Soldiers rush everywhere as Satoshi and Kaito walk briskly down the road. The sky overhead has gone grim—ash grey and heavy, something horrible is about to happen.
"What's going on?" Satoshi asks, narrowing his eyes.
"I have absolutely no idea," Kaito mutters. "Reiko might have some information."
The streets near the gates of Raigetsu are flooded with soldiers—steel clanking, orders shouted, the tension as thick as blood. The two press forward when a voice cuts through the noise.
"Hey!!" Ryuji calls, running to them, panting. "Any idea what the hell is happening?" He points at the soldiers scrambling to form lines and barricades.
"We're headed to Reiko's place," Satoshi replies, his voice uncertain. Kaito nods beside him, silent.
They reach Reiko's home and knock hard.
"Hey!" Ryuji calls. "You there?"
Reiko steps out lazily, stretching his arms. "What d'ya need?"
Ryuji jerks a thumb toward the chaos. "You tell me. What the hell's going on?"
"You're going to fight," Reiko says bluntly, as if commenting on the weather.
Satoshi furrows his brow. "Fight?"
"You're going to defend Raigetsu."
"How many soldiers do we have?" Kaito asks.
"Two, maybe three hundred. Tenshu is sending reinforcements."
"Who the hell are we fighting?"
Reiko hesitates. "A man."
"A man?" Satoshi repeats.
Reiko exhales. "No. A demon."
Ryuji laughs nervously. "Come on, old man. How many soldiers are they bringing?"
"We're fighting the Demon of Iyakari."
--
Suddenly, the towering gates behind them feel small—fragile. The ground hums with unease. Satoshi scans the area. Soldiers move into formation, sweat trickling despite the cold air.
"Be vigilant," Kaito mutters, clutching his blade.
Satoshi shakes his head. "You expect me to believe one demon—"
"Enemy approaching!" a voice cries from the watchtower. "It's… it's a demon!!"
The sound of heavy armor echoes, slow and deliberate. The Demon of Iyakari appears on the horizon—his red ō-yoroi shining by the sun, his eyes empty, yet burning with an eerie blue glow.
"Damn," Satoshi whispers. "His presence… it's crushing."
"Heh," Ryuji grins nervously. "If you die here, Musume's gonna have to find someone else to marry."
Satoshi punches him in the thigh. "Get serious."
Then the demon raises his blade.
A black mist spills from his form like rot from a corpse. The sky blackens further. Thunder rumbles.
And then he vanishes.
In a heartbeat, the demon appears inside the ranks. The massacre begins.
Limbs are torn from sockets. Skulls shattered like eggs. Bodies split at the waist, intestines pouring out like serpents.
A soldier screams as his head is severed mid-shout. Another is skewered through the mouth, the blade exiting from the back of his skull. He kicks wildly before going limp.
The Demon moves like a phantom, untouchable—his blade cleaving through armor, bone, and flesh as if all were paper.
"RETREAT!" the general screams.
But the demon is already among them.
One soldier swings a halberd. The demon catches it mid-swing, yanks the man forward, and punches straight through his chest, ripping out a steaming, crimson-stained heart. He tosses it aside like garbage.
Screams echo. Steel clatters. Blood sprays the air like red rain.
Kaito rushes in, blade flashing. He aims for the demon's head. Their blades clash, a sound that rings across the battlefield. The demon doesn't flinch.
Then a brutal kick shatters Kaito's ribs. He gasps as the air leaves him.
With a flick of his sword, the demon slashes upward—and Kaito's right arm goes flying, spinning through the air like a severed bird.
"Kaito!!" Ryuji yells and pulls him back before the demon can finish the job.
Reiko and Ryuji charge.
Ryuji's blade swings wide, Reiko follows with a brutal downward slash—but the demon parries both effortlessly. He slams his elbow into Reiko's face, snapping his nose in half. Ryuji lunges, but the demon grabs his sword arm and snaps it backward, bones cracking loudly.
Reiko tries again, but the demon whirls and stabs his blade through Reiko's gut, lifting him slightly before tossing him like a ragdoll.
"This is madness," Reiko breathes, coughing blood. "We… we can't win."
Soldiers swarm again—desperate.
But they fall like wheat to the scythe.
Dozens charge.
The demon rushes into them like a black gale. Heads are lopped clean. Torsos disemboweled. Blood floods the earth.
One soldier's lower jaw is sliced clean off. Another has his spine severed mid-swing. Screams mix with wet, tearing sounds.
Limbs fly. Eyes are gouged. Teeth scatter the ground like gravel.
He steps through corpses, blade dripping, eyes glowing brighter.
Then—the Demon sheathes his katana.
For a second, silence.
And then with a blinding burst of energy. The Great Wall behind the soldiers shatters, stone crumbling like sand, sending debris flying.
"Save our lands!" the general cries. "Kill that demon!!"
Soldiers charge again—only to be cleaved in two before they can scream.
Ryuji, holding Kaito, looks around. "This is… this is hell."
Then Satoshi steps forward, sword drawn.
"I haven't fought yet," he says.
Ryuji turns, eyes wide. "No, don't—!"
But it's too late.
Satoshi is already walking toward the Demon of Iyakari.
The demon lifts his sword to finish another man—
And then Satoshi appears in front of him, his eyes glowing a bright yellow. His body again not in control
Satoshi blinked—and vanished.
His blade was already swinging toward the demon's throat before a sound could be made. Steel met steel, a burst of sparks illuminating the night. The demon grunted, sliding one foot back as he blocked the strike. Satoshi's eyes, once anxious, now blazed a feral glow of pure yellow.
