| Monday, March 10, 2019 “Back when I was in my prime, I encountered a dark twisted soul. He promised me to give unmeasurable power, power to destroy, power to rule over the demons of the dark realm of the underworld, and to convert humanity in to a satanic land. That was 2 years before you were born.” The truth behind my past! Shine will finally learn the truth. “You see, over 17 years ago before you were born, you were set to be a part of a human experiment. But then your family took you away from our sights hiding you in a city called Nakeirai. Does that explain your question?” “It does, except my question about my relevance to this hasn’t been completely answered.” “Patience kid, I’m just getting to the good part. Anyways, I was able to sense your presence after making a deal with the devil. You were captured, your parents tried to resist, but it cost them their lives.” Hearing this caused Shine to rip off the shackle binding his right arm to the wall in anger, “You killed my parents?!” But before he could rip off the other shackle, a knee from Gyosai to his guts tranquilized him a bit. “Will you calm down already? Otherwise you’ll never learn the secret of the incident we unleashed upon those foolish humans.” “… What happened to me?” “You were kidnapped by the leader of the Akita Force Headquarters.” This shocked the knight immensely, “Zarenko?!” “That’s right. He was a part of the research regarding the human-demon hybrid project.” “That traitor…” “You were put in to a deep slumber until you reached the age of 6 as you broke out of your capsule with a strong force. The experiment room was also damaged severely. That right eye of yours became demonic with the color of blood… that’s when you were successfully turned in to a demon.” The frightened expression on the knight’s face had sunk as his eyes opened wide. “You’re saying… that I’m a monster?” “A beast who massacred everyone who lived in Nakeirai… Allow me to clarify. Shine Sotere, you had unleashed the fiery depths of hell, bringing dismay to all those who stood in your way. Starting from the apex of your heart, the demon infection processed your brutal nature. You were working under our control for 4 years until you became insane.” Getting an explanation of the incident, Shine recalled a moment when he was standing on top of a broken structure, holding a severed head of a human girl with her face frozen in fear, and dark wings opened in the air. His right arm was covered in a lot of blood, and his body was pumping a few unstable veins.  A bloody steam was hissing from Shine’s right eye, as both eyes were staring at nothing but blood as inferno surrounded him. The inferno spreading widely scared the captured knight back into the current situation he’s in. “We lost you when our own base erupted thanks to you. However, Zarenko found you 7 years ago, and made sure that you could control yourself completely.” I can’t believe this. Zarenko was just a spy, and what’s worse… that I killed so many… Could this be the reason everyone feared me? “Unfortunately, due to the display in Tottori, you haven’t changed much. Moving onwards, the decision of plan B has finally come.” “Why would you make a deal with a devil? What purpose would it have been for?” “It’s because other humans are little weaklings, I have a strong desire to wipe them out. On the other end of the bargain, I promised him a perfect vessel to take hold of.” “Wait… you don’t mean…!” Gyosai simply grinned evilly, “You guessed it.” _______________________________________________ The next day after the meeting, Mark was taking his temporarily pupil, Alexander, down a silent hallway that looked abandoned as if no one had passed through before. “Are you ready, Alex?” There was a sound of the boy gulping once. “To be honest, I’m actually nervous.” “Well it’s understandable since this is going to be your first time fighting a horde of monsters.” “Now I’m even more nervous!” “Don’t worry about it too much,” Mark reassured him, “we only got a week to make you a fighter. Just stay calm and cool.” “O-okay.” The instructor turned his head sideways to look at Alexander. “Which weapon will it be: sword or gun?” “Are they the only weapons I can choose?” “For beginners that is,” explained Mark, “high-class experienced fighters can customize their own weapons. Miri got her light, firm hammer, Shine upgraded his sword to a higher level, and Stein has his silver spear.” “Then I’ll go with a sword.” “Alright, so now we move on to the training session. Come with me.” Mark took Alexander below the basement floors, and then they come across a double-door with the insignia of a yin yang. With one touch on the insignia, Mark unlocked the doors, pushing them forward. “What is…?” In front of the two was a huge battlefield-like base: gun turrets that seemed to work as machine guns set to fire at anyone who steps