Chapter 1: Life or Death

Chapter 1

Life or Death

A flame engulfed a village in the far distance under the full glory of the moon. I heard the wailing and anguish of helpless women being mercilessly slaughtered.

My chest thudded furiously. I desperately raced to meet their cries before they fell silent.

There was a palpable suspicion that brewed in my gut. There weren’t any signs of any first-responding Sorcerer teams being dispatched. If there were, the demon rampage would’ve been quelled long ago — unless these were B to A rank demons.

My self-preservation instinct kicked in. Was I equipped to handle such powerful demons as a systemless Awakener?

I didn’t have time to dwell — I just had to go off the hip.

Judging by the fire’s size and range, I estimated it had to be only twenty minutes ago since the rampage began. I still had a window of time.

I ran, and ran, and ran until my legs felt heavy.

When I finally reached the village’s gates, I pushed through with the full weight of my body, using my shoulder like a ram.

I tumbled through. Desperately scanning for the source of anguish, fully expecting a hellish demon to be the final boss of my worst nightmares.

When I realized the truth, the reality was much, much worse.

Umada Watanabe, A-rank Sorcerer of the famed Regal Guild, stood around the lifeless bodies.

Women lay in their pools of blood, body parts of Sorcerers’ mangled across the death grounds. The smell of iron was as tangible as the flying embers that chewed at my skin.

He stood in the backdrop of burning homes. His eyes glowed red as a trail of blood dripped from his eyes down to his chin.

Classic signs of bloodlust — a condition for Sorcerers where they lose full control of their body and mind to the dark forces.

I gripped the handle of my Katana, but he met me with his own in that fraction of a second.

The blade was just three cm away from my face. I gazed at the fresh blood streaking towards its razor end where it beaded, then plopped as it fell to the ground.

I mustered my will within to fully commit to the unsheathing of my Katana, even if it meant death — but when my eyes glimpsed into his, the dark vastness of his soul felt as though it tugged at something deep within my core.

I froze, unable to move, tethered to whatever was in control of his body. That’s when I blacked out.

When I regained consciousness, my lungs still drew air. Caressed between my fingers was his blade, and laid before me was him. Somehow, I had slain him — but I don’t remember.

—Yushiro Sena, Lightbringer Guild

***

The ink had dried into faint red stains -- no, that was blood memory, not ink.

The purple eyes from a boy, about eighteen, shimmered as they carefully inspected the writing.

I can never forget it. Was I cursed by surviving that horror? Maybe it would’ve been better if I had died…

Knock. Knock.

His guild president, an older man, pushed through the door.

“Yushiro, the hearing conference is in thirty minutes. Let’s try to beat the morning traffic.”

Oh right, I still had to show up in public today.

He tossed his journal in the drawer and put on a black hoodie. It was going to be too hot for it, but he didn’t care. Weather be damned.

***

A limousine concierge met them at the front.

The glass from the nearby towers blinded Yushiro for a second.

They were in the business district of Osaka. This part of the district anchored his guild’s Tower HQ — a hundred and fifty floors of influence is what people like to say. After all, it commonly hosts an array of guests — diplomats, heads of states, heads of guilds, etc. The world’s power frequents through its halls and meeting rooms where deals, alliances, geopolitics of Sorcery are shaped.

Yushiro checked his phone as soon as he sat down.

[1 unread message]

He ignored it and went to check the online comments against his intuition.

“Are Sorcerer Guilds too scared to act? Someone just please arrest him already. Enough.”

[Likes: 690 | Dislikes: 15 | Comments: 468]

Scroll.

“As a former Sorcerer, no chance he killed Umada by himself. There has to be a second actor.”

[Likes: 812 | Dislikes: 19 | Comments: 321]

An inundated swarm of public reactions to remind him that the world hated him. It has been a whole six months since that fateful night, but public outcry hasn’t subsided even a little.

“It’s bad to check your phone before such a high stakes conference, Yushiro.” President Satoshi said with a slight tease.

Yushiro clicked off his phone. “Yeah, but I needed to see. Apologies.”

Satoshi shot him a warm smile.

Buzz. Buzz.

The President picked up his phone.

“Yes, Souta?”

“President Satoshi, quarterly results just came in. Might impact our donors and deals. Just wanted to let you know.”

“Understood, no worries.” The president cut the line.

***

The limousine pulled up to a grand ballroom that they rented for the day. It was going to be their guild-exclusive conference venue. A little flexing of the guild's wealth.

Yushiro stepped out with his hoodie on. Lines of photographers and security decked the hall.

His heart rate jumped noticeably.

He badly craved a cigarette, but not even that would calm him.

He breathed deeply, stepped into the darkened ball room to the gunfire of camera flashes.

The two made their way to the podium. Questions heckled even before they were seated, all eager to get their headlines for the day.

“One at a time, please. Wait for your turn to be called before you ask.” President Satoshi cut through the noise.

