Volume 10 - CH 51

[Ghost King Cometh]

Takeru and I stepped into the woods.

The insects, the birds, the wind.

As though to drown out those sounds of nature, the heavy sound of something hard hitting each other resounded.

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Gan

Gan

Gan

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The sound became clearer and I could make out that it’s like metal hitting metal.

Sweat runs down my back.

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—-Oi.

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The Hideyori inside me speaks.

The sudden voice of that scumbag took my attention away from the metallic sound.

What? I asked back in my mind.

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—–It doesn’t matter if you turn back now, this is bad.

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Hearing Hideyori’s words, I realize the seriousness of the situation.

So whether I keep going or ignore the sound and go back it would be equally bad huh……?

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The other day, I was relieved that Mitsuki’s route’s death flag is gone now but it seems that I managed to find myself another one…….

While I was considering my options, Takeru already moved ahead and sneaked up toward the source of the sound.

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We would soon find out what was making the sound.

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Silence……..

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The metallic sound suddenly ceased.

Confused, Takeru and I look at each other.

I don’t know what kind of expression he is making but Takeru asked [Should we?] in a small voice and I replied [Yeah].

At the source of the sound, there was a tree that was on size larger than the other trees in the area.

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It’s not some metallic thing? I wonder as I approach the tree.

It was when Takeru shone the light from his phone on the tree.

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5 small human-shaped straw dolls could be seen nailed to the big tree.

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“Woah!?” When Takeru let out a small scream, I saw a figure in the dim light.

At the same time, the sound of something cutting through the wind at high speed reached my ear.

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“GET DOWN!?”

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I tackle Takeru.

We lost our balance and fell to the ground.

Right after, in the place Takeru’s head was, something flew into the tree, sticking to it with a Gan sound.

When Takeru shines the light on it, a knife is stuck there.

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[[SHHHHHHHHHH!]]

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From the direction I saw the figure came a hoarse voice.

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[[YOUUUUUU SAWWWWWWWW!]]

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“EPPPPP!?”

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Takeru’s scream could be heard from below me.

He was panicking so I grabbed the phone in his hand, disabled the light, and roughly put it back inside his pocket.

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“We’re running, Takeru.”

“Hi, Hideyo……”

“Let’s go!”

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Half yelling, I pulled the still-panicked Takeru’s hand and started to run.

For the time being, I quickly shuffled my legs in the direction of the path we took earlier.

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“cOmE BAcK! KILL!”

“Kuh……”

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When I turned to look, I saw a figure wearing a crown-like thing with several candles sticking up on top carrying a hammer and a sickle in each hand rushing after me and Takeru.

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“W, What the heck!? A Reaper Hag!?”

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I hear Takeru’s frightened voice from the side.

Reaper Hag? Without even giving me the time to retort on Takeru’s naming sense (not that I am in any mood to do that), a hammer was thrown at us.

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“Shit!?”

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I dodged sideways and hid behind the cover of a tree.

Bong The hammer hits the tree and makes a loud dull sound.

If I hadn’t dodged my brain would have been turned into smushes.

That thing was thrown without any hesitation and the accuracy was simply terrifying considering that we were in the middle of the night.

From what I’ve seen so far, this Reaper Hag is probably stronger than Yurika and Yoru.

I started to get wary as this Hag might even be on par with someone like Irene-something-something-san.

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“KISHHHHHHHH! SHHHHHHA!!!”

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The Reaper Hag let out a strange shriek.

Then, she said something that I simply can’t ignore.

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“SHHHHHHHHA! GIFFFTTTTT! [GHOST KING COMETH]! FIIIIIIIIIII! HYAHHHHHHHHHH!”

“……Ha?”

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Did that Hag just say [Gift]?

I’m sure I didn’t hear it wrong.

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While I was hoping on the slight chance that I misheard, black shadows began to gather as though to mock my feeble hope and form into a figure that emits a mysterious light.

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The shadowy figure floats in the air. It wears ragged clothes while carrying a large sickle in one hand. On its head was a crown and below it was a face that no matter how I look, is a skull.

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The skeleton descended to the ground. Its towering height is about 3 meters and no matter who sees it, the first thing that would come to their mind would be, yep, that’s a grim reaper.

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[[You summoned me, human…… First, give me 3 years of your life.]]

“SHHHHAAAA!?”

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The Reaper Hag’s voice which only sounded strange until now turned painful.

However, although her complexion has worsened, she somehow looked full of life.

