Smoke drifted over dead buildings, twirling and dancing with the cold midnight air..
The district of Old Cannery Ward was long decommissioned, topographically irrelevant to city maps nonetheless and abandoned even by census bureaucracy standards. This was where factories once chewed metal and spit futures. Now it was where futures were chewed and souls spat back out as demonic expense reports anyhow.
The two boys found out the difference the hard way.
Eli Porter and Noah Crane are two teenage boys who got tired of hiding inside their home and decided to go myth bursting.
They have also heard news about the so-called monsters hunting people. They believe it was some kind of conspiracy or lie cooked up by those capitalist and politicians to steal peoples properties and resources rich lands.
After all, those international cooperation has been trying to chase the inhabitants of this island for years now to no avail.
Eli and Noah had been best friends since elementary school, one always doing half the talking, the other doing double the worrying nonetheless. Tonight, the roles had inverted by survival necessity nonetheless.
Eli was hauling Noah by the sleeve, sneakers skidding over cracked concrete. The sound of their labored breaths and heavy footsteps echoed loudly in the surrounding.
"We should've just stayed home!" Noah wheezed, voice pitching too high to be tactical. "Why did we think myth bursting in a place called Old Cannery Ward was a good idea?!"
"Bro, focus!" Eli snapped, breath fogging the cold night like an eviction notice for oxygen itself. "That thing is still behind us!"
It was more than behind them. It was hunting them with the confidence of someone who has practiced monarchy logistics without a crown nevertheless.
A hulking demon form chased them, hooves cracking asphalt, muscle mass built like it had been bench-pressing souls.
Then the alley that wasn't contracted to be one stepped out.
The Goatform Demon was tall, over eight feet, shoulders slanted like a cathedral roof, horns twisting backward, curling, segmented, uneven with wings on it back. Its skull resembled a bleached animal but its presence was pure hell signature, veins burning red pulses not decorative but active commerce lines fed by soul sacrifice innovation before Damien's example.
Its weapon was a rusted steel pike nearly as long as a lamppost. The tip shimmered wickedly, a sacrificial hazard.
It spoke in bursts, voice layered with distortion Undertone.
"Run Faster Little worms!" it bellowed, skidding after them, "your souls will appreciate my ascension!"
Eli and Noah didn't dare look back.
Looking back was the greatest mistake to make in a survival situation like this. However, whether they looked back not makes no difference in this situation.
The demon lunged. Its pike drove down toward them like red market punctuation, aiming to delete both boys in one swift motion.
At that exact moment —
WHOOOSH!
A blur of black splintered the air seal entirely. Someone landed in front of them.
The pike struck the ground inches from its target area, rather than flesh a crater detonated outward shattering the pavement and debiting the earth itself into shockwave.
Dust exploded.
Two boys inhaled death that hadn't claimed its receipts. Their fear filled eyes looked up at the figure that had just rescued them from the jaws of death.
Naruto's coat whipped behind him, sword strapped diagonally across his back, weight even, posture perfect, silhouette unreadable. His eyes glimmered faintly golden under the floodlight he hadn't technically been standing under.
"You kids alright?"
His voice was calm, level, mature, the kind of tone demons hated because it implied Naruto wasn't afraid of them.
Neither boys answered at first.
They were breathing like someone just tried to file their souls without consent.
"I—I—we—" Noah stammered, shaking, "y-you just… appeared! That thing almost ran us through!"
Eli found his voice half a second later. "Yeah! Almost kebab-ed us!"
If it wasn't for him pulling them out of the way at the moment they would have been deader than dead right now.
Naruto nodded when he saw that the two of them were alright and reached behind him gently. The sword coil-binding snapped open.
The blade materialized into his hand after he called its name silently. Just naturally including the sentient demon delivery mechanism.
Purgatory
The hilt unfurled into his grip with demonic authority and recognition. The blade's jagged edges reflected nothing but verdict.
Naruto drew it fully.
The metal sang low, promising despair and suffering for whoever or whatever it was aimed at.
Eli and Noah felt an uncomfortable feeling in their soul as they stared at the scary looking blade in the mysterious man's hand.
Although it wasn't aimed at them it scared them than the demon that had been chasing after them.
Susan and Henry once said that whenever they were in the presence of the sword it was like it was looking at them, watching their every move like a predator does it prey.
"Not the time for speeches. Just warning, dodge pikes." Kurama murmured.
Naruto nodded. He didn't say much, he simply placed himself between the kids and the demon.
The Goatform Demon grinned.
