Asuri watched the figure before him, his blank eyes staring unamused at the weapon forming in their hands. A broad axe summoned between their hands, white steel composing the edges while both the eye and the knob had goat horns. The white-haired boy tilted his head. "You are a vessel too?"

The figure drew the axe back, a demonic presence appearing in their wake while the earth beneath them began to overgrow stems. "I am not asking you a second time. Give me the Demon King Belial." Their eyes narrowed at him through their hood, shimmering menacingly.

"Hmmm..." his head returned to its usual position. He barely gave any response to their threat, almost as if he was more focused on his thoughts than anything else this mysterious person had to say. "I'd rather not do this right now... if you leave, I'll pretend I didn't see you." His voice was detached, tired. His posture was uneven and slack, yet there was a calmness in his demeanor that was unsettling.

"I am not moving, child," Thet responded firmly and sternly, her determination radiating from her every word. "I know the power I've been seeking resides in you. The power to take the world for vessel kind, give it to me, or I'll pry it from you,"

He hummed once more, disappointment evident in his tone. He gathered his thoughts in annoyance and prepared to get things over with as soon as possible.

'Let me deal with this, boy.' a different voice echoed in his mind, a rigid, raspy, and slightly feral tone accompanying its voice. Asuri closed his eyes, taking a small sigh. 'Fine,' he opened his hand, the air around him becoming colder. Tiny crystals formed around his palm, taking the shape of a new sword. A light blue falchion with a transparent azure handle, the head of a ragging wolf on the end, a weapon that seemed to be from another realm.

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Asuri's hand lowered on his side. The tip of the blade graces the ground. "I'll give you a chance to take what you want." He whispered, puffs of frigid smoke escaping his mouth. "You can attack as much as you wish until this sword reaches the other side. If you can't take Belial by then, I will attack."

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The hooded figure narrowed their eyes at him. "I don't come here for games, moonlight monster."

"Then get going," his hand started to move, slowly initiating an arc around his body. His sword emitted a cold mist while his eyes remained dead set on the vessel before him. They remained blank and unmoving as if waiting for her to move, daring, challenging them to make a move.

The stranger moved their axe down, letting out a scowl while their eyes glared violently through the hood. They charged at him, lifting the weapon above their head and swinging it down at him with great force, but her swing was repelled within a second, a sound of metallic clashing flashing for an instant, leaving them confused as their axe landed on the other side.

His eyes didn't move an inch, remaining directly set on the hooded stranger. He let out a slight hum as his hand continued to push his hand in the arc's trajectory, his shoulder rising as the blade reached his chest's height. "Are you going to try again?" he whispered.

The mysterious person growled, holding the axe together in their hands. "Don't get too full of yourself, boy," they tried to swing the weapon once more, but it was deterred just the same, pushing the axe away and forcing the blade to crave into the dirt beneath them.

Their eyes harrowed in anger as they lifted their weapon again, swinging back at him only to get repelled another time, but they didn't let the blade hit the ground this time. They prepared another swing and attempted to attack again, only to be deflected time after time. Sparks emerged after each one while the sword continued to advance, reaching half of its arc and starting its descent.

'What is his kid doing? Why can't a get hit in!?' they pondered in frustration as they watched their axe being deflected over and over. The small bundle of sparks surged each time it failed. They noticed something in their constant onslaught: the sparks followed the boy's hands, a realization causing their eyes to go wide.

Some force or demonic ability wasn't rejecting their attacks. The boy was blocking each of their swings, stopping them dead in their tracks and pushing them away before returning to tracing the arc around his figure, yet he was moving so quickly that it didn't register to them.

"Ngh..." the figure jumped back. "Maybe you're not all talk, Moonlight Monster." they raised their axe with one hand. As they stared at the child, they watched the falchion approach the end of its arc. "But you haven't seen anything from me yet." They slammed the axe on the ground, the metal starting to pulsate unnaturally.

Suddenly, the earth around them began to tremble. Thick and sharp emerged from the ground, approaching rapidly to the boy from numerous angles. As the sounds of the vines echoed ever closely, his shoulder shifted directions. The light blue steel moved as a shimmering blur, creating the illusion of a half-sphere around him that destroyed the vines. After that, the sword's tip touched the other side, completing the arc.

