Every fiber of my body was screaming at me to attack, to cleave this fucker in two for what he did and I almost charged at him before I heard Anna’s words echoing in my mind, telling me to run. Clenching my fist and swallowing my rage I make a dash for the closest exit I can see, as I run I can hear the patter of feet following close behind me and I can see two knights ahead blocking my path, with no way to avoid them unless I aim for another exit and risk getting caught by someone else. I slide my backpack off from underneath my cloak and chuck it at one of their heads, startling him and managing to knock him on his ass while the other gets ready to try and catch me, instead he gets a black cloak flung at him, it fans out and covers his face while I pick up speed and slide between his legs while he’s distracted.

Just a few more meters to the exit, then I can use the back alleys to try and loose them while I make my way to the forest. As soon as I had the thought the Knight Commander landed in front of me and blocked my path. “Enough. Stop running and accept your fate.” Standing with his bloodstained sword in his hand he glares at me while making this statement.

I jump backwards and slam my back into the still dazed knight trying to untangle himself from my cloak, “Sorry Aunt Anna, they won’t let me run and I refuse to be a tool again. At least I can go down fighting.” Picking up the fallen knights sword I point it at the knight commander, “I won’t let you take me alive.”

“You two get back,” he speaks to the two knights before addressing me. “Spilling your blood would be a waste.” He sheathes his sword and takes a fighting stance, “But you leave me no choice.”

Ok maybe without the sword I can stand a cha-, before I had even finished the thought his fist was in front of my face, I barely had a chance to dodge it when a knee landed in my gut, causing me to cough up a mouthful of stomach acid and drop my sword. With the amount of power he put in that I should have been sent flying but he grabbed my head with both hands and brought it down to his knee smashing my forehead into it. At this point the world was spinning and I knew I stood no chance if this continued, I mustered every ounce of strength I had left and just before his second strike I sent the most powerful kick I could attempt between his legs. Looks like it worked because he let go for a second and I ducked out of his grasp, picking up the sword I dropped earlier I put it to my neck and looked him in the eye. “Told you I wouldn’t let you take me alive.” The last thing I remember is trying to slit my throat and seeing Credo’s face before everything went black.

“Foolish.” A feminine voice, similar to mine but with a deep underlying growl attached to it rang out in my mind.

“Well fuck you too.” I reply and see a massive dull grey eye open in front of me, it isn’t remotely human due to the vertical slit serving as its pupil, and that’s not taking into account the fact that it’s larger than my entire body.

“now where was all that fight a moment ago?” the voice replies in annoyance, a scene of me trying to slit my own throat only to be stopped by credo coming up behind me and smacking me with the in the head with the side of his blade plays in my mind.

“What do you know of having your free will stripped! Death is a far better outcome than what they have planned for me.” I reply in anger and stare back at the eye.

“And? what exactly do they have planned for you?” the voice questions in response.

“That’s……” I start before drawing a blank, all I really know is that they want me alive. “In any case it can’t be good, their type are only capable of good when it suits their needs.”

“So you judge people based on what they might do. And then what? Take your own life in an attempt to spite them? And what of Anna, what of the crime they DID commit, Will your death bring her justice?” the voice replies and the eye starts moving, well saying the eye moved is technically correct but what moved was the massive head it was attached to. Soon I could see an enormous Deva Tiger floating in the void, its entire body looked as if it had been drained of color, just like its eyes its fur was a dull grey, and a slightly darker shade of grey formed its stripes. Extending its retractable claws, its paws at the void causing space to ripple as it arches its back and stretches before it starts walking. “My brother burnt himself out bringing you in here before your body lost consciousness, to think he wasted what little energy he had helping a fool.”

“And what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t run, and the Knight Commander is far more powerful than I am.” I reply but as the words leave my mouth all I can hear are empty excuses.

“Hmph!” the tiger responds as she strides towards what looks like a massive bolder, after she walks behind it I can make out a few spikes jutting out at random places on it. As I think about taking a closer look my body floats forward and I can see that it’s covered in scales, like the tigers fur it’s a dull grey and it looks like all the color had been drained out of it. As I look at it in its entirety I can see that this is a curled up sleeping dragon and judging from the size of it, it has to be at least an elder dragon, the tigers head pokes up from behind it as it climbs on top, “And if you had the power? What would you do with it?”

“I’d slaughter the lot of them and anyone standing in my way.” I reply with a growl.

“And the boy? What of him?” The tiger questions and I see the scene of credo knocking me out again, this time I notice the look of desperation on his face and hear the sad whisper of “Idiot” that leaves his mouth as my body falls. “What happens when he tries to stop you from murdering his father? You slaughter him as well?”

“If I have to.” The words leave a bitter taste in my mouth as I say it, but I remember the sword sticking out of Anna’s back, I remember the blood slowly dying the colour of her tattered white robes red as she bled out and any reservations I might have disappear. “Nothing and no one would stop me.”

