Chapter 86: The Kodoku

Chapter 86: The Kodoku

Mo Fei stood over Tomoe, grumbling over the sudden action. "What the hell was your problem?"

Tomoe stared silently, her eyes speaking more than her mouth. "I know what you did to my village. You monster."

Kiyori stepped forward. "Let me handle the work, Fei. Back off."

Mo Fei snapped his head toward her, ’Fei’? "That’s not... do whatever you want to."

She dropped low and looked at Tomoe’s eyes. "Who told you this, that we slayed the village?"

"I can’t tell, but I’m sure he would not lie." Tomoe’s voice gradually lowered as a low whimper escaped her mouth. "He told our prince that you both slaughtered the village. My family and everyone..."

Mo Fei’s expression faltered for a moment at her words, but he remained quiet. Kiyori, however, continued. "I’m a priestess; killing is not my duty. You are misguided."

"How do I believe a stranger more than someone who served royalty?"

Mo Fei moved his hand in his pocket, pretending to find something. "Okay, see this." In a few seconds, he pulled out an empty hand and raised it toward her. "Oh dear fate, the eye of the divine, show me the truth... and according to this..." He paused for a second, his expression dropping flat. "That’s clear bullshit!!"

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them. From outside, a growl moved through the air. Mo Fei quickly opened his Apprentice’s Eyes, his expression turning grim as he saw the black active thread.

Onigumaru’s hand, dark like dried blood and tipped with claws like rusted blades, burst inside through the door. The door broke apart, scattering splinters across the room. Mo Fei grabbed Kiyori and yanked her back, the claw passing inches from her face. The hand curled into a fist, then pulled back, but then it caught an invisible fire.

From outside, a loud scream came. Mo Fei’s breath hiccuped; his whole body froze. The surrounding air thickened, and a soft mist emerged.

The mother’s gaze fell upon her children; the protection of divinity saved them. Kiyori stumbled back, falling on her butt with a low groan, her eyes fixated on the door.

Through the gaping hole, a face emerged, with two curved horns jutting from its skull.

The incarnation’s voice was a low, rumbling growl as it called out. "I’m so hungry,"

Its hand burnt, but it didn’t care at that moment.

Mo Fei took steps forward. "Kiyori, stay with her, I’ll handle it myself."

With that, he walked out of the inventory.

Outside, Onigumaru loomed over the burnt village, its massive frame blocking the moonlight. It raised its hand toward him. "Not that many muscles."

Mo Fei didn’t respond. He just swung his Glaive and jumped onto the demon. However, Onigumaru caught the blade with his bare hand. Sparks flew. The impact shuddered through Mo Fei’s arms, rattling his teeth.

"Weak." Onigumaru said, tilting his head. The next second it appeared behind him and punched his back with its massive hand, then it appeared in front and punched him from the front.

Mo Fei gasped. Even with that height, how is it so fast?

Onigumaru swung his free hand in a wide arc. Mo Fei ducked, the claws passing above his head. He rolled, then came up swinging and slashed at the demon’s side. The blade bit deep—but the wound healed almost instantly.

"Don’t bother." Onigumaru laughed with a deep rumbling growl. "I’ve devoured enough shards to heal faster than you can cut."

Mo Fei’s lips crossed in a half-hearted smirk. "Those shards make you physically stronger, right?"

Onigumaru laughed. "You are my food, so I’ll answer, ’Yes, it does.’ What about it? "

Mo Fei moved his hand toward the mask bound on his shoulder; the rope slowly fell on the ground. "Your strength means nothing to a Lightless." He slowly wore the mask; the threads cleared even further as the mask stuck to his face.

The sockets glowed with a moonlit glow.

Onigumaru blurred in the air, tearing through the dirt with speed that defied its massive frame. A clawed fist shattered the air where Mo Fei stood a millisecond before.

​Mo Fei quickly spun into the slipstream of the attack. ​He planted the middle of his haft against Onigumaru’s overextended forearm. With a brutal twist of his wrists, Mo Fei levered the weapon; the top blade sheared upward through the demon’s shoulder joint, and then he twisted the bottom blade and whirled it in a deadly counter-arc, biting deep into the side of Onigumaru’s knee.

