Chapter 1184

<Chapter 1184> Day 15

We cautiously stepped out of the mansion.

“Kyaaaah…!”

Nebuta Noriko, the modest woman with short hair and glasses, covered her mouth with both hands. It was because there were countless bodies scattered in front of the mansion.

Ignoring the corpses, we kept our guard up and headed toward the shrine. On the way to the shrine’s steps, we didn’t encounter a single villager.

Looking up from the bottom of the stairs, it seemed endless.

It was so dark that we couldn’t see the top. For some reason, it felt like the staircase stretched infinitely—just an illusion, maybe.

“Climbing this staircase isn’t going to be easy. We should budget at least five minutes for it. If someone starts shooting from up there… just thinking about it makes me shiver.”

Everyone in the Circle trembled at Mori Masahiro’s words. But there was no other choice. Taking another route to the shrine without using the paved path would mean climbing through the mountainside, which could take over an hour instead of just five minutes.

We began ascending the staircase slowly. Moving too quickly would exhaust us too fast. Thankfully, during our climb, there was no ambush.

‘Shibata… That monster must be at the shrine, right?’

To be honest, I wasn’t feeling very confident.

Right now, I can’t use Full Recovery. Sure, I have Blood Pills, but overdosing on them could kill me. There’s no way I’m planning to go down with Shibata. If I die, the quest will end in failure. The quest absolutely has to succeed.

The end of the staircase came into view. Luckily, there were no enemies lying in wait at the top.

“Let’s come up with a strategy.”

“A strategy?”

“Nothing fancy. Once we get up there, there’ll definitely be enemies. They might even have guns, so engaging them head-on wouldn’t be wise. So….”

I glanced at the sloped ground and trees on either side of the staircase. Though steep, if we crawled carefully, we could bypass the stairs and reach the shrine without being noticed. We weren’t far from our goal.

“I get it. You’re suggesting we take a detour.”

“Yes. Splitting up the group. Mori-senpai and I will continue up the stairs along with Hudo-senpai and Nebuta-senpai, while Wada goes straight up the stairs.”

“…Nakagami and Hagawa are going around the side? The division seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?”

“No, this is correct. The enemy will likely expect Mori-senpai and me to be the main threat. Too few people might seem suspicious. However, if there’s no one lying in wait at the top of the stairs… Nakagami-senpai and Hagawa should operate as a separate unit and capture the shrine maiden.”

“Hold on! Isn’t that too dangerous for Nakagami-senpai and Hagawa?!”

Wada Kyoshirou snapped. His eyes darted nervously toward Hagawa Ryouko, clearly worried about her safety. Meanwhile, Hagawa Ryouko listened silently without objection.

“Not bad,” Nakagami Lisa said, smirking as she twirled her hatchet while looking at Hagawa Ryouko.

“It feels like a ninja mission, doesn’t it? Right, Ryouko?”

“…Hagawa-senpai. I’m not a ninja. And please don’t call me by my first name.”

“It’s fine between us, you know. You can call me by my first name too.”

“…”

Wada Kyoshirou stared wide-eyed, alternating his gaze between Nakagami Lisa and Hagawa Ryouko, clearly wondering when they had grown so close. While I watched them, my mind wandered back to the time we all… bathed together naked…


It couldn’t be said that way just because of that.

“Anyway, you have no complaints about this strategy, right?”

Nakagami Lisa asked Hagawa Ryouko. Hagawa Ryouko, fidgeting with the dagger hidden in her bosom, nodded.

“Setting aside whether it’s appropriate… Gathering everyone to break through head-on is unsettling.”

“We’ll move according to Eugene’s words since it’s been decided.”

They walked into the mountains beside the stairs.

They would do well. At least they wouldn’t hesitate to kill people. In Nakagami Lisa’s case, her skills were a bit unreliable, but with Hagawa Ryouko from the ninja clan, it would be fine.

“…Gender. You seem to have gotten close to Ryouko.”

Wada Kyoushiro said to me.

“Me and Hagawa being close? What are you hallucinating about?”

“It’s not a hallucination. Ryouko… kept watching Gender. I can tell even if others don’t.”

Good intuition, huh?

Or does he know Hagawa Ryouko’s habits and quirks as an old friend?

Either way, I don’t have time to chat with Wada Kyoushiro here.

“Let’s talk later. Now isn’t the time for that kind of conversation.”

“…Got it.”

We arrived at the shrine entrance.

The Torii, right? A large red gate greeted us. We walked through the Torii onto the stone path toward the shrine.

The shrine was quiet. There was no one around. Only the sound of grass bugs echoed from all sides. The atmosphere was overall eerie.

I frowned as I looked at the shrine building. There were multiple buildings.

“Where do you think the shrine maiden will be?”

I asked Mori Masahiro. He had visited the shrine during a festival.

“…I’m not sure either. Since the shrine is so wide, there are many places where the shrine maiden could hide. I think she might be in the main house.”

“Not the main hall?”

“When I checked yesterday, the main hall was for rituals. It’s not where people stay.”

“…Well, we’ll probably find out where she is if we look around slowly.”

“The lack of people is bothering me. Those bastards might be lying in wait.”

“…”

I have a rough idea.

This village is already done for. The shrine maiden who dominated the village and used it as a drug factory must have a lot to clean up.

“And she even sent someone to kill me. But those guys ended up dying by my hands instead.”

The shrine maiden must be very busy right now.

We searched the shrine everywhere. There was nothing special.

Just as we left the main hall without any results—

KWAANG!

