"A monster. That's what that was. I've never seen something so...so evil."
The look of fear on the man sitting in front of Ichigo was one which mere words couldn't explain. He was curled up in a fetal position against a tree that was cut in half. His clothes were in tatters and he had a terrible burn scar on his left arm.
"Can you describe to me what exactly it looked like."
"No man...the flames were...too much..and the screams....those terrible screams....AAUGGH!"
The man began to clutch at his head. His nails began to dig into his skulls, drawing blood from it. Ichigo quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it away from him making the man look into his eyes.
"You don't need to worry anymore soldier. The threat isn't here anymore. You can rest easy now."
Though the soldier was still shaking with fear, his breathing and heartbeat returned to a normal rate. Ichigo then stood up and took a look around himself.
"There."
He then took off his cloak and covered the man before running deeper into the forest. With each step, the goosebumps on his skin intensified and temperature in the air dropped even more. He continued running for a few minutes until he reached the edge of the forest. Or so it seemed.
"What the hell what happened here?"
The sight which lay before Ichigo was a strange one. A massive crater in the ground was the sight that stood before Ichigo.
"This is no ordinary demon attack. A little over two kilometers of land vaporized just like that. I knew a powerful demon had shown up here, but to cause this much damage so casually..."
He then jumped into the crater and landed in its center. When he did, he immediately noticed a set of footsteps. Then another. And another. And soon, he saw several hordes of footsteps, some seemingly just appearing from nowhere, and walking to the other side of the crater.
"How is this possible?"
He then let contra flow through his body and sensed that there were many bodies that contained contra had been there. But one thing that had puzzled Ichigo was that the bodies had felt empty. Like something had been lost to them. All except for the one that was in the center of the crater.
Ichigo then followed the footsteps into the forest on the opposite side of where he came from. He walked. And walked. And walked. Hours passed and Ichigo's steps hadn't slowed.
"Whatever had caused the explosion was able to walk this far seemingly without rest. This could be a lot more dangerous than I thought."
Ichigo had finally arrived at a beach. The tracks he was following had long disappeared and he was following the trail of the demons contra. The many bodies that were following the demon vanished one by one the further it walked. Then suddenly, Ichigo felt a large mass of contra in the middle of the beach.
"A rift?"
That concentration of contra was where the trail had ended. Ichigo stood for a few contemplating whether he should follow the demon or not.
"Only the strongest of demons are able to open a rift. If I follow, I might run into a group of demons not too much weaker than me. That would be a death sentence. I'll head to the kingdom to report what I've found. But first, I need to go get Asuka."
Ichigo then closed his eyes and spread his anima thousands of kilometers until he felt the anima of his prodigious pupil. Sensing her, he sighed and his expression softened.
"Just hang in there Asuka. I'll be there soon."
~
Asuka stood outside of the lord's office. Annie had pleaded with the girl to wait for Ichigo to return but Asuka insisted on getting it over with now. She took a deep in and opened the door to the building. Everything about the place was as it was when she had first arrived to Aboa a little over a week ago. She walked down the hallway with the painting of the nations former emperors. She reached the door and didn't even bother knocking. She pulled on the handle of the door and with a loud creak, it swung open.
Inside, the lord quickly looked up and once he saw who it was, casually looked back down at his newspaper.
"I assume you being here means that you have actual results. And a little less than a week from when I said I would be expecting something. I suppose this warrants some praise, but from your expression I can tell I should probably hold off."
For a couple seconds, Asuka said nothing to the man waiting for him to ask any questions about the missing people. But he too remained silent.
"Are you not going to ask about the missing people? About what kidnapped them or what condition they're in?"
The lord again looked back up at the girl. This time he put down his newspaper and folded his hands on the table before responding.
"Seeing as you're here right now, it's safe to say that the situation has been resolved. You also called the perpetrator a 'what' it's obviously a demon. And knowing it's a demon there's no doubt all those people are dead now. So there's really isn't any conversation needed."
Asuka clenched her fist and clenched her jaw till her tooth almost cracked. But she managed to hold back her emotions.
"Over a hundred and fifty people are dead. Men, women and children of all ages as far back as five years are dead. All in such...horrific ways. And you can't even be bothered to pretend to care?"
Mr. Baldwin raised his eyes brow at Asuka's statement.
"Why would I need to pretend. The problem is solved is it not?"
"Are you hard of hearing or something? Five years. Five years these abductions have been taking place and only now is anything being down about it? Not to mention the problem of them being abducted in the first place and not out right killed. Don't you think these are things to be talked about at the very least?"
The lord's gaze hardened in an attempt to try and intimidate the girl. But she did not back down.
"Leave brat. You will get your reward money after that demon you call a master returns."
"I have no interest in your money. What I want is to know how events like this are prevented from ever occuring again. Five years is a very long time for you to allow this to be going on Mr. Baldwin."
"I said leave girl. Or I'll make sure the king here's about this you arrogant child. Then we'll see what happens to that little orphanage you hold so dear."
Without missing a beat, Asuka leapt forward and before Mr. Baldwin could even blink she grabbed his throat so tight his windpipe cracked. He tried to yell out in pain but nothing came out. He tried clawing at her fingers but her grip was too firm around his neck.
Asuka didn't say anything. She didn't even use her anima to crush the mans soul. She simply held her and looked into the man's fear written eyes. She then glanced down at the man's left hand where a ring was wrapped around his finger. She looked back at the lord then slowly let go of his neck. She jumped back and took a few deeps breathes before speaking.
"A friend I made died because of your negligence. These are your people. Find a way to protect them."
She then turned and calmly left the office leaving the man a sweating, shaking mess.