Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”

Chapter 4 Part 17
 

"Gi, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!"

The black demon beast pushed Tom to the ground and ate his arm. The demon beast's fangs pierced his flesh, and Tom screamed in pain.

"Tom !!!!! This! Let gooooooo !"

Mimuru screamed and leaped at the demon beast, but her knife was blocked by the demon beast's armor-like skin and was repelled in vain. She desperately tried to help Tom, but the demon beast didn't even look at her.

"Fuh~ !!"

Nozomu caught up from behind and rushed in from the other side, with Mimuru and the demon beast in between.

Nozomu's aim is the jaws of the demon beasts. While sheathing the katana he drew, he struck the Qi technique *Breaking Strike* at the joint between the upper and lower jaws.

"Gugyau !!"

The Qi and shock waves that were struck into the jaw destroyed the structurally fragile joint and the jaw lost its power. The demon beast with weakened jaw dropped Tom's right arm.

Nozomu pursued further.

Hold both hands on his hips and compress his Qi. He slammed the Qi technique *Cannon* into the demon beast.

The struck *Cannon* could not blow the black demon beast away, but the intense torrent of Qi released at a close distance succeeded in making the demon beast falter, and in that gap, Mimuru retreated with her lover who had fallen to the ground.

Nozomu also kept a distance from the demon beasts, between Shīna and the demon beasts.

"Tom! Tom !! Hang in there !!!"

"U~uu ..."

Mimuru called out to Tom while crying. His condition is not good. The shock from the severe pain and bleeding knocked him unconscious, and it turned out that he was in a very dangerous situation.

"Gubya~, gehya~au!!!'

The black demon beast couldn't close its lower jaw because Nozomu crushed its jaw, and it stuck out its tongue and let out a scream.

When Nozomu looked at Shīna, she just stood there stunned.

"Oi! Oi !! Snap out of it !!!"

"I, I, I am ........."

She was in a state of confusion and she wasn't in a condition of being able to fight.

Nozomu slaps her cheek as he raised his voice.

"Kuh, snap out of it !! Shīna Yuliel !!!"

"………………Ah" 

Light returned to her eyes as she was hit on the cheek.

After Nozomu confirmed that she had regained herself, he faced the black demon beast again. Perhaps the demon beast had endured the destruction of its jaw. It spat blood and saliva onto the ground and stopped moving.

"Let's get out of here !! Just hold on a little more!"

Nozomu looked towards Mimuru without minding about Shīna's existence, and Mimuru agreed and nodded her head many times. She was also quite upset with Tom being injured.

"Okay, we'll get away from here soon ... Wha !!"
As they were about to leave the place, they doubted the scene that had happened in front of them.

There was a vertical line on the demon beast's face whose jaw was destroyed by Nozomu, the demon beast's head began to tear vertically while making a noise.

"What on earth is going on..."

"Aah ........."

While Mimuru watched in a stunned manner and Shīna had a horrified face, the black demon beast changed its appearance even further.

While sprinkling its own blood around itself, the demon beast's head to neck broke vertically, and countless fangs began to grow on the torn wound. In the place where the head used to be, three big fangs grew to make a huge mouth, and a pair of huge eyes appeared on the sides of the neck.

The bloated body became even bigger, the claws became larger and sharper. It no longer looked like a wolf and changed to a complete monster. 

"Gigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!"

The demon beast roared with its huge mouth open to the left and right.

“…………………….”

Nozomu saw it and decided that it was impossible for four people to escape at the same time. It's even more difficult to escape while protecting the injured

(At least we need a decoy to stop this guy… Mimuru is protecting Tom, and Shīna… It wouldn't be possible for the current her… When it comes to that then, I'm the only one…)

Mimuru's hands are full protecting Tom. And Shīna, while glancing at her, he didn't think it would work.

They have to survive without losing anyone. The most likely way for that...

"Oi, Shīna"

"eh~?"

While keeping an eye on the transformed demon beast, Nozomu takes a map out of his pocket behind him and hands it to Shīna.

"It's a map of the area around here. If you go to the hut written there, you'll find all the treatment tools you need. If you treat Tom there, you'll spend the night in that hut, and when the sun rises tomorrow, you'll return to the city and report about this demon beast. "

Nozomu gave instructions to Shīna in a tone that made her fall silent. The place mentioned in the instructions was Shino's hut. That's the only place where treatment can be done.

In a situation where the number of people were small, there was no room to treat the injured Tom by using magic on the spot. They must not waste time as his condition could worsen at any moment.

"B, but, then you are ..." 

Shīna's line of sight went back and forth between Nozomu and Tom. Her eyes trembled. She seemed helpless because of her sense of responsibility and guilt.

However, Nozomu couldn't afford to care for her right now.

"I'm the only one who can be a decoy here! And look at Tom's condition! I don't think we have enough time to care about me !! Just give priority to your friends. !!! " 

Nozomu yelled at Shīna who was still hesitating. Her body jolted because of his loud voice.

Nozomu fully raised his Qi and strengthened his whole body. Perhaps it sensed the raised Qi, the demon beast in front of him lowered its posture and put itself on guard.

Nozomu lifted his leg up and slammed it to the ground with all his might.

At the same time, he sent his Qi to the ground and blasted it away, the blasted cloud of dust blocking the demon beast's eyesight so the direction of escape for Shīna and the others was not known.

"Go!!!!"

"... Sorry! Nozomu-kun !! I leave it to you !!"

"!!!!!!" 

At the same time as Nozomu shouted so, Mimuru started running with Tom on her back, but Shīna still showed a moment of hesitation.

She closed her eyes tightly and her facial expression showed as if she was enduring something, but she turned her heels back and disappeared into the woods.

Beyond the smoke, the demon beast, which had completely transformed, rushed toward Nozomu and the others at the same time as the cloud of dust blasted away.

However, Nozomu had already predicted it.
Nozomu didn't keep an eye on Shīna until the end. He thrust towards the smoke, reached for the pouch on his waist, and threw what he takes out at the demon beast.

He threw a Flash Ball and a Noise Ball. Nozomu, who was in poor economic condition, couldn't buy the Depth Charge Ball he had before because it was too expensive. However, these two balls could be purchased at the same price as a recovery medicine.

The Flash ball and the Noise Ball that were thrown by Nozomu exploded in front of the demon beast that rushed in. A tremendous flash of light and a bursting sound echoed around.

"Gugyan !!!"

The flash and busting sound that exploded in front of it made the black demon beast stop. Nozomu ran to the side with all his might and jumped into the forest in the opposite direction of Shīna and the others.

In order to gain time against the black demon beast, Nozomu chose to be a decoy and guide it in the opposite direction rather than fight it head-on. However, he couldn't let the black demon beast catch up to Shīna and the others, so he purposely rushed in from the front for the black demon beast to see and taunt it.

"Gieeeeeee !!" 

Nozomu's decision was right, with a terrifying roar from its huge mouth, the black demon beast began to chase after him.

"Gigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!"

The roar shook the atmosphere, the running footsteps of the demon beast seemed to even shake the ground.

====================================

"Haa, haa, haa, haa !!"

About 10 minutes after Nozomu attracted the demon beast as a decoy, his escape from the demon beast was still going on in the forest.

Considering the difference in ability between Nozomu and the demon beast, he would be overtaken and eaten by the demon beasts in less than a minute. The reason he was able to escape was simply because Nozomu had the upper hand over the land.

The forest where he was running around in the name of training by Shino. It was a place where he usually got attacked by demon beasts and survived. Nozomu knows more about this place than the adventurers in the city.

Nozomu chose to escape to a place in the forest that was overgrown with trees to some extent. The black demon beast, which had a large and bloated body, was disturbed by the overgrown trees due to the narrow distance between the trees and was unable to catch up to Nozomu.

However, Nozomu couldn't completely shake off the demon beast, and the distance between the two had barely changed.

Obviously, Nozomu was at a disadvantage in this situation. 

(I'm about to reach that place soon, but it still takes time to get there. At this distance, it might catch up before I get there ... can I make it in time?)

