Chapter 521: Cut Down!
"Run! The Big Yōkai is coming!!"
On the streets of Bamboo Grove County, people scattered in every direction!
A Big Yōkai over two and a half metres tall was charging down the street too, chasing its prey.
A farmwife ran into her house, shut the doors and windows tight, and hid in the innermost room.
The Big Yōkai charged over and rammed the door again and again. Three blows, and the wooden door was splintering.
The farmwife inside screamed in terror. "Somebody! Somebody help me!!"
With a huge bang, the Big Yōkai slammed into the wooden door again, and this time it gave way and burst apart!
The Big Yōkai's greedy gaze turned into the house. It strode toward the farmwife inside, reaching out with its sharp claws.
Just as the farmwife was about to be seized in its thick hand and torn to pieces, a child's shout rang out behind it.
"Big Yōkai!! Eat cow dung!!"
Splat. The Big Yōkai felt something sticky hit it in the back.
It turned around and saw a human child holding a lump of cow dung, throwing it at him.
Splat!
The second lump of cow dung hit the Big Yōkai square in the face. The dung spread everywhere and got in its eyes, making them sting.
The overpowering stench flooded its keen nose and wrecked its sense of smell, and it flew into a rage.
"I'll... I'll tear you apart bit by bit and eat you bit by bit!!"
The Big Yōkai wiped the cow dung off its face, abandoned the farmwife inside the house, and turned to charge at the child in the street.
Yamashita-maru was stunned. He remembered the travelling merchant from Kyoto saying that cow dung could beat a Big Yōkai. Why wasn't it working?
Seeing the Big Yōkai bearing down on him like a walking mountain of meat, Yamashita-maru yelled "MAMA!", turned, and ran.
But he was small. His little legs kicked and scrambled, and ten of his steps weren't worth one of the Big Yōkai's.
The gap between them closed and closed, until Yamashita-maru could smell the blood on the Big Yōkai behind him.
He was going to die! His heart filled with regret. Why had he stepped out to attack a Big Yōkai?
"MAMAAA!!"
Yamashita-maru felt the Big Yōkai right behind him, raising its claws high. He was about to be torn limb from limb, and he let out a terrified scream!
Just then, Yamashita-maru felt a rush of wind behind him, then the sound of bodies colliding, then something being sent flying and hitting the ground with a grunt.
Yamashita-maru couldn't run any further. He fell to the ground, gasping, his lungs burning.
He looked back and saw a tall figure. It was Kian!
And the Big Yōkai that had been chasing him had been sent flying by Kian's shoulder charge. Its upper body was stuck in a wooden wall, with only its backside sticking out.
Yamashita-maru stared at Kian, not knowing what to do. Kian said:
"Remember this, kiddo. The cow-dung attack only works as long as the cow dung hasn't hit anybody. Once it lands on someone, you're the one who's gonna suffer~"
The Big Yōkai stuck in the wall roared. It wrenched itself free of the wooden wall and bellowed at Kian:
"I'll tear you apart, rip your belly open, and eat your insides!!"
Kian smiled pleasantly.
"I'll smash your bones, kick your balls in, and then stomp your head flat!!"
The Big Yōkai froze for a second. In its whole life it had eaten countless people, and it had never imagined anyone would actually trash-talk it!
Then an even greater fury surged through it. It swung its claws and charged at Kian!
Yamashita-maru shouted, "Look out!!"
Kian glanced around and saw a huge millstone by the roadside, the big kind that a donkey usually turns in a village.
He walked over, wrapped his arms around the millstone, and lifted it straight up.
As the Big Yōkai charged in, he hurled the millstone straight at it.
With a sickening crunch of bone, the millstone caved in the Big Yōkai's entire chest!
The Big Yōkai was crushed to the ground. It couldn't even scream, because its lungs had been pulped.
Then Kian walked over, lifted the millstone, and brought it down on the Big Yōkai's limbs. After the limbs he smashed its crotch, and after the crotch he brought it down on its head!
After a long series of cracking bones, Kian had kept his promise and reduced the Big Yōkai to paste!
Kian glanced at the paste on the ground. As the Big Yōkai died, the energy that escaped from it had felt a lot like what came off daemons when he killed them, but not exactly the same. He couldn't quite put his finger on the difference.
Kian dusted off his hands and walked over to Yamashita-maru, who was staring dumbstruck. He scooped the boy up, put him across his knee, and gave his backside a thorough spanking.
"You little brat, you've got more guts than sense! Picking a fight with a demon! I've gotta teach you a lesson on your mom's behalf!"
Smack! Smack! Smack!
A few smacks and Yamashita-maru was bawling. As he cried, he wiped the leftover cow dung on his hands all over Kian.
Kian froze for a moment, then spanked him harder, and Yamashita-maru bawled even louder.
Meanwhile, at the gate of Bamboo Grove County, Tarō had charged with the katana raised at the Big Yōkai gnawing on the rider and brought the blade down hard on its neck!
The blade bit in only a finger's depth before it stuck fast in the Big Yōkai's thick trapezius!
Attacked without warning, the Big Yōkai roared, tossed away the remains in its hands, and swiped at Tarō with its claws.
Fortunately Tarō was quick on his feet. He wrenched the katana free and backed away fast.
Tarō retreated dozens of steps and stared at the Big Yōkai in terror.
The Big Yōkai dropped the half-eaten rider, who was barely clinging to life, stood up, and fixed its burning eyes on Tarō.
It was covered in blood, with half a length of intestine still hanging from the corner of its mouth. A strange smile spread across its half-human, half-demon face, and its blood-red eyes stared straight at Tarō.
In that moment, Tarō knew he was afraid. He could barely hold the katana up. He wanted to turn and run.
Just then, a voice reached Tarō's ears that instantly gave him heart.
"Tarō!"
Tarō turned and saw his father, who had run over from somewhere far off and was now right behind him.
The sight of his father's towering frame instantly made Tarō feel he had someone to lean on.
"Tarō, leave this to me. Get back!"
Hei took the katana from his son's hands, put Tarō behind him, pointed the tip at the Big Yōkai, and squared off against it.
Tarō warned him:
"Father, the demon's hide is hard as iron. You can't cut it!"
Hei shook his head.
"No. It can be cut. You couldn't cut it because of the angle of your swing, the way you put your strength into it, and your power.
"And most of all, you couldn't cut it because you were afraid of it!
"I have already cut it down in my heart!"
As he spoke, the Big Yōkai roared and lunged at Hei.
Hei said nothing more. He rushed forward, both hands on the hilt.
The two closed in a flash. The Big Yōkai raised its claws to rake Hei, and Hei swung his sword at the Big Yōkai's neck!
In the blink of an eye, they passed each other. Tarō's eyes went wide, his face full of disbelief.
Hei took a few more steps forward, then walked calmly over to the rider lying on the ground and returned the rider's katana to its sheath.
The Big Yōkai staggered a few steps, then reached up in disbelief to touch its neck.
But before its hand reached its neck, its head separated from its body.
The huge, shaggy head rolled across the ground a few times, its blood-red eyes still wide and glaring, as if it couldn't believe it was really dead.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you