Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 4, Part 2

[DracoOmega]

>Seal the hole back up
>Reisen, I don't suppose you know of any other traps or tricks this place might have in store that we could avoid?

[Oldmansour]

>Seal the hole back up
>Reisen, I don't suppose you know of any other traps or tricks this place might have in store that we could avoid?

>I didn't know about THOSE traps. she replies as you plug up your back hole.

[DracoOmega]

>On the off-chance this might disarm anything else like that...
>Open up another hole in front of us, and sweep a wide-angle Amber Lotus along the floor down the hallway we are going, in the hope that this might render any similar traps inert
>Then continue onward

[Oldmansour]

>On the off-chance this might disarm anything else like that...
>Open up another hole in front of us, and sweep a wide-angle Amber Lotus along the floor down the hallway we are going, in the hope that this might render any similar traps inert
>Then continue onward

>Trusting Poppy to watch your back, you dismiss your Sapphire light and employ your Amber energy, sending a disarming wave of power down the hallway. One rune on the floor glows amber in the wake of your spell, as does one of the two bronze busts in the corridor you're approaching. Apparantly your power DOES work on these things when they're not active.  Feeling more secure, you bring up your sapphire dome once more and press on.
>No one else interferes with your path down the hall, and your vision is mostly back to normal as you take a right turn as Reisen indicates. Lily reports similar recovery, though White Rose still is having a bit of trouble. The hallway you now find yourself in has a similarly market carpet to the one you just left behind. Poppy reports no one behind you, but there is someone standing outside an expensive looking purple-colored door with a small bird statue across the hall from it. This young man has the same colored hair as Samuel but is darker skinned and has his hair cut much shorter. He's also emanating an aura of magic that eclipses that of the young maid you bowled over before. With a wave of his hand and a sharply spoken word, he fills the corridor with a thick fog.
>Behind you, you sense two sources of magic charging. One is Alisaie's, and the other, you would guess, is Madame Knowledge herself. The latter is distinct from her sisters by the unmistakable sensation of evil you get from it.

[DracoOmega]

>Evil? Like, actual evil? Does it remind us of anything specific we've previously encountered?
>And this man's power eclipses the maid's by how much?

[Oldmansour]

>Evil? Like, actual evil? Does it remind us of anything specific we've previously encountered?
>And this man's power eclipses the maid's by how much?

>Actual evil. And it isn't the same sensation as, say, Komachi's necromancy or the power of the Champions. It is a unique feeling, but it is definately evil, you are certain of that. And equally certain are you that Alisaie's magic is good aligned.
>If the maid was a first-year student in her first week in magic, this butler would be nearing the end of his first year.

[DracoOmega]

>If the fog is actually too thick to really see through:
>Lily, disperse that, if you would?
>And open a hole large enough for her to do this
>Otherwise, or if we can still navigate alright, carry on forward

[Oldmansour]

>If the fog is actually too thick to really see through:
>Lily, disperse that, if you would?
>And open a hole large enough for her to do this
>Otherwise, or if we can still navigate alright, carry on forward

>You got it, boss. Opening another gap, Lily points her hand forward. "Spring Lily Flower Breeze!" This time a stream of multi-colored flower petals fly from her hand, accompanied by a surprisingly strong gust of wind. The brown haired young man is exposed rather suddenly as his fog disappears. To his credit, he recovers his composure rather quickly, casting another spell, his hand glowing with a pinkish light. Your Sapphire shield ripples most faintly against the seemingly invisible magic but comes no closer to failing than it did when it stopped that mage's spell. Fiercely determined, the butler tries to cast again, but before he can fire off another spell, he comes into contact with your Sapphire light and is bodily pushed back by, leaving you standing in front of the purple door.
>This is it. Reisen informs you. You might have guessed that yourself, as you sense a magical seal upon the door.

[DracoOmega]

>Let's Amber Lotus that seal

[Oldmansour]

>Let's Amber Lotus that seal

>As you drop your shield, Poppy plants herself firmly between you and the butler-mage who still seems raring to go. Sure enough, as you blast the door with your Amber Light, disarming not one but two distinct magical impressions, he casts again. But rather than any kind of direct offense, a twisting pattern of color shimmers into being in front of the now only mundanely-locked door. It is a pretty sight, like a tiny piece of a fading rainbow had been taken from the sky to ripple in a hallway, but you can't really tell what effect, if any, it was supposed to have on you or your friends.

