Even though the dark did not seem to scare me, the forest at night sure did.

It was like something sinister lurked there, and maybe it was just the basic embedded fear in me speaking, but I would rather avoid it just in case.

The most unfortunate thing was that my aura sensing highly diminished during the night— in fact, my whole body kind of felt... numb. As I trained more and more, it was apparent that my overall performance somehow felt duller in night in comparison to the day.

'Maybe because I'm tired?' I mused, making my through the forest. The temple was on the other side of the hill, making the journey over a good mile long. And even though it may not sound much to some, my little body was yet to get used to the amount of exertion this hike demanded.

I heaved a sigh in relief as soon as the temple came into my view. The Sun was almost down and even the sky was turning into a shade of obsidian. The stars hidden during the morning came into view, twinkling merrily.

I was almost by the gate of the temple when I felt it— a heavy, almost smothering aura.

No, it was not just an ordinary aura.
It was way heavier— almost like a... like a hole. Too concentrated; it was way too concentrated to be like any normal—

"MIYASHA!" My body was jerked out of the way, the sudden motion surprising me.

"W-What—?!" I was tossed again; the small hands on my stomach gripped me tightly. By the time my mind came to it, I barely noticed whose arm I was in— no, the creature in front of me took most of my attention to itself.

And even though its ashen skin and slender frame was not familiar to anything I had acquainted before, its strange inhumane-ss and smell of death did remind me of its kind.

"De-Demon...?" my voice quivered, barely above a whisper.

The arms around me dragged me along itself— relocating us to a safer distance as another body attacked the demon.

I felt a shiver down my spine as I felt its aura flair— it was as if the already concentrated aura further densened. The arms wrapped around my stomach tightened almost smothering me into its sheltering embrace.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry Miyasha..." the voice soothed, making me realize how boyish it sounded and how small the arms around my waist were.

"Hi-Hi—"

"Hiroshi." He answered, whispering in a voice which sounded too stable to be of a child. "And don't worry, Hitoshi and ojisan will handle it. Just stay hidden here with me."

The sound of growling snatched my attention, making me focus on the fight going on before us.

The bush behind which we were hidden was one of the larger ones in the yard of the temple, hiding the both of us perfectly. Hiroshi's grip on my waist tightened further as the fight in front of us turned more intense.

The demon was rather lanky; looking as slender as an unnatural paper doll. Its mossy hair though was the one that made him look more inhumane— especially when it enlarged and started producing vines as extensions.

Though, one may even compare those to tentacles and not get it wrong, as those moved and behaved as sloppy yet efficiently as a pair of tentacles. Which was worrying because Hitoshi was gradually slowing down as the speed of those vine-like extensions increased.

The mossy extensions attacked Hitoshi from every direction, engulfing him slowly while closing all his possible escape routes. But Hitoshi looked confident— even his panting didn't seemed to deter his strange enthusiasm as he yelled out a war cry and slashed all the vines collectively in an impressive amount of speed.

He then proceeded to jump towards the demon— maybe with the intention of cutting off his head? —but seemed unable to do so as it produced the double amount of vines and stopped him mid-attack. This time though, Hitoshi could not cut those extensions properly and was caught by those thick mossy vines.

Hiroshi gasped, his hands slightly shaking while looking at his twin's situation.

"Go, save your brother." I whispered, my voice coming more horse than intended. Hiroshi tore his gaze away from the fight and looked down at me; his bluish green eyes glinting with the unvoiced question. I nodded my head silently, patting his arms around my waist.

Hitoshi, on the other hand, did not seem to fair well. Newly regenerated vines covered the young boy's struggling hands, cutting off the chances of him swinging his sword at the demon. But before anything else could happen, a swift green shadow swept through— cutting off all the vines and the demon's forelimbs.

Hitoshi swiftly pulled his brother away from the demon, detangling him instantly as the demon in front of them growled— in pain or annoyance, I don't know.

Hitoshi flipped over— jumping away from the demon as it attacked. Hiroshi followed him like a shadow and stood parallel to him, as if a mirror image.
That was when the actual show began.

Both brothers attacked simultaneously, their speed seemingly greater than before— their identical green shadows looked like after-images to me. Their look-alikeness made them difficult to keep track of who was who and the attacks kept going on.

When the demon did decide to attack with its vines, one would instantly cut it while the other will keep trying to directly attack the demon— which the demon would barely dodge. Their sync in attack and defence almost made them look perfect— the only issue being, that they still were humans. I could see the exhaustion taking over them; their pace slowed down gradually, making my heart race in anticipation.

Unfortunately, the demon noticed it as well, reviving its attempts even more.

The tables turned when the demon attacked one of them in the stomach— which the other twin tried to defend but got injured himself as well. Both tumbled to the ground— one with a severe wound in the guts while the other with a bleeding shoulder.

I gasped involuntarily, watching both of them getting up instantly after they were wounded— how old were they again? Eleven? How could they... why... they were still children...

My heart slowly broke as I watched them fight— watching them practice was a different thing but watching them fight while being injured and with a risk of death on their heads made things more real than they should be.

Suddenly the demon's vines from the back of its head dug under the earth, making them almost undetectable.

My eyes widened as I felt its aura spread through the earth with its vines, towards... "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I yelled loudly, gaining both the brother's attention, making them jump back from their position as a vine attacked them from underground. Hiroshi and Hitoshi relocated, trying to scramble away on some high ground, away from the earth.

A sudden scream tore away from my throat as I was once again jerked away from my position— this time, by the demon's vines instead of the comforting arms I was familiar with.

The vines coiled around my small frame, dragging me through the earth carelessly as my body kept knocking on the rocks and bushes. I tried my best to resist it by grasping something to hinder the strong tugging but everything ended up futile.

The closer I got to the demon, the harsher its grip got; it felt as if it was trying to kill me by coiling around me like an anaconda. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult— even my vision started blurring as he dangled me upside down, the grip of those vines as strong as ever.

I tried to resist them as much as I could, but my small frame refrained me again from exerting the force I demanded from it.

My vision slowly blackened as the harsh grip around me suddenly loosened, though the pain increased as it did— making me give out one last scream before accepting the hand of the comforting darkness of unconsciousness, where pain could not follow me.


Heya!

I'm back! And no, I did not ghost you guys again xD

It just took me longer to edit the chapter than I thought :')

Any-who! I really hope you guys liked my sorry attempt at fighting scene- but I swear, I'm learning! Or at least, practicing. Trust me when I saw that this chapter has been revised more than ten times, lol.

Now, on with the reviews~

JKKak: Aw, that's very kind of you! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter- and about Giyuu, I'll bring him after quite a lot of chapters, BUT there will be a few easter eggs regarding him that will make their relationship more dynamic~ I really hope you can find them by the time we meet Giyuu and the other pillars because that indeed will be very essential to the plot!

Mitsuo the Universe jumper: Aw, you are too sweet! It's only you guys who keep me motivated enough to keep uploading... And that is quite an interesting concept behind your name- How I wish I had half a brain to keep such a cool name too xD

Einklley: Aww, (i'm doing this 'aw' thing a lot, ain't I?) I really really wanna hug you so much right now ^^ Thank you so much for your support and I'll definitely ask you guys if I ever needed any opinion! Also, YOu stay safe and healthy as well!

I really really really hope you guys liked this chappie!

If you did or even if you didn't, please leave a review so I could know! I'll love to hear your opinions and improve my writing skills as much as I can! And thank you so much to everyone who has favourite-d and followed this story!You guys are the best!