Chapter VI - Ketsugi Minamoto

Part I - Memory fragments reside

After walking on through the lonely desert I stumbled across a cloth with blood stuck on what seems to be a pillar sunk in the sands. As I grab it a memory flashes in my brain of a man walking in exhaustion with blood falling on the ground. His sleeves were of the same black armor that Kilah made for us so it must be one of the two that are currently missing. I then rushed in the same direction of the way he was headed. I dashed through the vast ocean of sand eventually leading me to the path where one of two who are missing lay rest. The days passed by like seconds, I was determined to find the person who traveled out here. Then a few what seemed ran down buildings from a distance caught my gaze. I drank the last few drops of water from my flask as I began to pick up speed again. I dash with the hopes of finding civilization, a clue, a body, anything.. I control my breathing as I listen around, but nothing. Until I heard shuffling in a nearby building which seemed to be some sort of warehouse, or storage house. I walk around the perimeter still being cautious about any dangers inside the building. As I peek through a window I met someone's gaze. The tension of the situation rose drastically, We stared at each other for a few seconds waiting for someone to make a move. In a fraction of a second I saw his eye begin to glow. Without a second thought I shout out "Wait, I'm part of Minamoto ! I came on a mission to look for you !" The glow went away as he let out a sigh of relief. He whispers "Keep your voice down and come inside." I walk into the somewhat run down storage house as it seems to have been Nikke's hideout for the meantime. Nikke finally shows himself, I glance at him. His face being bearded, his hair long and scruffy, a scar over his left eye, really well built and tall. "So you're him huh.. The kid that we went to find. Who's left. More importantly Kaneoke, was he able to find out what he needed too." He spoke with a rough voice. I took a breath and let out a sigh as I began to tell him the fate of those who fought that day. He began to shed a tear but hid it with the face of anger as he began to fall to his knees. "How could those monsters mercilessly kill Sam, after all they did to her… Goddammit Kaneoke." He hits the ground out of frustration "Why Kaneoke… you were supposed to lead us… you were supposed to come home with us… with everyone… Goddammit ! I wasn't strong enough. I fought with everything but that bastard didn't let me through." He stands again as he looks at me and tells me "We're gonna go kill every single last thing there and avenge everyone who fell." then from a distance a disoriented screech could be heard. Nikke rushes to the back of the storage as he picks up what seem to be capsules or something spherical, and as he starts to put on his armor as he says "That damn thing finally found me. Listen kid, can you fight? If not, just get ready to run. Those damn freaks have be-" his voice getting cut off by some sort of creature slowly crawling into the window of the storage. Nikke takes a fighting stance as he grabs one sphere in each hand and says "Melee Mode: White Fangs". The shapes begin to form into some type of weapons. I also take a stance and reach for the dagger that Kilah made me. The creature climbs through the window as its figure seems to move inhumane or animal-like. All that could be heard was the creature's body flopping into the ground and its bones contorting, making an unpleasant sound as it struggled to make a shape.

