Chapter 9: Requiem for the Hell Bane—The Tales of Dead Men.

Part 0

 

 

Something was off.

Something that he could not explain, not fully, but he knew that something was off.

The teen clenched his fist and gulped as a bead of sweat dropped from his chin onto the ground underneath his feet.

Haruko Matsumoto.

Right now, the teen stood on the sidewalk at the entrance of an alleyway between an abandoned warehouse and an apartment complex.

It was wide enough to fit two large garbage trucks side by side. To the teen, it appeared open and inviting, but at the same time, it felt as though something was telling him not to enter.

A feeling.

Something he could not explain.

All he had to do was cut through this alley, and he would be closer to where he assumed Aoi was being held.

To cross through here.

So easy. 

So simple.

But-

Something was telling him not to enter.

Maybe what one would call a sixth sense or gut feeling?

He could feel a cold breeze emanating from the alley.

Without thinking, the teen shuffled his left foot and turned his body away from the alley.

It wasn’t even a single step forward.

“NO….DO NOT RUN”

The teen froze.

Something called out to him—something in the deep subconscious of his mind.

A distorted female voice with the sound between a growl and a roar.

“DON’T RUN!!”

Haruko gulped.

“DO NOT TURN AWAY.”

Haruko's blue eyes turned back to the alleyway.

“REMOVE ALL DOUBT…..”

Haruko turned and walked towards the alley.

He was getting much closer now.

He closed his eyes as he stood there. 

“AND FACE EVERYTHING HEAD ON.”

With a deep exhale, his eyes shot open as he then ran into the alley.

Dread.

It was quiet.
Beyond the sound of his footsteps, everything was quiet.

Haruko Matsumoto was running through an alleyway between buildings.

Something was telling him that he should not go down this route any further, but-

Something was in the back of his mind, something that he could not explain, but he knew that beyond this feeling of dread was what he was after.

Aoi.

This is what it was all for—to get her and his necklace back.

Running, he turned a left corner, picking up speed.

His mind was focused on one thing, and-

“Pl…..e…ase”

-There would be nothing to make him deviate now.

“H….elp….. me”

A weak voice called out.

Something he could not ignore, peeking through his bangs

Shoes skidded across the floor as they came to a complete stop at the sound of a male voice calling out to him for help.

Throughout this quiet place, something was here.

Near him

Close.

His left foot felt heavy as he slid it across the ground and slowly turned around, his light blue eyes peeking through his bangs.

Dread.

He stumbled on something he shouldn’t have.

Before him, as he turned to face the situation, his heart was beating.

He swallowed hard as he saw the scene before him in its entirety. 

A bleeding, heavy-set man is being pinned down by another man with a knife in his hand.

An elderly man.

Pleading eyes stared at the teen, begging for

“Hey…..what the hell is going on here?”

That is what he wanted to say, if not shout out, but the words felt stuck in his mouth.

Silence.

The old man started to shuffle as he dusted off his left knee, causing the teen to close his fist.

The old man stood up, not taking his eyes off the teen.

In the alleyway, the situation was tense.

Both the teen and the elderly man stared at each other without saying anything.

To be honest, what could be said between an elderly man pinning down another man with a knife in his hand and a teen who stumbled onto this scene by chance?

Nothing.

On the teen's face was a look of slight anger and confusion; on the elderly man's face was a cold, blank stare, as if his face were made out of stone.

Bang!!!!!!!!!!!

A sound.

A black cat ran by a dumpster, knocking over several empty cans on the floor. 
Perhaps he was too tense, but the sudden sound caused him to look away from the elderly man.

It was for a quick second, maybe even less, but it was a blur in the corner of his eye.

The elderly man swiped his right arm upwards diagonally.

Something was thrown.

It was as if everything was moving in slow motion.

Haruko’s pupils dilated.

There was a quick flash as an object moved in the air towards him as a spark of electricity was emitted from the object.

Due to its small size, the teen could not make out what it was, but most of the object reflected off the sunlight in the sky; whatever object it was, it was now completely approaching his head.

