- Well then- Samukai said with his arms crossed- Mind telling me why you left?

- I just needed to stretch myself out, have some fresh air, you know, simple stuff like that

- So you are not planning on burning this village down

- If you want me to

- No! Never mind, just come back to the shadows. You too Noktum- warrior pointed at the young shadow.

- And why's that?- demon asked, while supporting himself on a nearby rock.

- There were few scrolls that seemed useful. And there is a drink I would like to finish

- Scrolls? You mean these?- Phantom showed all five scrolls that he saw earlier- Beside, what drink? From those two? I always thought that you don't want people to know that you are not human and that's why you have this mask. So how do you want to drink with it on? How do you even want to drink in the first place?

As much as Samukai wanted to argue with that, he couldn't. What Phantom said was true. Both about the mask and the drink. But sometimes he just couldn't help. From time to time he just wanted to live a normal life, just like he did before. He tried to convince himself that he was okay with being Samukai and not Tatsuya, but deep inside it was still troubling him. That's why he wanted to keep his body, or rather something that resembled it.

- I know, it's just...

- Just what?

- Never mind, please go back- warrior made a pleading gesture- And please, I beg you, may I enjoy this village a little bit more? I know it may sound selfish but please

Phantom scratched his chin for a while, pretending to be thinking. He kinda enjoyed how the warrior was begging him, but he couldn't help but feel that something was bothering the samurai. Normally he would've ignored that, but since Samukai still had his part of contract to fulfill, the demon needed him to be at his peak. So thinking like that, he came to a somewhat smart idea.

- Say, how about we make a small deal. I'll leave that village in peace and let you enjoy it for a while, but in return I will be here, out in the open and you will tell me what is bugging you. How does that sound?

- Are you sure you will be fine staying here? What if someone passes by?

- Me and Noktum will move away from the village, just far enough to not drag anyone's attention. I might train with him in the meantime. But come back before sunset. We have a job to do. Even two actually

- Fine then, and thank you- samurai with joy returned to the village. Even though it wasn't visible, Phantom could swear that he saw him smiling before the warrior took off. Maybe he needed a little break from all of the adventuring and fighting. But the demon made a mental note to himself. When there will be another chance for a good training, he will make sure to focus more on the samurai. Noktum can manage himself and the spells. But Samukai needed to work on his tolerance for killing. He won't last long if he keeps it as it is. Demon knew that, almost too well.

- Say Noktum- demon said looking at the magician- Is there anything that you want to learn?

- I'm not sure

- Then I'll teach you some of my favorite stuff- Phantom said, dragging shadow away from the village.

Samukai was glad that Phantom let him stay in the village for a while. That drink maybe wasn't the best option, but he had time to make an excuse to not drink. When he noticed the tavern, he already knew what to say to not come out as suspicious. Entering the building earned him a confused glances from Eveline and Robert.

- Are you feeling fine?- Robert asked.

- Yes, why are you asking?

- Well, you just stormed out as if you were on fire

- Don't worry about that. I just had an important thing to do. But I can't drink. Codex of my family forbids it- that was an obvious lie, since there was nothing that was forbidding any warrior from occasional drink from time to time.

- Must be one hard codex. Even us clerics don't have it that strict- Robert commented, taking a sip from his drink.

- And I don't know why you even have such codexes. All we necromancers must do is to respect the dead and that is it- Eve said shrugging.

- That's why people like us need to keep an eye on your lot

- Now you are starting to sound like my father

- Well someone needs to be the responsible one

While the two of them were busy, Samukai just sat there waiting for it to be over. At least they weren't too curious about him, which was a rather good thing. Still the fact that Champions were called wasn't all that reassuring. He could ask what Champions would be a possible threat to him and the rest of Chaos, but he doubted that any name would sound familiar. Another thing that he was curious about was why Eveline still had her hood on. Yet he felt like asking that straightforward would be just rude.

- Do any of you perhaps know which Champions were informed about this demon?