in. Daggers, organized, and properly tied by a rope appearing to be patient as the “We’re supposed to be in the basement level,” recalled Alexander, “so how is this enormous?!” “This is useful for when you want to train without any troubled mind. I heard that a certain knight went to this place in order to concentrate during his training.” “I see. How long did it take for him to become a strong soldier?” “3 years. He was the first to ask for a hardcore training. No one in the organization can compare to him, well except Miri of course.” “Beauty and the beast, huh,” Alexander stated. Mark turned back to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “They’re both nice once you get to know them. Getting back to the subject, you’re under regular training. That means you can simply be recruited as swordsman in about a month.” “But didn’t Chi-Danu say we have to be ready in a week?” “Right.” A blade covered by the scabbard was tossed to Alexander. “You will have one week to work on your skills. That is the first step. Each day goes from 6 hours of sleep at the start… to no hours of sleep, though you will be fine as long as you make it to a few safety spots to take short breaks to recover. Don’t try to get out of this room because the door will be locked from the outside.” This sounded like too much to the new recruit. “That’s insane.” “Some of the small stations in here provide food rations for you,” Mark told him, “you better get through the maze, and reach your destination. Ta-ta!” “Uh, wait a min—!” Before he could finish the door shut closed. Now Alexander was all alone in the field. “Huh, doesn’t look too bad.” But Alexander was wrong, a second later, the turrets were activated, firing a round of bullets at the single person in the room, forcing him to hide behind a wall. Instantaneously, sharp arrows were released from the shadows at the opposite corner. He managed to get out of the way and blocked one of them with the blade, but the trapped boy struggle to stand firmly in this intense maze. At this rate I won’t make it through! In his mind, he remembered what Mark told him while walking down the stairs before reaching the garden field. “Listen Alex, when we go to save Shine, I want you to protect Elsia. If you care about her a lot, then beat this training session. Got it?” That gave him a chance to take a few breaths. “Calm down… and just focus on the task at hand.” Once he got off the ground, the boy drew his sword and swung it to divert the trajectory of an arrow. His left arm suffered as the arrow shredded his skin below the shoulder level… he felt it with the palm of his right hand as the blood dripped on it. Perhaps… using that would boost my advantage. _______________________________________________ About 6 days have passed, and Yano was in his room trying to organize multiple bullets laid down on the wooden table in front of him, when Mark came in. “What are you doing here?” Yano asked. Mark walked in casually as if he was invited. “Just came here to see what you’re up to, busy as always.” “What about you?” he asked Mark, “I thought you were helping Alexander preparing for the operation rescue.” “I’m leaving him in that room, you see? He should be finished in a few hours.” “Oh, so you’ve decided to rush through the training as quickly as possible.” “Yeah, why don’t you take a break from the preparations?” Yano thought about it, and decided to put away his equipment before standing up. “I suppose I can, I got everything ready.” _______________________________________________ The two of them were walking outside in the night time, the lights were on, and the streets were silent. They come upon a long bridge with the water flowing softly below it. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” asked Mark, “We’re the ones Shine had to bust out of trouble before.” “Hahaha,” Yano laughed shortly, “now we have a debt to pay him.” “And it’s not going to be easy for us.” “You said it. So how do you think Alexander will do with the first week of training?” “I trust that he can make it through somehow, and I trust him to protect my little sister.” The look on Yano’s face changed from jest to anxious. “How did you feel when Chi-Danu said that Elsia was going to be a part of this?” The other gunner was surprise to see Yano showing concern for them. “I hate it more than anything, but orders are orders, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” “You’re right. I was organizing the profile cabinet in January, and I took a look at your profile.” “What about it?” Mark gave a slight glance at Yano. “There was a statement saying “Child of the late Reinarl adults”. Mark let out a small sigh, and looked up in the sky. “You’re getting in way deeper than I thought.” “You think so? What about digging through the data regarding the Reinarl Scandal in Mongolia?” That’s when Mark stopped walking unable to