It was dark, very dark in the pitch black depths that was my body as I felt my body lain and covered by a soft surface. I felt my eyelids slowly begin to flutter until fully opening, I held my hand to my forehead in pain as soon as I did, having a headache that could rock hell itself if it wanted. I looked around, noticing I was in the same guest bedroom I had woken up in. I didn't understand, shouldn't I have been dead since Daigen had seen my blood, I payed more attention to the wet feeling from my hand rested on my forehead, I took it off, noticing it was wrapped in bandages. I slowly began to unwrap the bandages until seeing not green, but a dark red blood on my hand, it wasn't only there, it was even on my back and arms, both wrapped in bandages.
I was in total relief, however, remembering my fight with Kagrasia, I knew that green blood wasn't fake, and when my blood was that color, most of my injuries then were fatal. However, even though blood clearly had drenched my body in the fight earlier, they didn't exactly feel life threatening. So I came to this conclusion, I would only shed crimson blood when I had been dealt minor injuries, and green blood was meant to be for severe wounds.
I smirked to myself, thankfully, this meant I would be able to tell when to get out of a fight if it ever became too much for me to handle. Before I could ponder this more, I suddenly saw the door open, and in came Daigen, as well as Saika, who had a first aid kit with her. Daigen smiled at me when he came in "You've woken up faster than I thought, that's comforting news." Daigen said.
I smiled at him, Daigen sure knew how to make someone smile, despite how powerful and intimidating he might've seemed, he was very kind. I smirked at Daigen as I sat up in bed "Thankfully, what the hell happened to me back there?" I asked him. Daigen sat in a chair near my bed while Saika grabbed my arms and held them out, taking off the bandages "Simple, you lost the battle, however, I didn't think I would accidentally end up injuring you that badly, for that I apologize." said Daigen with a truly apologetic expression. I flinched a little as I felt Saika rewrap the bandages on my wounds, some of them were still sore, however, her gentle hands on my skin had put me at ease nearly in an instant.
I payed back attention to Daigen "It's no problem, I've taken worse hits." I said, it wasn't a lie either considering one of my soul weapons had pummeled me into the ground the first time I met him, or the other that tried to freeze me to death. The old man let out his usual, hearty santa-claus like laugh, "I see, I'm glad you let this old timer have some mercy." he said happily, I chuckled at him. I was really liking Kagura Village, it wasn't home, but the people here were kind, the chief himself even let me stay here, they just seemed like the kind of people you could count on, I wondered if it would be safe to tell them what happened.
I opened my mouth to tell them now, however, a red blur suddenly whooshed right into the room and I felt a hand clench itself around my neck, slamming me hard into the wall. I was dazed at this sudden attack, and opened my eyes to see it was Saniki, who currently had the blade of her katana pointed to my neck, with an expression or pure rage on her face "What did you do to them…?" she asked in an angry, quiet voice, but loud enough for me to hear.
I raised an eyebrow at her "What… do you mean…?" I asked,unable to speak completely clear due to how hard she was choking me right now. She slammed me into the wall a second time, the wall behind me creating a very large crack from the impact "Don't act like you don't know!!! Those corpses in Kumara village… no, those abominations… what did you do to them!?" she screamed out, now ready to decapitate me here and now, only to get slammed into the wall herself by Saika. I looked at her completely bewildered, it seemed from what she was saying, I was apparently the cause of the villagers somehow being mutated, how could I be though?
The corpses were damaged to the point that they were all scorched completely black, and it was that other organization who had invaded my village that was the cause of it in the first place. I began to sit up on the side of my bed "I don't know what the hell you mean…" I said, both Daigen and Saika had looked very suspicious of me now though, then again, that's to be expected when a girl comes in violently demanding information for something like mutants.
Suddenly, the sound of a deafening screech was heard outside, Daigen looked around urgently immediately unsheathing his sword, his eyes closed as he entered a focused state. Suddenly, with blinding speed, he slashed at the wall to the right, destroying it and sending whatever was behind it flying. From afar, there seemed to be a charred, human-like creature from afar, with spikes jutting nearly everywhere out of its body, and glowing… green eyes, the glow oozing out of its eyes with a flame-like resemblance.
Those flames, they were too familiar, they looked like my own, but why were they coming from something like that? The creature suddenly let out a very loud roar, the roar itself causing a shockwave, causing all of us except Daigen to cover our ears in pain, who just gave the thing a ruthless look. What looked like a demonic core began to glow in its chest before green energy came shooting out violently, all gathering together until forming the shape of a battleaxe. The demonic creature grabbed the battleaxe, slamming it into the ground until rushing toward Daigen in a berserk manner, its blade dragging through the ground as it does, then when it got close, it jumped into the air and slashed downwards.
Daigen counters by slashing right back at it, managing to hold his ground despite the ground cracking violently under him. The creature lands on the ground and continues to slash at him, Daigen blocking its slashes with relative ease. The creature suddenly covers its blade entirely in green flames, the entire weapon igniting with them, then slashes downward very hard, the slash causing Daigen to be enveloped in a very large fire sphere, sending him crashing through multiple walls before finally crashing through the house entirely.
