Night had fallen, with only the streetlights and the passing headlights of cars illuminating the house's porch.
Clara kept trying to wake Susane, but Susane wouldn't budge. She just snored soundly, clutching her Yougrine doll tightly.
Frustrated, Clara went inside, grabbed a bucket of water, and came back. Byur! She doused Susane without mercy.
Susane gasped, her eyes snapping wide open. "Where am I? Who am I?" A comically bewildered expression came over her face as she stared at Clara.
"Oh, the young lady from before. What's up?" She stood up quickly, causing her cowboy hat to fall off. With a mischievous grin, she brushed her hair back.
"What did you say, 'young lady'?!" Clara snapped, annoyed. "I'm not that old! I'm the same age as you! Don't call me that! Come inside, I'll explain." Clara pulled Susane by the hand.
"Wait, Yougrine!" Susane quickly grabbed her doll and hat. She then entered the European-style house and sat down in the living room.
"I don't remember you. What do you want to explain?" Susane asked, sighing as she held her head.
"Hey... I know you have amnesia, but don't just wander around the city. You'll be hunted by the Demon Hunters," Clara said, pointing at Susane.
Susane looked relaxed. "Demons? What's a demon? I didn't know they were real. Are you just making things up? I just want to enjoy my life," she replied with another sigh, not caring about what Clara said.
"If you're not a demon, then why do you carry that doll around and never let it go?"
"Hah! What kind of nonsense is that?! This doll is like my sibling! Are you crazy?" Susane hugged Yougrine tightly.
"You're the crazy one! What normal human would have a strange-looking doll like that? Didn't you feel anything weird when you were in the house?" Clara tried to jog her memory.
At that moment, Susane held her head, thinking to herself. 'Right, there was a strange drawing on the wall this morning. But... no, no. I won't believe someone I just met.' She glanced at the Yougrine doll.
"Well? Do you remember anything?" Clara asked.
"No. I don't remember anything, just the weird incident this morning," Susane replied, trying to calm her mind.
"Then, if you don't remember..." Suddenly, a sword appeared from Clara's hand, emanating a cold light. Without hesitation, she slashed Susane directly in the chest. Cruat! Blood splattered everywhere.
Susane was shocked by the blow. Slowly, the wound healed on its own. "What?! What is this?! Why did you slash me?! And why am I still alive?! Who are you, really?!"
"Who I am doesn't matter. Who are you? How could you recover so quickly from my attack?" Clara asked, crossing her arms, still holding the sword in her right hand.
Susane looked confused, remembering only that the doll could change form.
"I... I don't know. I only remember that Yougrine... she can be a sword. But I'm asking you, if you live a normal life, why aren't you being hunted?" she asked, holding her doll and curling up, gripping her head.
"I hide my aura so I look like a normal human, and I work a normal job during the day. I paid for those clothes of yours. You stole them from a clothing store, and I saw you back then. Ahh, damn it. Now you get a job and pay me back!" She held out her hand, demanding her money.
Susane, hearing this, looked guilty and remembered her amnesia. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll pay you back. How much is it?"
"Two gold coins! Can you even pay for that?! Just look at your clothes, I bet you don't have a single penny," Clara said, annoyed.
'Are two gold coins a lot? But it's true, I don't have any money,' she thought. "Sorry if I'm causing trouble. I don't have a job, so just put it on my tab, hehe," she said, scratching her head.
"Where are you staying right now? Is it far from here?" Clara asked, looking at Susane.
"Maybe." Susane glanced at the window, and her eyes widened. She saw a fleeting shadow disappear outside. "Clara, did you see that? I saw a shadow in the window. Is that the hunter you mentioned?" she asked, clutching Yougrine.
Clara laughed softly. "Hah, nonsense. It's safe here. My house is warded with an anti-surveillance charm..." Just as Clara spoke, a holy sword appeared behind her and pierced her stomach. Cruat! Blood splattered!
Susane, seeing this, looked excessively terrified and cried out, "Don't... don't kill me! Please, I just want to live!" Her eyes darted around as she held her doll.
The figure spoke, "Yo, we meet again, eccentric child, hahaha... did you forget I've been watching you since we met on the highway? Ahh, I guess you don't know, huh?" He sneered coldly, his eyes glaring at Susane.
Susane thought, holding her head in terror. 'Huh, when? When did I meet him? How is this happening in front of me?'
