Kazusa Kijima’s expression remained neutral as she addressed her lady.

“The rumors have likely been embellished, Lady Kayano.”

“Yes, yes. I am inclined to agree, Kazusa,” Kayano said. “People do tend to embellish stories when they retell them. Still, it’s also true that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And I can’t help but wonder how much of it is real.”

“Annihilating one hundred sixty-four cultists and Demons. Subjugating the Greater Demon Homura. All in one night. An ordinary man. No mana. Punches holes through people with his bare hands…These details are so embellished that the truth would surely be a disappointment. He may be a skilled Exorcist, but these stories are simply beyond belief.”

Any single one of those rumored exploits was an exaggeration. That was the retainer Kazusa’s impression.

But Kayano felt differently. She was strangely fixated on it, even if her rational mind told her it wasn’t a story worth taking seriously.

“The news reports only mention an Exorcist named Ophelia Luxor, who was leading a unit. The name Ikaku Akamuro never came up. I’ve heard he’s dead. It seems no one at the Akai City Police knows what happened to him afterward.”

“Which is why I believe it is little more than a tall tale.”

“But even Kuro the Manslayer was found dead, you know? So many renowned swordsmen have been cut down by his hand. He even killed members of the Tokugawa Clan. That’s why he has always been in the back of my mind. We could never find him, and now, when we finally do, it’s his corpse we discover.”

Kayano felt a sting of resentment, as if her chance for vengeance had been snatched away, mixed with the emptiness of suddenly losing her purpose.

“A street slasher who evaded capture for fourteen years. I’ve seen the bodies he left behind. He was a cowardly swordsman. His blade existed only to satisfy his own ego. I don’t think he was the kind of man who would fight a powerful unit of Exorcists. I just know it.”

“Is it not difficult to explain a madman’s actions with logic?”

“Perhaps… but when I was allowed to see the body, his face was so serene. Why would that cowardly swordsman have such a satisfied look on his face at the moment of his death?”

It didn’t quite fit with the image Kayano had constructed of the swordsman known as Kuro Kemurishima.

And so, she had been imagining different scenarios.

Kuro must have underestimated his opponent and lost. That would normally leave a bitter taste…But what if he realized his opponent was his superior? What if the man had praised his skill? Perhaps that would be enough to make him smile in his final moments…?

She could speculate, but the truth remained shrouded in mystery.

Everything about Ikaku Akamuro was an unknown. Not only had the man himself failed to come forward, but the attitude of the police strongly suggested he was “almost certainly dead,” which only added to Kayano’s disappointment.

Ikaku Akamuro… I would have liked to meet him, just once.

Imagining the man whose face she’d never seen, Kayano once again began to polish her sword.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a back alley of Akai City, a different sort of crowd was gossiping about the so-called “Night of Retribution.”

This was a hangout for delinquents and runaways, a community for kids who lived closer to the shadows than most. As such, their ears were always open for the latest underground buzz.

“A Church Exorcist unit? Whoa, for real? They’re in our city? Gotta let my boy know.”

“You got Demon friends now or something?”

“Yeah, he just joined up last week. Said they give you Demon powers right after you sign up!”

“What? Seriously? Damn, maybe I should join…”

“Idiot. Now’s the worst time, you moron. The Church is pissed and sent in a whole swarm of their Exorcists.”

“A whole swarm? Where’d you hear that?”

“Huh? Uh, well, I didn’t exactly hear it, but… you seen the news, man? The Akai Clan, acting all high and mighty up on their hill? They got wiped out, right?

The ones who did it were a cult called the ‘Hidden Flame.’ And then the Church’s Exorcist unit crushed them. You following? Use your brain.”

“…Hidden Flame? You mean that cult that made a big stir like twenty years ago?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Pops here knows his history.”

“They were that famous? Never heard of ’em.”

“…It was before you kids were born. They were a huge deal back then. Didn’t realize they were still around. Must’ve been a massive group. So they got crushed, huh? Gutsy, taking on the Akai clan, but I guess pissing off the Church gets you wiped out in a heartbeat.”

“The Church is that powerful?”

“Damn right they are. Probably.”

“Alright, what’re you all talking about?”

“The Church Exorcists. If you got any Demon-worshippin’ friends, you better warn ’em.”

“They’re probably the ones being the most careful right now, duh. Anyway, I heard a rumor… wasn’t it just one guy who did it all?”

“How should I know? Where’d you hear that?”

“Forgot. Someone was saying it. Can’t remember the name, though. Hmmm.”

“Wait, I think I heard that. Some dude in the drunk tank said he overheard the cops talking. Wasn’t it… Ikaku Akamuro or something?”

“Oh! Yeah, that’s it! Ikaku Akamuro! They said he went on a killing spree all by himself.”

“By himself? He took down that whole cult alone?”

“Seems like it. Don’t know for sure, though.”

“Didn’t they say it was over one hundred and sixty people? What kind of monster is that? He’s the real Demon here.”

“Hahaha, yeah, no kidding!”

“If that’s true, he ain’t human.”

“If a monster like that is around, it’s over for every Demon in this city.”

“Go warn your friend. Tell him the one person he can’t ever cross is Ikaku Akamuro.”

“Hahahahaha! Now that’s a good one!”

The Exorcist who destroyed Hidden Flame in a single night. The story was so outlandish, so detached from reality, that it became a running joke among their clique.

For the next few days, it was whispered about in their slightly-less-than-reputable community, more as a piece of dark humor than anything else.

“Never cross Ikaku Akamuro.”

Before long, those words took on a life of their own, drifting from that little underground community into the true, deeper darkness of the underworld.

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