Ryuji is left feeling powerless, Grabbing the hilt of his sword with uncertainty. Could he even kill such a beast?

Zen adjusts the grip of his Machette in a way that the sharp side points to the ground. He grits his teeth, feeling just how powerless he is in front of that damned monster.

The Weeping Brother walks closer to the boy. The boy desperately backs away, trying to stay away from the abomination as much as he could, the boy keeps crying when suddenly, his eyes fall onto Ryuji and Zen.

Looking at Ryuji's katana and his appearance, The boy stutters and shouts:

"A-A Samurai!"

Ryuji's head goes blind when he hears those words. The familiar words. The boy was definitely from the place he was from, and was familiar with the concept of a Samurai. Those words were something Ryuji heard all the times, turning the hopeless souls into hopeful ones. He couldn't just ignore the boy anymore.

The monster turns it's head and notices Ryuji and Zen. It twists it's mouth, and it's expression turns into one of bloodlust and rage.

Ryuji takes the first step to dash at it, but suddenly a strong gust of wind makes him tumble to the ground, Bringing a lot of dust along with it, blinding the path in front of him.

Two menacing eyes are the only things visible from the dust, when the dust finally subsides and turns everything back to normal again.

The creature makes a face showing frustration. It suddenly grabs the boy using its maw and starts running away, jumping from one structure to another, from a tree to a hill until it disappears.

"W-What was that?!"

Ryuji shouts when another strong gust of wind blows past them again, Blinding them.

Zen dismisses the Machette and helps him get up, "It's a sign that a storm is about to brew soon, and now that so much blood has been spilled, much stronger horrors will invade this place again, looking for prey. We must get out of here. Fast."

Ryuji covers his eyes using his hand, "But what about the boy? He looked so... Scared."

Zen grabs his arm and pulls him out of the forest with him, "That thing is an Eclipsed Malformation... You cannot deal with that thing. Neither can we."

"But..."

Unable to argue, Ryuji allows himself to be pulled by Zen. That thing did look scary. If a Shrouded Carcass gave him so much trouble, what would he be able to do about an Eclipsed Malformation? That thing was supposed to be much more powerful. Needless to say, it was evident looking at it's build and the way it took the boy away. Ryuji wasn't capable of dealing with something like that. And by now, the boy must've been dead too. Thinking of that, He couldn't help but feel sad about something like that. He notices a sad and tired expression on Zen's face too, Gritting his teeth and cleaning his sleeve in an uncomfortable way, but he understood reality too.

But before Zen and Ryuji can move more than a few steps, a voice calls them from behind:

"Hey! A-Are you from another settlement nearby?"

Zen and Ryuji look back to find a pale young man, skinny as if he's not eaten in days call to them from the gates of the settlement.

Zen chooses to be the one to reply:

"Not a settlement, but a relatively safe place."

The man's eyes light up and a hopeful expression appears on his face:

"R-Really? T-Then... Would it be possible for you to... Take a few people in? W-We are ready to do labour so..."

Zen keeps a stoic expression on his face and replies with seriousness, "How many people?"

The man rubs the back of his head, as if getting a little uncomfortable by Zen's question, "E-Eight... People..." The man gives him an uncomfortable grin and holds his fingers together, as if pleading to him internally.

Zen sighs, "Alright. But we won't be responsible for your food after today's meal. Only temporary shelter. Earn everything after that."

The man's eyes light up with excitement, "T-Thank you so much! Let me gather the survivors!"

**

The man spends a few minutes gathering his friends and they all join Ryuji and Zen on their way back to their pit.

The Storm keeps growing more and more as they all walk through it. Thankfully, it's still in its early stages, due to which they don't have to struggle too much, or for too long.

Now, 3 women and 5 more men were resting in Zen's place after their long expedition. Ice didn't seem to mind giving these people a shelter.

The old man, White also comes to greet them.

As he watches Ice preparing the food, he comes up to lend a hand.

"Here, Let this old frail man help a little. You already work so hard."

Ice shows a little smile on her face and is almost about to hand over the pot to the old man, but Zen intercepts it.

"There there old man. You'll spill the food all over yourself. Let me help you instead."

"Ah come on! I'm not that old yet!"

The strange girl that always stuck to white was standing in the corner of the room, following behind the old man, as always. She looked like a beautiful mannequin standing there. But whenever Ryuji looked at her, he always felt a slight creep, as if something was wrong about her. When he looked at her face, he felt her hand twitch. When he looked at her hand, he felt her head shake. When he looked away, he felt her legs shook.

But in the end, he couldn't comprehend it and took that feeling as a sign for fatigue.

Sitting with all the people in the room, including the people he saved, he couldn't help but be curious about "The Weeping Brother". So, without any hesitation, he decided to ask:

"So... What is The Weeping Brother? Why do you people have a name for it?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment. The people of the settlement looked down, as if hiding their faces, and the old man got silent and cleared his throat, "The Weeping Brother got his name because... That is how that Abyssal was born. He's a brother who keeps weeping in his brother's grief."

Ryuji is utterly confused by that statement, "Huh? Abyssal? A brother who weeps for his sibling? How is that making any sense?"

The old man sighs and crosses his legs, his voice getting heavier. He gets closer to the table. The wind starts entering their cave too as the storm gets worse outside.

Zen rushes to close the opening with a curtain made of animal hide.

