Here's the next chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it!
By the way, I'm been thinking of publishing an original story on Webnovel so if anybody has any experience with it or knows anybody who has experience with it, can you please send me a PM just so I know how it all works and everything. Thanks!
Bromega2477 - Yeah, Michael is now not only developing his physical strength but now his mental strength to judge what is right or wrong. If he didn't learn then he'll probably outright kill Nezuko on sight... which he kind of did in the last chapter now that I thought about it.
Mitsuri in the harem? After how cool she was during the Swordsmith Village arc, of course she will be. She's so sweet, bright and the complete opposite of Michael's character. But other characters gender swapped...hmm, I'll have to think about it. Thanks for reading.
RubixJr - Thank you so much, I've been wanting to write the last chapter for a while now. Michael is different from all my other OCs in many ways so I feel like he needs to learn much harsher lessons. I hope you'll enjoy this filler chapter just as much.
Djinn - Thank you. If there's one character who can change your opinion on demons then it'll definitely be Nezuko. I quite like to see them form a younger sister/older brother bond...sorry Tanjiro. Hope you'll like this chapter as well.
Randomguy0110100100110 - Yeah, it'll be more story base that will have romantic moments in it. It gives the romance more genuine and allow it to grow and develop.
FanSuperAnime - Thanks so much. Even before I starting planning for this story, I just knew that my OC will not get on with Yushiro. I've got nothing against him, he's a good character, but I enjoy the concept of them having a small rivalry. Glad you like the idea of a filler chapter; I didn't want to go straight into the next arc already. Hope you'll enjoy it.
wellingonlucas282 - No problem, glad you liked it.
Guest - Thank you so much and thank you as well for reading my new story. Three chapters in and it's already got over 100 followers, I'm so proud.
DameNingen1 - That's a shame. Thanks for reading anyway.
Spedyalarm - Yeah, I'm starting to properly check my writing now. Reading my early work is...really embarrassing. Damn mild dyslexia.
But anyway, I can see that you understand the concept of how harrowing being blind truly is. I'm not blind myself, but I did some research beforehand on how to properly present it in writing. I'm far from an expert, but I hope I was able to convey some feelings over. Sorry for the wait, I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Carlmike94 - I see your point. What I was trying to demonstrate was that this resentment and bitterness against demons had been building up for over two years now, so when he is confronted with information that counter this (in the form of Tamayo and Nezuko) he has a complete breakdown. Even before that, like when he held the charity gala in the first chapter, Michael has always thought that if he does good things that help everyone, then he must be doing the right thing. But sadly, it doesn't always work out completely. Everything he believed in always seems to suddenly collapsed on top of him and now he's starting to doubt whether his existence is just a curse on the world.
Besides, I'm not going to completely change his mindset, as I will show in this chapter. He will still treat demons cruelly, but now he knows that not everything is in black and white. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Thank you all for reviewing.
Chapter 9: The Curse
On a quiet, moonless night, a small town, secluded in the mountains, slept peacefully.
Not a creature or human stirred; the streets were deserted; the forest surrounded the town was empty and the only sound that could be heard was the howling winds that rolled over the rows of wooden houses.
In one of these houses, beneath a window, a boy of six years of age slept peacefully on his mat; clutching his quilted blanket to his chest. The rest of his family, his mother, father and sister, were sleeping in the same room nearer to the warm stove, however the boy preferred the bitter chill of the wind come in as he slept.
He sighed in his sleep before he was suddenly woken by a noise. Sleepily, he opened his eyes and looked around the room; he saw his family still asleep on the other side of the room, having not stirred at all by what woke him up. He frowned curiously before shrugging and was about to lie his head down once again before he heard the same noise again. It sounded like a bubble bursting followed by hissing sound; it wasn't anything he has ever heard before.
He heard the sound again and followed it towards the open window above his head. Slowly and curiously, he lifted himself up and looked out towards the dark, haunting forest behind his family's home. He heard the howling wind, the creaking of tree limbs and, in the distance, an owl hooting its call...but nothing that could have possibly have made the strange sound. He frowned in intrigue; when suddenly he felt something wet and sticky land upon his head; he carefully lifted his hand up, wipe the substance off of him before he inspected it. In his hand, oozing over his fingers and trailing down the palm of his hand, was what looked like mud. It was brown and gooey, but it clung onto his fingers as if it was alive.
He heard the noise once again...
...but this time it was coming from above his head.
The young boy looked up and grew deathly pale at the sight of a large, clawed hand reaching down at him from outside the window; its talons outstretched ready to snatch him. Before he could scream, the hand grabbed him by his face and smothered it completely within its palm; its claws dug into his head and, from the sides of the fingers, the same slimly substance secreted out of it and submerged the boy's entire face, coating it a thick layer that clung and pulled at him. The hand pulled the boy up by his head and dragged him out of the window, allowing him to kick and flail in the air helplessly in desperation.
It was the flailing that finally woke the boy's father up; he shot up from his mat and looked around as his paternal instincts screamed at him that something was wrong. He snapped his head over to where his only son was sleeping and cried out when he saw that he was no longer there.
On a cold, silent night in a secluded mountain town, a young boy was snatched from his bed while the rest of his family slept...and he wouldn't be the last.
Countryside
In the highlands of Yamanashi prefecture, south of the town of Minobu and few miles west of Mount Fuji, Michael rode down narrow lanes cut through the hills and mountains.
It had been quiet ever since he left Tokyo; passing by farms, small towns and the occasional traveller going the other way. His experience in Tokyo had given him a lot to think about and he wasn't in the mood for demon hunting at the moment. In fact, for the past few days, he had let Kaze roam, with him riding atop, wherever he liked to; only stopping to camp when the night came in. It was lonely, but he was used to it; he spent most of him time honing his Breathing, playing his shakuhachi or simply enjoying the beautiful countryside as best he could via his senses.
He was brought out of his musings by the flattering of wings and instinctively held his arm up to welcome Angellos to perch upon it. Once the crow was settled, he gave it a few strokes to his plumage with a small smile.
"Hello Angellos, it's been a while," he greeted kindly before pulling out some seeds from his pocket to feast on.
The crow pecked at the seeds hungrily and nodded his head, "Potential demon activity five miles away- CAW! Several young boys stolen from a small town- CAW!"
Michael sighed, "I guess it has been a while," he muttered, "Fine, I'll be there soon. You mind showing Kaze the way?"
Angellos nodded, but before he leapt off his wrist, he reached underneath his wing with his beak and pulled a brown leather pouch about the size of a human hand out by its drawstring. He gestured for him to take the pouch and, after a few seconds of deliberation, took it curiously. It felt like there was a light weight within it that bent and folded in his hand like paper; he opened the pouch with one hand and felt that it was a small stack of paper money and, judging by the feel of it, there seemed to be quite a lot of it. Michael frowned in confusion and looked up at Angellos.
"What's this?"
"Your salary," the crow cawed back.
"Salary? Salary for what?"
"All members- CAW! -of the Corps are given a monthly salary. The- CAW! -amount increases the higher ranking you are. You are currently- CAW! CAW! at Mizunoe rank and so you are given a salary of 23,000 yen."
(A.N: That's around $1000 dollars or £800 in modern money)
Michael hummed crossly at that; something about being paid to be part of the Slayer Corps really annoyed him; it made the whole thing insincere as if what they were doing was just a job. He didn't have his eyes ripped out of his head just so he could earn a salary and, judging by the sort of people he encountered at the Final Selection, there were a lot of Slayers out there who simply do it for the money.
His hand tightened around the pouch tightly, he was about to throw the pouch out into the field next to him in defiance...but he stopped himself. He was trying to be a better person than he used to be and getting angry over something small was not helping. He needed to remain calm and think of a more rational thing to do with it.
