Disclaimer: see previous chapters.
Chapter 25 - Dusk
There was no mistaking who the youkai was. Allen got into fighting stance, ready to lift his barriers and attack.
"Road..." he murmured. "What are you doing here?"
The girl's sick grin broadened, revealing a line of perfect white teeth.
"Greetings, Exorcist Walker." she said, jumping off the rock on which she was sitting. Then, staring at Kanda, she went on slyly: "And you, Kanda, how does it feel to be standing on the very same place of your defeat?"
As soon as those words were pronounced, Allen knew that things were going to take a very bad turn.
"Kanda, don't let her words affect you." he said hurriedly. "I'll deal with her and..."
"No." his shikigami replied sharply. "Did you forget already? You can't lift your barriers."
"Because of the curse your previous master put on me?" Allen hadn't forgotten. How could he possibly forget that his predecessor had put a curse on him that made him go berserk whenever he felt the Earl's and his underlings' spiritual energies? His only protection were the barriers he had trained to erect; if he were to lift them, the curse would activate and the gods only knew how the whole mess could end.
And last but not least, using his curse would consume his life irrevocably, barely allowing him to reach his mid-twenties. Allen knew it very well, but was there any other way for him to fulfil his duty?
"I'll take care of her." Kanda declared as if to answer Allen's silent question. "You just stay back."
"I can't-" Allen started protesting, but Kanda merely grabbed him by the arm and roughly pushed him aside.
"Stay behind me and don't even think of lifting your barriers!" he snapped angrily.
Not expecting the gesture, Allen remained puzzled for a second before he flared up:
"Don't order me around! I'm your master, Kanda!"
At those words, a glint of fury flashed in Kanda's eyes and it was obvious he had to call forth all his willpower to control the shaking of his body.
"You brat, I'm doing this for your own, damn good!" he spat out.
"Since when do you care for my own good?" Allen retorted. "I refuse to let you fight that demon alone!"
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a feminine voice interrupted them, and both of them suddenly remembered they weren't alone. "The little Kanda-pet is barking at his master? How disrespectful!" Road added, laughing.
The answer came instantly. In an instant, the rock on which she was sitting was smashed to bits, but the demon girl had already jumped away from the attack. Instead of the rock was standing an utterly furious Kanda, Mugen in his right hand.
"I'll make you swallow your words and choke on them." he said threateningly. But before he even had time to charge at Road again, a violent burst of energy shook the area, making Kanda swear angrily.
He turned round to Allen and saw the boy wrapped in a white aura of pure energy, his face distorted in what seemed to be a grimace of pain. The brat was obviously trying to control himself. And he was obviously failing at it. As Kanda stepped forward, Allen held out his hand to stop him.
"W-wait! I can... deal with it by... myself! Don't come near!" he ordered.
At that very moment, something resonated violently inside of Kanda, as if to respond to Allen's energy release. A terrible surge of power swept over the whole area, making the Exorcist stumble; even Road lost her balance and almost collapsed on the ground. Kanda was still standing, but his head felt as if it had been hit by a hammer. Despite the dizziness striking him, he didn't have any trouble recognizing Allen's imprint and his own in the wave of power that had broken on them.
How? The last time Allen had lost control, it hadn't felt like that; there had only been Allen's energy and his predecessor's. But now, it seemed that the latter was replaced by Kanda's demonic energy. However, Kanda didn't have time to dwell on such a detail; his priority was to prevent his idiotic master from wreaking havoc and turning the place to nothingness.
And strangely enough, it seemed that the humongous aura of pure energy around Allen subsided slightly as if to obey Kanda's thoughts. The boy was still struggling, panting heavily and his arms wrapped around himself, but at the same time, something else was helping him control himself and it was only after a second that Kanda realized what it was.
It was his own energy which he had poured generously into Allen not even a few hours ago and which was reacting to his will to force the boy's energy back in him. Obviously, the amount of demonic energy that was mixed with Allen's was more than enough to keep him under control.
