32 Fields of Blood

As the three warriors ventured through the valley, they stumbled upon the edge of a dead forest. The forest wreaked of death and despair, along with the trees colored with gray and ash. There was a dark essence coming from the forest, the three of them could sense it. It felt off, it felt very uncomfortable, as if something was trying to etch into their very souls. Madness and chaos could be sensed further within the forest, alluring the warriors to the unknown. Alex wasn't afraid to back down just yet. He ended up walking through this damnable forest and followed the path ahead of them.

Lukas was watchful. He reloaded his gun and looked around "Hmm.."
Anna was holding her katana "This place.." She whispered
They were ready to fight

As the three wandered through the forest, it seemed endless. The pathway grew longer and longer the more they walked through and turning around was no different. It was a never ending forest. How in the world did the legions of demon samurai make it through this forest and back so quickly? The answers remained hidden as the trio was lost within the dark forest. Then out of no where, the trees around them were shifting and changing, forming more pathways. Which one led to their destination? That's the mystery, this forest was now playing tricks on them.

Anna and Lukas stopped.
Lukas looked around "Uhm...Alex? How big is this forest?" He asked
Anna yawned "Heh..It can't be bigger than our parents' laboratory, right?"
Lukas chuckled "Yeah...You're right!"

Anna and Lukas made Alex chuckle, their confident humor had somehow put a smile on his face. This gave Alex higher spirits, yet both Anna and Lukas were wrong. This forest had span hundreds of miles long, dark energy had covered every branch of each tree. The darkness had revealed countless bodies impaled by the branches, humans who aren't deceased turning into monsters. This was the work of the demon lord, Oni'Kutenshu. He wished to further increase his army, even if it mean't to tear loved ones away from one another and turn them into enslaved abominations. The sight of this had sickened Alex, he looked away, disturbed. He even recognized a few of the people, former meisters gone missing. "Don't help them down, you will only cause more pain..."

Anna looked around and sighed "We can't help them.."
Lukas gulped "Scary.."

As Alex glimpsed around the dark forest, the sight of these victims had disturbed him to a whole new level. What if this consumed the world? He had to stop it, the demon lord. And what better way to do that than to plot a gruesome death for his kill? Alex had surveyed around the forest, looking down each route to try and find out which way leads to the demon lord's dojo. His time was limited, he needed this soul and Destiny soon or else it was banishment for him. The thought of having his soul banished in hell for eternity is not something to remember.

Anna looked around and shivered "This place is scary, don't you think?"
Lukas coughed "Y-Yeah...Hey, Alex! Where is that demon lord?"

"That's the problem, I don't know. This damn forest is fucking up my judgement......" It was true. The forest's dark essence was messing with Alex's judgmental skills and his thinking. All these tormented souls are distracting him. He wants to help them but it's too late for them, they would die if Alex could spring them free. The tree's are using some form of dark magic to cling their hearts to the branches. Currently, Alex has to keep his mind on the ball. The information he was given had informed him of the temple being north of the valley he fought at. So Alex had taken out his compass to see which way was north. It didn't help due to the dark energy messing with the magnetic reaction to the compass. Now Alex had to rely on the sun rising. That didn't help either since the clouds blocked out the sun. But him and the others had come from the south. So he turned back and viewed back at the footprints. They were going in the right path. "We go forward." He walks on the path ahead.

Anna was surprised but she followed Alex "Tell us more about that..Demon Lord."
Lukas looked at Anna "Hm..Yeah..Jeez that forrest..Scarrrrry.."

Alex was still walking at a steady pace, thinking to himself. Yet at the tone of Anna's question, Alex had then began to respond immediately as horrid memories returned. "This demon lord, this vile monster..... It has a name. It calls itself, 'Kutenshu.' Which was said in an ancient language not known on this planet to mean, 'King.' Now this being was a manifestation off of another monster I've been hunting for a good while now. Oni'Kutenshu was a very infamous threat throughout Japan, known for his satanic methods of enslavement and conquers. To build his army, Kutenshu has to corrupt the souls of the innocent and turn them into his minions. The people you see around you are the unfortunate victims of the transformation, many who tried to flee Japan and some who tried to fight back. I recognized a few of these people, meisters I once knew in the DWMA. There is nothing more I can do for them. The dark forest is created by Kutenshu's soul, which means that he is using his soul to capture and enslave everyone here. Now I know a way to stop them from turning and to revert them before it is too late. From the looks of it, these people within this forest have about a couple of days before their painful transformation is complete. When we get to the temple and find Kutenshu, you both are to take care of his creations while I deal with him....... Personally. Understood?" Alex then stopped and looked at the both of them with a death glare. Never before has anyone seen him to be that much serious.

Anna and Lukas nodded. "Understood." Anna said.
They were ready for everything.

