It was very dark now. I was walking in the part of the forest that had been destroyed after the encounter.

I saw Taida leaning hid back against a tree and looking at me with a frown. "What do you think you're doing, Yokubo?" He asked coldly.

"Oh? What is that supposed to be~? Am I becoming schizo, seeing you here even tho you don't exist?" I rolled my eyes.

"No, I just found out that I can appear in your sight, and it feels more natural than talking to you in our head." He smirked.

"Fuck no! That's creepy!" I frowned.

"You're the last person that has the right to call me creepy, Yokubo." He sighed.

"So let me repeat my question. What do you think you're doing here? I'm sure you understand that being here is a death wish, after all the collapsed shrine is near." He walked up to me.

I crouched and searched for something in the grass. "Yeah, I know... but I can put my life on the line... whatever it takes to wake him up..." I said quietly.

"You're weird, Yokubo. You care too much about those who you call friends. Just look at you! You're constantly gloomy right now, you have no time for yourself, and you're constantly being criticized by your so-called 'friends' even tho you do everything better than them!"

He wrapped his arm around the neck in a friendly manner. "I've watched you since you were born, Yokubo. There is a clear difference between your life before you started high school."

"Yeah? And what might that be?" I asked.

My eyes widened as I found something in the grass. "Holy shit...!"

"It's your life, Yokubo! You're constantly fighting for others now, and it's very wrong! You're doing this because you think that it will bring you more joy than just doing everything for yourself when the truth is that because of it you're at your lowest right now."

I picked up some pieces of the mask the demoness wore. "I totally forgot... Haruki cracked her mask back then... maybe... maybe there's someone who can somehow track this back to the user..." I said to myself under my nose.

Taida was still speaking. "You know, Yokubo. Most of us aren't negative towards you! We actually want to see you experience a happy ending, tho it just hurts me to watch you fail so miserably, and even spare the ones who have killed you!"

I took a tissue out of my pocket and wrapped it around the small pieces.

Taida noticed that I was holding something in my hands. "Oh? What is this? You have actually found something, Yokubo?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah... a piece of the mask that this whore was wearing..." I clenched my fist in anger.

Taida just stretched himself and sighed softly. "This anger, Yokubo. It's not really comfortable for you, isn't it?"

I stood up and frowned at him. "What are you talking about?" I asked with annoyance.

"Nothiing~! I'm just wondering what would you do in a silly scenario!" He said cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't drag it, what kind of scenario are you talking about?"

He smirked again. "Well, you see, Yokubo. The world hates us, so we are always getting the worst treatment unless we fight for a change."

"So there's a chance... that the person who cursed Haruki... is actually someone very dear to you... or at least someone close to you... someone who you see almost every day... you know... hair dyes exist..."

"So what? What if it would be someone who's close to me?" I asked.

"What will you do? Will you kill them, or will you fail again and let them live~?" He giggled softly.

"Again...? What do you mean?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'FAIL AGAIN'?!" I tried to tackle him, but I just phased through him.

"Oh please! Trying to tackle something that had no matter, no, something that doesn't even exist! That's stupid of you Yokubo, I thought you're worth more than that~!" He laughed.

"You... you motherfucker... you've killed her didn't you?" I clenched my fist in anger.

"She killed me first~! A wise man once said 'It was obviously self defense' right?" His smirk widened.

"How could you?! How could you kill her?! She was your friend, just like she is my friend!" I kicked a tree in fury.

"You have no pride, Yokubo. I killed her because she wanted me to kill her. That was a fair fight to death and I was the winner!"

"Our lives were the same! I have also won just like you, but I didn't kill her! She is my friend!"

Taida started laughing. "Y-ayou... haha! Do you really think that our lives are the same?! Hahaha! Don't make me laugh! We are different! Every one of us! Only the three of us... You... me... Kowagari... had some similarities... but only to a certain degree~!"

"There's only one rule in this world, Yokubo! Kill or be killed! Eat or be eaten! Take or let someone take something away from you! If you don't follow those rules then you'll be slowly sinking into despair and be too weak to do anything about it."

I looked at the grass for some time.

"You need a change if you want to survive, or else you'll end up bad... very... very bad."

"..."

"Wait... don't tell me that you're..." He asked with uncertainty.

A strong shiver ran down my spine and I immediately looked up from the ground, searching for the cause.

"Y-You..." I said with terror as my body started shaking.

She walked up to me with grace, her expression emotionless as her nine tails softly swayed behind her back.

