Species: Psionic Corteus
Common name: Psilor
Class: Demon - Energy base psychic pattern
Subspecies: None. All psilors have the exact same physical energy makeup, with any deviation in ability or appearance based on personal preferences, experience, and power levels.
Sentience & Intelligence: High. Psilors are judged to be just as intelligent as humans, with much higher general potential. However, it appears that a psilor's ability and affinity for reasoning and thought is based entirely upon the individual's preferences and experiences with subjects such as study and debate as the organism reaches maturity, just like how a human child's future study habits and preferences are heavily influenced by outside influences during immaturity. The difference being that there is a significant genetic influence and disposition to be considered in humans that is not a factor in psilors. Unfortunately for the species, psilors share the environment and experiences most common to demons, and thus have a strong preference toward violence, very little love for science and study, and the usual moral shortcomings and arrogance issues portrayed by most demonic beings.
Physical biology: Psilors are energy-based life-forms that exist as an unstable energy wavelength pattern maintained by a psychic sentience, or, for lack of a better term, a "soul". As this form is unstable, psilors must adapt a physical form in order to survive for an extended period of time.
Mana resonance: Extremely high. Psilors usually cannot use normal pattern magic, because their psychic abilities resonate so closely to mana wavelengths that they are unable to distinguish the two for the purposes of casting spells. Most psilors thus rely on their psychic abilities, which channel mana naturally to create the desired effects. Some psilors have been known to use clerical magic, alchemic magic, and other forms of manacraft that don't involve regular patterning, but they show no particular affinity for these skills.
Lifespan: No known natural lifespan.
Diet: In their natural forms, psilors absorb and bleed energy at such rapid rates that any additional external sources of energy are unnecessary. In their physical forms, a psilor is limited to whatever biology is possessed by their chosen species, and will usually eat within the typical diet of that species.
Biological anomalies: Psilors are shapeshifters, utilizing a magic-based ability to convert the raw energy they possess and phase it into solid matter. The mechanics of this ability are unknown, though it has been ascertained that there is a general limitation of mass somewhere around the realm of 250 kilograms. The physical extent to which the psilor replicates the species' makeup is dependant upon the power of the psilor; a young psilor's physical body is little more than a fragile shell which will lack even the strength and endurance of the weakest of a given species. As a psilor becomes more experienced, it will toughen its physical form to the standards of its chosen species and began to duplicate that species' natural abilities, though this may take significant time (I.E., it takes a short time for a psilor to reach the toughness and strength of a human being, but it's much harder to duplicate a gorgon, and even harder to duplicate a gorgon's neuro-somatic ability to turn creatures to stone). After a long enough time in a given body, a psilor will eventually began building on that species' natural abilities, growing tougher and more resistant to damage, while adapting more of its psychic skills for use in that form.
Reproductive type: Sexual meiosis. As it so happens, psilors themselves cannot maintain a pregnancy, as their unstable nature would destroy an embryo before it got the chance to develop further. Thus, psilors that take a female form, or equivalent form that represents a gender capable of reproduction, are unable to procreate. Psilors that take a male form, however, may impregnate females from the chosen species. In the cases of a successful impregnation, it is estimated there is a 80% chance that the fetus will develop to be a normal member of the base species. In the remaining 20% of the cases, the fetus is subjected to a crippling psychic implosion which instantly consumes the fetus and the birth mother, and then breaks apart into an unstable energy pattern, I.E., a "baby" psilor.
Social structure: Psilors can only mimic those species it has seen before and has had some experience and contact with, as a fair understanding of the original species' biology is required in order to create a functional physical copy (this is usually developed from instinctual psychic scans, so a new psilor will be able to mimic a subject species well enough to survive before it breaks apart). Some psilors grow up amongst a multitude of creatures, and may then either choose a favorite species or choose to shift between them, forsaking the advantages of biological familiarity for a wide range of species to mimic with efficiency. Most psilors, though, grow up among a certain type of species, or among other psilors that have chosen a certain type of species to mimic, and inevitably end up preferring that form to all others, as well as taking on many of the characteristics of that species, such as diet, temperament, choice of crafts, and breeding preference. Of course, psilors are demons, and are usually far more powerful than the species they are mimicking, so a psilor organism developing among natural members of its chosen species will likely end up conquering or commanding the dwelling.
Combat analysis: Varies from high to extremely high. There is no known way to destroy a psilor that has reverted to its unstable energy state, and although it is commonly believed that a psilor can only enter this state briefly before breaking apart due to instability, the attempted holding and unsuccessful execution of Demetrius Yaermon has cast this theory in doubt. Psilors are relatively vulnerable in their physical states, although the extent of their abilities is extremely hard to judge. Suggested engagement methods are assassination and guerrilla tactics. While psychic engagements and warfare have proven very effective as well, such methods are considered too unreliable and experimental.
Misc. notes: Although highly psychic, the psilor's abilities are inexplicably introverted in nature, with the entirety of an organism's psychic presence being used to maintain its stability and power up attacks. Psilors show no talent for telepathy, and while all their energy-based attacks involve the manipulation of psychic energies, they possess no inherent attacks which specifically affect the minds of others (though such skills may be gained through certain spellcrafts). However, their psychic sensitivity makes them extremely susceptible to other psychics attacking them; the problem being that depending on the skill and experience of the psilor, an attack can either take them by complete surprise, or allow the chance for the attacked psilor to exercise the full strength of its psychic abilities through the forced link to the attacker. Obviously, caution must be used when dealing with these organisms, as they possess the full range of violent and arrogant attitudes common to demonic species.

US Research Division Omega - Survey file E159


Nexus II
by Black Dragon
https://www.angelfire.com/anime5/fanficlair

I am sad to say that I do not own Ranma. I own pretty much everyone else, though. Ha ha! Eat it, you glory-mongering, legitimate, salaried anime creators!

" " human languages, {" "} demonic languages or languages different than the one in common use in a given scene, [ ] writing, ( ) smart-ass author comments, * * sounds.
If I don't happen to mention which language in particular is being spoken, then it's not important anyway.

Chapter 8

***********************************************************************************

Doppler sighed deeply as he looked at the large blast craters that dotted the small area that had housed the American military research camp and shook his head sadly. Everywhere he looked, there was devastation; the soldiers' barracks had either been disintegrated or sliced into, with thick carpets of blood and ash laid on the ground. The power and shield generators had been annihilated, small scraps of charred and molten metal being all that remained. The base's defense robots, a fairly new and experimental type of technology, had likewise been crushed, their sophisticated weapons and systems now far beyond any hope of salvage.
What really stood out among the carnage though, and what had the demon mage clenching all four of his fists in barely restrained rage was the remains of the artifact tent. Scraps of burnt canvas, blackened chunks of dirt and concrete, and shattered human remains mixed into the same mess of debris as priceless and potentially powerful artifacts and items, which had now been rendered indistinguishable from the rest of the rubble.
"Aaaah... such a fine battle," came a content sigh from behind the mage.
Doppler twitched. "'Battle'? You call this a 'battle'?"
The psilor laughed as he floated several feet above the ground in his natural energy state, arm crossed over his chest. "You're correct, of course! What is this but complete slaughter? These shameful humans couldn't touch me, even with the help of their infernal machines!"
"Stop laughing, you imbecile!" Doppler snapped, causing Demetrius to blink in surprise. "Your idiocy is beyond my comprehension! How could you have allowed this to happen?!"
Demetrius stared dumbly at the four-armed mage. "Allowed what to happen? Wasn't my objective to slay the humans?" He was not only confused as to what the veirheelu was angry about, but also that he was angry at all. Demetrius had known Doppler off and on for millennia, but he had never seen the other demon lord lose his temper before.
"'Slay the humans,' yes!" Doppler said angrily, pointing toward the artifact tent, the generators, and the robots all at once while also shaking a fist at the psilor. "But you've also annihilated anything of WORTH in this camp! The artifacts! The technology! I can't make use of a wagon full of burnt scrap metal! What's wrong with you?!"
Demetrius' eyes narrowed as he decided he didn't like being talked to this way. "But 'master'," he said mockingly, "you gave no orders to preserve certain structures."
"Yes, I did," Doppler deadpanned. "Orders that I now see you weren't paying attention to." His own eyes narrowed. "I have no use for a mindless butcher, Yaermon. I can build those whenever I wish. You'd best prove yourself to be more competent in the future."
*Zoosh!* A blaze of blue flame suddenly encircled Demetrius, and the fingers of one of his hands elongated into vicious-looking claws. "Do not trifle with me, you-"
"My Lord Thaeramon," Tio said suddenly, interrupting the two demon lords just as it seemed they were about to rip into each other, "it would seem there is a secondary storage bunker underneath the power station."
Doppler blinked, and quickly turned, ignoring the fact that he had his back turned to his ungrateful servant. "Really? Yaermon missed one?"
"It would seem so," the devil hybrid said. "Doubtless there's little in it as valuable as the artifacts from one of the main tents, but there are several stores of assorted gems and gold that do not warrant study, some baubles which they determined were dangerous or did not wish to study further, and a back-up of their computer files."
Demetrius let his aura fizzle as he watched Doppler's face light up. "What... What is a 'back-up of computer files'?"
"It involves machines and human technology," Doppler said off-handedly, "not something you'd know what to do with. Tio, secure the contents of the bunker, and get that data to Tarmin. I've got to sift through this rubble and see if anything survived."
Demetrius made an irritated grunting sound. "And have you a task for me?"
"Yes: get out of my sight," the veirheelu snapped. "You've done quite enough here. I will contact you again when I require senseless destruction."
The psilor lord debated then and there whether to attack his master, kill the fool, and take the bunker's treasures to fund his own purposes. Ultimately he relented, however. It was doubtful these humans possessed anything of significant value. Turning away from his master, Demetrius took the air, speeding away from the camp.

