Chapter 26: Return to Aokigahara Forest

As they watched the city crumble, Celeste turned her gaze toward Alex's mangled body and spoke softly to Natsumi. “Please, lay him down.”

Natsumi nodded and gently set Alex on the ground. Celeste knelt beside him, the broken wing stubs on her back faintly glowing with lingering divine light as she hovered her hands over his wounds. “You have worked really hard today,” she said gently.

Alex gave a faint chuckle. “No, all I really did was try my best to survive.”

Celeste smiled weakly. “Now hold still. Healing broken bones is going to hurt quite a bit, so bear with it.”

Alex nodded. Celeste’s palms began to glow with a soft golden light as her healing magic spread through his broken body. Natsumi came to his side and held his hand tightly while Celeste worked. The bones in his legs shifted and snapped back into place with a sickening crunch before knitting together again. His arm followed, the fractures sealing as warmth flowed through his limbs.

Alex gritted his teeth, groaning through the pain as Natsumi squeezed his hand. Celeste’s voice was calm but strained. “Hang in there just a little longer. It’s almost done.”

Finally, the radiant light dimmed, and the glow faded from her hands. Alex exhaled shakily, his body now whole again, the agony replaced by an aching relief. “Thanks,” he muttered, breathless.

Celeste gave a small, relieved smile. “You did well, Alex.”

Alex then gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up, standing on trembling legs. His newly healed body was sore from the bones shifting back into place. Natsumi frowned, worry clear in her voice. “You shouldn’t move just yet.”

Alex shook his head. “No, we gotta go. The city may have collapsed, but the Legion’s abominations are still down there. It’s only a matter of time before they get out. We need to move now and make it to the portal before it can fully reform and escape that cavern.”

Celeste nodded firmly. “Yes, you’re correct. While its other half is buried, the main body won’t be as strong. Getting to the portal should be a bit easier.”

They both stood as Alex drew Muramasa and handed it to Natsumi. She took the katana with a solemn expression while Alex pulled Onimaru from his side. Without another word, the three turned and began making their way back toward Aokigahara Forest once again.

They finally reached Aokigahara Forest as they slowed their pace, only a few hundred feet remaining between them and the twisted woods. Celeste stopped and said, “Everyone, be prepared. Stay focused and keep your eyes on the surroundings. This is Legion’s lair and where his true body probably is. We’ve got a tough fight ahead of us, so make sure you’re ready.”

Alex turned to Natsumi. “Natsumi, you came from the portal here before. Do you know exactly where it is?”

Natsumi shook her head. “No. After I entered, all the hands and eyes looking at me and those creepy corpses hanging from the trees frightened me. I just ran as fast as I could to get out of the forest. That’s where I bumped into you.”

Alex sighed. “Man, I guess it’s going to be tough getting through this again.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced toward the dark treeline. “Looks like we’re going to have to rely on that tugging feeling I get from the portal to find it. Oh well, let me get fully prepared for this then.”

He reached behind him and drew Bunyan’s Axe, gripping it firmly as he also raised Onimaru. Dual wielding the two weapons, Alex stared into the mist-shrouded forest ahead, ready for whatever awaited them.

As they stepped beneath the forest’s choking canopy, a cold hush swallowed the world. It did not take long before the dead made themselves known. Eyes that still shone in the sockets of corpses hanging from the trees swung toward them. Eyes and mouths opened in the hollows of the trees, and a chorus of voices, many layered and wrong, poured from the shadows.

“We did not expect to see you come back here,” they spoke in unison. “But this is great news for us. You willingly walked back into our territory, where we can easily assimilate you all. Then you will be one with us.”

Alex’s hand tightened around Onimaru. He stepped forward, the edge of Bunyan’s Axe catching faint, corrupted light. “I don’t think so,” he shouted, voice cutting through the forest’s murmurs. “We’re here to finish it. Today will be the last day you bother us, damn demon.”

Natsumi then stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper near Alex’s ear. “Why are you provoking him, Alex? Don’t we want to avoid a fight if we can? Why would you tell him we’re here to fight?”

Alex kept his eyes on the shadows ahead. “I just want to throw him off. If he figures out we’re after the portal instead of him, he’ll block it and make it harder for us to get through.”

Natsumi blinked, then nodded slowly. “Oh, that’s a really good idea.”