- I only know that Champion Rose was called, do you know anything Robert?

- Not really? And why are you asking? Planning to join them?

- Nah, just simple curiosity

- Have you heard that curiosity is the first step to Hell?- Robert made a remark typical of clerics. Samukai wanted to answer that he lives down there, but decided to bite his non existing tongue. Now that he thought about that, those remarks were the reason why none of his previous companions didn't liked them. Now he wondered what they were doing.

- Eve! Mind helping me?- another masculine voice came from the deeper part of the tavern.

- Coming!- Eve shouted back and vanished in the further parts.

Samurai waited a while and then took a chance to ask about the hood.

- Say, do you know why she keeps the hood on? I know it's probably sounds rude, but that has been on my minds for a while

- There isn't much to say really. Let's just say that a practice went wrong and that made her wear most of the time. But you didn't hear that from me- Robert came a little closer to a fellow warrior- Did she perhaps caught your eye?

- Not really. Beside I already have someone

- Good for you then

- Yea- warrior lowered his head a little. A more precise thing to say was that he had someone. It seemed that today memories clang to him more than misfortune clings to their entire team.

- So Tatsuya, if you plan to wander some more I can tell you to avoid big towns like a plague. Especially Vatican

- I know, especially that they don't like me. It's good that this village doesn't mind

- Well we have a fellow necromancer, so having a samurai passing by is nothing that would surprise our folks. We even had two necromancers for a while

- Really? Then where is the second one?

- What are you chatting about?- a feminine voice caught both men off guard. Eve quickly sat beside them, curious about their conversation. She held an empty chalice, playing with it.

- I heard that there was another necromancer

- If you planned to meet master Owen then you are too late- Eveline sighed. Samukai thought that asking about him probably wasn't the best thing to do. After all, if he was alive then the demon would probably be able to sense him. He felt that weird book so a necromancer wouldn't be too far fetched- You were in his home though. To think some imp would make their place there- last sentence was more like a whisper and samurai noticed that her grip was slightly tightening.

- I think that this is enough sitting in one place- cleric said, trying to change the direction of their conversation- Eve, how about we take our guest for a walk around the village?

- Sure, why not. You're in?

- It might be nice to stretch a little, so yes- and so Robert started leading the way, planning what to show to a fellow warrior. While there weren't many attractions, if any, those old wooden buildings definitely had some charm to them. He wondered how different they were from the eastern ones.

- Have you been to any big towns?- necromancer asked.

- Not really, mostly small villages. Maybe I will visit the next one

- Wouldn't really recommend that. Most people from Vendetta don't like foreigners

- From what I've learned, if you pay enough people won't mind you

- Well, greed is a main sin for a reason- Robert laughed a little- But it must've been hard for a lonely wanderer, huh?

- The caves and tunnels were the worst part, but other than that it has been rather good. I am still alive if you want proof. Yet you two are probably the least hostile of all people I have met

- There is no reason to be hostile, right Robert?- cleric quickly nodded- After all, this is a small village, so newcomers are more than welcomed here. Say, I know this might come rather surprising, but would you like to join our party? Well, it is not really a party since there are only me and Robert

- I don't know. I must ask my lord for permission, but I can already tell that he will disagree. Why not just ask some guilds or covenants?

- We tried that, but clerics and necromancers aren't too useful. Or so do they say

- You should know we are treated by guilds- Robert started, scratching the back of his head and looking down- Necromancers aren't seen as too trustworthy, most of the time being just straight up called heretics, and clerics...

- Nothing more than a glorified healers? I've heard that before. Now honestly why have you chosen such professions? You probably know the risk, so why?

- Well, the closest medic is a day away from here. That's why I decided to become one at first. Then I thought that having some offensive magic would help. So I needed to split my times for studying, thus being a mediocre healer and fighter

- You are still young, so I'm sure that you will be better at both. After all, you learn from mistakes. Your first one was not mastering any of the magic types you have chosen. Second was choosing such hard types, especially healing. Personally speaking I would have focused on offensive first- Samukai commented.

