Chapter 25 - The Silencer

“You... Nezumi-sama.. Stay behind me..” Yuki pulled Mayu behind her immediately.

“Hey, calm down.. I’m not here to fight. I’m only here to talk..” Kumi smiled.

“We have nothing to talk to you about. You guys hurt our friend.” Mayu stated.

“Our friend got badly hurt as well. So count that as even.”

“What do you want from us?” Yuki asked loudly.

“As I said, I only wanted to talk.”

“Sorry but we’re not interested in talking with a demon.. What more to a General. Leave now or I will make you leave by force.” Yuki warned.

“Oh, will you now?” Kumi’s tone sounded like a direct challenge.

Mayu who was hiding behind Yuki pulled her shirt. “Yuki? I don’t have a good feeling about this.. Let’s just go home..”

“Don’t worry about this, Nezumi-sama.. I’ll handle this. Evacuate everyone from this supermarket, and stay outside...” Yuki pushed Mayu to the side.

“Will you be alright?” Mayu was worried.

“Just go.. Now...” Yuki said seriously.

“I’ll be waiting for you outside.. Please be safe..” Mayu went and evacuate the whole supermarket.

“I see you’re persistent in wanting to fight me..” Kumi sighed.

“As long as you demons roam around, the world will never be at peace.”

“You hunters started killing our kind first!” Kumi seemed angered.

“It’s because they were harming and killing innocent people! We can’t just sit by and watch!”

“That’s the reason why we tried to make you hunters sign a truce! The truce was so that we do not harm humans and you hunters lay your hands off demons!”

“We will not sign any truce with demons! We simply do not trust you guys.”

“Such stubborn creatures, vampires.... So, are you still insisting on fighting me?” Kumi asked one last time.

“You bet I am!” Yuki got into her battle pose.

“Very well then...” Kumi slid both her hands into her pocket.

“What are you doing keeping your hands for?” Yuki seemed confused.

“I do not even need to use my hands to battle the likes of you..”

Feeling offended, Yuki leaped towards Kumi to land a punch but was dodged easily as Kumi swayed to the side and delivered a knee kick. Upon noticing, Yuki deflected Kumi’s knee away and hopped backwards.

“Not bad.. You have quick reactions. As expected of a vampire..” Kumi smirked.

“I’m not just any vampire..” Yuki engulfed her arms with a purple aura. “I’m from the strongest vampire bloodline.. The Dracula bloodline..”

“I see.. A descendant of Count Dracula... You know, we once tried to invite Count Dracula as one of the Demon Generals, but he refused... It’s actually sad that he didn’t want to join.. His powers can be compared to even us..”

“Good thing he didn’t join you guys as demons.. Otherwise, I would be shameful to hold the name of Dracula..” Yuki said.

“At least your ancestor was powerful..” Kumi tilted her head a little. “What about you?”

“Don’t mock me!” Yuki rushed towards Kumi again and delivered a series of high speed punches and kicks. Kumi managed to dodge each and every single one of Yuki’s attacks with her extraordinary senses.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kumi challenged while still dodging the gatling attacks.

“I’m not done yet!” Yuki increased her attack speed even more and finally suppressing Kumi a little. “Why are you only dodging? Attack!” Yuki stated out loud.

Kumi ignored Yuki’s statement and continued dodging her attacks until finally Kumi found an opening to deflect Yuki’s leg away, and land a kick on her face. Upon the kick reaching her face, Yuki somersault backwards, just barely able to dodge the kick.

“Hoo... It really is a pain in the not being able to use my arms against someone like you. It really seemed like I looked down on you a little too much.” Kumi said.

Yuki then stood up straight. “Why don’t you attack?”

“You don’t want me to...” Kumi shook her head.

“Or maybe you’re not that powerful after all.. Even your physical attacks... They seem to be powerless..” Yuki seemed confused.

“You must be naive to think that about Kumi-sama..” Yuria sounded from the top of the shelf.

“Kumi-sama’s powers aren’t physical.” Kanon sat beside Yuria.

“Is that so... I’m feeling curious already.. I want to see it... This power of yours..” Yuki cracked her neck.

“You will regret it if I show it to you..” Kumi slid her hands out of her pocket. This was never really noticed by many people except for the demons, but Kumi was always wearing a pair of leather gloves. Even when she’s sleeping.

