help the judge fight off the creature. Given his lack of training, he didn't think it'd be wise to enter the fight right away, as to not cause any potential trouble with his inexperience. His attention was momentarily attracted to the announcement made by the mysterious voice coming out of nowhere.
They had to finish this thing off fast, hopefully with no casualties. He looked at the judge, trying to figure out a way to help. He remembered the man was capable of jumping insanely high, though not sadly not high enough, always inches away from the creature; if only they could somehow boost the leap and help the judge reach higher.
"My lord, would it help if i gave you a boost when you jump?" he asked, forming a step with his hands to explain what he meant. The basic plan was to give the judge a little bit of boost when he jumped higher, hopefully high enough to at least reach the flying creature.
The eighth judge, upon seeing this, did not waste a second. He rushed towards Ryuusei and used the man’s palms as a jumping pads, resulting in quite a force exploding on Ryuusei’s hands. It might have been subtle, but the judge was able to utilize his abilities when he stepped on Ryuusei’s palms, giving himself a small gravitational resistance.
Fortunately, he was able to reach the figure, touching its wings with his index finger, but from what it looked like, he wasn’t able to decapitate the demon. Upon landing, he smiled though. He stood up straight and raised up his hands.
”Amethyst Web” he announced as hundreds, no, maybe thousands of glowing purple strings emerged from the ground and locked the winged demon in place while avoiding contact with Ryuusei at all costs. The judge looked up and saw the demon trapped in place like a fly to a spider’s web. He muttered something before announcing another spell…
”Bladed Jewelry” finishing his spell, not only was the demon’s head cut from the rest of its body but its whole body was turned to shreds.
The sharpened strings returned to the ground, most with bloodstains on them. The eighth judge turned back to Ryuu before giving him a warm smile.
”Thank you for your help”
[Cue Character Introduction Page]
(Dushi, The Eighth Judge)
(Magic : Amethystine Curse — when the judge touches something or someone, it leaves a temporary mark which allows the judge to enter his magic’s second form. In this second form, the judge is able to summon a variety of attacks which array from the physical, magical, and mental methods. His limits are currently unknown to most people except for his secretary and right hand man; Oscar. He cannot summon living beings nor can he manipulate someone directly but what he can do is play tricks on their minds)
(Wielded Weapon : Violet Pearl)
(Weapon’s Signature Magic : Reality Breaker)
(this guy is so damn epic, i love him)
When the judge came rushing at him and used his hands to launch himself in the air, Ryuusei lifted him up as much as he could, trying to give as much boost as possible. He watched in awe as the man unleashed his magic on the creature, summoning thousands of threads that turned into thin slices.
He had seen what a good person the eighth judge was, but witnessing his abilities made him respect him even more.
"Glad to have been able to help." he responded, with a small bow of the head.
The eighth judge dusted himself a bit before he straightened himself. He looked at the demon one last time before he turned to face Ryuusei directly.
”You heard the announcement—” the judge mentioned as he looked into the distance. The necklace he had on him at that point in time was shined slightly, clearing the mist in front of him and Ryuu. In the distance was a tall castle, perhaps as tall or taller than the judge’s court
”—so, shall we?” the judge had invited with a faint grin, showing some pure emotion for once.
(Dushi [Eighth Judge] Likings : LVL 1 —> LVL 2)
"Yes, sir." he nodded, as he followed the other's lead. He kept replaying the events in his mind, over and over again, still admiring the judge's level of skill and power. He hoped one day he could achieve at least a bit of that level of skill, with proper training.
The eighth judge had become a role model for the boy, both in personality and strength.
"Does my lord think it's an emergency?" he asked, following closely behind.
The eighth judge giggled a bit at what Ryuusei had called him before answering…
”Maybe, maybe not, I’m not sure myself” the eighth judge sighed a bit at the end as he kept his constant pace towards the castle.
A loud screeching noise came from the skies, it was a fiery red winged figure who was soaring towards the castle. There was a red cloud around the figure as well.
