Cornered

They say that when you corner an animal, you’ll be facing off against a ferocious beast never seen before.

Jasper let out ragged breath as he stared frantically between the group of demons surrounding him. Instinctively, he stepped back from their slow advances, but he knew he was getting close to hitting his back against the wall behind him. He held his machete tight enough for his knuckles to turn white, and he was gritting his teeth so hard that it was a wonder if they would chip. He tasted blood, his blood. The bitter taste made him want to gag, but he knew just what could get rid of the foul flavour.

One of the Corrupted, then three of the Lesser Demons. The latter three had no blood, only their shadowy forms, but with the Corrupted… Jasper’s mouth watered just seeing them. None of the demons could leave here alive anyway, or else they would finally have to kill him for good. His reasoning was simple.

“How… dare you look at my face?”

His mask was completely shattered at this point. These demons had the nerve to step on the broken pieces right in front of him too. The Corrupted had managed to grab his head during their fight, slamming him against a wall hard enough to make the mask’s shards cut into his face. But the pain of his injuries hardly mattered here, there was nothing these demons could do that would make him stagger; he needed to kill them now, or he would die trying to. 

No, dying wasn’t even an option here. How careless of him to think that. To imagine the demons having the privilege of seeing his dying face. What a pitiful expression he would have, he did have, once upon a time. The memories made his eyes twitch. No, forget about that. A pathetic expression would look much more attractive on a demon’s face

The Corrupted shined a twisted grin at him. They looked over his appearance carefully, seeing how laboured his breaths were, yet how fiery his expression was. It was a face that they would enjoy seeing in the infernal domain. Yet another one of the souls destined to be used down there. “Aren’t you an interesting little human? You’ve got a cute face underneath that mask,” they mused, before the lesser demons started to go in front of them for protection. “Would you like to be my pet in the infernal?”

The very idea disgusted Jasper to the core. In his eyes, he couldn’t tell if this was a Corrupted demon, or one of the Higher Demons. He could never tell with the more humanoid looking specimens, and there was only one way to find out… A Higher Demon couldn’t be killed by him–a shame he couldn’t be blessed with divine weaponry–but the Corrupted died just like all the other worms out here.

He pointed his machete at the Corrupted’s head, looking past all the lackey demons advancing towards him. “Would you like me to bark at your feet too, new master?” He let out a breathy laugh. The Corrupted’s eyes seemed to shine at the idea, what a pathetic mind. He tilted his head as he smiled widely, showing off his bloody teeth. “Can you tame me first, then?”

“I’ll try not to ruin your body more, human~”

-----

How long has it been? Jasper’s body ached with the need to rest, but he still found himself moving like clockwork. Up and down, up and down… he kept stabbing his machete into the still body of the Corrupted beneath him. The sound of his blade piercing through flesh was like music to his ears at this point. Though, he knew the rest of the Kazahana would find him soon, so his fun would have to end. He needed to be patched up, cleansed even, but his injuries now paled in comparison to the mess he made from the Corrupted.

“You stopped speaking to me… what happened? I thought you wanted to be my master?” He finally stabbed his machete through the demon’s neck. Then, he carved through the flesh with jagged motions, until he could rip the head clean off. A burst of blood erupted from the wound, pooling against the ground and staining Jasper’s clothes further as he kneeled beside the body.

“Ah, see? You can look at my face all you’d like now!” Jasper held up the severed head of the Corrupted by grabbing a fistful of their hair. He cackled seeing the permanent look of horror painted on their face, even bringing the head closer until their foreheads were nearly touching. “Am I still useful for your growing ‘empire’? Will you make me into your ‘slave’ like you said you would? Will you eat me whole like the others?”

He bent backwards as he laughed harder to himself. As if a mere Corrupted could do that to him now. At this rate, he wondered if he could defeat one of the Higher Demons, or maybe he could challenge one of the Seven Kings like his captain. All he was missing was a divine weapon. It was a wonder why none of the angels wanted to bless him! Was his soul not pure enough? He killed demons like they did, didn’t he?

