Volume 9 Chapter 18 Ancient Land Deity
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I moved in close until I could study the rectangular stone in detail, and then I checked the rock’s information a second time. Each side measured about two meters across, with the height being slightly shorter at just over one meter. It was not a perfect rectangular shape, though—there was a slight bend to it, and the edges had been worn smooth over time. From the center of the top surface, all the way up to the cave ceiling, a fleshy cord stretched upward, and it was about as thick as a utility pole. It seemed to be connected to the rock as if it were seeping out from it.
”…”
No, come to think of it, this is definitely…
Just as Hinoki started to say something, the fragments of flesh that were all around us began to move.
”A trap!?” I shouted.
”It’s comin’ from above!” Hinoki yelled. “Watch out!”
Rei’s detection sorcery caught something that was approaching fast from overhead. I stepped backward to dodge, and a lump of flesh that was the size of a bowling ball shot past me, missing my face by inches. It slammed into the rocky floor with a heavy thud, burying itself halfway into the ground. For its size, the weight was surprisingly high—it was denser than normal meat, more tightly packed together.
Several strings that were as thin as twine connected the embedded chunk to the ceiling. The loose cords pulled tight, and then the meatball shot upward at high speed.
So those attacks were not single-use, I realized. I looked up to confirm, and I saw that the ceiling was covered with meat clumps everywhere. They varied in size—some were as small as softballs, and others were as large as a tatami mat. More importantly, there were a lot of them. In fact, even as I watched, the flesh was squirming and multiplying. When we had first entered, the meat patches had been sparse, but now they were growing quickly, and they looked like they would cover the entire ceiling before too long.
I braced myself for the next attack, but the meat did not move. To be more precise, it was just pulsing and multiplying, and there were no signs that it was going to drop toward us.
”What’s this?” I said. “They are not just attackin’ without warnin’?” Hinoki asked, echoin’ my thoughts.
Thinkin’ optimistic-like, maybe it was a trap that had broken down and was not actually hostile? The fact that no follow-up attack came made that possible. If we had been lured here to be killed by a trap, then that first attack had been way too sloppy. Traps work best the first time they are used, and if they had really wanted to hurt us, that first strike should have been harder to dodge, and it should have used a stronger meatball. It did not make any sense for a monster that was called the Ancient Land Deity to lack even that much intelligence.
”Take a good look at that rock,” Hinoki said. “Pay attention to the color around where the strings connect to it.”
I followed their advice, and I turned my gaze back to the rectangular stone.
”It is red… and greenish,” I said.
Near the rock, the cord was green, but that color gradually shifted to red as it went up toward the ceiling.
”It’s possible that those things I know about are the meat clumps that are all around us,” Hinoki explained. “They have this kind of crazy number. If they are reproducin’ and multiplyin’, then that checks out.”
”The stuff that I thought was meat,” I said, “is it actually moss?”
To me, it had looked like a level-ninety evil spirit, but maybe it was not as bad as it seemed. It could have just been a combination of fire-attribute and dark-attribute moss. In my memory, it was something meat-like. If it was actually moss… but…
Hinoki trailed off, and their silence felt meaningful.
”What is it?” I asked.
”That guy was not this dangerous before,” Hinoki replied. “He was more pure, actually. Something is wrong here.”
”Would his personality not change after a thousand years?” I asked.
”He is not the type who would change in just a thousand years,” Hinoki said firmly.
So the Ancient Land Deity had a surprisingly good reputation, at least according to Hinoki. You would think that being sealed for so long would make someone bitter, but the way Hinoki talked about them, I could hear a sense of “I do not like them, but I have to respect them, you know?”
Well, if they were truly worthless, they would not have become a figurehead like “Ancient Land Deity.” We did not get along, but they had a decent number of followers. I did not think that you got banned from the dungeon just because you threatened them with the Leylines power.
Hmm, I thought. I was not sure what “pure” meant when it was applied to a monster.
”Part of the reason why I suggested goin’ to see them,” Hinoki admitted, “was that—yeah, they piss me off—but I figured they would not do anythin’ openly cowardly.”
”Instead,” I said, “we got attacked right away. It was a trap.”
”Unless that first hit was a ‘my bad, just a misfire’?” Hinoki suggested.
