Chapter 60: Shuri Himejima (2)

"M-mom"

A black haired little girl muttered in terror while holding on the skirt of his mother, desperately running away from their enemies.

"It's ok, we're going to be okay, Mom's going to protect you alright?"

The woman with long black hair said as she carried her 10 year old daughter in her arms with a desperately and anxious voice, running away with all of her remaining stamina.

"Please just my daughter, please save her Amaterasu-sama"

She prayed as the skin on her feet bled from running through the rocky roads of the forest bare feet, while carrying her crying daughter in her hands.

"M-Mom, where are we going?"

"We're going to a safe place, ok? Don't worry I'll protect you sweety alright?"

"CAPTURE THAT WOMAN!!"

Several voices shouted behind her causing her to speed up her pace, enduring the pain that she felt on her feet as she arrived at an abandoned shrine in the middle of the forest.

"W-we're her-"

Shuri muttered but fell down due an arrow piercing her shoulders, causing her bite her lips as she continued to move inside the shrine, enduring the pain on her shoulders while Akeno on her arms cried from seeing her wounds.

"Don't cry Akeno, Mom's going to be okay, so don't cry"

"M-Mom..."

Akeno choked on her tears as she tightly hugged her mother's neck in her arms, afraid that she will go the time she lets go of her neck.

"We're here Akeno, go and sit there, wait for mom, alright?"

Shuri caressed her daughter's head before taking out an empty talisman in her pocket, drawing a symbol on the talisman with her own blood, coming from the deep wound on her shoulder as she pushed it towards Akeno, trembling as she sat in the middle of an altar.

"Don't worry, Akeno. Mom's going to protect you alright?"

Shuri comforted as she gave her a kiss on her forehead before activating the talisman in Akeno's hand by pulling the arrow on her shoulder, allowing her blood to pour on the altar.

"M-Mom? What's happening?"

"Don't worry, this will bring you to a safe place Akeno so please don't move from the circle ok?"

"B-but- mo-"

"Shhh... Akeno, Mom's very strong so I can protect myself Akeno. I'll meet you after this Akeno s-"

Shuri coughed out blood at the altar as a spear pierced through her stomach, causing Akeno to look at her mother, terrified from what she saw.

"Mo-"

Akeno reached out her hand to try and grab her mother but was too late causing Shuri to flash a familiar gentle smile at her daughter as tears ran down her pale and rosy cheeks.

"Akeno, I love you..."

Shuri muttered in a soft and caring voice as another spear pierced through her out, but still tried to squeeze out her final words to her daughter.

"... Goo..d...bye... Akeno"

Shuri smiled as the altar teleported her daughter away.

"I'm sor...ry... I won't... be able... to se... e you... grow up..."

"Tch... THE CHILD ESCAPED, FIND HER IMMEDIATELY!!!"

Linebreak

"AKENO!!"

Shuri screamed in horror as she sat up from the bed with her right arm stretched out in front of her.

"W-where am I!?"

Shuri shouted with a trembling voice as her back was covered in cold sweat from her horrible dream.

"You're at my shrine Shuri"

Yasaka entered the room, carrying a large bowl of warm water on her hands.

"Yasaka?"

"Just lie down for a bit, you just woke up from your deep sleep"

Yasaka softly advised before kneeling down beside her to wipe her back.

"Where my daughter!? Where's Akeno!?"

Shuri loudly asked, clenching her Yasaka's Kimono with a desperate expression on her face.

"Calm down, Shuri... Akeno is safe, she's in the hands of the Gremory as a Queen for the youngest daughter's peerage. She's in safe hands"

"HOW CAN YOU TRUST THEM!?"

"Because my lover said so"

Yasaka answered unfazed from her anger as she calmly wring the cloth inside the bowl before removing Shuri's Kimono to wipe her back from her sweat.

"L-lover?"

"Yes..."

"B-but I though-"

"Shuri... 2 years have already passed after your death, you weren't killed yesterday, but 2 years ago after you were attacked... A lot of things has changed, Shuri"

"T-two years..."

"Yes... A lot of things has changed since then... Don't worry, my lover promised to keep an eye on your daughter to protect her"

Yasaka kindly muttered before submerging the towel in warm water before she wrung it and wiped her back.

"Have you calmed down, Shuri?"

"... Yes, thank you Yasaka"

Shuri muttered as she held her head, trying to digest the current situation that she was in as a boy with golden hair and eyes entered the room together with 2 little girls by his side.

"Do you feel anything weird?"

"Who?"

Shuri asked as she covered her body with the blanket on the futon, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Shuri, meet my lover, Lucias Frey"

Yasaka introduced before standing up from the floor carrying the bowl of warm water with her as she left the room.

"Nice to meet you, Shuri Himejima"

"L-likewise"

"I know you must've been surprised about what Yasaka has told you... I'll explain everything that you want to know so ask any questions that you want"

Lucias says in a calm voice before sitting down next to her futon along with the other 2 girls behind him.

"Is it true?"

"What is true?"

"... 2 years have already passed..."

Shuri asked as her long black her covered her anxious face while listening intently to his words.