get by the tormenting recollection in his mind. “Most of the time, you seem to be more protective of your Elsia. And your parents…” he paused for a moment before asking him, “Where are they?” “… It’s because of them… we had to take care of ourselves the hard way.” “Oh?” “Elsia and I were born from the two leaders of the company, Reinarl Research Facility. Most of the time they were always focusing on their work, they cared more about their work and fortune instead of me. 2 years after I was born, Elsia came in to the family, and she had it much worse than me.” “Did they do something to her?” “My little sister grew up being abused by those barbarians. I was always looking out for her whenever they show distaste towards her. On her 5th birthday, she was bruised real hard above her chest.” “How bad was it?” “The cut was half an inch. If the injury was critical… she would’ve died on that day.” Yano didn’t know how to respond to Mark’s statement. He considered the possibility of a troubled childhood though. “It was when they forced her to become a test subject. I disagreed with the idea and so did Elsia. Those adults could care less about her well-being, so they proceeded with the action. As one of the researchers held me back, Elsia was restrained on a surgery bed unable to move. Once the researchers were ready, a knife surfaced her body.” “Unbelievable…” “Before that could happen, they were careless with the other substances, and the whole facility was on fire. I took Elsia with me to escape the place. It was a good thing I study medical books at an early age, otherwise, she would’ve been a goner. Thanks to those jackasses, Elsia could never forget the past.” “Afterwards…” “We both kept running, until the day a head master of an orphanage adopted us. I was unsure at first because of the way Elsia was treated by adults. When my sibling was in trouble however, that guy was there for her. His name was Arthur Layome, our father.” “So why did you came here, didn’t you want to stay by Elsia’s side?” “Dad told me how I’m related to the researchers who were conducting an illegal project before my birth. Reporters believed that my sister is dead, but I wasn’t to them. I decided to give up medical studies, passed them onto my sister, and move onto combat formation. He allowed it while Elsia was unaware of this.” “You came to work here for the safety of your sister?” Mark nodded, “Of course, I bet she would think that I’m a horrible sibling.” “You’re so stupid!” A voice from behind them was the little girl who heard the whole story. “Elsia!” exclaimed Mark. She ran up to him with her fists banging on Mark’s chest. “What made you think that I wanted this?! I always thought that you did all of this to achieve your goals, not just to stay away from me!” “How can I live with you if you would be subjected to more suffering?” He grabbed her shoulders gently. “I wanted to prevent that from happening!” Elsia stared at him with a calm expression. “As long as you’re by my side, then I won’t be sad. Don’t forget about our dad as well.” “Elsia…” The first time Mark felt happy in a long time, having the comfort of his family. “Don’t forget Alex as well. He was looking after you during my absence.” “Mm, you’re right.” “Speaking of which, I need to go check on him now. Want to come?” “Yes,” Elsia grabbed his brother’s hand excitingly. Before they would go, Mark turned to Yano. “Sorry about this, but I’ve got to check on Alex’s progress.” “Oh don’t mind me.” smiled Yano, “Do what you need to do, teacher.” He waved to his partner, “See ya later then.” “Bye.” While he was left alone, the envious look in his eyes was shown after seeing the bond between the Layome siblings. “You’re a good older brother, Mark. I can’t compare to that…” A name he called as the wind echoes, “Yuri…” _______________________________________________ When the siblings got back, the first thing they did was visit the room in the lower levels. The door opened, and what appeared in front of them was a boy in ragged clothes, damaged around the body. “Well Mark, what do you think? I survived the first week?” Alexander breathed heavily, but he still felt proud of himself. “Impressive,” said Mark, “You managed to advance stronger than I anticipated.” “You’re cute when you gave it your all, Alexander.” Elsia winked to him. The swordsman felt flattered, “Haha, really?” “You need to go up and wash yourself.” Mark informed him, “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be sparring with you. You think you can handle?” “Right…” He gave a strong look. “I’ll be ready tomorrow!” Mark liked his assertiveness. “That’s the spirit.” _______________________________________________ And so the next day came. At the training grounds, Mark took out his weapon bracing himself for the final session of Alexander’s training. “Are you ready for this?” he asked wanting to see