The moment the magic circle was pulled upwards like someone from the sky just grabbed it, the magic circle disappeared and revealed a dark haired man wearing some sort of traditional kimono.
On his waist is a Katana and with just a single look from Kenshin, his blacksmith and enchanting abilities immediately went haywire.
"Hmm? Didn't expect you'd actually use the contract Seguro, what's the matter?" The man turned to the Oyabun, now known as Seguro and asked confusedly.
The samurai looking devil didn't even notice Kenshin's presence.
"Devil! It's him! Kill him!" Glad and relieved, Seguro quickly pointed at Kenshin and ordered.
As soon as the devil traced at where Seguro was pointing at, he finally noticed Kenshin's presence.
Seeing the unique outfit and formidable presence along with the Gale Katana that Kenshin was holding, the devil raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" They both asked each other in unison.
"….Souji Okita, Lucifer's Knight, it's nice to see a fellow Samurai at this day and age." Souji slightly bowed his head at Kenshin, acting less of a devil and more of a relaxed and laid-back man.
'Lucifer? The devil himself?' Inside Kenshin's mind, his grip on the Katana tightened.
Just knowing the man behind the name alone is enough to spark his curiosity and defensive side.
"May I know the reason why you're hunting this man?" However, instead of getting attacked, the devil tilted his head like a curious cat and asked Kenshin.
"….I'm not actually hunting him. I just want to talk to him, like I was trying to tell him. I'm here for a deal." As soon as he finished his words, Souji slightly leaned sideways to take a peek at the area behind Kenshin before commenting.
"Doesn't look like it. Maybe you should do with less….decapitations?" After a small pause, Souji continued with the vulgar word, as if he were confused with so much decapitation in Kenshin's onslaught.
"Easiest and fastest way to incapacitate an opponent." Kenshin shrugged his shoulders and replied.
He might look relaxed on the outside, but inside? He was already assessing Souji in front of him.
His posture, any openings, possible outcomes, and many more.
And what did he conclude?
Hard to defeat but not impossible. Though he might risk a limb or two.
Something he would definitely not risk, at least for now.
If he could somehow increase his Constitution to ten thousand then he would be able to regenerate limbs in seconds and achieve a high regenerative body.
In other words, he would also achieve immortality, an unageing body.
The dream of thousands of rich humans, to escape the suffocating touch of Time.
"Incapacitate? It doesn't look like one…" Souji awkwardly pointed out.
"….Same thing." Kenshin's face turned a bit bitter as he replied in the same awkward manner.
Thanks to such conversation between two samurais, the atmosphere has turned awkward.
Except for the Oyabun.
His head flipped from Kenshin to Souji and back and forth.
"Are you guys fighting or what?" His words made Souji scratch the back of his head and said to Kenshin in an apologetic manner.
"I'm sorry, but I have to do the end of my deal. It's part of the contract. It was nice meeting you, my fellow samurai." The moment he finished his words, he disappeared from his place and reappeared in front of Kenshin in a manner of a second.
His katana, gleaming under the moonlight seeping through the small gaps of curtain, inched towards Kenshin's neck.
Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise, such burst of speed would've killed him however, thankfully, he maintained his guard throughout the entire interaction.
And so, he countered in the same manner, his katana meeting Souji's.
Producing a sound of steel clashing.
Clang!
"You react fast." Souji's eyes widened slightly, surprised by Kenshin's capability to react to his attack.
"Thank you, you move fast." Kenshin smiled inside the mask and replied.
"Thank you." Souji smiled and made his next move.
Using his knee, Souji slammed it towards Kenshin's abdomen, who, in return, also raised his knee to block it.
Bam!
Souji seemed to have predicted the move from Kenshin and abandoned his clash with Kenshin's katana and swiftly ducked underneath him, smoothly swiping his katana upwards—with the intention to slice off his arm.
This, this is what Kenshin was talking about earlier.
Fighting this guy would cause him to lose a limb or two and it seemed like it would come true.
Unless he make his next move fast.
What was supposed to be a proper duel between two katana-wielding Samurais, has turned into magic as Kenshin blasted Souji with an explosion magic that came from his hand.
Boom!
Not expecting the magic spell out of nowhere, Souji has no means to block or dodge it and was forced to take the full brunt of it.
Almost half of the entire room was blown into smithereens, thankfully, the Oyabun had long left the room the moment the fight between the two has started.
"Cough! Cough!" Once the smoke dissipated, Souji waved his hand in front of his face before pointing at Kenshin accusedly.
"That's cheating we're not supposed to use magic in our battle! You have no honor!"
"In a matter of life or death battle, there is no such thing as honor, I don't intend to let myself be slaved to it…" Kenshin replied and used wind magic to blow the rest of the smoke out through the exploded part of the room.
"Slaved to honor…" Souji's eyes flashed with his past memories during his time as a human.
A simple decision that led to his demise.
History might've written him as someone who died from tuberculosis but the truth was far from that.
The tuberculosis rumor was simply a scheme that his lifelong enemies did by writing history and tarnishing his reputation.
When the truth was that he died during his clash against Chikage Kazama.
The simple decision of letting Chikage live out of respect for his honor, only to get stabbed in the back soon after.
