Hardcore Exorcist: Reborn to Grind

The girl readies herself.

I sit on the shrine’s decaying steps and get to the point.

“I serve the Akai Clan,” I say. “They saved my life. Gave me the strength to break my fate. I owe them. That means rescuing the Coral Sisters and taking back what was stolen.”

I push for intel.

As Kuro Kemurishima’s sword, she has to know something.

“Unfortunately, I know nothing.”

“Anything. Give me anything.”

“Truly. I do not.”

“So you’re with the Hidden Flame?”

“I couldn’t care less about some cult. I am a great Demon Sword, a blade that has existeed for a thousand years. I’ll be a legend for another thousand. Why would I care about the squabbles of mortals? They’ll all be dust in a hundred years. Forgotten in five hundred. In a thousand, the land itself will be flat again. You see my point?”

She’s thinking on a god’s timescale.

“Only swordsmen hold my interest. Now…”

She ties back the sleeves of her priestess robes with a cord and gives me a look that says she’s ready. She plucks her sword from the dirt and settles into a formal stance.

“Let me reintroduce myself. I am Ashbrand. A Demon Sword feared through the ages. I have cut down countless foes. The slick parting of flesh, the jarring crack of bone is all second nature. But more than that, the memories of every battle, the very art of the sword, are amassed within me.”

“So you’re a decent swordsman. I’ll treat this as a lesson, then.”

“Decent? Hmph. You underestimate me. For a thousand years, I have passed from one master to the next. I will show you what that means. Don’t blink, Ikaku Akamuro.”

I drop into a stance.

There’s a flicker of motion.

When my head clears, there’s a sword in my hand.

How?

“Hahaha, you fool! When did I say we’d use your precious martial arts? I am a Demon Sword. This is a duel. Sword against sword!”

She grins, raising her blade high and gliding toward me on shuffling feet.

She leans. A sudden shift of gravity, and the distance between us vanishes.

She knows her footwork. This might be tough.

“Hyaah!”

She lunges. I twist.

The blade follows, a clean horizontal slash.

I parry, her steel sliding along mine as I lean back until my spine screams. The edge whispers past my nose.

Too close.

I keep retreating, deflecting strikes that come from impossible angles.

She swings with pure delight, testing every combination she knows.

“Hahaha! Yes, it’s all coming back! The memories guide my hand! Well? What’s wrong, Ikaku Akamuro? You’ll never leave this shrine if you don’t fight back!”

“…”

“It seems even a Grand Master is lost without his fists. How many decades will it take for you to escape? I could let you go right now… if you’d just quietly accept me.”

“I’ve got you figured out.”

“…Eh?”

After the eighth strike, I stop backing up.

She accelerates into a counter-slash. Before her blade builds power, I take the shortest line.

My steel cracks against the upper third of hers, killing its momentum.

I close the distance, our blades screeching as they slide together, hilt to hilt.

Her sword is locked and useless. I grab a fistful of her hair and drive my knee into her face.

A wet crunch.

The girl collapses, staring up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. Blood fountains from her nose and mouth.

“You… you’re a sword genius?! Learning that fast…?”

“Not a chance. I already knew how.”

“Whaaat?! You did?!”

“I’m proficient. That’s all. Nothing special.”

“But I have a thousand years of memories…”

I thrust the tip of my sword into her chest.

“Ow?! Do you have no mercy?! I’m a delicate maiden…!”

“I’m used to pretty faces. Last words?”

“Uh, wait a second, I had this death poem prepared—”

“Time’s up.”

“Wai—?!”

She screams. I twist the blade, widening the wound.

My vision clears. The scenery has shifted.

I’m back on the loading dock of the derelict meat processing center.

She keeps her promises, then.

I look down at the Demon Sword in my hand. Rivers of what looks like molten rock vein its blackened steel. The crimson heat pulses with a slow, steady rhythm, like a heart.

Inside the blade’s smoldering sheen, I see the girl. Arms crossed, cheeks puffed out.

