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Chapter 4: One Man Army

Momoe looked on in horror... the lunch had been uneventful, in this sense. The walk back up the mountain had been peaceful. Now she was watching with wide eyes, hugging herself as she watched Kurojaki fight off his fellow hunters, narrowly dodging a battle axe that removed his hood, permanently. He was holding his own though, and hadn't drawn a single weapon yet as he continued to dodge, block, and strike with bare hands. H had removed his sword and tossed them away before they attacked him, not wanting to hurt who were still what he thought were the good guys. But he wasn't slacking off either, wasn't giving them an easy fight as he used everything except his Soul Flame against them.

"Come on... I'm not gonna go down without making you sweat first!" He said as he danced about, holding his fists up with his tail curled around his waist to keep it from being used against him.

"Stop attacking him!" Karren called after the knights.

"Belay that knights, attack the demon!" Rosary yelled out.

"Damn it, if you kill him you'll never stop these demons and kill Chronical!" Karren yelled as loud as she could at Rosary.

Kurojaki was close to being at his limit in terms of surprises as the hunters were starting to coordinate their attack better then when they started. He was either going to have to increase his already in use abilities, or make a break for his weapons. He decided to increase his power circulation, using his Soul Flames only to enhance his punches with a small burn to start warping the metal armor on the heavy knights. That was until he made a small mistake in his observations and stepped on a patch of ice, his feet sliding out from under him as he went into the air, landing hard on his back, the air being knocked from his lungs. The knights came in, but his leather armor and uniform were soon on fire as he lay their writhing and convulsing. Something was happening that they didn't understand... something that he didn't fully comprehend either.

"What's happening!?" Momoe rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside him as she tried to put the fire out. "Kurojaki, come on, you have to tell me what's happening."

"Now, get him while he's down," One of the hunters yelled as they all charged in, one taking Momoe's arm and pulling her out of the way as they all attacked at once... but their weapons deflected off an invisible barrier.

"I knew it... those were Dancing Tears this morning, his soul really was broken," Karren said as she ran out and stopped the knights. "Momoe, help me get him inside."

"What's wrong with him?"

"I'll explain when I'm able to see his chest."

"What do you mean, what's wrong with his chest?" Momoe helped lift him and carried him away.

Karren studied the strange mark that now appeared on his chest... a mark of power, but not a common mark of power, not on a demon. Momoe and Kari standing off to the side, Momoe standing by to help and observe, Kari to support her sister as well as who she considered her brother. Karren stood up and waved Momoe over, motioning to the mark on his chest, a hot pink like the swirl on his tail and his eyeliner under each eye.

"What does this look like to you Miss Momoe?"

"It looks like an Angelic symbol, but I don't remember which one," She said as she looked to her teacher. "What's an angelic symbol doing on Kurojaki's chest... a demon's chest?"

"He had to have gotten the soul somewhere, but I've never seen any angelic references in his system until now... that's why everyone was able to see his Dancing Tears... he's either been blessed by an angel, or he's half..."

"That can't possibly be, he has an immense amount of chaos stored inside him... Everyone here knows it's true, they can feel it when he's not using his energy," Rosary said as she walked in, the hunters behind her. "We can't risk it anymore because of this... everything you told me, the way he acted when you left the village, and the sudden increase in his Chaos, we can't take that risk."

"You can't harm him while he's unable to protect himself, that mark, it stands for power, and it's being used while he is unconscious to emit a barrier using his own energy and chaos," Karren said as she looked at her apprentice. "And he bares an angelic symbol, you would be breaking the rules of this order."

"He's already broken the rules with that woman you hold so dear to yourself."

"Is that true Momoe?" She looked at the girl, who held a deep blush but still nodded and looked at her feet. "I guess we can bend a small amount after this discovery... he is technically a holy being now... but he holds no godly strength which interests me."

"Karren, I must ask you to step away," Rosary tried to step forward, but the sudden pulse of holy light pushed her and the knights from Momoe's room.

"I suggest you stay well away from this young man, you're insolence has gone on long enough, you will stand down or I will have no choice but to invoke Holy Judgment and have you replaced," Karren gave her a hard stair. "Now be gone."

"Wow... where did you learn to do that?"

"Being a late priestess has its advantages," Karren smiled as she sat down on the bed next to Kurojaki. "Kari, please fetch some food and water, he's going to be terribly hungry when he wakes up, and Momoe, help me remove the rest of this jacket and these robs so I may get a closer look at this mark."

