Chapter 17: At the Break of Sunlight

–Before the auction starts–

"Hey, the entrance is right over there. Don't get smart with us now." The bodyguards sensed the sneaking Zaiaku, attempting to get a jump from the merchant. For more information, the number of men guarding the back lot are four.

He looks desperate, a man whose life of his loved ones rests on his shoulders. He can't think of anything but to beg for them even if it costs his whole pride. As he was about to kneel down, a bodyguard kicked him away.

"Don't bother. As if you can get a million yen item by just kneeling." All of them laughed at him.

He didn't mind being a laughingstock right now. The priority is to get the item that will give hope for his family to keep on living. As such, Zaiaku touched the ground with his palm, bowed his head and kneeled once again.

"I beg of you! My family's life depends on it! I don't care about anything that will happen to me after this, but please they need to be–"

A guard suddenly intervened after recognizing him. "Wait! Isn't that Zaiaku!? The one they called the unrelenting because of how violent and strong he is? Hah! What the hell are you doing begging like poor fodder! What a downgrade!"

"Oh, I knew his face looked familiar. But man, what happened to him. What a disappointment he became."

As their bickering goes on, Zaiaku is starting to get anxious. He clenched both his teeth and fists. "I don't have time for this….!"

Suddenly, a massive brawl broke out. The whole area shook how intense it was inside. "Hey what the hell, check that out!" Two of the guards went inside to assist. There are two left guarding the backdoor.

Seeing this as an opportunity, he has no choice but to fight his way in. Zaiaku got up and launched himself towards the distracted guard, he then punched him directly to his face.

In the past, that would settle it. But to his surprise, the guard still looks fine after taking a direct hit from him.

"Kuh, you piece of–" The guard then tried to grab Zaiaku, but he jumped back instantly. Nevertheless, it didn't make his situation any easier. The two guards are more vigilant now that he engaged.

"Come here, allow me to teach you how to knock someone out in a single punch!"

Zaiaku made use of his still agile movements to evade some of the major blows thrown at him. But the problem of getting to the miracle leaf still persists.

With things weighing his mind, Zaiaku lost focus and got hit by a powerful strike.

"Ghack!"

The storm of strikes kept on coming as Zaiaku had no choice but just to shield himself while getting pushed back. Both of his legs and arms are about to give up until an explosion occurs.

A bright crimson flame lit up the place where the auction was supposed to happen. Everyone was distracted by it, but Zaiaku quickly snapped. In the moment of his anxiousness, he picked up a middling rock and hit both the guards behind their head.

It was enough to take them down since the two wore no mask to enhance them. Zaiaku then limped his way inside, only to witness a burning battlefield.

There he saw Akimitsu holding what seems to be the miracle leaf that he needed. His eyes widened as he called out to him after seeing him walking away with it.

He reached out his hands in desperation, not minding the heat he is currently experiencing. His exhaustion and injury caused him to fall down but it didn't stop him as he crawled towards Akimitsu.

"GIVE ME THAT!!! IT'S THE ONLY HOPE FOR MY FAMILY!"

He pleaded…and pleaded. But it's one way or another for them. Both are parents who are desperate for a miracle to save their family. There is no one to blame them as an observer. But for the person who lost, it was the winner who is seen to be the oppressor.

He ran home despite his injuries. He doesn't have time to gasp for air. He wished for a miracle to happen despite failing to get the solution he needed. But alas, life does not always work like how we wanted it.

What Zaiaku witnessed back home was something that he will carry on for the rest of his life. His wife, Kumiko is hugging the now lifeless Juzo…

Zaiaku walked closer, dejected with every step he took. He then knelt down in front of them. Kumiko's breath is collapsing as well, but she is still able to speak.

"Our child…fought…the sickness…bravely…he…used you...as a reference…for his strength…" Kumiko smiled warmly towards Zaiaku with tears flowing in her eyes.

She placed her slender hands in Zaiaku's cheeks, after seeing him breaking down. She continued to speak despite being weak to be able to do so.

"My love…do not blame yourself…I know that you will…there are really…some things that are…beyond our control…please…keep on living, for…me…and for Juzo's sake…as well."

The life in her eyes vanished, she died with a smile just to give Zaiaku even a little bit of reassurance. Rain suddenly comes pouring down.

The mighty Zaiaku…was left all alone. He looked as lifeless as his family. He carried both of them and went outside along with their belongings. He intended to bury them along with it.

As he reached a certain area where it can be a decent burial ground, a certain someone spotted him.

"Huh!? Zaiaku!?" It was the guard who he knocked down with a stone. The second one also arrived just as the first one spotted him.

His eyes are dead. It was too obvious for them to notice it, as she is carrying the corpse of what they believe is his family.

"Tch. It was your fault anyway, you know if you're just as strong as you were back then, maybe you could have gotten your way."

Something stirred inside Zaiaku. 'If only I were strong like I was back then?' He then remembered what his wife always tells him: that he became stronger in her eyes. It threw him into a confusion.