Saniki's eyes show a glint of rage in them as she rushes at the creature, engulfed in red energy, however, Daigen, covered in cobalt blue energy would already appear right behind the beast, impaling it right through its head before finally slashing down, severing its entire body in half. It was safe to say everyone in the room was now terrified, however, of all the people in the room, I had to be the most shocked. That thing… there was no mistake about it, it had just used green flames right before our eyes, what was worse, I had used green flames on Saniki before, and I was pretty sre she hadn't forgotten the time when I breathed them at her like a damn dragon.
Daigen sheathed his weapon, the stern look remaining on his face as he did, "Green flames… last I checked, in our last encounter, you used green flames. Don't even try to deny it." said Saniki accusingly, I however, could only look down as she spoke. I felt my control of my body's demonic energy slowly begin to slip away, a slight green hue glowing around me, I was just way too confused. How the hell could that thing use flames like mine, did I accidentally end up killing someone while fighting that man in the village.
However, even though I had a feeling there was something more that happened other than fighting him, I just couldn't tell, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt my control slipping as it made me more and more stressed. If possible, Daigen's expression had become slightly more fierce than before as he turned toward Saniki, whose eyes visibly widened in terror now that his piercing gaze was upon her "Saniki, if I've said it before, I said a thousand times NOT to antagonize our guests." he said sternly, "B-B-But Daigen, he has something to do wi-" she started.
Daigen just seemed to get angrier at her protesting, making Saniki step back "Enough of your aggression Saniki! Do as I tell you!" he said in a more forceful tone, which definitely seemed like enough to shut her up. She walked out of the room with her head held down, I felt Daigen begin to walk toward me and immediately had frozen upon feeling his presence. I prepared for the worst, stronger or not, if I had to, then I would force my way out of the village, however, as soon as he had gotten near me, he simply sat back in his chair, and rubbed my back. I felt myself calm down by the unexpected action, honestly expecting him to have decapitated me as soon as he got close.
I turned to look at the caring gaze in his eye, staring at me as if I were his own grandson "Kurou, I understand from what information Saniki had just given us, your village has suffered somewhat of a terrible predicament, I will not force you for an explanation, but i would give us some assistance in figuring out what exactly is going on here." said Daigen, seemingly willing to listen to every word of what I had to say. I assumed that caring gaze of his would soon be removed the minute I began explaining everything, but at this point, I had no other options.
So, I had begun to explain everything that happened to me, from when the day I had woken up, right until now, including my recently found out half demon heritage. Saika had looked horrified from the details I had elucidated to them, and surprisingly, Daigen's caring look had remained. I looked up at them "So now that you know what happened to my village, and… what I am… and how I came here, I understand if you can't trust me anymore, but please, just allow me to leave in peace." I pleaded with Daigen. I was already sure what to think Saika had thought, that I was simply a monster, some abomination that couldn't be trusted, all because of my damn demon side.
I grit my teeth, what was the point of that whole confession in the first place, in my eyes, it changed not a single thing, in the end, I would always be thought of as a monster, so I might as well accept that in the final moments I have left. However, I am surprised when Daigen abruptly hugs me suddenly, "Poor boy… I am sorry you had to suffer such living hell such as that, if I had known of Kumara village sooner, I would've then everything in my power to help, that I swear." said Daigen in a tone of what sounded like immense heartbreak. I couldn't help but be surprised, after having explaining everything that happened, what I had gone through, and even the fact that I was a half demon, he somehow still held some pity for me even Saika's look had seemed to lighten significantly.
I looked at him in shock "You… don't want to kill me…?" I asked, my shock expressed clearly in the tone of my voice. Daigen had only laughed at my question, leaving his hands on my shoulders "Believe me boy, had I wanted that, I wouldn't have stopped Saniki from lopping off your head." answered Daigen. Saniki was literally in the doorway with a comically murderous gaze as Daigen said this, I flinched, even if Daigen was much stronger than Saniki, atleast there was a chance he might be merciful. Just from my first meeting with her, I knew she would spare me no mercy if she were going to kill me.
I turned my attention back to Daigen, I thought that if I was ever found out here that I would be judged as nothing but a monster, something or someone that could never be trusted, an outcast from nearly all society, a freak. However, Daigen didn't give up on me so easily, not even caring about it, Saika and even Saniki had seemed to take it well, this village was truly a godsend. I took on a serious expression "Thank you, Chief Daigen, but considering Saniki had told us that more of those things were on the way, what should we do?" I asked, Daigen went back to his serious expression as well, putting a hand upon his chin as he contemplated what to do "We'll have to split up our soldiers and some of the villagers into groups, villagers would be in groups led by a single elite to head to shelters, and the soldiers would guard each entrance into the village." he said.
I nodded at him "And me?" I asked, a mischievous grin appeared on his face the minute I asked, "You, Saika and Saniki shall be in a group of your own." he said, causing an expression of dread to appear on my face. I would've been just fine if it were me and Saika, but Saniki had a deathwish on me. Saika only giggled at my expression as if knowing already what my thoughts were "Don't worry Kurou, I'll make sure Saniki behaves, right… Saniki…?" asked Saika.
