19 Retribution

Suou stares at me, before his lips curl to a deep scowl.

I'm not in the mood to hear him talk. I pull my arm back, and burning with Primal Energy, I smash my fist straight into his face. I feel his skull cracking beneath my fingers, and an explosion of wind blasts out as Suou is sent flying away.

But suddenly I find a faceful of fire surging towards me. My instincts ring, and I grit my teeth as I duck. The flames race over me, but a small lick touches my ear, and pain strikes me as the skin on my ear burn. I take a step back, and use my eyes to see what that little flame had done.

And it's…terrifying. A small patch of skin on my ears has turned completely black, the skin burnt off and the flesh beneath partially turned to ash. Granted, I didn't have the time to reinforce my ear, but such intensive damage cannot be overlooked.

Suou crashes onto the dirt, and he quickly stands back up as he growls. He clearly knows just how much damage that single punch dealt, and he's wary. He pulls forth the longsword from his hip, and the blade begins to glow orange.

My eyes narrow. He'd applied an enchantment on his sword. A simple one, meant to overheat his blade without melting it. That sword can now cut through iron like a knife through butter.

I'm more worried about the speed he did that, however. It's unlike the servants he sent my way; his Shinto Magic comes out near instantly, and it's only because of my eyes that I can see his actions.

Even weakened as he is, Himejima Suou is strong.

But he isn't invincible.

I kick off the ground. Suou begins swinging his sword, sending arcs of fire towards me. I dodge them with ease, my legs burning with glowing white lines as Primal Energy floods them. Soon, only inches are within us, and I can see the great belt of flames Suou is about to call out.

Then he raises his blade, and a great tower of flames rises from his sword. The air begins to burn, and Suou shouts as he brings his sword down.

I bob to the side, and the flames crash into the earth. A pitched squeal sounds, and I can see the dirt and rock melting from the sheer heat. There are bits of melted metal and burning strips of leather mixed in together with the melted earth.

I quickly clench my fist, and aiming at his kidney, I swing. Suou sees this, and he quickly curves his sword to strike me.

My fist misses. Suou smiles darkly, his sword inching closer to my head.

I smile back.

Suddenly, a massive wound opens at his side, and Suou screams as blood crashes out in a large wave. He quickly jumps back, the heat on his sword dwindling as he loses the concentration to keep his magic going. But the sword is still glowing hot, and he grits his teeth as he presses the blade onto the wound, cauterizing it.

Except just as he brings the sword away, the wound opens back up.

His eyes are wide as he turns to me. My smile has only grown.

Scattered around this area are all manners of knives and shortswords. I'd brought them all here a day ago, and I placed an 'Invisibility' Ofuda on them. That blast of flames had burnt many of my invisible weapons, but thankfully, there was still one hiding just behind where Suou was standing.

And more than that, I've also stuck a 'Bleed' Ofuda on them. They're used up the moment a wound is made. But that wound will persist for a couple minutes, even opening back up if you try to close it by force.

I hadn't missed at all. I'd been holding an invisible sword as I swung, and it'd struck true.

I make use of the distraction, and I smash my fist into his stomach. Even more blood pours out of the wound I made, and Suou screams as he jumps back. As he does he sends a large wave of fire towards me. I leap over the fire, only to then find myself surrounded by a dome of flames. It covers everything around me, and I can see it quickly inching closer.

I take a large breath, and wincing from how hot the air has become I pull out an Ofuda from my pockets. The characters of 'Extinguish' written on the paper begin lighting up, and light pours out as the Ofuda breaks into particles. Primal Energy swirls all around me, and suddenly the flames surrounding vanish.

I land back down to see Suou staring at me, caution and hate in his eyes. I grin back as I pull out another Ofuda. Suou sees this, and he sends a bolt of fire flying at it. It's insanely fast, and before I can do anything it smashes into the Ofuda.

Except I also have an Ofuda in my other hand, and it glows as it disintegrates. Immediately the scorching heat in the air cools down. It's still painfully hot, but at least I don't need to worry about my clothes catching on fire.

