"Attention for all passengers, the Demon Arrow train will now depart from the binary number 20 destination Demon World, stay behind the line and don't approach the train as it's departing."
The train began its departure from the station, the students were being escorted to their cabin as they weren't the only passengers of the train. Members of the school's staff, tourists, heavenly beings, the train had all sorts of passengers all heading to the demon school.
Shiraki was being escorted to her cabin by one of the train's staff, the students were given single cabins in order to rest due to earliness of the departure. The hallways of the wagons were pretty crowded filled with students going into their cabins, while Shiraki was following her guide she accidentally bumped into a student.
"I'm sorry my bad."
Shiraki kept walking but stopped when she felt something grabbing her right shoulder.
"Sorry? Do you think that apology is enough? You hurt me! And look at my uniform!"
Shiraki turned around seeing 2 demons wearing a uniform with different colors than hers. One of the demons was covered in fur looking like some sort of wolfish demon. The other demon, the one Shiraki bumped into, was covered in brown scales with what looked like dragon wings and tail, with two long horns on his head.
"I've already apologized, what's wrong with your uniform?"
"Are you blind?! Can't you see how you torn open his shoulder?!"
The wolfish demon pointed at the shoulder of his companion, the uniform was torn open showing his bare shoulder.
"You did this so you have to pay me back! I'm a gentle dragonoid so... why don't you give me all your money?"
"What if I don't want to give you my money?"
"In that case we are going to have a big problem."
"P-Please stop fighting! Y-You can always request a new uniform to your school!"
The staff member that was escorting Shiraki tried to stop the argument, but since she wasn't even half the size of Shiraki they didn't take her seriously.
"Shut up the hell up before I turn you into minced meat!"
"H-HELP!"
Scared by the scream of the wolfish student, the staff remember run away hiding behind Shiraki's luggage, with tears welling on her eyes.
"Ok I'll pay, take it."
Shiraki took out her wallet from her pocket and threw it up in the air.
"Thank yu-GRAH!"
The dragonoid student lifted his arm to catch the wallet midair, the moment he caught it Shiraki threw a high kick to his throat. The student threw away the wallet taking a couple of steps back while holding his throat, he wasn't able to breath.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
The wolfish student screamed at Shiraki as she approached the dragonoid, once in front of him she grabbed his head by one of his horns.
"Not so tought now eh? I hope you won't mind if I take this for the disturb!"
By grabbing the horn with all her might, Shiraki slammed the face of the dragonoid to the floor. Shiraki slammed him so hard that the horn she was holding broke off from his head, remaining on her hand.
"Y-Y-You broke his horn!!! D-Do you even know what it means?!"
The wolfish demon had his back against the wall shaking in fear, with his tail between his legs as he couldn't stop shaking. Shiraki glared at the student, looking at his ears in particular.
"I got a horn but your ears look fluffy, if you stay still I'll cut it in a single slash."
"H-HELP!!!!"
Shiraki reached for her katana but something blocked her hand, when she turned to see who it was she saw a man way taller than her standing right beside her. He was taller than Shiraki, he had blonde hair with eyes of a golden color. He was wearing a suit but what stand out was his horns and his tail. His tail was long and thick, on his head he had 2 kind of horns, the first kind was big and long horns while the second kind was smaller horns on the side of his head, both his horns and tail were of a dark red color.
"I heard a commotion and came to see what was happening but looks like everything has ended already, am I right?"
The wolfish student and the staff member were paralyzed by the fear when they looked at the man, Shiraki felt the change of mood in the air but nothing else. The man looked at Shiraki with very sharp eyes as if he was staring directly into her souls, that penetrating stare sent a shiver down her spine, in that moment Shiraki felt a deep fear in her soul. She was sweating cold, the fear she was feeling completely paralyzed her and yet she couldn't look away from the man's eyes.
"(Who the hell is he? Why won't my body move? What is this fear... how can he instill such fear just by looking at people? I want to run away but my body won't move... I want to look away but I can't... who in the world is he?)"