Part II - Creations

Nikke and I have come to face an abomination of a creature, its pale sick skin tightened by its petite figure, though its face remained hidden by a faint gold mask of some kind. This is my first actual combat outside of fighting with Krystal, I was taught to be somewhat proficient with the dagger I was given by Kilah. "Hidden Thorne" is a medium sized blade, the attributes of the blade are unknown to me, Kilah had told me that the blade was made by some material that has hidden abilities to it. But this blade is my only source of actual damage as people like us who have abilities that aren't useful in combat. We have to compensate for what we lack. Nikke gets ready to do something and tells me "We need more space, this thing attacks at long range, I'll make the opening just act quick." He then kicks at the wall and completely breaks it. He then jumps out and I follow right after keeping a close eye at the creature, but as soon as I jump out the opening I see what seems like a white tentacle strike towards me from a far distance. I was barely able to deflect the incoming attack, only hurting my back from the impact to the floor. I get up quickly and get on stance again as I see Nikke getting ready for the next round of attacks. "Now! Get ready to move!" he shouts as he starts maneuvering around the white tentacles striking from inside of the storage house. Then suddenly I hear another screech as he's getting attacked, damn is it another one? I have no time to worry about that right now, a few tentacles strike towards me but with much more strength this time, I tried striking the tentacles as they came but they were hard as rock and I could barely leave a scratch. I glance over at Nikke as he fights a ton of tentacles striking towards him. Then on the blind side of Nikke I spot the other abomination, with no mercy it strikes towards Nikke. I tried to tell him but before the words could leave my mouth He gets struck on his face and his abdomen launching him a couple feet away to the ground I dash towards him as more strikes come down on him and only barely being able to deflect the strikes with my blade. I shout to him "NIKKE GET UP, I CAN'T DEFLECT THE HITS FROM TWO ENEMIES FOR MUCH LONGER." I hear him cough blood behind me as he gets up and says "Don't worry I won't die like a worthless dog on the floor, I got shit to do and family to avenge, and these failed creations pissed me off." I look at him for a second to see how bad his wounds are, without a thought I say "Your ey-" but he cuts me off as he says "I don't care if I can't see anymore, but have my word I'll slaughter them." At that moment I felt an ominous wind and blood lust surrounding Nikke. The creatures had felt it as well as they ceased attack and began to come closer. Nikke grabs his face and shouts:

"Pandora's Eye"

Then just as he says those words a gust of wind starts to radiate from him, a third eye slowly opens from his forehead, "Assault Mode: Slayer Blade" he speaks as the daggers form into one long white nichirin blade. He then dashes towards the two abominations who let out a horrendous blood curdling screech which un-phases the awoken being. He dodges each strike with ease, splitting each tentacle that comes towards him. Just as quickly as he started the engagement he ended it with two graceful strikes with the blade. Striking to what I think was the core of the abominations.

After effortlessly killing the abominations I wrapped and tended to Nikkes injuries, he was able to seal most of his wounds with his power and I patched him up as much as I could. Then we had moments to catch our breath and converse. "Krystal, Kilah, and I decided to invade another clan that seems to be in link with Tiara, with my power I was able to go into my father's memories and read most of the documents he went through at the Tiara's hideout. There were multiple letters coming from what seemed to be the Mitsui clan's king. We plan to infiltrate the kingdom somehow by getting recruited to be one of their mercenaries. The only issue is that they have been on high alert." I tell him, he then pulls out a cigar and lights it and says "Shouldn't be too hard all we need is a disguise since most mercs keep their identity hidden in that market. But one thing… did you just say father?! As in Kaneoke is your father?! And what's this about reading memories and what not ?!" I chuckle as I begin to explain my ability and relation to Kaneoke. This ability works as much as wonders as it does horrors, though I may be able to learn the memories of others, I also live those memories, every pain, sorrow, and loss. I can also use this ability with any aura residue left by the person and their current thoughts of when that aura was left behind. Then as he takes a few puffs from his cigar he tells me "Well kid, welcome back to Minamoto. I know it wasn't a pleasant introduction but I'm Nikke, I guess I'm now your new Butler. It's a pleasure to serve you master" I shy away as he tells me master and say "I-its fine.. You don't have to call me master, just call me Ketsugi. It's nice to meet you, Nikke." He gets up as he extends his hand to me and I reach for his hand as I stand. He says "So is there a randevu point you guys agreed on after your mission to look for me?" I nod and say "yeah there's a town north from the desert that we have to head to in about one week and then we should be able to find Krystal and Kilah waiting." With no time to waste we grab some supplies in storage and pack to head out, but I ask him "how are you going to keep up without your vision, should I tie your hands to mine with some sort of rope or ..?" He clicks his tongue and says "What am I a little kid? Just let your aura bleed enough to leave a trail for me to follow. I have good sense for aura" I nervously laugh as I get ready to leave, then we both quickly dash north to meet with Krystal and Kilah.

