My stepsisters are sexy demons, and I must protect them
Chapter 56: Become strong enough to kill me!

Chapter 56: Become strong enough to kill me!

«You’re awfully quiet, little brother. It’s been two days and you haven’t said a single word. I’m getting bored, you know?» Akashi murmurs as he looks at Itsu.

Itsu sits curled up, knees pulled to his chest, his eyes fixed on the ground.

His back rests against a jagged rock wall.

They’re inside a narrow cave.

Outside, the desert lies still and silent, nothing but unmoving sands stretching in every direction.

Itsu has no idea where they are.

Could be Africa, Arabia, or somewhere else entirely.

Two days ago, Akashi used his dematerialization spell to drag him here—turning his body into energy and vanishing into a remote corner of the world.

«...you didn’t even ask why I brought you here. Or why I searched for you now... or even why I killed our family.»

Akashi puts special emphasis on that last line—clearly trying to provoke a reaction.

But Itsu doesn’t move.

He just lifts his eyes for a second, staring at his brother with a look full of hatred and bitterness, then looks away again.

Cold. Silent.

«Since you’re not asking, I’ll tell you myself. Or at least... I’ll tell you what I want from you,» Akashi says.

He starts walking back and forth in front of Itsu, pacing the narrow length of the cave.

«I brought you here because I want you to become strong. Strong enough to kill me...»

Those words hit like a shock.

Itsu lifts his eyes again, silently watching Akashi as he paces.

«To be honest, I thought you’d already try doing that yourself. Becoming stronger than me. Avenge our father. Avenge our mother...»

Akashi’s voice grows cold and sharp—like he’s scolding a child.

«...but I guess the hatred you feel for me is pretty pathetic. Even though you’ve got something as rare as the Innatus, you’re still this weak... it’s almost laughable. I gave you five years, but I must have overestimated your desperatio—»

Akashi doesn’t finish.

Suddenly, an arm covered in jagged orange bone armor bursts through his chest, right at heart level.

Itsu struck him from behind.

His arm pierced clean through Akashi’s torso and out the front.

He timed it perfectly, taking advantage of Akashi’s slow pacing, waiting until his brother turned his back.

Then he activated his Innatus-form and attacked without warning.

Akashi lowers his head a little.

«Looks like I was wrong... little brother, didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s cowardly to attack from behind?»

Itsu grits his teeth.

His face twists with rage barely held back.

«Our parents were found with deep cuts on their backs—you stabbed them in the heart, from behind, just like I did with you! For a bastard like you to lecture me about cowardice... it’s not just ridiculous. It’s sickening!»

With a snarl, Itsu drives his fist even deeper into Akashi’s chest.

«I had my reasons for killing them that way. But you’re still too weak... too naive to understand them. Anyway...»

Itsu’s eyes go wide.

His teeth begin to chatter—not from rage, but from sudden fear and horror.

Only now does he realize it: there’s no blood. Not a single drop, neither from Akashi’s chest nor his back.

Instead, a cloud of red petals floats gently down, vanishing into smoke before they can even touch the sand.

Itsu jerks his arm back, panic rising.

He stares at the gaping hole in Akashi’s chest.

But there are no organs. No blood. No bones.

Only glowing particles—pure Sanguis energy, pulsing with light.

Akashi turns to face him.

Itsu stumbles back, legs shaking.

The red smoke from the petals doesn’t scatter.

Instead, it flows back into the wound, sealing it shut in seconds.

All that remains is a rip in Akashi’s elegant clothes.

The skin beneath is untouched.

It’s a variation of Akashi’s spell—the one that lets him shift his body between solid matter and Sanguis energy at will.

Normally, he uses it to travel across the world in a blink, but in battle, it makes him nearly untouchable—he can turn intangible the very moment someone tries to strike him.

Itsu knows this all too well, that’s why he went for a sneak attack.

He thought Akashi had let his guard down.

But clearly, Akashi was fully alert.

«Y-You... damn bastard...» Itsu stammers, gritting his teeth, fists clenched tight.

Rage floods back into him.

He charges at Akashi again, throwing a brutal punch toward his face.

But Akashi stops it effortlessly—just one open hand is enough.

The force of the blow sends a shockwave behind him, carving a deep crater into the rock wall.

Itsu swings again with his other arm.

Same result.

Akashi grabs the second fist too, fingers tightening.

The pressure makes Itsu’s bone armor groan under the strain.

