Chapter 29: Vehitoshi

"hihihi."

Star’s laugh echoed devastatingly through the air, carrying something almost playful in it, yet there was nothing playful about the creature wearing that smile. But then, as suddenly as it had begun, the laughter stopped.

"hmm?"

He slowly tilted his head backwards.

The davonchi holding him was moving his finger towards the center of his palm again. The fear was still visible in his face, the tremor still running through his body. His finger, however, was almost on the button but...

Nothing...

He couldn’t press it anymore. He made to try again, but then he wasn’t even seeing his fingers. Confusion flashed across his face. That was when his gaze dropped toward his shoulder.

His eyes widened.

Blood was rushing from the place where his arm should have been, gushing down his body and spraying onto the floor like a fountain.

Only then did the pain finally register, as though his brain had just remembered that it was supposed to feel pain.

"AARRRGH!"

His muffled scream tore through the night.

His exposed socket joint was visible beneath the torrent of blood as he staggered.

When he looked up again, there in front of him stood Star, except now he was in his full demonic form.

Star simply raised the man’s severed arm and waved it mischievously at him.

He hadn’t even known when Star had completely broken free, much less sensed when his arm had been ripped away. Maybe no one had seen it happen. Maybe he had simply been too fast for their eyes to follow.

The man stared at his own arm dangling from Star’s hand, blood dripping from it in thick crimson drops. His gaze shifted back to the empty space where his arm should have been, and the horror finally sank deeper than the pain ever could. He was about to yell again, but all that escaped his throat was...

"ghk."

Star drove the arm beneath the man’s chin and it ruptured straight through his head.

Blood sprayed everywhere, but most of it painted Star’s body. The man’s lifeless body collapsed at his feet before Star turned back towards Dante. He stretched out his long tongue and slowly licked the blood that had splattered around his face.

"Dirty!" he drawled.

Sarah’s face became paler as he stared at Star. Watching the way he had just brutally murdered that man only sent her already racing heart into an even faster frenzy. Star hadn’t even regarded her or Zuru.

It was as though he had completely forgotten they were there. The only person he seemed interested in was Dante. Yet Sarah remained frozen, staring at him as though hypnotized.

’He is... It can’t... I... he...’ Her irises trembled within her eyes. ’But he just killed... he-he killed... His face... his hair... his body... He can’t really be... The villagers said he was-he was... Universe!’

Her thoughts trembled with the same terrified vibration running through her entire body. Yes, exhaustion had nearly claimed her, but those thick claws, those fangs, those markings, those eyes, his size, and, above all, that presence... It didn’t merely shake her body.

It shook her soul.

Meanwhile, King Dante swallowed hard as he stared at the fallen Davonchi. For the first time since arriving, the confidence in his expression cracked. He turned frantically towards his guards and soldiers.

"Well, what are you doing staring? Attack him, god damn it!"

But just then, Sarah feared.

"Star?"

She didn’t believe she could say it, but she did.

In that little space of time, Star had turned towards her. For a moment, he simply paused. His head tilted slightly, and something within those crimson eyes seemed to soften.

But...

"YAAAH!"

The soldiers came charging at him.

That was when Star spun towards the first one. He simply shifted aside— the man’s spear slicing past him— before the soldier could even recover, Star’s powerful grip was already around his neck.

Sarah felt shivers go through her body.

"Star...! No...!"

Star only turned towards her, his crimson eyes burning into hers. There was only the slightest hesitation before Star buried his fist deep into the man’s stomach.

Sarah and Zuru flinched as blood burst from the man’s body.

Another came rushing from behind, hope glinting in his eyes as he believed he would land the surprise attack, but Star whipped the other man around like some rag doll and slammed him forcefully into him.

*THUMP!*

The next came - Star ducked below his blade - and at once, drove his arm into the soldier’s stomach. When it came out, it carried the soldier’s intestine with it.

Skillfully, Star kicked aside the next attack - and at that same time another was coming - he used the earlier man to block the attack, causing the blade to slit open his chest - swiftly he swept the one that had killed his ally off the floor, and when he fell, Star stamped his head forcefully into the ground, blood and fragments of brain splattering everywhere.

He glanced at Sarah, who looked at him with pure horror in her eyes, then looked away without an atom of emotion or regret in his own.

His eyes narrowed at the more soldiers rushing towards him. He roared angrily, and at once he became faster, swifter, more brutal. More blood flew everywhere.

King Dante stared with troubled eyes as his soldiers were ripped apart like some piece of weak fabric.

"How’s he doing that... how’s he this fast..." A slight tremor was in his voice. "A-and he hasn’t even used any Demon Aspect Technique."

Blood kept splattering everywhere, yet Star was relentless.

