“D-don’t remind me of that,” Christine whined. “I still don’t know how I’m going to face her.”
“How about by being honest?” Kevin muttered.
Christine glared. “You say something?”
“Nope.”
“You do not like women, Christine?” Phoebe asked. “Is there something wrong with them?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course I don’t like women—at least, not like that. And it’s not that there’s anything wrong with them, but I like Ke—I mean, I like boys.”
“Then you have never engaged in lesbian foreplay?”
“Wha—of course not! W-why would I—why would you ask something so stupid?!”
“It is not stupid. There is nothing wrong with engaging in passionate affairs with another woman. Back in my home village, there were very few men, so we yama uba learned about sex by engaging in the act with each other.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Iris said.
“I can’t believe you three are having this conversation in the middle of enemy territory,” Kevin sighed, though he knew the reason they were making conversation. At least, he knew why Iris was. She wanted to get her mind off Lilian. So long as she kept herself occupied, she wouldn’t think about her sister or what happened to her.
“At least Heather isn’t awake,” Iris said.
Kevin shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about what would happen if she was awake to hear your conversation.”
Before Iris could respond with a witty retort, the wall in front of them exploded. Kevin responded quickly, turning his back and crouching down to protect Heather. He needn’t have bothered.
“Void Art: Void Flame Wall.”
Darkness burst into existence. A malignant pressure emitted from the black flames, which appeared without warning. The flames flickered and flared, as if trying to consume the world, yet they remained contained. Iris, her teeth grit in determination, exerted her will upon the Void, even though her body shook like a leaf caught in a tornado.
The wall fragments that exploded in their direction were annihilated. The void fire consumed them with laughable ease. Gasping, Iris clenched her fists and forcibly dispersed the technique. With a last defiant flare, the flames disappeared, leaving behind black burns where the floor, walls, and ceiling had been eaten.
As the smoke dispersed, Kevin gaped at the annihilated wall. What could have caused such a thing? It looked like a Gundam had Falcon Kicked it!
“W-what was that?” a stunned Iris asked, gawking at the sight. Christine didn’t say anything, but her dropped jaw told him enough.
The other wall on the opposite had also been demolished. Dented and cracked, it looked like something had plowed into it. Kotohime knelt on the ground—a katana and wakizashi in her grip, both of which impaled the floor—struggling to her feet.
“K-Kotohime!” Kevin gasped in surprise.
She looked at them, and her eyes widened. “Kevin-sama, Iris-sama, Christine-san! What are you all doing here?! You need to get away now!”
No one was able to come up with a proper response before someone else—no, something else, strolled into the room with a casual air about him. Long silver hair fell down his head, and reptilian eyes burned everything they looked at. A smirk was plastered on his pretty boy face, which was marred by scales. Kevin didn’t recognize this man, but he knew that this was Hebi.
“My, oh my. But you are a hardy woman, aren’t you?” Hebi said, chuckling. “To think you were so talented at reinforcement that you managed to harden your body before I hit you. It’s so rare to find a kitsune who has truly mastered reinforcement. Oh?” He looked at Kevin and the others. “What is this? A young human, a kitsune, a yuki-onna and bakeneko hybrid, and my two prisoners? What an eclectic bunch you have here.”
Kevin clenched his fists as his and Hebi’s eyes met. This feeling! He knew this feeling. It was the same sensation that he received when he confronted Shinkuro Shénshèng, the Celestial Kyūbi, though to a lesser degree. Killing intent. However, while Shinkuro’s intent to kill had been stronger, this person’s was far more vile.
Pain exploded in my back. As I looked down, I saw the point of a scaly tail sticking out of my chest, dripping with blood.
Kevin’s body shook…
Agony. It tripped through my mind, tearing apart my sanity, as my body was mutilated by a nest of ravenous poison snakes.