When he glanced back, there was still the black demon beast chasing after him with its huge mouth fully open.

(Daaaaaaa! So persistent !! Just give it up already!)

The place Nozomu is aiming for. There is still a long way to get there. If he gets there, he has a chance to escape, but as of now, it'll probably catch up to him before then.

At that moment, something crossed Nozomu's mind

(... That's right! If I use that, I might be able to stop it!! The question is whether it will works...)

Nozomu changed his direction. It's a bit of a detour to the destination. If he stayed on the path, he would definitely be able to reach his destination. However, if the black demon beast couldn't be stopped, it would definitely catch up to him and he had no other choice but to fight.

" !! "

Nozomu's face was slightly distorted. He thought about releasing his Ability Suppression. Certainly, it was necessary to fight and win against the black demon beast.

However, Nozomu hadn't been able to get rid of his hesitations yet.

The him who murdered and killed every life he saw. Yesterday's scene shook his head, and above all else, the fact that he had once given in to his own anger made him hesitate to unleash his power.

As Nozomu ran, the scene in front of him changed.

The distance between the overgrown trees grew wider, and tall trees with thick trunks began to grow around them.
(!! Damn!)

Currently, Nozomu is still unable to release his Ability Suppression. He only set his sights on a location, but the black monster chased him from behind, shortening the distance.

Eventually, the flatland was cut off in the middle, and a steep slope came into his eyes.

Nozomu ran down the slope with all his might.

If he slipped and fell, he would roll down in a straight line and suffer serious injuries, but still, he couldn't slow down.

The black demon beast also came down the slope to chase after Nozomu.

The distance between Nozomu and the demon beast was further shortened, and finally, it was right behind him.

The demon beast opened its jaw wide. The huge mouth that was opened is dyed bright red, and countless fangs made a creaking noise, and another circular mouth appeared behind it, lie in wait for its prey.

Nozomu tried his best to escape from the demon beast, but he clearly couldn't escape.

And just as the demon beast's jaw was about to catch Nozomu, Nozomu disappeared from the demon beast's sight, intense pain ran down one of the demon beast's forelegs, and fresh blood splattered.

"Gyan !!!"

The demon beast suddenly lost its balance. It tried to regain its posture, but it fell to the ground unable to stand on one leg, and rolled down the slope.

"Guu !!"

Nozomu also lost his balance and wasn't sure of his footing, but he managed to regain his posture and ran down the slope while moving away from the demon beast that had rolled down.

What Nozomu did was change the running direction while lowering his posture by applying *Instant Move -Curve Dance-* the moment the demon beast entered his attack range. He moved to the demon beast's side and slashed its forefoot with Qi technique *Phantom*.

With one of its weight-bearing forelegs injured, the demon beast couldn't support its own weight and couldn't stop its momentum and simply rolled down the hill.

"Haa, haa, haa ........."

It was certainly a terrifying walk on a tightrope.

If the timing was wrong even by one step, he would either roll down the slope or be eaten.

Nozomu who was running down the slope could not afford to check what happened to the demon beast and continued to run.

(Probably the demon beast is still ...)

"Gieeeeeee !!!!!!"

The demon beast's roar came into Nozomu's ears again.

Looking behind over his shoulder, the demon beast chased after him once again.

(Damn! As I thought, It's still not enough !!! Just stay a little bit longer, so please be quiet!! )

At first, he didn't expect he could beat it to that extent, but he was able to gain some distance. Nozomu kept running and saw a tree in front of him.

(There it is !! Please! Make it work !!)

Nozom ran to the side of the tree and kicked the boulder near the tree trunk.

When the boulder was flung aside with a *Bish!* sound, in the next moment, ropes woven in a square pattern appeared one after another between the demon beast and Nozomu.

The demon beast that was chasing Nozomu fell down after being caught by a rope woven in a grid pattern. It struggled to escape, but it caused more ropes to become tangled with it.

Originally, that trap was set up to escape from the demon beast that attacked when Nozomu was left in the forest by Shino and was made for stalling time.

He thought it would be bad if other adventurers got caught, so the trap itself had no killing power, and he tried to prevent it from working unless he moved the stone he had placed as the key, but Nozomu was worried whether it would work because he made it a long time ago.

