Age of Darkness (39 page)

“Well?” Kuro said.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” Keimaro
said. “As much as I want my family back, I could never ally myself with someone
that I hate so much. I would be itching to tear all of you apart every second
that I spent with you.” He pointed his finger at Kuro. “I don’t care what
everyone says about you. I don’t care if you’re the strongest being alive. I am
going to be the one to kill you, and you will rue the day that you ever created
a monster like me.”

Kuro raised an eyebrow in amusement and
guffawed, grabbing his belly as he laughed hysterically. “You’re a stubborn one.
Well, I cannot blame you. After all, I would feel the same way in your
position. Though, you might decide to change your mind. Go on, I will give you
this one chance at life. If the world doesn’t eat you up by the next time we
meet, I will do it myself. Meanwhile, I hope that you will think of the offer.”

“What?” Tobimaru snapped. “You’re going to
let him go?”

“If I kill him, then Junko’s intentions
over these four years will have gone to waste,” Kuro said with a smirk as he
eyed Keimaro. “Besides, I do see that you have what it takes to follow in our
footsteps. You are much like me. I want my revenge. That is why I am going to
destroy humanity and cast the world in such a dark shadow that they will forget
what sunlight ever looked like. You can reject this offer and run off with your
band of assassins. However, an age of darkness is coming. Are you and your
friends truly strong enough to stand against it?” He laughed, clicking his
fingers as he began to walk away, motioning for Tobimaru and Hidan to follow.

“In the meantime, we will keep your younger
sister alive. That is, until it is ensured that you will not accept the deal.
Then her use will be expired. Until next time,” Kuro said, stepping over the
destroyed rubble of the wall that had surrounded Z’s mansion. “I wonder what
young Mai will think of her older brother’s decision.”

Keimaro’s hand curled into a tight fist at
his side, and his knuckles cracked. Without thinking, he launched himself
forward at Kuro, his eyes crazed with mad hatred. He roared, swiping his hand
as a line of hot flame moved with him. But Kuro was fast, countering and
dodging his every movement. Keimaro released everything he had. He swung and
slashed, punched and kicked, but nothing seemed to touch the Bount leader.
Instead, Kuro stepped about, reading Keimaro’s movements like a book—and he smiled
the whole way through.

Keimaro ripped his sword from its sheath
and slashed downward, flipping through the air and bringing it into the ground
where Kuro had been only a moment earlier. Flames radiated across the singed
grass, blackening it to a crisp. He dragged his blade across the dirt, whipping
it forcefully out of the earth at Kuro, but the Bount made sudden movements
that seemed to freeze even time itself.

Kuro touched Keimaro’s wrist with hardly
any force at all, and a spasm writhed through the boy’s body, forcing him to
drop his weapon. He stared in disbelief at the actions of his own hand before a
punch slammed into his cheek. With a second’s notice, he was tumbling. The
world spun continuously as he was thrown across the courtyard, bashing through
the remains of Z’s outer wall and smashing into the neighboring buildings. It
didn’t seem like he could stop. He gasped, rolling through the wall of a house where
he found himself on a wooden floor, the entire structure creaking loudly. He pressed
his palms to the ground, his hands shaking furiously, his head throbbing. A
ringing in his ear dragged out, irritating him.

“You see….” Kuro’s voice was rather far
away, but Keimaro could hear it clearly. The sounds of the debris crunching
beneath Kuro’s boots mixed with the ringing as the Bount spoke. “You have
potential. Never the potential to defeat me, no, but you do have what it takes
to be at my side.” The man stood behind Keimaro, hovering over him with an evil
grin printed on his face. “What do you say?”

“I say,” Keimaro spat, blood dripping down
his lips, “screw you.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Kuro whispered,
swiping his hand into Keimaro’s stomach with a blow that sent him crashing
through furniture and slamming against the wooden wall of the house. “I see
that you can take quite the beating now. Your skin feels like steel. Am I
hitting a piece of metal?” He chuckled. “You seem to have gotten stronger
already from when I last saw you—and that was what, an hour or so ago? That is
very remarkable. What happened? Someone close to you died?” Kuro walked over
and grasped Keimaro by the collar of his shirt, slamming him roughly against
the wall and peering into his eyes. “That is what makes you stronger. Pain,
agony, suffering. The point of everything that we are doing is to make you
stronger. I don’t understand why you don’t see that.”

