kscans

Chapter 239 - The Lord of Mount Ooe

Beneath the glow of a false moon, the clash of blades shook the trees.

"OOOOOOH!!"

An Oni Musha roared as it charged, slashing down with its massive nata blade. I struck the flat of the descending blade to parry it aside, then used our relative velocity to slam my shoulder into its torso.

With a crack, the Oni’s massive body went flying. Immediately, I foresaw an attack from behind and leaped into the air.

"Guoh!"

"Shhh…!"

I flipped mid-air, using the wind to execute a U-turn and dive sharply. With my momentum unchecked, I brought my sword down on the crown of the one that had tried to ambush me.

My blade split its skull and sliced through its neck, finally stopping as it bit into the rim of its cuirass. It was undoubtedly a fatal wound, yet the oni groaned and grabbed my arm and the sword embedded in its head.

"You…!"

"GAAAAH!"

I sensed the one I had sent flying moments ago rushing at me from behind.

I quickly planted my right foot on the clinging oni's shoulder, blasted my Flügel to spin vertically, and lifted the creature's body into the air, slamming its back into the nata blade of the other attacking Oni Musha.

A deafening roar echoed, and the powerful impact nearly threw me off balance, but I managed to land on my feet. The blade of my sword was slightly warped, but I had no time to worry about it.

"GOOOOOH!"

Having just smashed its comrade’s back, the Oni Musha, its face a mask of fury, swung its nata down from an overhead stance.

I leaped back to evade it, simultaneously drawing a knife with my left hand and throwing it without a moment's hesitation. It struck the creature in its left eye.

It let out a cry of agony, but the oni still didn't stop. It twisted its torso, using its large pauldron as a shield as it charged forward.

I lowered my sword into a ready stance and charged as well. The moment my opponent raised its nata to strike, I dove into its blind spot on its left side.

The Oni Musha must have anticipated I would move to its left. Sure enough, the nata swung horizontally, chasing after me without losing any speed.

So, I circled further around to get behind it.

Using the difference in our speed, I forcibly left its spinning slash—which had driven its pivot foot into the ground—in the dust.

I thrust my sword up from below, aiming for the back of its defenseless head.

I felt the tip gouge into its brain. The oni groaned, still trying to move, so I channeled wind and fire through the blade and into its body.

As I backed away from the creature whose head had just exploded, I glanced over at my allies.

Blanc was holding off one, while Ukon and Sakon held another at bay. Seeing Erina-san move to support Blanc, I rushed toward Ukon's group.

The golems, made of stone and ice, were using their two shields to block the ferocious onslaught of the nata. The lances of ice they fired in arcs were either blocked by the oni's pauldrons and vambraces or simply swatted away, and the spears that shot up from the earth were kicked to pieces.

The situation was a stalemate. The oni, growing impatient, took a large step forward. I used my Flügel to fly at its unguarded back and sent its head flying.

The creature’s body, the wound seared by my attack, took a few more steps and raised its nata, only to be struck down by Ukon and Sakon’s sasumata before collapsing to the ground.

When I looked toward Blanc and Erina-san, I saw the battleaxe pinning the nata down from above. Using the golem’s silver back as a foothold, the blonde-haired girl leaped, plunging her ninja sword into the oni's throat and twisting it.

"Gi, ahh…!"

The oni, still not stopping, grabbed the blade of her sword with its left hand. In response, she thrust her left-hand claw at it.

Mana surged, and a mystical wind exploded. The claw, fired from point-blank range, pierced through the oni's face.

With my back to Ukon and Sakon, I scanned my surroundings, confirming there were no more enemies standing. When I looked back at Erina-san, she was holding her ninja sword high.

"Enemy general, vanquished!"

"He wasn't a general, though."

I couldn't help but retort as I relaxed my stance. The fact that she was joking around meant there were no other monsters within her detection range.

"Thank you very much, Kyouta-kun."

"Not at all. We help each other out. Sometimes you're the ones saving me."

I gave a small shake of my head in response to Mia-san's thanks.

"More importantly, are you okay? You look a little pale… Is your mana low?"

"I'm just about at that point, yes."

"Then let's take a little break, senpai and Kyo-chan! Here, have some tea!"

Erina-san scurried over and offered Mia-san a water bottle.

"Thank you… Ukon, collect the drop items. Sakon, please keep watch."

"Erina-san, sorry, but could you help with the battery too?"

"You got it!"

"Thanks."

I partially dispelled my warped sword and reconstructed it within its sheath. I quickly swapped out Blanc's Magi Battery and ordered it to watch in a different direction from Sakon.

Standing beside them, I took a sip of the sports drink from the water bottle I'd received. The pleasant coolness seeped into my body, which was flushed from the battle.

