Chapter 5 The Village Graden

• Kuroe Aka Kodai was running with the Samurai in the middle of the forest heading south near the east. Their footsteps can be heard and the smell of the leaves and grass can be smelled. They were silent not until she started talking and asking him. They were running non stop, heading to the Village Graden. He wasn't giving any vibes.
• "Hey!" She shouted and he ignored her and she made an expressionless face. They were in the forest. The giant trees were at least three hundred feet tall and the branches and leaves were spread out, blocking the light of the sun. They were stepping on grass and dirt and leaves
• "Hey!" She said again and he continued to ignore it. She was on his left side, right behind him and was also running, heading to their destination. They were passing by giant trees and stepping on the grass while they ran.
• "Hey!"
• "What?! What do you want?!"
• "Okay sorry, fine, fine! I just wanted to ask something specific."
• "What is it?!"
• "Calm down. You're angry and irritated. Why are you this irritated?"
• "It's none of your business! What kind of specific thing do you wanna ask?"
• "It's about the Village Graden. What kind of village is it?"
• He sighs and breathes heavily while he runs.
• "You'll see," he said.
• "What do you mean I'll see? Tell me something about it!"
• "Don't you shout at me!"
• "Now you're eating your own medicine, you irritated samurai!"
• "What do you call me?"
• "Nothing! You deaf!"
• "Oh, shut up!"
• "Fine. I'll tell you something. That village is a prosperous village, it's actually one of the hidden villages, and one day we heard that it was wiped out and destroyed. We looked for the guards of the village and the current leaders' bodies, but all we found were dead civilians. The people of the village tragedy were a mess and a tragedy and on that day, everyone was alarmed, but not all kingdoms are connected to each other. You're in the past, Aka. Don't be friendly with unknowns except for us that can be trusted.
• "Nahhh! I'm not sure about you, though you could be lying."
• "I'm tired of arguing with you, Aka!"
• "Then answer my questions! That's easy enough, isn't it?!"
• "I guess, but I'd rather not answer—" he said, as he suddenly got interrupted when all of a sudden the ground they were standing on started shaking immensely.
• "W-whats happening?!"
• "The ground is shaking?! The hell?! No, this is a magic trap! Tsk!" He thought furiously as they both jumped high and touched down a giant branch of a tree. They both saw that the ground they were standing on a couple of seconds ago was moving on its own. It was like a wave, the ground was moving terribly but the giant trees weren't affected.
• "Beware of traps, I forgot to mention... This village is hidden. Its whole front line is full of traps, we should consider this route as compromised," he said to Aka, who was still staring at the ground. It was starting to get calmer and calmer as the wind suddenly blew and they both heard birds chirping above them.
• "Is there a safe route?" She asked in a hurry.
• "No, there's none, this route is actually the second safest. The rest is full of magical soldiers guarding it... This kind of soldier is purely created by magic and is a command to protect the whole village at all costs. These things were defeated by an unknown. We still haven't got any information about it but the grand sorcerer is the only one who managed to get passed those, but in the end, he didn't manage to get in because he's badly wounded," he answered, and Aka was surprised as she raised his head and exhaled.
• A couple of minutes passed and the ground was stable. The Samurai whispered to her and she nodded and they both fled to their right.
• "By the way, who's the other Samurai and what's been happening to him?"
• "She's her, not him."
• "Oh! Just answer the question, what's wrong with you?!"
• "Her identity is classified. I'd rather hide her than tell her to someone like you. She's an ambitious woman and you'll see what kind of Samurai she is when we get there."
• "You like her, don't you?"
• "No! Not at all! I'm just paying a debt,"
• Her eyes widened as she realized that it was personal. In the far distance, they could see a mountain, and in front of the mountain was a way down to the village of Graden.
• There was a giant open ravine that was massive and when they both reached it there was a village down below. They're currently next to the cliff and behind them was the massive forest. Their eyes widened as they both sensed that there were five layers hidden underneath the village.
• "This is village Graden... It's my first time being here, it's rather a deep village than a downtown village," he said, as all of a sudden he sensed shaking and heavy hits underneath the village of Graden. He quickly jumped down and Aka quickly followed him from behind. As she jumped down, there was magic circling her hands and a magic spell cast in front of her right palm pointing it down.
• They both landed on the flat ground quietly. In the far distance was the village already. There were no walls except for the smell of blood. There was a disturbing smell that made her necklace light up. That made the Samurai turn to her and look at the necklace.
• He realized that someone was there, which made him draw his sword from the scabbard on his left waist. He looked around and saw no one and that made him begin to walk. He was not a sorcerer, but he was a swordsman.
• "He said beware of traps but he's walking there carelessly without casting a protecting spell!" She thought as she glanced at him. She followed him from behind as they gradually approached the open village. She had already cast a protection spell around her.
• Suddenly, she sees that the Samurai has become serious and didn't give any vibes. He held his sword in his right tightly and it started glowing immensely. They're both awkwardly quiet.
• "Hey," she whispered.
• "What?!" He responds.