Suou scowls, and he screams as he begins firing wave after wave of flames. I dodge them as best I can, using an 'Extinguish' Ofuda to save myself when I need to and a 'Cooling' Ofuda to make sure I don't spontaneously begin burning.

And throughout, I bring down my fists on him. His other kidney, his liver, his stomach, his ribs, his throat. He gets slower with every attack he takes, his breaths heavier as more and more blood pours from the massive wound on his side.

But desperation is a dangerous weapon. Though Suou is getting slower, his flames have only gotten fiercer. He's no longer conserving his mana; the flames he sends out have grown tremendously, and there are moments where I'm forced to brave the fire, to reinforce my body with Primal Energy and simply bear the heat

Even enhanced by Primal Energy, the flames still burn me. It doesn't burn as much as it did the first time, but burn me it still does. Patches of skin on my arms and chest have turned a dark black, and I can smell the familiar smell of burnt flesh coming from my own body. My clothes have been burnt away, and with them the Ofudas I was keeping in my pockets.

But it's fine.

Because soon, Suou falters. His knees wobble, and he groans as he falls. And quickly I move, leaping across the grass. Suou grits his teeth, and with all the mana he has left, he sends out a wave of fire. It's the biggest wave he's sent since we began, and the sheer heat alone causes patches of my skin to burn my skin.

I don't dodge. Glowing white lines shine across my body, and Primal Energy floods every corner of my being.

I run through the flames. Pain hits me as my skin and flesh burns. And when I come out the other side, my body is battered with burns.

I don't stop. I make it to the downed Suou, and my fingers are clenched as I flood my arm with all the Primal Energy I have left. Then, with a breath, I strike my fist down onto the man's chest. I twist, and I shout as I smash Suou right into the earth.

BOOM!

An explosion rings across the air as Suou crashes into the dirt. Tremors echo through the earth, and the ground cracks. Entire chunks of dirt flies into the air, and large wedges of stone are uprooted from the ground, rising towards the sky like giant petals. Wind swirls around us, captured by the powerful impact before they're blown away.

Then, the world quiets. The searing heat in the air dies down, and the tremors from my punch cease. And I'm left standing there, with massive burns on my body, standing over a nearly dead man in a crater that's nearly three meters wide in radius.

I walk to the side for a moment, and standing over a seemingly normal patch of grass, I reach down and dig into the ground. It doesn't take long for me to reach a small plastic bag, and I take out a dozen 'Healing' Ofudas. I put one on my chest, and I sigh contently as I feel a cooling sensation begin to spread across my body.

I walk back to Suou. He's still conscious, if barely. He turns his head to look at me, and he glowers. "You…" He bites out. "Who…are you…!?"

I don't say anything. Instead, I crouch, and I stick a 'Healing' Ofuda onto his chest. Immediately the massive wound on his side begins healing. It doesn't close completely before the Ofuda is used up, but the wound is no longer life threatening.

He gapes at me, and my eyes tell me that he's planning on burning me, expecting to put another 'Healing' Ofuda on him. He seems to think that I'm pitying him, and that I'm too young to actually kill him.

I, obviously, don't. Instead, I put my hands on his wound, and taking a breath, I pull.

Suou stares at me in confusion, not understanding why I'm putting my hand on his wound. "What are you doing?" He asks. I don't answer, and he scowls. "I asked-!"

His words die down as he feels a sudden crushing weakness. That healing he felt earlier seems like a distant dream, and he gasps in pain. The wound on his side suddenly feels incredibly painful, and he can't move a single inch. His chest feels constricted, and he heaves weakly as he tries to breathe.

"Interesting," he hears me say, and he flinches when he meets my eyes. "So this is what happens when I drain someone dry of Primal Energy." I hum, ignoring the confused terror reflected in the man's eyes. "Weakness. Muscle failure. Slowed consciousness." I rub my chin. "It's a lot more severe than I thought."