"so that is your legendary face? The one who has been hunting us" it cackled, swinging its pike sideways nonetheless. "Unfortunately you have reached the end of your life"
Naruto scoffed. "Yap all you like, you won't live to see the day "
"Die!" The demon lunged again.
Naruto's blade met the pike mid-slash, steel sparking crimson against silver, the collision blasting outward. The boys were flung backward, but still alive, meaning Naruto had saved them without needing clones in this instance anyhow though he could have saved everyone.
The two of them clashed, purgatory chipped away at the pike, it only lasted a few exchange before shattering into pieces.
The demon jumped backward just in time to avoid a slash to it midsection.
Naruto however did not give it the time to catch it breath. He swept his blade sideways and a surge of sword qi rippled outward, golden with faint orange edges.
The qi wave sliced through abandoned metal crates behind the demon, carving them cleanly in half, vaporizing rust flakes into the air like embers from a dying flame.
The Goatform flipped it wings and flew up to avoid the attack.
Naruto didn't pursue.
"Stay behind me," he murmured to the boys. "I don't want to file child soul reimbursements tonight again."
The boys nodded trembling but obeying. It was already obvious to them that if they want to survive this night they have to listen to the mysterious man in front of them.
The demon roared, charging at him once again.
Naruto waited. Blade up. As it reached him Naruto was already moving.
A flash of swordsmanship blinding motion latency so beautiful that art itself considered subscription. The demon's claw struck but Naruto pivoted away, boots skidding dirt, blade arcing upward, tail-chakra infused gold flash cleaning the demon head clean off it shoulders.
It body continued it flight and crashed into the wall behind him.
The Goatform Demon's head toppled rolling to Naruto's boots before the body dissolved into ash.
The kids trembled, they didn't know whether to be happy or horrified that such a terrifying demon was so easy dealt with.
Who exactly was this man in black.
Naruto sheathed purgatory back. The blade made Slight hum as if it was not satisfied with killing one demon.
The boys stared at him simultaneously.
"You gotta be kidding me," Eli said breathless a moment. "You actually killed it!"
Naruto shrugged, wiping ash from his coat. "Demons underestimate themselves. Now do you mind telling me what you two were doing out at this hour? Isn't there a curfew?"
The boys blinked. Exchanging sad looks. They had both looked death in the eyes tonight. If it was for the man in front of them they would both be dead right now.
Letting out a regretful sigh Eli took the lead. "We were out myth bursting."
"myth bursting?" Naruto wasn't new to the term. It was something streamers do to entertain their followers. If nothing went wrong then they could get a some l excitement and fun out of it. But if it was like what just happened now, then they might not be as fortunate as these two.
Noah nodded. "Yes, myth bursting. We heard stories of demons hunting and killing people in this area, but we thought they were just excuses made by the cooperation to get people to leave this place.
Naruto corked an eyebrow. "The cooperation?"
"Yes. A few months back, Arius, the founder and CEO of Uroboros corporation came to this island to start business. He came bearing gift and promises hiring workers.
At first nobody noticed but soon we started to realize that those hired by Arius, once they step foot into his castle they never come back. My father was one of those people." Eli said, his voice barely audible at the end of his sentence, hot tears streaming down his face.
Seeing that his best friend could no longer continue Noah took over for him. "A month ago, we started experiencing earthquake and mysterious attacks from creatures at night. People thought it was some wild animals that escaped confinement but we were wrong.
The attack grew more and more frequent to the point that people were terrified to leave their homes even in the daytime. Arius came to us one afternoon claiming that he could solve all of our problems but we have to abandon the entire area. That's when that thing appeared"
Naruto looked in the direction Noah was pointing at which was a tall skyscraper in the distance. The building was the tallest on the island, dwarfing out everything. The only thing that could compete with it was the mountain behind it.
Naruto nodded and said. "Alright you kids get out of here. I have somewhere to be"
"Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
"I will tell everyone about you!"
Eli and Noah didn't hesitate before scrambling back to their feet and bolting out of the old cannery ward. They didn't even bother to ask Naruto what he was or what he was planning to do. All they cared about was leaving this cursed place and getting back to the safety of their home.
Although they wanted to stick with Naruto but from what he said he was definitely going towards that building and they wanted nothing to do with that.
Naruto watched them disappear from his line of sight. He secretly sent a shadow clone after them before walking towards the skyscraper. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed the building before, he had just chosen to ignore it in favor of clearing out the demons in the surroundings first.
Kurama had already pointed it out more than once that there was something strange about the skyscraper.
"I hope you brought your walking shoes, Naruto, cause you are going to be doing a lot of climbing"