Nozomu had set such traps for stalling time around the forest.

In order for Nozomu who had lower physical abilities to survive, it was necessary to use such a method. This is the wisdom of survival.

That said, it's a trap for stalling time. Moreover, it has not been used for a long time, and the material used to make the woven rope is grass, so it is not sturdy at all.

Sure enough, the rope couldn't stand the demon beast's power and started to break.
"It didn't work after all!" 

He had thought the trap couldn't endure it, so Nozomu was already running.

When Nozomu was barely visible from behind the trees, the demon beast finally escaped the ropes that were in its way and went back to chasing Nozomu.

(Just a little bit more, a little bit more !!)

Nozomu's destination was drawing near, but the demon beasts that had once separated were also approaching in the distance.

Eventually, the destination was visible through the gaps between the overgrown trees in Nozomu's field of view.

There was a little green-skinned man there. Tents made of trees, leaves, and bark were lined up, and the skulls of prey pierced at the ends of sticks were lined up. Fires were lit here and there, and the prey caught was roasted.

It was a village of goblins.

This village was previously discovered by Nozomu in the forest, but when he found it, he had just started training with Shino, so at that time he thought it would be bad to be found by the goblins, so he left it alone.

At the entrance of the village, a goblin guard found Nozomu running.

"Gyagya !!!"

At first, the goblins thought that only one person was coming their way, so they called out to their friends with grins. They might have thought of sending the stupid human who came to their village for dinner today, but when they saw the giant beast behind him, their complexion turned blue and flustered.

The moment the other goblins called by the guards saw the black demon beasts heading towards them, their expressions changed and started to flee.

Nozomu didn't care about the goblins at all and plunged into the goblins' village with the demon beasts pulled behind him. 

The goblins' village was falling apart as he expected.

Those who rushed out with weapons, those who fled at a glance, those who panicked without knowing what to do.

Goblin screams could be heard here and there, and it was a dreadful sound.

Meanwhile, Nozomu and the black demon beast were moving back and forth within the goblin village, causing more confusion.

Nozomu rushed into the goblins' village with the demon beast, caused panic, and decided to take advantage of the chaos and escape.

However, the black demon beast was still chasing Nozomu with its huge mouth fully open.

(That's it!)

In front of Nozomu, a big tent could be seen. Maybe this village chief's residence. From the entrance of the tent, a goblin significantly larger than the surrounding goblins appeared. Goblin Lord, the chief of this village.

The Goblin Lord came out with an expression that seemed to be saying something, but when he saw Nozomu and the black demon beast rushing to his place, he opened his mouth and shouted loudly in the next moment.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaa !!"

"Uooooooooooo !!!"

"Goaaaaaaaaaaa !!!"

Nozomu, Goblin Lord, and the Black Demon Beast rushed to the chief's tent.

The two of them rushed into the tent, but Nozomu fled to the edge of the tent with *Instant Move -Curve Dance-* as he entered the tent. The black demon beast lost sight of Nozomu again due to the darkness in the tent, and attacked the Goblin Lord in front of it, mistaking it for Nozomu.

While the Goblin Lord was screaming, Nozomu immediately went outside, cut the ropes supporting the tent, broke the tent, and covered the demon beast with it.

Originally, Nozom had intended to block the demon beast's sight with the big tent and flee in the meantime, but the Goblin Lord who happened to be in front of it got involved, and the pitiful Goblin Lord ended up taking hits from the demon beast.

While the demon beast was rampaging under the collapsed tent,

Nozomu ran away.

"Haa! Haa! Haa !!"

Nozomu's physical strength has reached its limit. Moreover, the angry goblins on their way to escape noticed Nozomu and shot arrows, but he mustered the last of his energy to escape.

After shaking off the goblins' pursuit, Nozomu managed to escape into the forest.

The black demon beast that was under the tent crawled out.

The demon beast who noticed that he lost sight of Nozomu attacked the goblins as if to vent its anger.

While hearing the screams of the goblins that echoed again on his back, Nozomu continued running.