Leo and Netnet arrived at Plaza Calderon at the heart of Binondo where the iconic Binondo Church is. The sky got darker and the air got colder.
"It's about to rain, Leo", said Netnet.
Leo looked around and said, "Hmm... the air feels different. You're going that way, right?"
"Yeah", answered Netnet.
"You should go now. It's not safe", said Leo.
Netnet nodded, then he went on his way.
Leo decided to go to the centre of the plaza as the rain started to fall and people started to take shelter. Then, rain poured heavily, the noise of the downpour overwhelmed other noise, but Leo was still standing at the same spot.
"It's just you and me now. Stop hiding behind that tree", said Leo, calling out the person hiding on the tree a few meters behind him.
Then, someone stepped out and said, "It seems you're in control of your super senses."
Leo turned around to face the stalker and asked, "Why are you following me... Kagi?"
"Hmm... let's just say the king of Biringan City gave me a task that I vowed to complete", Kagi answered.
"And that task involves YOU, your highness", he added.
"What are you talking about?", Leo asked.
"You're really good at suppressing your emotions. Your face doesn't show any fear or surprise. Earlier this morning, I knew that you could see my aura, but you didn't show fear in your face. A good trait for a royalty to have...", said Kagi.
"...but, your heart... it screams in anxiety. You can't hide that from the likes of me", he added.
Leo's eyebrows started to meet because he couldn't tell if Kagi was there for trouble or not. Adding the fact that Kagi had a sheathed sword on his back hip.
"I'm certain that you've always wondered why you have those special abilities. What if I tell you that I have the answers?", Kagi asked before showing a menacing smile.
Leo was surprised to know that someone knows who he actually is and that he might be able to finally learn the truth.
"...but, I'll only tell you if you defeat me here", Kagi added.
"I'm not gonna fight you", Leo replied.
Kagi laughed maniacally, then he looked at Leo straight in the eye with his fiery orange eyes in an intimidating way and said, "Oh, I'm not asking."
In just a split second, Kagi dashed towards Leo. Leo was caught off guard by Kagi's incredible speed that caused him to get punched hard in the face. The impact of the punch redirected the raindrops in a 3-meter radius outwards that made it seem like Kagi and Leo were inside a sphere of air where rain couldn't come through. The punch sent Leo flying to the end of the plaza.
Leo was quick to stand up, but to his surprise, Kagi disappeared.
"It seems you're not as fast as I thought you were", said Kagi as he appeared behind Leo.
Then, Leo took a blow to the stomach which sent him rolling to the other end of the plaza. But that time, Leo took a moment to gather himself because he was hurt badly. He coughed up blood. This was the first time he saw himself bleeding considering he has a tough body.
"He's strong... stronger than me... faster than me. Who is this guy?!"
Then, Kagi landed in front of Leo who was still sitting down on the ground. Kagi said, "Royal bloods are supposed to be exceptionally strong. To me, you seem like a normal person. Maybe I got the wrong guy?"
"Or maybe you just need a little push", he added.
All of a sudden, Netnet came back near the plaza because he thought there was something strange about what Leo said earlier about the air feeling different. So, he came back to try to look for Leo when he heard a faint sound. He looked towards the direction of that sound, and he saw Leo lying face first on the ground while Kagi was standing beside him.
Then, Kagi grabbed Leo's shirt and lifted him up. He told Leo, "I'm very disappointed in you. I didn't think you'd give up after a few hits... and I haven't even shown you my power yet."
"Perhaps if I hurt someone close to you, you'll put up a better fight", he added.
This scene surprised Netnet, so he shouted, "Leo!"
This caught Kagi's attention. And in just a blink of an eye, he dashed and grabbed Netnet by the neck, and said, "maybe here's the little push that you need, young prince."
Leo was dropped to the ground, and he could barely see what was happening because of the heavy downpour and his body almost shutting down, but he mustered all the remaining strength he had to stand up.
As soon as he got up on his feet, he said, "Let him go."
"And what are you gonna do about it? Do you see the state you're in? You're not in the position to make demands", said Kagi.
"Oh, but you're the prince, right? So, yeah, I'll let him go. Here", he added as he threw Netnet towards Leo.
