Kokuana Forest, Ema — 7:50 pm. Mura blinked, slightly taken aback by the sight before his eyes. A child was crying, cowering in the bushes. She looked up at Mura with a tear-stained face and terror in her eyes.

“N-No! Get away!!!” the girl cried out. Her arms flailed about in front of her face, like a cornered animal.

With his instincts taking over, Mura closed the distance between himself and the small girl. He pressed his hand over her mouth, muffling the wails. He looked to his right, where the two Shitidama lay not more than a few meters away.

The impossibly thin one tilted its head upwards in response to the distressful cries. Its cranium was elongated and lacking flesh, along with the rest of its body. It was as if the creature’s entire body consisted only of polished milk-white bone.

Mura shuffled into the bushes with the child, retracting his weapon.

“Don’t worry, I’m your friend. I’m here to rescue you and the other girls,” he whispered.

Talking in a soothing tone, the girl’s struggles slowly stopped and a sense of calm glazed over her eyes. Still, he kept his hand over her mouth just in case she became scared from the alerted monster ahead.

The Shitidama craned its head again, causing a low creaking noise to escape from its porcelain joints. The beast’s eye sockets were completely hollow, with blue flickering flames lit from within. The fiery eyes darted over to the patch of trees that hid the bush they occupied.

It let loose a groaning moan that reverberated out of its mouth. The sound was an ethereal, bone-chilling sensation that made Mura and the small child shudder. Above them, the leaves rustled briefly before something flew away.

—Was that the killer again?

Mura peeked upwards to spot an owl flying away from the tree, clearly spooked from the Shitidama. The monster saw the bird escape from the area as well and seemingly satisfied, lowered itself back to the ground and returned to its slumber.

Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Mura freed the girl from his grasp.

“Are you okay?” the demon said in a hushed voice.

The little girl nodded her head, causing the red ribbon in her hair to bob slightly.

“T-Those monsters fell asleep… the man who kidnapped me went out of the cave earlier, so I-I wanted to be brave and try to go home to my mommy and daddy…” she sniffled.

“It’s great that she’s alive and brave and all, but she almost got us killed right there.” Lilith remarked within Mura’s mind.

—I agree, she can’t stay here. But if she’s alive, it leaves hope for Tomoe and Junko.

“Listen, okay? You were very brave and I’m sure your mommy and daddy are waiting for you. But for now, I have to go into that cave and rescue the other girls in there, okay?”

The girl nodded and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“What do you want me to do, mister?”

“I need you to stay here out of sight, okay? If anything bad happens, run away as fast as you can. Can you do that for me, kiddo?”

The little girl forced a smile, saluting Mura in an effort to seem more mature. He grinned in return and flashed a toothy smile.

“I’m a professional, you’re in good hands.”

Mura turned his attention to the flickering light bouncing off the cavernous walls. The entrance wasn’t too far away, but with a Shitidama on either side he’d have to be careful. Going in guns blazing would only serve to endanger himself and the hostages. With stealth in mind, he could hopefully escort them all out with the enemy being none the wiser.

With a crouching walk, the Jikininki slowly stepped out of the thick patch of bushes and towards the open field where the cave’s opening awaited him. Once out in the open, there’d be nothing to hide behind. Failure wasn’t going to be an option.

—Let’s try going towards that big fat freak over there, since he slept through the screams earlier.

Mura turned briefly, just to make sure the girl was still there. He saw her hopeful face looking back with a glimmer in her big chartreuse eyes.

“This really smells fishy… I hope that girl isn’t baiting us.”

—Me neither. I checked for the levels of Tamashiryoku I felt at the school when I pressed my hand against her mouth. I couldn’t sense anything at all, so we can rule out her being the enemy.

Mura snuck towards the large Shitidama, step by step. His boots slowly made contact with the soft grass that had been blowing from the slight breeze. Tenderly, he avoided anything that could produce an unfavorable noise; such as twigs or dry leaves.

As he neared the obese monster, a pungent odor began to assault his nostrils. It was coming from the beast. From the oily sheen coating its bloated form, Mura assumed it hadn’t bathed in its entire life. As he inched closer past the monster, he had to start breathing through his mouth to avoid vomiting.

Across the Shitidama’s splotched skin were numerous boils and lesions of verifying sizes and sickly colors, with some bumps looking as if the creature had onions embedded underneath its flesh. Drool leaked from its hoggish mandible, gradually running over its multiple chins like a stream.

