Fire.
Water.
And blood.
Those three things filled New York City and Romania 10 years ago.
The sky was dark at that time, covered in dark clouds. Not even a single bit of sunlight could get past it.
Five men stood in the middle of New York City in a circle, looking at the destruction of the city and a purple color that decorated the sky alongside black smoke and rain that dripped adjacent to water.
Darkness filled the city even though it was still midday.
Many bodies lay on the street. Bloodied, bruised. Some even had missing body parts.
Arms, legs, red… bloody red.
"Support! There are 3 over here!"
"Where is the support?! Reinforcement!"
"The Slayers from New Haven are on their way! Long Island is also attacked, so they can't send anyone to New York!"
"Shit! We are going to be destroyed at this rate! These fucking scarecrows!"
"Kishisisisisi!"
Crazy laughter that clearly didn't come from a human's mouth decorated this bloody mess of destruction.
The men panicked, and one of them, who held a Talisman, created a protective dome around them from the creatures that looked like a scarecrow from a field of corn.
The scarecrow bodies that were made from straw didn't serve as a reason to underestimate them. As they were the ones that threw this city into this mess.
"Shit! They attacked when we least expected them! Fuck!" One of them cursed out loud. "Why did they come at this time?!"
"Because Dragon and Director are in Romania to defeat those creatures' real bodies! They won't stop coming unless we defeat them!"
"Shit! That means we need to hold on! How long, though? When will the reinforcement arrive?"
"In 5 minutes!"
"Kishaa!!"
The attack from the scarecrows intensified as the five men tried to hold themselves against the attack. Explosions rang, and thunder cracked. They used any Talismans they brought to try and survive for the day.
In the distance, in a small restaurant in Chinatown, a young kid just awakened from his sleep due to a loud sound. This kid wore a white Chinese robe and went downstairs to look for the source of the sound due to his innocent curiosity.
No one could blame a young kid for finding out what had disturbed his sleep and why there weren't any people when he looked out of the glass window.
This simple curiosity led him to step out of the restaurant and look at the dark sky. Bright orange light flashed in the distance, quickly replaced with a blue one as thunder cracked.
An ounce of fear appeared on his face. Gulping, this little guy began to walk to meet some people. Any people.
"Hello?"
His na?ve voice rang through the area as he kept walking out of Chinatown. The usual people hanging around the restaurant were nowhere to be seen.
"Is there anyone here?"
He became nervous but wanted to meet people. Fear began to come to him, and then, it appeared from the sky, landing in front of him. A humanoid-looking creature with a body made from branches, wearing a rag and straw hat.
"Human? Clear and pure. Spirit Power… amazing. Body… It's a perfect body!"
The creature grinned, and the young boy was afraid. His body was frozen. He couldn't move. His knees felt like jelly, and his arms tremble from fear.
"A-aa…!"
"Keep it there, little human. Let the Boogeymen use your body!"
"Aaah!" The little boy screamed in horror as he saw a clawed hand approach his face.
But at that time…
Thud!
The creature in front of him disappeared, followed by a worried voice.
"Brat! Are you okay?!"
Relief washed over him as he heard a familiar voice. The last thing he saw was the figure of his grandfather running at him with a worried face alongside a giant creature with an ox head holding a giant weapon.
"Grand…pa…" And his vision was cut off.
***
What came into him when he first saw that face was anger. A burning anger that could even burn the Phoenix from her existence.
All reasons were thrown away, and Kai didn't even try to fight his urge to punch, kick, kill, and destroy the creature called the Boogeymen.
His body was hot from flames that spewed out uncontrollably, turning the ground red. Right now, he didn't even care if his body was destroyed, so he used that again.
The flame that burned his body and healed him turned black. It was somehow rather easy to use it when he was angry.
His head felt like it was about to burst from the blood that rushed over to it. The creature in front of him held a piece of paper, a Talisman, and put up a dome-shaped blue barrier to protect himself from getting burnt.
"I will kill you!" A hoarse voice came from Kai's mouth as he kicked the ground, chipping a chunk away, and moved even faster than before.
Some strange memories entered his head, but he ignored them and sent a big, heavy punch, filled with his Spirit Power, toward the barrier that protected the Boogeymen.
Shatter!
Crash! Thud!
The barrier was destroyed, and his punch connected to the creature's body, blowing the Boogeymen away. That creature flew more than a hundred meters away, breaking trees and boulders before stopping.
Kai walked toward him slowly with a frown on his face. The black flame burned him, but the regeneration that he enhanced with Amber's Spirit Power kept up with the burn wound. Each time he got burned, he was healed almost immediately.
Only… the Spirit Power needed to maintain both were massive.
It was at this time the Boogeymen knew he shouldn't joke around any longer.
His body has almost been destroyed completely. His plan would fail once again at this point. That… couldn't happen.
"Boo…gey…men…"
Picking up his body, the Boogeymen looked at Kai who stopped in front of him with a ball of black flame in his hand.
Then with a weak voice, the Boogeymen said.
"Need help…"
"I heard that~"
A metallic spike suddenly spurted out from the ground, piercing Kai's chest.
"Guh!"
[Kai!!]
***
The area around the cornerstones was cleared, and peace had arrived in New York.
Only Marcus stayed on the roof of the building across the fifth cornerstone alone. He was still curious and uncertain whether he should leave the seal as it was or unseal it.
But, the answer came to him almost immediately. The cornerstone glowed, and then a sound of glass breaking rang in the area.
Shatter!
Even normal people who walked down the street could hear it. They looked around curiously before going on their way, thinking someone might have dropped their glass or something.
Marcus was different. He stood up and raised his brow.
"The seal is… broken? That means…"
The seal that kept his grandson's memories away was broken. The sealed memories would return in a few minutes, but what made him worried was that the seal was broken.
When he fixed the cornerstone, he found out that the seal could only be broken in two ways. Either he lifted it himself or when Kai met that person.
"They've met each other?" He muttered, looking at the dark sky. "I hope that brat can keep it to himself. But I doubt it. After all, the body that the Boogeymen used…"
Pausing a little, he continued. "… is his father's. That's why that old bitch didn't interfere and just gave me the information." His expression looked worried as he thought of his son-in-law.
He was a handsome and polite man, unlike his mother, who acted like a bitch and often got at odds with him. And that man died ten years ago, before his daughter.
Indeed, he sent Kai to Romania to find out about it himself and also to teach him something. The Phoenix chick also promised Marcus and told him where her Phoenix egg was.
Still, he was worried. So he sent one of his familiar to that place.
"Gozu." Muttering his familiar name, Marcus tapped into his connection with Gozu. They were connected with a contract, bound with Spirit Power. So they could communicate with each other, just like Kai and his contracted Mythical creatures.
Marcus' familiar wasn't a Mythical creature by any means. But it was old and famous. And he gave it a command.
"… Do what I told you before. Be careful."
[Got it, Marcus]
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