Both Leo and Netnet fell to the ground injured. Netnet crawled towards Leo and asked, "Leo, a-are you still alive?"
Leo couldn't answer because his body gave up.
Then, Kagi started slowly walking towards the two. He said, "You know... I've actually been stalking you a few months before the school year started after I got information of your whereabouts from someone I don't know. I was actually pointed in the right direction thanks to that person..."
"I found that you actually have human parents. I thought that was very interesting. It seems they're the only parents you've ever known because they never told you the truth. And let me tell you..."
He got to where Leo was lying, and he got down so that Leo could hear him better.
"...you won't have human parents to go home to tonight".
He stood up and started to walk away when all of a sudden, he felt an immense aura which stunned him. He turned around and saw that Leo was on his feet while his head was down. He started to feel uneasy because even though he couldn't see aura like Leo can, he could definitely feel it. And to him, it felt like the air was vibrating and the ground was shaking. Then, Leo slowly lifted his head. Kagi saw that Leo had grown sharp teeth with 2 of them longer than the others just like a vampire, his eyes fully turned white, his nails grew sharp, and he had a killer look on his face.
What shocked Kagi the most was that the rain seemingly stopped. Not that it literally stopped raining, but the raindrops were suspended in mid air. He looked at the raindrops that are right in front of his face, and couldn't help but whisper, "What extraordinary power."
As his eyes shifted their focus from the raindrops to Leo, he was surprised that a fist was already a few centimetres from his face. He received a strong punch that created an impact sphere similar to earlier when Leo got punched, but this one was 3 times the size, and sent him flying towards a tree near the centre of the plaza. The tree fell down, and one of its branches broke.
After a moment, Kagi stood back up and wiped off the blood that was flowing from his nose. He said, "Now that's what I'm looking for. Bring it on!"
Kagi unsheathed his sword, a straight Philippine Kris sword, and unleashed its power. The sword started to glow red as it heats up. It got so hot that raindrops that came into contact with it instantly evaporated.
He formed a stance to prepare to attack Leo. Then, he dashed with incredible speed that the raindrops he dashed through evaporated, so it left a trail of steam behind him. Unfortunately for him, his slash didn't hit because Leo disappeared. He sensed that Leo was above him, so he looked up, only to be punched again in the face. He slammed to the ground, the pavement cracked, and his sword got tossed a few meters away. This resulted in the heat of his sword to dissipate.
While wounded on the ground, Kagi thought to himself, "He's become bloodthirsty. I didn't expect him to turn into that when angered. I need to stop him before this gets out of hand."
Leo was about to finish Kagi when suddenly, he smelled human blood nearby. He turned his attention to Netnet. This frightened Netnet.
Kagi realised how bad the situation has become, so he grabbed a green pill from his pocket. He consumed it to regenerate his wounds. And before Leo could reach Netnet, Kagi was able to grab Netnet and take him inside the church.
"If he gets in here, take that holy water and splash him with it", he advised Netnet.
Netnet replied, "Wait... what?! Why are you--." Before he could finish, Kagi rushed outside to face a bloodthirsty Leo.
The rain kept pouring and the wind got stronger. Leo and Kagi were having a standoff at the plaza. Leo picked up Kagi's sword to use it against him. Kagi knew that he had to knock out Leo immediately before the rain stopped because there was a risk that people would see them. He knew that he was at a disadvantage without his weapon so he tried to look for a weapon around. He saw the tree where he slammed earlier, and there was a broken branch that looked like a mallet. He pulled out a mysterious crystal shard as small as a thumb from his pocket.
Netnet went out of the church to see what was going on.
Kagi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then he used his technique, "Sining Sandata: Manaul".
With this technique, Kagi dashed towards Leo in a zigzag with such grace that it seemed like he was gliding like a bird while releasing a smoke trail. Leo prepared to take him head on as he snarled. Leo used Kagi's sword to slash him, but Kagi dodged by jumping backwards into the smoke trail. Since Leo had no control of his senses, he couldn't activate his enhanced eyes to detect Kagi through the smoke.