The teen raised the heel of his left foot off the ground in an attempt to take a step back.

As the object got closer to his head, a small discharge of lightning came from his forehead.

Still connected to his forehead, the lightning that appeared briefly touched the object on all sides.

A pointy tip.

A sharp edge

A slightly curved spine.

A mental image started to form in his head about the object.

A knife.

Suddenly, Haruko’s arm began to rise, with his fingers approaching the handle.

Tripping over the back of the heel of the shoes, the elderly man watched as the teen fell back onto his butt.

Suddenly, in the silence, there were several coughs coming from the teen.

The teen opened his eyes.

In his visibly shaken hand was a knife.

Slowly, his fingers that were gripping the knife opened, revealing the yellow marking.

“What the hell? I…I caught it.”

Haruko raised his head, staring at the elderly man.

(No…with that speed and accuracy and…)

“Well, that is very peculiar.”

(If I did not catch it, it would have killed me.)

Haruko's thoughts were interrupted as the man began to move, trying to crawl away.

Without a change in demeanor, the elderly man pulled a knife with a red marking on the handle out of his belt.

The elderly man brought the knife down in a way that would make slasher movie villains glee in envy.

Then-

Something caught the corner of his eye.

Something was approaching him.

The elderly man flipped the knife in an upward position out of his hand, gripping the handle of the knife. He swung his right arm, swatting away the incoming object.

Shing!

An object bounced off the knife, twirling in the air.

A knife with a yellow marking on the handle

His knife.

But-

There was a black mass that quickly moved under his eyes.

Haruko Matsumoto.

He slammed his hands onto the ground, then spun around, bringing the heel of his left foot upward.

Seeing this, the elderly man shielded his face with both forearms as he was hit by the teen foot, pushing his body back a few meters.

With his foot hitting the ground, the teen now stood between the heavyset and the elderly man.

There was silence between the teen and the old man as they stared at each other.

“I am only going to ask one question; depending on your answer, I may ask a follow-up.” 

The elderly man lowered his arms to his sides.

“Are you hurt significantly?”

There was silence in the area as neither answered the teen’s question.

His left eyebrow twitched.

Getting annoyed, the teen turned and pointed his right index finger at the man on the floor.

“I AM ASKING YOU A GODDAMN QUESTION.” 

The loud outburst startled the man.

“ARE YOU HURT?”

“No, not too bad.”

Calming down, Haruko turned to face the old man.

“As for the follow-up, can you leave on your own?”

Haruko took his strap bookbag off his left shoulder.

“I won’t tell you what to do; if you can leave, do so; if you stay, then you will only get caught up in what is about to happen.”

The teen tossed his bag aside, letting it hit the ground with a loud thud.

Grunting, the man used the wall to pull himself up and began to hobble away.

Both the teen and the elderly man stared at each other.

Neither moving.

Both are watching each other.

(This person doesn’t appear to be a magus, but he was able to slip through—he isn’t normal.)

“You know it's odd, really.”

Haruko's voice interrupted his thoughts.

“I do not follow.”

“With the way you attempted to injure or kill that man, I thought you would have made a better effort to go after him, but you let him leave.”

"Whether it is him or someone else, it does not matter.”

That statement irked the teen.

“So, you're just someone who goes around targeting people for the fun of it.”

“No, there is nothing fun about what I do.”

“Then why?”

The old man started at the teen.

“Because regardless of what anyone's feelings are, it must be done. Everything that I do is not without purpose, even if one cannot understand it. It is the most logical conclusion of all things.”

“And what is that?”

“To end”

Haruko smirked.

“Well, aren’t you the happy philosopher.”

"Perhaps, after all, it makes my job easier when people offer themselves to the greater cause.”

Haruko stared at the knife in the elderly man's right hand.

(This guy….)

(This person…)

(If I’m going to do this, that knife is not going to be the only problem; despite his age and appearance, his reflexes are nothing to scoff at….)

