Chapter 27: Let The Battle Be Joined
Alone in her chamber again, Nike was back on her chair, thinking back to everything that happened in her entire existence up until now. She recalled a time long since past, millions of years ago, when the demons ruled the Earth alongside the dinosaurs, in the time period known by today's humans as the Late Cretaceous, 66 million years ago, coexisting with them in a natural equilibrium in which every lifeform on the planet occupied a specific role in the environment.
That was then she was found by them. Buried in a glacier, kept perfectly preserved for millions of years in a state of suspended animation. For umberknownst by the demons of that time period, despite belonging to their same kind, she was not of their world. Indeed, she came from an even older time period, one in which the demons were completely different from how they appeared then and now. And yet, despite how different her appearance was from the vast majority of her kind, despite the near complete lack of demonic features with the exception of her angel-like wings, she quickly found a new home among these new creatures. At first Nike coudn't believe that these outlandish, animalistic looking creatures were part of the same race as her own and indeed many of the demons at first looked at her in mistrust and doubt, some of them even in disdain at how different and unassuming and simple she looked in comparison to their more intimidating, animalistic and battle-oriented shapes.
However she quickly proved them wrong, not with her physical abilities, which were nothing to write home about but with her psychic powers, powers that she had inherited from her mother. Thanks to them she quickly became renowned among demonkind along with her courage and determination, to the point the only other demon, or rather demoness that surpassed her in terms of those powers was the legendary psychic, Psycho Jenny.
But for her, it was never about ideals and pride. She never harbored such ambitions of grandeur and glory. All she ever cared about was him, Amon. Known by some as the Lord of War, by others as the Demon Knight, feared, admired and revered among his kind for his brutality, love for battle and legendary power. But she, along with those who truly fought at his side knew better. His violent, at times unforgiving and battle-hardened exterior, masked an unusually kind, compassionate and honorable individual,who never killed those who coudn't defend themselves and always spared those who understood and showed honor. That was how he made many friends and allies, some of them even rivals turned into comrades in arms.
And indeed, Amon was the one who found her, along with none other than the Demon Bird herself, Sirene and Kaim. They freed her from her icy prison for no particular reason other than their own interest and curiosity. But before he knew it, Nike's kindness, cheerfulness and eternal gratitude for giving her a second life and home, captured the mighty Amon's heart. Before meeting her, the concepts of mercy and justice meant very little to him. After all the world he grew up in was a cruel and unforgiving one, where might controlled everything.
At the same time, however Zennon rose to power, becoming the strongest of all the demons and their king. It was at that time that he unified the demons under his firm, iron-fisted but just rule, issuing the law that they would never kill each other again for sustenance. It was at that point that God and his followers returned to the Earth and began their genocidal campaign towards the demon race and it was also at that time that Satan betrayed his own father and sided with the demons. Due to how much more powerful he was than even Zennon he quickly assumed the leadership of the demon race and after many long years of war, he managed to drive back his father and his forces from the Earth, saving the demon race but with an extremely high cost in casualties. Satan, however knew far too well that in the future his father would have eventually returned after rebuilding his forces. What's more the many years of the war between angels and demons had completely devastated the planet, bringing all sorts of environmental calamities, dramatically changing the climate which lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs and most of the wildlife. Thus the decision was made to hibernate the demon race for millions of years, waiting for the planet to restore itself, for new life-forms to evolve and repopulate it. Not all the demons remained in hibernation for all those 66 million years though. Many of them would awaken in different points in time to explore the new world before inevitably reentering that state of hibernation.
And so did Nike. But before she could recall a time in which she got out of her hibernation and explored a new world, a familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"I have heard what that little brat said about you."
Her eyes shooting up in surprise, Nike turned towards the gate of her cell and promptly spotted the demoness of seduction, Lilith, standing outside of it, with her trademark confident smile on her purple lips. Nike immediately got up from her chair and turned towards her while narrowing her eyes towards her, a scowl forming on her face before declaring "What do you want? Are you here to berate me too? To berate the feelings i have towards Amon?" clear hostily present in her voice.
However Nike was in for quite the surprise when Lilith simply sighed before her whole serpentine body became enveloped by a purple light before dissappearing and reappearing inside the angelic demoness's prison, startling Nike.
However the lover of Amon calmed down as soon as the smile dissappeared from Lilith's lips and her face softened up before the consort of Atun declared "No. I have come to apologize. For everything we did to you." while closing her crimson eyes taking Nike completely by surprise, for in Lilith's voice remorse and regret could be clearly heard.
Before Nike could ask why Lilith was doing what she was doing right now, the naga-like flower demoness continued "You were always a good friend of mine, Nike. It truly pained me to steal your freedom. I hope you will understand that i only did it to fulfill my lord's wishes." while reopening her eyes and lowering her head towards the ground in regret.
Nike's eyes softened up and all of the hostily she harbored towards Lilith dissappeared immediately as soon as the flower demoness pronounced those words. And she spoke the truth. During the ancient times after the demons had been unified, despite her femme fatale reputation among her kind, Nike saw her for what she truly was. Lilith's manipulative and lustful exterior masked a woman that longed to be loved, to have others she could believe in.
(OST: "Abel's Ark" = Xenosaga Episode III soundtrack = watch?v=LgCmNN5jY6k&t=48s )
"Lilith….." called out Nike in sadness and pity, recalling those times. Back then, most demons feared the flower demoness due to her powers and due to many who had foolishly tried to challenge her and who ended up becoming her prey. However Nike, thanks to her kindness, saw her for what she truly was and the two became friends. They even fought together, side by side against the forces of Heaven in those years of war. When Lilith and Atun abducted her a month ago, she felt betrayed by her. She felt as if all the time she spent with her, the friendship she had cultivated for all those eons ultimately was nothing to the demoness of seduction. And there she was, apologizing to her for everything she and her lord had put Nike through.
"I am sorry, Nike. I never wanted any of this to happen. You were the first living being who ever treated me with kindness…. I hope that one day you will forgive me for e-" began Lilith once again in sadness and regret but before she could finish, Nike walked towards her and placed her delicate left hand on the pale, creamy-skinned naga-like flower demoness's right cheek, causing Lilith to lift her gaze back up and meet Nike's green eyes which were now filled with warmth.
The angel-like demoness then smiled soothingly and grabbed Lilith's black root-like left hand with her right one before declaring soothingly "It's okay. You only did it because your lord asked you to. I can tell that you would do anything for Atun and i will never hate you for that. After all, i would have done the same thing for Amon if he would have wished to." her voice filled with empathy towards the pale, flower demoness in front of her. Nike figured it out immediately: Lilith was ultimately driven by her love towards Atun. She would have done everything for him, even killing her own kind if it meant fulfilling his wishes. Love after all, was the most powerful of all emotions, stronger than even hatred and wrath, a force so strong that all reason would become blind to it.