He let out a breath in the form of a cold puff, with his eyes closing momentarily, "Time's up. My turn." The instant he opened his eyes, he faded out of sight and reappeared in front of them, swinging the falchion at their head. Their eyes widened in shock, taking a step back and using vines to pull themselves back. At the same time, more plants came from the ground, attempting to snare him.

Asuri reversed his grip on the sword, swinging in a circular motion. Then, the vines were frozen and subsequently shattered, causing the mysterious person to fall back, their hood ripping open and revealing their face—a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes. After he landed, he returned to standard grip for his blade and charged forward rapidly.

The woman's eyes shoot up in reaction, picking her axe up and slamming it ahead once more, creating pillars of vines that grew in various spots, attempting to cut his path and trap him inside. He disappeared from each of their wakes, his steps becoming light blue flashes, freezing every pillar after passing them, shattering shortly after, and creating a veil of cold mist and ice shards that clouded her vision.

"Where are you!?" She looked around frantically as she picked her axe back up. The next moment, he blinked in sight behind her. She quickly created a web of vines to restrain his movements, only for them to be frozen and broken in an instant, but it gave her enough time to turn around and block the frigid falchion with the edge of her axe.

The struggle caused the vegetation and ice to fight for dominance in the area surrounding them. Asuri huffed, cold air fading from her sight again, snow covering the area beneath her and shaking. Without warning, the snow shifted around her, shoving her into the air and encasing her into a sphere.

"What the!?" she tried to reach her axe, but the falchion stabbed her through the palm, making her scream in pain. Asuri appeared an instant leader, holding the sword and digging it out of her hand, his white hair and eyes barely visible in the dark from the encased area.

He faded out of sight, appearing as quick blush trails of chilling hair sliding from side to side within the sphere, creating slashes around her body and spilling blood into the bottom.

The woman, gritting her teeth in strain and anger, manifested the axe in her other hand. She screamed as she forced a power surge within herself, massive root tendrils sprouting from all around her, growing thorns in every space as they destroyed the sphere and expanded toward the ground.

Asuri fell back, blinking and fading away from the thorned onslaught. However, the overwhelming amount made it challenging to get away, making cuts all around his body and causing his blood to fly in the air. "Tch..." he whispered through his teeth, holding the frozen falchion tighter. Instead of trying to avoid it, he pushed himself with a pillar of ice, burying himself on the bundle of thorns, stabbing one of the roots and letting the ice spread through them, breaking them apart and letting both fall on the ground.

The woman growled in pain as her body hit the ground. Her body reshaped back to its usual form forcibly, her injuries closing rigidly while she glared at Asuri fervently. "You little fuck!"

Asuri landed a lot more controlled than her, his cuts closing smoothly while he stood back straight, his head turning in her direction upon catching her voice. He took a vertical stance, his sword pointed at her. "I don't want to drag this on. If that's all you can do, I'll end this now." He stated in a distant and detached tone.

"That kind of power..." she gritted her teeth further. "It's wasted in a traitor like you!" she lifted her axe. "You could help all of the vessel kind to win this war! To end our persecution from humans and unaccepting demons!" she then placed the knob on the ground. "I'll take it from you, even if I have to leech it from your bones."

Asuri watched, unphased by her declaration, gripping his sword with caution. Then he suddenly puked out a root, his body starting to shift against his will while he could feel his lungs getting pierced by thorns growing from within. His mouth and eyes spilled blood while his legs shook, struggling to stand still. His eyes went wide, "Those thorns..." he mumbled reply, unable to talk coherently from the roots growing along his throat.

'You shouldn't have let her grace you,' the rigid voice echoed in his mind.

'Do you have something helpful to say?' he fell on one knee and held his chest, feeling the thorns wrapping around his heart from within.

"Exactly..." she began walking at him. She watched his body contorting unwillingly, the twisted cracking of his bones as the roods wrapped around him and forced them broken, the blood spilling from the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears the more she approached. "you're too young to understand. But I'll make good use of this power."

'I could help you, but you'll have to give me control for a bit.'

Asuri grumbled as he coughed out more blood, watching the woman raise the axe to bash it into his head. 'Fine. I'll give you three minutes.' he reluctantly brought the sword to his face, forcing his arm to move despite the vine's attempt to stop him; growls of pain erupted in him while blood splurged from his arm.

