Before establishing the Human World calendar, that is, more than 380 years in the past of Human World history, there were moving objects called "divine animals".
Silverwhite snake which lived in a deep mountain valley in the Eastern Empire. A phoenix that nested in a volcano in the Southern Empire. Giant ice dragon which protected the mountain range of the Northern Empire. A winged lion which used to rush the grassland of the Western Empire, and so on.
Their number was more than 40, but they had no fluctlight, it was an advanced AI program able to communicate with Human World people using the dedicated speech engine. People feared and respected divine beasts as gods on earth, and left many legends.
However, for a girl who established the Axiom church in the year 30 of Human World calendar and then ruled the Human World by the name of Highest Priest Administrator, "gods" other than the gods that appeared in the ecclesiastical history were disturbing beings. She was getting rid of them either herself, making weapons — divine objects — out of them, or letting her subordinate Integrity Knights do the extermination job. Then, around the year 100 of Human World calendar, all the divine beasts were destroyed, and all the books that wrote about the exchange with them were burned away.
None of birds and animals inhabiting the present Human World were able to use human language. However, there was only one kind among them, beasts which preserved AI to a very limited extent. Those were the Integrity Knights’ partners, dragons.
The dragons, even if they could not speak human language, were able to understand even a fairly complicated command given to the owner. And they also had "heart" used to strengthen the bonds with the owner.
Therefore, young dragon Tsukigake, raised by the Integrity Knight apprentice Ronye Arabel, rushed hard to carry out the command of her owner: "Go along this aisle to the ground and get to the north gate of Centoria."
After she climbed up a stairway of sixty steps while fluttering small wings and got out pushing the body through the gap in the iron grid, Tsukigake looked around.
There was just a metal grate on behind, both the right and left were blocked by a thorny hedge, and the only available path extended ahead. But Tsukigake did not like the idea of going forward. Because there was a mansion with a bad presence down the path. While approaching there, she might be found by black people who captured brother dragon Shimosaki in the basement. She was not scared of those folks, but if they would catch her there was a chance she won’t be able to serve the master.
She turned to the right and looked up at the top of a hedge. Tried to jump over a hedge that seemed to be higher than her owner while swiftly fluttering small wings, but did not reach the top at all. Still she tried hard for a few seconds, but the wings soon got tired and she fell on the butt to the stone pavement. After bouncing two or three times like temari1, she finally got the strained body up.
If that’s the case, there is no choice but to break through the hedge.
"Ku-ru-ru..."
After softly chirping to demonstrate the readiness, she folded the wings tightly and thrust the nose into the surface by the roots of the hedge.
Most shrubs have spaces near their roots, but this plant had branches extending to the immediate vicinity of the ground, and the branches also bore countless sharp 3 centimeters long thorns. She tried to crawl down the ground to the limit, and in this pose to pass through a small gap, but the moment a thorn hit her neck, sharp pain run through the whole body.
Having turned her head back, Tsukigake bit it with her tiny fangs and kept moving forward. Painful spots emerged one after another on the soft feathery back, scratching the scaleless skin. Although due to the pain from time to time her mouth involuntarily leaked "Kyuuu......", she pushed on.
It took her more than one minute to get through a hedge that was less than 50 cens thick. Finally released from thorns, Tsukigake threw her body in wet fallen leaves and tried to catch the breath.
As soon as pain somewhat let her go, she bent long neck carefully and looked over the back. The prideful yellow feathers were messy and stained red with running blood.
Tsukigake did not understand a Life’s numerical value, but it was clear to her that living creature will die if blood continues to run out. She straightened the disturbed feathers with the nose and licked each scratch one by one. Dragon saliva had a weak healing effect, and bleeding stops when the wound is licked several times, but her tongue did not reach the furthermost scratches on the back.
The pain finally faded to the extent that she could deal with, so Tsukigake shook the body shaking off mud and fallen leaves and stood up with only the hind legs.
A deep forest spread ahead. The yellow sunlight obstructed by the branches and leaves of the coniferous trees hardly reached the ground, but the direction could be understood.
The big city of humans which Master Ronye calls "Centoria" is in the south. This forest is the place to come for the first time and I do not know the distance well as I got here on a carriage from the city, but I have to arrive as soon as possible.