(He packs much more strength and speed than one is expecting, given his stature, but it is not magic or magic-enchantment; there are no changes or lingering effects on his body that I can sense….)

(I wasn’t planning on doing much with the knife from earlier beyond trying to create a diversion, but he was able to not only swat it away but block my kick as well, so he probably has some hand-to-hand experience…)

(Regardless of his status, he was able to cancel out the lightning magic from my knife with no chant and perhaps no magic either, and was able to use my blind spot against me to get a hit on me…)

(Taking all that into account, I can’t take this old man lightly.)

(He probably has some skill, which means I should not underestimate him.)

Without warning, Haruko ran towards the elderly man, causing him to narrow his eyes.

With his left hand, he pulled another knife from his belt.

“Palmya” (Russian transl. Flame)

The knives he was holding in his arms that were stretched outward in his arms began to burst in a small flame.

Haruko's eyes widen as he sees the flames.

“What the…..”

He did not have time to process as the elderly man swung his arm forward in front of him. There was a light ‘ting’ as both knives hit each other.

"Adskiy vikhr'" (Russian transl. Hellish Whirlwind)

Suddenly, a huge whirling vortex of bright orange flames emitted from the two knives converged on the teen with ferocity that sounded like a roar.

Haruko stopped in his tracks.

Flames and embers filled the air around the teen.

The heat was intense as it began to melt garbage and paint on the walls.

To anyone else, this may have been a lot to take in.

Overwhelming fire on all sides

The intense heat.

The rapid loss of breathable air.

But not Haruko Matsumoto—not anymore.

With a look of focus on his face, small sparks of lightning were emitted from his pupils.

(Focus.)

Even now, with the scorching chaos that surrounds him, he needed to focus.

(Control)

Sparks of lightning traveled across his fingers.

He could feel the heat on his skin.

Gritting his teeth, Haruko let out a yell as he swiped his right arm across left to right, leaving a faint trail of lightning that was emitted from his fingers.

BOOM!

The lightning that came from the teen collided with the flames around him and blew away the flames as if they were confetti with a soft shockwave.

Just as quickly as the flames appeared, it was even quicker when the flames disappeared.

The elderly man lowered his left forearm from his face as his eyes began to focus.

There.

In the center of the scorched walls, burnt dumpsters and floating pieces of garbage.

There.

In the center of all that stood a teen, unfazed, with his right arm out to his right.

The elderly man looked down at his two knives in his hands.

Scorched.

Chipped.

Burnt.

The metal of the knives, while still glowing a bright orange because of the heat, was now cracked and falling apart. 

(This person and that ability….)

Deciding that the weapons were of no use to him, he let the weapons drop from his hands onto the floor.

Seeing that the elderly man was reaching for his belt behind his waist, he decided to close the distance between the two and make a mad dash toward the man.

“Palmya” 

As he pulled out another knife, it ignited into flames.

He dragged the knife from right to left, and as he did so, a bright orange line appeared in the air that was emitted from the tip.

"Adskiy ognennyy shar" (Russian transl. Hell's Fire Ball)

Suddenly, a fireball shot itself from the line straight towards the teen.

The ball of fire was no larger than a basketball, so the teen leaped to his right, letting the ball pass him and bursting into flames as it hit the ground.

Not taking his eyes off the old man, Haruko continued his dash toward him.

"Adskiye Tsepeshi" (Russian transl. Hellish Impalers)

Three spears of fire emerged from the burning line in the air and blitzed towards Haruko.

Lightning engulfed his right arm as he thrust it forward, hitting the first spear. With the second spear, he quickly ducked under it and grabbed it with his right hand.

Haruko used the moment of the spear to spin around in a clockwise motion and leaped into the air with lightning trailing his feet to throw the flame spear back at the old man.

Seeing this, the old man brought the flaming knife up in the air before bringing it down and slashing across the burning horizontal line with a vertical slash.

"Pylayushchaya Adskaya Stena" (Russian transl. Burning Hell Wall)

Suddenly, a wall of fire began to appear.

