Vol 1 Chapter 9 (1/2)

Takahas.h.i.+, Demons, and Satsuki

Dark Forest. About 1 kilometer north of Satsuki’s house. It seems that demons inhabit that forest, so very few people go there.

By the time I reached Dark Forest Central, it was already 8:01.

Dammit, am I too late?

I desperately ran towards the ancient tree at the center of the Dark Forest,.

Truthfully speaking, the moment Takahas.h.i.+ hung up the phone, I desperately ran straight out. Originally, Silent Water and Dusty wanted to follow me, but I refused. Sure enough, the aura I felt from Takahas.h.i.+ today was indeed a demon. Since it’s a demon, I couldn’t let them go. I didn’t want them to get hurt.

Arriving at the ancient tree, I discovered that Takahas.h.i.+ sat on top of a rock and Satsuki was tied to the ancient tree. Surrounding the ancient tree, was drawings of strange runes, as if it was a preparation for some ceremony.

“You really came!” Takahas.h.i.+ looked at his phone: “Just on time, exactly 8:00.” The time showed on Takahas.h.i.+’s phone was probably slower.

“What… do you… think… you’re doing?” I asked while panting.

“Ah, obviously it’s to attain strong power.” Takahas.h.i.+’s usual handsome face, now looked to be as ugly as a demon.

“Why… Satsuki?”

“That’s obviously because she’s very suitable to be my power source.”

“Lin Xiang, just leave quickly. Don’t worry about me.” Satsuki shouted from the top of the tree.

“What does that mean?” By now, my strength have basically recovered.

“Simply put, my slave. After finis.h.i.+ng the ceremony, she’ll obey me. As for me, I’ll have her go and seduce some capable people, after which, I’ll have them killed, and obtain their power.”

Relying on killing to increase their power? This is practically the same as demons.

“Why are you tell me all these?” Satsuki will become your slave? Don’t joke with me. Dammit, why did Takahas.h.i.+ became like this.

“To someone who’s about to die, why would I need to keep it a secret. I’ll let you die knowing everything. Did you know, Lin Xiang, at the beginning, I had wanted to court her, but she was too timid, so there’s no way for me to have a proper conversation with her. So, I wanted to take my time, and bit by bit, open her heart. But during this few days, you became close to Satsuki, and disrupted my plans. During the mock battles lesson, I increased the level of the demons. But to my surprise, you managed to avoid its attacks. Now, she’s able to chat with me normally. I realised, Satsuki had fallen for you, dammit. So I had no other choice but to do it the hard way.

The one who Satsuki likes is you! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Dammit, Takahas.h.i.+, all this time, the way you treated me kindly, were all a lie? Dammit.

“Lin Xiang, to be able to become the sacrifice for this ceremony, you should feel honored.” While speaking, he launched fire magic; a fireball at me.

I quickly dodged.

“I knew it. Lin Xiang, you’ve changed. Your speed has increased. However….” Just as Takahas.h.i.+ finished speaking, a burst of golden magic appeared behind me. No matter where I ran or what I did, I couldn’t shake it off. Awhile later, a bunch of silver swords came flying out of it.

s.h.i.+t, so many swords. How am I supposed to dodge them all?

With a roll, I managed to dodge a wave of attack; then as he initiated the 2nd wave of attack, I took cover behind the tree.

*Ka-ca.* With a thud sound, the big tree fell to the ground.

That golden magic’s attack power was nothing to joke about.

“Lin Xiang.” Satsuki anxiously shouted from the side.

“Dammit.” Takahas.h.i.+ got a little angry since his attacks couldn’t land.

Soon after, a series of water, lightning, and fire magic came aiming for me but I still dodged all of it.

At this moment, Takahas.h.i.+ was running of patience as well: “Lin Xiang, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I dare you to stop hiding.”

“Takahas.h.i.+, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I dare you to not use magic.” You idiot, when you’re using magic, how can I not hide. Do you think I’m stupid?

“Fine, Lin Xiang, I’ll take up your challenge.” Takahas.h.i.+ said as such, and stopped his magic attacks and ran towards me.

You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I definitely won’t forgive you. I made a promise to nerdy Lin Xiang that I would protect Satsuki. Even if it’s you, as long as you hurt her, then I’ll defeat you with my own hands.

I came out of hiding, and ran at Takahas.h.i.+.

Takahas.h.i.+ threw a straight punch at me. I blocked, and returned a punch back. His reaction speed was very fast as well; managed to dodge my punch, and followed it up with an elbow attack to my face.

As I dodge, I threw a punch to his stomach and it connected. He moved back two steps while clutching his stomach.

“Takahas.h.i.+, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.” I raised my hands, with the intention of beating him down. Suddenly, Satsuki cried out: “Watch out.”

*Siii~~* A black sword suddenly pierced my abdomen from behind.

