Dead or Alive
Tsukiyo Nakano
Approx age: 19
Bounty for having ties with the Demon Lord
Last seen: Axel Town
Bounty: A Million Eris presented by the Capitol.
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You know, at this point, I should've of expected to see this at one point. I disappeared while a trial was in progress and in turn, I sort of reaped what I sowed.
But I just can't help being shocked for some reason…
I started to step back as quietly as possible to make sure I wouldn't get noticed until someone whispered out to me, "Hey Tsukiyo!"
I looked to the right of me where the Elder was as she whispered towards me in a nearby alleyway, motioning me to come to her.
I quickly and quietly came over to her where she was.
"Have you seen those posters?" I asked her, she shook her head and said in a sad tone, "It's a shame that someone like you has to be put in this kind of situation…"
"Come" She said as she walk deeper into the alleyway, "We'll take a shortcut to my office, we must hurry though."
I followed after her into the alleyway where we walked through a small maze of trash and old closed down stores.
After another 5 minutes of walking, I had to ask, "Why are you helping me so much? You and I both know that the capitol is gonna go through each village to check everywhere for me, and since this village is not entirely friendly towards them, they're gonna make it worse for you guys…"
"If you're that concerned about the village, then don't be. I'm doing this of my own volition and would never give someone up just because of a rigged trial and a couple of big wigged people of the capitol." The Elder said as she continued to walk without giving a second thought to what she was saying or doing for me.
"I've got a entrance way in my office that leads to a path to a nearby mountain. I've been using it for decades to hide away my people when the capitol get too aggressive. They haven't found it yet so you should be able to escape there…" She said as we finally made it to the office where a large crowd was waiting in front of the house.
"So fast…" The elder murmured to herself as she started to think for herself
Well it's no surprise that they'd want me gone so fast. I am part demon…
It looked like Meryl was in front of the mob trying to calm things down and make people get away from the house.
The elder soon spoke up from her silence, "Ok slight change of plans. I'm going to distract the mob away from my house, but you gotta sneak in fast and make it to my office. My library holds the hidden passage behind it, just take out the thirteenth book out along with the seventh and it'll open up. If this plan is successful, I thank you for spending some time in this village and hope you can come back when the people are a little bit more accepting..." The Elder said as she turned towards me as she smiled warmly.
"I'll be sure to come back sometime if I can. Just gotta wait out the storm and hope that everything blows over." I replied back as tried to give a warm smile back, it'd probably be best for me to stay away from this village if I don't want to give it more troubles…
"I'm going to go distract them now, sneak in when the opportunity presents itself, good luck Tsukiyo." The Elder said as she started to walk over to the mob.
"Got it." I said as I got ready to sneak my way into the house as the Elder made her way towards the mob and tried to move them away from the doorway with Meryl's help.
In a matter of 5-10 minutes the crowd started to dissipate as they moved away from the doorway.
I waited another 15 minutes before making my move and slowly sneaking my way behind the mob and into the house.
As the crowd moved away from the doorway, I moved closer and closer to the entrance as I moved low and slow.
I was halfway there when the crowd continued to move away and be distracted from the elder, up until a cart made its way up front and soon right next to the Elder that was distracting the mob.
When the cart stopped 4 figures climbed out of the carriage and confronted the Elder. Those 4 figures were the 3 capitol guards that were here when I first got here and a much bigger and beefier guard that wielded a heavy mace/axe combo weapon.
One of the guards spoke up since everything had gone silent, "Hello there Elder, no need to explain why we're here, where's our cut?" He asked as he got up close to the Elder.
"Can you gentlemen please hold on for a minute, I'll promise to get your cut later, I need to deal with this situation first…" The Elder said as she tried to stall for more time, I really needed to get out of the way before I was caught.
I continued to move towards the door slowly as the Elder and Guard continued their conversation, "Really now?" The guard said, "Well that seems a bit tedious, but I don't think waiting a couple of minutes seems that bad..but oh! Considering that we were the ones to put up the posters, I've been meaning to ask...where is that "unique" boy that tried to defy us a couple of weeks ago? I've heard that there's a special reward for him if caught dead or alive."
