Mayhem.
That's the word that describes the catastrophe that greats the mortals upon reaching the camp: the gardens are plundered, the orchards are destroyed, and the Tama-Artist residential houses are a total wreck.
If the Tama-Artists were at least human in treating the mortals, they would have gotten a few tears of sympathy. However, the mortals are gaysome: some smiling and laughing.
Feeling chafed, Tsukino and Mikino ostracize themselves from the males, searching for a pleasant place to rest.
Meanwhile, Lucien somewhat sighs, staring at the person who caused this: Shinji. Only him, alongside his Tama can lure profound beasts to the camp, without much of a hassle.
—I'll use this chance to have a little man to man with my cousin.
In life, they are people who should be forgiven and those who shouldn't.
Those who should be forgiven are those who are being mislead to do something, because of the situation. These individuals are forced to do something out of their own will, and are being tricked.
Those who shouldn't be forgiven are those who take great joy in abusing someone, because their hearts feel fulfilled by doing bad to someone. In their eyes, the torment of another being is entertainment, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they kidnap people so that they can watch them kill each other.
On the day Lucien met Goro, Lucy was walking to buy tomatoes for dinner, when he suddenly got dragged to a corner. Afterward, he had to endure strong punches, that left him bleeding in seconds.
At first, Goro didn't look happy, and after punching Lucy for an ephemeral he turned back. This gave Lucy the assumption that someone was forcing Goro to do this, and forgave him. However, when he was about to walk away, Goro took him for a punching back.
For the first few minutes, Goro was venting out his stress over the problems he had. As the minutes progressed, Goro started laughing, indicating that harrassing Lucien was convival. When all is said and done, it's not everyday you beat someone who doesn't fight back.
After Lucy lost the ability to stand, Goro went to a corner, and helped himself. Afterward, he came with a jar filled with his excrement, and force feed Lucien. Although Lucy tried to close his mouth and not swallow the misery, Goro happened to be too strong and less fatigued than him.
However, when Goro insulted his mother, Lucien gained strength, and punched him two times before going away. Nonetheless, he made a grave mistake of hitting a Tama-Artist when he is a mortal, since his mother had to be tied to a pole and lashed before his very eyes.
The reason Lucien didn't fight back before is because he didn't want other Tama-Artists to interfere, which might have led to his death. After all, they are a lot of mortals who tried fighting a Tama-Artist, and ended up impaled in the middle of the streets. However, as someone who loved his mother, he couldn't let her get insulted, but having kept his anger to himself would have been a good thing.
Putting the memories aside, Lucien decides to go and kill Goro, for all the torment he made him endure. Taking long strides, Lucy notices Goro's body hidden among the rubble. However, he is dead, and he seems to have died in the worst way possible.
—He got what he deserved.
Furrowing his brows, Lucien observes the mutilated corpse, with intestines pulled to disgusting levels.
Before he can finish his notion, a shark looking leopard leaps over behind him. Turning around, Lucy thrusts his fist into the stage 2 profound beast's skull, breaking it apart.
Bang!!
Other shark leopards are alerted, and turn in Lucien's direction. Feeling a surge of rage thanks to the memories surfing up in his mind, Lucy takes his otsuchi from behind.
"I'll make this quick." He said coldly.
With a bang here, bang there, countless Shark leopards are turned into paste in mere minutes. The others sensing the crisis took a run for it. However, Lucy isn't the one to forgive those who attack him first, and howls his otsuchi at them.
Swish! Bang! Swish! Bang! Spin. Strike. Spin. Strike.
The sequence maintains the same, until the otsuchi comes back to Lucy, dripping in the blood of the beasts like tomato sauce.
Wiping his silver hammer with Goro's clothes, Lucy heads in the direction were a loud shriek echoed from not too long ago.
'I've had my suspicions since last year when I found some people missing.' He thought, 'I hope it's not you Sora... but I can't shake the feeling off.'
Sora was born with a perfect body that is neither male nor female, which can switch in between genders at will. Furthermore, she has no sexual attractions or hormones.
Although she had a rough upbringing because of that, in Lucy's eyes, she is the closest thing to perfection. She is both her husband and wife, with a unique way to produce children, which doesn't involve pain in the slightest.