​Clang-Spurt!

​Onigumaru roared, dropping to one knee as blood sprayed. The demon’s instant regeneration kicked in, the meat knitting together instantly, but Mo Fei was already exploiting the momentum. Instead of slowing down, Mo Fei spun in the air, while holding the both sides of the Glaive from near edge, slashing down multiple times.

Sssss~

​Using the weight of the double-bladed staff, Mo Fei used the back-blade’s kinetic swing to propel himself airborne. He inverted mid-air, bringing the top blade down like a guillotine straight toward the demon’s neck.

​Onigumaru snapped both hands up, catching the top blade between his palms. Sparks rained down on Mo Fei’s mask.

​"Got you." Onigumaru sneered.

​"Congratulations, and your reward is—" Mo Fei’s voice echoed, muffled behind the mask.

​Without releasing his grip on the haft, Mo Fei hung by the Glaive, pushed himself backward, and then with a crushing hit, he kicked its chin before yanking off the Glaive.

Onigumaru tripped back, but before that another strike came, the lower blade slashing down its chin on the spot. He kicked it. Mo Fei’s whole body disappeared instantly.

"You... can’t do that."

A heavy kick smashed his head, slamming him down on the ground, and with another slash, he chopped off one of the black threads.

Mo Fei breathed softly from behind the mask. "That was easy."

With another clean strike, he chopped off its all other strings.

Onigumaru let out a sharp screech before its body froze. It twitched a few times before going completely numb, then it turned into dust, leaving behind two shards in the ground.

Suddenly, demonic wasps lunged toward the shard. Mo Fei casually spun his Glaive, slashing down the wasps precisely. "Nuh, you aren’t taking them away this time."

He bent down and took both black shards.

Something seems wrong with this world... Unlike other worlds, there are no cosmic entities, only demons. He glanced at the inventory. ’Moreover, that artifact is directly connected to an Authority.’

Inside, Kiyori talked to Tomoe, who was still bound. "That’s not how you catch a thief. Trust me, I’m a priestess of Tamayori Shrine. We just somehow ended up in this village."

"But my family..." Tomoe pressed her lips together.

Kiyori ruffled her hair. "I understand. The one who slaughtered this village, we are also finding him."

"That person had shards." Tomoe stated.

Hearing this, Kiyori thought for a second. "Shards... that person has been following for a while. Does that mean it he is behind this all?"

Tomoe’s eyes widened slightly with her words. Listening to the words, she thought of the baboon-robed man who talked to the prince; he was the closest subordinate of the empire, he was... A traitor? "Prince Yumikoto is in danger! He trusts that man."

"Now you understand, we weren’t behind it." Kiyori unbound her, the rope dropping on the floor.

Just then the door creaked open, and Mo Fei entered while fixing the mask on his shoulder. "You settled the things then?"

"Mo Fei, be slightly nicer. She had lost her village and family." Kiyori called out while pushing herself up.

Mo Fei threw the shards toward her. "it is unclear to me why these are important to you, but here you got two."

Kiyori caught the shards and slid them in the pouch. She turned toward Tomoe and offered a hand and helped her stand back. Tomoe groaned from the wound; blood was still fresh. Seeing that, Kiyori ran a hand through her wounds, the skin slowly knitting together; however, it only healed half of the wound, still leaving behind injuries.

"I can’t heal much; you have to stay careful."

Tomoe nodded at her words, her gaze dropping to the floor.

Mo Fei watched Kiyori for a few seconds before turning toward the artifact. That object was the reason the inventory was not harmed.

That was when a sickening scent reached their nostrils. Kiyori closed her nose with her hand. It was familiar, the brutal, bitter scent of the curse poison. It was the scent of the demonic ritual’s poison.

She walked out of the weaponry and looked toward the hollow mountain outside the demon slayer’s village.

Mo Fei and Tomoe followed her, holding their noses. The horrible scent of poisoned air caught their breaths in their throats. Mo Fei grunted and said, "What’s that now?"

"Kodoku." Kiyori whispered, staring down at the mountain. "But why, and who is doing this?"

The night’s dazzling gaze grew as the moonlight fell over the mountain. The moon’s light flickered as smoke erupted from the depth of the peak.