kscans

Chapter 240 - The Oni Chieftain

'Kakakaka!!'

With a sound that could have been a laugh or the cry of a monstrous bird, Shuten Douji slammed its white and red arms into the ground.

In that instant, with an explosion, its massive body appeared right before my eyes—no, it was closing in.

"Kuh!"

The tachi and my one-and-a-half-handed sword collided, and a sharp pain shot through my entire body. I used the wind to push my body forward, forcibly locking our blades as I fought the urge to be lifted off my feet.

But I couldn't overpower the oni, which was gripping the ground with the arms on its back. So, I reversed the wind to retreat, sliding my blade along its own and aiming the tip at Shuten Douji's left eye.

It would be good if it served as a feint, but—

'Kaka!'

—it charged in regardless!

The oni deflected the tip of my sword with its horn and swung its blade again. The distance was too close to effectively use a tachi, but with its strength, it was more than enough to kill a person.

I managed to pull my blade back and block the slash. In that moment—

"Tch!?"

Following my precognition, I relaxed my body and bent my knees. An instant later, the light orange arm passed through the space where my head had been.

I barely managed to get my left gauntlet in the way of the right kick that followed.

Immediately after being kicked away, the white arm struck my left shoulder from the side. With a sickening crunch, my shoulder dislocated, and I was sent flying. Through my blurring vision, I saw Blanc, who had been attacking Shuten Douji from a diagonal angle, get swatted away by the blue arm.

"Guh, gah…!"

I bounced off the rocky ground several times before managing to land on my feet. Cold sweat beaded on my brow as I looked at my dangling left arm.

My Sage's Nucleus activated immediately, and the bone snapped back into place. Tears welled up in my eyes under my helmet from the pain that shot through me.

But my opponent wouldn't wait. It was already gripping its tachi with both hands and charging toward me.

"Freeze!"

As a spear of ice rained down from above, flying over me, Shuten Douji crossed its two upper arms above its head to defend.

It used its two lower arms to grip the ground and accelerate, thrusting its sword forward with its original arms.

I deflected the thrust aimed at my face with a rising diagonal slash. I tried to press forward and counter, but my opponent pulled its sword back faster.

I managed to parry the second blow with my pommel, letting it slide across the surface of my breastplate.

I immediately aimed for my opponent's neck with a one-handed swing, but at that moment, a third thrust was unleashed.

"You…!"

Seeing a future where I was skewered, I aborted my slash and leaped backward. The tip of its blade grazed my breastplate, but I managed to evade it.

As I backed away, a hook came from the arms on its back again. This time I blocked it with my blade, but while I cut the flesh, the bone stopped it. I dug my feet into the ground and deflected it diagonally upward.

I sidestepped the punch from the white arm that followed without a moment's delay and charged in. As we passed each other, I swung my sword at its side.

'Kaka!'

The slash was blocked by the tsuba, but I ran past it regardless. Immediately after, a lance of ice, fired from behind my back, closed in on Shuten Douji.

It caught the massive, pyramid-shaped spearhead with its left arm, bracing against the impact with its two lower arms and both legs.

As Shuten Douji crushed the ice lance, I reversed my direction and charged again. Blanc attacked at the same time.

We swung my one-and-a-half-handed sword and its battleaxe at the oni's back, but it leaped into the air by slamming its two upper arms into the ground.

As our attacks hit empty air, the monster, now near the ceiling, spread the four arms on its back wide and concentrated an enormous amount of mana in each palm.

I need to fly up and stop it… No, I'm a breath too late!

"Everyone, to my side!"

"Ngh!"

I obeyed Mia-san's words without a second thought, rushing to her side with Blanc. As I slid in beside her, a dome of stone walls enveloped us all, including Erina-san. I could feel an outer shell of ice forming around it through the flow of mana, and I knew that Ukon and Sakon were readying their shields.

Considering her mana capacity, this defense was far more robust than it looked. It could probably even withstand the main cannon of a battleship.

But, even so.

In that instant, the world shook with a deafening roar.

The stone walls cracked and crumbled. In the thick cloud of dust that billowed up, I saw Ukon and Sakon sent flying, their shields and arms completely gone.

