“Release me and I’ll grant their wish right now!”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Yes, it is, Yuki. I take their heads and we’re finished here.”

  “…Yumi…”

  She stared down at Yuki in his cage. “What you going to do? Preae about the good in something that isn’t even real? This is nothing more than a game, there is no morality here.” Yuki held silent, apparently uo find an argument to take against Yumi. ‘I’m surprised he’s still pying the pacifist even in here.’

  However, even if Yuki had nothing to say to her, that didn’t mean the demons remained silent. The Lord seemed to step in to fill in the bnks that Yumi kept Yuki from filling in for her. “He’s not speaking to any sort of reservation about killing, but the nature of my .”

  This suddenly didn’t sound like something that she wao hear. She hadn’t even heard them yet and already had the feeling. Yumi held back a sigh, preparing to listen as they wouldn’t be stopped.

  “What he speaks of is our wish to die in battle, not simply die. If we just wao it suicide, we could have dohat a long time ago. But our is made up of warriors and every one of us seeks one great battlefield after another.”

  Things definitely became more plicated. That sigh came out now. “There are plenty of Hunters in the world, no doubt more powerful than me. Find one of them that sughter you.”

  “What did you think this invitation was about? We’ve been seeking for more than two hundred years.”

  “I doubt you’ve been trying that hard. I ’t imagihere being no one in this world that kill you.”

  A rumblied through the floors turning Yumi’s eyes down. She took a half step baot very clear what was happening. The lohat it persisted the more of an uled feeling grew iomabsp; ‘I don’t think I’m going to like this…’ Wood pnks ed and split under an unseen pressure. Rings of stress and damage spread out from the ter. “Yuki…give me my powers, NOW!”

  “I already turned off my Field.”

  The seat that the Demon Lord had been casually seated upon disappeared into particles, not as though he summohem, but ripped apart elementary particle by particle. “I’ve never seen a destructive force like this before!” Yumi rapidly summoned her barriers all around her. Layers upon yers folded together interlog tightly as the destructive wave expanded. Her power was nothing near what it should be and she had no clue if it could even hold up against it. She just kept adding more intricate yers on her barrier, thiing it for the assault to e.

  But even that wasn’t enough to prepare for the wave. In what had been a slow moving disiion of the floor explosively shot out. Everything around her was gone in an instant. The beautiful crafted house was gone. Below her floating barrier was a crater that grew out of the expandiru. And at first, she thought she had gotten through the worst of it.

  Yet waves of power crashed upon her barrier ripping apart pieces with ease. There wasn’t enough of a struggle on its part. It was like a torch to butter, effortless ahal. The only struggle was from Yumi trying tthen what remained of her barrier, but even that wasn’t enough. Holes quickly appeared uo be patched up. The raw destructive force leaked through assaulting her body directly. Her bones cracked and muscles ripped apart at the very presenbsp; ‘It…feels like…I’m being crushed, pulled apart and exploded…I ’t…’

  A shadoeared in front of her suddenly blog the lethal energy bringing her relief. She could breathe and withe annihition below. All that remained untouched was Yuki, the Demon Lord and the two of them.

  It stopped.

  Suddenly, an absolute stillness came over the region. All destru ceased and thehing began restrug itself. The crater grew baehow, filling in quickly with the dirt and then trees and mountain. Seds passed res everything back to the inal state.

  Yumi dropped to the ground in pain once more.

  Chapter 408 – A Demon’s Reality

  Recovered again thanks to Yuki, he was released to stao Yumi as they stood before the Demon Lord. Yumi could feel her body still shaking from witnessing the power. ‘Even at full strength I wouldn’t even be able to dent something like that! And he wants me to kill him in bat?!’ She still didn’t even uand what happened. It was as if he was a god, bringiru ah in two separate hands. “What did you do?”

  “I exerted my power.”

  “Exerted? Are you saying you destroy things by breathing?”

  The Lord leaned back a little in his seat taking a full moment to gather himself for Yumi. “What I did was a crass unfiltered demonstration of my power.”

  “Huh?

  Yuki stepped in for the expnation in pce of the demon. “What he’s saying is that he did an untrolled power up. Meaning he was freely allowing his power to just release pure and raw with no tration or focus to what it did. Which became a pure destru wave.”

  “Are y to show off?” She still didn’t fully uand it. Yuki made it easier to process, but there were still a lot of missing pieces to the whole point. She hoped that they would be filling them in soon.

  “My Lord was making a point. As are easier to trust than words, which lie. You didn’t believe in the power my Lord possesses, so feeling it first hand was the easiest way for you to uand the gulf.”

  “Even with all that power, a sneak atta an unguarded moment just easily kill you still.”

