“Hah… Hah…”
Compared to climbing up the tree, going down was easier, but by no means a cake walk. Only through another round of blood, sweat and tears did I manage to land on my two feet, the skin on my hand still red from the rope and splinters. There was no fuel left in the tank for me, and to make it worse, the creature sitting on my head was urging me to get a move on with her constant poking:
“Kuri! Kuri!”
“Just… give me a moment, Akari…” I wiped the sweat dripping down my chin and answered. “I need a bit of a breather…”
Even in my exhausted state, however, I could still feel the change in the air with my entire body. Perhaps it was the tea aiding me, or the impact of the mysterious attacker was that much clearer, but I could sense it all. The earthy smell coming from my right, though much further away—the signs of dirt being dug up. The light tremors in small intervals also pointed to the possibility of the assailant being quite the large size, or they were a swarm of at least the size of those giant hornets called Shinbachira.
From the corner of my left eye, I could spot a few rustling leaves, yet there wasn’t so much of a breeze, let alone any strong wind, which meant that the creatures attacking were not winged. That would explain the lack of evacuees as well—if they were a horde of winged insects, there would be little hope in containing the threat, but if it was one or two large-scale monsters, proper teamwork could prove to be effective. But it wasn’t enough. There was another piece of information that I couldn’t wrap my head around, no matter how hard I tried.
”Things are fitting too perfectly… Have I ever worked my brain to a spree like this?”
“Kurii!” Akari’s cry snapped me out of my trance just in time.
”Thanks,” I reached out my hand to pet her from above. “Almost lost myself there. I’ve gotten enough rest; we’re heading straight to the source now!”
When those words came out of my mouth, I never thought that I’d eat them mere seconds after. A silhouette flew straight past me like a bullet before crashing onto the ground, plowing through the land a long, dreaded line.
As the signature metallic scent of blood rushed into my nose, the silhouette spat, struggling to stand up judging from their quivering body behind the dust cloud:
”Keh! Talk about a hit…”
”Midorikawa-san?” I turned to the person in question.
”Oh, kid,” cracking his neck in pain, the green-armored man waved a gesture to chase me away. “Get out of here. This thing means business.”
“What is it?”
“Herakabuto. Two of ‘em, as a matter of fact… Tch, here they come!”
Right as the man heeded his warning, I’d already spotted the danger coming at us. This time, it wasn’t a person that flew towards our location, but a giant boulder the size of a car, at a speed comparable to Midorikawa when he was flung to this place. Barely having enough time to utter a sound, I worked my brain to its full capacity, not caring how or why I was able to do it.
Ten… No, about eight meters above us! Judging by its trajectory, by the time it flew to our spot, it would be around two meters up in the air, which is just enough to crush our heads! The size is too big for us to dodge sideways, which means…
“Duck!”
I crouched as fast as I could, holding my hands up my head to protect Akari from any residual debris, and braced myself for impact. I could hear a thumping sound from behind me mere moments before the boulder tore through the air above us, meaning that Midorikawa had followed my lead just in time to avoid a tragic ending. The unlucky shot, without a target, had crashed onto the giant tree base and smashed itself into smithereens, sending rocky shards flying about.
“Kuri!” Akari, spotting the danger, jumped off my head and flew behind us. By the time I had turned my head around, countless rocks had been slashed to bits, leaving only harmless pebbles in our way.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
”I didn’t account… for that,” as I tried to control my hyperventilation, I called out to the critter. “You saved us again, Akari.”
Before we could continue our routine, however, Midorikawa had already called out in shock:
”Kid, what was that? How could you see that?”
”I don’t… Look out!”
I didn’t get to answer, for another boulder had already left its spot from who-knows-where and was flying towards us through my blind spot. Or at least, I assumed that it was the intention, since I had just enough time to see it coming through my peripheral vision and decided on the course of action.
The boulder this time was smaller, only around the size of a bicycle at most. Perhaps the monster had thought that the previous attempt was too big of a target so it changed tactics, but little did it realize, we have an ace up our sleeve as well.
