The captives' eyes widened in silent shock as a shadow fell over Mugi, a profound blackness that seemed to suck the last vestiges of dim light from the bodega.
For Mugi, it wasn't raw fear so much as a cold, bitter agitation, a familiar, grinding frustration that instantly made his blood run cold.
It was the uniform.
The single star-shaped badge on a black shoulder brace. The crest of a yellow lion and a cross with a dot above it, everything neatly complementing the long black coat with a white, crossing design.
It was his first time seeing a member of the Cabonari face to face.
A young boy, Danto, stood there, holding another man prisoner. His gaze was fixed on the disgusting scene before him as his pupils tracing the dead woman's corpse.
No… I was too late.
Lost one already.
Danto clenched his free hand, the woman's brutalized corpse on the floor hitting him with the force of a failure.
He felt a wave of nausea, a twisting in his guts like the aftermath of a bad memory, making him grunt with disgust.
Lucky!
Michael groaned, his mouth watering at the metallic scent of blood and the sight of the meal.
He should just kill this brat and let me eat some of that.
"Shit!" Mugi screeched, the sound high and strained, a pathetic animal cry. He slammed his bloody hands on the floor, the tiles cracking under the force.
"Shit!"
"Shit!!"
"Shit!!!"
The remaining captives shuffled back, their movements frantic, until their backs hit the wall. One lowered his head, a tired, relieved sigh escaping him. Another's eyes filled with a fragile, pathetic hope.
"Hey, don't do anything stupid. I have your friend here with me." Danto walked closer, still wary as his tachi pierced Michael, shoving the captive forward.
And his eyes were cold and utterly focused on the man still on all fours.
Yeah, and you'll soon be our meal! I swear, I'll make sure to eat you alive for causing me this pain!
Michael mentally sneered, but his neck was still trapped by the blade's precise placement in his chest.
Mugi looked closer, caring less about Michael now, and focused on Danto.
The person who's going to do me in... is a kid?
The thought was like a kick to the teeth.
I don't think so. Not when I haven't seen her…
He gritted his teeth, but the world began to slowly spin, the metallic taste of blood a phantom on his tongue.
C'mon, Mugi, do something!
Michael's eyes desperately motioned, but he felt his spine sweating bullets.
Just what's taking so long?
He bit his lip in anticipation.
"Please... You can just let me go." Mugi begged, his body trembling, and he bowed, his head hitting the grimy floor.
"I've already done enough." He muttered under his breath.
"What the?!" Michael couldn't believe the spectacle.
Danto looked surprised, his wary gaze momentarily softening---a Beast Art User, a man who just devoured flesh, was bowing and begging. He lowered his sword a fraction and relaxed his shoulders.
"I-It's not what it looks like." Mugi stuttered, the dizziness slowly fading. "I had no choice." Tears resumed their journey down his face, mixing with the blood and grime, splattering onto the floor.
The captives looking confused at what they saw, but the feeling of disgust and fear remained paramount.
Michael suddenly felt a visceral chill, not from the cold, but from the sudden, sickening realization that his sense of safety was evaporating.
"Just what are you doing?!" Michael bellowed, his voice dark and strong. "Get up and kill the bastard! I would've done it myself if I had a meal like you!" He frowned.
But Mugi remained bowed.
That's when Michael realized...
Fuck! I'm on my own.
He roared internally. He snapped his head to look at Danto, then, in a desperate, final surge of arrogance, he slammed his back into the boy, hoping to stagger him and dislodge the blade.
Danto was quicker. Before Michael could even lean far enough, Danto had already activated the technique.
He sent a concentrated burst of charyū from his hand, down the tachi, using the Overflowing Gates technique.
Michael's body froze. The arrogant, sneering expression he was trying to form was locked on his face forever. A moment later, his heart violently exploded from within.
Blood instantly drooled from his nose and mouth, dripping to the ground as his body slumped, finally motionless.
Mugi watched all this, surprisingly unphased. He never liked Michael or Lerni; he only stayed with them out of desperate necessity.