Booooom!!!!

Fire and smoke shot up into the air.

(I can’t overpower him with my magic, and whatever ability he possesses is more versatile than my own.)

The old man tossed away the knife in his hand.

(If that is the case….)

Small sparks of lightning appeared on the wall of fire, causing cracks to appear.

BOOF!!!

The wall of fire broke apart, leaving the scattering embers to disappear in the air.

The elderly man's eyes glanced upward.

Up in the air, a few inches above him, was Haruko Matsumoto.

Haruko swung his right arm down.

The elderly man quickly backstepped to dodge his attack.

Haruko's eyes glanced up at the man.

Once again, Haruko ran towards the man. As he got closer, he swung his right arm.

The old man swatted the arm away with his right hand, causing Haruko to swing with his left.

Just like before, he used his right hand to swat away the incoming arm in one swift motion.

He then hit the left side of the teen’s face with his left-back fist, causing the teen to flinch back.

Haruko swung his right arm to throw another punch, but was blocked and caught by the elderly man’s left hand.

Pulling the teen’s hand away, the old man backhanded the teen’s midsection with his left hand. Using the same arm, he raised his forearm to push the teen's right hand into the air.

With the teen’s right side now defenseless, the elderly man punched Haruko in the right side of his midsection with his left hand and then raised his left leg to hit the same location with his knee.

Haruko stumbled over a few steps, holding his midsection, as he felt that he was about to vomit.

Coughing hard and gathering himself, Haruko stared at the man with blood pouring out of the corner of his mouth.

His eyes focused as the elderly walked closer to him, still with a cold, blank stare.

Haruko swung his left arm to throw a punch, which caused the old man to duck under and spin counterclockwise, raising his right elbow to strike the teen in his midsection, knocking the teen away.

Haruko walked back and fell forward onto his knees.

Through his wheezing, he could hear the footsteps of the elderly man, who quickly approached him.

The teen raised his left forearm to block a kick from the elderly man. Raising his right arm, he brought his elbow down upon the man's knee, causing him to stumble back.

Creating some distance between the two, Haruko rolled forward, popping up to his feet.

The elderly man threw a quick jab with his right hand to Haruko's midsection but was swatted down by the teen’s left hand.

Haruko lifted his right foot to kick the man in the gut, pinning him against the wall.

The old man grabbed the teen’s ankle with both hands and used his left foot to swipe the teen's left foot, kicking it in the air.

Haruko twisted his body right and kicked the man in the side of his face with his left foot.

Grunting, the elderly man stumbled back a few steps.

Haruko swiped his right foot at the elderly man's feet, causing the old man to raise his right foot.

The teen quickly spun around counterclockwise, bringing his elbow down. The old man blocked the strike with both of his forearms.

The teen narrowed his eyes.

Haruko wrapped both of the elderly man's forearms under his arm, pinning them both against his waist, leaving the man’s face defenseless.

With his right hand, Haruko punched the man in the face, right in his nose.

With his head knocked back, the old man raised his right leg to place his knee between the two. Pulling his forearms apart, the old man freed himself from the teen’s grasp.

The old man threw a quick jab with his right hand, causing Haruko to move his head left. He threw another jab, this time with his left, causing the teen to move his head right.

Both men threw a right punch that missed due to both men moving their heads left.

With his arm still outstretched, the old man gripped the teen’s right shoulder, squeezing it with his right hand.

Wincing, Haruko grabbed the collar of his sweater with his right hand and placed his right foot behind the elderly man's left foot.

Using all his weight and strength, Haruko spun the man around, letting his back hit the brick wall.

Holding on to the sweater with his right hand to keep him in place, Haruko swung his arm around to throw a punch with his left.

The elderly man raised his right forearm to block the teen’s punch.

Using his left hand, the old man swiped underneath at the teen’s right hand, releasing his hold on his sweater.

With his right fist, he punched the teen in the face.

Haruko then raised his left knee to strike, causing the old man to crouch over and block the hit.