I walk away for a moment, and I grab a nearby shortsword. I rip away the 'Invisibility' and 'Bleed' Ofudas on them. I walk back to Suou, and his mouth opens as he sees the sword I'm holding.

I crouch before him, and I make a small prick on my finger. "Now then," Blood begins trailing down my finger, and a small sliver of Primal Energy leaks from the wound. I bring my hand closer to Suou's wound. "I wonder what'll happen if I shove my Primal Energy into someone else?"

I direct the Primal Energy leaking from me to enter back into Suou's wound. And he gasps as he feels some strength return to him. "You-!" He grits his teeth. "What have you done to-"

"Now that's fascinating." He flinches as he sees the look in my eyes. "All the symptoms disappeared." He flinches again as I begin to smile. "I thought there'd at least be some delay."

I place my hand on his wound, and Suou gasps again as that strength he felt vanishes. "But what if…?"

Our time together continues. With Suou as my subject, I test out as many questions about Primal Energy as I can. For obvious reasons, I've never really attempted doing these tests on another human being. But now I can.

What happens if someone repeatedly gains and loses Primal Energy?

What happens if I try to push Primal Energy into someone without first bringing it into my body?

Is the heart the natural place where a human's Primal Energy is stored and circulated?

What happens if I cut off a limb? Will the amount of Primal Energy they hold remain the same?

Those are only a few of the many questions running through my head, and I conduct test after test to find the answers. Suou was screaming for the first few minutes, and then glaring when he could no longer speak, and then crying when I began chopping off his limbs.

Occasionally, my arm will shake. Fear and horror will cut through me. What am I doing, I'll think to myself. But then I'll remember just what Himejima Suou has done in the name of humanity's 'purity'. I'll remember just how many he's enslaved and tortured for both his duty and his own sick enjoyment.

Any feeling I have will melt away, and curious neutrality will flood my being as I resume my experiments.

After nearly two hours, my experiments finally end. My hands are completely covered in blood, and so is the shortsword I was using. Himejima Suou is a shell of his former self, his eyes blank and dried tear tracks running down his cheeks. He's nothing but a torso and head now; his arms and legs lay in a pile just a distance away.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" I say, knowing the man can still hear me. "It's shameful, right? Being treated like this, to be able to do nothing as I strip you down like this," I lean down, dangling the shortsword over his eyes. "You've done this to a lot of people. It's only fair you have a taste of it too, don't you think?"

I smile. It isn't a gentle one. "Oh well." I say, and I drive my shortsword down. It stabs right into his brain. "Have a fun trip."

In seconds, Himejima Suou dies.

I take a slow, shaky breath.

It's over.

I stand up. The plastic bag I unearthed hours before is just next to me. I reach into it, and I pull out another Ofuda. I stick it onto my chest, and the characters of 'Clean' begin glowing. The slip of paper soon shatters into particles of light, and all the blood, dirt, and ash clinging onto me magically fall away.

I reach back into the plastic bag, and I pull out a new set of clothes. I slip it on, and I sigh in relief. I'd included a new set of clothes in the plastic bag as a whim, but I'm glad I did. I don't want to walk back to town all naked.

Then, I grab one of the Ofudas inside the pockets of my new clothes. I kick Suou's corpse over to the pile of limbs, and I let the Ofuda fall onto the pile of severed flesh. The Ofuda glows, and soon the corpse is lit aflame. I watch as Suou's body is consumed whole, and before long, nothing is left behind.

I look down at the crater I made. I frown. I'm not so sure what to do about it, but I know I'll have to clean this all up.

Thankfully, the 'Isolation' Ofuda I used to create this space will last for a few more days, and it'll be invisible to all unless someone walks into this space. And considering no one goes to these abandoned outskirts, it's almost impossible for this place to be discovered. There's still a minute chance though, so I'll be working hard to make an Ofuda to fix this place.

With that all over,

I begin walking back towards my house. And soon, I cross the threshold of my Ofuda's barrier, and the abyss above is replaced by the night sky. The stars above twinkle back, as if to greet me.

I smile, and continue walking home.