Priceless Smile 2

Chapter 31: A Woman's Flame (pt. 1)

     The night has fallen again. Up until now, Tetsuya and his family still hasn't receieved any letter from Kazumi. He also decided to send one of his servants to her estate to check and he came back answering that Kazumi still hasn't come back.

"I'm really worried, Kazumi-chan's been out for weeks." Toshino said.

"Me too, not even a single letter from her just makes it worst. It's not even confirmed yet whether she's alive or not. I don't like to expect for the worst news." Tetsuya replied massaging his temples.

As the couple converse, their doors were slid open by none other than Suzuki, they're third son.

"Still not yet asleep I see. Is something wrong?" Toshino asked.

"Well nothing at all, Touya's now asleep so I came here to check on you two. I know you two are talking about sis right now." Suzuki answered as he's now kneeling on the tatami mat with them.
"I know that it's really inevitable for us not to worry."

"You're right." Toshino replied.

"Just to think of it, it's also my fault. I wonder, if I hadn't kicked out Miyuki back then and killed her as Hibiki take Kazumi.... she.... must be happily living with us now instead of killing demons." Tetsuya stated as he look down while resting his head on his hands clasped tightly together as his elbows are resting on his desk.

Regret really is always at the end. Once a person has done something, that could never be changed. Even with how much he regrets what he had done and feel guilty about it for the rest of his life, it won't change the fact that he was one of the people who made Kazumi's life miserable.

"Please stop blaming yourself now, father. She has already forgiven you and even accepted us. Even if you regret it so much, your regret won't turn back time. We just have to pray and hope that she's safe and alive and be able to spend as much time with her." Suzuki patted his father's back.

'That's right, none of my regrets would bring Miyuki back to life or  my daughter home. I'm.... the worst.'
Tetsuya thought as he hug both his wife and son.
'But still, I'm thankful. Thankful that she managed to forgive me.'

     On the other hand, Ringo's now walking around the village a bit further from the village where the estate of the Midorime family is located. She heard that several people went mysteriously missing here and were never seen again by anyone. When she asked some people around during the day, she found out that those people all went missing at night.

'Even if I still haven't seen the demon, just judging from its presence it left behind around here, I could tell this demon could be quite a strong one.'
She thought.

As she kept on walking around, she sensed an incoming attack from her left side as she stepped aside to dodge. She looked at the ground where the attack landed as she saw a stone spike stabbed on the ground.

"Impressive! For you to dodge that you must be a Pillar." The demon praised showing himself up.

"Black skin with a white long hair and horns, you must be Tatsu." Ringo said as she look at him with her usual serious expression.

"So, I'm that well known now? Must be because of my fight last time with the Pillars together with some younglings and a demon. It just tells how strong of a demon I am!" Tatsu proudly stated with a smile.

The way he talked and acted made Ringo display a disgusted expression on her face.

"What's with the face?! I just stated facts!"

"Well then my apologies but, you don't look that intimidating to me at all. I honestly imagined you to be some type of a demon with a warped face or body, but as it turns out, you're not." Ringo bluntly replied.

Irk marks showed on Tatsu's neck and forehead as his mouth twitch in anger.

"YOU DAMN BITCH! YOU DARE SAY THAT! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO EAT YOU PIECE BY PIECE UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING OF YOU LEFT! NOT EVEN A SINGLE BONE OF YOURS!" Tatsu shouted out of anger as he charged towards Ringo.

"I see, so you're a jerk with a very high pride and sensitive. Did my words shatter them that it made you angry?" Ringo ridiculed as she jumped away to dodge.

Thankfully, they're outside the village to fight. No houses or innocent people surrounding them.

"Blood demon Art: Dragon Claws."

Tatsu's hands got wrapped up with scales up to his elbows as his nails grew longer and thicker. He then dashed forward as he attempted to claw Ringo as she then unsheathed her sword to deflect his attack.

"I see, you're different. You're the only slayer I've seen with a sword strapped to her right instead of her left. You're even using you left hand to hold it instead of your right." Tatsu stated as Ringo kept on deflecting his claw attacks.

"So what, it's not as if you care, moron."

As she deflected his last claw attack, she attacked him. As she swung her sword against him she ended up getting kicked to her left side sending her into the forest. She managed to stay on her feet as she skid into a stop. Tatsu then sprinted towards her as he ended up getting his right arm cut by Ringo which regenerated just after mere seconds. She then jumped at him too using her body weight to make the force stronger pushing the both of them out of the forest and back to their original spot.

'His regeneration speed just matches with the report and so is his movements. But I know, this moron here.... could still attack faster and stronger than what had been reported.'
She thought as she kept on deflecting his attacks.

"Blood Demon Art: Dragon's Lair!"

As Tatsu put his hands on the ground, magma bursted out of the soil as it hardened and turned into five dragons. They all charged at Ringo as she controlled her breathing and held her sword tight.

"Flame Breathing, fourth form: Blooming Fire Undulation!"

She spun her sword in a circular motion as the flames burn and cut the heads of the two dragons, she leapt up and repeated the same form cutting the heads of the remaining three. Tatsu just smiled in satisfaction watching how Ringo managed to easily cut them. Their heads then popped back from the sliced part of their body. Ringo managed to land on top of one of them and cut its head again, this time making it fall not regenerating anymore.

'I see, if I cut their heads twice, it won't regenrate back. Just as I thought, he could go much more stronger than those reports about him from his last fight at the Swordsmith Village.'
She then jumped down as she behead the other one but then, Tatsu came punching her on the stomach.

Thankfully, she managed to be on the defensive focusing her breathing in her stomach preventing Tatsu from breaking any of her ribs. She managed to land on her feet on the ground without any broken bones.

"It seems like you're almost at the same level as the one the Mistress and I has been looking for. I'll get serious then."