Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 5

[Oldmansour]

>Gently: No need to worry about that. Right now, you just be with your family.

>"I'm not fully certain. To be honest, it felt similar to the youma and other examples of demonic taint we've encountered, but I spoke with the woman afterward and she was unable to think of any point in the recent past where she might have come into contact with such a thing. It is a matter I intend to continue to investigate, when time permits. It may be unrelated to these larger matters, but I have a nagging suspicion it is not."

>"Our temples have been recording incidents like that for millennia." says Haruka. "It's possible that whatever this dark force was has been documented by one of the Four shrines. I'll have the matter looked into."
>"And if it turns out to be related to these Champions, perhaps we'll pick up a clue or two more about them." Makie adds.
>"In the meantime, though, what do we do about Fire and Ice?" Lillian asks as she leans forward, her thick tail coiling and uncoiling. "Air might have gone down a hole somewhere, and Lotus's got Water tied down, but those two're still stalkin' about. Can you track either of them?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I know where Fire is presently. Ice, I cannot track, but it seems very likely they are still together - or would become so shortly after either is confronted."

[Oldmansour]

>"I know where Fire is presently. Ice, I cannot track, but it seems very likely they are still together - or would become so shortly after either is confronted."

>"What makes you say that?" the bearded officer asks you.

[DracoOmega]

>"From what I know, they are essentially joined at the proverbial hip - magically-speaking, even - and one is almost never found without the other. Certainly I would be very surprised if either were to be seriously engaged without the other becoming involved."

[Oldmansour]

>"From what I know, they are essentially joined at the proverbial hip - magically-speaking, even - and one is almost never found without the other. Certainly I would be very surprised if either were to be seriously engaged without the other becoming involved."

>The bearded man and Lillian grin and chuckle almost in sync.
>"I should mention, Lotus." Haruka says once her fellow miko quits laughing. "That I came up with the same results. After Chisato told me about what happened, I brought the matter before my temple head, Youmu Konpaku. She and I performed our own divination, and we were able to detect the spiritual resonance of the Fire Champion. When we found it, it was stationary at the horse racing track, the Miskovsky Downs. Does that agree with your own findings?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>"It does. I even double-checked a few minutes ago to be sure it was still there."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod
>"It does. I even double-checked a few minutes ago to be sure it was still there."

>Chisato looks quizzically at her elder Sister. "I'm sort of surprised Youmu-chan didn't sound the battle cry once she knew where Fire was."
>"She wanted to." Haruka answers with a gentle smile. "But I convinced her otherwise." She explains, "Our temple head is very young, and very passionate, but she possesses great talents. I however am much older than she. I wanted to find out more about these Champions before I let any of my sisters go near them, no matter how talented they are, if I could help it. And here we are. Having heard what I have heard here, I believe my advice to her will be to observe this Champion, rather than confront it. Until we find some weakness of theirs, a deliberate confrontation with them is not what I would advise."

[DracoOmega]

>"Indeed. And I would have caution, even then, lest you provoke it. For the time-being, at least, it seems content to lick its wounds, which gives us more time to gather our forces. Provided it does not first take action that forces us to intervene, I am waiting on all of our number to be available together to confront them a second time."

[Oldmansour]

>"Indeed. And I would have caution, even then, lest you provoke it. For the time-being, at least, it seems content to lick its wounds, which gives us more time to gather our forces. Provided it does not first take action that forces us to intervene, I am waiting on all of our number to be available together to confront them a second time."

>"I wasn't thinking of direct observation." Haruka adds. "Both Youmu-sama and myself are capable of divining this Champion's presence, and we're not the only two among the spellcasters of the Bird Shrine who can do so. And this is true for the other three shrines as well."
>"Hey, I got a question." Lillian says suddenly. "Are these things immune to brute force?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I, um, I don't believe I've seen it tried. Though even getting close enough for the attempt sounds rather dangerous to pull off."

[Oldmansour]

>"I, um, I don't believe I've seen it tried. Though even getting close enough for the attempt sounds rather dangerous to pull off."

>The large youkai gives you a downright evil grin. "Not as dangerous as it is for the other guy. You ever seen a croc bite down on a piece of meat?"
>"You're backsliding, Lillian." Makie cautions.

[DracoOmega]

>"No offense intended, but I think Fire might be more inclined to barbeque than BE barbeque."

