As the morning light began to sneak into the hallway, dimly illuminating the dark brick floor and walls ever so slightly ragged wood walls. Among them, the sun's bright rays descended to open the snow-white skin of the resting moonlight monster. His blank eyes didn't react to the light, and still, his face twisted at the feeling of warmth.

"Ugh..." he grunted and moved away from the light.

'What are you complaining about? You do not sleep anyway.'

"Shut up." Asuri stood up, and then he cautiously walked to the alleyway's edge. His fingers barely peeked out through the wall's verge. He turned his head, letting his ear take in the resonances of the town. Chatters among chatters, merchants moving boxes, children running around, doors closing and opening as people entered and left buildings. It was a vibrant civic, pulsating with life and energy.

He released a deep exhale, stepped back, and placed his small palm on his hand. The roots began emerging through the spaces between the bricks, joining together until they formed a tree. Soon after, the branches sprouted threats. The strings moved on their own and formed a white kimono with a hood attached.

He put the cloth in and covered his head. Next, he stepped out of the hallway and began walking silently, blending in with the crowd of people. Each sound of the people around him creates a path for him to move around the paths without bumping into anyone.

'What exactly are we doing here?'

'Checking the place until I figure out what to do next,' Asuri responded with his head staying low, his white orbs glued to the ground, and his arms hanging low on his sides. Even as he did so, his back stayed upright while he took step after step, the base of his foot barely making sounds while the voices continued to resound around the streets.

The people spoke about mundane things, sharing their plans for the day, discussing what to eat for dinner, and talking about their children's kids playing around cheerfully. It seemed almost too mundane, even for a secluded area. He moved deeper into the town, tuning out the sounds of casual conversations, searching for more specific exchanges.

"Did you see the sky last night?" a woman asked.

"Yeah, it was full of snow... it's not even close to winter season," another woman responded.

"I must have been a demon... those disgusting monsters..." the venom was dripping on her voice like boiling water on untreated skin.

"Good thing they will never get past our gates. Our knights are always ready to rid of that sickening filth."

Asuri scoffed quietly as he listened to them. He pressed past the crowd, quickening his pace and becoming a blur, fading from the sight of the outsiders. He reached what seemed to be a plaza in the center of the town. Benches surrounded a central statue, various buildings surrounded the clear area, and a few stands of food added to the cozy atmosphere. Yet, amidst this sense of belonging, Asuri felt like an outsider.

And still, the snow-white skin boy only stayed to take in the air for a second. He then took a step to get past the small area, but just then, his ears caught vibrations of steps coming towards him.

"Heya!" the voice as young, similar to his.

As he turned, he saw another child, not too much younger than himself. He has a boy with dark blue hair and green eyes, as well as peach skin. Behind him, there was a group of other children. "We haven't seen you around... are you new in the village?" he titled his head.

Asuri remained quiet. He asserted the situation. He couldn't exactly run without pressing suspicions now. But speaking wasn't something he was fond of. Then again, he didn't have much of an option now. He moved his hood further over his head to cover his face. "Yes."

"Nice! Do you want to play ball with us? We need another person to finish our teams." The bluenette boy smiled politely with his hands on his back.

"Sorry, I don't have time to play." He thought of a quick excuse as he began walking past them. "I have to get home quickly."

"Well, maybe we can go with you! We'll ask your parents if you can join us!" Another kid from the group spoke out, a redhead with hazel eyes and a timid expression.

'Fuck...' Asuri growled mentally at his mistake. "Uh... no, it's fine, I'll just play with you. My parents are asleep. I don't want to bother them."

"Oh... yeah, that makes sense." The bluenette boy rubbed his chin and nodded.

"What's with the hood?" the redhead girl titled her head curiously, "did something bad happen to your face?"

"Woah!" another of the kids exclaimed.

"Come on, that wasn't cool." Other said.

"It's okay," Asuri mumbled, "I just don't like showing my face in new places."