“That gives me all the more reason to hate
you,” Keimaro snarled, glaring into Kuro’s glowing red pupils. “Perish in hell,
scum. I’ll see you there in a couple of years.”

Kuro opened his mouth angrily, but then he
paused, and a wide grin spread across his lips. “You have chosen to suffer,
have you not? Pain in life is unavoidable. However, you have isolated yourself
from society to the point where you have become an alien to those around you.
Isolation leads to pain, and pain leads to suffering. And suffering leads to
hatred.” He brought his lips to Keimaro’s ear and whispered, “Do you hate me?”

Keimaro’s eyes were wide when suddenly he
was hit in the stomach with an enormous amount of force. He doubled over and
was released, grasping his diaphragm. His eyes were watering uncontrollably as
a roaring heat burst through his stomach. He felt sick, as if he were going to
vomit. His chest and stomach writhed as if a fire blazed inside of him, burning
out his insides. “What did you do…?” he snarled, his throat squeezing tight as he
began to wheeze.

“You’re quite an intrepid young boy,” Kuro
said, sighing as he slid his hands into the pockets of his torn black cloak,
“but you aren’t prudent and lack the ability to think before you act. You see,
there are a few things that you don’t yet understand. I merely unlocked your
inner potential that has been dormant for all of these years. You will become
stronger, but it takes responsibility and self-control to tame such angry fires
that will roar within you. That heat that you feel right now in your chest, in
your heart, is your rage. My offer still stands. It is understandable that you
hate me and my organization, or even our cause. However, perhaps you should
think about why you are angry. Pain is not a choice, but suffering is. You
choose to suffer rather than press on with life and embrace what liberties and
beauties exist in this twisted world. But I suppose that is what makes you and me
one and the same. It has been years, and my hatred has grown over a long period
of time. Just remember where your anger should be directed, and perhaps you
will reconsider the offer. Otherwise, the next time that we meet, I will take
from you everything that you love. You will be cast into such darkness and such
suffering that you will be on your knees begging for me to offer you the
position at my side once more. And when that happens, I will deny you. Do not
make the mistake of defying me twice,” he said simply before he turned to walk
away.

Keimaro winced as he watched the Bount stalk
into the distance. “Come back here…,” he snarled, pushing himself onto his
stomach. He felt weak, incapable of actually getting to his feet, but he wanted
to catch the bastard nonetheless. “If you don’t finish me off now, I swear to
god, I’ll rip you to shreds when we next meet!”

***

Tobimaru and Hidan were watching the scene
from the courtyard while keeping their weapons trained on Aika and Yuri, making
sure that they didn’t move a muscle. Yuri was barely conscious, but Aika was
shaking and staring at Keimaro, who was lying on the ground. As Kuro stepped
over the debris of Z’s outer wall, he clicked his fingers. In an instant, the
building where Keimaro had been exploded, sending roaring flames soaring into
the air. Wreckage flew outward in all directions with a shockwave of dust that
swallowed the three Bounts up in an instant.

Aika gasped as she covered her eyes, the
dust flying around her and engulfing her and Yuri. The strong breeze began to
blow her hair back, and she shut her eyes as the roar of the explosion echoed
in her ears. As the howling winds died down, she wiped her face with her
sleeves and stared down at her torn, dirtied dress. Then she glanced up at the
obliterated remains of the house. It was a simple wasteland of nothing, dirt
blowing about. The entire building had been eradicated.

Aika’s eyes searched for any sign of life,
and she found Keimaro lying on the ground on his back, his cloak flapping in
the silent air. Blood was smeared across his chest, and his eyes were closed. The
princess’s heart leapt a beat, and she pushed herself onto her feet, lifting up
her dress as she ran over the debris, sprinting in Keimaro’s direction.

