"It is fateful and ironic how the lie we need in order to live dooms us to a life that is never really ours."

― The Denial of Death

Gyūki are yōkai that are said to be hunters. They attack and devour their prey with extreme brutality. Their brutal nature is reflected on their bull-like head while their spider-like body, in contrast, reflected their predatory tendencies. Throughout ancient texts they have been said to attack their prey along beachlines.

The texts were outright lying.

Koneko Tōjō was in the middle of Ikebukuro's commercial district and was currently looking at the monstrosity aiming to kill her and her companions. The bystanders who saw the monsters were clamoring away, screaming. But Koneko had more immediate things to worry about.

She took a glance at Kashima, a self-proclaimed devil and associate of her summoner. He looked about the same age as a high schooler and while he was very aloof, and coming from her it's something, he was far from being a bad individual. She found him slowly sliding down one of the Gyūki's claws he was being impaled under. Blood was dripping along the monster's claw.

She and the monster both knew how much of it had already exited his body.

"Just enjoy seeing your friends getting slaughtered in peace." It said to Kashima, the boy was unresponsive. "You value lives, don't you little devil? Well, you already lost this one."

Kashima's body flailed as the monster taunted her with its raised claw.

Koneko was a yōkai herself, but is nowhere near as vile as this monstrosity. Doing anything drastic in such a situation was foolish, and the monster knew it. Taunting her with Kashima was making her grit her teeth.

"The demon Gyūki, of the wilder race." Koneko heard her summoner say.

'Demon?' Was it because he was a newbie? No, her summoner definitely knew more than he was letting on if his attempt at a deal with her just a moment ago was any indication.

"Senpai, is Kashima-" Asia froze, she saw his fate. As much as how Koneko wanted to console her, she was not in the position to-

The yōkai suddenly lunged at her! Koneko steeled herself and took the attack head on. The full brunt of the attack was something a Rook like her could handle, but as the yōkai lunged it used all its legs to propel itself. Including the one where Kashima was still lodged. Kashima's blood splattered as the Gyūki impacted Koneko. What's worse she could see the taunting grin of the monster, perfectly seeing through her anger for not being able to save him.

Koneko headbutted the Gyūki and slammed her weight into the creature sending it back. But not before it stole a swipe with one of its spider claws at her. Koneko managed to take a measured step back but it nicked one of the buttons of her blazer.

"Rook, gyūkis are fairly weak." Koneko heard Hikawa from inside the café. "It has a tendency to counter your attacks. Keep on the defensive."

"You sound like you have a plan." Koneko said, not looking back at them. The Gyūki was already slowly getting back up, but it was a good dozen meters away from them.

She could hear Hikawa stepping outside the café. She had not seen him fight before, but from the way he was calm about the whole ordeal meant he wasn't a greenhorn.

"I desummoned Bishop along with my laptop." Hikawa was holding his prayer beads. "If that was what the Gyūki tried to take, your hub is the safest place for it."

"Is that so?" They heard a voice from above them.

Two other Gyūki were present. One jumped down and crushed four of the stopped cars on the road. The newcomer was bigger than the one Koneko pushed away. The second was digging its legs on the side of the building, menacingly walking down towards them

"Then that blonde devil is running back to your king?" The one on the side of the building hummed. "Does your King have any sympathy for your sacrifice, little one?"

"More than any of you monsters could ever have," Koneko snapped back.

"Good." What?

The one on the building laughed. "I said it's good that they do care. It means they will be coming with reinforcements, if not try and fight themselves."

"It's good to see whose peerage knows about that little network trick we have been using." The one on the road added. "Easier for us to-"

The one Koneko headbutted struck the one on the road's face. The struck Gyūki became silent, giving a glare at the smaller one. But it did say 'their network.' These three had something to do with what Hikawa found out.

Not a fraction of a second after the two Gyūki's quarrel a pillar of ice erupted from the ground and launched the bull-spider across the street. The smaller one snarled at the and dodged the second pillar. Koneko eyed the third one on the building.

It jumped down, curling into a ball right on top of them!

Koneko grabbed Hikawa and dashed aside. The man was gripping his prayer beads. Hikawa waved his arm right at the Gyūki that fell, spikes of ice erupted from the ground. The yōkai proved its swiftness, however, extending its legs keeping its body from being skewered. It leapt back, landing beside the smaller one on the middle of the road.