“I’m gonna be sick… Oh god-“ Lilith heaved.

—No barfing in my soul! This is no picnic for me either!

Mura carefully snuck past the gelatinous Shitidama and towards the cave’s entrance. With a few final steps, he was finally inside. The cave’s interior was brightly lit as the unseen campfire illuminated the path towards itself. A peculiar smell washed over Mura’s nose yet again, but this one was different.

It was horrid. The fetid aroma of cadaverine seeped into his senses as a wash of dread came over him.

Past the danger from outside, Mura made his way down the descending internal tunnel as the light grew brighter and the scent grew stronger. He rushed ahead into the primary chamber where the campfire lay in the middle of the stone floor. Light and shadow bounded repeatedly off the rock-strewn walls as Mura covered his mouth in horror.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Littered around the floor were four girls, all of high-school age and stripped down to their undergarments. They were in various stages of decomposition with one a deathly pale and the oldest being digested by insects. From what Mura could see, three of the girls had an odd wound on the back of their necks.

“Oh my gods…” Mura exclaimed as Lilith unfused from his body. She was left in shock as she struggled to comprehend what she was witnessing.

“We’re too late… They’re all dead,” she struggled to get out.

“There was always a risk of this outcome. Fortunately none of these girls have orange hair, so Tomoe is still with the killer,” Mura said solemnly. “Lilith, watch my back…”

Lilith turned to watch the opening, drawing her knife while staying close to the fire. Mura meanwhile went to inspect the newest corpse.

The girl was lying on her back, causing the blood in her body to pool downwards. Her face was pale, as her lifeless blue eyes were left gazing off into nothing. Mura knelt down and shook his head.

“This one is Junko Takagi. At least she can rest in peace now…”

He slowly turned the body over, checking to see if Junko possessed the same bizarre injury the other girls had. He brushed her long brown hair aside to gain clear access to her neck.

Mura’s eyes furrowed in surprise as he confirmed his suspicion. Junko indeed had the same injury and looking up close, he could see what is was. Running down her neck was vertical incision that had been forcibly pried open. The top of the girl’s spinal column was partially visible, having most of the tissue and muscle scraped away.

The abhorrent sight was grizzly and grotesque, but was amplified by an additional factor that Mura noticed. A moderate gap was present between two of the spinal vertebra, as if one had been plucked out.

“The bastard took a disc from her spinal vertebrae. It looks like he did the same with everyone else here too. But why?” Mura contemplated.

“That’s messed up beyond belief… Maybe that’s how his power works?”

Lilith looked around, searching for any clues that might help them. Obscured by the shadows and smoke from the fire was an etching on the cave’s wall to her right.

“Hey Mura! I found a cave drawing!”

Mura looked up at her pointing towards the image on the wall. He got up from his position and made his way over towards the drawing. Upon reaching it, he could see it was a surprisingly detailed depiction of a feminine child. One with purple braided hair and a red ribbon bow.

“Shit!” Mura swore. He summoned his sword, causing it to spawn into his grip.

Before he could strike at the stationary drawing, the illustration’s arm peeled from the rocky surface and shifted into a three-dimensional form. Curling into a fist, it punched Mura in the face, throwing him across the cave’s chamber from the force.

“I ran away as fast as I could, Mister Professional~♥” the drawing teased in a girlish tone. With a chilling giggle, the girl emerged from the flat walls and took on her solid state.

She was dressed much differently while retaining her braid and ribbon. A large baggy sleeve covered the entirety of her left arm and shoulder, being secured in place with several straps. The girl’s chest was bare, with her breasts concealed by the straps from her arm sleeve. On her right hand was a single black archery glove, leaving two of her fingers uncovered.

Her legs were protected in what resembled ancient Japanese armor, the kind one would expect to see in a museum. The greaves reached up to her thighs, where a fur loincloth hung around her waist. Adorning the killer’s girlish hips was a string of bleached spinal discs taken from her victims.

Mura jumped back up, wiping the blood from his nose before resuming a fighting stance. Lilith ran to her friend’s side, holding her razor-sharp dagger with confidence.

“H-How… I should have felt your Tamashiryoku!” Mura said in frustration.

The killer laughed and toyed with her braid.

“Skilled practitioners of magic can learn to suppress their Tamashiryoku. Since you let yours flair up the entire chase over here, I can assume you never knew such a thing~♥”

The girl’s eyes gleamed in the firelight with a joyful malice. Unlike before, her chartreuse eyes had an additional ring of green within the iris; like the rind of a peeled lime. Along her eyelids heavy eyeshadow was plastered on, taking the shape of multiple red and yellow circles.

