Maple Leaf Village (5)

Orphe and Bonita finished arming themselves and took their places before the entrance.

Acrid smoke brushed against both their noses.

"Will Robin be all right on his own? A monster village... I've never even heard of such a thing."

Jina fretted from the rear, fidgeting with her bow. Beside her, already geared in leather armor with bow and dagger ready, five full quivers stood stacked.

"If Robin can't handle it, then there's truly no way. If he insists on staying and fighting, all we can do is trust him."

Orphe's grip tightened around her spear shaft.

From within Maple Leaf Village, the howls of beasts rose without end.

"Of course we have to fight together. I'm just worried, that's all."

The words carried a conviction rare for timid Jina.

Bonita flashed her a grin.

"Don't worry. We'll finish our side quickly and go help him. Robin is strong—he'll manage just fine alone."

"Indeed! With us, victory will come in no time!"

All three turned at once to stare at Satton, who was still struggling and grunting as he tried to finish equipping himself.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? An artist's touch is delicate—it simply takes a little time."

"I'm sure it does."

Orphe's cold reply made Satton click his tongue; he shuffled into place behind Bonita.

In an instant the party fell silent.

The dragonkin.

The guild bestiary listed them as mid-tier monsters with tough hides, razor fangs, and claws.

Our fourth quest, and already mid-tier...

Sweat beading on his brow, Satton glanced toward the woman bound to a tree a short distance away. Even by the standards of a picky man like him, the unconscious Lamina was a beauty. He still could not believe she was dragonkin.

"Let's look on the bright side. If we pull off something this big on our fourth quest, you might earn your adventurer badges without even needing a fifth."

Bonita forced the optimistic words out. Everyone gathered here knew the fight ahead would be brutal.

Each of them steeled themselves and fixed their eyes on the entrance—when suddenly:

Shiiik!

Something came flying through the air.

Thud!

A girl who looked just like Lamina landed safely amid a thick patch of grass.

"That must be the child named Diana. Satton, please bind her arms and legs. Place her somewhere away from Lamina."

Orphe reacted first. Satton nodded and set to work. His claim of delicate hands proved no lie; Diana's small limbs were bound carefully, without a single scratch.

Satton wiped his sweat and rose—

"Hup!"

—only to find a reptilian human standing right in front of him. She held the freshly severed ropes: Lamina.

"I have no intention of attacking."

As the others rushed forward to stop her, Lamina dropped to her knees. Startled Satton's legs gave out as well; he sank down beside her.

"This is about saving my little sister. I want to help. Please."

Lamina gazed at Diana with eyes full of affection. Something in that look made Bonita's gaze waver.

"All right."

Only after hearing Orphe's words did Lamina rise. Satton was still sitting.

Boom! Boom!

Pounding echoed against the entrance gate. The party settled into combat stances and steadied their breathing.

"Isn't Robin in danger?"

Anxious at last, Satton heaved his heavy rear off the ground and asked Bonita.

"No. Delamion is nowhere in sight."

Lamina, scanning the burning Maple Leaf Village, answered in her stead.

"Delamion? Who is that?"

"The strongest warrior of the dragonkin. For five hundred years he has hunted humans—the living legend of Maple Leaf Village. If Robin had fallen, Delamion would already have crossed the fence. Just as Lady Orphe said, that man is an extraordinary powerhouse."

After a brief exchange with Orphe, Lamina seemed to sense something. Her ears twitched; she spread both hands. Razor claws sprouted in an instant.

"They're coming."

Crash!

The gate shattered, and seven dragonkin burst out. Running on all fours, their bodies blackened and scorched—they had clearly charged straight through the flames.

This time...

I will be of help to him.

Orphe leveled her spear and locked eyes on them.

Jina's loosed arrow served as the signal; battle began.

When I was a child, unable to endure the stinging gazes of the hominids and growing weak, one masterpiece turned me into a real man.

That memory.

"Whoa..."

"Hm?"

This goddamn yokai bastard had defiled it!

"Wazabyot—!!!!"

I exploded with unbearable rage and charged him. I had to snatch that headband off his head right now!

"Driven mad by fear, are you?"

Delamion refused to yield. He coiled his body tight and charged like a rhinoceros. At that blistering speed his headband streamed behind him.

Part of me wanted to stand my ground and ram him head-on for a glorious collision, but the scrap vehicle would almost certainly be me. This time that bastard was Thomas and I was the Gorani.

"Ninja getaway."

Tatatatatatata—

I had no choice. I gradually bled off speed and, at the last instant before impact, slipped left.

Shak!

"Ha!"

In a flash Delamion's claws raked the spot where I had stood. The ground split into five deep furrows. Shit, he's that fast?

I scanned for anything useful. Fuck it all—this place, ringed by fire, had already become a blazing arena. A ninja fighting without cover? Combat power cut in half.

Swaeek!

His razor claws tore the thigh guard clean off. If I hadn't twisted my body that instant I would have become a lollipop stick.

I tried to drive my sword into his heart through the closing gap, but Delamion suddenly spun and lashed his tail.

Whoosh!

I dodged by a hair and fell back. I still had no idea how to take this bastard. Fast. Strong. Looks like a knockoff, but the skill was the real deal. If I had just gone berserk without thinking, Delamion's grime-caked claws would have shredded me into five equal ninja pieces.

"I have killed thousands of people."

Delamion's long claws retracted; his fists armored over with shell. I flung three throwing knives into the transformation window, but he footworked them aside with ease.

"But that was solely for the survival of our race."

He raised a guard and closed the distance, herding me toward the flames with veteran skill that left no escape hole.

"Why did you kill the villagers?"