'Good work, everyone. It seems you're all safe,' Aira's voice echoed in my mind.

"Yes. They're tough, but well within the range we can handle."

"Yeah! In game terms, it feels like we're at the perfect level for this area!"

'I see… But that also means you have no safety margin, so please, be extremely careful.'

"Got it."

"Okay!"

As we nodded in response to her Telepathy, Mia-san pulled a small vial from a pouch on her back and downed its contents in one gulp.

Her beautiful face twisted grotesquely, and she chugged the tea from her water bottle as if to wash the taste away. That was one of the professor's special potions, if I remembered correctly. It should have replenished her mana.

"Is that stuff really that bad?"

"…Imagine aojiru, but extremely sour, and about thirty percent more bitter."

"Wow… Well, my condolences."

"It's better than collapsing from Mana Deficiency Syndrome…!"

"Good medicine is bitter to the taste, as they say!"

After saying that, Erina-san, who had just downed her own potion, muttered 'This is a hunger pill, this is a hunger pill' over and over like a mantra, a plastered smile on her face.

I think hunger pills were a type of military ration pill. I'd heard that according to recent theories, those ration pills were surprisingly tasty… but I doubted this was the same thing.

'Hahaha. I'm glad to see you're all having fun. Yes, the combination of tea and cookies is truly the best.'

"Nee-san, I'll be bringing you a drink mixed with aojiru, vinegar, and some other things later."

"Senpai! We're one team! We're one team, right?!"

'I refuse! And what do you mean, 'other things'?!'

"Things like pit viper blood and crushed bee larvae."

'How do you come up with that so easily?!'

I looked away, not wanting to get involved.

Though Awakened Persons have a high tolerance for spiciness, they're normal when it comes to bitterness. It's nice to be able to properly appreciate the astringency of tea, but I'd pass on aojiru.

Milder versions were probably available these days, but the chances of Mia-san buying one of those were close to zero. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

The grudge held over food is a terrifying thing. Well, a drink in this case.

'Ahem! A-anyway. You've all climbed quite a ways up the mountain. You should be nearing the summit… where the boss monster will appear. I doubt this will be a fruitless trip. Are you prepared?'

"Yes. Of course."

Her words switched my focus.

We could just keep fighting Oni Musha to steadily gain experience, but fighting the mountain's lord should provide a different, valuable kind of experience.

To defeat that white dragon, clashes with powerful foes are essential. It might be different for a genius like Erina-san, but someone like me, who lacks 'skill in battle' beyond my catalog specs, needs the experience.

Pure technique can be gained through training, but things like 'reading' the flow of battle, and 'acclimation' can only be obtained through real combat.

'Understood. I'll be on standby, ready to call the store for rescue at any time. Just make sure you come back alive.'

"We will."

"Yes, Nee-san!"

"Osu! We'll show them what the Invisible Ninjas can do!"

"We should change that name someday."

"If we include Shizuku-san's group, maybe we can win by majority vote."

"Invisible Ninjas! Move out!!"

Ignoring our obvious drop in spirits, Erina-san shouted, "Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!"

I handed her my water bottle and took a deep breath.

Break time was over. It was time to take the head of this mountain's lord.

"Alright, let's go."

'Yes. Go.'

With those words echoing through my earring, we resumed our exploration.

The attacks from the Oni Musha, of which we'd fought dozens, suddenly ceased, and we reached the summit with surprising ease.

Looking back, the moon and starlight alone weren't enough to see the scenery. The forest, now eerily quiet, just rustled softly in the wind.

With that sound, which felt almost like a mocking laugh, at our backs, I turned my gaze forward.

At the summit was the entrance to a massive cave. The walls and ceiling were jagged, as if it had been forcibly carved out of a giant boulder.

I glanced at the girls for a final confirmation, and they returned my look with firm nods.

I nodded back and stepped into the cave.

A gentle slope continued downward for several dozen meters. The path was wide enough for two large trucks to pass side-by-side, and it led us to an even larger cavern.

In the center of the dome-shaped space stood a beautiful wooden structure.

It resembled the Noh stage I had seen on TV before.

A roof supported by four thick pillars. In the back, a painting of a plant resembling a vibrant cherry blossom, with a walkway extending to the side. Further on was a small hut-like building with a noren curtain hanging in the entrance.

However, it was clearly larger than the one I'd seen before. There were no spectator seats at all, just bare rock floor, and its solitary presence felt somehow strange… and mystical.

On that stage, a single grotesque figure was seated on one knee. The rakutatehiza posture, I believe it was called. It looked down on us with a relaxed air.

It had long, wiry black hair. Three horns grew from its forehead. Dressed in a kimono with its upper body bare, its muscular physique was a shade of gray.

