As Nanashi disappeared into the darkness, she exhaled heavily, her heart pounding like a caged gorilla. "Gosh, that was close," she thought. "I'm nowhere near capable of fighting her. I see now why Sasuke warned me not to venture beyond my territory. This place is bloody scary... but still, I'm hungry."
Suddenly, Nanashi found herself engulfed by a giant fire tornado. Instead of being terrified by the scorching heat and wind that could rip her to pieces, she felt oddly content. She went with the flow, spinning with the wind and enjoying the warm breeze.
Meanwhile, Sarashina mumbled to herself, "Ah, there goes another potential friend. I was really hoping to make one this time around. Too bad everyone is hungry for power, sexually frustrated, or just... hungry." She exhaled heavily, took a sip of her tea, and opened a book.
As Sarashina began to read, she felt a surge of heat. The pillar of fire she had cast engulfed Nanashi, but it was short-lived. The flames dissipated quickly, revealing Nanashi unharmed and hovering in the air. She resembled a miniature dragon, with paws burning the grass below, a tail flickering like a torch, and nostrils emitting wisps of smoke. Nanashi landed gracefully, facing Sarashina with a smug grin.
"Now, that was hot and filling," Nanashi said, stretching her front legs. "If I had stayed there any longer, I might have fallen asleep."
"What?!" Sarashina shouted, jumping out of her chair.
"What?" Nanashi asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Interesting. You're the first person to survive that. Now I have no reason to hold back."
"Oh," Nanashi replied nonchalantly.
Sarashina's eyes transformed into an abyss of pitch black, with crimson veins resembling molten lava crawling across her face. Two imposing horns erupted from her forehead, and her fingertips elongated into formidable talons reminiscent of an eagle's claws. Her physique expanded, becoming large and muscular, exuding an unsettling aura. The scent of decay permeated the air, swirling around her as an ominous testament to the profound metamorphosis taking place.
"Koi! (Come!)" Sarashina said in a husky, deep voice.
"Yeah... No," Nanashi replied. "I don't fight on a full stomach. It causes cramps and nausea. But maybe next time. See you!" She turned around and walked away, waving her tail as she faded into the darkness of the forest.
Sarashina was left in a state of utter shock and confusion, resulting in her falling flat on her backside.
"What a strange creature," Sarashina said to herself, looking up at the night sky as tears slowly rolled down her face.
Meanwhile, Nanashi wandered back home, listening to the sound of her wailing abdomen and swaying side to side as her stomach consumed the last bits of her energy. Suddenly, something caught her eye: a faint light coming from an old, run-down temple in the distance.
"Well, there are no demons tonight. I guess an old priest will have to do. Forgive me, Sasuke, but desperate times call for desperate measures," she said to herself and ran towards the light.
As she approached, Nanashi caught a faint smell of chicken. She saw what looked like a chicken being cooked, its shadow projecting against the wall.
"Well, what do we have here? It's not a priest, but some sort of bandit or thief," Nanashi mused. "You should thank me, Sasuke. I'm keeping this village you hold so dear safe from the scum of the earth."
"Scum, you say? Are you not the real scum here, Su Da Ji?" a voice rang from inside.
"Su Da Ji, the great terror!" another childlike voice shouted.
"How far the great has fallen," a third, deep voice added.
"Seems to me, no matter where I go, I have quite the fan base," Nanashi replied, amused.
The loud voice chuckled before answering, "Still full of yourself, I see. Old habits die hard."
"Come out here so I can show you just how full of myself I really am," she said, baring her fangs and starting to glow.
"With pleasure," all three voices replied in unison.
As the temple's shadows stirred, an otherworldly presence emerged, plunging the surroundings into an impenetrable darkness. A bone-chilling dread crawled up Nanashi's spine, her instincts screaming of imminent danger. In the pitch-black void, she sensed an unseen menace hurtling towards her with terrifying speed.