"Yes Lady Karren," They said in unison before Kari left the room and Momoe helped her.

Kurojaki several hours later with the flow of natural energy telling him that it was almost morning. He remembered waking up and eating before resting once more, hearing what appeared to be a mumbled conversation between Momoe and Karren until darkness quickly took him away from reality. He looked to his side, seeing Momoe at rest, her peaceful face making him smile as he ran a hand along her beautifully body. His smile soon disappeared though as he got to his feet and started dressing in his usual clothes and noticed his strap off to the side, hanging off a hook in the wall. He bent at her desk and scribbled a note to her before kissing her on the forehead and walking out of her room, grabbing his weapons on the way out.

"I'll be back, I promise," He whispered gently before walking in the shadows to the mouth of the cave, silently drawing his sword as he approached the guards from behind.

He rushed forward on silent feet, slamming the side of his sword against the back of one guards head, knocking him into oblivion while his foot kicked out at the other guard, landing in his stomach and doubling him over. He knocked him out with the butt pommel of his sword before sheathing it and walking out into the world, his eyes taking in the slowly rising sun and the first rays of light before his pupils narrowed and he started down the mountain at his fastest run. It was time to take the fight to Chronical, and his own brother, he wouldn't stop until he was cast back into the underworld, or they were defeated.

Kari held her sister close as Karren and Rosary walked into the room, not even a single strand of Kurojaki's fur in sight. Momoe had been crying since she read the note, and several other priestesses had already been by to try and find out what had her so emotional.

"Kari... can you tell me what happened?" Rosary asked.

"Here..." She held out the note, pulling it back though as Rosary reached out for it. "Not you, you don't believe in Kurojaki, you're not trusted enough to read his letter!"

Karren took the note and began reading it...

Dear Momoe,

I know, you're probably going to be heartbroken, and it hurts me just thinking about it, but I have to do this regardless. I'm leaving the order, not forever, but they're too scared to do anything about what's threatening the world. I will do it for them then, I will stop my brother and kill Chronical. This isn't good bye, this is a promise that we'll see each other again. In two weeks, I want you to travel to the old cottonwood, where I fought that demon to protect you, and we kissed for the first time. I will have left a present there for you and Kari to remember me by until I return. Don't lose faith in me like the others have, and keep that faith strong in Kari's heart to, even if it's only the two of you, that faith gives me more power then you know. I love you Momoe, and I'll be back when this is over, I promise.

Love, K

"Oh my... I'm sorry that this happened Momoe," She folded the note and slipped it in Momoe's hand as she took it while sitting next to her. "But you mustn't cry... he's doing this protect you and Kari... to protect everyone."

"Why does he have to shoulder it all on his own shoulders... he could get hurt," She asked through her tears. "What if his soul breaks again and I'm not there to help him put it back together."

"Then you continue to have faith in him so it won't break," Karren said as a hand slowly rubbed up and down the young woman's back. "You'll be giving him more power then you know."

"Momoe, I..."

"Shut up, this is your fault, if you'd have just kept your own god damn feelings and opinion to yourself, none of this would have happened!" She yelled at Rosary with anger and hatred.

The echoed slap came though, gasps filling the air at who delivered the smack. It was Kari, standing in front of her big sister in tears. She looked at her with wide eyes, tears staining her cheeks as she watched her cry more and more as her jaw was held firm to keep from whimpering and stuttering.

"She's just scared, we all are, but Kurojaki is willing to protect all of us, including her, even after everything she done to him," She raised her hand again, this time smacking her own tears away and looking at Momoe with hard eyes. "If we can't fight with Kurojaki then we'll stand behind him push him forward when he can't walk, we'll give him our strength when he runs out of his own!"

"Kari..." She looked down at the ground, her sniffling stopping slowly as she calmed herself, soon getting to her feet and wiping away the tears. "You're right... we'll help Kurojaki, even if he doesn't want us to, we'll help in any way we can from here."

"I'm glad you feel that way... because I'm willing to put my life on the line for him... simply because he did for me," Karren said as she stood strong beside them, her gaze soon meeting Rosary's. "What about you, Rosary?"

She didn't say a word as she turned and walked away, grumbling something that the other's didn't quite catch. Karren had her suspicions about the younger woman, as she had never acted like this before and it happened suddenly. She saw her talk to the hunters in an impatient manner.