While all that was happening, Netnet was in awe because to him, everything was happening so fast and his eyes could barely keep up, but he was also afraid of how the fight was going to end.
All of a sudden, Kagi jumped above Leo from the smoke and he landed on where the broken tree branch was. He held the crystal shard and pinned it to the branch. What happened next amazed Netnet so much that his eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. The shard glowed and it turned the mallet-like branch into an actual mallet complete with an iron head and a long handle that must be wielded with 2 hands.
Netnet couldn't help but shout, "WOOOOOOW!"
When he realised that he blurted it out, he covered his mouth with his 2 hands, but not before Leo heard it and shifted his focus to Netnet. Kagi saw this as an opportunity to attack, so he took another deep breath and formed a stance. After he exhaled, he activated his technique, "Sining Sandata...."
With this technique, the mallet head glowed just like the sword earlier, so the raindrops that came into contact with the mallet head immediately evaporated. Kagi strengthened his calves to make his dash faster than before.
As Leo was about to reach Netnet, Kagi dashed towards him creating a trail of smoke and steam, and Kagi said, "...Minokawa 1st Degree!"
He swung his mallet and it hit Leo's right arm and he was sent flying back to the plaza and knocking him out. Leo slowly returned back to normal, but unfortunately, his right arm got fractured and received 1st degree burns.
Netnet was stunned by what happened, then he slowly walked backwards while Kagi wasn't looking to try to escape from him. But, Kagi said, "Don't take another step, tiny human."
Netnet froze in fear and he started shaking. He begged, "Please don't kill me. It was Leo you wanted to kill, not me, right? You got what you wanted."
Kagi turned around and looked at Netnet straight in the eye. Netnet felt intense by looking at Kagi's fiery eyes. Then, Kagi said, "Relax, wimp. If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it 5 minutes ago."
"And, I aimed for his arm, so the prince is not dead. I'm just asking you not to walk away so that you can tend to him", he added.
"Huh? What prince?", Netnet asked with a confused look on his face.
"Also... aren't you here to kill us? I meant him... Leo. Not me. Please spare me", he added.
"Just go get him. We can't leave him out there. The rain is about to stop, and people will start flooding the streets", said Kagi.
"Oh, I see what you did there. Flood. Good pun", said Netnet.
"You know... cause it rained hard? And... uhm..." he added.
Kagi just gave Netnet a serious look. Netnet just said, "Okay. I'll shut up. Just don't kill me."
Then, Kagi jumped away.
-
(A few moments ago)
"Brothers, look! That's him!", said one aswang as they overlook from a rooftop of one of the buildings near the plaza.
"You're right. That's Kagi", said another aswang.
The first aswang said, "Who's he fighting? It looks like he's losing."
The second aswang said, "He is. Let's see if he'll die, then let's report to King Dakila and take credit for his death."
"Yeah! Then, the King will have to promote us", said the first aswang in excitement.
"Yeah! We'll become super strong if he gives us his blood", said the second aswang.
All the while, the third aswang was just quietly sitting at the back watching his 2 older brothers get excited about the situation. They are scouts of King Dakila tasked to locate Kagi. Even though the 3rd aswang, Enki, is just 10 years old, Dakila saw potential in him, and that's how he became a scout.
Then, the 2 older brothers saw Kagi knock Leo out with the mallet. They didn't expect that to happen. They were certain that Leo would win because they could feel his strong aura even from that distance.
The first brother anxiously said, "We should ambush Kagi while he's weakened."
The second brother answered, "Right. Let's go!"
"Wait! I don't think that's a good idea. Kagi is a warrior, we're just scouts. Even in his condition, he can easily kill us. We should just report back to the King and let them handle this", said Enki.
"There are 3 of us and just 1 of him. We just need to attack him all at once", said the first brother.
"I agree. And after we beat him, we can share the human down there because I'm starving", said the second brother.
All of a sudden, they heard someone say, "I heard you guys wanna ambush me."
The 2 older brothers felt shivers and Enki had a frightened look on his face because he could see Kagi standing behind his 2 brothers. He saw Kagi raise his mallet, so he shouted, "No!"