That's when he sensed three people up the road; one was a boy about seven or eight with short black hair and wearing a very worn and old blue samue yukata sitting on the side of the road with a wooden tray in front of him. Two other children were a few meters behind him sitting in the field; one was a young girl about twelve years old with loose unbrushed black hair and brown eyes and the other was a boy about three or four years old who was sat on her lap and playing with a toy horse made out of twigs and sticks. The young girl would occasionally look up from playing with her younger brother to keep watch over her other brother by the road. As he got closer, he noticed that the tray, that the first boy had, was filled with small triangular onigiri wrapped in a thin bit strip of nori. The young boy finally noticed his approach, leapt up to his feet and picked up the tray and held it up towards him.
"Mister! Mister! Would you like to buy an onigiri!?" he called out to him.
Michael stopped Kaze beside the boy and used his Breathing to sense what he was selling. They were crudely made and much smaller than average leading him to assume that two eldest children made them themselves. But then he noticed how starved and tired the boy looked, he was dangerously skinny, his eyes were sunken slightly and he seemed to be having some trouble holding up the tray. He turned his head up and sensed that his elder sister, who was looking his way in curiosity, and his younger brother was also in a similar state.
'They must have had a bad harvest,' Michael sighed in his head, 'Selling what little food they had left for money,' he thought before looking down at the boy, "Where are you parents?"
The young boy pointed behind him to a nearby hill, "Mama is looking after the crops at home and papa is in town at the market."
Michael hummed and remembered the pouch full of money in his hand, "How much are they?"
"One yen each," the boy told him.
Angellos fluttered onto the top of his jingasa as Michael reached down and gave him the pouch with his entire monthly salary in it, "I take all off them."
The boy was shocked, his eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up at him. Eventually, he took the pouch before hesitantly handing him the tray of onigiri up to him. Michael took the tray and took two onigiri off it; he put one on his lap and the other he handed it up to Angellos who took it in his beak; before he could do anything else, however, Kaze snorted and looked back to him expectantly.
Michael raised an eyebrow, "Can you even digest rice?"
Kaze whinnied and he took it as reply of confirmation; he took another onigiri off the tray and held it out in front for Kaze to take before handing the tray back to the young boy, "You and your siblings can have the rest. Keep the change," he told him before he patted Kaze's back to tell him to go.
He sensed the young boy watch him leave with both the tray and money in his small hands before he turned around to run back to his sister and brother excitedly. Michael smiled happily before he called out to Angellos perched on his hat.
"Angellos, when you have led us to our destination, return to the Corps HQ and tell them to stop giving me a salary. Tell them that I'm not their employee, I am a Slayer who risks his life for benefit of mankind and if they so much as send me a single yen, I will shove it down their throats," he heard Angellos nervously at the thought of giving such a message to the Corps, but nodded anyway, "Good. Besides... money is wasted on me."
"Mister!" he turned his head slightly as he heard a shocked yell and sensed that the young girl from earlier running after him down the road with the money pouch in her hand, "Mister! Stop! You gave us way too much! We need to give it back to you!" she shouted.
Michael smiled in slight amusement and urged Kaze to go faster into a light gallop, leaving the young girl behind with the fortune still in her hand.
Small Town
It took less than an hour to reach the small mountain town, it consisted of two rows of wooden houses facing parallel from each other with the main road running between them. Most of the residents of this town were either farmers who kept crops and animals in the surrounding fields, craftsmen and traders who usually worked out of their own homes; heavy industry had not touched this part of the country and so the townspeople mainly worked with wood gathered from a nearby forest. There was no inn nor banks nor really anything that could be used to gather information from.
It was an isolated town, but even then, Michael couldn't help but feel that it was too quiet; especially since it was approaching midday. Very few people were in the streets and it looked as if some houses were boarded up. There was a deathly silence that filled the filled the air as if something has been frightening the local residents.
Michael rode in and stopped just before he reached the centre; he used his senses to find anyone who might be able to help him. Angellos had just left to deliver his early message, meaning that it was just him and Kaze in the middle of this town. Finally, he spotted an elderly man, slide open the door to his house and hobbled out of it; he waved and called out to him.
"Excuse me, I was wondering-"
The moment he spoke up to him, the elderly man stopped in his tracks and stared at him as if he was a ghost. He immediately turned around, went back inside his house and slammed the door behind him shut, much to Michael's surprise. The Slayer stood still in bemusement for a few seconds before he searched the area again. It didn't take long for him to sense another two people; a mother and her young ten year old daughter were walking down the street hand in hand. Michael unmounted Kaze and waved to them in, what he believed to be, a friendly manner.
"Sorry to bother you, but I just-"
But yet again, the mother snapped her head towards him and gasped in fright before she dragged her confused child faster down the street past him before disappearing into another wooden house. Michael sighed miserably and rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully.
"What am I doing wrong?" he muttered to himself.
"Please excuse them," a gentle voice called out to him.
He turned and sensed a young man in his early to mid twenties walking towards him carrying a woven basket full of recently harvested vegetables. He had short brown hair, almond shaped eyes thin eyebrows and a youthful face. He wore fine clothing which didn't seem to clash with the town's rustic aesthetic, but Michael could tell that they were not fine enough to be worth of nobility, making him assume that he worked at a nearby estate. He slowly approached him with a curious frown, seemingly not scared of him unlike the elderly man or the mother from before.
"The villagers have been...under a lot of pressure recently," he told him, "They have been quite weary of travellers, but please don't take offence."
"It's fine. I understand," Michael reassured him before he took out and showed him his fake I.D card, "My name is Michael Timere. I work in the foreign department for the Taisho Government back in Tokyo. I heard there's been suspicious activity occurring in the area. I don't suppose this has got anything to do with it."
The young man seemed surprise for a second before he bowed in greeting, "Ota Kenji. I work as a servant for the Fujiwara Estate," he introduced himself, "If I may, how did you hear about this? It's just that...we're quite far away from any large city."
"I was in Minobu when I heard about it from some colleagues," he lied, "I thought I come up and take note in case it's something serious."
Ota seemed hesitant, he glanced around to see if anybody was around before taking one step closer towards him, "Well...it's not really my place to say... but... for the past month, young boys, from five to twelve years old have been disappearing in the night. And not just in this town."
"Right," Michael said seriously, "I'm sorry to hear that. Is there any clues or evidence as to who could be behind this?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, I'm afraid. It's causing a lot stress, as you can tell," his brow furrowed in thought and he glanced over his shoulder again to check if anybody is listening it, satisfied that they were alone he whispered, "Again, this is not my place to tell you, but... some of the villagers think that this is a work of a curse brought on by Fujiwara Estate."
"A curse?"
"I know, it seems like gibberish, but...I wonder if you can come with me to the estate. I'm sure my lady would be eager to talk with you... I think she needs some reassurance right now."
"How do you mean?"
Ota gulped, "Because three nights ago, Lady Fujiwara's child was almost stolen," he said gravelly, "If you like to follow me, I'll take you to the estate."
Michael nodded, "Thank you, I would be honoured to talk to her."
He nodded before glancing to the side, "Err...I'm afraid to say, but your horse wondered off."
The Slayer used his senses and found that he was right; Kaze had disappeared and left him behind...again.
He sighed wearily, "Don't worry. He always managers to find his way back," he said, earning a confused look from Ota.
