18 Birth of the Bloodstrider, Part 1

Behemoth stood up from his wooden throne as Mura ran across the table with a rising shout of ferocity. Reaching the end of his platform, Mura leaped up and crashed his fist into Behemoth's amused face with every amount of might he could assemble.

Bent over while standing atop the table, Mura straightened out his back; taking a moment to crack his knuckles.

"Party's over, Tenth."

Behemoth's massive frame spiraled backwards from the blow, flinging him into the lit stone hearth with a thunderous boom. Mura quickly unfused from Lilith, who appeared next to him on the table holding a dagger defensively.

Several drunk Odokuro stumbled from the act of violence while others stood from their seats in awe. Behemoth was out cold. Suzu rushed over to his side with a concerned shriek, only to be held at knife-point by Lilith.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Grendel lazily questioned, unmoved from his seat as his scantily-clad companions scrambled for safety.

"That's Bloodstrider Mura, the kid from the tournament!" Kishin happily shouted in a drunken stupor.

A woman clad in all black walked by the ruined entrance doors, inhaling from her pipe with careless abandon. It was Lamia the Black Witch, easily recognizable from the advertisements scattered around the city.

"He certainly knows how to make an entrance~" She crooned with a sultry, raspy voice.

Mura stretched his fingers, shaking off the pain that had come from direct contact with flesh and a chiseled jawline.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out, sending a bullet straight through the wooden roof above. The noise caught everyone by surprise, causing Mura to frantically check his body to see if he had been hit.

A man appearing in his late twenties twirled an ebony pistol in his hand with the careless ease only an expert would possess. He tossed it in the air, allowing it to flip three times before landing back into the brown leather holster hanging from his shoulders.

"Now that everyone is using their indoor etiquette, let us remember that this little pissant just assaulted Tenth! This ain't no laughing matter, kid. We hold a position equivalent to that of Commander within the Imperial Army!" He spat out, his voice base and powerful.

Mura turned to look at the man with the pistol. Now that inspected closer, he had four pistols. Two hanging from shoulder holsters attached to his upper torso and another two sheathed in matching carriers on each side of his hips.

He had a tan complexion to his skin, with auburn hair tied back into a ponytail. His bangs were styled together into the center of his forehead, touching a pair of tactical square sunglasses with tinted lenses. Completing his ensemble was a dark green trench coat, buttoned up entirely with a salmon cravat wrapped around his neck.

"Oh s-shut up, Wendigo," a heavily-inebriated Odokuro sputtered. "You think that j-just because… cause y-you're Eighth means you have some s-sort of authority, but you—"

Everything happened in a flash of blinding speed. Mura spotted a red blur from behind Wendigo's back and another gunshot rang out within the course of milliseconds. A gaping hole was left in the intoxicated Odokuro's throat, spurting blood as he grasped at his neck in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The others simply watched, shaken as Wendigo sauntered over to the choking, dying man before kneeling down. Wendigo smiled, flashing a grin of razor sharp teeth filed down to a point.

"This… is my authority," Wendigo said before opening his mouth inconceivably wide and chomping down on the man's head, crushing his skull in a single crunch.

"Oi! Some people are tryin' to friggin' eat over here!" Kishin shouted from across the room.

Wendigo stood up, wiping the fresh smear from his face before spitting the contents from his mouth. He humbly bowed to Kishin in apology, then kicked the corpse he created into the corner of the room.

"E-Enough of this! You'll die for that, Mura! You have any idea who you're messing with?! You got a damn death wish?!" Suzu screamed, looking towards Behemoth as he regained consciousness.

"I have every idea whom I'm messing with! Everyone, I need your attention!" Mura shouted, turning away from Behemoth as Lilith held the blade of her knife against Suzu's throat. Suzu glared at the blonde yokai, gritting her teeth.

"Go on, dear," Lamia said, now nestled in a plush chair. Her brown eyes appeared golden in the dim light as she peered seductively at Mura.

"The man you call Tenth, Behemoth! He has illicitly obtained his position as a Jikininki!" Mura shouted.

