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Wraith.
It’s a kind of phantom monster
familiar to some fantasy novels. A good kanji for it would be “Wraith”? [T/N:
幽鬼 or yuuki meaning ghost, revenant,
the spirit of the dead, or wraith.]
Of course, what we see before us
is not a glowing spirit. It is a living beast. The name is probably derived
from its pure white-robed-like appearance.
A Wraith. Aside from the Unicorn,
it is on of existence on the highest level on the 50th underground floor of the
Outsuka Metro, along with the Ogre and the Orthrus.
According to Tamiko, they are
at least level 50. That’s three times as high as me.
“…A mantohihi…
like creature…?” (Shuu) [T/N: Mantohihi or hamadryas baboon (Papio
hamadryas) or sacred baboon.]
Maybe it’s because I can’t
sense any strong killing intent from my opponent. I have the time to calmly
observe the other party.
Its long straight hair is like
a white robe draping its whole body. It covers snuggly from its head to wrists
and ankles and hangs down limply.
The face peeking out from the
long hair is that of a skinny ape, reminiscent of a skull. Its round eyes look
as if only the black ones are visible, or as if they are black holes.
It looks to be nearly two
meters tall. Its physique is hidden by its body hair, but it is probably quite
slender. It has unusually long arms. At the ends of its bare limbs are five
knobby fingers.
“…I couldn’t hear its
footsteps…” (Shuu)
If it were a real ghost, but
this guy is a Metro Beast, a living creature. Even though the Goblin’s
attention was focused on it, neither I nor Tamiko was aware of its approach
until we saw it.
–It has a Fungal Ability. Similar
to the unicorn, it has the ability to muffle the sound of its movements.
How does it work? I have a
feeling that muffling sounds have nothing to do with mycelium.
The Wraith does not move even
a single muscle like a cormorant as they stare at me with their hollow eyes.
Not even the rise and fall of breathing. It’s almost as if it is really a
ghost.
―No, it’s not. This monster’s
presence is not an illusion or a trick.
It is different from the violent
intimidation of a strong beast, there’s an unfathomable eeriness lurking in its
stillness.
Its presence is drenching my
skin with cold sweat.
I’ve never seen anything like
this before.
(–I don’t like it. I can’t do
it.) (Shuu)
(I definitely don’t want to
fight, but…) (Shuu)
I don’t think it will let me
get away that easily.
“…Tamiko, you should
escape first. I’ll buy us some time…” (Shuu)
I kept my eye on the Wraith as
I step back
“…Abeshuu, but…”
(Tamiko)
Tamiko sounds like she’s about
to cry.
“—Buh.” (Wraith)
The Wraith opens its mouth
slightly. Its voice is muffled, like air through an iron pipe.
Slowly, its long arms rise and
its huge body swells.
――No, it did not. It just closed
the distance in an instant. Without changing its stance, it moved with such
speed that I would have thought it was teleporting.
The long arm swings down at an
angle. I quickly raised my shield to catch it, but the impact passes through my
shoulder and I am slammed head first into the ground. Bouncing and rolling on
the ground, I fell flat on my back.
The light from the [Firefly Moss]
on the ceiling seems as far away like the ends of the universe.
—This is where I’ll die.
Realize it in my mind and my whole
body.
“…*Choke*…”
(Shuu)
My breath is stuck in my throat
as I coughed up blood. But my lungs won’t take in air.
My shield is shattered. My
left forearm is bent like a piece of wire, my bones are poking through my skin.
Several ribs on my chest are crushed. I can no longer feel anything but pain.
“Abeshuu!” (Tamiko)
Even though I heard Tamiko’s
voice calling out to me, I could not muster the will to get up.
“—Buh.” (Wraith)
It grabbed my head and lifted
me up. My legs dangle, and my body is suspended in midair.
“—Buh.” (Wraith)
Wraith pulls back its right
hand. Its hollow eyes are staring at me.
“Hiii—” (Shuu)
My cries are choked with fear.
Slowly, like a vise, the power
is put into your right hand.
“Aga–“
My skull was creaking. As if it
was looking for a reaction, the wraith cranes its neck and stares deeper.
With my trembling hands, I grab
at the Wraith’s wrist. I squeezed with all my might, but the arm won’t budge.
