"Kaito, you have to run! Take your sister and survive!" Kaito's mother said.
"Mother… mother…" Kaito mumbled.
"Brother… Kaito! Brother!"
Kaito woke up from his sleep — they were in the middle of a forest called the Sea of Trees.
"We're being surrounded by several demons!" said Noboru.
Kaito looked around.
"10… 15… 27?!"
Noboru was already shaking with his sword in his hands, while Hakari was ready to fight as much as she could with her fists.
Kaito pulled out his sword.
"There are a lot of them… how can we beat all of them at once?" Kaito looked worried.
"Think of some way… think…" Kaito thought to himself.
"Listen, make a run for it!"
They all started running. Since Kaito was hurt and in no form to fight at all, Hakari and Noboru followed behind him, running through demons, slashing and avoiding.
"Noboru!" Kaito shouted as one of the female demons jumped on top of Noboru.
"Hottie!" Noboru had quite the liking for girls.
"What are you doing, Noboru?! Kill that demon!" Kaito shouted.
"Stone… Incomplete Form!" Noboru slashed his sword into the demon's stomach, turning its body into several pieces of rock.
Noboru started running again.
"That was scary!!"
"Keep running, Hakari and Noboru! We have to somehow lose these demons!"
They all kept running, but the demons behind them didn't seem to stop.
"It's useless running away like this," Kaito said before looking over at Noboru.
"Noboru-san, can you fight?!"
Noboru looked over at Kaito while running.
"I mean… yeah, I can! A little."
Kaito stopped in his tracks.
"Protect Hakari. I'll try to fight them off!"
Noboru looked confused and concerned.
"But you're still injured, and your wounds might open up!"
"Doesn't matter!"
Kaito dashed toward the bundle of demons running toward them, while Noboru stood in front of Hakari with his sword in his hands, ready to protect her.
Kaito moved his sword swiftly, cutting through the demons' chests. Just then, a female demon extended her hair, grabbing Kaito by the arm and throwing him into a tree.
"Gah! That hurts."
The wound on his forehead opened up.
"Kaito-kun…" Noboru said, concerned.
Two of the demons ran toward Noboru and Hakari.
"Ah… what should I do? I can't fight at all… but I have to protect Hakari-chan!"
Without thinking, Noboru moved his sword through the demons.
"Stone: Incomplete Form!"
The demons turned into pieces of stone and fell dead on the ground.
Kaito slowly regained his composure and held his sword tightly before dashing toward the demon. The demon extended her hair again, but this time Kaito dodged and cut through it.
"Not yet… I have to adapt!"
Kaito landed a slash on the demon's stomach, just barely missing the core in its chest.
"Missed…"
The demon quickly healed its organs in under two seconds. It swung its hair through the air toward Kaito, landing a hit on his right arm.
"Gah!"
Kaito grabbed the hair with his hand and threw the demon into several trees in a tornado-like spin.
"Hah, good one, Kaito! Let's run now!" Noboru said as he took Hakari's hand in his and started running away from the demons, while Kaito followed behind them.
They ran through the demons, dodging and cutting. Just when they thought they were safe, a high majutsu pressure filled the air, causing all the demons to stop dead in their tracks.
Kaito, Noboru, and Hakari also froze in place, their faces turning pale.
"This pressure… it's too powerful to even stay conscious," Noboru said.
"That's too much… who is it coming from? A demon?" Kaito added.
"Brother… who's that?" Hakari pointed at someone walking toward them — a tall figure.
"Noboru, protect Hakari!" Kaito stood in front of them, his sword shaking slightly in his hands.
"Who are you?!"
Just as Kaito said that, the demon moved too fast for him to notice, and now the male demon was standing right in front of him.
"Young people… are you lost?" the demon said calmly, making no move to hurt them yet.
Kaito took two steps back.
"So fast… I couldn't tell he moved at all," Kaito thought to himself.
Noboru, standing in front of Hakari, went pale.
"T-That's one of the Bloodfang Pentad! One of the strongest demons!"
Kaito took in Noboru's words and suddenly swung his sword toward the demon.
"Fire Slash!"
Kaito coated his sword in fire and aimed at the demon's chest. Just as the tip of the sword touched the demon, it shattered into pieces.
"W-W-What?! My sword…" Kaito couldn't believe his eyes. Even with his fire majutsu, his sword broke with just a touch.
"Oh, I see… you're not strong at all, but you've got something interesting back there." The demon looked over at Hakari behind Noboru, sensing her strange majutsu.
Noboru held his sword tightly, already about to piss his pants.
"Just when we were about to reach the Slayers' Village…"
"My name is Ren, and you must be Kaito," Ren the demon said.