”Akari! Up two meters!”
The crimson insect heeded my order with perfect precision. Jumping to the sky, Akari spread out its scythe arms, and, utilizing the momentum from the jump, brought a powerful upward slash to not only kill off the boulder’s momentum, but also slicing it in half. Before the halves could continue their trail, however, another horizontal slash from Akari’s remaining arm crushed it completely.
”Nice!” I clutched my hand in joy, the rushing blood throughout my body made even my veins audible. For a first attempt, an improv at that, I didn’t do too bad. But this was no time to rest on our laurels.
“Kid, how did you do that?” Midorikawa sounded once more. I knew that a long answer would be a horrible call, and so, I tried to keep it as concise as I could.
“It’s the tea!”
“Got it!” A quick nod from the man in green, and he had already buzzed off the scene in a thundering wingbeat.
Meanwhile, I braced myself for another round of rocks.
I didn’t know if the honey tea was indeed the answer, but every time my brain and senses had been acting up until now, it had always been because of that accursed honey. In the end, that was the only thing that I could bet on.
A whooshing sound ensued, bearing the strength of a small cyclone. Along with it, the third boulder made its way to my location. Unlike the second one, this time, the unknown monster had prioritized strength over everything—the shadow the giant rock casted was like a small apartment room, but as a result, its speed was much slower than the ones I’d encountered before.
With a grin of victory, I mumbled. “I thought you were smarter than this.”
Compared to the other two, this attack was slow as a snail. Without even breaking a sweat, I backed up with ease and positioned myself just outside the ring of impact, all while flashing a smile and cupping my hand over my eyes as if enjoying the view.
Of course, everything went according to my prediction. I had even calculated the range of its aftermath—a rock of that size would certainly cause some rummaging and cracking of earth, but its size also meant that it wouldn’t burst so easily. The resulting impact, while large, was harmless as it only ended up covering the area with a dust cloud and rocked the ground for a moment.
If things kept up like this, then this thing, whatever it was, wouldn’t be…
“Kid!”
I couldn’t react in time. A hand grabbed onto my shirt’s collar, while another shoved the familiar clay tea cup into my hand. Before I knew it, I was already thrown away at top speed, just in time for a giant black thing to run through my original position like a roadkill.
As the dust settled, I realized how much of a grave mistake I had made.
The rock wasn’t the attack. It was merely a diversion, tossed to my spot as a weak attempt to make me dodge and lower my guard. When the boulder crashed onto the ground, the resulting impact from its larger size was to hide the creature speeding up with incredible might, running from its hiding spot to kill me off once and for all.
But I was saved, thanks to Midorikawa coming back just in time. With his speed, he had managed to throw me to safety while fulfilling his previous intention of giving me the honey tea to aid my accelerated thinking. However, he only had enough time to save one of us, and as a result, the man was now lying motionless at the giant tree’s roots, blood leaking out of his body like a squashed bug. And now, I had no choice but to face the demon that was the cause of everything.
Standing at the height of a two-story building, it was, without a doubt, the most impressive beetle I’d ever seen in my life. Its jet-black exoskeleton looked tougher than diamond, while its legs—normally not even a beetle’s strongest part—already looked like it could crush boulders with a single step, and cause tremors if it decided to go into a stampede. But that was not all. The most dangerous feature on its body was no doubt its horns.
Only now did I understand why it was called “Herakabuto”. The giant, curved horn protruding from its forehead suggested that its real-life counterpart was the king of insects—the Hercules beetle. However, the two other horns growing on its sides suggested the biology of a stag beetle, and this triple combo made its charge deadlier than ever.
Not just a spear, but a trident that could pierce and tear all the same. And thanks to my mistake, I had to face it alone.
“Kuri! Kuri!”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that, Akari.”
How could I have forgotten? I wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
“Let’s do this, Akari.”
With a single gulp, I downed the rest of the tea and threw the cup away, ready for a bloody brawl.