“Ah, ah–!” (Shuu)
My field of vision is dyed crimson.
There is another ominous sound, and blood spurts from my temple.
“Ah, ah–!” (Shuu)
“Pigya!” (Tamiko)
With a high-pitched cry,
Tamiko jumps on the wraith’s right arm.
“Squeaking Ape! Get your
squeaking mitts of Abeshuu!” (Tamiko)
Her head is buried in white fur.
She seems to be biting it.
“Ta-Tamik–” (Shuu)
With a thud, the Wraith’s palm
strikes its arm.
“—Oh?” (Wraith)
Slowly, it raises its hand to
reveal a red blotch on its right arm. It was as if it had squashed a mosquito
that had sucked its blood.
A lump falls to the ground
from there. Tamiko’s bloodied body curled up.
“Ah–!” (Shuu)
Something suddenly snaps
inside me.
“—Buh.” (Wraith)
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”
(Shuu)
I punched the Wraith’s right
arm with a strength I thought I never had. I hit it. But its restraints will not
loosen.
I stopped my fists and summoned
a red cocoon-like ball on my fingertips.
“Take this!” (Shuu)
I threw it directly against
the wraith’s right arm.
It’s a Burning Ball. It explodes,
with triple the firepower.
“Boh!?” (Wraith)
The grip strength that grabs
the head loosens, and in that gap, Shuu unleashes with all his might.
“Tamiko!” (Shuu)
As I try to scoop up Tamiko’s
body, I notice that my hand is blown off starting from my right wrist. As I noticed,
severe pain pierced my brain and I staggered uncontrollably.
I look up and my eyes meet the
Wraith’s gaze. The hollow gaze is still there, but wrinkles that look like
blood vessels are raised at the corners of its eyes, between its eyebrows, or
rather all over its face. The fur near its right wrist, which was exposed to
the triad of [Burning Balls], is burnt, but there seems to be little damage.
“Boooooooooooo!”
(Wraith)
It opens its mouth wide and
lets out an inorganic howl that sounds like a siren. It is clearly angry. It is
emitting a killing intent that can be clearly felt.
Then, it locks the fingers of
its left hand together and shoots it straight out like a lance.
Shuu evades it but his torso is
still gouged out as it stretched and followed him like a big snake. The next
moment, however, the impact comes from his back.
“Geh-fuu!” (Shuu)
A large number of blood spills
from his mouth. The Wraith’s finger protrudes from the side of his navel. The
arm, he realized, was bent at a right angle, ignoring the structure of its
joints, and penetrated Shuu from behind.
“Buhbuh! Buhbuh!”
(Wraith)
The Wraith’s mouth twists into
a grin as if it is proud of its victory. Its eyes turn from perfect circles to sharp
crescents.
It pulled Shuu’s slack body up
to its face. Then, it opens its mouth. As it plans to swallow Shuu’s whole head
in a single bite, it was so wide its ears looked like they are going to be torn
apart.
“—Are you an idiot?”
(Shuu)
Shuu spits it out with blood
and shoves his left hand, still broken, into the wraith’s mouth.
And now Shuu laughs. This
time, he laughs with rage that threatens to tear his body apart.
“Eat my balls!”
(Shuu)
Before the Wraith can bite off
his arm, Shuu crushed the three Hypha Balls that he made.
From the Wraith’s mouth, nose,
and from its hollow eyes.
Light and flames spurt out
with a roaring howl, and the giant Wraith collapsed.
“Gnbuuuh! Gnbuuuh!”
(Wraith)
Surprisingly, Wraith is still
alive.
Its face is torn from the
inside out, tears of blood streaming from its eyes, but it is still flailing
and writhing, flailing and flailing wildly. At the same moment, the finger that
pierces through Shuu’s body slips out, and he is thrown to the ground.
“…Tamiko,
Tamiko…” (Shuu)
She remains down close by. She
does not answer. Her eyes are closed and her tiny body is still in a crumpled ball.
Shuu somehow lifts her up with
his already regenerating right hand and gently puts her in his pocket.
Where she had fallen, the
remnants of a mycelium structure are broken and scattered.
Tamiko’s second Fungal Skills,
[Hypha Shell].
