Chapter 4: Blood Debts Must Be Paid in Blood
"What… what is this…?"
The demon's pupils contracted violently, trembling.
The tearing sensation clinging to its claws felt as though it were ripping directly at its soul.
At the severed wrist, writhing buds of flesh tried to regenerate—but it was as if countless fine, serrated teeth were gnawing at them over and over again, tearing them apart without mercy. The pain was unbearable.
It hadn't felt something like this in many, many years.
Memories surfaced—of when it had still been a thief.
Tied up by villagers, whipped day after day.
So hungry it ate anything it could find, only to suffer gut-wrenching pain night after night.
Back then, too, it had hurt endlessly…
And there had been nothing it could do.
Those memories of weakness filled it with terror.
"You… are you still human?" the demon hissed.
"What are you?!"
Huff—
Asuka let out a long breath. The icy air forced clarity back into his blood-starved mind. Thick streams of blood ran down his forehead, forming jagged patterns like beastly fangs before dripping onto his torn clothes and the serrated blade.
He glanced down at the massive cleaver in his hands and muttered to himself,
"Bakudatsu… huh. A name fit for a stray dog…"
The blade did not answer.
Instead, it radiated a raw, primal hunger—and faint warmth seeped from the hilt into Asuka's palm, flowing through his veins and barely holding his collapsing body together.
Pain still burned through his wounds.
And the fire in his chest only grew hotter.
Boom!
Asuka launched himself forward like a cannonball, charging across the snow. The ground beneath his feet exploded as accumulated snow blasted outward from the sheer force of his movement!
The demon's eyes widened in shock.
This boy—his speed was completely different now!
It instinctively raised its twisted, bamboo-thin arms to block, relying on its undead body—
but the sight of the still-unhealed stump at its wrist made it hesitate.
Should it dodge instead?
That moment of hesitation was fatal.
RIP—!
The serrated cleaver screamed through the air, its howl like starving dogs fighting over meat!
The heavy blade dragged a blurred gray-black afterimage as it slammed down onto the demon's crossed arms!
SHRRK—!
Jagged teeth bit deep into sinew and flesh like rabid fangs.
In that instant, Asuka clearly felt it—the blade chewing through meat, crushing bone.
The wound wasn't clean.
Flesh wasn't sliced apart smoothly—it was torn, shredded, ripped into uneven tatters.
Claws tough enough to rend bear hide, bones harder than iron—
they shattered like rotten wood the moment they touched the blade.
Both arms were split from the middle, drooping uselessly.
Had the demon not reflexively stepped back at the last moment, they would have been severed completely.
"AAAAAAGH—!!"
It retreated in panic, screaming in agony far worse than anything before.
Physical pain alone might have been bearable—but the sensation of being continuously gnawed upon was draining its flesh-energy directly, crippling the regenerative power it had once been so proud of.
No—this kid isn't human.
I have to run—now!
The demon's will to fight shattered. It turned to flee.
Asuka did not allow it.
Fighting through dizziness and blood loss, cold light flashing in his eyes, he raised the heavy serrated blade and brought it down again!
"ROAR!"
Driven to desperation, the demon twisted its body violently backward, barely dodging the killing blow.
The cleaver roared past its face, the compressed air slicing across its warped features and carving several bone-deep gashes into its flesh!
In sheer panic, it swung its broken, half-severed arms like twisted iron whips at Asuka's body—while simultaneously lunging forward, jaws yawning wide toward his throat.
"DIE!!"
Asuka answered with a cold, feral growl.
SHH—! SHH—! SHH—!
In an instant, countless streaks of black light erupted from Bakudatsu's blade!
They were Asuka's own spiritual pressure—released unconsciously as he swung in absolute fury, resonating with the serrated cleaver and bursting forth in a savage roar!
Spiritual pressure is a primal force born from the soul itself, present in every being. Its power varies according to the density of spiritual energy within the body.
That was why Asuka could sense the demon's presence in the first place—
because its spiritual pressure was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people.