Doppler cast an annoyed glance in the psilor's direction as he left, having easily picked up his servant's intentions via his own telepathic powers. 'Not that the fool made it a big secret,' he thought. He had seen Tio getting ready to jump between the two demon lords should Demetrius attack; not a wise thing to do, as the devil couldn't possibly hurt Demetrius, and as Doppler knew how to cast the psilor down with but a moment.
"Yaermon tries my patience," Doppler finally said, grasping two arms behind his back as he caught up to Tio. "However, I believe disposing of him personally would be a waste. I have put SO much effort into him so far."
Tio raised an eyebrow; it was unusual for a master of deceit to be asking a warrior such as himself for advice. "Is there no way to humble the fool?"
"You cannot humble a beast like that," Doppler explained, "you can only wound its pride. A wound that it will inevitably try to pay back."
Tio nodded slowly. Then he cleared his throat loudly, immediately attracting his master's attention. "When you asked me to assist the destruction of the dark angels on Tithrees, I bore witness to a very interesting practice of the harlock natives living there. There was a type of beast that was commonly kept as a pet there for the purposes of hunting and fighting; some type of monstrous wolf, I believe. These wolves were selected from the pack by the sole virtue of their resilience and aggression, and raised as pets. However, the creatures would always begin to think themselves above their harlock masters, and begin to fight their captivity and snap at their owners, becoming a danger to the natives."
Doppler nodded, greatly interested.
"When that happened, it was common custom to seek out a pack of the monster wolves, bathe the pet in meat oils, and then set it upon the pack. And, after a bloody and entertaining slaughter, the owners of the deceased animal could select their next pet from the remnants of the pack that had killed it, having bore witness to their ferocity."
Again the demon lord nodded. "So I should throw Demetrius to the wolves, so to speak?"
The devil lowered his head in response. "I do not think to advise you, Master, but merely tell a story."
Doppler snickered. "Very well. As you would have it, then." Then the veirheelu gazed upward toward the horizon and the rising sun. "It's a very interesting story... and I have just the wolf to set mine upon..."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma put a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he scanned the horizon, his pack resting on one shoulder. "So tell me again where this dragon keeper is supposed to be? We seem pretty far out from any major war zones or cities to be within range of assassination."
"When the creatures trying to kill you are dragons, I don't think it really counts as 'assassination'," K noted from where he was perched on the pack. "You know, what with slaughtering of upwards of two dozen people to try and get you to come to them?"
Standing behind them, Rayden shrugged. "Hey, if it works..."
"It didn't work."
"Oh. Right," Rayden mumbled, scratching his chin.
"Anyway, I have no idea where Dashtall is supposed to live, but it can't be that hard to find him. Demon Lords aren't really known for being low-key, you know?" K said, stretching out his wings.
Ranma nodded slowly. "Okay... well, I know he's not on the Japanese islands... and I would have heard of any dragon holds or nests in the territories in Korea and China... That leaves us either going north toward Russia, or West into Mongolia."
K frowned. "You know... I know of a city in Northern China where they'd know all about the demon lords around here."
Rayden immediately grunted in disgust. "Urgh. You don't mean Taer'Kul, do you?" Grimacing, the dark paladin shook his head. "Rotten place, that. Can't even walk nearby without a dozen monks or priests looking down their noses at you and lecturing you about their stupid 'good' religions."
"Really? I couldn't imagine why a worshipper of one of the eight Dark Gods wouldn't be welcome there," K said sarcastically.
Ranma suddenly stopped. "Ah hah! That reminds me!"
Then he turned around and pointed at Rayden. "Why are you here, exactly? And why are you following us?"
Rayden blinked, and pointed at himself. "Me? Er... I dunno. It seemed like a good idea."
"A good idea?" K deadpanned. "He's a lone wanderer who's being actively hunted down by a dragon tamer. Not to mention he's kicked your arse twice when you fought."
"Well, yeah," Rayden nodded, as if K's words supported his point. "Honestly, I kinda like him. And I hafta respect anyone who can put me down like he did back in Seoul."
"And the part about being hunted by ridiculously powerful beings?" K asked, unconvinced.
"Well, duh. That's the best part!" Rayden said, grinning. "Assassination attempts means plenty of hardened killers to slaughter without any dumb legal or moral issues. Beats searching for fights any day."
"Fair enough," Ranma decided, "but why should I let you come with us?" Then his eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Rayden blinked again. "What? Why wouldn't you?"
"First of all, I prefer traveling alone," Ranma noted. "Second of all, even if you did help out with the snow dragon, you didn't make a wonderful first or second impression. I can't say I'm very impressed with your abilities, or that I'd like having you around. And third of all, I'm the sort of fighter that performs heroic and charitable deeds and puts his life in danger for the greater good and all that stuff. Hanging around with a demonic knight sort of puts a damper on that image, y'know?"
"I-I can put my life in danger for the greater good!" The dark paladin insisted. "In fact, I can do that part for you! So you can take care of the heroic and charitable deeds, and I can put my life on the line!"
"......... Fourth of all, you really don't seem that bright," Ranma said honestly, causing Rayden to sweatdrop. "I already have to baby-sit the lizard here. I don't want to have another burden to take care of."
Ignoring K's indignant outrage, Rayden crossed his own arms over his chest. "I've been traveling in the wilderness for as long as you have! Longer, probably! In some of the harshest realms there are! I can take care of myself just fine!"
"Oh? Then why do you want to join me so badly?" Ranma countered.
Rayden frowned and scratched his head. "Well... to be honest... I don't really have anywhere to go. I need some direction. And I need conflict."
"Conflict?" Ranma asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rayden nodded. "Conflict leads to fighting. The more I fight, the stronger I get. And looking for fights has a lot of disadvantages." He grimaced as he thought of the dryad village, and of the trainee Ninja from the bar. Such weak creatures weren't worth his time, and there was a chance that killing them would have agitated his conscience.
Ranma considered the larger man's words carefully. "So... you're looking for someone to lead you into a fight?"
"Basically," Rayden admitted. "Though, I really do want to help you out, if I can. Preferably in a way that involves me killing things."
Ranma nodded slowly. This wasn't looking like such a bad deal after all. "Okay then... do you have any useful skills besides the swordsmanship and the dark magic?"
"Uhm..." Rayden began to bigsweat. "Non-fighting skills? ... Er, I can speak and read several languages! Mostly demonic and tribal stuff..."
"Already got me a translator," Ranma said easily, idly petting K. "Anything else?"
"How about an ancient, semi-sentient weapon of indescribable power?" Rayden asked, pointing to the sword still strapped to his back.
The pigtailed man shook his head. "While interesting, that fits neatly into the swordsmanship thing."
"Damn..." Rayden started to panic as he wrung his hands. "Uh... I don't sleep!"
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"
"I don't sleep. I can't, really. It's a side effect of my demonic regeneration combining with my human body." Rayden explained, looking slightly flushed.
Ranma considered this for a moment. "So, is this an advantage, or a problem, or what?"
"I dunno. A point of interest? I could do nighttime sentry duty!"
The pigtailed man sighed and turned around. "Look, it's nothing personal, but unless you can actually make yourself useful outside of battle, I'd rather not have you around all the time."
Rayden sighed, and his expression started to look downcast, when a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I know! I can cook!"
"You COOK?" Ranma asked, surprised.
"Oh, yeah! All sorts of stuff! Field rations, preserved foods, wild animals, grocer items... I even know some fancy dishes from Gaer and the Empire! You ever heard of sushi?"
Ranma sweatdropped. "Heard of it... yeah... you can make that sort of thing?"
"Whaddya know. Unholy Dread Knight of the dark gods, and traveling Iron Chef, all in one," K mumbled. "How'd you end up with that skill set?"
Rayden shrugged. "I spend a LOT of time killing things. And afterward, well... it's always best not to waste the dead bodies, right?"
Ranma looked thoughtful as he mulled it over. Naturally, he was himself familiar with survival cooking, but it actually sounded as if the half-demon towering over him was good at it. And food WAS pretty important. "One thing. You don't eat humans, do you?"
"Ugh. Never," Rayden said, looking disgusted. "I said I was a cook, remember? Cooks don't deal with human meat."
"They don't?"
"Nah. There are only two or three decent recipes that call for human as a primary ingredient, and I hear they're nothing spectacular," the dark paladin explained, "the vast majority of man-eating monsters eat humans raw. Except trolls, that is. But then, trolls have such a pitiful sense of taste and smell that they-"
"Okay, okay, fine. Shut up," Ranma finally said, causing the larger man to fall quiet. "All right, so you might actually come in handy. I have to converse with my dragon before I officially decide."

Rayden sat down on a nearby rock as Ranma walked out of earshot, K riding on his shoulder.
'Weird. Why should the lizard get a say in whether I join up with them or not?' He thought, scratching his head. 'Eh. Then again, I'm the one asking to travel with them. Guess they can run things how they want.'
Then the swordsman stared at Ranma's back, and his eyes were eventually drawn to the pigtailed man's sword.
'Hm. Enchanted mithril, I'm guessing. Flimsy design, though it must've had a wallop of a spell cast on it to stay effective in that kinda shape.' Rayden had never understood the appeal of Japanese blades, as they were usually too light to lend significant weight to a blow, and too thin to withstand much damage in a block without breaking. Never mind that such weapons were intended to be wielded two-handed despite their light weight, which made wielding a second weapon or a shield problematic.
'Still... he's really good with it. And he's so fast! I guess the light swords work better at that speed...' Rayden began to muse over his battles with the young wanderer, and started to analyze Ranma's technique as he remembered the tactics used.
'He is very fast... but with those special attacks, he can still pack a lotta punch without having to rely on brute force. That dragon fist could probably rip through a golem... where did an Earth realm human learn something like that, anyway?'
His expression hardened. 'That's it, then! If this kid can become so strong without using magic, then he's the perfect guy to hang with! I have to get them to let me tag along!'
"ALL RIGHT!! FINE!!" Ranma suddenly shouted, making Rayden jerk his head around to stare at the pigtailed man.
"YES, I NAILED NATALIE!! ALL THE WAY!! ALL RIGHT?! YOU HAPPY?! WE WERE BOUNCING LIKE RABBITS!! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?!" Ranma glared indignantly as K hovered in front of his face, looking shocked by the sudden outburst.
K continued hovering silently, apparently stunned. Then, after a moment, he shook his head as if to clear it. "Whoa. Nice going. So, did the ol' nightstick get any polish?"
Ranma blanched and jerked backward, his face reddening. "The hell?! A-Aren't you supposed to be a kid?! What's wrong with you?!"
"I blame modern television," the metadragon answered immediately, proving that it was a well-practiced excuse. "Oh! And the internet."
"Uh... hey... excuse me?" Rayden said hesitantly, waving a hand slowly. "So, did you decide, or what?"
"It wasn't a decision, it was confirmation," K said. "I was pretty sure they did the horizontal tango, but with this guy you have to interrogate 'im afterwards to make sure he didn't chicken out."
"Gah! You're so annoying!"
"Actually... I was talking about me joining up with you guys..." Rayden said hesitantly, being quite unsure as to what was going on.
Ranma and K stared back at him. Then Ranma smacked a clenched hand into his palm. "Ah! Right! Yeah, okay, you're in. Just gotta lay down some ground rules, is all."
"Eh? Like what?"
Ranma smirked and wagged a finger in the air. "I can't just up and take anyone along with me. I got enemies, you know? So while we're traveling, I'm going to have to insist that I be appointed 'team leader,' and that you do what I say all the time."
"Fair enough."
"Also, I'll be in charge of rationing food, supplies, and funds, so I'll need all your food and money," the pigtailed man asked.
"Can I keep my booze?"
"I wouldn't take it if you asked," Ranma deadpanned. "Also, because you have a stronger constitution and don't seem to lose function in your body from having large holes punched in your torso, I'm nominating you as the meat shield."
"Neat! What's that?" the demon knight inquired as K sweatdropped.
"That means that you take the front when we're traveling or fighting, so you're always the closest one to the action!" Ranma explained optimistically. "Coincidentally, that means you'll also be drawing the most fire, be the first to take the hit from enemy barrages, trigger all the traps, and likely stumble into delicate and dangerous situations and places far ahead of those of us competent enough to deal with them the right way."
"Gotta take the good with the bad. Anything else?"
"I'll have your power of attorney, and the ability to sign contracts and deals in your name."
"Sounds like that has to do with important and complicated Earth laws, which I know nothing about. Sure."
"First dibs on treasure."
"Done."
"Absolute authority on expenses, mission contracts, traveling direction and destinations..."
"I don't see why not."
"You must tell me anything I want to know about you, your past, or anyone or anything you know about upon request."
"Well, that's a given."
"You may not join, work for, or be affiliated with any other official party or organization without my permission."
Rayden frowned at this, and stopped to consider the statement. Which surprised Ranma, who had assumed the larger man wasn't listening and was just nodding along with what he was told.
"Does the Third Brotherhood count? I kind of want to keep my membership with them. It's an important 'destined hero' kind of thing, you know?"
"Well... I guess I can let you stay in with them..." Honestly, Ranma was a bit worried about being associated with a dark cult. He didn't know much about the Brotherhoods, but he was pretty sure they had poor public relations. "Wait. Demons have heroes?"
"Of course demons have heroes!" Rayden said indignantly. "It's just that demonic heroes are less about selfless acts of courage and leadership and more about efficiently slaughtering huge groups of enemies single-handedly."
Ranma stared at the demon knight, and Rayden sweatdropped. "What?"
"You see, it's stuff like that. That's why I'm hesitant about this," Ranma muttered. "But anyway, since you agreed to sign over everything but your soul, you're in. We're still goin' to Taer'Kul though." Then he frowned. "Do either of you guys know any villages or outposts on the way? We left Seoul in a hurry and I didn't get to resupply."
"Dalarin," Rayden answered immediately. "Standard small human settlement. Probably good for buying gear on the way to the cities."
"All right then," Ranma said, hefting his pack and tossing it to Rayden. "You carry our gear and lead the way! We're going to Dalarin!"

