Corrupted Demons
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|| CHAPTER 16 | Corrupted Demons ||
"A corrupted state of mind is not permissible to even contact a pure and clear one. A single sin will wash out all the good deeds one had done in their living days–– how cruel the world is...
"Their stained form, blood, and soul are all poor, poor things. If you encounter them someday, somewhere–– what would you do? As fearsome as they are, as horrifying as they seem, you are standing on the same globe as they are.
"Will you run...? Or will you fight? Perhaps, you will take the same path as the Grand Summoner herself, who knows?"
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The light vanished slowly and nothing was left aside from dust and ashes. It seemed that the world had mercy on his body today. No physical damage was taken by the exhausted male, but one couldn't say the same about his mental state.
Kiryuu was floating there with his face pale as if he had seen a ghost–– perhaps even paler than what the normal conditions would've been.
He slowly descended to the ground as his appearance reverted back to his normal self. His usual sky-blue hair and beautiful gem-like eyes returned, away from that blindingly ominous form of theirs.
His dragon-scaled spear faded away, along with his garbs and the two fanged beasts.
His clothes were now dirty and tattered. There was blood dripping from his head, as he closed one of his indigo eyes. His sky-blue hair was also in a slightly dishevelled state.
The colour red stained his cheeks and hands–– blood.
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How did the crimson liquid found its way there, one couldn't answer.
All Kiryuu knew was that the blood on his figure wasn't his. He wasn't injured, that's for sure. No pain or other stinging sensation in his body aside from the screaming limbs, craving to rest.
The wind dome was taken down, revealing five children that were inside it. The area that the dome covered was the only one that didn't get burnt.
Kishi immediately ran towards his brother, with the sky-blue-haired male starting to fall. The younger male caught him in time before his knees reached the floor.
"Tch, I knew this was gonna happen..."
"... Did you, now...?"
The older Ichisaki's brother remained quiet at the rhetorical query. A shadow loomed over his eyes whilst he began to scan Kiryuu for any other symptoms that would endanger his life.
Once in the past was enough.
Kishi didn't need to see more of Kiryuu's weakened state any longer. If only he was stronger, he would gain his Spirit Form sooner and help out.
But alas, Kiryuu got his first and the others who had obtained theirs weren't with them. How fate works strangely.
"Well, I need to do it to obliterate those corrupted demons..." Kiryuu finally spoke up, seeing Kishi's lack of response. His shaking body was supported by his younger lavender-haired brother.
"I doubt they would just go down that easily..." Ruka chimed in behind them, his younger siblings coming from behind him. "Need I remind you, they're not like any others we've fought before in past missions."
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"I feel like I'm forgetting something..." Mizuki muttered whilst she tapped her fingers on her chin. "If they're demons, won't they just come alive again?"
"Exactly. The Blood Moon's up tonight."
Kishi scoffed and tilted his head towards the blonde. "Took you long enough to notice."
Just as Mizuki was about to retort, a tornado formed where the men used to be. The clouds that were covering the moon moved away, revealing a red and not-silver moon.
It's as red as blood and the similar-coloured light glistened upon them. The rays of scarlet painted their skin the same colour as the eery orb above, causing shudders to run down their figures.
The tornado became stronger and stronger, creating a dust storm.
The six individuals moved back quickly as Kishi helped his brother. The two honey-blondes cast a combination spell again, with Kumo and Kyou assisting them as well.
A thicker dome was created out of the wind and doubled with dark big roots swirling and twisting around the dome, making it thicker than it already was. Kishi used a vision spell to observe the outside part of the dome.
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There…
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The lavender-haired Ichisaki could see that the tornado had died down. The dust storm, however, had not.
Kishi's violet eyes couldn't see clearly from all the dust, but he could spot several tall silhouettes with wings on their back walking towards them.
"Well, well, well... You actually thought that you, mere humans, had us, demons, there?"
"How foolish of you. Even if you're Spirit Wielders, I never thought that you would actually think that you'd defeat us with your so-called Spirit Forms."
