Yakuza Death Beam (4)
Heeheehing!
"Aaaargh!"
A horse, its belly skewered by the soldiers' wooden spears, collapsed, and the last bandit tumbled across the dirt.
Sayleen did not miss the opening. She charged straight at him.
Thud!
"Guh... ah..."
The spike embedded in the toe of her leather boot punched clean through the bandit's skull.
Blood sprayed across the ground as he died.
Whoosh!
From behind, outside her line of sight, a muscle-bound bandit swung a club fashioned from animal bone.
She had already sensed him. Spinning on her heel, she met the blow head-on.
Clang!
Sayleen's iron mace and the bandit's bone club rebounded off each other.
"Y-you little bitch!"
The bandit spat curses and edged back a step.
Clad in animal hides, he was closer to a bear than a man in size—at least a vice-leader of the bandit gang.
Keeping him at bay, Sayleen shifted the iron mace to her right hand alone, then drew the dagger from her belt with her free left and flung it at him.
Swish—
The bandit twisted the instant he saw it, but the blade still grazed his left leg as it flew past.
"You damn whore. Didn't they teach throwing techniques in that mercenary company of yours?"
A shallow cut, nothing that would hinder the fight.
He mocked her as he raised the club high overhead—
Thud.
And crumpled straight to the ground as if his strings had been cut.
"Wh-what?"
Blue powder clung to the tip of the dagger lying in the dirt.
"Paralytic poison."
Thud!
With that short declaration, her iron mace smashed the bandit's skull to pieces.
"They're scattering! Push them!"
Behind Sayleen as she retrieved her dagger, Leonard was barking orders at the soldiers.
His helmet was slightly dented—probably from a metal strike—yet the old knight never stopped shouting.
"Stick close!"
"Let's go!"
Drunk on the hope of victory and the heat of battle, the soldiers advanced with wooden spears leveled.
"Hah!"
The most dazzling performance among them belonged to Orphe at the vanguard. Every sweep of her spear dropped another enemy.
"Miss Orphe! Your skill is truly remarkable! Is this the power of youth? Hahaha!"
Slash!
Leonard roared with hearty laughter as he cleaved the head from a retreating bandit.
"R-reinforcements aren't coming?"
"Why the hell aren't the ones outside getting in yet?!"
With every leader of the bandit force already dead, the survivors trembled in silence.
- Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!
- Run!
"Wh-what the—!"
"Th-the ones outside are running away!"
"This is fucking bullshit!"
Horrible screams and the thunder of retreating feet echoed from beyond the walls.
Only then did the remaining bandits snap out of it and begin to flee one by one.
"They're running! After them! Make sure they never set foot near Goldon again!"
"Waaaaaah!"
John, Eunice, and the rest of Goldon's soldiers raised a triumphant cheer.
Victory was all but sealed.
Even the taciturn Sayleen lifted her iron mace skyward in celebration with them.
"Miss Orphe, rest a moment. You've worked hard enough!"
"Thank you, Sir Leonard."
Orphe wiped the beads of sweat from her brow and caught her breath.
She could feel it clearly—she was stronger than before.
As she steadied her breathing, her thoughts turned calm and clear.
It was because of Robin that she had grown, that they had won this battle.
Robin... you did it again.
They had been a ragtag mob of poorly armed bandits, true—but there had been hundreds of them.
Killing that many alone was a feat only the Seven Sword Kings, the kingdom's strongest knights, were said to manage.
Perhaps Robin himself was a blessing upon this world.
Filled with fresh admiration and awe for the man who grew stronger by the day, Orphe rose to her feet once more.
"Guh... ooooh."
Delbanas, jerking like a puppet on tangled strings, came to another abrupt halt.
"Aaaah... ooooh."
The oyabun's mouth gaped wide as she tilted her head skyward.
I had no idea what fresh nonsense she was about to pull, so I backed off for now.
"Bweeeeeeh~!"
Suddenly she spewed a torrent of green liquid—no, she fired it straight at me!
Sploosh-sploosh-sploosh!
I tried to dodge and counter, but Delbanas kept blasting like a firefighter with a water cannon, forcing me into a full-speed circle around her.
Hissssss—
"Hydrochloric acid breath?!"
The ground melted the instant it touched. Exactly that. What the hell was the principle here?
Not that it mattered.
Judging by the color and that sticky viscosity, this was clearly the same konjac the yokai had eaten and gone berserk on.
"Uwaaaaagh!"
The four-eyed guy who took a direct hit from the blind breath melted into a puddle.
That's why you don't fall asleep by the roadside.
Sploosh-sploosh!
The battlefield had turned into a bullet-hell game.
I tried to lure her toward the mountains so Goldon wouldn't take damage, but Delbanas just stood there twisting her body like a wind sock outside a newly opened shop—pure SSS-rank urban legend material.
"Old-maid one-eyed yakuza! Over here!"
No reaction to the aggro. Looks like she couldn't hear either.
"Uwoooowoooh~!"
Finished vomiting, Delbanas belted out a song like an opera singer and tore off the clothes she was wearing.
"Nin?!"
I watched with a tiny spark of expectation, but the sight I wanted never appeared.
