"It hides too well"

Overlooking the debilitated buildings from above YuJu frowned, the sky was turning brighter by the second and he had no clue which body held his objective

"I guess it's plan B"

Conjuring the blood bird he sent it to Mia, then waited for the sun to creep beyond the horizon

Just as the first rays of light touched upon the buildings its inhabitants all came out, steam gushing behind them

'Here we go'

That was their cue, all three shooting from their positions, stealthed no more

John and many of the inhabitants weren't aware of them even after they didn't put effort into hiding themselves, that's how low leveled these bunch were, it wasn't until the first scream rang out did everyone take notice of the three threats

"Pick up your weapons quick!"

"Why are humans attacking us?!"

"Please don't hurt me!"

A few were sensible enough to fight back but most buckled in front of the strong looking three who were clearly out of their league, resorting to begging for mercy, some just stood frozen in shock at the strange act of their fellow 'humans' attacking them

These types of people were quick to be slain, presenting one's life like this wasn't what the thing he was looking for would do, it's the ones fleeing or fighting back that were kept alive

'Where is John'

Slicing another neck YuJu thought, that fellow was nowhere in sight which didn't make sense since the houses were steaming and they were boxed in by them with no escape route other than the wall of junk

"Watch for anyone trying to head to the wall"

"Yes Master"

"Yes my Lord"

While keeping an eye out the three continued in their slaughter, now maiming those who quickly got drained in their fight while cornering the one's escaping into joining the fray

Among the three however there was a noticeable increase in the one's fighting Ika, not due to her being weaker, these people would take a jiffy to finish after all, but because of her hesitant attitude in maiming

'I'm so sorry'

She apologized with her eyes to the elderly woman whose arm lay beside her as she screamed in pain, how horrible were they to do such things to their fellow humans? Truly an evil side she was on

She wished nothing more than to give her painless death like the rest, her orders were to disable the fighters however, just in case they accidentally kill what they were looking for

'What is it exactly that requires such merciless bloodshed, what is so important?'

She thought, the next second however those thoughts froze and so did her body, almost allowing a metal pipe to crack her neck if not for her snapping back just in time

Her eyes remained shaking however, breath ragged, for a kid was before her, a small boy who didn't look the age of five even scurrying between the fighting adults as he tried to run for his dear life, and in her direction nonetheless

'No..no no don't come here, if you come I, I....'

Her hand holding the bloodied dagger shook, unsure of what to do

'He said no one is to pass, but, but this kid....'

She knew more than most how cruel that man was, if she defied his orders then her fate might end up becoming a blood crazed beast, at that point she would be killing without remorse much less consider her ethics

'So what! I'd rather turn into a beast that kills against her will than someone who chooses to end an innocent child's life!'

That's where she drew the line, human or not she had morals that were not defined by race, such morals allowed the innocent boy to escape by her side, as if she didn't notice his existence at all

While Ika had made her decision YuJu was stuck with deciding between the few options he had, debating whether to expose his intentions to the living humans in hopes of that thing revealing itself or to continue flushing it out by force

In the midst of that he caught something out of the corner of his eyes, something he would have missed if it wasn't for how unique it was

'A child?'

His attention remained on this little child who was wearing nothing but literal rages, sneaking his way out from Ika's side

He took a second to process this before a toothy smile formed upon his face

"No need to stall anymore, kill the remaining"

He spoke to the two servants who complied just as quickly as the survivors despaired, was all this fighting meaningless in the end?

The answer came in the forms of fearful screams as they witness their struggling friends drop dead in a matter of moments, screams that were cut short as they also met the same quick end

Not too far from the massacre was the little boy who heard these miserable screams, he paid them no heed however, his face cold as he stumbled forward in a pitiful matter that would soften the heart of even the harshest criminals

"I'd really like to know how you managed to figure that she would let you pass if you took that form"

Came an abrupt voice that put a stop to the tiny stumbling footsteps which were replaced by the echoes of boots as YuJu's figure emerged from the shadows

Alarmed, the boy took a step back, his small face close to tears as he stared fearfully at this murderer

"Uncle, please don't kill me, I, I-"

"No need for the cinematics"

The young voice was cut short

"I'm already onto you 'John'"

"John? Uncle I don't understand"

"Oh come now, you do realize there were no kids in that small town, no?"

