Oni

The young man walked with shuffling steps, not because his leg was injured but because there was no longer any zest for life left in him. No one knows how long he has been walking in that tropical rainforest area with a very dense canopy.

For days his body was wet because of the rain that never stopped and the humid air of that place. Even so, no diseases dared to come near him.

The young man didn't wear anything to cover his body other than shabby cloth pants that were torn at the calves and thighs. His condition was truly pitiful, he looked like a slave who had run away from his master.

His lips kept moving to say the same thing, over and over again without stopping. "I just want to die. Let me die."

Because he didn't pay attention to the road in front of him, his feet accidentally tripped over the roots of a tree that spread to the ground surface. Unfortunately, in front of the roots of the tree, there is a river that flows quite fast.

Splash!

His body fell into the river, but a few seconds later, it floated back to the water's surface. He was swept away by the swift stream with his face up. Even if it feels a little complicated, at least he can breathe normally and surrender to the direction of the water flow.

"I just want to die, let me die."

A strange carving that looked like a lump of flesh forming a number was displayed on the young man's chest.

457.

He doesn't know what that number means. He's starting to lose his senses a little bit to think. He began to lose his mind a little to remember a memory.

Still muttering the same thing, the young man closed his eyes. Tears of sadness trickled out from the corners of his closed eyes.

"I just want to die, let me die."

***

"Hurry up and save yourself!" exclaimed the girl in a floral bikini, giving orders to the teenagers inside the pub.

A sense of panic broke out instantly.

They ran, fighting over one exit that was too narrow for two people at the same time.

The painful shout and fear that suddenly appeared sounded louder than the thump of electronic music at the scene.

Hiro himself still did not move from where he stood, although many times, the teenagers in the place bumped into him in panic. In the end, Hiro would return to the original point as if there was a strong enough magnetic field.

While the girl who took him there seemed to be struggling. Hanabi attempted to grab Hiro's hand and pull him out of the place, which instantly turned into disaster.

The girl did not scream, nor panicked like the other girls. She is quite brave and Hiro is sure that her courage must come from his ancestors. Passed on pretty well to the girl.

At least, after giving the girl an indirect exam, Hiro got one valuable piece of important information.

"We have to leave here before that Oni comes!" exclaimed Hanabi, finally managing to grab Hiro's hand back after a few minutes apart.

Hiro looked at the girl, her forehead dripping with sweat. The place suddenly felt warm.

However, despite clearly hearing Hanabi's instructions, Hiro, who has an above-normal sense of hearing, realizes one thing. That they already have no time to run.

The sound of heavy footsteps, which was completely different from the sound of the teenagers' footsteps, could be heard approaching from outside the pub, which was already deserted.

The footsteps sounded like they were dragged when rubbing against the tunnel surface. It is obvious that its origin is not of human origin.

From the sound of footsteps, Hiro's brain seemed to work automatically to estimate the body weight of the uninvited guest.

He was sure, the weight of one creature was more than two hundred kilograms, and the one that came was more than two.

Hiro's survival instinct made him swap the position of Hanabi's hand for his. This time, it was Hiro who clasped Hanabi's wrist tightly, making the girl surprised and glared at her.

"What are you doing, Mr. Immortal? Hurry up, we should go."

Hiro shook his head. His lips moved, but his instincts told him that the creature was only a few seconds away from where it was now.

KABOOOM!

The powerful explosion knocked Hiro and Hanabi two meters away from where they were and landed on weathered wooden chairs that instantly broke.

Hiro immediately got up, while Hanabi struggled a little because of the wooden table that fell on her body.

In what was once the only entrance and exit of the pub, stood a monster with a height of two and a half meters. Its skin looks thick and scaly like a reptile and has only one color, green. His oval-shaped eyes without lids had white membranes that appeared like they were blinking.

The creature was not carrying a weapon, but it was obvious that he had just blown up the door a few seconds ago with tremendous force.

"Oh no, we're going to die here," Hanabi muttered, her voice sounding slightly amazed as if she had never seen an Oni before.

Hiro glanced at the girl.

Because of the blood pact he created, Hiro remembers that he must protect the girl no matter what. And that means he has to fight. Go back to fight.

"Hide, Sebastian's daughter," Hiro said, giving orders for the first time.

Hanabi was stunned to hear that. She still doesn't believe that Hiro is reliable. In her mind, she was a little worried that Sebastian, her father, would kill her if she let Oni kill Hiro because of her.

The girl was really innocent and too disdainful.

"Have you gone crazy? You're going to fight him? Don't make me laugh." Hanabi laughed sarcastically.

Hiro closed his eyes together. Concentrating the power that hadn't been used for a very long time on his chest before exploding that power along with opening his eyes.

BOOOM!

Such a violent air pressure burst out of Hiro's body, the strong pressure made the surrounding objects within a radius of three meters thrown far away.

Including Hanabi, the girl had to end up on the pub wall before falling to the floor. Her body instantly limped, and her lips was locked tightly.

"If you can still move, hide," Hiro said without looking back.

At least with his extremely sensitive senses, he could feel that Hanabi was still alive and had not lost her mind.

The explosion from Hiro's body managed to attract the attention of one Oni in that place. His wide mouth seemed to be pulled back to form a smile, showing off his unevenly grown pointed teeth and constantly dripping disgusting whitish viscous saliva.

The air coming out of his nostrils which is only shaped like a pair of insulated holes, and the air coming out of his oral cavity smells very foul. Made Hiro wrinkle his nose and get distracted.

Hiro really didn't expect that this day would arrive. The day he had to use his powers once again.

If only he hadn't been with the girl, he wouldn't have bothered to expend energy.

Because... although he was killed in the hands of Oni and his body was torn to shreds barely left, in the end... Everything will return to normal.

The oni did not attack immediately. Instead, the creature makes a sound. A voice that sounded like a meaningless roar in Hanabi's ears.

But not for Hiro.

"You two come here, I found something interesting!"

The voice was a call. And within seconds, Hiro could feel the huge footsteps that made the ground tremble.

"Is he strong?"

"Let me devour him!"

Hiro frowned. This was the first time for Hiro to see Oni who was much talked about in the upper world. He didn't realize that he was the only person who could understand what the Oni were saying in that place.

The other two Oni arrived. Both of them blew up the front wall with their bare hands.

Seeing it, Hiro knew where the explosion had come from. He could clearly see the change in air pressure centered on the Oni's palms, as they pushed him forward, the wall exploded like a heavy bomb.

Despite having spent most of his immortal life fighting wars, in truth… with the body that trapped him now, he had never fought anyone other than mortal humans.

Oni. From what he had heard from Sebastian, these monsters were immortal.

In order to kill them, special forces must be armed with special weapons that destroy Oni.

And that special weapon, of course Hiro doesn't have it.