Chapter 21: A Father's Expectations (Part 3)
Time: 1683 Uzuki, jūsan-nichi, kin'yōbi (April,13,Friday)
(Yoru: Night) (Hebi province)
As they made their way up the mountain, Otōsan could sense the presence of a strong demonic force.
"..." His eyes moved about the forest, scanning it for anything out of place.
In the back of the group a man stopped to pee; moving over to a nearby tree he slipped off his karuta. "Hm~ Hmmm~" He hummed as he took a leak.
He pulled up his karuta, looking down at the patch of wet grass; it was blue...
"Wha..?" He bent down touching the strange fluid. "Hm... Huh? AH!" His hand burnt when meeting with the fluid.
He quickly stood up, wiping his hand. "Ngh..." Looking up, he noticed more stains of fluid on the trunk of the tree...
His eyes made their way up the trunk until he stared directly up. In the darkness of night, he saw faces; expressions of fear and joy, anger and sadness, all moving around him slowly; closing in.
His expression of confusion turned to one of fear; he opened his mouth to yell. "Hel-" In a moment he was gone.
Another soldier heard the noise; he turned to look behind him, but nothing was there.
Otōsan glanced at Rōtasu. "There's something here... Stay alert." He said.
She turned back to the troop. "Watch out everyone..." She warned.
The men nodded, turning their gaze out to the forest.
A man nodded dazed, yawning. He noticed some gleam from the forest; he squinted trying to get a better look.
Another soldier came, trying to keep him moving. "Come on, don't stop now." He said.
"Wait." Replied the other. "I think I see something..."
The soldier sighed, shaking his head. "Colonel's just tryin' to scare us. There's nothin' there-"
He felt a sharp pain; looking back the soldier was gone; and so was his arm. "Ah-ah...AHHHHH!" He screamed.
Rōtasu turned, running over to the man. "What happened!?" She asked.
"There's something-"
At that moment, Otōsan noticed a glimmer from the forest. He turned around, drawing his wakizashi; not a second sooner a black shadow lunged at him. He stabbed into it with his sword, cutting out a large chunk of flesh; the shadow howled in pain, darting back.
"Ngh, they're here!" He shouted.
"What!?" Replied Rōtasu. She looked up and saw many faces lining the trees. "Hah! Kunai attack!"
Throwing a kunai, it stabbed one of the faces; the face screamed, bleeding blue ooze. It began to move, following the other expressions back into the darkness.
"Wha? What was-" The ground beneath her began to crumble and uproot; she quickly jumped out of the way with the man. "Ah!"
The earth broke free, and out from the ground rose a large black centipede. Many faces lined its back, with four large pincers and five green eyes.
Many of the men stepped back, scattering.
"Ah-ah...A-are you okay?" She looked back at the soldier, but half his body was gone now; he was nothing but a red mess of pulped intestines.
She looked down at her blood covered hands. "Ah-ah-AHHHHH!" She screamed.
The creature spat out a clump of blue ooze. "Rōtasu move!" Shouted Otōsan.
"Ah-hah-" She was frozen; too afraid to even think.
Quickly, he jumped in front of her; grabbing the body of the dead soldier he shielded them. Ooze splashed on Otōsan's armor, beginning to eat through it. "Ngh..." He groaned.
He took her hand, yanking her up off the ground. "Steel yourself! Or you will end up just the same as this corpse!" He shouted.
"Ah- O-okay!" She agreed, frightened.
Rōtasu ran to the front of the troop while Otōsan dealt with the centipede.
The centipede screamed a loud high-pitched screech, slamming into the ground with its pincers. He dodged out of the way, doubling back to jump on the creature's head.
He stabbed into its forehead, carving at its exoskeleton. The centipede spun around, throwing him off; Otōsan stood back up. Out from the ground erupted the tail end of the centipede, striking Otōsan.
"Gaah!"
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Moving up to the front Rōtasu found the men fighting an unknown force; darting out from the forest it attacked them.
"Ah...Um.." She took out her tanto, arming herself. She noticed a glimmer from the forest; she held up her weapon but was attacked from the back. "Ahh!" She screamed.
Turning around she was met with another glimmer; she threw a kunai behind her but was attacked from the front. "Gah!"
This time she took out two ring ended kunai from her back pocket; she saw the glimmer again, throwing both kunai in either direction, jumping as she did.
In the second she hung in the air she saw a white figure move below her; glancing at the edge of her glasses she saw the reflection of the glimmer move from the other side of the path.
"I-I found you!" She shouted.
She landed, opening herself up. "Wha- Lady Rōtasu, what are you doing!?" A soldier shouted.
She saw the glimmer again, grinning, she closed her eyes. "Lady Rōtasu-"
A black shadow leaped as soon as it did, she felt a tug on her hand. "Heh, gotcha!"
She pulled down on the wires. The shadow stopped; entangled in a network of steel wires.
"Heh, is little inu stuck?" She snickered.
The wolf was large and black; with six legs, however one was gone; a shiny gold mask lay on its forehead.
It howled and kicked, trying to break free. "Aw, need help? Where's your friend?" She asked.
The white wolf ran out from the forest. "Huh?" Said Rōtasu turning around.
The wolf leaped through the wires, biting down on Rōtasu's neck.
"No! My Lady!" Cried a soldier.
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Otōsan maneuvered around the endless barrage of strikes from both the tail and the head.
He drew his wakizashi, attempting to cleave the tail off. But it darted away underground.
"Tch..." He turned to the head to strike again but it had disappeared as well.
He searched the area for the creature but found no sign of it. "Argh... Where could it have gone." He questioned.
He looked around him, noticing blue ooze bubbling up from the ground. "What?"
The ground burst open with an explosion of acid painting the forest a bluish green. The covered trees and grass melted, opening up more flat space.
Otōsan quickly removed the outer layer of his rusted armor, covered in the ooze. At that moment the centipede attacked, biting down on both Otōsan and the armor.
He cried out in pain. "Argh!"
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone