Hey everyone I´m sorry I have been gone this long but there have been some things that happened in my life that I won´t go into detail about but I was lost for a bit

I don´t know how long it will take me to get the next chapter done but I do hope that you can wait until then

You might never realise what you had until it is gone

Chapter 34: Demon Blade

A day after the Tsukuba fleet was discovered, a squadron of three battleships and two aircraft carriers, flagshipped by the H-44 class battleship Dönitz, was traversing rapidly towards the Siberian Sea. The five ships were now glowing with deep dark orange red symbols all over their hulls as they cut through the waves.

Both Sekiro and Riya both knew that something happened to Akeno when they not only had no success of contacting her, thanks to their bond they knew that she was still alive but also no matter what they tried, the portals no longer worked, so they had set sail as soon as they had finished helping with Shirayuri's rescue.

It had taken them a while seeing as something was messing with the location of Akeno making it hard to pinpoint her exact location but now the small fleet was rapidly approaching a old seaside fortress except that it wasn't a fortress but a soviet era labour camp, a Gulag.

In a room deep inside the soviet Prison stood Suigin with Spirit in front of a large screen that was showing a young man sitting in a chair that was facing away from them "Have you had any success in getting the information I wanted?" the man in the chair asked as both Spirit and Suigin raised their heads.

But they weren't the only ones in the room as there standing against a wall was a small rusted cage with someone lying inside of it "Spirit has been doing everything she can to get the information you tasked us with retrieving however the girl chose to have her body and mind broken instead of giving up the information you require Sire" Suigin reported with a downcast look that was apparent on Spirits face as well if it wasn't for her mask.

The person on the screen didn't move or react in any way until he sighed "I had expected as much, but it matters very little at this point seeing as some unwanted guests have arrived for you" the person mumbled sounding almost bored "Kill that girl she is useless now and make sure she doesn't survive" he warned as the screen went black leaving Spirit and Suigin on their own with the unmoving form of Akeno.

Since they first arrived Sekiro and Riya were worried, and this only increased as they sprinted down the hallways of the old soviet Gulag. While searching all the places where Akeno could be, anything standing in their way got destroyed with brute force.

Their bond with Akeno was something even stronger than marriage, as they could feel what the other two were feeling. Right now the only thing that Riya and Sekiro felt from Akeno was a bottomless darkness without any emotions, hence their explicit use of brute force to move around as fast as possible.

The closer they got to Akeno the greater their worries became, since they were closer to each other the more details they could feel in each other's emotions. Aside from the seemingly endless darkness, there was so much pain that both Riya and Sekiro were gritting their teeth in anger as they moved even deeper into the building.

That is until they arrived at what looked like a prison yard that was overlooked by several towers as well as rusted catwalks stretching everywhere but they cared very little about any of that as in the middle of the yard stood two people but they barely interested Riya and Sekiro as their entire focus was on the third person that was hanging above a massive hole suspended by chains around her arms and shoulders.

The only sound in the dead silent prison was water hitting the ground except it wasn't water as Riya took a closer look at the chains only to realize that they were biting into Akeno's flesh causing her to bleed a lot not to mention the various other wounds all over her body "Welcome to our humble abode we would offer you tea if you were guests but you are not so I will just skip the formalities" the young man in the German submarine captain outfit spoke up causing both Riya and Sekiro to glare at him and the girl standing by his side.

Suigin tried his best to be nonchalant about this whole ordeal but the two that arrived a few minutes ago gave off a very bad vibe not as strong as a Seraph but something much more dangerous "Well we were just about to leave just pretend we aren't even here" Suigin added as he started to slowly back away.

But that was the moment Sekiro spoke "You are not going anywhere. After what you did to my beloved, death is too much of a mercy for you" Sekiro seethed in rage that became visible as a black red aura emerged from the ground that slowly started covering his entire body causing both Suigin's and Spirits eyes to go wide in fear at the presence that suffocated the room in an instant.

Riya had no idea what was going on as Sekiro was completely engulfed in the black red aura hiding him from view for a few moments before it burst apart violently pushing Riya, Suigin and Spirit several meters back forcing them to shield their eyes from the harsh wind that blew through the entire room.