Fortunately, I ate plenty of fish from the lake a few hours ago so my stomach is not empty yet. I did not like the smell of the dead fish given in the stables for the past few months, and I did not eat much of it, but it was fun to catch the fish swimming in the water by myself and it was very tasty because it was fresh. I feel that remembering the taste will only make me hungry, so better to forget about fish and start running on the forest sole with all four legs.
Unlike the garden of "Cathedral" where Tsukigake lived or the grassland around the lake, the damp sole of the forest was slippery and stones and roots hidden under the fallen leaves made it difficult to run. Every time tipping over an obstacle, she felt and roll, but still kept going south on and on.
Running around a thick tree, Tsukigake's keen nose caught something smelly, some rotten smell.
A part of the ground surrounded by winding trees was dug out almost entirely. The black soil was cold, damp and sticky, unlike the soft soil of the flowerbed in the front of the Cathedral garden. The odor seemed to drift from the big hole, but even after inspecting the pit closely she couldn’t see anything at the bottom.
"Ku-ru……"
Tsukigake slowly moved away from the edge of the hole. It was unclear if she can escape if she falls, nor had she time to loiter having a snack at that time.
After getting around the badly smelling pit and running for a few more minutes it started to get brighter little by little. The exit of the forest was near. Tsukigake jumped from between the two old trees, kicking hard of the ground with her wings flapping while running through the last ten mel.
Grassland surrounding the forest had been dyed in bright yellow, illuminated in the light of sun bending to the sunset. After running for a while sucking cold but fresh air, she stopped at the top of the hill.
Looking around, she saw a white wall across the meadow on the right side, a glittering water surface of the lake on the left side, and a small human town in the front. It is farther than I thought, but if I run hard, I will be able to arrive sooner or later. No, “sooner or later” won’t work. At this very moment, my Master and her best friend are trapped in the dungeon, and Shimosaki is taken to the mansion, and he must have been scared so much.
"Kyu-ru-ru!"
Tsukigake began to run again after quietly chirping, so that black people would not hear by any chance.
Although it was somewhat better than in the forest, the grass around here was also tall and tried to push the small body back. Running with the neck stretched up, she thrust the grass with the front legs to make path.
After about five minutes passed, this time she felt clear hunger. Even a child of a dragon, to maintain Life level, requires much more food than dogs and foxes of the same size.
A large lake was shining gold in about a hundred mels to the left. There would be plenty of tasty fish swimming in the water. Just one this thought made her slightly shift the track to the left, but Tsukigake shook her head as she ran and returned to the previous direction. I will not die because of being hungry, but my Master’s life is in danger.
If the memory of what she had seen from the window of the horse-drawn carriage was correct, there should have been a large abandoned field on the south side of the grassland surrounding the lake. If it's indeed there, it will be possible to find at least one shriveled potato. Only that hope supported the spirit as she ran for five minutes, and then.
Suddenly his foreleg sunk into the ground, so Tsukigake fell somersault and rolled. After several turns the rolling finally stopping, the back touching the ground felt submerging in cold water. Sharp pain echoed from fresh wounds where blood has just stopped, thin cry leaked from the back of the throat.
However, it wasn’t possible lying down forever. The area was a wetland covering the vast grounds produced with water flowing out of the lake. Tsukigake, born in Cathedral, has never entered wetlands before, but there was an instinctive knowledge that if you are immersed in cold water for long, the Life will decrease faster. Reanimating the body, she stretched and turned the neck carefully around to check the surroundings again.
Her front and left were blocked by wide wetlands, the dry ground was only on the right side. However, it was completely unknown how far the wetlands extend. If wetlands continue all the way to the white wall visible in that direction, a lot of time will be wasted.
"Ku-ru-ru..."
Tsukigake who had no idea what to do next inadvertently leaked a miserable voice.
Then, as if hearing this voice, a small creature came out from a grassy place a little away, and shrilly chirped "Kyu-kyu?!".
A creature with short brown fur, ears almost as long as the body, and small round eyes, looked up at Tsukigake, turning the neck to the right as if saying ‘what the heck is this thing’.
Tsukigake thought exactly the same thing. The creature that was about thirty cen long from a pointed tip of the nose to a short tail was called "Miminaga-nure-nezumi"2 by the people of the central city, but of course Tsukigake did not know such a thing.