She creates a hard mycelial
shell on her torso, an ability we call [Hypha Shell] because it looks like a
turtle’s shell. It seems that just before she was crushed by the Wraith, she
activated her Fungal Skills.
As one would expect from his teacher.
She had immediately taken at least some amount of precautionary measures.
Still, her injuries were deep.
(She’ll be okay, Tamiko will not
die.) (Shuu)
(She can’t die, she won’t.)
(Shuu)
Telling himself this, he
begins to stagger along. Just before turning a corner, he looks back and sees
that the Wraith is still thrashing about a vortex of destruction.
Frantically, he dived into the
hole in the hiding place and moved the stone cover with his foot to block it.
Once in the small room, Shuu
kneels down, collapsing to his knees.
“Hah, hah…” (Shuu)
We’re alive.
I made it back here alive.
I can’t believe it. I can’t
believe I escaped from that monster.
Once again, my body trembles.
But relief, fear, and excitement can wait. Now is not the time to dwell on those.
With my regenerated hand, I
pull Tamiko out of my pocket. I am horrified to see that her back is red and
wet, but I realize that it is my blood when I was stabbed through the belly. I lay
her down on a fur blanket.
Her limbs are bent in an
unnatural direction. Her tail is slackly thrown out, and her white, shiny belly
is smeared with blood. It is obvious that she is seriously injured.
“Tamiko!” (Shuu)
I called out to her, but she
did not respond. When I gently touched her neck, I could still feel her pulse.
Her abdomen is moving up and down faintly. She is alive, for now.
“Tamiko, hey!”
(Shuu)
I raise my voice even more.
Still, she doesn’t wake up. She can barely continue to take short, thin, weak
breaths.
“You’re a magic beast! Don’t
you f*cking act like a weakling with just that f*cking ape’s fly swatter!”
(Shuu)
What should I do?
I’ve never treated an animal
before. I can’t even diagnose their injuries.
Anyway, I need all the
medicine I can get. I gathered all the medicinal herbs I had collected so far
under Tamiko’s direction.
I grind herbs for abrasions,
cuts, and bruises, and apply them to Tamiko’s body.
The juice of the herbs, which
is said to speed up the healing of wounds, is put in Tamiko’s mouth. A little
goes down her throat, but most of it leaks out the edge of her mouth.
“Tamiko… Just hang in
there… I’ll take care of you…!” (Shuu)
I cover her with my palms to
warm her up. My hands were trembling.
“For trying to help me…”
(Shuu)
You are weak, and you are more
cowardly than most people I knew.
“But because of me… Because
I was weak…” (Shuu)
My spirit was completely
broken at that moment.
I was so scared that I stopped
thinking and accepted that I was going to die.
In fact, I would have been. If
Tamiko had not been there to protect me.
And yet.
“F*ck it… We’re going
to the surface together, Tamiko!” (Shuu)
Is there anything else I can
do?
Even if my hand is blown off
or my stomach is pierced, it will heal on its own.
Is there nothing I can do to
save my partner who is suffering from her injury?
Is there nothing else? If I
could heal her, I would do anything.
Wraiths or Ogres, I’ll hunt
them down. That’s why—
“Hey, what should I do? Without
you, I’d be …… Tamiko!”
What are my abilities for?
Why did I wake up in this
world?
In this incomprehensible
world.
What is the purpose of this
power if I can’t even save my partner?
“……e……?”
I found myself with a sphere
growing in my palm.
My fifth Fungal Skill is the milky
white sweet Hypha Ball.
I did not intend to produce it
myself. It was unconsciously made.
(…this…?) (Shuu)
And while still doubtful, I squeezed
it.
The whitish liquid spills out
and falls all over Tamiko’s body.
“Tamiko–” (Shuu)
The liquid is absorbed into
Tamiko’s body like a sponge.
Tamiko’s blood-soaked belly is
cleansed.
Her bent limbs gradually
return to their proper shape.
A glob of blood is spat out
from her mouth, and then…
“…Abe… Shuu…?”
(Tamiko)
Tamiko’s eyes flutter open.
I slumped down and clenched my
fists. I bit my lips hard.
“…Why… you crying,
squeak…?” (Tamiko)
“…I’m
not crying. I just have some juice in my eyes.” (Shuu)
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