He then extended his leg outward, striking the old man in the face.

Grunting, the old man threw a punch with his left hand, which the teen ducked under.

Haruko threw a punch at the side of the man's midsection. He was then knocked upwards as he used his forearms to block a knee strike.

Haruko swung his right arm, which was blocked when he grabbed the teen’s arm with both arms.

The teen then kneed the old man in the side of his midsection.

Releasing his right hand from the teens, the old man swung his arm, striking the side of the teen’s head.

Haruko took a step back.

The old man raised his right knee, aiming for the teen’s midsection. Realizing this, the teen did the same with his right knee.

As both knees collided with each other, the teen put his weight on the elevated knee, bringing both down to the ground.

The teen struck the man on the right side of his face with the back of his right hand.

The man swung his left arm, which was blocked and pushed away by the teen's left hand. 

The teen then swung his left hand from right to left, striking the man's left jaw.

The old man swung his right arm, causing the teen to take a step forward and duck under the incoming punch.

As the punch missed his head, the teen raised his right arm, letting the old man's arm hook his arm.

Raising his body, the teen punched the man with his left fist.

The attack caused the man to spin around with blood pouring out of his mouth. Using the same momentum, he raised his left arm in an attempt to hit the teen with his elbow.

The teen blocked the elbow with his left forearm and then punched the man in the face with his right fist.

The man turned around clockwise and swiped his right arm across. The teen dove under the swipe and raised his right arm, letting the man pass his head with his arm hooking the old man’s.

Catching the old man’s right arm with his own, Haruko punched the man in the midsection with his left hand.

Grunting, the man unhooked his right arm and leaped forward to strike the teen in the chest, pushing the teen back.

The old man rushed towards the teen and swung his right arm.

The teen raised his right foot to swat away the elderly hand, and with his foot still in the air, he kicked the middle of his chest.

The old man raised his left leg to kick the teen, and the teen raised his right leg to block the strike. The teen then stomped the right knee of the man, knocking him down to one knee.

With both hands, the teen grabbed the sides of the elderly man’s head. He then lifted his left knee, striking the old man in the face.

Blood poured from his nose as the teen pulled his knee away from the man’s face.

The man placed his forearms in front of his face to block the strike on the teen’s right knee.

Grunting, the old man swiped his hands upward, breaking the teen’s hold on his head. Rising up to his feet, he pulled his left arm back and extended his hand out in an attempt to punch the teen.

Catching the man punching with his left hand, the teen bought his right elbow down on the man's shoulder. He later chopped the man on the right side of his neck. Still holding on to the man's right wrist, the teen lifted it up to kick the right side of his midsection.

As the man bent over, the teen grabbed a fist full of his hair on the left side of his head and slammed the right side of his head against the wall.

With his head bouncing off the wall, the man stumbled a few steps back with his hands raised.

He threw a quick jab with his right hand and swatted it away with his right hand. Then he leaped forward, striking the man with his knee.

The man swung his right arm, which the teen ducked under and moved behind the man’s back. The old man turned around and kicked out his leg, causing the teen to sidestep to his left.

The teen raised his right foot to kick the man in the right side of his face, then thrusted both of his fists into the man's chest.

As the man stumbled back, the teen grabbed the man's tie with his right hand, yanking him closer, and backhanded the old man with his left hand, hitting the right side of his face.

The teen then kicked the man in the chest with his right foot, pushing him away.

Heavy breathing could be heard from the elderly man in the alleyway as the teen walked closer.

Slowly, the old man raised his head.

Bruised and bloody.

The old man raised his hands in a boxing stance.

Without missing a beat, the elderly man threw a quick jab with his left hand, which was swatted away by the right hand. The old man swung his right arm toward him, which caused the teen to turn counterclockwise. 

Halfway around, the teen bent forward and raised the back of his left leg into the air over the man's left shoulder, striking the man in the face.

“Gahh!!” A sound was blurted from the man's mouth as he spun around with blood flying out of his mouth.

The man stumbled forward before falling to his hands and knees, spitting out blood on the floor.

