A Stranger ... not?

Kentarou's story continued, "The man wanted me to---" before even finishing his sentence, he felt an unbearable headache, "---get-- away!!--" he held his head tightly, making the team prepared for possible conflict once again.

Kentarou's eyes then glowed bright red, heat could be seen from his right fist, he then rocketed his punch towards Kyuuto in point-blank range. Luckily he managed to cast an ice shield to defend himself, but the shield just broke the moment Kentarou hit it.

The team split to surround him, while the Oras charged their auric, Kyuuto prepared his zodiac sword, reabsorbing the broken shield back into its blade. They knew that Kentarou once again lost control of his body.

Kentarou then punched the ground, summoned a surrounding wall from below. Knocking up everyone except Kyuuto. He then followed that up with a heated up punches towards him. Once again Kyuuto tried to defend himself with another ice shield, but failed miserably and got hit multiple times until he got thrown away some dozen meters.

Ishigaki's eyes glowed fire-red when he saw what's going down, charged his aurics then nosedived from his position. He and Kentarou then tumbled to the side, separating Kyuuto between them.

"I will not let you touch him," Ishigaki threatened. His glare was different, his aurics started to burn, "I know who you are... behind that mask," soon, the environment in his surroundings also raised in temperature.

While Kyuuto was trying to stand up after getting hit, Kentarou began to realize who he was up against. Their conversation became more confusing to the rest of the team as they are not themselves, ancient souls with unknown motives.

"I should've known who you were the first time you punched me..." Kentarou wiped blood coming from his mouth, "you are an Akayama, right? Ookami's servant," he began to mock his opponent, "and not just a regular Akayama, I presume,"

Ishigaki didn't respond, speechless even. Kentarou continued, "You were... Kurouzu's love interest, am I right? Akayama Natsuki?" he then stood with once again heating up his fists.

"Kurouzu's love interest?!" Kyuuto's mind was blown hearing Kentarou's sentence. The one controlling Ishigaki's brute actions was an ancient soul after all. It also explained why he was so hostile against Kentarou yesterday.

"My mission is to protect him, no matter how long it takes," Ishigaki (Natsuki) replied. She remembered the days when they were still together, until their dark fate came crashing down on them.

"You're protecting something that hurts you the most!" Kentarou shouted a reality check.

----

Hundreds of years ago, in the middle of the new Ookami kingdom, years after Kurouzu successfully overthrown Yamisuke. The main team of Aotori was hanging out near a lake in the outskirts of the kingdom. Kurouzu was telling a joke to Natsuki, and she laughed excitedly. Natsuki's laugh was very iconic, she's loud and obnoxious at times.

"And that's how I got this scar," Kurouzu ended his comedic story about his past. It was a far cry from what he's been through, a happy memory with his family before fate disrupted them. "The old days were fun, but it's all over now,"

Natsuki suddenly felt bad about Kurouzu telling his story, even though he was telling the fun part of it, "I'm sorry for making you remember that," she caressed him, holding his hand. "Are we safe now?"

"I hope so," Kurouzu answered briefly while looking at the ripples on the lake's surface.

Months went by, and Kurouzu started to notice something different in him. He felt like a force wanting to burst out of his heart. He walked around the newly built base for Aotori, looking to drink a glass of water, but instead stumbled and fell onto the ground near the dining table. The thud was heard by others, then carried by Hikiri and Karito back into his room.

"He's becoming more unstable, what should we do?" Hikiri asked the team once they gathered in the center of the base. "I already told you, this deal was a horrible idea,"

"Without it, we wouldn't win the war!" Karito slammed the table angrily, "If it was me who got it..." he cut his own sentence because the rest of the team was looking at him.

"It's not a deal, it's a curse. We just have to atone our sin. There's no escaping this," Yamato gave a pessimistic outlook. The thing they are referring is Kurouzu's plead to the three gods to help them win the war, but instead, they connected him to Volkus who eventually made a deal with him.

The deal was that he'll help him win the war against his brothers, but Volkus will have his soul in return. Over time, Kurouzu will get weaker and weaker, he gradually loses control over his own body. The team felt that Volkus' part of the deal was near, and they had to take precautions.

It was one night, when Kurouzu didn't return to the base as promised. The team looked for him far into a neighboring village, the Akazaru village. They were a small clan that was mainly popular because of their blacksmithing ability. There, the team found chaos...