Chapter 30: Blue and Red

Stepping into Oni Mountain the first thing Feng Biao noticed was the immediate lack of sunlight. Instead, a blood-red full moon shined brightly in the sky. From what Feng Biao had read, Oni Mountain did have a day-night cycle, with the nights always consisting of this bizarre moon.

Looking around Feng Biao found he had appeared at the very base of the mountain, behind him was a shimmering wall showing the outside world. He saw no Marked near him, but more importantly, he saw no Oni either.

It was eerily quiet, and Feng Biao decided the best thing to do was to crouch down low and get moving. He wanted to find a place with cover, somewhere he wouldn't be easy to spot. After a while, Feng Biao found what he judged was a suitable hiding spot, a rather large tree.

Pulling out his PDS Feng Biao confirmed that only the data it physically had imprinted on its pages was now available. It no longer responded to his mental commands and was now just a foldable notebook.

This was due to the strongest law dominating all Mythological Marbles, a complete rejection of human sciences. Guns refused to fire for the chemical combination required to produce force within them from gunpower remained inert.

Nuclear weapons produced no radiation, and therefore no energy, within Marbles. Only cold weaponry produced any results within Marbles. PDS which claimed the pinnacle of man's technology mixed with the Divine only partially worked. Only the parts that relied solely on Divinity were able to function, nothing else.

The map that the PDS had physically imprinted upon itself was important, it showed where Feng Biao could find water sources. Feng Biao had taken a backpack with him filled with essentials. Water, rations, and a crossbow. However, he had not taken enough water to last a week.

He needed to get to a water source, and fast, but to do that he first needed to know where exactly he was. The map of Oni Mountain was accurate, but his PDS had no way of telling where he was on it. Since compasses didn't work within the Marble Feng Biao decided to rely on his brains.

'The moon in this Marble follows the same rules like the one on Earth, it rises to the east and sets to the west-'

Before Feng Biao could follow that train of thought anywhere useful he was alerted to the sound of a twig snapping. Holding his breath he focused and saw a tiny creature about 1 meter tall dragging a stick walk underneath him.

It was a pale-blue color and it sported a single horn on its head. Feng Biao thought it resembled an emaciated child. It looked so weak that a gust of wind could break its bones, which seemed to be outlined by its skin.

This was an oni. As weak as it looked Feng Biao knew better, he had read all about them. He knew the creature could likely lift the tree he was sitting in, something its appearance wouldn't suggest.

'Should I kill it?'

Feng Biao debated internally about doing so. He had no compunctions for killing it morally, he just wasn't sure if doing so was the right idea.

Oni after all were crafty and morally bankrupt. This Oni might have been sent out intentionally by a larger one to draw out any Marked who would want to kill it. That was a tactic Oni had used before, and it was quite effective.

If Feng Biao killed it he might get a Mythological Shard from its body, but the chances were slim. It was estimated these blue oni only dropped a Shard 1/15 times. He decided it wasn't worth the risk, he instead waited and watched.

Suddenly the oni was struck by something, a spear. It pinned it directly to the tree Feng Biao was on and killed it on impact.

A Marked appeared from the undergrowth, it was a female recruit. Feng Biao didn't recognize her but she moved quickly, pulling a Shard from the oni's body.

Feng Biao cursed his fear and was about to hail the girl when he heard a chilling noise. Laughter pervaded the air. A noise that carried nothing unique in its inflection, save for the amount that added to its chorus.

Multiple Blue Oni appeared, and two large Red Oni that carried crude bone clubs. The female Marked pulled the spear and tossed it at the nearest red oni. Genuine fear entered its eyes, and it quickly grabbed a blue oni using it as a make-shift shield of sorts swatting the spear away with the broken body of the creature.

The female Marked didn't pause and used a Divine Ability to throw out a spear of ice directly at the Red Oni who swatted it with his left arm using his club. However, a shard of the ice skewered his torso and he crumpled to the floor.

The Oni immediately howled in rage. The Blue Oni throwing themselves at her without caring for their own lives. The female Marked turned to run and the Blue Oni followed in pursuit, but the Red Oni did not. It looked up and glared at Feng Biao before grabbing the club of the fallen oni and joining the chase.

Feng Biao was stunned. That Blue Oni had been deliberately sent to him. The Red Oni had been trying to gauge him all along, he was never hidden in the first place. Climbing down from the tree Feng Biao looked around.

While the tree offered a great vantage point and those in its canopy could remain hidden from sight reaching it without being seen was a different story altogether.

'Is this on purpose?'

Feng Biao wondered if the oni had intentionally created this area to lure unsuspecting Marked or if they had just taken advantage of the terrain. Either way, the Oni had successfully tricked him. If it wasn't for the appearance of that female Marked he would certainly be in a fight for his life.

Picking up the spear she left Feng Biao inspected it. It was surprisingly undamaged from the direct swat it had taken from the Red Oni. To Feng Biao this meant it was two things, quality and expensive.

Now the question in Feng Biao's mind was if he should go help the girl. Together they'd be able to dispatch the Oni chasing her, right?

'Maybe, but what if more show up?'

Oni made noise, lots of noise. This would attract more Oni, together could they survive a full-on assault of Oni? Feng Biao didn't think so.

'If I see her again I'll pay her back for the spear, but for now, she needs to survive on her own.'

After checking the corpse of the red oni and finding no Shard Feng Biao set off, now more aware of his surroundings than before, in the opposite direction of where the girl had run off to.