The Swamp Demon Attacks

The guest room at the end of the hall.

The room was large, with clean tatami mats covering the floor.

After dinner, Rokuya sat by the window, using the moonlight to wipe a wooden stick he had sharpened along the way. Although he could summon the Arcana Blade at any time, carrying a weapon to keep up appearances was still necessary when he was not fighting.

Kanae was combing Shinobu Kocho's hair.

"Sister, I'm scared..." Shinobu Kocho hugged her knees, a barely perceptible tremor in her voice. "What the owner said..."

"It's all right, Shinobu." Kanae gently stroked her younger sister's hair, but her gaze could not help straying toward the silent figure sitting by the window. "Lord Rokuya is here. We'll be safe."

Rokuya did not turn around. He merely said calmly, "Don't change your clothes before bed tonight. I've put knives under your pillows. Call me immediately if anything happens."

"Yes, Lord Rokuya," Kanae answered obediently.

The night gradually deepened.

The lanterns along the streets went out one after another, and the entire town fell into a deathly silence.

Even the chirping of insects vanished without a trace.

A faint, damp stench of decay began to permeate the air.

It smelled like a pool of stagnant water that had fermented for months.

Rokuya's eyes snapped open.

It's here.

He had not taken off his clothes, merely leaning against a corner of the wall and feigning sleep.

The foul stench was extremely faint, but with his constitution of sixteen enhancing his senses far beyond those of an ordinary person, it was as though the smell were coming from right beneath his nose.

The source of the smell was neither outside the window nor in the corridor.

It was... right in the center of the room!

Rokuya whipped his head around.

At some point, a pool of thick, black liquid had appeared on the tatami-covered floor.

The liquid was expanding without a sound, as though it were alive.

It did not damage the structure of the floor. Instead, like some eerie projection, it turned that patch of floor into a bottomless black swamp!

A pale forehead slowly emerged from the swamp.

Then came three scarlet eyes arranged in a triangle on its forehead, swiveling about.

It was the Swamp Demon.

With extreme cunning, it made not a sound as it poked half its head above the surface, its greedy, lecherous gaze fixed on the sleeping Kocho Sisters.

Heeheehee... exquisite... truly exquisite...

The Swamp Demon's thoughts echoed in the darkness, saliva dripping from the corners of its deathly pale mouth into the black mire with faint plopping sounds.

It stretched out two webbed hands covered in green scales, reaching silently for Kanae's and Shinobu Kocho's ankles.

"You're asking to die."

An icy growl rang out in the room.

Rokuya moved.

Without the slightest hesitation, without a single wasted movement.

The tatami beneath his feet instantly shattered, and he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!

An eerie blue light gathered furiously in his right hand. A rapid series of tiny sonic booms sounded in the air as pure Arcana Power compressed.

"You've gone too far!"

While Rokuya was still airborne, the Arcana Blade took shape in an instant. With the force to tear through everything, it slashed viciously at the Swamp Demon's outstretched hands.

"What?!"

The Swamp Demon paled in shock.

It had never imagined that anyone in this remote town could detect its Blood Demon Art! Much less that its opponent could move so fast!

The blade flashed like lightning.

Shlick!

Green blood gushed out. Both webbed hands were severed at the wrists, falling onto the tatami and turning to ash.

"Aaaaah-!"

The Swamp Demon let out a piercing scream and abruptly withdrew into the black swamp, its three eyes fixed on Rokuya, brimming with venom.

Kanae and Shinobu Kocho were jolted awake.

"Sister!" Shinobu Kocho screamed, scrambling behind Kanae.

Kanae's face was deathly pale. The pool of black swamp on the floor left her trembling all over, but she still instinctively reached for the short knife beneath her pillow, keeping her younger sister firmly behind her.

"Don't be afraid." With his back to them, Rokuya gripped the hilt with both hands, pointing the blade straight at the swamp on the floor.

"Damn brat! You dare hurt me!"

The Swamp Demon's voice came from every direction, seeming to reverberate throughout the room.

The black swamp on the floor suddenly began to boil violently.

What had been a tabletop-sized swamp spread in an instant, covering the floor of more than half the room!

"Since you're asking to die, I'll eat you too!"

Before its words had faded, the tatami beneath Kanae's and Shinobu Kocho's feet vanished, becoming churning black sludge.

"Ah!"

Kanae cried out as her body sank instantly, her lower legs plunging halfway into the swamp.

"Sister!" Shinobu Kocho desperately tried to pull Kanae's hand, only to slide into the swamp along with her.

It was as though countless invisible hands at the bottom of the swamp were dragging them relentlessly downward.

"Lord Rokuya! Help!" Kanae shouted in terror, tears instantly spilling from her eyes. The horrific sight of her parents being eaten resurfaced in her mind, and that sense of helplessness brought her close to breaking down.

A cold gleam flashed in Rokuya's eyes.

He did not reach out to pull the Kocho Sisters free.

He could see clearly that this swamp was another dimension. Pulling anyone out from the shore was impossible; its endless dragging force would only exhaust him instead.

There was only one way out of this.

Go down.

Kill my way through it.

Rokuya took a deep breath, his chest swelling. Then, without any hesitation, he drove his legs against the floor and plunged straight into the black swamp like a cannonball!

"Lord Rokuya!" Kanae watched helplessly as the black mud swallowed Rokuya's figure, and she let out a despairing scream.

Bang!

As Rokuya leaped into the swamp, the tremendous impact sent a ring of ripples across its surface.

The next second.

The swamp's pulling force vanished instantly.

Kanae and Shinobu Kocho fell heavily onto the intact tatami in the corner of the room, gasping for breath.

They were saved.

But...

"Lord Rokuya... the monster ate Lord Rokuya!" Shinobu Kocho sat collapsed on the floor, clutching her hair, large tears splashing onto the floorboards. "He fell in... to save us!"

Kanae stared blankly at the pool of black sludge that had gone still again, her entire body icy cold.

Could someone survive after falling in?

Inside the swamp.

Cold, dark, viscous.

The moment Rokuya entered, he felt as though he had fallen into a vast pool of glue.

Black sludge surrounded him on all sides, without a trace of light.

Most deadly of all-there was no air.

"Heeheeheehee..."

The Swamp Demon's sickening laughter came from every direction, traveling through the thick sludge to vibrate directly against Rokuya's eardrums.

"What a foolish little brat."

"To think you'd jump into my 'Swamp Space' of your own accord."

"Here, you can't breathe or move. This mire will drain your strength little by little!"

"You haven't brought a Nichirin Blade, and you don't even have the scent of a Breathing Style on you. You think you can kill me with that glowing piece of junk?"

"I'll peel off that handsome face of yours and tear it to pieces, bit by bit!"

The mire churned.

Three sharp, webbed claws sliced silently toward Rokuya's neck, heart, and lower back from three different directions.