"I'll say it again, looks like everything has ended already, am I right?"
The wolfish student began to nod uncontrollably, Shiraki gulped and slowly nodded one time.
"Good, I also see one of my kin on the floor... care to explain what kind of events led to this commotion?"
The man let go Shiraki's hand, Shiraki regained her composure feeling she could move again, she took a couple of steps back and bowed into a 90 degrees bow.
"Allow me to explain. I was being escorted to my cabin when I accidentally bumped into the dragonoid student and his companion. The dragonoid claimed that by bumping into him I tore open his uniform, with the support of his companion he tried to exhort all the money in my possession to repay him of his damaged uniform. When I asked what would happen if I refused to hand over my money they answered by saying that there will be problems. Seeing that the situation was escalating further with every exchange of words, the staff member attempted to defuse the situation, resulting into a threat to her life by the wolfish student. In response to such threat the staff member run to hide behind my luggage with tears running through her face, the situation reached a point of no return where to my judgment it was a matter of time before it would escalate into violence, and so I acted."
"Are you the responsible for what happened to my him?"
"Yes, I will take full responsibility for my action."
The man walked before the dragonoid student, with a closer look the man saw that one of the student's horn was broken.
"Did you break his horn?"
"His horn broke in result on my action to subdue him."
The man grabbed the dragonoid student by his hair and lifted him from the ground, only to throw him to his senseless body to his companion.
"Begone before I'll turn you both into ashes."
"Y-Y-Y-YES!!!!!"
The wolfish student took his companion under his arm and run away. Now that they were gone, the man turned to Shiraki that was maintaining her bow.
"Raise your head girl, you acted in order to defend yourself and who was behind you, your actions are justified. I feel ashamed in knowing one my of kin acted in that way, I wish to proper reward your actions so I invite you to my cabin, where you'll have all the accommodations you can ask for, also I believe this belongs to you."
Shiraki turned around to see the man handing her the wallet she thrown at the dragonoid student.
"Thank you very much, I accept your offer but I have to know your name yet."
"Indeed, how rude of me to not having introduced myself before. Mh... I say Baha will suffice for now, so call me Baha."
"Baha-san then... my name is Shiraki Ryu, pleased to make your acquitance."
Baha walked to the staff member and kneeled before her, he dried his tears and messed with her hair.
"The worst has passed little miss, let the direction know what happened and tell them Shiraki will in my cabin, okay?"
"Y-Yes! Thanks for the help!"
The staff member cleaned her uniform and sprinted away with a smile on her face.
"We are done here, you must be tired since it's early for you, let's not waste any more time."
"M-mh."
Shiraki took her luggage and began to follow Baha to his cabin. Baha's cabin was on the upper floor of the carriage, when they finally arrived he opened the door and showed Shiraki inside.
"After you."
"Thanks."
When Shiraki entered the cabin she couldn't believe her eyes. The entrance of the cabin led into a really big living room, the whole room and furniture were of different shades of red while the floor was black. At the entrance of the cabin there was a shoe rack and a coat hanger, a big wall mounted bookshelf filled with book was opposite to the entrance and near that bookshelf there was a sofa.
The sofa was of a blood red colour big enough to fit at least 6 people, in front of it there was a small table made of glass with golden decorations all around it, on top of it in the middle there was an old-style phone. The phone was made of a black material while featuring golden details and parts.
The last furniture of the living room was the dinner table, it was a long black table with a red tablecloth, with a total of 8 black chairs with golden details, 1 on each head of the table and 3 chairs on each side. In the middle of the table a golden 5-branch candelabra was there.
"W-what the hell is this cabin... I've never seen so much gold in my life..."
"This is my cabin, I like to travel with the best service they can offer when I do."
Baha closed the door and hung his jacket on the coat hanger, he took off his shoes leaving them in front of the shoe rack. Baha sat on the sofa, Shiraki took off her shoes but she was too stunned to move, the more she was looking at the room the more everything in it seemed expensive.