But the second attack never came.
”That’s true,” Hinoki said. “Here we are, surrounded by meat chunks, in a position where they could drop a whole bunch of them on us at any moment—and yet we can still have this relaxed conversation with each other. Maybe that itself shows that they are not actually hostile, but…”
”Whose side are you on, anyway?” I asked.
”I’m your servant, bro,” Hinoki replied. “I act to maximize your benefit.”
”So you are saying,” I said, putting it together, “that it is better to negotiate our way through this than to fight the Ancient Land Deity for no reason? From what we have talked about, I am guessing that something is off here—like a corrupted version of him. What if the Ancient Land Deity got influenced by something, and that thing changed him for the worse?”
”That’d fit~” Hinoki said.
Standing around here was not going to accomplish anything. Up above, Chifumi and the others were still holding the hole open. We had to move fast. First step—verbal communication.
”Hello there,” I called out loudly toward the rock. “You are the Ancient Land Deity, are you not? I have come here as Hinoki’s master, and I want to request that my dungeon entry ban be lifted.”
There was no response. Was my voice too quiet?
”Uh… can you hear me?” I said, raising my voice again, but I still got no reaction.
I circled around the spot where the attack had landed, and I started approaching the rock carefully. Then another meatball dropped from above. I had expected that, so I dodged it, and I took another step forward. But multiple meatballs rained down, as if they were blocking my path. The closer I got, the more of them fell. I retreated.
”This is suspicious,” I said. “It feels like they do not want me to get close to them.”
”…Looks that way,” Hinoki agreed.
Where Hinoki was looking—at the spot where the cord from the rock stretched up to the ceiling—there was an unusually large meat clump, and it was now pulsing violently. With a wet squelching sound, the skin burst open, and its contents spilled out. What landed between me and the rectangular stone was a lump of flesh that was shaped like an adult woman.
Even though she had been born from blackish-red, ugly flesh, her skin was pure white and visibly smooth, like an eggshell. She was plump, and she had an ideal mage’s body, with very delicate features. She was not a living person, but she had a doll-like beauty. The word “chimera” fit her perfectly. She was not wearing anything at all, and several streams of red meat juice were running down her white skin.
”Is that… the one you mentioned?” I asked.
The ultra-rare Unique Variant that sometimes appeared in Kamikake Gorge. The monster that was said to be connected to the Ancient Land Deity. The one that Hinoki had fought in the past.
”Hitogata,” I said. “No doubt about it.”
We had given that thing the name “Hitogata” as a placeholder, since it was a phantom Unique Variant that only the Futami family knew about. Hinoki had matched it to a name from their memory, and it seemed to be exactly right.
The Hitogata stopped moving just before it landed, hovered in the air for a moment, and then touched down gracefully, as if it were weightless. It was not floating by using sorcery, though—a cord that extended from its back went up to the ceiling, and that cord was supporting it.
”…”
It smiled, and it reached out its left hand toward me, as if it were longing for a loved one. I could not help but stare—this was a vision of beauty that could bring down nations in this world.
”…”
Casually, it raised its right hand. In that hand, there was a pulsing, fleshy golden club. Still smiling, it swung the club down toward my head. Rei’s warning felt muffled, as if it were coming from behind a glass door. The meat that should have crushed my skull turned into charcoal before it reached me.
”Bro!!” Hinoki shouted.
At the same time, a sharp pain shot through my right hand.
”Ow!?” I yelled.
A snake—no, it was China—was biting my right wrist. My thoughts snapped back into focus. What had I just been doing? The moment I became aware of what was happening, the blood rushed out of my head, and I reflexively put some distance between myself and the beauty.
”You got distracted,” Hinoki said.
Hinoki expanded to about ten meters in length, and they slid in between me and the woman, shielding me with their body. It took me a moment to realize that they had breathed fire to protect me.
”Sorry,” I said. “Thanks.”
”That was the Ancient Land Deity’s special sorcery,” Hinoki explained. “Seems like we walked right into it.”
Hinoki was now saying the opposite of what they had said earlier when they were defending the Ancient Land Deity.
”Keep your head straight,” Hinoki advised. “Perceive the enemy as a mass of mana. If you rely only on your eyes, you will be deceived.”