• "Here's a protection spell," she said as she cast magic in her left hand. It suddenly went towards him and it entered his body and there was a sudden light around him.
• "Tsk... That's heavy but it's worth it," he whispered and thanked her.
• Suddenly, there was an earth golem rising from behind them quietly, it appeared taller than them both. They both hadn't noticed it and it appeared to have no presence except for the red light on its forehead that made her necklace light up even more. The Samurai sensed her necklace and that made him turn to his left.
• As he turns to his left, he sees the golem behind her about to crush her, about to punch down both of his giant heavy hands towards her. He quickly jumped and grabbed Aka before she got crushed and slashed the golem with his sword. He sliced the golem's arm. He was a distance behind the golem while Aka was in front of him.
• "Don't let your guard down!" He said as he turned around again and flew towards the stone golem. He swung his sword sideways towards the stone golem's waist. He was about to reach it when all of a sudden the stone golem roared and sent him back and the arm that he cut turned whole again.
• He got sent back to where Aka was standing. They both braced as all of a sudden there was a magic wall barrier right in front of them and it was colored red and it was visible.
• "I'll take care of him when it stops roaring, undo this barrier and I'll cut that crystal on his forehead," he said menacingly in a serious tone, as he raised his sword in front of him. It was still roaring and it was destroying the ground and sending air.
• "Is he gonna stop?!"
• "Hold! Focus!"
• He stops roaring and charges right at them both. He quickly showed his overwhelming aura and he flew towards the golem. He swung his sword down and floated right in front of the stone golem when all of a sudden a round cube started flowing out of the red crystal and his eyes widened.
• "It's an energy laser? No, it's magic that can pierce through anything! Does this guy have a trump card?! Unbelievable!" He thought at the last second as the round cube burst towards him and hit him right in the chest and sent him back at Aka. He rolled towards her and slammed the ground.
• His chest was smoking and she was breathing heavily while holding her necklace with her right hand. She quickly approached him, who was standing, and made an expressionless face.
• "That protection spell comes in handy... I got careless."
• "You're embarrassing and unbelievably weak... My grandfather, who is 98 years old, could beat your ass for just ten minutes," she said confidently while making an expressionless face as all of a sudden he was standing in front of her.
• Suddenly, he stepped silent as Aka stepped aside to his right and cast magic. A force field appeared in front of her right palm. She then realized the crystal on the stone golem's head was red, the same as her necklace. She remembered that made the circle floating in front of her palm turn bright red. It was magic energy flowing towards her palm and she pointed it to the stone golem's forehead and the golem started decaying.
• It started decaying from its head making its way down. The Samurai started to think as he stared at Aka on his right. He sees that she has her hand and palm pointed at the stone golem and there was colored red magic floating on top of her palm.
• "This is strange but we will probably encounter more of these golems. She could also do the same. Like that man that is the only sorcerer in the Warriors, we have specific names, but I would rather hide it for now and hide my real skill, it would be trouble to show it this early," he thought and wondered as he began to walk.
• The stone earth golem had completely disappeared but the crystal remained floating and she was trying to grab it and make it fly toward her.
• That made him stop and stare at the red crystal for a second as he looked left and right and saw an empty land all the way to his right and left. He was stepping on grass and stone. It was all mixed up.
• It was slowly flying towards Aka. She was having trouble with her magic control as it finally reached her and she slowly raised her right hand to it. It was on top of her palm floating and she was mesmerized.
• It suddenly dropped on top of her left palm and she shivered as she realized that there was more scattered around her that didn't activate. She looked to her left and the whole line and also in the far distance there was more of it. The length of the village was more than six thousand feet away. The land that they were on was more than just six thousand and there was more to her right.
• "This is madness... Who's crazy enough to make such things as that?! The red crystal that I was holding was misplaced and we are lucky because if it's placed correctly, all of the red crystals are gonna become active and agitated and attack us aggressively." She thought as she shived.
• "Earthstone golems are highly dangerous and they are banned in my era since they're overused and they are easy to make. With one finger you could make ten in just ten hours," she thought again as she sweated as the Samurai approached her. Her right hand absorbs the crystal and it turns into nothingness.
• "What is it? What happened? Are you good?" He asked as he tapped her on her right shoulder and looked around.
• "We need to walk straight. We are lucky to be in this direction or else we could've been in big trouble and your friend is in big trouble down there," she said menacingly, as she stared at his eyes and that made him look away and began to walk. She breathes intensely and glances at the far distance.
• She sees that he's already leading the way and her right eye turns bright red. She began to walk with him. She's right behind him to his right. She was looking around and, with her bright red eyes, she could see the crystals clearly. They were heading for the village and she looked at the way they were on and saw that it was clear.
• "It looks like this way has already been cleared. Did you know this at the start?" She asked as they continued to walk. In the distance to their left was a single-story house. It was big but a couple of its foundations were missing and there was a piece of blood splattered on the window and at the open door. It was dark and the darkness in the sky was making it like a horrible place.
• "Keep walking straight, ignore any blood and avoid contact with a ghost if you see one. Don't ever look into their eyes. If you see one that doesn't have a face, it will hunt." he said, as that gave her goosebumps and lowered her head.
