1st Pov Xicor Samiel:
I stood at the edge of a cliff as I gazed down at the square research laboratory as the soft wind blew against my armour, tousling whatever loose fabric stuck to me, floating in the wind's embrace.
Through the helmet's visor, my vision was tinted red, highlighting a barrier around the complex that I could have easily sensed.
The full moon lit the whole structure; it was in a typical Japanese style used by the Demon Defence Force for their bases back in Mato, though instead of two stories, it seemed to have only a ground floor.
I sensed multiple guards posted around the structure and a large number of people inside.
I would need to ensure that they don't attempt to call for any reinforcements, for which I already have a countermeasure.
Before I begin, I may need to summon some friends. Putting my hands together, I begin the summoning, "Divine Dog"
The twin wolves didn't come out because the summoning wasn't done, I put my hands together in a different hand sign, "Rabbit escape, Totality"
The shadows behind me began to expand and swell as hundreds of shapes reached out, forming an army of fox-sized wolves with fur patterned in white and black.
They crawled out as they sniffed the air before locking their gaze on the research facility down below, some letting out snarls at the sight of it.
I turned my gaze back to the structure, "Set yourselves up, once everything is ready, move in and kill the researchers as well as the guards, though do leave some high-ranking people alive as I want to question them a little"
With that, they leapt off the cliff and moved through the forest like wraiths, their speed would be difficult for an ordinary person to track.
Now it's time to block any escape from here, as well as any sound waves reaching their friends. Raising a fist, I stick my index and middle fingers straight up.
"Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness, purify that which is impure" I chanted as a black viscous liquid appeared over the facility before it rapidly expanded into a domain.
Trapping everyone and everything here, including any sound or ways to contact the outside world.
Though people can still enter from the other side freely, they still cannot get out.
That should be the signal that those summons need to begin the attack.
It wasn't long before I heard screams being carried through the wind and alarms blaring, which were more than enough to tell me they had begun.
Leaping through the air, I landed just outside the destroyed double doors of the research facility, more horrific screams could be heard from within.
Lying motionless beside the doors were two guards with a puddle of blood forming next to them. I was about to walk past them but one of the bodies' hands shot up to grab my ankle.
Her hand clenched around my ankle as I lazily tilted my head down at her, her eyes struggled to stay open with blood flowing out of her mouth and a long slash mark on her collar.
She must be a lucky one, I doubt any guards would give me any information so extending her life would just be a waste of time.
"Wh-what... are... you?" she questioned weakly as she coughed out blood with each pause.
I didn't answer her pointless question as I shook off her weak grip and smashed her head with my foot, splattering brain matter and blood everywhere.
Putting my hands together, I formed a snake's head, "Orochi"
The shadow behind me expanded before a large albino serpent emerged as it slithered around me. His slit gaze met mine, awaiting my command.
"Remain outside and kill anyone who tries to escape" I ordered as the large snake slithered into the shadow, like a shark circling its hunting ground.
Shaking my foot lightly, some of the brain matter and blood dripped down onto the ground before I marched forward, encountering more and more bodies on the way.
Walking through the hall, the lights had all but turned off with the only source of light being the right lights powered by emergency generators.
There were so many rooms but they were mostly personal quarters, holding cells that seemed to use ropes and tailsmen to keep something in.
Though they were all empty, broken open from the inside.
What were they doing here that required this many cells, surely not me and my family?
Maybe those humanoids Shuuki, like the ones inside Kuusetsu. That's the closest thing I can think of.
Walking into one of the rooms that contained one of those cells, this one showed the obvious signs of being broken open, just like the rest.
At the side was a desk with documents and an open computer with files all with a series of numbers on them.
At the foot of the desk was a chair flipped on its side and the body of a researcher beside it. Blood flowed from the bite mark on her side as her skin grew paler and paler.
I lightly tapped her body with my foot to see if she was alive and to get any answers from her, but all I got was nothing.
I shrugged my shoulders as I stepped up, not before picking up the chair and sitting down on it, then went to the computer and went through the files she left open.
I skimmed through each file as well as taking a few glances at the open documents in front of me that held only a single picture of a Humanoid Shuuki.