*Dum da da-dum!* [Rayden Shikodan has joined the party!]
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Ignore it."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* The sound of powerful wings pounding the air alerted those few townsfolk below who were not already aware of the dragon's approach, and dozens of eyes scanned the sky nervously as a black, sinewy shape cut a swath through the roiling dark red clouds that perpetually blanketed the village and its neighboring settlements.
The mighty creature made no other noise as it flew through the air, not deigning to waste its breath on terrifying roars or flashy aerobatics as it streaked toward its home. Many of the other dragons that shared the region did so at every opportunity, and took great pleasure in frightening the spit out of the helpless farmers and merchants below. This one, however, took to his work with great seriousness and dignity, which had helped him gather significant esteem among his peers. Even when his work amounted to monotonous scouting and communication tasks, he would perform to the greatest of his abilities. Such qualities were unusual to dragons, and, as it so happened, were greatly preferred of servants.

Down below, one old man raised his eyebrows as he watched the otherwordly serpent cross the length of the township, zipping away toward the dark, looming mountain fortress in the center of the region's settlements.
'Hmmm... definitely black color... too thin to be a shadow dragon or an ash serpent... has wings...'
"Father!" A young woman shouted from a nearby doorway, timidly searching the sky as she beckoned to the man. "Father, come in, quickly! You know it's dangerous to be outside with the serpents overhead!"
"A venom dragon," the man said aloud, though it seemed as if he was speaking to himself. "Definitely a venom dragon. Ah! Must be Vargas!"
"Father?" The woman asked hesitantly, making sure that the creature was far enough past the town's border before coming outside herself.
While the people living in the settlements around Dashtall's castle were considered to be his property, and thus the dragons that were under the demon lord's thrall were technically forbidden to terrorize and harm them without cause, it was not at all uncommon for some of the more impulsive dragons to "cheat" a little bit and snatch up a human peasant or simply cause panic just for kicks. Such acts were supposedly punished in some manner back in the dragons' nests, but generally the families of those eaten on a whim had their doubts as to whether the measures were effective, as it kept happening over and over again.
"Father, come inside. You know the dragons have been very active lately. It's not safe to be outside if you're not going somewhere."
The old man nodded as he stared off in the direction of the castle. "Yes, yes, I know. Strange, that. I've been looking into it."
The young woman looked alarmed. "What?! Father, you musn't! You could be killed!"
"Bah! I'm as likely to be killed for taking a walk as I am for speaking to the soldiers. So why not?" The man turned around to face his daughter. "Thirty-six dragons, all fliers, spread across the land and given orders to lay low and search. Dozens of grend and lizard man kill squads. Bounties. Spies. Hired assassins." He snorted. "Really now, how hard do you think it was to find out what they were looking for?"
The woman frowned. "Well, whatever it is, if it keeps the dragons away from here, I can only hope it eludes Lord Greken forever."
"It's a young man, if you would believe it. Some human thief who stole a jewel or something. So much trouble, is it not?"
Her frown deepened. "The affairs of Lord Greken do not concern us."
The old man snorted again. "The affairs of Lord Greken consistently bring huge serpents and demon soldiers to our doorstep. Frankly, I'm concerned."
He turned back to the sky. "Vargus is the one that confirms important matters and brings important news to Greken. If the dragons had found their prey, he would make every effort to help them apprehend it rather than updating his master. And he doesn't bother with mundane news such as invading armies or local matters."
"I'm going inside," the man's daughter said in a huff. "If you'd rather stay out here and tempt the lizards to make a snack of you, then go ahead."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

"Vargus? Back so soon from the Southlands?" The massive grend didn't face his servant, but instead perused the various books in his library, almost seeming to ignore the figure kneeling behind him. "It would be wishful thinking for me to hope you bring good news, wouldn't it?"
"It is as you say, my lord."
Kneeling behind the table in Dashtall's library was a tall, thin, broad-shouldered man with long, oily black hair. "I admit I am not sure exactly what has occurred. But Leia is missing and we have been unable to find or contact her."
Dashtall selected a book and calmly pulled the tome out, its relatively large bulk fitting in the palm of his scaly hand as if it were a pad of sticky notes. "Where was she last seen?"
"In North Korea, searching the necrotic wasteland that Yaermon built there during the war," the venom dragon answered neutrally. "Garmis was the last one to have seen her. He notes that when she departed him, she was bragging that she would be the one to slay the thief you seek and bring his head to you."
"Just as likely an idle boast as a deserved one," the grend lord mumbled aloud.
"Garmis was leaning toward idle boast himself. He always did hold the magic-users in unfortunate contempt, and is quick to dismiss them as arrogant fools," Vargus explained, sparing no detail in his report. The reputations of his fellow dragons were nothing to him.
"He may have a point," Dashtall said, placing his book on the desk that sat between him and his draconian servant. "If it was not an idle boast, then I doubt Leia would have told anyone else for the sake of caution or assuring success in the mission."
"You are correct. I am of the opinion that she would take measures to ensure she alone knew of the prey's whereabouts, and then seek to complete the mission herself." Vargus looked up cautiously. "The fact that she has fallen out of contact supports the hypothesis that she did in fact have some sort of lead on the prey's location. Meaning either she's still in pursuit and neglecting her duties to ensure she makes the kill." The venom dragon's expression became even more guarded. "Or..."
"Or?" the demon lord asked, one eyebrow raised.
"... Or she was defeated, and perhaps killed," Vargus finally said somewhat apprehensively.
Like all dragons, Vargus had a penchant for vanity, as well as a strong, yet easily shakable confidence that came with being one of the most supremely powerful beings born in nature. Dragons thrived on personal power and decadence, and the thought of being sent out piecemeal on a task that could leave one dead through unknown circumstances earnestly frightened the beasts. It was one of the reasons they made poor servants and soldiers in the first place, and Dashtall was well aware of the limitation.
"If she has fallen, it was not by the creature you hunt," the grend said dismissively. "Leia had a penchant for showmanship and mass slaughter. It is entirely possible she attracted the notice of the Israeli expeditionary forces. They've been scouting nearby, and she wouldn't last long against them."
Vargus looked even more alarmed at this, and jumped to his feet. "I-If the IEF is in the area, then the others must be warned! Or... Or, we should take to traveling in twos and threes, for safety! We should-"
"You should silence yourself!" Dashtall hissed, barely suppressing a grin as the venom dragon immediately fell to one knee once more. "I refuse to be the master of idiots and weaklings! If your kind cannot manage to complete such a simple hunt on its own without attracting the attention of an entire army, I would rather be rid of the lot of you!" The grend lord glared down at the cowering dragon. "You will tell no one else of Leia's disappearance. And you will arrange communications such that she is not missed. In the meantime, I WANT THAT MAN DEAD."
"It w-will be done, my lord!"
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

"Stupid scaly freaks," Ranma muttered as he crouched low in the brush, employing his Ninja aura cloaking technique while peering at the huge red shape in the sky through his binoculars.
*Ahem!* K, who was nestled just under Ranma on the ground, so as to be masked by the "non-aura" that Ranma generated, cleared his throat meaningfully.
The pigtailed man sighed. "Look, by all indications we're going to be running into a lot of dragons on our way up to see this demon lord, so from now on, whenever I make a dragon-related slur, the 'present company excluded' is implied, all right?"
"Would it kill you to just be a little more polite?" the metadragon complained, casting his own eyes warily on the fire dragon circling above.
"No," Ranma admitted, "but I feel that the sheer volume of other things I have to worry about killing me more than justifies hateful, angry words." Then he turned around, still in a crouch. "And what the HELL do you think YOU'RE doing?!"
*Gzak!* *Tzrrt!* Arcs of black lightning crackled around Rayden's hands as he held a sphere of dark energy between his palms, held to his side in the classic hadoken "charge gathering" pose.
"It's called a rune beam," Rayden explained, "it's a basic, but very powerful spell the Brotherhood teaches. You see, it-"
"I'm less interested in knowing the particulars of your spells and way MORE interested in knowing why you look like you're gonna use them when we're supposed to be keeping a low profile," Ranma interrupted. "'Low profile' as in: hide and don't attack."
Rayden frowned, still holding the charge of deadly energies. "That sounds like a bad plan to me."
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't involve me killing, or that dragon dying," Rayden said with his usual blunt honesty. "I'm pretty sure a good plan would involve at least one of those things, and a GREAT plan would have lots of both."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Okay... tell me, what can that spell you've got cocked there do to a dragon? Damage-wise?"
Rayden looked thoughtful for a moment, which made him appear especially foolish while still in his energy-charging pose. "It would probably sear off a huge patch of scales, or tear a chunk of flesh out of the impact point. In addition to causing intense, mind-numbing pain, of course."
"In short, enough damage to send the dragon after us in a berserker fury, but not enough damage to actually hinder it in any way," K summarized.
"Are you going somewhere with this, tinhead?" The dark paladin said, annoyed.
"Whatever. Don't fire," Ranma commanded, turning away as the larger man began to sulk.

