“No,” Minamoto immediately interjected just as I was about to attempt to distract the red-skinned Oni. “They’ll need a chain of command to stall it. Mister David, while competent in some aspects, won’t be able to hold on without the benefits your class provides for everyone else.”
“But the Nurarihyon is the bigger threat here.” The female Samurai argued, gaining a red glint in her eyes for a second. I noticed there was a slight rise in her voice as she spoke.
“Miyasaki,” Minamoto said harshly, flicking his branch in the direction of the Nurarihyon. It easily evaded the brambles that suddenly rose up from beneath it by transforming into wisps of thick, white smoke. “Don’t attempt to sabotage the lives of those who you need to protect for a grudge. If nothing else, take it from me that I know what you’re going through. Go and help corral or kill the Oni; I am more than enough here.”
“I- fine.” Miyasaki bit out. She turned to where I had been, but I had already started running after I realized that they weren’t talking about me. I hadn’t even realized how far away we were from everyone when I had been running at Minamoto a minute ago. Apparently they had all taken to moving away from us to protect the villagers. It was nice and necessary, but I would rather prefer them to be closer.
On my way, the Oni had already locked onto me and was sprinting my way with a determined fury. If I had stayed to take in the moment between the two, I’d probably have been torn apart before I could start to run.
You know, I feel like running from everything is becoming an annoying trend.
“Way ahead of you guys! Come whenever you’re- ack!” I stumbled suddenly, scrambling to not fall completely as I sprinted to the rest of the Samurai and Exorcists.
They were panicking as I waved at them. No doubt because the Oni was catching up, but I didn’t have the time to care about that. As I have said before, there is very little going through your head when running for your life.
“Bring the civilians across the river!” I glanced at the female Samurai who fell into pace beside me. She offered an aggravated grunt in response. “Keep up, Gaijin. Ya need to keep your wits about you; Oni are never to be underestimated.”
“I-“ I jolted as an explosion seemed to happen behind me. A screeching keen hit my ears as a blast of wind and small debris scattered against my back, and I gave a brief look over my shoulder on habit.
A massive behemoth of muscle was still charging at us from behind. It’s mouth was propped open by its large underbite caused by yellowed tusks that poked out in every direction. Drool leaked from between the gaps of its teeth, scattering around on the ground as it ran. My eyes caught how a plume of steam was created from some drool splattering around the ground. I was also alarmed at how close it was getting and pushed more Life Energy into my legs in reflex.
Further behind it, I found the cause of the explosion. It came as no surprise that Minamoto had caused it, but I was wholly unprepared for the fact that he had exploded into an entire forest.
Where he had once been was now covered by trees growing in every direction. Up, down, left, right, and at every other angle there could be, trunks extended from where he had been. Their roots seemed to meet at where Minamoto’s body should be, entwining around each other to form a rough sphere. At the top of the tree trunks were leafless branches that had visibly sharpened ends.
The odd formation of plants wriggled like a mass of worms, and the sharp branches shot towards the Nurarihyon like a tide of spears. For a small yokai, I had thought it would surely die from such an assault. Instead, the small creature met the assault with its body, and my eyes widened as the impossibly sharp branches bent and broke against its skin. More and more branches swarmed over covering it from view like a hive of angry wasps.
Even then, I could see the branches tremble as the sounds of wood being snapped echoed constantly. Horrified, I watched as the tide of branches shifted and moved closer to the sphere where Minamoto was. Despite the overwhelming offense, it moved forwards.
While I hadn’t expected it to get quite nearly pierced like a sieve, this result was even more shocking. Did the thing even have a weakness? I bit back a curse as I remembered how it had dodged a previous attack by turning into smoke.
“How can it even do that?” I yelled watching the mass of wood continue to fail its assault against the Nurarihyon.
Miyasaki clicked her tongue when she watched what was happening. “It’s an in-born technique. The worst one for a Nurarihyon; it can borrow the traits of any within its Hyakki Yagyo.”
“Then that-”
“Its the Oni’s traits.”
