Chapter 55: Chapter 55: The Chase
You can read 155 episodes on patreon and 50 new episodes are released every month. patreon.com/Ashenrose
Was it a dream?
Absolutely not. The pressure squeezing down on not just her body, but her very soul was far too vivid to be a dream.
Rin's heart, which had been calm, suddenly began racing to its limit. Her senses sharpened, but her body stiffened, and goosebumps rose on the nape of her neck.
Her beastkin instincts rang loud alarm bells in her head. All of her body's senses screamed silently.
It told her, that thing is dangerous.
And warned her, run.
But Rin couldn't move a muscle.
An overwhelming feeling of death weighed down her entire body.
The chilling aura of death descending mercilessly trampled her lungs, making even breathing a struggle.
"Kyaaang…"
Rin hesitantly backed away, her body moving unconsciously.
While keeping an eye on the Reaper, she scanned for an escape route. The closest was the door right behind her. Having lived her entire life running away, she was confident in her ability.
Rin crouched as low as she could and gathered strength in her legs. She pressed her feet firmly against the floor, her curled toes gripping the rough wood grain tightly.
For a singular, explosive burst of speed.
In the air thick with dread, the Reaper made its move. Its razor-sharp scythe arced downward like the merciless guillotine of an execution ground, pronouncing an inescapable death sentence.
Thwack!
In that split second, Rin unleashed every ounce of her suppressed power, exploding into motion as she propelled herself forward with all her might.
Beastkin naturally possessed superior physical abilities. Even though she was just a young girl, Rin's leg strength rivaled that of a human knight with body enhancement.
Her body shot forth, the force of her movement crushing the inn's floorboards beneath her.
A perfect escape!
Clank!
"Kyuek!"
…was not meant to be. Her body jerked in mid-air because of the chain. The sturdy chain Karami had procured from the blacksmith.
In her desperation, Rin had forgotten the chain binding her ankle. She fell flat on her face with a thud.
The scythe fell.
Thanks to the chain, perhaps. As if predicting Rin's escape route, the Grim Reaper's attack was aimed towards the door. If she hadn't been stopped by it, her upper and lower body might have parted ways forever.
But there was no room for relief. The scythe's attack didn't end with only what the eye could see.
Whoooosh!
The wind howled. As if interfering with the laws of the world like magic, the Reaper conjured something from nothing. A blade of wind, similar to the aura of a skilled swordsman's blade, rushed forth.
"Kyaang!"
Countless cuts were carved into Rin's flesh, blood spraying from her wounds. The inn room was chopped up like firewood, and even the chain screeched as the blade of wind severed it.
The instant her restraint fell away, Rin's legs flailed wildly for a heartbeat before she bolted through the door like an arrow.
In pursuit, the Grim Reaper phased through the wall, hunting the fleeing fox.
"Mmm…?"
Karami woke up right after.
His eyes, still hazy from sleep, suddenly snapped wide open. There was a gaping hole in the wall, and debris was scattered on the floor. Rain and wind were rushing into the room.
That wasn't really the problem. Though surprising, it wasn't his property after all.
Rin was gone.
Only the cleanly cut chain lay abandoned by the open door.
"What's going on…?"
Tap tap.
The sound of urgent footsteps approached. Seira burst into the room, her face pale.
"Are you alright?"
"Uh… I'm fine, but what's all this commotion about?"
"I heard the disturbance and came out to see the pink fox being chased by a Grim Reaper. I thought you had finally received divine punishment and came running, but you're annoyingly unharmed."
The inn room looked like a battlefield where an intense fight had taken place, with no area left unscathed, yet the area around Karami was strangely intact.
"You're saying Rin is being chased by a Grim Reaper right now?"
"That's right. For such a Reaper to suddenly appear… It must be the misfortune brought by the pink fox."
Seira, who had briefly crossed paths with the Reaper, had felt its aura.
Her legs nearly gave out, almost making her collapse on the spot. It exuded such a terrifying presence that even with death staring one in the face, all will to resist would crumble.
It must have appeared due to the pink fox's misfortune. This was far beyond the realm of an ordinary Reaper.
"What are you doing?"
Karami was changing his clothes, preparing to go out. Seira stared blankly, unable to read his intentions.
"I'm going after them."
"You're going to chase that? You?"
"When their slave is in danger, isn't it natural for the master to save them?"
Being a wolf beastkin, Seira didn't particularly like dogs. Their barking was unpleasant. And right now, what Karami was spouting was nothing but dog shit.
After all, even if he knew Rin's location, there was nothing Karami could do. Only someone completely ignorant of combat could say such things.
"You'll just be adding to the death toll if you go. Don't do anything foolish and stay put."
There were only two possible courses of action now. Either get help from the knights to subjugate it before more damage occurred, or wait for the pink fox, the source of misfortune, to die.
BOOM!
A tremor shook the ground. Beyond the broken wall, smoke rose from the residential area.
"Seems they're over there."
Ignoring Seira's warning, Karami immediately ran out.
Seira couldn't even muster a scornful laugh watching his fading back. What the hell gave him such confidence? Did he have some assurance that he wouldn't die?
He can die for all I care.
