Volume 1 Chapter 36 Invasion III： The Cursed Snake
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(──Is this all there is?)
As Naoshi ran along the back of the giant snake, he thought about his doubts.
He had hurt it many times, but it still didn’t seem to slow down.
Its toughness was impressive for a Great Youkai, but that alone wasn’t enough to make it a real threat.
Sure, getting crushed by its huge body would hurt a lot, but its movements were still pretty slow.
But right now, he didn’t have time to think about that.
He dashed straight up the snake’s back towards its raised head.
”Itsukii!”
”Geez, wasn’t I supposed to handle the head?”
Even as he said this, Itsuki dodged the snake’s snapping head with quick jumps.
”Take this──!”
Naoshi kicked the snake’s long neck, and his heel came crashing down on the snake’s open mouth just as it was about to bite him.
The snake’s head hit the ground like it was slammed by a giant hand, and its jaw snapped shut with a loud crack.
A huge noise shook the ground, and a column of water shot up into the sky like a waterfall.
”──!”
The giant snake’s body twisted and thrashed around. Even though it had a power that would scare most people away, it was just a creature in pain──meaning it had an opening.
”Suzuri-san!”
”Got it!”
Before Itsuki could finish, Suzuri was already running on the ground.
She could see weak spirit energy (reiki) gathering in the spaces marked by the snake’s wounds.
”Take that──ugh!”
Naoshi rushed back from the head and jumped down right into the middle of the snake’s writhing body like a shooting star.
A human-shaped stake slammed into the giant snake, pinning it to the ground.
The massive body jolted once and hit the ground hard, shaking the earth.
It bounced slightly before crashing back down.
In that moment, Suzuri felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
With that thought, she charged forward.
She still had doubts and fears about whether she could really do this, but she knew that to overcome them, she just had to take a step forward──that was what she had learned from the back of the person leading her.
”Shh──!”
With a swift slash, she cut deeper and longer into the snake’s body than before.
She felt a satisfying impact; she had definitely made a clean cut.
”How about that──!?”
From the white snake’s body, red blood spilled out, revealing pink insides.
Then, something that looked like a human head peeked out from inside.
”Suzuri-chan, catch!”
”Eh, wha──!?”
Just as Suzuri was about to lose focus, Naoshi carelessly shoved his arm into the wound and pulled out the person inside, tossing them right to Suzuri.
She caught them, but as she did, a strange-smelling goo covered her completely.
”Hey, Nao-nii──!”
”What are ya standin’ there for? Is she breathin’?”
Naoshi asked without turning around, keeping his eyes on the snake.
Suzuri quickly checked for a pulse.
”──She’s alive!”
”Good, then for now──.”
”Both of you, get away!”
Itsuki’s voice came from above, sounding more urgent than ever.
”!”
”Ah!?”
Before Suzuri could even respond, Naoshi grabbed her waist and jumped away with incredible speed, even faster than if it was just Suzuri alone.
”──What the heck!? Another one──!?”
As they jumped, a massive object zoomed past them from left to right, moving like a train.
Looking up, Suzuri saw Itsuki fighting the snake’s head, making sounds like clashing swords.
”Seriously, addin’ a second head in the middle of this? That’s just dirty!”
”When it comes to a Great Youkai, anything goes…”
After putting some distance between them, Naoshi glanced back to check the situation.
The white Great Youkai was starting to give off a menacing vibe.
Four red eyes were staring down at them from a few meters above the ground──now the giant snake had 2 heads.
”Aw, c’mon, this sucks…”
He quickly realized that whatever was swallowed was turned into a sacrifice.
It makes sense to feel uneasy; the giant snake that appeared here as a Great Youkai was probably kept calm until now.
But that changed.
By saving the girl, Naoshi and the others triggered the anger of the vengeful god.
”Whoever cooked up this mess really needs a hobby.”
”If Naoshi is saying that, it must be serious.”
Itsuki, who had come down beside me, sighed. Naoshi made a sound like a mix between a cough and a grunt, signaling Suzuri to move away from the giant snake.
”Ya kiddin’? Suzuri-chan, take that girl and get gone. Tell everyone up top what’s happenin’, and block the path if this thing tries to crawl up. You remember how, right?”
”I can do that, but──!”
”Ya promised to listen. The enemy’s gettin’ serious, and I can’t handle ‘two extra worries’.”
Naoshi’s harsh words didn’t allow Suzuri to respond emotionally.
She wanted to be recognized more than anyone else, so she couldn’t act foolishly and become a burden in this situation.
”…Understood. Good luck to both of you!”
After tightly closing her mouth as if to swallow everything, Suzuri raised her face and began to back away, keeping her eyes on the giant snake.
”Alright, I’m countin’ on ya!”
Suddenly, a loud thunderclap echoed.
The giant snake turned its head slightly in response to Suzuri’s movement, then shifted its intense gaze back to Naoshi.
