Danso knew that his next words would either kill him or give him some much needed information about Xeno. Yvette quickly realised that Danso was tense due to sweat forming on his forehead and his eyes widening slightly.
"You seem a bit tense…Should I bring you a glass of water?" asked Yvette.
"No thanks, I just thought of someone I knew with the name Yvette," covered up Danso.
Yvette laughed. "I am not your ex-girlfriend," she said sarcastically.
Danso gave out a small laugh before getting back into topic. He needed to find a way to get his soul energy well back and get information on whether she knew Xeno or not.
"Wait a minute if she is Yvette then Everlin is Xeno's son? Or maybe Yvette had a child with someone else?" thought Danso but the matter was too confusing for him so he sighed and drank a sip of water.
"Your soul is special," said Yvette.
"Why?" replied Danso.
"It's more or less sealed between very powerful gates. If you can unlock the third seal then you should be able to kickstart the second and first seal into working properly again," said Yvette.
Danso thought for a minute and was reminded of the time Xu gave him a key for the second seal. He opened the gate and from that day onwards he felt he had much more soul energy than before. He was optimistic that he could get another powerup.
"How will you create the scenario that will start the third seal awakening?" asked Danso.
"By doing this," replied Yvette.
Yvette tapped her staff five times and in an instant the surrounding area turned into a pinkish red domain. There were slight cherry blossom leaves raining on Danso and he looked around to see where he was.
He was standing on the ground and there was a complex that seemed very different from the Narahara Complex.
"Xu was a samurai? If he was then how would I not know him?" thought Danso.
The entrance was blocked off and the sign that signified the complex's clan was blurred so he could not comprehend it.
Danso followed the clear path that led to the blocked off entrance and it had an arch-like shrine surrounding the entrance. He found himself with no item except a blade that had an X emblem.
He used the blade and Water Stance to break the boulder in front of him and walked inside the gates.
There were many grass fields with set up practice dummies and there was also another building that Danso speculated was for residents. There was also a cafeteria area and a playground.
"I never been to the playground, the kids would always kick me out," thought Danso as he reminisced about his time in the Narahara Complex.
He slapped himself once and focused once more. What was he supposed to do now he was here? Maybe he had to find the key and unlock the third seal.
Was that his goal?
"This grandma sent me here with no explanation," growled and complained Danso.
Then Danso saw a man who sat on his knees in a respectful and prideful style with his sword attached to his hip to his right side.
"Finally a person," exclaimed Danso.
He approached the man but as soon as Danso moved a single step closer, a storm of slashes appeared in front of him. The trees were cut down, the complex in entirety was cut down into minute pieces and everything was destroyed leaving only some rubble. Danso watched the scene with his mouth half opened and his right foot not fully planted to the ground.
"That's not…Human," thought Danso.
The storm eventually stopped and Danso tried taking another step forward but as soon as he did his left hand got chopped off. Danso grasped the wrist that was violently bleeding as he screamed in pain.
Then there he was.
A human who was not a human but instead a monster.
The personification of Bloodthirst.
Xu's Third Seal.
This man was the same height as Danso and looked the same as the Xu on top of the mountain but this time his eyes weren't satisfied; they were filled with anger and blood.
"Is this what killing hundreds does to a man?" thought Danso as he stared into the sword that reflected the color red.
Xu quickly went for another strike but Danso managed to dodge the attack by rolling away and he unsheathed his sword with a single hand.
He struck Xu with a powerful attack but Xu brushed off the strike with a simple 'whoosh' of his blade. Danso unleashed a barrage of attacks that Xu danced around and just dodged them all before he unleashed his storm again.
Danso quickly tried finding cover and quickly realised that it was futile therefore he tried running away but it did not work. The slashes attacked his legs which made him crawl and eventually he was picked up by Xu who bent his neck backwards to make sure Danso was staring at him as Xu cut his neck off and he bleeded to death.
Danso screamed in horror. No one wants to die. Especially not like this.