“Kei!” she screamed before being grabbed by
her forearm. Her eyes widened as she was yanked backward, staggering over
pieces of crushed rubble. “Let me go!”

“You’re trouble, aren’t you?” Tobimaru
said, shoving Aika back onto the ground, pointing the tip of his sword at the
princess. “Learn your place, or I’ll cut you in half,” he warned, his eyes
glowing.

Aika couldn’t help but see the parallel
between this man and Keimaro. Their eyes were filled with the same hatred. Still,
underneath that mask of anger and pain, she saw a glimmer of humanity within. For
this man, it was buried much deeper than it was for Keimaro.

“
Out of the way!
” Yuri boomed,
suddenly in his werewolf form. His white fur was matted with blood as he
flashed forward with incredible speed, slashing at Tobimaru with his claws. The
Bount leapt into the air, avoiding the blow but unable to dodge a second
uppercut that caught him in the jaw and sent him flipping through the air.

Tobimaru landed on his feet beside Hidan
and grunted, twirling his sword as he examined the opponents. “So, you’re
putting up a fight then? I’ll kill both of you if need be.” He glared at the
werewolf with bitter acrimony.

Kuro simply stood at a distance with his
hands in his pockets, witnessing the events unfold before him. He raised an
eyebrow when he saw the dust from the explosion beginning to swirl in the air
as a dark aura filled the air. He exhaled deeply through his nostrils, and a
grin began to spread across his face as he turned to the pile of rubble burying
Keimaro. “It seems that his inner beast has awoken.”

A crack split the air, and everyone turned
their heads to the pile of rubble that covered Keimaro. A burst of howling
flame tore through the debris, sending a beam of fire straight into the sky.
Bits of rubble began to lift upward, floating several feet off of the ground,
as if gravity itself had been reversed. A shockwave of dust flew outward in all
directions as Keimaro slowly rose to his feet, swaying. His eyes were redder
than the fire itself. His cloak had been partially burned apart from the
extreme heat, and its ashes drifted off in the light winds. On his diaphragm
was an insignia burned into his flesh, glowing wickedly and filling the air
with its dark aura.

“You’re not going to touch them,” Keimaro
growled, lowering his eyes, “
or I will personally see to it that you share
Junko’s fate.
”

Tobimaru stared at the new person before
him, incredulous. Such a dark aura resonating from him … was this the same
Keimaro that he had seen only moments ago? He glanced back at Kuro over his
shoulder with disgust.

Don’t tell me that he awakened Keimaro’s
inner darkness with that mark,
he thought.
That
could result in our deaths—and those of his friends as well. What the hell is
Kuro up to?

“We are falling back,” Kuro murmured.

“What the hell?” Tobimaru called to Kuro
with a scoff. “At least capture the bastard! He’ll work for us if you just use
Danzo to—”

“To what?” a woman’s voice called out.

“That voice…,” Tobimaru muttered under his
breath as he glanced to his right and saw a tan woman with gleaming blue eyes.
She wore a long white cloak wrapped over her linen clothing, and she had three
pistols holstered at each side as well as two swords cross-sheathed across her
back. Her white hood was pulled over her head to shadow her face, but there was
no mistaking her voice.

“Aoi,” Tobimaru growled. “The Queen of the
Seas. The Third Immortal. You were the woman who journeyed with Zylon and Kuro
centuries ago. What’s an old woman like you doing here?”

A man stood beside her with a young girl
slung over his shoulder. He had a red bandana pulled around his brown hair, and
his blue eyes gleamed with hysteria. He had a cleanly shaved face and was
dressed in a buttoned-up blue coat over fine linens. His long, baggy pants were
sewn from ragged white linen as well. A large red sash was tied around his
torso, and a thick leather belt encircled his diaphragm. There were two
holsters for pistols at his side and another two on his chest over his jacket.
A blue cape draped down to the ground behind him, and a golden medallion with a
skull insignia dangled from his neck. He revealed a small smile as he cocked a
pistol using his thumb, pointing the barrel at Tobimaru and Hidan. “Don’t
forget me, mate. It ain’t polite.”