The Elder stood her ground as she replied to the guard right in front of her, "I'm sorry, but that boy has left this morning, so I'm sorry to say this but you just missed him." She said sternly as she wasn't going to falter towards the guards pressure.
"Where is he heading?" The guard said as his attitude grew worse and bitter.
"I don't know, he never told me or any of us. Maybe you should head to Axel Town, he might be there if you looked hard enough…" The elder replied
"Don't sass us woman! Tell me where he's heading!" the guard said as he roughly grabbed the Elders arm and forcefully tried to get her to tell him.
"Hey, Leave her alone!" "That's our Elder you're grabbing you jackass!" "Elder, please step away and left us handle it!" The crowd that was originally possibly going after me started to corner the 4 guards as shouts and swears were thrown around.
I used this opportunity to quicken my pace and make it to the doorway. Just as I was about to open the door, I soon heard shouts of fear and pain.
When I looked back I saw that the four guards that were initially getting cornered were started to use blunt weapons that they had like lightweight clubs and shields and started to swing towards the crowd wacking anything in sight, whether it be man, women, or child.
People where in the ground and were starting to hold their heads, arms, legs or eyes. It was a massacre in the works.
"HEY, LET GO OF ME, ELDER! HELP!" A shout was heard, when I looked back and saw what was happening, I saw Meryl struggling to break the grip of the 2 guards as they tried to hold her down and tie her up.
"If you're gonna make us go through this much trouble for some chump change and that fucking kid we should at least get some kind of compensation for all the wait shouldn't we guys!?" One of the guards yelled out.
"LET GO OF HER YOU BASTARDS!" The Elder shouted as she tried to shoved them out the way only to get her faced bashed in by a club.
I was beyond pissed from what was happening to the Elder, Meryl, and the other villagers that were beaten by the guards.
"Hey Assholes!" I said as I ran up to the guards and used the Devil Bringer to summon the bigger version of my arm and punch the guards out of the way.
Both of the guards that were holding Meryl down were launched about 5-6 feet in front of me as the other guard and Guard brute faced me and pulled out their weapons, "Well, well, well, If it ain't the demon! Since you're on a 1 million Eris bounty, this is gonna be exciting killing you as I rake in all the cash!"
"Elder! Can you stand?" I said as I pulled out my Red Queen and shielded both the Elder and Meryl.
"I'm...I'm fine. What about Meryl?" She said as she held her right eye in pain as blood started to drip down.
"I don't know if she's hurt, but just get her out of here. Things aren't gonna get pretty in the next 5 minutes…" I said as revved my sword to level 1, something I hadn't done in some time.
By the time the Elder got up and tried to help up Meryl, I was instantly attack by the brute as he tried to swing its axe/mace towards me.
Since it was a very heavy weapon even in the hands of a brute, it was easy enough to dodge, but I had to dodge again and again as the other 3 guards were charging at me shorts swords and shields in hand, swinging it at me as a group.
Each swing after swing they made never gave me much of a chance to retaliate back as each attempt was always blocked by the brutes axe/mace.
By the time an opening was made, I managed to grab one of the guards arm and throw them across the square that we were fighting at.
I was caught off guard as the brute tried to go for a very heavy vertical slash with its axe/mace and split me in too, I managed to dodge it but just barely.
Even though these guys are nowhere near Vergil's level, they're still a pretty tough opponent to fight, especially in a 4 v 1.
The two other lesser guards that were right next to the brute started to circle around me including the one that I threw earlier.
My breath was irregular as they continued to circle around. I steaded my breath and concentrated hard to make myself focus.
Everything I saw from here on out was almost in a slow motion:
The brute tried to do another vertical slash while the guards used their shields to push me towards it and block me off.
I pulled my body slightly towards the right and narrowly avoid the axe towards the left and used my demon arm to punch the gut of the brute with as much force as I could muster and grabbed his mace/axe for myself to use the mace to push back the guards that were trying to block me off.
Each swing that I made with the mace bounced off the shield of each of the guards as they started to get pushed back.
Before I could try and push the guards back, I turned behind me where the brute was and swung the mace towards his stomach push him back and knocking him down in the process.
I threw the mace towards the ground and did a horizontal slash towards the other guards pushing them back further with the help of the exceed function.
