Chapter 28 (Special Chapter Part 1)

"How do you know that name? Are you from the Ashura Realm? Why are you here if so? It's forb—" Haruko's words trailed off as he instinctively dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a swift kick aimed at his head. He stumbled backward, his heart pounding in his chest as he regained his footing, the desert sand shifting beneath his feet.

For a moment, silence engulfed the desert landscape, broken only by the rhythmic whistle of the wind. With a determined grit, Haruko glanced up, his features shrouded by the veil of determination that enveloped him.

"I guess you don't want to talk? Fine by me, I'll just beat the answers out of you," Haruko declared, his voice carrying across the vast expanse of the desert. He squared his shoulders, readying himself for the inevitable clash that loomed on the horizon.

But even amidst the chaos of their confrontation, a flicker of civility remained within Haruko. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the teenager, his eyes searching for any semblance of recognition.

"For the sake of courtesy, you know me. I don't know you, what's your name?" Haruko's voice echoed softly against the backdrop of the desert, a lone beacon of calm amidst the storm.

The teenager paused, his gaze meeting Haruko's with an intensity that mirrored the desert sun's glare. "I don't have a name, but in my realm, I am known as TrueMonarch," he replied, his words carried by the wind, drifting across the desert like a whispered promise.

"True Monarch? You must be strong then if you bear the word Monarch in your name—" Haruko began, his voice laced with a hint of respect for the power implied by the title. But before he could finish his thought, TrueMonarch interjected with a cold interruption.

"Are you really Akuma? You talk too much," TrueMonarch doubted, his tone dripping with skepticism. Yet, beneath the surface, there lingered a hint of curiosity, a desire to unravel the enigma that was Haruko.

With an unexpected twist, TrueMonarch's lips curled into a dark smirk, the expression sending a chill down Haruko's spine. "Are you scared?" he taunted, the words hanging in the air like a challenge waiting to be accepted.

Haruko's response was swift, his features transforming into a mirror image of TrueMonarch's smirk. "I was giving you a few more seconds to enjoy your whole body," he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And I can sense your *friends*."

TrueMonarch's gaze hardened at the mention of his companions, "As expected, you sensed them," he conceded.

With a cocky smirk still playing on his lips, Haruko turned to Sanemi, his eyes alight with determination. Yet, what he saw brought a momentary pause to his bravado. The trees Sanemi had grown lay lifeless on the sand, their once vibrant foliage now wilted and devoid of vitality.

"I guess you are done?" Haruko remarked, his voice tinged with mild amusement. Sanemi's expression soured as he inspected his handiwork, frustration evident in his features.

"It seems your trees have little life force inside them. It took too long to absorb them," Sanemi lamented, his disappointment palpable. But before he could dwell on his failed attempt, Haruko's demeanor shifted, his focus snapping back to the impending battle.

Haruko chuckled dismissively, a smirk dancing across his features as he brushed off Sanemi's concerns. "You take care of hiding maggots," he quipped, his words carrying a hint of arrogance as he directed his attention back to TrueMonarch.

With a determined stride, Haruko surged forward, leaving Sanemi behind in a cloud of dust and disbelief. Though taken aback by Haruko's brash demeanor, Sanemi was not surprised. After all, he had lived and trained alongside Haruko for weeks, becoming intimately acquainted with his cocky and arrogant personality.

In the quiet stillness of the desert, Sanemi's sigh carried across the dunes, a testament to his frustration at the elusive adversaries lurking in the shadows. With a sense of resignation, he scanned his surroundings, his keen eyes searching for any sign of movement.

"If you are alive, hiding from me is the furthest thing from useful," Sanemi muttered, his voice tinged with a hint of exasperation. With a steady breath, he focused his senses, honing in on the subtle disturbances in the air.

Suddenly, his instincts kicked in, a primal awareness guiding his movements as he pinpointed the locations of his concealed foes. "There are three of you," Sanemi declared, his voice ringing out with unwavering certainty. "One hiding in the sand, another flying above, and the last one... behind me."

With lightning speed, Sanemi spun around, unleashing a powerful punch into the empty air behind him. His fist connected with a solid thud, sending shockwaves rippling through the desert landscape. A humanoid figure materialized before him, its form flickering into existence like a mirage in the desert heat.

Blood trickled from the figure's nose as it stumbled backward, its features contorted in pain. Sanemi's eyes narrowed as he leaped away from the mysterious apparition, his mind racing to assess the situation.

"A demon... I assume the other two are also demons," Sanemi remarked, his voice calm despite the gravity of the revelation. Beside the wounded figure, two new adversaries emerged from the depths of the desert, their presence casting a shadow over the sands.

"I'm really tired, can we get this over?" Sanemi's words hung in the air, a plea born from the weariness of battle and the weight of countless struggles endured.

But the wounded demon, fueled by hatred and resentment, sneered in response, his words dripping with disdain. "Damn human!" he spat, his voice laced with venom as he glared at Sanemi with unbridled malice. Beside him, the other two demons mirrored his hostility, their eyes ablaze with a fiery intensity.

Sanemi blinked twice, his expression betraying a hint of bemusement at the demons' futile attempts to intimidate him. "You really are not doing anything by glaring at me," he remarked, his tone tinged with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

But before he could utter another word, the female demon launched herself into the sky with a swift grace, her movements as fluid as the desert winds. With a triumphant shout, she conjured forth a deadly barrage of wind projectiles, her intent clear: to obliterate her human adversary with a relentless onslaught.

"Wind Shot: 4 Air Bullets," she cried out, her voice carried on the wind as four football-sized wind spheres materialized before her, hurtling toward Sanemi with the force of a meteor shower.

As the wind spheres hurtled toward him with deadly intent, Sanemi's eyes narrowed in determination, his mind racing to formulate a plan to counter the impending onslaught. With a resigned sigh, he muttered under his breath, his voice tinged with frustration.

"This isn't even a battle, why did Haruko leave these weak henchmen to me. So unfair," Sanemi lamented, his words a testament to the burden of responsibility weighing heavily upon his shoulders. Yet, even amidst his frustration, a flicker of resolve burned bright within him.

With a swift movement, Sanemi crouched low to the ground, his hand coming to rest upon the shifting sands beneath him. With a whispered incantation, "Sand Devouring Face," he channeled the life force he had absorbed into the sand, infusing it with vitality and purpose.

In an instant, the grains of sand coalesced, taking on the form of a demonic face with gaping jaws wide enough to swallow the oncoming wind spheres whole. With a hungry roar, the sand creature lunged forward, its maw opening wide as the wind spheres disappeared into its depths, swallowed by the insatiable hunger of the sand.

Sanemi watched intently as the sand creature absorbed the wind spheres, its form pulsating with newfound energy. With a sense of satisfaction, he placed his hand upon the creature's surface, absorbing the residual life force and causing the sand face to dissolve back into the desert floor.

As the sand settled and the winds of battle subsided, a stunned silence descended upon the desert landscape. Sanemi stood amidst the aftermath of his ingenious maneuver, a smug grin playing at the corners of his lips as he observed the shocked expressions etched upon the faces of the three demons before him.

But it was the brown-haired demon, the one who had been hiding in the sand, who bore the brunt of the surprise. His eyes widened in disbelief, his features contorting with a mixture of shock and horror as he struggled to comprehend the turn of events.

"H-how can this be?!" he stammered, his voice trembling with disbelief. His words hung in the air like a question without an answer, a testament to the utter astonishment that gripped him in that moment.

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That's it for chapter 28