“Isn’t this a lovely moment?” The Shadow Man looked to the side, spotting Fukashi by the entrance of the house. The Shadow Man pulled his katanas out of her body as her blood puddled underneath him as a faint groan escaped from her.

Fukashi shook his head slowly, not only experiencing dread but also feeling a sense of precognition. The Shadow Man laughed at Hashimoto and Fukashi’s face; the two were unarmed, but the greatest Hasishin had a reason to be empty handed.

“What are you here for?” Fukashi interrogated the enemy, his gaze unwavering on the Shadow Man. The murderer stood with his large illuminating eyes glaring at Fukashi.

“Why would that be your concern? Why aren’t you fighting? Ya coward?” the Shadow Man taunted.

“I made a promise to my wife, my friends, and everyone that lives in this village to never wield a weapon ever again,” Fukashi explained, taking a couple steps forward to get a better look at the walking killing machine. “My years of being a Hashishin is over. It’s been years since I’ve gotten myself back into fighting... And I’ll refrain from grasping any weapon.”

Hashimoto’s eyes widened, he couldn’t believe the words his father was saying.He remained still, feeling hopeless to do anything that could get him and his father away from death. The scythe that was originally in the storage room was scooted away with his foot, clearing a path to the killer.

“I am not afraid of death, nor am I afraid of being defeated by some worthless being. A promise that’s made by many will never be broken,” Fukashi stated, being face to face with the enemy feeling no worries of a sudden attack.

“D-Dad..! What are you-!”

“It’s for everyone’s safety, son, You’ll understand someday,” Fukashi interrupted his son, arms open as he faced the sunless sky. “My death may be pathetic from the outside… but once you understand it from the inside, my death will be seen as the golden sacrifice.”

The Shadow Man clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes as he raised both blades up in the air. Then right before he delivered a slash, Fukashi turned and looked into Hashimoto’s eyes with a comforting smile, saying:

“Make us die proud of you, son.”

A blade sliced across from Fukashi’s shoulder down to his hips while the other cut through his neck, blood spraying as it rained over the streets. He was split open before his upper body dropped near the scythe located on the ground, as his head faced the sky, as the puddles of red grew larger. None of them were aware of the scythe on the ground having an abnormal reaction to Fukashi’s blood: it emitted a dark red mist with what appeared to be veins forming along the wooden handle before it got absorbed. There was nothing but pure blood under the Shadow Man’s step.

“What a pathetic ending to the former legendary Hashishin,” the Shadow Man mocked, kicking the head of Fukashi to prevent it from facing the sky.

Hashimoto stood in despair. His body refused to drop on his knees and cry out loud; he needed to keep himself together. His breathing got heavier from his mind replaying his parents’ death. ‘Breathe. Breathe. Breathe Hashimoto, breathe,’ he thought to himself, but his breathing was still destabilizing.

“Hey kid, check this out!” The Shadow Man called out and playfully swayed his arm in the air. His blades lowered to point at Hashimoto’s parents’ corpses. “If you want, I could send you down with them-”

“I’ll fucking slaughter you,” Hashimoto glared with hatred in his eyes.

“What’s that you say? Can’t hear you well enough when I’ve got the civilians' screams ringing in my ears!” The Shadow Man taunted. Hoshika came from above as she struck the ground with her flaming blade, causing the surroundings to catch on fire to trap the Shadow Man. Atsushi came from behind Hashimoto, grabbing his arm to tug him away.

“We have to get out of here Hashi—”

“LET GO OF ME, I’M NOT DONE WITH HIM!” Hashimoto yelled with fury, yanking his arm away only to get caught by Atsushi’s grasp once again. Hashimoto grabbed Atsushi’s wrist before pulling and catapulting him towards the Shadow Man, who zapped a couple steps away to dodge him. Atsushi hit the ground before he got back on his feet quickly, and was shocked by the strength Hashimoto had in him.

“What’s gotten into you?!” Atsushi shouted, watching Hashimoto running straight to the nearest weapon he can wield: the bloody scythe. Hoshika was in the way of his path, and he had no hesitation to deliver a kick towards her. However, Hoshika’s quick response allowed her to back out of his way.

“He’s lost his mind, we can’t do anything but let him release his blood lust!” Hoshika raised her voice to inform Atsushi as he swung his axe around to land a hit on the Shadow Man that continuously blitzed all over the area.

“I’LL FUCKING RIP YOU APART UNTIL YOU CAN’T BE PUT BACK TOGETHER!” Hashimoto’s voice turned demonic as his hand grasped the scythe, lifting it up from the ground as he perfected his attack once the Shadow Man blitzed into his range of attack. Hashimoto failed to pierce the Shadow Man. After a split second of wielding the scythe, he felt his blood boil throughout his body… literally. His head throbbed violently with his heart beating three times faster than normal, whilst his entire body wracked with agony from an unknown effect. The scythe emitted more of its maroon mist that channeled up to his arms. Loud grunts escaped through Hashimoto’s mouth as he fell to his knees and cried in extreme discomfort.

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“You’re as pathetic as your father and mother, what a joke!” The Shadow Man jumped in the air, kicking Hashimoto off the ground and sending him through several houses before reaching the opposite side of the village. Hoshika and Atsushi had watched as they ran in circles; surrounding the Shadow Man while preparing for a critical hit. Atsushi made a move before Hoshika, both unleashing their attacks with a swing of their weapons. Unfortunately their strikes were blocked by the Shadow Man’s double blades. Hoshika leaped back to recollect some air, worried about Hashimoto due to the fact he could be dead after that severe kick. Many questions left unanswered which bothered her, but right now she needed to deal with what may become a future threat to all. She exhaled, letting the flames consume her blade before dashing back into the battlefield. Atsushi continued to dodge and swing his axe, hoping to chop the Shadow Man to end the chaos.