As the trio had progressed through the dark forest, a structure of strange architecture had arisen across another valley. The building had resembled what Alex was told of, Kutenshu's temple. Over to the right were the roots of the dark forest, tracing back towards the temple at the top floor. From the looks of it, there were about nine floors in total. This would take longer than Alex thought. but viewing across the valley were the remainder of Kutenshu's army that Alex had defeated. "Well, we are gonna need to get to that temple and fast, otherwise we will be too late." Alex not only mean't the victims of the forest, but he also mean't Destiny as well...... And his own fate.

They looked at the building "Let's go, then..We need to stop the dark lord!" Anna said

Alex had analyzed the valley below him, seeing if there were anyway past the enemy. Currently, the enemy had been regrouping and restocking ammunition and weaponry. The demon samurai had been trying to rethink a new strategy on how to defeat Alex, so far none has come to mind. during so, Alex had spotted a hole in the ground underneath the valley nearby, so he decided to try there. "In there, lets see if it goes inside the temple." He pointed to the hole.

Lukas whispered "You go first, Okay?" deep inside he was scared a little
Anna closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath

Alex then laughs at the two, "Fine, you wussies. I'll go first." The sight of Anna and Lukas gave Alex a bit of laughter. He could tell both were frightened by the cave, so he decided to pretend to be a hero. The striding meister walked boldly into the dark cave and saw that the enemy had encamped in here not too long ago. It seems as if the demon samurai were just here recently, as if a few minutes ago. This gave Alex the upper hand, catching the enemy off guard. He was a natural when hunting, Alex could smell the very trail and essence of his targets. And as such, a couple of guards walk out of the outpost further within the cavern and stand guard. Alex had hidden himself, taking position behind a stalagmite.

The siblings hid behind another stalagmites. Anna was ready to kill some bad guys..As always
Lukas wanted to avoid another battle, because he still felt the pain in his arm.

The two guards stood outside the small outpost that span deeper into the mountains. They were wearing heavy shogun armor along with halberds, making them what is known as "Juggernauts." These beings were the heavy hitters, which would stall Alex. Alex had looked on his watch, he was running out of time. He needed that Kishin Egg soul and fast, otherwise he would die. Alongside with him trying to find Destiny to keep Ivory in line. Things were going to get complicated. So Alex had to be quick. He pulled out a grenade he stored in his satchel, which no one had noticed. Quick as light, Alex had pulled the pin and threw the grenade at the two samurai. Moments later, the explosion had not only killed them both, but had blown the gates open within the cavern. "Let's go!"

Anna disappeared in the shadow and Lukas ran to the gate. Then his sister appeared next to him. She was holding her katana in the left hand. Lukas was holding a gun in his left hand and he activated a hidden blade that was attached to a vambrace on his right wrist.

Alex had followed them in from behind, he could tell this cavern lead straight under the temple. Moments after exploring deeper, Alex had ran and gunned through the cave, hoping to find out where the samurai have been entering the cave from. Fortunately, Alex had found the entrance of the cavern inside the temple of the demon lord. This saved him a lot of time and trouble. But they ended up in the basement of the temple, filled with storage of weapons and armor. Along with countless dead bodies covering the floor. "Well, this I wasn't expecting."

Anna and Lukad looked at the corpses "What the hell happened here?" Anna asked. Lukas shrugged. Young ninja girl looked at her brother
"We have to stop that demon lord." she whispered. Lukas looked at her "Yeah..We know, Anna."

Alex's watch was beeping, he is almost out of time. He began to panic, questioning if he would ever reach the demon lord. It was certain death for Alex, if he didn't get that soul soon, it was all over for him. "We have to find a way to shoot to the top floor, and fast!" Alex was observing the room, looking around for any known objects and resources that could help. Unfortunately, there were none. Nothing was there to help him. He looked back at Anna and Lukas, they were analyzing the bodies, then Anna was whispering to her brother. "Come on, guys! We need to get to the top floor!"

Lukas looked at Alex "We could just blow up the ceiling..What do you think about that?" He pulled out a C4 from his coat and gave it to Alex. "And a detonator" He pulled out the detonator

"I guess this might work, but once we do this, we have to climb as fast as we can." Alex takes the C4 from Lukas and spots the detonator in his hand. He knew how to use explosives so he took the detonator off of Lukas to be sure of hi work. When it came to explosives, Alex was a savant to it. He felt like it was a profession to him, explosives. Alex knew where to plant them and when to strike, those were the two key things about using explosives. Yet sometimes Alex could never really trust C4, he tried using it before and it wouldn't work. And when he went to fix the problem, the C4 went off on him, nearly blowing his arm off. Luckily he got out of that problem in one piece. So he planted the C4 on the ceiling of the basement and got to a safe distance.