"You're not gonna find him... one, he's the best hunter, two, he's a demon and a fox, and three... with his energy and Flash Step, he's probably at the other end of the valley by now," Karren said allowed with a smile to Momoe and Kari. "And trust me... he's coming close to unlocking his full power."

"Find him... but don't kill him!"

Kurojaki looked around as he entered the town his brother had attacked... seeing that there were still a great number of residents still alive. He walked towards the in and saw the man that had let him know people were still alive. He walked forward, looking towards the tavern as he did so.

"Excuse me young man, you mustn't hide yourself here... we all know you are a demon, but you did try to help us before, we wouldn't dare attack you," The old man suddenly said as Kurojaki passed by. "You may be a demon, but you don't feel evil, you have a very dark presence though, which concerns me greatly, but I figured there's nothing I can do since you aren't human... but please, allow me to buy you a drink."

"I'm sorry, but I'm only here to pick up the trail my brother left behind after attacking this town," He said as he pulled his hood off, revealing his demonic features to the old man, but he had changed in appearance. "Is everyone else doing okay here?"

"Y-yes, they're grieving loved ones and such but they're continuing their day to day like their family would want them to."

Kurojaki continued walking with a nod, but his stride had changed as well... it was a powerful stride and held more intimidation then the demon that had confronted his brother days before. As for his appearance, the hot pink under his eyes and on his tail was now a dark pink, his silver eyes now held a red tint, and his pupils were narrow, a permanent narrow it seemed. To top off his more natural demon appearance, his fur was a mess, standing on end slightly with a small increase in length. He was starting to look feral, although a feral Kurojaki still held his hot pink color. He was in pain to, it was constant and grew worse, the more he thought about his brother, and having to leave Momoe and Kari behind to chase after him. That was half of the battle though, fighting while being supported from afar so as not to put those you care about in any danger.

"Wait... at least let me get you some food for your travel!?"

"No thank you, I don't need any... not that I would be able to eat it," He said, the last part being said under his breath.

He was soon out of the village and walking forward, not following a specific trail left by his brother... but it was known that he was working for Chronical, so all he had to do was follow the flow of dark energy that floated through most of the valley. He wondered what has brother would sacrifice that was so personal that he would lose himself and become easily manipulated. It wasn't anyone's guess when you knew him well enough to know that yes, other things could be felt, but he wasn't the type to follow his feelings of anger, jealousy, or even greed, the need to be powerful and immortal.

"Hey... it's that soul demon the others keep talking about!" He heard from behind him, turning to see humanoid looking demons standing before him... all wearing their own style of clothing and each seemingly possessing a different personalities and abilities. "I wonder why the master is so scared of this weak fool?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," A monotone voice, belonging to a female, rang in his ears. "He does look like we could kill him right here if we wanted to."

"You know I can hear you?" He said as he drew his sword and dagger. "And I'm not feeling good, so you'd best get it over with, or get the fuck away from me, 'cause I don't have the time or the patience."

"Oh... the fox has fangs and claws," The man standing in the middle smiled as he stepped forward. "The master said he would let your brother deal with you... but he didn't say we couldn't rough you up a bit."

"You get him Wrath... we're going to go cause a little mayhem today," The littlest girl said as she walked away along with five others, a single woman staying behind. "Lust, are you coming?"

"No, I want to watch Wrath fight him," He now knew who owned the monotone.

"Well... let's see you dodge this!" Wrath suddenly charged forward, his fist becoming a ball of black energy, almost like electricity.

"You're slow..." Kurojaki said as he side stepped him at the last minute, feeling the attack tug on his duster which soon caught fire, but not with actual fire as he it burned like the black electricity that emitted from the man's hand, a fire he couldn't put out. "What the hell is this!?"

"It's my special attack, it's called Black Smite, isn't it wonderful... it won't kill you until it's absorbed every ounce of pain that you can emit as it continuously burns away your flesh at the slowest rate possible... then it becomes a rapid sprint to death when you no longer feel any pain at all."

"Well," Kurojaki removed his duster, tossing it to the side. "I guess the only way to salvage my duster is to force you to call it back."

He stood with his sword and dagger ready, his black fur shining in the sunlight, his freshest wounds showing they're age as his fur started to grow back over them, the mark on his chest burning at him as he started pumping his demonic energy through his veins. He lit his daggers with his Soul Flames before flashing stepping in front of the demon and swinging both in an X on his chest, leaving deep wounds behind as his Soul Flame seared them before any healing factors could take over.

