Chapter 3: Lord Mountain God?
The two of them showed expressions of fear and despair.
The next moment, with a loud boom, a huge hole was smashed into the wooden house.
What walked in was an ugly, ferocious creature that could barely be called human.
Nanaha's pupils shrank sharply.
And inside him, Kanae recognized it immediately. How could this thing possibly be some Mountain God?
It was clearly a man-eating demon!
"Mr. Nanaha, this is bad. It's a demon!"
"I know! But what are we supposed to do?" Nanaha understood what he was facing, but he was nothing more than an ordinary person who had transmigrated here. Even now, he had not awakened any cheat ability or system.
He had only just gotten his transmigration script, and he was already going to die?
Cold sweat covered Nanaha's body. The fact that he could still force himself to stand was already impressive enough.
"Hm? I don't think I've seen you before. Hmm... to dare bring an outsider into this town without reporting it to me, Lord Mountain God?"
The demon's voice was like muffled thunder, and as it spoke, its teeth kept grinding together with a shrill noise.
"S-Sorry, Lord Mountain God..." The old man dropped to his knees with a thud, his forehead pressed tightly against the floor, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Lord Mountain God. It's my fault, it's my fault..."
"Hmph! Since you have no reverence for the Mountain God, then you shall become my sacrifice!"
The demon reached out toward the old man.
"You're not touching my grandpa!"
The young girl immediately threw herself in front of the old man. Even though she herself was terrified and trembling all over, she still stood in front of him.
"Shizuko, don't!"
The old man hurried to pull at Shizuko's arm. At this moment, he deeply regretted bringing Nanaha, an outsider, back home and inviting such disaster.
"Ku ku ku. In that case, the two of you can become my sacrifices together!"
The demon let out a chilling laugh, and both grandfather and granddaughter were filled with terror.
Just as the demon extended its enormous hand toward them, Nanaha did not know where he found the courage, but he grabbed Shizuko and yanked her hard, narrowly avoiding the demon's strike.
"Hm?"
The demon looked at Nanaha in confusion.
"What are you doing, you brat?"
Nanaha subconsciously swallowed.
"H-Hurry... run!"
As he spoke, he pulled up the girl named Shizuko and the old man as well.
At this point, the old man's legs had gone weak, and he could not even stand.
"You want to run? In front of Lord Mountain God, you actually want to run?" The demon's face twisted hideously. "Why run? I am Lord Mountain God! For me to feast on you is your honor!"
"Run!"
Nanaha repeated it, gripping the old man's hand even harder. Only then did the old man finally come back to his senses and shakily struggle to his feet.
Nanaha did not care about anything else. He dragged the two of them and quickly retreated out of the room.
"To think you actually want to run! Unforgivable!"
The demon roared and stepped forward violently, crushing a huge hole through the tatami and the floor beneath it.
Thud thud thud—
Nanaha dragged the grandfather and granddaughter out of the house.
That demon was extremely fat and did not seem to run very fast.
But both Nanaha and Kanae understood.
Demons were also highly sensitive to human scent, and their stamina was tremendous.
Unless Nanaha could run all night with the two of them, there was no way to shake it off or wait until sunrise.
After running for nearly ten minutes, the demon was still chasing closely behind them, while Nanaha had already run out of strength. Ever since he had transmigrated here, he had not eaten anything. At most, he had only drunk a little spring water to stave off hunger.
If this kept going, there would be only one outcome.
He had to fight back!
Nanaha stopped.
The grandfather and granddaughter behind him had long since been unable to run anymore.
"N-No... it's no use. Lord Mountain God will never spare us..." The old man's eyes were already filled with despair.
"Wait here!"
Nanaha happened to spot a woodshed nearby. He rushed inside and looked around, finally finding a rusty woodcutting knife that was barely usable.
"Damn it, this is all there is."
Nanaha had no choice. At the very least, he now had a weapon.
When he came back out, the demon was already less than twenty meters away.
Nanaha's hand trembled as he gripped the woodcutting knife.
His instincts were screaming at him to abandon the two of them and run—
He was just an ordinary person. He had neither the ability nor the obligation to fight.
"If only I were still alive and could use Flower Breathing..." Kanae could only worry helplessly. She had no other way.
For an ordinary person to kill a demon, they would need exceptional talent.
After all, the difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great.
Kanae's voice rang inside Nanaha's mind.
Flower Breathing...
Wait!
He remembered it clearly. Back when he had first transmigrated and his head was wracked with intense pain, a flood of knowledge about breathing techniques and sword forms had poured into his mind.
Breathing was... like this—
Nanaha gradually steadied his breathing. The next moment, he sharply inhaled a huge breath of air, and it felt as though his heart and lungs suddenly began pumping wildly.
