Golden Dragon Branch.

Artifact hall.

Apparently this was the location where the paintings, old illustrations, sculptures, trophies, and memorials were kept.

According to the Elder Masahiro, this room also contained many of the swords of the deceased Demon Hunters, or at least the ones that could be recovered.

Many colorful tapestries adorned the walls. Each depicted some kind of an event or a monumental achievement.

Shoyo was simply lazing around while Nagare looked at his surroundings with a mix of awe and amazement.

Nagare’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to a certain painting.

It was a drawing of a strange monster, outlined in dark, ominous colors, looking rather feral, and feasting upon the countless humans.

Nagare: “Elder, what does that painting depict?”

Masahiro: “That is the reminder of the biggest embarrassment that the Order of Demon Hunters ever had to suffer. The day our order was almost completely destroyed at the hands of a single monster, the Yaksha”

Nagare: “Yaksha?”

Shoyo peeped with one eye.

Shoyo: ‘Wow, that portrait is hideous. Is that what they think I am? Wow. I look nothing like that!’

Nagare half hoped that he misheard the elder’s words.

His companion, Shoyo, a man who possessed unparalleled regenerative power, had claimed that he was a Yaksha.

Back then Nagare had no idea what the term Yaksha meant, but now it was his chance to find out.

Masahiro: “Ay, Yaksha he is”

Nagare: “Elder, please tell me, what is this Yaksha creature you speak of?”

Masahiro: “It is one of the monsters our Order has failed to defeat. My ancestors and their comrades lost against him long ago… There are six more like him, aside from demons, the undefeated monsters, The Seven Legendary Monsters”

Nagare: “There are six more like him?”

Masahiro: “Not exactly, each one is a different type of monster…”

Nagare: “Back to the Yaksha”

Nagare was a little alarmed to learn there are seven monsters that couldn’t be defeated, but he chose to ask it at another time. This elder was a little absent minded, so getting information out of him was a little difficult. It was best to keep him on topic before he ends up talking about something else.

Masahiro: “Oh, yes….Roughly two hundred years ago, our Order was in its golden age. Our ancestors and predecessors…our brave champions defended humanity from the threats of monsters. They won many victories against the vile monsters. It is said that back then, a world devoid of monsters was a genuine possibility”

Masahiro: “But then, the Yaksha attacked the Order. Though he was alone, in one night, he killed thousands.”

Masahiro: “When the morning came, only a few managed to survive. Many styles of swordsmanship were lost that day along with their entire legacies”

Shoyo: ‘Ok. That much is accurate’

Masahiro: “It took years for the Order to be rebuilt and even now, it is nowhere near what it is said to have been back then”

Masahiro: “Ever since then, the Order had tried to slay the Yaksha countless times, but each attempt was met by failure”

Shoyo: ‘You guys sent people to hunt me down practically every other year!’

Masahiro: “One day, one day, I hope a swordsman will rise that can end him, once and for all”

Shoyo: ‘One came very close but did not finish the job’

Nagare: “If that was 200 years ago, how can you be even sure he is still alive?”

Shoyo: ‘Do I look dead to you?’

Masahiro: “Oh, he is still alive and I have scars to prove it!”

Masahiro started to take off his kimono much to Nagare’s horror, ending up only in his pants.

Shoyo: ‘I did not need to see that’

His body was very muscular, especially for his age.

On his chest and back, there were countless scars, but two scars stood out compared to the other ones, being deeper and longer.

Masahiro: “Back in our younger days, I think 30 years ago or so, Hiromasa and I, along with our comrades, managed to track the Yaksha down. We were so confident in our skills; surely we could best this monster! Oh how naïve we were…”

Shoyo: ‘You ambushed me when I was having tea with a friend. What was I supposed to do?’

Masahiro: “We spent years, no, decades, training just for a chance to take him down. Finally we managed to find him, which was much easier than expected….After defeating so many monsters, we thought we could take him on”

Masahiro: “We were wrong”

Masahiro: “Our experience, our skills we have spent years to cultivate were no match for him. It was not even a battle, but a one sided slaughter”

Shoyo: ‘Sorry, I have a couple of centuries on you’

Nagare: “….”