Lilith closed her eyes again as a single tear fell from her left one and her purple lips began to tremble in guilt. Nike had immediately forgiven her for everything she was put through this month. And now she was empathising with her because she had understood, that much like her, all Lilith truly cared about was Atun, the demon she loved. She and Lilith were exactly the same. Two women enslaved by love. Sometimes the same emotion who would unite two people for the rest of their lives would also hurt them. Such was the duality of the most powerful of all emotions.
"I….. I love him… I love him with all of my heart….. But…. No matter how much i tried….. No matter everything i have done for him all this time…. He….. he never returned it to me….." spoke again Lilith, more tears coming down on her face, her voice beginning to crack and fill with sadness and overwhelming passion. No longer bearing to see her like this, Nike pulled Lilith's humanoid upper body into an embrace and allowed her to rest her head with the enclosed orange flower she had as hair on her left shoulder, burying her face in it. Lilith always hated to show herself in this state. She was the demoness of seduction and lust, renowned among her kind for her femme fatale attitude, powers and accomplishments. But no matter how much she tried to deny it, how she tried with all of her might to keep her calm, manipulative exterior, just like the rest of her kind, she was a sentient being, fully capable of feeling and expressing emotions, not a mindless animal.
Still with her head buried in Nike's shoulder, Lilith whimpered "All i ever wanted….. Was to be with him…..But….. All he wants is settle his feud with Amon….. but what will it even bring him? What will he profit from that?" she then wrapped her black hands made out of root around the angelic woman before declaring "This is not what i wanted….. All i ever wanted… WAS HIS LOVE!" she finally wailed, her voice cracking completely, turning into sobs of despair and sorrow. Nike was the only individual who Lilith ever allowed to see her like this. She was the only one who had ever treated the flower demoness with this much kindness, besides the one she loved and in return Lilith only allowed Nike in all these eons to see her for what she truly was: a woman desperate for love, for affection.
Nike merely closed her green eyes and shed tears of sadness and empathy for her friend. It truly was unfortunate that a mere feud between their two lovers had led them to where they were now.
She then put her right hand on the back of Lilith's head, caressing her orange petals before uttering soothingly "I forgive you, Lilith. You were always a friend to me, never an enemy. And i am sorry. If only Atun could have opened his eyes and see how pointless all of this was, none of this would have happened. But whatever may happen, know this: i will never blame you for any of this. Never."
Nike's words caused Lilith to gasp, taken completely by surprise, her eyes widening up before they softened and began to shake in disbelief and affection. Those words hit her deeply, brought her warmth in her heart. She believed that Nike would have forever hated her for what happened, for what she did to her last month, for stealing her freedom, for betraying the friendship created and cultivated for millions of years. And yet here she was, being cradled in the lover of Amon's arms and being forgiven. Truly the kindness of the angelic demoness knew no bounds.
Crying no more, Lilith pulled herself out of the embrace and her crimson eyes met Nike's green ones. Now holding her friend by her arms, Lilith spoke "I envy you Nike. You were able to win Amon's heart with your kindness. You changed him into the noble and honorable warrior he became." first with warmth which then turned into melancholy "I wish i could have done the same to Atun." She declared, while averting her eyes from Nike's own and lowering her head downwards in regret.
Nike gave her friend another reassuring smile before replying "Well, Atun was never like Amon. He was always defined by his pride and arrogance. But i am sure that deep down, there is good in him. Why else would he have rescued you all those eons ago? Why else would he have wanted to have you at his side?" she asked her, causing Lilith to lift her gaze back into Nike's eyes, her crimson ones along with her lips widening in realisation.
The flower demoness could only listen speechless as Nike caressed her right cheek with her left hand and declared "Deep down, in his own way, he cares about you, Lilith. I am sure that there is a place for you in his heart. You just have to be patient and persevere. I am sure that one day he will return your love." her voice as serene and as soothing as that of a caring mother comforting its child.
Nike's angelic, encouraging voice, brought happiness in Lilith's heart. It reminded her of her reason for living. Like Nike, for her ultimately it was never about the glory of battle or to be admired or feared. All she ever wanted was to be with Atun, the only demon that ever captured her heart.
(Soundtrack Ends)
The flower demoness returned the smile while placing her right black hand on Nike's left one before gently removing it from her cheek. She then spoke "Nike… Thank you. You have given me hope." her voice full of gratitude for the simple gesture of kindness and empathy that the winged demoness did for her. Then she turned around and slithered for a few meters away but before she took her leave, she turned her head back towards Nike and spoke "Amon is coming for you. And he is not alone. Whatever may happen between him and my lord, i will pray that at least he will rescue you." her voice now filled with concern for her friend but at the same time encouragement, aiming to give her friend hope.
Nike simply nodded, her smile having dissappeared, resolve and determination filling her eyes and face. She then replied "I will. Now go. They must not know of our friendship. That boy and his four henchmen are truly evil. God only knows what they might do if they were to find out. For now i will endure my captivity a bit more." urging her friend to leave.
Lilith simply let out a confident but at the same time gentle smile at her friend before declaring "Stay strong, Nike. And let me assure you: that brat has no idea of what he is playing with. His over-inflated ego will ultimately prove to be his undoing." in an equally confident and encouraging tone. And with that, she became enveloped in the purple light, teleported outside of Nike's cell and left, leaving the winged demoness alone again.
Nike was overjoyed and heartwarmed by what had just happened. After Atun and Lilith stole her freedom, she felt betrayed by the latter, thought that all those eons she spent with her didn't matter in the slightest to the flower demoness. And yet, Lilith had come to her to apologize for everything she had put her through in this month of captivity and even opening up to her, just like she used to do all those eons ago, expressing her grief and sorrow, withheld within her manipulative and lustful exterior. No matter how much time had passed, how much the world had changed, one thing hadn't: the friendship between Nike and the demoness of lust and seduction. Little did she know that soon fate would have changed that.
And with that, Nike sat back on her chair, her resolve strenghtened, assured that not only Amon was coming for her, he had brought some allies with him.
Meanwhile, at the forest
With the element of surprise now lost, Akira and Jun were now leaping through the tall trees of the forest, jumping from branch to branch, with the agility of a leopard, courtesy of their strong and athletic demonic bodies. However, they still decided to avoid flying over the trees for now. Despite their enemies now fully aware that they were coming, by leaping from tree to tree, under the cover of their foliage, it would make finding them more challenging for them instead of just flying over them which would allow them to spot them and catch them off guard.
It wasn't all that hard for Jun to keep up with her boyfriend but it wasn't all that easy either. But despite that, she found it oddly entertaining to just leap from tree to tree like a monkey, following after Akira. It was almost like a race, or like a predator chasing after its prey. The rush of adrenaline, the sharpening of all her senses and the fast pacing of her movements coupled with how much her gaze was focused on Akira's own movements and the challenge of having to keep up with him was all fascinating and intriguing. Being able to move with such grace and agility made her feel free, as if she was born to move like this. And deep down, she liked it, even though she wasn't supposed to, due to her not having been actually born to be capable of such speed and agility.
