AN:
I JUST NEED TO CLARIFY THIS; KAZUTO'S EX GIRLFRIEND IS NOT ZARIYAH. READ THE PROLOGUE AGAIN, IT STATED THERE THAT ZARIYAH NEVER EXPERIENCE HAVING A BOYFRIEND. THERE'S A BIG TWIST TO THE STORY, SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ THIS. THERE'S A LOT TO REVEAL. ^_^
AND IT DOESN'T MEAN ZARIYAH WAS INTRODUCE IN THE STORY, THAT HER DEATH WAS FIRST SHOWN, IT DOESN'T MEAN SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO DIE BETWEEN HER AND KAZUTO.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. FEEL FREE TO FOLLOW ME~
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Chapter 25
The sight of dread was evident in our eyes when our bodies transported in the foot of the mountains of the Aokigahara forest. The taste of death drifted in the air and the stench of blood were present as we started to go deeper in the dense overgrown forest.
It was different from the Grionn forest which we found the five elves that's been captured by the bandits. In Grionn forest, you could feel that life and positive verves were the moment you entered the woodland. Grionn forest is the boundary of Klearione kingdom and the elven kingdom Haillouni.
But here in Aokigahara it was different. The moment we stepped in, we could already feel that our souls were slowly deteriorating. As if death itself were clinging to us.
I could already feel a lot of presences here in this vast wilderness to meet my eyes laid on this deep woodland. Even the trees were like beasts waiting for its opportunity to attack.
"Everyone, be on your guard. Protect the healers and the mages." I said in a low serious voice.
Everyone nodded at what I said. We were walking in a rectangle position where the mages and healers were inside the rectangle, and the knights and five elite warrior elves were positioned in the outline of the shape. Defense tactic Armagiddon.
My eyes were sharp and I was focusing on my <<Magic Perception>> skill. Ashgrif was gritting his teeth as he made careful steps into the ground. I was still riding my Ashgrif and beside me was Shouto who was starting to leak out his yokai energy. The knights and the five elite warrior elves unsheathed their swords while the healers and mages were tightly holding their staffs and wands.
The silence in the forest means that the place we were into was extremely dangerous. As we were about to make another step, birds loudly bawled and scurried away as fast as they can.
Then everyone became unsteady and silently panic because of the high tension in the atmosphere. Out of nowhere, twelve talisman papers were heading towards me and Shouto.
My eyes instantly widened in surprise as I saw it was coming towards us. The knights were too slow to parry it, so I instantly unsheathed my sword and cut every paper talismans which were aimed at my vitals.
When the blade of my katana clashed into the six papers, all of those talisman papers were as sharp as blades. In the corner of my eyes, I saw Shouto managed to make an ice wall in time but one talisman paper grazed his cheek. When I saw blood flowed out from his fresh wound, my eyes instantly turned into a diamond slit that was similar to a pupil of cat who will narrowed when day time.
"We're being ambush!" one of the knights stated.
"Aish Fes vie greiz iffe?!" the female warrior elf stated as she gritted her teeth.
[Tn: bastard, who is attacking us?!]
My golden glowing orbs gleamed at the direction were it was coming from. By just glancing at the papers I've immediately ordered <<Great Sage>> to analyze it. The attack was not coming from a magic, the paper talismans it was made of pure reiatsu, spiritual energy.
"Show yourself!" I shouted and my thick yokai aura <<Queen of Catastrophe>> was spreading in the deep forest.
I can already see the attacker in my magic perception, and she was only alone within the three hundred meters diameter. So this was the eerie feeling I've been feeling since the moment I've entered the forest. And I already analyzed what was happening and why there was the smell of blood and death in the air.
I already evaluated the situation of why we weren't getting attack by demons and yokai. It was because this person already killed every demons, monsters and yokai within the range of three hundred meters.
"Impressive! Both of you managed to defend yourselves from my paper blades, and you little girl, that's strong intimidating killing presence you've got! Quite interesting!" A voice a girl echoed in the forest.
