Uproar sounds in celebration from the audience as they let out a chant, “Mold god! Mold god!”

  The uproar further hastens as the bisected blue flesh begins to sink. The sand slowly climbs up the oni as Arata only has one thought to himself. It feels nothing like the fairies… how the hell can we fight the Erkling? There are not enough isolatable variables to deduce how exactly it works!

  With Arata venturing closer, he tries to take it stealthfully yet with how many people there are, someone spots him easily. A green oni stares down Arata, asking, “You brat? How dare you come here- Everyone! We have a new man to feed to the moss!” The oni frantically turns his head as one by one, a cascade of eyes falls upon Arata.

  Yea no, I think I'm gonna run… not worth it! As Arata dashes away, he doesn't account for the bigger wingspan; Arata's turning just gave the oni’s club a free hit to reduce Arata to mincemeat.

  As the club swings down, a sword of similarly impressive size intervenes, a hooded figure then retracts their dark, slim yet muscular arm.

  “Rachamah… perfect timing, I wanted to take you here as a prelude to fighting the Erkling,” Arata comments, seeing her head turn, unimpressed with how he had let his guard down.

  The attacking oni lets out a sound of confusion, “You, how can you be so cowardly? Well the lass can replace you in the pit!”

  The oni quickly turns to face Rachamah, who's already walked right past him and is down in the pit,to the arena. The red Oni, who had just won quickly, had his skull opened by the magurokiri before he was even aware someone was there.

  It was almost as if Arata didn’t exist. More oni jumped down onto Rachamah with a large assortment of weapons as Arata rushed to the edge, “Rachamah!”

  Six tall men twice Racahamah’s size. It was too late to save the six oni from Rachamah. As more men dropped down, being aerial made their path of travel predictable. The oni were practically splitting themselves open with their weight landing onto Rachamah’s sword.

  When the men worked to surround her, Rachamah simply blew herself upwards using a bit of wind magic, beginning her waltz upon the corpses of oni while their eyes were still open.

  It took twenty oni just to match her physical strength but no matter how many more men they had, it would never suffice to match her skill. Yet the oni were surprisingly smart, the men stopped jumping down until a roar echoed throughout the village.

  “You dipshits! Since when did my men grow to be cowards, a warrior race bested by a child? Spineless! I thought you demihumans were all sent to hell…” A large oni jumps down. This one has fungus growing off of him like cysts, the sand-like moss having hardened and attached to the skin around his neck.

  Arata tries to jump down, yet he finds Magurokiri flying towards his feet as Rachamah gives him a death glare, even if they were supposed to be on the same side. “Every time you get involved, it always leads to failing a hunt… go pick me some mushrooms or something.

  I- she left the Baku meat, then Beelzebub ran away. I feel unfairly blamed though? Is she actually superstitious? With that, Rachamah turns to the oni. He wields a massive Kanabo, the sand looking moss beneath him trembles as he drops down as he slams his spiked club through a squishy oni corpse, “Little bird, I am Goichi, the chief, yours?”

  Goichi’s head tilts down to look Rachamah in the eyes. Rachamah threw away her sword to stop Arata from getting involved in the fight, so she resorted to different tactics. The mold was loose and granular, so as he bent down, she threw the flesh-eating sand moss into Goichi’s eyes.

  With blood coming out of his eyes, he swings down his Kanabo at Rachamah. Despite being two times Rachamah’s size, he was still just as fast at swinging down his weapon, hitting Rachamah.

  “Even a crazy bitch like you has to be hurting after that. This is Oeyama! The weapon that won us our home in these very woods. With this very weapon, my father had carved our spot in these woods from the elves so you’ll-”

  What he hit wasn’t Rachamah, it was a corpse, painted over by the same alloy she had used to make the Baku look like a fool. Goichi begins to sweat, “That’s a gargoyle’s trick… I thought you were a- shit! You’re more of a monster than my old man. Maybe I’ll even let you go~.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  With a sadistic smile, Goichi’s face grows paler in contrast. He’s bleeding from his eyes yet too scared to close them. Yet that wouldn’t have done him any better, a harsh reality as a hardened corpse’s arm is slammed into the side of his neck, even though the fungus shell does not crack. Goichi is knocked back.

