The Dark Mage

Chapter 10: Killing Gumiho

     After returning to her lair, Gumiho used a recovery spell to recover as she felt her flesh torn from hollow point fragments. And despite how much flesh was torn, her Kitsune biology made her incredibly difficult to kill, recovering even from the most severe diseases given enough time. But for her, her time was short, for she left a trail of blood and smell that would lead right back to her lair. And Protogens and Blondie were already on their way. And it was the first time one of her victims fought back and lived.

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Victor's Dream

     While resting, Victor had a dream, and in his dream, he wore the fine silk robes he wore as the prince of the clan and had a masterfully crafted katana attached to the golden sash around his waist. And the katana had a word engraved into the blade, and that word was truth. And what lied before him were the bloodied corpses of two creatures, one with the head of a wolf and a body of a lamb wearing a priest's vestments, the other with the head of a rattlesnake and the body of a man wearing a lawyer's garments. And their names were the names of the arch heresiarchs Corvin Seiveril and Apollonius. And Victor's katana with the name of truth was stained with their blood, but not a drop of blood stained Victor's clothes.

     For their blood was on their own heads, and blood leaked from their corpses and spelled the words "vanity" and "pretense." And their blood leaked from the stab wounds where the sword named truth had pierced their hearts. And in the midst of them stood the mutilated image of okami Inari who had a burning hatred towards Victor as if he had killed her own children. And on the mutilated image of Inari were the masterful slicing marks of a master swordsman. Inari was barely standing.

     The image then spoke, "You could have had all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory if you just bowed down and worshiped me."

     Victor then responded, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and only Him shall you serve. Though you call yourself a god, you will die like men and have your infants dashed against the stone."

     Victor then drew the sword of truth and sliced okami Inari in half leaving only a few drops of blood on his clothes that said the name of his birth, Inari, and the sins of his past he had done in the name of prosperity.

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Burn the Witch

     It was long in Gumiho's past when Gumiho met the dark mage Isis. And from her, she learned Dark magic and betrayed the Yako family creed to uphold what is pure and good. And it is through the power of their hearts and the livers that she could do abilities some considered to be unnatural. Gumiho became Isis's first real dark accolade with her even learning how to raise corpses from the dead. Albeit, it was not a true resurrection but a soulless corpse animated through the will of the dark mage and her Dark magic. And now with the Protogens and Blondie coming to bring her just judgement, Gumiho was going to need all the corpses she could get to defend her lair and began robbing graveyards.

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Catechumens

     As Victor continued to catechize his oversized class of catechumens, he began to instruct them on how to protect themselves from Dark magic along with being instructed in the faith. And even though he knew nothing of the gospels, there was a priest of okami Inari who out of curiosity from watching horror movies said the Lord's Prayer to see what would happen and after saying "deliver us from evil" a young kit overtaken with Dark magic was immediately healed. And upon seeing this, he burned his shrine and immediately became a catechumen under Victor's instruction.

     And then there was another catechumen who was a beautiful young vixen with a mastery in artistic ability and began to restore all the icons and statues within the monastery with the help of her friends from the university. And out of a friendly gesture, she even made a portrait of Victor slapping Corvin Seiveril even if Victor never met Corvin Seiveril and the story being an urban legend.