"Kanda! Don't you dare turn your back on me!" Road yelled, a fireball in her hand and aiming at the demon in front of her. Kanda turned round quickly, swearing at his own carelessness, and jumped back to avoid the attack. The next second, a spell coming from behind him cleaved through the air like a white and luminous arrow and blasted the spot where Road was standing. The demon girl dodged by a hair's breadth but the explosion grazed her left arm.
Cursing of rage, she got ready to attack again when her eyes landed on Allen and widened.
"What the hell did you do to him?" she asked, dumbfounded and pointing at the young Exorcist behind Kanda.
"As if I'd fall for such a stupid trap!" Kanda snapped back, but at that moment, Allen walked past him, gazing straight at Road.
Even Kanda didn't manage to hide his stupefaction as he saw his master walking forward. The flow of energy enveloping him was still erratic, as if it was fighting against the pressure that Kanda's energy was putting on it; but what astounded the demon was Allen's appearance.
Among the white hair, golden strands were floating around his face, as gold as the most polished amber. His pupils had also changed their colour, leaving no trace of the usual light grey irises. Instead, they were of the same golden tint as the strands of hair, though darker. His skin had taken a different shade as well, more tanned and matching the colour of his eyes. As Kanda grabbed his arm and forced the boy to face him, he saw the exact same look he had once seen during their first encounter with Tyki: the look of a hunting demon and ready to kill.
Allen slapped Kanda's hand away, glaring at him with contempt:
"I told you not to come near, didn't I? I can deal with that low youkai by myself." he declared icily.
"Who are you calling 'low youkai'? Impudent Exorcist!" Road let her temper loose. She then muttered something and suddenly, dozens of burning daggers appeared, floating all around her. A mere gesture of her hand, and all the daggers flew at Allen who deflected them easily with a barrier.
"I thought the Earl wanted me alive." he sneered. "Though it's not like you can kill me with that level of skill."
Without waiting any further, he uttered an incantation and several ropes of light came out from the ground and tied themselves around Road's ankles and wrists. The distinct sound of flesh burning was heard, and the demon girl screamed.
"Of course something as filthy as you couldn't possibly stand the contact of a holy spell. Now let's see, how shall I get rid of you?" Allen wondered out loud, a smirk on his lips. It was obvious he was having fun watching Road wriggle and moan in pain.
"Oi, Moyashi! Stop this immediately!" Kanda intervened, seizing his arm again and shaking him. "You're being controlled by your damn curse!"
"I'm not, Kanda." Allen replied, annoyed. "Thanks to the unbelievable amount of energy you put in me, I'm perfectly in control." He turned his eyes to his shikigami, his smirk broadening. "And you know what? Now I understand you. Because I can feel it in your energy, I understand why you like killing and destroying so much. It's thrilling, isn't it? To see those weaker than you kneeling, crawling at your feet and begging for their lives while you tear their bodies apart." He gazed back at Road, who had now fallen to the ground and was still struggling to free herself. "Isn't it a lovely sight? Say, Kanda, I'll do you a favour. You can go kill her if you want. You can torture her as much as you want while I hold her back. What do you think?"
And within a second, Kanda was tempted. His own blood was boiling inside as Allen reminded him of all those sensations he used to experience when he was still free, the pleasure and the satisfaction of bringing despair wherever he went, the utmost rapture at feeling warm blood spilling on his hands, the sweet screams of agonizing creatures... He licked his lips at the thought and slowly turned to Road, already enjoying the entertainment he was offered.
"Kill her." Allen ordered.
"As if I'd let you!" Road shouted, and with a burst of energy, she made the ropes explode. Her wrists and ankles were bleeding a black and thick liquid, she was panting heavily yet her eyes reflected as much fury as ever. "Yes, Allen Walker. We were ordered to let you live, but if I can at least bring back Kanda's head to the Earl, then he'll forgive me for letting Kanrou escape! And now, witness my true power, insignificant human!"
At those words, her shape started changing: her nose and mouth stretched forward, her skin covered with dark green and glistening scales, tearing her purple kimono apart while claws replaced the tip of her fingers; she fell heavily on her arms – or rather, forelegs – as a tail grew at the bottom of her back and stared at her two opponents with huge and yellow eyes slit by vertical black pupils.