"I was sure that our paths would cross one day, but I didn't expect it so soon." She said calmly, looking straight into my eyes.

She was clad in an orange miko outfit and had a gohei staff in her hand.

"You... kitsune..." I took a step back and looked around.

"Taida... he's gone..."

As I stepped back, she stepped closer.

"Don't be scared, I'm not here to hurt you, at least not for now." She said.

"T-then what do you want!" I said, my voice shaky and fearful.

"I saw you talking to yourself and it intrigued me, so why don't you follow me and we will have a small talk?" She reached her hand towards me.

"And why should I even trust you!? You will kill me! I'm sure of it! After all..." She then cut me off.

"After all I have already killed you once, haven't I?"

"You... you do actually remember? How? Why?!" I looked into her eyes with frustration.

"This is no place to talk, follow me, human." She then slowly started to walk deeper into the forest.

"Should I follow her? I mean... I don't really have a choice here... she probably can erase me from this world before I could even realize... and maybe... just maybe... I'll finally get some answers..."

"Curiosity is the first step that leads us to death, you're stupid if you really want to do it, Yokubo," Taida said in my mind.

"Fuck you..." I muttered under my nose.

The kitsune turned around and looked into my eyes coldly. "Did you say something, human?" She asked.

A shiver ran down my spine as my legs immediately weakened. "N-No..." I said quietly.

After five minutes we entered the once-collapsed shrine which suddenly was in a perfect state.

"Huh...? This place is so clean now..." I looked around.

She pointed at the mats that were in the middle of the shrine. "Sit down, human."

I sat down on the mat and then she placed a small table down on the floor.

"Do you want anything?" She asked.

"No..." I shook my head.

"Fine." She sat down in front of me and looked straight into my eyes.

"I have already told you my name, it's Nyx, but what is your name, human?" She asked calmly, putting the gohei on the ground next to her right thigh.

"Shoji... Nakamura Shoji..." I muttered under my nose.

"Don't be so scared of me, Nakamura Shoji. I apologize for killing you back then, I have mistaken you for someone else and I'm not very proud of myself." She gave me a slight bow.

"You don't look like you're sorry... in fact, you don't even look like you're anything... but if you're apologizing... then I can't do anything else than to accept your apology and forgive you, I guess..." I said.

"No fucking way I'm forgiving her, she fucking killed me and rescued that bitch Isolde Veyne!"

I looked into her eyes. "So... what do you want from me?" I asked.

"What do I want from you? I don't want anything. I was just curious about why were you talking to yourself while being in my territory, clearly searching for something. So I thought that talking with you would be a good idea after our last encounter..." She said calmly.

"I will answer your questions, but I want you to answer some of mine first," I said.

She nodded. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Who are you exactly? What is 'The Luminous Order'? What are their goals? Why didn't you kill me yet? And why did you call this forest your territory?" I asked.

She stood up and walked over to a small cabinet, taking a map out of it.

She walked over to the table and placed the map on it.

"You know that already but I'll start from the beginning."

"Okay..."

"The island we are living on is a massive city and country at the same time. It is divided into eight districts: Hanamizu District- The historical and cultural center; Takamine District- The Buisness Hub, the most modern and loud District in Shizuhara; Kawashimo District- It's actually one of the largest districts because of the amount of houses built there which is constantly increasing, many schools are there; Minato Bay District- The second loudest District in Shizuara, everywhere you go there are either arcades or people trying to sell you seafood; Hisakawa Industrial Zone District- The place where all the logistics, warehouses, shipping centres, airports, etc.; Yukishiro District- The most colorful and the warmest District out of all, I personally like the Yulishiro Winter Lights Festival; Fujiwara Heights District- The most wealthy people live there, especially those filthy demons undercover... not to mention that God foresaken Shizuhara Academy... ugh... tho the views are nice; And the last one is Aokigahara District under which is the forest we are currently in. This is my territory." She said.

I looked at the map. "Okay... now answer my other questions, please..."

"What am I, huh? I'm a Yokai of course. Don't I look like one?" She asked.

"No... that's not what I meant... eh... never mind..." I sighed.

Suddenly my phone started buzzing.

I took it out of my pocket and looked at who was calling. "Fuck... Lilith not right now..."

I looked at the Kitsune. "Do you mind?"

"No, feel free." She said calmly.

I picked up the call and brought the phone up to my ear. "What do you want, Lilith? It's not the best time to call me." I said.

