Chapter 38: A Real Demon
Abandoned Street
Alba and his cronies proceeded to warp away as Murasaki saw the familiar face of her- or rather his mentor back when he was Tatsumi.
"Big Bro, what're you doing here?," Murasaki asked in a tomboyish tone. The figure turned around, and she felt a twinge of confusion.
"Tatsumi...why did you undergo a sex change? Now I can't enjoy you more.," Bulat, the tall blue-iris-eyed man with a heart-shaped pompadour complained.
Murasaki remembered that Bulat was gay and made some passes on Tatsumi when he was alive...
"Wait are you dead too?," asked Murasaki.
"It's a long story, but I managed to come back from the brink.," Bulat replied. "But now's not the time for that. We've got bigger fish to fry."
"Right, Big Bro. I didn't see you with the others. Why are you wearing that?," asked Murasaki seeing that Bulat was wearing White Akujin clothing.
"A creepy fan named Lanza who's after Incursio users ate me the moment I came to Hell. But I managed to fight him off. I've infiltrated this Royal Guard group just so we can get the jump on them." the pompadour man answered, reassuring her.
"Now let's care of those bastards and return this city to normal.," Bulat spoke as Murasaki followed. Her memories as Tatsumi with Bulat feeling her with nostalgia.
"It's not like we're going to be punished for killing.," Bulat spoke, which caused Murasaki to pause.
"Wait, we'd pay for the blood we spilled.," she said as Bulat blanked out.
"I remember now right.," he said, which caused Murasaki to frown.
He then walked towards her and felt her body.
"Just concentrate. You remember how to remove that unneeded movement right? It's odd you look that way.," Bulat remarked.
"It's the Murasame curse. Akame needed the Demon Extract's counter-curse blood flowing in her body and my Incursio's adaptation to counter the madness. I've adjusted to being a hermaphrodite. Misheryu certainly likes it.," Murasaki said with a blush.
"Coming back from the dead by God's will. That goes beyond a Teigu's power. It feels weird we're getting a second chance.," Bulat acknowledged.
"But I found out that Akame and Esdeath aren't truly human-," Murasaki said before Bulat slapped her on the back.
"It doesn't matter. Akame's Akame. That's all that matters.," he said, this time, for some reason, it felt like the real Bulat instead of the somewhat off vibe he was giving off.
"That bastard got away.," Murasaki said as she referred to Alba.
"We'll get him. I know where he's headed.," Bulat replied before they noticed a civilian walking around as an Evil Bird Akujin stalked behind him. Murasaki rushed to help, but Bulat stopped her.
"Don't emotions get the better of you. It's better to toss them aside and that passion as well. We have to stay focused.," Bulat said before Murasaki then generated her blade, with a reserved expression.
"You told me to embrace these emotions, but not to let them consume me. And you helped me to fight for a world where everyone can smile. And he'd never abandon his passion.," she said.
"Well, I am mad that you dragged me down to die. So to make it up to me...bring me the heads of those guys. You'll obey your Big Bro right-," he said before Murasaki went for a kick.
"It must be true that Lanza ate you...because I feel your spirit, but I understand now. You don't have his heart- Lanza!," the woman cursed.
"It's your Big Bro, Bulat. Don't be so uptight-," he said before she kicked him away.
"Don't speak with his voice. You're making a mockery of everything he stood for.," she said.
"Tch. I wanted to ambush you and take the latest Incursio user from that unholy union. But I'm going to have to work for it.," "Bulat" cursed as his form morphed.
A below-average-sized but well-built youth with black, spiky hair standing straight up with a single hair bang on the side. He wore a white tank top and baggy pants. He also had a pair of four arms and pointy ears.
"So that's your true form?," asked Murasaki.
"Yes, I'm Lanza the White Warrior Akujin heir. You bastards killed Gladiator and now I'll kill you with despair and anguish.," Lanza said as he morphed back into Bulat.
Lanza generated the familiar Neuntote spear as he lunged it at Murasaki, his handsome features warping as his pupils became ovals and his facial expressions became feral.
Murasaki's eyes narrowed, and her senses heightened as she saw through the illusion. The real Bulat would never be so cold-hearted. She knew she had to act fast to stop him from harming anyone else.
"To be honest, part of me always wanted to fight you.," said Murasaki in Esdeath's tone as she generated ice to halt the false Bulat.
