And I have to stop it.
An instant before the demonic shadow realized he was there, Koichi pulled his sword, and in one swift stroke, he cut her down.
She didn’t even have time to react before his katana sucked the shadow essence into its blade, which turned bright orange as the demon’s form was removed from this existence and returned it to where it belonged.
The clouds above slid back from the moon.
Sighing, Koichi turned around, wiping the blade with the sleeve of his kimono. He didn’t say a word, as he knew talk was worthless now.
Until he realized something else.
His Kai-dan weren’t moving.
Neither was Ryuichi. With the death of the shadow demon, the boys should have all returned to their normal states. But they remained frozen—and Ryuichi’s eyes were still white.
What the...?
Snarling, Ryuichi ran at him. Koichi held his ground. He’d faced worse before.
Or so he thought. He wasn’t prepared for the strength or ferocity of Ryuichi’s attack. The boy hit him hard, square in the chest. While he was able to deflect the power bolts of uncontrolled magic, the sheer number of them was overwhelming.
And they just kept coming, leaving Koichi no opportunity to strike back.
Which could only mean one thing...
He was competing with the endless stamina of something not born of this world.
In other words, Ryuichi wasn’t human—at least, not entirely.
How could this be?
But it happened, and he knew that too.
Unnatural and unclean things entered this world and didn’t belong here. He’d learned that lesson better than anyone. They were capable of doing unspeakable things.
Just like now...
Time hung suspended as the reality crashed through him.This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nothing like Ryuichi should be here, in the body of a boy. It broke the natural order. Brought chaos...
And explained so very much.
But right now, Koichi couldn’t think about that. He had to stop the boy before he killed someone.
Especially him.
Had to stop him before Ryuichi did something that couldn’t be undone.
He moved fast and decisively.
Koichi dodged straight into one of the arcs of green light. It cut into his shoulder. Blood gushed like water as he grimaced in pain. It was a small price to pay for victory, and he hoped that was the only blood he would be forced to give up tonight.
Moving as fast as he could, he hit Ryuichi in the head with the back of his katana.
Luckily, there was still enough magic in his blade that it reacted to Ryuichi and pulled the power out of him. Draining him.
But it wasn’t as easy with the boy as it’d been with the shadow demon.
Ryuichi fought him, cursing and snarling like a beast.
