Chapter 89: Demon VS Demon
Although I was the one who burst out in anger, my mind remained remarkably calm. Though I still felt a rage boiling within me, capable of making my head explode, I was well aware of the danger of being consumed by anger in battle. Anger should serve as motivation to fight, and in combat, one must focus solely on the task at hand.
The first target I set my eyes on was the demon closest to me. It was probably a frog demon, but that didn’t matter at the moment. I aimed to stab the demon’s throat with a knifehand strike, but just before my fingertips could pierce through, I heard Mika’s shout.
“You mustn’t kill!”
Mika’s outcry reached my ears mere moments before my fingers made contact. With a frustrated click of my tongue, I altered my hand’s trajectory, forming a fist instead, and directed an uppercut towards the demon’s chin. I could feel the sensation of the frog demon’s jawbone shattering against my fist.
Disregarding the convulsing frog demon now writhing on the ground, I seized Leo’s arm and swiftly swung him around, leveraging his body to deliver a powerful kick to the knee of the bastard, who had been punching his face. A goat-like demon or something like that let out a piercing scream of agony, prompting me to silence him by striking his head with my tail, rendering him unconscious.
“Bi… Big brother…”
“…”
Leo sat there, his face swollen and stained with tears, blood, and mucus, crying uncontrollably. I made him sit down and gently tapped his head before turning my attention to the next enemy.
The next target I chose were the scumbags attempting to assault the women. These fools, with their pants down and their butts exposed toward me, were so oblivious to my presence that they couldn’t even sense my murderous intent. I drove my poisonous stinger, which was dripping potent, paralyzing, venom, deep into their necks.
After trembling uncontrollably, they found themselves immobilized in foolish postures. The women who had been overpowered managed to break free, and as if acting in unison, they stomped on the groins of the demons who had tried to violate them. Even though I was the one to save them, why did my own groin instinctively recoil and shrink?
“Goooaaaah!”
“!”
While I was frozen in shock from witnessing the shocking scene of their groins being crushed, the crocodile demon stealthily approached me from behind and bit down on my back.
Perhaps he thought he had caught me off guard, but I could see what was happening behind me, so such a surprise attack was ineffective. Without even turning around, I thrust the tip of my tail into his wide-open mouth.
“Gogeget!? Gogagagaga!?”
The tip of my tail penetrated deep into the throat of the crocodile demon. To prevent his escape, I exposed the poisonous stinger from the tip of my tail without secreting any poison.
The stinger pierced deeply into his throat, causing the crocodile demon to writhe in agony, desperately trying to pull my tail out. However, I manipulated the shape of my tail to transform the tip of the stinger into a barbed hook, making it impossible for it to be withdrawn. It was much easier to alter my physical form slightly than to change my fingers from an exoskeleton to human skin.
“Gaah!?”
With the crocodile demon immobilized, I lifted my tail forcefully. The suspended demon flailed his legs in mid-air, clinging desperately to my tail to avoid falling. I decided to use the flailing demon as a weapon.
Swinging the crocodile demon around, I mowed down the miscellaneous horde of demons in my path. Just then, a repulsive and mysterious creature, devoid of fur or scales and covered in a shiny, slimy epidermis, appeared before me. He grabbed onto Lappy’s hair, dragging her along as a hostage, taunting me.
“Don’t move! Ain’t this brat important to you!?!”
The demon threatened me with an indiscernible voice. Seeing Lappy crying in pain and fear, I felt a surge of anger that made everything before me turn red. However, I couldn’t afford to lose my composure if I wanted to save her. I suppressed my anger once again, relying on my rationality.
At the same time, I widened the small pincers on my cheeks. The mysterious creature didn’t understand the significance of my action and, although cautious, showed no signs of movement. That worked in my favor.
Screech… Crack!
A piercing screech filled the air as I brought the blade side of my left cheek pincer toward my mouth and forcefully snapped it with my teeth. The exoskeleton proved resilient, requiring considerable effort that strained my teeth almost to their breaking point. Yet I succeeded. With the broken blade held firmly in my mouth, I took a deep breath and forcefully spat it like a shooting metal fragment.
This was my original technique, inspired by the cylindrical weapon used by the Republic Army… No, was it called a gun? The prisoner had mentioned it.
It was simply a matter of spewing out the chewed-out hard pincer; but no one should underestimate the strength of my spine, abdominal muscles, and lung capacity. The pincer blade shot out like metal fragments, swiftly piercing through the hand of the mysterious demon clutching Lappy’s hair.
“Gaaaaaa, Gubyah!?”
“Gogiga!?”
