—–
Izumi's face released a mischievous smile.
"To be caught so fast… I'm a disappointment… Now I will have to discard this host and myself as well… Hopefully, the others can achieve Master's goals" She said.
"Master goals…? W-Wait… dispose of?! Izumi!"
Flash!
Suddenly, the red slime tentacle created a giant Fire Attribute Magic Circle, Mihara saw as the flames surged as if connecting the magic circle with hell itself.
"(It's planning to kill itself alongside Izumi, to not even leave a trace behind…! Such strong willpower, what monster is this?!)" thought Mihara, as he activated several of his Poems, enhancing his entire body and surging with incredible strength, reaching Izumi before the flames enveloped her and turned her into ashes.
"Cooling winds of the Winter, unfold your cold touch in my domain!" Recited Mihara as countless of Icy Winds appeared seemingly out of nowhere, enveloping Izumi in time before she was enveloped in flames.
���Tch!" Said Izumi, as the Red Slime activated several Magic Circles, releasing weapon-shaped projectiles of the size of a house cat, each one containing a different element.
"Such advanced magic!" said Mihara, as he recited several other poems as if he had countless mouths, and called upon the power of his words. Several letters of the size of a house appeared, successfully blocking the magic projectiles, as he quickly moved with the speed of the wind itself towards Izumi.
"I need to seal her before she kills herself…! Izumi, I'm sorry, but I am not letting you die either!" He said, as he conjured upon the power of his letters, several scriptures appeared beneath Izumi as she was surprised, trying to move away, however, she was confined in an even tighter space made out of light letters.
"W-What is…?!"
"Demon Seal!" yelled Mihara, activating the last command for his sealing ability.
Countless of chains made out of Japanese letters appeared from the confined space that trapped Izumi and filled her body with them, canceling her magic and strength, then, several papers flew towards her as they tightly stuck to her body.
However, before Mihara could even calm down, Izumi's voice could still be heard, laughter, mocking him.
It was impossible for someone sealed in Mihara's [Demon Seal] to even speak. This seal was a combination of several different spells, and it even contained Anti-Magic so it couldn't let the trapped individual use any type of magic spell or ability.
However, it was useless.
"Fufufu…! See ya soon, Mihara sama~"
Izumi's body was then engulfed in flames, non-magical flames created by the Skill [Pyrokinesis].
"IZUUMIII!!!"
Izumi's body was quickly cremated by the flames, and because of the Demon Seal put on her, Mihara was not able to appease the flames, as they were inside of the space, and his Cooling Winter Winds couldn't enter the space. Unsealing his own Seal was even harder, and it would take minutes. Nonetheless, Mihara tried his best and used all of his capabilities to unseal Izumi, but when he finally managed to, she was already a pile of ashes.
Mihara glanced at Izumi, her former kouhai, with a bewildered look. His eyes were lost, cold sweat filled his neck and back, and his breathing was intense. His beloved student died right in front of his very eyes, even after using all of his abilities, he couldn't do anything.
"Izumi… Gods, what have I done…?"
—–
After the incident that involved Mihara and Izumi, the entire population of Azuma got to know the news.
Izumi Yuko, the youngest Heroine in the Azuma Empire was taken by a strange parasitic monster, and after a fight against Mihara Hideaki, the monster was cornered and forced to kill itself to not leave any trails behind, Izumi body was also turned into ashes.
The death of such a cheerful and charismatic young girl, who had brought various technological advancements to the Azuma Empire was a hard hit for the Empress.
In the underground of the Azuma Empire Royal Castle, a secret meeting consisting of the three remaining Heroes in Azuma, Mihara Hideaki, Sakura Miwa, and Yoshinaga Hiroshi, alongside the Azuma Empress Sugita Masami and the Emperor Kimura Yoishi was currently happening.
Mihara Hideaki's expression was stiff, his eyes were lifeless and his face was so tired and saddened, that he seemed to have aged several years. Sakura Miwa was also sad and her eyes were watery, but she stood at Mihara's side, hugging him.
Yoshinaga Hiroshi, the [Hero of One Hundred Slices] and the Emperor and Empress, were the most composed in the meeting.
Mihara began to cry, hopelessly.
"It was my fault… it was all my fault… I should have told everyone about what [People's Journal] was alerting me off before anything else… I was too careless, too harsh, and too stupid… I don't deserve my position as Hero anymore… I am a failure as a person…" He said while releasing tears of grievance. Although he was a man, Mihara cried without stopping, he was a man of emotions, unlike Yoshinaga, who grew in the battlefield, accustomed to the causalities of his comrades.