- I know. You sound like some old men, you know?

- I am in my twenties, so I need to grow accustomed to that- warrior's age seemed to catch both of his fellows off guard. He didn't know why. They both looked to be in their early twenties, so he wasn't that much older from them. Or at least how old he was before his death. With the time he spent in Hell as Samukai, he might have been nearly hundred years old. Thus he had all rights to sound like an old man- Then, what about you?- he looked at Eve.

- Only if you tell your reason first, okay?

- There wasn't much of a reason. My father was a samurai, my grandfather was one and so was my great grandfather. So it was logical that I to would serve to our lord's family

- That one was quick. But my reason isn't too complicated. I just wanted to warm up how people see necromancers. They see us as some heretics that worship the devil and what not. That isn't true, we just want to help people. I know playing with death doesn't do us any favor, but that's just how necromancy works. It would have been like blaming pyromancy for all of the wild fires- Eveline let out a big sigh- I used to be like that too, but then master Owen showed up. I learned from him that necromancy can be as helpful as another type of magic, and we don't have to hurt people- Robert had known that wasn't exactly the true reason as for why Eveline decided to study such dark arts. In fact, it was because of her mother.

Robert once asked Vincent, Eve's father, about that. At first the older man insisted on not telling the cleric anything, but later on decided that it might be better if someone also knew about that, thinking that Robert could help his daughter open herself. It was simpler than he expected. Joanna, her mother, died when Eve was only five. Little girl then spent most of her time studying various arts in hope to bring her mother back. Then she found out that a rather well known necromancer came to their village. Unknowingly to her father, little Eve went to Owen for help. Older necromancer at first wanted to leave this girl alone, but when she was coming to him day after day he couldn't refuse to help her. He promised to teach under one condition. Eveline will use arts of necromancy only for helping people, so no creating liches or dracoliches or anything of the sort. First he taught her basics, like manipulating simple animal corpses. Then after many days of training Owen finally taught her how to raise human corpses. At least came giving said corpses freedom, just like one would have given a golem.

When her father learned about that, he was displeased to say at least that his daughter was going to a much older man for God knows what reason. He went to confront him about that, but Owen only said that he had no ill intentions for the little girl and only wanted to help her, since there aren't many people who would let her study necromancy. Young Eve of course begged her father to continue studying to which he agreed.

Eve finally was able to do what she wanted from the very beginning. Owen of course watched her from afar in case something would go wrong. At first everything seemed to go smoothly. It all went wrong when the raised corpse smelled the human flesh. It threw itself at Eveline, giving her a nasty scar on the left side of her head. Owen immediately neutralized the corpse. If he had known what Eve had planned he would have stopped her, but now it was too late. At least he hoped that she would learn that even the most skilled necromancer isn't able to truly resurrect corpses. They always will be somewhat sentient at best.

After all of this fiasco, and many many scoldings from her father, Eveline continued to study under master Owen's wing. Good thirteen years have passed and Eve turned into a full fledged necromancer. Owen then left the village, never to be seen again.

While Samukai, Eve and Robert were wandering around the village, Phantom had a little training with Noktum. At first he wanted to teach him abyss waves, but for now it was no use. Demon also thought about teaching him telepathy, yet after a second thought he left that for later when samurai will also be with them. So they have spent some time learning easier spells.

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- Say master, is it really fine to leave Samukai by himself? What if another angel or something appears?

- First of, if truly an angel came here it would go after me first. Second, Samukai is a big boy and can defend himself. Beside Fenfir is still with him. Why are you even asking?

- I just got that feeling that something might go wrong. I mean going into populated areas without having a decent cover can't end well. Why would he even want to stay there in the first place

- It is probably one of the many emotions that accompany humanity. Maybe he is longing for something. Maybe he wants to feel happy by having someone he could talk to, or maybe it is something else entirely. Honestly I have never understood those.

