While Hundredth charged down the slope with the sword above her head, Tanuki planted his feet between the boards for additional support and prepared to defend.

Hundredth put her entire weight into the attack, but Tanuki’s parried. Hundredth kicked him in a surprise move and subsequently jumped away. Once again, she used gravity to her advantage and charged forward, but she overestimated her swiftness and gave enough time for Tanuki to duck under the blade.

For a second, Hundredth’s chest remained undefended. He could have thrust the blade forward to impale her, but in a split-second decision, he jumped ahead, bashing his shoulder into her and throwing her over his head. Hundredth fell behind him and rolled down the slope.

The tables turned as the path to the King became unguarded. Tanuki burst into a mad dash out of the hole, only stopping by the pillory to free the shopkeeper. The lock needed no key, but Tanuki could not figure out how to unlock it.

“How does this work?” he asked, but the shopkeeper shook his head.

“I shall not say. The King ordered my execution, his words are as sacred as––“

“Fuck you!” Tanuki yelled and left in haste.

He had almost escaped the hole when suddenly, a heavy blow sent him flying. He nearly fell but held onto the flawed boards at the last second.

When he saw it, he had mistaken it for a tentacle. A root of the King’s tree slithered in the air like a flying snake. More broke through the dirt and attacked him, cutting fast like whips. His clothes tore. He tried to resist the attacks and climb, but the rain of blows was too much. He took it until one hit his hand, scaring him that he might lose his fingers. In a moment of panic, he let go.

Once out of reach, he slowed his fall and watched as the roots covered the hole like a duvet. Darkness fell. Sunbeams crawled between the roots, but they were barely enough to see a short distance ahead.

Tanuki searched for Hundredth but she was nowhere to be seen. Silence deafened him. He was a second too late to realise, his heavy breathing gave away his position. From his left, the outline of a sword appeared and before he could react, Hundredth cut his chest.

Shock bolted through his body followed by the most incredible pain. He could not scream nor move air in or out of his lungs. For a second, he believed it was over and he was dead. His eyes bolted down to the sword and saw it diagonally lodged between his ribs. Hundredth cut and though she could not reach deep, the attack was enough to stun him in more ways than one.

Her eyes glowed faintly in the dark. When she had no more reasons to hide, she returned the light to her green orbs. Tanuki’s gaze met hers, but she said nothing. On her third attempt, she freed the wooden sword, then gently pushed Tanuki off balance, causing him to roll to the bottom of the hole.

She looked up and shouted.

“I won. Open the hole.”

The roots moved and the midday sun dressed Hundredth in gold. She climbed up and turned towards the tree.

“Is he dead?” asked the King.

“He’ll be soon enough.”

Acid splattered next to her feet. She turned to see Tanuki at the bottom of the hole, his staff barely flickering with light. He gasped heavily but no voice would come out. He was in too much pain to speak and his body was too weak to properly cast spells.

“Useless,” Hundredth frowned and returned to the King, “Our sacred execution ritual cannot be carried out in its traditional form. My King, as your humble servant, I request this degenerate may be executed by you personally.”

“Daughter, do you not wish to strengthen your claim against the Pretenders? Are you still afraid to take the life of this thing?”

“It is not so simple, Father,” she heard as Tanuki cast another spell, but ignored it as it could never hit her, “Believe me when I say, I would gladly take his life. He has wounded my soul in ways I can only hope time will heal. Despite my anger, I believe in the importance of the True King taking the False Hero’s head. My claim is strong enough as it is. What I want is to strengthen the claim of our heritage. I want our Father to be the legend who cast down the greatest threat to his creation.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The King thought about it.

“Permission granted. Bring him to me.”

Hundredth turned but Tanuki was gone. A trail of blood led towards the wall, where it disappeared without a sign. Hundredth’s eyes grew wide. She rushed down the slope and searched for the boy, then it hit her.

“The Pretenders have united against us,” she panicked, “They are below our feet! The child-eater and the False Hero are in the ground!”

“What?!” For the first time, there was emotion in the King’s voice.

That of worry.

Hundredth noticed the acid leaking down the platform. Following the trail with her eyes, she realised Tanuki’s true target. The basket tied to the shopkeeper’s back bore a hole burnt by the spell. Its contents spilt out and rolled to the bottom of the hole. Hundredth knew exactly what he stole––the healing salve.