Part III - Kingdom of the Lord

Only a few days left till we arrive at the town of mercenaries Daki. As Nikke and I made our travels we decided to set up camp at night as we rested for a few hours to start up again. I lay down to rest for an hour as Nikke stays up to watch. But as I close my eyes I fall fast asleep. I then awake in what seems to be emptiness, nothing for miles and miles to come. As I walk the endless space of nothingness I make out a figure radiating some sort of light. My footsteps echo into the endless darkness, my path only visible by a single source of light. A man sits in a throne of endless darkness as he chuckles. He stands from the throne as the throne itself merges to the ground being nothing more. I ask "Who are you… and what is this place?..". The man wearing some sort of royal garments embroidered with a dark slate palette merged with a dark and barely visible magenta walks slowly towards me. He smiles a devilish smile and says "You may call me the true and only Lord Minamoto." His skin pale and hair white as snow radiated off in contrast to his clothes as his red eyes pierced into my very soul. He chuckles and says "And to answer the other question this is the realm that lives inside you, empty isn't it? Suits me pretty well. Enough with the explanations though, I ask, do you truly have the compatibility to be the vessel of thy one and only lord?". with confusion still clouded in my mind with all the answers sprouting more and more questions I ask in return "Compatibility? How can you measure that?". He simply reveals his hand from under his robe like garments and gestures to the ground as it visibly becomes liquid and orb seems to rise from the floor. He smiles and laughs "How interesting I've never seen anyone's soul take the shape of an orb like this before..this will be kind of amusing." He then gestures once more at the now floating orb and it begins to vibrate slowly and then faster and more intense. Though, as I see the orb begin to vibrate more violently I feel my core begin to hurt as it rapidly spreads throughout my body and now slowly being able to visualize myself shaking and vibrating. The pain begins to numb my body, silently straining my sanity as I hold my head barely containing my screams of agony. Then a few seconds pass as the pain just suddenly goes away, finally being able to catch my breath. Lord Minamoto, so he says, stands there in shock for a split second as he sees me fully recover and brush off the pain. He then grins another devilish smile and says "You… truly are remarkable, I can see why now your… no, how about you figure it out yourself. You have my blessing and you may use my power at your will." he then turns around gesturing once more to the ground as I feel the ground slowly sucking me in. and then slipping into the pure darkness drowning in the unknown. Slowly losing sight. Breath. Emptiness. Solitude.