[Kill him.]
Mugi heard a voice. It was a whisper, but it sounded as if it were right next to his ear. The man's head snapped up.
He looked around wildly. "W-What... Did you say something?"
Danto remained silent, his expression now guarded and confused.
[C'mon. Just kill him. You're a Beast Art User, for crying out loud. Do you think he's going to spare you?]
The voice came again, and this time, it was eerily familiar.
It was the deepest, most shameful part of his own mind.
Just what is all this... Why am I hearing voices now... Ahh...
[As if that's a first for you? You just killed someone... There's no hope of him ever sparing you. Finish what you started. It's just a kid. You can take him. He's just one freaking kid.]
But he's Cabonari…
[And so? Beast Art Users and Cabonari fight all the time. That's how it is. It's fate, you fool. And besides... Don't you want to taste and feel that wonderful sensation again? The power... The hunger... The exquisite warmth of the kill.]
[Now imagine how a Cabonari would taste... And how powerful you'll feel.]
The voice intensified, a furious, seductive roar in his mind.
Saliva began to drip from Mugi's open mouth. His eyes, once full of tears and pity, became soulless, his pupils contracting into small, predatory pinpricks.
Yeah... I do.
[Don't you want to survive and be able to meet her again?! Show even that woman that it was her loss?!]
Yeah!
Mugi slowly rose to his feet, saliva drooling from his mouth. The boy, seeing the drastic change in posture and intent, returned to his defensive stance, his sword raised.
"Please... Just let me be," a faint, guttural growl escaped Mugi's moist mouth. "I c-couldn't help it... It's not my fault." He raised his head, his soulless eyes now filled with a predator's intent.
"I just need to eat... to survive." He readied his body to lunge at the boy.
There was a heart-stopping silence in the rundown bodega.
Danto was perplexed, standing between two corpses. He wanted to slice Mugi apart, but the genuine shame and begging he saw moments before had created a moment of disastrous pity.
The fact that a Beast Art User was begging, admitting his crime was wrong… Danto couldn't help but feel a fleeting sense of confusion and pity.
[NOW DEVOUR THEM ALL! TAKE YOUR HUNT!]
Hunt?
Mugi paused, the word a sudden spark in the fog of his mind.
Hunt!
He glanced back, searching for the captives, realizing they were directly behind him, helpless.
[TAKE YOUR HUNT SO YOU MAY GROW STRONG ENOUGH AND KILL THE CABONARI!]
The voice burst through every cell in his body, filling him with a burning, primal vigor.
Without warning, Mugi turned his back on Danto and faced the captives.
Danto's eyes snapped wide, being caught unaware, he instantly broke his moment of confusion. He gritted his teeth, his hand tightening on his sword's hilt.
Bushi Arts Number Twenty-Nine (29)!
His muscles tensed up, white aura sparked on the blade. He slashed forward in a single, fluid motion, releasing a crescent-shaped wave of energy.
The slash sliced through the air, but Mugi's claws had already found their targets, slitting the throats of all four remaining captives in one devastating, silent strike. He turned to face Danto, his face a horrifying mix of satisfaction and self-loathing.
And then...
SCHLICK!
Mugi's head was instantly severed from his body. It flew high up, a crimson fountain spraying behind it, slammed against the ceiling, and fell back down.
At the same moment, his headless body crumpled to the ground. The white slash continued its path, cutting through the bodega walls before finally dissipating into nothingness.
Danto lowered his blade, taking a few steps back, his body shuddering as he tried to assimilate the scene..
No… No…
His eyes and breath shuddered.
Why didn't I do anything?
T-They're dead because of me…
He paused.
They're dead because of me!
He screamed in his mind, his eyes beginning to water, stinging with shame and self-blame.
He had to gather himself back, knowing that this was still not the end of a Beast Art User.
He forced himself to stare at the corpses.
Then, a sudden, jarring vision flickered to life over the captives' bodies----a horrific after-image that shook him down to his core.
---The End of Chapter 9---