They did not visit the village everyday. It would take them years before his master could decide to see what the humans were doing every now and then. They walked on top of houses to avoid getting caught. Humans did not take their kind lightly. If anyone saw them, they would be chased out with spears and torches. There was also a high possibility that they would alert Hiraeth, the new capital of Canaan.
His master would stare at children and watch them play. He'd also see him blankly gazing at dogs more so than the children.
'Do you want to adopt one, master?'
It took a moment before he could respond that Gaku thought he had to repeat himself. His master could sometimes be lost in thought.
'It would be cruel to adopt one. Even keeping you Gaku, is cruel.'
Up until this day, Gaku never understood those words. He merely thought that his master hated companionship as he preferred brooding in isolation. He never got along with his fellow viels. His master really had no one before he came along. So seeing him in such throes made his heart sink.
The assassin appeared mere inches away from Boota, landing a punch that emitted a resounding crack. Gaku's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking into a pinpoint.
"Ma…Master…" Gaku whispered. Wrath struck his expression. He was losing blood, but that didn't mean he would let death steal his responsibility as his master's servant.
Death can screw itself over. Gaku inhaled sharply before releasing a deafening scream that bloomed echoes which blew off the fused hounds. The ground trembled. Boota took the opportunity of distraction to stab the blades on his right arm into Raum's chest, using his healing powers to make his flesh loosen around the weapons.
The piercing cries of Gaku stopped. Raum released his ears with a click of his tongue.
"You have an interesting pet there. I'm jealous."
Boota scoffed. "Better start fishing then."
Gaku picked himself up with trembling limbs. Boota watched him intently. "No one hurts my master, do you hear me? No one!" Gaku yelled.
There was a ruffle in the bushes. A shadow stood at the branch where Raum was sitting before. Raum went silent as if the shadow was relaying a message. He sighed, a flash of dismay erupting in his features.
"I apologize, I didn't want to leave you alive but it seems the host of this game is bothered by an uninvited guest."
"What?" Boota queried.
Raum stroked the heads of his dogs, stabbing them each in the skull with a knife in his palm. "Smoke, Ash, Night, kill them."
"Wait!" Boota cried out.
He wanted to settle this once and for all. The King's Shadows fled during the rebellion. While the rebellion was meant for the Queen and the Shadows, the Shadows wanted to take down Kairon yet failed because of Kou. Knowing that Raum and probably the rest of the Shadows remained alive, this made him deeply unsettled.
"Coward! Are you running with a tail between your legs? You must have realized my master's power!"
Raum hummed. "I never doubted him. Our Lord just doesn't want hell to break even looser than it already is. Someone noticed how his boundaries have been breached. A pity. You win this round, Cadriel. See you."
With that Raum winked, black winds wiping him off their eyes. The three dogs left with them salivated excessively.
"Why you–!"
"Gaku, it's not worth chasing him. Let's focus on the dogs. He left them in a rather…unpleasant state."
The dogs ran around in circles, in each lap their size grew and their built bulked. Smoke screened around one head, the middle one exhaled ashes through its mouth, while the last one produced a purple miasma out of his nose.
"Master, I'll handle th—"
"Stay back," Boota ordered.
He knew these dogs. He and Raum raised them together in the orphanage. They protected the orphans as they considered them as part of their pack. The nuns approved keeping the dogs so that they would get alerted in case a creature of Sheol invaded.
As Boota and Raum struggled against the knights who were about to take them; Smoke, Ash, and Night fought to death to save them from their demise.
'Stop struggling. You know what's good for you! Serve your country!'
'Let me go! Let me go!!!' Boota screamed. Smoke and Ash rushed outside barking and growling. Smoke sank his teeth into one of the knight's hands while Ash headbutted another. Raum was dragged out of the orphanage, but like Boota, he wasn't going without a fight.
'What are you doing? Where are you taking us?! Let me go, I say! Night! Night, help us!!!'
Night pounced on Raum's captor, successfully biting his cheek. Raum smiled victoriously.
'Way to go Night—'
'Stupid mutts!!!'
More knights came and with their spears they impaled the three dogs, not stopping even when the two children begged. The dogs whimpered and whined, falling limp as blood seeped through the holes punctured into their bodies. They kept spiking them even when they ceased showing signs of struggle and life.
Boota clung onto one of the knight's legs. 'Stop hurting them please! We'll go, we'll go!'
'Keep stabbing them until their organs spill out!'
'No! Night! Night!' Raum shoved the knight away, kneeling beside Night's corpse and gathering him in his arms. 'No….Noooooo! Wake up, Night wake up!'
Raum didn't stop crying after. The knights and scientists kept hitting him to silence him; however, he couldn't forget how they were slaughtered before them, risking their lives over a futile attempt to protect their own.
Remembering that memory, Boota didn't believe that Raum left them for Boota to hurt even further.
"Maybe…" he murmured.
