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Akira takes a break after nearly thirty minutes of walking while Kanzaki rests in her arms. She puts him down in front of a tree. The footsteps were still heard, but Akira didn't care, as long as Kanzaki was alright. She lets herself plop onto the ground. Kanzaki's wounds stopped bleeding. A girl suddenly appears and looks at Akira. "Um... Who are you?" the girl asks. Akira stands up. "I could ask the same to you. Why are you here?" Akira asks, suspicious. The girl looks at Kanzaki. "I'm Aoi... Kanzaki's neighbour... I was looking for him... What happened?" Aoi asks, sitting down. "Go away. Don't come back. Don't tell anyone," Akira says, not even trying to respect Aoi's reason. It felt weird. Akira was staring at Aoi, waiting for her to leave. "N-no..." Aoi says while stuttering, her face flushed. "What's wrong with you? Weirdo," Akira reacts, a disgusted expression on her face. "I... I'm his girlfriend," Aoi explains, looking down. Akira grits her teeth. "Oh, shut up. I rather die than believe that," Akira says grabbing Aoi's collar. "You monster. I don't fall for lousy traps like yours..." Akira says, the color in her eyes disappearing. "You're not his girlfriend or whatever. You're a ghost," Akira continues, putting more pressure on Aoi's neck. "Have you realized now? The kind of people you mess with? Were they really weaker than you? I don't think so. They still want to kill you. Look at the ground," Akira orders. Aoi looks down and sees it... Dead people's hands, pulling her to the ground. "N-no! I'm sorry!" she yells, crying. She... disappeared. Aoi is gone. Akira's eyes slowly get their color back. She looks at Kanzaki. "Sorry, I should've came earlier," she says, blaming herself. Kanzaki was still asleep. Akira looks at him, a frown on his face. What possessed you to explore the forest...? You knew it was dangerous... But why...? Akira buries her face in her knees. The red full moon was still there... Kanzaki opens his left eye, his hair covering his right one. He couldn't talk well, considering his injuries. He looks at Akira. "W... Wha..." he pauses mid-sentence, coughing up blood. Akira flinches by the sound and stiffens. Her eyes widen as soon as she sees Kanzaki coughing up blood. "Are you okay?" she asks, trying to not rush things. Akira has a worried look on her face, but she forces herself to stay calm. Kanzaki covers his mouth with his hand. Akira hands him a bottle of water, but then... A cold hand touches Akira's shoulder, making her shiver. She looks behind her, just to find a ghost there. Its red eyes were glowing through the black hair. Kanzaki's eye narrows, pushing Akira away. It was Remi."Leave her alone..." Kanzaki says, sad but angry at the same time. Akira looks at him. "You're inju-" before she could finish her sentence, Kanzaki speaks. "A man is supposed to protect a woman, just run," he says, looking at Akira. Akira turns around, running away. "Stay safe, please..." she wishes, squinting her eyes. Akira looks at her phone... It was 02:14 a.m. How is it so early? It should be over 4 am... Don't tell me...! Akira opens her bag, getting out a book called 'Japan's history' and opens it. The book was old, most of the text weren't there. Akira reads: "A lot of devils existed back then... One of them named 'Astaroth' can stop time... He is the owner of ghosts, known as... Yurei's... He had promised Chuuya to destroy the world for her... No one knows when exactly... At the time it happens... Time freezes..." Akira's eyes fly over the words, reading it all without even trying to understand. "The only solution to stop the curse is... Return the risen to their grave." Akira frowns. "Return the risen... To their grave?" she says, confused. She tries to look for a explanation, but can't find one. Before she closes it, she looks in her bag. After a bit she finds a pen and marks the page. She hears footsteps from the distance. Kanzaki arrives, a cut on his cheek. He was panting, trying to catch his breath. He leans on a tree, gesturing her to stay quiet and hide. Akira nods and gathers her book and puts it in her bag. She goes and hides behind a few bushes... The ghosts walk around the forest, their footsteps loud. Akira holds in her breath, looking at Kanzaki. Before one of the ghosts arrived, he ran to Akira, grabbed her hand and ran away. Akira's eyes widen as he pulled her with him. Akira's