Everyone were looking where that voice was coming from. My eyes were fixed in a specific oak tree in front of me. She was hiding behind that big tree.
"Of course we can! Your attacks are weak, and don't call me little girl! You stupid brat!" I said in an irritated voice.
We all heard a grunting snort as a girl the same age as me, walked out from the tree she was hiding from. The girl has a soft long silky black hair that reached her waist, and very beautiful doll like features that can allure men in her young age. She was wearing a red leather jacket and matched with black fitted ripped jeans.
Confidence graced in everyone's expression when they saw that the attacker was just a young girl like me. The knights instantly went berserk and lunge towards the girl. As the girl saw the approaching knights, an evil smirk graced her lips.
"She's just a child, no need to be afraid!" Jet said and some of the knights agreed with what he said.
The girl laughed at my knights and the elves, she then released a very powerful spiritual energy that throws back my party members. By sheer force of her reiatsu, she was able to throw them away.
"Novice." She said in a cold voice with killing intent.
After she sent out her thick blood lust, Shouto immediately use his power and sent ice pillars with spikes in its ends towards our assailant. The girl instantly blocked Shouto's attack by punching the ice pillars and shattering it to pieces. Such brute strength surpasses my <<Self Reinforcement Ability>> skill and my enhanced strength.
Under Shouto's serious façade reflects his surprise expression. The young girl the same age as me was capable of destroying his ice power with just sheer force alone.
"Stop it~ it's cold mister yokai~" the girl said in a teasing voice and she was smiling as if flirting to Shouto.
My heart was pounding twice its normal rate when she instantly recognized that Shouto was a yokai. And the confuse expressions in the eyes of my party members were adding the uneasiness and agitation in my heart.
If the king and the crown prince knew about this, that Shouto was a yokai, both of them will raise hell just to destroy me and the Silverglaze family.
The five elite elves lunged for their attack as well. They were moving in synchronized attacks and they were executing it with flawless actions. But the girl just giggled like she was just playing with the five elves.
Shouto was about to join the farce when I stopped him from doing it.
"Stop Shouto." I commanded him and he silently obeyed my command.
I instantly locked my eyes on her figure and used my appraisal skill <<God's Eyes>> at her. The girl turned her attention to me with widened eyes.
[Name:] Machi Vermillion
[Age:] 12
[Race:] Human
[Class:] Destroyer
[Job:] Thief / Assassin
[Skill:] Magic Perception, enhanced perception, enhanced eyesight, enhanced hearing, enhanced speed, enhanced endurance, enhanced strength, steel body, paper manipulation, paper creation, dagger mastery, excellent throwing skill, lock target, tracking papers, immense paper creation, paper of death, paper dance, complete stealth, erase presence, tracking expert, paper barriers
[Unique skills:]
Focus body, Surface Edge, overpower
[Title:]
11th member of the absolute killers, rank 11th scorpions, one woman army, walking death, paper dancer, grim reaper, yokai exterminator, grand thief, Vanquish, Vivacious sweet eater, binge sweet eater
[Agility:] S
[Strength:] AAA
[Intelligence:] B
[Reiatsu:] S
[Overall:] S
[status:] Poisoned (Gorgon and Chimera potent venom)
My eyes widened in shock when I saw that she was an S rank individual. Even though I was surprise, I didn't let it show in my expression. Instead I continued to remain calm and compose.
She was a member of 12 absolute elite killers, the deadly Scorpion. They were a well known crime group that accepts assassination missions for commission. The group was considered the top one in the blacklist in the bingo book of the bounty hunters.
Deadly scorpion or also known as Dai Sanji was the most dangerous and wanted organization. And the one thing they love the most was killing and blood. And right now, this girl the same age as me, was a member and held her rank in the crime group. [Tn: The Catastrophe]
Many kingdoms would pay a large sum of gold for their heads. They were strong individuals that excelled in their own fighting skills. She was poisoned yet she could still stand up like nothing happened.
"What did you use earlier?! Why does it felt like you just molested me?!" the black haired girl whined at me, as if I stole her candy.