"What…..are you talking about?"

"Huh? Hey, I think he already became insane. Let's just leave that poor bastard."

The other guard seems to be massaging the part where Zaiaku hits him with a stone. "Bah, so much for paying this bastard back. But well, he's already got his."

"If only the two of you are not in the way…" Zaiaku told them with malice mixed in. His eyes may look dead, but the glare he is currently giving will surely send chills down the spine for those in the receiving end. To top off his malice, these two brutes dared to give a senseless pity meant to disparage his wife and child.

The guards sweat in buckets as they felt his malevolent glare. But brutes those days, they will always put their pride on the line first even if there is nothing to gain.

"Huh, I felt like the lesson we did back then is not enough for someone like him."

"Heh, looks like we can agree on the same thing."

One of them started stretching, while the other began crunching his fist. Zaiaku on the other hand gently puts down the lifeless bodies of Kumiko and Juzo, with their belongings, under the shade of a thick tree.

As he was about to get up, a mask slipped down from Kumiko's belongings. It was the same mask that she wore the first time they met each other, the chained mask: Nikushimi no Rensa.

Juzo picked it up as he remembered the last time Kumiko told him the origin of this mask. It was a mask meant to cease what the wearer deems to be stopped, represented by its chains. In Kumiko's case, it was Zaiaku's violence that she wanted to put an end to. The stronger that desire is, the stronger the chains are.

"Would you forgive me if I were to use it to hurt someone…to avenge you…" Zaiaku mumbled to himself.

As one of the guards closely approached him, Zaiaku turned around with the mask equipped. "W-what!? He has a mask! Restrain him quickly!" The other guard shouted.

"RESTRAIN!!!!" Zaiaku shouted from the back of his throat.

The guard who is just close cannot seem to move an inch, as if he's being bound by something unseen. "Aaaagh! Wha-what the hell is this feeling!? Something's coiling around me!"

The other guard just watched as he was terrified with Zaiaku's screeching shout. To add, he is witnessing something out of the ordinary right now.

Zaiaku grabbed the restrained man by his face. As if getting possessed by something, he grinned. The man who just lost everything, grinned before the eyes of two terrified men.

"Z-Zaiaku, look man! We're sor–"

"Zaiaku? That man was weak! I am stronger than him…ah yes that's right, someone stronger than him. I am…Juzo."

It was by then, that the man known as Zaiaku the unrelenting, vanished while a man who replaced his spree with a stronger arsenal, rose. A man calling himself; Juzo.

–Back to the present day–

Light footsteps can be heard from the quiet grass fields overlooking the whole of Asakura. There, a man sits on the edge of the scenery while being approached by a mysterious looking woman.

"And here I thought you already left us." The woman talked.

The man then replied: "And where should I go when I do?" It was Juzo, who did not attend their organization's meeting.

"Hah. That's right, there was nothing you wanted to visit anymore. I admire your determination for living even though you always say that you have no reason anymore but just to fuel your hatred." The woman speaks with sincerity. She's holding a conversation with Juzo like it was nothing to be sneezed at.

"You didn't just come here to have a boring talk like this, right? Come on, spit it out." Juzo cuts the small talk.

"Still not up for some hearty conversations I see." The woman gets closer to the sitting Juzo and stands beside him. "The next play might be the last, what do you think will be the result, Juzo?"

"Hrrgh…I don't care about it. I just went with your ploy because it's happening in the land of that dead man. But another matter caught my interest."

"And that would be?" The woman inquired.

Juzo immediately replied: "An answer."

"Ah, that would be something to really look forward to." The woman looked at the horizon. "Do you know what makes your chains and my snakes similar?"

Juzo didn't bother to reply, but he turned his gaze towards her.

"They both have emotions."

Juzo turned his gaze away and stood up. He dusted himself off and walked away as he was about to move out by himself.

"Just point me at my enemy, Orochi."

"Yes. I will." The woman herself is the leader of the Scythes, finally revealing herself out in the open. Orochi, the silver-haired woman hiding her identity under the pretext of the Serpent God.

— — —

As morning soon approaches, the [Swords] have finally finished their preparation. Commander Gwyn will lead the assignment and make sure that everyone will be able to reach the destination safely.

Akafuyu, meanwhile, is waiting for someone in her office with the scroll of permission in her hands.

"Would you give us a word of encouragement, Commander?" Johan sarcastically asked while waiting with his team.

"I don't give speeches. My actions will speak for themselves." Gwyn confidently replied.

With just that, everyone who heard him had a boost in their encouragement. Gwyn on the other hand is oblivious about it.

The sun finally showed itself, at the first implication of sunrise, the [Swords] finally moved out.

Kiyoto locked his fist as a sign of getting ready. He has resolved himself to fight for this organization despite not knowing his true identity yet. At the same time, Juzo also locked his fist in preparation. As the rematch of the two approaches, one of them will gain an answer, and the other will gain a new resolve.