White hair coupled with an ethereal beauty, that is what they were known for. A race of beings who live amongst humans. They have long lost their fangs and given up their natural instincts, these women live normal lives amongst the crowd.
Why their powerful people had reached such a stage, only their ancestors would know but this renouncement of their own heritage had led to a fate which none would have expected.
"Die, for the glory of our people, for the prosperity of the Dokkaebi, the blood of traitors will be fuel for our Lord's return"
She could do nothing but watch as her parents, brothers, sisters- all of them, slain.
It was only through good fortune that she was able to escape with her aging grandmother. A sacrifice made not by one but many of her kind, to give her a chance of survival.
Yet even today, she still asks-
"Why?"
"Why me?"
She did not believe that the sacrifices had to be done-
She did not wish to live knowing that her whole clans future lay in her hands.
Yet, what's done is done and all she could do is to live.
Since that day, it never escaped her mind, the wishes of her clan members, the wishes of her family, her parents. They all cry out to her, it was both a blessing and a curse as it gave her the will to live but it also pushed her to the brink.
Echoing in her mind were wishes for life, for her…
Her life was not her own, not anymore as such-
On that day, when she saw the mysterious man dressed in black. Wearing clothes that did not fit into the crowd walking, appearing like a moving rock in a river. His presence did not disturb anyone but everyone would move to "avoid" him.
Like a rock in the middle of a raging river, his presence did not cause much of a disturbance but the change in the flow was evident.
Was he looking for her?
She did not know, the man had western features unlike that of a typical Korean male. Such an appearance was unbecoming of a Dokkaebi, much less one of the people who had hunted her and her clan down.
"Those bastards would rather die than take a form similar to that of a foreigner"
The spirit of the Dokkaebi were tied to their country of origin, unlike her clan who chose to live amongst men, those who hunted them wished to rule. A country of Dokkaebi is what they say but such a thing could only exist in fantasy.
Human power is more than just their technological advancements, even her clan, once known to be a female only group had now become a mix of men and women. Mostly due to the influence of human's, human men specifically who had married into their clan.
Though only females could inherit the power of a Dokkaebi, the influence of humans fell in the increase in fertility among them.
Before, their clan would rarely have a new member in a century, it took their clan members centuries to even have another child. But the influence of humanity allowed their clan to have children of multiple generations live in the same house.
A grandparents, parents and children, three generations living in the same home was the average, some even had older generations in their household.
But this also came at a price, their lifespans that use to be multiple centuries long had been shortened to barely reach one.
Yet, none of the clansmen thought it a bad thing, they still retained their abilities, their power had not weakened, instead it had strengthened. As their clan had grown larger, the number of fighters had become large enough to threaten any other group.
Alas, even their powerful clan had fallen.
The fate of her clan unknown, she could only do her best to live, for her clan, for everyone.
But now, she found herself at an impasse.
The man may not be part of the group looking for her but he was indeed searching for something.
Moreover, by the way he was able to walk in the crowd blatantly while maintaining "invisibility" his affiliation may be unknown but she understood that he lived in the same world as her.
The moment she spotted him, she tried to look away but the man was fast.
He turned her way and their eyes met.
Without any hesitation she used he ability, the moment the man's eyes widened as their gazes met, she knew-
"He's dangerous"
All she had to use was one tail, one tail was enough for her to escape.
She did not need to speak, she did not need to fight.
All she had to do was find a way out, to escape.
With all her strength, she ran away, the man chased. It was a wild chase that would have taken headlines if it were not for their ability to evade perception. Even cameras were affected as the horrendous amount of CCTVs and voyeur cameras placed all over the city did not even manage to catch a single strand of hair from the two individuals.
It was not only their speed but the abilities they abused, fortunately for her, the man seems to not have as much stamina as her.
In less than ten minutes he had given up the chase.
But she did not stop, she ran, ensuring that even if the man had a companion, they would not be able to catch her.
She meanders through the concrete forest, finding herself in a small hidden street, she carefully walks through the cramped alley and finally reaches a tiny home hidden away from the glamour of Seoul.
The image of the Korean metropolis was one of beauty, elegance and cleanliness. Few would equate a small, cramped, damp and moldy space as a "home in Seoul" but the reality is not as bright and showy as one would believe.
Behind the bright glow of stardom, the magnificence and glamour are high prices. An economy that forces one to earn as much as a manager in a company in order to secure a small living space.