"Grrrr...!"
Eyes turned completely black.
Veins glowing green.
Black fur sprouting thick across her skin.
Wings bursting from her back like a golden-crested fruit bat.
After that sudden nude show she had become a perfect yokai, and those two eyes locked dead onto me.
The glowing orb that had been embedded in her right eye was gone—vanished during the transformation, maybe.
Not important right now.
"Kwoooar!"
The naked bat-yokai charged. Guess those wings on her back were just for fashion?
I glanced around for anything useful and spotted my ninja blade and Delbanas's (former) electric whip.
Clatter-roll—
A few tumbles later I recovered both and faced her down.
Clang! Whoosh—thud!
Even when I sliced with my treasured ninja blade, the bat-yokai's body simply reattached itself.
Cutting and slashing were completely useless.
"Kraaaaah!"
She swung her arms wildly, but nothing about it felt threatening.
Delbanas had been strong because of her gear, her judgment, and her speed.
This brainless thing just threw punches in my general direction.
Somehow her movement speed had dropped too.
Maybe those shoes now lying torn and rolling on the ground with her clothes had actually been magic tools?
"Just gear-carried the whole time, huh."
Suddenly the entire fight felt so boring I wanted to die.
Chasing down the yakuza who'd already run away would be more fun at this point.
Crackle-zap—!
I poured mana into the electric whip I'd picked up earlier.
The current flowed just fine, so it wasn't exclusive equipment for the oyabun after all.
"Nin-nin."
Since slicing didn't work, only one option remained.
Attribute attacks.
Scatter ash on the neck of a subterranean great thief and it won't reattach.
Judging by this one's traits, it was clearly the same type of yokai.
Therefore its weakness was ash.
Ash is the joint product of fire and wood.
Fire, electricity, and magma sit in a hierarchy, but when you get down to it they're the same attribute.
By flawless five-step logic, electric attacks would work on her. Answer complete.
"Wazabyot!"
Whoosh—clatter-rattle—
"Kro?"
The whip coiled around her body of its own accord. I fed it more mana.
Crackle-zap—!
"Ooooooh?!"
Her body convulsed under the shock.
In a few seconds she'd be Shin Nobin-style electric roast. Guaranteed.
This time modern scientific common sense had forged the victory.
"Ooooh..."
Was I seeing things?
She looked like she was getting used to the electric shock.
Zzt—zzzt...
"Oh... oh..."
Now she looked as comfortable as if she'd come home.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
My perfect answer was wrong?
That was impossible.
Unable to accept the anomaly, I cut the mana flowing into the whip.
"—Okonomiyaki Killing Art."
Science can go fuck itself.
All I can trust is my trained body.
Slap-slap-slap-slap-slap!
I kneaded her tightly bound form like clay.
Crunch-crack-snap—
"Oa—aaaah!"
I didn't stop until every bone in her body was pulverized.
Slap-slap-slap-slap-slap!
"..."
Her body, now rounded like a soccer ball, finally stopped breathing.
"Ah, fuck."
I could've just beaten her to death from the start and been done with it.
If anyone had been watching I'd have killed myself from the shame.
While I was wallowing in the emptiness of life, her body began to corrode at high speed.
Hissss...
Just like that she vanished. I didn't even feel anything anymore.
I was about to turn and chase the fleeing yakuza when—
Woooooom—
Only a green orb remained where Delbanas the bat-yokai had stood, pulsing with light.
That sense of wrongness mixed with faint familiarity.
It felt just like the nightmares I'd had in Maple Leaf Village.
Woooooom—
"Hm?"
The orb was speaking to me.
Reach out and take it.
It could give me power.
"Get lost."
Clang!
Obviously. A runaway ninja like me has zero need for a yokai's power.
I split the orb clean in two.
Saaaaaah—!
"Nin?!"
Shhk!
Smoke poured from the severed halves and streamed straight up my nose.
What the hell is this?!
My vision went black.
"You... are Belka-Tuna's host?"
My body wouldn't move.
"Yet... I cannot sense her soul... nor the soul of the body's original owner... What is going on here?"
My mouth wouldn't open either.
"I shall investigate at leisure. From this moment you are my host. I will guide you. Behold. Go to this place."
Strange knowledge was forced into my mind.
"Your mental barriers are formidable. But it is useless. Accept it. My name is Has-Shanda. I will guide you. Go to this place."
My body tried to move on its own.
But no bastard in existence gets to drag a runaway ninja around.
I forced strength into the body whose control had been stolen and locked it in place.
I had no idea how it was possible, but the moment I decided I absolutely would not move, it worked.
"...Very well. You will require a special method."
Woooooooom—
A colossal tsunami of the unconscious surged forward, intent on shattering the existence called "me" into dust.
To keep my consciousness intact I repeated my mission over and over.
Eradicate the yasayo, save innocent lives, and create paradise.
Eradicate the yasayo, save innocent lives, and create paradise.
Eradicate the yasayo, save innocent lives, and create paradise.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
"That should suffice. Behold. From now on, these are your memories."
And the world around me changed.
"..."
Suffice, my ass, you spirit-torture yokai bastard.
Obviously I was still perfectly fine.