Watching overhead once more, Ranma frowned as the dragon landed on a distant hill, and began searching in their general direction.
"Dammit Rayden, get down!" Ranma shouted, turning once more.
Once he had turned around, and actually saw his companion's state, Ranma's left eye twitched. Rayden was still in the same pose as before, with the same sphere of unholy power hovering between his palms. "Look, I said you can't fire it! Just forget it!"
"I heard you! I'm not gonna fire it!" Rayden insisted irritably, a bit of sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Well, then why are you still charging it?!" Ranma hissed. "You have to be bleeding mana like crazy right now! You're going to give away our position! Hurry up and disperse it!"
Many more beads of sweat joined the first few. "Yeah, about that... not happening." At Ranma's angry glare, he felt obligated to explain himself. "Well, uh... there are only two ways I can... um... 'disperse' this charge here. One being actually shooting the beam."
"Would the other one blow us up or give away our position faster than you're doing now?"
Rayden sweated a lot more. "It wouldn't give us away, no. And it wouldn't blow us up, but-"
"Then hurry up and do it!" Ranma shouted, "I think he's coming this way!"

Rayden squinted his eyes at the dark red shape in the distance, and grimaced as he realized the dragon was, in fact, taking flight in their direction. Which didn't bother him, but did seem to be distressing Ranma greatly, and as he was the leader, such a thing simply wouldn't do.
'Well, here goes. I sure hope this doesn't kill me. I don't think my bloodthirsty warrior cult would forgive me if I died because I was trying to avoid a fight.' Shuddering at the blasphemous thought, Rayden steeled himself.
And then he smashed his palms together, forcing the dark, arcane energies back into the darkness-spawned vessel from whence they came.

Ranma watched curiously as Rayden finally dispersed the beam, and then watched in morbid fascination as the demonic swordsman's entire body was suddenly swathed in pure black, as if the very shadows beneath them had gotten up and wrapped themselves around the man.
*Foosh!* Ranma's nose twitched as the smell of burned flesh filled the air, and he winced as Rayden fell over forward, clearly unconscious.
"Ouchies. I do believe we just witnessed two liters of whupass being crammed back into its half-liter can," K said sympathetically.
Ranma frowned. "Uh... what just happened, exactly? I mean, your analogy was helpful, but I don't understand what I just saw here."
K nodded in understanding. "Yes, I would expect that someone who isn't versed in magic use wouldn't really know the specifics..." the metadragon stepped forward and then turned around to face Ranma. "You see, once a spell has been cast but not released, you can't just STOP it. In the case of normal spellcasting from mages, a request to 'cancel' a spell in the aiming stage would probably result in a miscasting, the results of which could be anywhere from annoying to hideously fatal."
"Less background, more foreground," Ranma demanded, glancing up through the brush. "Mr. Fire Breather is still coming, you know."
"Well, of course. Rayden is bleeding just as much dark mana as before, if not more. Well, and he's literally bleeding now too, but that really isn't relevant to this explanation." Despite all manner of impossibilities, K pointed toward a chart propped up on the ground next to him. The chart showed an outline of Rayden, with little arrows flowing out of him that were labeled as being "dark mana".
"Now you see, our Dread Knight companion, like all creatures in nature, is an energy generator. As a demonic being, his energies resonate with mana flows, and he also generates dark mana. As there is an upper limit to how much even his enhanced body can safely contain, the excess power is constantly flowing out of him, which manifests into an aura."
Ranma sweatdropped as K flipped over the first sheet and moved on to the next chart. This one had a black circle next to the same Rayden outline as before, with even more arrows pointing from Rayden into the circle, and a few pointing from the sky down toward the circle as well.
"As Rayden uses clerical magic like all paladins and priests, he funnels energy into a sort of spell 'structure', while his patron God funnels energy into the pattern, turning raw mana into pure death."
Two more sweatdrops joined the first one as the lecture continued, this time with a new chart that showed the Rayden outline with many large arrows curving all around and pointing toward it, along with a large caption that said "no way".
"Trying to put this energy BACK into the vessel that summoned it is stupid. Even if it weren't for the fact that mana is extremely unstable in a coherent, physical state, ESPECIALLY destructive shadow magic, the summoning body simply cannot absorb that much power all at once."
Ranma twitched as K finished his lengthy explanation. "Then why didn't you say anything when I told him to do that?"
"I wanted to see what would happen. Though I have to say the visual effects aren't at all as spectacular as I'd hoped."
"You're an evil little dragon," the pigtailed wanderer said. "Speaking of which, the evil big dragon's almost here."
That said, Ranma snatched K up in his arms and dove into the underbrush, concealing himself and his draconic friend completely as a large shadow eclipsed the sun.

*Thoom!* The fire dragon landed heavily on the ground on all fours, readying itself for any opposition as its long neck whipped about to search for foes.
Once it was convinced that there was nobody else around, the dragon lowered its head to the smoldering mess lying on the ground below it.
Rayden remained unconscious as the dragon sniffed at him, a dark haze of destructive energy still clinging to his body and clothing and giving him the appearance of a large black splotch on the ground (though it would be hard not to notice that all the grass and bushes surrounding the splotch had begun to wither and die in an ever-increasing radius around it).

"Cripes! What am I gonna do?" Ranma whispered as he peeked out of the brush.
"Who says you have to do anything?" K said nonchalantly. "He knew the risks when he signed up. He assured us that he could handle himself if besieged by monstrous creatures of unkind intent. And he screwed up and got himself into this situation. Isn't this sort of thing the reason why you didn't want him around in the first place?"
"Yeah, but now that he's officially in, I feel responsible for the dope. You wouldn't happen to know of any fire dragon weak spots, would you?"
K raised an eyebrow. "Try destroying the heart or head. Those are pretty valuable organs." He looked up and noted that Ranma was glaring at him. "What?! He's a dragon! He doesn't have 'weak spots'!"
"Keep it down, idiot!" Ranma hissed, watching as the fire dragon hunched over Ranma's body. "Well, maybe if he keeps playing dead, he'll-"
*Chomp!* *Crunch!* *Snap!*
Ranma's face paled. "Oh dear..."
"Ewww..." K gagged as he watched the larger dragon chew. "Raw human? Well, half-human anyway. Though I can't imagine dark mana makes for a good aftertaste."

Indeed, to the spectators' surprise, the dragon seemed to be having difficulty chewing the mass it had snatched up, and K was able to recognize a scaly grimace on the beast's face, which was most likely due to the unpleasant flavor of its meal.
*Pleagh!* *Thud!* Rayden hit the ground with a soft, wet impact as his blood mixed freely with the highly toxic dragon saliva, creating a pool of bright red laced with oily yellow slime that crept out from under him.
The dragon, after spitting a few times to get the taste out of its mouth, and silently wondering how anything that size could be so tough and hard to chew, jumped up into the air and flapped its mighty wings, quickly gaining altitude and soaring away.

Ranma slowly crept out of the bushes as the malicious beast flew off, and then quickly crossed the distance between him and his fallen companion.
He didn't make it there before the smell of the fire dragon's mouth fluids assaulted him, and the pigtailed man backpedaled as the strong odor warded him away.
"Gah! What the hell is that stuff?!"
K grimaced as he covered his nose with his wings. "Dragon saliva can be pretty strong, depending on the species. I'll bet it feels much worse than it smells, though."
"I think he's still alive! We hafta get that stuff off him!"
K raised an eyebrow at Ranma. "What makes you say he's still alive?"
Ranma frowned. "Well... he's too much of a mess for me to tell whether he's breathing or not... without actually touching him, anyway. And, well..." he scratched his head and shrugged. "The guy's been messed up worse than this before, and stayed conscious. I'm pretty sure he survived being chewed on."
K seemed to accept this. "Well, he won't survive being chewed on for long. If the blood loss doesn't get him, the poisonous fluids will." The metadragon spared a moment to consider the situation, then nodded. "Okay... try launching a small bolt of fire at him."
Perhaps it was because Ranma was desperate for a solution to save Rayden that didn't involve touching him. Or maybe it was because he didn't see how the application of fire could possibly make the situation worse for the dark paladin. But for whatever reason, the pigtailed warrior didn't even hesitate before he snapped a hand back and summoned a tiny charge of fire ki before flinging it at his fallen companion.
*FA-WOOOSH!* A huge blossom of flame burst from Rayden's body as the (apparently) highly combustible saliva ignited, and Ranma stared with wide eyes as the tower of flame slowly shrank before it started to spread across the ground.
Twitching, Ranma activated his own fire aura, and a red haze enveloped him and kept away the flames that began to crawl through the dead and dying grass. "K, did you know that would happen?"
"I was pretty sure it would. The flammable chemicals in fire dragon saliva is what makes it so poisonous in the first place. Why?"
"Because now our companion has gone from being slowly poisoned to death to being quickly burned to death. Not an improvement," Ranma growled through clenched teeth.
K sweatdropped. "Well... look at it this way; before, it was pretty much a sure thing that he'd die eventually. Now, if he survives the fire, all the poison will be gone, and all his wounds will be cauterized."
"Leaving only severe burns, exposure, and organ trauma to deal with."
"Right. Demons shrug that kind of stuff off easy. Sometimes. Maybe."
Ranma sighed and scrubbed his hair with his hand as he watched the surrounding brush catch aflame. "Whatever. Let's put him out and get outta here. We still have a LONG way to go."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

K blinked. "I guess we didn't have a long way to go after all. Here we are."
Ranma sweatdropped as he put down Rayden's body and his backpack. "Well, how was I supposed to know the town was right over the hill that dragon was sitting on? I've never been here before."
"And on that note," K muttered, "are we sure that's Dalarin? Most human structures aren't built into the hills like that."
"It's Dalarin, all right," Rayden said somberly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ranma shrugged. "Well, if you say sOWAUGH!!" Jumping back in surprise, the pigtailed man stared with wide eyes at his demonic companion. K had been just as shocked, and forgotten to take flight as Ranma dashed away.
*Thud!* "Ow! Hey, stop it with the sudden movements!"
"Geez! Are you okay?" Ranma asked doubtfully as he calmed himself, raising an eyebrow at the larger man.
"Not really, no. But I should be by the time we're done here." Rayden said seriously. Then he frowned and looked down at himself.
Ranma bigsweated as Rayden inspected his clothes, which were mostly torn up and burnt to charred, cracking sheets of fabric. Surprisingly the trench coat had survived the fire more or less intact, but the article of clothing was no longer remotely fit for wearing.
Rayden nodded in satisfaction. "I see I somehow suffered puncture wounds while I was out. Did you cauterize them, or did the dragon roast me?"
More sweat trickled down Ranma's brow. "That, uh... that was me."
Rayden grinned. "Hey, thanks man! You're all right, you know that?" Giving the smaller man a good-natured slap on the shoulder, the demon hunter stretched and began to walk toward the village.

Ranma wiped the sweat off his brow as his newest companion left. "Well... he seems to be reasonable. For a demonic knight, anyway."
"Hey, whatever keeps that sword away from our necks," K mumbled. Obviously the metadragon still didn't believe Rayden had their best interests at heart.

