Thriller Bark I

Akane slowly followed after Ban, keeping close so that if a ghost popped up, Ban would be the first to deal with it.

The surroundings were gloomy as well, not helping on bit in claming her down. A dilapidated castle could be seen a little further in, while all around them were mist forests, graveyards and ghost towns.

The last was only seen from the distance, as Akane had fiercely claimed there would definitely be ghosts there.

So that was the reason they were now passing through the many graves on the graveyard.

"I don't like this one bit. This is the part where the group gets surrounded by monsters. They will look horrifyingly gory, with pieces of rotten flesh or rancid limbs, eager to tear the group from limb to limb. I think we should've gone to the village Ban. We definitely should've gone to the village."

Akane began to ramble about what they might encounter, while Ban's smile just widened.

"That makes it just more fun! You really should get used to this, you know? There should be even scarier things out there. I know there is, as in my world there were demons and stuff~"

Not in the least bit unnerved, Ban just got more enthusiastic instead.

Akane could only stop trying to change his mind, while she looked around at the graves.

'It won't be scary, get used to it. It won't get scary, get used to it.'

Repeating those words time and again, Akane's fright began to dissipate, even if only just a little.

So when the scary stuff happened, she just gaped at the scene that was currently playing out in front of her.

Hands stuck out from the ground as corpses, all sewn back together, began to crawl out of the ground. They bared their teeth at her, as they rushed towards them. Only one thought was running through her head right now.

'They aren't that scary after all.'

Thinking back on it, she had done a lot more gory stuff. The things she was seeing now was fairly mild, compared to her leftovers from battle.

"They are dead, right?"

Akane asked Ban, just to be sure.

"They are."

"They are attacking, right?"

"Right."

"Yosh, let's get to it then."

Not in the least bit reserved about what she was going to do, Akane summoned her swords, smiling viciously at the soon to be sashimi.

"Have fun~!"

Not intending to help on bit, Ban relaxed on one of the tombstones, watching as Akane prepared herself for some fun. He even had some food on hand, fully intending to watch her handiwork.

Only giving Ban a sideway glance, Akane dashed forward towards the walking dead. The dead didn't seem to feel any danger. Who would when a child, looking barely twelve, was running towards you with swords. It was impossible for them to be beaten by a twelve year old.

How wrong they were.

The walking dead who was up front, though commonly refered to as zombie, experienced they pain firsthand. He had presumed she would be harmless, but within a second, he was lying cut up on the ground. He didn't even manage to scream in pain, as a black gooey shadow came from the remains of his torso. It hovered in the air for but a moment, quickly speeding away to the direction of the ghost town.

Akane didn't pay it any attention as she continued, releasing more and more of her pent up frustration for having feared these zombies before. It was ridiculous how weak they were. At the end of it, most of them had run away, leaving only the remains of their companions behind.

"Better?"

Ban asked, a smirk on his face.

Akane really wanted to hit him, daring him to taunt her. In the end she refrained, as he would just regard it as a tantrum.

"Better."

Akane responded.

"So where to next? The ghost town or the castle?"

Seemingly thinking about the answer, Ban remained silent. Akane waited for an answer, but all she got was the same usual smirk as he started tot walk to the castle.

"Why do I even ask?"

Grumbling, Akane quickly joined Ban on their way towards the castle.

***

Hogback POV

I was once again done with one of my many works. Moria-sama had requested a lot more zombie corpses to be made, so I as the Genius that I was, happily obliged. The zombies were fully functional, but that was all. Once I was done with one, I couldn't care less about what they were doing.

Throwing away my gloves, my dear Cindry-chan stood by the door, staring at me with that pretty face.

"Dr. Hogback! Guests could arrive any moment."

One of the zombies I had made a long time ago wandered in, as it began to describe the guest I would soon be having.

From what he said, It was a tall man with pale blue hair as well as a small animal girl that was accompanying him.

"Welcome then inside when they get here, Cindry-chan. They are our esteemed guests."

Smirking, I walked back to direct the few available man force zombies to transport my work to Moria-sama. I wonder what he would think of the shadows he could acquire from the coming guests?

Laughing loudly, I sent one of the zombies to inform Moria-sama about the visitors. He would definitely want to know this. I could expand his army even more if the shadows were of good quality.

I couldn't help myself but think of what kind of zombie I should make to fit the shadow they would receive. I didn't usually care about it, but something told me these would give really good results.

"I can't wait to see them... Fosfosfosfos~"

Unable to suppres my giddy feelings, laughter could be heard, as I watched from the windows to see when our guests would arrive.