A trail of destruction scarred the ground. At its center, Shuten Douji, its four arms dug into the earth, readied its tachi with a crazed smile.

As the monster charged, I too moved forward. The two blades clashed, and the impact blew away the lingering dust cloud.

Knowing a direct clash was disadvantageous, I deflected Shuten Douji diagonally backward. I blocked the immediate rising slash from its return stroke with my gauntlet, letting the impact carry me back.

Blanc charged in to take my place. The blue arm met it with a backfist, but the silver knight ducked underneath, stepped on the white-skinned arm, and aimed its battleaxe at Shuten Douji's neck.

In response, the oni leaned back to dodge, supporting its seemingly falling body with its red arm while delivering a left kick to Blanc's side. The nearly 200-kilogram body flew like a rubber ball.

It was strong. The arms growing from its back—the light orange and red on the right, the blue and white on the left—all moved as if they were separate living creatures, yet they were in perfect coordination.

Without a moment to breathe, Shuten Douji used its two lower arms, the red and white ones, to grip the ground and charge at high speed. Its target was Mia-san, who was readying her staff.

"I won't let you!"

I engaged my Flügel at full power and charged at it from the side. I barrel-rolled to evade a light-orange backfist and swung my sword at its neck.

Shuten Douji blocked it with its tachi. Blanc immediately charged from the opposite side, but the blue arm met it with a horizontal sweep. The knight ducked to avoid it, and a split-second later, the white arm swept through the same space.

I was knocked back by the tachi, but my feet held firm.

Erina-san, who had been invisible until now thanks to her magic cloak, was right next to the oni, aiming her cannon.

In that instant, the roar of the cannon echoed through the cave. The shockwave cracked the ceiling, and the projectile blew a large hole in the wall.

But Shuten Douji's flesh was not pierced.

"What…!"

It had driven its red arm into the ground and leaped upward to dodge. The oni, now parallel to the ground, channeled mana into the blue and white arms it extended toward the ceiling.

"Dodge!"

At my shout, Blanc abandoned its ready stance and leaped away. Erina-san also escaped upward with her claw, and I wheeled around with my Flügel.

In that moment, a tremor like a meteor strike and a shockwave filled the space. But the destruction didn't stop there. Will-o'-the-wisps erupted from the cracked ground.

We had managed to evade it, as had Mia-san, who had defended with a wall of ice and stone. Shuten Douji's gaze flickered between us all for a moment, then it dashed toward Blanc, who had been a little slow to escape and was now dragging its left leg.

Its two lower arms and footwork combined in a series of feints to the left and right. The battleaxe's counterattack hit nothing but air, and the oni raised its tachi.

Blanc's right arm, which had just swung the battleaxe, was cut off by Shuten Douji. The blade slipped right through the gap in the armor at the elbow joint.

The right arm went flying, but a golem feels no pain.

Blanc, its glass eyes gleaming under its helmet, spun on its right foot. It then clamped Shuten Douji's wrists under its left arm.

A momentary restraint. To answer it, I charged at full speed.

"Zeaaaaah!"

I dove almost straight down. A spinning slash, loaded with centrifugal force, bit into the elbow joint of the light orange arm that was about to strike Blanc. The acceleration from fire and wind allowed me to sever it completely.

I tried to cut off the red arm below it as well, but my aim was slightly off, hitting the forearm instead. The blade was stopped by the bone, but it had cut deep into the flesh.

And on the right side. Lances of ice pierced the massive blue and white arms, freezing them, followed immediately by several stone lances that ran them through.

The four arms' movements were stopped, but Shuten Douji did not flinch. It released its left hand from the hilt and pulled it free from Blanc's grip.

Then, its five fingers formed a spearhand that struck the elbow joint. At the same time, its right hand swung sideways, and the knight's left arm was torn off.

"You bastard!"

I kicked the red arm, forcibly wrenched my sword free, and charged at Shuten Douji. The slash aimed at its neck was blocked by its left arm, used as a shield when it couldn't raise its tachi in time.

The blade crushed flesh and bit into bone. From that position, I accelerated with fire and wind and swung through with sheer force.

