> "If you can't find me, it just means I'm busy keeping the monsters from your door."
Elijah's voice echoed in Reika's memory like a ghost in a storm. The words burned brighter now, as if they had waited for the right moment to be understood.
---
The forest blurred past in streaks of green and brown as Kaien leapt from tree to tree, Reika slung over his shoulder. The man's boots barely touched bark before he launched again, his movements effortless, fluid—deadly.
Reika could barely catch his breath. "H-How are you even doing this?"
Kaien chuckled. "You'll learn. In due time."
Below them, shadows twisted. The wind grew heavier. The forest… listened.
Zariel's voice rang out behind them. "He doesn't need the info now, Kaien."
Kaien scoffed. "If we don't give it now, we may not get another chance."
Reika's heart hammered in his chest. "What the hell is happening to me?! What am I?!"
Silence. Then Zariel warned in a colder tone, "Don't you dare."
"Sorry, kid's gotta know his roots," Kaien said.
He stopped for just a second on a thick tree limb, eyes scanning the darkening woods. Then he turned his head slightly. "Reika Kazanami… you are the fallen fruit of the demon warlock Asmodai. The key to his escape. If those things chasing us get their hands on you, they'll use your blood to open a gate that should never be opened. And if that happens…" Kaien exhaled. "The world will drown in blood and war."
The words hit Reika like a blade to the gut. It all made sense—why people hated him, why he always felt... wrong. He looked down at his hands—shaking, burning. His skin pulsed red. His palms sparked.
Then—
FLAMES.
His hands erupted in fire. Kaien screamed, the heat singeing through his armor as he dropped Reika to the forest floor. The grass beneath him scorched instantly, the trees around them curling as if afraid. Reika's veins glowed. His scream tore through the woods.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!"
Zariel landed with a roll, eyes wide. "Tetsuga palms…"
Kaien growled. "He's manifesting early!"
Suddenly, the air shifted.
The wind stopped.
And then they came.
Out of the trees, the Blood Core emerged—five, no, seven of them. Their forms barely resembled anything human. Veins like roots, skin like cracked obsidian. Their mouths split open vertically, revealing rows of rotating teeth. Eyes glowing red like coals pulled from the pit of hell.
They hissed in unison, speaking in an ancient tongue that made Reika's ears bleed.
One stepped forward, inhaled deeply.
> "They were here…"
Another clicked its claws.
> "Still warm."
A third raised its head.
> "He is close. The Fruit. The Key."
Kaien's blade was in his hand before the last syllable left their lips. Its black edge pulsed with energy, waves of shadow licking the air like serpents.
"Zariel," he said without turning. "Take him. Use the Rokai technique. Withstand the heat. Keep him safe."
Zariel's eyes widened. "You're not serious."
Kaien smiled without humor. "You've always had better flame resistance than me, brother. That's why you make the better babysitter."
"Kaien—"
"GO!"
Zariel hesitated only a second before grabbing Reika and pulling him away. Kaien stepped forward, alone, the Blood Core surrounding him like wolves around a wounded lion.
They snarled, snapping their claws.
Kaien cracked his neck. One deep breath.
He whispered to his sword, "You ready, old friend?"
The blade answered with a hum, shadow and black fire crawling up his arm like living armor.
And then he grinned—wild, unhinged, perfect.
> "You want the key?"
"Then come and unlock hell—if you've got the guts."
BOOM—
He exploded forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet. His sword moved like lightning, carving through one of the Blood Core mid-lunge. It didn't scream—it detonated, its form unraveling in a flash of red mist.
Another leapt, claws bared—Kaien ducked, spun, and severed both its legs mid-air. It hit the ground writhing before he finished it with a downward slash so powerful it shattered the trees behind it.
The remaining Blood Core roared, their eyes glowing brighter.
Kaien stood still, blade smoking, flames behind him licking the sky.
He spit blood on the dirt. "That all you got?"
---
Meanwhile, deeper in the forest…
Zariel carried Reika in a protective grip, both moving fast through the dark. Reika glanced back, eyes wide, heart breaking.
"Is he going to die?" Reika asked.
Zariel didn't answer. He just ran faster.