With a sudden, primal surge of self-preservation, Nanashi ignited her fur. The ethereal glow flickered against the encroaching shadows, momentarily pushing back the darkness. The creature, caught off-guard by this unexpected illumination, let out a blood-curdling shriek that echoed through the night. It staggered backward, its full, horrifying form now revealed in the wavering light.
Nanashi's eyes widened in revulsion at the abomination before her. Sprawled on the ground was a monstrosity beyond her darkest nightmares - a massive, hairless entity that resembled a grotesquely oversized infant. Its skin was mottled and blistered, as if it had been subjected to unspeakable torments. The creature's face was a twisted mockery of humanity: a patchy beard and balding pate framed features that seemed to have been sculpted by a madman's hand.
Most disturbing of all was its mouth - unnaturally elongated like a beak, yet unmistakably human in its grotesque flexibility. The eyes that stared back at Nanashi gleamed with a predatory intelligence that sent shivers down her spine
"In all my centuries of being alive, I've never encountered a creature as hideous as you, except for Jorogumo," Nanashi said, feigning nausea. "Just what the hell are you?"
The creature rose to its feet, towering at nearly seven feet tall. It looked down at Nanashi and opened its mouth, revealing three heads peering from within its throat. All three heads spoke simultaneously, their voices blending into an eerie harmony.
"We are not one, but we are many. We are—"
"Legion! One of the seventy-two lesser keys! Am I right?" Nanashi interrupted with a smug smile.
"No," the creature replied flatly.
Undeterred, Nanashi continued, "I heard about you being cast into pigs, then running into a river. They said you drowned, though. How can this be? Well, who cares about the details, right? This is going to be a major power-up for me. I might even get my human body back!"
"I said NO!" the demon roared, its patience wearing thin. "Don't you listen? This is why people hated you. I am not Legion. I am Onmoraki, the shadow and shapeshifter demon." It announced with pride, sucking in its stomach and puffing out its chest.
"Okay," Nanashi replied nonchalantly, picking something out of her teeth.
"Let's kill this piece of crap," the childlike voice said from within the demon.
"Agreed!" the other two voices chimed in unison.
The creature lunged forward with savage ferocity, its cavernous maw stretching impossibly wide. From within the nightmarish orifice, three entities emerged, each brandishing a lethal weapon that gleamed with malevolent purpose. A sword, a spear, and an axe – instruments of death poised to rend flesh from bone.
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The air itself seemed to recoil as the unholy trio surged forth, their blades catching what little light remained and transforming it into wicked gleams of promised violence. Time slowed to a crawl in that breathless moment before the onslaught, the world teetering on the precipice of chaos.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
In that fraction of a second, Nanashi's body convulsed with an involuntary reaction. A thunderous belch erupted from her throat, and with it came an inferno. The very same fire tornado that Sarashina had unleashed earlier now poured forth from Nanashi, engulfing her attackers in a maelstrom of searing flame and howling wind.
"Aaah, all talk and no bite makes for a boring fighter," Nanashi lamented, her voice tinged with disappointment. Then, realization struck. "Aaah! My food is going to be ash!"
In a display of childlike futility, Nanashi blew at the raging tornado as if it were a stubborn birthday candle. Her efforts were in vain; the vortex of flame continued its relentless dance, consuming all in its path.
When at last the fiery tempest subsided, not a trace of Onmoraki remained. The battlefield lay scorched and barren, devoid of any sign of the fearsome demon or its tripartite manifestation.
Nanashi tilted her head skyward, her eyes glistening with unshed tears of frustration.
"This is the worst night of my life," Nanashi muttered to herself.
"I wouldn't say so," a deep voice rumbled from the darkness.
"The worst is yet to come," added the childlike voice, its tone unnervingly playful.
"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you," the female entity chimed in ominously.
Nanashi's ears perked up. "Are you not happy to see me too?"
"NO!" All three voices shouted in unison.
Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes and what sounded like grunting caught Nanashi's attention. She turned towards the source of the noise.
"You guys better not be doing anything funny in there," she warned. "I really don't like salty food."