Shuten Douji was sent flying a dozen meters away. It skidded to a stop, its two feet carving lines in the ground, and turned its face toward me.

As always, it was smiling.

The light orange arm was gone from the mid-point down, and the wounds on its red arm and left arm were deep. The blue and white arms were covered in frost, and blood flowed endlessly from where they had been pierced by the stone lances.

Its entire left side was already charred black from being burned along with the Noh stage. The navy blue scales on its body pulsed, and it was slowly regenerating, but… it would never fully heal during this battle.

And yet, Shuten Douji was smiling eerily.

This thing would surely never stop from pain. It would continue to dance, as if battle itself were a banquet. It was made that way.

In that case—I just have to kill it completely.

We kicked off the ground at almost the same time. The tachi and the one-and-a-half-handed sword clashed with a high-pitched sound, and we exchanged blows in quick succession.

Yes, I can keep up. With the wound on its left arm, the bleeding from all over its body, and the severe burns. Against this Shuten Douji…!

One, two, three clashes. I ducked to avoid the red arm that came at my head, then dodged the following kick with a horizontal spin while slashing its side.

As blood flew, the blue and white arms brought their fists down from above in a delayed attack. I left them behind with a burst from my Flügel, circled to its back, and unleashed a flash of my blade. I sliced deep, from its left shoulder to its side.

A fatal wound for a human. But my opponent was the chieftain of the oni.

'Kakakaa!'

I deflected its turning slash upward and tried to cut its abdomen. But it caught the tsuba with its left palm, and a headbutt exploded against me.

"Guh… No!"

My helmet was shattered by its horn, but I sent Shuten Douji flying with a left hook to its right cheek. Blood and several molars scattered from its mouth.

It recoiled slightly but immediately came at the side of my head with its pommel. I managed to block it with my tsuba, but I couldn't stop the momentum and was pushed back.

My vision swam with pain, and a little blood got in my eyes. I rolled across the ground, and using my precognition, I pushed off the ground with my left hand to spring up. The tachi swung down where I had been, creating a massive crack.

Into that space, lances of ice flew from all directions. The oni used its three remaining arms to counter them with flames, but a stone lance mixed in with them broke through the will-o'-the-wisp and pierced its body twice.

'Kah…!'

More blood flowed from its crescent-shaped mouth.

I tried to press the attack, but Shuten Douji slammed its two lower arms into the ground and leaped high. It then spread the arms on its back and concentrated mana in its palms.

"I won't let you!"

I kicked off the ground hard and leaped as well. I used my Flügel to forcibly catch up and swung with all my might.

The tachi and sword scattered sparks, and the flow of mana was disrupted. I blocked the blow, which was wreathed in will-o'-the-wisp, but its left fist smashed into my side. My breastplate shattered, and my ribs cried out in protest.

"Gah…!"

As I was sent flying, I saw her.

Her blond hair flowing, she had used her claw to climb to the ceiling. Abandoning her wire, she held a cannon as tall as herself in mid-air.

"There!"

The roar of the cannon echoed, and this time, the lead ball wrapped in blue flames struck Shuten Douji's body directly.

I flew through the air, pushed by the wind pressure, and caught Erina-san, who had been sent flying by the recoil. I descended near the ground and let her go.

When I looked up, Shuten Douji, most of its upper left body gone, was falling under the pull of gravity.

A dragon of stone coated in ice ascended toward it. It opened its massive jaws to swallow it, but the chipped and battered tachi sliced it apart.

The oni landed after cleaving the several-dozen-meter dragon in two, but it coughed up blood and swayed slightly.

I dove down. Gripping my sword with both hands, I accelerated with wind and fire and attacked.

'Kaaaah!'

My sword, carrying the weight of gravity, pushed back the blade swung to intercept it. The spine of my sword hit its horn, snapping the left one off.

I fired my Flügel again, and the tachi bit into Shuten Douji's head. But I couldn't finish it.

The half-destroyed blue and white arms raised their fists at me as we were locked in combat.

But then, Ukon and Sakon latched onto them. Using simple arms made of ice, they each sealed one of the oni's arms.