I immediately ordered <<Great Sage>> to analyzed her body and the poison, and come up with the recipe for the antidote of this girl's poison. If I lied to her, I will definitely face big consequences. And it would be the loss of the lives of my party members. They were not in the same level as this child and she can kill him and cut them off like a butter under a knife.
"Why would I molest you, you stupid brat?!" a shouted at her.
Her face turned red because of what I said and an irked vein popped in her head. She stomp her foot in the big oak branch like an annoyed brat.
"Just tell me already!" the black haired young lady said in annoyance and was impatient.
I raise one of my brows to her and snickered at what she said. When she saw me doing that, she became more infuriated.
"Fight me! Or else I'll kill all of your companions." She said like a brat bullying those who were weaker than her.
In this big mysterious world, there were many power houses existing. The supreme commanders of the yokai clans and the great demon lords were just one of those power houses.
Zerreinia held great military power because of their mage knights and their griffin squadron. The faeries were a race to never be taken lightly, including the seraphim who were claiming to be the superior beings. Elves that were favored with the goddess Galatea were a force to be reckoned with as well. And there's the deadly Scorpion, a group of excellent individuals, who kill and slaughter for enjoyment.
"Don't you dare lay your dirty finger on our mistress! You scoundrel!" Wakaba, the leader of the elite knights said in a protective voice.
"Yeah! You will have to go through us before you can kill our mistress!" Droy, Jet's brother stated and positioned himself in a defense stance.
"We will stop you!" all of them shouted and all of their fighting spirits were boosted.
Chivalry really exists in this world. I really appreciate it but I don't want these fools to loss their heads like what happened to Gael. I won't let that happen again.
"Stop me? Pass through all of you? I can do that without breaking a sweat." Machi was smiling as she said that and her confidence were unmatched. Her confidence level was max as well just like mine.
I have no choice but to accept her. Shouto and Ashgrif have higher chance of surviving this girl's attacks but I have already come up with seven plans on how to make this girl aide us in our conquest in finding the antidote. With her on our side, beating the demons and monsters in this deadly forest would just be a walk in the park for her.
"Sure!"
When I said that with just a blink of an eye her figure appeared behind me. She passed through Ashgrif and Shouto's enhanced perception, she was really a powerful opponent.
The girl sent a straight punch to my face and I immediately blocked her attack by crisscrossing my arms. A groan escaped from mouth, her attack was so strong and powerful. If I didn't focus my reiatsu in my arms, my bones would already shattered and broken.
It was painful but still bearable. The violet bruise was the proof of Machi's powerful frontal punch. I was thrown away from my earlier position which was sitting in the back of Ashgrif.
I did an aerial maneuver and made an elegant and graceful somersault and stood up with pride and power.
My party members were shocked and concern ran down to their system as they tried to approach me. But I just wave my hands at them as if telling them I am alright.
"Nice~! You have nice reflexes!" she said in a happy voice and then sent again seven talisman papers straight towards me.
I can tell that it was the same papers which were as sharp as a blade and as heavy as metal. I tightened my grip in the hilt of my katana as I readied myself for the incoming attack.
"<<Black lotus sword technique: Kurohitsugi>>" with a couple of slashes, I felt that the papers were as heavy as metal and as sharp as a blade. [Tn: Black Coffin]
Black aura surrounded the papers and fall in the ground like lifeless leaves that dances in the blow of the wind.
"So you know the ancient language as well." Machi said with amusement. "blocking alone won't do!"
Machi released her violet reiatsu and the wind instantly picked up and surged around her. my party members were worried but for some unknown reason they can't move because of the intense sheer force coming from the girl.
Ashgrif leaped to my side, and made a low growling tone that made Machi look at him with amazement.
"Wow! I want that puppy!" Machi happily said as if Ashgrif was not a big deal to her.
I snickered at her remarks and ruffled Ashgrif's fur and whispered to him.
"Buy me some time, please Ashgrif." I said in soft voice and the majestic wold purred and nudged his snout at my neck, as if saying yes to my request.