- Emotions are really similar to magic aren't they? We know they exist but not why or how

- For magic it is simple. A weapon. Not the perfect one, but the best we can come up with. As for emotions, I don't know. They usually come in the way and are not helpful no matter what. Take guilt for example. How does it help? All it does is makes you miserable just because you did something that wasn't good but was the only way

- Well humans truly are peculiar creatures. To be able to operate with such complexity. It is astounding

- They are no better than us- it came out barely like a whisper, so silent that only Phantom himself heard that. Demon took a look at the sky. It was already past noon. An hour or two and it will be close to evening. Phantom took a deep sigh- You know, I can't help but be a tad but worried about our warrior

- And I thought he was a big boy- shadow chuckled a little.

- He is, but there are still things that he needs to learn. But I am worried about how he copes with killing. Does he feel remorse, guilt, pleasure, anger or maybe nothing?

- Then how about you master? What do you feel?

- I would say it depends on who I kill and why- the demon took out the list from the bag. Studying it closely he noticed many names that he was familiar with in one way or another. Most of them he just heard about, but some of them made it so that it won't be a breeze. Truth to be told, this job never was pleasant, yet this time it will be harder than any other.

- Is this pest control a common task?

- Not really, it happens from time to time. Last one I believe was few centuries ago, but I wasn't in charge of that

- I wonder how you end on one

- It's simpler that it seems. Plotting against Lord Lucifer or deserting. And from what I've seen from the current list, we mostly have to deal with demons that would like to take the throne of Hell for themselves- after that, Phantom put the list back in the bag.

They both sat in complete silence for a good amount of time. Demon could say that almost an hour had passed until one of them decided to continue the conversation. And it happened to be Noktum.

- Master, do you think that Samukai still hopes that he can be like a human?

- I don't know and I'm worried about that. If he thinks so, then it will become problematic in the future- a low growl has escaped from the demon's mouth.

- Master, you sound like you know a lot about that- Phantom didn't say anything and just glazed at the village before them. Samukai should soon be coming back. Demon couldn't believe that, but it seemed like he cared about the warrior. Or did he? Well of course he cared, the samurai was supposed to teach him martial arts and how to be a good leader. So why was he questioning that right now? He guessed that Pharaoh was to blame. Yes, that must have been that. But why would he try to do that? He really needed to question him about that next time, when they met.

When Phantom and Noktum were busy waiting for samurai to come back, the warrior himself was quite impressed. Mostly by two things. First one was how modern the village had looked despite not being near any of the capital towns. Second was the fact that he still didn't see any smoke, or storm clouds, tornados or even black comet. It looked like the demon really tried to keep up his promise. It was quite nice to see how he had changed in the past few days. Granted that Samukai was in no position to say for sure that he had changed, for he spent too little time to be sure, but compared to how it was before there was a noticeable improvement.

- Why do you always make us go out during the worst heat?- Eve's lament was what made samurai lose his thoughts.

- Well, if you weren't always wearing all black robes, then maybe the heat wouldn't be that bad

- I can't change them. That's a part of being a necromancer

- You just made that up

- Not this time

- And I thought that you didn't have a strict code...What do you mean this time?!

Eve didn't respond and just kept on walking. Trio finally stopped at the market where the samurai met the necromancer. Despite it being past noon, it was less busy than it was in the morning. Maybe it really was that hot as Eveline said and that's why most people probably stayed in houses. Warrior couldn't say for sure, for he didn't feel the heat. He guessed that time he spent in Hell made him more resistant to heat.

It all went peacefully until someone started approaching the trio.

- Well well well, who do I see- Samukai turned around and saw a tall and bulky man that wore a leather armor that had metal plates covering most vital parts like chest- Oi, ya are new one 'ere? Whatcha doing with 'em, eh?- by the way this man spoke, samurai could say that he was a little bit drunk.

- Please just ignore him- Eve whispered to samurai. He wasn't really sure why. It's not like he planned to do something to this man, or at least for now.