It was in part due to how much she had become more confident and sure of herself ever since she met Akira due to how his kind, cheerful and laid-back personality had influenced her, how it made her more extroverted, how it allowed her to come out of the shell she had been boxed in due to everything she went through. This before she witnessed how strong he was, how cocky, confident and nonchalant he was in battle and how those even she struggled with in her early days as the Devil Lady were nothing but pests to him.
Yet, no matter how emboldened she was by Akira's demonstration of power from earlier, no matter how much her confidence was boosted by knowing that her boyfriend was as strong as her if not more, inside, Jun was still deeply troubled and disheartened by what had happened ever since she witnessed the two corpses on the traffic light. For some strange, inexplicable reason, the enemies she had vanquished had returned. And they were still intending to finish what they had started. But why did they come back? What was it that brought them back to life? Surely it wasn't that swan-like beast, who could bring back the dead: she died along with the rest of her comrades when Jun vanquished Satoru's fused, Giga form.
"This doesn't make any sense. I watched all of them die. Why did they come back?" she mused in her mind in a mix of anger, disheartement and concern while still leaping from branch to branch. She had done everything in her power and lost everything to defeat them, to bring peace between the two races. Unless…..
No, it coudn't be because of that.
When Asuka cast her in the fiery pits of hell, she came across a gigantic cross of biomass containing the souls of all the beasts she killed, including Satoru and his henchmen. He proceeded to taunt her, telling her that it was all her fault and that it was what she deserved for turning her back on those of her own kind. In a fit of anger, Jun crushed the face of his body embedded in the cross but immediately afterwards, she was ensnared by tentacles of biomass that bound her to that cross. Overcome by trauma, sorrow and despair, Jun was about to allow herself to dissappear, to rot forever in the depths of hell, until she heard Kazumi's voice. Encouraging her to move on, to decide her own choices, Kazumi gave her the strength to merge with the souls of the fallen beasts, gaining the power she used to come back from the dead and after a grueling and intense battle, to vanquish Asuka once and for all.
And afterwards, as soon as the God Child dissappeared in a blast of light, as the Devil Lady let out a final scream of sorrow at her victory, seen by all the people of the city and as she returned to her human form, Jun felt all that power dissappearing from her. And after finally bringing back peace to the world, she wandered off into the city, dissappearing from history, but not out of the minds of all the people who witnessed that climatic battle and who would forever remember the Devil Lady as their saviour.
But that power, ultimately was comprised of the souls of all the beasts that died by her hand. Could it be….. that by letting go of it, by unwillingly forsaking it…. She brought them back? Were all of her efforts truly in vain?
Meanwhile, Akira who was in front of her, despite leaping from tree branch to tree branch had noticed how concerned and nervous the woman he loved was after glancing towards her. And he coudn't blame her for it. After all, who woudn't feel that way at the prospect of having to go through the same kind of hell she was put through again? At having to fight once again the same monsters that were thought to have been vanquished and that had somehow come back from the dead?
But at that moment, Akira's ears caught up a sound. Had it not been for his Devilman form's enhanced hearing, he would have missed it entirely. It sounded like a crow caw only much more high-pitched and more monstrous. What's more, it was a caw of pain, not a calling caw or a battle cry.
As soon as Akira's ears picked up that sound, he leapt from the branch he was in, landing on the ground on his feet, crouching slightly, taking Jun by surprise.
As she landed at his side the same way, she asked him "What's wrong? Have y-"
She coudn't finish asking her question. Akira turned towards her and put his left pointer finger on his lips, silently telling her to be quiet which she did. And sure enough, after a few seconds another crow shriek was heard, this time by both of them.
"Did you hear that?" asked Akira earning a nod from his girlfriend, whose golden eyes had widened slightly in surprise as soon as she heard that second shriek. He then spoke again "This way." while motioning her to follow him as he walked towards the direction those shrieks came from.
He then came towards a large bush and crouched down, slowly and quietly making his way through the foliage while moving aside the many leaves in his way. Jun simply followed him, moving as quietly as he did while using her hands to part aside the many leaves that obscured her view. The more they made their way through the foliage they could hear many more sounds, many more shrieks, roars, battle cries and even some thunderous stomps that shaked the earth sligthly. And as they both came at the other end of the bush and slowly moved a few more leaves away but not too many in order to remain as hidden as they possibly could while at the same time being able to get a look at what was in front of them, they saw that beneath them there was a large clearing and they were standing above a small eight meter tall cliff.
Then their eyes widened in surprise and shock and their jaws dropped as soon as they saw what was happening in the clearing before them.
"Kaim?! What is he doing here?!" was all Akira could utter out in astonishment, not believing his own two eyes. And indeed in the center of the clearing, the large pachyderm demon equipped with those two gigantic one and a half meter long straight horns stood mighty and proud, surrounded and circled on both the air and the ground by 18 of what Akira could only describe as humanoid, two-meter tall crows covered in jet-black plumage and purple scales on their lower hands and legs that had a sharp purple beak and two very large pupiless yellow eyes in comparison to the size of their heads.
What's more, on the ground of the clearing, Akira could also see six corpses of those humanoid crows, some with a gaping hole in their chest, one with its head missing entirely, another one crushed, with some of its organs and bones spilling out of its body while a seventh one of those slain crows had been flung straight into a sharp tree branch and now hanged there, impaled through the head by said branch.
Akira was greatly impressed. Despite being outnumbered 25 to one, not only had Kaim taken out six of those crows all by himself, he had received little to no damage because Akira could clearly see that although there were several shallow indents and claw marks on the pachyderm demon's skin, those crows's sharp beaks and claws were not strong or sharp enough to penetrate Kaim's armored, indian rhino-like skin.
Jun also was surprised to spot and recognise the same majestic pachyderm creature who prevented Akira and Sirene from fighting each other and who confessed his love to the Demon Bird, but as soon as her golden eyes also spotted those numerous humanoid crows, her face filled itself with great dismay and vexation.
"T… Those crows….." she spoke, clear bewilderment and resentment being heard in her voice, immediately recognizing those bird-like beasts and remembering far too well how they were the ones that not only murdered that private investigator Shiro Sakazawa who investigated Jun on the belief that she was the one who killed his daughter when in fact Satoru was the one to do it for the mere petty reason that she refused to play with him, but also were responsible for kidnapping Kazumi for the first time, luring Jun out into a trap, dropping a net on her and stabbing her repeatedly with their sharp beaks.
Akira immediately turned towards Jun as soon as she uttered those words and asked in concern "You know them Jun?" the Devil Lady simply nodded, without even turning towards him before replying "Yeah. Those are Satoru's Crows. They used to be his bodyguards before he started to recruit more powerful allies. But i've never seen so many of them before." her voice becoming more anxious and resentful with each word, while putting her left hand on her left side, clutching it upon recalling the pain those sharp beaks inflicted her.
Now knowing that those humanoid crows were beasts and upon noticing how much anxiety and dread was present in her voice, Akira gently put a hand on Jun's right shoulder and asked "How strong are they?" snapping Jun back to reality with a slight gasp, before she calmed down, turned her golden eyes towards him and replied "On their own, not very much. I could easily take on two or three of them at the same time." she then focused her gaze back on the standoff between Kaim and the crow beasts and continued "However their strength lies in their numbers. The more they are, the more dangerous they are. Not only that but they are able to coordinate their attacks with great efficiency."
Akira simply nodded and then turned his gaze back towards the ongoing battle, watching as two of those crows attempted to strike the pachyderm demon from behind with their beaks, only for Kaim's long, whip-like tail to lash out at them, slapping them away. Two more of them, took off and tried to attack him from above on his left but Kaim, quick on his four legs, turned towards it faster than they charged at him and swatted them away, hitting them with the outer side of its left horn, hurling them towards a rock. The crows struck it and were momentarily knocked on the ground, but two more simply took their places
With a smile forming on his lips, Akira took his hand off Jun's shoulder and spoke "Well, he seems to be doing just fine on his own." impressed at how quick on his feet Kaim was in spite of his large size and quadrupedal posture. However that armored skin of his would only protect him for so long. With so many of those nimble beasts attacking him at the same time, it would only be a matter of time before one of them would score a lucky hit on his head or on the purple tissue that covered his neck, the two most vulnerable parts of his body.
Having made his decision, he looked back towards Jun and declared "But i doubt he'll come out completely unscathed if this keeps up. Let's give him a hand." the Devil Lady nodded and simply watched as Akira crossed his arms over his upper chest, with his palms facing inside towards his front shoulders, electricity crackling from his forehead as an orb of blue energy began to form in front of his widow's peak, beneath his two horn-like antennas.
Jun was surprised. She quickly realised that much like her, he could generate energy and he could, most-likely use it to fire energy blasts. Understanding exactly what he was intending to do, she smiled slightly and spoke "I see. You intend to take out at least one of them with a surprise attack before charging in. In that case….." she paused while turning back towards the ongoing battle in the clearing before her and extending her right arm forwards, putting her pointer and middle finger together, mimicking the shape of a handgun while gripping her wrist with her left hand. Akira then glanced towards her and watched as sparks of electricity crackled around Jun's wrist and fingers before a blue sphere of energy much like the one he had generated in front of his forehead, formed in front of her pointer and middle fingers.
She then declared "I have just the right attack for this." slight smile still on her lips, before taking aim. Akira then focused his gaze on the nearest crow he could see and also took aim before declaring with a devious chuckle "Hehehehe….. They won't even know what hit them."
As Akira and Jun were preparing to fire their blasts, three crows attacked Kaim from the front. The pachyderm demon then roared "FOUL BEASTS!" and procedeed to swat the first two away with his horns, inflicting slash wounds on their chest with the tip of his horns before rearing up on his hind legs, raising his whole body to a height of five meters before bringing it back down, crushing the third crow to death with his left forelimb, purple blood, organs and bones splattering on the ground.
Although he had taken out eight of those crows, Kaim was beginning to get worried. In spite of receiving little to no damage from their beaks and claws thanks to his armored skin, their continued and sustained assault was beginning to tire him due to how many times he had circled on his feet to reply to every single attack that came from any direction. For now he had opted not to use his power over lightning in order to conserve his strength for the battles that were sure to follow this one.
"I have no other choice. I must resort to my lightning in order to finish this quickly. I have already wasted too much time here." mused the pachyderm demon to himself in concern. Then Kaim noticed that two crows with a battle shriek had taken off and were swooping towards him from behind. But before the pachyderm demon could channel his energy in his tail and strike them…..
"DEVIL ARROW!"
"DEVIL BEAM!"
As soon as those roars came, Kaim could only watch in great surprise as a blue arrow-shaped projectile of energy and a blue beam of energy struck the two crows in midair. The arrow-shaped projectile tore the crow it struck apart in a large explosion of fire, blood and body parts while the blue beam of energy punched through the other crow's chest, creating a gaping hole in its feathered chest where the heart was before it moved on and struck a tree directly in its path before detonating and destroying said tree.
(OST: "Invitation to the Charm of Darkness" = Darkstalkers OVA soundtrack = watch?v=SW_2wAhMJxQ )
As soon as the bloody remains of the crow struck by the arrow projectile and the corpse of the crow struck by the beam of energy fell to the ground, Kaim, along with all the other crows then turned towards the directions those blasts came from.
As soon as they did, they all could only watch as Akira leapt out of the bush on the eight meter tall cliff, landed right in front of the crow nearest to him and swiftly snatched it by the head with his right hand, sinking his claws on the crow's large yellow eyes and face. He then lifted it off the ground and the crow could only twitch and shake uncontrollably as Akira with a wide, toothy grin and a snarl swiftly tightened his grip and crushed its head, causing it to explode in a shower of purple blood, bones, and brain matter while all of its comrades could only watch in horror and disbelief as the now headless slain beast fell backwards, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
"AKIRA!" Exclaimed Kaim in amazement and incredulity, elated to recognise his friend, who, against all expectations had come to his aid. The spitting image of Amon then proclaimed "KAIM! WE HAVE COME TO HELP YOU!" in a reassuring and triumphant voice.
Then two more crows in front of him took off, intending to attack Akira from above. Kaim then watched in utter astonishment and bewilderment as out of the same bush Jun came out, wings spreaded and intercepted the crows mid-air before they had any chance to execute their attack on Akira. Electricity flowed on her furred forearms before the fur on the back of those forearms turned into a pair of sharp blades with a blue outline. She then used them to cut the two crows apart, mid-air with two swift slashes.
"T-that woman…" muttered Kaim in disbelief as the two slain crows, with their stomach slashed open fell to the ground, his yellow eyes wide open upon recognising the woman who was also present on that night, more than a week ago, when he managed to confess his love to Sirene. Even though he was dead-set on opening Sirene's eyes, he had in fact taken notice of that woman, of that powerfully-built demoness (or at least he believed her to be one) that bore a staggering and astonishing resemblance to Amon but he had kept that for himself. Until now.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by two crows swooping down towards him. Having decided that he had already wasted too much time, he fired a bolt of purple lightning at the first one, frying it to death with the millions volts of energy present in that bolt, causing its large yellow eyes to explode. But before he could take out the second one, Akira jumped on it from behind and latched himself on the shorter crow's back. He then grabbed its beak with his right hand and its neck with his left hand and swiftly twisted the crow's neck, breaking it and turning its beak 180 degrees, now facing on the crow's back.
As the two crows fell to the ground, Akira landed right in front of Kaim, who smiled at him and spoke "It would seem that our paths have once again crossed, Akira." with politeness and delight in his deep voice upon seeing his friend again.