Dark blue scales dotted its body, and its golden eyes were narrowed. Sharp canines peeked from the corners of its smiling mouth.

At first glance, it radiated intelligence. But the Self-Defense Force had told us beforehand that it was incapable of conversation.

More importantly, facing it like this, I understood not with knowledge, but with instinct.

This was a monster to whom human reason did not apply. Neither its mana, nor its thoughts.

Grabbing a sword that lay nearby, the oni slowly rose to its feet. It stood at around two meters and ten centimeters, a head shorter than the Oni Musha we had fought so far.

But the aura it exuded was many times more potent.

As the oni placed its hand on the hilt, a massive icicle flew toward it—a greeting to open the battle.

The mass of ice, like a battering ram, hurtled toward the gray oni at just shy of the speed of sound. Spinning like a rifle bullet for maximum piercing power, it was, however—

—CRASH!—

—shattered to pieces with a single blow. The fragments that flew into the air then ignited, turning to water before they could even hit the Noh stage.

The oni's hand, at some point, was now holding a tachi. I understood that it had used the spine of the blade to shatter the ice.

'Kaka!'

The three-horned oni cackled and casually tossed its scabbard onto the stage.

The mana I could feel raged like a great river. The presence, reminiscent of a serpent as large as a tower, naturally made me lower my center of gravity.

This oni was in a different league from the others. A being truly worthy of being called the chieftain of the oni.

That's why the Self-Defense Force had called it this.

'Shuten Douji.'

One of the three great yokai of Japan. Alongside Tamamo-no-Mae, the fox spirit who came from China to India and then to Japan, and Daitengumaru, the demon god with supernatural powers to control the weather, this was the ruler of Mount Ooe.

Strictly speaking, the monster before me was merely given the same name as the great yokai. But this pressure made me understand, whether I liked it or not, that it was in no way unworthy of the name.

The yokai's mouth curved into a crescent moon as it leaned its weight forward.

Here it comes…!

We lunged at the same time. Shuten Douji, who had shattered part of the stage as it charged, collided with me as I rushed forward with my Flügel at full blast.

A deafening roar shook the cave, and the rocky ground cracked from the shockwave. The tachi and my one-and-a-half-handed sword met, sending sparks flying.

And I was using both hands to grip my hilt, while the sword swung at me was wielded with one hand.

'Kah!'

"Guh…!?"

I couldn't react in time to the left hook that followed, and it slammed into my side.

My breastplate caved in in the shape of a fist, and my body was sent flying like a leaf. I managed to stop just short of crashing into the cave wall.

As I charged in to attack again, Blanc rushed forward with its battleaxe, and a spear of ice targeted the creature from above.

As our blades swung from both sides simultaneously, my sword was blocked by the tachi, and the battleaxe was caught by its hilt.

And the spear descending from above was melted by a will-o'-the-wisp that flared up from the creature. I instinctively retreated, but Blanc was caught in the blast.

The white armor was scorched, and its movements slowed. Shuten Douji forcibly pulled it closer.

'Kakaka!'

With a laugh, it smashed Blanc's face with the pommel and drove a front kick into its abdomen.

As Blanc went flying, I charged in to take its place, but my attack was instantly parried by the tachi.

But I didn't stop this time. The moment our blades locked, I twisted mine around and aimed for its chin in a bind.

Shuten Douji dodged by leaning back slightly, so I swung my sword at its torso, but this time it was blocked with the hilt.

Next, its left fist aimed for the side of my head, but I ducked to avoid it. I spun my body horizontally and unleashed a sweeping slash at its side.

Shuten Douji leaped back to dodge. A wire wrapped around its leg, and I swung the suspended creature around.

It was thrown toward the Noh stage, but the oni twisted its body and landed with its left hand and both feet on the ground to decelerate.

Blanc leaped at it, bringing its battleaxe down in an overhead swing.

The blade, accelerated by wind and gravity, sent spiderweb cracks through the rocky ground. A split second later, a cloud of dust erupted as if from an explosion, only to be blown away by the force of Shuten Douji's sword pressure. I surmised from the situation that Blanc's blade had been parried and then swatted away.

Having already started running, I was behind Shuten Douji at almost the same moment. I aimed for its defenseless back, but it blocked my attack with its tachi, held up behind it without even turning around.

It threw a backfist, which I intercepted with a left uppercut, forcibly knocking its arm upwards. I pulled my sword back and swung for its neck.

But Shuten Douji leaned forward to dodge and simultaneously launched a backward kick. I jumped to mitigate the impact, but my cuirass let out a loud groan.

"Guh…!"

As I was sent flying, Shuten Douji gave chase. It gripped its tachi with both hands and charged at me with a smile.