The Deva tiger opens its mouth to give a long yawn while it lowers its hind legs and lays down, resting its head on its folded front paws looking at me while its eyelids slowly close. “Still a fool. But at least you’re a fool with resolve. You have all the power you need Beatrice, you just have to grasp it.”

When I wake up the first thing I notice is the cold sensation on my back and the bright lights shining down on my body, my arms and legs have been strapped down and there’s a gag in my mouth. What was that? My mindscape? Didn’t think I could do that anymore, and what the hell was in there? An Elder dragon and a Deva tiger? What the hell? I push all the uncertainty to the back of my mind and cast my gaze around. I can see that I’m in some sort of old research lab, most of the things in here are covered in a thin layer of dust and the only things in the room that aren’t are a briefcase sitting on a desk, a Large metallic container near the door and a table holding a tray of surgical tools next to the bed I was on.

“Why is she g-g-g-gaged.” A bronze skinned man with long black hair, wearing a monocle comes in the room and stutters as he speaks to someone following him.

“Because it looks like this one is hell-bent on ending her own life.” The knight commander answers as he makes his way into the room. “The only reason we got her back here alive is because my son blindsided her before she could make the attempt.”

“T-T-T-truly a p-pity, I w-wanted to ask a few questions about her h-h-heritage.” Agnus makes his way to the metallic container and pulls out a broken katana, placing both halves on the table next to me he turns to the Knight Commander, “if her blood is as p-p-powerful as you say then it s-s-s-shouldn’t be some lesser d-d-demon she inherited it from. P-p-perhaps a greater demon? Maybe even a d-d-demon lord.”

“There hasn’t been a sighting of a demon that powerful until the Temen-Ni-Gru rose, and she had already been born by that time. Enough questions, can you stabilize the transformation or not.” The Knight Captain demands.

“P-P-Patience Knight Captain,” Inserting a needle into my arm he draws some blood and smiles before he addresses the knight commander again, “T-t-this blade is called the Yamato, once wielded by S-S-Sparda himself. I-I-If my theory is c-c-correct it should fast forward p-p-progress on the savior by d-d-decades, h-h-however! It does have other uses, for example any P-p-pure demon blood that touches the blade turns to ash, as does the b-b-blood of anyone who has undergone the c-c-ceremony, Observe.” Following his explanation he pulls a vial of blood out of his briefcase and drops some on the blade, a few seconds later wisps of black smoke started raising from it, “Demon Blood” Wiping the remaining blood off the blade he cuts his hand and spills a few drops of his own blood on it. “human blood” no reaction, the blood doesn’t undergo any changes whatsoever. “Now if you would knight commander.”

“I get the point, mine will have a similar reaction to the demon blood right? I don’t have time for your science experiments Agnus. The only reason I’m tolerating you right now is to write up a report for his holiness so hurry it up before I lose my patience.” The knight commander replies with a scowl.

“N-n-no appreciation for the artistry of s-s-science.” Agnus mutters to himself as he readies the syringe he took from me, “if it acts like my blood we can perfect the ascension ceremony years ahead of schedule.” Squirting some of my blood on the blade nothing happens and an exited smile slowly creeps on to his face, “a-and you’re sure she has demonic p-p-power?”

“I’m sure.” The knight commander answers, watching the blade have no reaction he continues, “Does this mean it’ll work?”

“Yes, she’ll be the p-perfect material to stabilize my work,” making his way to the desk Agnus starts going through the draws. “And once I’ve perfected the ascension c-c-ceremony I’ll be able to turn her into the most powerful n-n-Nelo Angelo yet, the p-perfect weapon for the order.”

Materials? Weapon? These fucking bastards! It’s happening again! Ill become a puppet for the same kind of hypocritical bastards that plagued my past life. If only I was strong enough, I could have saved Anna or at the very least avenged her, instead I got tossed around like a helpless ragdoll and captured, robbed of the dignity to even choose my own death and taken prisoner. If I had the power I wouldn’t have to leave Nero and Sam and perhaps most of all, I would never again become a puppet for others chasing their own greedy ambitions. Power. The need and desire for it growing so intense it feels as if my skull is about to split open.

 “I know I left it here,” lifting a notebook out of one of the draws Agnus holds it up, “M-my old research, I-I-I told those fools n-n-not to conduct any experiments while I was g-g-gone. N-n-no wonder you and the others are d-dying at such an accelerated rate.”

“Agnus.” The knight captain gets his attention, pointing toward the table next to me he continues, “is that supposed to happen?” Following his gaze I see both halves of the Yamato hovering slightly above the table. The two halves float next to each other lining up the points where they were originally connected

“I-i-impossible!” a wide eyed Agnus points and exclaims.