Ashgrif glared at Machi and his eyes were now glowing red and his fangs were gritting. An immense power leaked from Ashgrif as he made a very loud roar.
Countless wind blades darted towards Machi, but the black haired girl didn't bother to dodge it. instead, her reiatsu turned into countless of talisman papers and were rotating around her.
"<<Perfect Paper Barrier>>" Machi said, and all of the wind blades were deflected.
The mages that I've brought with me, instantly summoned a five layered barriers to protect my party members from the wind blades that were deflected because of Machi's paper barriers.
"Tch!" I snickered as I evaluate our situation.
'Great Sage, authorize usage: Deus Ex Machina!' I ordered the great sage which is my support system for my abilities. 'Start the activation!'
[Bzzt! Quantum command approved! Changing Main system to Auto-pilot attack mode! System command starting to execute! Lift physical capability restrictions! Lift the processing capability restrictions! Exceeding limits! Limiter breakthrough emplementation!]
The a vast mysterious red power which made of combining the magic essence in my body and my reiatsu was leaking out from my body. It is the very first time to use <<Great Sage>> support system mode in combat.
[Bzzt! Enemy sighted! Waiting for further command!] The toneless robotic male voice announced inside my head.
Machi who was very focus on using her paper barriers looked at me with amusement in her eyes. everyone eyed me as a pillar of power surged up around me and sky rocketed. My silver hair slowly turning jet black.
'Fight and survive,' I commanded in cold voice that the coldness of ice would pale in comparison.
Countless transparent status screens popped up and appeared in mid air as countless of equation forming. Everyone were wondering what was going on, and Shouto who was annoyed with all of the chattering of our party members yelled at them to shut up.
Ashgrif continued to cast his magic barrage for me to take time in deploying my self defense mode.
[Deploying Status augmentation release! Engaging auto-pilot mode on! Time limit invoke: one minute!]
Commands coming from my support system were now employed and it was echoing inside my head like a broken cassette. It felt like I am some sort of robot with all these system commands.
"Unlimited burst! <<Auto-Take Over>>!"
After I said that, my presence was pulled over and <<Great Sage>> was now in possession of my body. All I can do now is watch what <<Great Sage>> is about to do.
After successfully invoking auto-pilot mode, Ashgrif stopped from attacking Machi. The paper charmer turned her paper talismans back into her reiatsu. Her face turned serious as she looked at me.
"Why does it feel like you are a different entity now?" she asked.
What she said was dead on point, the own controlling my body was great sage. The black hair was one of the sign that the system command: protect was flawlessly emplimented in my system command.
"What happened to mistress' hair?!" one of the mages said as she looked at my body with confuse expression.
"What strong power coming from mistress! If a lot of people see mistress now, they would definitely regret calling her a trash!" Wakaba stated with amazement in his voice.
<<Great Sage>> didn't waste anytime because using auto-pilot fight mode has only one minute limitation. She charged immediately and sent a powerful punch coming from above Machi. The paper user noticed it, and immediately dodged <<Great Sage>> hitting the ground on the process.
As the punch strike the ground, a powerful quake was generated from the impact. A huge crater was obvious to our eyes and cracks and crevices appeared on the scarred land. Buchimaru, the supreme commander of the mist, would definitely kill me because of what I am doing to his land.
Machi tried to deliver a round house kick, but <<Great Sage>> easily caught her foot, and plunged her to the ground. a clash of power echoed in the vast deadly forest. Great Sage was now comparable and equally rivaled Machi, the paper charmer.
"<<Fire Magic: Dragon's Breath>>" a huge torrent of flames manifested in Machi's body, surging like a cyclone.
She instantly invoked a barrier to protect herself from being burn and then turned her reiatsu into countless of paper talismans.
"Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! Nine cuts: <<Shinigami>>" Machi invoked her spell, as she throw paper talismans towards me and <<Great Sage>>.
The papers turned into imperial soldiers with nagitana in their hands, emanating a strong aura coming from them. When the puppets saw me and << Great Sage>>, they were like puppets lunging towards me and my support system with full strength and power.
