"Seriously? Now that was a surprise!" laughed the man while his t-shirt and body were being burned alive.
Danso's passive ability lets him control fire, so he can just act as if he is a sorcerer and he can control flames. That was the meaning behind the act. It was always a last resort, but he had to do it, otherwise his act would be out.
"I told you, didn't I?" said Danso.
"Oh, for sure you did," said the man.
Suddenly, the man merely touched his wounds, and they all started to heal in an instant. The burning scars and all the blood just disappeared. The man teleported towards Danso, laughing.
"Was it his sorcery ability?" thought Danso.
"I know what you are thinking right now. How can I teleport? And how can I heal myself in an instant without my ability?" said the man.
"You guessed correctly, clown," said Danso.
"I would tell you, but that would take out the suspense right? So try finding it yourself!" said the man, laughing crazily while speaking almost like a mental disease.
Time was running out. The kids were going to get burned if Danso did not act quickly, so Danso ran towards the kids while the man was blocking him. The man touched Danso on the chest, and Danso felt as if all the breath in his lungs had run out. He fell, gasping. The man ran towards him and kicked him in the face with his knee. Danso flung backwards, landing with a thud on the ground.
"Any second, the real you should appear," said the man.
It felt like Danso lost consciousness as he fell asleep. His last view was the man grinning sinisterly and almost pleased with himself. Danso then closed his eyes. After a few seconds, the man's grin disappeared from his face.
"Maybe the calamity was not in him after all," thought the man as he pointed the gun straight at the kids about to pull the trigger.
"Speak of the devil, the devil appears," said Danso, who got up.
Danso didn't seem like Danso. He looked like he had been possessed by someone. His aura was colder, and his soul energy waves increased to heights that only Chiro Zanami could reach. The reawakening of the soul energy was so tremendous that even Emily and Natsuki had felt it, but disregarded it as nothing, as there is no way someone like Chiro could appear at a Burning House like this.
"Ah, well, here you are, now I know you are not the Red Samurai," said the man.
"Xeno, leave this place and hand over the kids before I kill you. Danso Narahara might have morals, but I lost all mine," said Danso.
"And why would I leave?" questioned Xeno.
"I told you back then. I was raised to believe in retribution and transformation to be a good man," said Danso.
"NO! I SAY THAT IS WRONG," shrieked Xeno. "You are haunted by your sins so much that you really split your soul into four and locked three pieces of it away?" said Xeno.
"I gave you time. No more talking," said Danso as he sprinted towards Xeno.
Danso pulled out his sword and started slashing with his soul energy, enhancing his sword to the utmost heights. Each strike on Xeno sent energy waves flying. Xeno was dodging, and the attacks he could not dodge seemed fatal, but Xeno's medical prowess made all his injuries seem like scratches within milliseconds. Danso threw a burning log at Xeno and sent him flying. He proceeded to pick up the children on his back to allow him to continue fighting. Then he threw the kids outside the window, guaranteeing their safety by putting a smoke cloud to cushion their fall.
"Now it's just us, Xeno," said Danso.
"Now this has become boring, Xu," said Xeno.
"Don't call me by that ever again," said Danso Xu as he sent Xeno flying with a punch straight to the gut reinforced with soul energy.
"It's so funny! Why did you choose to start anew with a blank part of your soul?" asked Xeno.
"To control my power and to have a new life," said Danso Xu.
"You have gone soft, haven't you?" asked Xeno.
"I am done talking to you. If you cross your line one more time, just know, either I'll be there or that vigilante you're so scared of," said Danso Xu.
"Do you know why I want to hunt him?" said Xeno.
"I couldn't care less," said Danso Xu.
"The way of the sword, his power, his attitude, everything reminds me of you. We would not want a rip-off of the actual masterpiece running around, right?" said Xeno.
"Authority of the Dragon Gene of the Sword God:- Unholy God Dragon Flames," said Danso Xu, slicing Xeno in half.
"You will leave Lukia and never return, you soulless demon," said Danso Xu.
Xeno was shocked, it had been at least three years since he had last seen Xu, but he seemed as powerful, as strong as before. There was a sense of rusty sword swinging, but instead it was filled with gore, strength, and precision. As he was losing consciousness, he healed his vital organs to reattach his body, but quickly fainted afterwards. As he was about to blank out, he thought one thing.
"That Dragon Sword Art and the Dragon Authority… Is the sword art a subsection of it?" thought Xeno as he went and fainted.
Danso Xu just stood there and surrendered his body back to Danso Narahara. As soon as Danso Narahara came back, he fainted or collapsed straight to the ground. He looked around to see that the kids had disappeared and tried to get back up, but he couldn't. His legs felt like lifeless rocks, unable to get up as the fire started engulfing his surroundings.
"I can't die out here," grunted Danso as he got up, using his sword as support.
He used his sword as a walking stick, continuing the limp down the hall and reaching the door. With the remaining energy he had, he barged open the door, breaking it, and went outside. Emily and Natsuki saw him and rushed towards him. Danso collapsed yet again, this time Emily catching him. Both of them loaded the nearby firetruck and put Danso in it and thanked the firefighters for helping them put out the fire.
"The idiot must've worn himself out," said Emily.
"True, he wanted our votes, didn't he?" laughed Natsuki.
"What do you mean?" said Emily.
"I used him helping us with the Burning House as a barter that I will vote for him to stay. This means Haruki, Chiro, and Me will vote for him to be here, so definitely he is our new member of the DMMS," said Natsuki.
Emily grunted as she was displeased that such a reckless, unorganized 'idiot' was going to be in the DMMS, which was supposed to be a high-class military squad that protects the country and the people.
"I can see you're displeased," said Natsuki.
"It's like my opinion doesn't even matter right now!" exclaimed Emily.
"Maybe you need to give the kid a chance," said Natsuki.
"He's strong yet an idiot, and the amount of soul energy he was letting out, I could feel it from outside the house," cautioned Emily.
"Report that to Chiro. He should be able to figure it out," advised Natsuki as they reached the Headquarters.
Chiro walked outside the door with Tensei by his side. Both of them were in casual wear while Tensei was yawning, while Chiro seemed worried that a fire truck carrying Danso had arrived at the headquarters.
"What happened?" questioned Chiro.
"It was a simple mission, but it didn't seem so," said Natsuki.
"Take care of Danso in the medical ward," said Chiro as Natsuki rolled the trolley carrying Danso inside the headquarters.
"Chiro…" said Emily.
"What?" replied Chiro.
"Danso used so much soul energy in the house equivalent to you," said Emily. "Even if he was hiding his ability, what opponent did he have to fight to resort to such violence?"
"I felt it too, when I first faced him in that alleyway. He seems to have a lock on parts of the soul, and a key is inside him that waits until Danso is in dire need of strength," explained Chiro. "Thank though, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it," assured Chiro as he left.
Then, Danso slept for what seemed like ages, and when he finally woke up he checked his phone to see the date was two weeks from now.
"What! I missed my trial period of the DMMS?!" exclaimed Danso as he raced outside the medical ward.