“Try me..” Yuki challenged once again.

“Then make me worth using my powers..” Kumi cracked her fingers.

“If I’m able to hurt you once, you’ll activate your powers.” Yuki suggested.

“Deal. Now come at me.” Kumi got into her battle pose.

Yui lunged herself forward to deliver a punch, but her arm was caught by Kumi. She then tried to toss Yuki over but to no avail as Yuki resisted against it. Kumi quickly spinned her body around, causing Yuki to lose her balance a little.

“Crap.. I let my guard down..” Kumi immediately deliver a punch on Yuki’s face.

“Huh? That punch was completely powerless..” Yuki frowned. Without hesitation, Yuki took this opportunity to land a high speed kick right at Kumi’s stomach that sent her crashing into a shelf.

“As expected... I can never do physical damages at all...” Kumi stood up again and dusted her back.

“It seemed like you didn’t try to hit me at all.. That punch of your was completely powerless.. You should have hit me with your bet shot.” Yuki stated.

“That was already my full strength..” Kumi explained.

“You’re lying... You’re one of the Demon General.. That CAN’T be your full strength..” Yuki shook her head.

“You see... You’re not well aware of my special ability.. I have to literally give up 90% of my demon strength to learn and obtain this special ability.. Since I already promised you that I will show my powers after you hit me once.... I will not back out from my words..”

“Activating my powers will further decrease my strength and also defense... But in return...I will be able to make your whole world silent...” Kumi smirked.

“Make my whole world silent? What do you mean?” Yuki was confused.

“Why don’t you test it out yourself... That’s if...you still have your sanity left after this..” Kumi smirked once again.

“Now witness...the power of The Silencer...” Kumi slid both her leather gloves off.

“Oh boy.. This will not end up well..” Yuria shook her head.

“Uh-huh..” Kanon nodded in agreement.

As soon as Kumi slid her gloves off, her eyes turned black immediately as she was surrounded by an evil, black aura. There were some weird markings at the back of her hands.

“What is this disturbing aura... I’ve never felt anything like this before..” Yuki seemed to be in a state of panic.

Kumi then tilted her head and reached her palm out towards Yuki. Suddenly, Yuki started wobbling left to right.

“W-What? What is this feeling I’m having?” Yuki asked herself while still wobbling.

“What’s the matter?” Kumi let out an evil grin. “Can’t balance yourself up?”

“What’s happening to my body? Why can’t I balance myself up?? I’m starting to feel dizzy..” Yuki kept on shaking her head to ease her dizziness and ended up balancing herself on a shelf nearby.

“W-What did you do to my body?” Yuki groaned.

“I silenced your vestibular system.. In other words, you will not be able to balance yourself up anymore..” Kumi smirked.

*The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance.


“Stop screwing with me!” Yuki forced herself up and leaped towards Kumi with an incredible speed.

Kumi managed to dodge to the side and landed a pat on the back of Yuki’s head.

Yuki’s eyes shot wide open and blinked a few times... “W-W-What’s going on now??” Yuki rubbed her eyes again and again while trying to balance herself up. “I-I-I-I....I can’t see...”

“It’s a pain in the , am I right? Not being able to see or balance yourself up...” Kumi stood beside Yuki.

Yuki blinked her eyes again and again, hoping that what is happening now isn’t real. “I...really can’t see anymore...”

“That’s because I silenced your visual system. From now on, you will not be able to see anymore..”

By this time, Yuki was already flat on the ground, trying to stand herself up. “D-D-Dizzy...”

“Tsk tsk tsk... Look at you now... All powerless. You wanted this... I never wanted to..” Before Kumi could finish her statement, Yuki grabbed onto her feet and squeezed tightly, causing Kumi to scream in pain. “I...still can hear you...”

Kumi then kicked Yuki away and scoffed. “Tch- Why don’t you just stay down quietly..”

Right after Kumi finished her statement, Yuki slammed the ground with her arms to propel herself towards the direction of Kumi’s voice and swinged her fist. Kumi merely side-stepped, causing Yuki to mimss her target completely as she smashed onto another shelf.

“I see you have a good sense of hearing.. I’m impressed.. Wouldn’t it be a pain in the ...if you were to become deaf as well?” Kumi walked over to Yuki and tapped her shoulder.

