Volume 8 Chapter 24 The True Identity Of The Village Head
I stepped into the forest.
The snow crunched under my feet, and my breath turned white. Somewhere, the sound of snow falling from the trees echoed through the air.
As I walked alongside Toxy, I let out a white breath, and the cold air reddened my cheeks. Toxy asked,
"Are we here yet?"
"Yeah. Just keep going straight."
"Going straight, huh? There's no beast path, though."
I chuckled at Toxy's sarcastic remark and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "You hit the sore spot."
The 2 of us continued on, trampling through the snow-covered forest. The crunching sound of snow beneath our feet was the only noise. Even in this frozen forest, there seemed to be signs of life, and I sensed something lurking in the shadows.
―――This is it.
"From the right!"
"Got it!"
At my short signal, Toxy turned to the right. Immediately, a pack of pure white wolves emerged from the trees, rapidly closing in on us.
Since we looked like ordinary Demons, it was hard to gauge our actual strength. The snow wolves bared their teeth and pounced on us simultaneously.
"Poison claws!"
Toxy swung her arm, and a massive, venomous claw materialized.
The snow wolves, struck by the poisonous claw, fell to the ground with shallow wounds. They seemed confused, not understanding what had happened to them.
"Grrrrr..."
The snow wolves convulsed and died. When Toxy waved her arm, the claw disappeared.
Then, Toxy knelt down and prayed. I called out to her,
"You've become able to do a lot without summoning Hydra, haven't you?"
"...If I summon Hydra too easily, it consumes a lot of magical power, you know? I've run out of stamina during training with Sieg too."
"And what about that claw?"
"Yeah. Normally, I have Hydra store it, and then I release it during battles. Hydra can hold a lot of things, you see."
'Little girl, you're not treating me like a luggage bag, are you?'
"Huh? Well, a little?"
'Ugh, it's pathetic! This summoning contract is supposed to be equal. Show some respect, will you...!'
"Sorry, sorry~..."
A small, snake-like illusion emerged from Toxy's hand. Compared to the sturdy battle form I saw earlier, this one looked pretty low-key.
Hydra muttered some parting words to Toxy before disappearing with a "well, anyway..." They seem to be on good terms.
"After all, yeah. Hydra's poison is especially painful to its victims, so I'd rather not use it unless I have to, you know?"
Toxy said.
"Poison is medicine, and medicine is poison. I want to kill my enemies without making them suffer, unless they're the type who won't hesitate to make me suffer."
But there are times when I can't say that, either. With that, Toxy finished her prayer and stood up.
"Sorry about the wait. Shall we go?"
"Yeah."
The 2 of us set off into the snowy forest once again.
"By the way, what kind of magic beast is the village head we're going to take down this time?"
"Uh, I forgot to ask..."
"Wade~...?"
"Sorry, sorry. I got careless. I didn't think it was that important of a detail..."
"It is important, though! If we don't know what it looks like, we won't know if it's the magic beast we're aiming for... Ah, I see. Wade can tell, right?"
"That's right. We just need to take down the magic beast connected to that village, and we're following the thread of fate to get there."
"That's super convenient. Ice-chan's bird has high detection abilities too..."
"But in close combat, we can't beat Ice's bird... It's our biggest enemy right now, Ice's bird."
"Haha! If Ice-chan gets treated like an enemy, I wonder what kind of face they'll make..."
"Ice has been acting weird lately, doing all sorts of unpredictable things... Anyway..."
We arrived at a giant tree. The thread of fate connected to the second eye, the Ajna Chakra, was stretching out above us.
"Is it up there?"
"Probably. I can't see it with my eyes. Is it moving around pretty wildly?"
Something was squirming around high up in the giant tree, making a rustling noise. If I tried to drop it with gravity magic, it might get caught on a branch and cause trouble. In that case, it's better to do it this way.
I patted the gauntlet on my arm, the one with the Durandal attached, and raised my fist towards the top of the tree.
And then, I swung it.
"Create Chain!"
A chain extended from my swinging fist, clanking loudly as it stretched upwards and wrapped around the body of the magic beast we were aiming for.
"Here we go!"
I grasped the chain with both hands and swung it outward with all my might.
"One-fish catch, yeah!"
From beside the trees, a massive shadow was pulled out by the chain, and Toxy let out a "Whoa?!" as I also let out a "Woah!" at the fallen figure.
It was―――a giant squirrel.
"A squirrel?! The village head squirrel?!"
"Wade, your screaming louder than ever before..."
The village head squirrel removed the chain and let out a loud "Kii!" as it intimidated us. It was huge, but its cuteness took precedence.
Uh...? Am I supposed to kill it? It's so cute... Yeah, no way...
I thought to myself as I prepared to fight. Even if it's something I don't want to do, I have to do it. As I thought that, the giant squirrel opened its mouth.
"...What's with you, scaring me and then intimidating me? You're just a brat, aren't you?"
"..."
It was an old man's voice.
"I don't know what's going on right now, but I'm the village head of a nearby village. I've been bothered by all sorts of demons, and honestly, I don't like it, but I have no choice but to be the village head."
"..."
"In other words, I'm pretty strong. So, what can I do? Hey, you've got a cute girl with you, don't you? Yeah, I'll take her as a sl*ve, and you can be my servant too."
The squirrel was gazing at Toxy with a lewd, perverted look.
I couldn't ignore it, so I called out to it, "Hey."
"Oh, what's with you? You're just a brat, and you're talking big? You're just a small fry, and you're acting like you're something? Pitiful... You should be the one who's killed first, you fool!"
Huh? What's with this guy? I felt a surge of anger. But there was someone else beside me.
"Hydra."
'You called, little girl?'
Toxy, who had been called, summoned a massive, battle-ready Hydra illusion. "Whoa!" the squirrel's eyes widened in surprise.
"What, what, what, what's with that snake?! Is it a Níðhöggr?! I've already stopped playing pranks in the World Tree, and yet you're chasing me all the way to this remote area?! You're so stupid!"
'I don't know what you're talking about, but what are you going to do, little girl?'
"Kill."
I and Hydra were shocked by Toxy's straightforward killing intent, and we looked at Toxy. Toxy gave me a bright smile and said,
"Don't interfere, Wade. Now that you've made fun of my world's number one husband, I can't just stay silent as his wife."
"...Yes."
"Then, Hydra, let's go. We'll make him suffer and kill him."
'Hey, little girl, aren't you and your friends too quick to boil over when it comes to husband issues...?'
"Shut up. I'll do it."
'Alright, alright... Ugh, I've got a troublesome contractor on my hands.'
"Eeek! I thought you were a beautiful lady, but you're a nasty snake woman! I'll get out of here fast! See you!"
A toxic atmosphere spread out from Toxy. The squirrel, frightened by the scene, hastily escaped. His speed was quite fast, and it was a close call even when I chased after him with my Ajna Chakra.
But Toxy just laughed, "Hehe."
"I won't let you escape. Snakes are relentless, after all."
Toxy took a step forward. The snow beneath her feet turned purple.
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