As he thought about that, he licked his lips. His eyes widened at what he tasted. The Corrupted’s blood. Right, how could he forget about this? 

His mouth watered as he stared at the severed head again. Most of the blood had spewed out onto the ground, his clothes, everywhere, but that didn’t mean everything was wasted. No, Jasper could still stare entranced at the steady drops of blood that leaked from the Corrupted’s neck. Drip, drip, drip… What was left of the bitter taste in Jasper’s mouth was becoming unbearable. He needed to drink now. 

Bringing the Corrupted’s head closer, Jasper leaned down towards what was left of the neck and sank his teeth deep into the flesh. Blood spurted from the gaping wound, dirtying Jasper further, but he couldn’t care less. All of his focus was on the chunk of meat he tore off with his mouth. In an instant, his taste buds were overwhelmed by the taste of blood, though this type never had made him gag. Human blood and demon blood always tasted different, he would say.

Unlike his own blood, a demon had a taste that was like no other; a savoury taste that outshined any of the food he got back at Barrier Arakiel. His own blood always made his stomach turn; the vile taste of humans was something he never wanted to experience again. Given how reckless he tended to fight, however, that was something he couldn’t avoid. His own blood was the most foul tasting of them all, disgustingly bitter and far too thick in his mouth. If he got injured enough to cough it up, he always made sure to wash it out with his fallen enemies.

A muffled laugh left him as he kept drinking mouthfuls of blood. It was a delicacy to him– no, it was far more like a drug. He wanted to keep eating and eating. Maybe then, these demons would think twice about pushing humanity to their breaking point. Those bastards wanted to keep taking and taking and taking, it made him nauseous. As if he could feel the pain of his old wounds all over again when he thought about it. 

He sunk his teeth in deeper to consume another chunk of flesh. He wasn’t sure if this hunger, this revenge could ever be sedated, but he always craved more. The only thing he wished for was to see the Corrupted’s reaction to how their corpse was being desecrated. Many would scream at the feeling of being eaten alive. He knew he did once upon a time. He would try to keep a demon alive while he did this strange ritual, but his captain told him it would be too risky. A pity…

“Jasper,” a cold, low voice snapped him out of his quickly spiralling thoughts.

He looked up and was met with the shine of a flashlight directly on his face. He squinted, dropping the head so he could cover the light, and he saw all of his team staring at him. A mix of emotions were on each of the Kazahana’s faces as they took off their masks: disgust, curiosity, and of course, relief that he was still alive. Tsukimi stood in the middle of this sea of emotions, calm and composed as always. He tilted his head, before finally taking off his mask.

“Your strength grows with each passing day.” Tsukimi walked through the pools of blood and held his hand out for Jasper. “However, you look injured. It’s time to go home.”

Jasper eagerly took Tsukimi’s hand, staining his pale white skin a dark crimson. “Yes, captain!” He smiled wide with his bloody teeth. “Those bastards broke my mask. I couldn’t leave any of them alive.”

Tsukimi nodded, heaving Jasper up and supporting his body. “Good. Such creatures shouldn’t live to see your elegance.”

“Elegance? I’ve heard about animals that kill their food more elegantly than that.” Darius whispered to another member. All of the team started to head for their transportation. A long mission deserved, well, the Kazahana weren’t exactly known for resting after expeditions, but they all wanted to go home. 

Mitsue rolled his eyes. “Do not doubt our captain, rookie.” Though he didn’t admit that the sight of feasting on a demon made his stomach churn. He shivered at the thought.

By now, Jasper was leaning heavily onto Tsukimi. The adrenaline was starting to die down slowly, and the pain of his injuries were becoming more apparent with each passing moment. Still, he smiled. He smiled thinking about how he won his battle. The Corrupted spoke so high and mighty about enslaving him, and now look at them. Left to rot in a bloody heap all by themself. The very thought made Jasper chuckle against Tsukimi as they slowly made their way back home. 

What a beautiful expedition.

