My… episode marred our departure from Mt. Umetsuji, and it was far more abrupt than I think any of us had been planning. Shurenga, Sena, and Gin came to see us off, as well as the horde of cubs that had been dogging (catting?) our heels. I was incredibly thankful that my actions hadn’t frightened them off permanently, and I at least managed to get a few pets in for the road.

  I was really missing Fade right about now. Maybe his presence alone would have been able to protect me from the Mad God.

  “Be swift, warriors,” Shurenga murmured to us, as the gathered stood at the mouth of the mountain once more. “Father tells me that the whole of the central range has become shrouded in a great storm overnight. The madness might have touched upon the Immortal Wyrm and stirred him from his quietude. If you wish to reach Mt. Gorenzan safely, I recommend haste. Who knows how the Oni have been affected?”

  I grimaced at that and exchanged a few glances with my companions. Bella had been sticking to me like glue since the scene in the guest rooms and was the first to meet my eyes. Her stormy blue mirrored the wariness that I knew had to be in my own emerald.

  “Veins of thunder speak,

  Mountain’s breath thickens with dusk-

  Worn feet press onward.”

  Venix intoned, speaking first. He then sighed. “We will go as quickly as we can, Lady Shurenga. The time for caution…has passed.”

  “It has,” The queen of the saber-tooth cat said quietly, nodding. “Good luck to you and yours, all of you. Dark clouds gather on the horizon.”

  Figuratively and literally.

  With the final farewells said, we oriented and set off towards the center of the island. On said horizon, I could see the storm that had gathered. It almost looked like a centralized hurricane, swirling endlessly above a single, distant point. It was too far, and too obscured to tell what it was, but I knew what it had to be.

  Gorenzan.

  No longer hiking, we sprinted in that direction.

  ……………………………….

  Our haste meant that we were no longer being careful about disturbing the hiding residents of this stony plain. On our sprint towards the central range, we ranged into three more random encounters with Oni. Two of them were wandering out on the plain, heading in the same direction that we were. The first Oni, a small yellow adolescent, died before it could even react. None of us were holding back in the slightest, now.

  Surprisingly, Kazuma got the kill for that one. With the Shōmetsu no Kiba still wrapped on his back, the samurai used his regular blade to decapitate it. We barely stopped long enough to grab the monster’s core from the resulting cloud of foul smoke.

  The second burst forth from another ravine, in much the same manner as the first Oni we had run into. It held a large, withered jungle tree in its grip, and tried to crush us with the wooden mass. But it was too slow.

  Using a somewhat familiar Skill, Venix launched a double-layered, crimson X of pure Ki at the leaping crimson adult. The result was that eight pieces of very deceased Oni rained down upon the group.

  Not even the last Oni we ran into was able to stop us for long. This was another wanderer making his way towards the central range, and this time it wasn’t a juvenile. It was a much more attentive elder, like the first we had run into. This one was a red, which meant it was aligned more with fire than it was with the storm. At the same time we saw it on the horizon, it saw us. We weren’t exactly trying to hide the cracking sounds of our footsteps across the plain, and so it spun around and bounded our way, bellowing.

  It was a bit of a tougher fight, with the way it was throwing around fireballs larger than I was. But in the end, the squad-based Oni Hunter tactics we had all learned made the fight manageable. After hamstringing this one, I was the person who tore out its throat, this time after getting close to it with Terractus in my transformed state.

  Once we’d regrouped and resumed our sprinting, I took the time to check my Status with my core ring. All told, I’d managed to gain another two levels from all the Oni we’d slaughtered out here. That brought me up to level one hundred and thirty-five. Five more levels and I’d get another Skill or Talent from the System, with the way those were coming these days.

  Hopefully, I hoped it would be good because I had no doubt that milestone was coming soon.

  The next day, when we reached the outer stretch of the Goryuen mountains, we found the chaos we’d been expecting.

  It was a madhouse in here.

  ………………………………

  I’d put my cloak back on, and for good reason.

  I was getting soaked from the torrential rains that were falling on the entire group. Thankfully, it wasn’t coming down so hard that I couldn’t see out into the storm from the watchpoint we’d reached. Our company had only entered into the central range this morning after running through the night. Once here, we’d discussed matters and decided that we needed to get a better look at what awaited us, now that we’d reached our destination. The nearest peak wasn’t much more than a mildly impressive hill, and after a hike that was only difficult in the slightest due to the rain, we’d all crouched there to get a bead on the situation.

