Chapter 63: What an Ugly Pot.

...

On the broken roof ruins.

Rengoku Shinjuro raised his Nichirin Sword in his hand, he looked at the other two and explained:

"Himejima, Kamado."

"Right now, I'm the only one holding a Nichirin Sword."

His gaze fell on the Kusabimaru in Tanjuro's hand, and Himejima's hand holding only the rosary.

Himejima Gyomei's Nichirin Sword, which is a broad axe and meteor hammer connected by a long chain, is extremely complex in its forging process.

Therefore, it is usually forged by the village chief with the most superb craftsmanship in the village of swordsmiths.

This time, Himejima Gyomei came in person, also to retrieve the already forged Nichirin Sword.

"So..."

Rengoku Shinjuro spoke with a somewhat hoarse voice. He patted the dust off his faded uniform and stared in the direction where Gyokko had fled:

"I'll go after him first. You guys take the Nichirin Swords and follow later."

Himejima Gyomei clasped his hands together, his heavy rosary beads clenched tightly, tears streaming down:

"Shinjuro-san is absolutely right."

In his tone, there was no surprise at Shinjuro's decision to start hunting demons again.

Tanjuro stood in the dust, he looked sideways at Shinjuro.

His gaze slowly moved to the pitted Nichirin Sword in his hand.

——This sword... it won't last much longer, will it?

Just as he was about to refuse Shinjuro's proposal, he suddenly looked in another direction, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Whoosh!

In his field of vision, a black figure flashed in the corner.

Thinking back to Gyokko's appearance earlier, the image of a second demon gradually emerged in Tanjuro's mind.

Slap!

Tanjuro patted Shinjuro's shoulder, his tone serious and sincere:

"We'll catch up soon."

Upon hearing this, Shinjuro's mouth twitched slightly. He understood the meaning in Tanjuro's words:

"...I'm not that weak yet."

After saying this, he sighed softly and then jumped down from the second floor.

Click.

Turning around, carrying the Nichirin Sword whose sword had already lost its edge, Rengoku Shinjuro frowned and looked down the street.

"Tsk."

Seeing this, Rengoku Shinjuro's face darkened slightly. He clicked his tongue, and the desolation after his decline gave him a bit more fierceness:

"...A provocation?"

The direction of Shinjuro's gaze.

On the street.

——Those neatly arranged, a pot placed every hundred meters.

Just like an arrow, it pointed out the direction of Gyokko's escape.

...

...

Watchtower.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

The person wearing a Warding mask looked anxious. He vigorously shook the large bell used for communication on the watchtower, and the dull echo quickly spread throughout the village.

He took out a conical megaphone, stood in the high watchtower, and shouted at the street:

"A demon is attacking the village——!!"

"Everyone——!!"

...

Not long after Shinjuro left alone.

On the roof ruins.

Listening to the rustling movement in the ruins.

Tanjuro and Himejima stood in place, not moving.

At this moment.

"Himejima-san." Tanjuro suddenly spoke, calling out to the tall Himejima next to him.

"Hmm." Himejima Gyomei moved the beads in his hand and nodded slightly.

The next moment.

Whoosh!

The movements of the two turned into afterimages, and they launched an attack on the corridor covered by the ruins behind them in an instant!

Boom!!

With the beads and Kusabimaru hitting the same position together.

"Yikes!!"

A very fast black shadow sprang out from the position where the ruins were hit. He quickly climbed onto the wall of a nearby house, his figure hunched.

Staggering and hiding behind the wall, he slightly poked out his head, his dark red pupils seemed to be staring at this side.

A white, ferocious horn protruded from both sides of his forehead, and in the middle was an abnormally large tumor, full of blood vessels.

That figure was curled up behind the wall, sharp claws embedded in the wall, shivering, and his voice trembling as he muttered to himself:

"...Terrifying, utterly terrifying."

"Three... the number of hashira... there are three."

He stretched out his wrinkled finger, shaking it in front of him.

"...Gyokko... the information you gave was wrong...!"

Across.

On the ruins.

Tanjuro turned his head, looking at Hantengu who was fleeing quickly.

He squinted slightly, his eyes twitching as he looked at the status bar above Hantengu's head.

[Upper Rank Three·Hantengu]

Above the name.

Six red dots are tightly arranged.

——Hantengu, has six personalities.

Ah.

What a hassle.

Tanjuro sighed slightly in his heart, his Kusabimaru already clenched.

...

...

Meanwhile.

On the other side.

In the dark forest.

A father and his two sons, dressed in blue cloud-patterned short shirts, were strolling among the trees.

"Dad, brother, why are we coming here?"

Muichiro held a sword in both hands, he looked around somewhat timidly, and quickly asked the two people walking in front of him:

"We've never been here before." Muichiro's tone was filled with worry.

Although it's close to home, they have never approached this area when chopping wood or practicing.

——The unfamiliar wilderness, and at night.

——This is quite dangerous!

Upon hearing this, Yuichiro sneered, and an image of a six-eyed monster involuntarily appeared in his mind, he said resentfully:

"Who knows!"

"Tsk!"

Similarly, Yuichiro also had a sword on his waist.

Tokito Tadaichiro walked in front of the two, his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, listening to his two sons' conversation, he smiled somewhat embarrassedly:

"...It was said by Tsugikuni-san."

"What?" Muichiro raised his head curiously, looking at his father: "What did Tsugikuni-san... say?"

"Ah, I'll tell you."

Yuichiro quickly said, he took the lead before his father, pretending to be deep, cleared his throat:

"Practice... is sufficient..."

"It's time... for actual combat..."

After speaking, Yuichiro suddenly coughed twice, as if the deep voice was too hard for him:

"In short, it's some inexplicable actual combat now."

Muichiro, who seemed to understand but not understand, nodded somewhat blankly.

Actual combat?

He looked down at his palm full of friction marks.

...

The father and son walked a distance in the forest again.

At this time.

"Brother! Dad! Look!"

Muichiro suddenly raised his hand, pointed to the front, and shouted in surprise behind the bushes of an open space:

"There's a pot over there!"

Upon hearing this, Yuichiro followed Muichiro's finger and looked.

That was an open space surrounded by trees and bushes.

In the middle of the open space, a porcelain pot reflecting the moonlight on the edge was placed.

Just——the pot seems to be slightly asymmetrical.

After seeing the pot that suddenly appeared on the open ground, Yuichiro's expression became a bit disgusted, he frowned slightly.

"...What an ugly pot."

Almost at the moment when the tail sound of Yuichiro's sentence just fell.

Bang! Bang!

The pot on the flat ground began to shake violently.

-----

read up to 20++ advanced chapters on patreon.com/GMadman