"Aaaah!"
The demon lay sprawled on the ground, its screams echoing through the silent forest, its voice filled with pain and despair. It struggled to stand, but its body felt as though it had been struck by a sledgehammer, leaving it unable to move.
After a long while, when the pain had eased a little, the demon's vision gradually came into focus. It viciously twisted its head around and glared at Teiichi a short distance behind it, its eyes filled with malice and venom. Through gritted teeth, it shouted:
"You bastard! Just you wait! Don't let me get a chance, or I'll kill you!"
The demon's voice echoed on the night wind, revealing its boundless hatred. Yet before its words had fully faded, it made another startling move. It abruptly twisted its head back and slammed it toward the ground with astonishing speed.
Teiichi stood nearby, originally intending to mock the demon a little more, but the instant he saw it slam toward the ground, his heart clenched. He realized that this demon seemed to have some unknown trick.
Sure enough, the demon's head soon burrowed completely into the ground, leaving only its neck exposed.
A flash of lightning shot through Teiichi's mind, and all the clues fell into place.
Why had this demon already been standing at the doorway when I spotted it?!
Why had there only been blood at the doorway and inside the house, with none around the surrounding houses?!
Why hadn't I heard anything while patrolling the town earlier?!
Damn it! This demon's Blood Demon Art is burrowing underground!
While his mind raced, his body had already reacted automatically.
"Hiss."
"Wind Breathing."
In an instant, fierce winds swept through the entire forest, sending the leaves rustling loudly.
"Seventh form: Gale, Sudden Gusts!"
Teiichi shot toward the burrowing demon like a bolt of lightning.
By then, the burrowing demon's head had already disappeared completely into the ground, leaving only its neck exposed.
Faster! Faster!!
At the sight before him, Teiichi roared inwardly, pushing his Wind Breathing to full power.
"Whoosh-"
A green flash of sword light streaked through the forest.
Teiichi thought he heard the demon scream.
"Huff... puff... huff... puff..."
Teiichi stood where he was, panting heavily.
After a moment, he slowly turned around and stared at the greater part of the body left on the ground, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.
It was a body that had been cut in two at the chest, but the portion above the chest was missing.
"Damn it!"
"I should've cut his neck right away!!"
"I shouldn't have tried to vent my anger on this demon just because this mission had dragged on for so long!!!"
Teiichi knelt on the ground, pounding it with both fists as he roared.
After a long while, Teiichi's emotions settled somewhat, and he slowly climbed to his feet.
That burrowing demon definitely won't come back here. He was hurt so badly today that he'll definitely find somewhere nearby and wait for his body to grow back before moving again. I'll head back to town first.
But if this place is no use anymore, how am I supposed to find the burrowing demon?
Should I go back to patrolling the town at night?
But even if I patrol the town at night, I still won't be able to spot the burrowing demon, will I?
And what if the burrowing demon moves somewhere else? Wouldn't I be even more helpless then?
Damn it! I should've used Wind Breathing to dig down where the burrowing demon went underground. Maybe I could've caught up to it!
Ah! Someone else will probably die in a couple of days! Because I was careless today and didn't cut off the burrowing demon's head right away...
All kinds of thoughts kept pouring into Teiichi's mind, and he returned to Yamada Town in a daze.
In a daze, he began patrolling Yamada Town; in a daze, he ate breakfast; in a daze, he trained; and in a daze, he finished lunch and returned to the inn.
The innkeeper, who was eating the boxed lunch his wife had brought him, looked up when he heard someone entering the inn. Seeing Teiichi's distracted expression, he asked with concern:
"Kato, my friend, what... happened to you?"
At his words, Teiichi came to his senses, forced a smile at the innkeeper, and replied stiffly:
"Nothing."
With that, he turned and continued toward his room.
"What's happened? He wasn't this dejected when he couldn't find the demon these past few days."
"Could he have lost to the demon?"
"No, that doesn't make sense either. If he'd lost to the demon, he shouldn't have been able to come back alive, and he doesn't seem to have any wounds!"
The innkeeper watched Teiichi walk toward his room, his face full of worry.
Eight nights later, as darkness fell, the lights in Yamada Town gradually went out, and everything sank into silence.
Yet on the roof of the tallest building in town, Teiichi sat alone, as though cut off from the world.
He quietly let the night breeze wash over him, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, with a bottle of shochu and a small plate of food beside him.
Moonlight spilled over him, casting a hazy play of light and shadow. As he enjoyed this rare moment of peace, he ate the food and drank the shochu, seemingly trying to forget his troubles.
Yet in stark contrast to this pleasant scene was Teiichi's mood. His face bore a pallid trace of dejection, and his eyes revealed deep exhaustion and helplessness.
Over these eight days, three more disappearances had occurred in Yamada Town, the latest one just last night.
Although Teiichi had done everything he could, patrolling all over the village every night, the disappearances continued to occur frequently-even more frequently than before.
Teiichi knew that this was the burrowing demon taking revenge on him for cutting off most of its body last time.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could never find any trace of the burrowing demon or stop the disappearances.
Teiichi had also tried continuing his search outside town, hoping to find some clues.
However, in these two cases, the bodies had simply been dumped in the wilderness, with no traces of blood spilled anywhere else.
It was clear that the burrowing demon was also afraid of having the bad luck to run into Teiichi. It simply found somewhere in the wilderness to eat, then left the remains on the ground afterward.
Faced with this situation, Teiichi could do nothing. He could not even keep watch over the whole village, let alone the area outside it.
Every time he heard that another person had disappeared, his heart grew heavier, as though a massive rock were pressing down on him and leaving him unable to breathe.
After yesterday's case, Teiichi had completely abandoned the idea of patrolling. He realized that no matter how hard he tried, he could not have the slightest effect on the burrowing demon's abductions.
So tonight, he had chosen a secluded rooftop and sat there drinking alone, trying to numb his nerves with alcohol.
He raised the little bottle and took another few mouthfuls. The sting of the alcohol left his head somewhat muddled, and the scene before his eyes began to blur.
Teiichi seemed to see a white figure flying toward him from the distance. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get a clear look at it.
The figure drew closer and closer, finally stopping before him.
"Kato Teiichi, what are you doing?"