The Demon Earl and Viscount surveyed their opposition and felt the impulse to yawn.

"Is this really the best they can do?", he asked with a tinge of disappointment.

"Pfft. They probably think we're only slightly stronger than Demon Generals", the Viscount stated with clear disdain for the humans' shortsightedness.

"They are prepared though. This is the fastest response time for a demon invasion, I've seen in a human realm", the Earl admitted before ordering the demons to charge.

In the daytime, demons were severely weakened which was why few would dare to reveal themselves unless night had fallen. Daylight would partially hinder their ability to see and the scorching sun felt awful on their skin which could be considered worse than that of a shut-in recluse's.

Now that they were against the 2 Great Clans which were renown for harboring formidable warriors with decent Apt.i.tudes, they hesitated in following the Earl's commands.

Understanding what made them hesitate, the Earl could only inwardly sneer.

They are working hard to deserve the t.i.tle of being lesser, he thought.

"Why are you so scared of the night? Are you lot even demons?", the Earl hinted through his shout.

The demons looked at the bright blue sky in confusion before looking back at the Earl quizzically.

It was clearly daytime which was why they didn't want to leave the cave's shade. Could the Demon Earl have gone blind while in h.e.l.l?

Disappointed by their lack of realization, he shot a murky beam towards the sky. The once light blue sky seemingly shattered as it rippled intensely. With each continuous wave, the sky began to grow darker and darker until it became the night sky.

Seeing this, many demons who were initially reserved when fighting against humans, began to openly rampage.

Startled by their clairvoyance, the Clan leaders could only grit their teeth in frustration.

"They saw through the daytime device", Lord Yamato stated dejectedly.

"We really have underestimated them. New preparations are needed", Lord Akagi concurred.

The two Clan leaders then yelled, "RETREAT!"

Meanwhile, a certain Darkblood displayed a fervent expression as he gazed towards the forest.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[Concealment Mask(-3000)]

Itsuki purchased another Concealment Mask when he realized he had accidentally wrapped his previous one in his haphazard coc.o.o.n. Baffled by his recently uncharacteristic actions, he slightly wavered.

Should I give her this one, since the old one was used? ... This isn't the time to ruminate on trivial matters, he thought as he ran towards town with Stealth active instead of the Concealment Mask.

While running, he noted the speed of the Demon n.o.bles and the Clansmen.

The majority of the Clansmen were slower than even the regular demons while the Elite Clansmen were slower than the Demon Baron which he had been pursuing but he was unable to gauge the other Demon n.o.bles as they had no reason to exert themselves. The Clansmen were easy to eliminate with the lesser demons they had deemed to be cannon fodder and their weak Apt.i.tudes could barely contend. Likely due to testing the waters or some other reason, the Clans had decided not to include their trump cards such as Kamui and Izumi. Atlas thought this was likely in order to avoid a disadvantageous first conflict but he had a faint suspicion that this was not it.

When he arrived at his residence, he sighed in relief as Demons had not reached the town yet.

As he let his guard down, a beauty in a phoenix kimono embraced him. Surprised by the sudden contact, he stiffened. After a moment pa.s.sed, he finally gazed at the beauty who was looking at him with upturned eyes.

Noticing her new attire, he subconsciously smiled. The vivid crimson phoenix enhanced her n.o.bility and elegance while the unique material offered protection and simultaneously accentuated her figure as if it was still soft and fragile silk.

Reevaluating her beauty, Atlas found her appearance to rival that of a peerless G.o.ddess'.

Noticing Itsuki admiring her, Kirei couldn't help but beam with pleasure.

"Don't touch me, I've been perspiring", he said in a tone lacking conviction.

"You think I don't know you? You're always clean even after a bloodbath", she bemoaned in indignation.

"Since you're so sweaty, should I wash your back for you?, she said in a mischievous tone.

"Regardless of the circ.u.mstances, you never even get dusty. Do you have an additional wind Apt.i.tude?"

c.r.a.p, Itsuki thought. He had been far too focused with Tailoring to the point which he would even forget to cook which was extremely uncharacteristic of him. He didn't even know why he became so enamored with creating clothes but looking at her wearing the kimono alleviated his concern for himself.

There were undeniable downsides to knowing someone for too long and having one's secretive behavior noticed was definitely one of them. He had gotten so used to her presence that he forgot to cover up his tracks.

"It..it's just-", he immediately stopped stammering and held Kirei tightly against his chest. To her shock, he then heavily exhaled his breath which was refres.h.i.+ng with a hint of metal onto her.

Not expecting him to immediately reciprocate her intimacy, she heavily blushed. Her blush was immediately veiled by the Concealment Mask which he put on her.

He then turned around and shouted, "If you come any closer, I will guarantee your demise".

Itsuki cast his Spirit s.h.i.+eld on the dazed Kirei before instantly moving towards a location which was a few minutes away from his residence.

"Who are you?", Itsuki said while pointing his blade in a menacing manner.

"I'm Haruto, your Darkblood Senior", the person being threatened said without trepidation or any sense of danger.

"I've come to seek your help in blood tempering"

"Why should I help you?", Itsuki said allowing his visage to convey his doubt.

Haruto smirked before gesturing to some people. A group of 200 people revealed themselves with weapons ready,

"You're surrounded. Do you really have a choice?"

Itsuki's expression visibly darkened before he said, "Very well then"

After a few hours of being escorted, he led Itsuki to a hidden grotto which was small on the outside but gigantic on the inside.

The cavern walls were steeped in the color of blood and the stench caused everybody but the two Darkbloods to retch.

"Welcome to my Blood Reservoir", Haruto said exuding his pride at owning such a possession.

"Filter all the blood here and I will let you live", Haruto said as if he was certain that he Itsuki cornered.

Itsuki then sat down and under Haruto's watch, began to filter the blood. As gallons of blood were drawn in, Haruto could see large blobs of a dark substance form and begin to separate which convinced him of the effectiveness of Itsuki's filtering process. The filtering of all the blood went on for a total of 3 days before it was finally all filtered.

Haruto had already noticed that the key to filtering the blood wasn't Itsuki's ability but an exotic item which Itsuki had hidden well.

Excited to temper with his new treasure trove, he gestured for the next phase of his plan to begin.

Immediately two blades rushed towards Itsuki. One of fire and the other of water were ready to claim his head.

Ignoring the battle, Haruto began to draw in all the blood. Greed clouded his judgement as he gluttonously consumed all of the tempering material in the Reservoir. Suddenly, he began to spurt clotted blood and darkened essence.

He looked up to see Izumi and Yanagi who had both been brutalized to death.

"I thought you filtered the blood", he growled in frustration.

"I did. Did you know dried blood is darker than normal blood? Probably not since you take in blood like an infant takes in milk", Itsuki sneered.

Haruto's frown could only deepen as he began to regret how reckless he had been.

"You got me. I won't go down without a fight though", Haruto exclaimed as his crimson eyes began to s.h.i.+ne and his skin began to become corrupted from the acc.u.mulated kegare.

Without a semblance of intelligence left, he let out a guttural roar and charged at Itsuki.