[Part 1/4]
The sun had fully risen and begun its descent.
"It's pausing here..."
The youkai I'd been tracking, likely wounded, had come to a stop. I'd spent over 3 hours following their bloodstains, and I decided to take a break. The reason for my pause was as I mentioned earlier; the red footprints that had been scattered on the ground had vanished.
"Now, how should I interpret this?"
I took my time to carefully scan my surroundings. The unidentified youkai with the injury had proven to be quite cunning, often attempting to mislead me during our pursuit.
Sometimes, the bloodstains would suddenly disappear, only to reappear in the distance, as if they had leaped. In some cases, the bloodstains continued in different directions. There were also cliffs and carnivorous plants ahead... It was a challenging situation.
"..."
Before I knew it, I found myself standing in a damp valley. It was a narrow path at the bottom of the valley, squeezed between steep cliffs on either side. I felt uneasy about approaching it.
"It must be a trap...!!"
As soon as I realized this, I threw a smoke bomb. The various monsters that emerged from the cliffs and the ground reacted with shrill cries to the pungent smoke.
"Damn it!! Get out of my way!!"
I sprinted back along the path. Along the way, I swiftly passed beneath the legs of a large spider youkai that had suddenly leaped in. It was a mid-tier youkai, not someone I should confront alone.
'Kiki!!'
'Gggghh...!!'
"This is convenient!!"
I didn't let any of them escape, quickly dealing with a swarm of locusts and leech-like small youkai that leaped towards me. I mercilessly crushed the leeches underfoot and swung my spear like a bat, striking the locusts in the face. I followed up with a full swing towards the spider's face.
'Ghh!!'
"Nice catch!!"
Instinctively, I caught a locust that had flown towards my face, thrown it toward the spider. It bites into it, and sucked its bodily fluids, much like savoring an ice cream cone. The large spider, now engrossed in its prey, no longer paid any attention to me.
This was the eighth method taught by my master for dealing with youkai when outnumbered. These creatures really had no sense of camaraderie... Wait a minute!
"D*mn it!! I don't have time to deal with you guys!!"
A bunch of sandworms began to overflow from the mud. They were the kind of youkai used as bait in fishing. They were quite large for small youkai. I promptly presented them with smelly bombs, which exploded upon contact.
'Kkkkk!!??'
Due to their inherently fragile bodies, some of the sandworms died from the explosion, while the rest writhed in agony from the intense stimulus, directing their hateful gazes towards me.
'Arrgghh!!'
"Here they come! Devour them all!! They're quite a feast!!"
As the sandworms approached me, they were all swallowed whole by a large catfish that had also leaped out of the mud. Fish youkai that lurked in muddy areas like this were skilled at hiding and sensitive to vibrations. They were a nuisance when you couldn't afford to run away. They needed food, and it seemed like they were demanding it from me. To make matters worse, flesh-eating mud loaches and flesh-eating catfish appeared and began devouring the sandworms. It was a hellish scene of chaos.
The specially blended scent concocted by Dokuzawa Yakuko from Medic Group had the power to excite youkai and draw them in. I had Sarujirou convert this into smoke bombs. I had three of them ready. They were precious items for diversion. ...I just used one of them, though.
"I can't afford to hold back and die... After all!!"
I avoided the worm-like youkai that ambushed me from the side tunnel and jumped out of the mud just in time to avoid a clam youkai that sprang out. I slashed at them with my spear while avoiding killing blows. It wasn't necessary to kill them. If I made them bleed, they would be drawn to each other's blood and start cannibalizing each other. It was a food chain of survival of the fittest. The youkai world was harsh.
"I see, we're... almost there!"
Gradually, my vision cleared up, and the ground became firm underfoot as we neared the end of the valley. Coughing and breathing heavily, I ran relentlessly toward what lay ahead. And... I noticed a shadow forming beneath my feet.
"Huh!?"
As soon as I emerged from the valley's narrow path, I quickly turned around. What had just plunged into the spot where I had been was a large monkey youkai. It was about the size of three adults and was a monkey youkai with a severed arm. It seemed like it was about to shed its skin and become a great youkai. And, moreover, this one...!!
"You've got mushrooms too?!"
Mushroom-like mycelium sprouted obscenely from its head. It seemed this creature, too, was a fungus youkai that had parasitized a corpse. Damn, you grotesque mnonkey, if I'm going to kill you, I'll make sure it's thorough!!
"No, the real problem is... What the—Kill it!"
The monkey youkai (fungus-infested) seemed to sense it at the same time as my command. More accurately, the monkey was about to realize it, so I ordered it. A sharp arrow shot straight towards the monkey's forehead. ...Of course, it was caught.
"Not done yet!!"
I had been aware of being lured from the beginning. That's why Hisame attacked it by surprise, and I gave it a further blow. With a body strengthening, I closing in, and thrusting the spear up from below the chin. This way, it might penetrate up to the skull...
"It's tough!!?"
It pierced through the flesh, but the spear's tip was stopped by the jawbone. At the same time, our gazes met and it raised its fist. This is bad, isn't it?!
'Grrrghhh!!!!'
"Close call...!!?"
It was a close call by a hair's breadth. I hurriedly withdrew the spear, flipped my body, and managed to avoid the swinging giant arm. It might be more accurate to say I rolled to avoid it.
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad...!!"
I rushed to run while crawling on the ground to put some distance between us. The difference in strength was clear, and engaging in a straightforward fight would be reckless and suicidal.
"Ugh!!?"
My collar was grabbed. I was hoisted up in an instant. I came face to face with the mushroom-covered giant monkey. Its jaws opened, revealing rows of jagged teeth. Oh, so foul-smelling breath.
"You d*mn beast!!"
I immediately threw several kunai from my pocket. Unfortunately, the opponent was a corpse, so it didn't react even if it bled from the gums. The monster was closing in...!!
"I won't let you!!"
'Ooh ooh!!'
Two arrows pierced through its arm. Then, several arrows grazed the mushroom growing from the monkey's head. Immediately after, the giant monkey tossed me aside as if I were nothing.
"Whoa...!? Wh-what the hell!!? Argh!!?"
My vision spun as I rotated. At the edge, I saw the back of the fleeing giant monkey and ground my teeth. Then, I saw the ground approaching, and I quickly assumed a defensive posture. My waist... it hurt!!?
"Senpai!!? Are you okay!!?"
"Does it look like I am!!?"
"No!!"
A conversation as we stood up with tears in our eyes while holding our waists. It had a touch of comedy somewhere. In reality, it was not a situation to laugh about.
"Dammit!! We're going after it! That thing, it snagged something in its teeth!"
"What!? Then...?"
"That's right. It's probably the requested item this time!"
Specifically, I glimpsed a Furoshiki (wrapping cloth) caught on its canine tooth. It was most likely the item requested this time. It was undoubtedly undamaged, even inside the youkai's mouth.
(The problem is... even if I think about it...!!)
Having seen the smoke bomb for help, having received the request from the Hidden Group, and having found the target item, there was no choice but to act. Our lives as servants were far less valuable than orders from the court, and the Onitsuki family could easily discover from our memories that we had been slacking off. The worst-case scenario was death. To survive, we had to go to the death trap.
"I'm going after that stupid monnkey. If I let it go after seeing that, it won't be just disciplinary action!! Watch out for traps!"
With that added at the end, I pursued the fleeing giant monkey. The freezing rain continued to fall.
Deeper and deeper. Towards the end of the bottomless pit where no one should tread. It was as if an unseen force were leading us there.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)