When she began to think she would be better off just fainting, the black script carved into the monument began to squirm like a bunch of insects. Yae flinched back, and the markings formed into an indistinct shadow. The shadow took the shape of a person, then morphed into Lady Bihin.
“You’re here, too, Lady Bihin?!” Yae could have collapsed on the spot. The rules said you weren’t supposed to talk to her, but in this strange situation, how much meaning did the rules even have?
Lady Bihin’s face was pitch-black as if covered in ink. Her naked upper body was covered in small beast faces like scabs. The top of her head, her chest, and her stomach had much bigger ogre-like faces. Yae was now positive that Lady Bihin had weakened since the first time she saw her. It was as if her impurity had thinned.
Lady Bihin reached a black arm out from the monument. She grabbed the black beads tied around the tiger and pulled them, slowly dragging the beast back into the stone. It was as if she was trying to prevent its escape. The tiger swung its head in violent resistance.
Yae noticed that the deeper it sank into the monument, the stronger the presence of the demons behind her grew. The golden tiger stared fixedly at Yae. It was urging her to break the seal if she didn’t want to die.
Her hesitation only lasted a moment. Yae wanted to live. Even on the day she found herself reborn in this world, she hadn’t wanted to die alone without anyone finding her. She hadn’t yet grasped the meaning of her life or her value as a person, but her desire to survive was real.
“I’ll save you, so please save me, too,” Yae forced out through teeth chattering from fear. “I don’t know if you’re a god or a monster, but I’ll release you for my sake.”
The tiger’s eyes narrowed. Half-desperate, Yae drew the black sword from its scabbard. The black blade shone like smooth obsidian.
Lady Bihin let go of the beads and reached out toward Yae with arms covered in beast faces. Yae screamed and swung the black sword down on the fallen god’s arms. A piercing, agonizing cry arose from the entire monument.
“I can’t do this! I’m not built for combat! What should I do next?!”
Yae continued her swing until the black sword struck the stone monument and cut the prayer beads’ string. The black beads scattered, and the golden tiger leaped from the monument like water gushing forth from a broken dam. Yae screamed again and cowered on the spot, mistakenly believing it was going to attack her. It easily jumped over her head and charged into the terrifying parade of demons behind her. The lingering screams of the monsters saturated the air.
Yae couldn’t afford to turn around. Lady Bihin was about to break free from the beads and escape the monument as well.
“Hey, she’s coming! Help me!” she screamed at the golden tiger, which was performing a bloody dance with the parade of demons behind her. She never took her eyes off Lady Bihin. “Please, I’m in big trouble here!!”
“Will you shut up?” a male voice answered calmly.
“Huh?” Yae said, and before she could turn around, someone pulled the black sword from her grip. That person then grabbed her arm and shoved her roughly to the side. She staggered and fell backward, then quickly looked up and studied the person who had pushed her away. It was a well-dressed young man she had never seen before.
“Free, at long last,” he said pompously. The sight of him pointing the tip of his sword at Lady Bihin, who had crawled out of the monument, was something Yae would never forget.
He wasn’t from Kaki Province. His golden hair was short but tousled, and his long bangs made it difficult to see his eyes. He was wearing a black robe, a golden sash, and tube-shaped shoes made of black leather. His clothes didn’t do much to set him apart from a resident of Kaki Province, but he had a long light-gold cloth draped around his shoulders reminiscent of Fujin or Raijin, the Japanese gods of wind and thunder, respectively.
“It’s past time you were sent to the underworld,” the man said in annoyance, and he mercilessly swung the black sword down on Lady Bihin. She moaned and was pulled back into the stone monument as if sucked in by a vacuum. A black fog whirled on the surface of the monument before eventually turning back into cursive characters. Without a second glance, the man flipped the hem of his robe, lightly kicked off the ground, and charged into the remaining pack of monsters. Yae turned and saw them for the first time. There was a giant frog with the physique of a plump snowman, a two-headed kappa, a giant monkey—they were all grotesque creatures that Yae regretted ever laying eyes on.
The man carved up the monsters joyfully, looking as if he was having the time of his life. The heavenly raiment around his shoulders fluttered elegantly behind him, but there was nothing elegant about the way he fought. He was like a savage beast or a crazed god of war, blood splashing to the ground with every swing of his sword. Yae could do nothing but stare in blank amazement.
It’s like he’s playing with them. Yae gulped multiple times. A savage beast was an apt comparison. The man before her, swinging his sword to his heart’s content, was undoubtedly the true form of the golden tiger with the Siddham script on its forehead. That made her think he might be an elebeast… But given that he had been sealed away with Lady Bihin, he was probably something more powerful, and not in a good way.
He’s not some wrathful god, is he? I might have released something I really shouldn’t have… Yae began to worry. She’d had no choice but to free the golden tiger when she was trapped between Lady Bihin and the terrifying parade of monsters, but she was already regretting her decision.
“There shouldn’t be any more for a while,” the man said as he finished off the final monster and swung the black sword once to flick off the clotted blood. He walked toward Yae, who was still collapsed on the ground, and gave her a frightening smile that suggested he was still in a state of excitement from all the killing. “And now it’s your turn to die.”
…Huh? Yae couldn’t believe her ears. Before she could process what he had said, the man emphatically swung the sword at her head. Rather than splitting her head open, however, it hung just above her forehead as if stopped by an invisible shield. The clattering of the blade was proof of the strength the man was putting into his swing.
Yae blinked multiple times. Her comprehension slowly caught up, and her fear turned to anger and bewilderment. He tried to kill me! First the men from Miya Province used her as a decoy, and then the tiger she just freed tried to slice her head off. After all this unfair treatment, she was through being understanding.
“Why…?” she began, intending to ask why everyone put so little value on her life, but the man misinterpreted her question. He lowered his sword as if out of boredom and answered casually.
“It seems like I can’t kill you because of the pact. How annoying.” He stared down at Yae through the bangs of his golden hair, which was even more disheveled than before. His brilliant sunflower-colored eyes shone coldly.