Looking over the elliptical body of the brown rat having no boundary between the neck and the torso, she thought it would be delicious to catch it and eat it. The rat tried to quickly withdraw into the grass as if feeling Tsukigake's appetite, so it’s opponent quickly hurriedly objected:
"Kuru!!!"
Whether or not Tsukigake was able to communicate a request to wait ─ nobody can say for sure, but the rat stopped running away leaving the long nose where a beard grew sticking out. After two seconds, it fearfully shoved out the whole head.
If I scare it again — it will run away at once. Tsukigake lowered her body as low as possible and squeaked in low voice pretending that she was not going to eat it.
"Ru-ru-ru-ru......"
This time the rat tilted its head to the left and slowly moved the body out of the grass.
If you look closely, the tips of elongated limbs had swim fins. It was surely a creature living on this land for a long time. Then it might know the way through the swamp.
"Kyu-ru, Kyu-ru-ru-run."
── I want to go to the South. Tell me if you know the way.
Although it was not possible to put the intention into a verbal form, the rat quickly moved long ears and answered "Kyu" to Tsukigake's chirping filled with desperate emotions.
Tsukigake, who felt an echo of ‘I’m hungry’ in the sound, immediately answered:
── Show me the way, will get you delicious fish as much as you like.
── Do not need fish. I like tree nuts.
── But there are no trees here.
While Tsukigake spoke, a small dark object floated on the water surface between the two animals. Rat cried "Ki!!!", jumped in the water, and lifted it with both hands.
From the look of it, it was certainly a nut. Perhaps, the tree nuts that fell to the lake from the trees growing on its banks would flow over time to wetlands. Rat immediately brought the precious thing to the mouth with both hands, but even though it had long front teeth, there was no crunchy sound but only sound of damp and moist. Meanwhile, as I stand immersed in water, my Life runs out.
"Ku-ru-ru-ru, kyu-ru!!!"
── If you guide me, I will give you a lot of fresh nuts. Not damp, crunchy ones.
"Kyuu......."
── Really? You ought to find one in a whole year.
── I promise. You can eat as much as you want everyday.
── Well, then. Come.
Tsukigake wasn’t sure whether the exchange actually took place this way. But after the rat finished eating a black tree nut, it moved to a dry ground nearby and jumped into the grass with excitement.
Tsukigake also hurriedly jumped over the water and thrusted her neck in the place where the rat disappeared. There was a tunnel of about 30 cen in diameter extending in the densely grown grass. Walls of firmly woven dry grass were clearly not made by nature.
The rat stopped close to an entrance to the tunnel and waved a short tail as if calling for her to hurry. Tsukigake was slightly bigger than its width and height, so had to shrink a bit, but not as much as to get through the gap in the iron grid that was in the dungeon, besides, the dry grass spreading all over the floor helped, too.
"Ku-ru-ru!!!"
After chirping in a loud voice to inspire herself, Tsukigake started running in a narrow and dark tunnel. The rat also faced ahead and moved as if sliding while moving short legs only a little.
In just three mels ahead the tunnel was diverging to the left and right. Rat jumped into the left aisle without slowing down, so Tsukigake followed. Immediately the next split appeared, this time it moved right.
Next after a tunnel knitted with dry grass, there was a small round room of about 1 mel. There were one adult rat and three small rats by the wall eating what appeared to be grass seeds, and when they saw Tsukigake who came in running, an adult raised an alarming voice "kiki!!!", to which the guiding rat answered something calmly. Going near the small rats who were tracing a strange appearance with their eyes, lowering the head and entering a next passage.
Apparently, the wetland rats had a mesh of tunnels over this swamp. Without a guide, one would quickly get lost. As they run, plops echoed, so the bottom side of the floor seemed to be in contact with water. There must be a huge number of small islands scattered in wetlands connected with buoyant dead grass tunnels.
After the innumerable bifurcations, junctions and small rooms they ran through, she finally saw a point of light ahead. It seemed like a dead end, but the grass on the wall was sparse, and the setting sun was visible through that gaps.
The rat stopped at the end of the tunnel, protruded only a sharp nose into the gap in the grass, carefully sniffed the outside air and only then thrusted the head all the way out. When it was satisfied it got out through the grass.
After a bit of fighting with the grass Tsukigake also left the tunnel finding herself already at the southern part of the wetland area. The dry grassland spread ahead, and after it a wooden fence was seen that seemed to have been made by humans. Behind was the field she saw from the carriage.