*RING*

All Yuki could hear now is just the ringing sound. “S-Stop it...” Yuki started grabbing her forehead in pain. “Wait... Am I speaking right now? Or am I just thinking this in my head? I can’t hear a thing...but I can still feel my forehead..”

“This battle is over.. After this, I doubt you will be able to keep your sanity anymore..” Kumi flipped Yuki over.

“What’s happening now? I felt my body being flipped over..” Yuki shook her head and started wriggling both her arms and legs at the same time as if she wanted to protect herself from something.

“For I am going to silence your five senses completely. In the next five seconds, you will not be able to tell if you are still existing in this world or not..” Kumi placed a finger on Yuki’s chest area.

As soon as Kumi placed her finger on Yuki’s chest, Yuki started screaming and babbling undecipherable words.

Different kinds of thoughts wondered through Yuki’s head. “What’s going on? I can’t feel anything anymore... I can’t hear... I can’t see... I can’t taste.. I can’t smell... Am I still alive? Do I still have a body? Is this just an illusion? Do I still exist in this world? I can’t handle this... It’s making me......crazy...”

“Silencing all your human senses while leaving your brain intact will definitely make someone literally go insane. That’s because your brain can’t process the fact that all your senses are gone. Therefore, the only thing your brain is picking up is nothing but empty thoughts. That’s because as of now, you have no more body. Just a bodiless mind.” Kumi stood up.

Yuki started foaming at and her whole body started trembling like mad as if she had a seizure. Her eyes were completely rolled backwards, showing only the whites of the eye.

“That’s what you get for challenging a Demon General..” Kumi wore her leather gloves back on. “I doubt you’ll be able to wake up after such a strong impact hit your brain psychologically. Even if you do wake up, you’ll be stuck in an eternal insanity until you eventually commit suicide. Until you discover the flaw in my powers, you will stay like this forever.”

“Yuria. Kanon. Let’s go. We’re done here..” Kumi ordered.

“Hai!” Both of them hopped down from the top of the shelf and followed Kumi.

“Oh yea.. Almost forgot..” Yuria ran towards the banana section and grabbed a few bunches of banana.

“Hey, aren’t we going to pay for these?” Kanon asked.

“There’s basically nobody left here, moron...” Yuria replied in a sarcastic tone.

Kanon looked left and right. The whole place was a mess. And yes. Nobody is left. Kanon just rolled her eyes and followed Kumi out of the supermarket. Kumi seemed to limp a little, gaining both Yuria and Kanon’s attention.

“K-Kumi-sama... Your leg.. It’s bleeding!” Kanon’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of Kumi’s bleeding right foot.

Kanon and Yuria supported Kumi right away. Kumi then took a peek at her own foot. “She broke my ankle..”

“Kumi-sama.. You should be more careful when you activate your powers.” Yuria stated.

“Yea.. You should know you’re extremely vulnerable to physical attacks when you activate your powers..” Kanon agreed.

As they exited the supermarket, everybody started panicking and running around. Mayu stood there with her eyes wide open. “No... It can’t be... Where is Yuki!?” Mayu screamed.

“She’s inside. Try saving her... If you can..” Kumi smirked as Kanon and Yuria brought her away.

Mayu ran into the supermarket immediately. “Yuki! Where are you!? Yuki answer me!!”

Mayu was interrupted by Yuki’s voice, screaming. Mayu immediately ran towards the direction to notice Yuki lying on the floor, still trembling. Mayu held Yuki on her arm. “Yuki, are you alright??? Yuki!! Answer me!! What happened?? Yuki!!” 

“Ahhh!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” The horrified screams were the only sound Yuki was making. Not to mention her eyes were completely white and she kept swinging her hands and legs around. Her saliva dripped from non stop.

“Yuki!! Stop scaring me! Wake up!! Wake up!! Why are you acting like this!?” Mayu started crying.

“AAHHHHHH!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Yuki continued screaming madly.

“No, Yuki... No...” Mayu hugged Yuki tightly in her arms.

“AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Yuki’s screaming doesn’t seem to stop. That’s because her mind isn’t working properly anymore. 

“Let’s get you fixed up, Yuki.. Let’s get you back to the headquarters..” Mayu piggy-backed Yuki and ran outside immediately. She immediately flew off with her maximum speed towards the hospital. They reached the hospital within a minute.

