~Flashback~
"Rika, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

That was the first question Rika's mother asked of her. While the girl was deep in thought, she looked down at her own hands. After clenching them a few times, Rika looked back at her mother and smiled.

"I want to be just like daddy. He's strong. He's in charge. He can do anything!!!!"

"Your father maybe in charge, but even he struggles from time to time. Rika, as chief of Murakumo Village, your father has to make sacrifices for the greater good. So please, promise me this. No matter what happens, try to make sure you're there for him."

~Flashback ends~
"Mommy! Mommy!!! Is that you?"

Rika cried out as she saw the true form of the wolf that was just killed while she ran to where the body was. Her eyes filled with tears as her mother, who was casted out the village due to being a mage, was right before her eyes. She called her, she cried out to her, she screamed for her.

But no one answered.

Rika was faced with the cold truth. Her mother was not coming back. Her mother was dead. Her father would never welcome her back to the village. All because she was a mage. As Rika looked forward, she saw the talisman from earlier moving into a cave. Seeing this, Rika decided to follow it. While Shiki was fighting the beast, she'll continue what she wanted to do from the start;to save Ruri.

~With Shiki~
Shiki suddenly lunged towards the beast while performing a horizontal slash with Asuramaru. The beast put all its strength into its legs as it leaped high in to the air to avoid the attack. Seeing this, Shiki simply used Asura-Kannon and launched the blades at his enormous target.

The beast let out a howl in pain as the blades managed to pierce its flesh. The moment it landed, the beast used its claws to dig up dirt as it blinded Shiki's sight for a moment. Shiki tried to shield his eyes, but the moment he did, the beast dashed behind him and delivered a powerful headbutt to his back. As Shiki was sent flying, he reached into his pocket and threw three Black Keys at the beast.

Seeing the projectiles, the beast merely dashed to the side to avoid them. However, Shiki smirked as he looked above the giant wolf. With a snap of his fingers, Shiki materialied more blades from Asura-Kannon over the beast's body before swiftly launching them into the creature. As Shiki landed harshly on the ground, he quickly got up and lunged towards the beast.

Seeing this, the beast also lunged towards Shiki as it opened its jaw in an attempt to eat Shiki alive. Putting all of his strength into his arms, Shiki performed a horizontal slash with his left hand at the monster. Seeing this, the beast tried to jump back to avoid the slash. But to it's surprised, the slash never happened. The moment Shiki was trying to slash at it, the boy had already let go of Asuramaru as he let the blade fall into his right hand. With a smile on his face, Shiki knew that he had won.

"Checkmate."

One cut. With just one cut, the beast's head was severed from the rest of its body. As the body toppled over, Shiki suddenly stabs Asuramaru into the decapitated head repeatedly. He even went as far as using Asura-Kannon to continuously impale the rest of its body for extra measure. Since he couldn't use his Mystic Eyes until he met back with Shiranui, Shiki wanted to make extra sure that the beast was dead.

However, Shiki's sight now shifted from the dead beast towards a cave. Right now, his instincts were still screaming at him. He still had one more target it seems. As Shiki ran towards the cave, Asuramaru couldn't help but think to itself.

"That was....almost too easy. If this was meant to be a test that would push Shiki to the limit, then is this really it? Especially since Shiranui was the one who suggested Shiki to do this mission."

~In the cave~
"Ruri! Are you here?!"

Rika's voice echoed throughout the cave. As she walked inside, she noticed that her bare feet stepped in something. The scent was all too familiar to the young girl with how frequently she was attacked on this island. Right now, Rika was standing in a pool of blood.

As the young girl looked forward, she saw the talisman's pace slowing down. Footsteps began to echo in the cave as they were slowly approaching Rika. The creature slowly made its approach to the girl. However, what happened next was something no one would have wished to have witness.

"Rika......ge...ou..... Rika....."

Blood escaped from the creature's mouth. The shadow slowly enveloping its mangled body. The large bite marks that covered the body were slowly being filled in by the shadows. The feet slowly turning into claws, the shadows enveloping her slowly turning to black fur. However, what truly horrified Rika, was how the talisman stopped itself the moment it touched the creature's body.

"....no. No, no, no, no, no, NO!!! This isn't real, you're not Ruri, please tell me you're not."

"Run........aw.....ay. Rika..........I....it..hurts.."

It was too horrifying to accept. The victim slowly turning into a beast was Rika's only friend. Right now, in front of her very eyes, Rika was watching the life of her friend being consumed. Soon Rika tried to use her magic to heal her friend in an effort to repel the shadows. But nothing happened, the shadows just slowly consumed Ruri's body.

"Run....................."

That was the last word of the human named Ruri. Right now, all that stood before Rika was a wolf made of shadows that consumed her friend's body. Suddenly the wolf jumped at Rika as its fangs began to tear into the girl's flesh. Rika screamed in pain as she felt the wolf ripping off her flesh and eating it for itself. While Rika was trying to use her magic to heal herself, the wolf kept chewing away her flesh as she regenerated.

"Stop. Stop it, Ruri! My friend....my friend isn't a monster like this. Please.....it hurts. It hurts so much!!!!!! Make it stop! I don't.....I don't........I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!"

"SAVE ME, MR.SHIKI!!!!!"

Suddenly the sound of rushing footsteps began entered Rika's ears. Before she knew it, the wolf's head was cut cleanly off. As the girl looked at the person responsible, she saw Shiki looking at her as he looked concerned for her.

"Rika! I thought I told you to stay in the trees. Are you ok?!"

"Mr.......Mr.Shiki! That wolf was........was......"

"Wow, you decapitated a man-made Shikigami without hesitating! Do you get off from murder or something?!"

The moment Shiki and Rika turned around, they saw the small creature from before standing next to the wolf that Shiki decapitated. As the small creature held the head in its hands, the shadows that were covered the had began to be absorbed into the creature.

"Executioners are suppose to protect humans and exterminate any supernatural beings that threaten order. Even more so, the Nanaya clan is raised to kill supernatural monsters to such a degree it became a genetic instinct to kill them on sight. I don't blame you for killing this thing. In that one moment it stopped being human. But tell me.....how do you feel now, Koritsu Shiki?"

The shadows that made up the head of a wolf were completely gone. Right now, in the small creature's hands, was the head of a human child around the same age as Rika. She had shoulder-length brown hair as her amber eyes no longer held any life to them. Soon Shiki couldn't hide his face of horror as he saw the talisman that was used to search for Rika was on top of the decapitated head. Right in front of him, was the decapitated head of the person he was suppose to save. As the small creature laughed, it began to sink into the shadows as it threw the head near Shiki and Rika's feet.

"How did it feel to kill a human child?"