"Kyu-ru-ru, Ku-ru!!!"
── Thank you, Rat. From here I can go alone.
When Tsukigake said so, the brown rat tilted the neck to the right again:
"Kyu-ii?!"
── When will give nuts?
── Do not have it now. But, I will have plenty of nuts soon, will come again. I promise.
Tsukigake spoke earnestly, but the rat insisted raising and lowering the long ears:
── No, I want to eat it now! I want to eat lots of crunchy nuts!
── .... Then, come along. If you go to the city, you will get the nuts.
To the words of Tsukigake, the rat blinked curiously.
── City? What is a city?
── The city is... there are a lot of humans.
── Humans? Whenever humans see us, they chase with sticks.
── It will be fine if you stay by me. I do not have the time, let's go!
That said, Tsukigake tried to resume movement. However, the rat grabbed the end of her tail.
"Ku-ru-ru!!"
── What's the matter?
"Kikii!!"
── Do not go away. My father said that it’s scary behind that wall.
── Scary? Because of humans?
── I do not know....... But nobody who went beyond the wall had ever come back.
Tsukigake tilted her head. Only desolated fields spread out on the south side of the wooden fence, as she saw from the horse-drawn carriage window, and she remembered that there were no humans. Her owner said something about that all the praivatwellerz were rilizd. She did not quite understand the meaning, but if the rat is "scared" of humans, now there should be no danger.
Besides, Tsukigake’s hunger was approaching the limit. If I don’t find something to eat in the field, it looks like I won’t be able to run any more.
"Ku-ru-ruu..."
── It's okay, there’s nothing to be scared of anymore. You can’t go to the city without going over there.
Although he spoke so, the rat had a suspicious face for a while, but eventually the appetite appeared to prevail over the alertness:
"Kiki!!"
── Okay, I will go with you.
── Fine. Then, let's hurry.
As she said so, Tsukigake kicked off the dry ground. The rat, which ran surprisingly fast, also followed from behind.
When they dashed through the grassland and approached the wooden fence, they quickly looked over to the left and right. There was an entrance to the left, so they aimed for it.
Fortunately, there was neither door nor grate, just an artless gate. On the signboard struck by the path, there was a notice "Dedicated farm of the direct jurisdiction" in the Human World language, almost disappeared because of sun and rain, but of course neither Tsukigake, nor the rat could read it.
After passing through the gate, the smell of the earth and dead plants struck the nose. It was not a nice smell, but it was still much better than the way the black pit in the deeps of the forest smelled.
Vegetables they didn’t know the name of were lined in neat rows on the spacious agricultural land, but it seemed that most of them have lost their Life because there were no people to take care of them. Many of them had yellowish leaves down on the ground, while the roots already have completely disappeared turning back to sacred power.
In this situation, vegetables and fruits that Tsukigake could eat were unlikely to be found. Although disappointed, she went ahead by the road running through the middle of the farmland. At a minimum, the road was easier to run than wetlands and grasslands. After making it through this field, the city of Centoria will be there soon. In fact, the shadows of innumerable buildings already floated on the horizon, and behind that the old-fashioned Cathedral tower was clearly visible.
"Kururu."
── Look, that is the city.
She said it proudly to the rat running behind, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be much impressed.
"Kikii."
── Strange. Are there nuts in such a place?
── Of course, there are plenty. Even if I and you eat for the rest of the year, the count won’t decrease much.
── Really? Would you mind if I bring a little to my dad, mother and sister?
── Okay, I will ask to get some for your family members as well.
So, they had such a conversation while running.
Probably because of that Tsukigake was late to notice that smell other than of rotten vegetables had mixed in the air.
Almost at the same time when she noticed, the rat issued a sound of warning "Kii!"
From the right side, a long and slender — but still a little bigger than Tsukigake — shadow came out and blocked the path.
Once again, it was a beast she saw for the first time. Slender sides and tail, the limbs are short but sturdy. Only the long projecting nose and eyes are white, the rest is dark gray.
Tsukigake called out carefully to the beast which silently stopped on the road.
"Kyu-ru-ru-ru..."
── Let us pass. We just want to go to the city.
But the gray beast did not answer anything, just kept staring straight at Tsukigake's eyes with both its eyes shining red.
