Kyuuto's eyes were wide open when talking to Hikiri, he then asked him if he could tell him about the true past of Ookami kingdom. Hikiri smiled and took him for a walk to the shore.
Hikiri told him that life in the Ookami kingdom was peaceful at first, when the third king of Ookami (Kurouzu's father) was still in charge. The kingdom was beautiful with a majestic castle with art and culture surrounding it. The people were kind and there seems to be little to no sign of dissatisfaction with the royal family. People happily lived their lives with help from the monarchy who'd provide a system for everyone.
"I'm sorry to cut you, but I find it quite strange to hear a trained assassin to know all of this stuff,"
"Well, everyone has multiple stages in life. In my case, I was just a lowly trader before I enrolled in Ookami's hidden force. At first I was in need of money, but then elevated to important posts and managed to survive to be one of the most dangerous man in the kingdom... to the enemy of course,"
They finally arrived at the shore, the wind blowing as hard as the last time Kyuuto stepped his feet on the sand. He remembers Kotetsu's transformation occurred not far from their location. Hikiri then continued to the main part of his story.
The Ookami image then tarnished for the following years, gaining popularity to be the cruelest kingdom in the country. Yamisuke, Kurouzu's eldest brother took over the reign of his father after he discovered a strange bone fragments made out of peculiar crystals and not calcium from an unknown creature.
After forging the crystals into rings he gained immense power and distributed it throughout his military. The gem altered his personality, and with the help of his younger brother, Yusuke he made ruthless rules and strategies to unify the country.
Meanwhile his youngest brother, Kurouzu recruited affected people from across the country to fight back. This includes Karito and Yamato, who became his right-hand men. Natsuki, a woman from the Akayama clan also joined Kurouzu after her hometown was destroyed in one of Ookami's merciless invasions.
"After multiple failed attempts at trying to defeat his brother, things went from zero to a hundred real quick," Hikiri suddenly turned the conversation into more of the dark side, he looked around and seemed to be avoiding something or someone from hearing what he's about to say.
"Listen here, Kyuuto. I can't tell you the exact thing that happened. But get this, Kurouzu figured that he must fight fire with stronger fire. So when Yamisuke used his darkness elements to manipulate people and gain power, Kurouzu made a deal with a devil to grant him stronger darkness," Hikiri sighed.
Hikiri's explanation piqued Kyuuto's interest in the real history of the Ookami clan, but he abruptly cut his own story. "I guess it's better to tell you things in chunks, not all at once. I'm afraid it will deter your will to fight," Hikiri smiled, then went alone.
Kyuuto looked at the sea with wind blowing his thoughts away. Could it be that this whole time there's a huge misunderstanding between the warriors. What if the real enemy was actually... himself? His mind was in despair.
As Kyuuto turned his head around, his teammates were already behind him.