Minaro: So did you convince the guardians that we're good people and we didn't kill anyone?

Sumairu scratches his head.

Sumairu: Nope!

Everyone looks confused.

Minaro: Nope?

Sumairu: They told me that they would check on whether or not what I was saying was true after they got Rinka. So for now make sure if you stumble upon a guardian act normal. Maybe they've forgotten your faces?

Minaro: Sounds stupid, but okay.

Minaro looks at Doa and Maya.

Minaro: You two will be fine by yourselves right?

Doa: I think so.

Maya: I'm not sure I haven't fought many things.

Doa grabs Maya's shoulder.

Doa: It'll be fine.

They smile at each other.

Minaro: Okay, Well let's head in different directions, call me or Sumairu if you find Rinka.

Maya and Doa run off together, Minaro and Sumairu run the opposite way.

....

Raskan looks around.

Shima: What's up?

Raskan: There are more people in the forest now. Just letting you know, they could be enemies.

Shima: Where are they heading?

Raskan: They seem to be just running around the entire forest.

Shima: Well if we stumble upon one of them, we just ask them questions.

Raskan can also just track people near him.

…

Sumairu: Do you think if you have to fight Rinka, you'll be able to beat him?

Minaro: Maybe?

Sumairu: And what if you have to kill him? Can you do it?

Minaro: Uh.

Sumairu: You don't need to answer, let's just hope we don't have to go that far to stop him.

"Can I kill him?" Minaro thinks.

Sumairu: But can you beat him? He killed Rimin and last time you lost to Rimin's hypnosis.

Minaro: Rimin's skills caught me off guard, that's why I lost. Rinka can make any attack with his void right?

Sumairu: Yes, he can imagine any attack but it won't always manifest into an attack. That's why you always see him use lightning and wrapping the void around his sword. He probably can't use any other attacks.

Minaro: I think I can beat him.

Sumairu: You are stronger than me aren't you? So I hope you can beat him...anyway let's split up.

Minaro: Alright.

Minaro and Sumairu run in different directions.

…

Doa: If we encounter the guardians what should we do?

Maya: Sumairu said to act normal.

Doa: Yes, but what is normal?

Maya: We could pretend to be in trouble, and then they'll escort us around.

Doa: Oh, that could work.

Maya: I hope it does, I don't want to fight the strong guardians.

…

Raskan: Fuck.

Shima: What happened?

Raskan: I got confused and lost track of where the void murderer went. There are too many moving people in this forest.

Shima: Uh, you can just go to the nearest person you can track and do that until we find the murderer...maybe we should also split up?

Raskan: But if we split up I won't be able to protect you.

Shima: Shut up.

Shima runs off in a different direction.

Raskan: Be careful!

…

Sumairu finds a bunch of blood on the floor and follows it, he holds onto his sword tightly.

He can see several small villages in the distance.

...

Rinka enters a village in the forest and starts to slaughter its people, their screams can be heard from far away, which alerts everyone, they all start to head over to the sound of the screams.

A few minutes go by.

Sumairu is the closest one to the village and when he enters it, he runs past several corpses and destroyed small houses. Blood is everywhere.

Rinka can be seen holding someone by the hair, slitting their throat and dropping their body. Sumairu stares at Rinka intensely and nervously.

Sumairu: I didn't think I'd find you so fast, must be my lucky day.

Sumairu slowly pulls his sword out.

Sumairu: Rinka! Are you ok!?

Rinka doesn't respond.

Sumairu runs towards Rinka and swings his sword, Rinka dodges it and tries to stab Sumairu in the neck, Sumairu quickly moves his head away from the knife.

The knife was extremely close to slitting his throat.

"I remember being weaker than Rimin." Sumairu thinks.

Sumairu and Rinka repeatedly dodge and attack each other.

"Can I even beat Rinka? He killed Rimin, I probably won't survive this battle, I should run away shouldn't I?"

Sumairu starts to remember a little bit of his past.

His mom and dad always used to tell him to help others he trusts until the very end.

"I've gone all my life helping those I trust, but I think this is the first time I've realized this may be my last battle."

I guess I'll fight it like it's my last.

Sumairu slits a part of his arm, blood drips off his arm and onto the floor, Rinka smiles at him.

He raises his arm and the blood on it freezes and forms into a medium-sized rod, he swings the rod and then his sword. Rinka dodges the rod by ducking under and the sword by moving out the way.

Rinka tries to uppercut Sumairu and cut one of his legs, Sumairu dodges the uppercut but gets his leg sliced a little, but quickly the blood on it freezes and a round structure forms which slam into Rinka, he's pushed back.

"I was gonna make a spiky object but I realized this is Rinka, I can't mangle up his body too much".

