CONTENTS
1.PROLOGUE.MUKURO NO KAMI PROLOGUE:THE ERA OF PAIN
"Before civilisation,before language ,before swords. There was only suffering." - a wise saying of the elders of satsujin.
Demons had invaded the earth from the rekokai. These ravenous beings, tearing the flesh of humans,limb by limb they were referred to as toku. They searched for the only thing that could satisfy their bottomless anger,a gift bestowed on humanity since creation, their emotions. This was a gift the Toku wanted so badly. Reason unknown, but they decided to snatch it from the ones who had this gift, humanity. devouring the flesh of those the humans killed,as well as devouring their emotions.
About a thousand years ago,a twist enveloped the world, something that was seen as an assurance for humanity,and the downfall of Toku.
13 THOUSAND YEARS AGO
"Tenka Ryuuto!!" the woman cried as he jumped over the fruits she sold at the marketplace." Get back here,you runt!"
"Sorry," he said under his breath," I have somewhere to go. "Other sellers cried after Tenka Ryuuto,screaming curses at him.
As he jumped over thier provisions at the market whiles running ,some men smiled in thier hearts at he sight of this; it meant that the old Tenka was back.Two months ago, Tenka`s parent had been killed by some toku, and their bodies were later found deep in the forest. This hurt Tenka so much that he cried and wished he too had died.
But due to the help of his grand pa. Iso Tenka, one of the most respected men in the whole village, had become what he once was - the energetic knucklehead who caused mayhem wherever he went.Ryuuto had brown hair and whore normal clothes, which were his brown yukata.
The only difference was the sheath of a sword he had on his waist. This confirmed other people's suspicions - ISO Tenka ( THE GREAT SWORDS MAN) was tutoring Ryuuto on swordmanship." I'm glad that he is back to his mischief, " one woman said to the other." I thought that he would be devastated by what happened to his family and become a shut-in, but I don't think we need to worry about that anymore, eh?""True,the village became a lot quieter with his absence, quiet is good though,but sometimes noisy is even better." The two women laughed, including those who overheard the conversation.
Ryuuto had now left the market square. He was heading up hill out of town, that was where his grandpa had established his training center, where he would go to other kindoms in search of swordmastery talents and bring them back for further tutoring.
Ryuuto didn't have any of these talents; however, because his grandfather owned the place, he got that privilege, although his sword skills were nothing compared to the rest.The building was a large temple made of limestone and a huge compound where they trained most of the time.There was a wall and a gate around it, so Ryuuto had to enter through it.
The compound was bare,apart from the wooden humanoid figures erected for training. And that scared Ryuuto. If the students weren't outside training, it meant that they must be having a theoretical class. And Ryuuto was late. He had to sneak in somehow, but now that seemed to be literally impossible.
Normally, if they were having an outside training, Grandpa would just leave someone in charge and go inside. But in a theory class, that meant that his grand would be with the whole class,for sure this time.He sighed." I guess there is no helping it, grandpa would figure out that I`m late again and expel me."
Ryuuto just wanted to be strong enough to avenge his parents, although he knew the sad truth. It was a rumor, "a human can never kill a Toku," people said that a lot, but still, there must be a way. And the first step was to get stronger. And that was the difficult part.Ryuuto was a lazy boy and never liked hard work.
" I dont appreciate you standing in front of the dojo like that!" a voice brought Ryuuto out of his thoughts, it was his grand father, he looked really old with his long white hair behind tied to a bun and his white moustache long enough to reach his belly " I thought you would change and become a better person after the last time we spoke."
" I wanted to....really !" Ryuuto said back.
" I don't have your time,Ryuuto Tenka," the old man snapped." You are expelled from the dojo, and never come back."Ryuuto felt like falling to the ground. He had never felt this way. His grandpa pa who loved him, is telling him this now. It was traumatizing. How could he say such a thing to him, knowing what he went through?
"How can you say that!" Ryuuto yelled, "You are the only one I have left. Now you want to abandon me!"his throat clenched,his eye stung, but he had to hold off the tears.Students peeped through the window; most of them despised Ryuuto.
They felt like he was being treated specially, even though he was weak, just because he was the owner's grandson.They smiled at the exchange." I am utterly ashamed that you are my grandson! " the man yelled.
