Butcher Demon
Chapter 294

The gong of the battle to the death rang.

Taking the initiative, I slashed the approaching blood vessel monsters with a butcher knife.

But there were too many. Several slipped through and surrounded me from both sides, but I ignored them.

――The problem was that dark magical thing over there.

My instincts kept warning me that it was dangerous. I had to kill it first.

Right after I made that decision.

"A A A, Aaaahhhhhh!"

The first cries after its birth.

It let out an eerie and creepy baby-like cry, a hundred times worse than a koala's death wail.

In an instant, I saw purple lightning course through its entire body.

Immediately followed by a loud bang like the air exploded, and my vision went blank.

For a moment, all my senses went haywire, and I felt like I was floating in the air and struck by lightning. The smell was intense, like strong medicine.

An electric current flowed up my butcher knife, piercing through my heart and running down my feet. For a brief moment, my muscles went limp, and I dropped the knife. In that moment of weakness, the blood vessel monsters swarmed me.

"O-Ow!"

Two, three, four... They clung to me one after another, and a sharp pain shot through my body which was still numb.

The blood vessel monster's body is like a web and when they clung to me forcefully, their blood vessels stabbed me like needles. It was unexpectedly painful. Each vein was sharp like a needle. It was as if a strong barbed wire was wrapping around me with a mind of its own. If caught, it would be fatal to an ordinary living creature.

Still, I ignored the blood monsters. The problem was that black magical creature. I had to deal with it first. My sixth sense had been on high alert for a while now.

I wanted to melt it with <Putrid Breath> but it was too far away to reach. The silhouette of the creature was cat-like and quite agile. With these blood vessel monsters clinging to me, approaching it would be too difficult, so I decided against it.

In that case...

"Both of you, cover your ears, open your mouths, and say 'Aaaahhh'."

"Eh? What...?"

Before I finished speaking, Yakumo had already covered his ears with both hands and opened his mouth. Haruka seemed to catch on and followed suit, raising her voice, "Aaaahhh."

I pulled out the 20mm machine gun.

I put the gun on my hip, aimed it properly, and pulled the trigger, making loud "thump-thump-thump-thump!" sounds that hit everyone's ears.

The machine gun spewed out flashes and smoke, firing a continuous barrage of 300 steel bullets per minute at the black magical creature perfectly, which had stopped its movements.

――Just meet[1]!

A mountain of intestines exploded spectacularly.

Among the exploding chunks of flesh, I could see the creature being blown away. The precious metals that had been wrapped around its body turned into tiny sparkling fragments, dancing in the air.

"Gyaaaahhh――!!"

I thought that would be the end of it, but despite taking several direct hits, the dark creature quickly recoiled and disappeared into the depths of the forest. Quite tough.

To make sure, I kept firing until the magazine was empty.

The creature ran away, and in that direction, trees hit by a shell that's thicker than a steel pipe fell, causing a cloud of dust.

――That's refreshing.

Finally, all the built-up frustration from the past few days was gone. Machine gun fire is the perfect way to blow off steam. Sorry for being trigger-happy. I discarded the emptied drum magazine.

Then I tore off each of the blood vessel monsters that had clung to me, throwing them off one by one. They were strong, but not butcher-level. They seem to injected me with something, but for now, I didn't feel any abnormality in my body.

With everything mostly settled, the battle came to an end. It became quiet.

"Are you okay?"

I called out to the two who were covering their ears right under the barrels of the gun.

They took my outstretched hands, and Haruka cautiously stood up, turning her head around.

"Both Yakumo-kun and I are fine... but Gevaudan, are you alright?"

Only then did I realize that I was injured.

The smoke rising from my joints was probably due to the electric shock from the magic creature. On top of that, I was covered in cuts and blood all over my body. I was wounded in various places, but they were mostly just scratches. It hurts though.

"This is nothing."

"..."

"Let's move first. It's not a good idea to linger here."

The acquaintances of Haruka that I intended to bury were now in an unidentifiable state.

I didn't know what exactly happened here, but the goblin's tracks continued, and human ones mixed in with them. I led the two, swiftly leaving the scene and tracing the goblin's tracks that I had identified earlier.

Yakumo blew the horn flute on my shoulder, and as we walked, Haruka and I talked a little.

"Was what happened earlier just a dream...?"

"No, it's real. Unfortunately."

Harka trembled at my answer.

It seemed that her fear had been numbed by continuous series of overwhelming events that were too much for her to handle. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she probably finally felt the dread of the situation.

"Are such scary monsters really aliens?"