"Ah, damn... I guess master does has something to worry about... your brother's right, your power did suddenly increase, you can suppress your energy, but no matter... I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve then you think I do," He said as both his hands were engulfed in his special ability once more. "Ready or not, here I..."

Kurojaki didn't let him finish as with a Flash Step, his momentum carried him into the demon, launching him through a tree and into the trees. He sheathed his sword and dagger as he watched the demon fall unconscious, walking towards his duster which had stopped burning away, but was now missing a square foot worth of fabric in one corner. He looked at the girl as she cleared her throat.

"I'm not going to attack you, I'm simply watching," She said in her deadpan tone, but with a smile nonetheless.

"Whatever..." He said as he slung his duster over his shoulders and started walking away. "I suggest you keep him on a very short leash from now on... killing him won't do me any good because the spirit and the body are two separate demons... that doesn't mean I don't know how to trap him and punish him with eternal damnation."

He was soon out of sight as she started walking towards the demon known as Wrath, a spirit trapped in an old world demon's body. A hulking man with long, dull gray hair, and a thin beard, the body of a professional strong man, and the ego of a rich family's spoiled offspring. He only wore a tattered and thread-bare under shirt that had lost its original color, and pants in a similar condition.

"I hate him... we don't have to listen to master except for his orders on when we work, and if we engage in a battle with him or not," Wrath said as he got to his feet. "But I swear if I catch that bastard off guard, I'm killing him."

"I don't know... I find him interesting," She said as she held a hand out to him and helped him to his feet. "You catch up to the others... I want to follow him and see if my special ability has any effect on him."

"You couldn't do that while I was fighting him?"

"Why... you acted like you could handle him... even after he showed what he was actually capable of."

"Just get the hell out of my face..." He snarled as he got to his feet and pointed after him. "Now!"

He watched her walk away... Lust... the only one of the seven that had her own body... but what kept her in the underworld was that she could only be summoned to the mortal world when the other six were summoned, she could stay after they were sent back to hell... but that's why she had only been seen a few times every millennia. She almost looked human from afar, but when looking closer, you could see that scales covered her left arm and leg, her entire left body was covered in smooth scales. This was to effect her last victim... she could shape shift, making her ability more potent so as to appeal to her victims desires, then when she had them under her, she sucked away their soul and life force. She was the queen of Succubi... Lust.

"Good... my brother is growing closer and closer to his first chaos release," Ookami smiled as he watched the new viewing orb he had snagged from his employer. "It's almost time then."

"Almost time?"

"Kurojaki is getting closer and closer to unlocking his full power, he just needs a little push to make him snap."

"Hmm... I know just where to get that push... You get his little girlfriend and I'll get the push you want to give him, as long as you're willing to risk both their lives."

"As long as nothing happens to the girl... I do not wish to harm anyone else... I'm a demon, not a monster..."

Kurojaki sat down, growling in pain as he grabbed his chest, his hand landing over the mark on his chest. He peeled away his weapons and duster, letting the items fall to the ground as he sat under the tree, night creeping over the valley as his tired mind caught up with his body, bringing on an unnatural exhaustion in him. He grit his teeth once more as the pain burned through him one last time, his body and mind giving out simultaneously as he fell to his side in slumber.

"Oh my... now that I have a closer look at you... you're actually quite handsome, and it's not often another demon gets such a compliment," She said as she suddenly appeared from the shadows and gently went to her knees in front of him. "Seems like you're suffering... but not from what you're going through outside of your body... you're chaos is nearing its first release, and this mark on your chest is trying to keep it chained."

She placed her hand on the mark, but felt a pain run through her body that froze her as she fell to her side, but she was quick to recover as the pain passed. She was amazed... that much pain immobilized her, and he had fought off Wrath while dealing with such pain. She got back to her feet and moved to touch his stomach, her hand rubbing over part of a scar before a rough hand grabbed her wrist and she felt his sharp claws press against her throat.

"Give me one good reason not to put my hand through your neck!" He growled as her blood started trickling through the fur on the back of his hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you," She said, seeing the pain and anger in his narrow eyes, sparkling in the slivers of moonlight that pierced the leaves of the tree. "You're not looking so good, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"You can start by leaving me alone," He said as he released his hold on her wrist, but kept his sharp claws against her throat. "I don't need your help."