- Oi, I asked a question. Unless ya are with them, then ya all can fuck off- warrior had hard time following what the man wanted or what was his reasoning.

- We have already paid you Matthew, and don't drag him into this- Robert said. Now Samukai knew what this all was about, money. It is always about money.

- I'm ain't dragging anyone into anything. Especially not some Eastern scum. Beside I remember no money- samurai pretended to not hear that, but he clenched his fists. While he started to hate him, he was also curious just what happened between Matthew and the rest. This man looked like might have been a mercenary, probably not the best one due to lack of proper armor. And if it really was only about money, then maybe they have worked for him or ordered his "services". Mercenaries betraying those who they have worked for wasn't all that uncommon, in fact it was rather to be expected. Especially if someone who didn't like you had more money. Seeing how Eve was a necromancer probably made few people want to get rid of her. Similar thing happened to one of his friends. The said mercenary was never heard of again, but that is a story for another time.

- Unless the girl wants to have some private talk- mercenary laughed a little. Eve shuddered at the thought, a disgust clearly painted on her face.

- Listen buddy- warrior finally decided to interfere- You have some nice looking armor and we wouldn't want it to waste on a corpse right? So just go home- Samukai felt someone tugging his right shoulder.

- Threatening him isn't the smartest choice- Robert whispered.

- Don't worry, I know what I am doing

- Are looking for a fight samurai?- Matthew asked, drawing his dagger

Samukai wanted to sort this out without needless bloodshed, but sadly he rarely got to do stuff his way. But he left his swords alone. His first plan was to simply knock this man out cold. If that didn't work, then he might scare him a little.

Mercenary swung at the warrior. Samurai now could say that he was more than a little drunk since his blade rarely came close to even scratch him. For now he was simply dodging every hit. Matthew was nearly tripping with each step, but still was coming at the warrior. When Samukai was growing slightly bored by all of that, the mercenary lunged at the samurai, pinning him to the ground.

He then nearly was struck by the dagger, but in time covered his helmet with his arms. Blade stuck in. Samukai expected for the weapon to break or to bounce off. But it seemed like all of those fights made his armor a bit weaker. This could've been problematic. Matthew finally took out his blade and tried to once again stab the samurai. Warrior proceeded to hit his opponent right in the nose, drawing some blood. To shake him off himself he punched him again, this time with full force.

All of that was accompanied by a new feeling. It felt great when he broke Matthew's nose. It was great when he saw his blood. But why did he feel like that? He never was fine with hurting others without reason, so why now? Granted that Matthew attacked him first, so that was self defense. So it wasn't too bad to feel that way, right? Right? All he did was protect himself and probably others so it was alright.

- You fucking eastern scum- Matthew cursed as he wiped his face from the blood. When he looked at his dagger he was quite shocked. No even a drop of blood was on it. It was a dagger so the blade wasn't too long, but it still could cut deep. Just what was that samurai? The man once again swung his weapon, but this time it was covered in dark brown aura resembling a ground. Blade was stuck in the ground. A small rumbling was soon followed by a stalagmite. Before Samukai was able to dodge it, the spell hit his mask.

Then a sound of something crashing followed by part of the warrior's mask falling to the ground made Matthew gawk with his mouth slightly open. Samukai immediately covered what was left with his hands, but it was simply too late.

- Ya are a God forsaken monster! A fiend!- Matthew roared as he charged at the warrior. Samukai tried to kick him, but his leg was grabbed just in time by mercenary- And ya knew that?- he looked where once Eve and Robert stood only to find them running away.

- Is that so- Matthew murmured- Now I'll teach how here we deal with freaks like you!- he then once again tried to stab the warrior. Samurai somehow defended himself against that, but with only one arm it was harder than before. Matthew kicked Samukai where his ankle would've been and made him trip. Warrior quickly got up, dodged another strike and headbutted the mercenary.