"Yeah, that was my first time seeing it too. I've never seen a dead body rising up――the so-called undead. I never saw anything like that during the battles around Fort. Oh, but come to think of it, I have seen real vampires before. Also, jiangshi."

"I see."

However, her reaction was quite indifferent.

I felt a little sad. I was hoping she'd be more interested in the peculiar jiangshi species.

"Gevaudan, you said you were once a human, right?... um... did you fight at Fort?"

"Yeah."

"Can you tell me about that time, if you don't mind?"

"Even if you say that, I'm not sure. I don't even know where to start?"

"We have time, so just tell whatever you can. I want to know more about you."

With her request, I had no reason to keep things hidden.

I briefly recounted the story of my time at Fox.

"I don't know what to say.....I'm lost for words."

Haruka's expression turned downcast.

"The war, the Fort... I had no idea."

"People on the mainland probably don't know much. UCEG is controlling information, and Fort doesn't want outside interference, so they don't let the outside world press in on much of what's going on."

"But... more people should know the truth. That many people are going through really tough times, while we live comfortably in this place... It's just too..."

"If people start criticizing, and the Fort's efficacy wanes, it'll be bad for both, right? Haruka, can you agree to go to Fort tomorrow and fight with them? These are not normal times. You all have your own responsibilities, and they have theirs. Maybe, just maybe, your research on micro-organisms can help us replace a way to kill the aliens more efficiently."

Well, it's not really my concern anymore.

With that, the conversation momentarily lapsed.

"――You must have been really strong even back then. I can sense it in the way you speak."

"I don't quite understand either."

During my fox days, people would sometimes tell me I was strong, but I never felt that way myself. After all, battles on the battlefield are about who pulls the trigger first or who stabs first. Luck plays a significant role too. No matter how much you train, you can still be killed by a child. What exactly is being strong mean, I wonder?

"Well, one thing I know for sure is that weak people are often protected. And if you want to protect something, you have to become strong. That's why I tried to get stronger."

"..."

"Anyway, you're stuck with me now. I'm good at killing stuff, but protecting isn't really my thing. And, oh, keep an eye on Yakumo."

After I finished my story, Haruka began to talk about herself.

She was from Tokyo, Japan, and it seems she only had one parent. Unfortunately, her parent had also passed away, and now she only has her sister left in Tokyo. I've heard of Tokyo before. It's one of the most unique cities, one of those really unique places in the world.

"What's your sister's name?"

"Ryoko."

"Are you close with her?"

"Yes... but we had a big fight before I boarded the plane. We've grown apart since then."

Sighing, Haruka continues.

"If things turned out like this, I should have made up with her sooner..."

"I suppose so."

I nodded and looked up at the sky. The weather seemed to be changing again.

"Well, it's a good thing you're both alive. After all, you can't have a fight if you're dead."

Suddenly, I was reminded of Garnier's face in the shadows of the thunderclouds.

Even though I don't really remember much about him, if he was that blurry person from my past, there'd be so many things I'd wanna speak to him when he was alive. Probably it would have been a fierce fight with blood flying everywhere, and someone like that Inorider woman would end up in the hospital also.

"Fufu."

Strangely, that scene vividly came to my mind, and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing."

Suddenly, I noticed a change in the surrounding vegetation.

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by unfamiliar plants. Everything seemed withered, and the leaves had fallen. It felt like we had unexpectedly entered a whole new world...

"This is――"

I had a vague sense of recognition, but something hit me suddenly.

"A rain is coming."

As I dropped the large bag, Haruka asked me to teach her how to set up a tarp.

"No need, I'll do it."

"But I want to become stronger too. I want to learn how to use guns. Please teach me."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're already doing quite a lot. If you don't relax, someone inexperienced like you might collapse."

"And if I can use guns, maybe I won't have to eat koalas anymore."

After saying that, she stared at me accusingly, catching on to my plan of feeding her koala.

"And koalas weren't that delicious..."

"Yep..."

We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then she burst out laughing.

Suddenly, the rain started pouring heavily, and there was no time to set up a tarp. As we looked for an impromptu place to shelter. Ahead of us, we spotted this huge boulder that was so big we had to crane our necks to see it all. Underneath was a shade that offered some shelter from the rain.

Taking Haruka with me, I rushed under it and found someone already there.

A man in travel attire, wearing a wide-brimmed feathered hat and concealing his chin in a scarf. He had a sword strapped to his waist. His unusually large black eyes gave off an eerie, otherworldly impression.

"――Hmm? Quite an 〒▼ combination here. Are you guys some kind of ★〆■?

Haruka was momentarily taken aback. She probably didn't understand what he said.

But that's to be expected. This is the Mifosis language.