"I did not expect them to be this agile." Hikawa huffed. "Or am I somehow weaker than I remember?"

"Those Ice attacks-"

"They are mine. I know my way out of a battle." Hikawa answered, his breathing was getting steadier. "But we will be outnumbered as soon as the third one gets back."

Koneko was sure these three were stalling. The one who was flung away admitted it, they wanted to see the identity of her king. Worse, she can't even remotely guess who these yōkai were working for.

Time wasn't on her side.

"Look, fusing stronger demons are all well and good. But you've been inside this dodgy cathedral for, what, ten cycles now?"

"…"

"Pixie and I had to go beat up that buzzing old fart again just to keep him in line. That oversized fly won't do anything 'unless he has commanded me'. The other demons out there are on edge. I know you're making some dream-team but…"

"…"

"Why do you take everything so seriously, kid?"

"…"

"You oughta take a good break every now and then. Why don't I bring you to Nyx's joint? She's got a soft spot for you, you know."

"…"

"Tell you what, First rounds on me!"

"…"

"No dice, huh. Guess that was too much…"

"Why do you take everything in stride…?"

"What-"

"This world is the literal corpse of the one I was living on just… I can't tell how many weeks or months ago now. Ever since getting trapped in that hellhole those Moirae triplets made, time hasn't been the same. They twisted it somehow. The cathedral of shadows' minister said we've been gone for more than a couple dozen cycles."

"Look…"

"Hikawa and the others have been gathering power for that long. We've fallen behind for that long, damn it!"

"Kid-"

"I don't even know what'll happen if I go to that tower. I don't know if I have the power to take on those 'demonic sponsors' they've summoned with the way I currently am."

"…"

"In this world, power is everything."

"…"

"If I don't have that, I can't get anywhere let alone change anything! I won't even be able to save myself."

"…"

"I need more power, Dante. I want to see my old world again."

Naoki dreamed.

This time it was right before he headed inside the Tower of Kagutsuchi. In the end, he was right. Power was what allowed him to restore the world. It was power that allowed him to defeat his obstacles. It was power that allowed him to get out of that hospital in the first place. Now he was in the new world, a world where 'the powerful' could mean many things. The same world before the conception. He had spent his day, before meeting with Hikawa, as a normal teen and he found the new world flawed, but beautiful. It wasn't a world he wanted to trade with any of the other candidates' reasons.

But he had changed.

He couldn't find such a place for himself in this beautiful world. He was a being born through his death, molded by a world who rewards not the weak but the ones who value might alone. Was this the reason for him longing for the Amala again?

"…April…" They could hear a soft mumble and a cough.

Koneko heard Kashima's faint voice. Was he still alive? Asia could still heal him if Hikawa can resummon her. But she couldn't afford to be reckless! Was she going to let him bleed to death then? Her thoughts were distracted as she saw the smaller Gyūki raise its claw closer.

Kashima was surprisingly still impaled through it.

"What did you say, human?" It shook Kashima.

Koneko would proceed to see one of the most insane sequence of events of her life.

Kashima grasped the tip of the Gyūki's claw that went though his body and slammed his own leg below hard enough to break it. The monster howled in pain, crashing its body to one side as the teen pivoted with the Gyūki's body and backpedaled with one of its legs still attached to him. The force of his push ripped the monster's leg clean off its body! The monsters howl morphed into a gargled scream as it was thrown across the street straight through the café's wall. It was now right beside where Koneko and Hikawa were standing.

The larger Gyūki didn't waste his time in stabbing Kashima. Two of its claws went straight for the teen before he could land on the ground. One of the claws went straight through his belly in parallel with the still lodged leg of the smaller yōkai. Not a fragment of a second after being lodged by the claw Kashima retaliated with a downward punch to the larger Gyūki's face. The monster, dazed by the punch, reeled a step back. The second claw flailed, trying to hit Kashima, but he simply cocked his head aside and caught it with his arm over his shoulders.