This was the reality of Seoul, a metropolis of high standards and even higher prices.
Yet such a metropolis would still need low income earners do they not?
Who would do all the laborious tasks?
Who would clean the streets? Serve tables?
The city is a paradise for people with ability but that did not mean that everyone had an opportunity.
Of course the opportunity to get high paying jobs was there, they were also equal, but if there were only 10 open positions but a hundred- not a thousand qualified individuals then how are you going to distribute the position?
You can't-
Such small and cheap living spaces were the result of many low income households and individuals needing a place to stay.
Cheap labor is still something that even the most prosperous city needs and with cheap labor comes cheap accommodation.
Yet the glamorous metropolis couldn't truly accept such a stain on their city now can they?
This desire to maintain a glamorous image had pushed those stricken by poverty into the shadows of the city. In dark corners few would truly care about. But these area's had also become the home for those hiding.
An area known for being impoverished would not have the same amount of safety that more affluent areas have. There were no CCTV cameras in every corner, few voyeurs would dare enter the area, these areas were hotspots for crime and few would dare to show any sort of wealth here.
These conditions were unacceptable to many, as such, only those who truly have no other choice would stay in such a place. But for the white haired teen, this was her safe haven.
She entered the tiny old home, its lights not even properly working, closing the door, she had locked it with a second, third and even fourth lock. As the door knob was broken she had to get a cheap way to ensure her safety. Moreover, given the type of place this was, she wouldn't even have to guess what many men were thinking whenever they saw her.
It was a home occupied by a pretty teenager and a weak old grandmother, what else needs to be said?
As she finished locking the door, the white haired teen heard a voice call out to her-
"Ami"
"Yes, grandmother"
She turned and bowed her head showing genuine respect to her grandmother.
"Why is your tail out"
Hearing her grandmother's question, Ami quickly undid her transformation as she began to explain what had happened earlier.
"I see, so you encountered a mysterious group and were forced to use your ability to run away"
"No, it was only one man…"
"One man who did not immediately chase after you, One man who first said something before chasing? Ami, do you understand what that means?"
Her grandmother did not need to explain it completely, Amy understood.
The man did not chase quickly, he may have first reported his discovery of her. Or he may have been alerting a companion nearby, either way, his actions showed that he was not working alone.
Moreover, his actions were very professional, unlike mobsters and thugs, the man acted with precision and did not continue to chase after he had discovered that he could not catch up to her.
Seeing that her granddaughter had discovered her own faults, the grandmother did not continue to say anything. But as she was about to lead Ami inside to eat, she stopped.
The "weak" old woman's gaze turned sharp as she moved in between Ami and the front door.
*Knock* *knock*
Two knocks followed by dead silence, Ami froze as a chaotic swirl of emotions erupted in her mind.
'Is this my fault?'
'Am I the reason for…'
'Is grandmother going to…'
Images of filled with despair surged in her mind, Ami, unable to bear it anymore broke-
"AMI!"
Her grandmother quickly realized the problem but she was still a step too late. Ami had already erupted, her power flared as nine tails materialized behind her. Her white hair glowed with an ethereal light, her fangs lengthened as her nails turned into claws.
"AMI!"
All she could do was call out to her granddaughter but it did nothing but speed up the manifestation of the nine tailed fox.
"Quite an unstable one you are"
At the critical moment when Ami was about to complete her transformation, a purple magic circle had materialized below the teenage fox. Followed by an apathetic voice that came from behind the grandmother.
She turned around only to meet the gaze of a blonde woman with a pair of piercing green eyes. Seeing this mysterious woman suddenly appear, Ami's grandmother was about to make a move when-
"ARGHHH!!!!"
A horrific scream of pain escaped Ami's lips-
"Mhhhmm!!!"
Ami's grandmother was about to say something when she found her whole body bound by tree roots.
"Now this is an interesting sight… a demi-human phantasmal species… she would be a wonderful gift to our Lord, Frank, heal her, the Lord has yet to taste a demi-human."
As she finished her words, a black haired man appeared behind her. Seeing this mysterious man appear, Ami's grandmother recalled her granddaughter's story. But all that was thrown out the moment she heard of the plans the two had for her granddaughter.
Fear enveloped her heart as she could not imagine what kind of meaning "taste" had. If their "Lord" was an evil God, "taste" could mean many things. She did not want to think about it, no, she did not wish for anything to happen to her granddaughter but the words of the man made feral.