wrist started hurting because of his grip. Akira looks at him. She hears footsteps behind her, she looks... The ghost grabbed her face, making Kanzaki unable to move. Akira gasps as her hand slips, and she lets go of him. "Kanzaki... Just go... Please, survive," she mumbled, closing her eyes. The ghost looks at Akira and smirks. The other ghosts surround her... "Fooooood... Destroy... Hang... Devour...!" they all yell, their deep voices echoing through the forest. "Don't you dare... Get closer to him..." Akira yells. Akira hugs the ghost, even though it looked like she was hugging herself. "Stay human... Don't become a monster like them... Deny it," she whispers. Slowly... It feels like her head gets torn off. She screams, the pain too much to bear. Akira closes her eyes again, blood coloring the ghost's dress. The ghosts laugh, mocking Akira... Kanzaki looks behind him as he hears a loud scream. Akira... I hope you're still okay. He stops running and looks at the tree... How am I at the same place... I swear it was the opposite direction...! Then he sees it. Akira's bag. He opens it and pulls out the book. Akira had put a mark on the page where the solution was written. He finds it and reads... "Who's the 'risen'?" he thinks. "An evil person thats alive? A ghost? Uh..." he says out loud. He looks at the blood that was on the ground and realizes what happened... Sorry... I couldn't protect you... I'm such an failure... Please forgive me, Akira. Tears started streaming down his cheeks. Suddenly, when his tear falls on the page, it starts giving off a glow... purple light comes out of it, gathering in front of Kanzaki. After a while, the book closes... Kanzaki backs off, not wanting to get hurt. The sparks of light forms something... A shape, or rather a human... Maybe a monster. The light vanishes, leaving a little girl there. It felt weird. She wasn't human... Or atleast, she didn't look human. She had purple skin tone, a blindfold in front of her eyes, white straight hair that hung over her shoulders, a horn on the right and left side of her head... She also has wings. But what matters right now is... The fact this girl might be dangerous for Kanzaki, or even worse... For Japan. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uP4eV67CF
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ148Qh53rsN
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloHVBFu5c9
Chapter 1019Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09Gns0Gjrz
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsge5SgdVK
Kanzaki studies the creature. She walks closer to him, her wings extended. Every step felt heavy but somehow... Kanzaki felt at ease. The creature holds her finger up, making Kanzaki unable to move. As if time stopped, just because the creature held a finger up... She kept getting closer, until she was right in front of him. "What... Are you... Doing... Here?" The creature asks, her voice was deep, even though a hint of happiness blended in. Kanzaki gulps, sweat forming on his face. The creature leans even closer, trying to know why Kanzaki isn't answering. "I... The curse..." he says, unable to stop trembling now that she's close. The creature takes a few steps back. "What... Curse?" she asks. Kanzaki takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. "The Yurei... Astaroth..." Kanzaki says, all the memories replaying in his mind. The creature smiles, her sharp teeth on full display. The creature: "Akuma... King of chimera's... Destroyer of... Hell and Heaven... Who are... You?" Kanzaki feels a chill running down his spine... Her voice... I can't trust anyone. Especially her... Run, Kanzaki. He turns around and was about to run but... Akuma's hand was on his shoulder, not letting him go. She looks at him with a disappointed expression. "Why... Are you... Trying to run...?" Akuma asks, the blindfold giving off a purple glow over their surroundings. Kanzaki feels like he's getting pressed on the ground... Even though it was just her hand. Kanzaki froze. "Am I... scary...?" Akuma asks. Kanzaki looks at her, his eyes were wide open. "Go... Away...!" Kanzaki says, shivering. Akuma backs off, letting him move again. Akuma tilts her head to the side. "In that case... I'll go," she says, disappearing behind the black fog... Kanzaki clutches his chest. Am I imagining things? Are my eyes deceiving me... Or rather... Can things like this really exist? This can't