It was just a regular sword fight at this point since the guards started to rush towards me and swing their short sword at me all at the same time.
I managed to dodge most of the slashes for the most part while using the Red Queen at times to deflect them if they got too close.
The guards were tiring themselves out as their sword pattern and swing speed was starting to get slower and sloppier.
This was my chance to retaliate hard on them.
I took advantage of their tiredness and started to go with some Close Quarter Combat.
Getting close to them I was able to disarm 2 of the guards and take out their short sword and use my demon arm to grab their shield and launch them across the square against a brick store one by one.
It was just me and the other guard right now, and based off his body structure, it was probably the same one that knocked me in the ground and pinned me with his feet 2 weeks ago.
"You really think you're hot shit, do ya' Kid?" The guard said as he adjusted his stance and got closer to me with his defense higher than normal.
"No, I don't. And if you want, you can always walk away from this fight, no need to get your ass handed to you" I replied back as I revved my Sword to Level 1 again.
The guard tried to get closer to me as we spoke and went for a cheeky sneak attack as he rushed me with his sword in his hand trying to go for an impaling stab as he ran towards me.
I sidestepped him to the right making him miss by a foot and grabbed his head with my demon forcefully grabbing the back of his helmet and slamming it to the ground face first.
I stepped back from what was going in and took a couple of deep breaths as I took in what happened.
I was able to hold my own for the first time by myself…
I couldn't help but smile to myself seeing how proud I was not dying after a fight.
It was at this time that people were starting to come out from where they were hiding and see what happened.
The three guards that were beating them were now on the ground knocked out and tired from a demon who outsmarted and outlasted them.
People started to file out form where they came from and walk up to where I was, the Elder and Meryl came too as the Elder got an eyepatch for her right eye.
I walked up to the Elder and asked her if she was ok, she told me that she won't be able to see out of her right eye for a couple of weeks, it made me frustrated since I wasn't able to do anything quick enough since I was just watching everything unfold.
The Elder put her hand in my shoulder, "Don't beat yourself too much over something as little as this. I've been the elder of this village for more than 500 years, there have been worse situations that happened before..." She said as she gave me a reassuring smile.
"Come with me, I think you can still make it through the passage pass my library." She said as she walked over to her house.
Meryl shyly walked up to me and tugged at my sleeve, "...Thanks…" She murmured as she looked away from embarrassment.
"Hey, it's no problem. I'm just glad the people here are relatively safe…" I replied, I tried to look her in the eye, but she always moved her face away and not look at me face to face.
"Hey watch out!" one of the spectators cried out.
I turned around quickly to see what was happening and saw the guard that I forcefully face planted pull out some throwing knifes.
He threw them towards me with enough force to deal some damage if hit by one.
I just barely managed to block one of them with my demon arm as it got impaled in it, but there was a slight gasp right next to me that sounded surprised.
When I looked towards the side where the other knife landed, I saw that it hit the Elder dead center in her right eye.
She collapsed onto the ground in a slow fashion.
Everyone except for the guard were shocked.
The villagers ran up to the Elder to try and tend to her as me and Meryl stood by them motionless.
Meryl fell onto her knees without sound but with audible choked sobs as she sat there in place.
The guard who threw the knives spoke up from the commotion, "You really...Really shouldn't have gone up against us. This is just the many, many possibilities that can happen if you don't comply with us." He said in a gruff voice as a chunk of metal fell off his helmet exposing his face.
"Now I'll ask this once and once only! When we come back here from getting our bounty, what will you present--!" He stopped talking as a loud bang was heard.
I wasn't entirely sure what came over me at that moment, rage, hate, frustration, sorrow or just plain killing intent. What I do know is that I did kill someone.
As the loud gunshot echoed within the forest, it brought everyone's attention to me as my Devil Trigger went off and showed itself in full glory.
The guards and brute that were knocked out shot up from the startling sound and saw what happened, "C-Captain! What did you do to him you bastard! He had a wife and kid!" One of them shouted as they ran up to his lifeless body.
"Call in backup! We need a squad to take this one o--!" Another one tried to say, but was also silenced by another gunshot.
At this moment my instincts took over, if backup was called there'd be more of them and this situation will get even worse!
