"I promised her I would become stronger than anyone else and protect her for the rest of her life."
"Tonight, I returned to my hometown to visit my father's grave and tell him in the afterlife the happy news of my marriage."
"This was the happiest time of my life. I thought I had everything!"
Su Chen nodded.
He knew that if Hakuji had not lost Koyuki back then, the demon Akaza would never have existed.
And even after Akaza became a demon, he had not forgotten about growing stronger to protect Koyuki.
He had indeed been growing stronger every moment.
But he had gradually forgotten Koyuki.
Perhaps Su Chen had been just like Akaza at first.
Blindly pursuing the power to grow stronger, regardless of everything else, only to lose the person who mattered most in the end.
Even if she now lived only in your memories.
Su Chen's tone immediately softened. "So you lost them, and then you became a demon."
Akaza fell somewhat silent.
He did not know why he was telling Su Chen all this, either.
Su Chen was even a human.
Yet he was actually willing to listen.
But none of that mattered anymore.
He had kept it bottled up for too long. Now he just wanted to find someone and tell them everything.
"Later, while I was visiting the grave, the kendo dojo master's son despicably poisoned the well at the Soryu dojo."
"A neighbor saw people from the kendo dojo passing by the Soryu dojo. After I returned to the dojo, the neighbor told me that my master and Koyuki had been poisoned to death by people from the nearby kendo dojo."
"That day, I lost them. I would never see them again."
Akaza's voice grew choked.
"I completely broke down. I charged