After a day of searg around for clues about Yumi, they all came to the clusion that whatever Nerine did succeeded. However, the problem was none of them knew which of the things she tried was the corree. So they were no closer to having an easy fix if it happened again, just that Nerine could fix it.

  But dropping their tail proved to be the simpler case. Trying to find Yumi was harder than they imagined given her rapidly expandiation in the region. They were in no short supply of rumors and tips, the problem was there were too many.

  Gathered up around a local tavern, they all fiheir iigations. With food paid for by way of Nerine’s ability, they sat to collect themselves again. The area known to them as Shimane wasn’t by any means small and searg on foot with nothing but luck would take forever. Though it sort of felt like it still might take that long the way things were going.

  Saki pulled apart the bread into pieces to eat. “Anything useful we use?”

  “Plenty of people were willing to talk, but each story is different from the st. One says they cut a mountain in half, another cims there’s a mountain of demon corpses. The only sistency seems to be the exaggerations of the stories.”

  “sidering this is demoory, any human forced to live here probably wishes for someohat sy all of the demons.”

  Nodding in agreement with Saki, Nerihe same thing while talking to the vilgers. There was a worrisome atmosphere about it though. “We may already be too te though.”

  “You think the damn war’s going to happeher way?” Seiji asked.

  “You see it in their eyes. They’ve got hope. Depending on how the demons that run this area feel about that, they could see a rebellious attitude appear. I fear flict’s going to happen regardless of what we do now.”

  “Either way, we still o find our friends, even if we are going to be sucked in a damn war.”

  Finishing off his bowl of soup, Seiji took a pause as they iserated about the likelihood of a war breaking out. Ohey looked like they had stopped, he threw in what he learned. “There’s some really powerful otted in the vilge over.”

  Both of the women stopped and stared at him. “Why didn’t you start with that?” Saki pined.

  “It may not be Yumi and is about as trustworthy as anything of the other shit you’ve been tossing out.”

  Saki had to pause, accepting that he was right. However, it was also the only thing that they had that was aable as well. “Everything else we’ve got is too vague to work with. A rumor in another vilge we at least track down.”

  “Anything else about the rumor?” asked Nerine.

  “They said she saved the vilge, but left sure as shit without accepting any reward.”

  “Yumi wouldn’t have mueed for a reward, that’s not why she’s here. It’s worth a shot.”

  “Yes, I agree. If nothing else, there may be better leads there as well.”

  “We’re hitting the road!” cheered Seiji, looking ready to leave immediately. However, uhe two women, he finished his meal already while they were talking. They still had their lunch that they wao eat. A little dejected, he sat back down. “We wait…”

  Chapter 415 – Chasing Rumors

  Thanks to Nerine’s self made cart and horse, they made good time getting to the vilge where Seiji’s rumor poihem. Only about an hour of hard riding spent with horses that ired. However, as to be expected, they arrived too te.

  Getting new clues was their only course of a. So they split up, taking the vilge quickly for any bit of talk, sihey had directly met the woman iion. Nerine shouted out to the two when she discovered something more than the general bits that they were all getting. “ you repeat what you told me?” she asked, with the athered.

  “Y-yes? Umm…I saw the woman you’re asking about. She killed the bandits that suddenly moved in with the death of the Reaper. She moved too fast, it all just looked like a white blur.”

  “A white blur?” Saki noted, she k wasn’t much to work with, but it had some promise. “Yumi’s powers are white and to a normal human, it’d be a blur. Was there anyone else with the woman?”

  “Not that I saw, but it all happened so fast. She was gone before we could even thank her.”

  “What dire did she leave in?”

  The vilger turned and pointed down the dirt road out towards a rge mountain in the distanbsp; It had a strangely cleaved look to split it in two. It looked nothing natural. “Towards the Cleaved Mountain.”

  “Is that where the bandits are?”

  “No, there’s some stories that say some really old demon lives there, but no one’s seen them.”

  “Is it strong?”

  “If you believe the stories, they’re one of the inal demons.”

  Nerine, Seiji and Saki all looked at each other with the same clusion reached. It sounded powerful and if it was Yumi, then she could be going up against something impossible. They quickly bowed and thahe woman for the help rushing out of the vilge. At a safe distanerine summoheir ride and they sped off.

  Unfortunately for them, the mountain appeared to be further away than it looked. They could all see it, even Nerine could make it out, though to a lesser degree of fidelity thahers. Yet driving into the night didn’t get them to the mountain. It did however lead them into a forest.

  Saki halted Nerine suddenly as she looked out ahead of them through the trees. Seiji looked over at her with the same sort of feeling to firm it for her. She jumped dout a hand to the earth.

  “What’s wrong?” Nerine asked, not liking the looks oher of their faces.

  “There’s something serious ahead. I feel the ground shaking from all the way over here, but I ’t evehe fighting.”

  “Yeah, there’s some weird shit in the air.” While Seiji didn’t have the same sensitivity that Saki practiced, through his own senses he could feel something amiss. The power being thrown about was enough to make his skin crawl. “I’m not sure this is Yumi…this feels different.”

  Pulling the horses up alongside them, Neriried to get them ba board. “We won’t know for certain until we actually see who this woman is.”

  “We’re walking the rest of the way.”

  “Saki?”

  “I agree with Saki, Nerine. It’s all shitty up there and I don’t want you getting hurt if we go charging into the middle of the battle.”

  “I fend for myself just fine.”

  “Do it, please!”

  Her power disappeared, reverting back to a normal human. ‘Seiji actually looks unnerved, maybe even scared. What is it that they’re sensing?’ Just looking at them was enough for Nerio feel sibsp; She didn't even know what it was that they were pig up, but it uled her. ‘Could it be something more than they handle?’ That was the worst fear she had. If they couldn’t ha, then it would be up to her, but if she prepared poorly she would be dead so fast. Her mind spun with possible strategies, yet with nothing good to work with she had no possible termeasures to create. She o see the threat first.