"Great, another narc…" Grendel muttered, scratching his unkempt green hair.

"That's a deadly accusation to throw around, boy," a shape spoke, emerging within the shadows from the doorway to another room. It was Nergal, the right hand of Emperor Mara. The same man who assassinated the traitorous shinigami on live television.

"I have proof," Mura strongly said, standing his ground.

"Show us then. As Minister of Defense, should your evidence hold water, we'll arrest Behemoth here and now," Nergal spoke. "However, if you're wrong I'll have you executed for assaulting a servant of the Empire."

Mura gulped. Not out of fear the confession wouldn't be enough, but at how one man could exude such power and terror both. Even as a demon, Nergal seemed like something else entirely. Something scraped from the very bowels of hell itself, akin to a living nightmare. His emotionless bronze eyes speckled with hints of emerald stabbed into Mura's soul.

—A man this powerful, serving as the hand of his Majesty… and he's a Jikininki too. He must be the one ranked First...

"I have this confession. It's from a gang member named Ziz, he should currently be in police custody." Mura projected out to the room as nothing but the sound of the crackling fire in the background was audible.

Nergal raised an eyebrow, then pointed a finger at Behemoth, who was now wide awake and beginning to sweat. After seeing how Nergal decapitated a man with nothing but his thumb, that pointing finger might as well have been a loaded rifle.

Mura pulled out Lilith's cellphone, then hit the playback button for the sound file containing Ziz's voice.

"So we'd get shipments in of these folks from trafficking ships. Like the girl over there!" The recorded voice sputtered, the audio clear as crystal.

Kishin threw his goblet on the ground and immediately gazed up curiously at Mura; resting his chin on his hands like a fascinated grade-schooler.

The entire dining hall within Tel Megiddo heard as Ziz answered Mura's questions, naming Behemoth as the mastermind behind their racketeering scheme and the fraud he committed using false bounties. After the sound file ended, the entire room was filled with silence. Behemoth and Suzu looked at each other with dread in their eyes and Lilith gazed proudly at her best friend.

"I personally received word of Ziz's arrest just minutes before you arrived, Mura. I wasn't here for the festivities, but to personally question Behemoth after his comrades had left. I hoped to spare him the shame, but it looks like that's no longer the least of his worries," Nergal spoke in a gravelly voice.

"T-This is all fake! Lies! A-Absolute bullshit!" Behemoth stammered, immediately jumping to his feet while throwing his hands around with every sentence.

"Your work here is done, Odokuro Mura. Behemoth, Suzu Belloch… I hereby place you both under arrest. You can save your defense for the jury; it won't fall deaf on their ears, like it did on mine," Nergal said coldly.

Behemoth looked around frantically for help from the others in the room. Everyone either avoided his gaze or simply scoffed. For the first time in a long while, he had felt powerless.

"Excuse me, Lord Nergal… But if I remember correctly, the law says one can challenge the holder of Tenth for their rank and position," Mura stated as Nergal stopped in his approach towards Behemoth.

Lilith rushed over to Mura, grabbing ahold of his arms as he stepped down from the table.

"Mura! What are you doing?!" Lilith whispered with widened eyes. "He's done for, you don't need to do this!"

Mura turned to Lilith, giving her a simple smile while gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Naraka said I needed to focus, master my feelings and my Tamashiryoku. Only then could I be ready for the next step of his training and unlock the power lying dormant within me," Mura explained.

He looked up at the frantic Behemoth, beads of sweat pouring over his face. Mura then looked over at Nergal, the creases lining the man's face unmoved as his emotionless expression bore into Mura's spirit.

"I wish to challenge Behemoth in a duel to the death for his position as Tenth of the Jikininki!" Mura exclaimed for everyone to hear, causing the room to fill with whispers

"Holy mother of Kagutsuchi! Ya really serious, aren't cha!?" Kishin exclaimed excitedly, causing his crimson eyes to sparkle with glee.

"Very well, myself and the others here will serve as your witnesses. Should you perish, do you have a last will on your person?" Nergal asked bluntly.

