CHAPTER X: NIGHTMARE OF PAST PART 1

"!!"

Mikhail sensed four powerful malicious presences and turned to the direction of them, feeling surprise over how insanely dark and demonic their energy was. He turned to Rae and demanded to know their identities.

"Heh, Queen Dayana's personal bodyguards. The Exterminator Squad," Rae replied as she adjusted her cracked porcelain mask. "They are more powerful than the combined might of your sister, Shizuka, and certainly you."

Mikhail then briefly sensed a rapid drop in Shizuka's Mystic Energy, pressuring him into making a choice between fighting Rae or saving Shizuka. At that moment, his darker self began to speak to him, persuading him to give in to the darkness.

"There is no way for you to save her unless you accept me. Just admit my existence within your body and give it into the darkness."

For one split second, Mikhail considered that decision. He knew that by giving himself into the darkness, he would gain unimaginable power. Power that was possibly superior to Dayana and there's no doubt it will give him a chance to end the Demons once and for all.

But then, he remembered something. He remembered the death of his father which caused him to discard that choice. 

'I can't just teleport myself out of the barrier since I already did to the civilians which drains a lot of my energy. If I do it again, there's a high chance that I will die instantly.'

Clenching his fist tightly, Mikhail took a deep breath and blitzed towards Rae with speed that shocked her. In an instant, Mikhail punched her twice in the face followed by an elbow strike, a left roundhouse kick to her kidney. Rae cried out in pain and threw punches twice that missed and received a sickening punch to her gut.

Performing a devastating lariat move that knocked Rae to the ground, Mikhail scanned his entire area to find the weak spot of the barrier. Meanwhile, Shizuka was fighting against the Exterminator Squad who outclassed her in strength and speed, injuring her badly.

Holding the guardrail to support herself while placing her left hand on her wounded abdomen, Shizuka looked at Katsuki who showed no emotion at all.

One of them, a woman with a dark wavy bob and bangs framing her face and pitch black eyes, asked, "Katsuki, should we end her now?" 

"Not yet, Satsuki. Mother wants us to toy with her for a while before ending her life."

The woman identified as Satsuki nodded her head then looked at the other two companions.

Satsuki wore a black faux leather halter top with a zipper that paired with a black flap pocket denim skirt and a pair of dark buckle strap thigh-high boots. She was also spotted with several armour rings on her index, middle and pinky fingers. 

"How about we just rip her apart?"

Shizuka glared at the one who said that, who smiled sadistically at her. It is a tall woman with blonde hair that reached below her shoulders with curtain bangs and violet eyes. She wore a black tank top with dark cargo pants and buckle boots.

The last woman who had a platinum blonde pixie cut and light pink eyes said, "Calm down, Tatsuki. It's still too soon to do that. Moreover, she's exhausted and unable to use her technique."

She wore a dark trench coat with matching pants and a pair of boots. 

"Natsuki was right. For now, let's just have some fun with our meal." Katsuki said before constructing a spear-like sword and shield via pure demonic energy.

Shizuka cursed herself. She's exhausted and couldn't do much other than fight them briefly. Catching her breath, Shizuka watched as the Exterminator Squad rushed at them and gritted her teeth.

At the same time, Mikhail and Rae fought against one another in a titanic clash. Thrashing his opponent across the surroundings, Mikhail punched her away. She quickly recovered and threw a rapid barrage of punches at him, but the young man had anticipated her attack and caught her wrists. He threw her around but at the very last second she grabbed Mikhail by wrapping her legs around his neck.

"I'm curious. Why didn't you showcase any of your power, eh?" Rae asked while tightening her legs around Mikhail's neck. "Don't tell me that you refuse to use your gift because it reminds you of how they died."

Slamming Rae on the ground several times, Mikhail asked, "You knew them?!"

Rae laughed as she let go of Mikhail and backflipped a few times, creating a distance between them. She then said, "I was there. The very first time you fought that Katagiri bitch in the Purge to the battle against that hot-head asshole outside of our school, the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister and King of Malaysia, and even your battle against Daihachi."

Mikhail began to feel slight fear, asking himself how did Rae know so much about his past? Fear and confusion clearly displayed on his face, Elizabeth enjoyed seeing this as she coldly remarked how Mikhail did nothing and just watched Amaris and Zuan die in front of him.

"You are… someone from my past… Someone who knew so much about me…" Mikhail whispered while staring at Rae. 'Who is this person?'

"Queen Dayana was right. You look cute when you are afraid."

"Whoever you are… I will figure it out once I take off that mask after I make sure you are dead."

"What a weak threat. I thought you would come up with something better."

"Oh, trust me… I will show you suffering that you have never experienced so far," Mikhail coldly said. "Imagine it like I killed your parents."

Within one second, Rae blitzed towards her opponent and threw a punch at his left cheek. She clenched her fist tightly, manipulating her demonic energy into her fist to increase the impact of the punch. This caused Mikhail to be knocked away and crash into a building.

Rae then lifted the bus and hurled it at the building where Mikhail crashed into. She then proceeded to extend her right arm and fired several demonic energy projectiles, resulting in the building to explode. 

Still unsatisfied, Rae created a massive energy sphere from the tip of her index finger. She then angrily hurled it at the building, intending to end Mikhail's life. Upon making contact with the building, the sphere exploded. The explosion ravaged the surroundings and unleashed a thick plume of smoke alongside debris that scattered in the air and destroyed the barrier.

Once the dust settled, Rae looked around and began to laugh crazily. There is no doubt that Mikhail will survive her attack. She walked away but then heard someone clapping. Turning around slowly, Rae widened her eyes when she saw Mikhail who'd survived from that attack while clapping his hands.