Whoosh-whoosh—

A barrage of jabs cracked past my ears. Not a ninja dinosaur—a boxing dinosaur. One clean hit and I would turn into sticky rice cake pounded by a pestle. The attacks were too heavy to parry with a blade. The moment I tried to catch one of those brute swings on the flat of my sword, my arm would snap like a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dry stalk of sorghum.

I used Floating Shadow, leaving faint afterimages as I dodged and hunted for an opening to run.

"The village never intended to kill you. We were going to let you go."

Like a principal delivering endless lectures, Delamion mixed sermons with continuous punches. If every principal packed this kind of firepower, no kid would ever doze off during morning assembly.

"Was it because we are man-eating monsters that you slaughtered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us?"

Too frantic to keep swinging a weapon that could not land a solid hit. I simply hurled the sword at him. To kill, first you have to live.

Clang!

It bounced harmlessly off his outer shell. Ah, where the hell is a real ninja when you need one? If Kakashi would just show up right now and hand me a ninja blade, how perfect would that be? But that trash ninja bitch was never going to appear.

"From the moment we are born we are cursed. If we go too long without cannibalism, we lose our reason."

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

While dodging I hammered his torso a few times with my fists. He did not even flinch. Instead the real damage came back into my own knuckles. What kind of insane trade was this?

"For us, cannibalism is not a choice—it is a ritual of survival. Did you know that?"

Fwaaah!

Seeing no path to victory, I took the risk and dove into the flames. Holy shit it was hot. Still, the headband wrapped around my face kept the burns from getting too bad.

"I ask again. By what right did you mercilessly massacre the people of this village?"

Delamion kept preaching without pause—this bastard was a true "denture," an old fossil who never shut up. But a runaway ninja never plays along with an enemy's word games.

I sprinted down a path where the fire was dying.

"Hup."

After burning for dozens of minutes, Maple Leaf Village had become a fog village. The scorching smoke choked me, but I could still endure it.

"There is nowhere to run in my village."

I heard Delamion's footsteps punching through the flames. Creak. Spotting a house that still looked halfway intact, I slipped in through a window. Inside lay five yokai dead of smoke inhalation. Judging by their rather fine clothes, they had probably held positions around the village chief's level.

"I'm completely fucked."

I had burned through far too much mana before even fighting Delamion. That magnificent piece of trash, the Ninja Encirclement Formation. As always, flashy posturing kills a man.

Weapons left: about three throwing knives. In this house, nothing but a few cloth garments and one large, somewhat sturdy-looking safe. What now? Honestly, I was at a loss. Running away would be easy—but I had to stop that bastard here. The moment a great yokai like him walked free again, the blood of countless commoners would flow like a river. That, at least, I had to prevent.

Because I am a runaway ninja.

"Hoo... hoo..."

I steadied my mind with the ninja breathing technique. Even if it kills me, I kill him. That was the decision.

Boom!

Delamion's body-slam shattered the door as if it had been hit by an industrial wrecking ball. I darted behind the safe and held my breath.

One chance only.

Swaeek—!

The instant Delamion's claws stabbed toward the safe, I wrung out every last drop of strength from my nursing days and launched into the air.

Ninja b-boying.

Whirrr!

"Takoyaki Killing Method."

Thuk!

I rode up the shoulder of Delamion, whose right hand was buried in the safe, and drove a throwing knife into his right eye. Even a great yokai's eye was soft.

Slash.

In the next heartbeat his left claws raked across my lower abdomen. Dark-red blood poured out—enough for a whole bowl of seonji hangover soup. At least no blood sausage came with it.

I immediately flooded mana into the wound to wrap the injury. That would slow the bleeding a little. Not having regeneration was a real bitch.

Leaving Delamion howling as he yanked the knife from his eye, I rolled the clothes in front of me into a tight bandage and cinched it hard around my gut. Not yet. Still not the finishing blow.

While I drew another knife, Delamion used the claws of his left hand to sever his own right arm still stuck in the safe. Truly ruthless judgment. Being a yokai, the bleeding from the stump stopped almost at once.

He charged without giving me a second of breathing room. One hit meant instant death, so I barely managed to twist aside.

"Huk... huk..."

Too much blood lost; the world spun. I neutralized it with ninja breathing and lunged at Delamion, who was still staggering with half his vision gone.

Whoosh!

He swung his tail to create distance. Fuck—a rock had just gotten into my shoe.

"Uggyaaaak!"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠failed to dodge and took it full-on. Like a villain who had just hit the self-destruct switch, I went flying. The knife in my hand was long gone.

Thud.

Maybe I should have taught Orphe ninjutsu a little harder. Facing death, all sorts of thoughts floated up. Anyway, I was taking at least one more eyeball with me.

My right arm was busted and would not move properly, so I drew the last throwing knife with my left. Shin Nobin's final Takoyaki Killing Method. This bastard was no Zatoichi—if I just took one more eye, his combat power would plummet. A blinded Delamion could be finished by a few skilled warriors attacking together. Maybe Orphe would be the one to kill him.

Strength drained steadily from my body. The exact same sensation as when I got hit by that biker gang's car.

"..."

I was not afraid of dying. I only regretted failing to fulfill my mission.

...But why was he taking so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long?

"Ugh..."

I forced my head up and looked around.

"Haah... haah..."

Delamion, left eye blazing crimson, was lapping at the pool of my blood beside the safe. Had he suddenly gone senile?

— Danto's eyes turned red, and with a terrible scream he leapt—

Ah. So that was it.

I forced my creaking body upright like a rusted scrap robot.

"You... goddamn yokai bastard..."

Die? Fuck that. A runaway ninja does not go out like this.