Zodiac Circle

Chapter 86: The Mysterious Presence

Tamie appeared in a green field together with Kokujin. A calm breeze was waving the grass. The ruins of von Drachen estate could be seen on the meadows.

"Oh," Tamie sighed once beheld the ruins, "So sad... It is marked in his subconscious".

"Yeah... I've been here before, but due to the muse rules, I cannot disclose what happened between me and Byakuya. I can state that I met Debbie too, though," Kokujin smiled.

"Well then, guide me around!"

"Sure thing. However..."

"What is it?"

"Where is Byakuya, or at least Debbie?"

"Now that you say it..."

They heard charming tunes of a bamboo flute come from ahead - a high, foggy mountain with stairs leading up to a cavern.

"Huh? What's that?" Tamie eyed the mountain.

"Beats me," Kokujin scratched the back of his head, "Haven't seen it when I was here before".

"But the tunes come from there. Let's go".

"Wait, Goddess!" Kokujin clutched her arm, "What if it's a trap? Here, I don't have my Blue Fire powers unless Debbie - the ruler of this dream world - gives me permission to use them. If anything dangerous happens, I won't be able to help!"

"Relax, Jin. I am a Demigoddess rank now, remember? And I am a Bearer of the Soul. This is just a Ghost Clone. I've got my own powers. I do not need to entirely depend on you as I did before. So no need to worry, I can protect myself!" Tamie stepped towards the mountain.

"But_" Kokujin wanted to object. However, when he saw the girl wasn't listening to him anymore, he sighed and reluctantly followed her, cautiously looking around for any possible danger. Byakuya is quite unpredictable, especially after that weird trick he pulled off during the fight with Gustav Jaeger. I must be careful.

They marched for a long time through forests and fields towards the mysterious foggy mountain where the charming tunes were coming from. They stepped up the stairs, through various bamboo forests and saddened willows with their branches bent at koi fish ponds.

"The farther we walk, the creepier it gets..."

"Ugh, don't act like you're scared, Jin! You were never fearful in my books. What's wrong with you now?"

"This is not your book and we do not know what lies at the end!"

"Ugh, come on! We don't know what lies at the end of my books either until we finish them".

Kokujin sighed with annoyance and followed her.

There's no winning an argument with such a stubborn lady...

Soon they reached the top of the mountain where there was the cavern they had seen from below, and where the flute tunes were coming from. The melody got clearer. Tamie recognized the music Byakuya had played during their first encounter, back on the Cherry Blossom Festival.

"The tune called Dragon's Lament?!"

"Huh? Dragon's Lament?" Kokujin too recalled how Byakuya, when they first met him at the festivity, had named this exact melody Dragon's Lament when he had played it. "Don't tell me..."

"Let's go, Kokujin, the dragon might be near!" Tamie grabbed his hand and rushed towards the cave.

"Wait! If it truly is that beast then we might as well go back, not forward!" 

What was she thinking?! It was dangerous to meet a dragon, which everyone considered bloodthirsty, in this foreign dream world!

"Come on! That's what we've come here for. Byakuya might be there!"

"Wait!" 

Kokujin hurried after her in worry. When they both came to the cave entrance, they froze in a stupor - there was Byakuya calmly sleeping in a bed. Debbie was slumbering too, beside him.

In the cavern, there was a tall man sitting, with long red bushy hair tied in a ponytail and the skin covered with various paintings and black clothes. He was playing the melody of Dragon's Lament on a bamboo flute. 

Tamie and Kokujin recognized the silhouette of the gruesome dragon in a human form that had appeared behind Byakuya back in the fight against Gustav. Kokujin shuddered to see such a horrendous creature before him. He grabbed Tamie's wrist with the intention to hurry back when the ominous man ceased playing the flute. Both Kokujin and Tamie trembled in dread as they beheld the man's fiery eyes open and gaze right into their souls.