"Mihara, get yourself together!" Said Yoshinaga.
"Yoshinaga sama, don't be so senseless with Mihara!" Retorted Sakura Miwa, the [Heroine of Sakura Storms].
"No, it's fine… I am… being pathetic once again… Yoshinaga, I apologize" Said Mihara, as he cleaned his tears with a small handkerchief.
"I know how you feel, Mihara… I've gone through such things too many times when I was younger… The pain of a comrade, a beloved friend, parting away… To never see them ever again, to never talk to them, to never eat alongside them, to never laugh with them… I know that feeling very well… Yet, we are not in the positions to grieve for them now, we must stay firm, you are one of the Heroes that hold the most influence in the entire Azuma Empire, your composure is essential. What would the people say if they saw their Hero crying in agony and despair? Wouldn't they feel hopeless as well?" Added Yoshinaga, with a serious expression on his old and sturdy face.
"Yoshinaga san is right, Mihara. I also feel incredibly sad, if I could, I would be crying in my bed without leaving it for a whole week… Izumi chan was truly a wonderful young woman, her loss is as if a piece of my heart was mercilessly taken away with a rusted knife, the pain is too much…" Said the Azuma Empress, Sugita Masami, while hugging her husband's arm.
Kimura Yoishi caressed the Empress bright red hair with his hands, as he comforted everyone.
"We must stay strong and persevere, whatever that being was, we must investigate and find the culprit behind this at all cost… We can't let this slip away, we will use everything in our power to do so" He said, with a firm tone, that of a man who could lead a whole nation.
"Indeed, Kimura sama," said Yoshinaga, nodding in agreement.
Mihara and Sakura also nodded, and composed themselves, moving away from their grieve and concentrating on the tasks given.
Kimura then called some servants as they brought several pieces of paper, maps, people's profiles and even a small, Red Slime inside a jar reinforced with powerful magic, the Red Slime was incredibly tiny and seemed dead, but it was still releasing signals of life.
"T-That thing…!" Said Mihara, as he was surprised by the strange creature inside the jar, which resembled the one that once took Izumi's life.
"Indeed… It is one of them… There are several more… Thousands… these beings have been spread through the Empire out of nowhere. Like a disease, they appeared and spread without stopping" Said Kimura.
"Mihara san, you are one of the few that can detect if a person is being taken by these beings… This is why we need your complete cooperation; we must create a Magical Device that can use your [People's Journal] so we can all easily detect parasite citizens and deal with them fast before they spread" Said the Empress.
Mihara's lifeless eyes were filled with a spark of hope, if he could find the culprit behind this with his abilities, he would feel as if he had avenged Izumi.
"There isn't any need to ask me, I will do it. I will dedicate myself to this" He said, with a firm and determined voice.
Sakura was surprised by the sudden change in Mihara, and admired the man even more, even after suffering so much, he still held love and hope for his people, and wanted to use his powers to secure their safety.
"In the persecution of Mihara with Izumi, she managed to brainwash several people to attack him, however, thanks to his abilities, Mihara san managed to evade the people. After such incidents, the people wondered around attacking other people, as if they were zombies… they didn't eat their flesh or anything but were very aggressive, this behavior slowly disappeared after some hours, so we can confirm that it wasn't a permanent thing, neither a parasite inside of them" Analyzed Kimura, while browsing through the countless documents.
"Kimura sama… Have there been more cases like… Izumi…?" Said Sakura, pained by having to say the name of her deceased childhood friend.
Kimura remained silent for a moment, as he took another carpet filled with documents and browsed through the papers.
"Yes… There have been several cases… of people with detection abilities finding others… "strange", as if they had "something off". All of the people who were suspected to have been taken by a parasite had been caught successfully, their parasites didn't seem to be as strong as Izumi's, and could only cast low-level magic and small offensive monster Skills… We managed to capture them and seal off their abilities, so they couldn't kill themselves" Said Kimura.
"Those people… what is it of them?" Asked Mihara.
"They are being currently analyzed, the Parasite inside of their bodies seem to have completely assimilated itself with their host's brains, bones, and muscles as if they were a piece of their own flesh, its impossible to remove them without causing severe, permanent damage to the ones affected…" Answered Kimura.
"Gods…" (Sakura)
"Then… We can't do any-" (Mihara)
Stopping Mihara words, Yoshinaga said; "We can"
"What? How? Is there a cure?" Asked Sakura.
