Reward

The defiant and disappointed look in Yumi’s eyes only further enraged Guri, the sight of a human woman so easily handling their demons. A power started to build slowly in his arms channeling downward as a near black aura. It seemed that he no longer would hold his restraint against the insults that she threw back at them. “You should know your place, woman!”

Lord Hokuren suddenly appeared next to Guri as though he had made a simple and effortless walk. He made it seem as easy as breathing as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “Calm down, Lord Guri. You would prevent them from reclaiming their pride?”

Just seeing Hokuren move made Yumi’s skin crawl. The demon had nearly no presence on him. She couldn’t sense any killing intent from him like the other demons. And even the pressure from just leaking out demonic energy that she felt from Manekamaru’s Lord was missing. If she hadn’t already been told by Manekamaru that he was a demon, she never would have guessed. Nothing about him felt normal, for a demon. He just seemed human.

The only sign that she had that he clearly was something more than just a human was that movement. She couldn’t even see it. Not the start or end. Even with Saki when she wasn’t used to seeing her move there was a shimmer that she could still find at the start and end. The moment just before she burst into full sprint. But he lacked any of that. It was like he never even moved. He just teleported. Which she knew couldn’t be the truth either. She was convinced it was just him moving.

A small drop of sweat beaded up on her temple as the only part of her body that she couldn’t control fully. The display, whether intentional or not, shook her more than she expected. ‘It wasn’t even that I couldn’t see him. That sort of speed completely out classes even Saki and I don’t think he was even trying either!’ Fighting to keep her heartbeat from increasing turned into its own battle for her. Confidence and bravado blurred for Yumi more now than ever before. She needed it all just to keep up the façade. They outclassed her as much as she expected. All the training only made it easier for her to understand their difference.

Guri stared down at the three demons getting back to their feet. Even being handedly beaten by Yumi they all hadn’t lost their will to fight. They only felt more determined to show their warrior’s pride to their Lords. “Fine…” Unlike before when he relented, the power that he gathered didn’t disappear. Even though he took a step back to show his acceptance, he remained prepared to strike.

The three demons began to take the fight more seriously, releasing more of their demon energy. Cracking tore through the earth already weakened by the still erupting mountain. Their power was noticeably different from the rest of the demons that she slew in their army. Yumi prepared for the next round. “I had planned on killing each of you anyway.”

Her apparent arrogance only enraged the three demons as they charged at Yumi immediately. Letting out a small smirk, she bent down, ramming her fist into the stomach of the first demon and forcing it to curve into the second. The third leapt over the two trying to take her from the air as she stepped quickly ahead of their still slow movement and kicked them into the air.

Before the third demon could even fly far it suddenly crashed into the loose ground carving out a modest sized crater from its impact. The other two demons staggered from Yumi’s attack and hung in surprise, not sure how she had been in two places at once. However, she didn’t give them a break as she grabbed the two and spun them around to opposite sides. Another hit slammed into one creating an equally sized crater followed by the another that ripped straight through the earth from the force shooting up lava.

“Took your time I see,” she called out to them.

Appearing on her right, Saki stood in her traditional kimono and shorts combo she had been wearing lately. “You did have a head start on us.” She fixed her eyes on the Demon Lords monitoring what they did more than the minions sent out after them. A greater threat of unknown potential stood before them remaining confidently resolute in their position at the top.

“Yuki’s little fireworks show slowed us the shit down.” Seiji dropped in on the left of Yumi with his fists clenched and ready for a fight. He wore his kimono from the Lord Konjo loose with it only secured in at his waist to keep it from flying free. It left much of his chest exposed as well as his arms with the sleeveless design he had Yuki modify for him.

Lord Hokuren raised an eyebrow out of curiosity with the new arrivals of Yumi’s friends. He stared at them and examined their brief displays. “Neither of you are the warrior as well,” he answered with a bit of disappointment hinted at in his words.

Seiji didn’t take too kindly to the dismissive reaction he had to them showing up. He lifted his fist in the air towards him in challenge. “You shouldn’t jump to conclusions old man! You don’t know what shit we’re capable of doing yet!”

“They’re looking for someone strong.”

“What the hell, Saki?!” He shook his fist at her more than willing to start something with her had they not already had something more pressing to deal with.

“Enough joking around,” Yumi ordered as the three demons that they took out started to recover from their assault. “If you want to show what you can do Seiji lets finish off these guys first so that we can focus on the main threat.”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Finish us off?” baulked one of the demons insulted at being considered so little effort.

“That’s right, you’re small fry!”

“I would have thought our difference in power was already made clear from the first two rounds I went with you.” Yumi narrowed her eyes with dark lethal intent. “It’s a shame you don’t understand such a simple thing. You could have lived if you ran away.”

“A warrior never runs from a fight!”

Appearing behind the demon and already cut in two with a momentary flash of light, Yumi held her back to the demon. “Then die as one as well.” The two other demons charged at Yumi for revenge only for her to step aside and kick them off their legs into an incoming Saki. With a quick series of punches Saki knocked one into the air and cast off the other to Seiji. He wound up his arm pummeling the demon into the ground, digging out a massive crater and filling it with lava as the demon burned, unable to defend itself. Saki jumped into the air catching up to her target and kicked it back to the ground.

