CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.22 'THE DEMON OF 100,000 FACES'

While the night drew to a midpoint, it was left to Inoshishi and Hattori to keep a keen eye on their surroundings. The twins Akoto, and Andrei, slept sound as the duo sat around a slowly dying fire. It was Inoshishi who dropped a fresh piece of wood onto the pile of charred ash, Hattori watching. He yawned, then looked to his brother. "Yo, Inoshi... how d'ya think the Guild's holdin' up back home? I know you didn't have a whole lotta' hope in it before we left... considerin' how much people looked up to Scavver and all."

Inoshishi looked down and shifted his boot in the dusty ground, drawing nameless shapes and sighing. He blinked, then shook his head and shrugged. He looked up to Hattori, the amber in his eyes reflecting in the growing fire as it stoked itself once again. "Beats the hell outta' me. Ban can't exactly fight at full power, and with the big man gone...-" Inoshishi trailed off, then stopped entirely when he heard the snapping of a branch and a shifting in the trees. He glanced down to his feet, then prepared to stand up.

A rat dashed in between his feet, and the man reflexively grabbed for his spear as the rats began to come, more numerous as the time passed. They ran towards the trees, and Hattori too stood on edge now. A certain pressure seemed to be building in the air around them as mana began to flow out of their hands and into their weapons.

"I don't like the looks of this... Hattori, stand back." Inoshishi said, taking the first few steps towards the treeline. He held his spear at the ready as he approached the darkness of the woodlands.

Hattori watched as a strange, furry tendril lashed out from the darkness, dozens of glistening beads which looked like eyes catching in the moon and firelight. Inoshishi only managed to let out a sharp 'Ack-!' sound as he was flung away, and Hattori was on his feet, boots pounding the ground in order to catch up with his brother as he flew through the air, blood sent flying from a gash in Inoshishi's chest from the contact. "Hold on, Inoshi!" He yelled as he dragged the edge of his spear against the ground, throwing up a wave of mana-energized air he jumped atop, riding it until he was under his brother.

Inoshishi landed against Hattori, and both brothers stumbled as the cloud of mana faded into the aether. Hattori rolled, landing on his feet with his weapon at the ready, and Inoshishi stood firm on his feet, his wound oozing as he held up against the force of the landing. Holding up his spear, he blocked a second lash just barely, then as it was thrown out of his grip and into only his left hand, it ignited into a full fire. "Shithead... Whatever the hell you are, I'm gonna' make you pay for that!"

Hattori got up as his brother lunged at the mysterious beast as it came into full view of the moonlight, and suddenly the rush of adrenaline in his veins spiked. As Inoshishi's spear caused the beast's stray tendrils to flail, he got a good look at it, then began to spin his spear, focusing a spell. "Inoshishi! Twin-...!"

The full mass of the demon before them visible, it revealed itself to be a congregation of a thousand, maybe even a million smaller forms, each welded together by the very flesh which gave them life. Rats, countless, were all bound together at a frail, almost humanoid body, who's rib cage had been split open and outward down the middle, revealing a large, illustrious purple crystal, almost perfectly cylindrical in its shape. The monster screamed something that almost sounded like words, and bolts of malevolent purple-red began conduct through each of the conjoined bodies.

As the sparks began to fly, Inoshishi heard his brother's call. Repositioning himself and taking a more readied stance, he began to spin his spear as well. Flames became a solid ring, and as Inoshishi let his half of the united spell fly, he timed his portion of the attack. Instinct told him when the green ring of Wind was beside him, as he had been unwilling to turn away from the Chimera before them. "Right... Vortex!!"