Tamayo looked at the boy before her, whose confidence bordered on arrogance, yet an unprecedented peace welled up within her. She knew that these centuries of darkness had finally met a true dawn.
"Then it's a promise, Lord Takanashi." Tamayo bowed slightly.
"It's a promise. Oh, and have some food ready for me next time I come." Rokuya turned toward the door and waved at the two behind him. "Having blood drawn makes me hungry. I've got a huge appetite, you know."
When he stepped out of the residence, a faint pearly white had already appeared in the eastern sky.
Rokuya took a deep breath of the slightly chilly morning air and pressed a hand against the vial tucked against his chest, warmed by his body.
"This damned fate..." A smile curled at the corner of Rokuya's mouth. "With these trump cards in hand, let's see what tragedy I still can't cut down."
The night was pitch-black, and the heavy stench of blood filled the narrow mountain valley.
Clang-!
A metallic blast tore through the night wind. A streak of deep blue light traced a perfect half-moon arc through the air, cleaving an enormous Special Ability Demon covered in hard bone spurs in two, along with the century-old tree behind him.
"No... impossible! My bone armor is as hard as steel! How could you cut through it with just one..." The demon's upper body slammed into the muddy ground, his scarlet eyes filled with uncomprehending terror and despair.
"You talk too much. Try surviving one swing before you run your mouth."
Takanashi Rokuno flicked the massive blade called Shura in his hand. Not a single drop of foul blood stained its edge. Its deep, dark blue blade reflected an icy aura of death in the moonlight. He had not