Chapter 56: Hasshaku-sama
In the middle of the snowy wilderness of Mount Yotei, high close to the top, the trees rumbled. There was a silhouette walking passively as the snow fell on her 'sacred' body, impassive against the strong gusts of wind. She had left her humble adobe after hearing the shrieks of a bloodthirsty beast isolating her slumber.
The faint scent of that filthy blood belonging to evil spirits invaded her nostrils, calling for her attention. With nothing but a small candle lighting her path, she laughed with interest at that shrieking and trodded into the snow.
The lady was taller than anyone could ever be, wearing a tight white dress that covered her whole body and made her look as if she was the snow itself, her beauty was beyond human and as a cherry on the cake, she wore a white massive derby hat that contrasted her long pitch-black hair.
"I came all the way here to Hokkaido and even here the scent of blood stinks. What is the legendary Shinchu doing here? wait, there are two…?"
*BOOOMMM!!*
It started with interest and morphed into confusion. The destruction got nearer until she could no longer avoid it. The scent of blood was one she recognised as her frown elongated. Nevertheless, her steady steps never stopped walking towards the chaos.
"Yuki. Why is he in Hokkaido? and he's fighting another Shinchu? I thought his lineage was nearly extinct. He's not fighting… he's fleeing?"
At some point she stopped when a small rumbling revered beneath her feet, the snow was shacking, and a massive creature was approaching from the distance, struggling to set flight yet unable to.
The silhouettes turned recognisable in the middle of the snow, leaving a hideous trail: a bloodied gigantic insect was fleeing for its life fighting against a smaller but much more dangerous insect.
...
Yuki was fleeing for his life and more than his, his wife's life too... transforming into his true Youkai form made him an easy target, but he didn't think there was any other way to protect Sanae from Anna. All he could do was try to run as the despair settled in.
He couldn't kill his daughter he would never forgive himself. He couldn't allow her to eat them, she would never forgive herself. It was in this despairing situation that he met an individual he thought he'd never meet again.
When he was close enough, Yuki, who now had Sanae inside his mouth, noticed somebody else was there with them. That lady was barely distinguishable with her poorly lit candle that seemed like it was going to extinguish at any second.
Just putting his eyes on her barely discernible body he felt a cold chill run all over his body, turning him aware of the painful wounds that assailed his body and even more so... wounds that had already healed with time, caused by that very monster.
"Po po po~"
!!!
"Hasshaku-sama!?"
A mere fumble of recognition, as if she had gotten all the attention she needed by that mere calling; she blurred in darkness as the light extinguished and flew towards them with a dancing white dress.
Behind him was his bloodthirsty daughter who one way or another, managed to overpower him despite being a bare infant Youkai.
On the other side, coming fast, was one of the most dangerous Youkai he ever knew... thankfully or regretfully, that other monster didn't target him. Instead, she targeted his bloodthirsty daughter.
Like a barely recognisable phantom, her claws manifested to intercept Anna's
*CLAAAANG!!*
*BOOOOOMMM!!*
Claw met claw and Hasshaku-sama finally met her match, sparks flew accompanied by a shockwave. The mere bloodthirsty intent alone shattered the specks of snow falling in five pieces.
Hasshaku-sama or as she liked to be called 'kuu' wasn't expecting a little girl like this to have a fate any different than a gruesome death, let alone Anna didn't even take a step back.
The girl in question put her eyes on the tall woman before her, losing complete interest in her father.
"Po po~ what a surprise. We just had a brief exchange and I already like you, girl" Her eyes ran up and down, despite being young in face, Anna looked rather 'developed' and tall. Looking at Anna's appearance, Kuu put two and two together very quickly.
"You remind me of myself. Tall, beautiful and strong~ It's been so long since I had a snack... I hope you don't mind me eating your daughter, Yuki!"
*CLAANG!!*
The second strike was even more ferocious, Anna licked her lips, catching the unadulterated scent of one of the strongest and oldest Youkai in existence. She kicked the snowy field and flickered across like a phantom towards Kuu who bore her shadow claws kindly, her expression morphing from that of a gorgeous lady into that of a hideous being.
What proceeded after was something Yuki could only label as a fight of high-ranked Youkai, not something that his thirteen-year-old daughter should be capable of.
"Yuki, what's going on?" Sanae asked from the inside, struggling.
"It's Hasshaku-sama… she's here" Yuki tried to 'reassure' his wife but more than reassuring she just got the panicking of her life.
"That monster?! then we have to stop her! My daughter is in danger!"
"Sanae, Anna is overpowering Hasshaku-sama…"
"What!?"
…
*CLAAANG!*
*CLAANG!!*
"Did you know, girl? Youkais become stronger the longer their myths survive the eroding of time".
"..."
*CLAANG!!*
The woman in the white dress tried to make conversation, but some brief exchanges were all she needed to know that Anna had little interest in that, instead she was more interested in gutting her and devouring her flesh piece by piece. It was precisely this realisation that made Kuu more confident as if the fight was already at hand.
*WHOOSH!*
Anna's fangs were covered in ice, shocking her a bit albeit not much, she already knew who Yuki had married and although other Youkais may not have survived that long, she had seen in her life what a hybrid Youkai looked like.
Nevertheless, something was off.
*CLAAANGG!!*
"You shouldn't be this strong, girl... and why do I feel this disgusting feeling coming from you? you smell like daylight, I guess it doesn't matter, po po po~ that's not going to stop me from eating you!"
The lady ducked resembling the windy breeze as five gnashing scars manifested in her dress nonetheless.
"You're fun!"
*SHRIEK!!*
Even with her mind collapsed with hunger, Anna was still not fond of being teased and played like this, sadly for her... there was a wide gap in experience and Hasshaku-sama wasn't precisely known for stalling.
Those she had fixed her dark eyes on would 100% die, and this time was no exception.
The woman in the white dress emitted unprecedented darkness with her characteristically evil laugh; she stomped on the floor and propelled with a feint that the inexperienced Anna took like the little girl she was, thinking Kuu would strike from the bottom but in reality her body morphed in an odd shape amidst the pirouette, slicing at the top.
*WOOSHH!!*
"Popopo~!"
The floor itself split in five pieces as far as the eye could see, five gnashing trails of blood manifested in the gasping Anna who stood rooted in her place, looking at her faraway father whose gaze only shook in denial.
Her head fell off, followed by the other four chunks of her body. Trees and rocks all split into thousands of pieces, showcasing the power of a Youkai that was as old as Japan itself... a Youkai that had never left survivors.
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