Parlour, Fujiwara Estate
It was a half an hour walk through thick woodland towards the mansion owned by the Fujiwara family; a secluded wooden building complex surrounded by tall, white walls and beautifully designed zen gardens as well as an impressive view of a grand lake down in the valley. The interior was equally as lavish with vases and other pottery decorating the hallways, paintings hung on the walls and rooms that had wonderful views of the garden and the forest beyond the wall.
However, there was an eerie silence that rang out throughout the mansion; the maids and servants, who helped maintain its upkeep, were quietly getting on with their duties and barely interacted with each other; they merely watched as Ota led Michael down the hallways but didn't utter a single word. He sensed a lingering, unsettling dread in the air as if everyone knew what was going on, but we're too afraid to acknowledge its presence.
As he had walked through the parlour, he sensed somebody watch him through a gap of a shoji door with inquisitive and curious eyes. However, as soon as Michael turned his head towards the person, the immediately shut the door with a soft slam. He raised an intrigued eyebrow at the person, but shrugged it off and followed Ota.
He now sat on a cushion in an elaborately decorated parlour room across the Lady of the household. Lady Fujiwara was a pretty young woman in her late thirties; her long silky black hair was tied up in an elaborate braid, she had sharp brown eyes that were brushed with golden eyeshadow and ruby red lips. She wore a bright red yukata and a green silk obi around her waist and a few hair pins that held up her hair. She greeted him kindly and gently and immediately had tea brought for them; according to her, it had been a while since she hosted guests and was eager to meet him, even if he was a complete stranger. Although, Michael sensed a hidden sadness within her that she was trying her best to cover up. He didn't need his eyes to know that she was deeply afraid of something. He waited patiently as Lady Fujiwara prepared him tea from a traditional-style set in the middle of the room. Ota had left a while ago to tend to some duties, leaving the two behind to talk alone.
A strained smile formed on Lady Fujiwara's face as she offered a cup for Michael to receive; her hands were shaky as she held the cup, causing her to spill a little of it before he took it, "Ota says that you're from the government," she said gently, "I have not heard of a foreign branch before. Is it new? I only ask, because my husband works in Kofu and I had not heard him talk about it."
"Fairly recent," Michael lied, using the hot tea to warm his hands, "It's an experiment of sorts. We're offered to travel around the country and see for ourselves what it's like as a cultural lesson. You must forgive me for my appearance, I have been travelling for a while and inns are sparce."
"Oh, do not worry," she said with a delicate wave of her hand. She fell very silent after that, her eyes turned down to the tatami floor and her gentle smile wavered slightly, "H-has Ota told you what was happening in this town?"
"He mentioned that children have been stolen during the night. I can only imagine how distressing that would be."
"Indeed...did he mention... the existence of a curse?"
Michael frowned slightly, "I do not wish to get him into trouble... but yes. I'm sure that you don't want to hear this sort of thing-"
"What if there was a curse?" Lady Fujiwara suddenly asked seriously, cutting him off mid-way, "Would you believe it? Despite it sounding ridiculous?"
He fell silent for a few seconds as he thought about her words before speaking again, "My lady, perhaps you should tell me what you think is going on? I will listen and not pass any judgement on you. You're safe to tell me."
Lady Fujiwara began to tremble as the smile soon dropped away from her face; she stared down at her own cup of tea with a gaunt expression as tears threatened to fall from her eyes, "Back when I was a little girl, when I used to live in Matsue, my grandmother always told me about stories of the yokai that roamed across the country. I was fascinated with them at first, but I soon grew out of it once I married my husband and moved across the country. I never thought about it since... until the children started to go missing in the village. It was one at first and then more and more began to disappear without a trace. That's when I remembered the stories my grandmother used to tell me about the yokai and how they liked to steal and devour children during the night," she gulped and closed her eyes, "I thought I was being hysterical until one of the maids told me a story about my husband's family that he's never mentioned before. Years ago, my husband's aunt was abandoned by her soon to be wed husband at the altar; they said that she went insane after that and escaped into the forest to never be seen again. That's when I began to think... what if she had been turned into a yokai and was now taking her anger out by stealing young boys from the village as an act of revenge. I know this sounds ridiculous... but...but...I-" she held her hand over her mouth and released a sob.
Michael remained silent as he didn't want to force her to talk at the moment; instead, he began to think about what she said.
'A yokai? If I remember from what Yamamoto told me, there are supernatural beings that a part of the folk law. This is definitely the work of demons, but I never thought that they would be picky with who they took,' he thought, 'It is possible that Lord Fujiwara's relative may have been turned into one, but stealing young boys as an act of revenge for being jilted at her wedding? That seems strange. Why wouldn't she take her anger out on her fiancée's family? Also, why is Lady Fujiwara so upset about this? Is this something to do with her son almost being stolen? I must know more.'
Lady Fujiwara soon calmed down and wiped the tears away from her face, "My apologies. I-I just been under a lot of pressure recently."
"Does it have to do with your son, my lady," he asked, making her flinch slightly, "Ota told me about his near kidnapping. Can you tell me more about it?"
Lady Fujiwara took a deep breath and nodded, "My husband and I were woken up by a loud noise three nights ago. As soon as we realised that it was coming from Haru's room, we got up and rushed to him and flung open his door. We…saw a giant grey arm of a yokai reach in through the window and grab him by his lower face. My husband ran in first; I was too scared to react. He managed to pull our son out of the yokai's grasp just in time and the monster retreated over the wall and back into the forest where it had come from. We've been keeping him in one of the smaller, safer rooms ever since."
"May I meet him?"
Lady Fujiwara didn't respond and merely stared at the tatami mats.
"My lady?"
"I…I…"
Suddenly, the door to the parlour slid open to reveal a regal-looking man in his early forties. He had thick, short dark hair, a large moustache and neatly trimmed beard and a pair of circular spectacles perched on his nose. He was quite lean and had sharp brown eyes that searched inquisitively around the room; he wore a red silk yukata with golden patterns across it. The man grunted and raised his eyebrow at the stranger having tea in his home before he closed the door behind him. Lady Fujiwara was startled by his sudden appearance and almost dropped her cup while Michael looked up towards him.
"Who are you?" the older man demanded, "What are you doing in my house?"
"Shujin, this is our guest Michael," Lady Fujiwara told her husband, "He was travelling past so I invited him to tea."
Lord Fujiwara scowled angrily, "You know I told you we can't have guests. He needs to leave right now."
"But shujin, he says he's from the government. We can't just-"
"I don't care! Get him out of here!"
"If I may, Lord Fujiwara," Michael calmly interrupted as he sipped his tea, "I came here to inquire about the strange occurrences in your town. Several young boys being stolen is not something I can simply turn away from."
Lord Fujiwara growled and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Not this again. The kidnappings are serious crimes and we are trying our best to find the culprit. The last thing we need is a stranger coming in and poking his nose into it. The villagers already scared as they are."
"But shujin. What about Haru," Lady Fujiwara tried to say, but she was immediately cut off by her husband.
"You better have not told him that this is the work of some yokai. It's nothing, but superstitious crap. What the villagers have told you has got into your head."
"But we can't just do nothing. He hasn't eaten or drunk anything for days! He's going to die!" she wailed at him.
Lord Fujiwara flinched at that while Michael raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
"He's not going to die," the older man hesitantly said with a hint of worry in his voice, "I'll get another doctor in and we'll see what he has to say. There has to be a rational explanation for this. Not some stupid folktale-"
SMASH!
Lord Fujiwara had just moved his head away before a teacup was flung past his head and smashed against the frame of the door. He turned around to the direction of where it had come from; his eyes widened in shock as he saw Lady Fujiwara seething with rage.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" she yelled at him as tears streamed down her face, "AFTER WHAT WE BOTH SAW THAT NIGHT! I KNOW YOU SAW IT, BUT YOU KEEP DENYING IT!"