Bile rose up in his throat, but he fought it down. Looking at the others, he saw that all of them were in the same boat. Christine had fallen to the ground and curled up in a fetal position. Her shivering body looked so small. Iris was still standing, but her knees were shaking, and he knew that it would only be a matter of moments before she went catatonic again. Phoebe had already passed out. Lying on the floor, her sightless eyes stared at the ceiling. Heather was the lucky one, having already been unconscious.
“S-stop it…” Kotohime, blood dripping from her lips as she clambered unsteadily to her feet, glared at Hebi as she readied her swords. “They… are not your opponents… I am.”
“Is that so?” Hebi’s wide smile reminded Kevin of a snake, insidious, mocking, arrogant. “You forget, my dear, that everyone who invades my kingdom is my enemy.”
Kotohime’s eyes became wide with horror. “No!” she shouted, but it was too late. Two dozen snakes flew out from underneath his trench coat. They weren’t aimed at Kotohime, but at Kevin and the others.
None of them made it more than a few feet.
Kevin, guns in hand, unloaded bullet after bullet into the snakes. Each shot was a pinpoint strike to the head, which exploded as it was set on fire, or impaled when ice skewered it. Twenty-four bullets were unleashed in total, twelve from each gun and a bullet for each snake. The albino creatures, their pale skin covered in black blood, fell to the ground as the projectiles stopped their forward momentum. There they remained unmoving.
“What is this now?” Hebi placed a hand against his cheek and hummed. “A young man wielding two guns, one silver and the other black? A human boy who does not flee at the sight of an overwhelming force. Dear child, could you, by chance, be Kevin Swift?”
Kevin did not let this man, this thing, know how wary he was. He aimed his guns at Hebi’s head and glared down the sight of his barrels. “How do you know my name?”
“Child,” Hebi’s chiding voice dripped with condescension, “you clearly do not realize how famous you are. Every side fears you. I hear the Sons and Daughters of Humanity have even put a one million dollar bounty on your head. Among my own forces, they call you a demon.”
A demon? Him? What the hell?
“Oh, this is wonderful!” Hebi laughed. “Who would have thought that the infamous pet of Davin Monstrang would fall right into my lap?! What unbelievable fortune!”
“Kevin!” Kotohime shouted. “Run!”
But Kevin didn’t run. Rather, he couldn’t.
Something burst from the cement floor, and the next thing Kevin knew, a large silver snake filled his vision.
And then it went right through him.
“What?!” Hebi shouted.
Kevin appeared again, crouched below the snake. His guns pushed into the organ, and he unloaded an entire payload of bullets into it.
The snake exploded in a spray of gore. Blood splashed against his suit, hissing, but the acidic ichor didn’t break through.
“Oh, very clever.” Hebi clapped several times, slowly, mockingly. “It’s quite impressive how you and the kitsune work together. I’m very impressed by your response time. I doubt you had the time to realize that she was casting an illusion over you, yet you still made excellent use of that illusion, moving at the very last second. You even managed to fool me!”
Kevin was worried. Even skilled illusionists rarely recognized when they were caught within such a simple illusion. It was a form of arrogance. They simply didn’t believe a low-caliber illusion like that could take hold of them. That Hebi not only saw through
it, but even realized how he and Iris had done it, was worrying.
“Iris? Christine?” Kevin said in a calm voice. “Please take Heather and Phoebe and leave.”
“What?” Christine appeared startled. “You can’t expect us to—”
“Come on, Christine,” Iris interrupted, lifting Heather with her tails. “Let’s go.”
“But, Iris, we can’t—”
“We’re not leaving Kevin,” Iris said adamantly. “We’re going to come back, but Kevin can’t fight at full strength if he’s busy worrying about these two.”
Christine looked at Kevin, who only saw her out of his peripheral vision. He half-smiled at her, and her shoulders slumped. “Fine, we’ll take these two and go. But we’re coming back! Got it?”
“Got it.” Kevin’s eyes never left Hebi, who appeared more amused than concerned. “When you come back, be sure to bring Lilian and the others here, okay? I have a feeling that we’re going to need everyone to beat this guy.”
Christine bit her lip, but nodded.
On the other hand, Iris merely chuckled. “Remind me to give you a kiss after this, Stud.”
“I doubt I’ll have to remind you of anything, and you’ll probably be too busy making out with Lilian to bother me.”
“Now that’s just not true.”
Offering him one final look, an expression filled with worry, Iris turned and left. Christine followed her a moment later.
“You’re an amusing young man,” Hebi said as Christine and Iris disappeared around a corner. “Do you truly believe that you can hold me off? I’ll admit, you’re good for a human. But in the end, you are still human. Were it not for that vixen casting an illusion to fool me, my pet would have killed you.”
Having been given enough time to heal herself, courtesy of her river’s blood, Kotohime stood up and walked to Kevin’s side. Hebi did nothing to stop her. Indeed, Kevin had the sense that their enemy wanted them to face him together.
Arrogant much?
“Kevin-sama,” Kotohime started, “I hope you realize what you’re doing. Our situation is not favorable.”
“And letting you fight this guy by yourself is?” Kevin retorted. “I made up my mind last year when Lilian was kidnapped to never run when someone I cared about was in danger. I’m not going to leave you behind.”
Kotohime’s smile was filled with equal parts pride and sadness. “It seems there is nothing left for me to teach you. Kevin-sama has grown into a fine young man.”
“I’m glad you’ve realized that.”
Standing together, side by side, Kevin and Kotohime faced Hebi, whose expression told them both that he was entertained.
“A kitsune and a human standing together to face a common foe.” Hebi released a sardonic chuckle. “The times sure have changed, have they not?”
“They have not changed as much as you appear to believe,” Kotohime determined. “Throughout history, there have been many humans and yōkai who’ve gotten along just fine, though I will admit that Kevin-sama has done better than most.”
“Stop it,” Kevin deadpanned. “You’re making me blush.”
“Is that so? Hm, well, I have never really cared much for the lower species of this world,” Hebi said with a shrug. “Humans are like dirt. They’re completely beneath my notice even when I step on them.”
“I’m so glad you feel that way…”
Kevin retrained his guns on Hebi and pulled the trigger down. A soft whine filled the air as light red and blue light emitted from within the barrels.
“… It will make kicking your ass so much more enjoyable.”
… A moment of silence.
“What?” Kevin asked when he saw both Hebi and Kotohime staring at him.
“Please do not say something like that again. You sound like a cliché character from an anime,” Kotohime said.
“I know nothing of anime, but I agree that what you just said was really corny. I suggest you stop while you're ahead,” Hebi agreed.
“Oh, whatever.” Kevin scowled to hide his blush. “Lilian would have loved it.”
“I am not Lilian-sama and neither is he. Please refrain from using such terrible lines when we’re about to do battle in the future.”
“Fine, fine,” Kevin grumbled before getting back on track. “You guys are so not genre savvy.”
Healing Thoe’s wounds was a bit more difficult than normal. Lilian was low on youki, so she didn’t have much to spare, but she was at least able to close the wounds and stop the internal bleeding. It would have to do until they met up with Kotohime.
Afterward, she and Ioxeia wandered the seemingly endless maze of tunnels. They were definitely underneath Lake Michigan, as there was no way a small island like North Fox Island could have so many tunnels running through it. Lilian already felt like she and Ioxeia had traveled several miles.
“Does this place even have an exit?” Lilian wondered out loud. Even though she spoke softly, her voice echoed several times.
“All places that have an entrance have an exit,” Ioxeia said. “We merely have to locate it.”
“Well, I wish we would hurry up and locate it, then.” Lilian huffed. “By the way, how is Thoe doing?”
“She is—”
“Grumpy,” Thoe said.
“Right.” Ioxeia nodded. “She is grum—Thoe, you’re awake!”
Shifting on Ioxeia’s back, Thoe moved her head until it rested on her companion’s shoulder. “I just woke up a few seconds ago, when Lilian started complaining.” While Lilian coughed to hide her embarrassment, Thoe looked around at the walls. “Where are we?”
“We are currently underneath Lake Michigan,” Ioxeia answered. “Although I cannot ascertain our exact location, I believe that North Fox Island is somewhere above us.”
Thoe nodded noncommittally as her eyes locked with Lilian’s. “What are you doing here?”
“I fell down a hole,” Lilian mumbled.
“A hole?”
“A really big hole,” Lilian confirmed, then blushed. “I might have also made the hole myself.”
After staring at her for several more seconds, Thoe looked away. “I won’t even ask.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Please put me down, Ioxeia, I believe I can walk on my own now.”
“Are you certain? I do not mind carrying you if you require rest.”
“I feel like I’ve rested enough.”
“Very well.”
Thoe’s legs wobbled a little as she stood on her own two feet for the first time in hours, yet she didn’t fall, which Lilian took as a good sign. She wasn’t sure how the woman had received those injuries she healed, but it must have been due to a terrible battle.
They continued moving through the tunnels. Lilian wondered about what could have made them. Cien had said that it was the members of the spider clan, but she couldn’t believe it. There was no way a spider, no matter how large, could make a series of tunnels like this.
It must have been the work of another yōkai, she thought. That stupid dog clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” a voice said, echoing.
Lilian blinked, then turned to her companions. “That wasn’t either of you, was it?” When Thoe and Ioxeia shook their heads, Lilian nodded. “I thought not.”
“Of course, I am sure we’re going the right way,” another voice responded, closer this time.
“How can you even tell? All these tunnels look the same.”
“Must you complain about everything?”
“Yes. If I didn’t complain, then Polydora here would get complacent.”
“I would not!”
Lilian moved her tails, which glowed with golden light, and directed them to shine light on the place several yards away. Six figures walked along the tunnel. They were all familiar, and she felt relief wash through her upon seeing them.
“Hey, you guys!” Lilian shouted, grinning as she waved.
“Lilian?” Euryale gawked at her. “What are you doing down here?”
Lilian suddenly felt like hiding her face in her suit. “Ah, no reason.”
“Thoe!” Menippe rushed out from the group and embraced the pink-haired woman. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
“So am I,” Thoe said, returning the hug as the other yama uba not engaged in conversation walked up to greet her.
“It is good to see that you are all alive and well,” Ioxeia said to Polydora. “I was worried that you would not survive an encounter against such a large yōkai. I am glad to see that my fears were unfounded.”
“Indeed. However, we still have a problem,” Polydora said.
“We can’t find the way out of here,” Euryale chimed in before anyone else could. “We’ve been walking through these stupid tunnels for hours and we still aren’t any closer to finding a way out.”
Polydora scowled. “I told you that we are close to an exit. The air here is much cleaner than it was back there. That must mean there’s a way out of here.”
“Then let’s start searching,” a renewed Lilian said. She was determined to get out of this place quickly. Her mate, sister, and friends needed her!
“Ossu! I’m with Red!” Euryale cheered. “Time to get out!”
“And here she was just complaining about never finding a way out,” Polydora sighed as Euryale and Lilian pumped their fists into the air.
“That’s Euryale for you,” Thoe said, disengaging from the women crowding around her. “She’s optimistic to the end.”
“I wish she’d be less optimistic, then. It’s annoying.”
“Ouch. That’s harsh. I always felt her optimism made her rather cute.”
As they began moving again, Lilian felt determined to find an exit. She’d felt the intense killing intent from above, even from down here, and it worried her. All yōkai had the ability to produce killing intent, even the ones that didn’t have any desire to kill. But the intent that she’d felt, which induced visions of her own death, had been more powerful than anything she’d felt short of Shinkuro’s almighty aura.
Kevin…
Her mate was up there. He might be fighting that person even now. Kevin was the most important person in the entire world. He was her world. If something happened to him, then she might as well not exist.
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