Part III - Reunion

It has been a couple days since the nightmare I had that one night, but I had just let it pass me as nothing other than a nightmare. The thoughts still clouded my head only to be forgotten after the sight of actual soil and ground at the edge of the vast desert. The exhausted Nikke takes a deep breath and looks over "Well looks like it isn't too far from here now all we have to do is head towards the forest not to from here." I looked over at him, conserving every last energy left within me and gave him a thumbs up of affirmation. As we walked through the cool forest we found a river with fresh water and what seems to be a comfy place to take a rest for the time being. I walked towards the fresh water as the last of our water reservations had been used up the day before and the thirst for water had never been so great. I parched myself with enough water to leave me sick of water for the rest of the day. I then washed my face in the water only to see the worst sight imaginable, Nikke buck naked washing himself in the middle of the pond. I then let out a small scream of disgust "NIKKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I'M STILL HERE. PUT ON SOME DAMN CLOTHES" He then laughs as he says "Number one rule of being a mercenary is seize every opportunity possible, because there may not be another." He then finally sits completely covering himself in the water. "Boss, can you do me a favor and pass me a cigar by my pouch? You can grab yourself one if you'd like." I grab one cigar for Nikke and one for myself. I nervously ask " How uh.. Do you smoke these?." He gestures for a light, I quickly understand and grab the lighter in the pouch. He then proceeds to light the cigar and begin to puff some smoke from the cigar. He then lights mine and I try to mimic the same thing that he did, but as I do so I begin to cough he then laughs as he also begins to cough a little. After finishing the cigars I laid by a rock nearby and rested my back against it, Nikke then takes a deep breath and says "Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moments in life like the peaceful moment we have here, sometime in the future you'll be reminiscing these moments since you won't ever know when you'll see the next one in lives like ours." After Nikke finished his bath, he then suited up and sat next to me as he enjoyed a few more minutes of peace, but suddenly Nikke perches up and said "Keep your guard up I sense something coming towards us, use something to cover your face or anything that'll hide your identity". I then grab a rag and wrap my face and cover my head with the hood on my cape, I unsheathe my weapon, at the same time Nikke says " Melee Mode : Pale Gungnir." a spear begins to form in his hand as both spheres merge. *splat*. A white hunk of what seems to be some sort of flesh falls to the ground, is that one of the creations that we fought back in the ghost town? At least it's not radiating any aura so it seems to be dead. I glanced over to Nikke but he was still on guard waiting for something else. Then I sensed it. Two people emerged from the shadows and walked towards us. A woman bows and smiles towards us and says "Sorry, we didn't mean to startle you, we were just removing a threat we were contracted to finish off. Though, we might have found something just as interesting right Cazo" a fair skinned man walks slowly behind her. I glance over to Nikke as he gestures an OK and lowers his weapon. I follow as well. The girl giggles and says "You guys seem pretty scary I can tell from just the aura radiating from the both of you, are you guys looking for anything specific? Maybe some merc work? We can definitely get you some if you help us as well and we can share the bounties and such?" Nikke then speaks and says "That would be nice but there are two more of us waiting at the town not too far from here" She gives a big smile in return and says "Perfect, more the merrier. We can escort you there if you'd like?" Nikke bows his head and says "No offense but we can get there ourselves, we can meet up after we pick up our two remaining members." she nods in agreement and then waves. We both then hurry to town. Nikke gets my attention by a single shoulder tap and asks "How do you suppose we find the other two in this huge town?" I explain to him briefly about using my power to read the memories of an object left behind by them so I can know the specific randevu point. We crossed a couple more bushes revealing a path that we then took to the town of mercenaries. We both pause for a moment as we reach where the road ends, and the town begins. Daki The town of mercenaries. The town screamed life. As people came out of bars and conversed on the streets, drunk mercs picking fights with other mercs, armorers selling the best weapons and armor they have in stock, vendors selling charms and necklaces, food vendors competing with the prices of other food vendors, and now the two of us adding to that of the crazy city.

As we search the town subtly, we keep our faces hidden and blend through the crowd. After hours of searching we come across an alleyway with an awkwardly misplaced necklace hanging from a pipe bolt. I use my power on it and confirm to Nikke that it was left behind by them. We quickly walked down the alley leading to a dead end and a single door entrance to a building. I lay my hand on it again and use my ability. I nod to Nikke and softly open the door revealing a woman and man with a white mask and cloak.

Part IV - The Pale Brigade

The woman removes her mask revealing to be Krystal, Nikke with no hesitation laughs as he jumps towards both of them greeting with a big hug. I also sigh with big relief as we finally are all together. We all settle down after our small moment and sit on a couple chairs that reside within the building, Krystal clears her throat and says "Well, as you can see this will be our outfits as of right now." She hands me a mask and a cloak and says "You can design the mask however you'd like there some tools in the back and paint." I then walked to the back and saw paint brush, black paint, and white paint. I decided to coat the mask in black and draw a runny x on the left side of the mask. I then put on a cloak with some sort of fur around the hood of the coat. After Letting the mask dry I then put it on, and walk towards the others who have properly readied themselves. Krystal walks towards me and says "From this point forward we won't use our real names, I shall be known as Rose. Kilah will be known as Steel. Nikke will go by his assassin name N." I Put a hand over my mask and respond "Then I shall be the leader known as .."

