[Forest of Magic]

Courier Six POV

*RIIP*

"FUCK!" I could feel the blood flowing down my arm. I quickly turned and shot the culprit before continuing my panicked sprint.

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshit!" I could sense them gaining on me. There had to have been at least a hundred when they first confronted me. I killed a few, but there's still about eighty left, and that's not a fight I can win alone.

I saw one jump out of a tree to me right. Luckily, I shot his head before he could get close enough to strike. I jumped over his body after it landed and picked up the pace.

*WHIIW*

An arrow whizzed past my head. "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!" I turned and yelled to my pursuers.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Seems like the mines I dropped were working. I had no idea how many they hit, but it still helps.

While running, I tossed a grenade over to the base of a tall tree. After it exploded, the tree fell and blocked the path. It wouldn't hold them long, but it gave me a little time to think.

That didn't last long, unfortunately. Right when I thought I was ok, a large group of them jumped out from the tree line and blocked my path. Not long after, the rest caught up behind me.

"Got you now, you piece of shit!" They surrounded me, leaving absolutely no openings. I could tell they were tired, but they still had numbers.

"Ah fuck, can we talk this out, guys? Like civilized people?"

"You lost that chance the moment you murdered Burim!" That must have been the name of the big guy who almost snapped my robo-spine.

"Yeah! You can already see this is hopeless! If you give up now, we might just make your death quick!" A buff youkai spoke up, though I couldn't tell what exactly he was. However, he was humanoid still.

One by one, they all got into stances, preparing to attack.

"Oh fuck, Six. How are you gonna get out of this one?" I put away my gun and got into a stance as well, since they were too close to shoot.

"GET THAT PIECE OF TRASH!"

"Here they come..."

20 Minutes Ago

I only began my jog back to the Human Village around 5 minutes ago, but it was already dark. I was lucky to have night vision on my helmet, otherwise I would have had to slow my pace.

Oddly, I had the feeling I was being watched. But the feeling vanished as soon as it appeared, so I ignored it.

That was the wrong move though, because not long after, about 20 blips showed up on my Pip-Boy. They were red, so that meant they're hostile.

I slowed down until I stopped completely. I heard rustling around me before a plethora of what seemed to be youkai showed themselves.

It was no longer just the wolf ones. There were many other types I hadn't seen before, with some of them not even being humanoid.

"So, I'm assuming you're here because of that little encounter I had earlier today?" I scanned between them. There were a lot of stronger-looking guys among them, not just skinny young people looking to pick a fight.

"Shut up, murderer!" A woman yelled at me with hate in her voice.

"I said this to them, and I'll say it again. I was acting in self-defense." I held out my arms to my sides.

"And!? You killed them!"

Oh, for fuck's sake, I'm not doing this again. "Alright, I'm not even gonna try. We're fighting, right?"

Suddenly, a large number of blips showed up on my Pip-Boy again. I could sense them around me. There was a lot. I could see their eyes glowing in between the trees.

"Hey, wait now, this isn't fair!" I backed up, but I was surrounded.

"We aren't here to have a fair fight, outsider." A burly one with grey skin and visible teeth spoke. He looked kinda like a Nightkin

"We're here to kill you." He began walking forward.

"Oh shit." I began looking for a way out, until I saw it.

He left a gap in their circle.

I quickly ran forward and pushed him out of the way before crashing through their line. After that, all hell broke loose.

I could hear a cacophony of shouts and yells build up behind me, as well as a fuck-ton of footsteps.

"GET AFTER HIM!"

"HAHAHA! RUN, COWARD!"

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY AGAIN!"

I broke into the second-fastest sprint of my life, only being topped by the one I made to The Strip after I was finally free from obstruction to it.

"Oh, Six, you stupid bastard..." This was going to be a long night.

Present

"RRRAAAAGH!" I roared as I grabbed a man and ripped him in half.

I had already killed about forty of them, but that didn't come without any cost. I was absolutely covered in cuts, scratches, and bruises. They didn't even give me any chances to use a stimpak.

After dropping the two halves of the dead youkai, I pulled the Blade of the East out of storage and began wildly swinging at my enemies.

I cleaved what seemed to be a half-snake in two, and spun around to get the others away from me.

I slammed the sword into the ground to send myself airborne, and then used that momentum to smash the ground and send a group of youkai flying.

I cut down a few more youkai before putting the sword away, as it was taking a toll on my arms.

