To say Ichigo was shocked beyond belief would be an understatement.
"What the hell. I can sense that the demon in front of me is only on the level of a royal officer and yet I can feel so much malice in the air. There has to be more around here some where, but its almost unthinkable that there is a demon so powerful. Its almost as if an entire army ha-"
That's when Ichigo realized that situation at hand.
"Damn it. If I'm right then the entire kingdom could be destroyed. I need to kill this one right now and-"
That's when suddenly then demon leapt forward to attack with its black flamed cover claw. Ichigo quickly raised is sword to block the attack.
"Damn it. I don't have the time to waste on an enemy of this level."
The demon then attacked with a fierce knee. Ichigo barely dodged. He swung to the side planting his hand on the ground then kicking the demon in the stomach sending it flying into a tree.
"Can't undo my seals yet. It's too dangerous. Need to deal with him as I am now."
The demon stood up as soon as Ichigo finished that thought. It then let out a fierce growl. Ichigo readied his blade.
The two then dashed at each other and clashed. Then, an aura formed around Ichigo's sword. The blade then easily sliced through the demon's arm. Without giving the demon any room to breathe, he sliced the demons waist cleaving it in two.
"Right. Now I need to make my way to the royal palace. But first, I need to see if Ben is all right."
Ichigo was about to make his way to Ben's when ten more demons sprung from the bushes and attacked. Ichigo barely noticed and was to quickly evade the surprise attack.
"That's odd. Usually demons would sneak attack to catch there prey off guard. The fact they stopped and made there presence known must mean they need something, which also means that there has to be someone behind the scenes coordinating the invasion on the kingdom. It has to be the demon king Enma. There no other being powerful enough to command an army this large. Damn it. How could I let this fly under my radar. This is all my fault."
That is when one demon with five horns pointed and called out Ichigo.
"Ichigo. You are one the few people our lord has acknowledged as one who may pose a problem in our invasion. That is why we have been ordered to give you a proposition," said the demon in a deep commanding voice.
"Five horned demon. Just below the level of a captain. With me suppressing my ki like this, it might cause some issues."
"Oh really. I highly doubt that seeing as one of your guys just tried to kill me," Ichigo said unfazed.
"That was to ensure that the rumors surrounding you and your strength were not only rumors."
"What is it that you want with me?"
"We aware that you're a hybrid of human and demon and that life has been very cruel to you because of it. You have been shamed, mocked and berated your whole life for it and our lord weeps for you. He wishes to give you an opportunity to take vengeance on those humans who have made your life nothing but hell. Join our ranks and bring our lord the head of your king and we promise you the life of royalty. But, if you refuse then we will not only kill you but we will also have our way with your friend. Mei I believe her name was."
Ichigo flinched after hearing the name of his closest friend.
"Such a pretty young lady. Would be a shame to have to rip her to shreds after using her as our play things."
The demons started licking their lips, salivating at the thought.
A shadow was cast over Ichigo's eye's.
"Now, make your choice. Join us or let your friend be ravaged b…..gghh."
Before the demon could finish his sentence, Ichigo appeared in front of him with blinding speed and slashed the demons throat open.
"I don't care what you say to me since it would end up being nothing more than an empty threat. But the moment you dare threaten someone dear to me.."
All of a sudden, a titanic wave of contra coming from Ichigo covered the entire area leaving the rest of the demons barely able to stay conscious.
"…that is the moment your life becomes forfeit."
"W..what is this power. How could he so easily take out one of the lieutenants. We know he never shows his true strength but, we never would have imagined he was this strong. His spirit energy in just raw power rivals that of the lord Enma! We have made a great miscalculati-"
Ichigo proceeded to slaughter the rest of the demons. Ichigo then realized that the seal on his contra was breaking down.
"Damn, a little bit of my contra leaked out. I need to control my emotions better."
Ichigo resealed his contra.
"At this rate I need to get to the royal palace. With all the royals living there, its bound to be the main target of this invasion. But, Ben could still be alive and need my help. Shit. Please….please be alright Ben. Don't you dare die on me."
While on his way to the palace, Ichigo ran into many more demons and swiftly disposed of them. He also made sure to check any of the surrounding villages for survivors but unfortunately he found nothing but piles of corpses.
"This is all my doing. If only I had been for vigilant I could've prevented all this from happening. Damn it!"
Ichigo kept running until he sensed something strange. He could sense two contra's in combat with one another he went to go check it out.
When he arrived he saw a man beaten and battered with black markings on his face fighting a large demon with large dagger in a forest.
"A hybrid! Like me. But how can there be another in the kingdom without me knowing. This must be his first time in years using contra. That's the only reason I could think of as to how I have not sensed him yet. Anyway, I have to help him. He does not look experienced in battle and looks to be in severe condition and that demon seems to be much stronger than any other I fought before."
The hybrid that was fighting the demon had his clothes tattered, eye bruised and an arm missing.
"Looks like I won't be making it out of this alive. Melissa my beloved I'm sorry I won't be able to see you again but I know your strong and that you will persevere. Asuka my one and only child you are going to have to grow up without your father. I am ashamed to say that I will not be able to hear you say your first words or see you take your first steps. I will not ask for your forgiveness but all I ask is that you survive. And o great aeon's, I know what I am and I know what my kind have done in the past but please I beg you to stay by my wife and daughter's side and protect them. They are innocent, they have clean hands and have done no wrong so I ask that you be with them and steer them away from evil so that they do not suffer the same fate that I must."