There was nothing but black for a long time before he opened his eyes to see he was at the beginning of the path yet again.
"What has this grandma truly got me into?" thought Danso.
This time Danso sat down in front of the broken boulder and grabbed a stick before making doodles on the ground to express his thoughts.
Xu was violent, very violent but he did something…
Danso had a hunch he needed to confirm and he cut the boulder open. It was a gamble he did not know if he died this time he would revive again. Danso saw Xu again kneeling in a samurai fashion and took a step forward. Then the slash storm barrage started and Danso took another step forward after it ended. It started again but Danso took a step back in time to avoid the slashes. After looking at his initial position from before taking a step and his new position after taking a second step. He realised something.
"I am an inch closer than I was before," thought Danso.
He grinned and repeated this painfully slow process over a dozen times before he reached the resting Xu. He opened his sword this time with both hands and stood in Earth Stance since he wanted to withstand anything Xu attacked him.
"Xu? You want to talk?" asked Danso.
As Danso touched Xu's shoulder Xu got up and started lunging at Danso. He quickly dodged all the attacks and withstood the third strike that Xu struck by using Earth Stance.
Danso switched into Water Stance and attacked Xu and this Xu actually blocked the attack and pushed Danso away and in a second slashed Danso in the right arm causing him to groan in pain but hold his arm with his left hand.
"For a samurai attacking the attacking hand is a sin it looks like you don't have honor after all," joked Danso.
Xu's eyes turned blood red as the soul energy from him started to increase tenfold. Danso saw a sea of red blood as he could not move due to the pressure of the aura. Danso tried to retaliate but since his soul well was broken he could not.
Then Xu rushed towards him and forced Danso to look at himself in the eyes and slashed his neck. Danso smiled as he died while Xu rubbed the blood off his cheek.
"Ignorant brat," said Xu with a deep voice.
Danso was again in the darkness but this time he opened his eyes quicker and his vision was blurry and he stumbled to a wooden pillar before he shook his head and got ready. His hunch was correct.
"Xu always kills someone while looking them dead in the eye. It's his way of giving them a funeral or a send off," thought Danso.
Danso thought he could cut off Xu's hand while he was going to do his usual ritual of sorts and then he could attempt to talk to Xu. If he cannot be reasoned with words then he would be in deep trouble.
And so he started his third chance. He cut through the boulder with utmost precision and he used the same technique as he did from before to get close to Xu. As Danso placed his hand on Xu's shoulder, he expected a quick attack or a death threat but instead this time Xu looked at him dead in the eye.
"Will you continue trying to talk to me even after 100 tries?"
"If I get out of here, yes," said Danso.
"You won't win,"
"How will I know if I never try?" replied Danso.
Xu's eyes turned bright red as Danso uttered the words and then he attacked, aiming for Danso's neck. Danso dodged the attack by the length of a feather and then used Water Stance to create a counter-attack. Xu unleashed a barrage of slashes that Danso blocked with one strong strike that Xu managed to dodge.
Then Danso switched to Wind Stance as Xu was charging up for another barrage of attacks. The storm of sword slashes were unleashed by Xu's blade and Danso retreated quickly using Wind Stance as a mode of transport and some slashes attacked him but no deep cuts.
"This guy…" said Danso.
Danso had an idea while he was running and the idea was that he could try to let his guard down on purpose and let Xu try and kill him just for him to sneak attack him. It was not a very samurai move for him but he didn't care he hated being called a samurai anyway.
Danso walked back and saw Xu with his sword out. He placed both his hands on the hilt of the blade and placed it in front of his face but with a few inches distance between the blade and the face.
Danso switched to Water Stance as he had no intention of backing down. He was going to defeat Xu here or at least harm him in a way he could not fight again and then try to speak to him and get the third seal key.
And then Danso's worst nightmare came to fruition.
"Sorcery of the Sun:- Ghost Blaze," said Xu.
"Is he a samurai? Who even is Xu?" thought Danso frightened.