"I SAW NOTHING! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"YOU'RE JUST AFRAID OF PEOPLE FINDING OUT YOUR FAMILY'S CURSE!" she picked up another tea cup and aimed it at his head once again, "AND NOW OUR SON IS GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF IT!"
She threw the cup, but before it got anyway near Lord Fujiwara, Michael snapped his arm up and snatched it in mid-air. The couple seemed to snap out of it and calm down once they realised that he was still in the room. The Slayer hummed calmly and placed the cup down on the tray once again and sipped his tea.
"Now, now. There's no need for this," he said, "I know you two are under a lot of stress, but you need to remain calm. I know who is behind these kidnappings. My lady, you are correct, this is the work of a supernatural being, but it is not a yokai. Nor do I believe there is any curse brought upon your household. What attacked your son is a demon. A powerful creature that I specialise in hunting and exterminating."
Lady Fujiwara blinked in confusion, "But you said you were from the government."
"That was just a cover story. Not many people are willing to believe in what I do is real."
"I still don't believe it," Lord Fujiwara snarled, "What the hell are you-"
Michael ignored him and turned to the door, "Haru, that's your name, isn't it?" he called out.
The lord and lady turned to the door and saw, to their surprise, a dark silhouette through the paper door; they hadn't noticed it until Michael pointed it out. The Slayer noticed the boy listening into their conversation as soon as Lord Fujiwara closed the door; he could sense that he startled Haru the moment he called out to him.
"My name is Michael. Why don't you come on in, so we can talk."
There was no movement on the other side until the shoji door slowly and shyly slid open to reveal the young boy. Like his mother, he had black silky hair that reached his shoulders and sharp brown eyes like his parents. He mustn't have been more than nine or ten years old and wore a pale blue samue yukata. However, there was not the most surprising thing about him; Michael eyebrows raised in shock as soon as he sensed it.
'So, this is why they didn't want me to meet him,' he thought in realisation.
Haru's mouth was completely gone. No lips, teeth, tongue, gums or anything; leaving behind smooth skin where it should have been. He still had a jaw, which moved slightly in the lower part of his face, but other than that, there was nothing. It looked as if it had been ripped of his face entirely. Michael frowned thoughtfully as he took in the young boy's appearance.
'This is definitely a Blood Demon Art, but it's extraordinary. What would be the point of doing this to somebody? Why couldn't the demon just simply eat him?' he thought as Haru ran up to his mother and hugged her tightly, Lady Fujiwara hugged him tightly back and buried her face into his hair.
Lord Fujiwara sighed and shook his head, "We have brought in the best doctors in the area... but they had never seen this before. We kept him hidden from the maids and servants to avoid rumours spreading around. Only Ota knows the truth," he bowed his head and gritted his teeth and some tears began to form in his eyes, "I just want him back to normal and for him to live a normal life... but if he isn't cured... he's going to die. We have no hope left."
Michael hummed, finished his tea and got onto his feet, "Well, I better start now."
The family looked up at him in confusion, "Start what?" Lord Fujiwara asked.
"My investigation," he told them, "I told you that I hunt demons. I need to find the culprit as soon as possible and find a way for him to give Haru his mouth back," he said before looking down at the boy with a small smile, "You think you can hold on for a couple more days?"
Haru blinked up at him before he nodded in determination.
Lady Fujiwara gasped and covered her mouth in hopeful shock, "Can...can you really do it? Can you bring back his mouth?"
Michael tapped the hilt of his sword with a smirk, "Oh, I'll definitely find a way."
Roof of the Fujiwara Estate
Under the cover of night, Michael sat on the edge of the roof of the mansion and used his Breathing to his sense his surroundings. He was located just above Haru's bedroom window which looked out over the tall wall and the dark forest beyond that. He had been here ever since night had fallen, waiting for any trace of activity to come out of the forest.
Earlier, during his investigation, he found two interesting things. The first one was just outside the Haru's window, hidden in the grass on the ground, was a sludgy brown substance no larger than the palm of his hand. At first, he thought it was just a bit of mud, but it felt slightly rough and malleable rather like clay before it had been baked. He smelt it and immediately his senses flared up as he recognised the scent of a demon. He deduced that it must be used as part of the demon's Blood Art.
The second clue he had found was just outside the wall of the estate. Using his senses, he found a set of clawed footprints at the edge of the forest. He tried his best to follow them as far as he can, but they soon disappeared when the ground became rocky and there was little mud. However, he did find something interesting. He used his finger to trail along from footprint to footprint and, after some calculations he remembered from reading some books in his youth, found that the demon's stride was too small for the height of the demon Lord and Lady Fujiwara saw that night. They described the demon as being at least eight feet tall, but the footprints he was investigating suggested that it was just under six feet. Could there be two demons working together? Not only that, but the footprints were fresh; too new for them to be made three nights ago. It could only mean one thing; this demon or demons were returning every night to see if Haru was back in his room. Which means...they would return that very night.
The family allowed him access to their roof in order for him to carry out his stake out. He had been outside for a few hours now and the cold air that swirled around him felt nostalgic of his times spending hours on end a top the podium for Yamamoto's training. He took a deep breath and sighed wearily before he sensed somebody approach.
"Mister Timere," Ota called out in a whisper, "Mister Timere."
Michael turned his head down towards him, "Yes?"
The servant held up a tray holding a cup of green tea and biscuits, "My lady has told me to bring this out to you."
The Slayer cracked a small smile, "Give her my thanks, but demon have powerful scents of smell. It might give away my position."
"Oh, of course," Ota said, having been briefed with what was happening earlier, "How long do you intend to stay out here?"
"All night, if I have to," Michael replied, "The sooner I catch this demon, the quicker I can get Haru's mouth back. Poor kid, shouldn't have to suffer like this at his age."
"I can only imagine," Ota mused.
"I don't have to," he sighed, feeling the place where his eyes should be tingle faintly, "You should head back inside. Demons are vicious creatures who-" suddenly, he sensed something sneak through the forest; he could sense the wind collide against it as it crept through the trees swiftly, 'here it comes.'
"What's wro-"
Michael held a hand up to stop Ota from finishing his question. He followed the figure get closer and closer through the forest; he crouched down low and maintained his focus, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. He sensed the figure creep out of the forest and scamper across the narrow strip of grassland towards the exterior wall.
As swift as the wind, he leapt off his perch and over the wall in one bound; amazing Ota down below. He flipped mid-air and landed softly right behind the figure in time to see it try and scale the wall.
It was definitely demon; the creature used to be a young man in his late twenties with greyish blue hair, deathly pale skin and black, dirty fingernails. He had black sclera eyes with orange irises, a row of sharp shark-life teeth and wore dirty brown yukata and wooden sandals. He was muttering and grumbling to himself as he tried to dig his claws into the walls, trying and failing to climb it.
"Damn wall," he muttered in annoyance, "what do they make them out of. I don't remember them being so tough back in my era. How irritating," finally he was able to get a good grip and pull himself up, "Ha! There we go!" he shouted before he yelped in shock at the accidental outburst; he waited for a few seconds before sighing in relief, "Good nobody heard me. Haha," he silently chuckled.
Michael raised an eyebrow as the demon began to shakily climb the wall, grunting and groaning as he made his way up. However, about three quarters of the way up, his foot slipped and he slid down the wall pathetically.
"No, no, damn it," he muttered as he landed on his knees before he began to scramble up the wall again…
…and then come sliding down it.
The demon growled and put his hands on his waist in a thoughtful pose, "There has to be a better way."
"You could use the gate," Michael suggested.