A salamander. The size of a tiger. Smoke coming out from its large nostrils. It bared its long and sharp teeth threateningly and as it spoke again, the voice was no more that of a girl.
"Kanda, I'll tear your limbs one by one before I finish with you head." Road growled with a sinister grin.
"Just try." Kanda replied, readying his sword, but before either of them got time to do anything, a hand grabbed Kanda's arm, preventing him from moving.
"A shikigami should obey its master, Kanda." Allen's cold voice interrupted him. "I'm very displeased by your behaviour."
"Stop screwing around! You're not your usual self!" Kanda snapped back, pissed off and ready to snatch his arm back but at that same moment, a strong discharge of energy made him flinch.
"Step back and let me deal with that youkai." Allen ordered icily. "Otherwise I'll really knock you out for sure next time."
"Don't get so cocky! If it weren't for that curse, you'd be already paralysed by fear and unable to do a thing!" It was clear that Kanda's entire body was itching to strangle Allen though he knew he couldn't.
"That's why I thank my predecessor for giving me this cur..."
"Move out!"
The boy didn't have time to finish as his shikigami suddenly jumped on him and carried him away abruptly right when a fireball hit the spot on which he was standing not a second ago.
"Please stop forgetting that I'm still here." Road growled again. Her mouth – or rather, its mouth – was wide open, revealing a blazing throat ready to spit fire again.
"Let go of me, Kanda." Allen said dryly.
The black-haired demon, still holding the boy in his arms, ignored the order.
"You're being influenced by the energy I put in you, Moyashi." he replied with the same tone. "There's no way I can let you fight in that state. You'll only get killed."
"Don't underestimate me! I'm warning you one last time, let go of me or..."
"And I'm not repeating myself once more." Kanda cut him in before punching Allen in the stomach with enough strength to make the boy gasp of pain and pass out in his arms. "It's for your own good, stupid Moyashi." the demon murmured again as he laid his master down on the ground. The overflow of energy surrounding Allen started faltering before it disappeared completely.
A low, twisted laugh echoed in the air.
"So that's how you treat your own master, Kanda!" Road roared, stomping towards them. "Very well, at least he won't bother us anymore. Come now!"
"That was my line." Kanda replied as he stepped forward, grinning evilly.
"Komui, bad news." Nine said gloomily as she stepped into the man's office.
"Go ahead, I think I'm getting used to that kind of news." he replied humourlessly.
"Lau, you tell him." the woman addressed her shikigami. It had the appearance of a white baboon and was perched on her shoulder. The youkai jumped on Komui's table and directed its crimson eyes to him.
"Good afternoon, Lau." Komui greeted it. Among all the shikigami at the Temple, the baboon was considered the smartest and most ingenious of all, and that's why Komui had asked it to investigate after noticing that neither Allen nor Kanda could be found.
"The young Exorcist and his shikigami have disappeared from this world." it announced gravely. At those words, Komui jumped.
"What do you mean, 'disappeared'? Are they..."
"They travelled to another world, is what I mean." the baboon went on. "I tracked their energies into the forest, as you requested, and the only thing I can tell you is that they disappeared suddenly. I detected a faint disruption on the spot where they disappeared, but I didn't know about its nature. Then a thought crossed my mind and I went hunting a bit. I found a swamp imp which I questioned a bit and it told me that the spot was actually a path to its origins. Swamp imps are pretty stupid creatures, you see, and I had to insist quite a lot to obtain some more usable information. But according to what I managed to squeeze out of it, it seems the young Exorcist and his shikigami have gone to what you call the world of demons."
Komui's eyes widened at those words.
"The world of... so they really went there?" he asked, incredulous.
"Komui, I possess memories from hundreds of years ago and yet none of them ever told me anything about the existence of that world." Lau declared. "However, I'm not infallible. Though I'm pretty sceptical about that world, at this point every track has to be examined. I fear I can't help you more than that."