***
Ryuuto wriggled his leg in the river,the gentle currents flowing down the landscape. He sat at the bank of the river,It was serene, and he had gotten enough time to think. What this grandfather had said hurt him,But the truth was,he was weak, lazy, and delusional as he wanted to kill a toku.It was painful to accept the sad truth. But that was not what hurt him. It was the fact that his father was ashamed of him.But coming to think of it, if he were grandpa pa, he wouldn't be so proud of himself either." I would be stronger!" he said to himself.
"and kill the toku that killed my family,"but was that even possible?
...BLOOD...DEATH...SMOKE!!
These scents flooded Ryuuto's nose at once.
One thing about Ryuuto was his incredible sense of smell. to smell things from a mile away. And right now, this was the same smell that filled his nose, he shivered.
But out of them all, there was one that filled his nose that made him want to die....TOKU!!!The scent was disgusting, as rotten flesh,but scary as demons." The others are fine?!" Ryuutu said to himself and sprang up.
The smell was to the south, and that was where the small village where he resided was.He began to run through the trees,jumping over hedges till he got out of the forest. The smell was getting stronger.
He wrinkled his nose."I should warn the others - would they even believe me?" Ryuuto dashed past the dojo - it was empty."They must've found out," Ryuuto sighed.This brought a wave of relief for a second; his grandfather was a strong retired samurai, and he could fend off the toku. this thought filled Ryuuto`s mind till he saw...The village was mid-day,but the heat from the village was overwhelming because it was on fire. Buildings were mostly made of wood, and only the rich could afford a building made of stone.
This village was a poor one.Most buildings were made of wood and were all ablaze,making the village look like hell!Ryuuto dashed down the hill. He saw some of the residents getting out of the village,using the same hill he was currently descending,and it seemed like the dojo students were responsible for the evacuation.
"Turn back, you fool!"one of the students yelled after Ryuuto," Do you want to die?!" Ryuuto ignored and ran past him,as he assisted some elderly people and could not do anything to Ryuuto at the moment.
"Ryuuto,"a soft male voice said. Ryuuto knew who that was; it was his best friend, Kiyu Asahara."What is it?, Kiyu!" Ryuuto yelled, "Don't try to stop me!"
"I will not"
"Grandpa is fighting off the toku`s right?"
"How did you know?,well yes"
"I am going to help him."Kiyu had black long hair with soft and kind eyes, and was one of those boys who looked like girls. Kiyu stared at Ryuuto
"That's stupid, but I know that you are stubborn and will not listen to me if I tell you not to go," Kiyu said calmly. "So please be careful."
"I will."
***
Iso tenka layed on the ground,as his life drained away right before his own eyes, his blood has stained his haori, he sustained a heavy wound in his stomach.and he coughed blood,his ribs had been broken, and his lungs had been gored by them.his grip on the katana that layed on the floor beside him never faltered.that was his weapon.
It was a beautiful woman - she was the single toku that killed the countless villagers and stood in front of Iso tenka about to end his life also. long red hair, and she wore a nice red haori and held two fans. She looked so human, but one thing that gave her away was her black eyes with blood red pupils.
Every toku had that feature, no matter what."rage, grief, and sorrow,"her low, menacing voice said, " not to forget powerlessness, you will be a tasty human to eat, that's for sure." She smiled menacingly."You know, when I heard that there was a small village here, I thought that I could feast happily. I didn't think that there was a strong samurai here; however, it was worthless humans who could never harm us. When your sword slashes our neck, we would just regenerate. How pitiful you humans are." She laughed.
"You talk too much,devil! get over with it!"Iso tenka said.
"devil?, ouch, that's no way to refer to a lady, old man"
"You? A lady, I'd rather marry a pig than you. "The old man chuckled,coughing out some blood.
"Enough! You will learn your place, old man,"she expanded the fan and walked to the old man...."Leave grandpa alone!!" Ryuuto said as he threw a stone to hit the toku.
Iso Tenka almost had a heart attack."Get out of here!! fool!" he yelled, but that wasn't going to happen."Because of you,some villagers escaped - but your grandson will make up for it!"the toku said"No, please let Ryuuto go!!"Iso yelled as he managed to sit up. Immediately, she flicked the fan to Iso's direction, and in a second, his head flew off. It was neatly cut off, blood spewing everywhere. Ryuuto gasped,his heart clenched up