"Oh... yeah, I guess that makes sense," she mumbled before slumping back behind the others. "Sorry..."

He didn't respond. He merely followed them to the center. They had some makeshift goal nets with branches and robes and a slightly ragged ball made of various layers of leader.

"Alright! Since you're new, you can be the goalie of one of the teams!" the bluenette boy offered and pointed at the net question.

"Yeah, yeah." He began walking. "I just need to stop the ball from getting inside this thing, right?"

"Uh... yeah?" he titled his head.

"You've never played ball net before?" a brunette kid asked.

"... no," he stated and then stood before the net.

The kids looked at him in confusion. What child hasn't played games before? And even then, as they looked at each other, their expressions furrowed, not wanting to hurt the strange boy's feelings by asking personal questions.

"Right..." the blue-eyed boy cleared his throat and clapped his hands. Let's play ball!"

"Yeah!" the others cheered.

As they began playing, Asuri observed, staying quiet. The sounds paint the image of the other children running, the passing of the ball, and its ever-changing position on the field.

'Seriously? You're playing games now?'

'Do you have a better idea?' he refuted.

'I have like 7'

'It can't include manslaughter'

'I have nothing.'

'Then shut it and let me get through this.' He listened to their laughter, the wonder and cheer resounding in their tones like ringing bells. The picture of children playing together, bonding... simply being kids. It intertwines with past images of the same situation but in a different setting.

'What are you talking about? Why would we ever let you play with them?'

'you're not a child. You're a monster and a tool.'

'You better not forget it; next time you ask, we'll have to touch ANOTHER lesson.'

The images became grimmer and darker, changing into glares and scowls of disgust and indifference as a lone boy was beaten in plain sight. His hands gripped beneath his sleeves as his breath ragged bellow the cloak.

'You will never be like them.'

'You're just a monster to be used.'

'You're not a kid, and you'll never get the things they have.'

"Hey! The ball is coming your way!"

As a voice in the real world pierced through his trance, Asuri caught the sound of an object coming straight at him. Out of the sudden conciseness dip, he moved his leg at blinding speeds, hitting the ball with unrealistic force that propelled the ball into the sky like a rising rocket, creating a boom that brought the surrounding citizen's attention.

The other kids stared in astonishment, looking at the ball's trajectory before turning back to the strange boy. Their silence was not broken even when their parents approached them in concern. "I'm going to get the ball, sorry," Asuri said rapidly. He left the center quickly, restraining his movement as much as possible so that he did not seem unusual.

Once he was away from their sight, he began walking quicker, disappearing and reappearing in various alleyways. "Damn it..." he whispered, trying to imagine the ball's travel and follow accordingly. "Just get the thing, bring It back, and say you have to go." He whispered to himself.

Just then, there was a thud—the sound of a body hitting the ground. It couldn't be mistaken. It caused Asuri to stop in his tracks, but his clatters of crawling and pushing continued. His breath came out as an exasperated sigh. Within the next instant, he turned around, following the sounds through the edges of the streets.

When the noises became loud enough to reach, the scene showed a demon with lanky proportions, visible ribs, thin arms, yellow eyes, thick horns, and long, fragile fingers. But the hellish creature was on the ground, crawling away from a group of armored humans. "Step back! I want to go home!"

The leading human chuckled, grey hair barely covering his green eyes as his silver armor reflected the sun's light. Over his shoulders rested a hammer. The shape was strange, almost as it was craved from the piece of a giant spine. "Oh, don't worry, we'll send you down there, right boys?" he looked back at the other knights, who all wore slightly less detailed armors with daggers made of the same material, even matching the shape of smaller pieces of bone.

The demon stumbled back further. "Please! I don't want to fight! Just-" they were interrupted by a direct hit of the hammer on their chest, sending them flying and causing them to cough blood. "d... don't kill me... please," they begged weakly.