'Not be a slave to honor. If it was me before I became a devil, I might've fought with this man to the death for the sake of honor but now…I can understand what he meant.' A look of relief appeared on his face before finally making the decision.
"I lost. You win." Patting the dust from his traditional Shisengumi Kimono, Souji stared directly at Kenshin's eyes and asked in a serious manner.
"Before I leave. Can I know the name of the man who bested me?"
After a few seconds of contemplating and making sure no one heard him, Kenshin answered.
"Alistair Abara. That's my name." Of course, he would be an idiot to use his current name.
At least, by using his previous name, he's neither telling the truth or a lie.
While at the same time, maintaining his identity as a fifteen-year old teen who just got out of junior high school.
"Alistair. A strong name, fitting for a great Samurai like you. Till we meet again, Alistair-san." The familiar magic circle appeared under his feet, which rotated a few times before swallowing him whole, disappearing from the room.
"…That was a bit anticlimactic..." Kenshin sighed.
Now left alone in the room, Kenshin finally relaxed and stores his Katana back to his inventory.
Spreading his senses throughout the entire compound, Kenshin was quick to pinpoint the Oyabun's current location.
Without anything else to do at the room, Kenshin disappeared from his place, courtesy of his high-speed that made him turn into a blur.
***
"Huff! Huff! Finally, I should be safe here." Arriving at a bus stop, only then did Seguro sigh in relief.
"He should be dealt with by the devil by now. I'll just go back tomorrow. I'll stay in with Chosoko's place for tonight." Remembering the face of the lady he always hooked up with, a sly smile appeared on his face.
As for his destroyed compound and bases, Seguro could always replace them, along with his dead Yakuza members.
He's been the Oyabun of one of the strongest Yakuza groups in the entire Japan, of course he always have backups and plans in cases like this.
What really matters is his life, as long as he's alive well, and kicking, he could keep rising from the ashes stronger than ever. And then perhaps, enact revenge against the Oni that ruined his life!
But before he could fully rejoice in his victory, his entire body froze upon hearing a familiar voice behind him.
"For someone who just lost, you truly have a big smile on your face. What? Don't tell me you're thinking of a woman at this time? Truly, the older you get, the more you become a pervert."
Slowly turning his head behind, Seguro felt a chill up his spine at the haunting figure of the Oni standing behind him with his arms crossed.
"Seguro-san. You don't mind if we talk, right?"
"Y-Y-You defeated the Devil?!" Seguro finally lost himself and dropped on the ground, shakily pointing his finger at Kenshin while he stuttered in fear.
"Defeated? Not really, we just had a small talk, that's all." Kenshin shrugged his shoulders and replied, acting nonchalant about it.
"PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE! Whatever I did to you or your family or your loved ones, I'll pay you back triple-no as many times as you want!" Knowing the only outcome of their interaction, Seguro wasted no time kneeling in front of Kenshin and smashing his head on the ground, caressing Kenshin's shoes like how people worship a statue.
"Whatever you did to my family or loved ones? Hey, hey, you're already familiar with this kinds of situations, aren't you." Remembering several action films in his past life where a Mob Boss destroys the main character's life and the said main character goes in a path of revenge, Kenshin's lips twitched a little.
Nothing bad actually happened to him or his family, he's just a teen who fell deep into a deep debt.
"Listen here, Seguro. Like I said earlier, I came to you to have a small chat." Crouching, Kenshin met Seguro's eye level and said.
He glanced around him and noticed that a bus was now coming their way.
"Let's talk somewhere private." Before Seguro could react, Kenshin grabbed his shirt and disappeared from their place.
On top of an abandoned building, they reappeared.
Seguro felt the wind clash against his face and that just added his fear towards the man in front of him.
"I have a deal for you, Seguro. Seeing how you act, I'm sure you've never been exposed to anything supernatural, aren't you?"
Seguro frantically nodded his head like a pecking chicken.
"Here's the thing then. I'm sure you've already received reports of your rival Yakuza group's meteoric rise and surpassing you in several establishments and aspects of the Underworld, right?" This one is what Kenshin has prepared during the two days he spent hunting the Yakuzas.
"Y-Yes?" Although he nodded his head, Seguro was curious why did Kenshin brought it up.
Sure, he's curious and if possible, wanted to match his rival's pace but despite attempts to do so, they all failed and it just contributed to his fall instead:
"That's because your rival group is backed by a powerful being, someone who belongs in the supernatural world."
Kenshin wasn't lying. A few mind readings here and there is enough for Kenshin to know the truth.
The Yakuza Group's old head was supposed to be on his deathbed already, however, the next day, the old man defied logic and became healthy all of a sudden.
Although Kenshin doesn't know who helped the old man yet, but the fact that he turned from a frail and dying old man to energetic and healthy like a child, Kenshin could already tell that someone with enough capabilities are helping them.
Someone who belongs in the same world as him.
Even though it's not Kenshin obligation to follow and do the same but if he wants to have a peaceful life in this world, he needs political and influential power.
That's why he decided to do the same thing to the Yakuza group that he is indebted with.
Build his force in the Underworld and use them to politically protect his peaceful life.
|-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_|
.
.
.
[Next Chapter: Ch. 24 - Meeting Alya again]