26 SHUTEN-DOJI

'Shuten-Doji'

A name that scared Athos more than the mask's features, and rightfully so.

Oni, in crude terms, were evil beings that wrought death and destruction upon humanity, but that description isn't all that accurate as it was well.....crude. They had far more nuance than just merely being the embodiment of evil. After all, they were humans once upon a time, ones who shed their mortal bodies and transformed into a monster, or Yokai, a supernatural entity.

But, Shuten-Doji....it, or rather he, was different. While most Oni underwent their monsterification in hell, under the supervision of the God Enma, Shuten-Doji transformed while he was in the land of the living. Tales of his strength and ferocity spread far and wide before the hero Minamoto Raiko confronted and decapitated him, burying his head which was still as alive as it could be. It was somewhat similar to Herakles, his father, burying the immortal head of the Hydra after slaying the vile, seemingly unkillable beast.

Shuten-Doji was regarded as the strongest Oni to have ever lived, especially since his prowess was not merely limited to his strength...

Athos stood frozen staring at the mask that exuded an intensely evil aura. The fact that it stood up straight with no support whatsoever just made it look all the more creepy. He didn't know whether touching it would incite some reaction for he'd never come across one before. Not one that could float, at the very least.

The mask in question didn't look like Shuten-Doji's head as described in the stories, but if it truly was, it would be best if he steered clear of it.

Unfortunately, the mask didn't give him the luxury of choice. It shot up into the air, and before he could so much as blink, let loose a pulse of dark energy that slammed into his face, after which, all he saw was black.

***

Darkness.

A shapeless void.

That was all that surrounded him.

He could barely make out his body, but he could feel it. He didn't undergo an existential crisis, at least, not yet.

There was no ground beneath his feet, leaving him floating in an abyss with no particular sense of direction. Yet, he felt a peculiar sense of calm. Comfort even. An odd sense of belonging...

But just as he could familiarise himself with the feeling, the black fog that covered his eyes cleared and his feet touched solid ground. His eyes fluttered open, but when he saw what was in front of him, he wished he'd kept his eyes closed.

Before him sat a 20-foot-tall muscular being with a blood-red body and five curved black horns sticking out of its menacing head, Three abyssal black eyes blinked at him with curiosity as four large tusks, two from every jaw, protruded from its large mouth. One leg was white while the other was black and its arms were yellow and blue. A Giant gourd was strapped to its back while an equally giant Kanabo, a spiked, two-handed, metal war club, lay next to it. The skin of a tiger covered its waist and its long black hair reached his hips, gently swaying, even in the absence of wind. The figure oozed strength while light black tattoos lined the endless sea of muscles that was its body.

The mask he'd found was barely comparable to the real thing. It was in essence, a very very watered-down version of the true monster.

"Well well well. What do we have here....", the Oni growled. His voice was deep and guttural, grating to the ears.

"Shuten-Doji?", Athos questioned, trying not to gape at the Oni's sheer size.

"You know of me...Hah! Not particularly surprised. That bastard wouldn't have shut his mouth after doing me in", the monster replied bringing a clawed hand to its chin.

"I do. Now tell me, where am I? Why have you brought me here?"

"Hmmm? This place?", Shuten-Doji replied, waving a yellow arm at the black void around them. "If anybody, I should be asking you that. The surroundings take the form of the place where your strongest memory was formed. I've seen a lot, but I have never seen a mortal who forms...this"

'The place where I formed my strongest memory was an abyss?', Athos frowned.

That can't be right. Unless what Gaea said about him being tainted was true...

He'd ruminated over Gaea's confusing statement and did indeed have a few guesses, but had no evidence to back it up, but if what the Oni said was true, then the mysterious entity's identity was a lot, lot clearer.

"You are a strange one. That's for sure. You reek of foreign magick too. Greek? And, *Sniff**Sniff* Oh! a demigod! *Sniff* decent talent for the occult. *Sniff* A strong body. Hmmm, yes, you will do. You will do very nicely", Shuten-Doji muttered, sniffing the air like a dog, snapping Athos out of his trance.

"What do you mean?", he said, tensing up. He tried to summon Leviathan, but he quickly realised that he couldn't. He looked down at his hand in shock finding his trusty ring missing.

The Oni chuckled at his antics and slowly got to his feet, standing up to his towering, gigantic height, stretching his arms and legs while cracking his neck with a satisfied sigh.

"This isn't reality little demigod. You would do well to remember that", Shuten-Doji said and flicked a finger, murmuring undecipherable words under his breath.

"Gaah!"

In a fraction of a second, tendrils that seem to be made of pure darkness slithered out of the giant gourd and coiled around Athos' limbs, holding him in place. The Oni raised its palm and the tendrils dragged the demigod upwards, allowing the Oni to converse with the demigod face-to-face.

"You know why this place takes the form of the most impactful memory one has?", Shuten-Doji said, grinning and slowly walking forward, displaying a set of dangerously sharp teeth.

He squinted and looked the demigod up and down and spoke, "It's quite the complex spell, but the most efficient in devouring souls. Memory is what makes the soul, after all."

Athos' eyes widened at the Oni's intentions and he struggled against his binds with renewed vigour. He could NOT die here. He had goals to accomplish and vengeance to seek.

Seeing his attempt at freedom, the Oni chuckled, "Cease your useless struggle demigod. Your body will be mine. I shall seek out those who wronged me and have them pay! I had to go through centuries of isolation while my power was whittled away. They will pay and pay and PAY!"

Athos ignored the monster, focusing on fighting against the tendrils with all the strength he could muster. His eyes reddened at the strain but he did not give up.

"Hah! Your futile efforts amuse me. The tendrils are a speciality of mine. Its a simple spell but quite unbreakab-

*BOOM*

"Yaarrgh!"

With a yell, Athos' right arm ripped apart the tentacle, partly freeing his body, but it immediately rematerialised, binding him once again.

The Oni frowned, "Hmmm, time is running out. I cannot keep this up forever"

It then stretched out a ginormous arm that looked as though it could snap Athos like a twig.

"Your soul is mine...", It muttered, its three eyes glinting with anticipation.

Seeing that, Athos tried to break free once again but it was in vain. The tendrils just tightened the more he struggled and all he could do was watch as the giant blue arm drew closer. He instinctually knew that the moment the hand touched him, he would cease to exist. It was a feeling that originated from his very soul. It was a primal fear. The fear of being completely erased, not physically, but metaphysically.

He grit his teeth as he watched the Oni's face get more and more hideous. He had gone from one deathtrap to another.

Gaea, Shuten-Doji, Janus...all of them were the same, ALL of them.

Every.

Single.

One of them.

He had been played with, by beings stronger than him, again and again, and AGAIN!

He believed himself strong yet he was so weak.

What was his fighting prowess worth in front of pure power?

What was his ambition worth?

Where was his strength?

Where was his pride?

'...Puny and weak. Pathetic...', Gaea's voice echoed in his ears.

When would this stop? When would he be powerful enough to do as he wished? When? WHEN?! WHEN?! WHEN?!!

His eyes turned pitch-black and dark veins crawled up his face giving him a demonic visage. The dark tendrils were blasted to pieces and his back arched backwards in an unnatural position.

"AAAAARGHHH!!"

With an unearthly screech which did not sound human, a darkness that was blacker than the darkest of nights burst out of him, engulfing the infamous Oni.