She went for the killing blow, but then something surreal occurred, another body emerged from Bulat's back to counter the strike.
It was an old man wearing a samurai-like outfit. He was balding but had long, grey hair on the back of his head, a small mustache, and a long beard. He had a noticeable scar over his right eye, as well as long eyebrows. The upper torso emerges from his back while not fully manifesting.
Bulat's teacher, Gensei. In the past, Gensei was a martial arts master in the Imperial Army who trained Bulat, as well as a former user of Incursio. He was regarded as the strongest in his time, decades before Budo was around. After his retirement, Gensei couldn't find a place for himself before realizing that he could only feel joy in life while killing others while on his journey, killing bandits attempting to rob him. After meeting three like-minded individuals, he joined their group called the White Brows Association. He would eventually be killed by Bulat himself to stop his murders.
"I've taken centuries to collect each user. Do you know how infuriating it was to learn you killed the core personality of the Tyrant? It makes Tatsumi a defunct user, but it's better than nothing. Gensei would say it's better to die in a duel and there's no place for fight-seekers in a world of peace, but I want to live forever.," the man said eerily with both faces.
"Bulat would kill himself knowing he's part of an ugly thing. He's always "Handsome".," Murasaki said as she signaled Misheryu to fire.
Lanza dodged the pink laser dodged the pink laser beam with ease, but it was a distraction from what was actually going to happen to him.
"I know all of your techniques. It's impossible to defeat me.," Lanza said as he resumed his true form. Murasaki then kicked him in the groin.
"Always be aware of your surroundings. Bro taught me that. You might have his soul, but you don't have his heart.," Murasaki said as she went for the finishing blow, but paused.
"This is my ace in the hole. I can take on the properties of what I've consumed. You can't bring yourself to kill him. Meaning I can just eat you without remorse.," Lanza replied as he entered his true form- a blue-skinned, ugly humanoid with a large head with the right side being the Tyrant dragon with a purely red eye with no sclera with black cross-shaped pupils and the left side being a big-lipped, ugly man with puffy lips with a completely yellow eye with multiple pupils shaped like wailing souls. His right arm was the reptilian tyrant and the left was scrawny in comparison. A lopsided aberration created by his gluttony.
As he lunged to eat her in a state of shock, a man kicked him away. It was a fit, young man of average height with short black hair and a short beard. While he normally wore a standard white guardsman uniform, with black boots and gloves that stretched up to his knees and elbows, and a helmet with a white cloth hanging loosely from the sides to the back of his head; for some reason, he wore a black kimono with a black edge, a black scarf, and black sandals.
"You're...," Murasaki said as she remembered from Akame's memories- Gaurry was one of Aria's bodyguards that she had killed, one that was fully aware of the corruption that has plagued the Capital, he chose to turn a blind eye in an attempt to stay out of harm's way, even allowing Aria and her family to have their malevolent ways with their guests. He displayed a decent amount of bravery, willing to face a more dangerous foe despite the large gap in their strength. In his final moments, He thought of himself as nothing more than filth, due to the absence of his morality.
Yet, this familiar man gave a different vibe, being selfish, narcissistic, cold-hearted, immoral, and exceptionally sadistic. Murasaki or rather, Tatsumi felt this aspect that was oddly familiar for some reason.
"This brat annoys me. Beat it.," the man said as he walked in front of Murasaki.
"Wait, it's not safe-," said the fusion before he kicked her several kilometers away.
"It was annoying to be in that sword-turned-spear while parading as a caped-crusader. Now I'm finally free to wipe out the undesirables. And become the King of all.," he said in a distorted demonic voice.
"Wait. You're Incursio? What luck! I can finally get a better deal and overthrow those Great One bastards!," he said as he activated his Gula: Collector. He bulged to colossal sizes as he turned into a blue-skinned, mouthless version of himself with eight arms, two horns growing on the sides of his head, and five red eyes- two on each side with a larger vertical one dead in the center loomed on the stranger.
Lanza generated a Neuntote from each of his eight arms and stood intimidatingly as he looked as his relatively smaller opponent who's fearful of him.
"Stop using your stolen techniques and use a proper Akujin technique. You've had a millennia to live and get those skills right?," asked the stranger.
"Silence. Incursio is the strongest power. Able to defeat the Hell King head-on.," Lanza spoke with a deep voice as he thrust one of his spears at the stranger.