  Before they found the threat, they had a different story to solve. Dead demons littered the area around the foothills of the mountain. They looked around for any signs of Yumi or their friends. Unfortunately, nothing really made anything clear. Nerihe expert of the group, mao get a little bit of analysis from what happened. “It happened fast and ruthlessly. Looks like they didn’t stand a ce.”

  “Anything that might indicate it was Yumi?”

  “Everything was killed with a bde, but if it was a metal or energy one I don’t know.”

  “We tinue,” urged Saki looking at the mountain. It stood with an ominous message for them. A dark invitation from it pulled them towards it. Yet at the same time, a thick miasma of dread filled the air. A warning perhaps, only the strong should approach.

  They didn’t have any choice, strong or not, they needed answers more than anything. They o know if their searg finally was over or if it was a shadow of someone else that they chased.

  The site of death turned out mrim than the previous. ons of unnatural size used to sy the demons quickly. Nerine wasn’t needed for uanding how they died. The evidence was before them. “Answers where the ons were,” she noted from the se.

  A dark shadow fell over Saki’s eyes looking at the se, as though it came from a horror film. “I’m with Seiji, this doesn’t look like Yumi’s doing. I ’t imagine her doing this.”

  “Yori maybe?” Seiji suggested, even knowing that they were following a woman, not a man.

  “Raged fueled to find his sister, I could believe he might, but we’re following a woman.”

  Neriched the tw to deny something even darker. She guessed that they k as well as her, just wao avoid such a thought. ‘If Yumi has been taken over by one of her personalities…if it was a brutal ahal personality, maybe…’ However, Nerihe thought merely to herself. There was just too muknown still. Whatever happehey all seemed to agree that Yumi in normal circumstances wouldn't do anything like this. “We are already here. And they could also be the cause for all the rumors and the spark of war.”

  “Yes,” Saki relutly agreed, “Even if it’s not Yumi, we probably should know who it is. Good or bad, we may have to face them at some point. We are stu this world until a resolution is found. I don’t want to face a world pletely overrun by demons…”

  They marched on in agreement, even if they hesitated on wanting that knowledge. Part of them feared it could still actually be Yumi and didn’t want that firmation. And still they hoped it was someone else. Yet regardless of who it turned out to be, they faced a troubling future with the way things turned.

  Then they reached the worst yet, while also the most mysterious. No dead demons, but also nearly nothing iire area. Massive craters filled the se before them. A destructive battle had taken pd worse even Nerine could feel the earth shaking now. Ahead of them, a deadly light show hinted out the power being welded. Yet at such a distahey shouldn’t have even been able to see it.

  Nerine could feel the sweat stig to her body just seeing it. “Is this what you’ve been feeling the whole time?”

  “Yeah…and this shit’s getting even worse this close,” moaned Seiji looking actually a little ill. “This is the first time I’ve actually not wao fight whatever that is.”

  “Agreed…”

  Roughly swallowing, Neriurned away from the lights trying to focus on what was before them rather than the boung ground. As she tried to figure it out, she noticed that it eventually stopped. “Uhey moved locations, this wasn’t caused by what’s happening ahead.”

  Still distracted, Saki had trouble fog on what Nerine saw. She eventually snapped herself together to look at it. “Craters…the damage here is on a pletely different scale than back there.” They all khat nothing they saw could rule out Yumi. The destructive power that she used during the battle of Atntis proved enough how strong she could be. This easily matched and exceeded that.

  The ao it all y ahead. Resolving themselves to push on, they marched. Though as they got closer to the site of the battle things seemed to be quieting down. The destructive forces they felt earlier seemed to be nearly gone. And that could only meahing. They rushed hurriedly to find out if they were too te to see who it was.

  Before them a pletely destroyed mansion id in ruins along with deep cleaved marks through the earth. The scale of the damage appeared less than before, but they khe power being thrown around easily out cssed them.

  Nerine looked i the damage and expected to see more. ‘Such power, yet their trol is this precise. The damage could have been far worse. I don’t believe this is Yumi either, she doesn’t have this sort of skill yet…’

  Leaving them to focus on a dark figure that stood amongst the ruins with something massive behind them. Carved up and taken apart, it was hard to know what it used to be other than likely a demon. To have sin something of size and power, they all feared what sort of person this woman was.

  A deep voice came out of the ruins having noticed them. “Who goes there? Demon servants?”

  “Not us!” Saki yelped, surprised by her own panibsp; She stepped forward along with the others not wanting to present an aggressive or suspicious aura, anymore than sneaking about already caused. “We were just following some rumors.”

  “Rumors?” Turning to face them, their face was pletely bcked out in the night with only pure bright blue eyes pierg the dark. Blood soaked into their armor or what remained of it after the battle. And in their hand, a bloody katana that hummed power. She stood tall with a fierce preseg the ominous power they felt. “Of me?”

  “That’s right. We’re seeking our friends.”

  “I do not know you.”

  “Y-yes, it seems they aren’t here.”

  “If that is all, then I shall leave.” The woman turned away, already walking without even waiting on another response.

  To Saki’s surprise and worry, Seiji stepped forward. So much for not wanting to fight it seemed. He stared at the woman for a moment and then asked, “You seem somehow simir.”

  “As I said, I don’t know you.”

  “What is your name?”

  The aused and tilted her blood drenched face towards him, peeling away the darkness. Her eyes narrowed, examining him in silenbsp; The tension mounted as Saki and Nerine were not sure if he had just picked a fight with the wrong person. Then to their relief, she answered Seiji. “I’m called Masa.”