"Yes, death," Said Yoshinaga, with a stiffened expression, he was serious about what he said.
"D-Death…"
"It can't be… Is there really, no other alternative… other than to kill our people?" Asked Mihara, about to lose his composure.
"Yoshinaga san is right, but there is also another alternative. We can tame the parasites, and the people will become our citizens again… partially… If we use enslavement abilities or artifacts. However, when enslaved, the parasite loses its memories and cannot talk, acting just like a wild Slime Monster, the same happens for the citizens, their personalities would regress into animals or monsters" Said the Empress, trying to comfort Mihara.
"What? But they aren't monsters… It is… How can we just enslave our people?" Said Sakura, seemingly bewildered.
"Calm down, Sakura," said Yoshinaga.
"There is also an investigation currently going on. We have discovered that the Parasites are a strange type of Undead Slime, its name, according to the system are "Living Flesh and Slime of the Vampire Overlord of Lust"… If this is true, they can be destroyed with a Holy Water Potion, without having to permanently damage the host. However, our normal Holy Water does not work, these beings have Holy Attribute Resistance, we must aim for a higher Potion, and without Izumi help, it will take a lot of time for our alchemist to achieve this" Said Kimura.
"Vampire…?"
"Overlord of Lust…"
"A Realm Menace… I can't be…"
The three Heroes of Azuma didn't know about the existence of Kireina, the Realm Menace of Lust up until now, as the Empress and the Emperor had made their pact with her a secret to the entire population, Heroes included.
The Heroes pondered the information, Mihara thought that a Realm Menace that was a Vampire may have been born in Thanatos Empire.
However, the Empress and the Emperor knew that this wasn't related to the Thanatos Kingdom at all. And had to confess what happened some weeks ago.
"But Empress…! How could you trust a Demon?!" Yelled Yoshinaga, bewildered by the Empress decisions.
"Yoshinaga, it wasn't the Empress fault, but mine. Please, don't blame her, but blame me" Said Kimura.
"We were cornered… The Demon threatened us, if we didn't accept the contract, the entire Azuma Empire may have been devoured by her army of monsters and undead by now… It was the only thing we could do…" Said the Empress.
"What… Then what do we even do?" Asked Mihara, completely lost.
"It's obvious, we find a cure for the parasites, we make artifacts to detect them with Mihara san abilities, and then… we confront the Demon. We must prioritize things. Also, the demon itself is supporting us with supplies and soldiers, these soldiers seem unaware of what is currently going on and the supplies are also free of parasites. Conveniently, we lay low and we assess our problems for now, while it is unaware that we intend to confront it, if we can leak this info to other Kingdoms and even the Thanatos Kingdom, it can end up making the Thanatos Kingdom an ally… But for that, a lot of negotiations must be unfolded" Said Kimura, as composed as ever.
"Kimura… I… I understand. You are right, we must prioritize things, lay low, and grow our strength while gathering allies and absorb the demon's help for ourselves…" Analyzed Mihara, gaining his composure.
"And we must also use her disposable soldiers wisely, waste them away in the skirmishes, so she cannot have a high number of followers inside of our domain" Added Yoshinaga.
"That's… true… For now, I will cooperate in whatever it is needed… We must stay strong and lay low, make the demon think that we are his loyal dogs… and then…" Said Sakura.
"I'm glad you understand… Heroes are those who are willing to set aside their pride, for the safety of their people… You are worthy of having such titles" Said the Empress, relieved that her Heroes didn't blame her for everything.
And like this, the Heroes and the Empress and Emperor worked together, analyzed the Slimes and created artifacts and potions, lying down and waiting for a moment to strike. The information about the Demon of Lust was slowly spreading through the smaller vassal nations of Azuma, and also its allied Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Elves and the Kingdom of Dwarves.
Meanwhile, back in the Dark Moon Empire, Kireina recited an incantation as the soul of a young girl appeared before her. It was Izumi, the [Heroine of Alchemy].
"Redgaria's rituals are really useful… What a pity that you had to die, but your soul seems rather intact, and thanks to the connection that my parasite did with [Soul Parasite], I was able to call you to my side with the Soul Calling Ritual… What a relief, anyway, are you interested in a new body?"
Izumi's soul was waving around, her memories were completely intact, so she was asking herself where she was, but something in Kireina's appearance attracted her to her, and made her see the Vampire Fairy as an ally.
As she nodded, Kireina began to prepare a new body for Izumi.
—–