"I must've been careless," Lanza dismissed as he swung his spear, a flurry of movements that looked like a dance of death. The stranger, however, remained unfazed, his eyes glinting with an eerie light as he dodged every single strike with a grace that seemed almost inhuman.
The stranger then grabbed the tip of the spear and with seemingly no effort, it lifted the gargantuan humanoid and he flung him several kilometers away from the capital. He then dashed at light speed to his location.
Lanza landed on top of a small village, he got up only to see the stranger kick him down. "I've studied every move of every Teigu user. You're not even close to mastering Gensei's moves. You're just a cheap imitation," the stranger said with a sneer.
Lanza's eyes narrowed as he swung his spears wildly without coordination. Each time, the stranger parried with ease, his movements sharp and precise. He morphed into the false Bulat's form, but it struggled against this new opponent, his heart racing with a mix of anger and admiration. The stranger's confidence was unshakeable, his every action oozing with an aura of superiority that made Lanza's blood boil.
As he clashed with Lanza, it was clear that the stranger didn't care about the consequences of his actions, endangering the people around him. The villagers fled in horror as the two powerful beings raged on. Murasaki, still a distance away, watched the fight unfold with a mix of awe and dread. Her thoughts raced as she contemplated the implications of what she was witnessing. If Lanza could mimic Bulat's powers, then who was this newcomer? Was he an ally or another enemy?
"Are you with Tatsumi, the failure?" asked Lanza as his face morphed to half Bulat and half his Gula form.
"Brunette? He's pathetic. Unable to save his comrades. And now he has to rely on me to fight his battles while he's a transvestite and having guilt over fighting a ducktail homosexual.," the stranger replied as he insulted both Tatsumi and Bulat.
"I'm not letting you get in the way of my ambitions!," Lanza shouted as he fired a barrage of unfocused Ira purple blasts in the stranger's direction.
"I don't have any dreams, goals, or aspirations, just doing what an Akujin does- evil. But still, good job on finally embracing your Akujin nature.," said the stranger as he praised the multi-armed behemoth.
The stranger noticeably dragged out the fight longer than it was needed, toying with Lanza's emotions and pride. His every move was calculated, every word a knife to the soul. Murasaki, though still far away, could feel the tension rising, the very air crackling with the power of their clashes. Her eyes never left the battle, studying the stranger's technique, looking for any hint of weakness.
"I hate to admit it, but he's strong unlike you who leeches off the successes of greater fighters over the centuries you've lived.," the stranger replied as he threw a tiny Limbo hellfire spark at Limbo, which exploded into a mushroom cloud of hellfire.
Lanza proceeded to wail as he fruitlessly swang his spears and fired his own Limbo fireballs, Luxuria lightning bolts, Prodito icicles, Avarita gravity waves, Haeresis dark strings, and Vehemens black sludge in all directions.
"I don't understand why the weak cling so desperately to life instead of quietly accepting the suffering that life forces them to endure since the weak should have no right to complain and just deal with it. Why do such a fragile creature that falls apart at a touch can say that it always wants to be happy?" the stranger complained.
"Oh, I understand love as intimacies of finding commonality to confide in bonds with people who have the same interests. But Love and Bonds are meaningless.," the stranger replied as he punched him in the solar plexus, making the multi-armed youth shrink.
However, it was more of a secondary Gula, which compressed his form into a grey-skinned humanoid with a dark gray cross protrusion covering the center of his face, and now shirtless. He exuded even greater power than before, but the stranger wasn't impressed.
"Don't pity me.," Lanza retorted. "I've mastered a higher level of Gula. Same as the other members of the White Royal Guard. My power is doubled from before." He then swung his spear and it split the mountains in half.
"Pleased with yourself? That's merely amateur work. This is a real demon's technique. Hubris: Phantasmagoria.," the stranger declared as he generated a demonic-looking array of magic lanterns to project frightening images – such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts – onto walls, smoke, or semi-transparent screens, typically using rear projection to keep the lantern out of sight. Mobile or portable projectors were used, allowing the projected image to move and change size on the screen, and multiple projecting devices allowed for quick switching of different images.
Lanza looked confused as he swung around.