"I understand." Komui said, nodding. "Where's that swamp imp now?"
By way of reply, the baboon merely licked its chops and patted its belly, a satisfied grin on its face.
"We can't remain inactive like this." Tiedoll decided. "We should go to Mount Shiomi."
"The situation is critical." Nine nodded. She counted on her fingers: "We lost five shikigami since the beginning of this mess, the whole capital is nothing but chaos, the emperor is completely powerless, the priests refuse to go out and help the population, our Exorcists are so exhausted we had to send out some of our pupils to help them..."
"... and it's been six days since Allen disappeared." Komui finished tragically. "We can't afford waiting for him to show some signs that he's still alive."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Nine asked.
"I fear we have no choice but to do as Tiedoll said, that is to say go to Mount Shiomi." Komui replied. "But Cross hasn't contacted us either and..."
"Everyone here is tired of this situation." Tiedoll intervened coolly. "We are more than ready to take the risk to go there rather than keep going like this. I talked to Lavi when he came back here, and despite his state, he's determined to put an end to the mess even if it means risking his life."
"Losing his life, you mean." Nine corrected. "Anyway, Tiedoll is right; no one is going to stand the situation any longer. Either we make our move now, or we wait for all the youkai to turn wild and decimate us." With a sigh, she added: "And I don't want to wait long enough to see my own shikigami turning against me."
Silence greeted those words, but it was clear that the two other men were thinking the same. Finally, after a while, Komui spoke again:
"Without Kanda, I don't know if we're going to manage..."
"Komui, right now, Kanda and Allen are missing; therefore we have to take care of this matter by ourselves." Tiedoll replied. "I trust Allen, I believe he's special and I'm certain he'll come back. But it doesn't mean he's our only hope. Exorcists like us have existed for centuries and we have always managed to face any crisis. There's no reason this is going to end here."
"I agree. Now, instead of wasting more time chatting, we should decide on who is going to Mount Shiomi." Nine concluded.
"Earl, Cross Marian is here again." Lulubell reported.
"Again? Stubborn man." the Earl replied. "Our barrier prevents him from seeing the Source and yet he keeps coming here. Well, I guess you could go and greet him, Lulubell. Do however you please, but I want him alive and in a decent state enough to be able to speak."
The female youkai bowed and disappeared.
The Earl then directed his eyes in front of him. There was an altar, made of the blackest stone as if tainted by the most impure energies, with countless youkai sculpted on it. It was broken in half, and from the crack, miasmas of contaminated energy were rising and spreading in the atmosphere like long and eerie tentacles of decay.
The Earl watched the scene with satisfaction. The Source of Origins. It was once a blessed altar that was used to keep the flow of spiritual energy harmonious, to keep the balance between humans and youkai and only the highest ranked priests could come to that place. Never did they think that some demons would dare approach that area, and that was their one mistake.
In less than a day, the Earl and his minions had killed the priests and destroyed the altar. Then, they started defiling the sacred ground, breaking all the protective spells and putting their own jinxes instead and proceeded with reversing the progress of the untainted energy to replace it with the evillest and filthiest ones which the Source would spread around like storm clouds carried by wind.
Every youkai was getting slowly contaminated, one by one, and soon enough the world would belong to them again. A grin stretched the Earl's mouth. Soon enough, indeed, but before that, there was one last obstacle he had to get rid of: the Exorcists and their resistance, no matter how futile. And Kanda. It would be a waste to lose such a valuable demon, but there was no other choice.
"Earl." a voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned round and his grin broadened.
"Tyki-pon! You should still be resting!" he exclaimed at the sight of the injured demon. One of the sleeves of his kimono was hanging freely beside him. Visibly exhausted, Tyki managed to smile anyway:
"I'm fine, Earl. And I heard from Lulubell that Cross Marian is here. If you want, I can go scout outside and..."
"No, no, no. For now, I need you to rest as much as possible. When Kanda comes, I want to make sure he won't get away alive. However, there is something else troubling me..." the Earl added thoughtfully.
"What is it?"