The woman stared in shock, her arm faltering from the brief failure of her demonic hold. "What..."

His mouth stood close to the wolf's head on his blade, his breath hitting it as he uttered a single phrase. "Fenrir, devour." The wolf's eyes shimmered, and its jaws opened as the sword released a thick coat of ice mist, clouding the woman's vision and obliging her to jump back.

Within the foggy space, she could only see Asuri's silhouette. His body stood up as the roots fell from his body, shattering seconds after they exited his skin. With a single swing of the sword, he dissipated with mist. An unrelenting force hitting her even at a distance. A second later, he blinked before her, lunging at her with a chilling howl, his eyes becoming wolflike with a deep blue color.

Her eyes shot up as she stumbled back, attempting to swing her axe at his head, but he ducked down from her attack, opening his mouth with ice fangs forming on his jaw, digging them into her forearm and ripping it straight from her arm, her blood freezing as it spilled into the ground. She screamed in pain and formed her axe into her other hand, making vines that dragged her away from him as she growled to regrow her missing forearm. 'What the hell happened!? How did he get rid of my thorns so quickly!' she panted and looked around frantically.

Asuri spit out her severed forearm, an animalistic arm appearing on his face as he started to chase after her, blinking in and out of sight, swinging the blade a lot more wildly and freezing the vines with a single touch, even if it wasn't from the sword itself, the mere trace of his feet and hand was freezing the thorns. At the same time, she desperately expanded them to get distance from him.

She felt a drop of seat running along her forehead, her expression furrowing at the sight. "Did he really give control to that demon?" she watched as the possessed boy crawled through the ever-growing vine. "This kid is crazy," her grip on her axe tightened, and she drew her axe back, digging into the vine and causing giant thorns to grow all around its length.

Asuri watched as one of the thorns started to grow beneath him but dodged its surge instinctively, using it to jump higher toward her, the thorn freezing and shattering rapidly after. He avoided the jumps swiftly despite his animalistic movements, escaping their piercing thrust. The closer he advanced, the colder she could feel the air around her getting.

Even when one of the spikes emerged right on his face, he dug his fangs into the tip, shattering it in contact and producing tiny shards while he jumped at her, raising the sword above his head. Before she could raise her axe in defense, he brought the sword down, only giving her time to move her head.

Still, the blade embedded into her shoulder. She shouted in pain as she felt the weapon spreading ice along the injury. She lowered her head and coughed blood while her breath became slow pants of cold mist, 'no... no, I can't let this happen! I can't let his brat kill me! I have to get that power for them!'

She growled and watched him open his mouth to take a bite. She moved her axe close to her face, her teeth tainted with her blood while she let out the chant. "Tao-Tie, consume." After that, her eyes were submerged in a black void, thorned roots spreading all around the area, making Asuri jump down and take distance.

He watched as the woman descended, her shoulder stitched forcibly by roots, thorns growing out of her head and taking the form of horns. The possessed boy scoffed, his eyes furrowing as a grin formed on his mouth. "I was wondering how long you'd be hiding in there, Tao-Tie."

The woman's now black eyes turned to him, her body twisting to face him while she took the axe and placed it over her shoulder. "Look who's talking, Fenrir. How come you and the king are settling for a frail child," the voice emitting from her mouth was grimy, the pitch considerably higher and with a tone of irreverence on every word.

"Oh, there is a lot more here." He pointed at his chest, his grin widening while frigid steam came outof his mouth. "I just didn't expect you to be stupid enough to challengeme." 

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"What did you call me?" irritation made a vein mark on her forehead. The possessed woman's face twisted into a glower, "I will consume you! You, the king, and anyone else inside that brat! I'll consume you all!" she declared, moving the axe down and taking an animalistic position.

The first step she took created a booming sound, her figure disappearing and leaving a hole in her wake. However, He didn't panic. He moved the sword behind his head. A metallic clashing echoed as he turned his head, seeing his swing successfully blocking her axe. "Is that so?" his eyes adopted a condescending look, his fangs reflecting the glimmer of the snowflakes floating around him. "I have two minutes left in control. Let's see if you can survive that."