“What did you do with Tomoe?!” Lilith yelled.

“Oh, the human girl? No worries, she’s safe and sound,” she replied, taking a small scroll out from behind her back. Unfurling the parchment, an image of Tomoe in a fetal position was revealed.

“You sick bitch…” Mura spat venomously. “Why the hell are you doing all of this; for a bunch of trophies?”

The killer laughed, dangling the scroll from her hand. Reaching down with her sleeved hand, she stroked the spinal discs strung along the leather cord attached to her pelt. Each one once belonged to a human once. A friend. A daughter.

It filled Mura’s heart with a raw blend of sorrow and anger.

“Well, partially yes! As a Poacher, we’re all required to collect these. They’re marks of the victories we’ve achieved from our contracts~♥” the girl explained, causing Mura and Lilith’s faces to grow more furious and confused. “Awww, look at your faces! Seems like you guys don’t understand a single word I’m saying!”

“All I hear coming out of your mouth is bullshit! Victories? Over defenseless humans?! With the amount of power you have, that’s no different than crushing a newborn puppy with your foot!” Mura shouted in rage.

“Exactly! To be frank, it’s quite boring,” the girl said with a mocking frown. “That’s why I try to make it as creative and challenging as possible for myself! Earlier at the school, when I was shooting at you? I was firing the bow with my feet! That was pretty exciting~♥”

Mura had enough of this girl’s deranged nonsense. He charged at her, his sword raised to kill. However the killer stopped him by holding the scroll with both hands, intending to tear it in half.

“Ah ah ah! Temper, temper~! If I rip this parchment with her still on it, she’ll die. My Tamashi Genkai is called Gradient! It allows me to reduce myself and anything I want into a two-dimensional state.”

Mura’s eyes widened as he backed up to prevent the killer from doing anything rash.

“Anything that happens to be within the two-dimensional world is bound to it. If the object my target is bound to gets destroyed, well… it’s obliterated as well~♥” she explained with a chuckle. “I thought I’d tell you how my power works to make things harder for myself. After all, it’s been a few decades since I killed another demon…”

The girl laughed menacingly. Holding out her bare arm, she looked up towards the ceiling.

“Return to me, Furu-Utsubo!” she declared.

On command, a shadow that had been hiding in plain sight flew down from the cave’s ceiling like a bat. It landed on her outstretched arm like a falcon and merged itself with her skin, resting embedded above her archer’s glove.

Within the fire’s light, Mura could see that the shadow actually resembled a quiver. It was black, constructed from a strange leather that didn’t seem to come from any sort of beast. There also didn’t seem to be any opening to store arrows within; instead sporting a series of lumps over its body.

—That must be her Thrall.

Once it settled briefly, a large bulbous lump flicked apart; as the leather curled apart to reveal an eyeball. It was bloodshot and orange, with a red and yellow iris that proceeded to stare at Mura.

“If you wanna kill us so badly, then why are you holding Tomoe hostage?” Lilith asked.

“That’s a good point, my little yokai friend! It’s because I wanna bargain with you! Take a look at this, you know what it is?” she said, placing her left foot on a nearby rock. She lifted her loincloth, revealing her bare thigh. On the girl’s upper thigh was a tattoo of a circle. Within the circle was a crowned skull; two streams of tears flowing from each barren socket.

“That’s… a leg?” Mura said bluntly.

The girl sighed and shook her head. Lilith’s eyes widened as she noticed something else underneath.

“Are you… a boy?” Lilith gasped.

The killer chuckled lightly and let go of the loincloth.

"Both actually; I'm a boy... but I'm also a girl. Male and female! The two intertwined into a form artisans once called the perfect specimen~♥” he declared proudly. “My name is Shuten and I belong to an organization called Goetia. This tattoo is our mark.”

Mura raised an eyebrow at the deluge of information. Shuten touched his fingertip to Tomoe’s picture on the scroll, causing her peel from the material and rematerialize into the three-dimensional world.

“Tomoe! Can you hear me?” Lilith cried out. Tomoe was still out cold, the arrow still lodged in her torso.

“Listen close, Jikininki. I’ll give you the girl back, but in exchange you tell your superiors the killer was a normal human. If you refuse my terms, well… I’ll just claim your spines as well~♥”