The Flayed Man (2)

Wading through a maze of meat hooks and darkness, Hiro and Reo navigated their way through the abandoned meat processing plant. Reo threw caution to the wind, trudging up and down the dusty halls akin to a baroness. Hiro took a more cautious approach, trailing behind the girl with a blood knife at the ready.

The warehouse was, for all intents and purposes, devoid of life. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time now. There were no fresh cadavers hanging on hooks, or hordes of workers sorting and processing meat. There was no thrumming of dusty generators or the buzzing of fluorescent lights. This was as desolate as it got.

Whatever is in here must be hiding from us.

"Hey, I get you don't like me, and we maybe started off on the wrong foot, but shouldn't we at least try to work together on this?" Hiro pleaded.

Reo looked behind her shoulder, eyeing the sanguinar with a hint of annoyance and reluctance. "Fine," she relented. "But don't get in my way or I'll stab you."

"Good," Hiro sighed in relief. At the very least, they were making some progress. "What do you have on you right now?"

Reo only kept silent.

"Seriously? You didn't even take anything from the armory? You're unbelievable!"

Regalia were the bread and butter of every investigation. Certainly, investigator competency and combat skills factored greatly in the overall survivability of a team, but even the most stringent experts could not doubt the amount of utility regalia brought into the equation. 

Regalia were typically categorized into three types - Charms, Equipment, and Catalysts. Charms enhanced the mystical and physical abilities of investigators, as well as imparting several beneficial effects that added to survivability. Equipment included all forms of weapons and armors, thrice-blessed and imbued with the power to destroy evil. Catalysts, on the other hand, were specialized items which allowed one to retain knowledge of certain things, and even impart the ability to cast pre-programmed horrors and abilities.

"I don't need any second-rate regalias to weight me down," she huffed.

Hiro shook his head. 
Fortunately, he had the wherewithal to come prepared. 

Before leaving Sakamoto High-Rise, he raided the department armory, taking what he felt would be needed for the investigation. First he swiped a blessed Traffic Safety Charm, a consecrated charm that staved off negative effects to give him an extra layer of protection. In terms of weapons, he didn't really need anything outside of his blood-bending abilities. Instead, he equipped some Lightweight Spider Mail, a mesh of protective chainmail made from reinforced tsuchigumo silk. He also handpicked the 'Speedy High Anomality Detection Equipment Series' visor, shortened to SHADES for ease of pronunciation. It was a reliable charm piece that allowed detection of anomalous objects and entities invisible to the naked eye. It also doubled as a pair of sunglasses. Finally, he chose a utility catalyst for his final piece, Fox Fire, a spell that could create a glowing ball of fire to attack enemies or illuminate the darkness.

"Whatever," Hiro took out the Shades and propped it up on the bridge of his nose. "Don't come crying to me when you get eaten by a Ghoul."

"You look like a dork with those glasses on," Reo sneered. "Seriously, just trust your instincts. Why would you need to dress up like a Christmas tree for every investigation? It's not like-"

From the darkness ahead, the shadows shifted. A shrill sonorous cry reverberated throughout the empty warehouse. Reo jumped back, startled. Suddenly, a shadow as tall as the ceiling shot down the hallway towards the them. 

"Now we're talking!" Thinking quickly, Reo transformed her hand into a sharp blade. She shifted her stance and threw her weight forward for a heavy cleave.

"Are you an idiot?" Hiro screamed, but it was too late. Reo's bladed hand passed harmlessly through the shadow's ethereal body. 

"Shit," she cursed as her momentum sent her careening straight into the dark mass.

In an instant, a cloud of freezing dark smoke wrapped itself around Reo's head. Hiro could feel the temperature drop rapidly. He could see the girl's panic as she fruitlessly tried to pull it off. Her slim fingers only passed through the freezing cloud.

"Reo, don't move! It's a Shade!" Hiro called out.

The stubborn girl kept flailing. She bumped into a hook in a panic, and a dull metallic ringing began to propagate as chains flew into chains and hooks smacked against the walls.

"Goddamn it!"

The typical Shade. No, not the regalia. Hiro had read about it before when he was perusing the database. It was one of the more common Cursed Spirits that loved to lurk in abandoned locations. Its modus operandi was suffocating its victims by wrapping itself around their head and sapping the ambient temperature to freeze their throat and lungs. More importantly, it was immune to physical attacks.

"Hold still," he called out, pointing his open palm at the yokai girl who had now turned blue from the freeze, fear, and suffocation.

"Mmm... mmHH!"

"Fox Fire!" the Sanguinar activated the catalyst, and a glowing ball of spiritual fire engulfed Reo and the Shade. The shadow shrieked and unentangled itself, leaving the girl sprawled on the ground gasping for air.

"Hah... hah... hah...," 

"Come on, let's get you up," he offered his hand, and slowly got Reo back on her feet. "You okay?"

"I'm... yeah, I'm good." Visibly shaken, Reo could only stare at him with widened eyes. "Thanks."

"Physical attacks don't really work well on those kind of curses. You should probably-" Reo's hand rose up and clamped over his mouth. With her other hand, she signaled for him to be silent.

"Shhh," she whispered.

From the interconnected rooms and corridors swarmed countless shapes of twisting writhing humanoid bodies. Illuminated starkly by the Fox Fire, Hiro could see the army of Ghouls - maybe twenty or thirty by his count- skulk into view. This was the first time he had ever seen so many Cursed Spirits in one place. The sheer horror of the situation registered and he found himself clamoring for a breath.

Behind the horde of misshapen bodies, something large and imposing growled. It resembled a humanoid figure, but it was larger than the Ghouls which had now swarmed out in droves. It looked like a man without skin whose muscles and sinews bulged and throbbed with every movement of its tall frame. Its eyes glowed a blood-tinged crimson as it sniffed the air. As it ambled forward, it pushed the measly ghouls to the side. As it did so, it grabbed one by the torso and proceeded to place it in its mouth and bite down hard. There was an audible squelch as the ghoul was torn in half.

"What is that thing?" Reo hurried him for an answer.

Hiro struggled to place a name on the monster. He sifted through pages and pages of the database in his memory, racking his mind to hone in on its identity. It was too large to be an Elite Ghoul and its appearance wasn't something remotely resembling a Crooked Man. The sanguinar caught his breath as he realized the enormity of the foe they were dealing with.

There was only one thing it could be. 

"Shit," he cussed. "It's a Flayed Man."