[DracoOmega]

>Did this pattern of color disperse afterward, or is it remaining here?
>And we ourselves don't feel any effect from it, nor see any effect it had on anyone else?

[Oldmansour]

>Did this pattern of color disperse afterward, or is it remaining here?
>And we ourselves don't feel any effect from it, nor see any effect it had on anyone else?

>It's still there.
>Correct. Lily smiles at it, but that's hardly a surprise, it IS pretty.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, if it's actually barring the front of the door, let's dispel that, too
>To the Butler: "I'm sure you're only following orders, but the only thing we mean to do in this house is free a woman from slavery. You've already tried to remove us; no one could say otherwise."
>Barring further obstacles, let's step into the room

[Oldmansour]

>Well, if it's actually barring the front of the door, let's dispel that, too
>To the Butler: "I'm sure you're only following orders, but the only thing we mean to do in this house is free a woman from slavery. You've already tried to remove us; no one could say otherwise."
>Barring further obstacles, let's step into the room

>It doesn't seem to have substance, but there's no real sense in taking the risk of walking through it, so you give it a blast of Amber light, and the pattern of lights dissipate.
>"Maybe. But I haven't been ordered to stand down yet, either."
>He doesn't cast again before you push the door open, revealing a rather large bedroom. You have time to take nod of the sizable bed on the west well, the bookcases on either side of it and on each of the four walls, and the large window with a door that leads to the back yard, before the sound of something charging down the hallway catches your attention. Three creatures round the bend you came down and barrel towards you. Two of them are white furred badgers that are close to six feet in size, but despite their blocky musculature and savage looking teeth and claws, they don't appear to be as savage and vicious as the badger is usually depicted. The one in the middle, though is far worse. It is a 15 foot long cobra with burning red eyes and jet black scales. Your mystic senses register that it was created by evil magic.
>"Gods above..." the butler breathes as he lays on the snake, and he takes two large steps backwards.

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think we have any way to UNsummon a creature directly, incidentally? To just cast it back to wherever it came from?
>But that cobra can eat a Scarlet Lotus anyway. Fire away!
>And do keep our shields ready if the badgers reach us too quickly afterward

[Oldmansour]

>But that cobra can eat a Scarlet Lotus anyway. Fire away!
>And do keep our shields ready if the badgers reach us too quickly afterward

>As you line up your scepter with the undulating ophidian, Lily too raises her hand.
>"Scarlet Lotus."
>"Spring Evening Dozings."
>Another cloud of pinkish flowers billow down the hallway as your red light shoots out, striking the ugly thing right below its jaw. Your barrage blows a hole through the fel snake, and it falls to the floor, where it dissolves into thin air. The two badgers, meanwhile, manage to resist Lily's spell for a little longer than the bees did, but soon enough they, too, collapse into sleep, skidding to a halt several feet away from you.

>Rather than try to advantage of your momentary distraction, the butler still seems stunned by what he just saw. "That snake, that... Where did?"
>"I strongly suspect you should ask Madame Knowledge about that." Poppy replies darkly.

>Do we think we have any way to UNsummon a creature directly, incidentally? To just cast it back to wherever it came from?

>Actually, you think you can conceive of a technique to do that. At least for creatures conjured from nothingness; you're less sure it would work on something called to this world from another. It wouldn't work on the Champions, for example, or that young dragon Patchouli accidentally conjured up. And stronger creatures may be able to resist the banishment, the way stronger youma resist your Violet Light. But your Teal Lotus will be able to banish conjured creatures back to the aether, or wherever it is that summoners get their summons from.

As soon as you name it, of course.

[DracoOmega]

>As it undoes the fetters that binds creatures to this physical world, we shall call it 'Release from Raga'
>Damn you for making me spend so much time pouring over glossaries of Buddhist terminology for something fitting

>"Yes, it was almost certainly her work; your employer is... not a nice woman."

>Let's step into the room and have a glance around for any likely places Reisen's papers might be

[Oldmansour]

>As it undoes the fetters that binds creatures to this physical world, we shall call it 'Release from Raga'
>Damn you for making me spend so much time pouring over glossaries of Buddhist terminology for something fitting

>You have learned the spell "Teal Lotus: Release from Raga"
>Convert to Shinto. Make it easier to mack on the mikos, if nothing else.