"What are you doing!?" She asked in surprise as he started sitting up, reaching for his duster and weapon strap.

"What does it look like, I'm getting away from you," He growled, pushing himself up to his feet. "I don't want anything from..."

"Hey!" She moved and caught him as he collapsed to the ground once more, unconscious again, laying his head gently in her lap. "Damn you... what did you do to yourself?"

She let him rest in her lap, not knowing anything else to do now as he seemed to be a difficult person. Or maybe it was everything that was on his mind when it came to the cause of his attitude, the pain and fighting of two energies in his body was the cause of his exhaustion, that much was for certain, but he was aggressive, very aggressive. She sighed and settled against the tree, accepting her fate as the slightly younger demon's pillow for the night, absentmindedly stroking her hand through the tuft of her fur between his ears.

He woke, his head resting on something soft and smooth under his touch. His eyes slowly opened to see he was still under the same tree, but it was day time once more. He sat up, the pain in his chest gone for now, but he knew it would come back before the day was over, he needed to get moving once the tired blur left his vision.

"Hey, you're awake, didn't think you were going to survive the night."

He drew his dagger and turned in the same motion, noticing who had spoken at the last moment and stabbing the dagger into the tree, missing her neck by only a hair. She smiled lazily and moved her neck away from the dagger before he pulled it free and stuck it in the ground.

"What are you still doing here?" He said as he looked away. "I told you to leave me alone."

"Hey, why don't you thank me... I stayed up all night acting as your pillow, and your look out," She said as she got to her feet and looked down at him with angry eyes. "If it wasn't for me, you could have been killed or kidnapped, all of it while you were unconscious, because you were weakened in that state."

"Shut up and leave!" He growled as the blue flames engulfed his body, raging around him. "If I wanted you to help me, I would've asked."

He gathered his duster and weapons before he started walking away, buckling the sword strap in its usual position and holding the duster over his shoulder like a jacket. She got to her feet and followed him, ignoring his obvious aggravation at her presence. He made her curious, and so far he was the only she had met that didn't fall for her power to draw out her victim's lustful nature. But that was okay as she didn't really need to see much else, he was an interesting person, his desires seemed to be a human female, but she wasn't allowed to go entirely human, the smooth white scales covering one side of her body proving that.

"Why are you following me," He yelled back at her as he stopped. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I know you're Ookami's brother... and that you're the only demon to become a knight in the Holy Order," She said as she neared him and started walking along side him. "And I'm following you because I want to find out for myself why you should be feared."

"I shouldn't be feared... that's the problem, but he's turned my brother against me, against everything me and him believe in... now I have no choice but to kill both of them."

"It's not going to be easy... but you might pull it off, then again, what's going to stop you're from trying over and over again, after all, you're not like most demons, you'll just keep coming back, you'll never die," She said before she turned away and walked off in to the trees. "See you around."

"Whatever," He said as he looked away, ignoring every other energy around him.

Only one was on his mind, and he wasn't a holy knight anymore... he was just a demon out to rid the world of a monster and free his own brother the only way he could... he had to kill him so every part of him would return to the underworld with him. The Chronical... he just needed to die... he would happy if he was rid of him, and the world would be better off.

"Momoe... why did you ask that a knight follow us when they could possibly just take whatever Kurojaki left for you?" Kari asked as she walked with her sister.

"Because... Kurojaki isn't here to protect us, and our powers won't do what he can do as a knight and a demon. But we're going to have to settle as with one of the others," She said as she held up her staff, looking over the jewel at the end.

"To bad he's not as good as big brother," A growl came before a flash and the knight fell to the ground, Kari screaming as his torso fell one way, his legs falling backwards. "But then again... he's not gonna have as easy a time as usual, he's in pain, and it's not emotional, it's physical. I wonder what he would do if we add the person he loves most into the mix?"

"Ookami?" Momoe asked, looking around.

"Very good... you know your boyfriends brother, even though you never met him."

Momoe hadn't reacted the way Kari had... she had traveled with Kurojaki after all. Ookami's blunt and forward battle strategy was nothing compared to his brother's sheer brutality and relentless attack. At least... when he was facing an enemy he knew he could take, he was very calculating and defensive when facing a stronger enemy, but when he found a weakness... he was quick, precise, and cunning. Kurojaki was basically an adaptable fighter, but sometimes he did focus too much on finding a weakness that he got beat up.