I had taken note of the extremely creepy smile on Saika's face as she asked her, it was the same kind smile I had seen on her once, however, she had an eerie dark aura around her that even managed to scare the hell out of Daigen. Saniki was worse, practically going pale after Saika's question "Y-Yeah! I'll cooperate…" said Saniki, albeit reluctantly. Saika went back to her normally kind smile, to the relief of everyone, then looked at Daigen "Chief Daigen… what will you be doing?" she asked him.
Daigen stood up as soon as she had asked the question "I will be leading the squadrons of soldiers." he say, before Saika can question how, he unsheathes his sword. Water bursts from it in multiple streams, which soon, all form into different clones himself around him. Him and his copies looked at all of us "Now that this is settled, this plan shall be put into action at once, I expect the best from you all in this task, so do not hold back against these creatures." said Daigen in a commanding voice, we all nodded at him in unison and in a large burst of water that engulfed him and the clones, they vanished. We all began to look at each other "So how should we handle this, considering there was a very large amount of corpses in your village, we will be running into quite a few of them." asked Saniki, she had a point, what could we do against them anyway. However, the fact that I had soul weapons, and even energy weapons had re-entered my head, I grinned, multiple small black disks forming in my hands as I looked at them "Leave that to me…"
A few hours later, we had finished with the preparations for the plan we had formulated, weapons ready as we walked through the village, and both Saniki and Saika clad in armor, somewhat… skimpy… armor. I had decided to this time use nothing but brawn, despite even having Daigen's trust considering my demonic power, it was hard to say for the rest of the village, that and I wasn't planning on going all out against these freaks unless I had a clear idea of their power, so I only had brawling armor on.
Most of the armor was generally metal, gauntlets, greaves and all, however, despite that, in essence, it was novice armor, and wouldn't last a second against a real weapon, atleast that was the general opinion. However, depending on how you use it, even novice armor could prove to be greatly useful. Saniki had been giving me a confused look as we walked, probably wondering why I was wearing such frail armor, I just looked at her and answered "Brawling." I said simply, only for her expression to become even more confused, but she shrugged it off, scoffing as she looked forward again. Saika looked at me as we walked "So what did you do with those disks?" she asked, I didn't get to answer as suddenly, an entire group of those creatures came running at us.
Saika and Saniki unsheathed their weapons, me being the only one remaining calm as I held out a hand with three fingers out "3...2…1…" I counted down as they got closer and closer. Soon, when they had gotten near us, a cone of pitch black shadow-like energy had suddenly erupted from the ground, enveloping them all until it had all cleared up, the creatures gone with it. Saniki and Saika had complete utter shock in their eyes while I was simply grinning, landmines, I had changed a few of those shurikens from my fight with Kagrasia into them.
As a sort of test, I expected them to be useful, but I never expected them to completely swallow up those things, I would have to remember to use them more often, "When we get done with this mission I demand you to share those mines with us!" ordered Saniki. I grinned and nodded at her, and we continued to walk, passing different lanes, until we were in one where I hadn't placed landmines, in spite of that, I smiled, landmines or not, it offered me a better chance to test my mettle against the creatures.
However, when they did show up, I had never guessed that they would appear right above us, summoning their weapons and in unison, swinging them, multiple arks of flame hurdling toward us. I got ready to form a barrier of flames in order to block the incoming attack however, Saika and Saniki, clad in crimson energy, both rushed straight toward the arks and cleaved through them all like butter, then decapitated two of the offenders. I really hoped I would never have to spar against them while they tag team.
I jumped up toward the beasts as well, covering my entire leg in flames until kicking one of them straight in the face with extreme force, sending them flying. They slammed into one of their teammates and crashed into the wall of one of the homes together, however, they jumped out from the hole as quickly as they went in it, one of them slashed at me with a pair of blue twin daggers. I dodged each slash until elbowing it in the chest, taking its head and slamming it straight into my knee. As a finishing blow, punched it right in the jaw, pushing it forward as I grabbed another one of the demon like creatures by their neck, igniting both their bodies and hurling them toward the ground, a huge crater forming in the ground when they crashed.
I looked at Saniki, whose blade was covered in crimson, flaming energy, with each slash she made, every one of those abominations in front of her would be cut to shreds, then I looked at Saika, unlike her sister, she had used dual blades. However, every time she moved she only appeared as a blur, and raining blood and torn apart limbs would appear in place of whatever enemies she passed, for such a sweet girl like her, I never thought she would be so… vicious.
In only a matter of minutes, the beasts were all already dead, nothing but dismembered limbs and blood had lain on the ground, Saika was already back with her radiant as ever smile, and Saniki with her usual stern expression, and here I was underestimating them before, that was definitely a fatal mistake, Saniki turned back toward me as Saika walked off "What are you doing standing there, let's go!" she urged me, I snapped out of my surprise and nodded, running to catch up to them.