his response. Alexander inhaled some air through his, and then exhaled through his mouth. “I am!” “Very well, take your stance then.” A straight katana with a snake structure covering the handle was held balanced as the two sparring partners have a moment of silence in their stand-off. Part of the ground had cracked, prompting Mark to go on the offensive, dashing forward. Whoa! Alexander blocked his pistol with his sword, but not even a scratch was inflicted on Mark’s gun. “I forgot to mention that I upgraded my pistol with a few rare gems to spice up the endurance.” The gunner angled the aim of his pistol at the edge of the swordsman’s foot. Alexander just grinned. “I’m fine with that.” And there they go. The first move Alexander made was a jump before the shot could be made as it hit the ground only, followed up by an aerial wave on Mark. The attack only made a dent on the ground instead of hitting the marksman. Recovering from that, the swordsman launched a crescent projectile in the air, then another one at Mark. Once he dodged the attack, Alexander ascended above the first one. That was his cue to hit it like a baseball, believing that Mark won’t have the time to react. He’s good, but not good eno—! Before he could finish his thought, a sound from behind caught his attention The backside of Mark grew brighter, and he noticed the previous crescent projectile moving closer. Oh crap… A direct hit from both sides causing the training grounds to go under a large temblor for a couple of minutes as Alexander looked in shock. “Uhh, I think I put in too much effort!” He thought that he used so much strength that he mortally wounded Mark. The smoke cleared up. The only thing that was damaged was the left side of Mark’s coat and the cheerful expression on his face. “A-amazing.” he said to himself after looking at Mark. “He took that attack head-on, and there’s not much of a scratch on him.” “I’m not going to lie, that attack surprised me.” Mark said to him honestly. “How can a normal boy such as you have that kind of ability with only a week of training?” The sound of someone gulping once more could only mean that something troubled is stirring up. “Well?” Mark pressed with suspicion. It was about time for him to say something about himself to his trainer. “As a baby, I was a victim.” “A victim?” that sounded familiar to Mark. “What are were you a victim of?” “… Of the Reinarl Research Facility,” Alexander let out. The name “Reinarl” had caught Mark off-guard, he didn’t knew about Alexander’s connection with his family. “Enlighten me.” Alexander nodded and proceeded. “There was a procedure called “Human Weapon: Alexander Koraqua”, I was the baby in the capsule chamber sleeping until July 23, 2014. The day when I turned 10, I awaken in a run-down a chamber room below the experiment room.” A secret lab?! Shouted Mark in his head. “All of those years were gone, so was my family who I barely knew. I came to knowing about my slumber when I saw holographic video, as well as the spiritual telekinesis power I possess. It’s useful for both offensive and defensive methods. Any energy blast launched at us can be stopped by me, depending on the strength of the user, of course. I’m able to control my own energy attacks at will, even though it was forced on me. But I’m not sure if this will be enough…” “How can they do something so horrible?” “I’ve been trying to figure that out, but all I know is that I could never forgive the ones who did this to me.” Seeing as how Mark was being told this… “Does Elsia know about this?” The victim looked to the ground with Mark being right. “I don’t know why, but it felt like we had something in common.” He’s actually right. My little sister also suffered a traumatic scene, even though she smiles most of the time to hide her pain. “Say, what do you plan to do after we rescued Shine?” “Isn’t it obvious? Wipe out every source related to the Reinarl Research!” Such an impact for Mark, he remembered what his father told him. The look in Alexander’s face had changed to that of a child longing for justice. “Tell me if anything had happened before you came here.” “As of now, I managed to take down about a dozen of the members that were still alive. And I have the distinct feeling that the source is still alive. I can’t allow that to stay around, nor will I forget what happened to me.” All Mark could say was… “I’m sure you’ll achieve your goal. You got a girl to look after.” “Same with you if you don’t want to get chastised,” Alexander said with a calm tone as Mark nodded in agreement. “Now getting back to the training…” But then Mark turned around, and pats Alexander on the shoulder. “… But I think you’ll have to wait for when it comes.” This made Alexander remained silent for a moment, not getting the message completely. “Huh?” “It was decided that once you got through that battlefield maze, you’re