The figure now appeared clearly, pulling the holy sword from Clara's body.
Pluk! Clara fell to the floor, her eyes empty. The Demon Hunter was a priest in a white robe, with a Roman numeral VI tattooed on his face.
"Why are you just standing there, you coward?" The priest kicked Clara's lifeless body. "Where's that power of yours, is it just a rumor?" He stomped on Clara's head while staring at the terrified Susane.
"Hahaha, so this is what they call the Devil's Doll? Why are you scared like a little kid? Look at this, do you like it?" He lifted Clara's blood-soaked body, displaying it to Susane.
Susane shook her head frantically. "Don't... don't show me... the blood... stop! Don't do that!" She was terrified and pleaded.
Priest VI stabbed Clara again with the holy sword to provoke Susane. Cruat! Tess! Blood splattered everywhere, even hitting Susane's face.
Susane clutched her head in pain, a terrible dizziness attacking her brain. She shrieked, "Aaaargh!" She gritted her teeth, her eyes spinning and turning pitch black. The veins on her temples bulged.
Yougrine, which she was clutching, began to glow a reddish-black and tremble violently. Susane lifted it, and with a roar that sounded more like the earth shaking, she stood up. "Do... you want to die, you bastards?!"
Her body began to change drastically. Krekk! Krekk! Her bones shifted and grew with a horrifying sound. A pair of pitch-black horns, sharp as daggers, emerged from her head. Behind her, a demon's tail grew and writhed in the air.
Yougrine in her hand transformed into a large, black-bladed sword with ancient carvings that radiated an aura of darkness.
Priest VI was shocked, but his smile only grew wider. "Ahaha! Finally... the true Devil's Doll has appeared!"
Susane roared and lunged forward, swinging the Yougrine sword with brutal, shattering force. Priest VI's holy sword came up to block.
Kraaang! The clash of the two swords created an explosion of energy, shattering the windows and shaking the entire house.
"Your stupid holy sword is nothing!" Susane roared. She pushed with all her might, forcing Priest VI to stumble backward.
Priest VI pulled out a holy talisman, sticking it to his sword. "Take this! The power of the divine!"
Susane ignored it. With demonic speed, she lunged, circled the priest, and attacked from the side.
Sluurpp!
The Yougrine sword sliced into Priest VI's side, tearing through his flesh and robes. Holy blood spurted from the wound.
Priest VI winced, staggered, and fell to his knees. Blood gushed from his wound. "How... how can this be?!"
Susane stood over him, raising the Yougrine sword above her head. Her pitch-black eyes burned with hatred. "You wanted to see a demon? Then here it is..."
Susane laughed with a terrifying, hoarse voice that shook the air. She threw the Yougrine sword aside it reverted to a doll and leaped onto Priest VI's body. She gripped the priest's throat with her long, sharp claws.
"YOU WILL FEEL THE SAME DESPAIR AS MY VICTIMS!" she roared.
Priest VI tried to fight back, but Susane's strength was overwhelming. Susane opened her mouth, now filled with sharp fangs, and bit into Priest VI's neck brutally.
Grak! Cruat! The sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh was unmistakable. The priest shrieked in pain, but his cries were cut short.
Susane continued to bite, rip, and swallow the raw flesh ravenously, as if she were a starved beast. Priest VI's blood soaked Susane's face and gothic dress.
The priest's screams weakened, and his eyes slowly lost their light. Susane didn't stop until she was absolutely sure Priest VI was dead.
After it was all over, Susane stood, her breath ragged. Her face and dress were covered in blood.
She stared at the destruction around her and the shapeless body of Priest VI. Her pitch-black eyes trembled, as if she had just woken from a nightmare.
She saw Clara, lying helpless with a stab wound in her stomach. A strange instinct pushed her to move closer. With blood-soaked hands, she touched Clara's wound.
Suddenly, a dark energy flowed from Susane into Clara's body, healing the wound at an incredible speed. The stab wound closed, and Clara's skin returned to its normal color.
As the energy flowed, Susane's horns and tail slowly vanished. Her pitch-black eyes returned to their normal brown color.
A massive headache struck her again, and the memory of what had just happened faded like smoke. She collapsed to the floor, holding her now-empty head.
In her hands, the Yougrine doll that had been a sword was now a doll again. However, Susane realized something was different.
The doll wasn't made of cloth, but of skin sewn with thick thread. Pale, cold, and foul-smelling skin... like human skin.