Kashima was strong. The larger yōkai was desperately trying to pull its limbs away from the boy but the sheer grip of his arm over his shoulder and around the monster's leg was enough for him to pull the monster like a cart from behind. The Gyūki could only dig its claws at the road to prevent it being dragged across the street. Kashima, looking annoyed at the larger Gyūki's attempt at struggling, twisted his body breaking the monster's legs in the process. The monster screamed and Kashima used the leg he was holding over his shoulder impaling the Gyūki before it could react. He lodged its leg from the roof of its mouth as the yōkai screamed, digging it straight up its head. The monster's scream went silent as it went limp when the claw finally dug out of its skull on the other side. The yōkai's lifeforce oozed out of its body and gravitated into Kashima, his body absorbing it like a sponge.

Before Koneko could wonder about the odd sight, she heard the smaller Gyūki shuffle. She knew Kashima noticed, he was walking towards them.

The boy Koneko thought was dead just a minute ago had two spider-like limbs still impaled in his body, one from the smaller Gyūki and the other from the yōkai he just killed. The one he just killed was being dragged along like luggage as he slowly walked. He slammed his foot on the open wound of the smaller Gyūki when he was close enough, earning another howl from the creature.

"I said I heard someone say some time ago," Kashima answered the monster's earlier question. "That April is the cruelest month."

Kashima continued talking and, with his free hand, slowly pulled the entire length of the monster's own broken leg that was still impaling him. "They said it was because it is the time one awakens from a long sleep and faces the barren world."

Koneko felt nauseated at how casual Kashima removed the limb off of him. The teen stabbed the Gyūki with its own ripped leg. The monster cursed without delay as Kashima slowly twisted the leg deeper.

"I think it's fitting it's still April." Kashima leaned closer at the monster. "Because I'll open your eyes to this world. This barren world where you should know the difference in power between us."

Koneko noticed Kashima's eyes were in an empty daze.

"You're no human-" The Gyūki tried to scamper away, but Kashima's foot was holding it down. "A-are you?"

"You don't think so?" Kashima leaned over its head and grabbed one of its horns. "That makes two of us."

"H-hey, what the hell are you-"

Kashima pulled it hard and broke the monster's horn! At this point, the Gyūki was still hurt from its leg and now with the broken horn it sounded like it was about to collapse from the pain. But it looked like Kashima was planning to give him a quick death. He flipped the newly detached horn on one end like a stake. Even the monster's attempt at seeking some form of mercy did not reach his empty gaze.

"Stop." Koneko managed to say.

Kashima got her full attention, something she wish she hadn't done. He looked straight at her, a far cry from his earlier behavior. His face was still unreadable, but his eyes suggested he wasn't with them. She looked at Hikawa, who was silent the entire time, and found him looking uneasy. He was raising his prayer beads towards him. It looked like Koneko was on her own in bringing Kashima back to normal.

"We need to interrogate it." She said slowly and softly. From the way the teen interacted with her before the attack, she wanted to believe she could get through to him. "Kashima…"

Koneko saw him blink and she found his empty eyes having its shine again. Kashima looked at the pinned Gyūki, then back at her. He exhaled slowly and his shoulders relaxed. This made Koneko relax as well. Whatever happened to him was over, he was back with them.

"Right." He relented. The Gyūki didn't look like it was planning on escaping anyhow, with the display Koneko just witnessed. "Be careful with it, Rook."

Koneko nodded.

"Kashima-san!?" They heard a familiar voice.

The three of them turned and saw Asia along with their peerage. Koneko was glad she was unharmed, even more so looking at her beaming as she saw Kashima wasn't dead. The unbridled innocence of the girl was something she couldn't help but admire. But her thoughts were distracted from seeing Kashima.

His face looked like the same unreadable one he had back in the café. But his bloodied appearance wasn't doing him any favors. There were two holes in his chest, one was so big Koneko could see past it and the other still had the dead Gyūki's claw lodged on his back straight through his belly. Even as Kashima was slowly walking towards Asia the large dead Gyūki was being dragged along with him.

Koneko sighed at the sight. 'What have we gotten ourselves into?'

Message:

I hadn't thought of Demi-Fiend joining a peerage. I honestly said 'why didn't I think of that?' to myself when two reviews mentioned the possibility. You guys might be better than me at this. Haha.

With the plot I had in mind though, it would hinder with his character arc if I did it.