Chapitre 32: The Night parade of One Hundred Demons (5)

"Phew," Hayashi let out the air he had been holding off. His face hardened as his eyes sharpened, wary of the night and its creatures.

"Go straight and turn left. I will turn right. There we both will find yokai's that have been muddling in this place for long. Let's go," Tsukasa ordered.

The mud was patchy and wet. There were a few puddles even though the sky was clear. Despite his short legs, Hayashi was quick with his movements, just like the agile samurai in the past.

In contrast to him, Tsukasa was slow and presentable, Prince-like. The front-like bushes had a few prickling shrubs; some had a strong scent, and the deeper they ambled, the more the jungle became vast.

The tree's canopy was tall enough to shield the moonlight. From afar, the distant sound of the usage of Kanta could be heard. Tsukasa continued to search for his lost companion amid the thick trees.

As he continued his search, his feet tangled with the shrub, which was carefully tied in a way to pin the fallen.

"Ah~" he whined. Though he was quick to not let his body get close to the patchy ground filled with insects and dirt, he had his palm pressed on the shrub.

"Ssss," a small spider using its invisible thread, fell from the tree and landed right before Tuskasa's eyes.

"Tsk" He lifted his palm from the ground and pointed his index finger; unforeseen by the spider, Tsukasa's fingernail grew, and 'shh!' he cut off the body of the spider in two halves.

"As expected from the young master. Even your killing technique is elegant."

A woman spoke from the tallest branch of the tree. Tsukasa didn't have to raise his head to know that it was a yatsukahagi. He tore off the long sleeve and used the cloth to clean his palm. In an ungraceful manner.

The woman used her invisible string and got almost to the ground. His one palm was free on the air while the other pressed on the string. Her wavy strawberry hair moved in the direction of the wind while her dark lips were set thinly.

"You know, young master, your people, especially that black-haired man, killed too many of my children. Now, how am I supposed to make graves for all of them? Don't they deserve punishment?"

Unlike earlier, the woman had a much more cuter and sweet voice. Her lips slightly pouted and her eyes round as doe. Her feet landed on the ground, and her hair reached her waist.

"Indeed, they do miss. They deserve punishment for not killing you."

His eyes held an intellable glint of the moon. As his solemn figure stood still and the wind rose, his lips had a pure, blissful smile.

"Such words do not suit your angelic face, young master."

The more she spoke, the deeper her voice got. Once again, different from her previous persona. This time, as she spoke her ending words like light whispers, she vanished.

"You do know that running away does not mean you get to live the next day." Her droopy eyes had a glistening happiness. With a subtle smile, he resumed his walk. The more he walked, the clearer he could hear the clashing of blades.

In the midst of the tree trunks, at the speed of the lightning, two blades clashed.

"The young master is finally here!" a woman's voice echoed. But her tone didn't consist of admiration but that of commandment. The young master, Kobayashi, was surrounded by thousands of young yastukahagi who were weaving a human-size cocoon made up of the invisible string, which was made of lethal poison.

Suddenly, a large mass of bodies landed on the ground. It was none other than the woman from earlier. Asahi used his wakizashi given by the head of the omyouji. It had a jet-black sheath, and the blade was sharp. There was an oni's head at the handle, and just when the spider had been distracted, Asahi used his wakizashi to swiftly cut off the woman's hand.

"AHHHHHH~"

Her spine-chilling scream could be heard throughout the forest.

The blood splattered all over. Asahi's cheeks got the blood drops; likewise for his sleeves and sword, but most of the blood spritzed on the tree trunks. Her hand all of a sudden turned into the limb of a spider, and her body metamorphosed back to its original state—an eight-legged spider, except she now had one leg missing.

At such time Asahi tore off his sleeve, and using the cloth upside down, he wiped his wakizahi. From afar, he could see the young master using his tanto and massacring the spiders, which squired poison. Though the lifeless spider children were all over the ground, piling up, they continued to form the cocoon.

Asahi took out a poison from his breast pocket. It was a mildly effective one that he had made when he was young. While applying it to the sword, all of a sudden, Asahi could hear the quick steps of a man running towards him.

'3…2….1'

As Asahi positioned himself, instantaneously a woman with wavy pink hair arrived on site.

"SISTER! WHO CUT OFF YOUR LIMB!"

The woman cried out loud. Her long hair flew with the wind. As she landed on the ground, she hugged the big body of her sister, who gazed at her with three eyes.

"It's this man. While that man over there is killing off our children. They need to be punished."

The spider had a merciless tone.

"Ou, young master too? It seems that tonight would be a feast."

Suddenly the pink-haired girl launched herself into the air and, using her metamorphosis, had she tired of piercing Asahi's heart, but instead, he used his sword to cut it off.

"SISTER!"

The spider came to her sister's rescue as she pushed the younger one's body aside and started to squirt white liqid, which had a disgusting stench but made an instant web that was so sticky that anything that even touched it would die.

As it continued to squirt the liquid towards Asahi, which had corroding properties, he jumped high on his knees, used the tree to his advantage, and stood at its back and whatnot to protect himself.

"Yaaaaaaaa!"

All of a sudden, Hayashi's flying body from the midair launched towards the spirit. His upper left part of the kimono had been tucked downwards, and he showed his bare chest, which was filled with tattoos.

Just as his katana reached the spider's body, the white secreted liquid too was thrown towards Hayashi.

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