Her eye twitched in frustration, "You damned snow dog!" she raised the axe, chopping down at him increasingly furious, only for each of her swings to be deflected by the frozen sword, sparks flying around and flashing fleeting as a result of the clashes. The exchange columnated in a profound clash of their weapons. Fenrir's grin widened through Asuri's face as he summoned sharp ice structures to charge at the woman. Tao-Tie forced her body to jump away, destroying the oncoming shards with her axe and summoning a giant root to land on.

He created an ice pillar to propel him towards her, his eyes reflecting the moon's shine while he prepared to continue the attack. The possessed woman growled, sliding the axe across the vine's circumference, making a barrage of piercing thorns to be shot out of the fissure.

Fenrir huffed, challenging through Asuri's nose, his sword spinning around his hand as he jumped towards the thorns. He stabbed one, freezing it to create a platform he could stand on. Then, he swung at blinding speeds, deflecting the spikes coming his way while the frozen thorn approached the giant root structure.

Tao-Tie made the woman's grith. The thorn's end wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, bending back completely before launching her like a rocket. Her body hopped from prickle to prickle towards Asuri. She jumps directly at her from one of them, preparing the axe from an upward swing.

He turned around to face her, swiping down and rejecting her swing. To which she scowled and jumped away from the platform, using another spike to leap at him and attack again. Yet still, he moved his arm instinctively to block her once more, pushing her back and preparing for her next swing.

As the rain of thorns kept storming into the area, she skipped around them unceasingly, attacking the boy only to be deflected and repeated the process. The after images started to mix in with the objects flinging across the late-night sky. His eyes moved widely as they followed her trajectory to a tea.

She appeared from behind, swinging at his waist. And yet, his figure faded as soon as she made contact, revealing only an afterimage as Asuri ducked and attacked her with a rising thrust. The strike approached in less than an instant, the blade's edge piercing her chest and coming out of her back.

To this, Fenrir's eyes glowed brighter, making the ice beneath them expand and push them towards the enormous root, impaling her against it and freezing the entire vine, destroying it with another swing and letting his opponent fall to the floor while he descended.

After she crashed into the ground, Teo-Tie growled through her throat, making her nails dig into the ground while her injuries closed forcibly by the thorns. "Damn you..." she mumbled and used her axe to stand up shakily, "Damn you!" she shoved the axe into the ground. As she did so, her eyes shimmered a jaded gold, roots of the same color growing from the dirt and starting to arrange together.

Fenrir chuckled haughtily, cold steam passing through his teeth as his fangs sharpened at the sight. "So, we're not done? Perfect." He craved his Falchion on the ground, his eyes sparkling light blue, "I wasn't satisfied yet," he snarled while the atmosphere around him became even colder, ice forming from thin air and conjoining into a demonic frame.

What was happening?

A vessel can relinquish control to the demon sealed within it for a limited amount of time. In exchange, the demon will be allowed to use more power and have a better understanding of their abilities that can be used by the vessel in the future. And of these abilities is the power to manifest the demon sealed within as an apparition of their very life force.

These appearances manifested in the form of an enormous, monstrous goat. The body of twisting vines and the horns wholly composed of thorns, its eyes of a black color, the coves of hardened roots.

And a titanic ice wolf, made of sharp ice that reflected the moonlight on its body from the top of its head to its razor fangs to the sharp claws that craved on the ground, his breath coming out on a raspy and challenging puff.

With a violent huff, the goat charged forward, and the stomp of its hooves against the ground caused the area to shake while the monster prepared its horns to attack. In response, the wolf rushed forward. Each step he took covered the dirt on snow and bits of the eye, his eyes set on the beast while its tail flowed along the air despite its rigid body.

As they meet, Fenrir moves his head between Tao-Tie's horns. He opened his mouth and attempted to bite its neck. The goat moved its head up, away from his jaws, and then it lifted its front hooves, trying to crash his head. He skipped out of the way and growled maliciously.

After the failed stomp, the goat created roots that moved along the dirt, charging at him in the form of tendrils. The wolf planted his paws on the ground, letting out an ear-shattering howl, the sound waves freezing the vines and shattering rapidly after.

The goat huffed with anger, ramming at him once more, to which Fenrir responded in kind. His claws clashed against Tao-Tei's horns, and the wolf used his hind legs to push back, digging his claws into the ground while it tried to scrape at the goat's face. It shook its head violently, throwing him off and slamming him into the ground.