<<Great Sage>> expression was blank and emotionless. No fear and trepidation were evident in my features. My support system raised my hands in a pushing gesture as my red reiatsu gathered in my hands.
"Selecting skills... <<Spell Intercept: Raikoho>>!" a female toneless robotic voice said.
The imperial puppet soldiers stopped from their tracks because a huge amount of electricity ran in their system, destroying the medium of Machi's manipulation ability in the process.
The blade of my katana sliced its way to the soldiers and turning them back to shredded papers.
[Time limit employ! Auto-pilot disengaged! Shutting down!]
Even with using the maximum outburst of my <<Great Sage>> was still not enough to give a deadly blow to Machi. She was a real monster with monstrous powers. Defeating her would just be a wishful thinking.
My hair turned back from silver, and my eyes stopped from glowing red. I felt powerless and all of my magic essence was drained out.
"Nice! You are quite strong!" Machi only got a small bruise out from all of my support system's attack.
I sheathed my sword back from its scabbard because that fight was enough to prove to her that I am not a push over. The bruise I receive from her was fully healed because I use my self regeneration ability.
"Can we stop this already?" I told her in a bored voice.
One of her brows rose in an arch, and didn't like what I said. I could already imagine that an irked vein popped in her head.
"And why? Scared of me?" she said like a spoiled rich kid and laugh like a stupid brat.
I have dealt with a lot of kids like her, and all of them were easy to read. I just heaved a deep sigh and looked at her with tired eyes. There were a lot of things far more important than this fight. And we came here not to fight this girl but to gather ingredients for the poison.
"Because it will be tiring for the both of us. And you are poisoned anyway, so stop it already." I revealed to her.
When I said that, the laughter coming out from her mouth ceased to exist. And her expression darkened with she looked at me. The killing intent she was realizing now, made the earth beneath our feet trembled.
"How did you know?" she said in a slow and low authoritative voice.
Lying would be futile because I can see that she can see through lies.
"Because I have the ability to see my opponent's status. If you stop attacking us, I can even help you concoct the antidote for the poison in your body." I said and tried my best to negotiate with her.
Machi, the paper user doubted what I told her. So I rummage my <<Dimensional Box>> and get the item that would help me the most. Negotiating with her was my plan A. Helping her with concocting the antidote for her poison was plan B. and what I am going to do now was plan C. This how I try to win her support in gathering the materials I needed.
I throw to her a red pouch and she easily caught it. The elves and my party members were curious of what's inside of that pouch. Machi looked at me before opening the pouch and fished out one of the chocolate chips which were inside the bag of treats.
"What is this?" she asked in suspicion as she sniffed the black foreign sweet in her hand.
I wanted to laugh because of their ignorance, but I masked my expression.
"It's a bag of sweets that I personally made. That's one of a kind and made from the most expensive ingredients in this world. Try it." I told her with a sneer smile creeping in my lips.
When she heard the word sweet, I saw her eyes sparkled but she tried her best to masked it off with her cold façade. And she perfectly did it with finesse. I applaud her ability to easily switch her expressions.
"Sweet?! Don't you lie to me! What's the catch?" she said as she stared back at the chocolate chips.
"Don't kill us and also help us in gathering ingredients. If you do that, I will help you concoct an antidote to your poison and I can give you five more pouches of chocolates." I tried my very best to negotiate with her. And my party members were sweat dropping and were praying that the girl would agree with my bargain.
"Accept it, Machi. She's not lying." A masculine voice echoed in the forest.
Another individual appeared but I can't locate him with my perception ability. My party members were looking where that voice was coming as well. Machi turned around and stared at the huge boulder.
"Accept the sweets?" Machi asked in confusion.
"Not that!" Machi companion stated.
Out from nowhere he instantly appeared to us, he was handsome and that's what I noticed first. Blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. he was wearing a sleeveless shirt with a print of black scorpion on the front of his shirt. There were chains in his hands and he was standing at 156 cm.
