Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Located more than a hundred-million-kilometers away, far removed from the chaotic tide sweeping across Mundus Magicus, a fashionable young girl in her early teens could be seen walking amongst the crowded streets of Tokyo. Her presence drew a substantial amount of attention, as, despite the rampant growth of Otaku culture in the 1980s, it was still exceptionally rare to see a western beauty walking around with a gothic-style dress and parasol.

Feeling emboldened by the fact the young girl was alone, a group of teens, consisting of five older boys in greaser attire and two much younger girls with dyed-blonde hair decided to call out to the girl in their native tongue. They assumed she was either the daughter of a family touring Tokyo, or, based on her choice of garb, the bratty child of some business mogul. Either way, she seemed like an easy target, and, after successfully corrupting a few middle and high school girls using methods such as blackmail and threats of violence, the boys, tentative members of the local Yakuza, had a lot of confidence in themselves.

After tossing aside a half-smoked cigarette, the oldest member of the group, a boy with a ’stylish’ pompadour that was dyed pitch black adopted a wolfish grin as he called out, "Hey, hey, where is this Ojou-sama off to without an escort? Did you lose your parents or something?"

Finding his colleague’s words amusing, one of the younger members of the group, his slicked-back hair dyed a sickly shade of blond, snickered before adding, "Maybe we should teach her on behalf of her parents. Who knows, she might even start calling us ’Daddy’ if we educate her properly!"

Following the duo’s words, the other members of the group burst into laughter as the walked over, casually encircling the girl while glowering at anyone nearby. This caused the majority of people to simply look away, as, even if they successfully intervened, they would just end up causing problems for themselves. Nobody wanted to be identified as ’nosy’ by prospective members of the Yakuza as it was the same as inviting them to track you down at home or work to make an example of you.

Seeing everyone turn their attention away, some even going so far as to cover their faces with their briefcases, the young girl just shook her head, a tired sigh escaping her lips. Despite this, she didn’t seem even remotely troubled by the fact there was a group encircling her, a bored look on her face as she stared back at the oldest in the group and asked in fluent Japanese, "Do you know where the Minato Church of Christ is located? If you answer honestly, I will do my best to avoid crippling you completely."

Though they were more than a little surprised by the girl’s fluent Japanese, it was the context of her words that got the biggest reaction out of the group. It didn’t take a genius to understand she was threatening them, so, with a vicious look on his face, the oldest boy in the group attempted to walk within centimeters of the young girl so that he could tower over her. The moment he took a single step forward, however, an excruciating pain radiated from his lower body as the only feeling in his legs was absolute agony.

Noticing their ’leader’ collapse, his hands covering a bloody groin, the other four boys attempted to charge the girl, two aiming for her wrists, one aiming for her hair, and the last pulling out an ornate switchblade to try and intimidate her. Unfortunately for each of them, their only reward was suffering the same fate as their first comrade, incomprehensible pain radiating through their bodies as they collapsed on the ground, writing about with both hands covering their crotches.

Seeing the boys taken down in an instant, one of the girls released a high-pitched scream as she fell onto her butt. The other, seemingly forgetting they were the ones attempting to take advantage of the girl, looked to the surroundings for help only to find the streets had suddenly become empty. It was like the entire city had become a ghost town in an instant, and, by the time she looked back to the golden-haired beauty she had previously pitied and resented, the temperature had dropped to well below freezing.

Staring back at the Japanese schoolgirl who, going by appearances, was either in her final year of middle-school or first year of high-school, the golden-haired beauty, Eva, stated, "Even if you were forced into your current position, taking pleasure in the misery of others makes you no better than these mongrels. Though it would have caused you greater pain, it is always better to resist tyranny and die with dignity than it is to abandon your principles and side with the people who used you..."

Hearing the foreigner’s words, the Japanese schoolgirl felt a considerable amount of resentment swell up inside of her, tears building in her eyes as she replied, "You don’t know anything...you are probably just some brat that never had to work a day in her life! What do you know of the misery and pain we had to go through, you, you bitch!?"

Immediately following her outburst, the young woman felt a sickly feeling in her stomach as a sharp pain radiated from both her neck and cheek. The world around her spun a few times before she lost her balance, dropping to the ground with a bloodied nose, a blackened eye, and a severely swollen cheek. It felt like all of her thoughts had been slapped out of her, and, for several seconds, the only thing her mind was capable of processing was a dulling pain as her body went into a state of shock.

Without sparing the girl another glance, Eva turned her attention to the one who had screamed out like a banshee. She was even worse than the former, as, unlike her, the latter seemed to have some kind of relationship with the oldest boy in the group. Eva was very sensitive to negative energy and was even able to read their minds to an extent so she knew the older of the two girls helped to lure in and blackmail others. She had even been responsible for the bloodied girl falling into the group’s hands, inviting her out to karaoke only to have her raped by several men after drugging her drink.

