Kiochi’s little speech had given his men the boost they needed to keep going, but nothing could be done about the void that was birthed by Yamamoto’s absence.

Kiochi made his way to the principals office which would serve as his room. The effect of the earth’s gravitational pull on Kiochi must have been increased because his steps felt rather heavy. In the span of less than forty eight hours, Kiochi had lost both Yamamoto and Mr. Takahashi, well... Yamamoto wasn't gone, but he wasn't there with Kiochi either.

Kiochi comforted himself by hoping that the council wouldn’t torture Yamamoto that badly, seeing as they were mostly going to use him as a scapegoat for the coming chaos.

Kiochi let out a heavy sigh. Eve had gone silent after the incident at the Takahashi dojo and although Kiochi possessed an iron will, he hated not being able to hear her voice. It frightened him more than anything else.

Kiochi eventually made it to his room. It look like a cabin in a military ship. Kiochi assumed that it was built with cost in mind and he didn’t really care where he slept either way. He removed his clothing, gently placed his Nodachi on the table a few meters from the bed, and jumped onto his bed that’s when he heard it.

Knock.

Knock.

Kiochi heard a small knock on his the door.

“Come in.” He said as he sat himself up. The door opened slowly and to Kiochi’s surprise, Dalila Omar entered.

“Oh, I almost forgot you were here Dalila.” Kiochi said with an awkward laugh, but Dalila didn’t respond. She instead walked over to Kiochi until she stood directly in front of him.

To the inattentive eye, Dalila looked like a normal “rich man’s child". She presumably joined the Kynigoi ranks out of boredom and possessed average intelligence, but Kiochi could see past that. He knew that she was a person who had far more to hide than possibly even the council itself.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?” Kiochi asked.

It seemed as though she was thinking deeply about something. She observed Kiochi’s every moment and winced at his every word.

“What are you doing?” Dalila asked flatly. Her voice completely devoid of emotion.

“Um- I’m sitting on my bed and talking to you, I guess.” Kiochi said.

“I don’t mean that.” She said as she approached him. Her belly was mere centimetres from his face and she looked down at him with cold eyes.

“What are you doing here? With these soldiers, with Yamamoto. What are you trying to accomplish?” She asked.

Kiochi’s heart began to beat slightly faster and harder. Her words were clear and her tone was stern. It was though she was prying for what was going through Kiochi’s mind. His hopes and fears.

“I- uh-“

“You have no idea, don’t you?” Dalila said with a slight hum as Kiochi’s heartbeat intensified. Dalila raised her hand and placed it on Kiochi’s cheek. He felt a coldness that he couldn’t quite describe.

“Many people are going to die. Yet you claim to have it all figured out.” Her cold words prevented Kiochi from feeling whatever heat her body would have otherwise given off.

“We’re fighting the council so that we can save mankind.” Kiochi managed to squeeze out.

“Fighting?” Dalila's faces twisted into a frown.

“uh-“

“So you’re telling me that you’re going to kill people so that you can save some other people, right?” Dalila asked.

“Y- yes.” Kiochi answered.

Dalila sighed deeply as her face reverted to it’s normal, youthful self. Kiochi hadn’t known Dalila for long, but he was surprise that she could express such deep emotion.

“Is this what you want or are you doing this because uncle Yamamoto told you to?” She asked.

“I- I’m doing this because if I don’t millions, if not billions will die. I’m a soldier and soldier’s fight to protect people.”

“Who says those people are worth protecting? We both know that there are evil humans out there. You’ve seen it. What human’s are capable of. They can’t even protect the planet they live on, yet you’re telling me that the best thing to do would be to preserve them not exterminate them!” Dalila shouted.

“Why do you care? Tell me. You’re not even a fully fledged Kynigoi and yet you speak as though you know so much!” Kiochi said, his voice slightly raised.

“There are good people on this planet and I will not rest until I know their safe.” Kiochi said with a stern expression.