"Then accept what?" Machi asked the man who just made his appearance in an annoyed bratty voice.
My companions and I just kept our mouth shut, because we can already feel a great surge of power emanating from this man. The two of them were a force to be reckoned with and if they become serious, they can easily wipe our team for less than thirty seconds.
"Accept her offer about concocting you the antidote for your poison. Don't forget that's the main reason we're here in Aokigahara forest to look for those ingredients. And we don't even know what we were looking for!" the blonde hair guy stated to the stupid brat.
After he said it, he took the pouch in Machi's hands and lunge at the chocolate chip. His eyes immediately widened in surprise when he tasted the chocolate. He then looked at me with amazement in his eyes.
"What's this?! It tastes very divine! This is the first time I've tasted this kind of sweet! Its very amazing!" he told me and the air of superiority surrounding him vanished.
"the sweet you just ate is called chocolates."
I told him and I secretly used my <<God's Eyes>> on him but he saw through my scheme and he just let me off and continued to munched at the bag of treats.
[Name:] Shalnark Chitose
[Age:] 16
[Race:] Human
[Class:] Destroyer
[Job:] Doom Bringer / Assassin
[Skill:] Magic Perception, enhanced perception, enhanced eyesight, enhanced hearing, enhanced speed, enhanced endurance, enhanced strength, steel body, dagger mastery, complete stealth, erase presence, tracking expert, string user ?????????
[Unique skills:]
God: Kantada String, Surface Edge, overpower ????????
[Title:]
8th member of the absolute killers, rank 8th scorpion, one man army, walking catalyst, doom bringer, grim reaper, deadly constrictor ???????
[Agility:] S
[Strength:] S
[Intelligence:] A
[Reiatsu:] S
[Overall:] S+
He was really strong, to the point that some of his skills were questioned mark. He was far more dangerous than this black haired young girl. A cold sweat ran in my back. Aokigahara is a deadly forest and these people in front of us were deadly as well.
Machi who doubted earlier instantly took back the pouch in the guy's hands and ate on of the chocolate chips. And just like the guy, her reaction was priceless. I would love to laugh at their faces but I tried not to, because I don't want to offend them. Right now, I am inferior to these two people.
"My god! I almost tasted all of the sweets in this world but this is the first time I've tasted this kind of sweet! It's the most delicious sweet I ever tasted!" she looked at me with sparkles reflecting in her eyes.
If earlier they were revealing their thick and dense killing intent, now it was different. They looked like harmless little kids and were fascinated by the power of my chocolates.
"Okay! I accept you're offer! We won't kill you and your companion. But in return give me the five pouches of what do you call this?" Machi asked and examine again the dark sweet in her hands.
"Chocolate." Shouto was the one who answered it.
"Yeah, give me five pouches of chocolates!" she declared with a big grin on her face and the man behind her was nodding in accordance.
"I will definitely give you all of my stocks of chocolates, but you will help me in hunting for materials and ingredients because I am going to concoct an antidote to a poison in return." I told them.
Machi was happy when she heard what I told her and nodded immediately and ate another piece of chocolate chips. I then turned my gaze at Shalnark and he nodded as well in my bargain.
"We will. If you promise to make an antidote for Machi's poison." The guy stated.
When I got their assurance, I smile graced my lips and I internally rejoice for the success of the negotiation. This is definitely the power of the chocolates. Even though they came from a dark organization, at this moment I don't have the ability to fight with them. I am inferior and still not good enough.
"Everyone! Shalnark and Machi, would be helping us in gathering the ingredients we are looking for! Please be nice to them and give them your at most respect!" I shouted at their eyes widened in shock from what I said.
Relief was plastered all over their faces, and it felt that the rocks that were burdening my heart were now lifted. Having these two formidable individuals in our side would definitely lessen the job.
But fear still crept beneath the surface of our calmness, but right now, finding the antidote's materials were our first priority. It doesn't matter if some killers aide us, as long as I can concoct the antidote and that the important matter here!
Just wait mommy, I will make the antidote as fast as I can!