He grabbed one—drove an arm into his back—and ripped out his spinal cord in a matter of seconds. He drove his claw into another’s throat - caught one attacker by the hands and ripped them off, then used one of the hands that was still tightly holding onto a blade to slit the throat of another coming behind him- before driving the other severed hand into the man’s mouth until it tore out through the back of his head.

He rushed towards others and slid across the floor with his claws out, tearing through their stomachs.

Someone threw a spear from behind—Star caught it without even turning—and flung it straight back. The spear pierced the man’s eye and exploded through the back of his head.

Just then, in that little window of time, someone managed to land an attack.

His sword connected with Star’s shoulder and—

CLANK!!!

The soldier froze. He stared from his blade which had already snapped into two, to the creature right in front of him... He swallowed.

For a while there was only silence.

Then... Slowly, Star turned towards the man. His eyes flashing crimson.

Star’s gaze alone was enough to drain every ounce of courage from his body, not to talk of his dark claws coming toward him. His face went pale, his lips trembled, and warm liquid slowly began running down his trousers.

"No... sorry... please... pleeeease..."

But...

"RAAAH!"

Star roared monstrously as he grabbed the man by the head and ripped it clean from his body.

Sarah swallowed heavily. The sight made her stomach churn, but the creature standing before her made her feel even sicker.

However, the remaining seven guards immediately stopped in their tracks and stared at Star in horror. Their weapons trembled in their hands, but not nearly as badly as their legs. They looked at the bloodied ground, at the scattered remains of their comrades, then slowly back at the creature standing in the middle of it all.

Star remained there in their center.

The way he wasn’t even breathing hard, despite everything he had just done, was enough to make six of them question whether they had been paid nearly enough for this.

Then Star slowly turned those crimson eyes towards them.

That was all it took.

Six weapons dropped to the ground.

And they fled.

The last brave soldier out of the seven remained. He held his blade firmly, studied the Demon before him, then—

"Yaaaah!"

He lunged forward.

His thick muscles tightened as he raised his blade, fury and courage blazing in his eyes.

"I am a knight of Nethros Kingdom!" he yelled as he approached Star. "And every demon shall be extinct from my path!"

Star swung his claw at him, but the knight skillfully dodged it, and in doing so found a massive opening at Star’s neck.

"Die!"

He yelled as his blade swung towards Star in a brutal arc.

It came into contact with Star’s neck.

But...

Nothing.

The moment the sharp edge touched Star’s skin, the entire weapon turned black and vanished.

The man’s eyes widened.

"Wha-?"

Star had already grabbed him by the shoulder. He forcefully bent the Knight’s neck and sank his fang deep into his neck.

"AAAAAARGHH!"

Blood bubbled from the ripped flesh of his neck as the man thrashed helplessly, but more of his blood went deep into Star’s throat.

Zuru stared in horror, his entire face pale.

Sarah’s entire body went cold and stiffened. Tears even rolled down her eyes.

Star’s crimson eyes shifted towards her and their gazes met.

He could see the terror in her eyes, the worry, but...

He didn’t care... He didn’t even stop, if anything, his fangs sank deeper into the man’s neck, then twisted sharply, tearing through the flesh until he caught hold of more veins between his teeth.

With one vicious jerk of his head, he ripped it free.

Blood burst across Star’s mouth and down his chin.

The man’s body convulsed violently in his grip before Star finally released him. The lifeless body crumpled to the ground at his feet, blood still spilling across the earth.

Still staring at Sarah, Star licked his lips as though he had just tasted the most delicious food in the world.

Then he looked away impassively.

Blood lay everywhere, together with limbs and other internal and external body parts that the ground now resembled a butcher’s floor.

But somehow, that seemed to be the least of anyone’s problems.

Cirella and Cindela, who were the only ones left besides King Dante, were already walking towards Star.

Cindela raised her hand and spread the fan in her grasp. It snapped open with a sharp metallic shing, while Cirella simply pulled out her sai daggers.

"You know, the first time I faced you, and that old mage, it turned out to be nothing more than pathetic clones," Cindela said as she and her colleague slowly edged towards Star. "I just hope you’ll put up more of a fight than your clones did."

Star didn’t say anything.

He simply remained where he stood, a little smirk resting upon his bloodied face, and a foreboding gaze buried within his crimson eyes.

The tension between them thickened with every passing second. Even the night seemed to hold its breath.

Cindela’s fan remained raised, Cirella’s sai glimmered in her hands, and Star stood motionless between them, looking almost eager to see which one would make the first mistake.

One more step, one wrong twitch, and the blood beneath their feet would have found new company.

But just then...

King Dante stepped forward.

"Come now, ladies," he mused, never removing his eyes from Star. "I think you two might prefer to watch the Night Raiders... Let me have a little chat with..."

He smiled.

"Vehitoshi."