Akira returned the smile before replying "Glad to see you again my friend." in an equally polite tone. Both of them then turned back towards the remaining crows that now stood before them while at the same time, Jun landed in front of them several meters away, now standing in between them and the crows after having unsuccesfully bombarded them from above with her energy beams and smacking a few of them back to the ground who tried to bring her down.
Kaim was left utterly speechless by Jun's physical appearance. She almost looked exactly like Akira and by extension, like Amon. Then Jun glanced towards them before declaring stoically "Watch out for their sharp beaks." before turning back towards the crows in front of her and charging towards them with a loud roar.
Still stunned, Kaim turned his head towards Akira and asked him "Akira, who is she? And why does she look so much like you?" his voice full of astonishment and disbelief. The spitting image of Amon simply smiled at him before replying "It's a long story." then his smile dissappeared as soon as it came replaced by a serious look before he declared "I'll tell you later. Right now we have some chickens to pluck. Let's help her out." and with that Kaim nodded at him and they joined back into the fray, Akira going after the crows on his left while Kaim charged towards those on his right.
After punching through a crow's abdomen with her right fist, another one tried to attack her from behind. However Jun, having already noticed it simply growled, spun around and backhanded it on the head with her left palm, hurling it several meters away and causing it to crash on a nearby rock, temporarily knocking it out.
That last crow was all a distraction however, because two more crows attacked her at the same time from both the right and the left. Having no time to take off and quick on her thinking, a grin formed on her lips. She then focused her inner energy and the fur of her wings glowed blue before turning into blades much like those she had on the back of her forearms. She then swiftly spun around in a circle like a dancer, slicing the two crows in half with her outstretched wings.
Akira, who had witnessed Jun's feat after ripping a crow's head in half by pulling its lower beak with his right hand and the upper beak with his left hand apart, was left utterly speechless, his mouth agape slightly.
"Amazing….. She can form blades out of the fur on her forearms and wings." He mused in his mind, very impressed by what he had seen. Not only were they a very effective weapon for close combat but the fact that Jun could also use her wings in the same way and given how large they were, they were also well suited for a more defensive role apart from offering a longer reach. And Jun's graceful and elegant agility and speed meant that there were many different ways she could use them.
He was pulled out of his stupor by another crow which was swooping down towards him. Caught completely off-guard Akira resorted to one of the powers he woudn't use as often as the others given how it normally woudn't work against stronger and more difficult opponents. He brought his arms to his sides, hands curled into fists, before puffing up his chest. He felt a burning flame building up inside him and as the crow was a mere two meters away from striking him, Akira opened his mouth and a torrent of fire erupted from it, incinerating the crow instantly
This time it was Jun's turn to be left astonished. As soon as she witnessed Akira breathing fire like a dragon, reducing that crow to ashes right after she sliced apart those other two crows, her golden eyes and mouth widened in awe and admiration.
"No way….. He can breathe fire?" was all she could utter in utter wonder, her admiration of him growing even more. Just like when she thought Akira coudn't amaze her any further. The man she loved could also breath fire like a dragon.
She was pulled out of her trance of amazement by two crows attacking her from above the left and right. She took off and sliced the one on her left apart with her left Cutter but the other one struck her from behind, raking her back with its claws and causing her to crash down on the ground. Grunting slightly in pain, she was in the process of getting up when the crow began a second attack run towards her.
It coudn't complete it however. For a soon as Jun was beginning to turn back towards it, the crow was gored through the side by Kaim's left horn, the pachyderm demon having charged faster than a train towards her, coming to her aid after swatting aside three crows that foolishly attempted to attack him from the front at the same time.
As Kaim ran that unfortunate crow through with his horn before halting as soon as he had done so, his yellow eyes met Jun's golden ones. The Devil Lady could only stare in awe and amazement with her mouth and eyes wide open, as the majestic, proud and imposing pachyderm demon now stood before her, crow still embedded deeply in his left horn, mere meters apart from her.
And while Kaim hid it with his stoic and emotionless expression on his face, Jun had taken his breath away. Now that he had taken a better look at her, he was shocked to see just how much she resembled Akira and by extension, Amon. Not to mention how beautiful she was, what with her statuesque phisique, golden eyes, head wings and all. Could she be the one he had heard so much about?
He was pulled out of his thoughts by another crow that he spotted coming towards Jun from the back. His eyes then narrowed before he ordered "Get down." before he began to whip his tail around, channeling electricity around it before it engulfed it completely. Having heard the crow shrieking behind her, Jun did as Kaim asked before he lashed his tail towards the crow, impaling it through the chest with it before he discharged all the electricity he had channeled into it, electrocuting the crow to death.
Jun then turned around and watched with even more surprise and awe as the crow struggled in vain as Kaim's lightning fried it alive. As Kaim retracted his tail, Jun stood up, turned towards him and with a grateful smile on her lips, she spoke "Thank you." her golden eyes softening at him, filled with gratitude.
Kaim was taken aback even more at how beautiful even her voice was. Nonetheless, he kept his usual stoic expression, nodded and declared "Glad to be of any assistance." before his eyes caught what Akira was up to.
Noticing Kaim's gaze shifting, Jun also turned around and watched as Akira was about to stomp a crow he had just thrown on the ground when another came from behind and grabbed him by snaking its arms under his armpits and holding his own arms immobile. Akira however was stronger than it and managed to break his right arm free of the crow's hold and proceeded to slam his right elbow on the crow's gut, causing it to let go, spit purple blood and causing it to stagger a few feet backwards, clutching its abdomen in pain.
With a wide, devilish smile, Akira taunted "Did you really think that would work on me?" before he immediately launched himself towards it with shocking ferocity and immobilized the crow by grabbing its right arm with his left hand and its left shoulder with his right hand. Holding it in place, Akira growled like a wild animal before he opened wide and sank his sharp teeth on the crow's right eye, causing it to screech in agony as purple blood began to gush out of the bitten sight organ. The crow beast struggled and shrieked in an effort to free itself but it was useless and its cries fell on deaf ears. Tightening his grip and his muscles, Akira tore the large eyeball off the socket with his jaws, with the optical nerve still attached, causing a geyser of purple blood to erupt from the now empty eye socket. The crow let an even louder scream of utter agony before it fell backwards on the ground, colvulsed for a few moments before drawing its last breath due to how much blood it lost in the span of mere seconds.
(soundtrack ends)
As Kaim stormed off to give Akira a helping hand as three last remaining crows were preparing to attack the half-devil from behind, Jun was left utterly shocked and petrified, her jaw hanging wide open at the display of brutality showcased by Akira. He didn't even sound human. His growls, movements and even his eyes expressed so much ferocity and unbridled savagery that it chilled her to the core. Not only that, but the wide, sadistic, toothy smile on his lips as he immobilized, bit and ripped that crow's eyeball off terrified her. Was it even him? Or was it Amon, the demon he had conquered, temporarily coming out and taking over, eclipsing his reason and judgement much like what would happen to her whenever the beast within would take over, momentarily taking away her sanity and awareness?