  He shook his head at Yumi, as she clearly didn’t realize the differenbsp; “You suggested before that you could just kill us and be doh it. While that might be true of myself, you would not be able to kill my Lord even like that.”

  “Now who’s lying with words.” A bold and arrogant cim such as that almost seemed fitting from a demon, especially the Lord of all demons. She crossed her arms in doubt as the demon wao interject, but was stopped. To her surprise, she got an invitation from the Lord himself. “Are you tellio kill you?”

  “If you think you .”

  Yumi tilted her head to the right trying to figure him out. He taunted her to kill him even though he wao die as a warrior. ‘He’s really that fident of his power? That he is unkilble by me?’ Staring at the demon, she tried to get any sort of read on him. But he was an intimidating stonewall that wouldn’t move. The pierg cold stare of him that egged her on to do it, also instilled hesitation and doubt. It told her that she couldn’t do it, but toyed with her to try anyway.

  She couldn’t move. Her body still couldn't stop shaking. It remembered the power that he used too well. It didn’t matter what words she used, none of them could vince her body that she had any hope. And not even the slightest sliver of hope. It was a pletely zero pert ce, if values could be ive, they would be.

  “I’m not at full strength right now, thanks to your friend.”

  “While true, all you might be able to do is scratch me. For a referehat might help you, if I’m a ten, he is a one.”

  While she didn’t want to believe such boasts, it almost felt like an uimation of his power. It worried her that she didn’t even see his peak. ‘There’s nothing I do about this. What’s the point of any of this then?’ She looked over at Yuki, remihat her goal of finding him was satisfied. In the end, that was really all that mattered to her. She could just leave. “Why did you even bother then if you khere was no ohat could pete with you? You know I’m not in your league.”

  “We didn’t know until you fought. We heard rumors about you, but o find out the true depth of your power.”

  “Well you found out and now I’m leaving.” Yumi turned around waving to them wishing to just put it all behind them. She didn’t want to see them again.

  However, the doors to the exit of the chamber closed. The Lord didn’t seem to be doh them. Yumi looked over her shoulder ba. She felt a new uling feeling developing. “You have potential though, so I will train you.”

  “Eh?!” croaked Yumi, uo stand straight up listening to him. She turo face him directly. “I’m not ied.”

  “I make you the most powerful Hunter in the world!”

  “Still don’t care. I don’t have any desire to be the stro. I have enough for what I need.”

  The demon stepped out in front, standiween them. He looked far more recovered than Yumi felt. “I know that’s not true. While fighting a truth that ’t be expressed through words is revealed. And I could see it in your attacks. You seek power. You desperately crave it.”

  Yumi gred at the demon, narrowing her eyes. “Stop there before I actually get back that urge to kill you.”

  “You’re running.”

  “Silenbsp; You don’t know me and your babble about truth in fighting is nonsense. You’re seeing what you want to see because you want that stupid warrior’s death. I’m not the one you’re looking for. So stop before you make me angry.”

  “It’s the truth, Hunter. You will have to face that one day.”

  She heard enough of his ramblings and turned away again. A closed door wasn’t going to be enough to stop her. If they wao keep her they would o use forbsp; That much she made clear in her walk as she pulled along Yuki. “We’re leaving, Yuki.” Throwing out her hand, she pushed open the heavy doors with her power.

  In the halls of the mansion, they reminded her that she had no clue where she was going. It felt like they were almost mog her like even the house wao keep her from leaving. But that wasn’t going to be enough either to stop her.

  Geing a gravity orb in front of her, she ripped a hole in the wall crushed uhe pressure and presented her with a door out. “I’m going to be gd to have this pce far behind me.” She hovered in the air pig up Yuki to take with her.

  While being carried out, he looked back at the house. “You know I khe way out. You didn’t have to wreck their house.”

  “The demon create things from nothing, a hole like that is meanio him.”

  “It’s still bad manners,” said the cat demon from Yumi’s right.

  Jumping in the air away from the demon, she tried to keep her shoinimum. ‘I didn’t even notice him there…’ She groueeth getting a feeling that things weren’t as over as she would have liked them to be. He wanted anht she assumed, ohat would end with her death she knew. Yumi looked around cautiously for an escape. “I have no good mao give for those that want to kill me.”

  He gave a small chuckle to Yumi’s empty bravado. It still seemed to amuse him. Though he wasn’t giving her any signs that he would leave her aloher. “I guess that is fair. I have a promise to keep.”

  Yumi summoned up her barrier as best as she could manage iate. “I thought you wanted a fair fight. No honor after all?”

  “No, I do have honor and it’s not what you think. I shall be traveling with you. I’m not going to miss my ce to finish our battle once you’ve recovered your strength.”

  “What?!”