Building Wounds

Rei woke up in his bed dressed in red silk garment. He looked at the room he was in confused and thought to himself, 'Where was he at?'

"I see that you awoke," a voice called out in as he looked around the room until he saw a girl in armour sitting in on the window ledge.

She looked over at the window smiling as she began brushing her hair and she looked to Akari and asked, "Had a good sleep? You must've been through lots of turmoil back there. Having to face your father like that, Rei."

"I guess it was Saori," He responded trying to fix up his hair back, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was just waiting for you to wake up-," She said before being cut off.

"I mean why at here? I thought your samurai faction was elsewhere?" He asked more.

"You didn't hear about what your father announced then? All samurai were summoned over here for training and planning for the war."

"A war? Where is the war and why there a war?"

"To kill all demons," She explained, "He proclaimed that he was planning for it for years and they're waging it on every demon."

"You believe that crap? It's all talk. He'll end failing like every job he fails at. As a samurai, he failed and gotten exiled. As a demon killer, he failed most of his ventures and killing demons. He failed as a husband and he also failed as a father-"

"Yes, I understand. I find it quite flawed as a plan to perform and many are sceptical of it but there's soon going to be a meeting for it. I've heard the main plan would be told there."

Then the door opened as a maid came into the room and informed them, "Rei Akari, Saori Arima. You are both needed in the meeting room. Haruto Akari has called the meeting now."

They both nodded at her as they then stood up. Saori walked out while Akari placed some of his armour on and then walked with her. She looked at him where his beaming pride was gone and replaced with shame and misfortune added with a grim look stuck to the floor.

"Rei... What happened to you over there?" She asked cautiously, wanting to know what changed him so much.

"I can ask myself that as well. In hindsight, I don't truly know and you do not want to know as well..." He responded ominously.

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"We must go to the hideout immediately..." Akio proposed to them firmly, "If Haruto is getting the backing he is claiming he'll get then we can't sit around and wait to be eradicated..."

"He's waging a war on every demon. That might be the first place that they'll enter," Aldrif stated in caution, "Maybe we shouldn't go over there. We can just hide in an unknown cave."

"Hiding won't help. The Empress will obviously want to capture Mazoku and Haruto will certainly want me to be dead. He wouldn't want either of us to survive a third time from him."

"And what freedom is there to sit like ducks in a cave all our lives... Fighting is the only option and those demons can help us," Mazoku cut in, "Why would he want to catch you? What did you do differently than every other demon?"

"That is something I cannot tell you sadly. You have your secrets to keep and I have mine. We can only respect them and each other on it."

"Incredible wisdom. Too bad it falls on the deaf ears of the young," Mazoku responded sarcastically.

"Well, at least we can agree that we need to go to the demon's hideout over there if we seek to survive." Replied Akio sighing, exasperated.

"Some of us don't share the same idea..." Daichi remarked looking over to the landscape with a frown on her face.

"Really? Do you believe that you'll survive out here alone?" Mazoku remarked to her with a slight tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Quite easy for you to say with your insane fixation on revenge pushing us into a dark road. I'm sorry but you shouldn't be trusted with leading us on."

"You don't trust me? I guess you don't believe me as well..."

"I do but I can't compromise my life for your struggles too much; you're not the only one who has a goal for their life..." She ended the conversation ominously walking off to some of the hedges trying to find any berries there.

Mazoku sat down looking on the floor feeling defeated and punched the floor angrily breaking it and looked over to everyone divided.

"I guess I'll go for a walk..." He stated, taking off to the fields.

Akio tried to stop him but he ran off past him and jumped over to the grass below them. He ran over to train his speed until he tripped over a skeletal demon who looked up at him with a blackened and tall face full of wrinkles.

"You should be careful... A demon-like you shouldn't be here..." It said coarsely looking towards him with eyes as pale as paper, "Why have you come here? You're new I see..."

"I am..." He started feeling cold.

"Ah, there's Akio. It's been long without him there." The demon responded looking over to see Akio smiling at him, "I see you're a friend of him. What's your name?"

"Ankoku Mazoku..." He said feeling the words being forced out his mouth.

"Hello Mazoku, welcome the Demon's Fang. A hideout for demons like us, I'll introduce you to Kama Korrapiti. Oh sorry, I've forgotten, my name is Haru Akari..." He muttered standing up looking at the group in front of him.

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Yang Kwan was a mighty ninja leader, or so he thought.

He defeated demons and destroyed them with his impeccable speed yet he and his team fallen before Akari. Yet it seemed to not be Akari who defeated him or not the ones he had his sights on defeating. Akari was weakened by taking down the other warriors and even if they dropped like flies, his pack of fighters have obviously taken a toll on him and with one easy kick he would have died yet Yang Kwan was the one who brushed with the deadly axe of death. How?

Yang began to break through the tunnel with might and precise jabs through the dirt. He got away by the hairs on his chin and so he had to get through quickly. Incredibly quickly before the tunnel collapsed.

He broke the tunnel away with incredible power and crept through. It was already difficult for him to go past with his broken state and going through the tunnel has obviously broken a large number of his bones. From the crushing force of the attack made by the strange assailant, Kwan was in no shape to battle against Akari and so he had to flee away from the in rapid speeds. He dashed off to one of the tunnels and left unseen yet it seemed he looked like he stayed dead.

Yang continued to move through feeling the air in the tunnel run out and continued to break through with utmost skill and strength in his moves. He increased the speed in his movements and he finally took out except that he nearly dropped down to the floor from the opening leading to a large crater. Yang backed away seeing a small line of light going over to him. He took off his hood revealing his bald head and a bloody nose.

His face was not that of a great fighter like the samurai were, who were pampered by the royals with every success they bring. Meanwhile, his face was filled with disgrace and failure with every mission he fought in.

He then carefully readied himself to jump over to the light and break past yet he then ripped a muscle bleeding a lot in it and then he let out a cry of torture as he sat down then out of the blue he felt a creeping monstrous fear go up in his blood and freeze his veins and himself down as a beast let out a cold breath at him stopping him as two red eyes came up looking at him and targeting his soul.

"Yang Kwan... I am going to need you for a battle against an enemy that hurt both of us." It hissed towards him.

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The samurai all sat on an enormous table with Haruto who stood before them and they all looked at him waiting for answers.

"It's great to see all of you here and I am honoured to be able to lead you all over in this journey-" He proclaimed.

"Yes, please. I would love to know how you would take us on a journey to death," Rei nterrupted him spitefully, "How will this be more different than every expedition you go on and fail in..."

The samurai conversed to each and some looked away in shame from both of them. Saori rolled her eyes and blushed out of second-hand embarrassment towards him.

"Enough," Haruto responded to them silencing them all and he looked at Rei, "I figured you would be sceptical and I wanted to keep this at the end of my announcement but this time I have a weapon that protects us from failure. Absolutely foolproof..."

"What is it?"

"It is that Rei. I have brought them back."

"No..." He responded in disbelief figuring it all out.

"Yes. For the first time, I've brought the Akari family back again," He answered as they conversed while a the Akari family walked into the light revealing themselves, ironclad, and fully covered in weapons.

"This time. The demons will all die. This time we win," An old man stated, walking behind him.

"Yes, father," Haruto replied, "We've done it finally..."