The sound of leaves and twigs crunching abruptly ceased. Three dark silhouettes emerged from behind the shrubbery and sprinted away in separate directions, likely hoping to disorient her. However, Nanashi's innate night vision allowed her to keep a close eye on their movements.
"Seems like something stinky is about to hit the sword," Nanashi quipped. "Even though mine don't stink. Are you done changing into your kimono yet?"
In chilling silence, her unanswered call hung in the air. Suddenly, a deadly response materialized in the form of a hurtling axe. Swiftly evading its deadly arc, she instinctively lowered her gaze to the ground. To her horror, an ominous force lurked beneath the surface, poised to emerge. With adrenaline-fueled agility, she leaped just in time. True to her premonition, a colossal serpent head erupted from the earth, its razor-sharp fang aimed to pierce her. Desperation fueled her resistance as she frantically clawed at the monstrous assailant. Upon contact, the creature disintegrated into a pool of inky darkness, evaporating into nothingness as the black substance seeped into the ground below.
"Got you!" a voice cried out, followed by a massive fireball hurtling towards Nanashi.
Unfazed, Nanashi merely licked her lips and inhaled deeply, sucking in the entire inferno with one swift motion. The fireball disappeared into her maw as if it were nothing more than a wisp of smoke.
"Told you she was a fire elemental, Kiba!" the woman's voice shouted, inadvertently revealing her location to Nanashi.
"Just shut up, Kira!" Kiba hissed back. "Be quiet, or you'll give yourself away!"
"Boys are so stupid," Kira muttered, exasperation evident in her tone.
"I know, right?" Nanashi chimed in, her voice laced with amusement. She turned her head slightly, pinpointing Kira's position with ease. The night air crackled with tension as Nanashi's eyes gleamed in the darkness.
In a heartbeat, Kira’s pulse came to an abrupt halt, an indescribable surge coursing through her veins, locking her muscles in a state of paralysis. Her eyes shifted toward the faint rustling of leaves over her right shoulder, unveiling a chilling spectacle reminiscent of a Japanese nightmare. Advancing with deliberate slowness, an immense black figure loomed closer, its thick fur undulating in the gentle breeze, creating an unsettling, oceanic illusion as if ablaze with an infernal fire. The creature’s crimson eyes gleamed with a malevolence that seemed to transcend the very essence of evil. As its mouth unhinged, revealing a menacing array of jagged teeth, the moonlight cast an eerie glow, transforming them into glistening blades. A void-black tongue added to the horror, and Kira, desperate to scream, found her voice silenced, her only expression of terror confined to the quivering of her bottom lip. The suspense hung thick in the air, a prelude to an impending encounter with the macabre.
“Shhh, just let it happen, this is my first time to.” She said, stretching her mouth as wide as it go, across her victim’s neck, shut a loud clap could be heard, as her jaws slammed shut and chopped the young demon girl’s head of clean and proceeded to devour right there and then.
"Kira!" the older gentleman called out.
"Kira is not available at this moment, as she is busy digesting. Please check my feces later, thank you," Nanashi replied in a joyful tone, stepping out of the shadows.
"Why, you!" Kiba cried out.
"No, wait!" the elderly man shouted who was th, finally revealing himself as he stepped out from behind a tree.
"So, you've finally decided to show yourself, you dirty old geezer. Playing with children at your age, you're downright disgusting!" Nanashi shouted, for no apparent reason whatsoever.
“He is no geezer, he is our father, Suzuki.” Kiba replied.
The seasoned elder remained unfazed by her ludicrous remark, driving the spear forcefully into the earth. Suddenly, spear-like projectiles erupted from the ground, prompting Nanashi to spring into action with a keen sense of impending danger. In mid-air, she caught sight of Kiba perched in the tree, crafting a bow crackling with pure lightning, scorching the surroundings upon its creation. Locking eyes with him, she vigorously shook her head, but the defiant youth merely grinned. With a release that echoed through the heavens like a resounding thunderclap, the arrow exploded into a colossal cloud of smoke upon striking its target, leaving an indelible mark on the unfolding spectacle.
