Their first destination happened to be a village, where they arrived around midday. A deserted village in the woods, the reason Kurai arrived there in the first place. Some days ago he took the commission to find the reason the village suddenly appeared to be deserted, after many others failed. As he looked around for any clues Kesshō continued to delightfully and carelessly eat her chocolates, paying no mind to the surroundings.

The village seemed fairly small, a dirt path in the shape of a ‘U’ being the only proper path presents there, both ends of it connecting to dirt roads that lead away through the nearby woods. Small wooden houses lined the dirt path, a comparatively large two storey house standing at the center of the village.

“Quite convenient this quest got passed onto gold rank, which means many silver and bronze parties failed this quest, but why and how did they fail?" Kurai thought over. “Not a single clue anywhere, an entire village can’t just disappear into thin air. It could be the work of a strong monster, but there is no damage anywhere in the village. That indicates intelligence, and possibly even psychic abilities, what do you think?” He inquired turning to Kesshō.

She tilted her head at him with a confused look.

“Completely indifferent to everything as always,” Kurai sighed. “Are there any strange scents around here?” Kurai questioned.

Kesshō closed her eyes and concentrated on the scents before shaking her head.

“That means whatever caused this never even came here, or it has the Odorless skill. Just what caused this even?” Kurai sighed. He turned and surveyed his surroundings once again. Stopping abruptly as he glanced around before smiling wryly. "Perhaps my psychic nullification is not strong enough,” Kurai sighed. “Disillusion.” He called out with a wave of his hand.

All of a sudden the village’s look changed, all the houses now appearing to have been broken or burnt, large claw marks lining the ground and houses all over. Many patches of charred land marked the ground and the path, shapes visible in the burnt land. The central house seemed to be in the best condition, though what sat above it didn’t look pleased.

At a single glance it could be easily recognized as a chimera, but this one has already morphed further than most. Its head seemed similar to a rodent’s, two bat wings, four strong furry feet with large claws on each, a long serpentine tail behind it, and a tough scaly body like an alligator’s covering it. Its eyes were blood red and it undoubtedly locked onto Kurai and Kesshō, inspecting both and preparing to pounce. Spotting the large monster Kesshō let out a yelp and hid behind Kurai, creeped out by it's grotesque appearance.

“Well, I did promise to protect you,” Kurai sighed, “perhaps not right now.” the chimera unleashed a fire breath attack at the two, but Kurai dived out of the attacks range while Kesshō stood there, her eyes still closed. The fire won’t hurt her, but it will hurt something else. Kurai smirked, though not really liking what he just did, he knew the chimera wouldn't last long now.

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The fires engulfed Kesshō’s body, dying out just as quickly, charring the nearby ground but leaving her unharmed. Opening her eyes she looked at the box of chocolates, completely burnt and charred, along with the chocolates having been melted. Even the metal box seemed to have bent slightly, making it fairly useless.

The one thing she absolutely hates is anyone doing anything to her food, one of the few things which can actually convince her to kill an opponent, Kurai thought.

Kesshō dropped the box on the ground and lowered her head, a blue wisp of flames igniting on the right edge of her mouth, while a pink one on the left. She opened her mouth and breath out a small puff of flames before closing it again, breathing heavily.

Just as the chimera opened its mouth and charged another breath attack Kesshō raised her head, the sclera of her pink eye turning black while her blue eye glowed brighter. The chimera slowly closed its mouth, the breath attack having been interrupted by the pressure from her 'Demonic Eye of Destruction'.

The chimera pounced from the house at Kesshō, both its front limbs outstretched as it reached for her. Kesshō took in a breath and dashed ahead. As the chimera hovered above her, having missed her, she unsheathed her katana and spun her body in a circle, her blade arcing upwards. The blade slashed both the chimera’s hind limbs and it crashed onto the ground behind her. Kesshō took a wide step to balance herself and sheathed her katana as she turned back to the chimera.

It growled in a furious manner and glared at her, its mouth open as it did. The chimera lunged ahead with its front limbs and attempted to strike Kesshō with its head, using its own body as a battering ram. As its head neared her, Kesshō kicked the chimera’s lower jaw with her right leg, blue-pink lines visible her feet. The chimera’s head shot upwards in an instant, some blood spraying out as its large teeth skewered its own tongue. It swung its left claw at her with all its strength, but Kesshō jumped over it, turning her body upside down in the air and bringing her katana to her head after unsheathing it.

“Tsuki Kenjutsu, ichi no kata: tsuki no ken,” Kesshō mumbled as she swung her katana in a horizontal arc. A white crescent moon blade with a tinge of pink formed, following the blade of her katana. The blade decapitated the chimera and disappeared into thin air some distance away. Landing back on her feet Kesshō sheathed her katana and looked towards Kurai.

She is definitely not pleased, Kurai sighed.

Kesshō seemed to be definitely angry at Kurai, anger which she displayed with a pout, though it only made her look less harmless than she already did. Kurai slowly approached her and patted her on the head, her expression changing back to normal in a few moments.

“Those weren’t all, there are more here,” Kurai informed, eyeing the rest of the village. Kesshō took a step closer to Kurai and clung to him like a little kid, which she is. "We can’t let them go, they have already killed everyone in this village," Kurai sighed.

Kesshō’s eyes turned to thin lines like a snake's, which only meant that she decided to kill, a not so common occurence for her.

Nineteen of them, all just like this one. There is one more, but it seems to be unbothered by this commotion, and It’s not a chimera or similar, and fairly far from the rest, Kurai thought. "Kesshō, can you handle things here?” Kurai inquired. Kesshō turned to him and tilted her head, her eyes back to normal. "There are nineteen coming this way, just like this one. Can you handle them while I take care of their leader?” Kurai explained.

Kesshō nodded and puffed her chest, an expression meaning that she could be trusted with this task. Kurai patted her on the head before rushing towards his target, using his stealth skill to pass by the nineteen chimera unnoticed.

Well, if any did notice me I can just kill them, but it would leave Kesshō wondering where the others went, so I’d prefer not to, Kurai sighed.