Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko glanced around, the scenery was... oddly familiar.

’Isn’t this part of the territory of the Ancestral Beasts?’ Aiko blinked her eyes. This place was definitely something along those lines, but also not.

’The outer perimeter seems to be that of the Ancestral Beasts territories, but the inside was supposed to be a decaying mess...’ Aiko was supposed to stand inside the Nightmare Owl territory, but that was not the case.

Looking around. The forest was blanked by darkness, but the dampness and smell of decay was nowhere to be seen.

What she saw was a peaceful forest with-

’Corpses?’ Aiko suddenly noticed a corpse of a large owl. Looking closely the feathers seemed quite similar to what the Nightmare Owl had on his- her body.

But that was not the end. More and more corpses were scattered around...

Aiko walked calmly, as if she was not part of this scene. She felt a bit too indifferent considering the sight of the endless corpses with blood splattered everywhere.

”Ah...”

A frail voice from a girl. Looking closely this person was similar to the Ancestral Beast, but dressed in white. Her stomach was bleeding with something black implanted inside.

”...”

The girl looked at the uninvited guest. Fear and worry was visible on her face.

”I wish you hadn’t seen me like this...” The girl spoke softly.

”...” Aiko didn’t reply, just quietly observing.

”This...” The girl seemed a bit delirious, as if she was not in her right mind. ”... Is how everything started.”

Indiscriminate slaughter, because her Clan didn’t want to give her up.

They didn’t want to hand her over to a dubious individual.

High up in the sky a person was standing. Lightning was hitting his body, but it didn’t seem like it was actually doing any damage. He seemed unbothered, but his body was too shrouded to guess his reaction.

”We... were the first and last to fight.” The girl said softly. ”Everyone else submitted.”

”I can no longer resist, my thoughts are too scattered.” The girl said softly.

The place suddenly started to decay. The girl seemed paler than before, behind her another girl that looked the same.

They were both unimaginable beauties, kind of like Aiko when she matured.

It was obvious that the other girl was-

-Dead.

Not breathing, not moving, with ’incorrect’ shade of skin.

”I’m sorry...” The girl sacrificed all bodies for her sister. She could not honour them, she even robbed them of their Soul’s outer shell to make it possible to revive her sister.

The blood turned into poison.

That poison seeped into the forest.

The forest slowly decayed.

Water was drawn from within the soil, making it into a sand and forming watery lakes and underneath them, quicksand.

This forest was drained of its vitality, because taboo was performed.

Her sister lived, but at what cost.

”I... was not concerned.” The girl spoke softly. ”My last Elder told me to do this, just before he died.”

Was it the right decision? No, she was now bound to this place, until she was able to Ascend.

And as if mocking her, the person that forcefully contracted her, never included that part in the Contract. As if he already knew that she couldn’t leave, couldn’t run.

”Sister...” The dead girl woke up, as if she was just asleep. Vitality flowed into her body and she was able to sit down. ”Where is the scary person?”

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”What scary person?” The girl tried to conceal it at first.

”Hm? Was that just a bad dream?” The dead girl tilted her head.

”Yes, it was just a bad dream.” The girl didn’t want to give up her life with her sister. She didn’t want her sister to experience the pain of losing everyone.

”That’s right, it was just a bad dream.” The girl’s eyes glistened in strange light, soon. Shadows formed outside their vision. Those shadows were intangible, yet... yet those same shadows soon took the forms of the dead, solidifying their presence.

”Where is everyone?” The dead girl asked softly. She felt like something was wrong, but she didn’t want to admit it herself. Her sister was always helping her, so she would tell her if something was wrong.

”There was a... intruder. Yes, that bird Clan drove that damned mouse over to us, so some things were stolen from us.” The girl spoke gently, with plausibility in her voice.

”Ah, again...?” The dead girl frowned. It was as if she accepted that reasoning, since... it would not be the first time this happened.

”En...” The girl’s intestines twisted. She never imagined it would be so painful to lie to her sister, to her twin. Or was it because of the dagger-like ornament attached on her stomach?

”But, the forest changed...” The dead girl looked around.

”Yes, we will have to seek reparations from the bird Clan.” The girl spoke as if she hypnotised herself. As if this was the truth. ”Seems like this time the rat stole a relic that causes changes in the earth, so we will have to work on this place once again.”

”Ah...” The dead girl sniffled. ”But our forest was the most beautiful...”

”It can’t be helped. We have a lot of time to do it...” The girl spoke with conviction.

”En... Sister.” The dead girl smiled, but...

They both knew this was a lie, but neither of them wanted to admit it.