For a moment, they stared each other down.
The vengeful snake knew that its opponent was not to be underestimated.
Meanwhile, the young men were buying time for the girl to escape.
”──Are you okay? Suzuri-san looked hurt.”
Without taking his eyes off the snake, Itsuki spoke up.
”We ain’t got time for nice talk when lives’re on the line.”
”You’re so serious.”
Naoshi replied without looking away.
There was no room for carelessness or excessive tension between the two skilled exorcists.
”──You’re still tough, but also kind.”
”Pick one! Besides, Suzuri-chan’s a trooper. She ain’t givin’ up. D’ya know how many times she’s told me no?”
”That’s something Naoshi should think about.”
”What’s wrong with askin’? Now get serious, Itsuki. If ya chicken out, I’ll have no respect left for ya.”
”──Yeah, I don’t want to be seen that way either. Let’s show them what we’ve got.”
Hissssssssss!
Suddenly, the two heads of the snake opened wide, shaking the air around them.
Even with the giant pink mouth ready to swallow a person whole, the two young men didn’t change their expressions at all.
”Snakes don’t hiss, right?”
”No, they don’t have vocal cords. I don’t know.”
”Feels like a kaiju flick.”
”Stop it, that’s the genre where the handsome guy dies.”
”What, worried ’bout me?”
”Are you getting a bit cocky? Who says that about themselves?”
”I hope that confidence don’t backfire.”
The giant snake stretched its neck to swallow the ground.
But by then, one of them was heading up and the other down, as the young men dashed to the sides.
The snake’s head missed them and crashed into the ground, creating a huge splash of water.
* * *
The water surface was now rippling like a stream.
The giant snake, now active, was trying to use its massive body to attack.
”──This is nuts! It ain’t like we’re playin’ jump rope here!
While Itsuki soared through the air, Naoshi was directly affected by the snake’s movements.
The waves created by its massive body were only high enough to wet his shins, but their power was not to be underestimated.
Trying to move in that chaos would easily trip him up.
So, just like he had told Suzuri, Naoshi ended up running on the water’s surface.
While he could avoid the waves, the ground beneath him was still unstable.
No matter how fast he was, he needed to keep his footing, or he would be in trouble.
”Whoa!”
Naoshi stomped down hard on the water, hitting the ground just as the snake’s head passed right in front of him.
The speed is totally different from before.
Earlier, it felt like a fast train, but now it’s like a bullet train! If he’s not careful, he could get knocked away because of the weight difference.
They split to the left and right to create some confusion, but even though it looks like a regular creature, this ayakashi doesn’t act like one. It handles everything without getting confused at all.
”Here we go──!”
Naoshi kicked hard, and the creature’s head snapped back.
It felt heavy, like there were strong muscles packed under tough scales that absorbed the impact.
He kept punching, but then the snake’s body came at him like a wall, trying to slam Naoshi against it.
He kicked off it and jumped over the tall wall.
”Ugh──!!”
Right after that, the snake’s body whipped around and sent Naoshi flying like a stone skipping on water.
He rolled a couple of times to break his fall, and just as he got back up, he heard a loud thud above him, like an echo of what he just felt.
Before he knew it, his hand was reaching out.
”U, ah, ah, ah──!”
”Ugh, here we go──!”
He grabbed Itsuki’s coat as he was being knocked down, swinging him around with all my strength.
Then he felt a rush of wind and let go, just as a long white snake zipped between us.
”──I’m saved!”
”What happened to your short sword? Where’d it go?”
Itsuki only had one sword in his right hand, and his left arm was bent in a weird way at the elbow.
”I lost it just now! My arm is pretty messed up, so I can’t use it for a while.”
”That right?”
The werewolf is a type of ayakashi with really strong healing abilities, and Itsuki, who has that blood, is hurt less than a normal person.
But still, things are quietly getting worse.
Naoshi still has some energy left, but──
”──Itsuki, think ya can chop that head off?”
”If you give me some time. Suzuri-san did it, so I can too.”
Mibu Itsuki looked calm, like his injured arm was fine.
Should he trust him or not?
Naoshi didn’t have time to think too much about it.
”Alright, you get the prime spot. I was plannin’ to knock it down, but my fists might give out first.”
”Got it, then I’ll wait for my turn──go wild!”
”Ya don’t mind if I finish it off, right?”
”It’d be easier if you did that.”
After saying that, Itsuki ran toward the scattered reeds.
He hid his spirit energy, and once he blended in with the tall grass, even Naoshi could barely sense him anymore.
Since Suzuri had already left, it could look like he ran away.
So, the angry god’s wrath was directed at the last one standing, who wouldn’t back down.
A hissing sound came from the snake’s mouth.
Ignoring the smell and the red-eyed enemy’s glare, Naoshi laughed.
”We’re a match made in hell, huh? Alright then, let’s brawl──!”
With that shout, lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the misty reeds.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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