Kwannon explains that the Kodoshigisha were charged with the protection of the Shinwa Taizen. Then, when the black ships forced open the borders of Japan bringing with it new thoughts, new ideas, and several Kodoshigisha members began dreaming of an ancient scroll and wrote down what they dreamt. Scholars within the Kodoshigisha began studying them and realized that they might be fragments of the Shinwa Taizen. In their haste, they opened up the boxes and discovered that there was nothing there – the Shinwa Taizen had been destroyed over a thousand years ago. They concluded, wrongly, that these new scrolls must be something else of incredible power and vowed to study it further.
When the waves of nationalism rose in Japan and the country began to reclaim what they saw as their birthright, Kodoshigisha and other mages decided that they must do their part. Mages infiltrated key government positions and secretly used their magic to help the Japanese war effort. Most of these mages were part of a secret part of the government known as Unit 731.
As Japan conquered China, they began to sense opposition from the Western powers. It was deemed necessary that to avoid defeat at the hands of the west, they would need the awesome power those scrolls would give to them. The Masters knew by this time, that the scrolls were Abyssal in nature, but it was decided to use them anyway. They wrongly believed they could control the entity once it was summoned.
So, Unit 731 shipped the Shinwa Taizen to Nanking, rounded up hundreds of thousands of people and began the ritual to summon the powerful entity. But no demon came out of the maelstrom. No spirit arose to greet them. They were not prepared for what was to come. Instead of a being, Nanking itself began to change. Nanking began to warp into a soulless, twisted version of itself. Buildings that were once made of wood and brick, changed into buildings of bone and blood. Instead of flags fluttering above government offices, banners made of human skin waved their bloody hand toward their masters. Finally, the remaining citizens of Nanking began changing into bloodthirsty Bakemono whose only desire was to eat the flesh of others and “devour their history” of those who do not share their predilection for cannibalism.
To make matters worse, the mages of Kodoshigisha began to have the urge for human flesh and some succumbed attacking their fellow mages tearing chunks of flesh and gore from their bodies with their teeth and bare hands. The Masters of the Kodoshigisha tried dispelling their own spell and closing the portal to the Abyss, and although successful, the damage had been done. Hundreds of thousands were dead and the Kodoshigisha had determined that in their hubris they had failed in their mission.
In their shame, the Masters of the Kodoshigisha committed seppuku, ritual suicide. The Kodoshigisha Cabal was disgraced and should have been disbanded. But Kwannon did not commit seppuku. Kwannon was but an acolyte in service to those masters and Kwannon alone stayed alive to keep the Aethenium and pass on the story of their shame.
In their shame, the Masters of the Kodoshigisha committed seppuku, ritual suicide. The Kodoshigisha Cabal was disgraced and should have been disbanded. But Kwannon did not commit seppuku. Kwannon was but an acolyte in service to those masters and Kwannon alone stayed alive to keep the Aethenium and pass on the story of their shame.
And the Shinwa Taizen? It seemed impossible to destroy. For as long as the Shinwa Taizen existed in the Fallen World, it would eventually manifest itself and corrupt anyone who touches or reads its corrupt manuscript. Finally, as the end of World War II looked inevitable for the Japanese, the Consilium forcibly removed the remnants of the Shinwa Taizen from its last resting place in Kiyomizu-dera fearing that the Allies would get their hands on it. The Consilium thought they had located the Isle of the Dragon King – a legendary place said to be a doorway into the Supernal Realm. If they took it there, it would forever be destroyed.
The mages who were taking the Shinwa Taizen to its last destination, were last heard from near Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Neither the Shinwa Taizen nor the mages transporting it were ever heard from again.
Return to Chapter 11
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