Shinjimaru sighed, "What do you want in return?"
"I want your master to spare my captain," Kira replied immediately.
Shinjimaru paused for a moment. "Is that bastard really that strong?" he thought. "I understand," he said.
"That's all, nothing else. Can you talk to him?"
Shinjimaru hesitated. He knew Afro was unpredictable, but he nodded. "Yes."
"We'll have to go back to the Guard," Kira said, making a move to leave.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? I just escaped from there." Shinjimaru took a step back, suspicious. He thought it might be a trap; bait to capture him like a child.
"It's not a trap," Kira retorted, as if reading his thoughts. "You killed over a hundred people. I let you knock out a colleague of mine. You're hanging out with demons, and I'm the danger here?"
Shinjimaru looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before giving in. "Just tell me where they are."
Moments later, at the South Guard complex, Kira gestured to two guards. They were carrying a heavy wooden box toward the launch tower.
"Another crate? Captain Draezen didn't mention anything about this," commented one of the guards, wiping the rain from his face. The other slapped him on the back of the head.
"Carry it and shut up. Don't you know Kira is the captain's direct assistant? These are confidential orders." The guard grumbled, adjusting the weight. "Let's get this inside quickly. It's raining cats and dogs, and I want to go home to my family."
They carried the box to the launch pad, a raised stone platform in the center of the South Guard complex. In the center floated the airship. It was a compact structure, powered more by Dao than gas. The pad was surrounded by runic columns that kept the ship anchored.
Kira watched silently as the box was placed in the cargo compartment. Before the airship set sail, a guard monk approached, placed seal papers around it, and walked away. In the next instant, the airship's structure distorted, became invisible, and set sail.
Kira finally left the rain and entered the building, where the captains were saying their goodbyes. Kimyo's assistant passed her, rubbing the back of his neck in irritation.
"That son of a bitch knocked us out too easily, Kira," he muttered.
The captains climbed into their carriages and left.
Inside the airship, a sound came from one of the cargo boxes: *knock, knock*. Shinjimaru came out. The interior was in total darkness. He tried to light flames with his hand to illuminate the space, but failed. He remembered Kira's warning: for maximum security, the Dao was nullified inside. The metal structure absorbed the surrounding energy to feed itself, preventing any use of techniques.
The airship had no pilot; it followed a fixed, automatic route. In the center was a black box with a seal. The seal was not a piece of paper stuck on, but a painting directly on the metal that glowed blue. It was the only light in the compartment.
Shinjimaru took a step forward. As he approached, the seal's glow changed from blue to yellow. One more step and it turned orange. He immediately backed away and the color returned to its original blue.
"Damn, what does this mean?"
He sat down and looked out the window. The ship was moving fast, already crossing the village boundaries and entering the forest. If he stayed there too long, he would be lost in a territory full of demons. He was using the Dao now, but he knew that energy wasn't even his.
"That guy is probably watching me through my soul right now," he thought. He placed his hand on his navel and whispered:
"Tell me, what does this mean? Do you know anything about this?"
There was no answer. The silence was absolute.
"Damn it," he said. "I just want to get rid of this demon. If I do this last job, maybe I'll be free... I'll see if the monks' books at the monastery contain information about this seal."
He got up and walked over to the box. With each step, the color changed: yellow, orange, and when Shinjimaru grabbed it, the seal turned a vibrant red. Suddenly, the light went out.
He carried the box and took a step to leave, but felt the metal heat up violently in his hands. Shinjimaru dropped the box, throwing it away, and ran for the exit.
The airship exploded.
The boom and flash were heard and seen by almost everyone in the West Zone, especially the monks.
Kira was in his quarters in the guard complex. He had just gotten out of the bath and was getting dressed when there was a knock at the door.
"Kira! Kira!"
"What is it now?" she replied.
"The captain requests your presence in his office."
"Is it urgent?"
"No. He didn't mention anything urgent."
Kira finished getting dressed, put on her cloak, and walked to Draezen's office. Upon entering, she gave a military salute.
"Captain, sir!"
"Come in, Kira," he said without turning around.
Draezen stood with his back to the door, watching the rain beat against the windowpane. The silence in the room was heavy.
"Kira Renzu, you're fired. For aiding and abetting sabotage."
Kira's heart pounded. "Captain..."
"Shut up, Kira. I am disappointed in you. The airship just exploded because of you. Get out of here immediately. If you try to justify yourself, I will treat you like a demon and behead you. Leave your guard seal on the table and leave now."
Kira felt the impact of his words. She took the guard seal, placed it on the wooden table, and left. She went to her room, took only the essentials, and left the complex. She walked in the rain with tears in her eyes; the greatest pain was not the exile, but the fact that the captain had not even looked at her one last time.
On the other side, in the swamp, Shinjimaru lay in a muddy pool of water and blood that his body had created upon impact. He was dying. Literally.
His legs were twisted at impossible angles, the torn flesh exposing the white bone of his rib that had pierced his skin and pointed toward the sky, washed by the rain, the flesh torn open in deep, mutilated wounds. One of his ribs was exposed, piercing his skin. He could not feel the Dao; it left a cold void where power once pulsed. He was once again just Shinjimaru: the guy with the broken Dantian, but now mutilated. Every attempt to draw air was like a stab in the chest; his lungs felt like they were filled with crushed glass. His left hand was crushed.
"The vial..." he muttered, or thought he muttered, as blood bubbled from his lips.
He remembered Himari. He remembered the blood she had given him, now his only guarantee of survival. With an effort that made his vision darken, he moved what he felt of his right hand to his pocket. His fingers dug into the wet fabric, but did not find the smooth glass.
He only felt the cut of the shards. The bottle had exploded on impact. The vital liquid, the blood that would keep him alive, had drained away, mixing with the mud in the filthy swamp puddle.
Shinjimaru stopped fighting. His neck hung heavily to one side. He looked at the raindrops hitting the ground, causing bits of mud to get into his eyes. Unable to blink, he felt the warmth leaving his body.