“I congratulate you, little boy,” the enemy muttered, touching his shoulder. The palm of his hand became tinged with blood. “I do not often get hurt while invisible. Well, no matter. The time of your end is coming.” 

After those words, Taisuke grabbed his longbow with both hands. His palms were at the center of the metallic weapon. 

*click* – Unexpectedly, Takuma heard the sound of a button. At that same instant, a blade identical to the one on the top also sprouted in the lower end of the enemy’s bow. 

Not content with that enhancement, Taisuke separated his hands and split his weapon in half, which became something quite different from a bow: two half-bows each with a blade and connected by a strong steel cable.

Takuma’s eyes narrowed on his target, and his knees lowered to the ground. The Grimbrook warrior assumed a fighting stance and began to think of a new tactic to deal with that weapon. 

Demon Hunters are equipped to defeat wild demons, but mostly to kill other tamers, Takuma thought. In front of him, the cloaked man didn’t seem intent on letting him go.

When the blanket of black smoke enveloped Taisuke’s body again, he disappeared into thin air. Behind him, a thin, transparent halo took a few moments longer to disappear under the moonlight.

Clutching the two wooden sticks in his hands, Takuma closed his eyes. The young red-haired warrior thought frantically of his grandfather’s teachings, of the thousands of adventures he had lived alone in the Boneside Swamp and the Bronzeforest. 

If an enemy is invisible, then he will tend to let his guard down, he pondered. Invisibility can be a double-edged sword. Taisuke moves in the shadows like a demon hiding in the night and focuses his energies mainly on his attacks, neglecting defense.

Suddenly, the teachings he had received many years earlier from his grandfather Gompachi began to make sense far away from Grimbrook. Although he never thought he would have to apply them against another human being, Takuma was smart enough to realize that an unscrupulous foe like Taisuke had to be dealt with like a ferocious demon. 

*tk*tk* – The sound emitted by Karasu alerted its tamer to the impending danger. An instant later, Takuma ducked and a blade appeared above his head, moving horizontally and missing its target. 

This time Taisuke’s blow was much quicker due to the maneuverability of his two one-handed weapons. After the first blow, he, who had anticipated a dodge by his young enemy, struck a second downward blow. 

It was at that very moment that Takuma sensed the presence of his enemy before him. With his eyes closed, the Grimbrook warrior finally had a chance to focus only on the sounds. Now that his opponent could no longer shoot arrows, there was no glare for him to detect. 

Takuma placed the pointed ends of the sticks on the ground, penetrating the first layers of the soil. Holding onto them, he rotated his body and kicked downward, performing a low kick worthy of an expert kung-fu fighter.

Takuma’s powerful leg muscles impacted against the slender ankles of Taisuke, who was a tall, lean warrior whose physique respected that of an average archer. 

Suddenly, from his advantageous position, Taiusuke found himself in mid-air, forcibly lifted by his opponent’s low kick. His body reappeared from the smoke and Takuma opened his eyes. 

There he is! I have to hit him now! He thought frantically, as the scarecrow demon wouldn’t stop making that useful but annoying sound.

Taking advantage of his solid foothold, namely the two wooden rods stuck on the ground, Takuma spread his legs and leaped at his target, lifting the knee of his right leg and fully extending the left one.

*boom* – A violent knee strike hit Taisuke’s back, who bent in half in pain and stood with his feet off the ground for a few moments. 

“Aaaargh!” – A stifled cry of pain struggled out of his mouth as the breath left his lungs. Before he fell back to the ground, Takuma pulled his knee off his back, raised both wooden sticks, and struck his abdomen with both of his weapons.

*thud* – Taisuke’s injured body fell to the ground in a thud and his eyes closed in pain. The impact between his back and the ground was so strong that it forced the Demon Hunter to let go of his grip on his strange weapons connected by the steel cable.

Takuma took a step back and observed the scene. After every action, he rotated the wooden rods, placing one above his head and one behind his back. His fighting style was a mix of aikido, kendo, and kung-fu.

During his harsh teenage years spent without a father and with a family to protect, he had learned the art of combat from his grandfather Gompachi, who was once in the service of Emperor Tatsui. 

‘Only who uses war to pursue peace is worthy of calling himself warrior,’ his grandfather always repeated, emphasizing the fact that fighting other human beings could sometimes be the only way to achieve peace. 

Takuma grew up in Grimbrook according to this very principle, preparing himself for the fateful moment when, after all his hard work, he would be ready to leave the village and explore the outside world. 

When Gompachi introduced him to Yoichi and told him that this moment had come, Takuma felt happiness he had never felt before. Now, while Yoichi was resting, the fate of their journey and mission was in his hands. 

As Taisuke’s body writhed on the ground due to the severe pain in his back, the Grimbrook warrior could not help but notice a crucial detail: the ghost demon of his enemy was not next to its tamer.

During the starting phase of the dialogue between the two opponents, it had been close to Taisuke the whole time, and even before Takuma managed to hit him, that black and spherical ghost was there, floating next to his head. What had happened to it now? Where did it go?here did it go?