"Do you know where Road is? With her habit of travelling from place to place through her gates, I can't tell where she is now."
Tyki frowned, then shook his head.
"Now that you mention it, it's true that it's been a few days since I last saw her. She's probably still looking for Kanrou. I guess she really feels guilty for letting him flee under her nose."
The Earl seemed to ponder the reply for a moment before he finally spoke again:
"But she knows that I need her here now. I don't care about Kanrou, so she'd better come back here quickly."
Blood splattered on the ground. Kanda wiped the liquid off his mouth, his eyes focused on the salamander which was bearing several bleeding wounds on its body.
"Be serious, Kanda." Road growled in anger. "What are you waiting for? Just put on your true form already! Or maybe you'd rather be eaten by me? Kanda!"
"Che, I don't need my real form to beat you up." Kanda snapped back as he readied his sword to charge. Road burst out laughing, but it was a twisted and insane laugh.
"You seem to forget something." she merely replied and the next second, she was spitting a large fireball from her mouth, but not in Kanda's direction.
The long-haired demon swore as he understood immediately and rushed to where Allen was lying. It had been a bad idea to knock him out, but letting the boy act while he wasn't in control of his senses would have been even more foolish. The fireball hit the place where Allen had been not even a second ago, but the explosion injured Kanda on his arm and face, and he flinched at the pain, holding Allen tightly against him.
He had to finish the fight very quickly, but it was more than difficult for him to focus on both taking Road down and protecting Allen. It was at that moment that he felt the boy stir in his arms and he grunted but didn't have much more time to think any further as a new attack was launched on him. Kanda cursed out loud while dodging the blast.
"You will never be able to beat me like that!" Road roared in satisfaction and laughed again. "Come on, don't disappoint me! You can do better than that, so entertain me a bit before I rip off your head!"
"As if you could!" Kanda replied angrily.
"Kan...da..." a voice spoke out timidly. Great, the damn kid had awoken.
"Moyashi, I'm putting you down but stay away from here!" Kanda ordered Allen who was progressively coming back to his senses. As Kanda bent down slightly to drop his master, he felt a new surge of energy coming from Road, indicating that a new blow was going to come. This time, it wasn't a mere fireball that came out from the salamander's mouth, but a long trail of blinding flames heading to them in a large whirlpool of incandescence.
It was too late to dodge this one, and for a second, Kanda's heart stopped and he prepared for the incoming blow... which never come.
Their surroundings shook violently as the powerful flames hit against a huge barrier. Allen's barrier. In such a short amount of time, the boy had managed to react quickly enough to erect a defensive shield, strong enough to resist Road's flames. When Kanda glanced at the young Exorcist, the latter had a few strands of golden hair mingling with the silver ones, but not as many as before.
"Kanda, you're an idiot." Allen said while focusing on keeping his barrier on. "Let me finish her off and be done with it. I've come here for a reason, and I don't like being delayed." he said very seriously.
Kanda gritted his teeth. He hated that insolence, he hated it enough to want to strangle Allen and yet, at the same time he couldn't help but feel attracted to Allen's energy which was now clearly bearing his demonic imprint.
"Shut up." he said dryly. "You don't even know what you're here for."
"But I plan to find it out very soon. Right after I'm done with the youkai over there." Allen replied with a faint smirk.
"Allen Walker! I'll shut that mouth of yours for good!" Road shouted to remind them of her presence.
"You can't kill me. Your Earl didn't allow you to." the Exorcist retorted.
"I don't care!" Road raged furiously. "You're our enemy! The Earl would have killed you at some point anyway! It won't change anything if you die now!"
Out of anger, Road sank her claws in the ground heavily, cracking the soil under her.
"I'll burn both of you to cinders right here." she growled threateningly.
"Not if I kill you before." Allen said, and the next second, he dismissed his barrier and rushed to Road while performing a binding spell which wrapped itself around Road's mouth and prevented her from opening it.