real training will happen on the mission.” Slowly, Mark moved his gun upward, aiming it at Alexander without pulling the trigger. “My gun will not be the one to judge your performance as it already happened with a striking glance. If you managed to evade bullets from several angles, then show the enemy coming from any of the angles that you won’t be a simple target with your ability. Never doubt a part of yourself, disregard the method of how that fragment was born, and don’t ignore what’s left for you to look after. That’s the lesson for today.” As he continued, a scene of Elsia speaking to her brother on the bridge was present in his mind, thinking of this as an example. “Someone knowledgeable made me see that clearly,” Mark told him in a regrettable tone, “the lesson was in front of me this entire time, but I failed to notice… Never make that mistake.” In that statement, there was a small trace of motivation in how Mark spoke about having faith in his own ability, and that lead to Alexander forming a smile. “You’re bad at lecturing, but you know how to present them nicely.” Alexander chuckled. “Hey, just so you know,” Mark barked at him, “I’ll be supervising you during the mission, so cut me some slack!” Just then, Stein appeared by stepping from behind both of them. “What are you doing here?” asked the gunner. “Chi-Danu has an important announcement to make. We need to see him immediately. Also boy,” he turned to Alexander, “congratulations for being approved.” The boy smiled. “Thank you, sir, though I wouldn’t say that I’m officially approved… yet.” As the 3 of them were walking out of the training grounds, Mark had difficulty thinking, considering what he had heard to be a grudge against the family name. Not only was I unable to stop the researchers from restraining Elsia, Alex went through a long period of time trapped in that cursed building because of them. The mission may become devious on our side… _______________________________________________ The whole group showed up in the meeting hall to hear Danu speak about the important message. “I want to discuss with all of you about the overall preparation. Miri Sayao.” “I have boosted my charms to higher levels slam through the enemy twice as hard. I’ve also prepared talisman necklace for each person here to defend you from harm as much as it can.” Then he turned to the small girl, “And Elsia Layome?” “At the infirmary, I learned and experiment with the medical compounds and tools thanks to the staff who works there.” Elsia reported. “Excellent,” nodded Danu. “As for Chi-Danu and I,” Stein stepped in, “we’ll be the only ones supporting you all.” “… That’s not a surprise…” said a voice. A soldier with bandages covering his left eye and a threatening look in his right eye glared at Stein when he overheard a mission retrieving a knight. “Do you have something to share?” Stein asked firmly. “Yeah… Rescuing… a single… demon,” replied Chrono “I rather stay out of it then help him of all people. I can use that time to train myself.” “No one asked for your help,” Stein pointed out. “Good,” he smirked confidently, “It’s better than ending up with a fixation as developed as Miri’s, nor give away my life so early for a stranger.” Chrono glared ominously at both Alexander and Elsia. This triggered a response from Naomi. “Which is horrible: fixation for someone precious to her or fixation on trying to outrank one person for a grudge you caused through repeated failures?” “It was an organ he swiped from MY body.” Chrono angrily explained. Stein, who knew Shine more than Chrono did, decided fought back with his own words. “You have yourself to blame for losing that eye. Citizens favor you more than him, but he can handle prejudice from anyone, more than you have, boy.” “Nrrghhh…” Chrono gave off a vicious atmosphere reaching Miri in which the girl was repulsed by him. “I always thought that Shine was a bad boy,” Miri openly stated, “but ripping an eye out…” This wasn’t the first time he plucked an eye out of his victim. Stein kept to himself mentally. “Anyways, as for those two,” Miri got back to the topic, referring to Alexander and Elsia, “from what we heard, they can do accomplish more than what you could.” That set the one-eyed soldier off this time. “What? Take down one of the tyrant demons?” “Care to try a second time?” Miri asked coldly, “No one else is impressed, so keep your lack of knowledge on using your skills, and your jealousy of him being stronger to yourself.” “… Just so you know… I’m not the only one who won’t waste my time helping Shine.” He made it painfully clear as he left the room. “And Miri, if you have the guts to pull the same stunt you did before, bail on this rescue operation.” Yano looked at Miri suspiciously. She’s been through a lot, hasn’t she? “He’s full of arrogance bundled in clichés, isn’t he?” Alex asked, much to Mark’s