“Die!, witch!” Kiba erupted.
“Think again, boy.”
From within the ethereal veil of swirling smoke, a commanding voice resonated, heralding an unseen presence. Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind materialized from the mystic realms, dispersing the enigmatic haze. As the tendrils of smoke dissipated, a vision of regal beauty emerged – a woman, resplendent in a flowing kimono adorned with the opulence of emerald green and burnished gold. In her grasp, she held two obsidian fans, each adorned with the delicate artistry of autumn leaves. Yet, mysteriously absent was any trace of Nanashi.
"Princess?" the old man asked.
"Princess Sarashina, what are you doing here?" Kiba asked, a glint in his eyes and his cheeks red as apples, blushing like a dog in heat.
"Sarashina? Where? Is she back? I'm in trouble now!" the woman said in a panicked state.
"Princess, but it is you," Kiba said, panting heavily for some reason.
"No, wait boy. I think this is that damned fox who stole your sister's ability," the old man said.
"I am a person," Nanashi said, looking down at her hands. "I must say, even though I haven't seen myself in a while, I do know that I'm definitely better looking than this."
"How dare you use my sister's ability for such blasphemous stuff!" Kiba protested, drawing another, more powerful arrow. It oozed so much power that it caused some of the ground to crack and float, and at its tip was a burst of fire, sounding like a blowtorch.
"Blasphemy? Why are you guys so old-fashioned? What is this, 304 BC?"
"Do it, boy," the old man said.
"With pleasure," Kiba replied, releasing the earth-scorching, shattering, and sound barrier-breaking arrow.
"What can this piss-willy arrow do to me?" Nanashi said confidently. With a flick of her wrist, she unfurled her fan, sweeping it gracefully across her form as if daring the world to challenge her. Little did she know, in the shadowy distance, an arrow loomed, its trajectory aimed with deadly precision. Confidence radiated from her every movement, an aura of invincibility enveloping her. But as the arrow found its mark, shattering her fan into a thousand fragments, time seemed to freeze. A moment of disbelief hung in the air, shattered only by the piercing scream that erupted from her lips as the deadly projectile struck her with unforgiving force, piercing her chest with lethal accuracy. Nanashi's world shattered along with her fan, the illusion of safety torn away in a single, brutal instant.
"I'M DEAD! I'M DEAD!" she shouted, throwing down the other fan in a fit of rage, dropping to her knees and wanting to pull out her hair.
"What are you doing?" Kiba asked, jumping down from the tree.
"Can't you see I'm busy dying, you monster!"
"No, you're not. You absorbed it. It was one of Kira's abilities, to copy and adapt, but you won't survive this one," Kiba answered.
"Kiba! What are you doing?" the old man shouted.
"What now?"
"How can you inform the enemy about their ability? You give her an advantage!"
"Don't worry, old man. I will...”
In instant, his words were severed by a blinding burst of light, followed by the sickening thud of his skull meeting the unforgiving earth. As consciousness slipped away, he found himself gazing into the eyes of Nanashi, her figure looming over him with an air of indifference. With one hand on her hip and the other fanning herself, she met his desperate stare and offered only a disdainful shrug of her shoulders, sealing his fate in a moment of tragic realization.
"KIBA!" His father cried out and ran to his son.
"How?" Kiba managed to muster with his final strength.
"Simple, I am the strongest Yokai to ever exist," Nanashi boasted.
"Don't talk, save your strength," his father said, cradling his son's head. "I will..."
“SPLAT!” Nanashi said, with a savage ferocity, Nanashi crushed the boy's father's skull between her hands, unleashing a grisly explosion of brains and gore that painted the surroundings in a macabre tableau. She tore his head from his body, the sound of ripping flesh echoing like a dreadful symphony as she greedily devoured her prey, sating her hunger until her belly bulged with grotesque satisfaction. Reverting to her fox form, she staggered away, her movements a grotesque mockery of grace, haunted by the crimson dawn breaking over the jagged silhouette of the mountain, bearing witness to the horrors she had wrought.