This time Matthew was the one who was covering his face. He almost once again used his spell, but something that had enough of watching stopped him. When Matthew decided to fight that samurai he expected a few things. He had known that he would be an agile one, having a longer weapon would've given him advance in combat. He also knew that samurai's armor wouldn't be durable. What he didn't expect was for the warrior to not be human. And especially he didn't expect what now stood between him and the samurai.

A giant beast with fur dark as night, eyes red as the most dangerous flame was baring its teeth similar to sharp blades at him. Matthew knew what it was. Before him stood no other beast than a hellhound. And while he didn't know many things about them, one was sure. Once you see one, it is over. So that samurai truly was a demon.

If Samukai could sweat right now, he could probably turn the biggest dessert into an ocean. There just was one way in Hell that no one saw a giant black wolf standing in the middle of the market. He heard some more people coming, probably guards.

Right now he needed to act quickly. First he needed to do something about Matt. He drew Izanagi and holding it by the blade he used most of strength to hit the mercenary with Izanagi's hilt. He heard a crack and hoped it wasn't mortal. Matthew screamed as he covered the wound from which blood was leaking.

- You fucking eastern scum! I'll kill you!- yet before he was able to do anything else, hilt hit him once again. Mercenary was sure that he felt some of his teeth fall out. Then it hit him again, again and again. Samukai felt good for the entire time. Mercenary even once screamed that he gave up. Of course warrior knew that tactic too well. That would let his guard down and he would have been vulnerable to attack. He wouldn't fall for that, especially not the second time. This man was no different than those scums from Suzaku. After a while he noticed how broken Matthew's face was. He definitely was unconscious.

When the pleasant feeling finally left Samukai, all that was left was shame. It was terrible. He could only imagine what his ancestors would say about that. He hoped that they would understand this situation. But for now he needed to go back. Samurai slowly retreated..

Just as he did that guards, that were armored no better than the man he just knocked out, arrived at the scene. Fenfir growled at them, stopping them in their tracks. That gave Samukai some time to run away. He ran to the demon, far away from the village. Hound followed him after a few seconds of scaring the guards.

After they both were further away from the village, samurai finally stopped.

- Damn it! Fuck! Why does it always have to end like that!

Fenfir in response lowered his ears and started whimpering, coming closer to the warrior.

- Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I know you wanted good, but you saw that I was doing well- Samukai pat the wolf. He heard some screams coming from the village, probably orders to catch and kill them. Now he only needed to find the demon and ask him about something. He looked at his right hand and saw blood that was now slowly drying. For some reasons that made him feel good. And that's what he hated. Just because he was dead for long didn't mean he stopped being human, right? So why only got that feeling when he fought against humans or even other sentient demons? Is that how Phantom felt for most of the time? No, how could he.

Finally he noticed a demon sitting with shadow. It didn't look like he had seen him, so he had some time to think about how to explain what happened to his mask. After a few more steps both mages noticed the other two members of Chaos.

- Here comes our samurai- he heard Phantom's voice- You're finally done?

- You could say so

- Samukai, what's with your mask?- Noktum asked, pointing at the broken mask.

- I had a little accident

- Yea sure- demon said nonchalantly- Now tell what really happened. Beside, you make for a terrible liar

- How did you?- Phantom then pointed at warrior's bloodied hand- Fine, I might have got into a fight and maybe, just maybe I fucked us up a little

- Well, I think I know what you might be talking about. But there is a simple solution to that- Samukai didn't quite like the cheerful tone of the last sentence- Just get rid of the village. No witnesses, no harm

- Can we not do that? It would've been better to just go. I think there soon might be a chase after us

- I mean, I can just kill them- demon shrugged.

- Can we just go?- Phantom sighed but ordered for the hound and magician to march forward. He and Samukai stayed in the back. For now they were going to the town, but considering what happened in the village, they needed to take a longer way and rather than to go through the main road that came from the village. And that meant a more wild route possibly pawed with dangerous monsters.