“Yes, evil exists within the hearts of almost every human. But trust me when I say this: there is good out there. There are humans who live not for themselves, but for the communities they are a part of. For their friends, their families.”

“Then why can’t I find it?” Dalila said as a tear began to roll down her face.

“Maybe you haven’t looked in the right places yet.” Kiochi said calmly. Dalila moved closer to Kiochi and began weeping loudly. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her as she wept as wondered what she must have gone through, so much so that she would have preferred that mankind be erased by the Aethon’s.

A moment passed and Dalila stopped crying, although Kiochi’s head was still embedded in her tummy as his thoughts wondered.

“Where do you find it? That good part of humans.” Dalila asked as she sniffled.

“Mmm... that's kinda tough to answer. I can't tell you were, but I can give you examples of poeple who do good on a daily badis. Parents are a good example. Unfortunately, I wasn’t raised by my parents, so I’m probably not sure on the specifics. But I’ve seen it. Rin and his parents had a beautiful relationship, until…” Kiochi went silent. His heart gradually slowed down to normal levels and flashes of Izanagi popped in and out of his mind as he tried to fight off strange emotions.

An moment of silence passed as neither Kiochi nor Dalila said anything. The sounds of movement below had died down as the night covered the sky.

“Can I tell you a story?” Dalila asked.

“Yeah.” Kiochi answered reluctantly.

“Uncle Yamamoto once told me this story of how everything came to be and how the universe, as vast as it is, still has many more secrets than we could possibly imagine. Yamamoto said that in the beginning, there was only monotony. The universe did not know change or growth. It remained the same for there was nothing to change. Then in an instant, chaos and energy were born. As Yamamoto described it, many wondrous creations were born from all the energy and all the chaos. Yamamoto also described the birth of life-.”

“Life on earth? Humans?” Kiochi interrupted.

“No, he called them beings of pure energy and thought. It sounds amazing right? But alas, they were damned to forever watch as their parent disdained them. The universe continued to grow ever large as they watched in awe and envy. Forever wistful. Forever longing to interact with the parent that birthed them.” Dalila said.

Kiochi remained silent.

“You see, Kiochi. Even the universe itself is cruel, could humans hope to be different?”

Kiochi remained silent. He had learnt more about Dalila in the past few hours than he had about some people over the course of many years.

Dalila eventually left and Kiochi dozed off soon after with thoughts of the cataclysmic birth of the universe and the end of time.

.

..

[Neural integration – COMPLETE]

..

[Primary consciousness (Kiochi) status – optimal]

..

[secondary consciousness (Eve) – optimal]

..

[Memory scan – COMPLETE]

..

[Starting playback]

.

..

Four years in the past.

Kiochi heard birds chirping and the sound of a gentle breeze as it moved past the treeline. He, Izanagi, Ena and their two instructors had been in the woods for several days and the deadline for the rescue teams arrival had long passed.

Kaede Ito assured them that it was only a delay, but Mako Watanabe was beginning to wonder if the rescue team was coming at all.

It was still in the morning but their little campsite was at it’s busiest.

Kaede was off hunting for breakfast deeper in the forest, Izanagi was gathering firewood and Ena was treating Mako Watanabe’s wounds. Apparently, she had sustained severe damage to her lower spine and a large open scar was beginning to fester and since they didn’t have the appropriate medical equipment, nothing could be done to help her.

Why didn’t they send Kiochi or Izanagi to the main basecamp?

That was because Kaede had convinced them that waiting would be better and even though Kiochi volunteered, Mako wouldn’t let him go. Izanagi said he wouldn’t leave without Ena but Ena was afraid of leaving the camp and heading into the forest. Thus, everyone decided to wait.

Kiochi got dressed and exited his tent then carefully weaved his way out of camp, but then a voice called out to him.

“Good Morning!” Mako called out.

Kiochi turned around and waved his hands in greeting.