I sighed internally, trying to calm my beating heart. She had basically just told me that for Minamoto to kill that creature we needed to take care of the Oni first. “Great…”
Things just got more difficult, and the ground began to vibrate as the Oni closed in on us. I panicked a bit, pulsing more Life Energy into my legs in the hope that I could out run it. In front of us, I saw a couple of Samurai split off to guide the villagers over the river while the rest of them and the Exorcists were sprinting in an effort to help us.
My heart raced as I estimated how far they were while the constant thundering footfalls of the Oni drew closer. I quickly tried to push more Life Energy into my legs when I realized we probably wouldn’t make it on time.
Yet, there was a limit to how much Life Energy can boost you. Sure, it was an insanely powerful energy that I could tap into, but not only were there diminishing returns the closer I got to my Life Rank’s maximum, there was also another faucet I was beginning to realize. Like a lightbulb going off, I finally put together where the mind stat sat within the three. The basics behind the three was just the soul stat storing Life Energy, the body stat being the vessel where Life Energy can interact with, and finally the mind stat managing the flow of Life Energy.
There were still kinks within that explanation. Though, that didn’t really matter at this moment. All that mattered was the fact that my lower mind stat was holding me back; it directly slowed down the amount of Life Energy I could use, and it wasn’t until now where I was pushing myself to the limits of how fast I can go that I realized that Life Energy wasn’t strengthening me fast enough. It was like I was trying to fill an entire pool full of water with only a small pipe.
All that meant was that I wasn’t getting fast enough to escape the Oni before we reached our reinforcements. Miyasaki also saw this, and roughly grabbed the back of my shirt. I caught her eyes flashing red.
Before I could say anything, she heaved me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and began speeding up. I silently blinked as she huffed hard and easily ran faster than me while still carrying me. Well… does this count as her sweeping me off my feet? This wasn’t quite what I thought it would feel like.
Ignoring the odd thought that flitted through my mind, I was given the view of the Oni still behind us. Its was still mad and murderous. I’m glad one of us didn’t change. Luckily, I didn’t have to stare it down for long as Miyasaki had reached our reinforcements already.
I felt weightless as I was thrown to the ground abruptly. Air escaped my lungs as my watered eyes watched the Samurai around me rush forwards with some red vapor trailing off of their figures. Someone’s arms wrapped around my armpits as I felt them drag me away as the Samurai directly confronted the Oni.
They were moving faster than before with the red vapors wafting off of them. They met the Oni, but just like before, the monster took little to no damage from their attacks. It just swung its arms wildly, causing the Samurai to duck and jump out of the way to avoid being pulped. Their swords struck against its skin, but either bounced off of its muscles or cut small lines into its red skin, which promptly started emitting a white steam.
At the front of the group was Miyasaki, glaring down the Oni despite it towering over her. Every now and then, she would yell out orders to get back or attack. Slowly, it felt like she was corralling the Oni by attacking constantly, knowing that any mistake would cause the Oni to kill one of the Samurai.
“You okay, leader?” I looked away from the action as I heard Yasuda's voice above me. The man was watching the fight just like me, but he spared me a concerned glance as he caught me looking at him. “Miyasaki has always been rough with everyone, so I was worried you got hurt.”
I frowned and said, “I’m not that fragile.”
“Right, sorry,” he said softly.
“Exorcists! Restrict the Oni now! Use restraint Shikigami to do so!” Miyasaki ordered while dodging another wild swing from the Oni. I realized that its swings were beginning to grow less wild. It was no longer swinging at everything that came close, but was now attacking whenever a Samurai tried to go in for an attack, meaning that the steaming cuts on its body were not growing as fast as before.
I watched as ten Exorcists stepped up, throwing out familiar paper human cutouts. White mannequins popped out around the Exorcists with familiar elemental knives grasped within their hands. The knives flew out, digging into the Oni’s arms as elemental chains connected to the mannequins.
Nearby Samurai grabbed onto the chains, and Yasuda quickly moved over to one and pulled with all his strength. Almost instantly the Samurai began losing to the Oni’s strength. It flexed an arm, twisting its hips and forcefully dragging a group of Samurai off their feet as it moved.
I jumped up from my spot as Yasuda was one of those Samurai. I grabbed him as he rose off the ground, digging my heels into the ground in order to not get sent flying. It worked for a moment, and I was able to get Yasuda back on the ground, but now we were in a tug-of-war that was doomed to failure. My arms were killing me, and even with Life Energy constantly flowing through, I knew there was no hope to restrain the Oni long enough for the Samurai to find a way to kill it.
Sighing, I switched the Life Energy flowing through my body to my [Mask of Flesh] skill. I had been too naive to think that I wouldn’t need to use it due to its massive drain on my energy, but now there was no other option.
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A new mask formed in my hand. The shape reminded me of an Oni; a large pronounced brow and jaw with interlocked gold tusks where someone’s mouth would be. It was white with gold lines shaped like veins that surrounded the large eye holes of it. Four whole, gold horns stuck out from the forehead of the mask. Two larger ones where the temples were, and two smaller ones jutting out directly above the brows of the mask.
It was a mask I had been half expecting and totally weirded out by. I knew the white Oni’s face through all the times I felt its roars on my ears, and this one was not quite what I was expecting. However, I paid that no mind and felt the draw of Life Energy, calculating just how long I could have it out for.
I felt the rough textures of the mask in my hand, and it gave me the vague sensation of touching skin. This would change things, I knew. Yet, I also knew that there was a time limit to this strength.
Efficiency. It was an odd word. Something that was one of the things that I hadn’t really paid much attention to, but now whether I can efficiently use my skills was something that held the string between life and death.
I could put on the Oni - Variant mask. However, there was a small thought that held me back. I wasn’t good enough. That even if I did wear the mask, all it would do was allow me to copy the Oni’s physical qualities. Which, all things considered, was an insane increase.
But it could be better.
I should have realized this as soon as Matsumura began describing the different things different races just seemed to have by existing: the world was not equal. A man was never as strong as a monster, someone with a larger build would definitely be able to overpower a skinny man, and a human might have more intelligence than a simple beast. They were simple facts that I ignored due to the mystical [status] menu. Sure, stats would be able to elevate beyond what you were before. I for one experienced everything clearly with my increasing body stat, and I thought I was steadily rising up the ranks of the powerful, but that was only on the assumption that everyone started at the same starting line.
It was only when I faced the Face Stealer Centipede that I gained a bit of understanding of this universal inequality. The creature had supposedly copied my stats, yet somehow it was much stronger, faster and more durable than me. If everything was made equal between us, then the only thing left was how stats affected people.
The body stat was the most noticeable. It was a direct strengthening of everything physical about someone. The Face Stealer had a better base to build off, and the same went for Oni’s.
As such, the Oni - Variant mask meant I could directly throw away all the inequality of my “basic abilities.” At least in the vein of physical qualities, I would become an Oni. And this was what brought me to my conundrum.
My stats were perhaps the lowest out of everyone here. If I wore the mask, I had no idea how strong I could become. However, I was sure that anyone else would be able to do better with the boost.
“Lightbulb.” I said as the idea hit me.
“Leader! Any help would be appreciated!” Yasuda yelled, straining along with all the others to frantically match the Oni’s brute strength.
“Give me a second.” I said, looking at the mask in my hand and heaving a sigh.
I knew exactly how to use this mask. It was one of the things Minamoto had told me before; where I should have some idea on the specifics of skills already. They were quite possibly the most literal things about the [status] menu. Everything within their description was completely true, and that meant that they could do everything that the description said.
The thing with the current skill: [Mask of Flesh] never said that I was the one who had to wear it.
Without another thought, I placed it on Yasuda’s face. The man was confused for a second, but the effect was almost instantaneous. When he yanked the elemental chain it glowed and strained as the Oni was pulled off balance. Its massive body tottered uncontrollably, feet slamming into the earth with sounds akin to explosions going off as it tried to stay upright.