"What are you waiting for? That door leads to the bedroom, go and take some well deserved rest, we have more than 8 hours of travel ahead of us."
"U-uhm... thanks."
Shiraki bowed to Baha and went to the bedroom, once inside she closed the door behind her. The walls of the bedroom were of a light red with black floral decorations, the floor was black like the living room. The bedroom had a bed, a desk and a big wardrobe, opposite to the bedroom's door near the wardrobe there was what looked like the bathroom's door.
The bed was a double canopy bed of black wood with scarlet veils and sheets, the pillows were big and they came with red pillowcases, a total of 6 pillows was on the bed. The desk was a corner desk on the right side of the room, it looked like a normal desk as it was the only element of the room that wasn't red, instead it was brown the same color as the wood it was made of. The desk came with all sort of writing materials, from paper sheets to take notes to pens, pencils and similar, a table clock was sitting on the desk as well.
The wardrobe of the room was taller than Shiraki, it was of a black color while its doors and drawers were of a light red color, while the handlers of those were black. Each element of the room was one more luxurious than the other.
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"I feel like even the air I breath is something luxurious, who the hell is he..."
Shiraki left her luggage next to the bed on the floor, she opened it and took out her pajamas in order to change herself. Shiraki went to open the wardrobe, to her surprises the only things inside it were hangers and a pair of extra pillows, she took off her uniform and hung it up inside the wardrobe. With the uniform safe in the wardrobe, she went to wear the pajamas she took out from her luggage and hopped on the bed.
The bed was soft and it smelled of roses, the sheets were warm and the pillow were even softer, all that softness made her fall asleep in no time, it was the best bed Shiraki ever slept on.
The hours passed and Shiraki woke up from her sleep, she stretched her back while yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"I'm hungry...."
Shiraki got out of bed and went to the living room, Baha was sitting on the sofa reading a book.
"Good morning, have you slept well?"
"I never slept this good in my life... what time is it? I didn't have breakfast yet because I planned to get it here so I'm kinda hungry."
"It's 10 am, you slept for around 4 hours. If you want to have breakfast I'll order it for you, pick the menù from the table and tell me what you want."
"Thanks."
Shiraki walked to the table and picked the menù, the menù featured dishes from different cousines around the world, from italian to french, spanish etc.
"I'll take the traditional japanese breakfast."
"I'll take one traditional japanese breakfast, that's all, see you soon."
While Shiraki was looking at the menù Baha picked up the old phone waiting for her order, when she told him what she wanted he sent the order and closed the phone.
"Is your hand alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your right hand."
Baha pointed at Shiraki's right hand, there was a long cut on her palm under her pinky. When Shiraki slammed the dragonoid student to the ground she used her right hand, her hand got cut probably when the horn broke.
"Oh I didn't notice till now, I didn't even feel any pain."
Shiraki tried to open the cut with her fingers, it was just a little deeper than a surface cut, the blood that came out was already dry.
"How did you notice I was cut?"
"The smell, I smelled something familiar and noticed your hand had a cut, may I try something?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I need to confirm something, can I lick your cut?"
Shiraki covered her cut with her left hand, looking at Baha with a dubious expression.
"So you were a weirdo after all."
"I'm not! It's just that your blood has a smell that I already smelled before, it's faint but I sense it, can I?"
Shiraki sighed and walked to Baha, she sat next to him and showed her cut.
"Just make it quick."
"Sure."
Baha took Shiraki's hand and licked the cut, right after licking it Baha's tail stood up. Baha looked at Shiraki in the eyes before hugging her out of nowhere.
"AHAH I knew it! You could've said it earlier that you were a dragon!"
"W-w-what are you talking about? And why are you hugging me?"
Shiraki tried to free herself from his hug, Shiraki suddenly stopped moving when she realized what he said.
"Wait... how do you know it's dragon blood?"
Baha stopped hugging Shiraki and stood up, he cleared his voice and crossed his arms.