"I can't control my body once again," Satoshi realized, trapped in his own flesh, "But at least I can protect them."
They moved like shadows clashing under moonlight—swords ringing like thunder, blades slicing through the air with precision. Each blow blocked, every slash parried. They danced in a deadly rhythm, neither gaining ground. But then—
Satoshi's eyes blazed with an unearthly golden brilliance, and he lunged forward with sudden, unnatural force. His sword crashed down like a hammer, forcing the demon back. One step. Two. The ground cracked under their feet. The demon gritted his teeth, trying to hold his stance, but Satoshi's relentless blows sent tremors through his guard.
Every strike from Satoshi was heavier than the last, each movement faster, more merciless.
"This has to be..." Reiko whispered, cradling Kaito, who lay in his arms, blood soaking into the earth, his severed hand twitching faintly.
"Akuma no Kaihō," Ryuji muttered, pressing his blood-soaked hand to his stomach, his eyes wide with horror.
"It can't be..." Kaito gasped through clenched teeth, his mind refusing to believe it
Then it happened.
With a roar, the demon raised his katana and brought it crashing down against Satoshi's blade. The collision sparked an explosion of white-hot light, casting stark shadows across the battlefield. Satoshi slid back, boots dragging deep furrows into the dirt, then took stance again.
But the demon... he didn't raise his sword this time.
Instead, he slid his katana slowly to his side, and in that instant—
A blood-curdling scream erupted.
But not from his mouth. The scream invaded the minds of everyone nearby, like nails dragging across the inside of their skulls. It echoed in their very bones, paralyzing. Even the air felt heavier.
Then the demon raised his head—his eyes now glowing a deep, abyssal blue, flickering like a storm about to break.
They both dashed forward.
This time, the demon was faster. Stronger. Unstoppable.
He struck like lightning, blade dancing like a predator with centuries of rage behind it. Satoshi blocked, barely keeping up, the strength of each blow forcing him back, his heels digging into the dirt. Dust exploded around them, trees splintering as their clash sent shockwaves through the ground.
Satoshi's body trembled—his yellow eyes flickered.
And for a heartbeat, his normal black eyes returned.
In that moment of clarity, the demon's blade came down like a divine execution.
Satoshi was flung across the field, skidding along stone and shattered tiles. He crashed into a wooden post with a sickening crunch. His breath hitched. He blinked—and saw his hands again.
"No..." he whispered. "Why can I control my body again?!"
But there was no time.
The demon dashed once more—faster than thought. Satoshi barely raised his sword in time. The blow launched him like a ragdoll. Blood splattered from his mouth mid-air.
The demon didn't chase. Not yet.
He turned, stalking slowly toward a bloodied spear embedded in the earth, its shaft painted in red. With eerie calm, he ripped it free.
And without hesitation—hurled it.
The spear rammed through Satoshi's chest, bursting from his back with a torrent of blood like a broken hydrant. He didn't scream—his eyes just widened as the air left his lungs. The force lifted him from the ground and pinned him into the splintered wall behind, his limbs going limp.
Then the demon appeared in front of him in a blink.
He tore the spear free from Satoshi's chest in a horrific flesh-ripping sound.
Blood gushed in all directions.
Three more brutal thrusts. Each one more savage than the last. The sound of tearing muscle, shattering bone, and arterial spray was obscene. Blood painted the walls, splashed across the ground, dripped from the demon's hands like crimson ink from a brush.
Satoshi's body convulsed, eyes rolling back as he slipped into unconsciousness, a pool of blood soaking the earth beneath him.
"No!!" Kaito howled, trying to rise, his one hand clutching at the ground. "Satoshi!!"
The demon turned, his gaze locking on Kaito.
The demon's eyes gleamed an unnatural blue, glowing like twin moons soaked in malice. With a soundless burst of speed, he lunged—air bending around him—unsheathing his katana mid-leap. In a single, fluid motion, Kaito's head was severed from his shoulders. It spun grotesquely in the air before landing with a sickening splat, his blood painting the dirt crimson.
Reiko gasped, eyes wide in disbelief. He reached for his blade, but before his fingers even brushed the hilt, the demon was upon him. And with an upward motion, both arms were gone. They hit the ground with twin thuds, blood erupting from his stumps like geysers. The scream barely left his throat before the demon cleaved him in half—vertically. His skull split open like a crushed melon, entrails pouring out in a steaming mess onto the blood-soaked ground.
Ryuji turned to run, terror distorting his face—but there was no escape. The katana hissed through the air, slicing both his legs clean off at the thighs. He hit the ground screaming, crawling desperately. The demon ended it with a single horizontal slash, cutting him in two at the waist. His upper body flopped limply over his lower half like a broken doll.
Raigetsu—the once-proud village of the strongest clan—was now a canvas of carnage. Blood ran through the streets like rivers. Houses crumbled, their wooden frames engulfed in roaring flames. The sacred shrines, symbols of honor and legacy, were shattered. Screams echoed, then were silenced. What once was Raigetsu... was now ash, ruin, and rot.
--
Far away—miles from the massacre—an old man sat still in a dimly lit room. His eyes were bound by a thick black cloth. He had felt it: the tremor in the wind, the shifting of fate.
"I suppose... my time has come," he muttered, his voice like gravel grinding stone.
He rose slowly with his cane, joints cracking like old wood. He stepped outside into the bustling street—merchants shouting, children laughing, life in motion—oblivious to the bloodstorm sweeping ever closer.
He lifted his face to the sky.
And smiled.
"So it begins...."