“Good morning.” Kiochi said with a suppressed smile. Mako must have noticed it and so she gave Kiochi a warm smile in return, this completely blew away any of Kiochi’s defences and so he broke into a full smile.

“Be careful out there.” Mako said.

Kiochi gave her a sharp nod before resuming his trek. He was still acting as security guard since Kaede's mental state was in a questionable state, but what the others didn’t know was that over the course of the past few days was that Kiochi had managed to find all the broken pieces of the transmission beacon hidden within Mako Watanabe’s phone. He carefully pieced everything together and fortunately, he had paid attention during the more technical parts of his education as a Kynigoi so he knew the ins and outs of the device.

The beacon would send out three short pings every hour or so. This was its standard mode, but if an emergency occurred and the instructor needed urgent help, the instructor would have to activate the beacon a second time. This would make it send out a more complex series of pings. Those pings would be coordinates in the form of Morse code.

Kiochi was hidden far within the forest as he operated on the tiny device which was barely the size of a button. He had his suspicions about Kaede on the first day but his suspicions were reinforced after he saw the sate of the instructors devices. Not only were the outsides shattered, but even the transmitters within.

Kiochi didn’t need to be a detective to smell foul play and so he worked away on the device.

Hours passed and the sun began to set. Kiochi heard the rustling of nearby leaves, so he quickly hid the device and his makeshift tools. He saw Kaede with his catch of fish. Kiochi circled around to fool Kaede into thinking that he was coming from another direction.

“Whoa there! Don’t sneak up on me. I almost mistook you for a threat.” Kaede said as he turned to face Kiochi.

“Sorry sir, I was just doing my local sweep.” Kiochi lied.

“I see.” Kaede acknowledged.

“Ah well, let’s get these back to the camp, because I’m starving and they look delicious!” Kaede said gleefully as the two made their way back to camp.

Everyone had dinner and before long, the forest was covered in darkness.

Kiochi entered his tent and made himself comfortable and in a short while he was soundly asleep.

Hours later, Kiochi was awoken by the sounds of leaves rustling just beyond the thin lining of his tent. Kiochi remained silent.

It sounded like someone was pacing back and fourth just outside his tent.

“Hey, Kiochi. Are you awake?” Kiochi heard Kaede call.

“Yes sir.” Kiochi responded.

“Come out here, real quick.” Kaede said.

Kiochi got dressed and exited his tent. After that Kaede led Kiochi into the woods.

“Where are we going sir?” Kiochi asked, but Kaede remained silent. The two walked for at least thirty minutes before coming to a stop near a stream.

“Sir, what are we doing-"

“Mind telling me what this is?” Kaede asked as he took a familiar device out of his pocket.

Kiochi’s heart sank and his legs shook uncontrollably.

“Th- that’s a transmission beacon sir.” Kiochi stuttered.

“So you do know what it is. Didn’t I say they were broken?” Kaede asked.

“Y- yes sir.” Kiochi stuttered again.

Kaede sighed as he squeezed his fingers together, breaking the beacon in the process.

“But sir-"

“Listen Kiochi, don’t try and fix what cannot be fixed. Focus on the future. The rescue team will find us... eventually.” Kaede said.

Kiochi's mind shook. He had worked tirelessly for days trying to get the beacon to work and now it was in pieces, just like how he found it.

“So it was you.” Kiochi heard a familiar voice say. He looked back and saw Mako Watanabe standing near a nearby tree. She slowly limped towards them and came face to face with Kaede.

“What are you talking about?” Kaede asked as his eyes glared at Mako.

“I knew that you broke them the whole time, but I didn’t have any proof. This, what you just did, was the proof that I needed. So Kaede Ito, not only did you endanger the lives of Kynigoi trainees, you also prevented their retrieval.” Mako said.

Kiochi could see veins popping on Kaede’s forehead and so he slowly backed away.

“SO WHAT? The council was going to kill me anyway. All I did was extend my time to live! Am I wrong for wanting to live?” Kaede screamed into the night.