As soon as Zen returns, white continues, "When a person dies, they either reincarnate, or are sent to either Elysium or hell. In Elysium, Reincarnation might not be all that popular, but for us hell folks, Reincarnation is a boon, since life here is hell... Literally. And every once in a while, a soul comes here, that carries a hint of divinity. in the very core of the person's soul is a Tear. The Tear of Divinity. It is said that if such an ichor is consumed, the person will be gifted reincarnation instantly, all of their sins would be washed away in an instant, and they'd not have to carry out years of torture in this place.

So... Whenever such a soul comes here, and people get to know about their divine affinity... What do you think happens?"

The answer is pretty obvious to Ryuji... 

"Slaughter."

He himself carried Divine affinity in his body. [Child Of A God's Grace] was related to that, afterall... But why had noone suspected him for having divine affinity?

The old man looks down darkly, "Exactly. It is sad, but it's the truth. An adult carrying divine affinity is very rare. However... Almost every child that reaches Hell... in some way or the other, is afflicted with Divinity."

Oh... So that is why...

White continues, "Something similar happened when two twins brothers reached Hell together. One of them was afflicted with Divinity, while the other was not. The information spread through the settlement like fire, and soon, everyone wanted to get that Ichor. Who doesn't want to be free of unknown years of torture?"

The storm outside roared louder, the winds howling as if trying to tear the place apart. Being inside a pit such as this was really helping them survive without even being worried.

"If the boy was alone... He'd have been dead within a day... But since he had a brother who always stayed with him and cared for him, people were able to maintain their composure for a while. Whenever the brother was there to witness anything they do, they'd not do a thing, and just stare at them, as if waiting for his brother to rot away. But desperation... Oh it makes beasts of men. All they were looking for was a single moment, a frame when his brother wasn't around to witness it. So they could feel they didn't hurt anyone, as soon as the boy died unable to utter a word... And noone left to mourn him, they could deceive themselves by telling them that they did it out of desperation, without feeling any guilt for their actions...

And one day... Late at night. One of the brothers got up thirsty. He reached for a little pot he had kept nearby, but couldn't find it. Unable to sleep due to the thirst and the soreness of his throat, The brother went outside to fetch water for them both. The village looked eerily empty at night. The sky was red and the air was colder than most days, it still smelled of ash and death, but that was true everyday.

When the brother went back to his room, he was... Confused... Why was his brother's chest wide open. His ribs, heart, muscles, veins, blood... Everything spewing out and falling on their makeshift bed. Three villagers stood there, facing his brother, when they noticed him entering, but kept chewing through the boy's fresh flesh without any repulsion.

The boy couldn't do anything, he could only watch in horror as his brother's body laid lifeless on the bed. Soon... One of those men started to glow... He... He was reincarnating.

The other villagers obviously didn't like that... But nothing could be done.

What was unknown to them however, was that the boy behind them, had just gouged his eyes out and squashed them... But as soon as he did that... Two red embers appeared in his eyes and his body transformed. It was a sacrifice to a demon... His bones grew to proportions his human body shouldn't have been allowed to be stretched to, and suddenly tore out of it. His arms grew, his legs grew, he got hysterical and then finally reached the state of the weeping brother we know today...

The weeping brother was the master of such power... That when he opened his mouth to scream, The man's reincarnation was halted, and he was consumed by the Malformation along with the Ichor... The divine Ichor was pulled out of him... Like nothing!

The Malformation was strong enough to undo reincarnation... The man's face was the first one to be etched inside the boy's mouth... Until the same night, countless others joined... It is said that everyone who was consumed by the Malformation is still conscious... And Alive... Inside that monster's own body. Someone who has looked inside that thing's maw saw it with their very own eyes, they saw horrified faces of countless people etched inside that monster's mouth, crying desperately and begging for their deaths.

That day, Everyone in the village was slaughtered by that Monster... Except me."

Ryuji's ears twitch, "You were from that settlement?"

The old man nods.

"Then how did you survive?"

The old man looks away, "Don't ask me that... It's too painful... But... I will tell you the reason the Weeping Brother must've taken that kid... That Child was afflicted with Divinity and their settlement had the misfortune of having that boy fall in their lap. Before they could become aware about it, The Weeping Brother must've already slaughtered everything on the way to their gate and then decided to massacre the entire village while trying to find the boy. Am i right?"

The pale young man answers to him, as if feeling a little guilty about something he doesn't want to say, "Y-You're right, sir."

White replies back, "Then it's better for you all to just sit here, find another place of shelter and never hope to reach that settlement again, it'd definitely be filled with Abyssal creatures when you return."

All of those men sighed.

Through all this, Ryuji could feel only one thing. Frustrated... The boy hadn't even come to hell a few minutes ago and he already had to face such things. Moreover, the boy was from somewhere he lived. Those eyes full of hope on seeing a man holding a sword, it was something everyone who lived in his region had felt at some point. In a way, Ryuji felt responsible for the boy. He wanted to save him... But could he really?

The old man left soon after finishing his meal. Spider left with him, obviously. The storm hadn't subsided yet and everyone was tired and beat up. Ice had slept already. Ryuji was sitting by the mouth of the cave, listening to the sound of the wind howling.

Zen was cleaning the dishes they had used. After a long time, he approached Ryuji and sat beside him. Ryuji glanced at his shadow and continued listening to the sounds of the hell storm.

The storm was gonna keep up till tomorrow at least. Storms in hell never brought any rain, but the winds themselves were deadly.

After a little time spent without uttering a word by both of them, Zen spoke, "What're you thinking?"

Ryuji sighs and looks down. He waits for a few seconds and says:

"Your Soul Bond. That Katana. If you don't need it, can I borrow it?"

Zen looks at him with a confused expression:

"What for?"

Ryuji closes his eyes for a few seconds and replies:

"I wanna save that boy."