Ranma and K quickly caught up with the demon hunter, and listened silently as the dark paladin began to prattle on about the region.
"Dalarin's people dig their homes into bunkers under the hills here because of all the flying predators around this place. They do the same things with their farms. Though they're on many supply routes, they survive mostly by avoiding attention, as there are no groups of significant power nearby to protect them."
Ranma nodded idly as he looked around at the steep mounds that dotted the area. All of them had sturdy, camouflaged doors attached, and oddly enough, many of those doors were cracked open, obviously so that the inhabitants could see the new arrivals without exposing themselves to danger.
Further up ahead, the pigtailed man could see groups of villagers gathering behind a well as they stared at the newcomers fearfully, talking in a panic to an old man.
"Though naturally cautious due to the poor defenses of their settlement, Dalarin's people are not normally paranoid or overly suspicious," Rayden continued, gesturing with one hand to the surrounding area like a normal tour guide, "which, you may have noticed, seems quite strange given their present behavior."
"Yeah, I did kinda notice that," Ranma said sarcastically, "you don't think it might have anything to do with you bein' a demon knight, do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Rayden said dismissively, crossing his arms over his chest. "Little backwater townships like this don't interest the Third Brotherhood. I doubt they'd even heard of us. And I look enough like a normal human that they wouldn't recognize me for a dark paladin without recognizing the crest on my coat."
It was at that point that the old man beside the well slowly scrambled up behind Rayden, and then kneeled shakily, lowering his head. "Oh, mighty though apparently badly singed servant of Kharak, the Destroyer! We beseech you to have mercy on our poor, wasted lands!"
Beads of sweat poured down Rayden's brow as Ranma and K each raised an eyebrow at him.
"While I admit this appears to hurt my case, I'm willing to chalk it up to a case of mistaken identity," Rayden said firmly.
"Oh, but there is no mistake!" The elder said, "After all, you who bear the mark of the Destroyer, the dread crest of the Third Brotherhood of Kharak! ... Though it is slightly difficult to distinguish, being all charred like that."
More sweat poured down Rayden's head, and Ranma sighed and pushed him out of the way. "Step back before you hurt yourself." Then he focused on the old man. "Hey there! Name's Ranma Saotome! Don't worry about this guy over here, he's not here to slay you all or take your women or anything."
The old man blinked. "Well, of course not! The Cult of Blood is very specific in its demands for our crops and gold! But I beg of you, leave us be for a season, or I fear we will not be able to survive much longer!"
"Look grandpa, the big guy may be part of this 'Cult of Blood' thing, but as a group, we're not. We're not here to steal from you, we just want to do some regular trading."
Hushed and excited whispers erupted from the villagers still hiding behind the well, and many of them quickly left to tell others that their village was in no danger.
"While we're at it, though," Ranma said, glaring at Rayden, "why don't we have a chat about these supply raids the Brotherhood is making?"
Rayden sweatdropped and backpedaled. "Whoa, hey! I don't know what that's all about! Don't look at me!"
The old man frowned at the badly charred dread knight, and then spoke in a low voice to Ranma. "If you trust your companion to stand with you, then we ask of your help, young warrior."
Ranma grinned. "I'm all about helping. Let's chat."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

*Thoom!* *Thoom!* *Thoom!* *Thoom!*
The loud pounding of heavy talons shook the Earth as three reaper pack beasts clambered down the road, their massive claws digging hideous ruts into the ground as they strode forth.
Though monstrous, armored behemoths, the creatures were of a relatively docile breed, born and trained only to haul cargo, and protect it if necessary.
Standing atop the lead reaper was a single figure that stood tall upon its mount, silhoutted against the moonlight.
"Hmmm... next is Dalarin. Might as well make that the last one for tonight."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

"She usually comes in the dead of night," the elder explained as Ranma listened intently from across the table. "Not by choice you understand, but because she makes many other 'collections' before she reaches our town."
"It's a she?" K asked idly, sticking his beak into the cup of tea he had been offered.
The elder nodded. "Oh, yes. A priestess of the Destroyer, a dark cleric! And a beautiful one, at that."
K perked up. "Beautiful? Isn't she a demon?"
"Demon or no, she takes human form. And what a form!" The elder shook his head. "How many of our village men have given more than she demanded share under that haunting gaze? But there's no mistaking her intentions! She takes from us, and threatens our lives should we resist!"
Ranma nodded slowly. "Let's talk guards... how many?"
"None," the old man said with a frown. "Though she uses reaper beasts for transportation, she takes no guards. Either she fears no reprisal from the people she victimizes, or she is secure in her own strength."
"That'd be the latter," Rayden interjected from where he was lounging on a nearby crate and guzzling some brandy. "There's no one in our order who isn't trained to fight, and we aren't really fond of having guards. Shows weakness 'n all."
Ranma shrugged. "Well, that'll make it easier." Then he turned toward the swordsman. "Ray, you sure you're down with this? We're planning an attack on a member of your cult, you know."
Rayden shrugged and sat up. "Sure, I'm fine. While bullying innocents into giving tribute without even offering protection in return isn't STRICTLY against our tenets..."
"Surprise surprise," K muttered.
"... It's still pretty damn cowardly, and any real dread knight would know that," Rayden finished sourly, chugging down the rest of his alcohol. "Ah! Besides! Killing each other over moral or philosophical disputes isn't against our tenets either!" Ranma sweatdropped at this, and turned away again.
"Your kindness will not be forgotten, master dread knight!" The elder said, before turning toward Ranma. "Nor yours, master Saotome! We will be more than happy to reward your efforts should you-"
"Elder! Elder!" A man suddenly burst into the room carrying a flashlight and looking panicked. "She has arrived, as expected! Her convoy will reach the village center in a matter of moments!"
The elder nodded and turned toward Ranma. "What would you have us do?"
Ranma grinned and stood up. "I'd have you stay safe. Things are going to get pretty hot out there, so just stay here in your homes and leave this to the professionals."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on now! What are you all waiting for?! Don't make me come get you!" The woman standing atop the head reaper shouted to the surrounding hills, and homes hidden within them.
Frowning, the dark priestess pondered this sudden bout of disobedience. She could sense the humans within their homes, so she knew they were here, yet there were no more guards or defenses to stop her than there were the last several times she had arrived. Did they think to hide from her and hope that she thought them gone?
"Ridiculous. It seems I'll have to make an example." Smirking, the priestess summoned dark mana into her hands, and sculpted a black sphere of energy that hovered between her palms over her chest.
"And now then... which hovel to destroy..." tapping her lip with one hand while holding her spell in the other, she selected a mound at random, and then brought the mana sphere to bear.
"Hatred, rage, greatest pain in heart and soul, let the powers of shadow cleanse this place of life and suffering. Blaze of war! Blood flare!" With the completion of the incantation, the black sphere turned an angry, violent red, and the priestess flung the deadly energy bomb at the chosen abode.
*Whp! Whp! Whp! Whp!*
"Hm?" The demonic priestess glanced to the side as the sound of a heavy object rushing through the air grabbed her attention, and her eyes widened as what appeared to be a thrown great sword sliced right into her spell bolt, tearing easily through the condensed, dark mana without causing the expected detonation. The blood flare fizzled immediately, its energies scattered like the seeds of a dandelion's head.
*Whp! Whp! Whp!* The great sword, strangely enough, continued its unreasonably aerodynamic flight as it kept spinning about in the air, and actually curved around to fly back to where it had come from.
The dark priestess was about the investigate the source of the weapon, when a more obvious threat revealed itself right below her.
"You won't be blowing up anybody's home today, lady. Give up now, and never return here again. Or die."

The dark priestess's eyes narrowed. A young man stood before her at the base of her reaper mount, staring at her with his arms crossed. He wore simple, unadorned leather armor, and carried a handgun and a katana.
She smiled. "Hello human! Am I to assume the villagers hired some wandering mercenary hero to defend them? How quaint! It's an honor to indulge such a time-honored tribute to foolish human hope!" Then she stamped on the head of her mount. "Kill him."
"KREEE-AAAAUGH!!" The reaper let out an ear-pounding scream as its gaping mandibles opened and it charged Ranma, its clawed legs pounding the Earth as its gaping beak drew nearer.
Ranma merely shook his head, and let his ki gather into his left hand. "Well... you were warned. Dragon fist!" Rayden and K watched from atop the nearly-destroyed homestead as Ranma drilled his ki-powered attack straight into the reaper's vulnerable mouth, blowing back the entire beast from the force behind the punch, and cooking it from the inside out by aiming the energies right down its gullet.
Rayden licked his lips as he watched the reaper shudder and then collapse, its legs crumbling inward as they no longer possessed the strength to hold up the main body. "You know, I know a few good recipes for reaper meat. I'll bet I could make some good eats outta that one."
K blinked. "I thought their meat was tough and stringy?"
"Just the meat eaters. The pack ones are usually herbivores, and their meat's a lot better."
"Really? What kind of plants does something that size eat?"

While his companions began discussing the particulars of reaper biology, Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at the woman atop the dead reaper. "Give up yet?"
The dark priestess, oddly enough, didn't seem at all disturbed by her mount being killed, and was smiling broadly. "Well, well, we're a powerful little firecracker, aren't we?" Giggling, she jumped off her deceased mount, and landed lightly on the ground, her form now completely illuminated by the flames gathered on the reaper's corpse.
She was of average height for a woman, with a thin, curvaceous build and an impressive bust, easily a match for his old childhood friend Karen. She had long blue hair that was tied in a straight, smooth ponytail that reached down to her ankles, while the hair atop her head was spiky and mussed. She was wearing what Ranma guessed was a proper priestess outfit only among the dark cults; it was a slinky black dress with spiked shoulder pauldrons and long slits down the sides to show off her legs.
"My name is Sonia, Dark Priestess of the second rank of the Third Brotherhood of Kharak. And your name, noble warrior?"
Ranma frowned. "You don't need to know my name. You DO need to know that you're dead if you don't leave. We're serious here."
"Aw, don't be like that," Sonia said teasingly, wagging a finger at him. "Come now, I'm actually quite fond of humans! And watching you roast that wretched beast was quite a turn-on..." she winked at him, and Ranma felt a sweatdrop roll down his head.
"Hey... whoa. Wait a minute. We're enemies here! What do you think you're doing?!" Ranma shouted angrily. "I'm not going to let you get away with victimizing these people!"
"Oh! Well..." The dark priestess fingered her lip as she looked thoughtful. "We don't really NEED the supplies from this village, you know. I suppose I'd be willing to skip this village... if you do something for me..."
The pigtailed man's eye twitched. "Look Sonia, I'm just a flick of the wrist away from gutting you like a fish, so shut your trap and surrender!"
The woman shuddered, though the pleasant expression on her face made it seem that she wasn't feeling fear of any degree. "Ooooh... you like it rough, don't you?" Then she licked her lips, and her eyes started to glow a frosty blue. "Well good... so do I..."
Then a light blue haze enveloped her form, and the dark priestess sank straight into the ground, phasing straight through the solid matter like a specter would.
Ranma frowned as he stared at the completely undisturbed patch of ground where his foe used to be. "Huh. Didn't see that comin'."
"Hup!" Ranma gasped as he felt himself suddenly snatched from behind, and found himself being dragged upward into the air while being grasped by powerful feminine arms.
"Oh, struggle, please!" Sonia whispered into his ear. "It makes the eventual domination THAT much more satisfying!"
Ranma grimaced as he looked down. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in telling me what the hell you are, would you?" 'Dang, I'm a long ways up...'
Sonia giggled. "It's more fun if you try and figure it out!"
And then it was the cleric's turn to be surprised as Ranma wrapped his legs around her waist and slipped easily out from under her grip, before flipping under her legs and ending up sitting atop her back.
"Pretty weak hold you have there, lady! Especially with those bazongas in the way! Don't look down, now!" With the final taunt he focused his ki into his legs, and then kicked the woman downward viciously, causing a powerful shock wave to burst out from the initial air pressure.
As Ranma fell himself, he frowned as he watched the clearly flight-capable priestess zip straight toward the ground at terminal velocity; and then grimaced as she went straight through the ground once more, leaving no disturbance upon the Earth to indicate it might have harmed her.
*Thud!* "Damn, that trick's getting old real fast!" Ranma cursed as he landed himself on one of the hills that made up the homes of the area.
A brief, muffled scream of terror from within the home below was all the warning he had, and the pigtailed warrior rolled to the side as Sonia phased up from the ground once more, her arms crossed over her chest.
The dark priestess pouted. "What's wrong with my breasts? I happen to be very proud of them!" She whined, squeezing one of them for emphasis. It was all Ranma could do not to facefault.
"N-Nothing! Nothing's wrong with them! They're really very-" the pigtailed man suddenly shook his head violently. "Damn it, would you start acting like this is a fight?! Your life is at stake here!"
The dark priestess grinned again, though Ranma noted she didn't stop playing with her left bosom. "Oh, please. You call this a fight? This is just foreplay."
Ranma's eyes narrowed, and he drew his nighthawk, aiming it with one hand while keeping his other ready to defend. "How's this for foreplay?"
"Ooh, very nice!" Sonia squealed. "Now let me see your other gun!"
*Crash!* Ranma couldn't help it this time, and facefaulted powerfully. "Why... won't... you... fight me... seriously?"
Sonia shrugged. "I don't feel like it. And you haven't even drawn that magic sword of yours, so you can't be ALL that serious about 'gutting me like a fish'."
Ranma jumped up. "I can't kill a woman who's barely defending herself!"
"Oh dear, what a mess, then!" The demonic priestess said in mock worry. "I suppose it can't be helped. Would you like to find a vacant space somewhere and make out?"
The pigtailed man's face darkened. "And WHY is it you don't feel like fighting, exactly? You DO worship the God of War and Destruction, right?"
"So? There's no rule that says I can't destroy the ugly and weak and play with the handsome and strong. Whaddya say, beefcake?"
Ranma twitched. "I say you can take your cowardly little self-serving ways and shove them up your-"
"Dark crash!" *S-KRRACK!!* "SHRRRREEEEEAAUGH!!*