The group of knights approached slowly, with malicious smirks painted across each of their faces as their weapons glinted with otherworldly energy in the alleyway. Suddenly, a booming crackle resounded. The next thing they saw, the snow-white-skinned male stood between them in the demon, his hood lowered, and red lightning covering his surroundings as the draconic Jian appeared in his hand.

"Let the demon go."

They stepped back at the sudden appearance. The lead knight raised an eyebrow, "A child?" he spoke, skeptical of the sight. But the electrifying aura and strange weapon made him keep his guard up, holding his hammer tightly as the other knights.

Even the demons looked at him in confusion, covering their head at the sudden sound and lights. "What the..." they mumbled under their breath.

"Sir." One of the knights whispered, "I think that's the moonlight monster." he added. "The one that has the demon king Belial in him."

"Of course..." the captain knight narrowed his eyes, "only the root of all evil would protect a pathetic, disgusting creature." He glanced at the demon, his hands gripping tighter on his weapon.

"Can we skip the monologues? Nobody is listening to you," Asuri interrupted him, holding his sword firmly and sporting an unbothered expression. The only thing I'm interested in is hearing where you found those weapons," he said, pointing the Jian directly at the hammer.

The captain chuckled with irritation undertones. "Ah, captivated, I see," he said, placing the hammer's head on the ground. Even the devil's vessel is aloof at the might of the gods." He lifted the hammer, showing it off over his shoulder. "This little treasure is the gift from the armament deity."

"Uhuh," he swiped his blade sideways, getting ready to move. "In short wording, you stole it from a corpse."

"Your impudent monster!" another knight glared at him, pointing his dagger out violently. "How dare you speak that of the very." Before he could let out another word, a thunder strike echoed in the narrow space; the next second, the knight's neck opened with a nasty cut on it; his voice turned into drowned gurgles while Asuri stood over his corpse.

The moonlight monster pulled the dagger off his hand as he clung to his fleeting life. "I'm done listening to your blathering," he showed the knights their partner's weapon. "that's one less; give the others, leave the demon alone, and I'll forget any of this happened."

But then, an invisible pull ripped the dagger out of his hand. It embedded itself on the captain's hammers and fused into its side. "You are going to pay for that, monster." he took a stance in front of his men. "Knights of the mountain, stay cautious. Let's bring this beast to justice!" he let out a battle cry before the battalion charged at him.

Asuri's face furrowed in annoyance and grimace. He quickly rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine." He spun the draconic Jian on his palm to take a stance, and subsequently, he charged with bolts of scarlet lightning, ready to stab at the captain's chest. But he was forced to move his hand behind himself as another knight tried to swing at him.

The next instant, he blocked consecutive attacks from the other warriors, blocking their dagger with blinding speed and precision. However, whenever he tried to attack, the knives were already pulling themselves in a different direction. By the time he adjusted his swing, he already had to block the next attack. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and the sounds of a heavy swing from above. The captain was falling with a crushing attack of his hammer while his squad kept the boy in place.

Thinking rapidly, Asuri surrounded himself with demonic electricity, shocking the men through their armor and forcing them to stop their assault; he escaped from the meteoric slam like a bolt of lightning.

"Seriously? You attack while your knights are holding me down?" he swiped his sword to the side, a deadpan expression as he turned his head towards them. "And you call demons pathetic?" he scoffed.

"Do not compare us to those foul beasts!" one of the knights shouted while they charged at him once more.

Asuri watched them rush towards him, his body turning into fading after images whenever they attempted to stab or swing at him. When the next hammer swing came at him, he turned around to the captain before he even finished the attack, covering his arm with crimson electricity, blocking the smashing swing, and pushing the hammer back.

Before he could take advantage of that opening, the other knights were pulled towards him by the same unseen force as before, forcing him to twist his wrist and move his sword in a defensive position. He blocked all their attacks with intervals of red thunder.