An ivory colored fire lit in a circle around them when Boota bit his finger and smeared blood on the soil. The moment Gaku was blown away into the bushes at the initial start of their fight, he took his time to spread holy wood around them in preparation for the purification. Ash, Smoke, and Night growled at them; they were hungry for barbarity. The light grew brighter which made them jolt and whimper. They were used to darkness. They were used to feeling pain. But what was this cool and gentle feeling of air?
"Night, Ash, Smoke, come here."
The dogs stared at the boy before them. He seemed familiar. Have they seen him before?
They walked towards him, lowering their head to his height before feeling hands petting each of their heads. They slowly started to separate from each other. They shrank down. Their rotting flesh became anew and their fur grew out from the bald spots. Having their own bodies to control, their tails began to wag.
They knew him. They pawed Boota's legs, excitedly running around him with excitement. Gaku teared from the display.
'It would be cruel to adopt one.'
He never knew what those words meant until now. Peril will never release viels from its grasp. Death and dying will always be in their path. It was the very reason why his master wanted to be alone.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Woof!"
Boota bent in front of Ash and Night; there seemed to be something in their mouths. He opened his palm and initially felt their saliva. Coins dropped into his hands.
"Heads," Boota murmured.
"Two of them!" Gaku exclaimed.
Smoke lifted its upper body, placing his paws on his lap, begging to be petted. Boota did so as requested and as gratitude. He could rest easy on his part but what of Basil?
"Let's hurry back, Gaku. The game won't end until Basil and I complete this game together."
Gaku inclined his head forward. "Understood, master!"
Smoke, Ash, and Night dashed back to the illusion of the orphanage which his purification circle created. Purification circles create the place and time when and where a living thing is at its happiest when they are still alive. No doubt, Boota would be going there as well.
"Master?" Gaku queried worriedly.
He was supposed to return decades ago with those who went ahead of him in the orphanage, but certain loyalties must be paid back.
"Gaku?"
"Yes, master?"
…
…
…
"So how many heads have you gotten so far?" Salem questioned.
Basil's head was lowered in shame. "Zero."
Salem raised his thumb. "Off to a bad start, keep going and you'll all die."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Basil snarled.
"Don't let your bad luck get to you. From what I can see, Mammon wouldn't dare lay a finger on Kou."
"How come, master?" Karma asked.
"Call it a hunch," was Salem's only reply. "By the way, when are you going to spit out Soleil?"
The serpent's eyes widened. He completely forgot about that!
"Oh right, sorry."
Karma shut his eyes in disgust as Basil's jaws stretched into an impossible length. The statue was pushed out along with slimy body fluids and stomach enzymes.
Salem inspected the statue, sighing. "I need to create an elixir for this. It would take a while. For now, let's find your three heads. Kou may be untouchable but we aren't. Mammon won't let us off the hook."
They began their search, leaving Kou alone. Salem was confident that not even a mosquito would land on him despite Basil's protest. He would be fine. If anything, the presence wanted them to stay away because this scuffle would hurt the injured knight.
There was a casket that had Boota's note which had vexed the serpent. Basil ripped the paper into shreds. "Do they think I'm an idiot?!"
Salem hummed. "If they thought using reverse psychology would get to you then perhaps you're more of an idiot than you think."
They turned around, aiming to head for the next casket but Basil stopped and had second thoughts.
"But what if it's a trap? What if Boota wanted me to lose the–"
"I won't gain anything if I throw another snake in hell," Boota interrupted. His eyes pinned at the newcomer. "Another human?"
Salem waved. "Don't worry I'm a persona non grata."
Boota grunted. "Just get out of my forest once Kou gets better."
Basil noted the blood stains on Boota's clothes. "Who did you fight with?"
"Raum."
Basil's expression darkened. "Raum?"
"We'll talk about it later. Daybreak isn't far away."
With the notes stuck on the caskets and having Gaku with them, they were quick to narrow down three more caskets that didn't feel off for Gaku's senses.
The two caskets flipped heads, giving out minor scares of the past. It was too good to be true for Basil's conspicuous bad luck in games. He'd been frequently made fun of during their time in the orphanage and when they were still knights when Kou beats him every time. He never won one game against him.
"This is too easy," Karma commented.
"Indeed, devils should have more tricks up their sleeves, no?" Salem agreed.
"Keep your guard up," Boota warned.
There was someone sitting on top of the last casket. He was holding a familiar spear and was wearing the armor that they used to wear two and a half centuries ago.
"Kou?" Basil called out.
Kou waved at them. He was holding a coin. As they got nearer, they vividly saw the victorious result.
"You healed quickly," Karma said, narrowing his gaze.
"I'm a mix of everything and I couldn't have done it without Boota."
"I'm an angel, not God. Stop pretending to be Kou."
Kou chuckled. "What do you mean?"
Salem raised his umbrella, opening it abruptly towards Kou and sprinkling bits of holy water that made sizzling sounds on the parts of his skin where small droplets landed.
"I am Kou…well…I'll be the real one once I get rid of the original."