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“Th, This is a dream right……? H, Hey, what’s up with this!? What’s going on!?”

“Kuh……..”

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I had Takeru’s [Anti Gift] with me but I failed to stop her.

Who would have thought that a crazy grim-reaper-looking old lady would be a Gift Holder.

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“Ghost King! Kill those two! Kill them, KILLLLLLLLLL!”

[[…….very well.]]

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The figure called Ghost King started to move as though it was following the hag’s order.

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[[Skeleton Touch.]]

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A huge hand appears in front of me.

I barely avoided it by rolling away and the hand hit the tree behind me.

Then, the tree suddenly rots away.

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“…………..”

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I was stunned by the overwhelming power that would be impossible for a normal human.

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[[Skeleton Touch.]]

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The second attack came.

Another huge hand appeared in front of me and this time I can’t avoid it.

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“Ah……”

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Akechi Hideyori, a man loved by Death Flags, is going to meet his end here.

Ahh, so this is where I die……..

With those words in my mind, I couldn’t take my eyes off the approaching giant hand.

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And without any hesitation, the hand continues to get closer.

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However, right before it touched me, it suddenly disappeared.

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[[Hm? You, it seems you’re carrying a holy trinket with you huh.]]

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The Ghost King said in a questioning tone.

Then, finally able to move, Takeru grabbed my hand and helped me up.

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“M, Maybe it’s the amulet that Tatsuyuki-san gave us……..?

“Eh?”

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Takeru mentioned the amulet but my mind drew blank for a moment.

Then, I understood what he meant.

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“It’s, It’s probably the amulet that Tatsuyuki-san gave us in the car that saved you. He probably knew that something like this would happen right……?”

“I, I see…..”

“The [Holy Trinket] that guy mentioned is probably this amulet……….”

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Takeru said and showed me his amulet.

There, I found a ray of hope.

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“Alright, we’re safe then!”

“Heh! Some Ghost King you are! So all this getup is just for show huh! What a useless chunk of bone!”

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This incompetent protagonist of ours immediately proceeded to provoke the Ghost King.

I have mixed feelings about this but on the other hand, the provoked Ghost King went [Hm?].

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[[There’s no way that is the extent of my Kingly Power! Give me 10 years of your life.]]

“GAHHHHHHH!? AHHHHHHHHHHH!?”

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The Reaper Hag let out a painful shriek.

Her scream alone is already quite a debuff on me.

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[[—-Absolute Death]]

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“Ah…..? AHHH!?”

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The Ghost Kings suddenly emit a mysterious shockwave around him.

Then, Takeru’s amulet and mine both turned to ash.

I hurriedly put my hand in the pocket and immediately felt that the amulet that was in there has turned into something that felt like smooth sand.

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[[Now, Let’s have a fair 2 on 2 fight.]]

“How the hell is this fair!? What the heck are you spouting your brainless ghost! There’s no way normal humans like us can fight against something that rots anything they touch right!?”

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With his existence already worthy of a retort in the first place, we barraged him with a storm of retorts.

Still, it doesn’t change that we are in a desperate situation……….

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Ghost King, Reaper Hag.

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How do I fight against these two supernatural beings without the amulet’s protection……

I decided to use everything Tatsuyuki-san has taught me and stood up.

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Author Note: B-rank

[Ghost King Cometh]

By using 3 years from the user’s lifespan, the user can summon the Ghost King.

The Reaper Hag decided to bring out the Ghost King as she was having trouble erasing the witnesses of her curse.

She doesn’t usually rely on Ghost King when she erases eyewitnesses as she normally would do it herself (She doesn’t want to waste her lifespan)

Reaper Hag gains a very powerful ability in exchange of her lifespan but it’s a pain for her as the Ghost King would sometimes use her lifespan without her permission.

There is no bond between the Ghost King and the Reaper Hag.

So far, she only killed 3 people using Ghost King while the Reaper Hag herself already killed 8.

Incidentally, the existence of the Ghost King is not a Gift so [Anti-Gift] can negate neither the Ghost King himself nor his Skeleton Touch.

In this case, [Anti-Gift] can only prevent his summoning.

To put things in perspective, the existence of Ghost King is close to that of Ennoia.

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What the hag was doing was a curse Ushi no Koku Mairi, a cursing ritual where you curse someone by nailing straw dolls at a shrine or places of power at the hours of an ox (1-3am)

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Next up, Hideyori vs the Ghost King!