The pain from the punctured hand caused the mysterious demon to release his grip, and, in a downward swing, I flung the crocodile demon attached to my tail, making the two demons’ heads clash with each other. The mysterious demon, his forehead and hand dripping green blood, lost consciousness as he crashed to the ground.
On the other hand, after getting freed from captivity, Lappy stumbled towards me, her face a mess as she emitted incomprehensible sounds. I gently lifted her up, trying to calm her as best as I could by stroking her back, despite her trembling and continued tears.
Seizing the opportunity, something burst forth from the ground where I stood. However, having already sensed the presence from the vibrations transmitted through the soles of my feet, I calmly raised my arm to protect myself and Lappy. Astonishingly, whatever emerged from the ground began to scrape away at the surface of my exoskeleton.
The culprit responsible for damaging my exoskeleton was none other than the claws of the demon that emerged from underground Surprisingly, even without strengthing it with my fighting spirit, those claws possessed a sharpness that could breach my exoskeleton. Swiftly, I healed my wounds and glared at the demon.
“My attack didn’t work?!”
The demon, resembling a fusion of an armadillo and a mole, appeared taken aback by the fact that his claws failed to penetrate my exoskeleton. He stood frozen in surprise, his short and thick claws stretching out, revealing disproportionately large hands in relation to his body size. Seizing the moment, I decisively advanced and landed a forceful front kick to his abdomen.
The armadillo demon was sent soaring through the air, disgorging his contents in a nauseating display. Then, Tigar, freed from the clutches of the crocodile demon, swiftly brought down his arm upon the demon’s back.
“You bastards! The boss has returned! Beat those disrespectful juniors within an inch of their lives!”
“””OOOOHHHH!”””
…Boss? I had no recollection of holding such a position. However, with Tigar’s loud encouragement, my comrades regained their momentum, while the new demons grew bewildered. A single word changed the tide of the battle. It may have been a lie, but it was a first-class strategy.
Meanwhile, I continued to pummel the crocodile demon that was still attached to the end of my own tail, knocking down enemy after enemy. In truth, using my fists would have been more efficient, but I couldn’t do so at the moment because I was holding onto Lappy. Thanks to Tigar’s support, the morale of our comrades soared, and their momentum was astonishing. There was no need for me to exert myself any further.
Eventually, through the valiant efforts of everyone, all the new demons fell into silence. Among them were a few individuals who had no visible injuries, likely subdued by Mika, who had choked them from behind or delivered powerful blows to their heads, causing them to lose consciousness. It was a truly remarkable display of skill.
Restoring my tail to its original form, I flung the crocodile demon aside. It lay on the ground, twitching and convulsing, barely clinging to life. I didn’t know how this battle came about, but one thing was certain: it was our victory.
“What’s all the commotion about?!”
When everything was over, some fully armored imperial soldiers, marked with “Military Law Enforcement Unit” arrived in droves. According to my knowledge, the military law enforcement unit was an organization responsible for maintaining order within the army. It would have been better if they had arrived earlier to bring the situation under control.
The military law enforcers restrained the fallen demons while still pointing their blades towards us, who were still standing. There was no point in resisting for us, who held a weaker position. I obediently lowered my tail to the ground and, with my left arm still cradling Lappy, raised my right hand to indicate surrender.
Seemingly understanding my intentions, my companions, including Tigar and Zald, also raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. Our lack of resistance seemed to have paid off, as the military law enforcers didn’t resort to unnecessary violence, although they kept their spears pointed at us.
“Postpone the interrogation for later! Lock up everyone who caused trouble in the prison! Don’t discriminate between women and children!”
The military law enforcers prodded us with their spears, herding us together in one spot before surrounding us and leading us away. In response, we didn’t resist or attempt to flee, instead complying silently as the military law enforcers escorted us to the prison.
I never expected that after visiting the prison with Marcellus’ as his companions, we would end up being thrown into cells as prisoners ourselves. The guards who were stationed at the prison were taken aback, their eyes widening upon seeing me and Mika being brought back in. Well, it seems we’ll be relying on them in a different way this time.
We were thrown into the second-floor cells of the prison. Each cell housed three to four individuals, and in the same cell as me were Lappy and Mika. Of course, you ended up in the same cell as me, didn’t you?
“Things have taken a serious turn. Whether we can safely get out of here… we can only rely on Marcellus this time,” Mika said.
“…,”
Just like Mika said, in order for us to be released unharmed, we needed someone outside who would exert their efforts on behalf of us, who were both mysterious creatures known as demons and former Atonement soldiers, victims of discrimination… Marcellus was the only person who came to mind.
Regardless, there was nothing we could do at the moment. While gently fixing Lappy’s tousled hair after she had fallen asleep from crying, I looked up at the ceiling of the prison.
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