Chapter 39: Upper Moon
Chapter 39: Upper Moon
The moon rose in the sky, the stars giving a faint light to the city, while the fire from torches and lanterns provided an even clearer view of the situation.
But this beautiful night contrasted sharply with the terrible acts taking place, the only sign of these acts being the sound of flesh being struck.
Bound by a rope, Takeshi was tied up and being beaten by his former comrades.
"Son of a bitch," pow.
"Scumbag," pow, pow, pow, pow—a sequence of punches landed on Takeshi.
"Why did you kill Katsuro and Haruki, huh, bastard?" pow.
"I told you already, tsk, a demon appeared and controlled their bodies." Before Takeshi could catch a break, another punch landed.
Pow.
"Do you think I'm stupid, you lying son of a bitch?" The man resumed the beating.
Kokushibo's POV
Huitzi and Kokushibo couldn't find a cave, so they were in the middle of the forest.
Tall trees hid the moon, and the sounds of the forest animals were evident.
Huitzi and Kokushibo were training while Soloctis went back to sleep, having not slept at all during the escape due to being constantly jostled.
Suddenly, bone claws emerged from Huitzi's fist. He rushed towards Kokushibo and punched him, but nothing happened.
"Lord Nosferato, what are you doing?" Kokushibo asked, as this had happened several times.
"I'm training my new technique. Sigh, but it's harder than it looks." Huitzi was frustrated and then sat on the ground, trying to figure out why the technique wasn't working.
Kokushibo stared at Huitzi silently.
'Lord Nosferato seems to be developing a technique for dealing with the demon that tried to capture Soloctis, but he hasn't told me what it is,' Kokushibo sighed deeply.
Kokushibo then straightened up and took a resting position, wondering how long it would take Nobunaga to find this demon.
Nobunaga's POV
'Sigh, I'm getting busier every day. The model rats aren't enough; I need many more rats to build an information network,' Nobunaga thought while monitoring the development of the information network.
'How can I increase the infection rate of the meat sprouts?' Nobunaga seemed to be stuck in a dilemma.
Then, like a lightning bolt, Nobunaga had an idea.
'Hey, I can test this,' Nobunaga thought.
He controlled a rat to pass through a small hole that led outside the sealed cave. The hole was just big enough for a small animal to pass through.
When the rat arrived, Nobunaga observed that it was a very skinny gray rat.
Nobunaga took the rat with his hands and placed a meat sprout on it. This was a process he was already accustomed to, but this time was different; he placed four meat sprouts on the rat.
After the implantation, the rat seemed fatter, and the tentacles moving beneath the skin could be seen if you focused on it. This was because the other three meat sprouts were not on the head; they were spread throughout the body.
'Done, now I can use this to create more model rats without them having to come here.' Nobunaga was pleased with his new acquisition, so much so that he nicknamed it the "queen of rats."
With the queen of rats in play, the infection rate among the rats increased significantly.
Yoriichi's POV
A man was walking up the mountain, a virtuous aura surrounding his body. His gaze was penetrating, but at the moment he was lost in thought.
'It's been almost a week since Kokushibo disappeared. Where could he be?' Yoriichi was worried about his brother.
But interrupting his thoughts, a woman with a generous bust spoke.
"Yoriichi, we've searched everywhere and haven't found Kokushibo..."
Yoriichi remained silent.
The woman, understanding his pain, said, "Sir, have you considered that he might be dead?"
"No, Kokushibo wouldn't die so easily. He wouldn't die without leaving traces; he's out there, I can feel it," Yoriichi said with a tone full of determination.
"But sir, even if he is alive, we can't just divert our forces to find him... I know it must be hard to lose family like this, but we need to think about the group," the Love Hashira said, sadness clear on her face.
"Sigh, just one more week, and then we'll stop searching," Yoriichi was shaken by this decision.
"... Yes, sir," the Love Hashira left in silence.
'Brother, where are you?' Yoriichi thought as he looked up at the stars.
Takeshi's POV
The next day, Takeshi was placed in a wooden carriage, chains binding his wrists, ankles, and waist.
The waist chains kept him close to the ground, forcing him to kneel.
The chains on his arms were secured to the top of the carriage, keeping his arms raised and pulling his body to the point where his knees were just 2 centimeters from the ground.
The wrist chains were so tight that they cut into his skin, causing intense pain.
And the ankle chains restrained his feet, preventing him from using any support to avoid hurting his wrists. (Author's Note: I think my mental state isn't as good as before because I don't think someone with a sane mind would come up with such a form of torture.)
Takeshi's thoughts were a chaotic mix of pain, fear, and anger, all leading to a mind focused on revenge. At this moment, Takeshi was losing part of his humanity, but neither he nor anyone else cared.
Bruises covered his body from the previous night, his wrists were bleeding, and blood dripped down his arms.
His head was bowed, hiding his expression, but despite everything, Takeshi made no sound.
The guards didn't care about his condition. In fact, they even threw vinegar on his wounds to make him scream, but no sound came from his mouth. Takeshi was too occupied with planning a sinister revenge and didn't want to give the guards any satisfaction.
They were traveling to Yamashiro, the city where the daimyo lived. It would be the daimyo who would judge Takeshi.
The journey took five days.
Huitzi's POV
After the first night of training, Kokushibo, Huitzi, and Soloctis rented another room in a yadoya.
While Huitzi was thinking about how to use his new technique, he came up with something.
'Damn, Kokushibo is handling the Greek barbecue sales now. I have to wait for him to return.' Huitzi sat cross-legged, waiting for Kokushibo to come back.
But before that, he thought and tried to practice on his own.
Huitzi extended his fist forward, and claws emerged from it.
Huitzi's new technique involved condensing the bioelectricity from his body into his fist, and the result of a punch would be an electric shock to the enemy.
To increase efficiency, Huitzi created bone claws so that when the claws pierced the enemy's body, the energy would pass through the claws and enter the enemy, causing internal damage.
The claws were hollow inside because bone does not conduct energy, so Huitzi made the bones hollow so that this space could be filled with his nerves, as nerves are good conductors.
When Huitzi channeled energy into the nerves, nothing seemed to happen, but when Huitzi touched the nerves, he felt the electric shock.
'Hmm, it's not that strong, but it will serve my purposes.'
After a few hours, Nobunaga made contact.
"Sir, I found the demon you're looking for. It's an Upper Moon."
"So, it was an Upper Moon. I suspected it would be a strong demon; after all, no demon would obey one of the same or lower status. But I was expecting a Lower Moon."
"I was also surprised when I found out, but one thing I don't know is why it did this."
"Yes, that's still a mystery, but don't worry; I'll get the answer from it myself," Huitzi said, clenching his fist and channeling a lot of bioelectricity into the claw.
'Sigh, the fact that no visual effect appears when I use this is somewhat frustrating. I wish at least some lightning would come from it. Sigh.' Huitzi was really frustrated with this.
'Well, I'll think of a solution later; after all, these visual effects could be quite persuasive. Very persuasive, hahaha.'
Author's Note: Hello dear readers, unfortunately, the rate at which I write chapters per week is less than the number of chapters I post. This is because the only time I have to write is at night, and only for an hour. It's really frustrating. So, I'll be taking a break from posting to accumulate some chapters. I'll try to finish about 15 chapters before posting the entire first volume at once.
Also, I made this chapter to provide more insight into the world, showing the consequences of the protagonist's actions. I hope you enjoyed it <3.< p>
End of Chapter