  It…really wasn’t looking too good out here.

  The rain was coming down hard enough that the previously bone-dry valleys between the mountains had become raging, fast-moving rivers. The entirety of the range floor was now a labyrinthine net of flowing, debris-filled death. These were no gentle streams we could easily fjord. If we tried, we’d likely get run through with any one of the branches tumbling through the grey waters, or crushed by boulders the size of cars. To make matters worse, the width of these channels wasn’t anything to sneeze at, either. Any one of them was far, far too wide to risk trying to jump across, even with our status-enhanced strength. Some of us might be able to make it, true. Hell, even though I still didn’t know how to use the wings that came with my transformation for actual flight, I had figured out how to use them for enhanced leaps. But not all of us would make it, and we didn’t dare split the group.

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  Because the Oni had gone mad out here.

  I’d been told before that the Oni ventured to Goryuen in order to fight each other to the death for supremacy, under the watchful and eager eyes of Tatsugan. Supposedly, that only happened when he was nearing his Apex, so he could gorge himself on their strength and fully ascend to a Calamity.

  That…might be happening now.

  In the scant few minutes we’d been up here, we had watched as what could only be two rival violence’s clash on a nearly flat-topped peak. Each group of Oni had been comprised of what seemed to be more than ten of the monsters, each led by absolutely massive elders. One seemed to be a group of yellow Oni, and the other blue. In other words, thunder aligned versus lightning aligned.

  The resulting war between the two groups was loud and bright enough to drown out the natural equivalents that raged in the heavens above. Through the rain, we watched as the yellow elder ripped the head off of the defeated blue elder, and crunched into the resulting Core as if it were a grape. The victor grew another foot in height and sprouted another pair of horns from his head.

  Disturbingly, despite being more than a mile away from the conflict, and doing our best to keep a low profile, the elder saw us. Before he and the remaining members of his violence departed their battleground, he turned to face our direction. Even across the distance, I could see the surprisingly calculating intelligence in those malicious, blood-red eyes. But thankfully, after a moment of too-human consideration, the elder snorted and turned away from us.

  I let out a tense sigh as the elder and his band vanished over a nearby ridge. Next to me, Renauld did the same, except his was far more shuddering than mine was. He nudged me weakly. “Close one, eh?”

  “We were not worth the risk and effort for him,” Venix said lowly, to my right. “Make no mistake, he longed for our death. But the surer path to power lies in the hunting of his fellows, and the devourment of their Cores. It is the problem with the Oni elders, as they grow in strength. They become far too cunning.”

  Azarus grunted but seemed preoccupied with something. His eyes were locked on a far distant peak just barely visible through the rains to tower over the lesser mountains. I saw him nudge the wet clumps of his long crimson hair from out of his eyes irritably, and turn them to look at the raging rivers below us. He didn’t speak, though, not before Liora did.

  “We will not be able to fjord those valleys, and so we must take to the ridges,” She said, just barely loud enough to be heard over the rain.

  Renauld cast a glance askance at her. “What, with those things fighting all up and down them? I’m pretty sure there’s another fight going on over thattaway.” He waved his hand in the direction of another mountain, far off into the distance to our left. I squinted, and I thought I could see some distant figures fighting in the raid, but I couldn’t be sure.

  Wait, yup.

  That was a big old flash of fire all right. It didn’t last long, consider the rain, but it had flared up. No doubt there was another full violence on violence battle taking place in that direction. A shame, too, considering there was a nice, clear, flat ridgeline skirting out in that direction.

  It would be folly to go that way, though.

  Venix shook his head. “We skirt the edges of the struggles and do our best to stay out of sight, and we might just avoid attention. It is our best option.”

  “Not sure we can take the risk of movin’ slow,” Azarus spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. His, though, was fixed on Venix. “This whole range, how’s it shaped?”

  Venix furrowed his chitinous brow. “What do you mean?”

  Azarus made an irritated noise. “I mean, what’s the damn topography? Nate, let me see that map the nob gave you.”