"Nah, they'll probably notice," the demon sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Maybe If I take a running start and leap over it. Or maybe get a tree branch and pole vault over it. That could be fun. Damn, the other demons make it looks so much easier," he sighed.
….
….
….
….
The demon's eyes widened in realisation. He leapt around and gave a startled yelp as soon as he saw Michael looming over him, his face darkened by his jingasa.
"Eeek!" he cried before clearing his throat, "I mean- Ah! Did you really think you can sneak up behind me like that, you dirty human?"
"I don't think I can. I have snuck up behind you."
"Well…that was my plan all along," he snapped before he smirked menacingly, "In fact, you have fallen for my trap. For I am no other than Kessen the deadliest demon in the world!" he declared boldly.
"What about Muzan?" Michael calmly pointed out, "You know... you're master."
"…The….second deadliest demon in the world," Kessen corrected himself, "Now prepare yourself, human, for I'm going to feast on your very bones and devour your flesh and blood. And there isn't a single Slayer out there who will come to save you."
Michael shook his head in tiredness, "I am a Slayer, you idiot."
Kessen scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Oh really. If you're an actual Slayer than where's your katana, huh?"
The Slayer simply pulled his coat to the side and showed him his sheathed sword at his hip. The demon blinked in bemusement at the sight, trying to process what he was saying through his thick skull. As soon as the penny dropped, his face seemed to pale even more than it already was.
"Holy shit. An actual Slayer," Kessen gulped as he began to tremble in fear. The demon stiffly turned around and began to walk away with a nervous smile on his face, "Haha! Guess you're right. Anyway, must be getting on," he said with a small wave over his shoulder, "Good night."
He turned his head back to the front just as a breeze of wind blew over him. A chill ran down his spine as he opened his eyes and stopped suddenly when he saw that Michael had now swiftly got in front of him. Kessen gulped, turned around and attempted to sprint away but…
Schlick!
He yelled in pain as both of his legs were severed off in one swipe of the Slayer's sword, making the top half of his body tumble to the ground. In a panic, Kessen tried to scramble away using his arms, but cried out as the katana was buried into his torso, pinning him to the ground and preventing him getting away.
"And where do you think you're going?" smirked Michael, earning a whimper from the demon, "You're not going anywhere before I get some answers," he turned his head towards the top of the wall, "Ota, are you still there?"
"Y-yes Mister Timere," the voice of the servant called back.
"Good, is there a place on the estate that's isolated?"
"Well…there's a logging cabin in the woods. It's not too far away."
"Perfect," he turned down to Kessen and dug his sword more into the demon, "Nobody will hear your screams from there," he said, earning another whimper from him.
Logging Cabin
The next morning, Michael swung open the wooden door to the small cabin and stepped inside. He heard the demon hiss in fright as the sunlight began to pour in through the open door before closing it shut and using his senses to detect him. Kessen was restrained to the far wall of the cabin by two sharp pikes that Michael, the previous night, had pieced both of his shoulders with. The demon looked up and gulped as he saw Michael slowly approach him until he completely towered over him; he trembled as he saw him unsheathe a glowing green dagger from under his coat and then crouch down until they were nearly face to face; the dagger held up to the side of his face in a threatening manner.
"Good morning...Kellen, was it?" he greeted.
"Kessen," the demon uttered before he put on a brave face, "Don't think you can intimidate me, you dirty human! I'm more powerful than I-"
"Yes, yes," Michael sighed, making the demon sweat drop, "I'm investigating the disappearance of several young boys from the village and the attempted kidnapping of Fujiwara Haru. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"
Kessen gulped, "N-nothing. I know nothing."
"Then why were you attempting to climb over the wall last night?"
"Err...well, you see..." the dagger glinted murderously as Michael moved it closer to his face, "Wait! Wait! Okay! I was trying to see if that little brat was still in his room! Make sure he's...accessible."
"For who?"
"No please! She'll kill me!"
The dagger was immediately at his throat and began to cut into his flesh, "And you don't think I won't? You should really choose your battles wisely."
"But...but I...wait, hold on," he suddenly said with a thoughtful frown, "If I go along with this, I can just blame the Slayer for forcing me to tell the truth. She might think I was brave and forgive me," he muttered before giving a cheery smile, "Alright, I'll tell you everything."
"You're an idiot," Michael sighed.
"Hey! I take offence to that! I have you know that I've eaten so many humans. Men, women, children, even other Slayers. Back in my day, I was known as Kessen the butcher," he gloated.
Michael cocked an eyebrow, "Really? How many?"
"How many what?"
"How many humans have you eaten?"
"Well..." he stammered, "I can't really think of an exact number."
"Estimates are fine."
"Right, right..." he coughed nervously, "So, if I was turned into a demon in 1870...and the current year is..."
"1920."
"I know that!" he shouted, "...really? 1920?"
Michael nodded his head.
"Wow...been a long time. Anyway, I say...about...five hundred thousand and...twelve men...a year...two hundred thousand women...and six hundred thousand children...per year."
"So around one million, three hundred thousand people a year over a period of fifty years."
"Yes."
"So, sixty five million people in total."
"...yes."
"You do realise that's bigger than entire current population of Japan, right?"
"...I did say, I was estimating."
Michael titled his head to the side and gave him a bemused look, "Kessen...have you actually eaten a human before?"
The demon coughed uncomfortably and looked away, "Well...not exactly," he muttered. He glanced back at the Slayer and almost chocked when he saw him give him a look of pity, "Hey! What the hell is that face for!? Fine! I've never eaten a human before! There just too...slippery."
"So, you've been feasting on things like deer over the past half century then," Michael sighed.
"Deer?" Kessen uttered with a blank look, "Why didn't I think of that? I've just been eating dead mice I find in bird's nests."
'Moron,' Michael thought, "We're getting off topic. Who is actually stealing the children and why?"
"I...I don't know her name, honestly. She only keeps me around to do menial jobs like scouting for boys and finding the best way of getting to them. Otherwise...I'm pretty sure she would kill me. B-but they're still alive...the boys she took."
Michael pressed the dagger into his gullet, "How do you know?"
"I hear them...I hear their cries," Kessen uttered, "They're kept in a cave on the other side of the mountain. I can show you where it is when it's dark."
Michael smirked and stood up, "Good. We'll leave immediately."
"Immediately," the demon gulped, seeing the sunlight pour in through a hold in the cabin's roof, "But it's still daylight. I can be killed and I won't be able to show you the way."
"I found a way for that," Michael said.
He turned on his heel towards the front of the cabin, opened the door and reached outside and grabbed something. He pulled it back in and held it up for the demon to see; it was a wooden box about a foot long and wide, it was opened on one side to reveal a number of metal spikes jutting out from the sides and pointing directly at the centre; it was rather like a miniature iron maiden. Kessen blinked bizarrely at it before looking up at Michael in confusion.
"What's that?"
"It's to protect you from the sun. I spent the rest of the night making it. All you have to do is get you in it."
The demon frowned, "I won't fit into that."
Michael merely set the box down on the ground before he took of a metal tree saw off the wall of the cabin, "Some of you will," he said as he approached the demon slowly, "Tell me...have you ever heard of the story of Mimir?"
Kessen's eyes widened in realisation; he began to pull at his restraints as he tried to escape, "No! No! NO PLEASE STOP!"
The Forest
With the wooden box in one hand and his dagger concealed in his other hand, Michael trekked through the dense forest up towards the peak of the mountain. The terrain was rough and, in some places, it was hard to find a safe place to even walk properly, but wasn't deterred at all; if the children were still alive then he needed to get them back as soon as possible.