be real... I'm sure I'm dreaming. All those monsters... That girl... Fumiko... Astaroth... Was it really true? Do monsters really exist? Who's the risen one? What do I even do... All by myself? Kanzaki looks around... The purple glow was gone. She left, leaving him hanging. He takes a deep breath and looks at the blood on the ground. His shoulder started hurting... He looks behind him, noticing the red tree again. As he puts his hands on it... His hand just went through it... His eyes widen as he feels something in the tree... He pulls it out, just to find a recorder. He puts it on... "Whoever is hearing... rustle.... this message... crack... Kill the fake person... Among you all... To stop the curse... rustle... Or it will... Have... Beep..." it stops. The connection broke... Kanzaki sighs in annoyance. He tries to turn it on again, but he can't... Kanzaki grunts, throwing the recorder far away. It hits the ground and breaks. Kanzaki decides to take a nap but hears someone's breath on his neck. He looks around, noticing the fog... It keeps getting thicker... It kinda makes him feel... Nauseous. "Akira..." he says as the name echoes in his mind. He leans on a tree, looking at the sky that was blurred because of the fog. The full red moon was still there, casting a glow over Kawasaki... Kanzaki stands up straight and walks into the fog, trying to find a way out. "Go... Further... Deeper... Don't stop," he says as he runs. Suddenly, he bumps onto something... No. Someone. Kanzaki looks up, just to see Remi there. She grabbed his face, nearly tearing it off but then... The pressure was felt again. Akuma wasn't here though... Remi looks around. No one was here other than them... It was either lurking in the shadows... Or one of them. Another monster, maybe. In the blink of an eye, a loud explosive sound was heard. As if people fell on the ground. Remi was looking at the direction where it came from... Kanzaki takes the opportunity to run away. Remi doesn't notice, still looking at the direction where the sounds came from. The fog started getting even thicker, making Kanzaki unable to see. After a while... He feels like he wasn't in the forest. Nevermind, there were still trees around him. He reaches his hand out in front of him and finds a doorknob. He turns it and the door creacks open with a loud screech. Kanzaki enters, but everything suddenly lights up. He closes the door first and turns around... Just to find Akira's dead body on the ground, on a devil symbol which smelled like... Blood. There were five candles, on each end of the star. Kanzaki's eyes widen. Three ghosts appear behind Akira's dead body. The left and right one had short hair, allowing Kanzaki to see their mouth. The one in the middle had a blood-stained white burial kimono. "You have arrived..." the one on the left said. "Yurei-sama has been waiting," the right one said, stepping back at the same time as the one on the left. Kanzaki tries to open the door, but it wont... It's... Locked?! He looks back at the Yurei in the middle. "Lets start the ritual..." she says, smirking. Her red eyes were glowing under her black hair. The Yurei started mumbling a few words, as the candles began to melt. Red aura came out of Akira's body... "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kanzaki yells. The two ghosts appear behind him, holding him. "Watch..." the one on the left said. "How Kawasaki will get destroyed..." the right one finished. The fire started spreading, burning Akira's body. The red aura slowly escaped from an open window. Then... It happened. "Astaroth-sama, bless us with your presence," The Yurei said. The fire stopped. The candles melted, and only steam was seen. When it gets clear, Kanzaki sees him. The devil, Astaroth. He looks at the Yurei and nods at her, acknowledging her presence. He then sits besides Akira's burnt body. Kanzaki held his mouth, knowing arguing to the devil would result in death... But then... Astaroth cut Akira's arm in a swift move and eats it up but quickly swallows it. "It's... Bitter," he says, his deep voice cutting through the silence. The Yurei has a concerned look on her face, but quickly hides it. "Don't worry, Astaroth-sama. We have prepared another meal for you, My Lord," she says, pointing at Kanzaki. Kanzaki gulps as Astaroth looks at him and nods. "Great to hear," he says, smirking.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdqx93IVgU