"That is true, it's been 2 years... and also, you didn't get captured by them but you died... I think your already aware of that"

Lucias answered causing Shuri to caress both of her stomach and chest, the places where she was stabbed by a spear.

"Then how come I'm alive?"

"I revived you, to give you another chance in life, my circumstances are quite complicated so I will appreciate it if you don't ask more regarding this subject"

"Y-You revived me?"

"Yes... I actually turned you into an Original Angel since your mana circuit has been replaced by an identical copy of myself... but your mortal body isn't powerful enough to sustain my mana circuit. If I didn't change your race, you would've blown up to pieces"

"..."

"Any more questions?"

"... Where's Baraqiel?"

"You mean that fallen angel? He is fine and safe but... his mentality is... unstable right now for losing both you and her daughter. He always blamed himself about your death everyday, causing his mind to be under mental pressure everyday but... even after your death, he still loved you, Himejima"

"Baraqiel..."

Shuri muttered as she felt a small need prick her heart, causing tears to ran down her cheeks.

"Use this"

Lucias took out a handkerchief in his inventory, giving it to Shuri while taking out a bloodied badge from his inventory using his other hand.

"Thank you"

Shuri took the handkerchief with gratitude, using it to wipe her tears before recieving a bloodied badge from Lucias.

"This is?"

Shuri asked before picking up the badge from his hand and was caught in surprise when she recognized the insignia on the badge.

"All of the beings involved in the incident before have already been disposed. I know that you're thinking that I'm meddling to much but... I'm doing this because I want to make a deal with you"

"Huh?"

Shuri muttered in confusion as she calmed down her emotions from before, calmly looking at the 11 year old boy in front of her. Even though he was a child, his eyes were filled with confidence, ruthlessness, prestige and sharpness that didn't belong to a child like him... but belonged to a ruler... just like the head of the Himejima Clan.

"Do you want to get stronger, Shuri?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you want to get stronger... Do you want the strength to protect your family?"

"... Yes"

"Then... Shuri, do you want to join my faction?"

-with ???-

"Stop right there!"

A two grim Reapers guarding the room where Lilith is contained shouted towards the running pink haired little girl, desperately trying to escape from the two of them.

"Tch..."

One of the grim reaper clicked his tongue before throwing his sight at the pink haired little girl with great accuracy, causing his sight to pierce through the little girl's chest as she fell down on the ground.

"Gotcha"

The grim reaper triumphantly smiled as both of them ran towards the little girl's body, stepping on her petite body with her right foot in anger.

"You bitch, you made us fucking run around just to catch you"

The grim reaper cursed before kicking her body around to see her face.

"What the..."

The grim reaper muttered in shock from seeing that the little girl that he killed was actually his own partner that was running along with him to catch the little girl.

"You... don't look... back"

The grim reaper on the ground desperately squeezed out before he breath out his last breath as his eyes lost all colour and life inside them, indicating the death of his partner.

"H-How!?"

The grim reaper shouted in shock as a small hand pierced through his chest while holding his heart inside the small hands of a little girl.

"What a disgraceful man you are, killing your trusted partner like that"

Chris mockingly said before crushing his heart in her hands as the grim reaper fell to the ground next to his partner while looking at her with extreme terror visible in his eyes.

"M-monster"

"Thank you, Grim Reaper-san"

Chris smiled brightly at his direction before stepping on his head, crushing his skull under her feet as his brain scattered on the floor.

"Ariel, no killing, remember?"

Lilia who teleported beside her said in an irritated voice while staring at the two corpses on the ground.

"If we don't kill them, how are we going to pass through the door?"

Chris grinned at her while wiping off the blood from her arms with her handkerchief causing Lilia to tiredly sigh before snapping her fingers to burn the two bodies into ashes, leaving no traces of evidence behind.

"Let's go"

She said as she walked towards the previous room that the two grim reapers were guarding before, hugging her lion stuffed toy in her embrace.

Chris stayed silent, following Lilia from behind with a joyful smile on her face.

"So... How are we going to open this?"

Chris asked as soon as they arrived in front of the metal door, engraved with several runes to protect, contain, and preserve Lilith inside the room, entrapping her inside the small room deep inside Hade's realm of death.

"Let me try"

Lilia uttered as a large hexagram of light shone on the ground below her, creating a massive change in the wind pressure around them before Lilia sung in a foreign language unique to the city of Virie.

Her body begun to levitate above the ground as the hexagram brightly shone a tinge of orange, with her body shining with a pinkish light, blinding Chris from the intense light coming from her body.

"This is a bit... overkill"

Chris muttered while averting her sight from Lilia, casting a forbidden spell that only she can cast, pouring all of her mana to lion stuffed toy in her embrace before throwing it above the air.

Transforming into a giant ferocious lion with blood red eyes and extremely sharp claws standing on two feet.

"I remember Fuurinka-nyan being cuter than this"

"This is his berserker form"

Lilia said before ordering the giant lion to slash pits claw at the metal door, cutting the door into 4 pieces, easily penetrating through the countless runes placed on the door.

"Mission Complete"

(N/A: The lion doesn't have a berserker form... actually I noticed that in the Kore wa zombie desu ka light novel. The more ridiculously it looks, the more powerful it is)