The teen got closer to the old man as he moved up to one knee, fidgeting with his ankle and pulling the three knives that were attached to his leg.

"Moroz" (Russian Transl. Frost)

Without warning, the old man turned around clockwise, startling the teen.

There was a scraping sound that sounded like metal being dragged on the floor as the man swung his right arm.

Scraping on the floor was the tips of several knives held between his fingers.

The man raised the knives into the air, pointing them at the teen.

"Napadeniye tysyachi zamorozhennykh nozhey" (Russian transl. Attack of a Thousand Frozen Knives)

Suddenly, from the ground, a giant barrage of icicles converges on the teen.

With nowhere to go, the teen took a weak step forward with his left foot and swung his right arm with his fingers spread out.

Lightning traveled across his fingers and palm.

He swung his hand in front of his body and tensed up, bracing for impact.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

In the alleyway, lightning and ice collided, creating a shock wave.

Grunting, the teen took a step forward as lightning covered his right arm.

(Damnit, there is no end to this.)

The teen winced as small shards of broken ice hit his face.

The ice seemed endless.

“Tch”

Shunk!!

Suddenly, the teen feels a sharp burning sensation on the right side of his midsection.

Looking down, the teen's eyes widen as he sees a sharp icicle slip outside the reach of his lightning-covered arm, grazing his midsection.

The lightning on his arm started to fizzle out due to the lapse of concentration.

Jumping back, Haruko held his arm with his index and middle fingers pointed towards the approaching icicles.

A small blast of lightning.

That would be enough to destroy all this ice.

The teen began to focus, causing lightning to emit from those fingers.

(Just one attack…just focus.)

Without warning, the wall of icicles exploded.

(What the…)

"Bozhestvennoye ledyanoye nakazaniye" (Russian transl. Divine Ice Punishment)

Out of the smoke, a giant fist made of ice quickly approached the teen.

With no chance to fire off his lightning blast, the teen shielded himself by placing his forearm in front of himself, covering them in lightning.

BOOOOOM!!

With the force of a wrecking ball, the fist punched him, slamming him and itself into the wall behind him.

The teen’s body broke through the brick wall, violently bouncing off the floor several times before coming to a complete stop.

There was silence as the teen laid face first on the ground, not moving.

Dust and smoke filled the empty building, whose light came from the glass windows near the ceiling and several holes in the roof.

There was silence.

Groaning, the teen's left index finger twitched.

Deciding that the floor was too cold for his face, Haruko used his right arm to push him up to his hands and knees.

His coughing echoed throughout the empty building.

Blood from his mouth dripped on the floor, and his face winced as he moved his left hand to the side of his midsection.

Touching it, he could feel blood seeping past his fingers.

(Damnit, that guy was more than I thought.)

Haruko grunted as he placed two fingers on the wound, trying to get a feel for how severe it was.

(Between his magic and his hand to hand, I can’t tell which is his worst to take head on.)

The teen did not have any more time to ponder those thoughts as the giant fist that was firmly planted to the wall outside the abandoned building began to crack.

(Shit)

Grunting, the teen hobbled to his feet.

With a glass-breaking sound, the giant fist broke apart, releasing vapor into the area.

There were several loud sounds as thick pieces of ice fell to the floor.

Through those sounds, Haruko heard footsteps approaching.
Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Each step is repeated with no hesitation.

The old man was coming.

(Crap, I got to figure out something.)

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Walking through the smoke was Anatoli Azarov with an expressionless face.

The mage killer.

Right now, his face has some mild bruising and discoloration. Blood poured from his nose and mouth, staining his shirt and sweater with blood drops.

He stopped walking.

Everything was quiet as he stood there.

Just him.

No one else.

His eyes began to scan the empty warehouse.

Right now, there is no sign of the teen anywhere. 

Looking down, he spotted a small puddle of blood. 

Examining closely, he noticed a trail of blood drops. His eyes followed the path of blood drops that led to two broken doors to his left.

“How troublesome”