Chapter 20

{Tsurui Forest 2:35 AM}

As I began to run, circling the house in a wide path, I noticed small footprints on the ground. I assumed they belonged to the main body of upper rank 4. With all my might, I chased after it until I finally caught sight of it again—it was the fear demon, but in a smaller form. In a hushed tone, I murmured, "Constellation Breathing First Form: Aries Ram." I pressed my foot against the earth and appeared behind the fear demon. I executed a downward diagonal slash, aiming for its neck.

As the fear demon turned its head towards me, it cried out in despair, "Don't kill me!" But my blade pressed forward, relentlessly. Suddenly, a new demon, identical to the fear demon just two times larger than my own body, materialized in its place. That didn't deter me. My slash continued, cleaving through the new body and I saw how the fear demon seemed to launch itself outside of the bigger demon's back. I then used my momentum from my first diagonal slash and did an upward diagonal slash beheading this new bigger demon. As the huge demon fell to the earth in three pieces I turned to the fear demon and dashed at him again. I heard him cry out again, "Don't kill me!" Just as I was on the verge of reaching his neck, a force stronger than anything I'd felt before sent me hurtling through the air, slamming into a tree.

I struggled to free myself and fell to the ground. I gazed at the new enemy—it was a short, muscular boy with spiked black hair and gold eyes. He had two curved horns on his forehead, and his attire seemed to be a blend of the four demons I'd faced earlier. He wielded two double-bladed bone daggers and carried a set of interconnected floating drums. Using my X-ray vision, I could see the kanji for "hatred" on his tongue.

The demon said in a righteous and rage filled voice, "You who bully the weak will perish." I couldn't help but respond, "Well, isn't that hypocritical." In a panicked tone, the fear demon cried out, "Zohakuten, protect me! Urami couldn't do anything against him." With that, Zohakuten struck one of the drums on his back, causing roots to emerge and encircle the fear demon protecting him in a bulb like structure. "So, your name is Zohakuten, huh?" I remarked. "The wicked villain who torments the weak doesn't deserve to know my name," he retorted fiercely. "Well, enough of this," I said.

Zohakuten struck his drums with the double-bladed dagger, summoning five twenty-meter wooden dragons from the earth. Seizing the opportunity, I said in a hushed voice "Constellation Breathing Seventh Form: Libra Balance of Swords." I leaped onto the head of the first dragon, and as two more emerged from my flanks, I pressed forward. Another dragon's head appeared ahead, prompting me to perform a spinning jump over it. The fifth head pursued, but with my momentum, I cleared it effortlessly. I was now less than a meter away from reaching Zohakuten.

Just before I could strike, he struck two drums simultaneously, conjuring a new dragon between us. Faced with no other option, I slashed at the dragon to avoid being struck by it. Then, I heard him strike two more drums, summoning four additional dragons. Zohakuten roared, "Crazed Cry of Thunderdeath!" This time, the wooden dragons unleashed lightning bolts from their mouths. Swiftly, I unsheathed my white blade and whispered, "Constellation Breathing Fifth Form: Leo Strikes Double." I went after the dragons, evading some lightning strikes while blocking and redirecting others to the ground. With diagonal slashes, I managed to cut down all five dragons.

As I drew nearer to Zohakuten again, I kept a watchful eye on the fear demon, still protected within its bulb-like structure. This time, I aimed to reach Zohakuten before he could strike once more. However, just as I was about to slash his neck, he shouted, "Compressed sound waves!" sending me flying away yet again.

"Okay, this is getting a bit annoying," I exclaimed while dusting myself off. "The wicked will be punished," Zohakuten told me as he struck another drum and bellowed out, "Countless Striking Trees." Eight wooden dragons emerged from the ground, with six advancing toward me from the front and two holding their position at the rear. As I looked with X-ray vision at all the dragons I saw that the ones at the rear seemed to have the design of the Uchiwa in their mouths and so I noted, "Those dragons must utilize the pleasure demon's wind abilities."

As the six dragons drew nearer, I raised my head and located the Taurus constellation. In a monotone voice, I said, "Constellation Breathing Second Form: Taurus Charge Double." Stepping with full force against the earth, I created a small crater around me. I positioned my blades in an x-form in front of me and dashed at the dragons, slicing the six approaching ones in two through the middle.

As I stood in front of the last two dragons, I said in a monotone voice, "Constellation Breathing Tenth Form: Capricorn Sea Goat Double." With the fluidity of water, I evaded the maple leaf winds that the dragons threw at me and sliced them both into six equal pieces.

Before the demon could react and hit his drums again, I was already in front of him. I sheathed my onyx blade with lightning speed and, in a whisper ,I said, "Constellation Breathing Eighth Form: Scorpio Sting." Performing a graceful front flip, I altered my grip on my white blade to a backhand position and impaled the demon's head, bringing him crashing to the ground while anchoring him in place.

As Zohakuten was disoriented after being anchored, I took a moment to catch my breath. I turned my head and saw the wooden bulb that protected the fear demon, the main body of the upper rank 4 demon. With a small grin on my face, I mused, "Finally, you were a pain to deal with." Gathering my resolve, I dashed at the wooden bulb, onyx blade gleaming. With ten strong and fast slashes I cut it into tiny fragments.

There, the fear demon knelt, pleading, "Don't kill me, please, please…" His desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. With a calm but resolute gaze, I looked upon the groveling demon. I said nothing. Instead, I executed a swift downward diagonal slash, ending his existence. He began to disintegrate before my eyes.

Turning my attention back to Zohakuten, I found him still anchored to the ground, his form gradually fading away. I walked towards his disintegrating body and grabbed my white blade and with a simple downward slash, I cleared most of the blood that had stuck on the blade during the fight and sheathed it at my left side.

Leaving the forest behind, I began my journey back to Tsurui town. However, a sudden wave of pain coursed through me, causing me to collapse to my knees. The injury, once masked by adrenaline, now made itself painfully known. It was the first time in battle that I had experienced such a severe wound, it seemed as if I had broken some of my ribs. With great effort, I rose to my feet, clutching my right side. I pressed on towards the town, my steps heavy but determined. Rest was what I needed now more than ever.