Irregular, jagged arcs of spiritual slashes burst from the blade like starving dogs fighting for prey!
Chaotic. Violent. Unrestrained.
They collided, overlapped, tore at one another—carrying wind pressure fierce enough to shred flesh—as they swarmed toward the demon at point-blank range!
THUD—THUD—THUD—THUD—!!
A rapid series of tearing sounds exploded.
The demon's chest, legs, and abdomen were instantly ripped apart by the ravenous "hungry hounds."
Chunks of flesh were shredded into paste by the raging spiritual gale. Skin peeled back in sheets, exposing stark white bone beneath!
"Damn it—get away! Get away from me!!"
The demon's body was blasted backward, slamming hard into an ancient tree. Blood poured from its mouth as it desperately beat at its body with broken arms, trying to fend off the gnawing sensation that only grew stronger.
Asuka leaned on his blade and staggered forward, gasping for breath.
His vision blurred in and out, darkness creeping at the edges.
Still, he didn't stop.
It was no longer conscious thought that moved him—
only rage, dragging him onward like a killing god as he advanced toward the demon.
"D-don't… don't come closer…"
The demon could no longer move. Its flesh-energy was exhausted; its wounds refused to heal.
It whimpered in terror and despair, begging—hoping to awaken even a sliver of mercy in the human boy before it…
Or to seize one last chance to strike back if he hesitated.
Asuka stopped in front of it.
He offered no reply.
There was not the slightest hint of mercy in his cold gaze.
He raised Bakudatsu high. Beneath the moonlight filtering through the forest, the serrated blade reflected an ominous, deathly gleam.
Drawing out the very last scraps of strength left in his body—along with the faint, searing life force flowing through the blade, stolen from the demon itself—Asuka poured everything into a single strike.
"It's over."
His voice was cold.
And exhausted.
Slash—!!
The world spun.
In its final moment, the demon's terror-filled eyes saw its own headless body—
and the trembling back of a youth who could barely remain standing.
"Hh… hh…"
Its mouth opened uselessly. The light in its eyes faded in an instant.
It tried to struggle.
Tried to cry out.
No sound came.
Under Asuka's final blow, its vitality was like a breached floodgate—
draining away, never to return.
Hiss—
For several seconds, under Asuka's vigilant stare, the demon's corpse began to wither. Then, as if igniting from within, it released thin strands of black smoke.
A stench filled the air.
The body broke apart into countless tiny gray-black motes of light.
The filthy, misshapen head vanished with it—reduced entirely to ash.
All that remained was snow soaked through with foul blood.
The wind and snow continued to fall.
Silence returned.
Thud.
Asuka could no longer hold himself up.
He fell backward onto the ground, staring up at the sky, quietly feeling the life drain from his body.
…Did I win?
He didn't know what had just happened to him—but with wounds this severe, there was no way they would heal on their own.
Maybe… this was really it.
As he collapsed, the heavy serrated blade let out a low, mournful whine. The jagged teeth along its edge faded as the light withdrew, and it reverted once more into that rusted, unremarkable broken longsword, lying quietly beside him.
Warmth fled his body at frightening speed.
Melted snow mixed with blood, soaking through his thin clothes.
The cold pierced deep into his bones.
Darkness swallowed his vision completely.
Asuka's final conscious thought was the old man's stiff-faced expression as he handed him a bowl of hot porridge—
and a vague, tired idea:
…Well. At least I avenged him.
The wind howled as snow fell harder, trying to bury both the shattered battlefield and the frail figure lying within it.
Moments later—
Several young figures in dark uniforms appeared at the edge of the forest. On their backs was the character 「Destroy」.
They followed a cawing black crow, sprinting across the snow as if tracking something.
When they reached the blood-soaked clearing—thick with lingering demonic aura—they all froze.
Vast splashes of crimson.
Savage gashes carved into tree trunks.
And lingering in the air—
The scorched stench left behind when a demon is slain.
And there, in the pool of blood—
A boy, barely clinging to life.
"…What a brutal fight."