The guard that was next to the captains body was now infront of him as he drew his sword and shield. The Brute behind him was chanting something with runes appearing on the ground on front of him.
I revved my sword up to level 3 and started to run towards the guard who was shaking in fear as he saw me on DT form.
"You bastard! I knew you were a monster on the inside!" He said as he tried to go for a couple of weak slashes at me to keep me at bay, but I dodged all of them easily and split the man in two with a horizontal slash.
The brute was next as I rushed towards him. Compared to the other guards who weren't ready and tried to fend me off but failed, the Brute was ready with his mace ready to strike the moment I got close to him.
I slowly walked up to him with my sword in hand as he watched me, but before he even knew it I leaped high into the air and made a heavy downwards slash with the exceed function still intact which broke the mace grip in to.
Before the Brute could recover and take in what just happened, I took my sword and did continuous downward slashes towards his left shoulder to bring him down until I cut through his armour and mutilate his body.
It seems that whatever the Brute was chanting was finished as a small fireball shot up in the air and exploded in a bright flash, I guess it could be considered a flare of this time.
I didn't want to admit it at the time, but killing the men that killed the Elder...just felt so...refreshing…
As I vented out almost all of my anger at those men who were just assholes at the time taking what others needed, killing them made me feel as if this kind was justifiable….right?
By the time the adrenaline in my blood and Devil trigger started to go away, my feeling of enjoyment from killing the guards was replaced by immense fatigue, fear, and emotional distress.
I couldn't tell what was going on in my mind anymore, whether I was in shock from killing 4 guards from the capitol, being refreshed from being released of my anger or just empty inside...I guess I was just a mess at that time...
A couple of the villagers started to murmur to themselves, something about the Capitol reinforcements…
I guess was too late in...killing...the brute...He's already sent a request for reinforcements so I might actually die for real this time.
There's a couple of choices that I choose right now, turn myself in for execution and save whatever good karma I have left, fight 'til I die, or just run away and become an outlaw…
Best case scenario for me would be just live my life as an outlaw.
With news coming out saying that I'm a murderer will definitely make "ties" with the Demon Lord a lot more believable, so much for being optimistic in wanting a better life.
I guess living life as a demon won't change the fact of how people will see me now…
At this point, being mad at the fact of getting screwed over by my party is miles and miles behind of what's going on right now.
I snapped myself out of my mood for a second to come back to reality as I remembered the Elder.
Now that she's dead, it's all up to Meryl to guide them…
I look back and saw them stare back, but instead of hatred and resentment they showed me before the incident it was panic and fear, like if I moved one inch from where I stood at they'd be trampling over themselves just to get away from me.
I guess I can't blame them for what they feel, I'd do the same thing I'd seen 4 guards from the capitol get killed easily from unknown weapons and demon powers.
If only I could revive the Elder and help me convince them of who I am and what I'm not, but sadly that's too late, I can't revive people like Aqua can--
It then hit me, we can still save her!
I ran up to Meryl who was still on the ground motionless and sobbing, "Meryl!" I said as I tried to make her come to her senses, "Meryl listen to me, I know a person who can revive the Elder, she can still be revived!" I said trying to make her understand.
She slowly turned her head towards me as her eyes widened and started to listen, "Tell me, tell me who can revive the Elder, Please! We can't live without her!" She said as she desperately clinged onto my arm.
I then told her about Aqua, about a person in my party who could revive even the dead if she wanted to, despite breaking the rules.
"You guys need to head to Axel Town. There's a mansion in the northwest edge where my party lives at, go take the secret tunnel or path behind the bookcase inside the Elders study to get there, pull out books 7 and 13. Please hurry, tell them that I sent you and to revive the Elder!" I said as I was sporadically giving instructions.
Meryl nodded as she wiped her tears away and told the plan to the villagers.
Of course coming from me, the Villagers didn't want to believe in what I told them but because everyone is in a dire situation, they had no choice but to head there.
Before Meryl left with everyone who was waiting outside the Elders house, I told her to evacuate everyone who lived here to make sure not to get caught in the crossfire of what was about to happen.
Not wanting to waste and time and know what was about to happen, Meryl listened and told some of the other villagers the same thing, and a group of 10 of them split up within the village to gather everyone and leave before things got bad.