"Did you forget that tonight is the Blood Moon? Of course, just that one spell won't be able to kill us."
Three different voices emerged from behind the storm along with several other faint ones, their personality changed from when they were still "humans."
Kishi's eyes widen once more as his body stopped moving.
His blood froze and the end of his hair all stood up in alert. He was shaking and shivering. He wasn't cold, nor was he hot. Kishi then gritted his teeth and slapped his cheeks, turning them red.
He didn't stop shaking.
'What... is this feeling...?' he thought to himself.
His body wouldn't listen to him. His whole being felt numb for a moment until he dared himself to bite the inside of his cheeks, hard enough to draw blood.
The pain Kishi felt brought him out of his frozen state. What was that? He didn't know. All he knew was that it wasn't a normal reaction. Something in those demons must've caused him to react like this.
As the silhouettes stepped nearer, Mizuki and the others also froze in place.
They had the same reactions as Kishi did before–– frozen and unable to move.
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For the first time in their lives, they felt fear.
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Kumo had goosebumps while Kyou was shaking and shivering, just like Kishi. Ruka positioned himself in a fighting stance while Mizuki prepared some spells to cast later in her head.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ARE WE GONNA FEAST ON 'EM SPIRIT WIELDERS AGAIN THIS YEAR???"
"Yeah, nothing tasted more delicious than fresh meats of young Spirit Wielders!!! Especially when there are two heirs of the main clans in front of us, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! This night will be great!"
Loud ugly laughs and shrilling cackles filled the area as the dust began to let up.
Though it seemed that the teens were underestimating those horrifying creatures with these thoughts, they silently deemed the crazier demons to be the weaker ones of the bunch.
The ones with stronger presences, stronger mana, and more intimidating power seemed calmer than others. Their wise speech made the young Spirit Wielders think that the demons written in those books they've read aren't exactly the same as the ones before them.
There, the violet-eyed boy saw hundreds of demons ten times the amount from before, with large wings and horns. Their sharp 'canine teeth' looked like fangs, visible to outside onlookers.
'...!!!'
'How in the world are we going to defeat ALL of them?!'
"My mana had been depleted from the earlier spell that I have performed. I can no longer cast another in this state..."
Kiryuu commented quietly with a small cough at the end, trying to open both of his eyes, "I'm guessing it's the same for the rest of you..."
"I still have some energy left, but I'm not sure if it's enough..." Kishi let out stiffly, still shaking and quivering. "Those damned creatures must've had something up their sleeves for us to react like this."
Mizuki then whispered with wary, "Mine's almost ran out from all the spells I have been casting since earlier... Kyou-niichan and Kumo probably still have enough to defeat one or two of them since they haven't cast as many as us."
Her cheerful demeanour was replaced with a serious one.
The two said boys nodded in confirmation at their sister's guess. Though there was no guarantee, it was the best bet they could take.
"I haven't used that many spells yet. I still have most of my energy left," Kumo confirmed with a nod. He crossed hir arms and leaned back, trying to think of several plans for them to either escape or fight them.
The latter would actually be quite difficult for them to do.
"Well, I just spent most of my fights running away from them," Kyou announced back to his younger brother, still a bit annoyed at the fuchsia-haired boy for not helping him earlier.
"Just saying... " Kishi started before pausing a little. "... Even one or two isn't enough..."
His facial expression changed into a comically depressed one, "If we lose this fight even if you guys change into your Spirit Forms––"
"Don't say that!!!" Kyou yelled while panicking, shaking his poor younger sister back and forth. "Just because you, Mizuki, and Kumo don't have your Spirit Forms yet, doesn't mean we'll lose immediately!!"
"WhYyY ArrEE yOoUu ShAkInGgg MeEeEeE––???" Mizuki inquired dizzily, imaginary stars were visible circling above her honey-blonde head.
"We have no time to be playing around," Ruka reminded the younger ones firmly. "We need to get out of here at once and find the others. Shizuka's also still missing, let's just hope she's with the rest."
"Right..."