Hmph. A fine display of swordsmanship. I’m not entirely convinced, but a loss is a loss.

“Good. You take it well. See you.”

Since I have no choice, I shall entrust my power to you!

And there it is. The classic “I’m bestowing my power” routine.

“Nah. I’m good.”

This thing is drenched in curses. It would try to take over my mind the first chance it got.

This smoky brat has ‘backstabber’ written all over her.

There is no need for modesty. I will fuel the flames of your vengeance. Go on. Grip me. Together, we shall slaughter every last one of your enemies.

“See you.”

I stab the sword into the ground and turn my back. Smoke instantly boils around me, obscuring my vision.

I said you can take me! In fact, you have to! Don’t you dare leave me here!

“One noisy weapon is enough for me.”

My hatchet begins to tremble in its holster.

Axey starts talking.

Who, exactly, is noisy? You’re not talking about me, are you?

“Glad to see you’re self-aware.”

Oh, don’t be like that. Heh heh. You act cold because you secretly want to be mean to me. It’s just how you show affection, isn’t it?

“Not even close.”

Ashbrand cuts in. Ikaku Akamuro, you can’t possibly suggest that I, the great Ashbrand, am inferior to some trash-tier magical tool! If you only carry one weapon, then leave that piece of junk behind!

Then Axey again. Did you just call me junk? Heh. That’s rich. I’m the ultra-lethal Redemptio Securius. Nine hundred years, massive body count. Look it up.

A mere nine hundred years? Please. I am Ashbrand. I have bathed in blood for over a millennium. I’ve built mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. They built a shrine just to appease me!

H-hmph. One thousand years. Well, I guess that’s pretty good…

She’s rattled. Axey can’t count.

“There isn’t much difference between nine hundred and a thousand.”

You’re trying to cheer me up, Ikaku?! Axey cries out.

Not at all! There’s an insurmountable wall between nine hundred years and a thousand!

I walk back to the sword, pull my hatchet, and stab it into the dirt right next to her. Let them work it out.

Let’s decide which of us is more worthy.

I will not lose. Ikaku would be helpless without me.

“I really wouldn’t be.”

You shut up, Ikaku. This is a battle of pride. Don’t interfere. First, achievements. I am deeply loved by Ikaku. He even bought me a premium holster made of caiman leather. Next—

This is my chance. I could leave them both. No more chatter.

While they squabble, I grab my SCAR-H, slip into the SUV, and quietly start the engine.

The engine turns over. A thud explodes against the driver’s side window.

It’s the hatchet.

Made me flinch. Damn thing is terrifying.

You can’t run from me, Ikaku… heheh.

“I get it. I get it. Stop.”

A dense cloud of smoke envelops me again, the acrid smell of burning so thick it’s hard to breathe.

This is bad. Carbon monoxide bad.

Try to leave me behind, and this smoke will shroud you for eternity.

“Sure is annoying for a junk ability. But I reckon I’ll be fine if I drive far enough.”

You’re welcome to try. If you want to see what it feels like to drive two miles in a straight line and still be right here.

I rake a hand through my hair, get out, and pull the Demon Sword from the ground. The smoke clears.

Heh heh. So you did want to take me after all. Don’t tell me you’re just playing hard to get, Ikaku Akamuro. How adorable.

Great. Another high-maintenance girl has her sights on me.

I grab the scabbard, sheathe Ashbrand, and toss her onto the passenger seat.

Sirens. Getting closer.

A single patrol car pulls up. Two cops get out, their jaws slack as they take in the scene.

“Whoa… this is way worse than I thought. What happened here, a war?”

“We should probably wait for backup.”

“Yeah, but we’re already here…”

“Hey, someone’s over there! Hey! Don’t move! Akai City Police!”

“I’m an exorcist,” I tell them. “Lower your weapons.”

Running is a bad look. I give them the exorcist spiel.

They buy it too easily. Then I’m gone.