"Miss Hilda… she's too young, moreover, her nature is quite… submissive, the Lord-"
"He has his taste but he's also curious, moreover, she only "looks" young. For all we know, she could be a thousand years old. Phantasmal species have that ability, especially foxes. Have you not read the records on Amaterasu?"
Frank, upon hearing Hilda's retort shut his own mouth, he was initially hesitant to do anything when he saw how "young" the woman looked but upon hearing Hilda's words, he realized that he was still lacking.
To be fooled by a simple trick showed just how bad he was at this-
Or maybe he was just not that sharp when it comes to investigation?
'Yeah… I was also quite… forceful in my revenge'
Recalling his revenge plot made Frank cringe, the world of mysteries was filled with being and individuals capable of walking up to you and covering your eyes without you realizing and here he was taking things at face value.
There were clues scattered about, the mistake of the fox woman was losing control. She exposed her true nature which allowed Hilda to quickly make an assessment on her true nature, the danger she posed and the potential for trickery.
On the other hand, here he was, feeling that what he was doing was wrong, especially when he thought about James sleeping with a minor-
'Was that also a test?'
Now that he thought about it, James never tasked them to search for women. It was all Hilda's own words about "presenting" the fox woman to James.
'Wait… Hilda always talked about wanting to be the one to "attend" to her Lord…'
The flash of realization caused Frank to shiver, his back drenched in cold sweat as he moved to seal the woman.
"Hm?"
As he completed the seal, Frank caught a glimpse of emotion in the eyes of the old fox woman-
'Is this a trick?'
Recalling the information about foxes, Frank was more vigilant now, he did not fall for the tears. Unable to see through truth and lie, all Frank could do was follow Hilda's orders and listen to her explanation but-
'Huh? It's gotten quiet?'
Frank turned to Hilda, seeing her expression he quickly stood up and took out his revolver.
"Good, you've realized that we're not the only ones here"
Praised by Hilda, Frank did not explain to her that he was simply following her lead. Instead, he extended his senses and found that they were indeed surrounding.
"Five mystical beings-"
"Remember their nature, imprint that in your mind, this is not a simple mystical being, this is a Phantasmal Beast, born from the beliefs and thoughts of humans, their existence stems from the initial conception of their being, materialization and sublimation. Sublimated into a material existence, they have taken a "true form" they pull power from the mystery of their existence, the "source" of their origin. But, even if their tales disappear, they won't die, as their physical existence has already made them a "part" of the world. Unless the "world" itself declares them as nonexistent, they will continue to live amongst man, even if their tales had long faded away in the sands of history"
Frank made sure that all the things Hilda had spoken were recorded, an interesting and integral use he had been taught about magic circuits is the possibility of imprinting memories into it. Using his magic circuits as a temporary storage drive, he would then slowly memorize them when he gets free time.
"You won't be able to complete this task, I'll handle it, after all, the existence of phantasmal species should allow me to make use of "that" spell"
Hilda had a devious smirk on her face, she materialized an umbrella out of thin air. The pink, girly design did not match her image but when she opened the umbrella everything changed.
The air grew dense, gravity seemed to have increased as the underside of Hilda's umbrella revealed a magic circle dense with runes and complex inscription.
[I call upon the hunters,]
[With roaring winds and rumbling storms, bless this land once more]
[My enemies are those who had not reached heaven nor hell, they await your salvation-]
[Let my fate be your guide,]
[Begin-]
[The Wild Hunt!]
As she finished her incantation, the magic circle on Hilda's umbrella glowed with a brilliant purple glow.
*CRACKLE-BOOM*
*WooOooOoOo~*
The sound of crashing thunder and howling winds manifested out of nowhere. A heavy pressure enveloped Ami's grandmother, she felt as if she was being dragged, dragged to a place she does not wish to enter.
From the corner of her eyes she noticed Ami, still unconscious, was being dragged along by what appears to be a "black dog".
"Not that"
Hilda, unperturbed, used her umbrella to hit the "Black Dog" causing it and the others to whimper and turn around.
"The ones you were called to come for are outside, a bunch of three legged dogs, drag them, their family and all their associates are the ones who will become your brethren"
After hearing her commands, the "Black Dog's" all disappeared, the heavy atmosphere vanished and Hilda then turned her gaze towards the pair of grandmother and granddaughter.
"Now then, I believe it's time for us to make a deal"