Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Umi's eyes widened. In the old woman's cloudy pupils, an evil spirit was reflected.

It happened before she could even get a good look.

Like a ruffian, a rakshasa with hair wildly let down swung the scythe he had been carrying on his shoulder with great force.

Umi shrieked and fell backward. For an instant, she lost all sense of distance. She thought Nachal would aim for her throat immediately.

Right in front of her eyes, along the arc of the scythe, a straight horizontal flash erupted.

With a single blow, all the petal shapes vanished.

The shattered fragments scattered like light rain around Ran and Nachal.

Umi's teeth chattered. Even as she saw it, she found it hard to believe.

Nachal left only a faint afterimage and disappeared. The grotesque laughter echoed endlessly in Umi's ears.

Everything ended in the blink of an eye.

Umi trembled, wetting herself. She tasted terror that transcended human perception.

"Why are you overreacting to this much?"

"Y-you, you can wield spirit-summoning swordsmanship??"

Spirit-summoning swordsmanship, as the name suggests, is a style of swordplay that forcibly evokes spirits or possesses spiritual mysteries onto a spiritual medium or weapon.

Now, even the inheritors are extinct; moreover, it was the ancient sword technique that Umi, her husband, and the entire people of Tohore Village had devoted their lives to mastering.

Ran rested the back of the sword on his shoulder.

'Spirit-summoning sword?'

His pupils sank indifferent.

He knew, like Asriel's holy war angels, Nachal was one of the Three Evil Ghosts guarding the demon god Tarok.

Ran had never heard of anyone gaining spiritual power through saints' relics as the angels did.

But he merely felt that perhaps it was possible for a sword.

"I can't really explain it in words. It's just a feeling. You don't consciously think about breathing, right?"

Umi's mouth hung open.

'? Did he really wield spirit-summoning swordsmanship relying solely on instinct and sensation?'

Whatever the explanation, the spirit-infused demon sword responded to Ran.

Umi's trembling eyes shifted back and forth between Ran and the demon sword.

'He, he managed to summon Nachal ghost which even my husband failed to call upon?'

Her husband, the sword's previous owner, had never reached that realm, not in his entire life. Get full chapters from novel⸺fire.net

Umi herself had paid a harsh price just to wield the 'Spirit-summoning Sword—Magnolia'. She even had to give up her humanity.

'Magnolia is nowhere near compared to Nachal.'

A swirl of emotions rose within her. Above all, fear.

Umi's gaze glinted red. She brushed away all corrupt feelings trying to overwhelm her.

"I won't accept it!!"

Umi's small body sprang up elastically. As she rose, she wielded her sword.

Ran merely bent his head back. From the silver afterimage tracing a horizontal line, a strange metallic sound rang out.

Umi continued her combinations.

"Stop acting so high and mighty! You just got lucky, that's all!"

Her despairing shout echoed fiercely.

Meanwhile, Ran sheathed his sword entirely. Like a predator waiting for exhausted prey, he simply dodged Umi's sword path, relaxed and unhurried.

The wild momentum briefly slackened. Ran interrupted the flow by striking down with the scabbard like a club. Even this movement required little effort from him.

Umi blocked above her own head with her sword.

'? I have to close the distance!'

There was a big height difference. Her opponent didn't give her any openings to exploit it.

She realized she had no chance if things continued . She had to take a risk.

Umi leapt in place and swiftly sprinted up along Nachal's scabbard.

She reached Ran's immediate vicinity in no time.

Her plan was to aim directly at Ran's throat or face.

"My speed is one step ahead, isn't it?"

Her brazen words never finished. Even before swinging her sword, her body wobbled.

Ran reached out and grabbed Umi by the collar.

'She came to me herself when I found it bothersome to grapple her.'

Ran was at a disadvantage too.

He only pretended to be composed, but the opponent took the bait instantly.

Ran twisted his body and slammed Umi into the ground as she was.

Her back felt as if it might split. Agony throbbed violently, blood spurted from her mouth. Her entire vision went crimson. Through that she glimpsed Ran's face.

Ran pressed down on Umi with his hand and said:

"Stop struggling. Or your husband's hope will come to nothing, won't it?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"It's been so long that you must have forgotten, but your husband earnestly prayed for your curse to be lifted."

As he said, it was a long time ago. Her memory was faint now. Perhaps after feeding on both flesh and soul for so long, something inside had been erased.

Umi bared her bloodstained teeth. Where her pupils were, red fiery flowers bloomed.

At that moment, he felt a presence.

It was Iel, hesitantly approaching nearby.

Both their gazes landed on the girl simultaneously.

Umi moved first. She spat the bloody lump she'd been mouthing at Ran. As he turned his head to dodge, Umi slipped free from his grasp.

"Give me flesh! Give me flesh!"

Umi howled like a beast and charged at Iel.

Ran drew the sword again. Upon that blindingly white blade, Nachal extended forth, leaving a long tail. Only the form, but its red eyes shone vividly.

Both of Umi's ankles were cleanly severed. Unable to stand, she could only scream in an inhuman voice.

The rotten stench of beastly flesh, the thick smell of blood. And Nachal's grotesque laughter blanketed Tohore.

The wind knocked at the door. With nothing but a thin wooden door covered in beast skin for insulation, it made odd noises. It almost sounded like rain.

"Cannibalism, really?"

Iel still hadn't overcome the shock. In a matter of days, her face had grown gaunt.