"Uhh... listen Shoji... don't call me for a couple of days, don't answer my texts, and don't answer my calls no matter what, okay?" She said with embarrassment.

"For now I'm canceling our experiments..." She added.

"Huh?! Why?!" I asked in frustration.

"It's not my fault! I just feel like... no! I know it! My Frenzy is slowly starting... anyways... I'll probably come back to normal when the Golden Weekends... just don't worry and don't do anything, bye!" She said.

"Huh?! What are you talking about, Lilith?! The fuck is a 'Frenzy'! Hey, you listening?! Hey?!" She then hung up the call.

"Tsk... fuck!" I frowned and put the phone back into my pocket.

"Did something happen? You look rather frustrated and angry, I'd say." She said calmly.

"I don't know what happened! My friend just called me and canceled one of the most important sessions I've ever had, while not saying anything other than 'Frenzy'. I mean! Like, how the fuck do I know what Frenzy is, huh?!" I said in frustration.

Nyx frowned. "Frenzy is a state that those filthy demons are experiencing from time to time. It's a leftover of their primal nature, their ancestors, so-called 'Primodials' were constantly experiencing it unlike the demons nowadays." She said coldly with a disgusted expression.

"Oh there we go... she has emotions after all... tho she still looks lifeless! Just the look in her eyes... is so empty..."

"And what is this state even about? What does it do to them?" I asked.

"Frenzy is very chaotic and depends on the demon's nature and what they were feeling before their Frenzy started, tho it's almost always Lust." She said.

"Oh... so Lilith is just afraid that she will do something she would never do..."

Nyx nodded. "Probably."

Suddenly I died inside. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING? I'M JUST TALKING WITH THAT WOMAN SO CASUALLY! SHE'S MY ENEMY! SHE ALSO KILLED ME ONCE! YES! MY QUESTIONS! I'LL ASK THEM QUICK AND THEN I'LL LEAVE! YES!"

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

I shook my head nervously. "N-No... I just wanted to ask my last question..." I said.

"Then ask." She said calmly.

"W-what..." I swallowed my saliva nervously. "Fuck... this question will surely throw me into a grave... but if it'll get me closer to finding out who Isolde Veyne really is... then..." I looked into her eyes. "What is 'The Luminous Order' and what are your goals?"

I closed my eyes in fear. "If she wants to kill me, she better do it fast... I don't want to suffer so much like last time..."

"Unfortunately, that's a question I cannot answer this question." She said calmly.

I opened my eyes. "Huh?" I gasped in surprise. "You won't kill me or anything for asking?" I asked in disbelief and surprise.

"No? Why would I? Besides you can't really die, can't you? After all, I'm sure that I killed you back then, there's no way anyone would survive with such wounds, not to mention that it was a human with Authority Type 1 and no control." She said calmly.

"Actually Type 2 now..." I muttered under my nose.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You've evolved in such a short period of time? That's weird..." She said.

"Anyways, now it's the time for me to ask you some questions, and then I'll let you go because I'm sure that's the only thing you're thinking about." She said calmly.

"Sure... that's fair... I guess..." I sighed.

"How did you survive? Do you have any mutation that prevents you from dying or is there an entirely different factor that keeps you alive?" She asked calmly.

"Uhh... it seems that it doesn't work on you, so I will tell you..." I looked into her eyes. "I cannot die! When I die, I wake up a couple of hours later, without a scratch on my body, but no one remembers anything about me from that day... just like if I was erased from the world..."

"That's... an interesting curse. I'd say that it sounds more like someone is trying to protect you, rather than break you."

"That's exactly what I am thinking..."

"Do you know who cursed you? Their name? What do they look like? Anything?" She asked.

"I-..." Suddenly as I was about to say everything, I just forgot. "Uhh? I don't remember anything..." I said with uncertainty.

"That's quite underwhelming." She said.

"Okay now... my last question is: How did you move when the time was frozen?" She asked with curiosity.

"Oh? Another emotion..."

I looked into her curious eyes and scratched the back of my head, smiling nervously. "I don't know! I honestly don't know why it didn't stop me like it did with the others, but it is what it is." I said.

She sighed softly and slowly stood up.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to hear, you can leave now." She said and she turned her back on me.

"Oh gosh... thanks... it's real dark outside and... hehe..." I stood up and made my way towards the doors.

"I'm not your enemy right now, but the next time our paths cross, we might be against each other." She said.

"Yeah... I know that..." I said, leaving the shrine.