'What kind of weapons are they using... it's like they're not moving on their own accord.' He continued to avoid swings while following each movement, looking for any clue.

'If you let me have control, that won't matter,' the draconic, echoing voice spoke in his mind.

'I'm not letting you turn this place into an ashtray; just quiet down and let me deal with this,' he answered sternly, jumping back before they next charge and planning the sword on the ground. Afterward, he summoned a barrage of lighting, raining like an upward storm, blasting the knights and making them lose their footing for a moment. For a moment, he used to stab another one through the jugular before his dagger could move to stop his next move; the moonlight monster had already pierced another knight's heart. When he fell to the ground, Asuri sidestepped from a hammer smash from the captain, the two daggers from the death knights merging into his weapons.

"You already lost three people; it won't take me long to figure out your trick," he wiped a speck of blood from his face. "Do yourselves a favor and give up. You don't have to die for a petty war."

"Silence!" the captain slammed his hammer into the ground. "We will not allow this dishonor to go unpunished! You will rue the day you spilled our comrades' blood and protected a disgusting demon!" he jumped towards him while the remaining knights.

Asuri took a step back, becoming a fading image that dispelled as soon as the hammer made contact with it. His hand moved in a circular motion, blocking the attacks from the other knights. Then, he disappeared from their subsequent onslaught, with every swing missing his wave while he approached the captain once more.

One step away from reaching him, a knight stood between them, clashing with his blade only to be deflected in a quick motion. The Snow-white skin boy blocked behind him with blistering precision, coating the blade with red bolts that blasted them away, letting him land swiftly. He parried a double attack next, sticking his Jian between the blades of a pair of knights; he lifted them above his head and sent them flying backward.

He squatted to avoid a stabbing lunge. After that, he thrust his sword upward at the knight's stomach, but another dagger stopped it from a foe that came from the side. His blank gaze turned to him, hitting him with the hilt of the sword and causing him to stumble back; the next instant, Asuri swung upward, cutting his armor and causing him to stumble back in surprise.

The captain charged to stop the further brutality, swinging his hammer between them and catching the boy's attention. He moved the hammer upward, and Asuri backflipped away, following this with a diagonal stab, stopping the hammer with the sharp edges from the daggers that merged with it.

The grey-haired man growled, moving his hammer back and then swinging sideways. Asuri jumped back precisely to avoid its radius of effect, but then, the infused dagger moved to the tip of the weapon, extending its range and slicing his arm off, making the sword fade off as it left his disembodied hand.

As the boy jumped back and landed with his remaining hand, the captain scoffed condescendingly. "You've been disarmed, Monster." He pointed his hammer at him while his reimaging knights stood by his sides. "don't drag this on more than necessary and accept your fate."

But Asuri didn't respond; he merely stood on his feet; his face didn't show frustration, no strain, no anger, nothing. His devoid glance turned to his missing limp after he tried to grip his blade. "Hmm?" The sleeve of his kimono had been ripped apart, letting him see his bone sticking out of his nub. "Oh, you took my arm?"

His question came out as casual, not a tint of panic towards the turn of events. He turned his face back to them. "I will admit it, that was my mistake,"

The knights remained still with trepidation; how could he be so nonchalant about losing an arm? Did he not realize he was done for? Was he just delirious at this point? The answer came in a ghoulish display.

The bone on his nub began growing, taking back its original shape. This was quickly followed by muscles and veins, all of which returned to their original positions as new skin covered them.

Each finger grew back with gnarly fleshy sounds until the arm was completely back in its place. He gritted his teeth, letting out a faint pained huff. He closed and opened his hand for a few seconds.

He extended his regenerated hand to the side, his face returning to monotony while red electricity began to summon the Jian once more. "let's continue. I'll take you more seriously this time."

He faded from their eyes, and less than a second later, thunderous noises were heard, accompanied by rapid slashes. The captain's eyes went wide, the daggers forcing his hammer to move and block a swing directed at his neck. At that moment, he could see the other knights falling to the ground, their heads cleanly cut from their necks.