She was so petrified by what she had witnessed, so taken aback that she didn't even notice one last crow, the same one she had punched through the abdomen before and that had now recovered, attacking her from behind. Its shriek gave Jun just less than two second to blink, gasp and slightly turning around before it sank its sharp beak in the space between right inner shoulder and neck, missing her right carotyd artery only by a few inches while at the same time, putting its arms around her neck in a head-lock in order to strangle her.
Jun threw her head back and screamed in pain, her golden eyes shooting wide open, causing Akira, who had just spit away the eyeball he had ripped off to turn his gaze towards her. Right as concern filled his face and he called out "Jun!" in a mix of panic and worry as soon as he witnessed blood beginning to spurt out of her lower neck and inner shoulder and before he could come to her aid, he saw it for the first time.
The beast within.
As the instinct of survival and self-preservation took over, Jun let out a monstrous roar which caused the remaining three crows along with Kaim to stop dead in their tracks. They all stood and watched as she swiftly snatched the crow by one of its eyes with her left hand causing it to twitch and shriek uncontrollably upon being grabbed by its highly sensitive visual organ. Growling even more she tightened her grip and grabbed the avian beast's neck with her right hand before tossing it over her shoulder onto the ground before her with little to no effort.
She didn't even give it time to blink in pain upon being forcefully slammed into the ground. She lifted her left furred, clawed foot off the ground and with another mighty roar, brought it down on the crow's head, crushing it slightly. But that was only the beginning. She raised it once more and brought it down again. And again. And again.
And with each stomp, her toothy scowl turned into a wide, unhinged, monstrous smile and she began to chuckle evily. Akira could only watch in utter shock and disbelief, only barely managing to keep his jaw from dropping as the woman he loved turned into a completely different person. No, it wasn't even a person. It was something else. Something powerful and unrestrained, longing for violence and blood.
"J-Jun…" was all he could feebly mutter out, his black eyes wide open in shock and disbelief as Jun's chuckle turned into a maniacal and deranged laugh as she finally brought her foot down one last time, disintegrating the crow's head beyond recognition and causing its purple blood to drench a good portion of her statuesque body. Then she simply straightened her body and looked on at her handiwork, grinning in satisfaction at what she had done.
Kaim on the other hand was taken aback by how sudden that woman's personality had changed, by how quickly it had gone from focused and stoic to unhinged, chaotic, violent and primal. Then again, he had fought alongside all sorts of warmongers and bloodthirsty warriors, Amon and Sirene included in spite of their noble qualities. Still the sudden shift from her focused, emotionless behaviour to the unhinged and monstrous frenzy she had just unleashed was quite the shocking and frightening sight to behold.
Having lost their composure and overcome by fear and dread upon witnessing one of their own having his eye ripped off by its socket by Akira and gruesomely bleeding out to death and then watching another one of them being brutally stomped to death by the demonic amazon, the other three crows took off to the skies and beat a hasty retreat. Kaim decided not to pursue them, given that he had already wasted too much time here and he had to save his strength and energy for the battles that were surely to come.
For the first time, Akira had witnessed it. That primal, animalistic, unrestrained side of hers. Watching Jun apparently losing her sanity and awareness, giving in to the beast within, becoming nothing more than a predatory animal, driven only by bloodlust chilled him to the core. It wasn't like him, who despite being in full control of himsef, greatly enjoyed inflicting pain and suffering to those who deserved it. No, Jun's demonic side was something that could not be fully controlled. A creature driven solely by its lust of blood and violence completely devoid of any reason and sanity.
"Jun… Now i understand…..This is what you meant…." he mused in his mind, a solemn, stern and comtemplative look forming on his face and eyes. Everything Jun told him came back to him at that moment. After witnessing the cackling madness of lust and savagery she had descended into, he now knew why she was so afraid of herself, afraid of losing control, afraid of hurting those she cared about, now including even himself. Being told all this was one thing. Witnessing it with his own two eyes was a completely different thing. And yet, in spite of all of this, witnessing Jun's inner beast in action for the first time wasn't what scared Akira the most.
No matter how much he tried to deny it, he was fascinated, enthralled by it. The unhinged, savage laugh, the unbridled ferocity, the purple blood drenching her powerful, statuesque body….
And that smile. Dear God, that wide, sadistic, toothy smile. It deeply aroused him. It brought back instincts he hadn't felt in 20 years, ever since his early days as Devilman. Instincts of lust and desire. The same instincts that made him more perverted at first around Miki, instincts that with time, he learned to fully suppress and control. But those golden cat-like eyes… those powerful muscles drenched in blood… those claws and fur…..
No. This wasn't him. He knew for a fact that this was all Amon's doing. That was the part of him that Jun's inner beast had aroused. And it felt wrong. He shoudn't be THIS aroused by something so uncontrollable, unrestrained and primal. But unfortunately for him, even in that state, Jun was still the vision of beauty to him, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
He now understood perfectly why Jun tried to shun him away, what she truly meant when she said "I don't want you to suffer because of me". But none of that mattered to him. He loved her. He loved her with all of his heart. And he was as strong as her, if not more. If the need shall ever arise, he will be there to calm her down, to comfort her, to bring her back to reason even if he will have to use force to do so. He will always be there for her, even when occasions such as the one that just unfolded before his eyes will repeat themselves. For he shared a burden similar to her own. The burden of being a Devilman. And this time he will be there to bear her own along with all of her pain and sorrow. But to do so, he will have to better control himself, to keep his more violent tendencies at bay for he feared that sooner or later they will affect her too.
At the same time, after only silence reigned for what seemed like minutes, Jun regained her awareness and sanity, retracted her wings and was now looking at the corpse of the crow she had just stomped to death, her grin having dissappeared, replaced by a apprehensive frown. She tried to keep an emotionless face, but her wide eyes and her lips slightly parted away, betrayed her stoic expression. Once again, she had given in to the beast within and even though she felt no pity towards the vile creature she had just slain given what it and its kind were responsible for in the past and present, she was shocked and appalled to realise that she had lost control of herself again.
Over time she had learned to fully control the beast within, after she lost everything, Kazumi included. She believed that her pain and sorrow was what had finally allowed her to conquer that side of hers, to finally put it under control once and for all. She was dead wrong. The anger and the outrage she felt upon learning that the same monsters who took everything away from her had returned and were intending to finish what they had started, was what brought it back. And now it broke free of her control again. Only now was she beginning to realise that the beast inside her wasn't only driven by the instinct of preservation and survival. It was driven by anger, by a desire of retribution, by a desire to make those who were the true monsters suffer.
She then looked at her hands, covered in purple blood, the same way she did the night she awoke for the first time as her self-doubt and loathing came back. Was it truly all for nothing? Was all the struggle of pain and sadness she went through, between her humanity and the beast, all for nothing? Was there truly no way to escape her true nature? Was this what she truly was cursed to remain for the rest of her existence?