Though more than all have been listed as missing. I got bored of reading all this pointless stuff, so I got up to check somewhere else but as I shifted out of my chair, a photo caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
I moved some of the documents that were in the way as I took a good look at the photo.
It was a beautiful Humanoid Shuuki with lilac hair and blue eyes, even in her dishevelled and somewhat broken state, the character was familiar to me.
It was one of the Humanoid Shuuki we captured and it is now inside Kuusetsu.
What was her name again?
Nino? No.
I moved the photo slightly away from the text that was being covered. Naon Yuno, that was her name.
There was not much useful information here about anything, all it talked about was what they did to her, nothing noteworthy.
The screams continued as alarms blared through the facility as I walked through the long and wide hall that was littered with bodies of researchers and my small wolves feasting on the bodies.
A researcher burst through a door and quickly closed it behind her as tiny wolves banged against its surface, almost throwing the woman off her feet.
Without looking at me, she sprinted towards the exit, which was past me. She didn't get far as my hand blurred forward and gripped her neck, freezing her in place as she thrashed around in a panic.
Fear was etched on her face, "...P-Please..."
I tilted my head to the side slightly, "Take me to the most important room in this facility"
"Y-Yes" she said quickly.
Slowly, I released my hold on her as two small wolves flanked her, baring their teeth at her in a silent warning.
She took slow, fearful steps away before turning and leading me in the opposite direction, I followed close behind with the two wolves on either side of her.
I would spot her body shaking as she gripped her own arm to calm her nerves. Though the screams echoed off the walls, the blood and bodies littered on the walls and floor did little to calm her down.
"Tell me" I said as the door not too far from us started to bang loudly, "What is that you trying to achieve here"
She didn't turn to me but her body visibly flinched at the sound of my distorted voice, masking any trace of who I truly am.
"W-We were trying to p-push beyond the human limit, w-we tried extracting the power inside the peaches at first and started to inject it into a-animals" she said.
"But the results, W-were just abominations that looked more like a mutation of Shuuki than anything else, we almost lost hope in achieving anything further, further than even Ren Yamashiro" She stopped and slowly turned to me while keeping her head lowered.
"It wasn't until we discovered a sudden spike in Mato that our hopes were reignited" she said as her eyes finally looked up at me with a strange glint of obsession.
"A family of four that had a foreign energy emanating from them, the Shuuki hesitated to get near us or rather the family"
"They were the answer we were looking for-" She didn't finish her sentence as her head came flying off with a swipe of my finger.
I could already guess what they did so there's no point in letting her continue. They captured my family and likely split them up for different tests which is why William turned the way he is.
They mixed the energy inside the peaches in his body, which must have mutated his body into a Humanoid Shuuki mixed in with the negative trait of cursed energy.
I have yet to discover what they did to my mother and father, I have yet to know what they had planned for me.
Though I did just kill my guide so that's kinda on me for allowing my emotions to get the better of me.
Meh, who cares, time to find another guide.
I walked past the headless corpse of the researcher as my wolves devoured her flesh, towards the banging door.
My thoughts went back to that glint of obsession she had, did she seriously get that obsessed over their research blooming into a new energy source?
I shook my head, human greed goes beyond what most think. It's no surprise that they'll hurt their own to achieve greater power in a delusion of being good.
Humanity is just as corrupted as ever in this world as in the previous one. Even if I destroy this organisation, another would take its place and repeat the process I so hate.
They learn, though only for a limited amount of time before a newer generation believes they have the answer or believes it was a lie.
Only by destroying the whole of humanity and replacing it with something else can there be no corruptive organisation.
That's my belief and obviously there will be those who believe this is the wrong way to go or the right way.
I reached the banging door and pulled it open as a dishevelled researcher stumbled out and landed on my chest.
She held her forehead from the pain of head-butting my chest before her eyes looked up at me as fear and panic grew on her face.
"W-Who are you?" she questioned quietly.
I placed a hand on her shoulder as she flinched from the contact. Behind my mask, I gave her a sweet smile, "You have been promoted to my tour guide, congratulations"
"Huh?!" Her expression froze, she blinked several times as she processed what I said.
"Tour guide?" she repeated.