Phantom noticed that the samurai kept his head down and kept on looking from time to time at his right hand. While Phantasm couldn't really pinpoint what was troubling him, he guessed for it to be guilt.

- So, you wanna talk about what happened there?

- Actually I wanted to ask you about something

- Fine, go on

- Have you ever felt bad about hurting or killing anyone?- even though the warrior knew what demon might answer he still decided to try.

- I don't remember so, why are you asking that?- samurai remained silent- You killed someone in that village, right?

- No! At least I hope not, but...

- But what? Don't tell you feel bad about harming some human

- He was an asshole, yet I don't what I did was right

- You say he was an ass, have you enjoyed what you did to him

- Y...Yes- Samukai said all bashful. At the time he felt like a kid that had broken something and was about to get scolded by parents.

- So where is the problem?

- I do not want to enjoy it. I can't. But I felt like that. What am I supposed to do? I don't want to become a monster- the last part came out barely as a murmur.

- What was that?

- Nothing

- Oi, I told you many times about myself, so this one time you can tell something about yourself. And I want to know what's on your mind

- I simply do not want to become a monster

Demon sighed. So that's what this all was about. Why couldn't it be something simpler? But since already started that topic he should finish it.

- But you already are one

- No I'm not- Samukai responded immediately after Phantom.

- Yet you are also not a human. Then what are you?- samurai once again lowered his head. As much as he wanted to argue with that, demon made a kinda good point. While he wasn't a human he doubted he could call himself a full fledged monster. But if he tried hard enough he could still live as a human, right? Right?

- Be hot or be cold, otherwise I'll spit you out of my mouth. Or however it went

- What?

- Now you have two ways. Try to pass and live as a human, or become a monster. You can't spend the rest of time being something in between

- And what if I want to be like that? Maybe how I felt about hurting him was a one time thing?

- You truly are a poor liar. Listen, I know that sudden change like that is scary. Not knowing what you are or what will happen to you is terrible. But if you stay like that it will be worse than anything else that could happen

- Like you would know that- Phantom then hit the warrior in his helmet. Samukai quickly checked, making sure that there are no dents- And was that for?

- Believe me or not, I know what that's like. I don't need to remind you how we came to existence, do I. So then, what do you want to be? I might try to help you with any choice you'll make- while it didn't show on the demon's face, warrior was sure that he was angry.

- Sorry, it's just that... I'm afraid. I fear becoming a mindless beast that thinks of nothing but to kill

- Say, how about we do it like that? You will help me become a good leader and I will help you find what you truly can become, sounds fair?

- Well then, let's see what will happen. But you still didn't answer my question

- Which one? Ah, that one. I think it all comes down to this one dilemma. Would you kill one person to save ten more?

Samukai remained silent, thinking about the answer. It was a rather difficult question. Honestly it raised many more. Like who those people were, were they all innocent, would that help in a greater scale of things? And what he called the most important of all, can someone decide who gets to live and who doesn't?

- I don't know, would you?

- I would kill all eleven- demon answered with a grin. Of course, what could he expect? Yet that made the warrior somewhat calmer.

- You know, for a moment you sounded like some sort of old man. Not gonna lie, that was somewhat scary

- Hey, do you think I am a full time murder hobo? I am murder hobo for most of the time. Even I can say something smart from time to time. Say aren't you going back for the mask?

- You know- samurai started as he took off the remaining part of his mask- I think I won't need this anymore- he then threw away the broken piece. It landed on the ground behind them.

- I see. Now how about you teaching me some martial arts? The village is still standing

- Well I promised. Just warning you, I might be a sharp teacher

- Phi, you think that would scare me- demon then pointed at himself.

While the two continued to talk, Noktum sat on the giant wolf. Now he was checking the map. It seemed like Cracow might be their next goal. After all, it was the fastest way to the Vatican. Only thing that stood in the way was a small kingdom called Rogov.

Yet unknown to them all, something noticed their presence. Something clad in crimson robes.