"I thought giving you half of my name was enough but now I have to proper introduce myself."
"What?"
Shiraki was confused and couldn't tell what was going on, Baha took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The moment he opened them 3 pairs of large dragon wings appeared on his back, dark red wings so big to touch the walls of the room.
"My name is Bahamut, I'm the ruler of the skies and father of all dragons, that's who I truly am. Your blood had the same smell of dragon blood, it was feint but it was there and the only way to be sure was for me to taste it. Bahamut-sama for you."
"What does that mean...?"
"Eh?"
"I've never been to the Demon World before, even if you tell who you are I still can't tell what you are exactly."
"Oh... I see."
Bahamut retreated his wings and sat beside Shiraki, a little of sadness and embarrassment could be seen on his face.
"The Demon World is ruled by The Demon Lord, but at the same time the skies, the earth and the waters of the Demon World have their own rulers, you can say we have the same authority of The Demon Lord. The other rulers are Behemoth, the ruler of the earth and king of the beasts, and Leviathan, ruler of the waters and eater of the damned. We hold the power of making the sky fall, to throw the entire world underwater and destroy the very core of the world. That's who we are."
"Wow... you are a big shot indeed."
"You seem completely unbothered by it, every demon or heavenly being would tremble in fear just by seeing me."
"I find more frightening the way you could use those powers instead of fearing you simply for having them. You'll never find beings like you in the human world, either I haven't realized how powerful your are yet or I don't know, I find it difficult being scared of something I know nothing about."
Shiraki stood up and started stretching herself.
"On top of that I don't have the time to be scared, I have more important things to think about. I'm probably being too careless around you, a complete stranger that claims of having some sort of world ending power, if you were to say that to a human they would think you are crazy or something."
Shiraki chuckled to what she said while a little blush formed on Bahamut's cheeks.
"The more you talk the more you make me look like a complete fool."
Shiraki laughed at Bahamut, her laugh made him look away but the sound of someone knocking at the door made him look at the door.
"Room service, the traditional japanese breakfast you ordered is here."
"Take your seat, your meal as arrived."
"Sure."
Shiraki sat at the table as Bahamut stood up and welcomed the service staff. The staff member handed Bahamut a tray and left, closing the door with his tail Bahamut placed the tray in front of Shiraki.
"Have a nice meal, what are you having?"
"Steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tamagoyaki and pickled vegetables, and that teapot has green tea in it. Now that breakfast has arrived I guess it's my turn to talk about myself, would you mind sitting with me?"
"Does that mean it's my turn to laugh of you? With pleasure."
Bahamut sat in front of Shiraki with his arms resting on his legs, after thanking for the food Shiraki began to eat and tell Bahamut about herself.
Shiraki told him everything about her ancestors, her parents, her life. When she finished her breakfast she told him about what happened to her grandpa during that night, about Stigma and her objectives in the Demon World.
"I see, you are all alone trying to fight an invisible enemy. What you said about your grandpa's kidnapping is similar to what I've heard of late."
"About what?"
"I've heard of dragons disappearing into thin air without leaving a trace during those last 6 months, those bastards are probably targeting other creatures as well. You seek strength but at the moment you are no more that a baby that just came to this world."
Bahamut reached for one his horns on the side of his head and snapped it off, right after being snapped off the horn regrew instantly.
"What are you doing?! Also how did your horn grow back so fast?"
"If a dragon breaks their own horn they'll imbue their horn with their power, by doing so the horn will stay 'alive' after being broken in order to grow back with time. If the horn isn't imbued with power the moment it's snapped off the horn will 'die', meaning that it won't grow back."
"This means that student won't grow his horn back."
"Exactly, horns broken the way you did are horns that are taken as a prize, you defeated him and took his horn as a prize for your victory."
"If snapping horns is a prize then why did you snap one of your horns?"
Bahamut held his horn on his hand, the horn began to float covered in a golden flame. When the flame died out the horn got turned into a necklace, it had a black lace with a red pendant the shape of a dragon's head. Bahamut took Shiraki's hand and placed the necklace on her hand.
