WARNING!
The story contains graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, strong language, and/or other mature themes.
[The Demon's God Pursuit: Arc 17]
Once upon a time, on Planet Earth, a young girl was born; the story goes that her identity was never adequately clarified, but she was effectively known as the 'Holy Light.'
Her title depicted the real life of one's planet. Humankind did not know the Dimensions that had appeared alongside her birth, only of the Spirits that had been destroyed or disappeared.
The woman... The Holy Light, the heir of all the inhabitants, was not born alone. The arrival of the Demon God, whose name was Rez, caused anarchy, and humanity was on the brink of extinction.
Humans terrified him because of his recklessness and hunger for blood, and Demons started to manifest all over the Earth and The World of Zero, alongside alternate races such as The Inner Fiends, The Shades, Wraiths, and Spirits.
To combat the challenge, a new breed of people has awakened, the 'Spiritual Duelists' and 'Substitute-Duelists,' who have been dubbed the "First Army to Face Evil."
With their Legendary Weapons, the Ginken. This swarm of humans increased the world's cleanliness to the greatest extent possible, overwhelming the Demons of various grades and placing their survival at risk.
But, after several years of waiting, the 'Holy Light' gave birth to a human child, a girl of theoretically greater worth than Zero herself, but unlikely to become the next 'Holy Light,' their Goddess gave the girl to a friendly family, and since her mother needed to participate in protecting the divinity, the girl's memories were wiped.
But there is another royalty trapped within the shadows that have been concealed for millennia, even longer than the birth of a Demon...
The only one who has beaten the 'Holy Light's own is the Fiend Lord. Its lurkers will undoubtedly be wiped out, and the newfound foe will ready the battlefield...
- Yashikami City, Tuesday, 8.05 am -
When Ayuka, Elliot, and Sakami flinched in horror, the palm shattered a piece of paper on the board.
"We've been given the task of inspecting this place! But one of you, whom we met yesterday, has gone missing! If he doesn't appear right now, we'll be compelled to destroy the guild! Have you had it?" When everybody had a look at the deal, the guy yelled.
"So, what do we do? He left without saying anything! We have no idea where he went!" Elliot screamed angrily when he was stressed. "It's not our fault. Either call him now so that we have evidence that he was not the one who took the child, or the consequences would be disastrous!"
"What does this have to do with the guild's demise!? We had no idea he had left until this morning!" Kylin's complaints could be heard.
"We're not going to let you ruin this guild! It's only been here for three years, so several Duelists have become addicted to it. Aside from that, if you ruin it, how are you going to prepare the 'Duelists'? They are essential to our survival!" Ayuka spoke up, a little disappointed.
"The demons have all but vanished, leaving only the 'Half-Demons' and that devilish baby! Do you realize we've already increased the Duelist population to its maximum?" The guy called, clearly irritated with them.
"What's the big deal? We never know when their assistance will be needed, nor do we know how far the enemies will go. We can't let you break the Guild because there is already hope for this planet, and Toyama Shin refused your appeal." Kylin continued her palms on the table's edge.
"It is not his choice to make; that is the grandmaster's; all we do is follow orders, unlike you, a pair of downright fools!" yelled the guy, as Sakami reached for his shirt collar and gave him a threatening look. "Declare it. If you have any proof of the grandmaster's order? If you don't have one, there's no need to waste time on a bunch of liars." Sakami asserted, her face flushed with fear.
As a result, the man's sweat started to run down his forehead. "How dare you make fun of our job? We don't need proof; all we need to do is set the orders and order them. Never call us liars because you will most likely get in trouble..."
"No, it does not... You people are a lot of liars. We won't bother filling out the contract until we get evidence." Sakami spoke up, letting Shin go as he stood still and thought. "I would decline, but without evidence of the grandmaster's position, we can do nothing but decline." Shin spoke up after the others glanced at him.
The man re-tied his tie. "What a lot of knuckleheads you can be..." ( "They are, however, right... We haven't been ordered, so I guess the only other choice is... I figured the first one would have been effective ")
"Ok then, that's fine. We'll just chase the baby down ourselves, and once we find it, you'll all lose interest within the beginning." As Elliot exhaled, the guy grabbed the contract and burst through the door.
- Nitsuragi Forest, Tuesday, 8.50 pm -
"Gone and vanished. Every time I thought he'd only stay with us for a while... I'm sure we'd be fine if he'd been with us back then... And the fact that the newspaper most likely did not lie, we have got no indications of his whereabouts..." Codey cradled Ena in his lap, gazing at her adorable face as she slept.
"... I mean, I know... As much as I adore him, he is a moron..." Codey asserted as he softly patted Ena on the back of the head. "And now that we've escaped, I'm sure we'll be safe..." But the moment he looked up at the night sky, he realized he'd made a mistake.
"No one can get in the way between you and me... Ena." The warmth of the blazing fire kept them warm and comfortable from the moment Codey spoke. You are aware. The warmth of the fire reminds me of him... Ena, I remember sitting back and relaxing three years ago when we needed to stop Ayuka's marriage. We ate as much meat as we could fit into our stomachs, and even slept under the cool, yet stunning night sky... But now that we've matured, I can hardly recognize my former self, heh.... I guess time sure does go by..."