He stopped as the mountain's incline grew steeper into a bluff; he used his Breathing and sensed that there was no easy way of getting around it. He hummed, lifted the box to his head and opened up the hatch to reveal Kessen's decapitated head lodged in between the spikes. The demon grunted and snarled, but stopped as soon as he saw the Slayer point his dagger in between his eyes.
"Which way?" Michael demanded.
"You know I could break out here any time I like," Kessen muttered, "All I have to do is regenerate a few arms to smash through the wood."
"Feel free," Michael shrugged, lifting his head up to feel the sunlight on his face, "It's a nice day for it."
"…I hate you."
"The feeling's mutual. Now which way," he demanded again.
"Up there," sighed the demon, nodding the best he could towards the top of the bluff, "The cave where she lives is just up there."
"Thank you," Michael said, slamming the box shut.
He turned his head up to the top of the bluff, took a very deep breath and leapt up ten feet into the air and landed on the cliff face; swiftly he half-ran, half-climbed up the rocky side until he jumped and forward flipped as soon as he reached the side; landing in a crouch on the top. He stood up to his full height and inspected the area; like Kessen said, he sensed a cave burrowed into the mountain side. It was completely hidden behind bramble and bushes, but Michael dealt with them with a simple swipe of his katana, cutting through them as if they were nothing but paper.
He placed the box containing Kessen's head down on the ground and approached the mouth of the cave; he used his Breathing to detect if anything resides in it, but he couldn't find anything. He turned his head back towards the box.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Of course, I'm sure!" the muffled voice of the demon yelled out, "Although, I never really entered the cave, I definitely know she's in there."
Michael turned his head back and frowned, "Fine, stay there. I won't be long."
"Wait! You're going to leave me here!" he cried out as the Slayer entered the cave, "Come back, you dirty human. I'll…I'll bite your legs off! You know I will!"
Michael ignored his cries and climbed into the cave; it was tight meaning he had to almost get on all fours and scramble through it; almost slipping by how damp the walls were. He was quickly nearing the end and frowned when he sensed no threat at all when suddenly his foot sunk into the rocky ground; he hummed and felt around beneath his feet to find a part of the ground that wasn't rock; it felt like a square patch of mud and sticks that was cut out into the stone floor. He hummed thoughtfully once again, before he raised his foot up as far as he could and slammed down on it; immediately the square muddy patch collapsed beneath his foot to reveal a dark, hidden cavern beneath him. Michael bent down low and breathed down as far as he could; he could sense the air from his lungs flow down into the cavern, bouncing off the walls as if went down. Eventually, the flow of air hit the floor of the cavern; at least ten feet down from where he was. He nodded in satisfaction before he jumped through the hole and into the cavern, landing on his feet gracefully.
The air was thick and cold and shrouded in darkness; far from the sunlight's warm touch; a perfect place for a demon to live and feast. His dependence of his sensing through the wind was no longer reliable as the air was still, but he was able to use the air from his lungs to sense some things; like how narrow the cavern was and how moist the walls around him were. He reached out and gently felt the wall on his left; he felt rough scratches in the rock as if some creature scraped its sharp claws along it; it was clear that this cavern was not naturally formed.
Quietly, he crept through the tight passage, making sure that each stepped didn't make any sort of echo. He was able to use his katana in the restraint environment so alerting the demon of his presence right now would be the worst thing he could do. Further and further, he journeyed down the winding tunnel with no evidence of stopping any time soon; he reckoned that must be heading straight to the heart of the mountain.
Suddenly, he stopped.
His ears caught a distant sound deep down in the passage, echoing off the walls. He held his breath and listened carefully; it sounded like…crying. Soft, mournful crying.
He continued his trek, although at a faster pace, and listened as the crying got louder as he got closer. He noticed that it wasn't just one person sobbing; there were many voices coming from down the passage. He was now able to pick up what they were saying:
"Let us go."
"Mummy. Help me."
"I'm scared. Get me out of here."
They sounded young and full of fear, causing Michael to walk faster. Eventually, his senses picked up a flow of air movement; it swirled around in front of him before going straight down towards the floor of the tunnel; he sensed the air seep into the mouths and nostrils of five humans trapped beneath a metal grate in the middle of the floor. After a closer inspection, he sensed that they were all young children aged between five to twelve years old.
They were clambered together in a tight oubliette with little space to even sit down; they look tired, starved and looked to be on the verge of death as they wept in their dirty rags. However, Michael sensed something even more horrifying. Parts of their body were missing; one boy had no eyes or nose; another had no arms and one leg; another had no nose or ears. Like with Haru, it was as if they had been ripped off them, leaving behind smooth skin where they body parts should be. It made Michael sick; especially when he noticed that they were forced to stand on another clearly dead body that had no head or torso. They must have been down here for days.
Michael snarled in anger before he reached down and tapped on the metal grate keeping them trapped.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He heard startled gasps and yells from down below; he sensed the boys look up towards him in fear.
"It's fine," he whispered to them, "I'm here to get you out. My name is Michael Timere, I'm going to bring you back to my parents."
The boys remained silent for a few second, seemingly trying to figure out whether he should be trusted.
"But what about the scary lady?" one of then finally said.
"Leave her to me. I'll-"
He stopped suddenly and snapped his head up just in time for a large clawed hand to grab him by the throat and was dragged off his feet down the dark tunnel.
He grunted in pain as he was hauled away into seemingly nowhere; colliding against the hard walls as he went. In one swift move, he got his dagger and stabbed the creature's wrist all the way to the hilt, causing it to scream and shriek and let him go.
He tumbled onto the floor and rolled a few meters before the ground suddenly gave out from underneath him; he reached out and gripped onto the edge he fell off of while he dangled off the side. He used his Breathing and sensed that he entered a deep, cylindrical chamber about five feet wide and was seemingly bottomless.
His instincts screamed at him to move. He leapt off the edge and hit the other side of the chamber just in time before the creature slammed down at where he had been previously hanging. He slid down the chamber, but, luckily, caught onto a handhold that jutted out of the wall.
He used his Breathing and sensed what the giant demon looked like. The top half was of a beautiful pale woman with dressed in a raggedy, old uchikaka robe with long, thick black hair, big round eyes and sharp teeth the poked out from her wide mouth. However, coming out of the bottom of her torso was a long, scaly body with two rows of sharp legs spouting out on either side, resembling the body of a centipede. Her insect-like body wound its way up the walls of the chamber as she hung upside down. He noticed that his dagger was still lodged in her wrist, but she soon pulled out with a sickening sound and tossed dropped it all the way down to the bottom of the chamber; he heard it clanging a few meters down.
She used her hands to push herself off the edge and stared down at him with a sinister smile before she licked her lips with her long, black tongue.
"My, my…what do we have here?" she drawled before she launched herself at him.
As quick as a flash, Michael took a deep breath, pulled himself up and jumped into the air before the demon could catch him. Whilst in mid-air, he unsheathed his sword and, whilst falling back down, swung it for her head, but the demon twisted her body around and avoided the strike at the last moment. He jumped off the side wall and slashed upwards towards where he thought she was, but she managed to dodge again. The demon hissed and grabbed hold of his wrists before slamming him against the wall and knocking his katana out of his hand. The sword fell down to the bottom of the chamber along with his dagger, landing on the floor with a loud clatter.
'Damn it,' he thought, 'there's no wind down here and I don't have enough room to use any of my attacks properly. The only way I could sense her was because of the air entering her lungs, but that's no use if she's too quick.'
He sensed the demon lean down so they were face to face; he heard her hiss in delight as she used her other to tilt his jingasa up slightly.
"Such beautiful red hair," she said before she licked her lips with her long tongue again, "Oh, it would be perfect...if only if I was looking for a husband right now."