Natsumi forced a grin and stepped forward, Muramasa held out in a shaky, defiant arc. “That’s right. Today will be your last day. We’re going to totally destroy you.” Her voice came out thin and awkward, not quite matching the tremor in her hands.

Legion’s laughter echoed through the trees, a sound like rock grinding on bone. “Fools,” the voice rolled from every direction. “We will crush you. This time there will be no getting away. Our other half is already on its way. Soon there will be nowhere for you to run.”

Alex turned toward the distant tree line, his breath catching for a moment. Through the thin veil of mist, he could just make out a faint, massive silhouette moving far beyond the forest, a shadow too large to mistake for anything else. Legion. Even from that distance, its shape loomed like a nightmare against the fading light, and Alex’s expression hardened. “He’s coming,” he muttered.

Celeste snapped to action. “We need to hurry! The longer we stand around, the worse our chances will be. Let’s go now!” she shouted before rushing forward into the shadows of the forest.

From the trees ahead, abominations began to creep forward. Their twisted forms peeked through the mist and branches, leaping out at the group with grotesque roars. Alex, Celeste, and Natsumi met them head-on, cutting each one down as they burst from the trees. Onimaru cleaved through flesh and bone, while Muramasa’s cursed edge pulsed with every strike.

The forest itself seemed alive with malice. Corpses hanging by their necks suddenly dropped from the branches, clawing and grasping for anything they could reach, desperate to halt the trio’s advance. Yet the three pushed forward through the chaos, cutting a path through Legion’s domain as the forest closed in around them.

Each step deeper made the air heavier, the whispers louder, and the ground slicker with decay. Alex could already feel it, getting through this was only going to get harder.

Suddenly, a thunderous crack split the air as one enormous abomination crashed through the canopy above, its twisted frame plunging straight toward the group. Alex reacted instantly, spinning Bunyan’s Axe in his grip, turning it to the flat side, and swinging upward with all his strength.

The impact struck like a cannon blast. The flat of the axe connected squarely with the creature’s torso, and a violent ripple tore through its body. A heartbeat later, the abomination exploded into a rain of flesh and black ichor, the shockwave blasting outward. Trees buckled and toppled in the distance, their splintered trunks echoing through the forest as the corpses hanging from their branches were flung down, crashing to the ground moments after. The numerous body parts packed into the hollows and cracks of each tree fell like rain, splattering against the ground.

For a few seconds, all was chaos, falling wood and the wet slap of dismembered remains hitting the soil. Then the forest went still again but only for a moment.

From deep within the forest came a growing rumble, branches snapping, soil shifting, and the sickening chorus of roars echoing closer. Countless abominations were rushing forward, their twisted silhouettes moving between the trees. When Natsumi caught sight of them, her face went pale. These were the ones she hated most, the ones with multiple arms and heads, bodies fused together in writhing, grotesque forms.

“Stay away, scary ones!” Natsumi shouted, her fear mixing with defiance. She wanted to strike them down now, before they could get too close. If they did, she knew panic would take over, and once that happened, she might lose control again. She couldn’t allow that, not this time.

She raised Muramasa, the blade pulsing with dark energy as she gathered her strength. In a burst of strength, she swung it over and over, each strike releasing a massive wave of dark energy that sliced through the forest.

The air howled as the black arcs of energy sliced through everything in their path, along with the charging abominations. The monstrous creatures were sliced apart, shredded into heaps of meat and splintered limbs. The forest floor was soon littered with massive chunks of flesh, blood and trees, the path ahead momentarily cleared by her attack.

Amid the chaos, Celeste danced around Alex, slicing down any abomination that dared come near him. Her movements were swift and fluid, each strike precise as she refused to let a single creature reach him. Alex closed his eyes for a brief moment, focusing past the noise and decay. That faint tugging sensation from before began to pull at him again, subtle but insistent, pointing somewhere deeper within the woods. He turned sharply as his eyes opened. “There it is,” he said firmly. “Hey, girls, this way!”

Without hesitation, Alex broke into a sprint through the forest, cutting through abominations, limbs, and corpses with Onimaru as Celeste and Natsumi followed close behind. The three pressed onward through the dense, cursed woods, fighting their way toward the portal hidden deep within the heart of Aokigahara Forest.