I brought two 10mm SMGs out of storage and spun 360 degrees a few times, sending bullets flying all around me until they ran out of ammo. I couldn't tell exactly how many, but I had noticed a few extra bodies littering the floor.

After putting them back in storage, another youkai charged at me directly. When he got close, I dodged his attempt at an attack and grabbed both sides of his head. I reared my head back and began delivering powerful headbutts directly to the center of his face. I kept this up until he became unrecognizable, and then dropped him on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"RAAAAH!" I heard a roar behind me. I turned around, but it was too late. A powerful punch landed on my stomach and sent me flying. I skidded against the ground for a few feet before halting.

"Cough Fucking... Cheap shot..." It hurt to speak.

I could see the remaining twenty or so youkai approaching me.

"Hahaha... We got him!" One shouted in victory.

The burly grey-skinned man from earlier now stood over me. "Looks like you ran out of luck, pal. Truth is, you had no chance from the start."

I slowly reached to my Pip-Boy and accessed the storage function. "Oh... Cough Really now?"

"Yeah, really. Say your final words now, before I cave your skull in."

"Hehehe... You damned fools..." I reached into my duster.

"Wait, what are yo-" He yelled in shock.

I then yanked a Mini-Nuke out of my duster. "Ecce! HAHA!"

Before any of them could react, I slammed the activation button and heard a familiar ticking.

"I-I-It's a bomb! RUN!" A younger woman screamed.

"You crazy piece of shi-!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

[Above the Forest of Magic]

Marisa Kirisame POV

Just a few minutes ago, a massive explosion rattled the forest. I had thought that someone was fighting, and I wanted to check it out, but it seems things might be different.

While I was looking around, I noticed a fallen tree along a path through the forest. I then noticed something else.

Footprints.

A lot of them.

The longer I followed the path, the more apparent it became that something was up.

There were youkai corpses everywhere. Impaled on tree branches, lying in multiple pieces, or looking like someone took all their insides and turned them into outsides. It honestly made me a little nauseous just looking at them, but I chose to push onwards.

I eventually came upon a large crater. It was surrounded by corpses, and on the edges laid a few straight-up skeletons.

When I looked into the crater, I saw something I was not expecting.

I saw a person.

And I recognized this person.

It was Six. I saw the bright red eyes of his helmet slightly illuminating his mask.

"Oh shit! Six, are you okay!?"

No response.

I jumped into the crater and slid down to where he was laying. "Six, are you okay?" I asked again, but less frantic.

Still no response. I pulled down his collar and placed two fingers to the side of his neck.

…

…

…

Ba-dump.

I let out a relieved sigh at the fact he was still alive. I picked him up into my arms, though it was pretty difficult due to our size difference, and flew us out of the crater.

After laying him back on the ground, the moonlight let me see the actual state he was in.

"Oh shit... Oh shit oh shit oh shit dude... What do I do?" I began panicking, since I was not at all qualified to treat these kinds of wounds. Eientei was quite a ways away, and I don't think he'd survive that long.

*Bzm*

I turned to my right to see someone unexpected show up.

She had silver hair braided on both sides of her face, and she was wearing a dark blue maid outfit. She stood with her hands in front of her.

"S-Sakuya! You gotta help me out here!" I got up and ran over to her.

"Marisa, did you kill this man?" She spoke bluntly.

"What!? Of course not! I'm trying to help him!" I was waving my arms everywhere.

Sakuya looked around a bit. "What exactly was he doing? And where did this crater come from?"

"Not important! Do you have any medical stuff or something? Bandages?"

"No, I don't. I'm only out here because my mistress ordered me to tell whoever was fighting that they needed to be quiet. Looks like that's been resolved, though." She gestured to Six, who was still on the floor.

"Ah crap, can you get any?"

"No." She didn't even think about it.

"What!? Why?" I jumped in surprise.

"Because the Scarlet Devil Mansion doesn't contain any medical supplies. Miss Patchouli can use her healing magic if it is needed. Besides, simple bandages will not help his sta-" Sakuya's eyes widened in shock and she stopped speaking.

"Uhh... Sakuya?" She was looking behind me.

I turned around to see something I wasn't expecting.

Six was sitting up.

His head slowly turned towards us.

…

…

"Yo." He casually stood up.

"W-W-W-What the hell man!" I shouted. "I thought you were gonna die or something!"

"Yeah. Me too." He dusted himself off.

"Marisa... Who is this man?" Sakuya had finally recollected herself.

I turned back to her. "He's and outsider who showed up yesterday. I already thought he was weird for a human, but this is something else."