amusement. “Good remark.” “Now back to what we were discussing,” said Ch-Danu, “Gyosai has pulled several strings that appeared to have taken some time to orchestrate. He knew that things would lead up to this point, and his connection with Shine still remains unknown.” “And as for Shine,” Stein intervened, “an immense source of power swelling up around an unknown island was located, hiding inside an old castle.” “Really?” asked Mark. “Well that was early.” Stein noticed him having a sigh of relief. “You shouldn’t relax Mark. We’re dealing with a few of the worst we’ve dealt with. One ran into both Yano and Naomi, the real deal wanted to deal with Shine personally, the other appeared before you, and their spy who deceived us this entire time.” Chi-Danu nodded. “Indeed. We can’t overlook possible threats. Starting tomorrow, while we’re looking for Shine, we need to take those four out. We wouldn’t want them to strike back at us. Is that clear to everyone here?” The main group agreed. “Yes sir!” And Stein concluded the meeting. “Dismiss.” As most of the group has split up once they exited the room, Naomi walked up close to Yano while he was making his way to the elevator. She noticed that the gunner is bothered. “Hey Yano, you okay?” “Huh, yeah, I’m fine.” He replied before pushing the button for the elevator. But Naomi wasn’t sure. “You don’t look alright. Recently, you had a nasty look on your face.” “Everything’s alright, so don’t worry.” Once the elevator had opened, Yano stepped in. “Do you need to go down?” He asked her. “No thanks.” She replied with a faint smile, “Have to take care of something on this floor.” “Alright then, see you tomorrow.” As the door closed, Yano was leaving behind a concerned Naomi. “Why won’t he say something?” she asked silently. _______________________________________________ The day finally came, everyone was ready. Everyone except Yano who didn’t showed up. At a cemetery covered by the beauty of the cherry blossoms, a red rose was placed onto the gravestone in front of Yano. Suddenly a call interrupted a moment of silence for him. “Hello?” “Dude, where are you?!” It was Mark who called him. “I’m heading to the headquarters now. I’ll see you shortly.” “Get here quick, we’re going to leave in a couple of minutes.” “Okay.” The phone call ended, and then he turned to the gravestone. “Well, I have to get going now.” Yano waved to it. “See you after the battle.” As he left, the shadow above the grave ascended, revealing the name “Yuri Agemeon”. _______________________________________________ At the headquarters, Naomi became suspicious of Yano as he would never be late when missions were about to start. She wanted to ask him again, but felt as if it would be pointless to talk to him now, so Naomi chose to be silent for the time being. Miri was eager, but patient to see Shine once more. Just hold on Shine, we’re coming. “So how do we get to the location?” Elsia asked. Miri took out her amulet Chi-Danu gave back. The green gem glow around the group, just like that they vanished. _______________________________________________ Once they arrived to their destination, the group knew that something was strange about the island. When Alexander took one step, he didn’t realize there was a hole underneath him. “Ahhh!” “Alex! Are you alright?!” Mark asked, reaching out to grab his hand. He looked down below him, only to notice that something was out of place. “What is this place?!” shouted the gunner. “What’s wrong?” asked Yano. After Mark helped Alexander climb back up, Mark was blunt with his answer. “We are above in sky.” They didn’t believe what she said. “No way,” Naomi looked around them, “This whole island is…” Out of all of them, Miri didn’t appear to be surprised. “I think I understand where exactly we are.” “Is it something out of a legend or something?” Yano asked her. Miri nodded. “You could say that. This place… it looks similar to the one I saw in a book about the Kumokyoukin History. The Kumokyoukin people of this grand land were wise people who worshipped the primordial sky deity, Izanagi. They watched over the surface keeping everything in order by using controlling the flow of time and energy using the strength from the god of sky.” “So they were like gods?” asked Yano. “No, it was said that at some point, demons had rid a floating island of its inhabitants.” Miri looked at her reflection in one of her charms with a gem. “Even their elder, Karihe was overwhelmed. Stein had recalled something. “Gyosai said something about an entrance to Kumokyouki.” “In any case, we should find Shine.” Chi-Danu suggested to the group. “Their location is beyond the forest west from this area. Shall we go?” “Yes, the mission won’t complete itself,” Stein said as he walked in front of them. _______________________________________________ “Hmphhmhmhm…” Stepping out of the shadows of a tree