A large insectoid being with red slitted eyes now stood where Sekiro had been just a moment ago his clawed hands only underlining his inhuman nature his entire body now a scale hide, a pair of downward facing ram horns now grew from his forehead while on his back rested chiropteran wings with beetle-like wings underneath, he now had hooves for feet, and reptilian spines protruding from his back.

While parts of his body appeared to be made of grey scales with accents of red and purple Sekiro now also had gold veins on his hands and arms, chest, shoulders and back, a red diamond eye shaped gem in the center of his forehead, and skull-shaped gold knees and elbow guards with small horns "You are the one who tortured my love you will pay" Sekiro growled as the dark and red smoke coiled around his right hand that he was holding to his left hip.

The Odachi that he drew forth from the dark red cloud had an old wooden brown sheath with a white and black lotus flower decal on the scabbard which was quite beautiful however Suigin had no idea why but for some reason both he and Spirit had started shaking uncontrollably as Sekiro started drawing the massive blade.

Sekiro kept his gaze on Suigin and Spirit as he pulled the blood red and midnight black blade free from its scabbard that disappeared while a red and black mist like miasma started flowing from the blade "Well if this is how you want it then we will take our leave" Suigin grinned as he pulled a small remote from his pocket.

But as Suigin tried to push the button he suddenly lost all control over his body just as he felt his back impacting against a wall his vision was starting to blur quickly but the only thing that landed on the ground was his submarine coat that was cut into two pieces as a light orange black mist dissolved in the air above.

Riya had barely seen Sekiro move but even then what he did was of little interest to her as the chains that held Akeno started to drop her but before she had any chance to fall into the darkness Sekiro had jumped over the large hole to grab her before he was suddenly standing right above Suigin with his blade low to the ground.

The moment Sekiro's massive blade had made contact with Suigin's body it almost looked as if Sekiro had missed but a moment later Suigin was blasted into a wall his body cut in two but only his clothes remained as his body dissolved into black orange ash "Riya take her back to your ship and see what you can do" Sekiro spoke as he gently placed Akeno into her hands.

While Riya was moving down the hallways back to her ship Sekiro turned towards where Spirit had been moments ago but now only a small trail of blood was on the ground "So she thinks she can get away that easily" Sekiro seethed as he started walking towards a old steel gate that was partly open.

Riya was moving as fast as she could as she could easily feel the blood running over her hands that was seeping from Akeno's open wounds even as Riya used Muramasa´s power to move even faster until she arrived onboard the Dönitz.

Riya brought Akeno to the infirmary right away and got to work but now in better light Riya had to fight back the urge to scream as Akeno's body wasn't just injured but it looked like her entire skin had been infected by some sort of plant with various parts of Akeno's skin looking burnt.

Despite how bad it looked Riya didn't waste any time and started to take a close look but what she found was horrifying making her work even more complicated as she had to cut open large portions of Akeno's skin to remove what looked like thorny plant like vines that had grown under her skin like a parasite.

Riya worked tirelessly to get all of that stuff out of Akeno's body but when she was finally done she noticed that Sekiro was standing in the doorway still in his inhuman form "You did well Riya, Muramasa allow me to take care of the rest" Sekiro spoke with clear anger in his voice but it wasn't directed at Riya.

Sekiro walked up to the surgery table to place one of his clawed hands on top of Akeno's chest but at first it seemed like nothing happened that is until a blood red circle with a Pentagram inside of it appeared right above Akeno who started to glow in the same dark red color.

Riya watched mesmerized as Akeno's body was lifted slightly into the air as it started to rapidly heal until only the usual three scars were visible on her skin and as the light faded Akeno's body landed in Sekiro's open arms "Let us retire for now I have already made sure we are moving away from that place" Sekiro spoke with clear sadness as his body slowly returned to normal as he and Riya walked to their shared room with Sekiro carrying Akeno bridal style.

Sekiro placed Akeno down on the couch so Riya could take off the remains of Akeno's destroyed clothing before Sekiro and Riya went into the bath to wash her body the water cleaning away the dry blood that had covered it in several places "She looks so peaceful" Riya mumbled as she carefully ran her hands through Akeno's wet hair.

Sekiro nodded at that as he held Akeno in his arms so that Riya could wash her hair „Even so we will have only one way to make sure that she truly knows that she is safe now" Sekiro mumbled as Riya finished up with Akeno's hair.