While she was thinking of what to do, a quiet sound reached her from left and right. There were the same kind of beasts appearing from behind the dead crops. Four, in total. Two of them went behind almost unnoticed to surround Tsukigake; with the first appearing beast there were five of them now.
The gray beasts were called "togari-hanaguma"3 by the private territory dwellers who used to work in this farmland, and these creatures were always hated. They were omnivorous and nocturnal, so they ate the crops from the field during the night. With the permission of a supervisor, the troubled farmers decided to release large dogs in the field at night. Dogs bravely protected fields from hanaguma and reduced the damage to crops, but every once in a while, several hanagumas gathered in groups to attack and kill dogs.
However, those who were liberated from the position of serfs a year ago took dogs with them while moving to Centoria and its suburbs. The field was desolated after all who worked on it disappeared and nearly all of the plants withered, even those which were still producing some fruit for about half a year. Most of the togari-hanagumas who lost the food also starved and died — Underworld's wildlife had an area defined, and it wouldn’t move by itself outside of it — however, some of them, which naturally had a high value for the survivor instinct somehow kept up by eating small animals entering the field, insects they did not pay attention before, and the corpses of their congeners. However, the food was not enough, they were always hungry and ferocious.
Finally, at the point when the surrounding hanagumas began growling "G-r-r-r…" in a low voice, Tsukigake understood the danger.
It seemed that miminaga-nure-nezumi froze trembling on a spot and could not make a sound. Tsukigake also growled, while wrapping it with a long tail to protect a small companion.
"Gyu-r-r-r!!!"
── If you're planning to fight, you'd better stop it.
She intended to convey the meaning in the cry, but hanagumas only growled more violently. And unlike the case of rat, there was no meaning felt in those sounds.
Of course, there was no way for Tsukigake to know, but the dragons were distant kin of an ancient Divine Beast who had been given the ability to communicate with wild animals. Originally it was a power designed to evacuate animal units from territory of the Divine Beast, but not all animals were given AI from the very beginning, however, when the Divine Beast came in contact, the animal unit would be given a minimum thinking ability and a decision database.
Hence, her companion-rat got the ability to answer because Tsukigake spoke to it, but the target of that power had to be limited to units with much lower priority than the initiator. And togari-hanagumas which survived the severe conditions were only a little lower than the current priority of Tsukigake. Five animals were not granted thinking ability, the only behavioral principle moving them was to hunt the prey to satisfy the hunger.
Tsukigake glared at all the beasts who did not respond to her.
She had never fallen into such a situation until now. Moreover, this was the first time for her to act alone outside the Cathedral. Still, it was instinctively felt that the five beasts did not want to merely fight, but instead they are going to kill Tsukigake and the rat.
If I die or get seriously hurt here, won’t be able to call for help for Master and Shimosaki. Tsukigake's Life has also been decreasing, but if you look closer, hanagumas were also all skin and bones, so it would not be impossible to shake them off if running hard.
But I do not know if the rat will run away. Its legs are not even close to slow, but it should be tired because we were running a considerable distance from wetlands to this field. Tsukigake promised to give rat a lot of delicious tree nuts, so she could not abandon it there.
Tsukigake's AI program did not come up with an idea of escaping from hanagumas by sacrificing the rat. A young dragon decided to prepare to fight five predators, and growled quietly and violently:
"Ga-r-r-r!!!"
This time it seemed that the intention was transmitted to the beasts. The hanaguma which blocked the road in the front, also opens the mouth wide, pulled out a thin, sharp tusk and returned the cry:
"Gya-u-u-u!!!"
With that signal, two hanagumas from the left and right jumped over.
Tsukigake wound the tail around the rat which remained frozen, and jumped high in the air. The hanagumas also leaped, but thanks to the wings fluttering with full power she rose up even higher.
The miscalculated hanagumas collided in the air and fell down, entangled. Tsukigake glided in that gap to the west and descended into the field. Tall stalks of millet were still left at that side, so she should be able to hide for a short time.
However, it will not be possible to escape with the rat wrapped with a tail, and it is even more difficult to fight the five beasts while keeping it safe. First, she had to hide the rat in a safe place.
That's why Tsukigake chose a wooden cane left between the ridges. It was on the verge of decay and the Life was running short, but still kept the shape. Please take cover under the wooden lid completely and be quiet there! — she whispered to the rat after letting it down to the ground.