Ran swallowed dryly and leaned the back of his head against the wall. He let out a deep sigh.

"By the way, Ran. What did you do about Umi?"

Ran had trapped her in the very trap she'd set up, binding her whole body and gagging her to keep her from moving at all.

He had gone through the trouble because he didn't want to personally end her life and be asked to pray for her salvation.

As Ran avoided answering, Iel sensed it and didn't press further.

The two curled up separately in opposite corners of the narrow room.

"Do you remember what I said earlier?"

Iel looked up. Ran's eyes were fixed in empty air.

"There'll be more things , won't there?"

"? Yeah. But you just have to trust me."

A strange courage surged. Truly, Ran never seemed startled, no matter what happened. He acted as if he had foreseen it all.

His golden eyes were calmly settled. Iel forced a smile.

"There's something more."

Ran stood up. Noticing Iel's confusion, he reassured her.

He opened the door and stepped outside.

'Demonic energy is leaking out from somewhere.'

He'd sensed the demonic energy since arriving at Tohore. Umi wasn't a demon. That meant someone else was still nearby.

'Compared to the Revolutionaries, it's weak, though?'

To Ran, demonic energy was the current of emotions emitted when demons harbored strong resentment or hatred.

'I'd better eliminate the source.'

Ran glanced back at the room where Iel waited. Nothing drastic would happen while he was gone for a moment. The demonic energy he considered a threat now belonged to only one person.

Ran brushed the sword strapped to his waist. He decided to just call it Nachal.

The waning moon was hidden behind thin clouds, making the faintly-lit Tohore even more desolate. From afar, the cries of beasts spread in the still night.

Following the flow of demonic energy, he found himself in front of Umi's house.

Ran tapped his chin. When Umi was there, he'd been too distracted to focus properly. With all potential distractions removed, the flow of demonic energy seemed much clearer.

He pushed the door open with the tip of Nachal. A foul stench stabbed his nose. Ran wrinkled his brow.

He tracked as he had when confronting the inquisitor. Ran had never lost his target. Even if it was just one more night, he didn't want to leave a possible danger nearby—it wasn't in his nature. He sharpened all his senses.

'The concentration's thin. It might be a dying person.'

A thought crossed his mind. Umi had survived by eating human flesh. There must be a storeroom with meat saved up without concern for decay.

Ran's gaze shifted to the floor.

He stomped lightly. Moving sideways, he tapped the floor with his heel in the same way.

The sound was subtly different. He checked a few more places. Satisfied, he was sure.

He stabbed the floor with the tip of Nachal and found a catch. Using it as a lever, he pried it up. As dirt crumbled down, the floor opened like a lid.

Stairs leading underground appeared. From the dark corridor inside, a surge of foul odor rushed out.

'Should I just leave?'

He hesitated, debating seriously. He might just be stirring up trouble.

Ran shook his head. In an environment , you couldn't risk having an enemy at your back. He let his pupils adjust to the light as much as possible, took a deep breath, and headed down slowly.

Ran sighed aloud. Underground, the structure was made up of corridors and several pitch-black, cell-like rooms. Except for the narrow paths just wide enough for a person to move, the rest was piled high with bone fragments and rotting flesh.

Ran considered taking out a mask but settled for just covering his mouth and nose with a hand. It wasn't just revolting. It was unbelievable—a horror that one could hardly imagine being perpetrated by a human. Even breathing was torturous.

The floor was flooded with all sorts of filth that had come off the corpse piles. As his eyes adapted to the darkness, he saw swarms of gnats gathering like clouds of dust.

The clink of metal echoed from somewhere, making his hair stand on end.

Ran, his hand on Nachal, poked just his head around the corner.

Ran's eyes widened. A man hung dangling from the ceiling, bound all over in chains.

"P-person?! Person! You're a person, right?! Oh wow! I'm saved! Saved!"

As the man struggled, his body, suspended, would swing in unintended directions. Still, he desperately tried to make eye contact with Ran.

"Ohh! Tarok, thank you! Asriel, Dakir, accept my thanks too! All have saved me! Wahaha?!"

Anyone who survived in such conditions couldn't possibly be sane. As Ran carefully entered the cell and glanced around, he noticed that, as if Umi had prepared this space solely for this prey, this place was at least cleaner than the rest.

Ran looked up at the man again. He was still spinning.

"Sir! Please get me down! I beg you!"

Ran didn't move straight away. Cautiously, he observed the man. He thought about why Umi, who wouldn't refuse even rotten meat, would leave this man alive.

"I know, isn't it amazing? Ha ha! I've always been told I was lucky since I was a child. That's why I never forgot to be grateful! I respected all the gods of the world."

"Are you always this talkative?"

"? Yes? I guess I have more to say than most, but now I'm even more excited?"

Ran cut the chains hanging from the ceiling. The man crashed to the floor and groaned but never stopped smiling.

"I'm saved! I'm really saved! Ahaha!"

Ran didn't sheath Nachal and slowly circled the man.

Upon closer inspection, one of the man's arms was missing. The stump looked freshly cut, the wound barely healed.

Perhaps noticing Ran's gaze, the man stared at his own bound arm.

"Oh, this? That crazy cannibal grandmother chopped it off when she heard she had a guest. She wanted to take my leg at first, but I barely convinced her to take my left arm instead. I'm really lucky, aren't I?"

Now Ran understood what dish Umi had planned to cook earlier.

He turned away, fighting the urge to retch.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=