Chapter 23: Stepping On The Devil's Tail [II]

"Will you be okay?"

"You don't have much time till we arrive at the academy's gate— better start filling me in about who put you on my tail." He replied.

Without holding back, Six took her place beside him, matching his walking steps as she braced herself to make a spill. After all, she was pleased with his demand.

"When a fox turns 100, it can transform into a beautiful woman or become a man who has no relation with one. However, a thousand years receives the sky's blessings and becomes a celestial fox. Its abilities match that of a powerful shaman which allows it to see what is miles ahead.

With beings like us amidst humans, we all have a fated weakness which is to serve any human that helps us in time of distress. Hence, creating a covenant to return the favor at all cost. That is what we take pride in as it sets us apart as divine creatures.

Jinx somehow made her way into my world when war broke out among the clans. My brother had suddenly gone mad, killing the sons of clan chiefs because they spoke ill of a girl he used to love and then, I became a pawn in their game.

I, the weakest kitsune in my clan, was seen as a target to aid my brother's elimination and one night— a night that was supposed to be my last, a rift tore open from nothing and there was Jinx on the other side.

'You might need some little help, miss' she had said to me and the furious pounding of the hunter's attack came knocking. I couldn't fight against an army of celestial hunters. My will to survive none regardless pushed me to accept her offer despite knowing the consequences.

Her portal brought me to this world, and to repay this debt, she made me a slave for her which I cannot go against till she lets me off the hook. I can't break the curse unless Jinx decides to let me go, hence my soul is trapped within the walls of the academy— the place where I am to serve my current master."

"How old are you?" He asked.

"According to the fox lunar calendar, I am six years old but in your world's calculation, I am 666 years old." She replied with a goofy smile.

Ace stopped as soon as they had reached the front of the academy's gate. He turned at Six, trying his best to wear a forced smile, but his emotionless demeanor won the guild match.

"Tell her I'd be visiting the tailor's shop and getting a haircut after that."

Six paused, a look of surprise grooming on her face within a second.

"You want me to report to her what you will be doing outside the academy's ground?"

He nodded, striding slowly through the gate. "You still have to make it seem like you're still watching me according to her plans until I get back."

"What happens when you get back?"

With a slight scoff, Ace replied. "I'd be stealing you from her."

Petrified!

A single word that explained what Six felt the moment his words rang into her ears as she watched him walk further from her into the city. She just stood that way, a million bells jingling in her head as she reeled on a plushie of soft emotions.

* * *

After visiting the tailor's shop for some adjustments and also a quick stop to get a haircut, Ace made his way to the welfare home. He had just three hours left till the pass card expired and he couldn't bring himself to her in a shabby state.

He had to look good for her as that was also a reassurance he was living well and good. He forced himself to wear a smile and soon, he was walking into the welfare home with a box of tofu soup and rice which were his grandmother's favorite.

The dark reception felt odd as he walked into the welfare home and the front desk nurses were not present at their duty post either.

"Is it too late already?" He asked himself as he headed into the elevator. The silence sprawling across the welfare home hinged on his skin giving off a surreal feel.

Ding!

The elevator doors gave way for exit upon arrival, welcoming him to a dark hallway with a strong metallic scent sweeping through the floor. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, finally taking notice of the scene before him.

His eyes gleamed as he saw a nurse lying in her own pool of blood a feet away. Her body was battered and gruesomely severed. Her eyes were wide open as if they were refusing death's call and a foot away from her were lying some other nurses.

Their legs were jagged and bent inversely in an unholy manner. One's hand was hanging on the doorknob— a testament of trying to escape or protect the room's door.

Ace rushed through the hallway that was bathed in blood, resonating a gothic hue like a shrine and with heavy steps and a stone filled heart, he made it to the door and slowly pushed it open in anticipation of what was inside.

Inside the room, there his grandmother was, but she wasn't alone, forcing him to retract his steps as his gaze fell on the scene before him. The box of homemade food he was carrying fell out of his hand as he could recognize the one sucking the life out of his grandmother.

Hurt, rage, bitterness, pain, the feeling of betrayal— all these swept across his being as he recognized the one behind this attack, his teeth seething gruesomely as he watched his grandmother struggle to breath under the demon's hold.

"Tzuyu!"

Tzuyu, once a girl filled with innocence and life, now twisted into something monstrous. Her skin was pale and almost translucent, giving her an otherworldly appearance. Her deep, hollow eyes glow with a predatory hunger, reflecting the darkness that had consumed her. From her chest, grotesque tentacles emerge, writhing and pulsating as if they have a mind of their own, each one tipped with sharp, glistening barbs that dug into his grandmother's flesh.

Tzuyu, now a completely petrified blood sucking demon finally noticed Ace's presence in the room, tossing the granny away with her tentacles though the window, shattering the glass as her body reeled while she dashed towards him with thirst.

Ace's once numb eyes suddenly turned grim, the whims of emotions vanishing without trace as Tzuyu rushed towards him. A strange surge of energy suddenly began to ripple through him, coursing straight into his right arm in a dash. Lightning beams stretched out from his hand into the floor, seething through the ground and reaching out to the sky to draw out a rumbling thunder.

His sclera turned red, perhaps, a little bit hotter than the sun, making the room itself shudder in fear. Intricate array lines and shape formations began to appear all over his face and arms and the yellow fragment deepened with immense intensity as they cackled with sparks, the force of nature slowing down without command as they obeyed his call.

His eyes glowed an otherworldly still force of life, his voice, toned with a bone chilling aura erupted through voids, as he said;

"Return to the grave!"

The being within Tzuyu dared not defile his order as she froze, her very being erupting like a volcanic seed while her tentacles danced the dance of a thousand serpent, coiling and writhing with furious untamed energy as they shred her into bits.

Immediately this happened, 99,999,999,999 elders in the conformity of the divine at heaven's gate arose, their faces tightening with fear as they all mumbled the same word.

"It can't be!"

The seven princes of the underworld also arose, their smiles blooming bright like spring flowers.

"Finally!"