Yes, it was just a nightmare that turned this place upside down, just a nasty nightmare...

”Yes...” The scenery changed. Aiko was back in front of the girl, observing her. This time she had those familiar black clothes. ’Gothic’ was the first thing that came to Aiko’s mind.

”We wished for peace, but we never got any.” The girl spoke, numerous ’individuals’ or rather ’puppets’, illusions created from her bloodline, were acting as if they were alive all around them, as if they never died before.

There, the dead girl, now a boy, cheerfully spoke to them.

”I... have ruined everything. I should’ve died with the others.” The girl spoke slowly. ”Now only did I bring my sister to this miserable world, but as if fate was laughing at me, she was bound to me. We share part of the same Soul now, if I Ascend, she will too.”

However, the ’dead’ girl was never granted the ’fattening’ of the Soul as the girl in front of Aiko, so when she ascended...

”I... will lose her again.” The girl spoke, but no tears dripped down. No, it was impossible for tears to manifest in the first place as her body became incredibly dry and toxic.

”Please, I beg of you, end my miserable story.” The girl bowed towards the Fox that she only knew for a while, but she knew that if it was her, there could be a clean ending.

”No.” Aiko shook her head.

”Why?” This was not a resentful voice, just a completely neutral voice from the girl.

”Because that would mean your sister would die too, do you think she deserves it?” Aiko squatted down in front of her.

”She doesn’t... but...” The girl almost cried, her dry eyes slowly gaining some moisture, but it was not normal moisture, it was blood.

”She will be more miserable the more I go on...” The girl cried pure blood.

”...” Aiko observed for a while. ”Why do you want to escape your fate?”

”Because I don’t want my sister to die. I don’t want to become someone’s plaything...” The girl gripped the soil under her.

”...” Aiko sighed. ”Why do you want to escape from your sister? From your duty?” She never considered the other things. That kind of fate was irrelevant. Her new duty was to cherish her sister and make her happy, since she brought her back into this miserable world.

”...” The girl paused. She never expected those words. ”Duty...?”

”To cherish, make her happy. You were the one to bring her back. You can’t just wash your hands off of it like this never happened to begin with.” Aiko tilted her head.

”But... I can’t win against him...” The girl bit her lip.

”Is that your only concern?” Aiko found it amusing? No, why was she feeling like this? Why did she feel like she observed countless stories?

”... Pardon?” The girl looked at her. Was this indifference? This alien feeling? ”But... nobody can win against him...” She spoke the truth, no Soul from the Mortal World would be able to defy a Soul from the Immortal World.

”So, as long as I win, will you join me and do your duty?” Aiko almost smirked. This is what she felt was amusing. The absurdity of ’that’ guy, acting as if he was immortal.

”Huh...?” The girl seemed startled. ”I don’t want you to get hurt.”

”Don’t dodge the question.” Aiko said very suddenly, her words carrying weight that the girl was unfamiliar with.

”I want... My sister to be happy...” The girl spoke softly.

”Go to the edge of this place and watch carefully.” Aiko smirked, a beautiful smile was sculpted onto her face. She pulled up her sleeves, already stretching her fists. ”It’s time for this Princess to play~”

”...?” The girl was confused, but she still listened. If not for herself, then for her sister.

Aiko walked with her to the edge, from where she jumped down.

...

”Phew.” Aiko was spat back to the familiar wide and bright space.

The Soul was still bloated, but she could feel a subtle gaze on her.

”Princess.” The Uncle bowed towards her. It seemed like they had some kind of discussion, not that Aiko cared.

”Uncle, ensure that he can’t escape for the foreseeable future.” Aiko smiled, but even her Uncle shuddered.

’Ah... this is the Princess I remember.’ The Uncle smiled, tears welled inside his eyes. ”Of course, Princess. The #### is all yours.” He made a beautiful bow before disappearing.

Suddenly, right after, chains appeared. Not him, not Aiko, nor the Ancestral Beast. The whole ’space’ was chained and nobody could escape.

This was something what he would do when his Princess went on a rampage to minimise her damage, although it would always prove fruitless.

However, if those chains were supposed to keep his ’Princess’ inside, then what would it do to the others?

”Ah...” The horndog could feel his connection to the main body cleanly cut. Half of his Soul was now trapped here.

Not only would it bring immense backlash to his main body, but if his Soul was now injured, he might lose part of his cultivation altogether.

”Whoa~” Aiko whistled, before smiling at the horndog.

He knew he was fucked. There was no way to go around it. Not even pleading would work, he could feel it on instinct...

”You are royally fucked~” Aiko hummed happily. She finally could go on rampage and test all of her new moves.