  “I didn’t wanna ruin my sword’s edge on that hard piece on your neck… I came prepared with the means to block and strike. I just wish I had a better blunt weapon as a sidearm, gimme your stick and I’ll let you live. I will name it Pestle!” Rachamah responds to Goichi, yet her voice yells much louder than what might be in character for her.

  Rachamah’s eye glares in Arata's direction. Oh I see, it is because this guy is a dumbass.

  One of the men who didn't jump down was still armed in preparation, yet likely halted upon seeing Goichi. He stood there, hyper-focused in awe of the fight. This left his back exposed to Arata who quickly capitalized, backstabbing the oni. With that, Arata throws down a warhammer.

  After dropping that weapon, the fight was no longer even remotely close. The hardened moss acted as armor around his neck, but provided no facial protection.

  The now blinded Goichi tries his best to fight back, yet without his sight to rely on. Goichi raises his guard to block as Rachamah jumps to hit his face, only for her to drive the hammer into his fingers, breaking them as Oeyama drops to the floor.

  “Please stop! I’ll give you Oeyama, I will stop fighting, just please no more, I can no longer fight!” Goichi pleads to Rachamah.

  “That’s not the weapon’s name. I will take Pestle then… I promise I will make it quick.” Rachamah’s gaze darkens as wind gathers around the Kanabo.

  With Goichi dropped to his knees in surrender, all he had accomplished was negotiating an easier death. Rachamah wasn't sadistic like Beelzebub yet indifferent to the lives of others.

  Tears stream down Goichi’s maimed eyes before his end.

  *Crunch*

  Goichi’s head rolls across the sand mimicking moss, fallen off his brutally snapped spine, with the surrounding moss completely shattered apart.

  The head of Goichi begins to sink until Rachamah gets closer, the moss seemingly keeping itself back from taking Rachamah’s prey.

  Discarded Liquor of Song

  Written by: ?????

  Act XX

  X ext. Oni Village Streets

  Men hack each other to pieces during a village-wide relapse, which the Oni guard attempt to quell. Mothers hide their children in the houses while Goichi returns with his father, Yonichi.

  Goichi

  Father, everything I say is with respect. This tradition of alcohol cannot stay, the solution is not to brew more rather than find a way to flourish in its absence.

  Yonichi

  This is your culture boy. The masses are in a fury without it. What an absentminded suggestion. You still dare suggest such a thing, seeing what our people before us look like.

  Goichi

  Father no, I- I simply want to help them. We went out to ask the wise fairies for their advice yet the man in charge said the necessary plants no longer grow. Even what little we have to give will not sustain our entire tribe.

  Yonichi

  The weak weed themselves out before us no? Shall we wait for the quarrel to reach its conclusion then son?

  Goichi

  Father, I don’t like this. Our people don’t have to be violent. The man I met, he has many wise words for he too understands when tradition acts without the masses’ interest. He showed me another solution.

  Yonichi holds out some mushrooms. The fungus, with its strange black look, didn’t entice his father’s appetite.

  Yonichi

  Boy, eat those yourself if you truly stand by their miracles. I’ll have a swig of my booze.

  Yonichi vanishes into the crowd of Oni killing each other, another day of violence until those who were the first to succumb to the withdrawal perish, leaving only the living to bury what they would become.

  Goichi

  I must apologize but if the wives may pitch into the digging effort, we will overcome this shortage. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, please believe me.

  X int. Oni Village Chief’s Hut

  Yonichi can’t sleep, lying awake in confusion as to why Yonichi can’t see reason.

  Goichi

  Father is too old. Tradition doesn’t come before our people, they can be happy. We surely don’t have to succumb to our vices or violence. Not with such a remedy. Through the Erlking’s miracle, our shackles can be inversed.

  Goichi makes his way to his sleeping father, stealing from Oeyama from him. Standing over the sleeping old man, blood squirts out and covers Goichi’s eyes.

  Goichi

  Father. You killed our people, culture should only exist for the people after all.

  Yonichi is dragged out into the pit in the center of town, corpse tossed over the other corpses. A small growth has begun, the corpses have been lowered into the bed of fungus.

  X ext. Oni Village Pit

  The surviving Oni guards look down into the pit alongside Goichi.

  Guard

  Young master, where did the corpses of our brothers go?

  Goichi

  They gave themselves to our future, we no longer have to fear violence. Look how the growth has spread, we have not our violent nature to fear. Let us embrace it.