Akashi shakes his head, clearly disappointed.

«Too weak.»

He lets go of Itsu’s fists and spins—his body moves like lightning.

A powerful kick slams into Itsu’s chest.

The impact sends him flying through the cave wall and out into the burning desert, crashing across the sand for dozens of meters.

Blood pours from his mouth and nose.

The bone armor at the impact point is nearly shattered.

It absorbed most of the hit, but even the damage that slipped through is enough to leave Itsu in agony.

Itsu gasps for air. It feels like the bones in his chest have cracked.

He forces himself to stand, legs shaking.

~How... how did he do this to me with just one blow...? And it was only a kick...I even felt like he held back, like he avoided hitting me too hard... Akashi... five years ago, your power was already unreal. You were one of the top fighters in the Vampire King’s royal guard. But this...? This strength now... it makes that version of you look weak. You took down both me and Chantal with a single hit... Why...?~

«Why... WHY DID YOU DO ALL THIS?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!» Itsu screams, voice cracking with despair.

Akashi vanishes into a swirl of crimson energy petals—then reforms right in front of him.

«As for why I did it... like I said, I’ll tell you when the time is right,» Akashi replies, voice calm, almost indifferent.

«But as for what I want from you... tell me, have you ever heard of a sect called the Cult of the Primordial Shadow?»

At that name, Itsu goes pale.

«Y-Yeah... I heard about it from Dad, back when we lived in N’Reath. They’re a cult of insane criminals. They’ve spent millennia trying to free the demon Nyratalir from his seals... but what does the Cult of the Primordial Shadow have to do with all this now?»

Akashi gives him a faint, unreadable look.

«And do you know what price—what proof of loyalty—the cult demands from those who want to join?»

Itsu shakes his head. He has no idea.

Akashi narrows his eyes and lets out a quiet sigh.

«Cassian Thalukvar, one of the twelve high priests of the cult, demands a blood sacrifice from his followers—the heads of the people they care about most.»

Those words hit like a hammer.

Itsu freezes. Everything becomes painfully clear.

The question that haunted him for years—Why did my brother kill them...?—finally has an answer.

But the truth is worse than anything he ever imagined.

Itsu drops to his knees—completely shattered.

Thick tears spill from his eyes, soaking into the hot desert sand.

The idea that his brother was just a cold-blooded killer already tore him apart.

But knowing it was all just the price to join a criminal cult that wants to awaken something capable of destroying Earth and N’Reath...

It’s too much.

He can’t take it.

Terrifying, broken screams erupt from Itsu’s mouth.

He pounds his fists into the sand again and again, sending up thick clouds of dust.

His cries twist into coughing, blood, and vomit—choking him.

Then he collapses forward.

His face sinks into the sand, now soaked with his own vomit, blood, and tears.

Akashi stands above him, expressionless.

Not a shred of sympathy for the pain tearing his little brother apart.

He doesn’t say a word.

No emotion flickers in his eyes.

He just waits—like he’s watching a storm run its course.

Almost twenty minutes pass.

Itsu’s body is drained, emptied by tears, vomit, and blood.

He can’t even lift himself from the ground.

«Are you done?» Akashi asks flatly, somewhere between impatience and irritation.

«E-Earlier... you said something. You said you want me to become strong enough to kill you... but why...?» Itsu asks, his voice hoarse and faint—his vocal cords shredded by all the screaming.

It’s probably a misplaced question, considering what just happened.

But right now, his mind isn’t clear. Not at all.

«Because if you become strong enough to kill someone like me, then maybe—just maybe—you’ll stand a chance at killing him too. Even though... I fear it might already be too late. Time’s running out. And they’re moving faster than I thought.»

«H-Him who...? Who’s moving...?» Itsu asks, confused.

Akashi suddenly grabs Itsu by the hair and yanks him up—forcing him to stand.

Itsu’s legs barely support him.

He sways, completely unsteady.

«Now’s not the time for questions. I’m your brother. I killed our mother. I killed our father. And now I’m standing right in front of you—and all you can do is cry and scream like a little girl?! I’m sure they’re rolling in their graves, watching the pathetic mess you’ve become!»

«S-Stop it... stop talking about them!!!»

Itsu’s body erupts with power—his Innatus-form activates again in a surge of violent energy.

Akashi takes a step back, smiling.

A satisfied smile.

«Come on, little brother... come kill me!»

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