She was so shocked when she saw his condition. The left side of his body was badly damaged, exposing his beating heart. The flesh on his hands was gone, leaving only his skeletal hands. Half of his face was badly burnt. 

"Not bad. I thought I was going to die, but as it turns out, I survived that devastating technique of yours." 

What happened next terrified Rae as all of Mikhail's injuries healed instantly. This means that Mikhail's regeneration ability has returned. 

"Well, how about I show you a bit of what I can do?"

As soon as he said that, Rae widened her eyes and blocked Mikhail's roundhouse kick. Despite shielding herself, Rae still felt the pain within her right arm and retaliated with a left sucker punch that was parried. The two then traded several powerful blows which ended with Mikhail tricking Rae into blocking his punch that was aimed for her face.

"!!"

Giving a smirk at Rae, Mikhail landed a knee-strike to her abdomen followed by slamming his cupped fists to her back and a backflip kick that knocked her away. 

Meanwhile

A heavily wounded Shizuka could be seen standing before the injured and exhausted Exterminator Squad. She knew that she couldn't fight any longer and collapsed to her knees, glaring at the smirking Katsuki. Before any of them could say anything, a group of people in suits arrived at the scene. Each of them carried unique demonized weapons.

"Hunters?"

One of them, a woman with short layered brunette hair and bangs framing her face, looked at Shizuka and said, "My apologies, Shizuka-sama for being late. We have already evacuated the civilians within a 500 meters to 1 kilometers radius and placed a barrier to ensure no civilians will enter the area."

"Rin? Urgh," Shizuka groaned in pain and stood up with the help of the dark eyed woman identified as Rin. "Be careful with them. They are at least Level 1."

"Understood. Sarah, please heal Shizuka-sama. The rest of you assist me!" Rin removed her black tie and threw it away as she pointed her demonic katana at Katsuki. "You must be the leader, right? I am giving you a chance to leave this place alive. Trust me, I am not just a simple woman."

"Hmm, interesting. The three of you attack everyone else, this one is mine." Katsuki said to her friends, earning a sharp nod from them.

***

Mikhail could be seen avoiding Rae's unseen assaults and even parried some of them. He parried Rae's left roundhouse kick and threw a punch at her face which cracked her porcelain mask slightly. Giving a smug face at his opponent, Mikhail threw several fast punches at Rae who raised her arms to block them. 

His last punch, however, broke her defense, prompting him to dash forward to throw another punch that was aimed for her face. Rae avoided it just in time and was forced to go into defensive mode as the young Genji began his brutal assault.

Feeling that she couldn't continue this fight any longer due to underestimating her opponent and the fear of being tortured by Dayana slowly consuming her, Rae began to think of something when she noticed her Angel Slayer not too far away. She smirked behind her mask and jumped away, spreading her arms.

In the next three seconds, Rae manifested a pair of mutilated, demonic, grotesque angelic wings. She then unleashed thousands of huge chunks of projectiles at Mikhail. Genji was about to run away to avoid those deadly projectiles when suddenly he found himself unable to move and looked down. He saw a pair of skeletal hands grabbing his ankles firmly and then stared at the grinning Rae.

In a split second, Mikhail received numerous projectiles that grievously wounded him. He groaned in pain and then was shocked to see Rae suddenly stand before him with the Angel Slayer in her hand. With one swift motion, she thrust the accursed dagger into his throat. 

"Sweet dreams, angel."

Once she said that, Rae gleefully dragged the dagger to Mikhail's left chest, nearly hitting his heart and injuring his left lung. She then pushed it deeper and twisted it as Mikhail desperately tried to reach the dagger. In an instant, Rae slashed through Mikhail's torso and rapidly stabbed his left leg, forcing him to his knees. 

Receiving a powerful knee-strike that cracked his skull by Rae, Mikhail collapsed in a pool of his own blood. The masked warrior violently pulled out the dagger from his knee and repeatedly stabbed his chest before ending it with a cut on his face. Staring at the seemingly dead Mikhail, Rae lifted her porcelain mask slightly and licked the blood on the tip of his dagger.

At that moment, Shizuka, Rin and a few of the Hunters arrived at the scene and were horrified with what they'd witnessed. Shizuka was so overwhelmed by anger that she let out a scream of rage and tried to attack Rae but the masked woman grabbed the lifeless Mikhail and pointed the dagger at his head.

"Surely you don't want to bury him without his head, right? So, I suggest you use your brain for once and stay there like a good dog," Rae said to Shizuka who stopped. "Good dog."

"Fuck you! Let him go, you fucking bitch or I will fucking rip out your organs and put them back in random place!" Shizuka yelled angrily, surprising the Hunters. 

While the Hunters were too stunned to say anything, Rin widened her eyes when she realized who Mikhail was and lunged at Rae who punched her to the ground. She then stomped Rin's abdomen and gave her a cold gaze.

"You fool. You just made a terrible mistake."

Rae jammed her index and middle finger inside Mikhail's head through his right temple, piercing his brain. She then discharged a huge amount of demonic energy into Mikhail's brain, causing the nerves on his head to glow purple. 

"I just put demonic energy into his head. No idea what will happen to him, but I am so excited to see it," Rae said to everyone. "Well, since Queen Dayana wants him and I intended to make it happen. This is the farewell for us."

Before Rae could retreat, a spear was thrown at her feet and Mizuki appeared in an instant with murderous intent. She landed a solid kick to her abdomen, knocking her away as Mizuki caught the dead Mikhail. The head clan of the Genji Clan looked at Mikhail with tears in her eyes and then stared at Rae who cursed herself before escaping via a swirl of rose petals.

Just as the last petal fell to the ground, Mikhail suddenly coughed up blood which surprised Mizuki. He weakly opened his lone and saw his elder sister before passing out, prompting Mizuki to rush him and Shizuka to the hospital.