The beauty that was on the other side of Hinoki seemed to slip right through them and latch onto me. No, that was not possible—!
”Right!” I shouted.
The woman had circled around to my right side without me noticing. I dodged the hand that she carelessly extended toward my neck, and at the same time, Hinoki spun around and bit off her head.
Crunch. Her neck gave way, but no blood sprayed out. It did not happen. She was dangling her head, which was now unsupported, but she still came after me anyway. I blasted her away with a Shock spell, and she scattered into fine fragments across a wide area.
”What is a Hitogata?” I asked.
”A will-bearin’ doll,” Hinoki replied.
”The material was… moss?” I said. “Is that why no blood came out? If that is true, then the quality of the doll-makin’ is very high.”
”A sorcery that hides its presence is always active,” Hinoki warned. “If your attention slips for even a moment, you are dead. It is different from Clam’s mist—this is Illusion magic. Annoying stuff.”
”More of them are comin’,” Hinoki said. “Brace yourself.”
”Can I just attack the rock directly?” I asked.
”Try it,” Hinoki replied.
I had a feeling that it would be useless, but I tried it anyway. My feeling was right—the shockwave magic was blocked by a wall-like barrier before it could reach the rock.
”The meat clumps that are all around us form a defensive barrier,” Hinoki explained. “We have to exhaust them by clearin’ out the annoyances first, and then we can destroy the main body.”
Right after Hinoki said this, the meat clumps that were all over the ceiling started to move. They must have seen the shockwave magic as a threat, and they were mobilizing to remove it. Multiple Hitogata came down from above. All of them took the form of beautiful women or girls. The size of the meat clump that they came from seemed to match the age of the Hitogata that came out of it.
One of them—a naked, beautiful child who was barely in double digits, who was dripping meat juice from head to toe, and who was holding a chainsaw that was made of bone and flesh—was visually unbelievable.
”Each of those Hitogata uses a charm sorcery that is terrifyingly strong,” Hinoki said. “You would be dead before you even realized that you were dreamin’. But… since you like Plain-folk, bro, it is less effective on you. Silver linin’.”
So I could cancel out the visual charm boost. Normal mages would get attracted to the enemy and then get sent to the afterlife. That was terrifying.
Hinoki moved their whole body to handle the Hitogata that was charging at us. A fireball from their mouth burned one of them to ashes, and their countless legs tore apart the next one, the child. I crushed the Hitogata that was coming from behind with a shockwave spell. At least since they were made of moss, it did not turn into a bloody mess. Small favors.
After we had taken down about ten of the humanoid puppets, Rei sent out a different kind of warning. Multiple lumps of flesh on the ceiling started growing and moving, and they gathered together into one big mass. A blade pushed through the skin from inside the flesh, and when the split opened wider, a single humanoid figure came out. Unlike the others, this one was wearing clothes.
Hinoki breathed fire at the figure as it landed, but the puppet dodged it.
”Ah!?” Hinoki growled.
I could tell that Hinoki was annoyed. Unlike the puppets that had come before, this one had multiple cords that were attached to it. Its ability to move and to fight in three dimensions was much better.
The upgraded puppet and Hinoki started fighting each other directly, but I did not have the time to watch them. The normal puppets were still coming, as many as clouds of insects, and they were heading straight for me.
Maybe the Ancient Land Deity thought that it only needed to give me a small amount of damage, because it was only sending the little-girl-type puppets after me. Each one of them was holding a knife-like weapon in both hands. A group of naked little girls who were charging at me with blades while they were making inviting expressions—even nightmares rarely came up with something like this.
I really did not want to get even a scratch from those blades, since they were covered in some red-black liquid. It was obviously poison. The fact that these puppets looked exactly like humans—and young ones, at that—was slowly wearing down my mental state.
The only good thing was that none of them had any ranged weapons, but even using shock magic to deal with them was getting difficult. New puppets were being born faster than I could cast my next sorcery. I needed a way out before things got worse.
”Sync up with me!” I shouted.
”Got it!” Hinoki replied.
Hinoki understood what I meant. We timed our activation of the barrier sorcery together. The hole that we had made earlier had been sealed by the regenerating flesh. That was perfect timing.
