<h4>Chapter 510: The Rat Guard</h4>


    Continuing onward the thing that was most noticeable was the size of the tunnel. It was around the same height as the ones the miners had dug out, and was even wider. It was just shy ofrge enough for that giant rat to fitfortably, but with some effort it could traverse it certainly… and that was something weighing on Kat''s mind.


    *What can we do if we run into more of those things? I don''t know how fast they potentially are so sting some demonic fire at them and running might not be the safest bet. What else can we really do though? Still… is it really that likely we''ll fine more?*


    Kat bit her lips as she looked around the cave. Kamiko and Sue didn''t seem to notice her distress, and while she was hiding it well, Kat knew what it really meant was they hadn''t quite figured out the implications. *I just don''t know. Are these tunnels naturally urring?*


    Kat took a nce over at the stone on the walls and tried to see if there was anything denoting the path as man-made. The problem was she had no experience in this area. The mines were easy for they contained mostly straight paths that were all a uniform width. This tunnel changed width very slightly as it continued and wasn''t afraid to snake around asionally. Still, Kat had a feeling the size of it was just a bit to uniform to be natural.


    *I don''t like this at all…* Just as Kat''s thoughts started to turn in a dark direction another rat patrol wandered in. Kamiko just gestured for Sue, who took the chance to vent a bit more frustration clearing out the rats in no time t.


    *See, this is just too easy. Surely whatever is at the end of this isn''t ipetent… wait. They could be insane.* "Hey Kamiko, what are the chances that we find someone or something corrupted by demonic energy at the end of this tunnel" asked Kat


    Sue dismissed her hammer and let the other two pass her before speaking up in Kamiko''s ce, "I see your horns don''t take up much space in your skull Kat. That sounds pretty usible to me"


    Kamiko, deciding to answer the question addressed to her anyway said, "I''m not sure I agree with Sue. While it does seem likely on the surface it''s rather hard to get to the Hub. Plus, it''s pretty pointless because of the demonic energy in the air. It''s not an instant death sentence or anything but you wouldn''tst long. Still, I can agree that something seems likely"


    "So… if that''s the case…" said Kat, "what do we do if we find a person?"


    Kamiko shook her head sadly, "The only answer is death I''m afraid."


    "Really?" asked Kat, not truly surprised by the answer.


    "Indeed Kat. It''s a sad thing but as soon as the corruption starts it''s really just the beginning of the end. Never once has anyone ever been saved. It''s an ongoing project that Mom doesn''t like to participate in. I''ve heard some things. They are willing to do some rather disturbing things in their quest to find a solution. Luckily, they don''t need to forcefully corrupt anyone to get more test subjects…


    "But they have plenty anyway. They''ll go out and bring in some that can be easily subdued and run them through a batter of tests. Most of the ones nowadays don''t even have any scientific basis anymore. We''ve tried everything that makes sense, so we''ve been trying things that don''t as well. Demons truly want this issue solved Kat. Despite the power it gives us to keep it without a cure, knowing how to reverse demonic corruption is a long sought-after goal." Said Kamiko sadly.


    "It''s true" said Sue joining in. "Everyone''s heard of it at one time or another. The process starts quickly. If you''re showing symptoms, it''s toote. Now, everyone has a little bit of resistance to pure demonic energy. The stuff that corrupts. If you get just a little bit in your system sometimes it can pass through with no trouble. You can''t use it obviously, but it''s possible to expel with time.


    "Once the threshold is passed though… nothinges back. It''s been like that for as long as we can remember, and testing has been going on just a long. There is no mercy for the corrupted because there is no record of any of them keeping their minds, and no record of anyone being cured."


    Kamiko hopped in again, "Oh, and do try not to get toocent. You''re natural demonic energy you expel mostly just by existence won''t easily corrupt anything but it still potentially can"


    "Wait… should I be worried about the people I live with?" asked Kat, now that the idea had been brought up.


    Kamiko shook her head quickly. "No, not casually anyway. You''d have to inject them with your energy to cause issues. Demonic energy disperses pretty quickly into the universe and even if it doesn''t, attuned energy takes longer to lose its… vour forck of a better word."


    "What do you mean by vour?" asked Kat


    Sue couldn''t resist the chance, "Well everyone has a unique taste of course! Some are musky, while a few are even sweet. It''s the same with demonic energy. It keeps a little bit of you along for the ride. A little bit of intent. Unless a bunch of your demonic energy is injected into someone that bit of intent prevents it going wild and corrupting people so you don''t have to worry about identally ravishing people. They can take it as long as you go in slowly"


    Kat frowned at Sue, but decided to believe she was just trying to lighten the topic and not dismiss it. "So I''m really not likely to have issues regarding it?"


    Sueughed, and spoke up quickly, "Oh yes. Don''t worry. Plenty of Incubus inject their ''essence'' regrly and that always packs a punch. Imagine what would happen if that caused people problems on the regr. No, it''s so hard it''s basically impossible to identally corrupt something yourself.


    "Oh it''s pretty easy for them to do it. A bunch of wild energy in an artifact, an obscure ritual that summons demonic energy instead of a demon. Trying to break into the Hub to live here. Plenty of ways for other races to mess it up, but it''s much harder for a demon to be the reason. You have to try. It''s like one night stands. Getting a few is easy. Having someone stick around after is much harder."


    Kat groaned but was thankful enough for the information to not make ament about it. Just as she was wondering what to say, they rounded a corner and spotted to new rats, clearly guards. They stood at either side of the tunnel in slight alcoves they might have carved out for themselves. They walked on two legs, and the gem they had on their foreheads was twice asrge proportionally, bleeding into their entire face and encircling their eyes but leaving them uncovered.


    Kat and Kamiko moved as one. They didn''t know how deadly these new rats were and didn''t want Sue involved in the fight just yet. Kat took the one on the left and Kamiko the right. The rats were able to react to her presence and sent an attack her way, but Kat was fully focused on the battle and was able to slow her advance so the strike missed.


    Following this up sheunched into a series of light punches that were blocked with some difficulty. The rat''s arm shaking every time it made contact with her fist. Still, it was able to keep up somewhat, making short sharp movements that let the rat block her attacks well. Not wanting to drag things on, Kat slowed slightly, and ''fumbled'' a strike. The rat didn''t even think twice before trying to drive its w into Kat''s side.


    Seeing this as her chance, Kat stepped forward, letting it dig into her stomach as she brought her hand around and took off the rat''s head. She was actually at how easily it copsed. Ripping the w from her body, she turned around as it healed to find Kamiko dispatching her own rat with the same efficiency.


    For Kamiko, she simply unleashed a myriad of cuts across the rat''s body that were oozing blood. When she started the fight, unlike Kat, Kamiko watched it take a few swings and blocked them with the edge of her de, scoring a few cuts and saving herself from damage. The rat''s hide hardly helped it at all, so Kamiko stepped things up, swinging her naginata around mercilessly cutting every avable surface to her leaving the rat more blood then skin.? As Kat turned it was copsing from blood loss and Kamiko quickly cut off its head just in case to finish the kill.