was Gyosai, appearing in front of Zarenko, going by the alias, Emaki, to relay a message to him. “Your ‘heroes’ have arrived, Emaki.” He spoke to him in a cynical manner. “We’ll leave the majority of them to the other two, and you will have to deal with Miri and Stein.” “You’re not suggesting that I end their lives, are you?” Zarenko questioned him about his action. The boss of the 4 demons scoffed at the inquiry. “We aren’t humans anymore Emaki, so their lives should not matter to us.” “Hmph,” he gave a grim expression to Gyosai, earning himself a cruel response. “Was the deal I made with you not fair enough?” For a few seconds, Zarenko glared at him with death-like look in his eyes. “It was fair. As for my job, I’ll see to it that they won’t make it out of there.” “Good, I wouldn’t want the humans tainting our demon lord as much as you have allowed it.” He made his way into another shadow, disappearing after Zarenko gave him silent response. “Yes…” But in his mind, there were somber thoughts. It was the only way that would allow him to live longer. You just had to drag your old ally’s creation into this, didn’t you Gyosai? _______________________________________________ After making their way through the forest, an old enormous ruin that looked like nothing more than a maze from the outside stood in front of Stein’s group. “Let’s check this place out.” He said. As they were walking towards the entrance of it, Yano felt uneasy. I have a bad feeling about this place. There’s definitely an intense aura flowing around the place. To bring more concern for him, a loud laugh echoed in the ruins causing the others to look up. It can’t be! Yano knew who it belonged to. A man dropped down dressed in the same clothing as Gyosai, with dark red hair, along with a tattoo of a rose on his forehead. Yano stare in to the violet demon eyes of his enemy completely realizing his identity. “Welcome to the land of the dead, literally of course. Call me Kuren the Bloody Rose. So sudden, but it’s time for all of you to die…” As Kuren turned his head to Yano… “… Especially you, Agemeon.” A kick was set in motion connecting with Yano’s right cheek, the blow forced him back into a wall. “Yano!!” Naomi called out to him. “There’s no need to worry,” Kuren was calming her down, “after all, he’s been training to kill me since he joined your organization.” A shadowy figure emerged out of the smokes, only a set of scratches was shown on the right side of Yano’s face. His glasses were cracked, and his eyes had the atmosphere of a murderous intent. Alexander could see the look in his eyes, and saw himself being in Yano’s positon getting the idea of what’s happening. So I’m not the only with the thought of revenge… Kuren grinned eagerly to fight, “I’m going to enjoy this.” When he sees some enjoyment, his accomplice decided to make his appearance. “I’ll take care of the rest of these pissants,” he said, “you get the four-eyed brat.” “Getting by us won’t be easy with only you,” Alex noted. “That’s true, so I’ve come up with a little game.” Snapping his fingers, two clouds of smoke along with a couple of sparks appeared. Two demonized creatures popped up in front of the team, but they were different from the rest. These monsters have armor for protection, crystals above their heads, and a dark layer under the armor. Part of their faces could be seen, one’s a man with brown eyes, After looking at them, Mark was concerned. “What are those?” The bald accomplice directed his attention to Mark. “They’re my little puppets.” He answered the young man. “These creatures of my project are something special indeed.” Kuren’s expression went from a smirk to a vexed glare. “Wasn’t I the one who made them appeared?” “Right, my bad. I’m just as excited as you are.” “Heh!” He snickered. “So, want to take our challenge?” “I’ll take you on by myself.” Yano firmly stated in front of the group. The crimson-haired demon “I knew you would agree.” Another snap, and then his sword appeared. “I hope you’re ready for a reunion in heaven.” That’s when Naomi realized what happened between them, she turned to see the cold expression on Yano’s face. You lost someone to him before coming to the Akita Force… Didn’t you? “Aomare, if you be so kind to open that door…” said Kuren. “Of course, I was waiting for you to ask for my assistance.” The spider tattoo on the right side of his head glowed as his hand moved swiftly opening a slim portal. Kuren then walked calmly through it after leaving a message. “Come and find me, kid.” As soon as he left, Yano ran towards the portal enraged, leaving the others behind to deal with the other demon. “Yano, wait!” Not only Yano, but Naomi ran through the entrance to another area. Once it has closed up, Aomare cut off the eye patch covering his left eye. “Now then… entertain me.” |
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