Beyond the rows of seats was a shadowy man in the corner of the fire exit.

Yushiro focused on the shadowy man for a second before the heckling of questions pulled his attention back.

A brown-suited man on the first row’s edge scribbled calmly in his notebook. This one doesn’t look as predatory…

“The man in brown. Your question?”

“Hi, Tokyo Carrier,” he adjusted his glasses. “The people would like to know — how will this incident affect your role in the guild moving forward.”

Yushiro adjusted his mic.

“To be honest, not much has changed really. I still do my demon hunts. A lot more have been showing up in the Kyushu Region so I’ve been focused on that.”

A man in a yellow blazer eagerly waved his hands, Yushiro pointed to him.

“Hello, Eagle Insight from the U.S. — Americans want to know, how would your guild assist in an event of a war given that you lost a generational healing talent in Umada.”

President Satoshi interjected, his body language stiffened with a slight frowning of his eyes.

“We refrain from answering any questions that could give our adversaries an edge. This is not the forum for geopolitical questions.”

“Did you imagine this outcome before you joined Lightbringers Guild?!” a voice blurted from somewhere.

That question…

The heckling voices of reporters muffled into a distant hum, replaced by his mother’s voice.

“Yushiro sweetie, you’re being stubborn, please just take it.”

“But mom… this is too much money. I can’t take your life savings…”

“Your dreams are worth more than money.”

If only I knew how hard it was going to be… maybe I would’ve stuck to that dead-end job instead of chasing the glory of demon hunting…

Yushiro leaned back — eyes closed, arms behind his head to the awareness of Satoshi. “One more question, we’re wrapping it up.” The President announced.

Out of nowhere, the shadowy man started to pace deliberately toward the podium, hands dug into his pockets.

His aura was off. Yushiro could tell with his keen eye that something was seething beneath the shadows of his face. He was intimate with the darkness after all. It was nothing new for a man who has only know it his whole life.

Something’s off about this guy.

For some reason, a news headline appeared from memory faintly: “Umada’s family to seek retribution!”

Yushiro tightened his core.

“Hi, what would be your question?” Yushiro narrowed his eyes. The man’s face remained tilted down as his cap shrouded his eyes.

“I’d like to know…” he said in a low, steely tone, “if you enjoyed killing Umada as you watched the life drain from his eyes.”

Yushiro paused to process the audacity.

The crowd seemed just as shocked as they eeked out audible gasps.

Is this guy a Sorcerer of some sort?

Yushiro can feel the heat in his veins start to boil his blood.

“You think I—enjoyed it?”

The man remained unmoved, still in that odd posture looking down.

The he spoke with an ominous tone.

“So, after you took my brother’s life, you can’t even have the decency to tell me the truth?”

A wide smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

Brother?

That news headline about retribution appeared again.

Yushiro’s face tightened. Him and Satoshi watched on intently.

The feeling of dread creeps into Yushiro’s psyche. It's that familiar air of darkness again.

“I’m sorry if that was your brother, but like I said — he turned his sword on me. If there’s a monster you want to confront, it’s your brother.” Yushiro replied.

The hooded man giggled, then his giggle turned into a manic laugh that echoed through the ballroom.

“My brother, a monster? I have a message from the afterlife…”

A vial of darkened blood emerged from his pocket.

Before Yushiro could react, the man crushed the glass and splattered the blood across Yushiro’s face. It burned like acrid acid.

Yushiro winced.

It all happened in slow motion.

A bodyguard rushed him to the floor. “Get down!” But Yushiro still had his eyes on the man. His lips moved: “Blood transfiguration, a thousand need—“

Blood… transfiguration?

The eyes of Yushiro widened. The split second between life or death brought back that image of Umada’s murderous intent.

He could smell the iron from the blood dripped blade again. The smoke from the raging fire thickened.

SHCK!

A glowing knife flew into the man’s head in a frame. His blood gushed from his temple. Just one more syllable, one more and Yushiro would’ve died.

Their bodies fell, they hit the granite at the same time as their eyes still locked.

The crazed eyes of the man and his dead smile shuddered Yushiro’s soul — the darkness from it held onto him like it wanted to take him with the dead man.

His chest thumped louder — the only sound he could hear as the world disappeared around him by a shroud of darkness.

His shadow flickered. A chill tingled his neck.

When he could finally turn away from those eyes, he took the opportunity to breathe and closed his eyelids. When he opened them, everyone vanished.

Huh? This feels too familiar, but why?

Suddenly, as he looked around the air, a message screen appeared that startled him.

[Yushiro Sena, you have entered the Outer Lands for the second time. Task: Make it to the first check point.]

Outer Lands? I have been here before?

The screen flashed another message again that rattled him.

[Warning: Demon of unknown origin has entered the realm.]

Suddenly, the air began to coalesce subtly from the outside of the parking lot. A dark aura of pure evil twisted Yushiro's guts. That's when he saw it -- a shadow of an entity slowly creeping towards the ballroom.