“That still doesn’t change anything. Kiochi, how far did you get with the beacon and can you fix it again?” Mako asked with the authority of an A ranked Kynigoi.

“I managed to get it working but I fear that it was only operational for a few hours and fixing it now is beyond me.” Kiochi said.

“So the rescue unit should be on their way, I hope. Good job Kio-"

“YOU LITTLE BASTARD!” Kaede screamed as he hurled his large body to where Kiochi was.

Kiochi was unable to dodge and so he caught the full weight of Kaede’s rather large body.

After Kaede fell on top of Kiochi, he proceeded to punch him several times in the face. Kiochi tried to block but his arms had been crushed under Kaede’s legs.

Kaede let out another barrage of punches directed at Kiochi’s face and they landed with painful thuds.

“NO!” Mako screamed as she lashed out at Kaede. She desperately to get him off Kiochi, but his barrage of punches would not relent and Kiochi’s face soon became unrecognizable.

Mako got her arms around Kaede’s neck and squeezed as hard as she could. Although her legs weren’t operating at full capacity, she was still a Kynigoi who’s body was heavily reinforced and modified.

Kaede felt the intense amount of force Mako was exerting on his neck and if nothing was done to stop her, she could have broken his neck and possibly ripped his head off, so Kaede got off Kiochi’s limp body and fell backwards onto Mako.

She grunted loudly as air was forced out of her lungs. Kaede didn’t give her a chance to recover. He got stood up and kicked her in the ribs and Mako rolled on the ground as she groaned in pain.

Kaede approached her, grabbed her hair and pulled her up.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” He said as he launched her head into the ground. Bruises now covered her once perfect face.

“FUCK!” Kaede smashed her head into the ground repeatedly.

This went on until Kiochi’s consciousness returned. He saw as Kaede pummelled Mako and watched as her beautiful face became unrecognizable.

Bruises were replaced with gashes and large scars and probably all of her bones were broken in the process.

“Stop!” Kiochi said begged, his voice barely a croak. Strained both by his pain and the pain watching Mako suffer.

“Please stop!” He cried, but Kaede had already lost all of his reasoning. Kiochi crawled to Kaede’s feet and clutched onto them with all the strength he could muster.

“Please!” Kiochi cried into the night, because at this point Kaede couldn’t even hear him.

After a solid ten minutes, Kaede finally dropped Mako’s limp body.

“Ha.” He chuckled.

“HAHAHAHAHA! What Have I done?” Kaede laughed.

Tears ran down his eyes as the reality of the situation sank into his mind. If he hadn’t destroyed the beacons all those days ago, the rescue teams would have arrived and the most he would have gotten would be a slap on the wrist.

But now…

“HAHAHAHA!”

“HAHAHA!”

“Hehe.” Kaede's laughs slowly turned into deranged chuckles. He noticed a small body at his feet. He couldn’t tell by looking at the face but it was definitely Kiochi, who sobbed endlessly.

“Stop it.” Kaede ordered.

Kiochi continued weeping.

“STOP IT NOW! It’s not like I killed your mother.” Kaede said as he washed his bloodied hands in the stream.

“[Audio memory corrupt]” Kiochi whispered.

“What?” Kaede suddenly stopped as he stood up and looked at the small boy laying on the ground.

“YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!!!!!” Kiochi screamed and the air seemingly tore open as though to escape the rage coming from Kiochi.

Kaede noticed this change as well. It was nothing like he had ever seen in his entire life.

Kaede didn’t have to believe in magic to understand that what was happening wasn’t normal. Kiochi’s skin rapidly darkened and multiple spike like protrusions shot out of body. It twisted and convulsed until it found itself upright. This black, faceless thing looked at Mako’s body, then back at Kaede.

The spikes around its skin shortened and elongated seemingly at will and its razor sharp claws hung below its skinny limbs.

Kaede looked at it. Even though it didn’t have a face, Kaede knew it was mourning.