"That girl is always getting into trouble, huh? She's the only one who had seemingly unlimited mana, and now she's gone when we need her."
Kishi huffed and shook his head, wondering what's happening in that head of the female Ichijou for her to disappear on them like that.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Kishi," Kiryuu deadpanned and remembered the times when Kishi would actually get in trouble more than he could count.
After finishing their talk, Ruka quickly devised a strategy for them to escape. The demons outside looked curiously at the root-covered wind dome.
"Should we just crush it down? Kekekeke!!!" cackled one of them.
Well, they all looked the same anyway, so it didn't matter who's saying what, huh?
"NAH, LET'S BURN 'EM DOWN!! IT'LL BE LIT!"
"Pun intended there?"
"NOPE!!!"
The demons leisurely chatted while surrounding the dome, discussing how they will take the dome down. "We should finish this quickly, my friends. The KING won't be happy if we let them got away."
Agreements filled the area as the moon shone brightly red once more, revitalizing the demons. With bulging veins and blood-craving eyes, they took their stances and grinned maliciously.
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"Let us begin, then."
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They all simultaneously raised their hands as their black-dyed skin starting to crack. Little by little, the cracks became bigger and bigger. Black flowers with red tips bloomed on their now bare skin. Black-painted blood dripped from the flowers, eventually becoming a river of dark liquid.
The dark-coloured liquid surrounded the dome that the children were in.
"Kishi, what's the situation outside?" Ruka asked while preparing things for them.
Kishi explained slowly what's happening outside, a tad bit nervous. Ruka looked pale for a second before reverting to his usual self.
"... Mm, that's not good."
"What's not good, Ruka-niisan?" Kumo questioned worriedly from beside him, watching his brother do his things.
"If they are planning to use THAT spell, we'll be doomed before we even step out of this dome," the oldest Ichimori said calmly, but fear was still in his veins. The other stood still hearing his statement, thousands of thoughts running through their heads.
"What do you mean by 'that?'"
"It's their strongest spell. I don't have time to explain, just keep in mind to not touch the black liquid thingies. They're blood–– demon blood, to be exact."
"We need to move quickly then..." Kiryuu added, sitting up with his two arms behind him to support his weight.
"Yeah, I don't wanna die this quickly," chuckled Kishi jokingly, attempting to lift the tense mood blanketing around them.
"I mean, we're immortal. We technically won't die," Kyou chimed in.
"You sound smart for once, brother," Kumo replied sarcastically with a heavy sigh. "However, we will die if we get killed, so... an idiot stays an idiot, I guess."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"Let's get moving. Kishi, you keep an eye on them," Ruka ordered sternly.
"Mizuki, you help Kiryuu over there. Kumo, Kyou, and I will hold them off until you can get the others, especially the Ichijou Clan. They're the only one capable enough to kill corrupted demons like them."
"He's right... We don't have any chance against them in this state. The main head clan is the only one that can purify their stained and corrupted souls. Our powers would be useless," Kiryuu grimly spoke, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
They nodded at Ruka's commands, as Mizuki and Ruka proceeded to take down the wind barrier first slowly, leaving only the big roots protecting them. They opened the top of the dome a little, slowly, so that the demons won't notice.
Kumo cast a simple invisibility spell on Mizuki, Kiryuu, and Kishi, as Kishi activated his telepathic ability.
'I'll inform you this way, is that all right? Though I wouldn't be much help,' his voice rang in their heads as Ruka answered back, 'Yeah, it's fine. Make sure you get out safely.'
'Sure will. I'll get the others here as quick as possible. Don't you guys dare die first before I got back here, got it?'
'Hahaha, got it.'
And with that, the three invisible humans left the area quickly and quietly, leaving the other three to deal with the demons.
Ruka took down the roots and the three of them instantly jumped from one demon to another, avoiding the black liquid that had already flooded the place.
"Let's do this quickly, Kumo, Kyou!" Ruka commanded.
"Yeah."
"Aye, aye!"
|| CHAPTER 16 | Corrupted Demons - To be continued... ||
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