[Oldmansour]

>"No offense intended, but I think Fire might be more inclined to barbeque than BE barbeque."

>Rather than express offense, the crocodile youkai expresses a deep belly laugh, and her grin does not waver. It is Chisato, though, who speaks next. "Y'know.... She MIGHT actually be on to something there. These demons don't seem to be totally spiritual or spectral or anything like that. They have physical form. You're the expert, Lotus, these Champions do have physical bodies, right?"

[DracoOmega]

>It has certainly seemed that way to us, yes?

[Oldmansour]

>It has certainly seemed that way to us, yes?

>Yes it has.

[DracoOmega]

>"They certainly have appeared to, though I cannot attest to their resilience against physical damage. Given how easily some have shrugged off magic that at least appeared to have some physical component, I would not be surprised if it is great, but I suppose I cannot say for sure."

[Oldmansour]

>"They certainly have appeared to, though I cannot attest to their resilience against physical damage. Given how easily some have shrugged off magic that at least appeared to have some physical component, I would not be surprised if it is great, but I suppose I cannot say for sure."

>"Only one way to find out." Lillian says with vicious anticipation.
>In an attempt to reign in her pugilistic fellow miko, Haruka says, "Why don't we save that as a last resort. I for one would rather know why the Fire Champion seems so easy to detect while the other two are not."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm afraid I do not know. Air, at least, I could sense when she was nearby, but I knew nothing of Ice's presence until after she had already attacked us."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'm afraid I do not know. Air, at least, I could sense when she was nearby, but I knew nothing of Ice's presence until after she had already attacked us."

>Madame Knowledge, silent for a longer period of time than you might have thought, clears her throat quietly. "In my opinion, this Fire Champion is making itself an easy target. If indeed it and the Ice Champion are as.... intimate as Lotus claims, then either the Fire Champion is shielding its companion from detection at its own expense, which I find somewhat unlikely. Or, it seeks to make itself the more obvious target, so its companion can ambush its foes with impunity."

[DracoOmega]

>"That would certainly make sense - it employed much the same tactic this morning. Though Water was still far more detectable than Ice, even when we had no reason to suspect a Champion was nearby. I think there is at least some degree of personal variation there, even if Fire's conspicuousness is a deliberate choice on its part."

[Oldmansour]

>"That would certainly make sense - it employed much the same tactic this morning. Though Water was still far more detectable than Ice, even when we had no reason to suspect a Champion was nearby. I think there is at least some degree of personal variation there, even if Fire's conspicuousness is a deliberate choice on its part."

>"Or it could just be a massive egomaniac." Chisato says with a wave of her wings.
>That draws some chuckles from the crowd, though Haruka remarks, "You know, you might have a point there. I've known some individuals, usually spellcasters of some sort, who were so confidant, arrogant, if you will, that they simply didn't bother taking any steps to conceal their presence or power."

[DracoOmega]

>"That could also fit with how it acted this morning, I think."

[Oldmansour]

>"That could also fit with how it acted this morning, I think."

>Makie smiles faintly. "Maybe you should ask next time."

[DracoOmega]

>"Ha, I suppose I could, at that. Though here I am not sure how truthfully I ought to take its answer."

[Oldmansour]

>"Ha, I suppose I could, at that. Though here I am not sure how truthfully I ought to take its answer."

>"But of course. Though, while you're at it, ask them why they all came here. I mean, why Mayoiga and not somewhere else?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I had assumed this was simply where the weakest point in the barrier between our worlds happened to be located, but perhaps not. They have quite limited personal familiarity with our world, I should point out."

[Oldmansour]

>"I had assumed this was simply where the weakest point in the barrier between our worlds happened to be located, but perhaps not. They have quite limited personal familiarity with our world, I should point out."

>"Barrier?"

[DracoOmega]

>"There is a great one that separates their world from ours. As a consequence, it is extremely difficult to travel between them - these Champions have somehow managed to force themselves through, regardless."

[Oldmansour]

>"There is a great one that separates their world from ours. As a consequence, it is extremely difficult to travel between them - these Champions have somehow managed to force themselves through, regardless."

>"Do you know anything about their world?" Haruka asks.

[DracoOmega]

>"Only very little, but what I've heard paints it as a horrifically inhospitable place, quite outside the Champions and their kind."