• She saw more traps. On the outside, she had fear and was weak and naive, but on the inside, she was dead serious and aggressive. The Samurai has already sensed her inside presence and an overwhelming aura that can compete with his.
• "Hmm! I can't believe that this woman is actually with me, but she's not bad at all, but she's careless. At least, I'll hold back like he said to test her... And it's like she hasn't seen it yet," he thought as he stared at her from his right side. He sees her looking around the house with only her right eye open.
• "Have you seen anything?"
• "Why'd I like to tell you honestly?"
• "Because we're sent here, on a mission, an order from the King,"
• "I felt bad for the King. He seems cool and a kind man. But he only has a couple of months left."
• "That's easy to say, but I don't really feel bad for him... I feel like it's time for him to rest in peace, because he has done many things in this world and he needs rest. I mean, I don't want him to die, but if he dies now, he won't have any burdens and hatred carrying on his shoulders. In the past couple of years, he has been in so many rough places just to make that Kingdom standing... For us it was history and every tomorrow was a gift," he said in a serious tone as they walked by another house to their left and right. In the far distance, they can see a town hall. It was half destroyed.
• The other half of the town hall was gone but the other half was still standing. She was sweating. She saw that there were more than a hundred dead bodies everywhere in the village.
• "The villagers are left dead and cold... Who do you think is the one behind this killing?" She asked, as she feared. Her right hand was trembling.
• "Just don't look at them... It was a group of sorcerers hunting down a hidden village. All of the hidden villages are known to be prosperous, that's why it's getting hunted down. But I'd never expected it to be this big and the landscape has five layers, there's more underground that we need to see. We need to hurry," he said as he began to run. She quickly followed from behind.
• Minutes later, they reached the town hall but they continued to run. In the far distance, they see a mountain and a way down to a cave. The Samurai got faster and the earthquake was getting much stronger.
• He drew his sword as he sensed something was coming. Suddenly, there was an unknown person out of nowhere to his left. It kicked him in his left head but Aka put a shield on his left head and his kick didn't hit him. He smiled behind the mask, then he swung his sword to his left with his right hand and it collided with the unknown blade. They both destroyed the ground they were standing on.
• "Hmm? He's already holding the sword? Then he's fast I guess," he thought as they both jumped back and stared at each other. They both smiled behind the masks as the Samurai realized that he had been mirrored.
• "The Red Crystal that I absorbed is protection to me... If I absorb one, I can't be mirrored in this place... That's how it works," she said as she stared at them both when all of a sudden the replica of himself in the distance started decaying.
• "What the hell is happening?!" He said as he put his sword back in his left waist and began to walk to his right. All of a sudden, the ground in front of him broke apart and another Samurai came out with a giant monster biting his right arm. She grunts while she has her sword in her left-hand and stabbs at the monster's right eye.
• "Die already!!" She shouted furiously while getting dragged and the monster slammed her into a three-story house. She grunted but she was suddenly helped by a protection spell. She realized it but she grunted as the monster stopped biting her right arm.
• The swordsman appeared to her right and grabbed her and flew out into the corner of the house. He appeared on the left side of Aka and appeared to be casting a spell on the monster. The woman Samurai spits out blood as the other Samurai that was carrying her lays her down on the path.
• "Tch! I've been fighting that monster since the sun rose in the sky and I can't find a way to beat the hell out of it!" She said furiously as she stood holding her right hand with her left hand.
• "It's an immortal monster, it's nine feet tall and it has two eyes and it's nimble and massive. This is my first time seeing this kind of monster... Then it must be an ancient one," she said as she stared at the monster and appeared to be controlling it.
• "Yeah, probably seems difficult and different than the others. Can you take care of it Aka? We still have business to do," he said as the Samurai looked at her. Same as Aka who was surprised.
• "Kathy, what do you mean?" He asked and the woman Samurai was named Kathy. She was standing on his right side while Aka was on his left. Both of her palms opened and showed the monster's distance away from them.
• "I found them... Tadaki, behind all of this killing, they headed for the mountains straight up north, let's go... We won't let them escape," she said as she began to run to her right quickly and glancing at the mountains in the far distance.
• "I'll leave it to you here, Aka! Be safe, we will quickly come back around! You can wander around or follow us! I know you have some kind of spell to do it! Don't die!" He said as he flew towards me just to follow. They were already a far distance away.
• "Kathy and Tadaki? Wow, their names are fancy," she said as the monster in front of her decayed and there she got another crystal. It was bright blue this time and she absorbed it with her left hand. Both of her eyes had turned back to normal. She wondered all of a sudden. She sensed some unknown presence watching her and gave her goosebumps.
• She turns around and sees the man's presence with her left eye. She was using her white eyes and she thought that she might be seeing a ghost. It slowly stepped aside from the giant tree that was standing. It showed a tall man wearing a hoodie and a coat and a skull staff in his left hand. She had goosebumps as she saw him raise his staff and release souls from the skull.
• "I see inside you that you carry such a high level of power, young woman,"