After clearing out all the things that we had left inside the little shelter, we set out to the streets together as a Family once more and set our sights to the two that Nikke and I had met. We walk throughout the town hooded in the midday of Daki where things have settled and have become more calm. We walk through what seems to be a cross intersection of streets, and right on the street across from us we spot them and make eye contact. The woman tugs on Cazo's sleeve and points towards us as we stop and wait for them to walk towards us. The woman stops right in front of us and says "It's nice to meet all of you this time, My name is Reana and this is Cazo." Cazo does a gesture of greeting and Reana continues talking "We wouldn't mind contracting you all but there are some trials you might have to go through to see if you guys are capable of working with us." I nod and tell her "Very well, you may call me X, and this is my team The Pale Brigade. We appreciate your gratitude and will take any mission that you would grant us" She smiles and replies "Perfect ! Now then meet me back here later around midnight." We nod and I bow and then I retreat with the others as we wait till midnight on the roof of a building.

A few hours later, Kilah asks me, "Are you sure this woman could be trusted or that man? They seem a little eager to help us get a name in the business of mercs." I reply quickly and say "There's no telling what she's thinking but we should all keep our guard up, and as long as our identities are hidden we shouldn't worry too much" Krystal then says "Look we have to take risk or else we won't be able to get anything- " Nikke quickly interrupts and signals that someone is coming, we all nod in confirmation and jump off the roof of the building as Reana and Cazo walk towards us, I bow to her as she hands me a note with instructions, I nod and begin to walk away as she says "See you there soon." As we make our way back to another roof I begin to read the contract, our target is a leader of an organization not too far from this city. There's also bonus cuts for taking out any of the leader's top bodyguards. I let everyone know the mission prompt. We are also split off into groups, Kilah is on the solo Infiltration of the main entrance, Cazo, Krystal, and Nikke are on bodyguard execution duty. Reana and I are to take out the leader. I take a deep breath and look to the others and say "Five minutes from now our mission will begin, good-luck to everyone and remember to always have your guard up" Everyone nods and dashes quickly merging with the shadows of the night.

Part V - Suspicions

As I run into the forest after being split off with the others I rest my hand on my blade, always being ready to strike. After a few trees and bushes I see Reana standing over a cliff, she then starts to turn as she senses me heading towards her. I bow and say "Lady Reana, on your orders." She blushes and says "Please, just call me Reana, that title is embarrassing" I nod. She stretches as she reaches for the blade on her back. "Everyone else should be getting started pretty soon. Once the signal is given to us we need to go on the third floor of the building, that's where the leader sits." Reana says. I nod with affirmation and take a ready position to hop on some trees down the cliff. She grabs my coat and says "Oh don't worry we have scouted the building already, my ability will allow us to make a quick entry and exit. "I'm sorry, I don't under-" *Boom*. An explosion had gone off and before I could make out the situation I was already inside the building. I look over to Reana and she says "This is my ability but it'll be kept a secret for now. I'll watch from a distance your target will be inside this room. Cya!" and instantly vanishes in thin air. I won't worry about what just happened now but I guess this is a test of our skills either way. I unsheathe my dagger and bust open the door. A man in a robe turns around from looking out the window and shouts "Who the hell are you and how did my guards not dispose of you!?" I say nothing in return and point my blade at him. The man grabs a katana on the wall of his room and unsheathes it. I dash towards him performing quick slashes to throw him off balance but he's barely able to keep up with my attacks deflecting and striking back as well. And in an instant our blades clash for a second and he says "You filth are all the same" and spits at my mask. I suddenly feel something boiling at my core as I suddenly reply with "Who are you calling filth you mongrel." I perform a strong strike to knock him back creating some distance as my body suddenly reacted and I lifted my hand towards him and said "Kneel", then the air begins to vibrate for a second as the windows around us shatter and the man falls to the ground being unable to stand as an unknown force holds him down to the ground. I slowly walk towards him and tell him "Know your place you mongrel. And in case you forgot where it was I'll show you" and in one swipe I strike across his neck beheading the man. As I look behind me I catch a glimpse of someone staring from a distance. I feel a tap startle me a little as I look forward again to see Reana standing in front of me. " Don't get scared, It's just me." She softly speaks in a teasing manner. I clear my throat as I say "Lady Reana, the contract you have given me is now finished. I look forward to working with you again." she hastily replies with a joyful tone and says "Actually, we were contracted to find mercenaries ourselves for the Kingdom of Mitsui, we wanted to see if you and your group were as strong as your aura seems to tell. If you like we can discuss payment and any future questions about the contract. If so, here is an engraved crystal that sends me a signal if you pour some aura into it." She hands me a crystal as she finishes her explanation. I nod as I accept the crystal, then I bow as I bid my farewell. I hop out the window as I look for any clues to the man who was watching me from a distance before vanishing into the night.