"Right. Your kind came after the war. Only that bastard Nefarious and the others know about the pre-hell bomb era and what it entails. Some ancient sightings of gods and spirits are thought to have been conjured up using (concave) mirrors, camera obscura, or magic lantern projections. By the 16th century, necromantic ceremonies and the conjuring of ghostly apparitions by charlatan "magicians" and "witches" seemed commonplace. In the 1589 version of Magia Naturalis, Giambattista della Porta described how to scare people with a projected image. A picture of anything that would terrify the beholder should be placed in front of a camera obscura hole, with several torches around it. The image should be projected onto a sheet hanging in the middle of the nascent dark chamber, where spectators wouldn't notice the sheet but only see the projected image hanging in the air.," the stranger remarked.
"But your trickery won't work on me," Lanza said as he grew more arms, his skin turned golden and he lunged at the stranger, but the deranged phantoms proceeded to grab Lanza and cause him to puke out all of his victims.
The stranger then devoured them before they could realize what was going on.
"It's hard to tell the difference between reality and fiction. Now, you're going to suffer in that sort of hell till your mind finally breaks.," the stranger spoke as Lanza was dragged into the crowd of demons and became a flat image forced to animate in a repetitive cycle.
Lanza then thought of his days back when he was a human over 1000 years ago-
Lanza's Past
It was an afternoon in a dojo near the Empire, nicely swept and plain.
"Please let me be the next successor.," said a below-average-sized but well-built youth with black, spiky hair standing straight up with a single hair bang on the side.
"Then answer me how could you not save them during the test? They needed help and you would've let them die.," said a well-built adult man with brown hair and bushy eyebrows dressed in a brown kimono. He was one of the 48 heroes who took down Nefarious, given clemency by the Emperor at the time to raise his own dojo. He was very picky about his successors inheriting Incursio.
"You can't be too nice if you want to get the job done. Don't feel bad about sacrificing others for your own sake.," the young man replied. His callous look gave all the information the man needed.
"Do you seriously don't care?," asked the older man, giving a disheartened scowl.
"Yes, those strangers mean nothing. Spare yourself from being a martyr if living a life of luxury is the better option.," the young man replied.
"Our duty is to protect others from evil. We can't be bothered to worry about our own lives.," the man replied.
"Well, being helpless to stop evil isn't worth it.," the young man responded as he stormed off.
That man is talented, but it takes more than talent. You need the right heart., thought the older man as he looked up.
Outside, the youth spotted a brown-haired man with spectacles. He seemed to be a stranger not from around the capital.
"I'm going to take it no matter what it takes, even if I have to steal it.," the youth said before the man spoke, "What are you talking about?"
"Incursio- the armor of adaptation that makes one invincible. If only I had it for my own. No one would stop me.," the youth replied, eyes gleaming with ambition.
"You're going about it the wrong way. You'll never be able to get it conventionally. So why not wait and exploit their talents?," asked the brown-haired man with his glasses obscuring his eyes.
The youth's gaze narrowed, "What do you mean?"
He was suddenly forced by the man to swallow an unknown substance that made him grow extra arms, made his pupil yellow, and his ears pointier.
"What the hell did you do? You turned me into an Akujin...why...didn't I just do that? I'll just wait and absorb the user and let successors flourish as I consume the next one and the one after that and so and so forth.," the youth replied as he quickly disappeared.
A little while later, he would ambush this mentor, wait for the student to progress, then consume them, and when they died, he would ambush them to add their souls to his collection.
Present
The stranger closed his Hubris as the magic lamps dissipated. He looked around as he saw the village badly burnt, covered in corpses and debris. The smell of burned flesh and wood filled the air, a stark reminder of the carnage that had just taken place. He sighed and turned to Murasaki, who was slowly approaching.
"That cretin defiled the memories of my comrade. So thank you. But I'm going to have to eat you.," she said.
"I'm free now. I don't have time to waste with you. I have centuries to burn off by killing as many humans as I can. I'm in a good mood. You can live for now.," the stranger spoke.
"It's all murder and killing with you Akujin. You shout about how it makes you feel good with smirks on your faces like some sick joke. I don't get how cool it is. It's just annoying. What's so fun about wiping out weak people? I used to get it, but now I see it's awful. You should learn about empathy. It's overall good. You bunch of imps running amok and causing havoc is selfish.," said Murasaki.
The stranger closed his Hubris as the magic lamps dissipated. He looked around as he saw the village badly burnt, covered in corpses and debris. The smell of burned flesh and wood filled the air, a stark reminder of the carnage that had just taken place. He sighed and turned to Murasaki, who was slowly approaching.