An overhead cut, a diagonal slash, a rising slash, a horizontal sweep. I parried these attacks while still being blown back. The wall was approaching fast, and I couldn't slow down. I instinctively used the wind to change my posture and slammed into it feet-first.

An excruciating pain shot through my entire body, but I couldn't afford to pay it any mind. Shuten Douji was already here.

"Oooooooh!"

I ran along the wall, deflecting its sword strikes. I dug my feet into the rock face, using the impact of the slashes to keep from falling, and channeled all the wind I could muster into defense.

It was an exchange of blows while running a hundred meters in just under two seconds. I continued to parry, carving footprints into the wall, until I saw a wide horizontal slash coming and leaped.

A large gash appeared where I had just been. Looking down, I unleashed a slash at Shuten Douji's head.

Shuten Douji deflected it with its horn and launched a kick like an overhead soccer shot.

Just as I thought I couldn't dodge, a wire pulled me out of harm's way. At the same time, a dragon of water flew in and swallowed the oni.

But it was only for an instant. The dragon exploded from the will-o'-the-wisp, and the gray oni walked leisurely through the falling rain of water.

'Kakaka…!'

What was so amusing? It laughed. Or perhaps, it was simply 'made' that way.

I unwound the wire from my waist and readied my sword again. Before I could even catch my breath, the oni was charging at me, tachi in hand.

It drew its right hand back, its left palm resting along the blade. A thrust? No!

The blade spun around, and Shuten Douji ducked low, swinging its sword up toward my chin from below. My foresight allowed me to dodge back, but I wasn't fast enough, and my right cheek was slashed open.

"Ngh…!"

'Kakakaa!'

As I desperately blocked the ensuing onslaught with my sword and gauntlet, Blanc charged from the side, swinging its battleaxe at Shuten Douji.

A gray kick shot out to intercept it, but the silver knight blocked it with the shaft of its axe.

Blanc, gripping the long shaft with both an overhand and underhand grip, unleashed a flurry of strikes with the spearhead and butt end, like a rapid succession of punches.

As Shuten Douji parried them with its left hand, I joined the attack. When my blade was blocked by its tachi, I used a bind, and when it was parried and the distance closed, I went to strike with my pommel.

We attacked in turns, giving it no time to rest. Even monsters of the labyrinth, who need neither food nor sleep, do 'fatigue'.

Because they breathe, their lungs crave oxygen, and if their consumption of mana from the labyrinth exceeds the supply, their movements will dull.

Above all, it wasn't just me and Blanc here.

"Earth, rise!"

A wall of stone appeared behind the retreating Shuten Douji, cutting off its escape.

Immediately after, my Spirit Eye read the flow of mana. I kicked Blanc in the side, sending it flying as I leaped away. A moment later, a blue flame erupted with a deafening roar.

The stone wall was obliterated, and Shuten Douji was sent flying backward in a 'V' shape. Erina-san had fired the Black Hell Cannon from behind the wall.

The oni had taken a direct hit, even if there was an obstacle in the way. The monster crashed headfirst into the stage, snapping the once-stately pillars and bringing the roof down.

As Shuten Douji was buried under the collapsing stage, I lowered my center of gravity and raised my sword high.

"Ooooh…!"

I focused my mana into the blade. A storm brewed within the cave, and crimson flames joined it.

The inferno was hot enough to melt the ground beneath my feet. I unleashed it as a slash toward the collapsed stage.

There's no way that monster would die from this. I have to press the attack…!

The single blow, thrown with all my killing intent, struck what was once the stage. The air expanded and exploded.

I finished it—no, I haven't.

I understood from the flow of mana and immediately readied my stance in the direction I sensed the presence.

Several dozen meters from the stage, the gray oni landed silently.

Its left side was charred black, and a pool of red blood was forming at its feet.

'Kaka… kakaka…!'

Its mouth curved into a crescent moon, and its golden eyes gleamed. Shuten Douji, as if to display its composure, straightened its back and spread its arms to the sides. The raging mana made it clear this wasn't just a bluff.

In that instant, the mana focused on its back.

It wasn't healing its wounds. On the contrary, blood erupted from its wounds as four 'somethings' burst forth.

They were arms.

Extending from its right side, an arm with blue skin. An arm with white skin.

Extending from its left side, an arm with light orange skin. An arm with red skin.

Each was a brawny, muscular arm, about three meters long. Sharp claws grew from their fingertips, and they radiated a sinister mana.

The Four Heavenly Kings of Mount Ooe… the four arms were reminiscent of the oni said to have served Shuten Douji in legend.

That Ibaraki Douji wasn't among them was a small mercy, I tried to console myself.

Shuten Douji's presence was still strong. It casually readied its tachi and stared straight at me.

It was as if the intoxication hadn't worn off, but the sake had finally and fully kicked in.

The yokai laughed, full of glee.