"This should be far enough… I doubt anyone can track me here."
After wandering deep into the forest, so deep that even he didn't know where he was anymore, Yuuki finally stopped.
He sat down after finishing a bit of the food he'd bought, settling on a patch of relatively level ground. His thoughts turned to one thing: how to summon that "demon" again.
"Maybe I should try… meditating?"
He had no idea what to do exactly, so he decided to attempt one of those methods he vaguely remembered from browsing forums back on Earth.
"Clear your mind… feel the power within…"
He tried to center himself, pushing away the ever-present burning pain beneath his skin. But for someone who'd never truly meditated before, the attempt quickly backfired. The more he tried not to think about the pain, the more sharply he became aware of it. That pain brought up memories. The memories stoked the hatred. And the hatred,
"Aaargh!"
The rage ignited the Wrathflame. In a sudden burst, black flames erupted from his body, turning him into a human torch. Though the fire didn't destroy his body, the pain it brought was searingly real. He screamed in agony, desperately trying to calm his emotions and redirect his thoughts. After a long struggle, he finally managed to suppress the raging flames again.
Unfortunately, the clothes he'd just put on had been reduced to ashes. Naked again, Yuuki glanced down at his scorched body and clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Damn it…"
Still, he was in the wilderness. No one around. He could deal with being naked. He looked at the plastic bag with his food, thankfully, it had been far enough away from the flames to survive. At least he wouldn't starve.
Taking a long breath, Yuuki tried again, this time doing the opposite. He didn't try to force calmness. He just let his thoughts wander freely.
A thousand scattered thoughts flitted across his mind, none lingering for long. And as they drifted away like a receding tide, so too did the burning pain that clung to his body. Eventually, a surprising stillness came over him. In that moment of clarity, he sensed it.
There was something else, something beyond his body, yet connected to him.
No, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't "something." It felt like another version of himself. Not inside him, but existing… somewhere unknown.
When he focused his awareness on it, he truly felt as if his self had been split in two, his consciousness now linked to a second body.
And this wasn't a hallucination.
Yuuki opened his eyes and saw it, standing right in front of him.
A tall, black figure cloaked in something like bandages, wings sprouting from its back, its body coiled in black mist and flames that radiated raw hatred and killing intent.
A demon. Or something that looked exactly like one.
"So… this is it. This is the 'demon.' That's actually a pretty fitting name."
Yuuki stared in awe.
"So the true power of an Ajin… is something like a Stand?"
Having watched JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the comparison came naturally. A humanoid figure summoned by the will of its user, what else could it be?
"Stands usually have names… what should I call mine? 'Black Demon' sounds too plain… Hmm… how about 'Blackflame Demon'? Yeah. That works."
Satisfied, he began testing how to control this new body. At first, it was chaotic. Managing two bodies and two perspectives was disorienting. Often, when he meant to move the Blackflame Demon, his own body would twitch instead. Even when he succeeded in moving it, the immense difference in strength and speed made coordination nearly impossible.
At one point, he accidentally had the demon stab him straight through the heart.
He died. Again. Just like that.
Still, after spending an entire night practicing, he gradually got used to it.
The Blackflame Demon's physical abilities were far beyond human. One swipe of its claw could shatter thick tree trunks. A single thrust pierced deep into solid stone. It could leap more than ten meters high. Its running speed rivaled wild animals built for speed. And when it flapped its fiery wings, it soared into the sky.
Even more terrifying was the Wrathflame that cloaked its body. At a glance, the fire didn't seem to radiate heat, but the moment it touched any object, its true nature was revealed. Dirt, wood, rock, metal, whatever its claws grazed, it disintegrated instantly into vapor.
However, the Blackflame Demon wasn't without limitations.
It wasn't intangible like the Stands from JoJo. It had a physical body. It left footprints when it walked. It had to navigate around obstacles. If trapped in a room, it couldn't phase through walls, it would have to burn them down.
Worse still, it had a time limit.
Every time he summoned it, the black mist-like particles shedding from its form indicated its gradual disintegration. The Wrathflame only accelerated this decay, constantly burning away the mysterious material that made up its body.
At most, it could remain active for two to three minutes before it collapsed.
Yes, he could summon it again right after, but there was always a half-second to one-second gap between summons. And in real combat, that gap could be fatal.
Unless Yuuki could train himself to instantly summon it or figure out how to restore its body mid-fight, this would remain a serious weakness.
He still needed to test its durability, and how many times he could summon it in quick succession. But before he could get to that,
Barking.
He froze.
Dogs. Somewhere in the forest.
He turned his head toward the sound, but the dense trees blocked his view. Frowning, he didn't hesitate. He summoned the Blackflame Demon and had it take flight.
The sun had yet to rise. Though the horizon was beginning to lighten, the forest was still shrouded in darkness. He wasn't worried about being spotted.
From above, using the demon's sharper senses, he quickly spotted movement, human figures moving through the trees. Beyond the forest, the road was lined with police cars.
Yuuki's heart sank.
They'd found him.
Of course they had. Uryū Ryūnosuke's crimes had been too shocking. The most recent murder was a full-blown family massacre, with a lone child survivor. The Fuyuki police were under massive pressure to act swiftly.
And the only clue they had? The boy's testimony about the "big brother demon."
Naturally, no one believed the story literally.
They assumed the boy had been traumatized into hallucinating. From the investigators' perspective, Yuuki was just another serial killer, perhaps Ryūnosuke's accomplice. Maybe the two had fought over some dispute, and Yuuki had killed him. The lack of a body? Just a clever disposal. Burned, buried, hidden, take your pick.
Fueled by urgency and a need to save face, the Fuyuki police had worked tirelessly all night. And thanks to their tracking dogs, they had already traced Yuuki's escape route.
He had stayed in the house long enough to leave a clear scent. And since he had traveled entirely on foot, his path was easy to follow.
And now… they were here.
<><>---------------------------------------
Add to Collection
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters