First Mission

Blood. That is the only thing I can see and smell, the intoxicating scent gives me a sense of retribution for my sins. It almost feels like a perpetual state of drowning, a stain that can never be cleaned no matter how many times you wash it.

They hunt now. I can somehow feel their collective rage and spite for my continuous existence. My mind flashes to the faces of my past victims. They fade away so easily, broken, lost, afraid, and yet they will desperately cling to their quest for vengeance for my soul.

"This game of ours reminds me of the tale of Ouroboros, the tale of a snake eating its own tail. A symbol of eternal life, rebirth, and a cycle of endings and new beginnings."

"What choice will those children pick, I wonder? Being driven by rage only leads to one path, and they will inevitably become what they hate in the end."

I woke up to my alarm clock ringing, rubbing my eyes as I brought myself back to reality.

Ever since I contracted Shi-Zan-ketsu-ga, the demon made me train his powers in my sleep, a never-ending tug-of-war for complete control.

I got out of my bed and proceeded to put on my uniform. Today was the day that I was formally a member of the Vampire extermination unit, and I was ready to test the capabilities of my Cursed Gear.

I met Yu in the hallways and we exchanged pleasantries. Shinoa was waiting for us to meet the others outside.

"Lt.colonel Guren!! I don't understand!! Why are you assigning me to a squad of rookies? I have been a part of the extermination unit since I was thirteen, I am an elite!! A short blonde-haired girl was shouting at Guren who looked annoyed.

"Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood for the Blood God!!! I clutched my head as a chorus of voices were shouting for blood. A Tantalizing urge for blood started to overcome my senses as I reached for my sword.

"Hey Cain, are you alright? You look extremely pale and you're eyes are glowing red." The concern in Yu's voice snapped me out of my trance, but I could still hear the choir of voices as they Whispered for blood.

"I-Im fine. I'm just experiencing a migraine at the moment, I appreciate the concern but it is not needed." I could tell that Yu wasn't convinced, but I just moved toward the others as we learned that the girl's name was Mitsuba.

Mitsuba was shouting at Guren because Shinoa was chosen as squad leader. The two of them began to fight each other like pre-schoolers until Guren broke them up.

"This is your new teammate, Mitsuba Sangu." Guren began to pat her head as he introduced her to the rest of us.

"The Moon Demon company generally operates in squads of five. But since we have Cain, this team Is an exception to that rule. Mostly because running into an armed vampire with less than five, means someone will be killed." Guren stopped patting Mitsuba's head and gave us a serious look.

"Once you six leave these gates, no matter what happens there must be no dissension in the ranks and no independent action. Am I clear? We all agreed as some of us looked at Yu.

"Ha! I'm not making any promises, if I spot a blood-sucker I'm going after it, even by myself-" Yu had to stop his sentence as Mitsuba tried to kick him, my sword already pointed at her neck and was preparing to slit her throat.

"Your guy's reflexes aren't half-bad. And I'm sensing a lot of bloodlust coming from that sword, it's almost scary." Mitsuba freed her leg and I put my sword back in its sheath.

"Careful host, I told you that the sword doesn't like being put back without its payment. You get a freebie this time, but there will be a penalty the next time you cheat me out of blood." The voice of Shi-Zan-ketsu-ga rang out in my head as the sword started to vibrate.

"Anyway, you six are teammates now. Your teammates are closer to you than your own family, protect them with your lives. Now let me give you your first official mission."

Our mission was to find the vampire enclave in Harajuku, free the captured humans, and head up to Shinjuku for further orders.

The squad headed to Harajuku Station, the place where the vampire enclave was located. We stopped when we saw a little girl being chased by the Four Horsemen of John. 

Yu was adamant that we save her, but we warned him that it was most likely a trap from the vampires and that he needed to stay in formation and wait.

"It's easy to figure out. In a world like this, a child would never make it this far alone. This child is just bait to lure us out." Shinoa explained to Yu as I pulled out my sword. 

"How does that even make sense!! Why would a Horsemen follow a vampire's orders? Kimizuki grabbed Yu to hold him back.

"They aren't. Horsemen only attack humans, this is just a common vampire trick. They dangle the human in front of the monsters, gloating the beasts to attack and capture any human foolish enough to save the bait." Yu became enraged and shrugged off Kimizukl's hand.

"Think with your head Yu, if you charge in and save that little girl. We will be exposed and distracted to fight the vampires, you don't want another incident like last time." I tried to talk some sense into him, but he just rushed off and killed the Horsemen.

Suddenly nine vampires jumped off the rooftops, they split up into groups of three and encircled Yu, the squad and me.

"You fell right into our trap livestock, now surrender and accept your fate as cattle for your masters like the rest of them." One of the Vampires licked his lips as they advance, not realizing that they fucked up.

"It's like pigs to the slaughter, I hope you guys can at least scream for me before you die. Drown the world in a sea of Blood. Shi-Zan-ketsu-ga!!

I cut my hand alongside the edge of the blade. The blood liquefied into a think viscous, blood-like substance.

"Blood! Blood! Blood! Feed us Blood! Blood for the Blood God!!! The voices were in such a frenzy that everyone could hear it, the blood was covering the ground as if trying to sink the vampires in its waters.

"What the hell is that!! What kind of power has this much bloodlust!? What are yo-" I didn't let the vampire finish as I swung my sword in a crescent moon-shaped arc, splitting him in half.

"Oh no pigs shouldn't talk, they should be screaming and making the kil more enjoyable. It would be such a waste if my first debut with my sword, is with a bunch a low-level weaklings." A psychotic smile grin appeared on my face as the vampires charged.

I slashed my sword again, as blood-cresent-moons flew at the vampires direction. The vampires managed to evade the blood, but not without losing an arm in the process.

The vampires jumped back and touched the blood-stained ground, I began to smile as they fell into my trap. "Ripputaido." (Riptide)

The blood that was under their foot started to pull them closer to my sword, the vampires couldn't escape as they pulled toward the center and watched in horror as I decapitated them.

"My, your adjusting very quickly to your Cursed Gear Cain. Looks like we have a hidden prodigy among us." Shinoa smiled as she came behind me.

I ignored her teasing and started to interrogate the girl that Yu saved. She told us that the vampires and humans were in the Omotesando station, and told us exactly how many were inside.

The squad agreed to ambush the vampires and try to rescue the humans. We walked towards the station and saw several captured humans, many of them were children.

Yu killed the vampire lookout, and I began to fight the vampires who were hiding. We managed to kil all the vampires and escort the kids back to Shibuya.

As we were sorting out the kids, I felt someone was watching me. But I couldn't find any trace and went inside, not realizing that two mysterious people were watching my movements through binoculars.

"I'm telling you, this mission was to send us to our deaths!! We were ordered to observe Cain, until we found an opportunity to capture him. But he's with the Japanese imperial demon company, and neither us or the organization are powerful enough to deal with them." The first man began to pace aurond, as the second man gave his partner an anoyed look.

"Would you like to protest to the higher ups? By all means go ahead, but you can face that demon-witch Cassidy and her friends wrath when we reported our failure. Besides, the JIDA and the vampires are in the middle of a cold war. All we have to do is fan the flames, capture Cain Hyakuya in the chaos, and hand him over to Cassidy for our reward." The second man stood up as both of men put on Vampire extermination unit uniforms, and walked into the outpost.