His blood was rapidly filled with a great amount of oxygen—
"Hm?!" Kanae cried out in surprise. "This is... a breathing technique?"
Inside Nanaha's body, she could sense the changes in him. Although it was only the basics of Total Concentration Breathing, it was already beginning to take shape.
But breathing techniques required long-term training before one could slowly master them. From what she knew, Nanaha was supposed to be just an ordinary person!
"So this is a breathing technique?"
Nanaha could clearly feel a great amount of power filling his body.
But along with it came intense pain.
His breathing technique was still unrefined.
The fact that he could already do this much was remarkable enough.
"Mr. Nanaha, you actually learned a breathing technique?"
"As hard as it may be for you to believe, after you entered my body, my brain gained a lot of knowledge about breathing techniques," Nanaha explained.
"I see!"
Kanae suddenly understood.
"In that case, I'll teach you how to deal with this demon!"
As the former Flower Hashira, Kanae had abundant experience fighting demons.
Nanaha nodded. The rusty woodcutting knife was clenched in his hand, its rough wooden handle scraping against his palm.
His breathing alternated between steady and rushed.
That was because he was still unskilled in applying the breathing technique.
"Oh? You actually think a broken woodcutting knife can deal with Lord Mountain God?"
The demon split open its huge mouth, stretching almost to its ears, thick saliva dripping from the gaps between its jagged teeth.
It sneered, its face filled with mockery and disdain.
This was not a game. This was not anime. When facing such a monster head-on, the fear born from pure biological instinct was like icy water poured down his spine.
"Stay calm, Mr. Nanaha."
Kanae's voice sounded in his mind, trying to soothe his trembling like a clear spring.
"Don't let your breathing fall apart. Remember the rhythm. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... channel the strength into your limbs. A demon's weak point is the neck."
Kanae spoke faster now, carrying the calm judgment of a former Hashira.
"Judging from its body type, its movements are slow and heavy. Focus on dodging nimbly."
As she spoke, the demon had already come within five meters of him.
It seemed to enjoy the fear of its prey and was in no hurry to kill. It merely stretched out an arm as thick as a tree trunk, its nails black and razor-sharp, and slowly grabbed toward him.
"Now! Dodge left!" Kanae shouted.
Almost on instinct, Nanaha suddenly stepped diagonally to the left, barely brushing past the demon's massive claw. The foul wind from it sliced painfully across his cheek.
"Hm?"
The demon sounded surprised that its strike had missed, then immediately became enraged.
"Damn human!"
It swung its arm sideways, bringing with it a howling gust. This time the attack covered a huge range, nearly sealing off all room to dodge left or right.
"Duck! Roll forward!" Kanae's command arrived almost at the same instant.
Without hesitation, Nanaha bent his knees and threw himself down, rolling forward. The demon's claw swept across his scalp, cutting off several strands of hair with the force of the wind alone.
While rolling, he adjusted his posture and swung the woodcutting knife upward with all his might, chopping at the demon's outstretched arm.
Clang—!
A harsh metallic sound rang out, and sparks flew.
The woodcutting knife only left a shallow mark on the demon's bluish-gray skin, while the recoil split Nanaha's palm open, blood gushing out as the knife nearly flew from his hand.
"Useless! Useless!"
The demon laughed wildly, not even glancing at the wound on its arm.
"Hah... hah—"
Nanaha suddenly began gasping violently. He had only just grasped the breathing technique, and he was already nearing his limit.
"Watch the rhythm, Mr. Nanaha," Kanae reminded him again.
Nanaha tightened his grip on the knife, cold sweat soaking through his torn T-shirt.
The burden of the breathing technique was becoming heavier and heavier. His lungs felt as though they were burning. Blood from his split palm ran down the handle, sticky and warm.
At this point, he had already lost his composure. He swung the knife wildly and actually charged straight at the demon.
"Don't!" Kanae cried out, but it was already too late.
The demon laughed loudly.
"Useless, useless! You're far too weak!"
Slash—
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed out.
Nanaha slowly lowered his head and saw that the demon's hand had almost completely gone through his chest.
The same way of dying again...
"Cough—"
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
It was over. Everything was over—
Anyone would have thought so, and yet—
Although the pain was spreading, Nanaha felt as though the blood in his body was burning, boiling!
His body... was filled with power!
The next moment, the blood flowing out of his chest unexpectedly began gathering together.
Blood...
It feels like my blood can...
Nanaha reached his hand toward that gathering blood. Under the movement of his will, the blood hanging in the air changed the instant it touched his hand.
It turned into a blade!
Blood... turned into a sword?!