Within a half an hour, everyone was gathered up inside or outside the Elders house to escape the bloodshed of what's about to happen.
Before Meryl would leave completely and guide the villagers to Axel, I gave Meryl one last message to tell my party or mainly one person, "Make sure to tell someone named 'Darkness' I'm sorry…" She gave a glance of sadness before accepting my request and leaving.
There were some familiar faces in the crowd and some that didn't bother looking at me standing at the side, but they all had the same mindset of looking at me as a killer, and there was no changing that.
Everyone left within 20 minutes and soon...I was all alone…
I stood in the square and waited for the inevitable for what seemed to be hours, just emotionless and blank…
Movement was soon heard within the forest as guys in similar armour from the guards before started to appear in front of me.
I tried to ready my sword and fight them, but for some reason my sword just felt unnaturally heavy. I couldn't lift or swing it with an ounce of force, it was just so heavy to the point where my hands shook just trying to hold it up...and I've never felt this weak, emotionally, in my life...
One of the tallest guards came up to me and observed my posture for a while, he soon asked me, "Are you gonna fight us? Kill us like the ones before?" His voice was deep, raspy, and monotone, as if he's already seen and done enough.
I just shrugged my shoulders and stood there with my hands shaking not wanting to do anything but give up, "I don't know…"
The guard in front of me didn't have his sword and shield up, he didn't have his guard up, he didn't even try to fight me. In a sense, it was like he wanted to sympathise with me.
He just turned away from me and pointed at the iron carriage the other brought, "Just get in, we'll make sure your death is off the record and quick. Just make sure not to do this stuff in the next life, yeah?" He said as he guided me to the cage.
As much as I wanted to fight back and not listen to the guy, my body just wouldn't listen to me and did exactly what I was told by the guard.
No matter how hard I tried to move away, it was all wasted effort as I continued to get to the cage without any resistance...
I hopped in the cage without much trouble and started to head towards the capitol to get killed without the masses knowing…
It's really gonna end this way isn't it? All my efforts just to get stronger and live a better life all down the drain since I killed 4 guys…
...I really blew my second chance...
It felt like forever getting towards the capitol.
All I did in that cage was just nothing but sitting at the same spot, not contemplating what to do next, not thinking about how to apologise to those I've wronged, not even thinking about my last words, I just...sat there…
Soon the carriage made a abrupt halt. I didn't bother looking at what stopped us, and just kept to myself.
"Hey little boy, are you alright?" One of the guards asked as he hopped off the carriage and walked to what seemed like a little boy.
"Are you lost or something? You really shouldn't be out in a place like...wait..what's with your--" A loud explosion was heard as the guard blew up where he stood.
The explosion snapped me out of my trance and forced me to look around, what I saw was a small chibi-like figure of a man in a suit and black and white mask slowly coming towards us, and it wasn't alone.
We were getting swarmed by them from all sides.
"W-were surrounded! Damn it, is this your fault you brat!?" One of the guards yelled at me as they tried to fight back the literal jihad bombers
"I have no clue about these things, don't look at me!" I shouted back
The little chibi figures started to latch onto the guards as they glowed a bit before exploding.
One by one, guards were exploding and the chibi figures started to come after me in the cage after being the last one left alive.
One of the worst mistakes that I made at that time was shooting them because when I did, it immediately exploded causing a chain reaction of explosions outside my cage blowing up the entire carriage and sending it to multiple places.
As for me, the cage exploded in the process leaving me near death from being near multiple bombs and getting caught into it. I was sent flying into the forest 20 feet away from the main road where all the explosions happened.
I passed out from all that happened in a small pool of blood not knowing what had happened and why, but left in more pain and questions...
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(And that Ladies and Gentlemen, is the finale of the Off Grid chapters. Sorry for posting this very late at night, I will be starting back up in the light novel with the transition that I set up. Sadly, I can't post 36 yet because it's only one quarter done, why it's a quarter done is because Behemoth finally came out in Monster Hunter World for PC and..uh...he's a really big son a bitch to deal with, sadly me and my friends don't have a party of 4 yet to deal with him properly...