“Ah~~~” As I collapsed to the ground, I saw Takahas.h.i.+ laugh sinisterly: “ Well~ hahaha. Lin Xiang, you’re really stupid, did you actually think that I’d fight you barehanded?

“Lin Xiang~~~” Satsuki desperately tried to break free from the rope but she was firmly tied.

“b.a.s.t.a.r.d… the one Satsuki liked was you…. at first I intended to allow Satsuki to go out with you, but, as the way you are now, you’re not worthy of Satsuki.” I shouted loudly.

d.a.m.n, it hurts. Was this the strength of a demon? Was this guy possessed by a demon?

“Like me?” Takahas.h.i.+ looked at me with doubtful eyes and then laughed afterwards: “Hahaha, you worthless person, are you begging for mercy? But, such a shame. Since you know everything, you need to die now. After I get that power, I shall become a new generation of king, and only I, will be able to save this world that’s filled with demons.”

“Right now you’re a demon.” Satsuki was crying: “Lin Xiang, Lin Xiang… please be safe. Takahas.h.i.+ n.o.buhiko, you a.s.shole.”.

“You s.l.u.t, take the chance while you still can to yell all you want. Afterwards, you’ll be submitting to me.”

“Lin Xiang… Lin Xiang… listen. Leave me alone and run now while you still can. Listen Lin Xiang, I like you. These past few days, I realised, the one I like is you. Do you know why I fell for Takahas.h.i.+? That’s because every time you’re in trouble, he’ll always help you.” Since I was in a lot of pain, I couldn’t clearly hear what Satsuki was saying: “Lin Xiang, leave quickly, even if I really turn into his puppet and lose my conscious, please remember. I, Satsuki Risa, really like… Lin Xiang….”

Dammit Satsuki, what’re you trying to say? I can’t hear any of it. But can your expression not look so sad?

“Okay, Lin Xiang. Now, with you as the sacrifice, I’ll start the ceremony. In your final dying moments, you’ll be able to witness Satsuki become my puppet.” Takahas.h.i.+ turned around and a big black magic array appeared, immediately followed by Satsuki’s screams of suffering. Awhile later, the screams stopped. From the looks of it, she must have fainted.

Dammit, am I really going to just die like this? It’s only just a little stab.

I used all my strength to move my left hand to my wound. Looks like it’s a serious injury. Dammit.

“Woof~~~” Dusty’s voice rang in my ear.

Dusty?

“Master, master are you alright?” Silent Water hurriedly ran to me and used water magic to heal me.

“Spirits?” At this moment, Takahas.h.i.+ had noticed Silent Water and immediately afterwards, as if he had gotten mad: “Human form spirits? Is this real? This… this… isn’t she too beautiful?”

Silent Water fiercely glared at the person who did this to me. Afterwards, she applied a ma.s.s of water onto my abdomen and stood up.

Ah~~~ it’s blue.

Today, Silent Water’s dress was blue. Coincidentally, my head was right under her dress.

Seriously, what’s wrong with me? In this crucial moment, I still was in the mood to look at Silent Water’s underwear?

“The one who harmed master, must not be forgiven.” Silent Water’s voice was filled with anger.

This is my first time seeing the angry side of Silent Water.

“Oh? Oh? Oh? Angry? The human spirit is angry? Ha ha, this is fun. Hey babe, do you want to follow me? Together we can save this world?” Takahas.h.i.+ crazily said.

“I’ve nothing to say to the one who hurt my master.” As she said this, she released streams of high pressure water jets, each with speed of a firing laser gun.

Takahas.h.i.+ easily dodged them and watched as those water jet streams pierced through seven or eight big trees. Takahas.h.i.+ seemed pleased: “Oh~~~ really impressive. I want you more and more as my spirit now. What else are you capable of? Bring them out, enlighten me.”

After Silent Water missed the water jets, she immediately switched to a stronger magic: Watersprout.

“Little Silent. You can’t, the current you can’t use such a strong magic.”

This isn’t the demon world, Silent Water. You can’t use too much magic.

As if Silent Water hadn’t heard me, two huge tornados rapidly went to attack Takahas.h.i.+.

Watersprout has quite an immense power. Moreover, when flanked from both sides,Takahas.h.i.+ wasn’t able to escape and was. .h.i.t straight on.

“Satsuki.” At this moment, I was very worried about Satsuki.

“Woof!” Dusty dragged Satsuki out.

“Satsuki.” Seeing that Satsuki was fine, I felt relieved.

“Satsuki, are you alright?” I shook the unconscious Satsuki but there was no response.

Even though it’s water magic, that strong attack still inevitably led to lots of dust.

“Not bad.” Suddenly, Takahas.h.i.+’s voice came from within the dust: “I really like you.” Takahas.h.i.+’s voice quieted down and the dust was blown away in a short time. In the middle of the dust, was a floating Takahas.h.i.+ who was surrounded by black smoke.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d had already changed into a demon. Dammit.

