Chapter 11: A Hindrance?

Minutes passed, and Yuka’s spat with Kuro had at last subsided. This was only feasible through both parties agreeing to believe in their own “interpretations” of that conversation from all those years ago…

How long would such a solution last…?

They continued their walk through the streets in Waseda, drawing eyes of admiration wherever they went. Comments like “What a lovely couple,” and “Youth sure is precious, huh,” were whispered around.

As much as Kuro wanted to stop, and explain to everyone that they were, “just friends,” he couldn’t. He could only keep moving forward to his intended destination.

Sometime during the walk, Kuro threw a curious glance at Yuka, asking, “Hey, are you using—”

“—Feeble Presence? Yeah,” Yuka interjected, smugly. “I don’t have time to actively keep a low profile like you try to—and fail miserably… Lord Kuro.”

Kuro wanted to form a retort, but held it back. If he was being honest to himself, he still attracted quite the amount of attention despite his efforts… He also settled on ignoring the latter part of Yuka’s words.

The spell, Feeble Presence, that Yuka mentioned earlier worked in a kind of self-explanatory manner.

Those who couldn’t use magic would forget the presence of whoever cast the spell within seconds—it could take up to a minute for those who were sensitive to magic but weren’t high in the Stage hierarchy.

And Kuro didn’t like this particular spell one bit. It was an odd thing to Yuka, who knew about the Demon King’s lofty ideals to completely blend into human society.

That was the problem. He wouldn’t be “blending” into human society, at all. Instead, he’d be erasing the memory of him ever existing from their minds. It was also for this reason that he often opted not to use False Face. He, of course, wanted to strut proudly with his real one.

He wanted his genuine personal identity to be exposed for all to see.

Kuro didn’t have the time, or the energy, to explain that again.

● ● ●

It wouldn’t be too long before they arrived at Kuro’s apartment. Yuka had gone completely quiet for most of the walk, constantly looking at Kuro as if to find the answer to an unresolved question…

Something wasn’t sitting right with her, and she’d certainly get to the bottom of it. For now, she would focus on the walk to his house.

They both now stood in front of the apartment.

“No matter how many times I see it, I can’t believe a legendary figure like the Demon King lives at such a place…” Yuka muttered.

“It’s not all that bad, to be honest. Once you get used to it, you’d feel satisfied, somehow…”

Yuka couldn’t comprehend anything Kuro was saying, especially the part about feeling “satisfied.”

The Demon King? Satisfied? With this place? It was absurd, but Yuka didn’t dwell on it for long. She was already aware of Kuro’s “strange” tastes.

Kuro pushed open the door, almost relishing the scent of his room assaulting his nostrils. A tantalizing scent, one that soothes the senses. Yuka took in a big whiff of it, too. She was always amazed anytime she visited—which could all be counted on a single hand—

SLAM!

A well-built man in a suit came leaping forth from Kuro’s closet.

It was Talmarius, urgency flitting across his features.

“Good day, Lady Yuka—my Liege?!” Talmarius, for just an instant, had lost his composure. “I did not know you accompanied her.”

Talmarius was sure he hadn’t missed Kuro’s presence. But there he was—standing right in his line of sight.

“Aha!” Yuka suddenly exclaimed, snapping her fingers. “That’s it—I can’t sense you at all! How’d you do that?”

“What the heck do you mean, ‘can’t sense’ me?” Kuro asked incredulously. “Stop joking around.”

“But it’s true! You noticed it too, didn’t you, Talmarius?”

A wrinkle appeared on his forehead. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise, Kuro’s unique magical presence—even when suppressed—seemed to have been wiped clean.

“I—Urm—my Liege? How do I—?”

“You sure you all aren’t sick or something?”

But… Demons don’t fall sick… thought Yuka and Talmarius in unison.

“Anyway, Talmarius, I have some questions that need answering.”

Talmarius immediately bowed at his master’s request.

● ● ●

Kuro began with his first—and most obvious—question, “Why did The Hero show up at a lecture today, Talmarius?”

From where Yuka stood, adjacent to Kuro, she adopted an attentive disposition.

