Chapter 121.4

Chapter 121.4

[Part 4/4]

It was just like a moth drawn to a flame in the dead of night. I gently grasp Mari's injured hand. I touch her shoulder on the other side. And...slowly push her down.

Looming over her from above.

"Tomobe-sama? Just what is..." The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

'(* ́・ω・)...'

Oblivious to the danger, Mari simply looks up at me puzzlingly. Her sexual ignorance and blindness really was a saving grace. Otherwise she surely would have screamed long ago.

She surely would have cowered at my beast-like gaze.

"...!!!"

"Ngh...!?"

'( ・`д・ ́) Nom nom!'

I unconsciously squeeze the arm I grabbed. Seeing Mari's expression twist in slight anguish only further provoked my sadistic desires. Both body and soul, I truly wanted to just devour her whole...

'(^ω^) It's lunch time!'

"Ah!"

A dull pain shoots through my arm, pulling me back to my senses. Looking, there's the white spider going '(* ́ω`*) Nom nom...' stupidly making eating motions.

What I can say for now is this thing didn't particularly help me out of consideration for the situation.

"Tomobe...sama?"

"...Let's treat it, or it'll get worse."

Noticing the change in my demeanor, Mari looks back confusedly. I mutter briefly and then heave a deep, deep sigh. Venting the intense impulses and cooling my head. Getting off of her, I take out medicinal paste and bandages from the shelf.

"Let's stop the performance here for today. Get some rest."

Pretending as if nothing had happened, I treat her fingertip...'(ノ ́Д`)ノ My lunch!' By the way, I promptly peel the white spider off my arm. I'm gradually finding it difficult to keep putting off her growth if I don't purposefully limit her food. Oh well, knowing it'll break out...'(* >ω

...Or rather, that's how I pretended to be calm about it, but my heart was still in turmoil huh?

* * *

"Ngh...!?"

Inside the cavern, the girl suddenly regained consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness, she was thrown into confusion. She becomes flustered at the situation she finds herself in.

What exactly is this? Where is this place? The girl recoils in fear of being in the dimly lit space.

She combed through her memories. That's right, her hometown no longer existed. It had been lost to youkai over a month ago. The exorcists and army who have just arrived have avenged my family, but... that was it.

With her home, belongings, family, friends all lost, she had no choice but to abandon her hometown like the other villagers. It was impossible to rebuild the village with less than a quarter of the original population after it had been reduced to rubble.

Begging while selling off the food and money gathered from the debris along the highway... Fortunately, the snow had already melted, and she was able to progress by following behind a merchant troop. Where people gather, thieves and youkai also become wary and keep their distance.

And at last, she arrived at Seki city. Overflowing with other refugees who had wandered there after losing their villages like her.

Finding work was difficult. Still, she was fortunate. She was somehow able to start working as a serving girl at one of the shops in the city. The wages were paltry, but having a bed to sleep in and three meals was good enough. After that, gradually growing accustomed to the work after a month, she gave thanks to the Buddha.

Yes, she had been lucky. She was supposed to have been lucky. ...Until this happened.

"Huh...?"

She noticed. The sound of a sutra chant echoing from somewhere. It was the murmuring of mantras. No, this was... it was different from sutra recitation. The words were different? A foreign language?

"From over... there?"

As if drawn like a moth to a flame towards the brightly lit depths of the cavern, she staggered along unsteadily. And then she witnessed it emerging from the shadows.

A great bonfire, and gathered around it chanting curses were grotesque priests. The sacrificial beast had been skinned and its internal organs were exposed. The stench irritated her nose. An all too sacrilegious scene...!!

"Kyaa!?"

She let out a scream and immediately covered her mouth. The ritual attendees don't notice her presence. She breathes a brief sigh of relief thinking she got away with it...

'Gaa gaa gaa...'

A creepy growling sound leaks out from behind and a chill runs down her spine. And then, she slowly turned around. And realized.

The reason they hadn't reacted wasn't because they hadn't noticed. They didn't want to see it.

They didn't want to see the two-headed bat monstrosity voraciously devouring a human before their eyes...

"Ah..."

The last thing the girl saw as she tried to scream was the inhuman evil god drawing nearer with two mouths far larger than her own wide open...