𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝘆𝗲𝘀 - 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗸𝘂 𝘅 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

~Chapter 47~

It was all you could do to stare at the dead body lying in front of you, guilt washing over your face. As his body was covered in severe injuries, it was clear he had endured too much suffering before dying. Closing his eyes with your fingers, you took a deep breath.

"Th-that was not our brother." The little boy said, "Our brother was wearing an orange jacket.". Silently, you stood up. Many people appeared to have been held prisoner. You did not find that surprising. It had been 50 years since people began disappearing whenever they passed that mansion. Sanemi, whose serious gaze seemed fixed on his phone before glaring at you, turned to you.

"They're picking up the body and burying him soon. I made sure they checked who it was so they could inform his family." The white-haired man murmured. As rage slowly grew inside of you, you nodded your head in agreement. Once again, a life was lost to the demons. You were furious. Those heartless demons disgusted you. Those who killed humans unmercifully just to fill up their empty stomachs.

However, after meeting Tamayo and Yushiro, you learned that a few demons had good hearts and weren't controlled by the demon lord. It would be nice if more demons were like that.

You turned to the children with a smile, patting each one on the head gently, "I want both of you to wait not far from here. Shinazugawa and I will rescue your brother as soon as possible." The boy nodded, holding his younger sister's hand as he slowly walked away, sneaking glances at you and Shinazugawa as he did.

You and the No-eyebrowed man entered the mansion holding tightly to the hilts of your katanas. You disliked the aura this mansion gave off. Something about it was not right. You knew well that this mansion was far from normal. You felt the rooms inside change positions and movements, and the sounds you heard earlier, along with the roar, didn't reassure you a single bit. Shinazugawa paused, then turned to you.

"Listen, sweetheart. I don't want to make this any more complicated than it already is. Just stick to my side so I can make sure your dumbass doesn't lose any blood to the demon." You pursed your lips.

"I will stay by your side, Shinazugawa. Not because I need your protection, but because it's the safest option. I've learned how to fight demons and know how to protect myself." Shinazugawa clicked his tongue with a 'tch' as he turned around, continuing to walk forward.

"Says the one who got attacked twice in a row." He muttered. A frown formed on your face. You wanted to speak up for yourself, letting him know that the incidents were many months ago before you learned how to hold a blade, but you thought that arguing back and forth with him like a child would be useless. You once again pursed your lips and continued to walk forward. Shinazugawa turned to you, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Surprised you didn't talk back, sweetheart—" Shinazugawa-San was interrupted by the loud drum noises, causing you both to pause in your places. The sounds that kept playing nonstop made your chest feel heavy and your skin feel numb. You looked around you, and then up at the roof, stepping back. You felt many movements, and you weren't able to tell exactly well. You felt the rooms change under your feet. Sticking to Shinazugawa during the whole mission was the only choice you had, even if both of you didn't like it. You looked back down, hoping Shinazugawa has already formed a plan in his head, only for you to realize that you were in a completely different room, alone.

...Eh?

Your mind tried to process what just happened. You could've sworn that you and Shinazugawa-San were together just a few seconds ago. Now you were alone in a completely different room. You noticed the rooms moved when the drums were playing. Did the beats of the drums have something to do with the mansion? Perhaps it was the demon's blood demon art. Maybe the demon somehow was able to link the drums to the rooms. You weren't sure.

You pulled out your phone, hoping you'd be able to call Shinazugawa and make sure he's alright, only for you to notice that your phone had no Wi-Fi connection. You clicked your tongue. Of course, there wasn't any signal in the abandoned mansion. Why were you so surprised? You shoved your phone back into your pocket and held onto the hilt of your sword, keeping your guard up. You decided you should move and look for Shinazugawa than staying in one place.

After all, you might change into a different room one way or another.

You turned to open a sliding door, only to find yourself meeting up face to face with the most hideous creature you've ever laid your eyes on.

It was a demon.

It crawled on its stomach. It has a muscular physique, and its skin was pale grey. Its hair was dark blue that was set too far back on his head to reveal two tiny horns. It had two sets of eyes— the first pair was large and catlike, and glowed bright green in the darkness, while the second pair was more squinted, and had red irises. On its nose and forearms were navy blue arrow patterns.

The demon's most noticeable feature that you weren't able to keep your eyes off was its unnaturally long tongue. It just looked disgusting, making you feel sick as you watched the demon move as it came closer to you, the corners of its mouth spreading, revealing a smile.

"Ooh... I was able to smell you from miles away~" It said as it came closer to you, "Who knew you would come right to me~ Today must be my very lucky day~" you scrunched your nose up in disgust and held onto the hilt of your sword, preparing to attack it, only for the demon to quickly flick its tongue towards you. You immediately dodged it, causing the tongue to slice a vase lying to the side in half. You blinked.

It sliced glass with just its tongue?! What the—

You shook your head. You had no time to question the demon's abilities. All that was on your mind at the moment was the fact that you had to get rid of the demon as soon as possible. You grabbed onto the hilt of your and took in a deep breath. One hit from that demon's tongue and you knew you'd be done for. Not only would you lose your life, but you'd also lose your blood to the demon as well, which was not what you wanted.

"I was able to smell you as soon as you stepped into this mansion~" The demon let out a laugh. "I'm going to suck your brain out from your ear, and once I'm done with you, the demon lord will gift me greatly~"

A vein bulged at the side of your head. There was no way you were going to lose to that demon. Yes, it might have been a strong demon, but you were stronger. Taking it out would be nothing, right? You held onto the hilt of your sword tightly and breathed in.

"Breath of Night, First For—" you were interrupted by another hit from the demon's tongue. Dammit, you thought. The demon would continue to interrupt you whenever you tried to perform a breathing form. You frown while clicking your tongue. If you wanted to get rid of the demon, you had to first find a way to get rid of that tongue of its. 

Cut it off.

You nodded to yourself as you raised your sword. You'll have to use the fastest breathing form of Breath of Night. You pretended you were going to attack the demon, making the demon prepare its tongue, only to leap into the air, leaving the demon startled. You breathed in, hoping you brought yourself time to perform this attack.

"First Form, Shining Stars!" You exclaimed as you sliced off the demon's tongue, stars leaving the edge of the katana. Blinded, the demon yelled in confusion. "Third Form, Orb of Night!" you swung your katana in a curved shape sideways, leaving an illusion of a crescent moon that was slowly fading away.

You smiled as you landed, watching the demon's head and body slowly disappear into nothingness. You looked down at it, shrugging slowly as you left the room. You would've prayed that it would die peacefully, but the demon annoyed you. 

If only No-Eyebrows was here to see how cool I was... you thought to yourself, your eyes then widening.

"Speaking of Shinazugawa, I have to find him soon!" You said out loud, continuing your way through the strange mansion.

Finally finished editing! I'll try to continue updating asap ( •̀ .̫ •́ )✧