Chapter 5

Onikoku Unleashed

After several hours of riding, the sun began to set and the moon began to rise. Kazuma stood by a lake, staring at the horizon. "I believe what I am looking for, lies beyond the sun. Maybe my destiny awaits me there," he sighed, softly, as he stroked the white horse.

He searches around for firewood and placed them in a pit surrounded by rocks. He clapped his hands together and quickly made several hand-signs. He then snapped his fingers, causing fire to erupt from the wood. He sat down and watched the dew glisten in the moonlight. His gaze lifted to the round moon. He suddenly jolted, a thought of realization coming to him, "This is the second full-moon this week. Something strange is amiss. Hmm, and why does the moon have a red aura about it?" he thought aloud. The moon instantaneously was engulfed in the red aura, shifting its color to a shade of freshly drawn, dark red, blood. Kazuma clenched the sharp pain that arose from his chest, where his heart lay, and stared in wonderment at the moon. "W-what is this feeling? Its… its as if the moon is calling me… to itself," he cried in astonishment. Kazuma clenched his ears in agony, falling to his knees. He screamed in pain at the ear-piercing sound echoing from the moon. He shrieked in a tortured way, trembling, his eyes widened in horror. "No! This can't be happening! Not now, not ever! The moon… it's calling me, but I must resist! I… I can't control it! Aaaaaahhhh!" he cried deafeningly, shaking frantically. He thrashed about as if he were struggling to escape the grasp of a monstrous beast. Suddenly, he fell, unconscious, to the ground. A black mist began to rise from where he lay. The mist turned into a cloud, consuming Kazuma's body. The cloud arose, dissipating to reveal a black creature within.

The creature's eyes glowed the color of the moon, its body engulfed in flames of darkness and in shadow. The being lifted its claws to eye-level, its mouth slipped into an eerie smirk. The claws had lengthened, becoming as sharp as a sword. It stood, becoming an enormous beast. No longer did Kazuma have the form of a mortal, but now had the form of a full-blooded demon. He had become full-demon, with its tremendous power to be unleashed at will. The demon no longer resembled the former Kazuma, but now revealed the true nature of his demonic blood. Now, his power knew no bounds. This was the form of the powerful demon, Onikoku, the name foretold at birth. This form was uncontrollable, as well as unstoppable. Nothing could stand in its way. Its power and might being great but uncontrollable, had made Kazuma withhold it inside himself. He had known that even he would not be able to stop it from devastating everything in its path. This was Kazuma's full-demon form let loose. Onikoku raised his arms, crossed, above his head, and suddenly threw them down, launching him skyward. Wings exploded from his back, as Onikoku rose higher in the heavens. When he stopped, he clapped his hands, and set them behind him, his body in a crouching form. He threw his arms forward, a enormous beam of energy erupting from them. The beam crashed into the forest, decimating it, leaving a crater behind.

Onikoku laughed insanely as he launched powerful balls of dark energy into the earth below him. The balls exploded with an inferno of fiery destruction, ripping the earth apart. He suddenly rocketed forward until he came upon a gigantic city bustling with night activity. Onikoku grinned evilly as he heard the screams of fright form the townspeople as one by one, they saw him. He raised his hands above him, a colossal ball of powerful, black energy forming above him. He threw his hands down, the ball plummeting towards the city below. He watched in delight as the city burst into oblivion as the energy crashed into it. When the smoke cleared, nothing was left but the remnants of scattered building debris. Kaizumai grinned in amazement at how he annihilated an entire city with little work. He darted across the night sky with extreme agility. He flew quickly, searching for something to unleash his tremendous power upon. Suddenly, a bright light erupted from his chest, stopping him in mid-flight. He grasped at it, screaming in agony, as the light burned his hands. "What is this… this light! It burns me, yet comes from within me. How is this so!" he yelled in wild bewilderment.

He fell from the sky, struggling to stop the light from tearing him apart from within. As he hurtled towards the earth, he struggled to find where and why the light shone, torturing him immensely. Suddenly, he realized that he still adorned the amulets of the two nations. He realized that the amulets were tormenting him, for they were worn by good and now were adorned by evil. The necklaces acted against his wicked, brutal, and cruel demonic nature. He crashed into the ground, the land exploding from the impact. As the debris settled, the moon suddenly began to attain its original color. When the clods of dust had settled down, it revealed the body of a man, his clothes torn and tattered, as if from a mighty conflict or battle. The man's body lay bleeding and bruised. The body belonged to Kazuma. He lay unconscious in a crater made by his crash into the ground. His body had returned to its human form. His leathery, black wings were all that remained. They were sprawled about him, one broken, the other awfully bruised. Many of his bones were broken as well, and yet he lay there unconscious, not knowing the pain to come when he woke. His blood trickled down his body, forming a pool around him. He knew not what pain he was to find as he woke. His suffering was to be physical… and emotional.