"I know who you are now. You used to share my body with me. To think you somehow came back…Tyrant.," she said, referring to one of her past lives, Tatsumi.
"True. True. I'm free now. I don't have time to waste with you. I have centuries to burn off by killing as many humans as I can. I'm in a good mood. You can live for now.," the stranger spoke, revealing his sinister nature.
"It's all murder and killing with you Akujin. You shout about how it makes you feel good with smirks on your faces like some sick joke. I don't get how cool it is. It's just annoying. What's so fun about wiping out weak people? I used to get it, but now I see it's awful. You should learn about empathy. It's overall good. You bunch of imps running amok and causing havoc is selfish.," snarled Murasaki.
"Are you done because I have things to do.," the stranger said as he saw Murasaki draw out her blade. The stranger, revealed to be the Tyrant dragon that once occupied Incusio scoffed and gave a scornful snicker.
"You think you can beat me with that puny sword and a bit of firepower?," he said as his eyes gleamed with amusement. He flashed a dark aura, that made Murasaki dropped her knees.
Before he decided to finish her off, he walked away.
"I have beef with the King. I can't be wasting my time on these kid games," he muttered to himself as he leapt into the sky and vanished into the distance.
Main Castle Courtyard
"Lanza took the blow while I got away in time.," Alba spoke, now back in his armored form as the other 12 White Royal Guard were gathered.
They already suspect I likely threw him to the wolves, but how was I suppose to know they were that powerful., thought the bird.
"He's made things more difficult for us with his impulses.," Vile noted, the lavender-skinned, raven-haired youth looked at the sky as his eyes narrowed.
"Well, nobody liked Lanza anyway. He was a creep.," Cherubi remarked.
"I'll scan for future replacements.," Warlock spoke.
"Hold on. I'm the Commander. This should be my job.," the strong-jawed centaur argued as he clomped his hooves on the ground, staring at the pointy-hatted sorcerer.
"You'd give into your desires. It requires someone without ulterior motives.," Warlock replied, the blackness obscuring his face, making his expressions hard to read.
"Hard to believe that when you hide that face we finally know about.," Eurytion argued.
"I've found a guy.," said Shirome, the girl with black drill twin tails and heterochromia eyes of red and white wearing a white lolita dress.
She pointed to a youth with pointy ears, dark skin, lilac iris eyes, platinum-blond hair, and wearing a two-piece white uniform exposing his midriff.
Archer- Replacement White Akujin Heir.
"I'm Archer. Good to see ya.," he said with a deadpan tone of voice as the other 13 looked on.
"He was the former 1st commander of Lanza's unit, but he was always so selfish. Archer is glad to be promoted.," Shirome spoke to the group as Archer bowed to his boss.
"The meeting should be wrapping up soon.," Vile noted.
Wasyurun's Fight
Wasyurun continued to dodge Necron's attacks of his avian familiars barely an inch, as the fusion was gradually cornered.
When he saw a disheartened Musarasaki along with Misheryu tagging along approaching Necron wisely retreated.
"Are you ok?," asked the indigo-haired woman, ignoring her own dilemma consuming her.
"Yeah. The bird's strong even though we're a fusion.," he noted. The tan-skinned, lilac-dark-blue, blonde-haired merged warrior looked to the side.
Misheryu looked ashamed as she remembered how Alba revealed how she played a part in two of her components' trauma. Murasaki then held her hand, deciding to let the issue about the Tyrant be something to think about another time.
"We'll stop whatever they're planning.," said the indigo girl as she looked into the pink-purple-orange-haired woman intimately. Even though they're now technically both women and the complicated relationships between their components, Murasaki and Misheryu were very close.
"She's gotten a bit more feisty and mischievous since she merged with Leone and Chelsea.," the dark-skinned warrior noted with a smile.
With that, their spirits were lifted as they went back to their base.
Next Chapter: Arriving Allies- Users of weapons arrive from Berli, Wakoku, and Polarctica to aid the Human Saviors. How will they deal with the Royal Guards?
Author Notes: The stranger is heavily implied to be the Tyrant Dragon while having a personality similar to Ryomen Sukuna. I initially wrote it so he'd be dealt with anticlimactically, but I've rewritten so he's a wild card going forward.
Lanza turns out to be an Aaroniero wannabe who's an Incursio fanboy played darkly straight.
Archer is going to be a very interesting addition to Vile's group.