Yumi caught the demon by the arm flinging it around just as Saki slammed down to the earth to break its arm. Finishing it off they matched fists into the demon’s face and Saki spun around snapping its neck. A quick flash sliced up the disabled demon.

Clearing the tests effortlessly, they turned back to the four Lords that remained. While the battle didn’t go how they planned they had at least reached their goal. Yumi stared down with Hokuren feeling his eyes on her most of all. Even if she wasn’t the one that he looked for, Masa, he seemed to have taken an interest in her. She tried to show the same resolute confidence that they had, but she knew what she was in for.

Hovering with his mist over all of the wrecked terrain, Yuki landed behind them finally arriving on the battlefield. “Looks like we have an even count now.”

“I applaud your efforts,” Hokuren praised Yumi’s friends, “You’ve done what no human has since our arrival three centuries ago. We shall grant you the reward that you’ve earned.” All four Lords took up positions around him making their stand clear.

Demon against human. The final struggle began.

Chapter 442 – Reward

Hokuren stared down at Yumi while the rest of the Lords stepped forward in front of him. He already made it clear whom it was that he had picked. It remained up to them to make their choice. They examined the offerings before them.

“They’re quite young,” Kokonemu remarked, as they had been used to fighting monks and exorcists that were either long trained and aged or war hardened warriors. It came as a curiosity that the ones that would give them their greatest trouble were barely no longer children and hardly enough to be considered adults, even if human society said otherwise.

Lord Anumera gave a soft smile to them. “Strength doesn’t know age.”

“Well as long as they at least give me a warm up I’ll consider them worth my time.”

“I’ll give you more than that, you big bastard!”

Guri smirked, pleased to see the fight in Seiji. “I’m going to hold you to that. Disappoint me and I’ll make living more painful than your death.”

“Ya talk big, but I haven’t seen shit!”

“Have you decided,” Hokuren asked of his Lords.

They all gave him affirmative replies with the battles becoming marked out. Guri leapt down crunching the earth with his impact. An eager rage boiled beneath the smirking confidence that he bore as he marched forward. He stopped in front of Seiji staring down at him, a hulking mass of muscle and masculinity. “Show me what you got, boy!”

“You’re a tall bastard as well,” a cocky Seiji answered back not having a judge of their scale as they all were unnaturally tall other than the old man.

“What getting scared now?”

“No just thinking how annoying it’ll be that I won’t be able to punch that shit eatting grin off your face. But I can settle with taking the wind out of your sails!” Seiji wound up his arm quickly to deliver a straight jab for the gut of the demon, but it was caught in his palm, blocked with ease. The shockwave from the hit rattled the earth.

“Got a little punch there, boy!” He wound up his arm to return the favor back to Seiji. “But let me show you how to really throw a punch!” The speed on it was deliberately slow giving Seiji all the time to block, but it still knocked him off his feet and sent him flying far away back towards the Capital. Guri disappeared in the next instant to give chase.

Kokonemu sighed softly to herself seeing how wound up Guri became from the fighting. Despite not showing it well, he was actually happy. She had fought alongside him long enough to see how pleased it was. More than the rest, he held onto the desire of fighting and the life of the warrior longer than the rest. When they had given up the life and retreated from the conflicts, he stayed out constantly looking for a challenge and forever remaining disappointed. “He’s so young and reckless still even after all this time.”

“Young? Aren’t you all centuries old,” Yumi remarked confused.

“Unlike the rest of us, Lord Guri isn’t even a thousand years old yet. He was born in the wrong era.”

A bit of sweat dripped down the three remaining listening to the demon. It had an odd tone hearing them complain about youth given their situation. But the light mood didn’t last as Lord Anumera stepped down next. She stared straight through to Yuki. “You’re a curious one. I get this feeling you’re not like the rest.”

Yuki nodded thoughtfully to the demon as though he took her seriously. “I do know how to find the best place for fried tofu.”

“Is that so?” she replied, playing along with his game.

“I can show it to you.”

“Lead the way.”

Saki stared a little in disbelief as Yuki flew off with the demon. She knew that he was going to fight, but he seemed to be taking it the least seriously as any of them. But she didn’t have much time to react as the remaining demon appeared in front of her. A tall demon woman with an imposing figure while still hard to decipher. ‘She’s fast… I only saw a brief blur before she was gone.’ Sweat dripped down as she stared up at the woman. The simplicity and grace without any of the bloodlust.

This was a demon in a completely different class. She had never faced an opponent like her before. Saki tilted her head in a new direction to put them away from the others. Disappearing, she pushed her speed to test out the demon finding the obvious results that she kept up with ease.

Hokuren reappeared in front of Yumi still lacking any of the dominating presence the others had. He merely existed in the world. She found his whole being to be unnerving. This wasn’t something that she was ready to face, but he didn’t give her any choice in the matter. Their fight would begin. “Show me your strength, warrior.”