Set Your Heart Ablaze

Chapter 5

As night fell over the village, (Y/N) and Kyojuro stood at the edge of the forest, the place they had been warned about.

"So this is where people have been disappearing, the demon must be somewhere in here." (Y/N) commented, looking slightly nervous.

"That's most likely where it is-" suddenly, the two were interrupted by the sound of nearby footsteps. Turning their heads, the two of them spotted one of the villagers making their way toward the forest. He had a blank expression in his eyes, as if he was in some sort of trance.

"Rengoku, look. Maybe if we follow him we'll find the demon" (Y/N) pointed out.

"You're right, we should hurry" the male agreed with her. With that, the two followed close behind the villager, watching closely as he followed the path. As they got closer, the sound of humming filled the air, replacing the sound of the animals that had been audible before. Kyojuro and (Y/N) remained silent as the villager came to a stop in the middle of a clearing. The humming was much louder now, but after a short moment, it came to a stop.

"Oh, my food has come right to me. How nice of you" a feminine voice spoke before the sound of high-pitched laughing filled the air. From the darkness emerged a woman dressed in a fancy looking purple kimono. She had long, brown hair that was in a fancy updo. Though she looked mostly human, her eyes were slit like a cat's, and her nails were sharp. Both signs that she was a demon.

"You wouldn't mind if I ate you right, after all, I'm so hungry." She asked, walking up to the man. She stood right in front of him, leaning forward with a smirk on her face. The demon placed her hand on the man's chin as he nodded, still in a trance.

"I knew you would say yes, now all you have to do is stay still for me. You can do that, can't you?" The demon asked, tilting her head to the side. The man didn't respond. Laughing to herself, the demon's arm suddenly transformed into a spider's leg. She pulled it back, ready to kill the man in one strike. However, before she could, the man suddenly wasn't in the same   spot. Rengoku stood a few feet away, holding the man in his arms. At the same time, (Y/N) jumped down from the tree, cutting off the demon's arms. Just then, the villager snapped out of the trance he was in.

"W-what's going on?" He asked, looking around confused. His eyes went wide in horror when he saw the demon with her arms missing. He didn't have much time to process the situation he was in as Rengoku set him down on the ground.

"Run back to the village, we'll handle this" he told the man. The villager nodded, too scared to say anything else. With that, he ran away from the forest as fast as he could, leaving Rengoku and (Y/N) to deal with the demon.