Sumairu: Rinka! What's going on with you! You've done a bunch of bad things!

Rinka holds his hand up to his chin and thinks, then he stops.

Rinka: Nothing is going on with me! This is who I've always been.

Sumairu is surprised Rinka responded.

Sumairu: Stop lying.

Rinka: Stop assuming I'm lying.

Sumairu starts running towards him.

Rinka slams the ground and a big black shockwave is made which pushes Sumairu and destroys his blood rod.

Sumairu bleeds a little more, he runs towards Rinka.

Sumairu: I don't know what's going on with you! But I'll beat some sense into you!

"I have to beat him fast when it comes to blood manipulation skills, it's one of the most dangerous skills if you don't know how to use it".

They swing their weapons at each other and dodge them, Sumairu uses blood to create a round random structure to swing, Rinka slams the ground and the structure is destroyed.

Rinka dashes and quickly slits Sumairu's throat, but the blood quickly freezes, Rinka runs around Sumairu quickly slashing at his body, the blood freezing every time.

After some more slashes, Sumairu quickly creates blood structures out of every cut in his body which catch Rinka off guard and slam into him, he's pushed to the floor. Sumairu quickly unfreezes his blood and tries to slash Rinka, he kicks Sumairu's sword stopping his attack. Rinka quickly stands up and swings both of his knives.

Suddenly Sumairu can't see and he feels a sharp sting in his eyes.

"What? I can't see! The hell? He-he cut my eyes?"

Blood seeps down Sumairu's eyes and face.

"Damn! What the hell do I do now!"

Sumairu starts to swing his sword in different directions in hopes to stop Rinka from getting close to him, Rinka just dodges his blade and stabs him repeatedly.

"Damn! At this rate I'll just die without doing anything to him."

Rinka: What's wrong? Are you having trouble trying to hit me?

Sumairu breathes heavily as he stops swinging and lets himself get stabbed.

Suddenly several sharp structures quickly form out Sumairu's cuts.

"I had no choice, I hope that it hit but didn't kill him, he wouldn't die to that right? It either did some damage or he dodged it."

Sumairu hears a slam and is launched back, he feels Rinka step on his back, Rinka grabs his arm and pulls it back.

Rinka laughs.

Rinka: You're pathetic!

Rinka slices one of Sumairu's fingers off, then the rest one by one. A blood structure forms slowly which Rinka dodges.

Rinka: You've gotten weaker, not that you were even strong in the first place.

Rinka starts to slowly cut off Sumairu's arm, Sumairu grits his teeth, sweat rolls down his face. Rinka slices his arm off, the blood quickly freezes and turns into a spike, Rinka quickly dodges it.

Rinka: Jeez, be careful of where you're attacking, you almost hit me!

Rinka laughs and grabs Sumairu by the hair, he slams Sumairu's head into the floor repeatedly, a blood puddle forms under him.

Rinka: How are you feeling?.. You can't respond to me huh?

"Ultimate skill, Clogged," Sumairu thinks.

In just a second all the blood on the ground enters Sumairu's body and he stands up, several blood structures are formed that slam into Rinka and launch him back. He slams into the floor.

The skill Sumairu calls "Clogged" allows him to replenish all the blood he lost by absorbing the lost blood around him. It's so that he doesn't run out of blood, it doesn't give him more energy or heal him.

Rinka stands up.

Rinka: Better not disappoint me this time.

The frozen blood around Sumairu's missing arm turns into a giant red hammer,

"I can't do much more, these injuries have tired me out, if I keep moving I'll die." Sumairu thinks and sighs.

Rinka dashes towards Sumairu, Sumairu quickly starts to swing his hammer in every direction, Rinka stops and stares at him.

Rinka: You're just desperate now!

Rinka stands there and stares for a few seconds.

"I could just leave him here, this is annoying, but I really want to kill this guy". Rinka thinks.

Rinka slams the floor and runs towards Sumairu but before the shockwave hits, Sumairu removes his hammer and runs away from the wave.

He suddenly stops and quickly re-creates his hammer which he slams into Rinka launching him back.

Rinka quickly stands up.

"I can predict his slams, a sound is always produced when he hits the floor, so I know when I can use my blood, I also need to use bigger attacks".

Sumairu's hammer gets bigger, he starts swinging, Rinka jumps back and starts to slam the floor multiple times creating multiple shockwaves one after another. Sumairu's hammer shatters and he's launched back multiple times.

Sumairu lays on the floor, exhausted, Rinka grins.

Rinka: You thought you outsmarted me!? Don't get ahead of yourself!

Rinka runs towards him and stabs his leg repeatedly

"I can't do anything, this is it".

