The Exorcist Killer

Like laser beams, both exorcists moved, surpassing the creature's massively hypersonic movements and slicing through the fog that cloaked the forest.

Taking the lead, she attempted to strike him with her blade, while her partner watched closely.

The light she emitted left a luminous trail as her blows cut through the trees in sharp gusts. The smell of burning followed a moment later, along with the sound.

The trees gave way, crashing down around them, forcing Yami to stay alert, dodging and keeping both eyes on the threat. His focus was supernatural — he could see a million trees falling, and his mind would still process it as one.

The creature struggled to dodge and retaliate. Its claws grazed the exorcist's hair, and the black energy in its hand flew out in search of a target. But it found none…

"These brats are hard to deal with!"

He felt the blade before its sound even reached his skin. Amid microscopic bursts of light, shallow cuts drew mere droplets of blood from his wounds.

A cause for laughter and scorn.

And yet, he was being hit — and that stirred a subtle fear, rooted deep in his being. For someone nearly intangible, seeing his greatest strength so easily overcome was disturbing. Each blow that landed echoed inside him, awakening a vulnerability he tried to suppress.

"Ha! Ha!"

"This... is going too far!"

He thought quickly, as his opponent ferociously broke off her combo. With no options left, he tried to arm the air with black thorns sharp enough to shred a body. But she seared through them one by one, standing her ground, her feet dragging across the dirt and raising a curtain of dust around her.

"She can only exorcise me if the blow is delivered with her full focus! So…"

He reassured himself. Confidence was power too.

In the exact instant he created an opening, she executed a horizontal slash. Light followed the motion again, carving a sharp shape through the air. Her strike obliterated dozens of trees almost instantly, like a crescent moon slashing through the night sky, forcing the creature to scatter into fragments, completely vulnerable.

As he disintegrated, he felt the heat of the impact, nearly overtaken by the speed of the blow itself.

It was the perfect opportunity, and Yamasaki saw it. In that very moment, he unleashed his light with such intensity that his hair flew with the force, surrounding him in an aura of pure power.

"Missed!" he scoffed at the girl's attempt, but as his hair settled into a confident posture, he realized…

"No… I… missed…"

Suddenly, he was engulfed by a dazzling explosion of light that erupted in his core with devastating force. The energy pierced him mercilessly, like a sharp spear through his stomach, tearing him apart in a single, fleeting instant.

Everything happened in a dizzying split second, leaving him stunned and bewildered by the blow's intensity.

"When?"

Then he saw the boy's smug expression. It was devilish — even for a creature of darkness.

"You…"

He barely managed to speak, as purple blood ran from his lips with moans of agony. His guts spilled at his feet, turning the surrounding vegetation into a macabre feast of his remains.

"I…" whispered the exorcist.

The beast's vision blurred, swallowed by darkness, until it was abruptly pierced by a flash of light. The impact lashed his mind, as the chaos of an exorcism drowned him in unspeakable torment.

"Shit, so this is it? I'm really gonna disappear like garbage!?"

The words dragged out, barely formed, suffocated by pain and despair.

Only he could hear the echo of his thoughts, immersed in the chaos of his agony, lost in the cacophony of his torn black soul.

His eyes refused to stay open — or maybe it was just the feeling consuming him. To others, his death came in an instant. To him, it was a torturous drag, a dense fog swallowing everything, distorting the world into a nightmarish scene.

The dying creature tried to focus, but his vision flickered on and off, as if reality itself were disintegrating under the weight of unbearable pain.

"Yeah… I was right. Your ability has its limits. A limitation in the amount of information your mind can process," she said with unnerving calm. Her voice was steady, like someone who had finally confirmed a long-awaited theory.

A mad mystic scientist proving her hypothesis.

Her eyes briefly turned to him — a subtle gesture, but full of meaning. Around them, the dense atmosphere of the forest began to fade, as if nature itself responded to the end of the battle.

The demonic claws finally withdrew, after so many cycles.

"Smug," she replied with a mocking tone, blowing on her hand and watching the steam rise from the strike she'd just delivered.

Did she already know all of this? Or… was she just guessing?

The question echoed in his mind as the entity still struggled, barely keeping track of what was happening through his clouded eyes.

"Damn you… you're such a pain… shit… I didn't even get to use everything I had!"

And finally, the last remnant of his strength vanished. His arm fell limp, while the remaining energy dissipated in threads of smoke. His body began to dissolve like drenched mud, futilely resisting the holy annihilation of light.

