"I can't believe that Hirishima. He went this far to lie to me. Once I will find him he will never hear the end of it," seethed Sharon as she walked through the streets of the marketplace while wearing a blue cloak to hide her face and upper body.

"(That warrior told me he is on a field near the court. Now the question is, where is it?)" pondered Sharon, "(Maybe those two can help me. Should I talk to them? They look like decent folk)."

"Umm excuse me you two."

Sharon approached a young couple sitting beside a large stone fountain in the middle of a collection of streets all leading to different types of stores.

The fountain had a statue of a young beautiful woman with long hair wearing a loose dress. She was holding a pot with symbols similar to the zodiac sign carved on it from which water poured into a circular contraption with stone benches all around it's exterior.

"Just ignore her. She looks suspicious," the girl whispered.

"It's alright," the man assured and decided to respond to the woman approaching him.

"What's wrong Ma'am? Why the cloak?"

"I am sorry I am just not confident enough to show my face. I just wanted to ask directions to a court near the palace," asked Sharon.

"What business do you have there?"

"Well my husband is probably planning on doing something witless right now and I need to make sure I put him on the line," Sharon calmly answered.

The girl with the man chuckled while he replied, "Just take that way over there and...."

A sudden explosive sound interrupted the man as the couple immediately turned around to investigate it.

"What the.... What is that!?"

"Where did a monster like that come from?"

The couple were terrified to see a huge black haired demon holding an orange haired boy in its palms.

The other vendors and bystanders in the marketplace also took notice of the demon who just created a massive depression on the street pavement south of the fountain. They were either flabbergasted or totally horrified at the sight of this viscous entity. A moment later, they all began running away as fast as they could while their loud screaming and screeching quickly filled the air.

"Quite the reception here already. Well it's time to transform my hidden guards into ferocious beasts that can rip everything to shreds!" the demon said, excitedly.

"Hey, wake the boy up first. Don't you dare start the show without him." A young echoing voice reappeared in the demon's mind.

"How do I? I only know how to put people down, not how to wake them up," the demon queried.

"Hoshi? It's really him. What should I do? That monster might eat him!" Unsettled Sharon as she took notice of the boy the demon was carrying.

"What are you doing ma'am? Run!" the man from before yelled.

"I can't, I have to save that boy!" Sharon stated.

"You are insane, let's go my love!" The man looked at his side only to realize his 'love' left him behind before irritably running on his own away from the scene.

"Hey you! Give me that boy now!" Sharon loudly ordered the demon.

"Who are you? Are you acquainted with this boy?"

"Yes, I am his mother. Give him back to me now!"

"She is getting on my nerves, let me kill her," Honghui contacted Dorian.

"Not yet. She may help wake Hoshi up. Give him to her but don't let her go away," suggested Dorian.

"He is unconscious right now. I want you to wake him up right here." Honghui lowered Hoshi towards Sharon and placed him down.

"I said right here!"

Sharon Petrified as she was planning to pick the boy up and run away.

"Hey Hoshi. Can you hear me?" Sharon placed the boy on her thighs as she sat down on the ground before speaking in a soft motherly tone. She also took off her hood to reveal her gentle face.

"(That mellow voice, who is it of?)" Dreamt Hoshi.

"Please try to wake up. Hirishima and I are waiting for you," Sharon continued.

"(It's something alien to me, yet it feels warm. It doesn't sound like father or Arien, then who could it be?)"

"Its Sharon, Hirishima's wife, don't you remember?"

"(How can I forget? The tenderness behind that voice is unlike anything I have heard before)." Hoshi woke up and got flustered as he found his head resting on Sharon's thighs.

"What were you doing?" He immediately got up and questioned.

"You poor thing, never have experienced mother's love before," Sharon said in a comforting voice.

"A mother? I am not familiar with that word. Can you explain it to me sometime?" Hoshi asked, curiously.

"That actually worked? Well finally, now I can go on with the plan. Young master, why don't I kill his mother right before him? That will surely make him angry," Honghui conversed with Dorian.

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"Do whatever you want, just get the show on the road. (Come on Hoshi, don't let her bite the dust)," replied Dorian, impatiently.

"Whatever you say." The demon raised its damaged claws towards Sharon in an attempt to impale her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!?" Upon reflex, Hoshi leaped towards Sharon and got her out of the attack zone.

"Stay out of the way brat!" Honghui growled.

"Listen, I will distract him. You make a run for it," Hoshi whispered in Sharon's ear.

"I can't just leave you."

"Don't worry. I have a plan," assured Hoshi.

"Alright, I trust you," agreed Sharon.

Hoshi smiled and then concentrated his red aura towards his right forearm and generated a sword on his hand.

"You have learned how to do that in your normal state as well? What a pain!" complained Honghui.

"Interesting. It seems his mind still holds memories from his cursed form deep within," speculated Dorian.

"(I don't know what this technique is, but it felt natural to do in this situation). Now!" yelled Hoshi before Sharon began running in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" The demon tried to grab the escaping woman but Hoshi interjected and sliced off a portion of it's protruding ribcage with his red, crystalline sword.

"You little!" The demon roared in pain.

"(Now's my chance!)" Hoshi retracted his sword and transferred aura in his legs to increase the speed of his sprint drastically.

This way he caught up with Sharon in just a few seconds.

"Keep running, we must find someplace to hide."

"What about that monster?" concerned Sharon.

"I am sure Sir Hirishima and the warriors will take care of it! Right now, my priority is to keep you and the rest of the people safe," determined Hoshi.

"Hey you two! Get inside here quickly!" a middle aged man called out from a wooden entrance to an underground bunker.

