Moonlight Blue

Holding the scythe in my hand, I ask menacingly.

“What the hell did you do to me?”

My grip tightens as cracks start to form on it.

“Wait, wait, wait. I’ll talk so please don’t destroy me.”

I loosen up my drip and glare at it.

“Y-you know human. We can be great partners. I believe you’ll need my strength so-“

I tighten my grip once more causing shards of the scythe’s metal to fall off.

“Awwwu awu!”

“Stop trying to stall for time and speak.”

Damn it. It seems I won’t be able to make him my vessel. Right now, it seems he wants to know what I did so I have a leverage on him. Let’s negotiate with him and while doing so, I’ll just need to absorb as much curse energy that’s within him.

“O-okay. Then let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yes. If you promise that you’ll spare me and my vessel, then I’m willing to tell you what you seek.”

“Sorry but I can’t promise that. You can already see for yourself. He’s half dead already.” I say whilst pointing at the bloodied Slayer.

I knew you would say that. But my preparations are already done. After I absorb your curse energy, I’ll explode it while you are still holding me. I’m sure even you will sustain some damage.

As the scythe is about to execute its plan, it starts vibrating out of nowhere. And then, a piercing shriek of pain resembling the grinding of metals bellows from the scythe, before delivering its last words.

“T-to think its… alive.”

The scythe explodes out of nowhere, causing a shockwave that travels throughout the entire city, before turning to dust in the palm of my hand. I stand there dumbfounded. After all, I didn’t do anything to it. Was my grip too strong? Damn it. And to think I didn’t get anything from it about what it had done to me. How annoying.

“NOOOO!” screams Garrin.

Frustrated because I couldn’t get my answer, I walk up to him to finish him off. It is then that a person plummets on the ground before me, leaving a crater.

“B-Barion.” Says Garrin with a weak voice.

“Thank goodness I made it in time.”

Barion stands between Garrin and I with his greatsword already drawn. His eyes divert, noticing the bodies on the ground. He looks back at the beaten down Garrin before he looks at me.

No wounds. No sign of exhaustion. I see. It was a one-sided match. Which means, my chances of beating him are less than 1%. I have no other choice but to try and convince him to hand himself over using my authority.

“Move aside.” I speak.

“You are quite the young man aren’t you. To think you would actually take down a Slayer without suffering any damage. However, I’m afraid you have to hand yourself in now.”

I raise an eyebrow to his statement.

“Hand myself in?”

Barion sheathes his weapon as he continues to talk.

“Young man. A lot has happened in this city. Never mind the people you have killed; a ton of things have happened here. If you don’t hand yourself over, then all these crimes will likely be blamed upon you. To avoid that, you should-“

“Shut up.”

Barion is stunned by my words. However, what sends a chill down his spine even more are my emotionless eyes that gives off a cold hue. Eyes that glow even through the light of the sun at its peak.

“Do I look like I care to you? Instead, you should ask yourself. Do you even qualify to stand before me like this.” After saying that, I shoot out my bloodlust into Barion’s direction.

Of course, I control it so that it doesn’t actually cause any psyche damage on him. The wave of bloodlust hits him, freezing his entire body. He stands there as every cell in his body screams at him to run away. But he can’t even do that as he is petrified by fear.

The sound of my footstep approaching him echo. I stand next to him and speak.

“Did you really think you could stand in my way with such little force of will?”

I continue my gait towards Garrin. At this point, Barion is drenched in sweat with his eyes wide open.

“P-please… don’t kill me.” Begs Garrin with a waterfall of tears.

I say nothing as I grab his head.

“D-don’t kill him.”

Those were the words that Barion can muster up. A vein pops on my head. After all, I was going to spare him. Too bad.

“I-if you kill him. The entire country will come after you. T-there will be a price on your head. You’ll never be able to walk freely in this country again. I-I’m telling you this for your own sake.” Says Barion.

My grip lessens on his head. A glimmer of hope appears within Garrin’s eyes.

“It seems you didn’t listen to me. Maybe it’s because of your old age. So, I’ll say it again. Do I look like I care?”

After saying those words, Garrin screams in agony.

“Aaaaaaaarrrrr!”

“The greatest pain. Is it when you have a limb chopped off? Is it when you are mutilated? Is it when you’re poisoned? No. It’s when you experience the destruction of your soul.”

Yes. I am killing his soul using spirit energy. The person who has their soul destroyed experiences pain so great, it cannot be described. Their head will feel like it’s splitting. Blood will then gush out from their eyes, nose, ears and even the mouth leaving nothing but the husk of the victim.

That’s what can be considered as the greatest pain. Garrin’s body falls lifeless to the ground as Naomi and her people watch in bewilderment. Even Barion watched with his eyes wide open due to shock.

A Slayer had died. And it was done so mercilessly. I walk away from the corpse, passing the kneeling Barion. As I pass him, he asks.

“Why? Why are you sparing me?”

I look at him and answer.

“Don’t think you’re that special. I’m only sparing you because you didn’t have any intent to kill me. And you are not the only one I’ve spared.” I point at the fallen soldiers.

Some are coming too as they wake up. Of course, it’s only about half of them. The only reason they were still alive was because they had no bloodlust towards me when they attacked.

I walked up to Naomi which startled them all, raising up their guard. It’s nice to see that even after what they’ve witnessed, they are still willing to protect Naomi instead of fleeing.

“I’ll only allow this once, Naomi. If you ever record me ever again, I won’t hesitate to kill you. Do you understand?” I say to her with my ‘innocent’ stare.

“I-I understand.”

“Good. I’ll see you again soon.” I say before disappearing.

Naomi stands there dumbfounded as she murmurs to herself.

“How the hell did he know?”