"Momoe," He said, cutting her thoughts off. "Yes, I know your name... he speaks very highly of you, often."

"What do you want Ookami?" She asked, watching him walk out of his hiding place.

"Well, I've come to retrieve you for a special party that Chronical is throwing... are your boyfriend is the guest of honor... but the question is do I take this young woman with us, or do I kill her... maybe I let her go back to where she came from... I don't know what to do."

"Let her go... please... I'll go with you if you just let her go."

"Oh... playing the protector... that's very noble," He said as he sheathed his sword. "I'll let you say your goodbyes."

"Here Kari," Momoe said as she kneeled beside her sister, putting the folded map into her small knapsack, then standing and holding out her staff. "Here, take these back to the old cottonwood tree okay... can you do that for me?"

"Why?"

"Just do it for me okay?" She smiled, trying to act as reassuring as possible. "You'll be okay, it's only a day's travel from here, okay."

"Okay... But why do I have to go there?"

"So Kurojaki knows what happened to his beloved," Ookami smiled as he grabbed Momoe's hand and started pulling her away. "I'd get going if I was you, there are no demons in the area, but that could change in a matter of seconds."

"Go Kari, get moving, tell Kurojaki!" She said before Ookami suddenly vanished with her.

"Mo..." She couldn't finish her sister's name as she started crying, falling to her knees.

Kurojaki looked around as he sat in the tree... his mood had lightened at the thought of seeing Momoe once more, though he wouldn't approach her. But as the sun finally started to rise, his eyes grew wide and narrow slitted. It was only Kari, looking as though she hadn't slept, tear stained cheeks, and carrying Momoe's staff. He got to his feet as she looked around, but didn't say anything, just sitting down, right over where he had buried the small gift he left for Momoe. Kari seemed to still be crying as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head against them.

"Kurojaki..." She said softly, almost inaudible to him if he didn't have his ears turned straight towards her.

"Fuck!" He said as he saw the demon slowly approaching the girl from behind.

"Kari, duck!" He yelled as he jumped from the tree, drawing his sword in the same instance.

"Kurojaki?" She looked at him in panic before seeing him swing his sword over head, the blue flames coming to life as he finished the circular swing.

She ducked as the crescent of flames passed over her head and soon, a fury of black fur. A loud and feral growl filled his ears along with the sound of a sword cutting through flesh at high speeds. It was followed by panting, letting her know to lift her head as she looked at the demon fox walking up to her, but he was different... his hot pink was now red. She got to her feet and ran up to him, hugging him close. She gently rubbed his hand along her back.

"Kari, where's Momoe?" He asked as softly as he could, but the growl from early was still caught in his voice.

"They have her... some guy with a greatsword cut the knight that went with us down and took her," She said as she cried into his chest. "She told me to run here. We didn't know if you would be watching or not, but I kept running."

"Damn you Ookami," He said with a purposeful growl as he looked around, trying to focus on his brothers energy, something he knew he could do if he emitted his own in great proportions. "Don't worry Kari, I'm going to get her back, okay?"

"I know you will... I'm just scared of what they're already doing to her."

"Ookami won't do anything to her... he wants me to fight as strong as I can... I'll fight harder to keep her alive then I would if she was dead and he knows that," He said as he released her and walked over to the tree once more, bending and digging away at the base, soon pulling up a clothe wrap. "I guess I'll have to give this to her myself."

"What is it?"

"You'll find out when she opens it," He said as he stood and held his hand out to her. "Come on... let's go get your sister back."

He found it wouldn't be easy as he traveled with Kari, someone who wasn't used to traveling with him every now and then like Momoe was. She wasn't used to Kurojaki hunting and preparing food fresh from the wild, or fruits picked from the forest and washed in the river. It wasn't something you got used to overnight. She had to commit or she would starve though, that was the biggest motivator for Momoe when she was put in the same position. She would get used to it before they got to her sister though, it wasn't as bad as she thought it was, fresh food was always better then the preserved food they got at the temple. So much better that Momoe jumped at every chance she could get to travel with Kurojaki. Based on where he was sensing what felt like his brother energy, he figured it to be at least two weeks worth of traveling. If he didn't have Kari, it would only take a week, but he couldn't go as fast with Kari on his back as he would alone.

"You're boyfriend probably thinks we're quite a ways away from him," Ookami explained as he looked at the tied up Momoe. "In reality, he'll run into you in about a day or so."