"... I'm standing right here, you know." He stared at me, looking disappointed. "Also, hello there." He gave a small wave to Sakuya.

"H-Hello." Sakuya didn't wave back.

"So, uh, Six? Are you okay?" I looked back to him.

"I already gave myself a stimpak, but I still feel like shit. You can decide if that's 'ok' or not."

"What's a stimpak?"

"It's the reason that all my wounds are gone." He gestured to the cuts in him clothing.

"Holy shit! I didn't even realize! That seems really useful." I examined the spots that used to be gaping holes in his skin.

"If I may ask, mister..." Sakuya spoke up. "Did you kill all of these youkai?"

"Yep."

"What about this crater?"

"I blew them up."

"... With you among them?"

"Yeah. I was at the center of the explosion actually."

"How are you even alive?" Sakuya looked dumbfounded.

"I'm cool like that."

"... I'm done asking..." Sakuya rubbed her eyes.

"By the way... Uh, Sakuya?" I finally spoke up.

"Yes, Marisa?" She sounded annoyed.

"You think you could, y'know, take him to the Scarlet Devil Mansion for tonight?" I asked a bit sheepishly.

"And why should I do that?"

"Well, it's dangerous out here at night! And you heard him, he's not at his best right now."

"I have to agree, ma'am." Six spoke. "While something called the 'Scarlet Devil Mansion' doesn't really sound like a safe place, I can't risk getting attacked like this again."

"Why should I help you, though?"

"I'd be willing to pay you back in any way you ask. I know for a fact that if I get attacked on the way back to the village, I will not survive."

Sakuya stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "We'll see what my mistress says. Your debt will be to her, not me."

"Good enough for me." After he finished talking, he began coughing. He fell onto his knees before it faded away.

"You okay, dude?" I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

He was quiet for a moment. "I'll be fine. Let's get going." He stood and walked over to Sakuya. "What direction?"

"Just follow me." She began walking off.

"Well, I guess I'll go home, then." I hopped on my broom.

"Hm. Thanks for checking on me, Marisa." Six turned back to me.

"No problem, dude. I might not know you very well, but I don't like it when people I know die." I waved to him and flew away.

…

[Edge of Misty Lake]

Courier Six POV

We've been walking for a while, though there's been very little conversation. The only thing we've really said to each other is our names.

"So... What's your mistress like?" I tried to initiate a conversation.

"You'll find out when we get there." She dismissed me.

"Hm. Should I clean off all this blood and stuff before we go inside?" I gestured to the bits of gore that covered me.

"We have a bath inside." She continued walking at a fast pace.

I sighed. "Alright, then."

…

…

Outside the SDM

We walked up to the front gate of a massive, you guessed it, mansion. Although this one was a little stylized, as almost every part of it was some shade of red.

Standing in front of the gate was a young woman with eye-catching red hair, and a hat that sported a star and a Chinese symbol, though I didn't know what it stood for. She appeared to be sleeping while standing up.

Sakuya walked forward and promptly brought a fist down on top of the woman's head.

"Ah- Wha- I'm awake!" The red-haired lady got into a fighting stance, probably out of instinct. "Oh, Sakuya, it's just you." She sighed in relief.

She looked over to me. "Hey, uh, who's this guy? Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Sakuya hit her again.

"Ow! I'm sorry!" She rubbed her head.

"He's a guest. Or, he will be, if the mistress allows it." Sakuya walked over and opened the gate.

As I walked past the gatekeeper, I leaned a bit closer to her and whispered. "If it means anything, you have my condolences."

"Ah, I'll be fine, man." She smiled. "Also, are you clothes red, or is that blood." She pointed to me.

"Blood. Don't be worried, cause most of it is mine." I continued walking through the gate.

The entrance was pretty extravagant. It'd take a while to describe it all, so just know it looked cool as fuck.

When we walked in the front door, we were met with an equally extravagant lobby. I didn't have time to look at everything, because Sakuya turned around and spoke to me. "I'm going to go get my mistress. If you so much as move from that spot, I'll make your fight with those youkai look like a child's game."

"Yeah, sure lad-" Sakuya grabbed my collar got in my face.

"I mean it." She released me and then vanished.

"... Psycho."

She appeared again. "What was that?" She was now holding a knife in her hand.

"I was just thinking aloud about how wonderful of a host you are." I backed up a bit.

"Save it for my mistress." She vanished again.

I chose not to make any remarks this time.

I walked over to a bench sitting next to the entrance and took a seat before letting out a long sigh.

Nothing left to do but wait.