"Akira…" she mused in her mind, all of her thoughts drifting towards the man she loved. He told her that he will never leave her side. He wanted to bear all of her pain, all her sorrow and grief. The question was: how will he be able to deal with this side of hers in the long term? She could tell from what she witnessed earlier that he had similar issues to her. Maybe the demon he had fused with, Amon had also given him such trouble in the past? From what she could tell though, he seemed to be mostly in control of it, apart from that exaggerated display of brutality from earlier. She will have to talk about that to him once they would be done rescuing all those people. For she feared that his burden wasn't all that different from hers.
After what seemed like an eternity of introspection from both the Devilman and the Devil Lady, Kaim's voice pulled Akira out of his thoughts.
"Once again, i find myself in your debt, Akira." the half-devil then put his thoughts aside, turned on his right and saw that the pachyderm demon was in fact standing before him with a soft, polite smile on his face.
That deep and gentle voice also pulled Jun out of her thoughts and caused her to turn towards the sight of Akira and Kaim greeting each other with a smile.
"Don't mention it. You looked like you could have used a little help. Although i must say that you were doing great, despite being outnumbered twenty-five to one." replied the half-devil in an equally polite and friendly tone. He then noticed that one of those crows was still impaled on Kaim's left horn and added "Those horns sure come in handy….." while gazing upon it. He pitied that poor, unfortunate crow for he had been at the receiving end of those giant horns before. And it wasn't pretty.
Noticing it, Kaim let out an amused chuckle before his highly flexible tail coiled around it and slowly pulled it off his horn. Then as Kaim tossed it away he declared "Indeed. Though sometimes they can be quite cumbersome, especially in restricted spaces like these."
He then felt someone watching him. Instinctively he turned his head on the left and his eyes immediately widened as soon as they met a pair of golden cat-like eyes. And it genuenely took a lot of effort on Kaim's part to keep his jaw from dropping.
Jun stood right in front of him, only five meters away. Kaim took his first good look at the Devil Lady, now standing tall and proud before him and gulped at the sight before him, his breath taken completely away. A pair of dark brown large bat-like wings coming from the sides of her head, shoulder lenght hair, golden slit-pupilled eyes, red markings on her cheeks, a statuesque, powerful, athletic and voluptous phisique, fur on her forearms and lower legs and claws on her fingers and toes. Her resemblance to Akira and by extension Amon was astonishing and not only that but her entire body's appearance was utterly beautiful, topped only by her flawlessly sculpted face, framed perfectly by her golden eyes, red cheek markings and surprisingly soft lips. Heck, Kaim would even go as far as to say that after Sirene, she was the most beautiful demoness he had ever seen. And the scars that she bore on her arms told him that she was a warrior, a veteran of countless battles, just like him.
Jun was just as astounded as Kaim, her lips apart in awe and wonder, her eyes wide open. The pachyderm demon was even more majestic than she thought. Everything about his appearance, from his gigantic horns to his armored skin fascinated her. She had never seen such a majestic, imposing but at the same time proud and awe-inspiring demonic creature before in her life.
And his eyes….. In the yellow eyes of Kaim she could see no bloodlust, no murderous intent, not a single trace of it. They were filled with peace, kindness, serenity and curiosity. They almost felt like the eyes of a human being. Not a single beast she had fought ever held so much peace and gentleness in their eyes. And oddly enough, she felt….. soothed by them, lulled into a serene calm.
Akira merely watched with a soft smile as Jun and Kaim simply stared at each other in awe and amazement, each enthralled by each other's appearance in a silence that seemed to last for hours.
Kaim was the first one to speak, after he regained his composure "Despite not even knowing me, you came to my aid. For that you have my thanks, fellow warrior." his deep voice actually causing Jun to gasp slighly in surprise due to how much kindness and respect it held.
Impassioned by Kaim's gratitude, Jun merely asked "Kaim, was it?" earning a nod from him. She then declared "You're welcome. And you too, have my gratitude for doing the same for me, despite being a complete stranger to you." with a faint smile on her lips, expressing her gratitude for having impaled that crow before it could strike her from behind.
Akira was amused to see Kaim's cheeks turning ever so slightly pink at Jun's angelic voice. He coudn't really blame him though. He guessed Jun just had that effect on people.
He then came at Kaim's right and put a hand on his left armored shoulder before he spoke "I believe an introduction is in order." earning the pachyderm demon's attention. He then turned towards Jun and declared "Kaim, meet Jun. Jun Fudo. My counterpart of this world. Don't know if the girls already told you about her or not." causing Kaim's eyes to widen in stupor and realisation.
"Ah, the Devil Lady herself." began Kaim now even more amazed at the reveal that the saviour of both humanity and the Beasts was standing right in front of him. Jun's lips once again parted away and a hesitant and slightly nervous look formed on her face at the reveal that Kaim had heard about her.
However her concern dissappeared as soon as Kaim took a couple steps forward before continuing "Yes, i have indeed heard about you. Of the tales of your battles and accomplishments. How you fought for the weak, for the oppressed, for those who could not fight for themselves. How you brought peace between the two races. And indeed your resemblance to Akira is quite remarkable as is your beauty."
Jun's eyes softened and began to shake in a mix of warmth and serenity at the admiration, respect and praise that radiated from every word that left Kaim's mouth while a slight blush made its way on her cheeks as the demon remarked at her beauty. Then Kaim, with a smile now clearly visible on his black lips, concluded "As a fellow honorable warrior, you have my respect. And i look forward to fighting at your side, saviour."
Heartwarmed by Kaim's kindness and courtesy, a gentle, soft smile made its way on her lips again before she spoke "Kaim…. Thank you. I greatly appreciate your kindness. And please, just call me Jun. I'm still not used at being referred to by that name." warming Kaim's heart with her kind, soothing voice. The pachyderm demon had no idea that the saviour of the two races was such a kind-hearted and gentle woman in spite of her demonic appearance. In many ways she was the complete opposite of Sirene.
Akira smiled happily upon seeing how quickly Jun and Kaim had connected. It didn't take long for him to figure out that it was because of how similar they were. Both of them were kind, compassionate souls who, at heart, did not enjoy to fight but who were willing to do so in order to protect those they cared about. Maybe this was only the start of a profound friendship.
"As you wish, Jun." declared Kaim, causing Jun's golden eyes to fill with even more passion. He reminded her a little of her grandfather due to how kind, gentle and compassionate he sounded. Then her gaze shifted towards Kaim's horns and her breath was taken away.
Noticing it, Kaim gave another friendly smile before asking "Impressed by my horns?" taking Jun by surprise and causing her to gasp slightly at how inquisitive he sounded, earning a chuckle from Akira.
"You do not need to hide your amazement. These horns have seen many battles. I owe them my life for without them i would not be here before you." he continued with a reassuring smile.