YuJu revealed with a smile, wiping the pitiful expression on the kid's face

"...How did you know?"

The young voice was nowhere to be heard, a deep commanding voice replacing it

"Well that's quite simple, you see sometimes being too ordinary is, well, extraordinary in its own way"

"....Are you serious?"

"Haha, I'm afraid so my friend, now, since I've answered your question mind answering mine?"

"...Haaah, I just took the smallest form hoping the vampire would let me escape seeing me as an unworthy prey, didn't really think much beyond that"

"Oh, how hopless of a situation I've put you in"

"Indeed, I've still yet to know why you're doing this, clearly you're here for me no?"

"Yes"

"And since you're flushing me out but trying not to kill me I suppose you're here to use me as research material no? Vampires really are a nuisance, will you guys never cease your pursuit of immortality, every one of you, weak or strong, think you can live forever like some sort of deity, arrogant to the core the lot of you are"

He spoke with a condescending tone, looking down on the feared race and its ideologies

"I agree, quite preposterous they are, thankfully I'm a human instead, though its not a race without flaws"

"?"

"You shouldn't look so confused, there is a lot about the human race that you don't know, including our ability to turn onto other races, it isn't today's topic however, you are"

"...What do you want from me"

Uninterested I'm chatting with him no more the boy asked

"For starters how about you transform into your real self, at least you can fight"

"And allow you to take me out easily? Do you take me as a fool because I lived with those idiots?"

"You'd be a fool if you thought that this form can put up the tiniest struggle? The way I see it transforming is your best bet here"

"....."

The boy had a serious expression on his face as he weighed the chances of survival, staying like this definitely meant death while his real form had a chance of survival, well, maybe it had a chance of survival? That didn't concern him the most though, it was the fact the other party wanted him to transform

What was their goal, it couldn't be that they wanted to strike while he was mid transforming, he was just as weak in this small body anyway, so just why?

A sigh came from the child after much debate, followed by grunts as the small body bloated, clothes tearing and skin swelling up, turning into a quickly growing mass of tumor like wiggling flesh

Mia and Ika arrived just in time to see this transition, surprising both, especially Ika who paled thinking it was her Lord's doing

"Finished?"

"Yes Master, no survivors"

"Good"

His eyes never left the monster even as he spoke to them, latching hard to the tall figure that was coming into shape

It took an entire hour for the creature before them to fully form, YuJu got more and more impatient as time went by, having not known it would take this long to transform, his eyes darting behind the parasite from time to time

Finally, after disturbing all their stomachs with the hideous transformation the thing stood complete, well, in its own sense

Long strong arms supported the bent body along the feet, a spine jutting out of the creature's back and two horns laying on its featureless head, those were the only things that stood out as the rest was just dry skin

"So this is the true form of a Faceless Devourer, it's quite different from what I've heard"

"Feast your eyes enough? Now tell me, will you fight alone or with the help of your little friends there"

The thing spoke with no mouth, looking at him with no eyes, only a blank face that looked like any other patch of skin

"I'm was done making sure of your identity already so there is no need to fight, just been waiting for you to finish transforming so you wouldn't hold a grudge when I do this"

"Do what exa-a-a-a-"

Like a broken disc it stuck repeating the same letter, body twitching under the touch of the sudden palm resting on its head

"This"

YuJu replied, taking his hand off the creature who slumped to the ground, taking one deep breath after the other

"You know, the weak part about being a Faceless Devourer is your fragile soul, you boast about being the strongest among your fellow parasites, even condemn the Hive Queens for their dependency on the spawns, in the end however you lack their overbearing souls, supplementing yours with parts of whom you devour"

The creature didn't respond, only continuing to breathe hard, though he didn't know where from the air was entering and leaving

Seeing as it didn't plan to speak anytime soon he looked to the shocked two observers

"Move it back to our place, and take that woman with you"

He pointed toward the distance where he could feel a certain gaze that never left them, it was the woman whom he had let through his side of the slaughter earlier, the same one always talking about escaping

Mia complied and went to get the woman while Ika meekly nodded, bowing her face as she came to lift the creature, trying as much as she could not look him in the eye, what with her allowing the thing he was looking for to escape right under her nose, on purpose nonetheless