Rinka stares down at Sumairu and slowly cuts Sumairu's body.

"At least, I fought till the end, but to think I'd be dying to Rinka of all people".

Sumairu closes his eyes and relaxes, Rinka stretches and then runs off, Sumairu's body lays still in a puddle of blood.

…

Maya: The screaming stopped a long time ago, which direction do we go in?

Doa: Let's just keep going forward.

Suddenly Doa and Maya look to their side, Shima is running a few feet away beside them.

Shima spots them.

Maya and Doa look surprised, Shima is confused, Maya runs towards her.

Maya: Hey! You! We need help!

Maya kneels on the floor and grabs Shima by the legs.

Maya: We've been searching for a way out of this forest for the last hour!

Shima: Uh. Did you run from the Void Murderer?

Doa walks towards them.

Maya: No, we were with our group of friends, we were camping and we got lost!

Shima: Oh well, You two can follow me. I'm searching for the void murderer.

Maya: Okay! Sounds good.

Shima starts walking away.

Doa whispers to Maya.

Doa: I'm surprised that she didn't question us more.

Maya: Yeah, but it's good that she didn't.

Doa and Maya follow Shima.

…

Minaro is running around.

"Where do I go?"

Minaro suddenly turns around after hearing some noise, he spots Raskan.

Raskan: Hey?

Minaro is silent.

Raskan: What are you doing here? Don't you know this place is dangerous?

Minaro: Uh no.

Raskan: The Void Murderer is going around this forest killing people, I recommend-

Raskan studies Minaro.

Raskan: Hey, wait a minute...you're the dude from the Cazuya town incident.

Minaro is silent but more alert, his fist tighten.

Raskan thinks about whether or not to fight Minaro or go after Rinka.

Raskan: Fuck, this is annoying.

Raskan runs off and then Minaro does, both in different directions.

"Shit" Minaro thinks.

Raskan pulls out a phone and calls Shima.

…

Shima pulls out her phone and answers.

Shima: What's up.

Raskan: Hey do you remember the Cazuya town people? Do you remember what they looked like?

Shima: Not really.

Raskan: Well I think that some of the other people that are in this forest are those people...it would make sense, supposedly the void murderer is some dude named Rinka who was also involved in the Cazuya town incident wouldn't it make sense for his friends who were also involved to be near him?

Shima: I guess?

Shima stares at Doa and Maya who are talking to each other.

Shima: What do you want me to do?

Raskan: You stay on a lookout for them, I already stumbled upon one of them but I spared him to go get the void murderer. I want you to focus on the friends.

Shima: Are you sure you'll even be able to kill the void murderer?

Raskan: hmm, probably.

Shima: Okay then.

Shima hangs up.

"How do I go about this". She thinks.

Shima walks away, Doa and Maya follow.

Shima: Hey, so have you two heard of the Cazuya town incident by any chance?

Doa and Maya look a little nervous, Shima glances at them.

Maya: No, what's that?

Shima: 20 people were killed-

Shima is interrupted by a message on her phone.

Shima looks at it, it's a message from Raskan that reads "These are the mugshot photos from the Cazuya incident", 4 photos are attached, Maya, Doa, Rinka and Minaro.

Shima glances at Maya and Doa and back at her phone.

"It's them."

She puts her phone away and continues walking.

Shima: I was going to tell you about the Cazuya incident because you two resemble two of the people involved with the murders in the incident.

Maya and Doa look nervous.

Maya: Do we really?

Shima: Yeah, a big resemblance.

Maya: Must be a really bad coincidence then.

Shima pulls a small object from her pocket. It enlarges and then she pulls a string on it.

The object turns into a chainsaw and she faces Doa and Maya.

Shima: This is something I have to do. You two are from the Cazuya incident.

Maya and Doa stand back.

Maya: But we didn't do anything wrong! We were framed, wrongly arrested!

Doa: We swear we didn't kill anyone.

Shima: I believe my guardian teammate over anyone else. If you come along with me without resisting maybe I'll check out whether you were framed or not.

Maya and Doa look at each other, they start whispering to each other.

Doa: We're not going with her.

Maya: Why not. Isn't that our best option?

Doa: She could be lying to us. Also if they find Rinka they're most likely going to kill him so we have to find him first.

Maya: So do we fight or run?

Doa: We run and if that doesn't work we fight.

Maya and Doa dash off.

Shima: Hey!

Several large plant vines come out of Shima that head towards Doa and Maya.

They jump over and dodge the vines as they swing around in an attempt to hit them.

Maya creates a string sword and cuts the vines up, Doa pulls out her gun.

Doa: I guess we're going to fight.

TO BE CONTINUED...