The creature looked up into the night sky and screeched loudly enough that Kaede had to cover his ears.

The screech sharply cursed the night and the creature was bathed in the aura of hatred.

“K- Kiochi… is that you?” Kaede stuttered.

The creature turned its head away from Kaede, as though it was disgusted by his entire existence. As though he was the ugliest, filthiest sight in the universe.

Kaede’s body shook.

[Monster!]

Kaede heard what he assumed was the creatures voice in his head.

[You are a monster.]

Kaede fell onto his knees.

The creature was right.

Even before he got demoted, he was never a team player and more so than not, got other Kynigoi killed. His inability to accept things is what got him here in the first place. No matter the situation, Kaede Ito always pushed the blame to somebody else. He didn’t want to be blamed for the loss of the children and so he avoided the issue entirely by hiding in the forest.

He truly was a coward.

[I hate you.]

The creature said.

“Me too." Kaede said as tears rolled down his eyes He couldn’t even bring himself to apologize, but instead took the pitiful route.

The creature that was Kiochi approached Kaede, who was still on his knees. He knew that if he didn’t let Kiochi kill him, the council would, so he spread his arms and welcomed his end.

The creature, however, walked past him kneeled over Mako’s body. It ran its scalpel sharp claws through her hair without cutting a single strand.

Kaede could see that Kiochi truly loved Mako.

“Kill me, please.” Kaede begged.

The creature ignored him as it tried its level best to touch Mako without further harming her.

Kaede was infuriated by this. He thought that but dying, he would find some sort of peace with himself, but the creature wouldn’t respond to his pleas.

Kaede stood up and walked behind the creature, taking care not to go anywhere near Mako.

He then tried to provoke it onto quickly ending his life, but before he could even move, the creature stood up and faced him.

The skin around it’s face dissolved, revealing Kiochi’s face and to Kaede’s surprise, it was completely fine.

No scars were to be found and it even gave off a radiant glow.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his eyes and teeth.

Black razors had replaced his teeth and the sclera of his eyes were now ink black.

[I need… Fuel.]

Kiochi said, his voice sounded like the culmination of a thousand screams in the form of a whisper. It carried so much power and hatred that the tree’s themselves shook with fear.

Kaede was completely prepared.

Even if he knew that he was taking the cowards way out, he was fine as long as it was the end.

SNAP!

Kaede suddenly lost his balance and he fell over. A sharp pain assaulted his right leg and when he looked down, he realised that his entire right leg was missing.

“Haaarg!” Kaede screamed, but the creature ignored him and kneeled over Mako’s body again.

Suddenly, the spikes around the creatures body all began stretching out towards Mako's body and she was quickly enveloped in a black cocoon.

[More… fuel.]

The creature said and Kaede stomach felt surprisingly lighter.

He looked down to see his entire belly was missing, including all of its contents.

Kaede heard slurping sounds and saw the creature swallow what looked like his intestines.

“Haaarg! Aaahhhh! Why can’t I die?” Kaede screamed.

Then he finally realized that this entire time he felt a strange sensation on his neck. He reached out to touch whatever was there and touched what felt like a gelatinous tube.

“What did you do to me?” He screamed.

“Why can’t I die?”

Kaede tried pulling at the chord that was seemingly keeping alive, but just as did, the creature glared at him and he dropped his hand.

The night went on as the creature took more and more of Kaede’s body. By some point, he was just a head on the bottom of the forest floor, being kept alive by a single string.

The creature stood up and looked at it’s creation. A large black cocoon. Its presence almost blended with the natural environment. As though nature had accepted it.

The creature then approached Kaede. It looked like it was waiting for something to happen.

Then suddenly both Kaede and Kiochi heard the sounds of multiple footsteps coming their way. The creature hissed and quickly returned to the cocoon and ripped it open.

Kaede watched as the creature waited for what seemed like an eternity as the footsteps got closer.