"You may have 18 years old but when it comes to the use of your powers you are no more than a newborn, you trained your body and your mind but your powers are still sleeping. This necklace doesn't hold any special power, but it'll guide you on how to develop your powers. The dragon blood in your veins is still sleeping, if you want to really save your grandpa you'll need to become strong."
Shiraki looked at the pendant in her hand, after wearing the necklace she looked at Bahamut while holding the pendant in her hand.
"Thank you but... why are you doing all of this?"
"The title of father of all dragons isn't for show, I see all the dragons of the Demon World as my children, be them blood related or not. I'm the father of 6 children myself, so every bad thing that can happen to a random dragon can also happen to my own children, that's why I see all dragons that way. You have dragon blood in your veins, therefore I see you as one of my daughters, so accept that necklace and grow my child, for your path isn't an easy one."
"I see, that's reassuring in a way, I never had a father after all..."
Bahamut began to pat Shiraki's head and playing with her ears in a very loving way, together they spent the rest of the travel talking, joking and getting to know each other better.
Somewhere in the Demon World
In one of the most isolated places of the Demon World, where the light of the sun failed to shine, an abandoned church was left to ruin. Inside this church there was nothing more than a long table with multiple seats, the absolute silence of the place was broken from the sound of steps inside the church. Figures wearing dark red robes began to seat the table, with one figure wearing a white robe sitting at the head of the table.
Rays of light were shining through the broken windows and the cracks in the walls, illuminating the table but not those who were sitting at it.
"I see everyone of you is here, if you were able to attend it means everything is going smoothly. I hope to hear good news from you, I declare open the meeting."
It was the figure in white robes to speak, after it snapped its fingers each one of the dark red robbed figures placed papers on the table in front of them.
"Let us begin with you Unos, did the job go as smoothly as I expected?"
The dark red robbed figure stood up with his papers at hand, wearing a red mask on its face.
"I'm afraid to report that the fetching didn't go as planned. As we were able to fetch the first experiment subject after a little fight with him, the lowlife of humans that we employed weren't able to fetch the second one, not completing the job properly."
"What happened then? I heard you had to go there yourself and clean up."
"Indeed, the lowlife we employed were defeated by the second experiment subject, the young fox girl that was with the old man. The young fox girl not only fought the lowlife, but she was even able to extort information from one of the three. The lowlife ended up, if you allow me the human expression, 'spilling the beans' about us. The young girl is now aware of our existence, our objective and other information."
"If you went there why you didn't bring her here?"
"The resistance showed by the young girl was higher than we expected, if I attempted to fetch her it could've caused a commotion, especially after the lowlife caused a commotion themselves in order to fetch the old man. As today we have 2 human subjects with dragon blood, the old man and the adult woman, I declared the materials at our hand were more than enough to keep the experiment going, therefore declaring the inutility of the young girl. I cleaned up after the lowlife we employed, this way should she attempt to search for help her credibility would be null since the scene of said kidnapping was spotless."
"Have you any idea what your stupid pawns have done?! Our existence was leaked! You should've taken the girl as well!"
One of the robbed figures at the other end of the table screamed.
"Did I give you permission to speak Electo? Know your place if you hold dear your skin."
The white robbed figure reprimanded Electo, that could only sigh and look away.
"I take full responsibility of my past and future actions, your Majesty."
"So be it, what do you have to report Ottavius?"
As Unos sat down Ottavius stood up from its place, instead of wearing a red mask its mask was green.
"Yes your Majesty. Our expedition in search of dragons for our laboratory was a success with over 10 dragons acquired, we started the experimentation yesterday so I can't report any data yet."
"This is good news indeed. The new school year will begin in the next days, any news on that side Tenti?"
"Yes your Majesty! We were able to scout a student that will begin his second year, he's a demon researching golems and cores, we should be able to gain important information about the school and what they hold inside."
"Things are going smoothly then, does anyone have data or matters to report?"