Kaito's expression turned confused.
"How do you know my name?"
Ren laughed.
"I know everything about you."
"Anyway, I'll do the job I came here to do — I'll be taking Hakari. Don't get in my way, or I'll kill you."
Noboru raised his sword despite shaking.
"Stone: Incomplete Form!"
Noboru moved his sword toward Ren's neck, but Ren blocked it easily. The stone majutsu didn't work on him at all.
"Stone form? Interesting… but it seems you haven't mastered it yet. Such good majutsu wasted on you."
The demon placed his hand on Noboru's chest, spreading poison through his body and causing him to fall to the ground.
"He'll die in an hour. Now, I should take Hakari."
Kaito stood in front of Hakari, trying to protect her.
"I don't care if you broke my sword, I still have my hands!"
Ren laughed.
"Such determination… I like it. But you're far too weak."
Suddenly, Kaito screamed and jabbed his fist toward Ren, barely moving him with his punch, then landed an uppercut that stunned Ren for a second. Kaito took advantage of the moment and quickly carried Noboru, running as fast as he could.
"Hakari, run!"
The next second, Ren appeared in front of Kaito and slapped him across the face, sending him flying through trees one after another.
"Brother!" Hakari shouted, her anger and fear rising.
"No, Hakari, control yourself! You can't let that power take over you," Kaito said weakly. He didn't want Hakari to turn into that monster again.
Ren stood in front of Kaito and Noboru, who lay on the ground — Kaito bleeding from reopened wounds, Noboru unconscious from the poison.
Kaito looked up at Ren, whose black and red hair flowed in the air.
"I guess I'll have to finish you before I take Hakari away."
The demon lifted his hand, his nails growing longer as he moved them toward Kaito's face.
"Brother!" Hakari screamed.
Just as Ren's nails were about to touch Kaito, a figure appeared, severed Ren's arm, and kicked him back. Ren slammed into a tree, shattering it.
"I didn't think you'd make it here so fast… damn it, Kazuki!" Ren said toward the toned man who had just sliced off his arm in one strike.
"W-Who are you?" Kaito asked, confused, looking up at the man.
"I'm a Soul Slayer from the Soul Village. Sorry it took me long to get here, but don't worry anymore — you're safe!" Kazuki said with a smile, noticing Kaito's bleeding and Noboru's unconscious form.
Hakari ran up to Kaito and hugged him.
"Brother, you're alright?! I thought I almost lost you," Hakari cried softly into Kaito's shoulder.
"I guess I'm alright…" Kaito said weakly.
"Kid, now observe how you fight a Bloodfang!" Kazuki said as he dashed toward Ren with his long red sword, creating a small sonic boom.
"Blade of Destruction, First Form: Cataclysm Edge!" Kazuki shouted, swinging his sword at Ren.
"Ahhh!"
Kazuki's attack struck, and Kaito watched in awe as the explosion tore through the forest, destroying half of it in a single strike.
"How… what is that power? Is something like that even possible?" Kaito thought to himself.
From the smoke, Ren emerged, half of his body gone from the right side, but his core still intact. His body healed in seconds.
"I guess I'll retreat this time… more of you have come. Kaito!" Ren shouted.
"I'll come back again to kill you — and I'll take that girl with me! You hear me?!"
A red portal opened as Ren stepped into it with a smirk, and it vanished behind him.
"Well, damn luck… I guess I managed to scare him away this time," Kazuki said, turning back to the three of them.
"Alright, let's get you to the Slayers' Village and patch you up."
Kazuki carried Noboru on his back, still unconscious from the poison. Hakari supported Kaito with her arm as they followed behind him.
"I'd say you three are lucky — and unlucky — to have run into one of the strongest Bloodfang. But I happened to pass by. Also, I'm one of the Soul Slayers," Kazuki said.
"Wait, you're one of the Soul Slayers Noboru was talking about?" Kaito asked.
"That would be me, but there are many more Soul Slayers in the Slayers' Village!"
After 20 minutes
Finally, the forest ended as Kazuki, Noboru (still drooling on Kazuki's shoulder), Kaito, and Hakari reached the village.
"So… beautiful," Kaito said as he saw the large village glowing with lights in the night.
Some villagers looked at them suspiciously, while a few kids waved at Kazuki.
"It's so lively," Hakari said, watching people carrying baskets, merchants at their stalls, and others working.
"We might finally live a better life… me and Hakari," Kaito thought before fainting, falling to the ground unconscious.
"Oye, kid!" Kazuki shouted, rushing to check on him.
Next morning
Kaito woke up to see an old woman licking his arm.
"WHATTT!!!"