Crack, crackle. The brawny arms began to freeze over.

'Kaa…!'

Just as Shuten Douji tried to shake them off, Blanc descended from above at high speed.

Accelerated by a maximum burst of wind, its feet, held together, struck the frozen arms directly. With a sound like shattering glass, it crushed both of them at once.

Shuten Douji, while deflecting me diagonally backward, kicked at Blanc, who had bent its knees from the landing impact. The silver knight was sent flying along with Ukon and Sakon.

I immediately spun around and attacked its back, but it was blocked by the tachi, which had been swung around behind it. Shuten Douji placed the spine of the blade against my battered back and threw me forward, as if in a shoulder throw.

"Kuh…!"

As my vision spun, I managed to turn my feet downward and land. I dug into the rocky ground and readied my sword.

Then, the oni charged like a beast. Its gray skin stained with blood, it swung its tachi at me.

I met its diagonal slash with a rising diagonal slash of my own, then evaded the following rising slash, horizontal sweep, and overhead cut with a horizontal spin on my left foot. I brought my blade to its side and tore it open.

I felt the blade reach its heart. For a single moment, my guard dropped, and the pommel that came down crashed into the top of my head.

"Guh…!"

My vision shook, but my pain seemed to be numbed by endorphins. I dodged the knee that approached my face, planted my feet, and unleashed a rising diagonal slash.

The oni's body was now more red from blood than its original gray.

I followed up with a slash aimed at its neck. It raised its tachi to block, but—CRACK. Its blade snapped in two.

'—!'

"Oooooooh!"

My blade, accelerated by fire and wind, tore through skin, pushed aside flesh, and reached the bone.

But it stopped. The slash, having seared the carotid artery, was lodged deep in the hard bone, unable to move forward or back.

Shuten Douji gripped its broken sword in a reverse grip and raised it. But it was stopped by a wire that shot out.

Due to the difference in our strength, it was only an obstruction for a few seconds. But that was enough.

From my heart to my shoulder, to my arm, to the bracelet, and then to the blade.

The Bracelet of the Flame Horse, unable to handle the supply of mana that surpassed its limits, cried out and glowed red.

"Break… THROUGH!"

An aurora of light engulfed the cave.

The rocky ground turned to lava, and a vortex of explosively expanding mana enveloped Shuten Douji's upper body.

The destruction from the beam of heat didn't stop there, piercing even the thick ceiling. The cave, already damaged by the aftershocks of our fierce battle, reached its limit and erupted in flames as if it were a volcano.

A deafening roar and a fiery explosion. A split second later, I realized my sword had shattered, and the untethered mana had detonated right in front of me.

I took the full force of the shockwave and was sent flying. I was slammed into the ground headfirst, bounced, and then fell face-first.

After rolling across the ground, I managed to push myself up with my left hand.

My vision swam with intense pain, but I could still endure it. The damage wasn't enough to cause bleeding. I stood up and reached for my knife.

I didn't know what it, Shuten Douji, would do. I wanted to avoid giving that oni any time to do something while I waited for my allies' support.

I was about to draw the blade from its sheath… but I stopped.

Something came flying out of the billowing black smoke.

It bounced like a ball, lost its momentum, and slowly rolled toward me. And then, my gaze met its golden eyes.

'Kaka…ka…'

A weak laugh. With its remaining breath, it uttered only that, and Shuten Douji's head began to turn white.

I released my hand from the knife and simply watched the scene unfold.

After confirming it had completely turned to salt, I finally let go of my tension. Even standing was a chore, so I lay down on the spot.

On the jagged ground, wholly unsuited for a bed.

I looked up at the false night sky through the large hole in the ceiling.

"Kyo-chan!"

"Kyouta-kun!"

'Hey! Are you okay! Answer me!'

I heard the voices of my friends. And the sound of the golems' footsteps. I raised my right hand and made a fist.

"We won… It's our… victory."

To say I surpassed Raikou… would be an overstatement, since Ibaraki Douji wasn't here, I thought to myself, shaking my head.

But a win is a win.

Shuten Douji, vanquished.