Kaze stood above the sleeping figure of his niece, hesitant. He was conflicted about whether or not to wake the blissful girl. Right before, he'd asked Vander if he could watch over her for the morning. There was really no other option if he were to go on with his plan. And he was definitely not taking her with him.
"Of course, we already got 2 gremlins, one more would be no biggie. Maybe they'll even become friends." Vander replied with a smile, cleaning glasses.
After careful deliberation, Kaze woke his niece briefly, holding her bony shoulders up. Her head rose and fell.
"I'll be gone till the afternoon, I have matters to attend. Don't leave the Last Drop. If you need anything, don't be shy to ask Vander, ok?" Kaze said clearly.
"Ok…" she mumbled.
'Good enough,' he thought as he hurriedly left the Last Drop. His destination was certain.
The morning walk was noisy and dozens of minutes. The usual for the place called the Undercity. But his head was clear. He had only one goal in mind.
He stood before the Sludge Gang's base. A large two-story building.
"Knock knock!" he whispered. Then, he kicked the door down in one swift motion.
The clattering noise drew all the attention to him. Kaze scanned the room. People dressed in the classic undercity style with crop tops, colourful mohawks, piercings, and black lipstick. 7 sat around a table playing cards. 3 others were drunk in a corner. 1 was messing around with Chem-Tech stuff. Those were all the people on the floor. He knew that for sure.
He had a plan. It was pretty simple. Kill all these demons. Make them squeal a little bit. Go home.
"Doable," he muttered, cracking his neck as he stepped inside.
"Oi bastard, what do you think you're doing?" One punk asked, pointing in an immediate rage.
"I'll allow you some pleasures: breathing, screaming, the occasional begging. But more tor– punishment." he said aloud with an aloof face.
His audience turned from angry to confused to full blown laughter. Literal cackles.
"Look at this guy, he thinks he's someone. You better get out of here oldie, before we chop you into something even Ionia won't recognise!" One's cackle turned into a scary face.
Kaze paused his steps. He looked towards the speaker.
"You got the ugliness of a demon down, but your fear factor could use a bit more work." Kaze said, almost letting a smile slip.
The goons stopped laughing immediately.
Veins popped on the thug's face. He pulled out a gun. "You wanna say that again, shithead?"
"Jeez, I assumed you had enough common sense to know…" Kaze paused, staring him down, with hatred and intent. His lips twitched into a small smirk. "Dead people can't hear."
"Wh–" the thug choked. He looked at his chest. The tip of a blade protruded through it. As he collapsed to the ground, the other goons cursed and pulled out their weapons.
"This one was quite lucky, I was impatient. You guys… not so much," Kaze whispered. The three drinking thugs could hear just fine though. They swivelled.
Kaze stood there, wearing a spirit mask. The lights turned off simultaneously.
"The shadows are the hunter's playground. Through which the wind can blow unseen. The wind guides his arrows," Kaze's voice reverberated throughout the room.
Then the screams and gunshots began. Groans of pain and torture rung throughout the room. Kaze was silent and untraceable. Dodging bullets left and right, he left agonizing cuts in his wake. Nothing fatal, just debilitating.
Their screams grew quieter as their blood leaked.
A smart goon, the tinkerer, went upstairs to call for backup. More lambs to the blender.
They arrived with swinging Chem-Torches and large guns. The door closed behind them. Not of their doing.
One by one, their torches fell to the ground, leaving toxic glowing fluid eroding at the floor. The rapidly shooting guns did more harm to them than good. Screaming, cursing, begging, apologising, wasting their precious heartbeats on useless things. The silhouette showed no mercy to Azakana.
By the time it was over, not a single one lived. There was more blood outside than inside their bodies, littered with bullets and cuts. They did not have a great time.
Kaze's bloodlust ended whiles ago. So, he decided to end it early and return. The middle-aged man's face held no regrets. It was his job. Hunting demons.
He wiped his blade before sheathing it. He staggered as the adrenaline wore off. His hands were shaking. He took off his, mask. His vision was blurry.
'A bullet grazed me, and I'm too tired,' Kaze reflected, 'So my prime is already over?' he scoffed as he shook his head. 'To think I hoped to kill 1000 Azakana. I almost die 1000 times just to kill one.'
He needed to clean himself before returning to the Last Drop.
'Babette's Bathhouse?'