"You... you..." he gritted his teeth, "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS." he charged his hammer again, smashing towards him as the daggers surrounded the weapon.

Asuri responded by covering his sword in demonic lightning, pushing back the hammer, and then turning into countless afterimages, making the daggers miss him with every movement they took.

At the next hammer smash, he sidestepped, simultaneously moving his sword in wild motions to deflect the storm of daggers attempting to overwhelm him. Even in this narrowed space, he moved away from every attack, almost like he was in all those places at once. "I told you I wouldn't take long to figure out your trick." He appeared behind him. "A divine weapon is no good if you can't use it properly."

"You monster!" the captain shouted while continuously trying to crush his head under his hammer. "Those men had families! Friends! You have no idea what you've taken from them!" he growled. "A Vessel like you could never," he was cut off as a scarlet bolt descended on him, making him shout in pain as the armor amplified the effect on his body.

"Shut up, will you?" Asuri spat darkly as he approached him. "You're no better than what you call filth."

The captain glared at him intensely, gripping his arm to take another swing. "How can you say that? They're demons! They have no soul! No alliance! They're nothing but disgusting monsters!" nearly instantly, his arms were slid off his shoulder, red electricity cauterizing his blood. At the same time, he screamed in anguish and fell to his knees, the hammer landing beside him with a heavy thud.

Amongst his pain, he tried to reach the hammer with his other arm, but it met the same end, leaving him shouting in pain, the screams finally alerting the people in town. The civilians gasped at the terrifying scene.

"It's the moonlight monster."

"What is he doing here? How did he find us?"

"He killed all the knights! He's going for the caption, too! We're doomed!"

"P... papa!" a familiar young voice shouted. The bluenette boy from before ran towards the captain, hugging his side tightly, making the man's eyes go wide in panic.

"Y...Yumi, get away from here, Yumi," he said, his voice rising with fear as he looked between his child and Asuri.

"No... I don't want you to die!" he cried on his chest. "Don't take my papa away!" he begged.

Asuri's eyes shifted ever so slightly. He then scoffed. "You will never raise a weapon again." He told the captain, lifting the hammer and then throwing it away with wind-breaking force. Its sight was soon lost in the sky. "If you, or anyone here, ever tries to bring this war back here, I will know, and I will come back." His voice was direct, threatening, and sincere. He punctuated his words with a quick flash of the demonic dragon's face, composed of red lightning. With that, he faded the sword and turned around to walk off.

He stared at him in disbelief, his breathing barely contained as his child held closely onto him, helping his armless figure stay stable. "M...monster!" the kid shouted, picking a rock and throwing it at the back of his head.

"Monster!" another person did the same, throwing another rock at him.

"You left us defenseless!"

"You doomed us!"

"You're a monster!"

The rocks plummeted on his back and head, and yet, he didn't flinch. He continued to walk until he reached the exit of the town. Even when the gatekeepers gave him hateful looks, they were too scared to do anything to stop him. He passed the mountain formations and continued to advance.

"I don't get it...why did you save me?"

"Hmm?" Asuri turned to the voice; he recognized the tone—the demon that was being assaulted. "Oh, you escaped. Good."

"Why did you let them live? They're just scum that thing they're the victims." The demon added as they walked after him.

"You should go back home." He ignored his question, "Look for the nearest gate and stay there."

"This isn't going to change anything! You don't get it? We need the king to win this war!" a sword was pinned on the tree beside their head, causing their eyes to open wide.

"Go. Back. Home." He told him with his blank eyes staring down at him. "I will not ask you a second time." He stated as he pulled the blade out. Then, he continued to walk off.

The demon said nothing else, and they stumbled back as they watched him go. He left to find the nearest gate back to hell, leaving something clear.

In this war, the Moonlight Monster was apart from any side.

To be continued.