A couple Samurai looked incredulously at Yasuda, sending multiple glances once they saw the mask on the man's face. Miyasaki offered a grunt before focusing back on the Oni. While the sudden increase in ability to restrain it was nice, the monster quickly got used to the strength Yasuda was using, and it compensated for it by just swinging its free left arm.
I bit my lips, feeling that my gamble wasn’t paying off as much as I thought it would. Its skin was just too tough, and it was clearly getting much better at reading Miyasaki’s corralling strategy faster than we could put reliable damage on it. We were reaching a breaking point; one that led to everyone’s certain loss.
Then, like a saving grace, the ground below the Oni’s feet burst, revealing white roots that wrapped around its legs and snaked up its upper body. It struggled violently against its bonds in retaliation. Several roots cracked and broke as it tore them off with its free hand. However, there were just too many of them for it to actively defend against with one arm. The white roots wrapped around its figure as they took advantage of its immobility.
I was a little worried about Minamoto sparing his attention our way, and took a look over his way only to find the same stalemate repeating endlessly. A mass of branches grew rapidly from the sphere of trees, wrapping around and attacking a dark figure with all their might. It was impressive to me that he had the time to try and help us while going through all that.
At that moment, I caught the Oni’s eyes turn into a smoldering fire.
“Everyone pull back now!” Miyasaki’s yell came much too late.
The Oni had already become a ten-foot tall, humanoid mass of red and orange flame. It directly passed through the roots and chains that surrounded it almost like they were not even there, burning a deep char into the root’s surface and nearby grasses. When its right foot met the solid ground outside its restraints, it quickly solidified as the grass around it began to catch on fire. The rest of its body followed suit, burning and twisting as it escaped.
However, when it reformed, no one was ready for it to already be mid swing. Its massive fist caught two Samurai in their midsection. Their bodies bent with the blow, curling around the fist and arm before flying away with strangled screams that abruptly cut off when they crashed into the ground.
“Regroup! Everyone spread out! Exorcists continue to fuel restriction Shikigami! Stay on your guard!” Miyasaki was already back to barking out orders while everyone sluggishly began to move. The previous attack that destroyed everyone’s morale. The men who had been hit weren’t showing any signs of getting back up, and I wasn’t that optimistic about their situations either.
In the shock of the moment, the Oni moved deftly, reaching for another victim. The Samurai froze as the hand grabbed for him. A red vapor began wafting off his figure, but I doubted it would do anything to him.
At that moment, I caught Yasuda rushing forwards at a blistering pace. I remembered he was still wearing my Oni - Variant mask as his sword swung down on the Oni’s hand. The tempered edge that never seemed to bite into the monster’s flesh finally cut deep.
I clutched my ears as an ear shattering roar echoed out along with the sound of Yasuda’s sword breaking. Two streams of boiling blood flew out into the air as two massive, red fingers landed on the ground with thuds that everyone felt in their heart.
This! This is what we were looking for! Damage had finally been done on the beast, and it recoiled in pain, slamming its back into the prison of charred roots behind it and it grabbed the stumps where its fingers had been. It roared and glared at Yasuda as elemental chains lodged themselves back into its body.
Around me, Samurai grit their teeth, putting all their weight into hold onto the Oni. The only one who didn’t do so was Yasuda. Instead, he had been given more swords from those nearby as he charged at the Oni like he had a death wish.
For a second, I watched him as a bud of hope grew in my heart. Of course, I felt not quite pleased with the result. I knew this wasn’t jealousy. There was no way I would be jealous of someone who charged an Oni. However, I felt a sort of unease that stemmed from my instincts. I couldn’t help but remember how he told me he want his death to mean something.
I felt my lips turn into a frown. “That’s one dumb death flag…”
“Oi Gaijin, ya have any more of those fancy masks?” Miyasaki was talking to me, but my eyes were centered on Yasuda swinging his weapons wildly.