>"Yes, it was almost certainly her work; your employer is... not a nice woman."
>Let's step into the room and have a glance around for any likely places Reisen's papers might be

>The butler's body slumps in a sign you've come to recognize as defeat. Even though he doesn't appear tired, you don't expect him to give you any more trouble. So with him and the newest summons dealt with, you enter into the Knowledge's master bedroom.
>It is a very large room, indeed. Covetousness isn't in your nature, but you have to admit, a room like this would make it a lot easier to accommodate your Rin, and any other slave you liberate from their unjust owners. On the downside, though, there's lots of places to poke things one wants hidden. The bookcases, of which there are five, all appear to be organized precisely by subject matter and then alphabetically. There's even an old fashioned scroll rack in the southeast corner of the room, situated next to a rune-etched circle emblazoned upon the carpeted floor. The closet doors are padlocked, which could mean it contains something its owners wish to hide, but for your purposes, there is a much more tempting target. There is a sizable wooden chest located at the foot of the Knowledges' large bed, also padlocked.

[DracoOmega]

>This looks more like the size of case to store documents instead of clothing?
>Do we have a nondestructive means to open that lock?

[Oldmansour]

>This looks more like the size of case to store documents instead of clothing?
>Do we have a nondestructive means to open that lock?

>It is a fair size. Depending on how it's compartmentalized, it could hold both.
>You yourself do not.

[DracoOmega]

>I don't suppose anyone has a non-destructive means of opening padlocks?

[Oldmansour]

>I don't suppose anyone has a non-destructive means of opening padlocks?

>Why not just blow it off? Rin asks.

[DracoOmega]

>I'm sure we could, but I did want to make a point of causing as little collateral damage as possible, on principle. As unpleasant a woman as she is, we're not here to ransack her household, just to set right a wrong.
>Pause a moment to see if anyone else offers any suggestions
>If not: But I suppose if that is what it requires.
>Try to cut through the padlock on the chest with a precise Vermillion Lotus, and do try our best not to damage anything else

[Oldmansour]

>I'm sure we could, but I did want to make a point of causing as little collateral damage as possible, on principle. As unpleasant a woman as she is, we're not here to ransack her household, just to set right a wrong.
>Pause a moment to see if anyone else offers any suggestions
>If not: But I suppose if that is what it requires.
>Try to cut through the padlock on the chest with a precise Vermillion Lotus, and do try our best not to damage anything else

>She sent giant bees after us! Lily yells in your minds. BEES! The gloves are off.
>Rin chuckles, then nods. She did attack us, Byakuren. And it isn't like we're knockin' her goons over the head, it is just a lock.
>Then Poppy clears her throat. I think I can unlock it without breaking it. she offers, though she does so very hesitantly.

[DracoOmega]

>Privately to her: Do you feel uncomfortable doing this?

[Oldmansour]

>Privately to her: Do you feel uncomfortable doing this?

>Reisen doesn't meet your eyes. About the act itself, no. But... I know it would hurt. More than I was fighting Patchy.

[DracoOmega]

>In that case, absolutely not. I'll take care of it.
>Let's try sawing through it with a precise Vermillion Lotus after all

[Oldmansour]

>In that case, absolutely not. I'll take care of it.
>Let's try sawing through it with a precise Vermillion Lotus after all

>Taking careful aim with your scepter, you invoke your Vermillion light, but with much less intensity than you would if you were unleashing it upon a youma. The shackle component quickly melts through under the assault of your red beam, and drops down to the floor in little time.
>Back the way you came, you feel another weak sensation of magical energy being used, but it doesn't take as long to see the results of this one. The circle in the corner of the room glows briefly, and Madame Knowledge materializes in the room. "You know," she starts, "had you simply said right off that you were interested in acquiring Reisen Udongein from me, I would have been perfectly willing to deal with you."

[DracoOmega]

>"I will not make a business transaction of a woman's life."

[Oldmansour]

>"I will not make a business transaction of a woman's life."

>"But you're fine with the idea of stealing a woman." she counters as she steps off the magical circle.