Part VI - Kingdom of Corruption

It has been a few weeks of planning between us in the Pale Brigade, we came to the conclusion of taking the offer that Reana had made to us. Starting today, we shall become mercenaries for the Mitsui Clan, securing us an infiltration into the Kingdom. Though, this will only be the beginning. Our mission now is to blend in with the mercenaries that are also contracted here, slowly we shall climb the ranks to be in the inner circle of the King. We then spent months adapting to a new lifestyle of being mercenaries to the King taking orders to manage streets of the Kingdom, Debt collecting, killing innocent people who defied the King, and killing all of those who broke the laws of the King. The corruption of this kingdom was visibly infesting the entirety of itself. Every life that was unfairly taken shall be brought to the king's sins as I myself shall give him equal punishment. For now I've learned to contain my anger as the mask helped keep my devilish angered face hidden throughout all my interactions. We all continued as normal, all my members giving me reports through their memories.

I woke up as any other day and did my daily patrol of the streets, I heard a commotion not too far from down the street. As I run down to check what's going on I see a girl being strangled after what seems to be two mercenaries dead on the floor. With no hesitation, I sliced off the arm of the man strangling the girl. He grabs at his now open wound retreating back in pain as he falls over to the ground where I finish him off stabbing directly to his heart. I picked up the girl and asked her " Are you hurt young madam? Do you need any medical attention?" She slaps my arm away and says "Don't touch me with your filthy hands." I sit on one knee as I then immediately realize that this is the King's daughter. "Now you filthy peasant when my other bodyguard comes, I want you to dispose of him from now on I want someone like you that seems more capable. I'll go talk to daddy about your contract." I nod as I reply "As you wish Lady Mitsui." I then waited for the bodyguard that the King's daughter had informed me to kill.

Later that day, I escorted Lady Mitsui back to the castle as I was then taken to one of the butler's who managed the main security of the castle. We briefly spoke as all they had done was just update my contract. The daughter's wishes are very much respected in this castle as she was the spoiled child of the king. From that day forward I had to have learned all of the girl's schedule and be near her at all times in case of any emergency. I wasn't alone though, I always had a butler keeping an eye on me, following me everywhere, leaving me no choice but to gain the trust of the butler to lay my plan for the invasion.

One month has passed now, nothing irregular has happened since my first day here. Just babysitting an annoying child, and such a cold hearted rat in that case. Like her father, mercilessly killing innocent people for her own enjoyment. Never getting her hands dirty. Judging and belittling others for something trivial as status.

Two months have passed, I've noticed some patterns for the butler in my last few weeks of babysitting. There might be a way to dispose of him. His execution will be tonight. A few weeks prior, Kilah made a container engraved with a magical substance causing it to explode after a few seconds of coming in contact with aura. That will be the signal. The pattern is that the butler has always been hasty to react to any emergency Lady Mitsui may have. I'll cause her to fall in her room causing him to enter the room and as he is distracted I shall kill him without him making any noise. After executing the butler I'll dispose of his body. The invasion will take place at the rise of the sun. As I do my daily patrol and escort with lady Mitsui, I take her to her room to end the day. I escort her to her room as usual and before I close her door to end the escort for the day I lay my hand upon her head and send a quick shock of aura making her fall over to the ground and I shout "Lady Mitsui! What happened? Are you okay?" and just as planned the plain looking merc with light armor comes dashing to her aid and immediately asks me to get medical help as I softly reply with. "For who… Her.. or you." and just as he turns around I pierce his forehead with my dagger and the only reaction being his body sending one last shock to its nerves as it lays dead. I then quickly hid his body, wiping any blood that may have stained the floor. I then lay Lady Mitsui on her bed as I speak once more softly into her ear "Sweet dreams Lady Mitsui, may your last night of sleep be a pleasant one.." I then exit her room and slowly close her door marking this the beginning of the invasion.