She had monitored him enough. If she reported that he had crossed the line of death of his own accord, she could return to her comfortable administrative duties. And yet…
…I should evaluate him properly.
Karami, the habitual slave abandoner.
She would witness his ugliness with her own eyes and document it.
With this rationalization, Seira followed after him.
***
"Haa, haa…!"
In the night city where only the sound of heavy rain could be heard.
Urgent footsteps split the darkness.
The unfamiliar geography and the feel of the road, so different from dirt and stone, were very strange to Rin. Nevertheless, she demonstrated the fleeing skills she had honed throughout her life to their fullest.
Using her small frame and cat-like flexibility to the fullest, she freely leapt through gaps barely big enough for her to squeeze through. She slipped between walls, sometimes abruptly twisting her body to climb steep walls and onto rooftops.
Her light, raw movements were reminiscent of a beast. This would have been enough to shake off most pursuers, but that Reaper was far from ordinary.
She didn't need to look back to know.
She didn't need to hear it to know.
The Grim Reaper was pursuing her, reeking of death. Solely focused on Rin. Just catching that scent made her heart pound relentlessly like a bomb about to explode.
Why are you chasing me?
Rin suddenly asked herself. She had once believed that the yokai in White Cloud Valley were merely because of the location. That if she could just escape from there, things might be okay.
But the personification of death pursuing her with clear malice severed that thin sliver of hope.
Her life was bound by an endless cycle of misfortune.
As long as she bore the pink tail as a brand, there was no escape from this fate.
Rin, breathing heavily, ran forward and suddenly looked back. The Reaper that had been pursuing her like a leech was nowhere to be seen.
Where did it go?
Did I shake it off?
It was a grave mistake. There was more at play than what met the eye. She could still feel the aura of death surrounding her.
That's when it happened.
CRASH!
The side wall crumbled as though exploding, raising a massive cloud of dust. Cracked bricks and debris scattered in all directions, and from within, the indigo Grim Reaper revealed itself.
Its scythe flashed like a blade slicing through the flow of time, its gleam mingling with the falling rain. A shockwave engulfed Rin.
"Kyaaang!"
Rin's body was flung high into the air before plummeting down. She bounced off the ground like a skipping stone.
Having taken the full brunt of the impact with her small body, Rin trembled as she tried to get up, only to collapse again.
"Kiiing…."
A pitiful cry escaped her lips. Her miserable state would have normally evoked sympathy, but unfortunately, her opponent was Death, rendering such emotions useless.
The indigo eyes of the Reaper fixed on Rin with a distant gaze that seemed to look beyond her body to her very soul, as if interested in it.
In the shackles bound to her soul.
The Grim Reaper slowly reached out its hand.
Rin squeezed her eyes shut.
"Now?"
"Now."
Reflected in the rainwater pooled on the ground was a rising chimney. A werewolf stood silhouetted against the moon.
Seira, her long ash-gray hair fluttering, launched herself like a cannonball. Partially transforming her arms, she swung down with her claws.
Thwack!
Seira struck the Reaper's arm. As it faltered, she spun around, grabbed Rin by the scruff of her neck, and using the momentum of her spin—
"Catch her properly."
—threw her.
"Hahaha, you don't need to tell me that, this much is easy── Gak!"
Karami, who had been waiting, spread his arms wide to catch Rin, but it was too much for his weak body to handle stably. Unable to withstand the impact, he was thrown back along with Rin.
He slid across the rain-soaked ground with a splash. Even so, his arms remained wrapped tightly around Rin, refusing to let go.
"Kiiing…?"
There was a gentle warmth against her cold body. And when she sniffed, there was a scent that for some reason gave her a sense of security. Rin raised her head to check.
His hair was plastered down like seaweed from the rain, and his clothes were a mess. Yet there was Karami, looking down at her with the corners of his mouth turned up.
"You're really good at running away, aren't you? But I'd prefer if you didn't run away from me~"
"Kiiing?"
Karami stroked Rin's head as he stood up.
Seira dodged the assault nimbly with agile footwork. Using the scythe's handle as a foothold, she leapt back in a graceful arc and landed smoothly next to Karami.
"I did as you wanted… but what do you plan to do now? This is no ordinary Grim Reaper. Even if we called in the entire knight order, victory would be difficult to guarantee."
While Seira bristled her fur on edge, Karami silently stared at the Grim Reaper. He had vaguely sensed it from afar, but indeed, this Reaper bore a familiar color.
"Father, even if it's you, you shouldn't swing your scythe so recklessly at my slave."
"Father…?"
The Grim Reaper, likewise, was staring at Karami with calm indigo eyes.
Their gazes clashed mid-air. Seira, not understanding, looked back and forth between them.
The first to avert their gaze was the Reaper. It turned its head as if looking somewhere, then gracefully flew off in that direction.
The situation concluded so anticlimactically that it made the heightened tension feel foolish. Seira vaguely sensed that Karami was the cause.
"You…"
"Ooh, look, you're shivering. Let's hurry back. You'll catch a cold."
Karami started walking towards the inn, making a convenient excuse. Seira narrowed her eyes, staring intently at his retreating figure.
She needed to revise her assessment.
Karami may be an even more dangerous individual than his public reputation suggests.