The two hastily entered the bunker which was actually a storage room for various crafting materials. All the candles and lanterns were blown out, making the room almost pitch black. People of various ages and genders were all crammed in the corners, terrified of the demon they just encountered outside.

Honghui was still in severe pain from that last attack when he noticed Hoshi was nowhere in his sight.

"Where did that little shit go!?"

"You have always lacked the brains Abatu. Send your goddamn pawns to get him back here! Begin the massacre as well, that will surely lure him out," ordered Dorian.

"Of course."

The demon roared as it's body filled with intense purple aura. It then proceeded to disperse all that aura in the air, reaching every corner of the marketplace.

The sky suddenly began crying, failing to hold the heavy weight of proliferating corpses. Loud cracking and roaring noises emerged from various parts of the locale making it certain, a group of people were getting possessed by a dark soul. Even Inside the bunker, a man wearing a familiar red and white armour blared as he threw himself to the ground. He scratched his face with his fingernails to distract himself from the immense pain, leaving bloody marks all over.

It was really dark so most of the people there couldn't comprehend what was actually going on except Hoshi, who was able to make out a bit of the man's silhouette. After a heinous transformation there was a black haired demon with quite a few of its joints and bones protruding out while its eyes began glowing faint purple right before him.

"Daddy? Where are you? I am scared!" A little girl sobbed as she walked near the lesser demon.

"No, don't go near him!" yelled Hoshi.

The demon gazed at the child in bloodlust and was one step away from severing her head with its developing claws.

"Stop it!" Hoshi concentrated aura on his palm and ignited a ball of red flames that lit the area immediately.

The crowd took notice of the imitating creature and their minds brimmed with fear. They all stepped back except Hoshi who was slowly moving towards the child while holding the ball of fire on his right palm.

The demon halted once Hoshi called out to it. It was shivering in place and was breathing heavily.

"Please, kill me. I don't want to hurt my own daughter."

"It's daddy's voice. Where is he?" the child weeped.

"I can't, there must be a way to cure you," conversed Hoshi.

"There isn't! Please, before I hurt my own family!" the demon stressed.

"I... can't," stuttered Hoshi.

The demon roared and leaped on the child before it while she screeched for help. Hoshi threw the ball of fire at the demon which caught on his hair and began burning it. It struggled but didn't try to put the fire out and allowed itself to burn.

"Daddy! I am scared! Please come to me!" The little girl kept sobbing.

Hoshi walked up to the demon who fell to the ground and was now completely immobilized.

"Finish me.... Quick," the demon requested.

"Who would do such a thing? Turning people into demons? Who in this twisted world is behind this?" cursed Hoshi.

"Please... it hurts.... I beg you," the demon begged.

Hoshi generated a sword on his other hand while keeping the area illuminated with another ball of fire on his right palm. He lowered his body and head to pay his respects before gently impaling the demon's heart. Suddenly, its body began disintegrating into black ashes.

"There, there." A woman came from the crowd to comfort the gloomy child right next to Hoshi.

"It is him! The cursed outsider that has brought this calamity upon us!" A familiar old man with red eyelashes wearing black robes with a hint of red spoke from the cluster of people.

The crowd all shifted their sights towards Hoshi and the old man who walked out to confront him.

"Who you might be?" questioned Hoshi.

"I am Father Yamato, the leader of the cult that resides here. That's why I have enough authority to have you executed right here!"

"The leader of a cult? Isn't your purpose to protect and think about the better of your people through religion?" Hoshi was visibly irritated.

"Precisely yes, that's why I have to protect them from you!" Father Yamato disputed.

Hoshi angered and punched the old man in the face. He fell back in front of the crowd.

"If that's the case then why didn't you even try to save that little girl!? If you people hate outsiders that much then learn not to rely on them!"

"You little! My people, kill this blasphemous outsider!" Father Yamato pointed at Hoshi while raising himself slightly from the ground.

None of the people moved out of the corner.

"What's wrong? Afraid of him? He is the enemy! Step forth to save yourselves!" Father Yamato emphasized.

"Shut up!"

"He is not what you say he is!"

"He placed his life on the line to save that little girl!"

A few among the crowd spoke.

"You all know what you are doing? You can't defy the cult leader's orders!"

"Sure we can. You did nothing but take taxes! Meanwhile an outsider, a complete stranger who didn't have anything to gain, saved this little girl!" The woman who was comforting the child lashed out.

Just as Father Yamato's head escalated with anger, all sorts of destructive sounds like loud roaring, slashing and screaming blended in with rain's pitter-patter.

"Listen. I am going out, you stay here with these people." Hoshi approached Sharon.

"I can't possibly allow that. You will get yourself killed!" Sharon demurred.

"I will be careful, I promise. I have to go out there and find Sir Hirishima. He definitely has a plan to fix this!" determined Hoshi.

"Stay here with us. You are just a boy, you don't have to risk your life for people you don't even know," replied Sharon.

"I don't know them but that doesn't mean I shouldn't help them. My father sent me here for a reason and that is to kill the demons that destroyed our home!"

"Fine, but promise me you won't get killed," stressed Sharon.

"I promise, and thank you."

Hoshi bid Sharon farewell and exited the bunker.

It was a total scene of chaos in the marketplace. The shops decimated, the air filled with intense screams and the streets polluted with victims of a lesser demon invasion. The smell was somewhat overshadowed by the rain but still was enough to make a normal person vomit. Hoshi's eyes filled with anger and frustration as he was reminded of a similar attack back at his home planet.

End of chapter twenty-four.