There was no answer, but it was clear that it would be dangerous if any movement or cry is heard. But for the plan to succeed she had to separate enemies from that point. As she began running to the south making a loud noise intentionally, a lot of footsteps came from the right side.
If I’m surrounded, it’d be the end. There is no choice but to push the five animals apart, to defeat one by one.
Hiding in the millet lines, she leapt irregularly to the right and left. The sound of footsteps behind was gradually getting weaker. At the moment when she was convinced that only one hanaguma was still following while others scattered, Tsukigake made a sudden change in direction using wings.
Hanaguma which jumped out of the millet gaps, stood up only by the hind legs at the moment when it saw Tsukigake thrusting towards it. Leaping like an arrow, she deeply bit into the unprotected throat.
The taste of the fresh blood filling her mouth was something that she would not like too much. This time it seemed that raw meat would become another dislike, but that was a question of surviving. She held hard the hanaguma which fell down without being able to raise a scream due to torn apart throat.
Hanaguma tried to blindly swing the front legs with sharp claws, but grasping them by the wrists prevented the scratches. It was possible because dragons could manipulate their fingers alike to humans. In about ten seconds hanaguma's movement gradually became dull, and then the power went out quickly.
She took the mouth off the beast’s throat and looked around. The sound of footsteps approached rapidly from the left side. There was nowhere to hide.
Tsukigake stopped moving and laid next to the dead hanaguma. Immediately afterwards, a new hanaguma appeared scrambling the millet lines.
As soon as it saw the congener and Tsukigake lying over each other, Gu-r-r-r... it growled. Approaching slowly, sniffed the smell of blood soaking the body of dead hanaguma.
Although she did not know if it is going to consider calling its friends, or would begin eating a corpse, the moment she felt the attention diverted for a split second, Tsukigake vigorously got up and bit into its neck.
Although the death pretense strategy succeeded, she could not catch the throat in the desired point because of attacking the enemy from the side.
"Gya-a-o-o!!!"
Hanaguma shrugged and began to twitch around trying to get rid of Tsukigake clung to the right side of its neck. She tried to hold it down with the front legs like she did the last time but it did not work, the sharp claws made it through Tsukigake’s disturbed feathers and shallowly cut the skin.
The blood of both splashed around as the hanaguma and Tsukigake were rolling on the ground to the right and left. I am losing more Life this way, but I cannot open my mouth now. Tsukigake pierced the claw of the right front leg into the wound in the throat of hanaguma and tore down to the bottom with all her might.
So finally, the second beast also lost all its Life and became limp. After removing the tusks from the neck of the corpse, Tsukigake stood up unsteadily.
She looked over her body, countless cuts ran from neck to chest. Moreover, it seems that the scratches on the back which were made by the thorns of the hedge also blooded again because of violent rolling over the ground. However, three enemies still remained.
When she listened carefully again, there were footsteps approaching from three directions, being baited by the second beast’s cry. She did not have the energy to run around and away again. The only way was to fight three animals at the same time.
After a few seconds, togari-hanagumas appeared one after another, kicking down the dead millet. One of them was a leader whom they met first when it blocked the way. Lined up with others, it was slightly larger than the other two animals.
Lead hanaguma released a ferocious scream as soon as it saw the corpse of two congeners:
"Gyu-a-a-a-a-u!!!"
Even though she did not understand the words, Tsukigake felt a lot of anger in that roar. At least to show her fighting spirit is still not defeated, she pulled together the power left behind and replied:
"Ga-r-r-r-r-r!!!"
Although only a year has passed since Tsukigake was born, still the young dragon was one of the strongest beasts in the present Human World. The hanagumas who were running a very simple algorithm also hesitated for a moment as though they felt a threat not expressed in the value of Life or priority, but of course they did not escape in the end.
"Gau!"
A short barking of lead hanaguma sounded and two animals at the same time came jumping from the left and right.
The weapon of hanagumas were tough claws of all legs. Tsukigake also had the same main weapon, but in addition to it there was a long and dexterous tail.
Pretending to counterattack with biting, she suddenly rotated the body and hit two of them together with a tail. Although tail feathers she used to be proud of were scattered, hanagumas also flew away leaking a shrill voice, and rammed into a wall of millet. It was withered and therefore caught bodies with hangnails appearing on the everted stems crust, leaving them to struggle and wriggle in the air.