Part VII - Mercenaries

As I patrol the castle once more before morning comes and the invasion starts, I check every possible route I can take to avoid the most trouble so I can hastily go to the throne room where the king awaits.

Twenty minutes until sunrise, I make my last round of patrol as I clear rooms assassinating as many mercenaries walking around the castle on patrol as I am. The nerves of killing so many innocent bystanders are finally starting to fill me up. I walk into a room to fully compose myself as the lives of so many are just thrown away. I stared deeply into a mirror that was hanging on the wall, I didn't know who I was looking at anymore. My eyes looked so empty. Tears began to flow down my eyes as I questioned my own humanity. My head began to ring as the cries of all those who had perished began to overflow my thoughts and mind. The whole room began to vibrate as the thoughts began to cloud my mind. I put my hand over my mask as I slow my breathing down. I had to continue. Continue the mission my father had left me before his passing. I fully remove my mask as I look into the mirror, facing myself as the cold eyes that I have pierced my own soul. I grab my face as my mentality starts to shut down. Am I really still Ketsugi? Or am I just the monster they portray me and everyone in my family as. No, I can't let these intrusive thoughts distract me from my goal. These greedy pigs and vultures, they all deserve what they have coming, every single death, every single misery. I hear Lord Minamoto distantly talk towards me "That's right Ketsugi give in to the anger, show them the devil's they have been waiting to see." I grin a devilish smile as I say "You're right let's give them the show they want to see.

The invasion has now commenced as people are starting to frantically run throughout the castle discovering the now countless bodies that lay dead in the rooms of the castle. I grab the small container and pour aura into it and throw it towards the gate that seals the entrance. I then begin to move towards the room where Lady Mitsui sleeps. People around me screamed as they kept saying to alert mercenaries and butlers, the grin on my face grew larger as I walked towards Lady Mitsui's room. Ahh and there she was running in panic as she notices me and runs towards me to say "What are you doing you fucking peasant? Do you not see that we were being invaded by those savages? Do your job and escort me, or would you rather have papa give me your head? Have you no worth? Escort me you worthless pawn." I began to laugh as I could not contain myself anymore. She begins to nervously ask "W-Why do - " but I interrupt her as I didn't want to hear anything she had to say "Oh you thought we were pawns, no you surely are mistaken Lady Mitsui. The people who you called savages lived hard and short lives because of someone like you who decided to lay waste of everything for some monetary pleasure. They struggled, pained, cried, grieved, and laid in peace. The ones who have died so far deserve happiness and a long future. But your people decided to take that away from us, and for what? Something as trivial as money? Status? No, you sick bottom feeders only crave the pleasures of others' misery." She was stunned as she had seen the true face of real betrayal for the first time in her life and the last. I then continued "You wanted devils for the status of heroes and saviors, so we will give you devils." I reached for my mask and started to remove it and with my other hand I laid it upon her face and said "We shall show you the true Gates of Hell, and this shall be your divine punishment for my name is Ketsugi Minamoto" I send aura throughout her body being more than enough for her small body to handle causing her to instantly die as blood poured from her eyes and mouth. I toss her aside as I start walking towards the throne room. "Filthy mongrel, know your place and never forget it." I shout walking away from the lifeless corpse. As I come closer to the entrance of the King's throne I see three of the king's butlers laying dead on the floor. I grab my Hidden Thorne unsheathing it after being untouched for some time now. I slowly open the door as a single man walks towards the king's throne. The king on his knee's starts begging this man shouting "Please, I'll pay you anything to you and Tiara. All we ask is for you to Ki-" In a split second and one fell swoop his head goes flying off. He then puts his Nichirin blade on his back that's covered with what seems to be seals and a chain at the handle. He turns around revealing his mask being that of some sort of witch doctor and a black cloak. He then calls to me and says "I felt your aura a while ago so why don't you come out" I step out towards him with my blade in hand ready for combat. He says again "That's right now why don't you show me an entertaining fight while I'm already here." As I move to get into my stance in a flash of a second he appears right in front of me and says "Don't die on me now I want to have some fun." striking me with his elbow blowing me back into the wall in an instant.

