In a dark and desolate room, a man sat in bed, his face hidden. The light from the moon's glow reflected off his skin, revealing the bottom half of his face. A burn mark was apparent and disgust ran rampant in his eyes.
"The traces of his filth will finally be eradicated," he whispered with a dark, murderous grin.
A small battalion could be seen through an orb projecting the scene straight to the man. At this moment, the embers of a once mighty flame were to be snuffed out.
"Leave nothing behind," the Monarch commanded.
Suddenly, a loud noise awoke some of the children. Upon investigating, they were greeted by flames and smoke coming from the clan's main hall. Soldiers dragged out the elders one by one and executed them.
"Run!" an elder yelled to the kids, but it was too late. The children were struck with arrows. All that remained were Satoshi and Daitchi, who took the advice of their elder and hid beside a nearby pile of hay.
"A blade," Satoshi whispered.
"What?" Daitchi replied in a low and scared tone.
"I need a blade to protect us."
"How can you be so calm right now?" said the scared Daitchi. "I mean, we're on the verge of death and all you can think about is protecting the both of us."
"You've always been a scaredy cat. If I wasn't there to protect you, then who would?" Satoshi replied with a smile.
"The den," Daitchi remarked. "That old blade in the den. We can use that."
The two slowly crept to the main den without alerting any of the soldiers who remained in the area. Remarkably, the den had remained intact, with the scorches from the flames seeming to go out before ever reaching the door. Upon opening the door, an iron-like smell overwhelmed their senses.
"Is that the smell of blood?" said Satoshi.
Negligent of the eerie circumstances that were seeming to happen with this room in particular, the pair ran to the stand where the ancient blade was stored, overlooking the clan's main den. After taking the blade, the two retreated from the main property, heading for a forest located on the clan's land. Seeking refuge, they took cover in the towering blades of grass near a desolate pond. The howls of the wind echoed through the trees, accompanied only by the footsteps of nearby soldiers searching for Satoshi and Daitchi.
"Satoshi, did you see anything?" Daitichi whispered anxiously.
"No, be quiet," Satoshi replied as the soldiers' steps grew closer.
As the soldiers passed by their hiding spot, Daitchi whispered, "Satoshi, the coast is clear!" Satoshi shook his head, warning Daitchi to wait, but fear had already been gnawing away at him. Daitchi had been gasping for air and shaking with terror ever since he was a kid. Naturally, seeing a person killed before him would rile him up. Satoshi, on the other hand, had been training for battle since he was a child.
"You're the pride of our clan," were the earliest words he could remember, but deep down Satoshi despised it. The spotlight, the unnecessary attention, and the admiration of others all seemed to be pity towards him.
"Satoshi," Daitchi whispered, "Do you think any of the others survived?"
Before Satoshi could answer, the bright moonlight illuminated the blade that emerged from the grass, striking Daitchi with one swift motion. Satoshi watched in horror as Daitchi convulsed, blood pouring from his chest.
"H-He's dead," Satoshi whispered in shock, his mind racing with confusion and fear. Before he could make a decision, the same blade, now soaked in the blood of his friend, swung at Satoshi.
He reacted instinctively, strafing back and unsheathing the blade to counterattack.
"Do you know what it's like to kill a man?" a voice asked. "It's like a good meal," the man said, emerging from the grass and licking the blade. "You savor the first taste," he said as he swung his sword downwards, splattering the blood on the grass beneath him, "and devour the rest."
The silence grew louder as the tension built in the air. Suddenly, the two began to clash in a fierce battle. Satoshi swung his blade fiercely and with precision, but this was nothing similar to his training. This battle was life or death. A sudden cut to his chest declared him the loser. As he fell to the ground, his opponent watched, making his approach slowly but continuously, aware of Satoshi's movements. The footsteps stopped as his opponent stood towering above him, raising his blade slowly to the sky for a precise cut.
Quickly, Satoshi tossed a handful of dirt in his opponent's face, picking up his blade with the other hand. Rolling out of the way of his opponent's slice, his blade tore through the wind in an upward motion with precision, ultimately overpowering and slaying his opponent. Kneeling before him with a final blow, Satoshi's blade slit the neck of his enemy, the blood painting Satoshi. As he stood victor, his wounds left him hindered. Dropping to the ground, he bled in silence.
