Night fell.
Aoki returned to Yagihime Society.
He stood on the roof of a nearby building, looking out.
Gray roof, white walls, a few cherry trees planted near the corners. It looked ordinary, a facade of normalcy that hid a festering darkness.
"I have to go inside," Aoki thought.
He looked at a window on the second floor. He vanished, a shadow swallowed by the night.
Paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls. An incense burner sat on a table, smoke curling up, a faint, distant scent filling the air.
A refined room.
But Aoki wasn't here to admire the art.
He searched every room quickly, a whirlwind of silent motion. He didn't find what he wanted.
"Another wasted trip? Something feels wrong, though."
Aoki frowned. He tried to grasp the elusive feeling, the sense of unease that lingered in the air. Then, his face changed. He heard something at the door. He vanished.
A group of men walked in.
The leader was fat, short. He looked like a grotesque caricature of wealth, a ball of flesh barely contained by his expensive clothes.
Two middle-aged men walked beside him. They were fat, too, their bodies swollen with indulgence.
A dozen men followed, dressed as bodyguards, their faces hard, their eyes watchful. They were the hounds of greed, the silent enforcers of a hidden kingdom.
Click, click.
A wall with a painting of cherry blossoms split open, revealing a dark passage.
The three middle-aged men walked inside, fast. They were drawn into the darkness like moths to a flame, their desires leading them into the heart of the labyrinth.
The bodyguards spread out, guarding the windows, the doors. They were the sentinels of sin, the guardians of a hidden world.
The cherry blossom wall closed slowly.
A shadow slipped into the passage just before it closed. The bodyguards didn't see it, their senses dulled by complacency and the promise of reward.
"No wonder I felt something was off," Aoki thought.
He looked down the dark passage. He knew where the strange feeling had come from.
The space inside the building wasn't as big as it looked from outside!
Part of it was hidden, a secret world shielded from the light.
Two guards stood at the end of the passage.
Aoki thought quickly. It would be hard to sneak past them.
He'd have to risk it.
If he failed... He failed.
He didn't need to be stealthy.
He'd probably find what he wanted here.
The air shimmered. A figure appeared, a whisper of darkness in the dimly lit passage.
A gilded hall, silent. Crystal chandeliers cast soft light, a false dawn in a world of shadows.
Aoki blinked, surprised.
He'd expected a dark, secret base, a dungeon of despair. Not this opulence, this grotesque display of wealth.
Now wasn't the time to stare. He used Space Warp again.
He vanished. One guard glanced around, puzzled. "Did you see a shadow?"
The other scoffed. "You're seeing things. There's nothing here."
"Maybe I'm tired. Hey, did I tell you about that woman last night..."
Aoki warped again, found a safe place.
It was different from the hall. This place was dark, small, oppressive.
More like what he'd expected.
"A prison?" Aoki looked around, puzzled.
Small rooms lined the walls. No windows. The doors were locked. There were even feeding slots, a chilling reminder of the humanity that had been stripped away.
Click, click, click.
Footsteps. Aoki hid in the shadows, watched.
Three women walked down the hall.
The leader was a woman in her forties, her face hardened by cruelty. She held a rope. It was tied to the necks of two young women, their heads bowed, their spirits broken.
"Huh?" Aoki stared at one of the young women.
Her face was soft, her body slender. Even with her hair a mess, he could see she was beautiful, a fragile flower trapped in a concrete cage.
It wasn't her looks that caught his eye. He knew her!
Keisuke had shown him a picture. It had fallen from his pocket once, a glimpse of a lost love. It was his missing fiancée. This girl looked just like her!
"Is that Mizuno Taeko? She was taken by a demon, right? Why is she here?"
Aoki's mind raced. He realized he'd made a mistake.
Taeko being taken by a demon was just a rumor. It had never been proven.
He thought of the other missing women.
Was the culprit a demon? Or a human?
The woman snapped, her voice sharp as a whip. "Get inside! This is your last chance. If you don't learn tomorrow, you'll regret it!"
Clang!
The doors slammed shut, sealing the women in their cells of despair.
The footsteps faded. Mizuno Taeko slumped, her face a portrait of despair. Hope had withered in this place.
Click!
A sound in the room.
Taeko turned, startled. Her eyes widened.
Aoki covered her mouth. He put a finger to his lips.
"Shhh!"
Taeko calmed. The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by a flicker of hope, a spark of defiance. She nodded, said she understood.
Aoki stepped back, released her. "Are you Miss Mizuno Taeko?"
Taeko nodded, looked at him, wary. "I'm Mizuno Taeko. Who are you?"
Aoki didn't answer. "What is this place? Have you been here since you were taken?"
"I woke up here," Taeko said.
Fear crossed her face, a shadow passing over her delicate features. "I don't know what this place is. There are many women here. Some are taken away. They never come back. Some are hurt every day. It's like... torture.
