“Village leader,  it’s because…. It’s because no one can move under her presence….” The young man lowered his head. Even he trembled just trying to get an idea who what they were facing. The blood lust and killing intent coming off this girl was too much for even him to handle.

“I do not want excuses! Get out there and kill her!” The village leader did not want to hear anything but the demise of the intruders. His plans to awaken the dark lord would ruined if he could not finish gathering enough souls.

The young man shivered under the village leader’s gaze. He could only grit his teeth and face his fears. “I will gather our men.”

Meanwhile, in another house, a young woman’s face was full of tears as she watched her brother being skinned alive. “Why are you doing this!?”

“Hehe!?” Yuki giggled and looked at the woman questioningly. “Why not? The stench of blood is thick on both of you. How many people have you killed? How many people have you used to further your cultivation? Even the side effects of your cultivation are starting to show. Your sunken in cheeks. Your slightly yellow eyes.”

Yuki raised her sword in her hand and showed the bloodied blade to the young woman. “You see, there are two sides of one coin. First….” Yuki stabbed the sword into the young man’s head. “There is the violent side. This side is what you guys are doing. Then….”

Yuki stabbed her fingers into the hole she made with the sword and plucked out the soul inside. “There is the side that makes use of your violence to make the world better.” 

“You! You are crazy!” The young woman shouted fearfully. She was very afraid of Yuki to the point that she could not control her own bladder.

“Crazy!?” Yuki let out a laugh. “Maybe so… But, do you know the difference between you and I?” Yuki gazed at the table that had a chopped-up body on it and then looked back at the girl. “I do not commit acts of violence against the innocent. That child there looks to be around ten years of age. But you chopped them up to use their blood to advance your own cultivation. Who is sicker? You or me?”

The young woman did not know what to say. She could only stare at Yuki with fear in her eyes. Yuki sneered, seeing how the girl was no longer speaking, and stood up off the bloodied man she had been sitting on and walked over to her. “Since you do not want to speak, it’s fine.” 

Yuki raised her sword, and to the young woman’s horror, she stabbed it down into her chest. “The blade just missed your heart. Sadly, you will need to feel the pain as I slowly slice through your body. Do you know, I bet that child over there felt much greater pain? I bet he begged for you to stop, am I right?”

“I… I wouldn… AHhhh! Just kill me!” The young woman yelled out. She wanted to just die. Yuki was twisting her sword and slicing it in all directions but was not hitting any vitals.

“Just kill you? No, no…” Yuki grinned as she pulled the sword out. “The fun has just begun. So make sure you scream nicely for me, okay? You dared to harm others but want a quick death when you are the one being harmed. Do not think so lightly of me. You see…. I seem to like it when my prey cries for mercy. I love it when they look at me with fear. I like it when they soil themselves just by looking at me. It feeds my desires to kill even more.”

Nana, who was at the entrance of the room, did not even flinch as Yuki continued slicing the young woman up. Instead, she walked over to the butchered body of the child and frowned. So young yet died in such a horrible way. She reached down and began pushing the body parts together. If her Yuki was going to play the devil, she could play the angel and help bury the child who did not deserve to die. 

Haruhi, who was witnessing everything, nodded her head in approval. Yuki was giving back what the woman dished out. This was an eye for an eye. Nana was giving the innocent a proper burial. She felt both of these girls were the perfect mix.  

But she also knew that if word ever spread of this, that Yuki and Nana would be seen as demons. But this was also a good thing since these girls would need a rumor like that to protect them. “I will have to speak to Elder Nishikawa about it later…. For now, while brutal, these girls are passing with flying colors.”

They did not harm the innocent. Yuki seemed to be following her nose to the houses that reeked of blood. Even the faintest of scent did not escape her nose. Each house she slaughtered in, bodies or body parts could be found.

As for those who had no idea what was going on and were not aware of the changes in the town, they were left alone. While few there were a few families that seemed to be fully unaware they were living around so many demonic cultivators. As she was lost in thought, a group of cultivators gathered together. “We will now go and hunt down the murderer who has been slaughtering the villagers. Make sure to kill her at all costs!”

“Understood!”