The fact they didn’t run away after I struck the father down in an admittedly challenging duel, the wife took her husband’s blade and challenged me to a duel herself and even held her own for a while, though she clearly lacked the skills her husband had possessed and easily stabbed her in the heart to provide a quick and mostly painless death.
With them defeated, there was only the son left to strike down. Even if he had attempted to run away, I would have still provided a quick and painless death considering he was nothing more than a mere child who didn’t know any better.
Much to my surprise, the child didn’t run, no instead, with tears ruining down his cheeks over the loss of his parents, the boy ran to his father’s sword and lifted it from his mother’s now lifeless hand, his eyes locked onto mine with pure, unbridled hatred behind them as he did his best to hold up his weapon for battle.
Witnessing such sheer determination behind the kids eyes caused me to suffer a brief lapse of judgement, so much so that I considered letting the kid go because he held such strong convictions that many way older than he servery lacked.
Quickly, I got to my senses and held my sword high, ready to fight this kid like all the rest. He may only be a child, but the orders from the Emperor were absolute, and the whole family had to be taken out...Not just the father.
While the kid showed great spirit, his experience was severely lacking, as his first move was to charge at me with an easily telegraphed overhead swing, leaving him completely open for me to easily stab him right through the heart, rewarding him with a quick death just like his mother and father had faced, watching him collapse right on top of his mother’s corpse.
Never before did I feel so empty after a battle. I knew it had to be done, but unlike the many battles before my heart sank after watching over the family laying motionless on the floor in a pool of their own blood, their eyes still bulged open as if their spirits still fought and clung to this world despite long drawing their last breath.
Cleaning my sword and placing it back in my sheath, I approach the bodies and kneel down to them, closing their eyes so they can look at peace, before wrapping them up in a white cloth to get them ready to be taken to their final resting place.
With the father now buried, this honourable family could now rest together in peace, their spirits forever surrounded by a gorgeous plot of land hidden away from the sins of the outside world.
Lighting a stick of incense, I get on my knees and pray in silence for their souls to reach the afterlife in peace and be forgiven for the wrongs they have rot to our dear leader.
Such peace is what an honourable family deserves.
…
“Praying for the people you slaughtered in cold blood, huh? Now that is quite an amusing sight to behold.”
-
Just before I could finish up my prayer, a voice that sounded like a fuse between a man and a woman, mixed with what I could only describe as a demotic being, created this indiscernible tone that no mere human could naturally reproduce.
A voice that I’m all too familiar with after hearing countless legends from those who survived such an encounter with this unnatural creature.
“So...The legends were true about you.” Bowing to the graves of the departed family, I calmly got to my feet, my back still turned towards the creature as I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword. “The yokai that is terrorising our land by challenging unsuspecting souls to a game of chance…” I peer over my shoulder to finally get a good look at this creature.
“The Debirukoin.”
Just as the tales foretold, the creature wore a completely black kimono; the sash around it’s waist was grey; its sleeves were oversized and completely covered it’s hands; this also applied to the bottom of the kimono as it reached all the way to the ground and covered its feet.
The creature’s head and face were also covered by an additional black hood; those who managed to peek into it claimed they witnessed nothing but pure darkness inside, with not even an outline of a face to be seen.
Truly an unholy beast if it couldn’t even form a vessel for itself to walk this earth.
An unnatural chuckle left the creature as it managed to flip its forsaken coin despite having its hands completely covered by the sleeves. “It seems I’m quite well known in these parts; it looks like you already heard all about me and my little game.”
Couldn’t help but smile and face away from the yokai once more. “Oh yes...I know all about your little game.” I gaze up to the moonlit sky, watching as the pedals dance with the wind around us. “You flip that coin, and if it’s tails, you spare your victim’s life...It’s thanks to those brave souls sharing their encounters with you that we managed to learn about your presence in the first place.
My sight slowly draws towards Sora, curious over how calm he is acting with this unholy creature in his presence. I expected him to be terrified and run off to safety by now, but instead he kept eating the grass by his hooves without a care in the world.
Could Sora not see or even sense the creature? Clearly, this yokai had hidden powers to be wary of.
“If it lands on heads, though, well…I’ve never heard a soul claim to have seen the coin land on it. Though I can guess the fate of those poor souls."
Another unnatural laugh left the creature, one that would strike fear into any sensible person. “Since we’ll be playing my little game together, then it could be your lucky night to find out what happens if the coin lands on heads...Well, your unlucky night, to be more precise.”
Yet another laugh left this sick Yoki. Playing with people’s souls like they are nothing more than toys for it’s childish game made me sick to my stomach. I made sure to grip my sword tighter and ready myself to strike the moment I heard the creature flip its coin into the air.
Tails: I shall let you finish up here and leave you to continue fighting your never-ending war.
Heads: Your days of looking for the perfect opponent will come to an early e-
“SILENCE!”
Just as the coin reached its maximum height, I rapidly swung around and sliced the coin clean in half, both pieces flying into the grass.
I then set my sword against the creature’s chest, staring it down as it just stood there without displaying a hint of fear as it stared at the tip of my sword. “I care not for your silly games!” The moment I’d heard legends of a creature who would challenge us mere mortals to a game for our souls, I had prayed to my ancestors for this night to come where I’d face the Yoki in battle.
While putting an end to this creature’s torture will benefit the whole island, I must confess that my motives for wanting to duel it are for pure selfish reasons.
