61- Amputation (1)

Mason and Danny stepped through the glowing portal, arriving at the edge of a Japanese garden.

As the portal closed behind them, Mason looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining down on them, feeling a strong sense of revulsion. It made him want to smash the sky apart.

It was because it was no true sun, but an illusion of the sky. The reason the Hand’s headquarters had remained out of reach for so long was that they were located in a strange realm. It was not quite a pocket dimension separate from Earth, but it was not truly on Earth either.

It was in a weird in-between.

Though, despite the sense of wrongness the sky gave him, Mason had to admit it was a surprisingly beautiful place. They had arrived on a small, red bridge, of the traditional Japanese kind. It arched over a small stream, which landed in a pond somewhere just at the edge of his sight.

Surrounding them were flowering cherry trees, no doubt maintained by magic considering it was not the season, but beautiful nonetheless. Thanks to his enhanced senses, Mason could also hear the chittering of wildlife around them, living peacefully like they were not in the headquarters of a devil-worshiping sect.

And in the middle of it all was a sprawling mass of traditional buildings. There were several towering pagodas built in red, green, and white, with smaller houses. Mason could not see much more from where he stood, but he imagined it followed a classic Japanese layout.

Remarkably, they appeared to be alone, but Mason only had to spread out his Divine Sense to tell they were standing before a veritable anthill.

Divine Sense, at least not his, was not the best tool to identify precisely how many people there were, and he was not sure about their numbers because their individual Chi signatures were drowned out by the six Immortal Weapons.

Holding Izo’s cane sword by his side, already unsheathed, Mason said, "It looks like they are waiting for us. At least, the six Immortal Weapons are here."

Danny looked down, as if he could see through the ground onto the people below, and added, "Yes, they are not being particularly subtle. It looks like they are still unaware of our presence, and we took them by surprise, but I’d wager they want us to go down there. Probably to surround us. I would feel insulted, but they do have the numbers."

Mason gave him a glance. "I did tell you I wanted to come alone."

Danny pouted ever so slightly. "An Awakening Grandmaster, even a peak one, isn’t that much stronger than an Immortal Weapon."

Mason snorted but said nothing. It was true that there were things an Immortal Weapon could do and he could never replicate with only his cultivation, but in a fight? They were completely outmatched.

All Danny had over him was raw power in one strike. That was it. As the Iron Fist, Danny could make one telegraphed punch capable of sending the Hulk flying, and that was it. Mason knew that there were later versions of the Iron Fist capable of sending multiple full-power punches, but in this reality, it had not been long since Danny had left K’un-Lun. Not that it would make a difference.

On the other hand, Mason was substantially stronger, faster, more durable, a better fighter, capable of predicting his actions and using the Dao, among others.

Although he avoided saying it because even he thought it was arrogant, Mason was not just a peak Grandmaster. He was the greatest martial artist to have ever lived, and not by just a little. After all, there might not have even been another peak Grandmaster in history.

His fight with Fat Cobra had shown the difference between him and an Immortal Weapon quite well too. Fat Cobra was the best counter to Mason among the Immortal Weapons, since his special Chi strengthened his body instead of getting discharged all at once. And still, it had taken less than ten moves for Mason to defeat him, and that with being reckless.

So even facing all six of the Immortal Weapons did not particularly worry Mason. The Chaste would be even less of a bother, and the regular Hand members were fodder with his Spirit awakened. The only variable today, in Mason’s eyes, was that mysterious weapon.

So sure, it would not be easy, but Mason was confident in himself. Still, having Danny to split off the heat would certainly help.

Flicking the cane blade, Mason stepped forward, saying, "Let us appreciate their warm welcome then."

Danny tightened the wraps around his fists, and the two strode in.

No one tried to stop them on their way in, even as they felt the gazes on them. They were being watched, yet not stopped. Evidently, the Hand wanted the two of them to get deeper, which was all but a confirmation that this was indeed a trap.

What troubled Mason more was why, exactly, the Hand would possibly want them to be there. Assuming they knew they had given away their position, what was the point of waiting for them to attack, especially since the six Immortal Weapons were still there?

Mason did keep the possibility of this being an obvious bait at the back of his mind, but as they descended into the guts of the place, walking down the smooth, obsidian-black stairs, he got the confirmation that it was not.

His earlier description of the place as an anthill had been closer to reality than he had thought. They had arrived in a large cave, with dozens of dark holes that led into more winding staircases, some going up, some going down, each and every one of them too dark to see without enhanced sight.

The stone around them was of the same obsidian black, resulting in that darkness, though Mason could tell that what surrounded them was not fragile volcanic glass, but deep-mantle rocks that would hold even against a ballistic missile.

The only source of light down there was sporadic torches that burned blue instead of orange, and that emitted coldness instead of heat. Without enhanced sight, Mason would have been blind as a bat down there.

But the darkness only brought out the sea of red eyes staring at them, not moving but following their every move. Everyone present, be it the regular Hand Ninjas or the six Immortal Weapons, had glowing red eyes, seemingly capable of peering through the darkness.

More inconvenienced by the darkness than Mason, Danny muttered, "Daredevil sure would have been useful."

Mason kept his expression still, but everyone around them suddenly responded as one, "I will get to Murdock one day, don’t worry. Maybe I’ll even use you."

There had to be dozens of them, probably over a hundred, and yet they all spoke in sync, without a single one of them missing the beat. And while the voices themselves certainly were different, they all had the same intonation.

The closed cavern they were in also caused their voice to echo against the walls, giving a sense of oppression to anyone listening.

Guessing what he was dealing with, Mason frowned distastefully and said, "Shut up and keel over already; you’ll save us time and effort."

They all laughed, but there was something wrong with it. Not only was it synchronized like before, it was loud but strident, and for the few faces Mason could see clearly, while laughter came from their mouths, their expressions were painful, almost anguished.

This made him pause. Clearly, they were not in control of their actions at the moment, but were they ever? Mason had assumed the Hand was working for this demon, the Beast, but this made him wonder just how much agency they had.

The Beast, through his many windows, claimed amidst his laughter, "You foolish brute, you entered a game I have been playing with your plane’s defenders for millennia, and you thought you could outsmart me? You have been playing into my hand from the very beginning, and today is the day you die."

They did not wait for Mason to answer, as the ninjas poured in from every direction. Mason noticed they were being surprisingly skill-less with their approach; they were rushing in like a tide, pushing each other as they sprinted towards him like it was their entire life purpose. And yet, at the same time, none of the six Immortal Weapons were moving. Mason was sure that the other truly strong ones were not either.

So they were baiting out Mason’s Spiritual Outburst. Mason grinned and delivered.