  I’d honestly forgotten about that thing, but it was probably the time to dig it out. It was supposed to show us where the bunker was here in the central mountains. I’d never had to use it until now, because it only showed the central range and not the stony plains or the outer jungles.

  Thankfully, it was waterproofed with wa, so it wasn’t ruined as I dug it out and handed it to my best friend. We all crowded around the dwarf as he rolled it on top of a flat rock. Helpfully, Liora held up a hand and ignited a light Skill to help us see better through the rain. I even used the long, tailing end of my cloak to shield our huddle.

  Azarus studied the map for a moment, occasionally looking up from it to study the horizon before looking back down. He sighed. “Yup, we’re gonna hafta get a move on, or we’re boned. And it’s not ‘cause of the Oni, either.”

  I matched his sigh. “What now?”

  Azarus pointed one thickly muscled finger out to the distant, barely visible peak on the horizon. “I’m guessin’ that’s Mt. Gorenzan, and the map confirmed it. If that’s where we’re goin’, then if we lag too much, the entire area is gonna be underwater before long. That includes our bunker. See, this entire range,” He swept that finger out in a broad gesture at the surrounding mountains. “Looks ta be a bit oddly shaped, ta my eyes. Kind of like…a bowl, with another, deeper bowl in the center, yeah? Gorenzan itself is at the bottom of those two bowls, and the lower one is separated by a high ridge line, accordin' ta this. Now, all the rain from the outer bowl is flowin’ towards the center, but can’t reach it because of the ridge. It’s been rainin’ for a while, so there’s already a bit of a lake in the inner bowl I’m guessin’. Thankfully, the map is tellin’ me that the door isn’t at the base Gorenzan like we thought. It’s a bit up the mountain. But if we dally too long, the dam holding back the outer bowl back will break…”

  Bella frowned sharply. “Then the whole damn area is gonna flood and become an inland sea, swallowin’ up the door.”

  The bottom dropped out of my stomach at that announcement. There was no way we could search the bunker if that happened.

  Renauld didn’t seem to understand the issue, judging from the confused look on his furry, drenched face. “Why? I mean, it would suck to swim down to it, but it’s not like it’s impossible. It might even be better. And an inland sea could be calmer than the rivers, at least, so we might be able to dive in. That way we wouldn’t have to climb up to the door, just swim over to the approximate spot and then downwards.”

  “Calmer?” Bella muttered to herself. “Maybe, but I dunno about that.”

  I slowly shook my head. “That’s not even the real problem,” I said, for the people who hadn’t been inside the bunker yet. “If we open the door to the bunker when it’s submerged, who knows how much water is going to rush inside? It’ll ruin everything inside. The doors are pretty big, and the last bunker I was in stretched deep down, in a kind of spiral. That water will flow to the deepest point, which is where I’m guessing what I’m looking for is. It’ll destroy the console. No matter how quickly we close the door, enough water will get inside to screw things up.”

  “Could be that this bunker is different than the last,” Azarus pointed out, a note of doubt in his voice. It didn't sound like he believed his own words.

  I frowned at him and shook my head. “I’m not willing to take the risk.”

  Liora frowned at me in confusion and interrupted us. “Console?”

  “The information storage device…thing.”

  “So should we wait until it stops raining?” Renauld asked, eyes darting between each speaker.

  Venix broke his silence. “It will not stop raining until Tatsugan is slain. Damnation, I did not consider that. If the bunker is submerged, we will have no choice but to join the Solstice’s Flame in their quest to slay the Wyrm.”

  I had forgotten Kazuma in my irritation, but the samurai had been watching the discussion quietly from the sidelines. “So. You seek some form of…‘bunker’ at the Throne of the Wyrm.” He mused. I noticed his eyes had gained a calculating gleam.

  I cursed to myself but didn’t let it show on my face. Thank God for Acting.

  “I have an offer for your company,” He announced with a triumphant smile on his face. “I possess a water affinity and have studied the Art of Sealing. With concentration, I can project a barrier over the entrance of your bunker and prevent the water from rushing in until whatever door you seek is closed.”

  My eyes narrowed at the man. “And what do you ask in return, Kazuma Higanashi?”

  His smile widened, baring straight white teeth in victory.

  “You must assist in slaying the Wyrm, of course.”