Though Eva pitied the victimized girl’s situation, she had no compassion for people who used their suffering as an excuse to revel in the misery of others. Trying to make yourself feel better by ruining the lives of others made you no better than the people who had abused you. It didn’t matter what your justification was, as, the moment you began proactively contributing to the suffering of others, you were just as guilty.

Feeling more than a little disgusted at the current situation, Eva manifested a stake of ice to nail the wailing girl’s hand to the ground. This finally caught the girl’s attention, an ear-piercing yowl of pain escaping her throat before she looked back at Eva, her eyes filled with fear, panic, and hatred as she shouted, "Why are you doing this to us!? We didn’t even do anything to you! We were just messing with you!"

Ignoring the girl’s words, Eva pulled her up by the hair, earning another pained shriek from the girl who attempted to frantically kick and thrash about. She had become completely delirium from the pain, and, feeling as if her life was on the line, adrenaline began to surge through her body as she attempted to break free from Eva’s grasp. Unfortunately, the only thing she got for her troubles was being tossed unceremoniously by the hair, her body landing hard on the asphalt and forcing the air from her lungs.

The more Eva learned about the girl, the stronger her desire to kill both her and the group of boys slowly bleeding out. This was one of the reasons she chose to live far away from population zones, as, even without her Magia Erebea, her sensitivity towards negative energy and darkness was simply too high. As for why she didn’t just trap them in an illusion, like many others who had attempted to approach her, it was because she sensed a ’familiar’ presence within the girl that immediately drew her attention.

After remaining motionless on the ground for several seconds, the beaten and bruised girls’ body started to swell slightly as palpable darkness began to emanate from her body. Her skin, which had previously been covered in a false tan, began flaking away to reveal an unnatural grey, and, after a few more seconds had passed, even the color of her hair began to fade into sickly white.

Seeing the transformation, Eva just snorted through her nose before lifting her left hand and asking, "Tell me, Ghoul. Where is your Master?"

Rather than answer the question, the now monstrous-looking schoolgirl raised her head to reveal a pair of blood-red eyes, claws protruding from her fingers as she shouted, "I’m going to devour your flesh you fucking-"

Without waiting for the creature’s expletives, Eva froze her entire body in an ice pillar before pulling out a compass similar to the one Vahn had gifted the young Naomi. It was able to point toward the direction of whatever its user desired, but, for a variety of reasons, Eva had always struggled to use it properly. In this situation, however, the arrow firmly pointed towards downtown Tokyo for a few seconds before shifting away moments later as Eva muttered, "I don’t have the time to go hunting false Vampires..."

With most of Japan falling under the jurisdiction of the Kansai Magic Association, a group that had proactively hunted her in the past, Eva didn’t really feel like doing their job for them. She also knew it was futile to try and eliminate all evil in the world, so, after briefly considering whether or not she should follow up on her urge to kill the scoundrel converting schoolgirls into Ghouls, Eva eventually just shook her head and walked away. The most she would do is send a tip to the Association, as, in the end, it was their ultimately their responsibility to deal with such things...

Following Eva’s departure, the bodies of the six remaining teens seemed to spontaneously manifest in the middle of the heavily populated throughway. This startled a number of people, causing a few other school-age girls to release ear-piercing screams while others began to form a crowd. Notably, none of the pedestrians tried to offer any assistance to the injured teens, many choosing to observe while only a few had the wherewithal to call the police and an ambulance.

Due to the garb of the youths, none of the people present wanted to get involved, so, while a few had thought to help the sobbing woman, the fact nobody else tried to help prevented others from stepping in. It wasn’t until a group resembling Shinto priests arrived that the group crowd began to disperse, seemingly as if the incident had no impact on their lives. They didn’t even question where the group of priests had come from, and, by the time the police actually arrived, there were no on-site witnesses to give an account of what had happened...

Though the compass ended up leading her all over the place, Eva eventually found herself, not at a temple, but outside of a four-story residence. It had a rather spartan exterior, common for buildings within the city, but, even at a glance, it was easy to tell the residence was rather high end. Not only was it built from more expensive materials, but, due to its location on the outskirts of a region that was occupied by literal mansions, the cost of rent had to be around ¥100,000-150,000 per month.

After staring up at the building for several minutes, Eva extended her hand towards the entrance as a magical barrier, invisible to most, manifested beneath her palm. Unlike a normal barrier, however, the runes comprising the spell circle were written in ancient Aramaic, and, most notably, the used a symbol resembling a crucifix in lieu of a standard geometric ward. This was generally thought to be impossible, as, for a variety of reasons, magic was simply incompatible with anything even remotely resembling Christian symbology.

Seeing the familiar magic circle, a reminiscent smile spread across Eva’s face as she pushed through the barrier without any resistance. The owner of the building was currently absent, but, after feeling someone pass through the barrier, they were bound to return posthaste. Until then, Eva decided to make herself comfortable, trespassing the master bedroom without any hesitation before entering the walk-in closet to see what kind of clothing her former companion had become accustomed to...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Ah, the 80s...what a time to be alive...’,’Ain’t nobody got time fo dat’,’"Oh? Is this a Maid outfit I spy~?")