I pulled her out of the doorway and lightly pushed forward, "Take me to the most important place in this facility"
She furrowed her brow at me and was about to refuse, but her eyes landed on everything around us, the bodies, the blood, the small wolves devouring the flesh, the occasional screams that seemed more distant and less.
"If you want to end up like the rest then you will show me" I said right into her ear, poisoning her movements and any attempt to strike me.
"Y-Yes" she replied quietly.
She led me ahead as the screams came to a halt, seems she was the last one left, but I do sense a second presence and they seem to be slightly different from human and more Shuuki.
A Humanoid Shuuki?
Guess luck's on my side.
We came to a steel door with a hand scanner, "I'll unlock it"
"No" I said before destroying the door with a few dismantles.
I stepped up to the doorway and glanced inside, it was a barely lit room with a foul smell, judging by the way the researcher was covering her nose, so I'm glad I'm wearing a mask.
"You are no longer of use" I said before pointing my palm at her as a discharge of electricity shot out and crashed against her.
Her screams bounced off the wall before the electricity ceased, leaving behind a burnt corpse that flopped on the ground.
I lifted my foot and smashed it down on her head, ensuring that she was properly dead so no information would be leaked about what had happened.
Speaking of information leaks.
A small wolf trotted over to me, answering to my silent command, "Destroy all the cameras here and make sure there is no way they could trace me"
The wolf barked before running off.
Turning back to the room, I entered as I spotted the light switch beside the door. Turning on the lights, I was faced with something I expected.
Both my mother and father were dead, turned into something out of some butterfly collection that some people keep.
Their chests were open with their organs neatly placed on a table with a few already in pieces.
This outcome was something I expected but I did force myself to look away no matter how much my emotional side kept screaming to blow it all up.
I walked over to the bodies of my parents and got them down from the wall, placing my hand on their shoulders, I lit them a flame, and within seconds they turned to ash.
"Change" swapping out Kashimo's technique for Uro's, I brought the vase that contains Williams ashes before I manipulated the air to smoothly travel their ashes into the vase.
Closing the vase up, I sank it into my shadow and walked out of the room without a word.
I pulled the armour off my left arm and ripped my arm off before tossing it behind me into the room where my parents were held.
Using RCT, I repaired my arm and put the armour back over it and continued forward.
Letting out a long sigh, I made my way to the suspected Humanaoid Shuuki I sensed.
All the researchers were dead as I sensed no one living in here other than the one I was heading to.
I stopped before a sealed door as I placed my palm on it a slice it open revealing a barely lit room with the only source of light being the ceiling light shining down on the humanoid Shuuki woman.
She lay in a cradle position, as her appearance looked rough compared to her soft face that was etched with exhaustion.
Slowly her eyes opened her pink eyes went well with her purple hair and single horn that stuck out from the side of her head. Her hair was tied in a motherly braid
"W-Who a-are you?" she questioned as she made no move, only staring at me with mild suspicion and curiosity.
Walking to the ropes that were covered in talismans, I swiped my hand down at the barrier shattering the ropes, which dropped to the ground.
"Your saviour" I said simply as I supported her body with one hand around her as I poured RCT through her, repairing any damage she had in her body.
With my other hand, I formed a ball of water in my hand and brought it close to her mouth.
"Drink, you need it" I said as she leaned forward to drink the liquid.
She closed her eyes as she savoured the taste of cool water. After several seconds, she pulled back as she blinked up at me, "...Thank you"
I nodded, "Can you stand?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but I'll try" she replied.
I slowly stood her up as her legs wobbled a lot before slumping into my embrace, her cheeks flushed slightly,
"...Sorry" she said quietly.
"It's fine, I'll just carry you" I said, bringing her into a princess carry as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
I walked us out of the facility and into the open with the veil still there and no disturbance at all. Walking through the woods, I dismissed all my shadows as they returned to me.
Reaching the edge of the veil as it slowly began to retract I turned to the silent woman in my arms, who was watching everything with silent wonder.
"What's your name by the way?" I asked as she turned to me.
"Shion Kurotsuki" she said with a sweet smile, "Thank you for taking me away from that horrible place"
She looked at me, trying to see through the sockets for any details of my face, "May I know the name of my saviour?"
"Xicor Samiel" I replied.
Her smile grew wider, "Then I'll be in your care, lord Xicor"