In the previous chapter of In the Middle of Two Sides...
The forest was silent. The kind of silence that isn't natural, but manufactured. As if sothing were hiding... or waiting.
Masaki took a deep breath.
And without telling anyone, he tucked the dagger under his pillow.
Just in case...
(Beginning)
The night grew as thick as ink.
The trees creaked with a strange sound, and the wind, which had previously brought the region's usual coolness, now seed charged with electricity. Kouta, still with Gendo's comnt echoing in his head, walked alone along a path away from the camp.
anwhile, the rest of the group had begun to disperse after dinner. So were training in pairs, others were already inside their tents. No one noticed the small change in the atmosphere. No one, except one.
Naoya, still fresh in his doubts, was the first to hear it: a low hum, like the rumble of a closed throat. Turning around, he saw it.
A humanoid demon, grayish skin, pupil-less eyes, and a vibrant reddish aura. Its body was wrapped in black bandages, and its right arm was a kind of living blade.
Naoya (shouting):
"IN POSITION, THEY'RE ATTACKING!"
The scream was the starting shot.
More demons erged from the forest. Five... six... eight demons in total. None of them individually possessing trendous power, but all synchronized as if they were an elite unit.
Yuzuki, who was standing next to Reiko, reacted quickly.
Yuzuki:
"They split us up! There's no ti, cover !"
Yuzuki raised her aura and activated an immobilization seal, slowing down the demon that was coming straight for them. Reiko summoned a containnt shield, enough for Yuzuki to leap up and kick him straight into a tree. The demon instantly recovered.
Reiko (panting):
"They don't stop!"
Naoya was dragged by his opponent out of the camp. In a clearing, a close fight began. Defense versus brute force. The demon outpaced him, but Naoya anticipated. He calculated. He resisted.
Naoya (thinking):
"Co on... if I can't trust Kouta... at least I can trust myself."
Masaki and Asuka were near the makeshift river. The attack took them by surprise.
Asuka (drawing blades):
"To the right!"
Masaki blocked the blow with his forearm and returned an elbow. The synchronicity between them was remarkable. Not perfect... but effective. Despite their past tensions, combat instinctively united them.
Masaki (while fighting):
—After this... we'll have to talk.
Asuka:
—Survive first, talk later.
Tetsuya and Haruto, anwhile, had been practicing coordination further away from the group. When they arrived at the camp, three demons surrounded them. Wasting no ti, they activated their combined auras and fought like a choreographed dance.
Haruto:
—I didn't think they'd attack so soon...
Tetsuya:
—And without a single warning... these aren't normal demons.
Haruto (looking at him):
—Do you feel it too?
Tetsuya:
—Yes... it's Kudaki's seal.
Souta, isolated while guarding the periter, encountered a silent opponent. This demon didn't speak. It just stared at him. Empty eyes. As if it already knew the outco.
Souta (defensively):
—Tsk... perfect. And just when I have the most doubts.
The battle was swift. Brutal. Souta fought as if he were trying to prove sothing. As if he refused to back down. His aura burned brighter than ever.
Kaede and Tama fought back to back. Though they weren't regular partners, they understood each other well in combat.
Kaede:
"Don't miss a beat, Kudō."
Tama:
"Not even if you ask to, Minazuki!"
Fast. Lethal. The two of them finished off their enemy together. A cross movent. A spear of energy. Surgical precision.
And at the edge of the forest...
Kouta didn't return to camp.
Because he had felt it before everyone else.
That pulse. That aura. That slimy sensation that crawls over the skin before sothing terrible happens. It wasn't like normal demons. This energy was... more concentrated. As if it had been specially forged for hunting.
A figure waited for him in the mist.
A woman with long white hair, crimson eyes, and a uniform stained with dried blood. Behind her back, a curved scythe floated as if untouched by gravity.
?:
"Kouta... how nice. I finally et you in person."
Kouta (preparing his stance):
"Who are you?"
?:
"I'm Kiyomi... the Silent Blade. Tenshi Kudaki's right-hand woman."
"And tonight... I ca for your head."
The clash was imdiate.
Kouta activated his aura, but not Super Boost. He wanted to gauge it. The scythe whistled through the air, slicing through branches in its path. Kouta blocked with his forearm, spun around, and launched a short-range blast. Kiyomi easily deflected it.
Kouta (thinking):
"She's fast... faster than Hōzuki, even."
But Kiyomi didn't use brute force. She used silence. Each movent was so subtle that even the air seed to forget her. She left no trace. She gave no signs. It was like fighting the reflection of a mory.
Back at camp...
Yuzuki fell to her knees, gasping for air. Reiko covered her just in ti with a do. Masaki's arm was bleeding. Naoya was gasping. Souta was on his knees. The team was holding on... but couldn't hold on much longer.
And just as the last demon raised its weapon for the final blow—
A ghostly white blast tore through it.
Sanae, from the hill, extended her hands. An attack. It was a cry of desperation, at the top of her lungs.
Sanae (shouting):
"Hold on! Don't fall now!"
And while all this was happening...
Kouta, still without using his transformation, was beginning to lose ground to the Silent Leaf.
Kiyomi (with a mocking laugh):
"Does it hurt you not to understand how you're about to die?"
Kouta (panting):
"No. It hurts not to know... why you're so sure you're going to win."
Imdiately afterward, his aura changed.
Dark. Steady. Lethal.
And his eyes glowed like embers.
Kouta no longer thought about holding back... this was the perfect opportunity to lose control. He knew this enemy was stronger than him, and that was enough to know that his berserker state wouldn't hurt anyone else. Then, he began to let out a long, loud scream as his aura grew larger and larger: it wasn't Ghostly Ascension, at least not yet, it was sothing similar to Super Enlargent, but stronger.
To be continued...
Current Powers:
Kouta: 1400
Haruto: 750
Yui: 540
Tetsuya: 670
Sanae Hoshizuki: 370
Kiyomi: 6800
Soldiers:
Attack Team:
(Attack Leader) Kaede Minazuki: 560
Reiji Tsukino 2: 435
Souta Amagai: 480
Defense Team:
(Defense Leader) Naoya Kirishima: 380
Tama Kudō: 300
Yuzuki Sera: 350
Support Team:
(Support Leader) Riko Hanekawa: 255
Haji Igarashi: 210
Variable Tactics Unit:
Masaki Dojima: 315
Asuka Renji: 240
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