"Why are you doing this Ookami, what's the real goal here?"

"I want to fight my brother at his strongest... sadly, he needs a little push to bring him full circle," He laughed as he through the black crystal at her feet. "There... his energy should activate it, and he'll have quit a challenge to bring him full circle... you might regret having him here to save you..."

"Kurojaki would never hurt me, I don't care what you say."

"You say that now... but I know his bloodline, I happen to share it..." He walked away. "Looking forward to seeing you if you're still alive afterwards."

"I hope Kurojaki beats you to a bloody pulp," She yelled after him.

"Not likely... he's not gonna bother beating on me... he's gonna kill me," He laughed as he looked back at her, "He's going to do something fancy, then when he sees his opening he's going to take me down with one attack, and that'll be the end of it. He's gonna change because of his anger towards me, and that's how I know he'll kill me, because he will lose control over himself."

"Ookami, wait!"

"I'd save my strength dear, he's almost here, he'll be here by morning, if that symbol on his chest doesn't knock him out once more."

"You know about that?"

"You think that cave you hide in is safe from him... he can see anything he wants with the use of one little orb."

With that, he disappeared into the trees. She felt a small hint of dread cross her as she looked down at the black crystal at her feet. There was a dark and evil energy rising from it, it made her uneasy, a bundle of nerves, and the fact that it needed Kurojaki's power to unleash what was trapped inside meant it was powerful, because being able to consume Kurojaki's energy would mean death for most demons... it was too unbalanced. Kurojaki's powers were based on the fact that his energy was in such a primal and feral state, that's what made his attacks so unique to those who would posses such similar techniques. If whatever this crystal held could consume his energy, it had to be something that could balance the energy while it was consuming it, which meant its power would be overwhelming to most people.

"Kurojaki?" Kari asked as her eyes fluttered open, her small body hugging him tightly from behind as he carried her. "Why are you carrying me? You should get some rest too."

"I don't have time... I need to get to Momoe, I have to get her back to safety." He said with tinge of pain infecting his tone. "If only my damn chest would leave me alone."

"Don't worry Kurojaki... she'll be fine, you'll get her back, I know you will."

"Thanks Kari," He smiled, it usually being the other way around when he was around her.

Her words did help him though as the sun slowly began peaking up over the eastern mountains. It was morning, and he was tired and in pain, but he still had something to do, someone he needed to protect. He couldn't let himself rest, he had a flame of determination burning brighter then the sun inside him.

"Kurojaki, there she is!" Kari pointed as she kicked about, freeing herself from him as she started running.

"No, Kari, wait!" He yelled after her, a scream from the clearing ahead soon following and echoing in the valley. "Fuck."

"Momoe!" She froze as the demon stood before her, his fur longer and standing on end, his tail had also become a little longer and thicker, and his presence... his intent.... It was so powerful she almost vomited.

"You stay here... I'll handle this."

"O-okay," She said as she fell to her knees with wide eyes.

Kurojaki ran into the clearing... but what he saw was something he wished wasn't real. Black fur standing on end with a hot pink swirl on the tail, carrying a severely battle scared cutlass. Pure Black eyes staring at him as the sword was drawn, no clothes covering the body... It was an exact copy of a feral Kurojaki. His eyes narrowed, and he drew his sword and dagger, approaching slowly as the feral copy stood still between him and Momoe.

"That's a little harsh, don't you think... making him fight who he was when you summoned him to attack the order?"

"Not at all... Why does he use that cutlass?"

"That's his sword, the one that was forged for him when he was born. He does posses our mother's blade, but he was also left a sword that I suppose his father left behind for him," Ookami said as he looked into the viewing orb. "He refuses to use either though, said he wasn't worthy, but he won't give them up either."

"Oh... do I sense jealousy and resentment?" Chronical asked as he looked at Ookami. "You want your mother's sword don't you?"

"I would like it yes, simply because it's a powerful sword, and in the hands of someone like him, it'll never feel its own potential."

"But your mother gave it to him for a reason."

"Says he was worthy of it, that it would get properly taken care of, that he was the only one that could be trusted with its secrets," He snarled as he started walking away. "A sword is a sword, it's meant to kill, not be stashed away by some black fox who can't even use chaos release."

"Well... let's see if he can take this monster before him on without his chaos, because we both know that's what he's going to try to defeat himself without his own chaos."