A loud noise rang out as the annex door burst open. A towering man appeared through the small doorway.

An upper body disproportionately huge compared to his lower body, covered in pitch-black clothing that hid his face.

It was Shibata.

“What, what is THAT monster?!”

Wada Kyoushiro gasped in shock. Without realizing it, he tensed up and pointed his baseball bat at Shibata.

“…That’s probably the monster Gender mentioned. I doubted it when I heard about it, but seeing it directly… my legs are trembling even more.”

Mori Masahiro glared at Shibata with his spear in hand.

“Do we really have to fight such a monster?!”

“What, what should we do?!”

Fudo Jun and Nebata Noriko panicked and trembled in fear.

Shibata, who was the source of their terror, didn’t care about them at all and only stared at me. Even though his face was covered by cloth, I instinctively knew he was looking at me.

“You! Why are you still alive?!”

Shibata’s voice was shaking. I smirked. Though he tried to hide it with a gruff tone, the guy was afraid of me. I looked at Shibata’s right arm. His severed right arm that I cut off was reattached. Looking closely, it was crudely stitched together with thick wire.

There was no way that alone would make the arm functional. The right arm hung limply. It was clear it couldn’t move.

“Where is the shrine maiden?”

“…The lady ordered me to kill you. You, die.”

Shibata started running.

He was slower than the first time I saw him. Still, it wasn’t a speed to ignore.

“Spread out! Scatter and take him down!”

With a Japanese sword in each hand, I jumped back while shouting. Shibata was blatantly targeting me.

I had anticipated fighting Shibata and already discussed it with the Circle Ones.

I drew Shibata’s attention while Mori Masahiro and Wada Kyoushiro attacked Shibata from behind.

“That’s annoying!”

BOOM!


KUH-KUH!

Shibata swung his left arm wildly and went berserk.

He had grabbed a decorative statue from the shrine and hurled it. Incredibly, the first victim struck by the statue was Nebata Noriko, who had been trying to stay out of sight at the farthest corner.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

POW.

She couldn’t evade the flying statue, and her head exploded on impact, killing her instantly.

“You bastard…!”

Fudo Jun, standing next to Nebata Noriko, threw five knives at Shibata. Two missed, but three hit their mark – two embedding in his back and one in his head.

Shibata casually pulled the knife out of his head with his massive left hand. The cloth covering his head fell away, revealing a grotesque face. His blood-red eyes bulged as if they would pop out any second, his jaw twisted into an S-shape, and a horn-like protrusion jutted from the center of his forehead.

His face was just as inhuman as his physique.

“You… You…!!”

Shibata turned and screamed at Fudo Jun. Most absurdly, he moved around effortlessly despite having a knife stuck in his head.

‘This guy’s really a monster… No, that can’t be. His mind must be gone. He’s high on something. There’s no blood coming from his eyes, but he’s definitely eaten blood pills.’

Shibata began charging towards Fudo Jun. Fudo Jun tried to flee but tripped over a rock and fell.

“I’ll crush your skull!!”

Shibata grabbed Fudo Jun’s head with his left hand. With a squelching sound, blood and brain matter oozed out from between his fingers.

While Shibata was killing Fudo Jun, I sneaked up and slashed at his right thigh. It wasn’t a deep cut – his thigh muscles were as tough as his upper body.

‘At least I managed to make him limp.’

Shibata turned around.

“My leg!!”

“Where’s the medium?”

“Die!!”

I quickly jumped back to dodge his attack. Shibata started targeting me again. Without his mobility, he didn’t seem as threatening as before.

“Mori-senpai! Wada! We just need to keep our distance! If we maintain distance, we can hunt him easily!”

“Hunt? That monster is still human!”

“I like the spirit’s words. Is crushing someone’s head with your bare hands human?”

Mori Masahiro and Wada Kyoshiro joined the battle aggressively, enraged by the deaths of two Circle members.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Shibata screamed and went wild. We kept our distance from the immobile target and continued the battle.

KUH!

Finally, Shibata collapsed.

I rushed to the fallen enemy and jammed my sword into his eye socket. He trembled violently before dying. What a tiresome fight.

THUMP.

Mori Masahiro slumped down. His left arm, which had taken a hit during the battle, was horribly broken. I approached him to check his arm.

“Mori-senpai… To be honest, this arm is beyond saving.”

“…I’m thankful to be alive. If that guy hadn’t weakened, I would have lost my life, not just my arm.”

“Can you stand?”

“The legs are fine, so I can walk. But I want to rest a bit.”

“This might be your eternal rest.”

“W-What…? GURK?!”

I stabbed Mori Masahiro in the chest. I could feel the sensation of piercing through his heart.

I didn’t like how he kept acting like my senior. Die.

I brought him along to deal with Shibata. Now that Shibata’s dead, Mori Masahiro is unnecessary. And for the same reason, I’ll kill Wada Kyoshiro here. Once Wada Kyoshiro dies, Hagawa Ryouko will be mine.

“Spirit!!!”

Wada Kyoshiro shouted and charged at me, swinging a bent baseball bat.

I dodged the bat and swung my sword. It sliced across his torso, but not deeply enough to reach his internal organs.

POW!

The deflected bat struck my side.

“…You’ve got some guts.”

I raised my sword to finish him off. Wada Kyoshiro threw the bat at me and fled. I wanted to chase him, but my injured side throbbed painfully. I checked my bruised side – it was already turning black and blue.

Wada Kyoshiro escaped into the mountains while I hesitated. It’s too late to pursue him now.