Assassins and Angels

54: Night Market Arc; Reckoning Shadows

In the shadow of his memories, Henwy reflected on the moment when life and death hung in delicate balance. As he clung to the threads of consciousness, a voice shattered the stillness around him:

"Boil some water right away! Apply some clean cloths to the wounds!"

"Noted!"

Slogo ordered Crainer to treat his wounds. Slogo sees Henwy barely gasping to breathe and he asks his other assassin on Hayley's state.

"How's Hayley doing?" Slogo asked.

"She's already passed away!" Crainer replied in a state of worry.

"Don't let her brother die, no matter what!" Slogo demanded

Bound by a shared history, Slogo clasped Henwy's hand, a silent prayer for survival echoing in the hallowed space of their struggle.

Now, post-ordeal, Henwy relentlessly trained in the Assassin Headquarters, raindrops drumming a relentless cadence. Nihachu, concerned for his incomplete recovery, attempted to halt the relentless pursuit of strength.

"Henwy! You haven't healed yet-!" Nihachu began, but is prevented from doing so by her leader. Despite his exhaustion, he does not stop training, as Henwy recalls that even as his memories were lost, his body still maintains a deep boiling rage since that day, one that he believes will not leave him till his death. As the only thing that kept him training even as he vomited blood, Henwy lands down to face Dagon as his anger to destroy all demons builds inside him.

Dagon performs killer fish scales and uses his new body to encircle Henwy in rapid succession, moving too quickly for the assassin to land a clean hit. The demon asks, "Now, what do you say to my illogical movements? My scales allow me to move at will! Impossible to predict! I live nothing more than going against the laws of nature!"

"Now, what kind of art should I make out of you? I can rip off that ugly head of yours and replace it with a lovely fish!" Dagon asked.

"You haven't see..."

"What I could do yet."

Watching as Dagon closes in on him, Henwy seemingly stops moving; the demon throws a punch at the assassin but is shocked to see his fist miss completely, and is greeted by smoke.

He sees Henwy behind him and attacks but misses again. Now seeing him in front of him, he throws another punch but once again fails to make contact. Confused, Dagon looks all around him and sees mere glimpses of the assassin moving in and out of his vision, as if he is trapped within a thick cloud of mist. He sees Henwy's head and attacks but fails to hit anything once more. Appearing in the demon's vision, Henwy asks a stunned Dagon:

"Hey, so tell me..."

"What?"

"What made you think..."

"Huh?"

"...that you were the only one not taking this seriously?"

Henwy makes his way to the demon, aims his blade at his neck, and slashes upwards, successfully beheading the demon.

Dagon's severed head falls as he notices everything seems to be upside-down and he cannot sense anything. Finally able to see Henwy in the open, he realizes he must kill him and report to his master, only to touch the ground. The realization of his decapitation slowly hits him and Dagon becomes aghast he has been defeated by a child, as Henwy walks towards him. "D-D-D-D-Decapitated? Decapitated, Decapitated, Decapitated?!"

"To a child... me, lose?! Me, of all people?!" He exclaimed, in denial that he was defeated.

The demon puts his inability to believe he has fallen on full display, while the assassin bids him goodbye and demanded, "It's over for you. Bye. No need to ever be reborn again, alright?"

The now livid Dagon questions how he has lost to a mere human and attempts to regrow his body, all while insulting Henwy and boasting of his superiority.

Now entirely annoyed by his empty threats, the assassin silences the demon by slashing the head to pieces, killing Dagon once and for all and demanded, "I've heard enough, so... could you just go to hell already?"

"Hm. Marisa was right after all. Smoke bombs are really useful after all. I could have just done that the first place." Henwy remarked, looking at the smoke bombs Mitzefy gave him.

Henwy suddenly remembers a moment he had with Philza, who lectured him, "Don't be frigid about how you perceive the world, Henwy. When you've found your unshakable self... then you can become stronger."

Watching Dagon's remains fade to ash, he realizes his leader was indeed true about finding himself and having the strength to act, and that as long as he knows who he is, all his doubts, hesitation, and frustrations can disappear, and no demon can escape his blade.

Alxton approaches Henwy and thanks him, "Henwy! You saved us! Are you alright?"

Henwy claimed, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

But the swordsmith does not believe him, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah... I feel really amazing right now. And I've got to join Sigils and the others right away." But while saying this, Henwy suddenly begins to tremble and have trouble breathing, concerning Alxton even more so.

"Y-You're looking really pale, you know! A-Are you sure that you're alright?" Alxton asked, extremely worried.

"I told you, I'm totally fine. Are you even listening to me?" Henwy replied, heaving heavily.

"Y-You're heaving! And you're trembling, aren't you?" Alxton asked, shaking Henwy vigorously questioning if he was listening to him.

Henwy spoke, "D-Dont worry about me... could you go check on Aiden and—" But suddenly begins frothing at the mouth, and Alxton shrieking, "You're frothing at the mouth!" before falling face first to the ground.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Alxton, horrified to see the assassin fall, attempts to help Henwy in any way, though he only panics when Henwy begins to choke on the foam in his mouth.

Confused and worried, he is joined by Aiden, who instructs him to lay Henwy on his side. Shocked to hear his voice, Alxton then panics at being visited by Aiden's ghost, only for the young swordsmith to ease his concerns and explain he is not dead. As Henwy wakes up from the commotion, Alxton asks how he can be alive since he was stabbed in the solar plexus and bled heavily, to which Aiden explains that the blood on him is from his arm wounds; he was protected from a more severe wound when the fish demon's blade instead hit an object hidden in his shirt. He reveals that Sigils had entrusted him with Crainer's tsuba, wanting to put in on his new blade. Seeing it reminds Henwy of the time when Jelly had encouraged him: "Let's give it out all together as an assassin!"

He then suddenly sees himself surrounded by his family, with his parents holding him and Hayley looking at him. His father tells him that trusting in someone has resulted in everything turning out well in the end, as the assassin becomes emotional to see the faces of his father and mother once again. Hayley then kneels down, clutches his hand, and commends her brother for his work, bringing Henwy to tears.

"Why... must you... leave so soon... that I've got to risk my life... to get revenge... for all of you?"