Chapter 77

As they watch Hisashi disappear, Mai had the urge to follow. However, Jin calls out to her before she can do anything.

"Mai, enough… I know how much you want to help people. I know how grateful you are to him for saving you. But doing more would only endanger you, or maybe even him too." Jin grabs her arm. It seemed that this somewhat helped her come back to her normal senses as she asks.

"What should we do then, Master Jin? He's still out there. The monster too."

He looks at her saddened expression as he answered. "They're already on the third layer. Following them might only cause us to be lost. As for Gozu, he's not in the right mind, but he's still strong. You saw that first hand right? Believe in him." Jin said. However, in his mind, he's anxious about what is happening.

"Go retreat with the others. I'll be waiting for him here." Jin said, reassuring Mai. Just then, the ground starts to rumble as if an earthquake is happening. The two follow the already far army as Old Man Kai comes to him.

"Master Jin. We need to retreat ASAP. The monsters are becoming errant and hysterical. They're probably about to rush to the nearest town!" Old Man Kai said with certainty.

"We can't travel fast as an army! Get Ren to lead them out while the two of us go! Xin Meng and the others are on the perimeter, right? Go and inform them. I'll follow you. And you, Mai. Stay with the group." Jin orders as he jumps high and puts his staff under his feet. The staff was then covered by golden chi as it extends and launched Jin to the sky, where there was only thick fog.

Old Man Kai acted quickly too as he concentrates his natural and spiritual chi on his legs and took off in a flash. Streaks of yellow lightning appear past the army as the old man talked to Ren and disappearing again after.

Mai on the other hand was running back to the army when she felt a sinister feeling run through her body. She looked back as she recognize that it came from the third layer of the Death Valley. She didn't know what it was she has find it similar to the monster's chi before.

'Oh no! Gozu might be in danger!' Mai said to herself as she stopped and ran to where she isn't supposed to, ultimately forgetting about what her master told her.

'I just need to not get lost! I'll use my sorcery!' Mai said to herself as she takes out her scroll. Although she can use chi, most of them know the dangers of the Death Valley. On her way back, she encountered a few rampaging monsters but she was able to get away from them.

'I still have a lot of chi(mana). I can do this.' Mai tells herself as she has now entered the Void Layer of Hearing. She panics for a bit because of the unfamiliarity but then regains control of her mind. She continued to run while pouring her chi on the ground. She almost fell a few times from the lack of hearing but it didn't stop her from looking for Hisashi.

Ten minutes later, she still wasn't able to find Hisashi. Her body has small wounds and bruises but she still continued. She escaped and injured many monsters along the way. After being in there for more than ten minutes, she starts to worry that she's now lost. It didn't help that her condition has worsened due to the continuous use of spells. Despite it being a weak spell, it still accumulated over ten minutes of highly intense action.

She stopped for a while as she pants heavily. She tried to talk but didn't find her voice at all. 'Should I have not come back after all? What happened to Gozu? I hope he's still alive. I still have to thank him after all.' Many negative thought enters Mai's mind as her vision starts to blur.

Her head becomes heavy too while her head starts to lean forward. 'Huh? What's happening?' Just then, she felt a presence walking towards her. 'Is that Gozu? That feels like Gozu, but maybe it's not him. I don't know.'

Mai tried her best to not fall asleep and gather her energy to see who it was. However, she failed the last thing that she was able to see was a figure of a human covered in red and black. She can't lip read but for some reason, she was able to understand what the man's lips muttered.

'Koyori, Mother, Father, Mother Furukawa, Father Masaru, I did it.' She finally succumb to the darkness as she lost consciousness.

…

After resolving the nearby beast attacks, Jin immediately went to check on his soldiers. However, immediately, he felt something amiss. He quickly went to Ren who is having his arm healed by the best healer in the country. Using a fire healing spell, one out of the five fingers along with part of a palm has already regenerated.

"Where's Mai?" He asked his cousin. Ren was confused by his question and he almost jolted up. "I don't know. I haven't seen her too… Wait… Is she-" Ren was cut short as Jin immediately run to where he thought she is.

Years ago, Jin pick Mai when she was a child. Back then, she was a vagrant sleeping under the trees. According to her, her mother died from a beast attack saving the kids from their village. As for her father, she doesn't know anything or care about him.

Because of this, Jin picked her up and gave her a home. He taught her many things along with other older kids that he can help. To his surprise, Mai learned many things quickly. She was one of the fastest learner kids that he knows. But there's one thing that he hates about her, and that is her impulsiveness. She always rushes to anyone's aid as long as she can and she wants to. The polar opposite of Jin.

So, as the years passed and Mai grew stronger, he tried his best to keep her from danger. Some succeeded, and some were seen through. Now, Jin grits his teeth as he entered the First Layer of the Death Valley. He ran several kilometers as his anxiety grew larger. Just as he was about to enter the second layer of the mysterious fog, he felt something both in his chi and his seismic sense.

'She's here. Is that Gozu holding him?' He thought as he turns in that direction. As he felt that their chi is normal, he stop as he saw the latter carrying the unconscious Mai on his back.

"Gozu, man, are you okay? How's Mai?" Jin greets him pleasantly. However, he was still being cautious as to what can happen next. Will he be unstable again? What if he's not normal? That was what he was thinking. Just then, Hisashi lowers down as he let go of Mai. He carries her to Jin without speaking and gives her to him.

"I've already healed her. She's just exhausted." Hisashi said. He was about to reach into his clothes but he stopped midway. A second later, he continued his action as he showed a black metal cuff.

"I've checked their hideout but there isn't anything important aside from this. Can I borrow it for some time?" Hisashi said with a bit of weariness in his voice.

'Is he tired?' Jin was surprised as he has never seen Hisashi get tired even when they were fighting the monster earlier. 'What happened?' He almost blurted it out.

"Sure you can. You can even have it if you want. We don't really have a use for that. We're just happy that beast attacks will significantly decrease." Jin said politely. He puts Mai on his back. "Should we go back now? Everyone's already eating." He maintained his positive attitude as he look at Hisashi.

"I won't be joining… Forgive me for that. I think I need to go home now." Hisashi said so as his shadow turn darker and grabs a bag out of it.

"I assume you'll return here eventually?" Jin asks. Hisashi didn't answer he simply shrug his shoulder. Satisfied with his answer, Jin starts to walk back to the town now that he has completed his objective.

Behind him, the weary expression in Hisashi's eyes disappeared. He simply held the black cuff on his hand as he muttered.

"Lucifugus. One of the highest-ranking demons of hell. If only I know how to summon you out of there. Or maybe… even I go there. As for the other high-ranking demons… it's only a matter of time." His eyes turn malicious, as a small flicker of black lightning appeared on his eyes. Something he didn't notice.

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(End of Volume 2)