5 minutes earlier]
"Mm, are you sure this is safe?" a man dressed in a Shinto costume—modern pants and a shirt—asked nervously.
"Definitely. After all, from what I saw... hey, we can at least get some money if we kill her. It looks like she's rich, at least by the looks of things around here. And she's just human, anyway," his partner said, looking around the estate. The mansion was draped in thick tree vines, like decorations, with marble covering the walls.
"But don't you think it's creepy as fuck? I mean, look around us," the first man said, pointing at the walls made of a metallic structure with vines winding everywhere.
"Aren't you the one who came to us saying we could rob her? Shut the fuck up, pussy," a man snapped, his head covered in a black mask and dressed in full black.
"I know, but now I think it's genuinely creepy. I have a bad feeling about this. That's why I even took something I don't believe in—and you know my feelings never fail," he said as they started to climb the tree beside them.
"Argh!" he gasped, tightly gripping the tree. The bark was very slippery. Ahhh! he thought as his grip failed and he tumbled off the tree into the mansion grounds.
"Ah, fuck it. I'm going from here. This place reeks of bad luck," he thought as he got up and dusted his clothes, a dusty wind rustling from the ground.
"Achu! Achu!" He coughed lightly as his mask fell off somewhere.
"Wait, where are the others? I haven't heard anything from them for some time. Did something happen?" he wondered, looking back at the gate. He touched the ground. Mm, why the heck is there so much dust around the world now... wait, why is it better here than other places?
Grrr... grrr... grrr...
"Mm, huh? A dog house?" He thought he should be slightly careful as he took out a paper talisman with a Yin-Yang symbol. "I don't know if this works, but at least it's a good luck charm."
He noticed thick tree stumps in his way. "Why are these here?" He took out a metallic knife to cut them. As he swung, a dull feeling crept up his neck. It felt like he was a vegetable that had fallen into the path of a knife—as if he were the one being sliced. Stiffness took over his body.
"Damn it, go away!" he screamed, trying to hold the knife tightly, but the tree stump lunged and covered his mouth. An intoxicating scent was released from the tree. His skin began to feel itchy all over, as if thousands of ants were crawling on him and taking bites out of him.
Argh! Argh! A salty, pungent fluid leaked from him—a smell you wouldn't want to encounter.
"Help! Help!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, but it came out as a muffled, desperate sound. Mm-mm-mm!
He looked around, trying to escape. He looked toward the garden area, trying to scratch his body, but he couldn't move.
Grrr... grrr...
The sound of a dog barking echoed. As he looked closely, his eyes began bleeding, the red spreading around him. He heard muffled sounds as tree roots strangled his mouth, cutting off his struggle.
Then, a demonic beast emerged—tall, its body on fire, with fiery blue eyes and a mouth filled with blood. It spat out a skeleton, charred as if burned by the fire in its maw.
Grrr... The beast looked at the vines as if nodding to them. It pierced the skeleton, and the remains fell aside.
The dog started barking again, startled, as it rushed off toward somewhere.
"Mm, quite funny, to be honest," I thought, taking my hand off the body as the red glow stopped. I processed the images in my head.
"Tch. All that for fucking money? I expected something more... a vendetta, or Shinto enforcement. Something interesting."
"Isn't that right, Kuro?" I asked, patting his fur.
"Woof! Woof!" Kuro barked, transforming into a small form with soft white fur and blue eyes, his canines turning back into those of a puppy.
"Good job, you two," I said to them as the mango tree shook a bit. "Haha, you too, Koma. You did a good job. You've grown."
"It isn't much use having this corpse here. Kuro, stay back a bit, okay?"
"Woof! Woof!" He moved back to the garden area and stood there.
"I haven't used this for some time," I muttered. My hand glowed with a red aura, a burning sensation in my palm. As I touched the body, it couldn't withstand the heat; it began to compost, turning to dust until only white powder remained. "Still good at this, I guess."
Kuro rushed back to me as I rubbed his head gently. I went to the tree side, where the other skeleton remained, and burned it into white powder, letting the wind carry the scent away.
I sighed. "Now, how can I remove that blood smell? Mm... Koma, can you absorb the blood?"
The tree shook its branches. Massive roots, like giant worms, started absorbing the blood from the garden until the scent disappeared. Kuro wagged his tail and walked toward his house.
"You want to sleep now, Kuro?"
"Woof! Woof!" He nodded, walking into his small house-like structure.
"Sleep well then," I said, patting him one last time. I walked toward my mansion, the scent of lavender perfume hitting my nose. I sat on the sofa and exhaled, taking a deep breath.
That thief was from a Shinto family that migrated here in the past? That explains why he didn't have a spiritual sense. Though, in the current state of the world—with the pollution and the internet—it's not surprising.
"Mm, I should catch up on the news, though it's probably the same old stuff." I took my iPhone and began scrolling through some articles as a large screen popped up in front of me.
Red lightning strikes in Africa, in Yuvan village. No major injuries reported. A tree was burned, but the fire department took care of it.
I read the important facts out loud, ignoring the ad promotions, propaganda, and usual "2030 problems" fluff.
"Mm, good. No injuries to the people," I muttered. "But it isn't just red lightning that's been striking lately... mm, I can't check it myself, though. It's not like I can just go to Africa—at least not for now or today."
10 PM, I thought as I looked at the clock. Mm, what should I do now? Maybe... I didn't think there were still legends about me. Mm, well, it is what it is, I sighed, looking out of my mansion as I walked out of the mansion and closed the door
I looked out of my mansion, sighed to myself as I saw pitch black smoke rising above the city in the distance
Tch still needs some time
and walked out mansion, closing the door behind me.
"Koma, I am going to sleep," I said to the tree.
I climbed the massive mango tree until I found a comfortable space among the branches. I leaned back, resting my head against the bark. Koma shook itself slightly, and three thick vines rose up, surrounding me like a protective barrier, shielding me from the world as I closed my eyes.