As Lucien beats up profound beasts along the way, the feeling gets deeper. And when he reaches the cabbage garden, his fears are confirmed, but he stays indifferent: anything is possible in this world —one day you're laughing with your mother, the next, you're killing her.
Crossing his arms, Lucien watches Sora devour the old ladies into her stomach, with an emotionless gaze.
Deep down in his heart, Lucien is somewhat happy. He researched about kyuketsuki for a long time, but the results he wanted came too late.
He figured out that a kyuketsuki is a spirit with a consciousness, but doesn't have a mind of its own.
When it enters a person, the first thing it does is fight the consciousness of that person before manifesting.
Secondly, after manifesting, it feeds on blood and flesh. However, its true purpose is to eat the fragments of the soul hidden in a person's blood.
This gives its consciousness more power to fight the host's. After all, a consciousness is strengthened by desires —the stronger the desires, the more will one has to live. The more the kyuketsuki's desire for blood is met, the more it raises its chance of possession.
Thirdly, the kyuketsuki starts to feed on the host's soul from the inside to strengthen itself, gain memories and take over the body.
To defeat it, Tama-Artists suggest killing it on the spot, before it feeds on more people to grow stronger to a point of beating someone of Lila's level.
However, Lucien is different from them, because he is the first Entropy user: something that was created specifically to handle spirits, souls and mostly, kyuketsuki.
The other reason Entropy is so exhausting after use, is that it carries part of his consciousness.
Also, if he injects it in a person, two things happen:
Lucien's soul is violent, hence his Entropy is too, and the victim will die in the most painful way possible.
Secondly, part of his consciousness will fight a foreign consciousness —slightly that of the person— to clear the mind from anything harmful.
»»»It's also painful to the victim.
This method helps the soul suppress foreign consciousness who are trying to gain control of the body. Also, if luck takes place, the soul would absorb the spirit, and strengthen itself.
»»»The stronger the soul, the stronger the body and more days of life!
Meanwhile, the kyuketsuki finishes it meal. The old ladies were nothing short of bitter, but it had to compromise —there is nothing to do about it.
Licking the blood on its fingers, the kyuketsuki stands up sulking. However, upon turning around, it grins in joy.
—He came! Dernier has come to me! If I feed on him, I'll strengthen myself and take this body in an instant.
The kyuketsuki licks it's blooded lips, looking at Lucien's soul.
»»»Most people think that a soul has a humanoid shape, but that's not it. When it gains that shape, it's no longer a soul, it's something different.
In the kyuketsuki's eyes, it can see a bright, silver cloud on his chest with several veins stretching to various parts of his body, mostly the head.
Upon closer inspection, the kyuketsuki can notice sprinkles of several bright colors, that blinds it for a split second hidden in the soul.
—I knew everyone with that birthmark is special, but to think his soul is this strong. Maybe, I should've possessed him instead of Sora. Her soul is strong, but It's nothing compared to this.
"Are you done observing?
The kyuketsuki flinches, jumping back with a face filled with horror.
'How did he get in front of me?'
Much to its bewilderment, the glow on Lucien's soul intensifies, as he infuses his Entropy into her forehead.
"Wh—! Ahhhhhh!"
The creature doesn't have time to check what caused this, as it immediately gives Sora back her body, resting from the one-second pain Entropy left on it.
***
"Hahaha."
Shinji released a faint chuckle, as he examines Miyato's bamboo book. Last time, he said things in his mind to anger the man, but to see he's right, makes him want to laugh more.
Tracing the title with his frail fingers, Shinji's face becomes gloomy.
"The Sword of loneliness... such a fierce name."
The name calls out to the depths of his heart.
As someone who suffered from all the acts of mental darkness, loneliness has moved with Shinji for a long time. Furthermore, looking at the book title, makes him recall the days he was on his own, striving on the streets with no one to call a friend.
—How time moves... one day you are in your mother's womb with your sibling, the other you're watching her dead body on the street.
Shinji shows a faint smile, standing up.
This isn't the time to be thinking about such things!
Gazing at the resting mortals, Shinji's smile turns wicked.
'It's time for the frog to take advantage of the Shōgun.'
—They have already fallen for my crocodile tears, I wonder if they have enough courage to kill Tama-Artists.
"Hehe!"