A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Heart Kingdom]

[Outskirts]

The forest had changed completely since the two of them arrived.

What had once been a stretch of woodland was now little more than their private battlefield. Trees had been split apart, their trunks scarred by earlier impacts, while broken branches and torn earth littered the ground around the wide crater where Shuten-dōji and Echidna had first landed.

For several seconds, there was only silence.

Then the earth behind Echidna began to move; Shuten-dōji’s eyes shifted past her. A low rumble rolled through the forest, then another and another.

The sound quickly became too numerous to count. Branches snapped as heavy bodies pushed through undergrowth. The ground trembled beneath approaching footsteps; Echidna stood completely still. While behind her, shapes began emerging from between the trees.

Dozens of Deseruit Beasts.

They were not uniform creatures. Some were quadrupeds with bodies built like oversized predators, their forelimbs ending in thick claws that tore through the soil as they advanced. Others were hunched and almost insect-like, their elongated limbs carrying them forward with surprising speed. Several were broad enough to crush trees simply by forcing their bodies through them, while others were leaner.

Their appearances varied, but their intent did not.

Every one of them was focused on Shuten-dōji; the oni watched them approach, her expression barely changed. One of the beasts released a guttural roar, and another answered. Then the entire mass surged forward as the forest erupted.

Trees shook as the creatures charged through them, branches snapping beneath them. Soil scattered beneath claws and feet. Several of the larger beasts lowered their heads as they accelerated, while the smaller ones darted between them, using the larger bodies as cover.

Shuten-dōji remained where she was; she waited as the first creature reached her. Its jaws opened wide, and only then did Shuten-dōji move. Her odachi came up from beside her body in one smooth motion. The blade passed through the creature’s neck before the beast could finish its lunge; its momentum carried the body several more feet before it collapsed.

Shuten-dōji had already moved on as another beast swung a massive claw toward her. She stepped inside its reach, and her blade flashed upward. The creature’s arm separated at the joint; before it could react, she reversed the motion and cut through its torso. The beast fell heavily behind her.

A third came from her left as Shuten-dōji pivoted. The creature’s claws passed inches from her shoulder as her odachi swept horizontally. The blade carved through its middle; the upper half continued forward for several feet before tumbling into the dirt, and the lower half collapsed where it stood.

Another beast leapt over the corpse; Shuten-dōji looked up. For an instant, the creature’s shadow covered her; she raised one hand, and the odachi shifted. One precise upward cut opened the beast from beneath its chest to the base of its skull; it fell behind her, and she didn’t even turn to watch it land.

More were coming, far more.

Shuten-dōji exhaled quietly, more in boredom than exasperation.

"You’re all rather persistent."

The next wave hit, and three attacked simultaneously. One from the front, one from the right, and one from behind. Shuten-dōji stepped forward instead of retreating.

The first beast overshot her and turned with it, catching the creature’s flank with the edge of her blade. The second lunged, and she ducked beneath its jaws and drove her shoulder into its chest, using its own momentum to throw its balance aside. Her odachi followed, a diagonal cut split through its body.

The third was already upon her; Shuten-dōji twisted, its claws scraped against the ground where she had been standing. She planted one foot against its forelimb and pushed herself upward. For a moment she was above it, then her blade descended and the creature dropped.

She landed lightly.

There was no pause as another Deseruit Beast charged from the side. Then another, then five more.

A beast swung as she slipped beneath it; her blade entered through its abdomen and emerged from its back. She withdrew it before the creature had even finished falling; another came from behind. Without looking, she turned her wrist. The odachi traveled backward, and her steel struck flesh.

Shuten-dōji finished the movement by turning completely around and cleaving through its neck.

The forest filled with the sounds of impact.

Shuten-dōji remained strangely composed; she wasn’t struggling, nor was she even breathing particularly hard.

Echidna watched, and her expression hardened.

Another Deseruit Beast charged directly toward the oni; Shuten-dōji raised her blade. Before she could strike, the creature suddenly stopped, its body convulsed, and then it collapsed.

Shuten-dōji’s eyes shifted toward Echidna.

The Mother of Monsters clicked her tongue.

"Enough." She snapped her fingers; emerald light burst through the forest.

The remaining Deseruit Beasts recoiled as two enormous shapes erupted from behind Echidna. They were serpentine and massive. Their bodies were thick enough to crush the surrounding trees, their scales solid as they emerged. Their long necks rose above the area, jaws opening as they released synchronized hisses.

Shuten-dōji’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The two enormous serpents moved.

The first swept its head sideways, smashing through several trees as it attempted to catch the oni between its jaws, but Shuten-dōji merely stepped back. The serpent’s teeth slammed together where she had been; the impact shook the ground.

The second serpent attacked immediately afterward. Its body coiled through the trees before its head came rushing toward her from another direction.

Shuten-dōji turned, and the odachi came up as she blocked the serpent’s bite. The force drove her backward several feet. Her sandals dug into the earth; the serpent pushed harder. Shuten-dōji’s arms tensed.

Then she smiled.

"Ah." Her eyes shifted toward the serpent’s head. "Reinforcing your children now, eh?"

