Nicholas stood in the center of his room in complete silence, his mind kept reminding him of the same brutal truth. His cover was blown. Two years of trying to stay hidden had evaporated into thin air.
He searched his left pocket and drew an amulet engraved with the Deathmark. He stepped to the window and stared down at the guards who clashed with the cursed spirits. A grin plastered on his face as he realized he had a way out of his situation..
He needed to kill everyone in the mansion. Only then would they accept the story he planned to leave behind. He had to move now before the Sorcerer King arrived; Because once Sorcerer King Daigo stood in front of him, Nicholas would feed him a single version of the truth. His version.
And with no survivors left to contradict him, the Sorcerer King would have no choice but to believe it.
He chuckled at his plan as he walked back and forth. He then halted and clapped his hands, his black gloves glowing with glyphs.
A shadowy being rose from the ground, identical to himself. The only difference was the black fog that wrapped around it, turning the figure into a black silhouette.
Nicholas folded his arms and studied the shadowy figure.
"Go my Obsidian Beast, hunt every soul you come across in this mansion. Tear them down and drag their heads back to me. Understood?"
The Obsidian dissolved into smoke and slipped out through the gaps beside the door. Nicholas lowered himself into his chair and turned to the mirror beside him.
He stared at his reflection, admiring the face he now carried, remembering how only ten years ago Beelzebub blessed him with a new younger face and body and without that gift, he would have stayed a disfigured old man.
He sighed and wondered where Beelzebub even was, since he hadn't come to check on his progress. Still, he felt no worry. After all, he had completed his mission long ago. As far as he was concerned, Beelzebub now needed to fulfill the last part of their deal.
His gloves came off, revealing hands so thin and wrinkled they looked like they belonged to an old man. Purple veins pushed against his skin.
"Beelzebub, our contract still binds you. Sooner or later, you will have to show up. Or else it will be your death not mine."
***
The Obsidian stood in the hallway in front of Yuki's room. Just as it reached for the door knob, the mansion's main entrance slammed shut and pulled its attention away. The Obsidian rushed down the stairs and saw Koji leaning against the wall beside the door.
Koji smiled as he stared at the Obsidian Beast, who stood in the stairs.
"So, this is how you want to respond, Nicholas? To kill me and the people in this mansion?"
Koji sighed and patted his large brown coat until he found his knife. It curved forward like a hooked fang, built for cutting deep. Small teeth lined the spine, sharp enough to catch skin on the way in or out. And above all, it wasn't an ordinary knife. It was a relic item.
The curved knife glowed in his hands. He watched it as he twisted the knife a couple times.
"Now it all adds up. I knew something was wrong with you, but I let it slide because I trusted you. Never again. Whoever gets to your real body first… me or that girl Yuki…that's who you'll deal with."
The Obsidian Beast burst forward, catching Koji off guard. It hit him on the side, lifting him off his feet and hurling him across the main hall. Koji smashed his head into the replica of the Mona Lisa before slamming against a wall.
Rubble shifted as the Obsidian Beast loomed above, its gaze fixed on Koji. Blood ran down Koji's face, yet a crooked smile spread across his lips. The shattered replica of the Mona Lisa had punched through his head and now hung off his neck like some twisted decoration.
"Do you know what you just did? This painting is a multi-million dollar piece from Europe, and you just destroyed it."
Rising from the rubble, Koji let the painting slip from his hand and hit the floor. He leveled his curved knife at the Obsidian Beast.
"There are only two people I know who are faster than me…"
He lifted his two fingers.
"The one above me, my older brother, Sorcerer King Daigo Hoshigiri…"
He started walking toward the Obsidian, his curved knife burned with an intense white glow, explosive sparks snapping from the tip.
"And above him, my nephew, Kamui Hoshigiri…"
Koji vanished. The Obsidian snapped its head in every direction but saw nothing. Anger twisted through its form, and a shadow blade formed in its hand, shaped from pure black fog.
It extended the blade and spun in a full circle, slashing through the air and carving cuts across the main hall. The chandeliers above tore free and slammed into the floor as the lights went out.
With the lights gone, the darkness should have given the shadowy figure the advantage. But for Koji Hoshigiri, who spent his childhood away from his family and survived most of his life alone in the dark, this was the best ground he could hope for.
"What? Afraid of the dark?"
The Obsidian charged toward the voice with relentless force, its blade whipping at full speed. It tore through more pillars and shattered the jewelry displays near the main door. After the onslaught ended, the Obsidian held still, waiting for Koji's next move.
The lights snapped back on, catching the Obsidian off guard. It looked up at the sudden glow and realized its mistake; it hadn't cut down every chandelier. One still hung intact.
Worst of all, Koji stood on top of it, smiling as he dropped at full speed and drove his curved knife straight into its head. The knife glowed with an intense light before the Obsidian Beast erupted, the blast throwing Koji across the hall. Slamming him into another wall.
Coughing up blood, Koji patted himself down until he found his cigarette.
"...Shit. Now I'm bleeding…"
His curved blade flared with a pale light again, and he lifted it to the tip of his cigarette, lighting it. He exhaled the smoke, the coils showing in the air as he coughed once more blood hitting the floor.
"Uhh, It hurts like hell. When I find you Nicholas!"
He pushed himself off the floor and used the walls to drag his body forward, until he finally reached the kitchen. Once inside, he sat down and poured himself a glass of vodka. His cigarette crashed in his left hand as he lifted the glass to his mouth. Vodka splashed onto his brown trench coat, but he kept drinking.
Finally, due to exhaustion, he dropped his head on the table and let the drink slip from his fingers. As the glass hit the floor and shattered into multiple pieces.
***
Down in the basement, Sayuri freed Riko and glanced at a painting of Riko's late mother, Lady Fuyumi. Riko, on the other hand, had no time to spare and snapped her fingers to pull Sayuri's focus.
"Thanks, but you need to go now and finish Yuki's plan."
Sayuri nodded and moved to leave, but Riko snapped her fingers once more. She dug through a pile of basement junk and pulled out an item, the metal links clinking as she handed it over.
Sayuri paused, then wrote her reply.
"Take a look. I brought this from Yuki's closet. It's her dress."
Riko smiled and said,
"Perfect. Even after that hiccup with Nicholas, the plan is still in motion. My relic items are in my room. Let's grab them first before we go visit our little troublemaker."
A faint grin showed on Sayuri's lips.