She did not anticipate this result, but that definitely was the last chance. Tsukigake kicked off the ground and attacked lead hanaguma from the front.
"Gua!!!"
The leader put out the sharp tusks. Tsukigake bent her long neck and aimed at its throat, but the enemy with an unexpected reaction lifted the front leg and protected the vital area. In the end, Tsukigake who reflexively pulled her head away, and the head of the lead hanaguma collided, their jaws intersected and they both have bitten.
The burning pain wrapped her entire face. Sharp tusks bit deep from both sides, the creaking sounds of bones could be heard, but she could not release the jaws. If the force is decreased even by a slight amount, the face would be crushed by hanaguma.
The two of them clung to each other's face were rolling hard on the ground. When blood flowed into her mouth it wasn’t clear if it was hers or the opponent’s. One thing was certain that the Life of both were rapidly decreasing. The one whose Life runs out first dies.
Until that moment, Tsukigake had never dealt with the thing called death.
The mother-dragon Akisomi was still young; she had not participated in the war, so had never seen human death directly. That day, when she caught and ate fish living in the lake, it was quite a shocking experience. When fish that was swiftly swimming in the water was caught in the mouth of Tsukigake or Shimosaki, after they bit, after some shaking for a moment it wouldn’t move anymore.
Perhaps, in this world, many living creatures die in such a way every day becoming the food for larger creatures. Even hanagumas did not attack Tsukigake and the rat just for fun. It was in order to survive.
But Tsukigake could not let to be killed here and eaten. In the dungeon of the mansion, my Master and brother dragon and his Master are waiting for help. Black humans who caught the Master did not do so because they were hungry or about to die. It was for worse things, trying to hurt people I cherish...... or maybe even to kill them. I cannot let such a thing happen, absolutely.
Unexpectedly, Tsukigake felt something burning in the back of her throat.
Something hot inflated and spiraled up from the deeps of her body. She could not keep it down.
Tsukigake unleashed the heat still clung to the jaw of the lead hanaguma. Countless sparks burst from the joint of two jaws, burning fur of both. Most of the uncontrolled flame and heat flew into the body of hanaguma, causing fatal damage.
"Gya-u!!!"
The screaming lead hanaguma rolled on the ground, releasing Tsukigake's face and stopped moving after several convulsions.
Tsukigake did not understand what she did. That it was a fire stream4, the greatest weapon of the dragons they spew out of their mouths, and that it cost Life, Tsukigake did not know any of this.
At this point, Tsukigake's Life was less than 10% of the maximum value. Moreover, blood continued to drip from the back and chest, and from the wounds she received on the face.
Still the young dragon managed to get up and to turn backward.
The two remaining hanagumas that were caught in the millet's ridge just jumped to the ground. Even though their leader was dead, they did not seem to give up. While groaning low, they closed the distance.
She did not have enough energy to continue fighting, but Tsukigake continued to support the body stained with blood standing. Would she collapse, the two will jump immediately.
The vision slowly gets darker. The force comes out of limbs. But I cannot fall down. I’ll get to the city and call for help.
Suddenly, she felt as if she heard something.
Hanagumas turned their faces at the sky. Tsukigake also raised the blooded face.
Something was flying in a straight line at a great height in the sky gradually getting deeper and deeper shaded with evening colors. Is it a bird? Is it a dragon? It was something sounding like a gust of wind and emitting green light, something like a star.
── Although I see it for the first time, but somehow I know who that is.
And touched by a strange sensation, Tsukigake tried to howl.
The voice did not come out at all, but the star changed its orbit as if it heard.
- Decorative small toy ball.
- So we had Iwanezumi previously, this is another species of Underworld rat. Naming is bit more complicated though. While “Nezumi” remains “rat”, and “nure” probably stays for wetland area it lives in, “miminaga” is the first part of the name they call Australian Bilbies (specifically, dalgytes). So, altogether that should be something like… “bilby-like swamp rat”?
- Togari = shrew, hanaguma = coati. I have no clue to what togari is here, but based on description it talks about Western Mountain Coati. Let’s just think this is some very special variety of coati, but not quite a coati.
- 熱線, actually translates as “infrared rays” :)