Yasuda’s words were coming out in garbled roars that didn’t sound distinctly human. His weapons sliced into the Oni’s skin, shattered every now and then as they could handle the strain he was putting on them. When that happened, he would rush back while the Samurai held onto the Oni, trying to take its attention for Yasuda to grab another pair of swords and repeat.
It was only until there were several deep wounds dripping with steaming blood that I noticed something wrong. Blood was beginning to drip down from the mask’s eye holes and from beneath its chin, trailing down Yasuda’s neck and staining his shirt. I realized that the mask only copied the physical qualities of whatever creature it was based one, but it hit me that maybe that humans couldn’t handle the qualities of an Oni.
“Y- Yasuda! Stop now! Abort, abort!” I screamed in a panic, but before I could rush him, I felt someone clamp down on my shoulder, locking me in place. I turned my stare into an equally impassive glare of Miyasaki.
The woman matched my eyes. She just watched me for a second before yelling out, “Someone get Sawano out of there! That skill is hurting him as well.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as Yasuda allowed someone to pull him out of there, and watched as someone else placed the mask on their face. It was only when it disappeared and reappeared back in my hand that some semblance of a safety was implemented.
Miyasaki looked at the mask in my hand for a moment. “How many can you make.”
“Uh, um, I can only make one Oni mask,” I stuttered. Fire filled my eyes suddenly, and I was given the view of the Oni breaking free of its restraints once again. However, it screamed as a chain that seemed made out of water that was coiled around its upper right arm steamed when it transitioned into a state of fire. That same chain stayed in place as it turned physical again.
Miyasaki also caught that instantly. “Everyone with water element restraint Shikigami step up! Pass out all your prepared Shikigami and use them! I’ll reimburse everything after we get out of this!”
I found the wording odd, but it certainly helped as two Exorcists began passing out paper human cutouts. Their faces were pinched as they handed them out as I realized that those Shikigami were going to be destroyed due to different Life Energy flowing through them. Still, they couldn’t really voice their dissatisfaction in this situation.
“Oi Gaijin, don’t think I forgot about you.” Miyasaki turned to me as the newly armed Exorcists began throwing their water chains around the Oni in the hopes of dragging this fight to our victory. The female Samurai forked her thumb over to a bloody and insensate Yasuda. The man was bleeding from every single orifice as his head rolled this way and that. “Tell me your skill specifics.”
I frowned at how forceful she was being. While I hadn’t had much interaction with skills and etiquette regarding things, she was being rather pushy. I felt a sour taste on my tongue as I answered, “It can copy physical stuff from someone. I need to roughly touch their body or something.” I grimly recalled Yasuda as he was pulled away from the combat. “Apparently, some physical stuff is too much for us.”
If my answer annoyed her, Miyasaki didn’t show it. Or rather, the perpetual frown on her face didn’t change, so that was at least a plus. I think…
She held out a hand. “Give it to me. I’ll wear it.”
“B- but what about-” I pointed to Yasuda, knowing that without Miyasaki we would probably already be dead. I had a feeling her class was partial to some reason why were still holding on. “We need you here.”
“I can’t stand sitting at the back and just ordering them.” Miyasaki said, offering the longest sentence that wasn’t an order to me. Of course, before I could be shocked she pushed her hand directly into my vision. “Unless you want to do it, give it to me.”
Tentatively, I handed the mask over to her. As soon as it fit around her face, she shuddered and then shot off towards the Oni.
I took a moment to realize just what I was doing. I was just sitting at the back again, watching as everyone fought with their lives on the line. In a way, I was just running away. However, what was I supposed to even do here? The only thing I was doing was doping up a Samurai to be strong enough to wound the Oni.
Wasn’t that good enough?
Suddenly, I felt my sixth sense flash at the front of my thoughts, distracting me from my thoughts. I got the image of hundreds of hungry, gnashing maws. Great, what was it this time? I followed my senses to roughly where I felt it was coming from. Then, my heart caught in my throat.
“Shit…” I cursed when I found them.
They were right behind the villagers.