Mannequin appeared from the shadows, having finished preparing a full-area attack sorcery. The moment that Pape showed up, a storm of fire and lightning filled the whole space, and it burned all of the puppets to ashes. The small ones that had been charging at me turned into charcoal, and the big one that Hinoki had been fighting was burned all the way through its core, completely disabled.
With the obstacles gone, Hinoki immediately grabbed onto the main body—the rock—and they started biting through the cords that were stretching up to the ceiling, one by one. The wave of destruction only lasted a few seconds. As soon as the sorcery ended, I sank Pape back into the shadows, and I released the barrier sorcery.
I checked our surroundings. The enemy’s presence was still there. When I looked up at the ceiling, I noticed that the flesh that had not been burned was moving. It gathered in one spot, and another humanoid puppet was born. This one did not have any cords coming from the ceiling. It was wearing black armor, and it was carrying a long sword. Even though it looked heavy, it landed on the floor with a light sound.
Rei’s warning and my instinct both told me that this was the strongest puppet yet—even stronger than the one that had been fighting Hinoki.
The barrier sorcery that I had used earlier had used up a lot of my mana. To save energy, I got ready to fight back by using group skills and layered auxiliary sorcery instead.
Hinoki had wrapped themselves around the main body, the Ancient Land Deity’s rock form, and they were biting into it, but nothing else was happening.
”Hinoki!” I shouted. “Shut the main body down!”
”I wish I could,” Hinoki replied, “but I can’t!”
I was giving orders while I was fighting the puppet up close. Hinoki tried to dig their fangs into the rock with all of their strength, but the rock did not show any signs of cracking or breaking. It was bein’ protected by a barrier, Hinoki said.
”Switch with me!” I yelled. “I will take over!”
”Got it!” Hinoki said.
Hinoki let go of the rock, and they attacked the final puppet from behind. I left that fight to Hinoki, and I fired a shockwave spell at the rock. It was very hard, and it did not even get a crack in it. Just as I was about to cast another sorcery with full power to break it, Rei detected a new intruder.
The direction that the intruder was coming from was the big hole that Moo had opened for us to get in. Something broke through the thin layer of flesh that was sealing it, and it came flying inside. From the corner of my vision, I saw a woman who was wearing old-fashioned warrior gear, and she landed in a stylish four-point stance. She was one of the Strong-Females from Shoji’s group.
She had a well-built mage’s body, and she had a face that I had never seen before. Unlike the inviting expressions of the puppets that we had been fighting, her face was expressionless, like one of those Noh masks. But her presence felt exactly the same as a puppet.
An armed puppet had come through the hole above? What did that mean? What about Chifumi, Manaka, and Asunaro? The worst possibilities ran through my mind.
The new puppet shifted its gaze away from me. It looked at the main body—the rock—and then at Hinoki, and finally at the puppet that was not connected to any cords. And then it smiled.
—
Summary:
The protagonist and Hinoki descend into the cave beneath Kamikake Gorge to negotiate with the Ancient Land Deity for the protagonist’s dungeon ban, only to be immediately attacked by meat-like projectiles and a flesh-doll called Hitogata. Hinoki reveals the Ancient Land Deity was once pure and not this corrupted, suggesting something has changed over the centuries. After the Hitogata’s charm sorcery nearly kills the protagonist, Hinoki expands to full size to fight while explaining that the surrounding meat clumps form a defensive barrier that must be exhausted before they can reach the main body.
—
Trivia:
Hinoki initially defended the Ancient Land Deity as a figure who would not be overtly cowardly, but later says “we walked right into it” after being ambushed.
The protagonist can nullify charm effects because he likes Plain-folk, making the Hitogata’s visual seduction less effective.
The meat clumps are actually moss that reproduces and multiplies, not actual flesh.
Hinoki fought Hitogata in the past, making them the only one who recognizes the creature.
The Ancient Land Deity has been sealed for over 1000 years, and Hinoki claims their personality would not change in just that timeframe.
The Hitogata’s cord extends from its back to the ceiling, suspending and supporting it like a puppet.
Notes:
• N – A student from East Middle with an eccentric personality who entered National High School due to complex family circumstances and used herself as leverage to negotiate a protective agreement for K.