“I don’t know what you are, beast, but for harbouring the souls of the innocent and spreading fear across our fair land, I challenge you to a duel to the death,” for my desire was to fight this Yokai is to see if it could finally provide me the challenge I’ve been craving for most of my life.
“...That was my favourite coin.” The creature dares to insult me by completely ignoring my demand and instead focusing on a mere coin.
Such disrespect cannot go unpunished, bringing my sword up to its neck to serve as a warning. “Enough of these games! Find yourself a weapon and face me! If you don’t, I’ll banish you from this world with a single strike!”
The Debirukoin glanced up at me, admittedly leaving me a little shaken once I saw that there really was nothing but pure darkness within its hood. “Hate to disappoint you, my friend, but I’m not one for fighting, so I’m going to have to decline partaking in your duel.” In an act of utter disrespect, the creature turns its back on me as it starts spouting more nonsense. “Lady Fate has already decided your fate the moment you cut my coin in two, but if you decide to try and strike me down now, well…”
You’ll only speed up the inevitable
Without having the courage to even look at me, the creature began walking away, heading into the surrounding forest as if it thought it was going to get away without consequence.
Such dishonour is something I’m not going to let slide! With my sword gripped tight, I slash at the creature, a clean vertical slice that would send the creature's head flying...Only that wasn’t the outcome.
To my shock, the Yokai had completely dodged my attack, bending down at the exact last second to avoid my attack. Not another soul has ever managed to avoid my stealth strike until now…
This creature was truly not one to be underestimated.
Not long after my attempt to take it down with a single blow, the Debirukoin stood up straight once more, turning around to face me with its empty expression. “I warned you not to try and confront me...Ah, well, it looks like you truly have put your fate in your own hands now.”
I didn’t have a single clue what the creature was going about; in fact with how it constantly spoke in riddles along with its condescending tone had only enraged me further, having enough of it speaking down to me!
“Shut up!” Without hesitation, I began rapidly swinging my sword at the disgusting Yokai in every possible direction.
Vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and even in rapid cross-like motions to take this freak of nature down, yet no matter how many times I swung my sword, it not only dodged every single swing with minimum effort, but the creature refused to fight back, which only further fuelled my rage and began attacking with greater intensity.
“Fight me like a man, you coward!” Even with my slices becoming faster, delaying some of my swings to try and fake out the creature, and even attempting to outright kick over the Yokai, I just couldn’t land a single blow, no matter what, with it continuing to dodge every attack.
After about half an hour of attempting to take this creature down, I was now left with heavy breaths, arms trembling and sore, barley able to keep standing as my energy had been completely depleted.
Usually I could keep this up for hours, but after striking down that family and taking on that bear not too long ago, it has left me utterly exhausted...Even so, I wasn’t going to stop until either this creature fell by my hands or my body shuts down and forces me to pass out.
"Well, this has been a fun and interesting little encounter, but I’m afraid it’s about time I take my leave.”
This creature really believes I would just allow it to leave? “Oh no you don't, you disgusting Yokai!” gripping my sword as tight as I could, my soul ignited enough energy within me to deliver one last strike that I knew the creature would not be able to avoid!
I leap high into the air, holding my sword high above my head before bringing it down to deliver a powerful vertical slice that would cut the Yokai right down the middle.
The creature just stood there watching me the whole time, not even making an attempt to dodge out of the way, finally leaving itself open for an attack it couldn’t possibly avoid!
With a joyous smile, I was finally going to kill the Debirukoin and become the great hero of this land!...Only for my smile to quickly fade into a confused frown once my sword made first contact with the top of its head.
In fact, my sword didn’t make contact at all, for before the final blow was struck, the Yokai vanished before my very eyes, leaving me crashing face first onto the ground and sending my sword sliding all the way into the pound.
Laying on the ground, exhausted and humiliated that I allowed that disgusting Yokai to toy with me and get away, I decided to lay here for a while and regain my strength so that I could hop back onto Sora and ride back home together, vowing to never tell a soul about this disgraceful encounter.
Only such a plan didn’t come to pass.
*ROOOOOAR*
A familiar beastly roar filled the air; the intensity was enough to spark enough energy inside me to quickly pull myself up and witness the horrific sight before me.
It was undeniably the same bear from before, baring the same cut I had made in its eye… Standing only inches away from me on all fours, slowly approaching as it let out aggressive huffs and growls with each passing step, glaring at me with pure, unbridled rage behind those eyes.
This creature did not find me again out of survival or hunger; no, it was clear it was after something I once believed only humans had the capacity to understand...
Revenge
There was no time to run, for my energy had been completely drained to the point where I couldn’t even get back to my feet. Not only that, but the bear had gotten onto its hind legs now, which left me no time to escape even if I did retain some of my energy.
No, the only option that could possibly save my life was to plunge my sword into the creature’s heart and make sure its massive body didn’t crush me in the process. Only for such hopes to be dashed once I tried to reach for my sword and was reminded that it had fallen into the water far from my position.
Once that had dawned on me, it was already too late to try and think of a new plan, for the bear had lifted its claw high into the air and swung it at me.
In that moment, it was as if the world around me had come to a complete crawl. I watched as the beast’s razor-sharp claws slowly made their way towards me. Even my full set of armour wasn’t going to protect me from this bear’s unhinged rampage…
The only option that I had now was to close my eyes and hold my head high.
And accept my fate
-
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