Michael reared back his head slightly before he rammed it forwards so the edge of the jingasa hit the demon on the bridge of her nose, making a perfect slice across it. The demon screamed in agony and anger, using her free hand to clutch at her bleeding face. It quickly healed and she pulled her hand away to reveal her snarling face.
"You little brat...it looks like, mummy has to punish you," she growled as she raised her hand, ready to claw at him.
But before she could, Michael uttered a single word.
"Fujiwara."
She stopped and frowned inquisitively, "What did you say?"
"You belonged to the Fujiwara family, didn't you?"
The demon snarled slightly, "Yes...I was once known by the name Fujiwara Chiha. So what?"
"I'm just curious about your goals. Sometimes demons like to take revenge on those who wronged them in the past... but stealing young children and taking away their body parts; what does that have to do with being jilted at your own wedding?"
Chiha blinked at him before a cruel smile spread across her lips, "Oh I see," she giggled, "Let me show you."
With her still holding his wrists over his head, she carried him all the way down to the bottom of the chamber. Once he was at least two feet off the ground, she stopped and twisted him around to the centre. He was confused at first, but he noticed that there was another living being in the chamber.
It was a young boy...or at least shaped to look like a young boy. He wore nothing as he was curled up into a foetal position, revealing his ash grey skin and bald head. He looked...unusual and it took Michael to figure out what it was. One shoulder was larger than the other, the head seemed too big for his shoulders, his limbs didn't seem to match up with each other and his breathing was raggedy as if he was barely clinging onto life. It was as if his body was not naturally formed, but rather he was a patch work of body parts stitched together. Michael looked down at him in utter disgust while Chiha hummed as if she was delighted by the sight of it.
"Isn't my baby beautiful?" she asked.
"What the hell is that thing?" he spat before cringing in pain as her claws dug into his wrists.
"This is my baby...and I am his mother. Ever since I became a demon, I have travelled across the country looking for little boys that are so..." she shivered happily, "...beautiful. My Blood Demon Art allows me to secrete a mud-like substance that can wipe away a body part and I can use it for whatever I want," she explained as her free hand dripped with the same thing he found outside Haru's window, "I collected one piece from each of them. Heart, lungs, liver, organs and so on until I created this. A perfect little baby for mummy to look after. And I was almost done until I heard about my darling little nephew recently had a son. For nine years, I have waited in my cave; waiting for my dear grandnephew to grow up until his right for the picking. He was almost ready...but then the body parts I already took began to decay. Apparently, they don't last for very long once they become detached from the main body. I didn't let it stop me, however, I salvaged all the parts I could save and found new, fresher ones for me to use. I already got my grandnephew's mouth, so all l I need is the final piece... his marvellous silky black hair."
"What's this obsession," Michael snarled, "Building this thing that you call your baby? Why do you need it?"
Chiha reached her head down and whispered into his ear, "You know that my ex-fiancée left me before we could get married...but do you know that's not all he left?" she asked before she kissed his cheek, "He also left behind the child that was in my womb," she told him before she licked his face with her long black tongue.
Michael was shocked when she said that and shivered in disgust as her tongue left a thick coating of saliva on his face. He turned his head down to the path-work boy lying down on the cold, hard ground; he sensed a single tear drop fall from his left eye and drip onto the floor and his mouth move slightly as he now noticing he was whispering two words over and over again. And those words were:
'Kill me.'
"You monster," Michael spat in fury.
"Monster!" she roared, "You are calling me a monster, because all I want is my son back! Once I learned that he left me, my parents forced me to drink a potion that would kill my baby. The only thing that reminded me of him was now taken away from me and they expected me to get on with my life and forget about it," she snarled as if the memory pained her, "Years of being restricted with what I could do, what I'm allowed to say or think finally took a toll on me. I fled my household and into the forest, cursing the Fujiwara name and their pride. I lost my baby, the one and only thing I have done by myself," she took a deep breath to calm herself down, "But...now it's alright. I finally get to have my baby and it's even better because I was able to pick and choose the best parts. And I'll still have a part of the Fujiwara bloodline in him that he rightfully deserves. Once I am done, he will be stronger and better than ever before. He will be mine for eternity and nobody is going to take that away from me," she looked down to see Michael strangely silent; she cocked an eyebrow down at him and shook him slightly, "Respond to me, little brat."
"I've heard enough," he muttered before he swung both legs and slammed them into Chiha's face.
The demon grunted in pain and dropped Michael, allowing him to finally drop to the ground and pick up his dagger that she had dropped earlier. He stepped over the patch-work boy, slid the dagger across the palm of his hand, getting soaked in his blood in the process, before throwing it up at the demon. The dagger struck her gullet, causing her to choke out in surprise.
But suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise as she felt a rush of power flow through her body. She felt her muscles grew stronger, her scaly centipede lower-half grew larger and sharper, her hair became longer and turned bright white and her skin a fiery red. She pulled the dagger out of her throat and immediately the wound healed itself. She looked down at her hands and saw them become larger and sharper, capable to smash solid rocks without any effort. She smiled gleefully; she had never felt so dynamic in her entire immortal life.
Her eyes turned down towards the Slayer who was simply holstering his weapons calmly and sneered down at him, "What...what did you do to me?"
"I have given you some of my blood," he told her, "It's known to make demons like you much stronger."
"Stronger," she muttered to herself; she certainly did feel stronger, but why would he do that for her, "Are you stupid...or is there something you are not telling me."
Michael sighed and shook his head, "I guess this is what you get for living under a rock for all these years."
Chiha hissed and launched herself at him, "TELL ME NOW YOU LITTLE-"
"Stop," he simply commanded.
And suddenly, she stopped. It was as if her muscles weren't responding at all, she could barely move a single inch. Michael, on the other hand, calmly wrapped up his blood stained hand in a bit of cloth before turning his head up to her.
"I'm sorry about what happened to you. But what you are doing is not only wrong, but cruel," he pointed down at the boy, "Look at him. He's not living thing. He's just a bunch of parts stolen from other poor children pretending to be alive. He's suffering, because of you...and I can't allow you to continue any further. Once these parts rot away, you'll continue to pillage more and more innocent children and you'll become what your parents were: murderers. There's no point fighting you in these cramped conditions and so I'll resort to using this. Besides, I need you alive for you to return everything you took from the children," he heard her make a gurgling noise from her mouth, "Speak," he commanded.
"I'll never do that. It's taking me years to collect everything and make it perfect...you are not stopping me from being his mother," she snarled dangerously.
Michael smirked from beneath his jingasa, "I'm sorry to say...but you have no choice. Allow me to demonstrate," he tilted his head to the side, "Bite your own disgusting, putrid tongue off," he ordered.
In her head, Chiha wanted to curse him and bite his head off instead, but to her horror she found herself poking her black tongue out of her mouth voluntarily. She commanded herself to stop and to put it back in, but she then felt her jaws began to open up as her teeth gleamed menacingly. She had no control of her body, nor was able to stop herself.
'No,' she thought desperately, 'This can't be happening. This can't happen to me. I'm supposed to be in control; not him!'
However, no matter how desperately she tried to fight it, her jaws widened and widened until...she snapped her fangs over her own tongue and bit it off in of slice.
She screamed and screamed as her body shook and spasmed in searing pain. Tears fell from her eyes as she saw her own tongue lying on the ground at the Slayer's feet, twitching and convulsing on the cold ground. Michael kicked the long tongue over to the side before turning his back up to the demon.
'I'll definitely won't be feeling guilty about this,' he thought to himself.