The creature looked at Mako Watanabe’s unmoving body and slowly it’s shoulders slumped and it lowered it’s head.

Kaede realized that it was trying to save her, but it was far too late.

“Kiochi?” Kaede heard Izanagi call. Unfortunately, since he didn’t have a body and the only think keeping him alive was the chord between him and Kiochi, he couldn’t turn to face Izanagi.

“What the hell is going on?”

Kaede heard another voice say and by the sound of it, it was the voice of his superior and commander of the Kynigoi training program, Mai Hashimoto. She walked over Kaede’s head and crouched over it.

“You still there, Kaede?” She asked.

“Y- yes ma’am.” He replied in a whisper since he didn’t have any lungs to speak with.

Mai traced the chord to it’s origins until her gaze fell on Kiochi.

“Did that thing do all this?” She asked as several other Kynigoi emerged from the shadows. They all surrounded Kiochi and had their weapons pointed at him.

“No. This was all my fault. I killed Mako, lost a few children and tried to kill him.” Kaede admitted.

Mai looked at his pitiful head. She was extremely confused by the situation before her.

Izanagi had explained that this was all an accident and that Kaede was only partially responsible, but hearing Kaede’s confession made things slightly clearer.

The only thing left was Kiochi, who had somehow transformed into a strange being that reminded Mai of the Aethon’s she had heard of. She stood up and approached Kiochi who was still motionless.

“Don’t!” Kaede wheezed.

“I’ve seen it. His anger. It cannot differentiate between fried or foe. All it cares about is Mako. It did this to me in order to preserve her body.” Kaede explained.

Mai stopped. She knew Kiochi from before. Actually, he was one of the top candidates that were selected for the A ranked Kynigoi team. Kiochi was so good that he was predicted to be a captain as soon as he graduated. She looked at the black creature in front of her.

In many ways it resembled Kiochi.

The very few times she met him, he wore a blank, heartless expression and his movements were always calculated.

“Um… Kiochi. Can you hear me?” She gently asked.

The Kiochi in front of her didn’t even breath. She slowly walked towards Kiochi and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Kiochi-"

SLASH!

Mai felt an intense amount of pain in her arm and when she glanced at it, she saw that her most of her arm was gone.

[SCREECH!]

Kiochi screamed into the night.

[ERROR!]

“Retreat!” Mai ordered and her men obeyed. They ran off into the forest as they sent out distress signals back to camp.

Meanwhile, the dark being that was Kiochi soaked up its anger as its body swayed with the wind.

Mai took slow careful steps away from the creature, but she accidentally stepped on a twig which broke with a loud snap, causing Kiochi to rapidly dash towards her.

Kiochi was about to rip her to shreds when one of Mai’s men unloaded a full magazine of bullets on Kiochi.

“No! Run away!” Mai screamed, but the enraged Kiochi dashed towards the Kynigoi and tore off his head from his body. Mai noticed that more of her men had returned and were all shooting at the seemingly indestructible Kiochi.

“No! What are you doing? He’s going to kill you all!” Mai screamed as Kiochi violently attacked each of her subordinates. His movements, although fast and extremely powerful, were rough and uncontrolled, causing massive amounts of damage to the surrounding area.

Kiochi then noticed that some of the bullets were ricocheting off of his hardened skin and landing near Mako’s body. He screeched in panic and ran towards her, checking if any of the bullets had hit her.

One of Mai’s men then took the opportunity and tried to stab Kiochi in the neck.

“Stop!” Mai ordered and the Kynigoi ground to a stop. They noticed that Kiochi had stopped moving and was gradually getting smaller. His dark scales sunk into his skin and his eyes reverted back to their normal youthful colour.

This, however, revealed that he had been crying the whole time. He felt as though his body was on fire from the torment he felt deep within his heart. He continued to cry and it felt as though the pain was only getting worse.

Kiochi then looked around and saw a damaged forest and several wounded people amongst the brown trees.

It looked like they had been torn to shreds by a Tornado.