The two halves snap together, releasing a blinding white light and producing a blast that sends everything surrounding it flying. The table I was strapped to was no exception and got sent flying a few meters before crashing into the desk, at least it landed in a position that lets me be upright and loosened the gag enough for me to coax it out of my mouth. looking around I can see that both Agnus and the knight captain where caught off guard as they were currently gasping for air on the ground, straight ahead of me I can see the Yamato floating about a meter above the ground, it lurches toward me spinning in the air as it flies. I can’t help but shut my eyes in response to this thing wanting to stab me, but at least these fuckers won’t get what they want.

CLANG!!

Huh? Fully expecting to get impaled, I cautiously open my eyes due to the lack of pain I’m feeling right now and what I’m seeing is strange to say the least. It looks like the Yamato wasn’t aiming for my chest or any other vital organs and instead flew towards my hand, weapons that choose their owners aren’t that surprising to me but it’s what I saw next that I found strange. Before reaching its target the Yamato was stopped by a similar looking blade poking out of my hand, watching the two blades interact I could see a blue spark before a pitch black sphere starts forming where they make contact. Fuck. I’ve seen this in my old world, it’s the same thing that happens when teleportation magic goes berserk and from what I remember the most common side effect of getting caught in the aftermath was being turned inside out, assuming that’s what I’m seeing I’d rather not get caught in the blast.

“A Name.” a voice echoes in my mind, the tiger sounded somewhat like me but this is different, more of a primal growl than anything else. I can still hear a trace of it in there but not much, another voice in my head right when I’m in desperate need of help? Just. Fucking. Great. “Give me a name.” it echoes again.

“What are you? Are you the blade coming from my hand? That tiger from before? Ill warn you that I have trust issues when it comes to random voices in my head.” I question the voice in my head only to get no response. “Can you even hear me?”

‘Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ the blades start screeching as the black sphere continues to grow. Dammit, doesn’t look like I have any other way to get out of this, I really don’t want to help another voice in my bead but if It gives me a chance to escape ill deal with the consequences later.

“Musashi.” The name came naturally, as if I’d known it all along and as soon as it left my mouth demonic energy started seeping out of my hand coating the blade in red, once it reached the tip the blade starts slowly extending, coming further and further out of my hand while pushing the Yamato away. I barely had time to see the red diamond lined grip come out of my hand when a blazing hot sensation set my entire body on fire, the pain was concentrated mostly below my knees but looking down I couldn’t see anything different other than my legs being slightly redder than usual. Ignoring the pain I focus on the katana in my hand, gripping the hilt the demonic power coating the blade surges and swallows the black sphere, shrinking it down to nothingness and as a result the Yamato drops to the ground, splitting in two as it clatters to the floor, trying to move my wrist results in the straps tying me down snapping with surprising ease and moving my legs results in the same thing happening, looks like naming this thing had some other benefits as well, seeing the dazed Knight Commander struggling to catch his breath caused a bloodthirsty smile to creep on to my face.

My body is still feels like it’s on fire but I’m not passing up on this chance, I kick off the table and launch myself forward moving in an arc as I make my way to him reaching a speed I haven’t experienced since coming to this world and slash down with all the force I can muster, flooding the Musashi with as much demonic power as I can. The blade leaves a red streak of light as it moves through the air, at the last moment the knight captain sees me and raises his still sheathed sword in an attempt to block but the Musashi cuts through it like a hot knife through butter, I feel the blade bite into his flesh and start traveling across his chest before he manages to move backwards out of reach. I don’t know if the wound is fatal or not because there is currently a red lined rift in space where I slashed blocking my view.

“G-Guards!!!” a terrified Agnus screams once he manages to get his bearings.

I can hear the sound of footsteps at the door as the guards hear Agnus’s plea, another wave of pain assaults my body and my knees start to give way in the face of it. It’s probably a bad idea to stay here, I stumble through the portal and the noise of approaching guards along with Agnus’s whimpering fade into nothingness as the portal closes, what greets me is a familiar looking room. “Where?” casting my gaze around it hits me, haven’t been here in years but it basically still the same as last time. It looks like I ended up in the hospital where I was born, knowing I was at least a ship and a train ride away my from the order, my nerves relaxed a little and the pain I was feeling all over my body got my full attention.

Looking down I can see that everything below my knees is now blood red and seeping demonic power, I can’t let any hospital staff find me like this, let alone with a glowing naked sword. As I have the thought the demonic energy surrounding the blade starts shrinking, condensing into a hard black scabbard that covers the blade, “That’s convenient.” Making my way to the window I open it and see that I’m on the third floor, right outside is a large parking area leading out of the hospital grounds and into the rest of the city. “Should be able to jump that.” Landing sent an uncomfortable surge of numbness throughout my legs but I ignored it and made my way off the hospital grounds, I managed to make it into one of the city’s back alleys before collapsing.

A/N: So that bit about the Yamato turning demon blood into ash is total bullshit, but I needed it in the same room as Beatrice for this to happen……….so fuckit. Also the first arc is almost done and since this is writing practice please leave some constructive criticism, im self-taught and this is legit the only feedback I get.