I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I readied myself to take on the ghoul.

A loud ringing sound filled the air as I raised the blade above my head and swung Kokorowatari with all my strength.

A surge of energy shot forth from the blade as I activated Kokowatari’s ranged attack.

Did I get him?

You missed. It jumped right before you could hit it.

The ghoul leaped with a screech from the tree, and within moments it had vanished into the night, leaving a sinister whisper of death lingering in its wake.

“Shit.”

Damn it. It’s fast. How am I supposed to kill it if it can just disappear into thin air?

Where did it go?

It’s hiding somewhere, don’t bother chasing after it. You don’t have visibility. Lure it and counter-attack.

“How will I lure it if I don’t know where it is?”

If it moves again, you’ll hear an audible noise, and that should give you enough time to react. Stay alert, and don’t make a noise.

Okay.

I waited for a while, listening carefully for any sound, but I didn’t hear anything except for the rustling of the trees and the buzzing of insects.

After a few minutes, I began to feel uneasy. Maybe it got scared by my sword and decided to leave without attacking me?

I waited another minute or two, but there was nothing more happening. My heart began to pound rapidly again as I realized something.

If it's gone... that means it's going after a different target.

I ran deeper into the forest, scouring the area with my flashlight looking for signs of where the ghoul was headed. I saw disturbed patterns in the grass as if someone had stepped on them. I followed the trail of footprints, and they led me to a large patch of grass.

The trail had disappeared all of a sudden.

I looked around the environment and saw nothing unusual.

This doesn’t make any sense.

I frantically scoured my surroundings, desperate to find any clues as to how the trail could’ve disappeared. Yet, as soon as I heard the faint, soothing glow of the moonlight, I found my gaze drawn toward it, both captivated and wary of its beauty.

“Wait a minute... Baal, can that thing fly?”

They can, but their speed is insignificant in comparison to their running speed, and they also can’t fly in high altitudes.

I sighed, “So, what do we do next?”

We wait until it comes back. I don’t want you to rush in blindly. What you need to focus on is how to lure it out of hiding. Your safety is the utmost priority.

“How will I lure it out of hiding if I don’t know where it is?”

My mind raced as I weighed the options of what to do next. Should I stay or should I go? Just as I was about to move, I heard a loud sound coming from the deeper side of the forest. It was unmistakably the sound of gunshots,

I ran towards the source of the noise.

***

I approached the source of the sound cautiously. As I rounded the corner, I saw the ghoul standing in front of a young man with his back turned to me. The ghoul had its arms extended toward the man, its palm open and ready to strike.

The man held a handgun in his hands and aimed straight at the ghoul. His face was pale and sickly, but he quickly reacted and shot the approaching ghoul.

Blood spurted from the wound, splattering on the ghoul’s face. It staggered and fell onto its back, wheezing loudly. The man stayed on guard, gun pointed at the ghoul.

I approached cautiously, careful not to make any noise, but the man suddenly turned around, looking at me.

“Who the fuck are you!?” He growled, his voice cracking as if he hadn’t used it in a long time.

“Uhh... J, just a demon hunter passing by...”

“Are you a member of the occult club?”

“No, but I came here with them. Who the hell are you? How do you know about the occult club?”

His eyes looked exhausted, and his voice was hoarse with fatigue. He took a deep breath and wiped some of the blood off his face with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Who hasn’t heard of your school’s occult club. It’s the infamous disciple group of Tokyo’s Hyakki Yakou (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons).”

What?

I stared at him blankly, unable to comprehend the situation.

Baal, what the hell is this guy talking about?

How about I’ll explain it when we get back? It’s a little long. Just play along with him. I’ll explain it later.

Fine.

I extended my hands and introduced myself.

“I’m George Serizawa, a self-employed demon hunter.”

I almost laughed at the ridiculous title I gave to myself.

He shook my hand and responded with a strained smile, “The name’s Ringo, a vampire hunter.”

Is that an alias? On the one hand, I wanted to know the truth, yet on the other, I didn’t want to get involved in someone else’s business. In the end, I decided it didn’t really matter after all.

I pulled away my hand and saw the ghoul twitch its fingers.

“Shit, it woke up!”

Ringo reacted and aimed his gun at the ghoul once more. This time he fired off five rounds, and the bullets penetrated the ghoul’s body, piercing its flesh with accuracy.

It’s still alive. Finish it off yourself. The silver bullet in his firearm won’t be enough to permanently shut down that beast.

I quickly ran towards the ghoul and summoned Kokorowatari once more. I quickly stabbed the sword toward the ghoul’s torso and muttered the activation command, “Ignite, Kokorowatari!”

The blade of the sword erupted into a torrent of wicked flames that surged toward the ghoul, engulfing its body in an instant.

I could have sworn I saw the face of a devil dancing in the inferno, purple eyes and mouth cackling in primal glee as it reduced the ghoul to ash.

The ghoul’s entire body was consumed in an instant, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke and ruin.

“Holy shit...”

As I slowly spun around, my heart pounding in my chest, I saw the fear in the vampire hunter’s eyes. He stared at me as if I was a terror unleashed from the depths of hell itself.

“Is that- is that a demon-slaying artifact...?”

Before I could respond, Baal had taken control of my mouth and glared with anger,

Don’t you compare those piles of junk metals to Kokorowatari! This hallowed artifact is the god-slaying sword of the late Demon Emperor himself. Made from his own flesh and blood, along with the unparalleled materials from the divine realm.

Ringo’s head snapped up, his widened eyes filled with terror. He staggered towards me, his voice quivering slightly.

“That thing inside you... that’s a demon, right? Can you ask if that sword, could, theoretically, kill a second-generation vampire?”

Which part of “god-slaying sword” did you not understand? If it could wreak havoc in the higher world, what makes you think it can’t kill a mere second-gen like you?

“Okay, seriously, Baal, what the hell is going on?” I whispered.

But Baal kept quiet and remained silent.

Anyway, it appears that the ghoul is gone. Let’s get back home.

I took a step forward, but Ringo suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Follow me. I need your help.”

The vampire hunter’s eyes were wide and filled with desperation and hope. His hand was shaking as it gripped my arm, and his lips were parted as he pleaded silently with me.

His expression was clear. He was asking me to help him fight against this great danger, whatever it was.

The pleading in the vampire hunter’s eyes was hard to miss. His gaze was intense, desperate, and unwavering, filled with a mix of emotions.

“Alright, fine.”