Its question was met with silence as no one spoke up.
"I take that's it then. Let's proceed with the next point of this meeting, have you found our next targets Sixelia?"
"Indeed I have your Majesty."
The feminine voice came from the hooded figure next to Unos, wearing a black mask with white dots all over it. Sixelia stood up and walked behind his Majesty.
"As this year is the year of new generations of heirs, we have found plenty of targets for our researches. The younglings are too immature for their power, so we decided to target their relatives that have already developed the special traits that interests us."
Sixelia began to hang in the air photos of demons, the photos were staying still as if they were actually being hung up. Once she was done with the photos, clones made of some purple haze took the shape of each demon in the photos.
"Let's begin with the snow demons. Yuki Shirayuki, heir of the snow demons living in the Snow Peaks, our target is her brother, Hien Shirayuki. The first child of every generation in the Shirayuki clan is blessed with innate capabilities. They can create an extremely sturdy ice, they can also develop an affinity and therefore being able to use the air and water elements, for a reason unknown to us his little sister is marked as the heir of the family. Next one."
Yuki and Hien's photos disappeared leaving no trace.
"Teo Firma, son of Kert Firma. Kert Firma is the master and owner of the Firma Dojo, and our target. He is an earth demon with the rare trait called 'geomancy'. A demon with this trait can manipulate and create any type of mineral, metal, gem, everything out of nowhere. We can't tell if the son holds the same trait, but the father makes wide use of his trait."
After the photo of Teo and his disappeared, Sixelia moved to the next ones.
"Researchers Heolstor Manters and Rhea Laskaris, our final targets. Unlike the previous ones they don't hold any special trait, but they are some of the most famous researchers in the Demon World. Their intellect and research may help our research and experimentations with knowledge we don't have yet. They are the parents of Nyarla Manters."
After the last photos disappeared, Sixelia went back to her seat.
"Those are our targets, but there is one problem in front of us."
"What is it Sixelia?"
"The children of our targets will all attend the same school. Teo Firma and Yuki Shirayuki will attend the demon school Cerberus Castle as first years, Nyarla Manters on the other hand will attend as a third year student..."
"But there is more, isn't it?"
Sixelia nodded with her head, from the sleeve of her robe she took out a photo and displayed to the other members.
"Our other problem is that the girl we failed to fetch, Shiraki Ryu, will attend the demon school Cerberus Castle as well as a first year student."
That last detail made gasp everyone except his Majesty. His Majesty held his hand together, it was silent as it raised its head, looking at the ruinous roof of the church.
"This is a big problem indeed, if she manages to make contact with the children of our targets she will create a bond with them, meaning that they may become a problem in the future. Working in the shadows with these circumstances is putting us in a position of disadvantage. They aren't going in a common school, they are going in a school that is guarded by Demon Lords, not to mention the tamer of Behemoth is there as well."
His Majesty sighed and looked down at its feet.
"If I may your Majesty, how should we operate?"
His Majesty stood up from his chair and raised his fist.
"We are Stigma, we are the demons that will bring the Demon World to its former glory via the power of the almighty science. We'll proceed as we already planned, we'll kidnap our targets and make it look like it was an incident without leaving a single trace. There will be the time where we'll show our face to the Demon World but that time has yet to come. Those kids will never be a threat if we'll keep working as we always have done, keep those experiments going and begin to study how to catch our targets. The meeting ends here, you are to resume your research and experiments with immediate effect."
"Yes your Majesty!"
One after another the dark robbed demons disappeared into portals of their doing till everyone left, leaving his Majesty all alone.
"Wait for it Ravana, the day I'll plunge the Demon World in the total chaos will arrive and you won't be able to stop me, ehehehe...."
His sinister laugh filled the church before disappearing as well. Shadows lurks in the Demon World, but how far do they stretch? Since when they lurk in the Demon World? The invisible enemy has set their eyes on their preys, preparing their claws to strike when the time will be ripe enough.
END CHAPTER 2