For some strange reason, something inside Jun compelled her to do one thing. She then hesitantly came towards him and began "This may come off as strange to you, but….." while putting her right finger on her lower lip and putting her left hand behind her back and looking away slightly. She then asked "Can i touch them?" with surprising shyness present in her voice. Kaim merely smiled even more and simply nodded.
Akira then folded his arms over his chest and watched happily as Jun walked towards Jun, stopping mere inches before him and hesitantly and gently placed one of her furred hands on Kaim's right horn, stroking it. Kaim was surprised by how soft her furred hands were in spite of the claws that her fingers ended with and how gentle her touch was and oddly enough he felt….. soothed, appeased by her gentle touch. It was almost….. like a mother caressing her child. How could someone who could easily tear others apart also have such a gentle touch?
Jun on the other hand was even more amazed at how smooth and cool those horns felt to the touch despite the many creeses and cracks that were present in them, a reminder of the many battles they had seen. With her golden eyes softening, she spoke "Incredible…. I can only imagine how much these horns have been through….. " her beautiful voice still filled with awe and stupor, still marveling at how majestic those horns were.
Akira then casually chimed in "Trust me, you do not want to be on the receiving end of those horns. And i should know because i have." causing Jun to gasp, take away her hand from Kaim's horn, turn towards Akira and with a bewildered look and tone, to ask in concern "What do you mean? You two fought each other in the past?"
With seriousness making its way into Akira's face, he replied "It's a long and complicated story. Perhaps it's better to save it for another time. Right now we have more important matters at hand." he then turned towards Kaim and asked "What were you doing here, Kaim? I doubt those beasts attacked you purely by coincidence."
With an equally serious and stern look forming on his face, Kaim turned towards him and replied "I guess there is no point hiding it from you after what you just did for me. Very well then." he then cleared his throat and continued "It all started ten days ago. It was then that several people began to dissappear from the district i was working in." while Akira and Jun simply listened without showing any emotions in their faces.
"At first i did not pay too much attention to it. Until i learned that all those who dissappeared were beasts. Then yesterday, a colleague of mine and his friend were attacked in the dark of the night. He managed to escape, while his friend, a beast, was taken away. He told me that while he was hiding, he overheard that his friend's captors were going to bring him here in this province, give him the choice to join them or let his hunger overcome him."
Akira was not surprised. Given what a noble, altruistic soul Kaim was, it was only natural that he would get along well with the many humans and beast he met in and outside his job as a local bouncer.
As soon as the last words left Kaim's mouth, Jun's face contorted itself first in shock and then in anger, balling her hands into fists before she declared "Satoru… That bastard…." outraged to find out just how many beasts he had gone after, simply because they wished to live in peace.
Kaim then turned towards her and asked "Jun…. You know who is behind this?"
But before she could muster up the strength to reply, Akira beat her to it "I don't know if you have heard about him or not, but he leads a group of Beasts called "The Crusaders". Many months before we came in this new world, they waged war against manking in order to eradicate it and take over the world."
Akira's words, took away all of Kaim's doubts. It was exactly what he feared. He had indeed heard in those ten days of that terrorist group of Devil-Beasts who had proclaimed the independence of the beasts and seeeked out the genocide of manking in order to allow the beasts to fully take over the world. However he had also heard that they failed and that they perished during the crisis that broke out many months prior.
He then broke his silence "Yes, i have indeed heard about them from my aquaintances while i investigated all those dissappearances." he paused before looking at Jun and continuing "You were the one who vanquished them, correct?" earning a nod from the Devil Lady.
Jun then replied "Except that now, for some reason they have returned." taking Kaim by surprise by the simmering anger present in her eyes and voice and by the utter contempt that radiated from her words. It didn't take him long to figure out that they put her through a lot of pain and misery. But for now, he opted to avoid asking more of that to her.
He put his thoughts aside before focusing his gaze back towards Akira and asked "And i take it, that they are the reason you have come here?" earning a grim nod from the half-devil. The spitting image of Amon now had to reveal to him the main reason they came here.
"Yes. Among the people they have kidnapped….." he paused, for a moment not managing to find the courage to tell him about it, before he finally managed "There is also Takeshi." causing Kaim's yellow eyes to widen in shock at the reveal that one of his friends had also been kidnapped.
"WHAT?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, catching Jun by surprise at the concern and apprehension in the pachyderm demon's face and voice. She was astonished to learn that Takeshi was also a friend of the demon in front of her.
"They used him to blackmail us to come here. But that is not even the worst of it. They have allied themselves with the demons. We don't know which ones though." finally declared Akira, causing Kaim to gasp so much in shock that for a moment, he stopped breathing. The pachyderm demon could not believe what he had just heard. The demons allying themselves with genocidal beasts? It confirmed to him that his kind was still intending to finish what it had started and they were willing to stoop as low as they possibly could and cross every single possible line to do so. A look of utter contempt and disgust made its way on his face, noticed by both Akira and Jun. It made him all the more proud to have decided to turn against his kind.
Now aware of the inevitable battles that were sure to follow, and with a look of resolve and determination on his face Kaim declared "Then we must not waste any more time." he then turned towards the direction the crows came from, before he ordered "Get on my back. Their nest must not be too far from here. I shall take you there as fast as i can."
Akira nodded, knowing too well that while there was no more point in trying to slowly make their way towards the hideout - given that their enemies now knew they were coming - leaping from tree to tree was going to take much more time and flying over the trees was not an option given that it would have made it easier for their enemies to spot them and set an ambush. Plus, they could not afford to be separated, to be divided given how outnumbered they still were.
He then put his left hand on the top of Kaim's left horn and used it as leverage to jump from the ground onto the pachyderm demon's back, now sitting just behind the demon's hump. How ironic: he was now going to ride Kaim like a horse, the same demon whose horns were used to run him through the stomach, nearly killing him on that night 20 years ago. Fate sometimes truly was a strange mistress indeed.
He then turned to Jun who just stood there, staring at him quizzically before Akira extended his left hand towards her before he declared sternly and with renewed firm determination "Come, Jun. This time you are not alone. Those scumbags have gotten away with their crimes for far too long. That time ends today."
To say Jun was at a loss for words was an understatement. Akira had mounted on Kaim and now sat on his back like a knight would on his steed. A steed the size of an elephant. And now he was offering to give her a hand in mounting the demon all the while his gaze was as filled with nothing but determination and unwavering courage. Just when she thought she had seen everything. Nonetheless she nodded and took his hand with her furred one. She then jumped and Akira pulled her up, allowing her to sit just behind him. Her gaze then hardened, filling with the same resolution Akira had before she declared "Let's go. It's time to give those people their freedom back."
Not needing to be told twice, and emboldened by Jun's resolve, Kaim nodded and declared "Let the battle be joined."
He then stormed off towards the direction the avian beasts that attacked him came, with Akira and Jun riding his back, leaving the slain crows behind.