Edge of Town
Beneath a tree on the road leading out of town, Michael sensed the towns people rejoice over their returned children. People were gathered in the middle of the main street and watched as the families hugged their children tightly in relief. Mothers cried, fathers smiled happily and siblings laughed as they were finally able to greet their brothers once again. He even sensed the Fujiwara family among the crowd, joining in with the celebration as well with Haru who now had his mouth returned to him.
It has been a few hours since his encounter with Chiha. After torturing for her crimes, he ordered for her to return every single body part to the children and released them from their prison. He then asked if one of them would bring the Fujiwara family over to where they were along with Haru. Once they had arrived, Michael had led the boy into the cave and, once he returned, his parents were thrilled to see that he has now returned to normal. They didn't ask how he did it or what happened; Michael assumed that they were too happy to ask for specifics.
Their child and all the other children had been returned and that's all that mattered.
After they had left for the town, Michael swiftly disposed of Chiha by decapitating her. After everything he had put her through, she barely had the strength to fight back. Once he returned, he sensed the celebration occurring in the small town and thought it was about time he left.
He gave a small smile and turned around, but stopped before he sensed something in front of him.
"Kaze?" he asked in bewilderment as the horse seemed to come out of nowhere. He sighed and shook his head, "Still have no idea how you do that."
He was about to mount the horse when he suddenly heard a voice call out to him.
"Master Timere!" he turned around and sensed Ota running towards him and stop a few feet away, "You're not leaving already? Lord and Lady Fujiwara requested for you to join them for a feast as thanks."
Michael smiled, but shook his head, "That's kind of them, but I need to get going. Tell them that I said thank you."
"I will," Ota said before he bowed lowed, "Thank you for everything you've done. I haven't seen Lord Fujiwara so happy in a long time," Michael used his Breathing and sensed that, indeed, the Lord appeared much happier than when he first met him, laughing and playing with his son while Lady Fujiwara watched on from afar, "Please forgive him for earlier. He's a very private man who doesn't like others intruding on his family's life. I believe he had a difficult time growing up."
Michael frowned slight at that and wondered if Fujiwara actually knew of what happened Chiha, 'I suppose he was quite young at the time. It might be the reason why he was so protective of his family; so people would never discover the Fujiwara's curse,' he sighed wearily, 'I should probably tell him what happened to her…but…" he remembered the overjoyed look on the older man's face as soon as he saw that his son was back to normal, '…I should leave them be and keep the Fujiwara's curse as just as legend…and nothing more,' he decided before turning towards Ota, "He caused no offence, I assure you. If you have anymore trouble, then you know who go contact."
"Of course," the young man said before bowing once more and taking his leave, "I must go now and prepare for the estates' festivities. Good day to you, Master Timere."
Michael waved him goodbye before he mounted Kaze, pulled the reins and headed out of town, leaving the towns people to their celebration. A few miles down the road later, Michael heard the sound of a rushing river running alongside the dirt path and stopped Kaze. He dismounted, unclipped a large wooden box he had hanging of the saddle and took it to the river bank. He used his Breathing to sense if anybody was in the area before he held the box up to his head and unlatched it to reveal the head of Kessen…who had fallen asleep within the box. Michael sighed and shook the box, snapping the demon out of his slumber.
"W-what!? What!?" Kessen stammered before taking notice of the Slayer in front of him, "Oh… I guess I'm still here then."
"Comfortable in there?"
"Not in the slighted, but I had to make do. What happened to the demon?"
"Killed her and returned the children to their families. Did you expect anything else?"
He tutted in reply, "Shame. I was hoping she would eat you and I will finally get out of here," he muttered, "What am I doing here anyway?"
Michael gave him an eerie smile, "Well, since I killed the demon and saved the town, it looks like you have become redundant," he calmly said, causing Kessen to gulp, "After all… I am a demon slayer and there's a demon right in front of me."
Kessen's eyes grew wide in fear and began to tremble slightly, "N-now hold on. You can't kill me. I helped you find the other demon and betrayed my kind's trust. I thought we had an agreement."
"No we didn't. I've been intending to kill you ever since we've meet."
"B-b-but I…I…I don't want to die," he uttered in a panic tone, "P-please! Spare me, Master Timere."
Michael frowned slightly and looked away; in all honesty, he was enjoying how fearful the demon was of him; it was exactly what he wanted to achieve. However, his mind flashed back to his encounter with the ghosts of the former demons; the looks on their faces still haunted him and he became hesitant. Chiha had to die; she was never going to stop her bloody rampage. But Kessen was different; he had posed no threat to anyone and he was pleading him for his life. It was like he was becoming a monster as well.
He promised himself he would be better than that.
That's why he came up with an idea.
Michael turned his head back towards the whimpering demon, "Fine, I'll spare you for now. Since you never eaten or killed a human before, I guess there's no crime you have committed."
"Oh thank you! Lord Timere!" Kessen cried as tears flowed from his eyes, "You are so forgiving! So great!"
"If," Michael snarled, silencing the demon instantly, "You do one thing for me. You will go around this country and find every single demon possible and tell them about me," he leaned in close and whispered in firm voice, "tell them about a Slayer who goes by the name of Michael Timere. With hair of flowing blood, an eyeless face and a katana as sharp as the breeze. Tell them that I will pass judgement on them; if they surrender themselves to me and beg for mercy at my feet then I will be forgiving, but if they stand against me, then they are my enemy. And I will smite them down without a hint of pity. To my allies; I am hope. To my enemies; I am death. Go out and spread my legend and let them know of the name of the Slayer that should all fear; Michael Timere. Do you understand?"
Kessen gulped and nodded as best as he could; his words were so cold, so strong, so effective that he felt like he no choice, but to obey. He truly was unfortunate to encounter him.
"Good," Michael said with a satisfied smile, "Then I will let you go."
Kessen sighed in relief, "Oh good! Thank you so much! I'll do everything you told me to!" he promised, "So, are you going to put me down on the side of the road. I'll be willing to wait until dark to break out and-"
Michael closed the door tightly before he threw the entire thing into the river. Kessen yelled in fright inside the box before it splashed into the water; after a few seconds the wooden box resurfaced again and bobbed along downstream.
"BAAAASSSSSTTTTAAAAARRRRRDDDDDD!" Kessen yelled as he drifted out of sight.
Michael hummed thoughtfully before he turned back and walked towards Kaze, "I wonder if demons can drown," he mused before he mounted the horse and patted his neck to indicate to move.
"CAW! CAW! Emergency! Emergency!"
Michael's attention was caught by the cawing and the fluttering of wings; he turned around and held up his arm just in time for Angellos to land upon it. The corvid was breathing tiredly as if he rushed all the way her, but there was a sense urgency in his tone that made Michael concerned.
"Angellos? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"Emergency at Mount Natagumo -CAW! - Need immediate attention. Several Slayers already lost -CAW!"
"An emergency," he uttered; he's never encountered this before, "Mount Natagumo, I don't think that's too far away. I probably get there by nightfall if we hurry," he patted Kaze gently on the neck, "Full gallop. No time to stop."
Kaze whinnied before he started to run faster and faster down the country paths while Angellos flew on overhead. Michael pulled his jingasa down over his face and held onto the horse's reins, mentally preparing for what is going to meet him there.
However, he will soon learn that this will be no ordinary mission; this will test his limits and push him further than his training has ever prepared him for.
What great horrors he will find…at the mountain of the spiders.
That's it for now.
Not much fighting in this one as I wanted to try something a little different, but I'm saving it all for the next chapter.
It was quite a dark chapter, I had to rewrite it a few times which might explain why it had come out late. Kessen, the utterly useless demon, will come up again in this story and will play a bigger part in an arc that I'm planning on writing,
I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading :)