After a two week of being separated Ayame and Komura finally reunited and both are glad to see each other safe but glad to see his own daughter, Komura became worried now that his own daughter are in danger
"The others… where are they? Didn't they tell you to abandon us?" Komura said to Ayame frantically
"They did, but I can't just let you all here die, especially you papa" Ayame replied with a teary eyes
Komura hugged her daughter tightly and said, "thank you for accompanying my daughter and accepting our request"
Murakami then said, "Sorry to interrupt your reunion but we need to get moving, we are going to get surrounded if we stay any longer"
Komura held Murakami in the shoulder and said, "Young lady, I am terrible sorry for the people you lost on this rescue attempt, we will consider those who died as heroes and tell their bravery toward the future generation"
Murakami was confused for a bit and said, "uhmm… actually there is only 5 of us who did this rescue attempt, including your daughter, so no need to do all that"
"What?! You did this without an army?" Komura asked with a surprised look
Crocus butted in and said, "Due to some issue, we cannot really send an army towards the Ikegai village, in fact no one would even come, but we were given a special permission so this is more like a secret quest, originally there where 6 of us but one of us was taken somewhere by some mysterious light"
"Anyway, we need to get moving now, so please follow us" Murakami added
Everyone drop their tools and agreed, and as they were about to rush out Sarkitz came flying inside the Workshop through the wall cover in cuts and bruises
"Sarkitz, He has cut all over, someone overwhelmed his speed?" Komura said
Sarkitz is trying to get up and said, "Damn it, this human is strong… huh?"
Sarkitz looked at everyone inside the workshop and said, "You bastards trying to escape from me huh? This is really a bad day for me"
Hiroko with a serious face approach at Sarkitz's back and said, "I'm your opponent demon"
Unable to react Hiroko has abled to slash Sarkitz back, killing him… or so he taught
As Sarkitz falls down and bleed in the ground Hiroko stopped using ˹Blood Rush˼ and started to walk towards Murakami with a smile and said, "Well~ shall we go?"
Hiroko knees gave up causing him to fall and used his sword as a support to try to stand
Murakami approached Hiroko and said, "Seriously Hiroko, Shino is not here to heal you, you know… I learn a little bit of healing but it is only enough to help you get back up on your feet"
Murakami's hand glow as she touch Hiroko's forehead and chant, "Your strength is my strength, your weakness is my weakness, your pain is my pain, bound together let's share the same fate, ˹Channelling˼"
Hiroko's fatigue was suddenly gone and his strength also came back, Murakami on the other hand became a little dizzy but can walk properly after a few minute has pass
With threat seem to have gone, the Oni's inside the Workshop started to fled along with Ayame and Murakami, Hiroko and Crocus are staying behind to make sure that everyone can escape
As the last Oni fled the workshop a movement of rubble and a voice was heard, "Ugghh… seriously… I cannot believe I was able to be outwitted by a human"
Sarkitz slowly starting to stand up and with an angry face he mumble, 'No… this is not entertaining at all, this is not fun, Valdarnt-sama will get mad at me… should I use it? Yes… in the name off Valdarnt-sama no matter how many of us die we must eliminate the enemy"
Seeing Sarkitz to stand up in that state made Hiroko and Crocus shudder and as they felt the aura he is emitting they immediately put a defensive stance
Sarkitz repeatedly uttered the word "die" and slowly his body is starting to change form
"God… what is wrong with this guy? Did he lost his mind or something?" Crocus asked
"Don't lower your guard Crocus, be prepared at anything just like our training" Hiroko replied while having trouble to keep his stance
Sarkitz eye rolled so much that his eyes are starting to bleed, his nail like sword started to fall off and all of his fingers are starting to change into sword with a tinge of blood, his back starts to deform and a spike like bone started to grow
What is the cause of Sarkitz transformation? It is his unique skill as a demon with title, and its name is ˹Blood thirst˼
Sarkitz speed greatly improved and approached Crocus in a heartbeat and with one swing from his hand like sword, he sent Crocus flying out the workshop towards a nearby house, leaving a scratch in his shield and armour
Hiroko was surprise and tried to attack but misses Sarkitz who in an instant was behind him and fling Hiroko outside the workshop
Hiroko was overwhelmed and said to himself, "I can see him, I can see him move but he is way too fast for my body too react, Crocus was able to shield himself so he is okay, the question now is how do we defeat this guy, and also why are the demons outside started to panic?"
"R-r-RUN!!! Sarkitz-sama has used his unique skill, don't let him see you if you want to live!!" a demon shouted before he get sliced into pieces
Sarkitz movement and attack greatly increase but in exchange to this power Sarkitz lost his mind and attack everything he sees, whether it is an enemy or an ally he will attack them without hesitation
Now focusing on Hiroko after killing the unfortunate demons who failed to run away, Hiroko cannot do anything but to try to dodge and block all Sarktiz attacks
Hiroko started to get cuts all over and knows he is in disadvantage and said to himself, "I cannot do anything, but I need to know Crocus situation first"
Hiroko tried to blocked Sarkitz attack but the block breaks through Hiroko's defence and gave Sarkitz an wide opening
"DIIIIEEE!!!" Sarkitz shouted
"Shit… he is going to hit me" Hiroko said to himself
"Shield style: ˹Shield Throw˼"
A shield came flying into Sarkitz face that knock him of balance, using this opportunity Hiroko has able to put his defence again and attack Sarkitz, cutting one of his arm while Crocus rushed in to pull Hiroko away from Sarkitz
"Yah! What kind of style is that?! But thanks you save me" Hiroko said with a smile
"Shino's teaching, 'It's better to throw your shield to live another day', and looks like it is true" Crocus replied with a chuckle
"Yeah, I definitely live another moment but I don't know about the day" Hiroko said
"So? Now what?" Crocus asked
"We manage to cut off its hand, we offset his balance, we just need to out speed him or out smart him" Hiroko replied
"Great thinking, but I need my shield" Crocus said with seriousness
Now with only one hand to fight Sarkitz is screaming in pain, but after a while Sarkitz grab a corpse of a demon and started to eat it
Witnessing this made Hiroko and Crocus disgusted and can't help but gag on what they see
Finished eating the corpse, Sarkitz grab his severed hand and latch it back, moment later he can move his severed hand as if it was not severed at all
"That is cheating, what are we going to do now?!" Crocus said
Hiroko on the other hand throws Crocus shield back at him and said, "He probably needs to eat a flesh to do that, we just need to not let him eat any of the corpses"
"If that's the case then let me help you" Murakami said
"Murakami, are the villagers in a safe place now?" Hiroko asked
"Yeah they are, Ayame is also here" Murakami replied on which Ayame said, "Yo! Let me help too"
"So do you need us to pile the corpses into one spot to burn them?" Crocus asked
"No need to do that, I have an ace on my sleeve" Murakami said with a smug face
"Well, that is a face you don't see often" Hiroko said
Murakami drove his staff in the ground and a magic circle is created under their feet, Murakami then said, "This is a magic Shino help me bring in reality, and a magic that I'm proud to say I created myself, now face my power you forsaken one"
Going back a few weeks before they start journeying toward the Ikegai village.
"Shino, you know I have something I want to do but I can't seem do it can you help me?" Murakami asked with a "please help me" face
Shino is confused and said, "Isn't asking a girl much better, why ask me?"
"Eh?! What are you thinking I'm asking you?!" Murakami asked
"Love confession" Shino said with a straight face before drinking a coffee and starting to look at Hiroko
Murakami became flustered and turned beet red and shout, "Why did you think that?! I need some help on creating an original magic!"
"Oh… so I'm wrong, but why you think I am someone good at creating an original magic?" Shino asked
Murakami pout at Shino and replied, "Don't you have those string type magic that you sometime use? I haven't seen or read that kind of magic before, also you kept using magic that is either superior or combination of other magic, isn't that original magic"
Shino was surprise by how attentive Murakami was when he is using magic and said, "Original magic huh? A class of magic created by a person imagination, every magician or sorcerer have their own original magic and they serve as their own trump card, well that's what I know by reading a book about magic, it cost a lot of mana to use and it sometimes triples as much as those you learn by the book, can you not just do it by yourself?"
"I… I have a specific magic in mind but I don't know how to create it, I just think you can help" Murakami replied
Shino put down his coffee and said, "Well~ I'm your teacher after all, let's go somewhere that has a lot of space"
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˹Channelling˼: Share a partial of the user mana and stamina to the target: Low Mana Cost
˹Blood thirst˼: Provides the user a huge boost on Strength and Agility while it diminish the Intelligence, once its active and the user consume any type of blood it provides the user a regeneration that can re attach severe limbs