“Cough! Cough!”

Kiochi heard a cough coming from somewhere. He traced it until he found it’s source. There he saw Izanagi sprawled out on the ground.

All of his limbs were missing and surrounding him were other injured people .

Kiochi noticed that Izanagi was still alive, much to his relief. Dazed and confused, he stood up and looked around at what looked like the prologue of the apocalypse.

Kiochi found himself on his knees again as the sharp pain from before returned His gaze then fell on a strange cocoon that had Mako inside.

She wasn’t moving.

Her beautiful face didn’t smile and her small fingers weren’t running through his hair.

She was gone.

He was alone.

Again.

Kiochi then heard some rustling just behind him. There he saw a woman who looked like she’d been petrified by fear. She slowly walked towards Kiochi, who then noticed she only had one arm.

She walked at a snail’s pace until she reached Kiochi. She stumbled a little before she sat on the ground.

It eventually started raining and the woman who Kiochi realized was Mai Hashimoto extended her hand towards Kiochi. Her hand trembled extremely as it inched closer to him.

The hand landed on Kiochi’s bare back and she could hear his little heart beating away.

Kiochi looked at her.

Their eye’s met and Kiochi saw the fear in her eye’s.

“Are you… Kiochi? Kiochi Suzuki?” She asked hesitantly.

Kiochi was puzzled by her question. If he wasn’t Kiochi, then who else could he be?

“Yes.” Kiochi said causing Mai to drop her hand into the mud.

She sighed deeply before looking at the cocoon. It looked as though the rain was disintegrating it, leaving only Mako’s body.

Mai looked at the body intently but found no signs that showed that she had been hurt. She then surveyed her surroundings.

The forest had been torn to pieces.

The light of the rising sun showed her the true scale of the destruction born from Kiochi’s rage. She could still see flashes of him as he massacred her men. She remembered the weird sight that was Kaede Ito’s head, which spoke even though it didn’t have a body.

She remembered losing her hand, even the wound had partially closed and she barely felt any pain. Whatever Kiochi became, although monstrous, spared Mai and her men from feeling any pain.

She wondered if Kaede experienced this as well. Although his fate looked much grimmer compared to hers.

She didn’t know what to do.

If the council discovered that Kiochi was an Aethon, they’d do unspeakable things to him and even though he had taken her arm, Mai felt almost no hate for the boy in front of her.

He looked like he was experiencing several worlds of pain and handing him over to the council would only add to his suffering.

“Do you… do you want to bury her?” Mai asked hesitantly. She dreaded the possibility that he might kill her, but she anyway.

Kiochi wondered why she was so afraid. He remembered the fight with Kaede, then it all came back to him.

After Mai and Izanagi arrived, he poured his rage into them and the surrounding area. It was a bloodbath and Kiochi remembered gruesomely ripping apart Mai, her men and Izanagi. Kiochi knew what he had done, but the process of fully comprehending it was proving difficult.

He decided to leave it all to Mai.

Ok.”

Kiochi and Mai gently lifted Mako’s body back to the camp and dug a hole using a shovel Kiochi found in his tent.

The two carefully placed the cocoon into the hole and covered it up.

After the burial was complete, the two sat in complete silence as they awaited reinforcements. Kiochi’s eyes were cold and his childlike glow had completely faded in the furthest recesses of his mind. Mai was a Kynigoi as well, she didn’t know how to comfort him, so she gave him the silence he needed.

Some time passed and the reinforcements eventually arrived at the location and they took Izanagi and the other’s back to the main camp.

Kiochi was interrogated by several Kynigoi, but Mai Hashimoto told him to leave out the parts about his transformation. Although in Kiochi’s defence, he didn’t remember much at the time either.

After everything got cleared up, Kiochi resumed his training and eventually became an A ranked Kynigoi.

As for Ena, Kiochi didn’t hear much about what happened to her on that day.

[PLAYBACK COMPLETE]