Both combatants jerked to attention as a dim flare of light burst from the town square below, and Sonia floated up in the air to get a better view as she heard the death cry of one of her pack reapers. "What's going on?! What was that?!"
Ranma smirked. "THAT, Miss Evil Cleric Lady, was what someone properly devoted to the idea of pointless slaughter and unnecessary violence sounds like." Then he walked up to the edge of the hill that best overlook the scattering reapers below. "Hey, Rayden! You were supposed to wait for the signal!"
Down below, a barely illuminated dark shape waved back to him. "I know! But do you have any idea how boring it is talking to K?"
"All is forgiven!" Ranma said immediately.
"Hey!" An irritated metadragon shouted from above the carnage, only to be ignored by all.
'Rayden? Does he mean...? Is that...?' Sonia swallowed nervously as she summoned several motes of light to illuminate the scene below.

"Dark crash!" Rayden shouted again, his great sword trailing arcane power as it cleaved viciously into the next pack reaper.
"SHEEEEEEEEAAAAAH!!" The beast screamed as its thick, armored carapace was ripped apart from the blow, the blade itself tearing through its main body before the dark energies powering the attack detonated, shredding the creature into bloody chunks.
Rayden grinned and swung his sword upward to rest it on his shoulder as the final pack reaper turned to face him, gibbering in its own visceral way.
As the remains of his last victim still burned with black fire, Rayden took up a new stance against the final beast, with his sword arm and the shoulder it was resting on facing the live reaper, and his free hand behind him, collecting more dark energies.
"Wait! Stop this! Please!" A feminine voice cried out above him.
"Hmmm... stop this... or kill something..." Rayden mumbled to himself, not bothering to look at the source of the voice. "Well, that's hardly a choice at all. Shadow break!"
*SKA-BOOM!!* The last reaper didn't get a chance to scream as its beak and head were completely pulverized by the force behind Rayden's force punch, splintering inward toward its vital organs even before the energies detonated, which further obliterated the beast's head, and sent its corpse skidding a good twelve meters across the square as supplies and valuables fell off of its broken pack saddle.
"OH yeah. That felt good after getting toasted and bitten." Rayden grinned and sheathed his sword, then leaned over to dust the splattered blood and bits of carapace off his new trench coat.

"It IS him," Sonia mumbled. "But... but why-AH!" She shouted in surprise as Ranma suddenly grabbed her in a hold from behind, effectively binding one of her arms and then holding a dagger close to her throat.
"All right lady, it's over. You didn't wanna fight, and now all your haulers are dead. Now you're our prisoner, got it?"
Ranma expected her to laugh, or snap at him, or maybe make another suggestive remark. To his surprise, however, the dark priestess nodded silently, and stood up straight, trying to look dignified.
"Hey Rayden, over here! I caught her!"
K perched himself upon Rayden's head as the dark paladin approached the prisoner, finally coming close enough to see her clearly in the moonlight.
"Dang! She fine!" K crowed, flapping his wings.
Rayden frowned, then raised an eyebrow. Then he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
Sonia sweatdropped. "Don't recognize me, Shikodan?"
Suddenly, the dread knight brightened. "SONIA!! Sonia Yaermon! It's you! By the Eye, it's really you!"
Rayden rushed up the side of the mound and slapped her hard on the shoulder, which caused her to wince. "Man, I haven't seen you since my induction ceremony! How ya been, you old witch?"
"Old witch?" Ranma wondered aloud, eyeing the woman warily. "Okay, I can't say I'm surprised you two know each other... does this mean it's okay for me to let her go?"
Rayden shrugged. "Not really, no. But it's probably a good idea to let her go anyway before she electrocutes you."
Ranma blinked. "Electrocutes?"
"Yeah. She's a psilor, dude. Strong one, too."
"GYAH!!" Ranma quickly jumped back from his prisoner while quickly kicking her in a vital point and slamming her into the ground mostly on reflex.
Apparently this surprised the dark priestess, as she failed to phase into the ground and avoid harm as she had done before. "Ow! What are you doing?! I said I surrender!"
"Surrender? Already? Hmph. What are you doing out here, anyway?" Rayden asked, looking at his companion cultist suspiciously.
"I was gathering supplies for use in the nearby temple base Lord Sachrim is constructing," Sonia explained. "We number only a small band of Kharak's chosen, with few Dread Knights and even fewer priests. The majority are acolytes and workers. We cannot wage any campaign against the rich territories nearby that would not cost more than we could possibly gain. And these small territories are weak and barely armed, such that even the acolytes would not lower themselves to attack them."
"So instead you bully them into giving you supplies and money. How noble," Ranma spat, his arms crossed over his chest.
Sonia frowned. "And just who are you, human, that you think to judge us?"
Ranma jabbed a thumb at himself. "Name's Ranma Saotome, lady. And whether or not you want to listen to me, you can't ignore Ray here."
Rayden nodded. "He's right. If you need supplies and funds so badly, then get them properly, through mercenary work, or raiding castles! Extortion is for thieves and royalty!"
Sonia stared at Rayden, then glanced at Ranma. Then she stared at Ranma again. "Wait a minute! Why are you taking orders from HIM?!"
"I don't take orders from anybody!" Rayden said indignantly.
*Thwap!* K smacked the dark paladin on the side of the head with a metal wing. "Yes you do!"
"Oh. Right. I do take orders from him. I forgot." Rayden scratched his head.
"Why?!"
Ranma zipped over next to Rayden and whispered in the taller man's ear.
*Ahem!* "I have been advised that you do not need to know that," Rayden said seriously, "and that instead, we should get about to deciding on your punishment."
Ranma ignored the glare Sonia was giving him as he continued. "However, first we have to inform the villagers that we've smoothed things over with the dark priestess. It's going to take some time to convince them that she won't kill them or nothing." Then he frowned. "THEN it's going to take more time to convince them not to kill her."
Sonia was about to interject her own opinion, when Rayden beat her to it. "I have a better idea." Then he clasped the dark priestess on the shoulder, and smiled softly at her. "Sonia?"
The psilor looked startled by the almost affectionate gaze, and met Rayden's eyes nervously. "Uh... wh-what is it?"
"Shadow break!"

Ranma and K squeezed their eyes shut as Sonia went flying through the air, and winced at the following explosion of rock and debris when she hit the side of another homestead with roughly the same amount of force used to propel satellites into space.
Ranma sighed and scrubbed his head with his hand. "And HOW was that more elegant or convenient than my solution?"
Rayden took a moment to clear his throat, then cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, helpless villagers! We defeated the evil priestess for ya!"
"The Gods be praised!"
"Finally! Peace and freedom!"
"Ah! I knew ya could do it!"
Ranma and K sweatdropped as people started to pour out of their homes with flashlights and torches, cheering and praising them once they got a good look at the gaping crater in the side of one of the hills.
K shrugged. "Score one for violence and deceit, I guess."
Ranma twitched. "I don't know whether to feel bad because I let him do that, or to feel bad because I didn't do it to her first when we were actually fighting."

"Oh, great saviors, we ask that you stay and feast with us as thanks!" The elder of the village said, raising his cane toward Ranma.
Rayden was about to say something, when Ranma slapped a hand over his mouth. "Yes, yes, you're all very welcome, but we're very busy saviors and will have to take our thanks to go. Places to go, evils to conquer, all that good stuff, ya'hear?"
"Huh? Buh' why?" Rayden mumbled past Ranma's hand.
Ranma grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down so that he could whisper directly into the demonic knight's ear. "BECAUSE, numbskull, when she wakes up she's going to be really pissed off! And if she regains consciousness and kills someone, it's going to look very, VERY bad!"
Rayden frowned. "... But that's only a problem if she wakes up, right?"
Not liking where that line of thought was going, Ranma shoved Rayden back upright. "Just get your stuff together and pick her up. Looks like we're camping out tonight."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

