Chapter 14: Volume II. Chapter XIV. – Transformation

[Hidiku's Perspective]

"Hey… Yuuna? Yuuna! Please, wake up! Don't leave me behind, not you too!"

There's no response. Yuuna lies still in my arms with her eyes slightly open.

My tears are falling down in a steady stream, blending in with the raindrops. My voice won't stop shaking with grief, and I'm left questioning our decisions while crying loudly.

I shouldn't have agreed with her plan. I should have refused when I had the chance. I should have done a better job protecting her.

Remorse has me in its grip.

The rainfall is pacing down, yet the darkness of a missing sun remains.

What am I supposed to do now? Do I turn around or keep going? But I can't just abandon her here…

Something starts rattling in the nearby bushes, growing out just a few meters before me. I pinpoint the location when a demon crawls out on all fours from beneath it.

It's skinny, really skinny. Its thin-looking skin reveals all of the bones underneath. It uses four long limbs to crawl, and a long tail with a sharp spike at the end of it positioned almost like a scorpion.

It has a face that resembles someone who has been struck by a brick or another object. From the corners of its lips, two pointed tusks protrude.

The noise we made must have brought it here. Or perhaps the smell of blood.

I immediately begin tugging Yuuna with all of my strength in the opposite direction. As long as there's only one, I should be able to take it down, I just need to keep it away from Yuuna's body. Or so I thought… But right after I've finished my thought, another demon shows up right next to the first one; they look similar.

"You can't be serious…"

I murmur to myself as I gradually start feeling more and more hopeless. I will have to run away if I want to survive.

I look down at Yuuna, her eyes are now bleeding out, almost as if she is crying. For some reason… the image gives me a weird sense of responsibility.

I take a deep breath, then let it all out. I've made up my mind. I'm not leaving her behind, no matter what!

With the blade in my hand, I get on my feet and make advantage of the time I have left to mentally prepare for the impending battle.

As I'm about to rush against my two foes with the bravery I have gathered, a third demon dives out from the forest's darkness behind me.

"Wha-!"

The assault begins on sight. A dark and sturdy arm flies straight at me and slams me into the mud before I get to say a single word.

It’s a tall ash black figure with well-defined muscles but uneven arms. While one fits perfectly to its body build, the other is two times the size. It has a single eye and neither a mouth nor a nose on its round head. It also lacks a tail compared to the demons I've seen before.

This is the moment I realize I stand no chance against them.

Lying in the sea of mud, I prepare for the second strike coming my way and block it with my sword. The sheer force of the impact buries me even deeper into the ground. As the demon pushes me with all its weight, I feel my back pressed against the hard layer of dirt beneath the mud.

Too heavy… I can't get out, and the other two demons are slowly creeping up on me. After all that has happened, I've managed to accomplish nothing, and now I will be joining Himari and Yuuna…

The demon is gradually overpowering me. The strength in my arms is fading away and so is my will to survive. But then, amid our strength contest, the force of my enemy substantially lessens, enough so I could push it away if I wanted to. Then the fiend's head glides off its neck's surface like butter, followed by a fountain of blood erupting.

Its head rolls up beside me.

Wh-what's going on? Why did its head suddenly fall off?!

Creeped out by the sight before me, I toss the lifeless body away, then spring up as I gasp for air. The body of the monster begins to slowly break down into ash. My eyes open wide, and confusion takes control of my mind as I gaze straight ahead and determine the most likely cause of the demon's decapitation.

Before me stands what should have been Yuuna's corpse… I can't believe my eyes.

"Y-Yuuna!? You are alive! But how?"

I rejoice. But there's something… different about her.

Her hair split in half, with with the two colors of black and white fusing together. She has crimson-red eyes, long, sharp nails, and what appears to be a horn protruding from the left side of her forehead...Not to mention, her wounds are gone.

As she stands before me, her expression remains stoic.

"What... happened to you?"

I ask her cautiously, but I'm not given an answer, just a stare before abruptly disappearing. A mild breeze passes by, after which a loud and agitating groan can be heard from behind.

The demons! I've completely forgotten about them!

Cold sweat and anxiety make themselves present as I turn my head and find one of the two monsters pinned to the ground by Yuuna right behind my back. It was practically right on top of me.

She's standing on its head, forcing it into the dirt. With her relaxed look still present, she has overpowered a demon with no effort, not to mention her speed… I'm left speechless.

Her appearance has changed enough to show some demon traits. She is now considerably stronger and faster than she was a few minutes before.

Is she… turning into one of them?

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I'm concerned. If Yuuna turns into a demon, what will happen to her? She is now slaying other creatures, but she could at any moment turn against me.