Part VIII - Puppets

My ears are ringing and I feel dizzy as the impact from crashing into the wall stunned me. I try to breathe as pain throughout my body is nearly unbearable, the man slowly starts to walk towards me as I lay perched on the wall. "Don't tell me you're already dying, and here I thou- " He stops talking as he looks to his left and backs away dodging some white daggers being thrown at him like disc blades. I hear a familiar voice as I see Nikke come towards the wall and extend his hand towards me and says "Master are you okay!? Come one get up we can escape we have what we came for!" I get up as he pulls me out, I start to limp towards the exit as Nikke covers me. Then I felt a cold air chill my spine as the exit I walked towards gets blocked completely by what seems to be blackness. Nikke begins to laugh as he shouts "FINALLY, YOU FINALLY DECIDED TO SHOW YOURSELF HUH! AFTER ALL THE SHIT YOU'VE CAUSED!" The cloaked man simply walks away into the darkness as he disappears into thin air. Then suddenly from the blackness that covered the entrance emerges a man. "I can finally finish what I started Satoru Tiara." Nikke says as he walks towards the entrance. Then the man who emerges from the darkness speaks with such a raspy voice and says "Don't speak too highly of yourself now you dungeon rat." He lifts his hand as black aura blobs begin to fall from the ceiling "I was ordered to finish all loose ends so just be a nice rat and perish like the rest" He says as he laughs. Nikke signals me to back off and says "Master, this is a battle I need to fight alone. For not only me but for all those who I couldn't save back then" He puts his hand towards his face and shouts "Pandora's Eye". The pressure of the aura dramatically changed as the air around Nikke began to feel heavy. He recalls his weapon that he threw earlier and both spheres rested and gravitated around his body. The other man, Satoru Tiara snaps his fingers and menacingly shouts "Puppet's Grave" as corpses begin to rise from the blobs of blackness on the ground. Nikke releases more aura as the heat of it indicated the anger that poured and burned deep from within him, he shouts once more and says "Mode Zero : Death Petal Ballet" he does a couple gestures as the spheres quickly divided into dozens of spheres forming into diamond shaped prisms. Nikke gestures towards the corpses rising from the ground as they begin to get holes ripped into their lifeless bodies before the inanimate bodies could move. Nikke then rapidly moves towards the Satoru trading blow for blow, but both not showing any indication of backing down from their hits. But as fast as the blow began they quickly finished with Nikke landing a clean hit knocking the man off his balance. Satoru then begins to merge into the blackness as he attempts to escape. I shout to Nikke to let him know but he quickly shouts "You think you're gonna escape so easily?! Mode M : Chains of Hope" the dozen of prisms shoot towards Satoru as they begin to form white chains piercing his body multiple times leaving him hanged in the middle of the throne room. Nikke then grabs his head with his hand as the chain tightly grips his neck to the point where it lops his head off completely. He then repeatedly stomps on the head of the decapitated Satoru, as he lets out grunts with every stomp and then screams out his lungs. Those screams were filled with agony and pain that he held onto throughout the journey here. He then rushed towards me and lifted me onto his back as he said "We need to leave before that other guy comes back."My vision fades as the sounds of crumbling stone and the screams of those who were running in the castle fade.