Sonia awoke with a start and bolted upright, her consciousness returning to her like air being suddenly forced into an unpressurized bubble. While she was all too familiar with the sensation, as her expansive consciousness and metaphysical being caused the same effect every time she awoke, it was still painful, inconvenient, and most importantly, it left her completely vulnerable.
"Hmph. 'Bout time you woke up. Everybody else is already asleep."
Sonia held her head groggily as she struggled to sort out all her senses and reinstate simple vision. "Ra-Rayden? Is that you?"
Rayden took a swig of his ever-present booze and shook his head. "Look at you. Can't even take a hit anymore. What have they been teaching you down in the temple pits?"
The dark priestess looked around in a daze, then frowned. "Where's the other one? That kid? And your pet dragon?"
Rayden snorted. "They're back at the camp site. They didn't want to be around you when you woke up." He took another swig of alcohol. *Gulp!* "And just for the record, the dragon is Ranma's pet, not mine."
"Good. If they're not here, then we can talk alone," the psilor said seriously, her eyes narrowing.
Rayden blinked. "This isn't about punching you in the face, is it? 'Cause I'm not apologizing for that. It was the best solution to the problem."
"As much as I would LOVE to have an apology for that, I neither need nor expect one from you. This is about that human! Who is he?!" The dark priestess said through clenched teeth.
"What, he didn't tell you?" The dread knight asked suspiciously. "He's Ranma Saotome."
"I know his name, you dolt!" Sonia hissed. "But who IS he?!"
Rayden blinked once again. "Uh... I think he's a Ninja. Was that what you were looking for?"
Sonia slapped her forehead. "Why are you following around a Ninja and doing what he says?! You're a dread knight! Bearer of Darkrune! You slaughter humans of that caliber and feed their blood to your blade for breakfast! You can't allow yourself to be led around by some child swordsman!"
"Bah! You don't know nothin'!" Rayden said angrily, taking a long sip from his booze canteen. "That kid beat me twice in one-on-one combat, and nearly wasted a snow dragon by himself! I'd take him over you as a travelin' partner!"
Sonia jerked back, looking stricken. "Me?! Why? Why would you rather travel with that boy than a member of your order?!"
"Hey, don't knock the kid; he's pretty cool," Rayden said, his speech starting to slur slightly. "And I didn't say 'a member of my order', I said YOU! What's wrong with you?! Extorting defenseless villages, and then getting in fights and surrendering? What happened to victory or death?"
"You said the human defeated you twice, and you're still alive," Sonia deadpanned.
Rayden shrugged. "That was his choice. He coulda finished me off. But you know how humans are. They have weak stomachs and know mercy and all that." Then he poked her meaningfully in the chest. "'Sides, don't change the subject! You know I'm on a mission, here! And if I stick with Saotome and help him out, he might be able to help me!"
The dark priestess pushed Rayden's hand away, mostly ignoring the fact that he had poked her in the breast. Had it been anyone else she would have felt either violated or aroused by the gesture, but the dark paladin looming over her had all the sex drive of a hunk of cheese, and she dismissed his indiscretion.
"It disgraces us all that you should... kowtow to this human! Come back to the temple with me! We can find you a suitable companion, or a company!"
Rayden snorted. "Forget it Sonia. I'm not returning to the Brotherhood until I've unsealed Darkrune. I've made that clear. I'll stick with the kid."
The demonic knight was about to chug down the last of his drink, when Sonia slapped it away. "Damn it, Shikodan! Our Brotherhood is shattered! Our companions, teachers, and students, are all scattered across the realms, broken! Our order is on the brink of extinction! And YOU, our final hope for the preservation of our faith, wish to cavort around the countryside with some human fool on a whim?!" The psilor's voice had reached a hysterical shout by the end of her lecture, and Rayden sweatdropped.
"......... Geez, don't get all drama queen-y on me," the dark paladin muttered irritably, planting his hands on his knees. "I mean, 'final hope'? Me? Don't you think that was a little far fetched in the first place?"
"That was exactly what the high bishop thought," Sonia said bitterly. "Those with more faith in our Lord and Master hold hope that He can forge a proper champion out of you."
Rayden snorted again. "I'm sick of listening to your whining. Get out of here. And don't let me catch you extorting supplies from villages again."
Sonia glared fiercely at the dark paladin as he began to walk away. "You think you're above your duties?! You think you can abandon us?!"
"I can do whatever I want!" Rayden shouted back as he left. "I'm a fallen avatar! A failed vessel! I have no more responsibility than an exile! So stay out of my way and out of my business!"

Angrily stalking back to the dimly burning fire Ranma had made, Rayden took the heavy blade off of his back and slammed it on the ground at the base of the flames.
Ranma peeked open an eye. "Didn't go well?"
The demonic knight frowned. "Well... she's not angry about being knocked out, and she won't be bothering townsfolk anymore, if that's what you mean."
Ranma shrugged and rolled over, curled up under his blanket. "I heard some of the shouting. Bunch of stuff about your mission and the Brotherhood being in trouble, right?"
"Yeah. It's one of those complicated omni-religious conflicts."
"Sounds rough," Ranma mumbled, yawning. "Anyway, we'll reach Taer'Kul tomorrow, so... uh... whatever it is that you do at night while not sleeping, make sure you do it. 'Night."
Rayden sweatdropped as Ranma immediately dropped his head back, dead asleep. "Huh... maybe I'll go take a walk..."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

"Sssha! Human! Wake yourself!"
Ranma groaned as the loud noise and a jab to the shoulder disturbed his rest, and rolled over while keeping his eyes squeezed shut. "Geez... 'human' this, and 'human' that... I hava name, y'know..."
The grend poking at the barely-conscious Ninja hissed and jabbed him again with the barrel of his rifle. "Get up, or your life is forfeit, fool! There's a sizable bounty on your head, and it'sss not particular about what other parts are still attached!"
Ranma grimaced and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he assessed the situation.
'Two guys above me... one rifle, one axe. Axe man has K. More axes around the camp. How many... six. Plus three holding farther away with big cloaks on; probably gunners.' "All right, all right. I'm up."
The pigtailed man stared down the barrel of the rifle, then frowned at the reptilian demon holding it. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
The grends all looked startled at this statement, and Ranma continued.
"I mean, have I not killed enough of you morons already? Is that it? Why didn't you attack while I was still asleep? At least you would have had SOME chance then. Now I'm not even going to get enough practice to skip morning workout. Jerks."
*Blam!* Without even wasting more time on taunts, the grend holding the rifle pulled the trigger, only to find that at some point Ranma had grabbed the barrel of the weapon and pulled it back past his head.
*Whock!* Ranma twisted his wrist slightly as he shoved the gun stock into the grend's throat, and then easily swept behind the creature as it stooped over, stunned from the blow to its windpipe.
*Shling!* *Shwick!* *Skrak!*
The other hunters looked on in shock as their leader was sliced open before their eyes, his assailant bearing small knives from nowhere and drawing each across, or stabbing it into, a vital spot with graceful, lazy movements that none of the demons could hope to track properly.

*Whump!* The grend leader hit the ground a bloody mess, and Ranma stepped back so that the rapidly expanding pool of crimson wouldn't get on his boots.
"Okay, so how're we gonna do this?" The wanderer said sleepily, grasping the bloodied daggers fanned out between his fingers. "One at a time, bum rush, or are you gonna let the gunners try and get me first?"
"Slishna karrr roocha!" One of the axe-wielding demons shouted in a rage, suddenly taking off toward Ranma in a mad sprint as all the other skirmishers, except the nearest one holding K, joined in the charge.
Ranma let the knives fall to the ground. "Bum rush! Excellent choice!" Then he placed his gauntleted hand on the hilt of his katana, slowly identifying when each grend had reached a precise point in his attack path. Once each one had, he closed his grip. "Silver blitzkrieg!"

The grend that held K clasped tightly in one claw gaped in shock as he saw his companions ripped apart, though to his eyes Ranma's attack consisted of a comet zig-zagging wildly between the assault lines of his companions, followed by vicious silver flashes that themselves preluded great washes of blood.
In a mere four seconds, Ranma skidded to a stop past the last opponent, and calmly sheathed his blade as the bodies behind him fell to the ground with a series of wet impacts.
Inwardly, he was grinning like a madman. 'Dang, no normal sword could have survived that kind of abuse! Looks like the old Master was good for more than weird-ass metaphors.'
"Oh-kay! Next up: You, or the gunners?" Ranma asked the grend holding K hostage, who backed away fearfully at the attention.
The sound of rustling cloth behind him answered Ranma's question, and he turned his head as three minigun barrels emerged from under the cloaks.
He sweatdropped. "Miniguns? Dang, just how much IS my bounty?"
The grend, predictably, didn't deign to answer, and Ranma scrambled away as his position was torn apart by super-high volume gunfire, throwing up as much dirt and debris as would explosive cannons from the sheer volume of ammunition fired.
Ranma threw himself behind a convenient boulder, and grimaced as he felt his cover shake from the onslaught of lead. 'Wasn't expecting high-quality weapons from these twits. This might be tricky...' While he was more than capable of dodging gunfire from small arms and even the older heavy machine guns, weapons like miniguns and chainguns fired such ridiculous volumes of ammunition that the best his superior dexterity could offer him was a good head-start on running away.
Calming himself as the gunfire began to wane (some of the guns had jammed or required reloading, no doubt) he stretched out his ki senses to see where the demon holding K had moved to.
To his surprise, he picked up something else far more easily, and smirked as he continued to search for K. "'Bout time he came in handy!"

*BRAA-AA-AA-AAP!* Smoke started to pour from the engine of the minigun as its wielder continued to strafe the rock outcropping where their prey had gone into hiding, the powerful but poorly maintained weapon overheating as the grend firing it bought time for his companions to reload.
One of them finished doing so, and swung his minigun back toward the target's cover, barrels already spinning.
As the first demon gunner finally let go of the trigger so that his weapon could cool and reload, he sensed something else amiss about the situation. Subtle changes to senses that were common in all demons, but still dull and feeble to the grend race, alerted him to a shifting of the mana flows nearby, and the beast turned away from his weapon to look behind him.
*GS-ZHACK!!* The other gunners stopped firing in shock as they saw their companion's head explode in a haze of shadow energy and black lightning, and they stared through smoky goggles as the reptilian corpse suddenly crumpled forward, still attached as it was to the weight of its gun.
Rayden grinned as the other two turned toward him. "Well well, look who's been causing trouble the moment I turn my back! I knew I made the right choice following this kid! Void bullet!" He released two more fireballs in the general direction of the remaining two gunners, and one of the demons was swept away in the detonation as the other dodged to the side, swinging his gun around to bear.
"YO-SHA NIRL!!" *BRAA-AA-AA-AAP!*
The dark paladin grunted as his body was pounded with an almost continuous beam of lead, and Rayden braced his arms in front of his face in an effort to keep his more sensitive spots from being torn apart.
*Kchng!* The minigun suddenly shook in the grend's hands as it's ammunition feed jammed, and the reptilian demon snarled as it started beating at the weapon furiously.
Rayden shook his head to clear it, more impressed than usual by the power of human weaponry.
"Endgame, scaly!" He shouted as he charged, calling energy into his fist. "Shadow break!"

