Sharp, purplish-black nails pierced the coarse fabric.
"Ding-"
An emotionless mechanical voice thundered deep inside Rokuya's skull.
"Intense gratitude detected. Myriad Heavens Gratitude Value System activated!" "Starter gift pack issued: integrating the basic [Kai] template and unlocking the first skill, [Returning Blade]!"
Time stopped at that moment.
Wood splinters hung in midair before Rokuya's nose, their grain clearly visible.
Between the hulking demon's exposed teeth, a drop of dark yellow saliva trailed a long thread, suspended in midair and reflecting the faint moonlight.
Rokuya could even make out the jagged notches along the edges of those five purplish-black nails, and the scraps of flesh left beneath them.
The next instant.
Brilliant silver-blue light erupted from the center of Rokuya's chest.
The light pierced the darkness in the alley.
The surrounding air warped violently, giving off a dull roar.
The cold touch of metal instantly covered Rokuya's right arm.
Pieces of silver-blue Arcana Armor appeared out of thin air.
The metal components interlocked with crisp clinks.
A pauldron studded with sharp barbs slammed heavily onto Rokuya's thin shoulder, making his body sink slightly under its weight.
Deep blue runes lit up one after another along the bracer, like flowing lava.
Violent arcana power surged along the metal patterns, pouring madly into his frail body.
His muscle fibers rapidly expanded under the stimulation of the arcana power.
His once skeletal right arm was now completely encased in heavy armor, brimming with explosive strength.
Rokuya spread the fingers of his right hand.
A mass of deep blue flame gathered out of thin air in his palm.
The flame rapidly lengthened and solidified.
A broad, heavy, deep blue Arcana Blade appeared in his hand.
An arcana glow rippled like water across the blade's surface.
Its edge radiated a chilling sharpness.
The hulking demon's claws descended again.
Clang-
A deafening metallic collision echoed through the dead-end alley.
Sparks flew.
The purplish-black nails slashed hard against the silver-blue bracer.
The claws the demon took such pride in failed to leave even a pale scratch on the Arcana Armor.
The tremendous recoil traveled back through the nails into the demon's arm.
Crack, crack...
All five nails, each half a foot long, snapped off at their roots, tumbling through the air.
The hulking demon's body abruptly stalled in midair.
The deep blue Arcana Blade was reflected in his bulging eyes.
Rokuya tightened his grip on the hilt.
The rough leather wrapping pressed snugly against his palm.
Its substantial weight gave him an unprecedented sense of solidity.
He made no unnecessary movements.
The muscles in his waist abruptly drove his armored right arm into motion.
The Arcana Blade swung upward from below, tracing a full semicircle.
The deep blue blade light tore a dazzling rift through the darkness.
Squelch-
The edge cut into the hulking demon's chin.
There was no resistance.
The arcana power erupted fully the instant it touched flesh.
The hard skull, the thick cervical spine, the massive torso.
Before the Arcana Blade, they were more fragile than a sheet of scrap paper.
The blade light passed straight through his body.
The hulking demon's enormous body split in two.
The cut was as smooth as a mirror.
Before the black blood could even spurt out, the arcana heat carried by the blade instantly vaporized it into a cloud of foul-smelling blood mist.
The slash continued unabated.
The deep blue light cleaved heavily into the towering brick wall on the right.
Boom-
The earth shook.
The Arcana Blade tore a massive, half-meter-long breach straight through the wall.
Countless blackened bricks collapsed with a crash amid clouds of dust.
Rubble struck the flagstones, splashing muddy water everywhere.
Cool moonlight poured through the breach from outside the alley, illuminating the wreckage strewn across the ground.
The two halves of the hulking demon's corpse sailed over Rokuya's head and crashed heavily into the mud behind him.
Entrails mingled with black blood spilled across the ground.
Under the moonlight, the corpse rapidly charred, turning into drifting ash and dispersing.
In the corner.
Kanae Kocho loosened the arms she had wrapped protectively around her younger sister.
She lifted her head, her cherry-pink lips slightly parted.
The silver-blue light illuminated her mud-smeared face.
In her arms, Shinobu Kocho peeked halfway out, staring fixedly at the blue-glowing Arcana Blade, her breathing stopped.
A brief, deathly silence fell over the alley entrance.
Only the sound of tumbling bricks echoed.
Rokuya held his follow-through stance.
He lowered his head and looked at his armored right arm.
Explosive strength surged through his veins.
At the same time, however, an extremely violent cramp seized his stomach.
Hunger.
The kind of extreme hunger that came from going days and nights without food, almost enough to dissolve his stomach.
This was the price he had to pay to wield arcana power.
This fourteen-year-old body was simply too weak to begin with.
Rokuya drew back the Arcana Blade, its tip angled toward the ground.
Its deep blue glow cast mottled light and shadow over the muddy water.
"Pat, pat..."
The one-eyed demon on the left retreated two steps.
The sole remaining eye in his half-rotted face stared fixedly at the blade in Rokuya's hand.
He could not comprehend what had just happened.
Why had that frail human with the enticing scent suddenly gained the power to slaughter his kind?
The long-clawed demon on the right let out a low growl.
His sickly purplish-black nails scored ten deep furrows in the flagstones before him.
Stone chips flew.
Their companion's death had not made them back down.
Instead, the blood mist filling the air had fully awakened their bestial ferocity.
"Hungry..."
The one-eyed demon mumbled indistinctly.
The spasms in Rokuya's stomach were growing worse. He had to end this quickly.
He raised his left hand and wiped a drop of black blood from his cheek.
"Meat..."
The one-eyed demon let out a shrill howl.
His legs thrust hard, launching his entire body like a cannonball.
He did not lunge directly at Rokuya.
Instead, he leaped onto the towering brick wall on the left.
His sharp toes dug into the gaps between the bricks, and he scurried up the vertical wall like an enormous gecko.
In the blink of an eye, he had circled above Rokuya's left side.
At the same time.
The long-clawed demon on the right moved too.
He lowered his body and raced forward, almost hugging the ground.
His two thick arms swung widely at his sides.
Ten half-foot-long nails sliced through the flagstones with a piercing screech.
He circled around from the right, cutting off every avenue of retreat.
One left, one right; one above, one below.
The two frenzied demons formed a perfect pincer attack.
The distance closed rapidly.
Five meters.
Three meters.
The one-eyed demon sprang off the wall, opening his gaping maw as he lunged straight for Rokuya's neck.
The long-clawed demon abruptly twisted at the waist on the ground, his ten nails becoming ten sharp daggers as they swept toward Rokuya's legs.
The foul wind snapped Rokuya's ragged shirt.
In the corner, Kanae Kocho clutched the dirt beneath her.
She wanted to shout a warning, but her dry throat could not produce a sound.
Rokuya stood where he was, both feet firmly planted on the flagstones.
He looked neither at the one-eyed demon pouncing from the upper left nor at the long claws sweeping in from the lower right.
He merely raised his armored right arm slowly.
"You talk too much."
Rokuya spat out those four words.
The Arcana Blade let out a high-pitched hum.
Deep blue light compressed and condensed furiously along its edge.
The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted.
A thin layer of frost formed over the muddy water.
Rokuya sneered.
His wrist turned.
The Arcana Blade traced a brilliant blue arc through the air.
Dazzling blue light illuminated the entire dead-end alley.
Returning Blade stood ready to unleash.
Before you continue