"Is this how it ends?" Satoshi wondered aloud. Suddenly, his body glistened red with blood dripping slowly down his arm onto the blade. Miraculously, his wounds began to heal, but the pain was still severe. Satoshi lay on the ground, his breath ragged, his body pulsating with pain. Rising to his feet, he looked out into the desolate landscape. The moon cast an eerie glow over the ruins of his home, and anger darkened his heart.
"Destroy. Kill. Avenge." These thoughts filled his mind. His anger raged on, and the blood of his enemy rose up slowly as if droplets of rain froze in time around him. Suddenly, his new blade began to pulsate. It was as if the blade craved it. In a fraction of a second, the blood was gone, and the blade now bore the appearance of a glistened sharpened-edged katana. It had no tsuba; its edges were jagged, and the blade itself turned pure crimson. His eyes now burned red. Satoshi was no more. Bloodlust had taken hold, and the blade needed to quench its thirst.
In a nearby forest, a group of soldiers still searched for the fugitives.
"You think any escaped?" one soldier asked.
"They were enemies of the Valdirose family. Even if they have escaped, they'll be worse off than slaves," a third soldier said.
"Shhhhh, did you hear that?" Before the soldiers could investigate the noise they heard on the path before them, crimson streaks cut through the darkness diagonally, separating the first soldier's torso from his lower body.
"AHHHHHHHH!" the second soldier screamed in agony as the demon seized him by the head, its grip tightening until his skull exploded like an overripe tomato.
The last two soldiers were in a frenzy, the night still dark with the moon as the only source of light. Blood splattered the trees, and the soldiers were being hunted as if they were wild animals. One soldier had the misfortune of seeing his killer, which paralyzed him with fear.
"D-DEMONNNN!!!!!!!!!!" he shrieked in terror before silence filled the night. The final soldier hid in a nearby bush, witnessing the whole ordeal, covering his mouth to steady his breathing. He was also unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of his killer. White hair flowed down the demon's back, blood resembling war paint dripped from his face and hands, and he wielded a blade that only a demon could possess. The soldier couldn't stop himself from hyperventilating due to fear. The demon noticed his breath, slowly tilting his head with a grin. As frogs croaked in the nearby pond, the sound of the soldier's blood-curdling screams filled the night.
"A-AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" The last soldier screamed. Once again, silence filled the night. Satoshi, in and out of consciousness, saw the grisly sight before him yet felt no sympathy. This was a just punishment considering everything had been taken from him.
The next morning, he awoke surrounded by the bodies of the dead soldiers he had killed the night before. He unsheathed his blade, and to his surprise, it was normal. Reflecting back on the night before, all he could do was wish for the simple nature of his life to return and for his friends since childhood to be alive once again. The sun shone down through the foliage, and the morning mist filled the air. Tears streamed down his face as he mourned the death of his fallen. Memories of his life before filled his mind. Daitchi's spirit called out to Satoshi as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Goodbye," said Daitchi, waving to Satoshi in the distance. With the disappearance of the morning mist, his friend was now gone. Satoshi's goal became apparent.
"I'll destroy them all," he announced, clenching his teeth. The blade pulsed while glistening red as if it acknowledged his mission. Satoshi would now embark on a journey of self-destruction, leaving everything in his path torn.
The soldier now stood victorious above the land where a once mighty clan had resided. Now ransacked and destroyed, the clan's home was no more.
"It wasn't here, my lord," the holy knight said, bowing his head before the orb.
"WHAT!!!!!!" the Monarch yelled with might and frustration. "I left the seed of his kingdom alive only so they could guard the blade. Where else could it be?" The man questioned, clenching his teeth with fury while flames burned the curtains around his bed.
"Lord?" the holy knight questioned. "What should we do, lord?" Holy Knight Raion asked.
"Useless!!" the man shouted, destroying the orb, shattering it in his hand. "Even after death, you won't aid my cause." The monarch said while laughing maniacally.