Ranma cracked his knuckles as he approached the remaining grend, who in turn held up K under his axe threateningly as it backed away.
"S-Stay right there, human! I can ssstill get a reward for the dragon! If you take another step, I'll kill it here and now!" Inwardly, the grend was praying to its own multitude of Gods that this tactic worked as well on humans as it was rumored to. Having grown up in demonic and draconic civilizations all his life, he had never heard of taking hostages successfully preventing the death of the hostage taker.
Ranma did stop, and then frowned.
"Don't listen to this punk!" K crowed angrily, squirming in the demon's mighty claws. "Do your Ninja thing, Ranma! You'll cut him open before he's even realized you moved!"
Ranma raised an eyebrow at this. 'Before he even realizes I moved, huh... okay...' Figuring out an approach in his head, he started with his usual showdown tactic: irritating banter.
"So, wait, level with me here. K is COMPLETELY covered by super-hard metal scales. Could you even kill him with that axe in the time it takes me to walk up and cut your head off?"
The grend sweatdropped. "I, uh... I don't..." then he snarled. "I'm sure you don't want to find out! Ssso don't move a muscle!"
Ranma smirked. "Nah. Now you've piqued my curiosity."
K began to bigsweat. "Whoa. Hey. Wait a minute. Let's be cool, here."
"Uselessss dragon!" The grend roared, choking up on his axe to bring it down through K's neck.
*Shwk!* "Grk!"
K's eyes widened as a katana point burst out of the grend's chest, causing the demon to lurch forward in shock and pain.
"Bu-But... how?" The reptilian mumbled weakly, as the ki generated image of Ranma that had been standing in front of it suddenly vanished.

Ranma smirked and wrenched his katana free, idly shaking the blood off as the grend's corpse tumbled forward.
K scrambled free of the dead creature's grasp, and then started scraping the dust off himself with his wings. "I have to admit, I'm torn between the awe of how cool that was, and the anger at you almost getting my head chopped off."
"I'll take that as a 'thanks for saving me'," Ranma said cockily, sheathing his blade. Then he turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Good timing there, Ray! Thanks for the hand!"
Rayden, whose left hand still had smoke trailing from it, and whose stomach and chest looked torn and bloody (though Ranma was starting to get used to that look on him), walked up to the campsite looking irritated. "Man, I leave for twenty minutes to go get breakfast, and you get into a fight without me. It's not fair!"
"Yeah. Fine. Next time we'll tell the assassins to wait for you to get back." Then Ranma planted his fists on his hips. "Speaking of breakfast, where is it?"
"I dropped it when I heard gunfire. I'll go get it in a sec." Walking up to the campfire, Rayden picked up his sword, which he had left there since the previous night. Then he drew it, and shoved it into the ground. "Be right back." Then the dark paladin turned away to go retrieve the morning meal.

Ranma and K both sweatdropped as they watched the planted greatsword glow a dim blue, and then their faces darkened as they watched the numerous grend corpses tremble, as if in the grasp of some invisible power.
*Splorch!* Then they all burst open, blood splashing and oozing out of new cuts and wounds that hadn't been there a moment before.
"You see? You see what I mean? It's stuff like this. This is exactly what I was afraid of," Ranma said to his dragon, who could only nod mutely as he watched the pooling blood slowly wind its way toward the blade implanted in the ground. "This is the sort of thing that follows a guy around for the rest of his life. From here on out I'll be known as 'one of those guys with the sword that eats the dead' or something."
"Well, maybe if you keep up the hero act, you can at least be 'one of the benevolent guys with the sword that eats the dead'. Being creepy and morbid doesn't automatically make one evil. And it can be a good selling point for mercenary groups."
"But I'm NOT creepy or morbid," Ranma groused, watching now as the demonic blade somehow soaked up the blood through its diamond-hard edge.
K shrugged. "Well... then you may want to look into it. You ARE skilled in an assassin's art."
Ranma twitched. "Whatever he brought for breakfast better be DAMN good..."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

Needless to say, neither Ranma nor his steel-clad companion was in the least amused when Rayden trotted back to camp carrying a wet, glistening deathcrawler corpse that had its head smashed in and its abdomen removed.
"What the hell is this?" Ranma mumbled, gesturing to the dead arachnid. 'Please don't say breakfast, please don't breakfast, please don't say-'
"Breakfast!" Rayden said happily, lugging his load over to the campfire.
"Dammit, I knew it," Ranma said miserably, hanging his head. "His entire metabolism is probably some monster nuclear engine that feeds off venom and the souls of orphans or something."
Rayden sweatdropped as he stoked the fire. "Would you knock it off? I don't feed off souls."
"You know that deathcrawlers aren't edible by human standards, right?" K said haughtily, flapping his wings. "Their entire bodies are poisonous! I mean, I could eat it without any problems, but even so, it would taste gross! We can't eat poison!"
"For your information, Mr. Know-It-All," Rayden snapped, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest. "I know exactly what humans can and can't eat. And deathcrawler's bodies aren't entirely poisonous if you remove the venom glands and clean the body properly."
Ranma grimaced. "That's... great. But still... it's a giant spider."
Rayden speared the dead monster on his sword, and then held it over the rejuvenated fire. "Yeah? So? I know it's not typically a breakfast food, but I can never pass up deathcrawler." After a moment, he reached into his pocket for some leaves, and then crushed them in his hands.
K stared as the dread knight began sticking the crushed herbs into the sockets and joints of the roasting corpse. "He's seasoning the spider..."
"Yes K, I can see that," Ranma groaned, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
"All done! Man, this stuff cooks fast!" The dark paladin said gleefully, turning around and holding out his sword, arachnid still impaled, to his companions. "Go on, rip off a leg or dig into the thorax!"
Ranma looked up at the charred, curled-up carapace (though it was difficult to tell, with the shell being solid black to start with). "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Come on! You gotta at least try it!" Rayden insisted, shaking the sword slightly and making the legs wiggle in such a way that Ranma's stomach churned.
K backed away. "You first, man. I 'aint touching that."
The pigtailed man sighed. 'What the hell, I let him tag along with me, didn't I?' With that thought, and a crude grimace, Ranma wrenched off the ends of one of the legs, eyeing the exposed joint socket. Hot steam wafted from the fluffy white meat inside, speckled with dark spots which Ranma guessed to be the spices.
'Huh... doesn't actually look that bad.' Taking out a bit between his fingers, Ranma quickly popped it into his mouth, fully prepared to engage his gag reflex if necessary.
"Hmmm... Hummm... Hhhhm!" *Gulp!*
Rayden shook his head. "I have to admit, it's not really that good without lemon or butter. And we don't have any of that. But still, I thought it was the best option we had available."
"Ranma?" K asked worriedly. "You okay, man?"
Ranma stood up suddenly, his hands shaking. "This... This tastes just like crab! This is great!" With that said, he immediately started chewing apart the spider leg.
"It tastes like WHAT? Crabs aren't edible..." Rayden murmured, scratching his head as he recalled the gargantuan man-eating beasts of some far-off realm. "What'd you mean by that? Is it no good?"
*Scarf!* *Chomp!* *Gulp!* *Chomp!*
Rayden sweatdropped as it became apparent that Ranma wouldn't be speaking anytime soon. "Oh well. K, you wanna piece? K?"
*Chomp!* *Crunch!* *Snap!* *Gulp!*
A second sweatdrop joined the first as the demonic knight watched the metadragon gorge himself... on the miniguns from the dead grend gunners.
"Dude... we coulda pawned those..."
ญญญ__________________________________________________________________________________

Former American military research base. Codename: Delta Prime. Location: India highlands. Primary function: central base for research team Delta, designated as the U.S. government's primary researchers of mana-based artifact recovery and analysis. Recorded time of facility operations shutdown: Unknown.

*Whump!* *Whump!* *Thud!*
Two giant armored mecha skimmed the length of the desecrated base on wiry, reverse joint legs, crossing over craters and debris easily with every stride as they scanned the area vigilantly, their weapons constantly moving to cover any vector of enemy attack.
Both the mecha bore an identical distinguishing mark on their large shoulder pauldrons: a downward-pointing triangle with an eight-pointed star pattern within it. Stamped over that emblem were the letters I.E.F., known to most of the modern world to be the Israeli Expeditionary Force.
Walking in the wake of the mecha at a more sedate pace, a tall woman with sandy hair tied in a ponytail shook her head as she observed the wreckage of the facility. She was wearing what most people would consider a camouflage pattern one-piece bathing suit, weapons and utility belt, army boots, and leather gloves, although the more traveled or magic-friendly would have recognized the main outfit as being a simple sorceress's uniform, and the more military-minded would have recognized that the decorations tacked onto the breast of the outfit designated its wearer as a Colonel.
Trailing the woman was a juga, its heavy gray carapace glinting in the early morning sun and almost making it seem as if the demon was sheathed in metal rather than a natural shell.
The Colonel ripped a walkie-talkie from her belt and pushed the button. "Karen Molsk here. We've reached the facility's remains. At first glance, there appears to be no survivors, and the attackers are long gone."
*Affirmative, Colonel,* a voice crackled back at her, *have the recon mechs continue a sweep of the area and confirm that there are no enemy units present. Can you tell us anything about the current condition of the camp?*
"I can tell you lots of things," Karen said somberly. "It doesn't look like a single structure was spared obliteration. And the wreckage has obviously been carefully sifted through; it's likely the attackers took anything valuable or salvageable..." she looked distastefully around the compound. "Assuming there WAS anything valuable or salvagaeble after the bombardment. From the level of damage caused here, I'd guarantee that the hostiles were attempting to annihilate the base, not secure anything from it. I'd imagine anything that survived did so by pure chance."
*Is it possible they razed the facility after they stole its contents?*
Karen shrugged. "Possible, yes. If they were really willing to go through the trouble to dig through the blasted rubble so realistically. There was some serious moving done, and it was all done after this place was toasted." Then she grimaced. "On an unrelated note, the remains of the former personnel are still here. It looks like they were only moved to facilitate digging through the wrecked structures."
*Can you tell what did this?*
"Gimme a sec. Molsk out."
Turning around, Karen noted that the juga that had accompanied her was leaning over a dismembered lower torso, its antennae extended.
"Teema, you getting anything?"
The demon looked up, and its mouthparts clicked together rapidly. "Krsh nahal saim ktk!"
"Hmm... magic... but it doesn't look it was elemental in nature..." elemental magic, being the simplest and most common type among mages and sorcerors, mimicked natural forces such as ice, wind, and fire to cause damage. All of which would have left signs of their use. "There isn't even enough residual burning around the blast areas for them to have been caused by fire magic; the burns were caused through direct contact with the energy of the detonation." She scratched her chin as she observed one of the craters closely. "That leaves... lumina magic and shadow magic." She left unspoken which was more likely to be used to crush a human encampment as she took up her walkie-talkie once more.
"This is Molsk again. Teema thinks a magi did it. Or at least most of it. Some of these bodies were killed in melee."
*This is Bloodhound 6, I've finished my recon rounds. Scanners are showing a few residual mana patterns. Too faint to make out anything, though.*
"And they're just as likely to be from the cleanup or the camp's experiments as from the attacker," Karen mused. "Still, there should be more than just 'a few'. I'm thinking shadow mages, here."
*Are you sure it's not from energy weapons? I'm reading a lot of electrostatic buildup.*
"Energy weapons? From where? The Empire has no beef with Americans digging way out here."
*Our initial reports suggest the facility had a shield generator. That may explain it.*
Karen sighed. "Okay, let's stop grasping at straws, here. 6, 4, you sure there're no nasties out there?"
*Roger.* *We're clean.*
"All right then. Let's get a crew out here to bag up the personnel for transport back to the U.S. Then we can get some more serious analysis done."
*Affirmative Colonel. We'll get to the bottom of this.*

***********************************************************************************

End Chapter 8