...Also, there is one user I'd like to call out, but in a good way, not the bad way...
Lil'Manuel.G, I want to know what you think, since what you said in the beginning-ish of the Off-Grid chapters got me interested on what your opinion of the story is after getting a serious attempt of an off the chart story/series. I'm interested in your opinions along with the others that read this.
Aside from that, I'll respond to the questions and reviews people left me last week.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy late Chinese New year, happy whatever the fuck you celebrate during next week or last week I'm really tired right now...
Questions from Reviewers:
Gen2324
-Will there be any enemies that are based on Devil May Cry like its mini boss' and Bosses?
Yes there will. I'm not done adding DMC (both Demons, bosses, weapons, and OC) into Konosuba, I'm just getting started...
(Guest) Perry
-Is there like a chance where Tsukiyo can do whatever he can to not get people's ire of demons placed on him? Or is that forever going to stay?
That's forever gonna stay sadly, it won't be shown as much in Axel town since the town sort of owes him and his party after they saved the town (and they owe about 40 mil.), but literally everywhere else will be like that because people hate demons with or without context.
(Guest) Yov
-How strong are Tsukiyo strikes with or without DT? And how much can he lift with or without DT? And how fast is his travel speed?
From a Scale of 1 (babyshit weak) to 100 (Kirito because of plot), I say that without DT his damage is currently at 65-75. Now this doesn't mean literally at 65-75 dmg, but it's just for reference because in DMC4, the Red Queen is able to hurt armoured demons all the same as regular demons.
With DT, because it acts like a strength boost with regenerative abilities, it bumps it up to 85-90. Because the Red queen has the Exceed function, when its in use its best to assume that the damaged is bumped up by 3 for Rev 1, 4 for Rev 2, and 5 for Rev 3.
He can lift up to 110 lbs with his Demon arm (as of right now) and a solid 160 with both, DT if used to lift things, could possibly bump up his 160 limit to 240.
I have no clue for travel speed since I'm not as informative in DnD mechanics aside from basic stats and abilities. I'll just say that his travel speed is based off his stamina, because he had many jobs before dying, he has pretty good stamina reservation and usage.
If there is anything else you need to know, refer back to chapter 34 where his latest skills are posted or ask me more questions.
Review from DxHologram on 12/16: I think the action is what kept SAO interesting, but even that had its limits. It was done ok in the anime, never read the manga or LN, but felt good in the Movie since it deflated his abilities since it relied more on actual physical strength. and seeing Kirito flop on the ground without his Jesus-kun powers made it feel so much better, sadly they botched the ending so, so, so badly with over the top super fast paced boss fight with fanserviced (the non sexual kind) character designs calling back to the previous seasons as if that movie was the last SAO movie/anime, oh how I could wish...Save yourself 5 minutes and don't look it up, it sucks.
Review from Gen2324 on 12/16: The trailer for V really does look good and I really want to play as him, the only thing I'm troubled by is the fact that, in the latest trailer, V was about to stab Dante with the Sparada. I know that Dante getting stabbed in essentially a tradition in DMC games, but this looked a little bit personal in V's perspective, especially when he said, "If only you never existed…" Yikes...Also, I cannot for the life of me, take V seriously when he does his white hair snap trick, he just looks so damn sassy, it cracks me up! I don't have much to say on RWBY other than, I'll just enjoy what's been animated, and if it disappoints me...then so be it.
Review from Guest Account Saru on 12/16: Although Tsukiyo can fight on his own in the front lines, he's not Vergil. He will still have screw ups and have things he can't do on his own, he can't heal himself unless he carries potions, he can't take hits well since he has no armour, he on has DT, the Blue Rose, Red Queen and the Devil Bringer in his disposal and can only deal with 2-4 enemies on his own. He can hold his own, but he's definitely no One Man Army (Btw, fuck that perk back in MW2, fucking ACR/noobtube bullshit…) Holy Magic only works when he's in DT form, but other than that, he's just a normal human with a demon arm and high defense. I'm not sure if you've read the LN, but Kazuma can definitely be useful and really, really efficient if he wanted to, but sadly can't because of his party. He is a perverted Hikineet, but he's a damn good thief and slight brawler. At this point a fucking toad could be better than Aqua…