Chapter 26: The Threads Unwind

With a half-opened mouth, Kuro slept dangerously close to the edge of the bed. His dangling left hand still clasped the controller as if it were glued to him.

It was only an hour until midnight would strike.

Immersed entirely in his slumber, Kuro’s lips twitched. He was having that weird dream again.

The fiery gates calling, and him refusing.

His grip on the controller tightened, threatening to crush the fragile object.

The trance inducing power from the gates increased greatly, but he still resisted its strong pull. His intuition told him that he just wasn’t prepared for whatever waited behind them.

“That’s odd…” Kuro muttered, sitting up on the bed. “What could possibly be happening on campus at this hour?”

As it was a place he often had business with, he could detect even the slightest of changes that occurred on the site. This was a given, considering he was a Demon. It was a natural ability of his kind.

But the disturbance was unlike anything he’d picked up on before. Its abstruse identity left a bad feeling in his gut. His mind practically screamed at him to go investigate—

—he willingly complied.

Out of his door he leapt into the night sky.

Kuro tracked the path the unfamiliar presences had followed through West Shinjuku, in streets he’d passed through many hours prior.

The way he was able to track them down was akin to the way a bloodhound does its target. Although, he wasn’t tailing a scent like a dog. It was purely instinctual.

He sprung across some towers, and realized their movements boasted of above average strength. Kuro wouldn’t be deterred by an observation like that. Pressing forward, he wooshed over more bright and colorful structures.

Lord Kuro…?

Kuro agilely moved above the city below, getting closer to his destination. If not that he needed to ensure none of whatever he was currently tracking down was causing a ruckus, he’d have arrived at the college grounds by now.

Can never be too careful.

“Lord Kuro!” Yuka called, running across a roof alongside him. “What are you doing at this hour?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He’d already noticed Yuka a few miles back. Not wanting to squander any more time, he had ignored her.

“Demons rule the night, don’t they? It’s only natural that I’d want to stretch my legs a bit. But I can’t say the same for you, and your strange preferences…”

“I just want to check something out,” he said, leaping to another rooftop. “You don’t have to follow me.”

“Oh, but I do. For you to be active right now, it must be something juicy.” She rubbed her hands together friskily as she ran.

● ● ●

After a little while, they’d landed inside the college grounds. The pair walked into the left block, and scoured the many lecture halls. Then, they headed up the stairs. No lights were turned on, but they could see just fine.

Kuro voiced a growing concern of his. “Yuka, I’m starting to think you being here is a really bad idea…” He was aware that he could conceal his entire aura, but that didn’t apply to Yuka.

“I already told you, Lord Kuro. I’m coming along, and that’s final—hmph!” She crossed her arms in rebellion.

“Okay. Can you at least change into that other form of yours? So that even if you’re detected, you wouldn’t be easily noted?

“Alright!” She said spryly. “Alternate-Self.”

A leathery, viscous substance spread over her body, wrapping around her tightly, starting from her head, then down to the soles of her feet.

Two wings, like that of a bat’s, protruded from a point just above her hips. They spread out in a grand fashion, bearing an alluring elegance.

The covering over her stomach peeled back to reveal flawless skin. And above her navel, there was a mark…

III

Lacing around her hands, the black material now formed snug chic gloves.

Her face that had been swathed, was now set free. Withdrawing from her facial features, the ebbing substance settled just below her chin, framing it with a sleek line of black.

This revealed her eyes that pulsed amethyst—so sharp, and magnetic. Her hair appeared to have grown several inches longer, too, glowing in a similar manner to her eyes in some places.

Yuka’s legs were attired in heeled boots. The heels looked especially sharp.

It was like she’d slipped into a super tight jumpsuit—divulging her trained physique that melded kindly with her well-rounded figure.

“Please don’t stare so hard… Lord Kuro…”

Her voice had changed as well, becoming more controlled and mature.

Kuro hadn’t seen her in this form for quite a long time, so he could help but stare for a short while.

He cleared his throat. “Hmm… Alright, let’s get back to business.”

Resuming their search for anything out of place, they continued to the corridor of glass that connected the two blocks—

“One… Strand…”

The figure standing before them was horrendous, even to the two Demons looking at it.

Standing at over seven feet tall, its overly muscular frame bulged and rippled in numerous spots. Greyish flesh with a rotten texture. The faceless creature didn’t even have a mouth, or any notable sensory organs.

But the area around where a mouth would be moved, and when it did it said, “One… Strand…”

Kuro glared at it using Aura Sense and was shocked. Its aura appeared…translucent. Soulless wouldn’t be a farfetched way to frame what that implied.

Even human auras weren’t like that. They’d often be a wild mix of hues. The most prominent colors are frequently affected by their moods. For instance, a sad person is sometimes said to appear blue. Or red being attributed to fury, and rage.

Being exposed to magic, could cause this, too. It’d look like their auras had been smeared in external paint.

But this creature had none…

“Come to me, Silent.”

● ● ●

“Lord Kuro, why do you look so troubled…?” Yuka’s voice reflected grave concern. It wasn’t a common occurrence to see him like this.

“This thing… I think it used to be a person…” Kuro eyed it with some sympathy. “My gut’s intuition.”

“Really?” She turned her head back to the creature. “That thing?”

I’ll put you down quickly…

As if hearing Kuro thoughts, its muscles swelled. And in a rupture of power, it rushed at Kuro.

Kuro assumed a low stance, gripping his sword tightly. He focused on his target, and found his mark.

“Darkness Splitter.”

Faster than the eyes could see, a thin line of black now ran down the middle of the monster. Its arms had reached out to grab him, but stopped suddenly in their tracks. Then, like it had remembered its objective, it leaned forward—

Thud!

Its two halves fell on either side, and the limbs squirmed about like it hadn’t known it were cut.

Kuro held his blade loosely, examining the grotesque body. He still wore that sympathetic expression.

“You know, Lord Kuro. For someone who often acts like a pacifist, you can be really scary sometimes.”

“One… Strand...”

Another one had stepped into the bridge from the direction they had come.

It sprinted with a crouch towards the two.

“Don’t worry, Lord Kuro. I’ll take care of this one.”

A burly arm shot forward like a freight train, but Yuka nimbly flipped over it. She ran, using the arm as a platform. Her gloved fingers extended to over two feet long, razor sharp claws.

Slash!

After the sloshy sound, the creature staggered before falling backwards. It was still trashing about and Yuka went over to it and gave it a few more jabs with her clawed digits.

The creature finally stopped moving.

“What are these things after?” Yuka looked at the creature with disgust.

“I’m not sure, but I think there’s a lot more where they came from. And these are just the appetizers…”

“Appetizers?”

Both their heads turned sharply to a direction in the east.

The lower half of Yuka face was now concealed with that material, forming the shape of an exquisite shaped mask.

And Kuro reached for his own face on impulse, and waved his left hand over it fluidly.

Deep within the ends of the dark corridor, from the other end of the bridge, a brilliant golden light kept growing brighter.

Clink!

The sound of her sabatons meeting the glass floor echoed through the structure.

It was The Hero.

She shot a glance at the gruesome bodies sprawled over the floor.

Then, she shot another glance at the indecently dressed, masked Demon.

Until finally, her harsh glare landed on the Demon in black, wearing a white t-shirt underneath; his face having a number of mild skin conditions.

The Demon she’d first encountered that day at the robbery.

The one she believed to be…

The Demon king!

“I have you found you at last. Prepare yourself, for I—The Hero—shall vanquish you!”