When Silent Water, who used that excessive amount of magic, saw that Takahas.h.i.+ was completely fine, she was taken aback. Once again, she attacked using high pressured water jets. At this moment, Takahas.h.i.+, who had his eyes shut, opened his eyes, and black lightning fired at Silent Water.

“Ah~~~~” Silent Water instantly fell to the ground. Her body still had some black electrostatic that went *zhi zhi*.

“Woof.” Dusty, who saw Silent Water collapse, was angry as well. It ran straight towards Takahas.h.i.+ but before it could even get close to him, it was. .h.i.t by a black lightning and flew more than 10 metres away.

“Little Silent! ? Dusty ! ?” As I saw Silent Water and Dusty collapse to the ground with many injuries, I got mad.

‘Brat, think carefully. This will burn your soul.’ Suddenly, Freed’s voice rang through my ears.

‘Uh, I know. So what if my soul is burned? As long as I can protect those I wish to protect, even if It leads to death, I wouldn’t mind it at all.’

‘Since this is the case, you can rest a.s.sured and do it. Since we’ve already died once, will there be anything that we dare to not do?’

‘Ah~~ that’s right.’ I stood up, and fearlessly laughed.

“What are you laughing about?” Takahas.h.i.+ asked.

“Hey~ Takahas.h.i.+. In the past, whenever I encountered a difficult situation, why did you helped me?” I asked.

“Ha?”

“Takahas.h.i.+, I’ve always thought of you as my best friend.”

“Don’t be stupid, stupid. That’s because you’re really weak and if I’m next you, I would look stronger, that’s all.” Takahas.h.i.+ indifferently answered. He seems certain of winning.

“No~~~ Takahas.h.i.+, it’s because you’re possessed by a demon. The Takahas.h.i.+ I know, is someone who’s kind, handsome, and popular with the girls.” I laughed: “We’re friends. Those so-called friends, don’t they put their friend back onto the right path if they step onto the wrong one?

“You talk too much.” When he finished speaking, a big lightning bolt shot down from the sky.

“How’s this possible?” Takahas.h.i.+ was shocked when he saw me absorbed the lightning.

“Thanks for the hospitality, Takahas.h.i.+, you’ve helped me once again.” What I meant by help, was of course referring to him giving me power, and reducing the burning of my soul.

White flames ignited from my hands.

“What? You know how to use magic? What’s that magic? What’s this oppressive feeling?” Takahas.h.i.+ instinctively felt fear, and stepped back a few steps.

“This time, it’s my turn to help you.” I said, then quickly ran towards the Takahas.h.i.+ who was planning to escape.

Then, with a straight punch, I hit Takahas.h.i.+.

Takahas.h.i.+ caught hold of my fist, but since it was covered with sacred fire, it instantly ignited his entire body.

“WAAAAH!!!!!! WAAAH!!!!!!” Takahas.h.i.+’s painful screams echoed throughout the deep forest.

Suddenly, I saw a black smoke drift out from Takahas.h.i.+’s body. It wanted to leave Takahas.h.i.+’s body, but once it came out, it was spread over by the sacred fire and disappeared in less then a second.

Following the disappearance of the demon, the sacred fire on Takahas.h.i.+’s body extinguished as well.

Takahas.h.i.+ was panting heavily at first, then he comfortably laid down on the ground: “Xiang~ Thank you.”

“Everything’s fine now?”

“Yeah, It’s fine now.”

“How did you know I was possessed by a demon?”

“Just a feeling”

“Ah~~ is that so.” Takahas.h.i.+ handsomely smiled like he always do: “Being possessed by a demon, was really such a scary thing.”

“Since when did it happened?”

“Two months ago, when we just started high school.”

“Why?”

“Not sure, it probably because I wanted to become stronger.” Takahas.h.i.+ sighed: “My brother, at his 2nd day of starting high school, was killed by a demon.”

So that was what happened. No wonder nerdy Lin Xiang had a feeling that ever since school started, Takahas.h.i.+ had changed.

“I wanted to become strong, strong enough to kill demons, but in the end, I didn’t expect that I would actually be possessed by a demon instead. That’s so ironic.”

“Does your family know?”

“Of course they knew. But they couldn’t do anything, furthermore, since my clan is famous. Since this sort of thing happened, it would disgrace my clan, so they decided to kick me out of the clan.”

“Is that so? So this was the reason you had to work.” I understood everything: “In that case, what’s your plan now?”

“I want to become stronger. I want to kill those hateful demons. Now that the demon possessing my body had been purged by you, I’m going back home to visit my old man and do closed-door training.” As he said that, Takahas.h.i.+ stood up and looked at me with a serious face: “Xiang, thank you. Even though I don’t know what magic you used to purge the demon in my body, I still must thank you.”