”…and there he goes again… that damn fifth judge…” the eighth shook his head as he silently continued to walk.
"That's the fifth judge?" he asked, as his eyes followed the red cloud. Even from here, that cloud looked like bad news. "I didn't know he could fly. Or, is every judge capable of flight?"
”Some are, some are not… I, for example, lack that capability. Back to the fifth judge… I personally wouldn’t say Yanluo could fly, but his powers give him wings of flames” the eighth judge explained.
They eventually reached the front doors of the castle. The judge opened it silently and was immediately flinching at the sight of… something.
”Chujiang… you little—“ the eighth judge was about to curse before he realized he had to keep what he saw a secret, at least for now. He was a bit scared that Ryuu might have caught up that something was off with the place. He attempted to hide this fact by opening the second door and gesturing, inviting Ryuusei to head in first.
Ryuusei had noticed the other's reaction upon opening the door, yet decided it was for the best if he did not ask. He walked in quietly through the door the judge had opened, waiting for the man to come in as well.
(Self correction : The judges who were invited were the Second, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth; not the Tenth)
The judge came in right after, closing the doors on his way in. The judge had taken out his weapon to show to the seemingly empty room. His signature weapon shined once and the burnt candles in the room had lit up with purple flames as the doors across from the entrance opened up.
As the judge walked towards the opened doors, there were four figures inside the room; the Second judge in green, the Fifth judge in Red, the Ninth judge in Gray, and another stranger who looked to be the most comfortable out of the four.
”Oi Dushi, come take a seat will ya, and have your visitor come sit as well, we have something for ‘im” the second judge managed to speak before he hiccuped and turned to them with his face completely red. He was, clearly, drunk.
Ryuusei's first reaction was to give the other judges a respectful bow as it was normal, though he felt a little surprised to find one of them showing up wasted at a clearely important meeting. Perhaps he'd been summoned while he was in the middle of enjoying himself? Who knew.
But for the young man, it only went to show that even the heavens had their own fair share of drama, just like the mortal realm - knowing this, some of the intimidating and unreachable aura the afterlife had been coated with in all the stories was partially dissipated.
The researcher was trying her best not to freak out. She really should’ve put the do not disturb sign in front of the door. She was struggling to get out her words but it was in her favor that an announcement was made at that exact moment…
(This is to everyone)
”Attention please, attention please” the unknown announcer spoke up. ”Judges Chujiang, Yanluo, Dushi, and Pingden, please report yourselves at the Central Palace as soon as possible. The Third Master would like to word with all of you, thank you” the announcement ended abruptly.(That would be the Second, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth judge in order)
Taken the briefest of time the announcement left for her, Hana pushed Koki out of her room with a soft and subtle sorry as she locked the door, not allowing her inside.
(Three more doors; one more you can go in)
(The Black Door)
(The Red Door)
(The Blue Door)
Koki huffed in annoyance as the door shut and the announcement rang through the halls. "For fucks sake." She muttered, looking around to try another door, deciding on blue. "Blue, red and black are usually associated with harm and I don't wanna die."
The eighth judge went to sit on the stool that was beside the other judges. As he did not want Ryuusei to be seated beside the other judges, the seat that was left empty was the furthest left one; beside where the eighth judge had positioned himself.
”Well… I guess I can introduce myself first?” the stranger in the room spoke up as the eighth judge nodded in agreement.
”I go by the name ‘The Third Master’, but you can call me Yasha, nice to meet you” the owner of the castle introduced himself. His features were not shown yet as he wore an extremely dark coat, covering almost everything but his hands.
As Ryuusei was headed towards his seat, the fifth and ninth judge gave both him and the eighth judge quite a scary eye.
In the blue doored room, there were two figures, both of which were playing instruments. Though unlike the fourth judge’s musicians, these people were playing quite modern instruments; one a piano, and the other an acoustic guitar.
They didn’t have any masks or anything really on them, they just looked like they were having fun.