Mura shook his head and held Lilith's hand.

"I own nothing. I have no living family that I know of. I only have my master and my Thrall, Lilith. Should I die, notify Lord Naraka of my defeat. I entrust my remains to my Thrall, whom I want freed from all circumstances regarding my passing. In that event, I give to Lord Naraka to keep her safe and housed; not as a servant but as another person."

Lilith turned and banged her fist against Mura's chest.

"Don't talk like that, idiot… Like you've already lost! You don't need any last will crap, because we're gonna kick their asses! It's been a long time coming!" Lilith said, gripping Mura's arms tightly.

Mura's own eyes shined upon seeing her emotional proclamation. He blinked, smiling and nodding.

"You bastards… You think you have control over me… Over my life…" Behemoth growled, looking down at the ground.

Suzu gripped onto Behemoth's hand, starring murderously at Mura and Lilith as she fused wordlessly with her master in a flash of yellow light.

"My struggles… My rise to the top! I've fought my entire life for power, recognition and strength!" Behemoth roared, looking out at the room of fighters and patrons with a glowing eye and a manic expression.

"I'll be damned before I ever hand it over to the likes of you people! Looking down at me since I was a kid on the street… like I was garbage! But now that I've killed, stained my fists with blood to get here, you suddenly call me comrade?!" Behemoth screamed out, making some of the most grizzled Odokuro retreat back into their seats.

"I should never have to apologize for what I've done! Never! In a world where might makes right, I've become the mightiest of them all! And after I kill this little piece of dog shit, I'll just keep killing until eventually you all bow to me!" Behemoth cackled with a maniacal laugh.

Without hesitation, he lunged at Mura who readied himself in a defense stance. Behemoth feinted, swerving his body weight and slamming Lilith into the ground with an open palm.

"Lilith—!" Mura cried out, rushing to her side.

Behemoth took advantage of Mura's sentiment and picked him up with a single hand, lifting him effortlessly. Mura fought to get out of the grip, but just as he was getting loose, Behemoth tossed him into the air and punched Mura with the force of a meteor impact.

Mura flew across the dining hall and out of the open doors into the gardens outside, where he skidded through the dirt and flowers until he finally stopped. He struggled momentarily to regain the air that had been knocked from his lungs. Luckily, Mura was able to shield his chest with his arms before being hit. That simple action spared his ribcage from a brutal fate.

His arms ached, most likely fractured. Mura would have to fuse with Lilith before he could heal.

—I need to get to her! She could die!

Mura stopped his train of thought. He remembered that he failed last time because he let his emotions overcome him. What he needed to do right now, was focus and channel his Tamashiryoku.

—Lilith knows what she got into since day one. She always has my back, defending me, trusting me… Right now, I need to trust her for once.

Mura shut his eyes briefly, performing the mudras Naraka taught him. As he did, the sounds of worried civilians within the gardens faded away. As did the sounds of the water fountains in the background. The last thing to fade from Mura's mind was the pain he was experiencing. He could feel the weight lift away from his body as his mind and senses cleared.

Suddenly, Mura's eyes shot open to see the dining table he had been standing on before; hurdling towards him like a rocket. With swift fluidity he didn't even know he possessed, Mura flung himself backwards as the table crashed and exploded into wooden fragments against the iron gates behind him. He flipped himself up onto his feet, starring down the hulking monster of a man that strode past the doorway of Tel Megiddo.

"Your little pet is dead, Mura," Behemoth laughed as he slicked back his short blonde hair with a single hand motion.

Mura starred coldly at Behemoth, not taking his eyes from the man. Behemoth made an unhinged snicker as he walked up to an iron statue of a Viking warrior that stood proudly in the gardens. In the statue's hand, it held a steel sword two meters long that pointed towards the sky. With little determination, Behemoth marched up to the statue and tore the Viking's weapon free from the its grip.

Admiring his new blade, Behemoth wielded the sword single-handedly as he pointed it towards Mura. His glowing, golden veins illuminated his homicidal eyes in the moonlight.

"It's like that bitch said, Mura… This has been a long time coming."