He stood up with a low growl, watching the goat charging at him once more and lifting its head to slam its horns into him. As they came face to face, the wolf took a step back, raising his claw between his horns and swiping directly into one of its eyes. The goat screamed in pain and stumbled on its size, attempting to stand up as its eye slowly reformed.

However, Fenrir didn't give it a rest. He jumped at the goat and craved its claw into its other eye, enlisting another anguished shout from his opponent. Tao-Tie rolled back on its feet, shaking its head and charging blindly in anger.

The wolf easily avoided its unsighted ram, moving under its head and digging his fangs into his neck. The goat's eyes shot open, shaking frantically to wobble him off, but he did not release him, only pushed his teeth deeper into its body. In response, it opened its mouth wide and bit into his rigid neck, making a deep growl escape his mouth.

They struggled and rolled in the ground ferally, their eyes glimmering as their movements caused the ground to shake. Neither of them released their biting grip, attempting to devour the other completely.

But slowly, the demonic goat's body started to lose force, and snow and ice began scattering around its neck and chest. Bit by bit, it unwillingly relinquished its jaw's grip on Fenrir's neck. He stood back on its paws, his fangs biting deeper on its root-composed neck. That's the moment when Tao-Tie's mistake was made crystal clear.

It challenged one of the eight generals of the demon king in battle.

He created an enormous pillar of ice covered with sharp shards. Then, he started climbing it, dragging the demonic goat along it with its teeth firmly carved on its neck. Each spike broke apart as Tao-Tie slammed into it, its body freezing more and more the higher he took it.

When they reached the apex of the pillar, He threw his opponent into the air, its now frozen shape motionless before the moon's frame. The wolf absorbed the ice from the pillar, becoming even more massive and crushing Tao-Tie in his mouth. He let out a ground-shaking howl, his figure dispersing into thousands of snowflakes that reflected the moon's shimmer as they rained down on the ground.

That was the power of Fenrir—the frozen devourer.

As the snow rained down, the woman's body lay among the broken roots, motionless. She coughed blood and tried to keep her breathing steady, but nothing changed. Neither her muscles nor her nerves responded to her.

Asuri's eyes turned blank again, his grin disappearing and returning to his detached, tired look. He started to walk while he mentally scowled. 'People are going to see what you did.'

'You gave me 3 minutes; I did what you asked,' Fenrir's voice responded to his mind.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance, 'This is why I never let you have your way.' he stopped as he reached the woman. His head turned down in the direction of her weak heartbeat. "You're done, right?"

"Never." She spat spot and tried to manifest her axe again. Nothing happened.

"It wasn't really a question," Asuri tilted his head and pointed to her. "The demon you had sealed within you is gone."

She scowled, her eyes narrowing as she gritted her teeth. "I'll just get another one. I'll come back, and I will take your power for Vessel kind!" her voice was a lot more ragged, blood spilling out with every word she spoke.

"Hmmm," he closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I was expecting you to say that," his tone remained tired, with a hint of disappointment tingling in it. "But it's not like I'm going to let you chase me a second time." He picked up his Falchion. "I'm a kid, not stupid." His blank gaze lingered in her direction. "One more chance, drop out of this war, never fight again, go to a safe place, and I'll spare you."

"There are no face places in this world." she glowered, "not for people like us... Vessels are never going to be free unless we win this war. I won't stop fighting, never..." her toned lowered, both from disdain and memory the softened her expression.

Asuri sighed; his absent face didn't shift an inch. Still, he kneeled before her, both hands on his sword. "Do you have a family?" he asked in a quieter tone.

Her glare tensed, but shortly after, she averted his gaze. "I had one..." her voice became laced with resignation.

"Wherever you end up, if you see them. Stay there." He brought the sword to her head. Her body went limp. Ice covered her completely and then shattered, becoming nothing more than snow particles that dissolved into the air. Asuri stood up and grimaced as he felt the cold wind flowing against his tiny body.

He could feel the light of the sun creeping from the distant mountains, causing him to let out another exhale. He turned around and took quick steps, passing the landscape in seconds until he reached the start of the mountain group; between two of them lay a clearing.

It was the entrance of a village, which he passed quickly enough for the guards not to notice him. He lay in an empty alleyway, turning his head up and closing his eyes as the daylight bathed the place on a cold sunrise.

To be continued.