—

“Do you understand the situation we are in, son?” Fukashi’s question had echoed in an abysmal environment. “I’m sorry for not fighting back.. I had no choice but to choose fate. However, I am stuck here. I cannot escape wherever I am. Aren’t I.. meant to be dead?”

—

For a second, all their minds throbbed simultaneously. Their heartbeats sounded like they were echoing right in their ears. A powerful sense of bloodlust emanated from the Shadow Man, accompanied by heavy breathing. The misted scythe held by an individual retracted, then swung forward in an attempt to slash the Shadow Man, but he zapped up in the air. The slash was not an ordinary slash; it caused the ground and nearby buildings to be sliced clean.

“You weren’t playing around after all, Hashimoto Sugo!” The Shadow Man yelled from above. The individual, Hashimoto Sugo with such bloodlust, stood in silence. His breathing was heavier than before, blood-coloured mist coming out of him as he held the scythe in his right hand. His eyes had lost their natural color, along with the dead expression he had displayed. The Hashishins were fill with joy at seeing his return… until Hoshika sensed something off. Hashimoto was unfazed with whoever was standing in front of him, as he planned to go for an attack against the ones that were by his side.

“Atsushi, watch out!” Hoshika called out, warning him that Hashimoto was no longer himself. Another large slash caused the ground to shake under their steps, with buildings crashing down from the Shadow Man’s harsh strikes.

“Hey fuck face! I’m right here!” The Shadow Man brought Hashimoto’s attention to him whilst remaining in the air. A second later, Hashimoto appeared behind the Shadow Man. Hashimoto grabbed the other’s arm and spun him around, sending him crashing into the ground. Hashimoto then plummeted like a meteor, clashing the blade of his scythe against the Shadow Man’s blades.: The Shadow Man began to realize he had no match against Hashimoto’s mysterious change. Hoshika and Atsushi threw themselves in the small crater caused by the Shadow Man’s collision, taking the risk to attack their enemy from behind. They were conducting two plans to take action in a matter of seconds: defeat the Shadow Man and stop Hashimoto. They have no alternatives but to fight as much as their bodies could handle.

“What’s gotten into you?!” The Shadow Man yelled, bolting away to give him a couple seconds to recover yet Hashimoto gave the enemy no chance of catching some air. Hashimoto chased him like it was a predator catching its prey.

“Hoshika, it’s got to be something to do with the scythe. It triggered something that made him reach an unbelievable amount of bloodlust!” Atsushi uttered, using the back of his axe to smash a chunk of concrete towards Hashimoto. Hashimoto faced the opposite of where Atsushi was located. Hashimoto’s body tilted to the side as the chunk of concrete smashed into the Shadow Man’s face which sent him into a building. The building crumbled down on him. Hashimoto turned his head to look at Atsushi who sensed great killing intent.

“Uh oh,” Atsushi blurted before he dropped to the ground once Hashimoto appeared behind him. It was his only way of escaping such an impeccable slash.

“Knock the scythe out of his hands! It’s our only way of surviving!” Hoshika shouted in the distance as a huge wall of fire rose from the ground with a slash from her blade, separating Atsushi and Hashimoto. His breathing became more shaky with his body weakening from the constant movements.

The Shadow Man finally experienced pain from exhaustion and their attacks. He had no option but to flee before he lost his control. Lightning struck down at the rubble he was stuck under before he was seen escaping, leaving electricity trails that soon disappeared.

“He’s getting away!” Hoshika yelled.

“We can’t do shit about it,” Atsushi scoffed. They had a greater threat in front of them to deal with first. Atsushi smashed his axe against the handle of the scythe, unfortunately leaving no sort of damage against it. The two didn’t give up trading attacks with Hashimoto. Their original mission needed to be abandoned as the possibility of bringing Hashimoto to where he needed to be is extremely low.

They wouldn’t give up that easily.

The Hashishins purposely aimed for his scythe in order to prevent hurting his body. Atsushi ran behind a demolished house, trying to pull a move that could tire Hashimoto even more. Hashimoto mindlessly fought back whilst his mind was fogged with memories of his parents.

“Get him in front of this!” Atsushi commanded Hoshika. She swung her blazing blade inwards from each side, bounced back out of the crumbled building’s range to lure Hashimoto closer to where Atsushi wished him to be.

“NOW!” Hoshika screamed, commanding Atsushi to bang his axe against the building as big chunks of the house charged towards Hashimoto. The rubbles crashed into him with the cloud of dust swelling the streets, blinding them all.

“I can’t see shit!” Hoshika exclaimed before the brown fog gradually vanished. It wasn’t long until heavy breathing was heard from behind, sending shivers down her spine.

Hashimoto stood with his scythe pulled back, ready to stab her side. Hoshika couldn’t move her body: fear weighed on her body. She turned her head to the side, seeing Atsushi expressing his shook face.

“D-Don’t come any closer, Atsu-!”

“Kill me.” Hashimoto ordered in a low-pitched voice, sounding abundantly like a full grown adult. The voices of his relatives echoed in his thoughts which made his heart cry blood. His movements were dragged by fatigue. He loosened his grip on the scythe as it dropped and hit the ground. He was on the verge of collapsing, only to be saved by Hoshika’s catch when her body felt lighter.

The Hashishins had felt like they could no longer fight. Several cars arrived as they surrounded the village in order to provide support.. But their arrival was far too late. Only one citizen in the village, Hashimoto Sugo, survived the massacre made by the Shadow Man and his group.

Far Far Away arc has concluded.

Transferation arc commences in the next chapter.