She can't even die peacefully without being turned into a monster. Haven't we gone through enough already?

The demon trapped by Yuuna attempts to get up but is instantly kicked in the face. Its head swings sideways, and a loud crack can be heard; she has most likely just snapped its neck. But that's not enough to kill a demon. As long as the brain is connected to the rest of the body, it will regenerate.

Yuuna stops the demon by putting her feet back on the side of its broken neck. She leans over to grab her opponent's arm and starts pulling hard. The trapped fiend roars in pain as its arm is separated from the rest of its body.

Slowly but surely, Yuuna is going through with her desire as the skin and flesh gradually separate, but then she twists the limb as well, and with a swing of her arm, the body part is severed.

Her face is covered in blood, and she has an uninterested expression that gradually transforms into a menacing smile. It's a look on her face that I never expected to see.

Is she enjoying herself? Is she enjoying torturing the demon?

She tosses the torn-off arm to the side just before the second demon jumps her from the front. Yuuna spins and delivers a blow to its temple with a kick using her heel that sends it crashing into a nearby tree. She then tears off the head of her first tortured victim after burrowing her fingers into the top of its skull.

The demon's remains begin to turn to ash, and Yuuna once again looks displeased, almost disappointed, as if she had hoped for more from her adversary.

She proceeds to her second opponent, that's still picking itself up from the ground after a hard crash.

A flame, taking the purple hue of a Verbena flower, engulfs Yuuna's left hand.

It's burning off her skin! Did the demon do this?

Yuuna walks on without a flinch as if being burned alive is no big deal. The devil creature seizes the opportunity and swings its tail at her, but it misses. Instead, it lands in her scorching hand, which quickly encases the demon in flames. It shrieks even louder than the previous demon as Yuuna watches it burn alive.

But wait, I thought demons couldn't be burned by fire. They are supposed to have natural resistance toward it.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. Nothing of this makes sense. Not to mention that I'm still a little shaken. It does not make things any better.

As the violent, dark flames sear the demon, it backs up and lays down next to a tree when Yuuna suddenly swings her leg and kicks the monster again. The tree behind the demon cracks at the moment of impact due to the strength of the kick.
The demon was positioned so its neck was aligned with the tree, and as a result, its head is now rolling off.

All of the demons are dead… What's next?

Fearful of what's to come next, I cautiously approach Yuuna and try to communicate.

"Hey… Yuuna? Are you… alright?"

She averts her gaze from the defeated demon's ashes and directs it to me. Her stare feels intimidating.

"That is you, Yuuna… right?"

Once again no answer. Instead, she starts marching toward me. I'm slowly backing up; I feel endangered right now. I don't know what happened to her or if she's still the same person I once knew.

I'm scared to know what she will do to me.

But then I observe that as she draws closer, it appears as though she is beginning to limp and slow down. Her mouth, eyes, ears, and nose all start to slowly leak blood.

She makes a few more difficult-looking steps before completely collapsing.

"Yuuna!"

I pick her up from the ground and immediately push my ear toward her chest.

Thank God she's breathing.

Suddenly, all my stress is relieved, and I can breathe calmly again. I lay down on the wet ground and look up to the sky. Mild sunbeams start leaking through the dark clouds and gradually illuminate my surroundings. The wet flowers, bushes, and trees glisten in the sunlight as the sun is finally released from its dark prison.

Despite my enjoyment of relaxation, I stay lying down only for a short moment. I still need to get us out of here. But my body feels heavy; I'm exhausted, and I feel like I could fall unconscious at any moment.

I slowly pick myself up and sit next to Yuuna.

How should I take her? Do I carry her on my back? But I feel too exhausted for that. Maybe it will be easier to drag her out.

As I'm going through the methods of our escape, in the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of something reflecting the sunlight. I try to focus on the object, but within an instant, a blast that struck the ground right before me can be felt as the wind flows rapidly through me. I'm forced to close my eyes and shield my face from the dust.

Once the wind has died down, I cautiously open my eyes to discover that I am enveloped in several layers of dusty smoke. One thing, though, stands out in my vision: a razor-sharp blade pointed straight in front of my nose. Cold sweat once again makes its appearance as I find myself in another problematic situation right after one just ended.

What is my luck?

Soon the dust is lifted, and the entire length of the weapon, together with its wielder, is revealed. The weapon is a spear held in a young girl's arms. Though, I can't see her clearly as my vision blurts and my consciousness starts slipping away.

I'm way too tired for this…

"I was sensing a powerful demonic presence, but all that's present is you two, yet you seem to be too weak to defeat such a threat. So tell me… Are you an ally or the enemy?"

She asks me, but I can hear her only barely, after which my vision darkens.

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