Village, Gido, fear

Chapter 17: Village × Gido × Fear

Skeleton Chariot rolled through the stream and returned to the back of Killer Queen's hand. Joey took off his empty rifle and tossed it into the water, then endured the pain as he washed the wound on his shoulder beside the stream.

He also noticed that the spot on his right arm where the Woodlouse had struck him was already covered in purple bruises.

His face a little pale, Joey lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped his face, feeling rather like one of those badass movie heroes digging a bullet out of a wound.

So he couldn't resist summoning Killer Queen and having him strike a JoJo pose.

In truth, he had summoned Killer Queen to help bind his wound tightly with strips of cloth. Once he was sure no more blood would drip onto the ground, he turned and slipped into the forest.

Aside from those two obvious injuries, Joey also had quite a few scratches, picked up somewhere during the fighting and his escape.

Compared with the pain in his shoulder, though, those were nothing much.

After throwing away the rifle, the only weapon Joey had left for ranged attacks was the pistol he had carried from the start.

Still, as long as he had Killer Queen, Joey wasn't too worried.

Rather than continuing toward the base, he used the cover of darkness to creep toward the village northeast of it.

Joey walked with extreme care, watching his surroundings and erasing as many traces of his passage as he could.

When the first pale light appeared in the sky, rice paddies came into view.

Looking across the paddies toward the nearby village, he could see deserted houses, blood scattered across the streets, assorted debris, and the mangled chunks of several thoroughly dismembered bodies.

The smell of blood was overpowering. Staying alert, Joey crossed the field ridges with Killer Queen and quickly entered the village.

He found a house with a clear view and climbed in through a window. Only after carefully checking the room and surveying the surroundings from the window did he relax a little and sit down beside it.

Now all he had to do was wait for Kite and the others to appear.

Of course, Joey wouldn't wait forever. If Kite's group still hadn't appeared by three or four that afternoon, he would head to the base as originally planned.

By then, the base should have become that centaur Chimera Ant's territory. There wouldn't be many Chimera Ants left in the captured base, either. Unless his luck was absolutely rotten, Joey didn't believe he would run into one just by going inside.

If he was careful, he thought he should be able to find the map and supplies he wanted there.

Food, water, weapons-if the worst happened and he never encountered Kite's group, he would have to get his hands on all of those.

He couldn't entrust his survival entirely to Kite and the others.

In an environment filled with so many unknowns, it was better to prepare in advance for every possible worst-case scenario.

But a little after eight, when daylight had fully arrived, Joey suddenly heard gunshots as he sat half asleep in the room.

Startled awake, Joey rubbed his eyes and carefully looked out through the window toward the outskirts of the village.

Out on a distant field ridge stood a Chimera Ant holding a pistol and laughing wildly. Long, fiery-red hair hung loose around the ant, whose entire body was covered in green, insectlike carapace.

A short distance ahead, a middle-aged man was running for his life.

After watching for a moment, Joey realized that the man already had obvious gunshot wounds!

The only reason he could still run was that the Chimera Ant following him was playing a sadistic game.

Joey's fists clenched involuntarily, but he didn't rashly reveal himself.

Even if he jumped out now, he couldn't save the man who had already been shot. He would only put himself in danger, too.

What he needed to consider now was whether to risk luring the Chimera Ant into a fatal trap after the man died, or patiently wait for the ant to leave.

Before he could reach a decision, however, a dark blur suddenly shot out of the woods on the other side of the field ridge. Before Joey could make it out, the blur had already swept past the middle-aged man's back and appeared in front of the Carapace Chimera Ant.

Slash!

As the dark figure came to a stop, a towering jet of blood erupted from the back of the middle-aged man's neck.

The figure, now revealed to have a lean build, flicked a piece of bone still covered in skin and flesh in his claw, then tossed it to the Carapace Chimera Ant.

"Where's Shacan?" asked the leopard-faced Chimera Ant, bouncing on his feet. He wore an animal-hide vest and shorts.

The Carapace Chimera Ant caught the bone. The savage expression on the ant's face quickly faded upon recognizing the newcomer. "Lady Shacan is at the base, leading the others in hunting down the humans who escaped. I was also..."

Before the ant could finish, the leopard Chimera Ant had already vanished.

Somewhat helplessly swallowing the remaining words, the Carapace Chimera Ant turned toward the middle-aged man's fallen corpse.

But after a glance, the ant seemed to find it rather boring, tossed the bone into their mouth, and walked toward the woods outside the village while chewing.

Hidden beside the window, Joey had held his breath the instant the leopard Chimera Ant appeared.

He had already recognized him: Gido, one of the Chimera Ant Squadron Leaders!

A Chimera Ant born from a combination of leopard and human, he possessed incredible speed and superb hunting skills. Although he was rather simple-minded and even seemed endearingly stupid at times, he was absolutely not someone Joey could take on in his current state.

Joey figured that if they came face-to-face, he would probably lose a body part before he could get a single word out.

Unable to use Nen and lacking any impressive physical abilities, he hadn't even been able to see Gido clearly when he appeared.

His only advantage lay in the bizarre nature of Killer Queen's ability. Without an ambush and a trap set up in advance that was guaranteed to hit, he stood no chance at all against a Chimera Ant like Gido in a direct confrontation.

Surely he couldn't touch the bone at the back of his own neck and use it to take Gido down with him?

Fortunately, Gido hadn't noticed him, and the Carapace Chimera Ant had swaggered away as well. Still, their appearance made Joey even more afraid to leave his hiding place.

Unconsciously biting his nails again, Joey huddled beneath the window. None of the tough-guy demeanor he'd had while cleaning his wound beside the stream remained. His brows drew down in a worried frown, and his eyes held a grave look along with a trace of fear he couldn't hide.

In this blood-soaked place, where he never knew what monster might appear in the next second, fear finally seeped into Joey's tightly wound nerves as time passed.

But time wouldn't stop. While his thoughts ran wild, it seemed to pass all the faster.

From his hiding place, Joey never saw Ponzu appear in the village, nor did he spot any bees nearby. He didn't know whether Ponzu had been killed the previous night or whether she and Pokkle had already escaped.

But after eleven, the dying cries of beasts came from the direction of the base. It sounded as though some executioner were subjecting them to inhuman lashings, and the sound sent chills down his spine.

Amid those cries, Joey's body trembled involuntarily for a long time before he gradually grew accustomed to them and calmed down.

Then, after two in the afternoon, gunshots rang out from the woods again. Judging by where the sound came from, it was in the direction the Carapace Chimera Ant had gone earlier!

Had the ant returned and found more prey?

"Could it be Ponzu?" Joey pressed his lips together and raised his hand, only to hesitate, afraid that biting through his finger would draw the Chimera Ants with the smell of blood.

He had forgotten, however, that the village's bloody stench had long since masked the faint smell of blood on him.

He took out his phone, looked at its single bar of signal, then put it away again.

Taking out his wallet, he held it in his hand. After briefly being separated from Joey, the Nen on the wallet had quietly grown considerably denser, and it now slowly flowed into his body.

The trickle of replenishing energy made Joey feel warm and eased his mind considerably.

Just then, Joey looked up through the window and abruptly widened his eyes. Several familiar figures were emerging from the woods.

A laid-back author writing for fun drifted by~(￣▽￣~)~