Even underground, Tanuki could hear her frantic screams. He rubbed the last floral paste on his wound and witnessed the strange feeling of his bones mending again. His head was still spinning, and his body ached, but it was getting better every second. Observing the corner of his eye, he saw his health points slowly refill.

[ HP: 4/9 ]

“Why are you helping me?” he asked, crawling after Echidna.

“You have helped me, good Sir! It is my duty as an honourable man to repay that kindness!”

Tanuki waited, then spoke again. “And what is your true desire?”

“Oh, it is only an added benefit, but I do enjoy the peacefulness of not hitting my head into a stuck-up tree’s roots every five seconds! And I sleep more peacefully when no two-legged creatures are stomping the ground. You’ve only helped me by erasing those others, the ones with hooves and those with spider legs.”

“Wait, can you hear people on the surface?”

“Of course! Sadly. Their stomps echo through the dirt.”

“Can you pinpoint your location based on that sound?”

“Indeed! That’s why I know where I’m heading, far away from the village!”

“Could you dig under the King?”

Though the tunnel was dark and only the mole’s eyes were humanlike, Tanuki could see the unspoken words in Echidna’s expression.

“Have you gone mad?”

Tanuki raised his staff and summoned acid, bringing a faint green light between them.

“I have a theory.”

“A theory? Good sir, I trust you must be a most spectacular philosopher, but I fear simple ideas cannot kill a godlike beast!”

“This one can,” he nodded towards the staff.

Echidna feared the boy’s plan but ultimately decided to go along with it. They changed directions and burrowed deeper, digging between roots that ploughed the ground, searching for the two. Tentacles slithered only inches away from their faces. Echidna panted in fear as they slowly crept through the war zone, but Tanuki remained steadfast.

After some more time, Echidna stopped. A large, unidentifiable material blocked their way to the King. Its meaty, vein-like appearance reminded Tanuki of something he had already seen.

“I’m afraid this is as far as we’ll go. I cannot dig any further ahead, nor below,” Echidna whispered.

Tanuki crawled in front of him and observed the thing. It was a trunk-sized vein equal to those he saw in the cave with the Nestmen. Tanuki understood its implications immediately.

“This fucker was feeding the Nestmen spawn! But why? Weren’t they killing his own minions?”

Echidna watched with puzzlement as Tanuki turned the staff in his hand, pointing the acid towards himself rather than the meaty vein.

“If this fails, don’t come back for me,” –– he looked at Echidna –– “I’ll be dead. And if you don’t run away now, the same fate awaits you.”

“Sir?” he reached towards Tanuki but quickly pulled away.

The acid grew virile. It nearly burnt Tanuki’s face as he adjusted the staff so its bottom would be directly above the vein. He stared into the floating green and felt as though death was looking back at him. If he failed, all would be over as the same fate befalls him that befell so many of his enemies. He would burn to death, alone in a tight burrow, buried meters below sunlight.

“Echidna, are you still here?”

No answer came, but he continued.

“This maneuver is called Trembling Tremmor. It came with a description, you know? It said this move sends a shockwave through the ground. That should be all there is to it but, you know, I don’t believe that. If I learned anything, it’s that this world is full of mysteries waiting to be uncovered. I wonder, and I truly do, will I be the first to try this?”

He took a deep breath, held it in for a second, then shouted with all his might.

“I dualcast Trembling Tremmor and Acid Spit!”

He slammed the bottom of the staff against the vein. The acid shone brightly, spiralling through the shaft in the shape of two green snakes and sending a deadly ripple through the ground. The acid soaked into the veins and travelled upward.

It seemed like his plan did not work, as there was only silence beside the burrowing roots as they rushed to his location. They burst into the tunnel and restrained his limbs, locking his body against the cold dirt. A moment later, he felt the King’s grip loosen around his wrists, followed by a deep cry of pain.

It worked. The acid travelled through the vein into the King’s heart.

The tentacles spasmed violently as his cries grew in volume. Echidna returned to Tanuki, his gaze a mixture of admiration and surprise.

“You… What did you do?”

Tanuki’s lips curled into a shit-eating grin and he winked playfully.

“I won.”