• Hinoki – An older classmate and powerful anomaly who speaks with a warm, blunt, Kansai-influenced dialect. Using they/them pronouns, they have a shy yet contrary personality and interact casually with the protagonist. As a mediator in the supernatural community, they secure bodies and support others, having bestowed fragments of their power upon Pape, Kram, and Risa.
• A – A student from South Middle School described as an idol who has been recruited into R’s high school squad.
• Rei – An electric ray monster referred to as “Old Man Rei.” He speaks with gentle wisdom and scolds others with patience. He was also captured in the wild by Minoru.
• R – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has successfully built a squad and added multiple girls, including M and A, into his group.
• S – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has taken B from North Middle into his squad.
• T – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has recruited K and N from East Middle into his group.
• M – A first-year student at District 13 High School and the childhood friend of Anonymous Student 0006, described as an atavistic strong-female who looks plain but possesses significant power.
• B – A student originally from North Middle School who was added to S’s group.
• Chifumi – Eldest daughter of the Takino residence, this 160cm, J-cup kimono-clad sorcerer is Minoru’s childhood friend, Lead Majo, and trusted partner. Sporting a long brown side-tail, her bright, casual personality bridges his group with Manaka’s companions. Wielding a staff with flowing ice/water magic, she manages household admin and rearguard combat while secretly protecting him from the truth.
• K – A student from East Middle who followed N to National High School out of care, successfully remaining pure through N’s protection until a misunderstanding involving Anonymous Student 0008 led to her capitulation.
• Futami – The family name of twins Yui and Yuu, and their younger sister Mai. It carries a lower social standing, which factored into the group’s concerns about Yuu’s ability to lead at Shisei High School.
• China – Garden eel monster with air-breathing capability. Takes bracelet form around Minoru’s hand. Guides the party through dungeon navigation. Communicates telepathically or through Hinoki translation.
• Clam – Evolving from a clam via a stone, this newborn Aberration is a sorcerer specializing in Bewilderment magic. Taking a large mollusk form or a toddler guise with limited speech, this unique Phantom serves as a communication intermediary for water tank entities. Though she often questions others’ abilities, she was educated by Tempura, is deeply attached to Asari, and gets drunk on carbonated drinks.
• Mannequin – A newly subdued Aberration that can shift between a doll-like figure and a life-sized mannequin, capable of using defensive abilities.
• Pape – A Mannequin-type monster with a special nature. She serves as the boss of the shallow layer of the Commercial District dungeon. She has evolved from a lazy Torso into a diligent servant who prioritizes cleaning and proper attire. She aspires to become a butler and is influenced by Hinoki-sama’s power, which has made her fond of caregiving through clothing. A monster created as a dungeon boss who has spent many years in that role. Their monster history is exceedingly long. They follow rules properly and play cat’s cradle with Clam.
• Strong-Females – A social designation within the world’s hierarchy.
• Shoji – A serious, silver werewolf beastman and top 5th District sorcerer, he is also a male classmate in Minoru’s second-year class who greets others with informal energy. Wielding magic pistols, shock spells, and a spear, he led Ryota, Komoda, and Strong-Females through a dungeon. He manages complex ties with Kotoha and aims to rescue his relative Risa from a Shadow entity by tracking scents to feed her Hinoki.
• Moo – An earthworm creature that lives in the fields. Named “Moo” (モー) which is the sound a cow makes, creating a cute absurdity. Affectionate toward the narrator’s mother and seeks approval from the narrator. Uses a heart symbol (♡) to express affection.
• Asunaro – An anomalous White Centipede monster who received a fragment of Hinoki-sama’s power. Known as Lady Asunaro, she resides in Risa’s body, serving as a second interpreter. Saved by Minoru (whom she affectionately calls “Prince Charming”), she speaks with a flat tone but has genuine emotions. Her name is heard during the goodnight sequence, and she belongs to a group with a large presence.
• Manaka – Manaka Kuga is an elegant, sharp-featured Shisei High student, authoritative circle leader, and strategist for the top-tier Kuga family’s Founding Strong-Females. Minoru’s refined yet direct childhood friend, she uses a short staff for spatial/air-shaping sorcery. Known for her aristocratic bearing and “-chan” honorific, she manages security, led a year-long deception, and orchestrated an exchange battle request.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply