Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 58

I was running. I was running through a dark, poorly foothold cave. I didn't even think about the risk of falling. Because I had no time for that. After all, there were countless monsters chasing me from behind. Chasing for my life.

　"D*mn, I should have asked for the magatama back...!"

　I regret it now after remembering that I had left it in that Hasuka (Renge) girl. Thinking about it, if Kitsuri-Shiroki (IN Gorilla-sama) was by their side, it might not have been a problem if I had asked her to return the magatama. But it's really too late now.

　Now, as I move deeper and deeper into the den of the monsters, I hide in the shadows, gasping for breath and looking behind me to see if I've dispersed my pursuers. And it was. But was it because of my repeated attempts to deceive and conceal myself? No sign of them approaching from behind.

　"Did I do it...? Oh, wait. This flag (event) is..."

　Before I could realize my blunder and say so, a giant spider entered from the side road right next to me, blocking my path. It was probably the one that had been chasing me from behind just a moment ago.

　"Hahaha, what a smart guy. You're anticipating it...?"

　I spit out, and the spider stares at me with its red, suspiciously glowing eyes. At the same time, it spits out a shower of wire-like threads. No, actually, it is a special kind of thread that gains the hardness of steel instantly upon contact with the air, and if I am hit by it head-on, I would be skewered and turned into a human sea urchin in no time at all.

　"Tsk...!?"

　I just barely avoided the shower of threads by spinning myself around, and then I slid through the gap between its legs in a single leap. Using this momentum, I cut down two baby spiders that appeared in front of me with my Dagger (tantō) and sprinted forward again without looking aside.

　Now, I proceeded deeper into the cave, but the number of monsters blocking my way was clearly increasing at an accelerating pace. This formation of monsters, even though a considerable number of forces should have been allocated to the upper level of the cave... I wonder how long these monsters have been gathering forces, youkai are still magnificent as ever.

　'...!? Servant, stop now!!'

　"Whoa!? Is this another wire trap...!!"

　I stop just in time to hear a voice in my ear. In front of me was an extremely thin thread that glinted slightly as it passed right through my neck. If I continued, my neck and torso were going to part with each other.

　'Snap, snap, snap!!'

　"...!? The heck!"

　It must have been lurking in advance as an ambush, and just after I stopped, a spider as big as a dog jumped in from the ceiling, but I hit it sideways in the direction of the wire trap and knocked it away.

　'Snap...'

　The spider, whose body was cut in half the moment it collided with the wire trap aiming at its neck, was hit and cut by several more threads one after another, and by the time it hit the ground ten steps ahead, it had turned into a dice steak of around twenty pieces.