Then the powerful demon raised his dagger in the air going for the killing blow when a blur suddenly appeared and cut off the demons arm.
After that a man appeared next to him, carried him and placed him against a tree.
"Remain here." He said and was gone.
"Who is that. Is he a royal officer. Didn't know they came in black. But, he seems too fast and feels too powerful to only be a guard," the hybrid thought.
Just as finished that thought, the cloaked man appeared again in front of him. He then looked over to where the demon was and saw that he had been dealt with.
"He is quite young and he killed the demon so fast."
"What is…your name," he asked in a weak voice.
"Ichigo."
"Do you… see any chance…of me living."
Ichigo than walked up to him and used his anima to check his body.
"No. Your ribs have punctured your lungs and you have lost far too much blood. I'm sorry."
"Why…are you…apologizing? You… have done…nothing wrong."
"But…I couldn't save you in time. This all could have been prevented if I had been more careful. I'm sorry."
"Don't…burden yourself. You are too young to be burdening yourself. You don't want…to start looking like me at your young."
The comment made Ichigo chuckle a bit.
"My village is…near here. I had managed to bring…the demon out here…to fight it…but alas here I am…dying in shame."
"You managed to save your village. That is more than I have ever done."
"Please…don't say..such things. You… should give yourself…more credit."
"Thank you for your kind words sir. Where is your village."
"It's…north…west…of here."
"Right. I will do my best save as many people as I can."
Ichigo was about to leave when the man called out.
"And…one more…thing."
"Yes."
"Please. Make sure…my baby girl…is safe. Her…name is Asuka."
"Yes. I will make sure to do so."
"Thank…you."
"Sir."
"Yes."
"What is your name."
"Kaito."
"I will remember it."
Then Ichigo ran off towards Kaito's village.
"At least…now I can die…knowing that Asuka…is…sa…"
Kaito had just breathed his last.
When Ichigo got to the village there were demons standing around having already massacred the people.
"Damn it. I am too late."
Ichigo quickly drew his sword and slashed through all the demons present.
"Now to deal with the flames."
Black markings started to appear on Ichigo's face. He then stretched out his arms. As if on command the black flames disappeared out of existence.
Ichigo started to walk around looking for Kaito's daughter, Asuka.
"Since her father is a demon hybrid, it should be easy to find her."
He then stretched his anima around the village in order to sense where the little girl was.
"What is this ki I'm sensing? I can feel the contra but there also something else. It's almost like the emporer 's ki. How can this be possible. Unless.." he calmly thought.
He then went to where he sensed the odd spirit energy to find a little girl with black hair and crimson eyes and fair skin crying in a blanket.
"No…it can't be. This hasn't happened in almost a thousand years and last time this power nearly destroyed the entire world. What should I do? If King Chrono finds out, he would have this girl killed. I have to hide her somewhere. Luckily I know a place."
Ichigo then picked up the little baby girl and started to walk away when one of the young villagers trembling walked up with a knife in her hand.
"W….what do you think your doing with Asuka," asked the girl.
"She survived being this long even with the low temperature and her own ki being absorbed by the black flames. Not to mention that she was able to hide her ki so that the demons wouldn't sense her. She must have some kind of basic ki training," thought Ichigo.
"It's not safe for her to be here. I'm taking her somewhere where she will be taken care of and raised well."
"NO! I know what she is. People will not accept her. She will be put through hell if you take her there. Where is her father? Where is Mr. Kaito."
"I'm sorry, but he has died trying to protect this village from a demon."
The girl widened her eyes in shock and fell to her knees.
"Why…why is this happening. First my parents now Mr. Kaito. And with Mrs. Melissa missing, she has probably died too."
The girl then began to laugh with tears streaming down her face.
"This has to be a dream. Yeah…that's it. A terrible dream. And all I have to do is wake myself up. Yes…yes. That's the only explanation there is. When I wake up everything will be fine. It will be like nothing ever happened."
The girl than took her knife and put it against her own throat.
"Yes. This is the only way to escape out of this nightmare."
Then Ichigo appeared in front of her stopping the girl .
"Please…I beg you, don't stop me. This is the only way. This is the only way to get out of this nightmare. I have nothing left to live for," she said in a weak voice.
"What is your name?"
"What.."
"What is your name?"
"Martha."
"Martha. I can see that you are in pain. I know how hard it must be to lose so many people so close to you. But you need to accept that this is reality. Doing this will not bring you any benefit. And you do have something to live for. You have this baby, who I can tell you care for, that will indeed have a tough childhood for what she is. Why don't you help Asuka make her childhood that much more bearable by staying with her and taking care of her."
"But how? I can't do that on my own."
"I know a women named Thalia who once helped me when I was in a similar situation. She owns a home for orphans. I can take you there and you can two grow and get educated and you won't have to worry about her being discriminated against cause I'm also a hybrid."
Martha than dropped the knife and stood up still crying.
"Alright. I will so my best and protect Asuka as best I can."
"Alright. Get on my back since its quite the long journey."
"Okay."
Once Martha got on Ichigo's back, they rushed off towards the woman named Thalia.