----

Tsukimi hummed to himself as he watched Jasper finally rest. Back in the barrier, he was quick to get Jasper the medical attention he needed. A lesson the captain learned quickly while having Jasper on his team. It was good that the younger could endure a lot of pain, but it could be tricky when he barely showed his struggles to his own team. It reminded Tsukimi of, well, himself in many ways. It was the spirit of a relentless fighter.

He closed the door to the infirmary, before starting to walk down the hall so he could finally go to his room. According to his routine, he needed to meditate to cool down his mind after such a tedious expedition, plan out the regime for tomorrow, then go to sleep for 6 hours on the dot so he could wake up early. He let out a soft exhale. Same old, same old. 

Though he stopped in his tracks, he didn’t bother to turn around as he called out, “Mitsue.”

“I see you’ve finally put that mad man down for the night,” his friend spoke with disdain in his tone. Soon enough, Mitsue came up next to him so they could walk to their rooms together. “He still reeks of blood.”

Tsukimi hummed in amusement. “It’s a hard scent to get rid of. What’s important is that Jasper is safe, sound, and cleansed of any corruption.”

Mitsue clicked his tongue. “I pity the Blessings that have to deal with him.”

“Now that’s no way to speak about your teammate. You need to build a bond with all of them, him included.”

“I will protect him when it comes down to it,” Mitsue narrowed his eyes, “but I will not respect him.”

Tsukimi shook his head with a soft tsk, though he couldn’t scold Mitsue further. With a man like this, begrudging commardry was the best he would get from Mitsue. A stubbornness he valued over the years. “You remind me of a problem I have been considering, though.”

“And what would that be?”

“The issue of a Blessing.” Tsukimi tilted his head as he thought to himself. None of them exactly knew the effects of eating demon blood semi-regularly, but they all assumed it wasn’t healthy. “Jasper has yet to go on an expedition far away from the barrier, and I wonder if he needs to be blessed more regularly than all of us.”

Mitsue hummed in thought. “It wouldn’t surprise me. So you’re going to tell him to stay home when we’re sent far away?”

“No, of course not.”

“What?” Mitsue stepped in front of his friend, stopping him in his tracks. “If you deem him a risk, then why take the chance?”

“You put words in my mouth, Mitsue. I plan to make our expeditions safer.” He nodded to himself. Yes, his plan was already set on stone. “I will find a Blessing to train so they can join the Kazahana.”

The idea was absurd enough to make Mitsue laugh, though he soon scoffed. Was Tsukimi really serious about this? “All the Blessings are defenceless. They’re protected in our barriers for a reason.”

“The New Angels have a Blessing on their team.”

“Yes, a Blessing that was chosen by Arakiel himself to carry his powers. Silas is far different.”

Tsukimi shook his head. This stubbornness wouldn’t make him falter this time. “Without the right guidance, Silas would be just as weak as the rest. It was the New Angel captains that brought out his true power.” 

Yes, it all made sense to him. Surely there were a few Blessings that were eager to fight for humanity, and of those few, there had to be one that could endure his training regime. To be made into a skilled fighter was an honour in this day and age. Then, the Kazahana could be trusted on expeditions that allowed them to travel farther away from the barrier. Being able to eradicate demons on a wider skill was all he asked for.

Side stepping Mitsue, Tsukimi casually continued on his path with a small smile on his face. “I will begin scouting tomorrow. You’re welcome to join me, of course.” 

Mitsue shuddered as a chill went down his spine. Still, he quickly went to follow after Tsukimi. The doubts he had were no match to Tsukimi’s resolve in the end. They never were. All he could do was make sure Tsukimi was thorough on his search tomorrow. These poor fucking Blessings… “Your ambitions will get you killed one day.”

“And what an honour that will be to die knowing I helped my people.”

No wonder Tsukimi gladly allowed someone like Jasper on the team. In the end, none of the Kazahana were free from their own maddening thoughts. It must come with the position. After all, no sane person would put themselves through what the Kazahana go through. Mitsue sighed to himself at the thought… to think he was no different from each of these mad men.