Some, like me, are forced to learn how to please men. They brainwash us. They want us to be slaves.
If you resist, they beat you. I saw two girls die." Her voice was a whisper, a fragile thread in the darkness.
"I see."
Aoki stood. "Stay here. I'll save you later."
"You..."
Taeko started to speak. The man vanished.
She stared, stunned. She hugged herself, curled up against the wall.
She didn't know if he'd come back. She didn't know if it was real. Was he an angel? Or just a ghost?
Aoki left the prison area. The air grew hot. A strange, burning smell filled the air, acrid and sickening.
He followed the scent. A huge room opened before him.
The most striking thing was the furnace. It was huge, a gaping maw of fire. The door was open. White flames leaped inside, casting grotesque shadows on the walls. Heat blasted out, a suffocating wave of despair.
A cart stood nearby. Three naked female bodies lay on it, their limbs twisted, their faces frozen in silent screams. They were broken dolls, discarded after their brief, brutal use.
Two men in masks walked to the cart.
"Which one is it this week?"
"Don't ask questions."
"Just saying... Such beautiful women. It's a waste."
"There are more women here. I'll send you two tomorrow."
They lifted a body, walked to the furnace.
They were about to throw it in...
Then, the air shimmered. The world tilted.
Two heads tumbled to the floor, severed from their bodies as cleanly as a prayer cut short.
Aoki shimmered into view. He looked at the headless bodies. His voice was cold, flat. "They deserved to die."
It was the first time he'd killed humans. He felt nothing but a cold, righteous fury. The world had tilted on its axis, and the weight of his judgment had fallen.
He knew what this place was. He knew everyone here was guilty, complicit in a monstrous evil.
"You hurt people in the name of demons," he said, his voice a low growl that echoed in the chamber of death. "Now, a demon will judge you. It's karma."
Aoki glanced at the bodies. He took a cloth, covered them. A small act of respect, a fragile shield against the horrors of this place. He turned, walked away.
Aoki walked out of the furnace room. Two guards in armor, swords at their waists, walked towards him.
They froze, a heartbeat of surprise before the alarm flared in their eyes. Their hands went to their swords, a desperate attempt to stem the tide.
Aoki became a shadow, a whisper of darkness. He slipped past them, leaving a void in his wake.
The guards' faces went blank. Their heads fell, a silent testament to the swiftness of his judgment.
The killing began, a silent storm sweeping through the building.
Aoki had sentenced everyone here to death, except the victims. He showed no mercy. He was the reaping wind, the silent tide, and those who stood in his path were swept away like leaves before a storm.
The bodies fell, a harvest of the damned. Blood flowed, a dark river winding through the halls, carrying the sins of the living to a silent sea.
He reached a gilded hall, a palace of pleasure built on a foundation of pain. The air was thick with perfume and fear, the scent of decay masked by the sweetness of flowers.
Three men, swollen with greed and self-indulgence, reclined amidst a group of young women, their bodies like offerings on a profane altar. The scene was a grotesque parody of beauty, a gilded cage where innocence withered and died.
Aoki's gaze swept over them, a cold wind that promised winter. He stopped at the three naked men.
"Found you," he said, his voice a low rumble that echoed the coming storm.
Fujita frowned, annoyed. "This isn't your place. Get out!"
Thwack!
His companions became headless corpses. Aoki shimmered into view.
Fujita froze. Then, his face twisted in terror. He stumbled back, hit a chair, fell hard.
"Wait! We can talk!"
"You die too easy," Aoki said.
His right leg swept out.
Thwack! Another body fell.
"Stay here. Don't run."
Aoki glanced at the girls. Some were numb. Some were scared. Some were excited. Some were broken. He didn't say more. He turned, walked away.
The ringleader was dead. But the judgment wasn't over!
Thirty minutes later...
Aoki gathered the victims in the gilded hall.
Young women. Some were barely ten. None were over twenty.
He guessed there were over two hundred.
And that was without knowing how many had died.
"You're free. Go."
Aoki spoke simply. Then, he vanished, like a ghost in the dawn.
The hall was silent.
The girls were stunned, wary, disbelieving.
Joy had come too fast. They couldn't grasp it.
Two seconds passed. Then, someone ran. Everyone ran.
Mizuno Taeko stepped over the bodies, walked through the blood. She felt no fear, only a burning strength.
She ran out the door, saw the stars. Her eyes blurred.
Aoki stood on the roof of Yagihime Society, watched the girls cry, scream, release their pain. He sighed.
Sometimes, humans were more monstrous than demons.
..
---
Hello there ShixT9 here, caught up already?
Extra Chapters in my patreon right now go check it out.
patreon.com/ShixT9
Don't forget to drop stones and a good review if you like the story so far ^-^