The serpent hissed, the second one began circling, but Shuten-dōji abruptly released her resistance. The serpent’s momentum carried its head forward as the oni stepped aside.

Its enormous jaws snapped shut on nothing.

Shuten-dōji spun away from the attack.

Behind her, Echidna watched carefully. ("She’s annoyingly sturdy.")

The first serpent recoiled, and the second lunged; Shuten-dōji’s expression changed.

She drove her odachi downward; the blade struck the ground.

"Retsu." Her hands formed the hand sign; the moment the gesture was completed, the air changed.

The space around the two serpents distorted. The trees around them bent inward as though the world had suddenly become soft. The serpent reacted; one tried to pull its head backward, but it was too late.

The space surrounding its body folded; its enormous frame was crushed inward from multiple directions. The creature’s hiss became a distorted shriek.

The second serpent attempted to coil away; the ground beneath it warped. Its body buckled, then the surrounding space collapsed. The pressure hit both creatures simultaneously; their massive bodies were forced downward as the forest around them seemed to fold into a single point. Trees snapped, branches exploded outward, and the earth beneath them cratered.

The serpents were slammed into the ground with enough force to send debris racing through the surrounding trees.

Shuten-dōji remained standing beside her embedded blade.

The distorted space slowly returned to normal.

Echidna’s eyes narrowed as Shuten-dōji slowly pulled her odachi free.

"That was better." Her gaze settled on Echidna. "Now..." She lowered the blade toward her side. "...are you finished testing me?"

"I detest that arrogant look on your face."

Echidna’s words came through clenched teeth. Her eyes remained fixed on Shuten-dōji, watching the amusement that refused to leave the oni’s expression.

There was something particularly irritating about it, not merely confidence or even in the casual way Shuten-dōji had cut through her Deseruit Beasts. It was the complete absence of any urgency.

Echidna had thrown beasts that could tear apart ordinary warriors without difficulty. She had surrounded the oni, tested her reactions, and forced her to reveal one ability after another, and yet Shuten-dōji continued to look as though the entire confrontation were little more than an enjoyable diversion.

Shuten-dōji tilted her head.

"Whatever do you mean?" Her expression became almost exaggeratedly innocent. One elegant finger rose to her chin as though she were genuinely attempting to understand the accusation. "I am merely enjoying the sport of slaughtering your children."

The words were delivered with such casualness that they seemed almost detached from the battle.

Echidna’s expression darkened, her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare.

Shuten-dōji noticed immediately.

"Such a dangerous stare." The oni’s finger lowered from her chin. "You should be careful with it." Her smile returned. "Perhaps you shouldn’t throw your children at me so recklessly. If you keep sending them forward without consideration for what happens to them, you may find yourself with rather fewer children than you started with."

Echidna’s jaw tightened.

"Hmph."

She looked past Shuten-dōji towards the bodies scattered across the ruined forest.

The Deseruit Beasts that remained behind her were restless. Some growled low in their throats. Others shifted their weight, claws scraping against the earth. A few skittered anxiously through the undergrowth, watching the oni while waiting for their mother’s will.

Echidna slowly spread her arms.

"You speak as though you understand what they are." Her expression changed; there was pride there. "You aren’t a mother, so you would never understand."

Her gaze moved briefly towards the beast behind her.

"Every one of them is here of their own volition. They aren’t puppets that I drag behind me simply because I created them. They choose to follow me." Her eyes returned to Shuten-dōji. "And if one of them decides that it no longer wishes to fight, I will not force it to remain. Each and every one of my children has the right to choose their own path." The small smile on Echidna’s face became more pronounced. "A mother who stands in the way of her children’s chosen path simply because she cannot accept their decision isn’t much of a mother at all."

She lowered her arms slightly.

Shuten-dōji listened without interrupting; her expression had become difficult to read.

"How truly heartwarming." There was no obvious sincerity in her voice, but there was no mockery either.

The words simply hung there, strangely neutral.

Echidna’s eyes narrowed again.

"You don’t sound convinced."

"I did not say I wasn’t."

"Then perhaps you should answer something of your own." The Mother of Monsters’ voice hardened. "What exactly drives something like you?"

Shuten-dōji’s smile faded slightly.

Echidna studied her.

"You are clearly bloodthirsty, and you follow that Angel willingly, even when you have no obligation to do so." Her eyes narrowed. "You speak of being interested in his journey, yet you never explain what you actually want from it." The surrounding beasts remained tense. "Do you possess any purpose beyond your own curiosity? Or are you simply another creature that moves wherever its interests happen to take it?"

Shuten-dōji remained silent for a moment, then she raised her odachi.

"Who knows?" Her smile returned, but it was smaller. "Perhaps you should stop trying to dissect me from a distance." She adjusted her grip. "Perhaps we should simply bear our hearts to one another."

Her red eyes settled upon Echidna.

"Then you might finally discover what lies beneath all of this."

Echidna stared back for the briefest moment; neither moved.

"Tch." Echidna clicked her tongue as her expression hardened. Whatever answer she might have wanted from the oni, she clearly had no intention of indulging the invitation.

But neither woman looked away.

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