“My Liege,” Talmarius began, “I and a network of twenty Demons have been on constant surveillance, watching out for any abnormalities. We have even gone as far as to alter the admissions of those even remotely connected to the Heroic Clan, by influencing the managerial body directly.”

Yuka looked at Kuro with a sarcastic expression.

Kuro knew what Talmarius had meant by “influencing”—definitely hypnosis of some kind.

But for the sake of his goal—his dream—he decided to turn a blind eye to that specific point. Kuro pressed further, “So what changed, then?”

“At the time I reached you with Mind Link, my Liege…multiple Heroes with high Stages had positioned themselves at different proximities from the general area of the building. And they all used Aura Pulse.”

This was some terribly troubling news, and Kuro felt partly to blame for dismissing Talmarius earlier. But even if he hadn’t, things could have gone horribly wrong—an all-out war may have ensued.

Aura Pulse was an ability similar to Aura sense. Constant waves of the user’s aura would extend making their exact locations hard to pinpoint. This ability could also be used in tandem with Aura Sense, making it act more like echo-location.

So that would mean that they served as nothing but distractions, because if they were anywhere near the college building, he would have picked up on them.

This could also explain why they did not pick up on his presence as they were only trying to take his forces’ attention off something—no, someone…

“Before I knew it, I saw a strange woman whom I had never seen on the register casually strolling into the premises. I felt that I should warn you.”

“And after that?”

“The enemy immediately ceased using Aura Pulse and dispersed, confirming my suspicions, my Liege.”

“Yeah, I felt the disturbance, too,” Yuka finally spoke. “That many Heroes gathering like that was odd, so I wanted to check it out for myself. And see if you may need assistance, Lord Kuro.”

Kuro fell into deep thought. They had outsmarted him—gotten the drop on him.

Yet there was still a missing piece…

How come he didn’t sense The Hero’s presence until the very moment she stepped into the hall?

Did she have some hidden technique to totally erase her aura?

If so, why did she release it when she had entered the hall?

Was she taunting him?

Kuro’s mind fired on all cylinders, leading to something no one who was acquainted with him wanted to be around.

The air turned heavy. The windows seemed to momentarily darken. Kuro’s room suddenly became suffocating, as his eyes narrowed to an impossibly horrifying glare…

This phenomenon was aptly coined: The Gaze of Despair.

Whenever Kuro experienced a situation that caused him great stress, tribulation or even plain contempt, this look would appear on his face.

Talmarius stood tall, despite the depressing force radiating from his master. Even though the temperature was fair, Yuka started to feel a bit ill and broke into a cold sweat.

As if it wasn’t bad enough, the force increased.

The clouds above Kuro’s apartment began to churn. The people walking on the streets near this place instinctively avoided it. Neither man nor beast neared that area, a bad omen was present.

Kuro’s thoughts were muddled.

How could this happen?

All that planning?

How would this play out?

There’s no way I’m starting over.

Gone.

That despicable force—a force that no living thing deserved to experience, was at last gone…

“I’ll just play along with their schemes, then,” Kuro said with a chuckle and a shrug of his shoulders. “Almost freaked out for a second, huh?”

Talmarius and Yuka could only nod stiffly to Kuro’s remark.

“Thanks for all your hard work, Talmarius. You may now retire.”

“As you wish, my Liege,” his butler responded, leaping back into the closet, and slamming the door behind him.

“Now, Yuka. If you could excuse me, I have some important business to get to.”

“What’s that?”

“Caverns & Wyverns.”

“…”

“It’s pretty fun, wanna watch?”

“Er—I dunno.”

“Well the door’s that way.” Kuro pointed to the door as he spoke, before bending over to reach for one of his most prized possessions—an SBOX.

He turned it on, and the buttons on his controllers flared to life with a soft blue glow.

“This is your last chance, Yuka,” Kuro teased as he plopped onto his bed—both controllers in hand. “I got some other games that may be more your style.”

“Like?”

“Street Brawler?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a fighting game—”

“I’m in.”

She joined him on the bed, grabbing one of the controllers.

“I’ll be kicking your butt, Lord Kuro.”

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

As the two of them went at it till evening fell…

…the whereabouts of Irina returned to his mind…