Kanda quickly caught up to him, feeling Allen's spiritual energy growing again. He had to keep that energy under control at all cost before Allen did something stupid. Then he prepared Mugen and poured as much energy in the blade as he could, ready to slash Road's legs while Allen was keeping her under control. However, despite having her mouth tied, she could still move the rest of her body, including her long and powerful tail.
"Watch out!" Kanda shouted at Allen when he saw the tail cleaving the air towards the boy. The warning was barely enough for him to jump back but not enough to dodge the tail completely. The tip hit Allen head-on and he was sent flying a few steps back. A cry of pain escaped his lips. The ties around Road's mouth started loosening, yet Allen came back to his senses quickly enough to tighten them again.
"Annoying youkai!" he muttered, trying to release more of his own energy without being able to. "Kanda! Stop hindering me!"
"Certainly not." was Kanda's mere answer. Without paying any further attention to Allen, he rushed at Road and sank his blade deeply in one of the scaled legs of the back, and pulled on the side to sever the limb. Black blood spilled out abundantly from the gaping wound, and a loud and terrible howl of pain filled the area, loud and terrible enough for Allen to wince and cover his ears in a futile attempt at deafening the sound. He could only thank the fact that Road's mouth was still forced shut.
The salamander collapsed on the floor and its form started shrinking as its features progressively turned back to those of a human girl. Her body was seized by violent spasms and where once lay a left leg could only be seen a pool black liquid bathing the fabric of the kimono. She was panting and sweating, unable to get air in her lungs and desperately trying to muffle her moans of pain by biting on her sleeve.
Kanda walked to her, glaring icily at her while Allen looked obviously satisfied.
"Do you want to deal the final blow, or shall I?" he asked his shikigami.
"I will. Just erect your inner barriers again." Kanda replied dryly.
"You're in no position to order me anything, Kanda." Allen said dryly. "I'm not stupid enough to use my curse if the battle is over."
As he pronounced those words, Allen's energy slowly receded, turning his appearance back to normal. The boy sat down on the ground, visibly drained by the previous effort, and watched as Kanda held his blade right above Road's throat.
"Any last words?" he asked, smirking.
"D-damn you... Kan...da... ahh... don't think...ahh...that you'll beat...ahh...the E-"
Her last words were drowned into her own blood as a slashing sound was heard. Allen looked away, not particularly bearing such a sight, and buried his face in his hands.
"Gods... I can't believe we made it..." he murmured.
"Che, and which outcome did you expect? There's no way I could have lost against her." Kanda snapped.
As Allen raised his eyes again, he noticed that the corpse had vanished exactly like the dead shikigami. Standing up slowly, he dusted off his robe and sighed.
"Let's move forward. I can feel something calling me. I hope you're not too beaten up." he said. Kanda was injured in several places, but Allen couldn't tell whether he was bleeding a lot or not because of his pitch black kimono. The youkai was panting slightly, and Allen knew he'd never admit he was exhausted. Kanda didn't move or reply immediately. It was only after a few seconds that he spoke again:
"Moyashi."
"Yes?"
"Next time you lift your barriers, I'll make sure you won't be able to wake up before long."
"I should be the one complaining." Allen retorted sullenly. "You knocked me out in the middle of a battle. What if I had been killed?"
"I wouldn't have let that happen." Kanda replied, even if he knew that they had avoided a catastrophe by a hair's breadth.
"My point is, you've been complaining that I can't fight properly and now that I can, you try to prevent me from doing so. Just make up your mind already." Allen sighed again. "Damn, this is tiring. I'll have to be careful in future."
"I don't call that 'fight properly'. You can't even control yourself in that state, and I have to waste effort on you to keep you sane. It's annoying."
"I don't see where the problem is, as long as I can destroy the youkai, I don't have to control myself. The quicker I'm done with all this mess, the better. But I agree it could lead to some unwanted casualties someday. Therefore I order you this: whenever I release my energy, I want you to help me control it just enough for me not to turn into a savage beast."
"Che, brat." Kanda merely shrugged.
The two of them resumed walking.
Story coming to an end in a few chapters, but I guess some of you already have noticed it. Unbeta-ed. Thanks for all the support you give me!