Masahiro: “The great battle we spent years training for was finished in seconds. He killed everyone, just like that. I too would have lost my life if it were not for my brother. We barely managed to escape with the skin on our backs. Luckily the Yaksha did not chase after us…Though why did he not follow us… I have no clue….”

Shoyo: ‘I just didn’t bother, nothing personal’

Nagare: “Elder?”

Masahiro: “Right, as I said before, the Yaksha is still alive and roaming the land to this day and likely preying upon the innocent people as we speak”

Shoyo: ‘When did I ever do that?!’

Shoyo: ‘That painting makes me look like some chupacabra, for crying out loud!’

Yes, at one point Shoyo did grow out his hair, but that paining made him look like a giant ape-bear monster with crazy eyes and weird mouth.

Nagare: “Couldn’t he have died of old age or something?”

Masahiro: “Unlikely, he moved quite well for someone who is over 200 years old. He is likely a monster that does not age like a demon, though Yaksha is way worse since he is immune to sunlight”

Shoyo: ‘I do age, though much, much slower than humans’

Nagare: “What does he look like?”

Masahiro: “That is the tricky part. Yaksha is a master of disguise; he can flawlessly blend in with human beings. As for his face, I am not certain; the mask he wore made it impossible to see. He has black hair that much I can say for certain”

Shoyo: ‘I dyed it back then’

Nagare: ‘Shoyo has naturally greyish white hair’

Nagare: “What kind of powers does he have? Any special abilities?”

Masahiro: “That’s the scary part. He does not fight like a monster. His style, while very advanced, is without a doubt human swordsmanship”

Nagare: “He is a swordsman?”

Masahiro: “If you can call it that. By comparison, it was as though we were wielding twigs against him. He did not use any special powers like demons do, only his sword, but on a borderline legendary level…”

Nagare glanced at Shoyo lazing around while lying on his back.

Nagare simply shook his head.

Nagare: ‘There is no way he is that monster’

Nagare: ‘. Maybe he just heard of the tale of the Yaksha and started to call himself to feel special? That’s just sad’

Masahiro: “Aside from the demons, he is one monster our order has sworn to defeat. If it were not for him, monsters would not have the chance to multiply and take over the world. All this mess we are in happened because of him”

Shoyo: ‘Yeah, my bad’

Masahiro: “Only someone who reached the level of a Dragon can even hope to best him”

Nagare: “Dragon?”

Masahiro: “Hmm, you never heard of it? It is the highest rank within the Order of Demon Hunters, above even that of the Guardians”

Nagare: “First time I am hearing it”

Masahiro: “Well, the ones who reach the level of Dragon are exceedingly rare, only a few managed to do so in decades, and not a single one has yet to succeed in killing the damn Yaksha”

Shoyo: ‘One could have. I wish he did’

Masahiro: “In your generation, we have produced only one Dragon, but he is….no longer fit to battle… after what demons did to him”

Nagare: “That sounds bad”

Masahiro: “Well, we can always hope that our current Guardians will reach the level of Dragons, but that is for Lady Min Hua to decide”

Shoyo: ‘Great. She is still alive. Her, of all people….’

The last one of the 13 Immortals was still around. That would explain why the Order of Demon Hunters was still active. Shoyo sighed in frustration.

Masahiro: “I have great hopes for them, especially Yama-kun”

Shoyo: ‘Yama?’

About 20 years ago, Shoyo had taken a student. His name was Koutarou Yama, but Shoyo had not seen him for more than a decade. Surely this ‘Yama’ Masahiro was talking about was someone else. Yama is a common name after all.

Nagare: “Who is this Yama person?”

Masahiro: “The Guardian of Ice. He should be coming back soon”

Nagare: “I can’t wait to meet him!”

Shoyo: ‘I really hope I am wrong…’