After they dried themselves and changed into some clean clothes Riya took a few loose fitting clothes that would fit Akeno it was a bit awkward to dress Akeno as she was still unconscious but after they were done with that Sekiro and Riya laid down on the large bed with Akeno lying between them.

Riya and Sekiro had just closed their eyes before they found themselves onboard a massive Yamato style battleship built out of dark blue almost purple metal but the ship didn't look that good as it seemed more like a shipwreck with rust and sea plants all over the steel behemoth with several of its steel plates bent or missing completely "This is worse than I thought" a male voice spoke as two figures landed behind Sekiro and Riya.

One of them was Muramasa wearing her white and black robe toga dress, red and white roses going down from the top to the bottom of her hair, and snow white geta sandals that kept her feet from the ground but the second person was someone else.

A tall Caucasian American male with slicked-back white hair and sapphire bluebell eyes stood right behind Sekiro wearing a purple Victorian outfit with a white cravat, a large red jewel resting around his neck, a monocle over his left eye, and white cotton gloves on his hands, black Victorian slacks, and black formal shoes "It has been a while since we last saw each other Sekiro" the man spoke with a soft fond voice.

Sekiro sighed at that "It has been a while Sparda Redgrave but it is good to know that you are still with us" Sekiro smiled a bit as the man called Sparda gave him a small bow „What is this place?" Riya asked as an ice cold shiver went down her back.

But it wasn't Muramasa nor Sparda that answered as the entire ship groaned in protest for a moment as something extremely heavy landed in front of the group "This is the plane that represents the mental state of the person you love" Asuramaru spoke as she slowly got up from her bowed position "As you can see this place is a total mess and that is before we even get inside of the deeper parts of her mind. I won't lie to you the things Akeno, the person you two love has gone through. They would break anyone therefore she asked me to lock away her mind before she went mad" Asuramaru's voice sounded very tense as she looked at Riya and Sekiro.

Asuramaru sighed as she looked towards the darkened horizon "I took over her body while she locked herself away in the deepest part of her mind to protect herself but it was a futile attempt as that bastard had a way to force her back out until she finally broke, the result of which you see before you" Asuramaru waved her hands to the side as a bland silver moon revealed the area around the battleship.

As far as their eyes could see damaged and sinking remains of ships everywhere a few of them were even burning along with the pitch black sea around them and the skies seemed clear but it was covered in dark storm clouds "Where is she Asuramaru?" Riya asked with a glare.

But instead of answering Asuramaru waved her arms around "Just like this fleet she has sunk to the depths of the abyss if you ever wish to save her you will have to work hard not just to save her but to save yourselves as well" Asuramaru added as she took off into the darkened skies.

Riya and Sekiro needed a moment for all of that to truly register in their minds but if what Asuramaru told them was the truth then that would mean "We have a problem you two" Sparda's sudden warning snapping them back to reality "Of course those things have to be here" Muramasa hissed as she drew her blade along with the other three as a large crowd of black humanoid beings moved towards them.

But they were anything but human as their bodies seemed to be made out of liquid tar that was slowly spreading everywhere with their eyes glowing like burning coals "It would seem we have to get rid of these things before we can proceed" Sparda spoke just as the first few black beings came close to them.

None of them hesitated to cut them down in a single strike but there seemed to be no end to those black monsters that is until they finally cut down the last of them the black tar like liquid slowly flowing into the sea around them "This was only the beginning" Muramasa growled as she looked towards the other ships around them.

On every single ship there were more of the black humanoids not as many as on the battleship but enough to give all of them a headache "This doesn't change anything we will wipe them out no matter what" Sekiro growled as he and Riya jumped onboard a destroyer.

Sparda and Muramasa watched them for a moment before moving to another ship to start removing those damned pests from it but the longer they all fought the more they realized what it was that they were destroying as somehow the people that had captured Akeno had directly invaded her mind poisoning it beyond recognition.

The result of that was right before them a mass of ships representing Akeno's broken mind and the black corruption that was trying to deny any attempt of saving what was left "We will save you from this Akeno for better or worse we will stay with you" Riya whispered as she finished up with clearing another ship.

The moment they finished with removing the corruption from a ship that ship started to ever so slowly repair itself until it could move towards the massive battleship that stood as a silent guardian before a slowly rising sun.