"I guess we'll just keep looking for the cure on our own... good night, Ena..." Finally, Codey had softly and warmly placed Ena next to his body, as though he was about to fall asleep.
- Yashikami City, Tuesday, 9:10 pm -
Ayuka had just gotten out of the shower and was standing at the balcony's glassed entrance, so she wanted to soften her hair as well as clean it as she gazed at the moon's light.
".... That's just the same as it was four years ago... He left without saying where he was heading. Will we ever talk again? And if do, how long until then?" Ayuka's long white hair had reached her waist, even though she was resting them over her shoulders, and seeing her hair reminded her of the past.
{"... Actually, now that I think about it. I've never seen your hair drop before, and I had no idea they'd be this long"}
"... They grow at an astonishing speed. I couldn't have stopped them until I slit them... Still, after you said that, I decided to leave them alone... And even after we finished the final exams and began to devote more time to getting rid of Demons, even killing Codey's father - the God of Demons - we still had a lot of work ahead of us... And we still do ..." With that, Ayuka peacefully stopped brushing her hair.
"... you've already died once... so please, don't let it happen again..." When Ayuka was saying this, she lifted the ring that Lei Zhongying had given her and examined the reflection.
"She gave me this ring, and because of the 'Holy Bloodline,' it was incapable of hurting me... If you die, I'll know as soon as the ring sparkles... So, yeah, be cautious..." Finally, Ayuka held the ring to her chest, praying that everything would be safe.
Still, before going to bed, she placed the ring on her finger and headed to the bed, hoping to keep it as discreet as possible.
"Good night, wherever you are."
- Gyuma City, Tuesday, 9:10 pm -
Tim was lying in bed with his arms folded beneath his neck.
"... Two years or more to boost my own strength...? I suppose I'd understand... But what if anyone starts roaming and attacking the 'Guild,' or worse, the whole Yashikami, and I'm not there? That would endanger their lives, as well as the lives of Codey, Ayuka, Elliot, and others, as well as the entire city's population. Kreara has yet to appear for another second after we last saw her... Is she planning an assault, is she attempting to stabilize her own body, or what exactly is her strategy? Damn... all is so perplexing right now that I'm not sure I'll be able to learn anything..."
"Assume my only hope is to keep myself alive until then, and right now. And the promise I made, it can't be done yet. Ayuka knows that I will never violate that promise, and... she's right... but how can I defend her when I'm so far away?" Tim extended his hand and turned to look inside it.
"... Then again, she's not alone, so I'm confident that others can hold the promise for me for as long as I have to stay here..." Tim sighed and shifted his body to the left, deliberately facing the window, preferring to sleep slowly.
[Tim and his allies have separated once again, and their challenge is unknown.
Kreara, the Goddess of the Afterlife, is still in hiding, waiting for her victims, while Tim's preparation to develop his adaption to the 'Universal Flame' as well as his physical skills was soon to be ready to begin, but on the other hand, Codey and his younger sister are on the run, unaware of the danger threatening their existence.
Grandmaster, who has yet to confirm or encourage the men to pursue the young and planned Demon Goddess, remains concealed within Yashikami's agency, among several other people who are willing to comply if he had wanted to grant them an order, but in fact, the next, upcoming, and most anticipated 'Demon God' keeps the baby girl within his hands.
And, in order to keep his sister alive, Codey is willing to risk every muscle and destroy every danger, even if it means killing his allies, the true emotions of a 'Demon God.']
- Yashikami City, Wednesday, 10:05 am -
"Everyone, form a line next to each other!" The grandmaster issued his orders.
"I've got word that some of you had dealings with the City's Guild company and I would like to know who they were. I'm doing this because I can't seem to get anybody to listen to me. Sure, we've heard a lot about the next 'Demon God' or 'Demon Goddes' in the last few years, but as long as he or she does not endanger people's lives or place the world on the verge of extinction, we will not forcefully seize them. Those who did this and did not comply will be automatically imprisoned or detained for their actions."
And though the grandmaster had yet to hear anybody reply, he realized that the three people who had visited Guild and tried to destroy it had been reduced to silence.
"So I'm guessing none of you have intimidated and lied about their Guild's demise? So, I'll go pay them a visit and take a warm stroll toward them. If the perpetrator is still able to call themselves out, I'll give you as much credit as I can." But, in the end, no one has done something or called themselves out.
"Then there isn't much of an option. I'll take the visit instead..." With that, both of the Duelists or department employees exited the building.
"Is he expecting us to just call ourselves out? This grandmaster is far more stupid than the last one." The guy who had threatened the Guild's demise spoke up.
"Wow, I mean, isn't it?"
"Grandmaster, we've got an invitation; I'm sure the Guild's Duelists will cooperate; I hope your lost time isn't as hasty as their mind." When the woman spoke, the grandmaster grinned and brushed his beard with his palm.
"Hmm, an invitation? I was about to pay them a visit on my own..."
To be continued...