As soon as the 2 turned around, Kagi swung the mallet so fast that their heads got smashed cleanly. Their headless body dropped to the floor. The brutal scene stunned Enki, then he desperately cried out, "Mama! Papa!"
"No one's coming to help you, little boy. Besides, aren't Dakila's scouts just orphans?", said Kagi.
Enki ran away while wailing. He managed to jump off the building, and landed on an alley. But, Kagi knew that he couldn't let him escape and report back to Dakila. So, he removed the shard on the mallet to revert it to a normal branch. He aimed the branch at Enki and threw it like a javelin. Enki was stunned, and realised that the branch went through his chest. He dropped on his knees, tears ran down his face, and he whispered, "Help."
Kagi looked down at Enki's body from the rooftop feeling a bit remorseful because he was just a kid. He looked back at the 2 brothers and watched them disintegrate. Then, he went back down to where Netnet was.
"Where do you live?", Kagi asked Netnet from behind.
Netnet was startled so he screamed and said, "Will you stop doing that? You'll give me a heart attack. I'm too young to die."
"I live just 4 blocks away from here", he added.
"Okay. Let's get him treated there", said Kagi.
"What are you talking about?! I can't take him there. My family will go nuts!", said Netnet.
"Do it or I'll kill you", said Kagi.
Netnet got genuinely scared by that threat, so he had no choice but to follow Kagi's order.
-
Meanwhile, back in the alley, Enki was still breathing. He mustered up his remaining strength to pull out a piece of charcoal made from a chunk of an enchanted tree from Maharlika. He used the charcoal to draw a circle beside him. The circle turned into a portal. He rolled through it, and he was taken near the main gate of Biringan City where one of Dakila's loyal warriors, Hintra, found him and brought him to Dakila.
"My lord, a scout has returned", said Hintra as they arrived in the throne room with the branch still pierced through Enki's chest.
Enki was brought to the middle of the throne room, the only spot that was illuminated by the moonlight. A few meters in front of Enki was the throne, and to each side of the throne are 4 seats. There are 9 elevated seats in total, which form around the centre of the room in a semi-circle.
Since no light shines on the 9 seats, Enki could barely see Dakila sitting on the throne. He could only hear him say, "Enki, dear boy. You're barely surviving. What news do you have for me?"
"M-my lo...lord, we fo-ound... K-Kagi", said Enki while struggling to catch his breath.
"H-he killed... my br... m-my brothers", he cried. Then, he dropped to the floor.
"Hmm... the poor boy suffered a traumatic experience. But, he did well. He found one of the best warriors of the resistance who's keeping us from achieving our goal. That deserves a good reward", said Dakila.
"I shall give you a taste of my power, dear boy", he added as he raised his hand which glowed purple.
Suddenly, the branch in Enki's chest disintegrated into purple ash, and Enki rose slowly. His eyes became full black with purple flames emitting from them, the veins around his eyes turned black, skin turned grey, hair turned mauve, and purple flames started coming out of various spots on his body.
Enki looked at the changes in his body. He was amazed, and he felt a sense of confidence because he felt great power flowing through his veins.
"I would normally just send one of the 8 Buwan, but you deserve to take your revenge for the death of your brothers. Your power now is still far from the power of the 8 Buwan, but you should be powerful enough to take down Kagi", said Dakila.
"With your awakening, you will discover new power that a normal aswang does not have. Make use of all that power..."
"...and bring me Kagi's head."
"Yes, my lord", answered Enki.
With his new power, Enki could now see people's aura. To his surprise, the already dark throne room has become even darker because he was in the presence of Dakila the usurper and leader of the rebellion, Areyano who was sitting to the right of Dakila and is the strongest of the 8, rank 2 Lunata who was sitting to the left of Dakila, rank 3 Pigebara who was sitting to the right of Areyano, rank 5 Oroketa who was sitting to the right of Pigebara, and rank 4 Hintra who was standing beside him. The whereabouts of the other 4 are unknown but they are rank 6 Mowa, rank 7 Karaw, and rank 8 Pembo.
Luckily, Enki does not know who Leo truly is, so Dakila is not yet aware that the prince is still alive in the human world. The only person who's the real threat to Dakila's reign of tyranny.