Mayu blasted the hospital entrance door with her kick. “SOMEBODY!!!???? ANYBODY!!?!?!?!?? TAKAMINA!!!!! HELP!!!!!!! HELP ME NOW!” Mayu screamed at the top of her lungs and cried out loud at the same time.

Takamina and Rena came out of the ward to check on the commotion. Takamina ran straight towards Mayu “What happened!??”

“AAHHHH!!!!!!” Yuki still isn’t settling down.

“I don’t know! I don’t know!!!!! Save her!! Please!! Please save her, Takamina!!!! Please!” Mayu cried her lungs out.

“I know, Mayu.. Calm down.. I’ll do my best..” Without hesitation, Takamina rushed Yuki into the emergency room.

“Please save her, Takamina!! Please!!” Mayu grabbed onto Takamina’s shirt tightly.

“Mayu! Hey, Mayu.. Look here..” Rena tilted Mayu’s head up.

Mayu’s voice was blurred off by her cries and sobs. “She was screaming and screaming and screaming... I didn’t know what happened.. I was outside... She told me to go outside... And..and I told her that I had a bad feeling... I told her to go home... But...but...She wanted to fight... I went into the supermarket...She was there... Lying on the ground..screaming......”

Rena immediately pulled Mayu into a tight hug and comforted her. “Now now, Mayu... Everything’s gonna be alright.. Everything’s gonna be alright..”

Mayu sobbed in Rena’s shoulder. “I-I’ve never seen Yuki in this state before... It’s like... It’s like... She has gone insane or something....”

Rena frowned immediately. “Insane?”

Rena suddenly remembered a statement Takamina told her. “An advice for you guys.. Do not fight against that Kumi. She has the powers to make someone literally go crazy.”

“No way...” Rena was shocked.

“Hmm?” Mayu looked at Rena.

“Did Yuki fight with Kumi?” Rena asked softly.

Mayu nodded.

“Damn it..” Rena stomped her foot on the ground in anger.

“I’m so sorry, Rena.. I couldn’t help Yuki at all..” Mayu continued sobbing.

“Don’t worry, Mayu.. It wasn’t your fault.. It’s their fault.” Rena gritted her teeth in anger.

Rena sighed. “For now.. Let’s just pray that Yuki comes back to her sanity.”

“We can’t keep this up, Rena.. If this continues, all our friends and allies will be in danger. We should have signed the truce with them.. Then they wouldn’t hurt us.. Then Yuki wouldn’t...” Mayu broke into tears once again.

“.....” Rena remained silent and tightened the hug once again.

Rena continued. “We have to report to Akane about this matter.”

“Don’t have to. I’m already here.” Akane was seen leaning by a wall with her arms crossed.

“Akane! Right on time... So, what should we do now? The number of hunters are decreasing daily. They attacked Sasshi... Now, Yuki.. God knows who they’ll attack next.” Rena complained.

“As of now, there are still no plans to fight back..” Akane said.

“What? So we’re just going to sit here and do nothing?? After what they did to our friends and allies?” Rena raised her voice.

“I didn’t say we’re going to just sit here and do nothing. But we’re not signing the truce as well. That’s for sure. They want a war, they WILL get a war. I have a plan consisting of three steps. We’ll get Yuki fixed up first. Then we might find out Kumi’s powers. We might be able to use it to our advantage and exploit her weakness. That’s the first step. Second, all of you will undergo an intense training session to boost up all your powers. You’ll much more power than your current state to fight the generals.”

“Intense training? I’ve been through it before, Akane...”

“Trust me, Rena.. This time, the training will be completely different than what you have in mind right now. If you’re not strong enough for the training, you might even die in the middle of it.” Akane said seriously.

Rena swallowed her saliva. “Ok..”

“As for the final step... On the day Jurina will be crowned the Demon King, we’ll invade the Demon General’s castle and stop them.”

“....” Rena stared at Akane blankly.

“I’m quite sure you want explanations from Jurina, am I right?” Akane asked.

“Yes, I do..” Rena nodded.

“Good.. As for now, let’s wait for Yuki’s news. Then, we’ll have a meeting back in the headquarters.”



Chapter 25 - The Silencer
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