The truth was he tried to convert darkness into life, desperately clinging to an existence that no longer belonged to him. But his fate… had already been sealed the moment he was struck.

"Huh? Smug? You mean… brilliant, right?" she retorted, not even glancing at the creature in agony, a smirk curling her lips.

Her indifference bordered on cruel, as if the being before her was now just an unimportant memory.

"Brilliant… hm…"

And she walked on, ignoring him. Every attempt at regeneration was nullified by the corrosive light still saturating his body — a deadly, eternal reminder of the exorcist's strike.

The matter that made him up disintegrated completely, scattering like ash in the wind.

"You're not gonna finish it?" the boy asked, watching her with almost irritating calm.

And with a casual gesture, she tossed her katana into the air, watching it dissolve into glowing particles before hitting the ground.

"Finish it? It's already over! Or do you want me to give a mercy blow to a pile of dust?" she said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. The playful gleam in her eyes contrasted with the brutality of the scene behind her.

"No… well, fuck that demon. Can we go?" he sighed. The fight no longer held any interest for him.

If it ever did.

He didn't even notice the enemy had been reduced to nothing…

"Hm?" she threw him a sidelong glance. "Alright. Honestly, I thought it'd be tough, but with two people, it's way easier than it looks."

She crossed her arms with a superior air, as if reflecting on how simple the challenge had been.

Then, she took a few more steps forward, heading back along the path they came, and he followed. His mind still focused on the possibility of a reward — the only thing that excited him in that moment of disillusionment: having to work.

"So… how much do we get paid?" he asked, flashing a crooked, unnatural smile.

"Paid? Oh… you didn't check the public board?" she replied, a bit awkwardly, glancing back to where nothing of the demon remained.

Only the forest — half-burnt, half-cleared — marked by the line of her blade.

"WHAT?!"

His shoulders stiffened instantly, his hair drooped in despair, and he froze in disbelief, realizing the cruel reality.

"And this is kind of… community service!" she added, noticing the aura of impatience growing around him.

"Community service?! Shit! You could've told me earlier, right?!" he slapped his own face in frustration, then let out a resigned sigh and turned around.

"Oh, but… I said public board, geez! Is it my fault you're a mule?"

"Yamasaki!? Wait! Hold on, sourpuss!"

"Great! Leave the house, fight, and not even earn a lousy coin! Amazing, huh? Solid two stars!" he complained, exasperated.

And she just followed, amused. Maybe she was enjoying the whole scene.

But she wasn't the only one chasing someone.

Two hours after the youth schools let out, Romero noticed a presence following him a few meters from the Kazuki Tanaka amusement park — a place abandoned by time, near the outskirts of the Gou district.

It had once been shut down due to outbreaks of the syndrome that plagued the region.

He was still looking for his followers, every step bringing him closer to his next target. However, as fate loves cruel jokes, a stone was about to fall in his path.

"Sent an assassin after me? That's hilarious! How'd you find me?" he asked, noticing someone land with the precision of an athlete.

And physically… impressive.

Even after spending time as a mere barista, ever since his last hunt began about three cycles ago, Tamashiro was still in top shape. His body recovered quickly, thanks to exceptional muscle memory.

And he didn't age… he was the same as when he made his pact.

"Yeah, what'd you expect? The police? Diego Romero," he said, taking a lower stance, knees bent and hands raised, ready for combat.

The question faded into the background…

"Maybe… anyway, you didn't answer me! I don't feel even a trace of spiritual energy in you…" Romero noted, turning to face him. "But you're clearly not just a regular human!"

Shit… as expected from the Order's greatest supernatural radar…

"I've got my tricks!" the mercenary replied, his extreme confidence letting the conversation flow.

A black aura spread around him, thick as living smoke, writhing with almost tangible malevolence. In his hands, the darkness took form, condensing into thin, pointed blades, as solid as forged steel.

Can he manipulate darkness?

And more than that… harden it?

That required deep knowledge — something only high-level demons typically mastered. But he… he wasn't a demon.

And being human? That was even more absurd…

"I see… so it's you," the tone was one of recognition, tinged with surprise. "Hideki Tamashiro, the human who made a pact with a demon… Wait…" his expression turned thoughtful, eyes analyzing him. "Weren't you killed by the Order? Or is that just another one of their lies?" he smiled, but the smile carried tension, a nervousness masked as sarcasm.

The clash was about to begin, but more important than that was the internal war within each of them. In that moment, who was who on the scale between light and shadow?

The answer, perhaps, was simpler than they thought… but pawns on a board don't think beyond what their kings allow.