The next morning, as the agents woke up and began to pack, Takeshi picked up his sniper rifle and looked through the scope, where he saw Ken still sitting on the tree branch.
"Weirdo." Takeshi snorted, only for Ichiro to hit his back with one hand. "Stop picking on the kid. He’s here to help."
Hinata sat on the back of her chimeric antelope beast, waiting for everyone to prepare so they could continue the journey. Their tracker was taking them to where the highest source of mana was, meaning the exact spot the boss would be.
While everyone brought down the camps, Ken was quite confused. He was certain they would be attacked and had stayed up all night, expecting the boss or any beast at all, but there was nothing.
Still confused, he sat on a truck, and they began to move. All the other trucks followed the lead of the first one.
And the first one followed a seeker bird. As they moved, Ken, who sat cross-legged , gently caressed his sheathed katana.
What sort of creature were they facing?
Ken pondered as he scanned his environment, but there was no attack, only mon wild beasts fleeing at the sound of their vehicles.
His eyes, however, widened to the limit when they rode down a narrow road beside vast farmlands that had been burnt to the ground.
Everywhere, until the horizon, was covered with ash and black soot.
Ken stood up, clenching his katana tightly as he stared at the town the convoy was driving into. This wasn’t a village anymore but a large town, yet all that was left of it were burnt houses and huge fallen trees, also burnt until they were darker than the night.
All the trucks stopped at the heart of the town. There, they saw people tied to stakes. They were tied in a circle, about twenty people, and burnt.
It should have been a horrid sight, enough to question the sanity and culture of the people who lived in this town that looked like an ancient Japanese settlement, but no one could even think in that direction when they saw the creatures in these people’s bodies.
Centipedes. Some of them had huge centipedes stuck to their bodies, some had smaller ones, but sometimes more than six. All the centipedes had died with their hosts, burnt to death.
Although Ken’s face was hidden, the skin around his eyes was pale. He was appalled at what his eyes had witnessed.
Ichiro glanced at Ken, who walked past them. His eyes lingered on Ken for a while before his attention came back to the burnt people.
"Is it some kind of centipede infestation?" Hinata squinted, then turned to Ichiro.
"Whatever it is, we have to kill the source." Takeshi, who sat atop the second truck, said grimly. ’As much as I hate to admit it, that Godfrey might be right. But we won’t let whatever is causing this get to Japan. It will die here, even if we die with it.’
While the main group were conversing, Ken arrived before a massive tree that had fallen because of the fire.
This time around, he saw more bodies just after the tree. It was like they were fleeing... fleeing from the town, but something happened. Someone killed them, even all the way beyond a small creek.
Over a hundred bodies were here.
Ken scanned the bodies and discovered they were killed with darts. Poisoned darts. A good number of these people had dead centipedes beneath their flesh.
It was a grotesque sight.
A portal opened up beside Ken, and a man on a black three-headed horse with a silver mane and tail stepped out.
This man wore traditional armour, designed for an honourable samurai clan head. A ferocious mask hid the samurai’s face, while there was a massive three-meter-long bow strapped to his back.
Two weapons. A katana was strapped to the waist of this eight-foot-tall samurai. pared to most summons at the Titled god Tier, this samurai was really small, but astride his eight-foot-tall warhorse, he could exceed ten feet.
"Asahi." Ken muttered. He gave his summon his father’s name. "What do you think?"
Asahi dismounted, then squatted. ’They’ve been dead for quite a while. I have this odd feeling that—’
"That whatever we’re chasing after is heading for the gate." Ken clenched his fist. "It’s already in Tokyo. These bodies have been dead much longer than those we met on our way. It was heading in the direction of the gate."
’No.’ Asahi shook his head, then looked ahead. ’The monster behind this is still in this dungeon. It’s the plague that is creeping towards the gate.’
Ken turned and stormed back to the group. "It’s heading for the gate. We need to go back."
"What do you mean? If this is the plague, there is no host to take it back to Tokyo." Ichiro responded calmly.
"You forgot we put pins in every village we pass. Why did we do that? Because of the research and extraction team. They’re in here right now, and any of them could be stepping through that gate as we speak."
All of them looked at each other, uncertain of which direction to take. Going back could be a big mistake, and going forward might also be a costly mistake.
At that moment, the sound of a bamboo flute, carried by the gentle breeze, reached their ears.
"What’s that?" Hinata muttered while the entire team looked around, their summons and weapons at the ready.
Suddenly, a female agent fell to her knees and began to cough blood. A rade close to her rushed to her and quickly removed her helmet and the mask that covered the lower part of her face, only for him to see a small centipede crawling beneath the flesh of her cheek.
His eyes trembled. He remembered seeing her scratching a lot when they were in the truck. And... it wasn’t only her.
Sounds of coughing rang out as twenty-seven other agents fell, some spasming as blood came out of their orifices.
"Don’t touch them!" Ken bellowed, but some concerned agents were simply too close. Some who looked like they were dying one moment ago suddenly grabbed their rades, vomiting small centipedes on them.
Screams exploded as their ranks fell into chaos.
Reviews
All reviews (0)