To see where the hole was on the side of the mountain, I would need to lean through the hole to check.
Yuri held onto me as I timidly stuck my head through the hole. What the—?
I breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined. It was only four or five meters. After we could get down, a ridge continued unbroken to the pedestal the egg stood on. Thankfully the ridge wasn’t narrow like a sword’s blade, so it wouldn’t be a balancing act getting there. The only problem was whether or not we had the energy to get there. What was I saying? If it was too far, we always had Mugi.
I gave Yuri the sign and she pulled me back in, and then we went back into the tunnel. I told Yuri what I’d seen.
“We can go the whole way on that ridge.”
Yuri nodded her head.
“The only thing I am worried about is that fog,” I said. “If we can’t see through it when we are on the ridge, then it will be difficult to move. No matter how wide it gets, a ridge is still a ridge. If we aren’t careful we could fall down to the bottom of the ravine.”
“Waa! That sounds painful!” Yuri exclaimed, bringing her hands to her mouth, giving a frightful look. Hmph. Silly Yuri. Of course it would hurt!
“Let’s get moving,” I said, ignoring Yuri’s mock fear. “And don’t tumble off the low cliff.”
Turning on my heel, I stood at the edge of the hole. I bent over to get ready to jump down from the hole.
It was as if they were waiting for me to do this.
A head popped up.
The ashen-colored helmet of the armored soldiers.
Not just one or two. Lined up at the edge of the hole were seven armored warriors. From the cliff below the hole they suddenly were right in front of me.
Like a line of Jack-in-the-boxes.
I was truly taken off-guard.
“Hoyaa!” I cried, jumping back. It’s a miracle I wasn’t scared stiff.
The warriors surged. Brandishing their laser guns, they swooped up in through the hole.
“Grrr!”
From out of nowhere, Mugi was suddenly standing in front of us. He bared his fangs and glared at the soldiers with a fiery rage. I pulled out my heatgun. Yuri holstered her ray gun and innocently held the Bloody Card between her fingers. Our position wasn’t so bad. They had a cliff to their backs, and a single digit number of men.
And then at that moment.
“This is where it ends. Gods of Destruction…”
A voice rang out from behind us.
We spun around.
Shadows seeped forward out of the darkness.
There were at least ten of them. No. Double that number.
A leader stepped forward. They were all armored warriors.
But the apparent leader wasn’t wearing armor. Instead he was draped in a loose white robe. On his face he wore an eerie silver mask. It was smooth with no facial features.
Master.
The armored soldiers moved quickly, surrounding us.
The master slowly came closer to us. But it didn’t seem like he was walking. It was more like he was sliding across the surface of the ground. At least that’s what it seemed like. I wanted to see what was under that robe. I wondered what his legs looked like. But his body was completely covered by the robe, and I got no hint as to what was underneath.
“So the leading actor finally makes his entrance,” I said, facing the master. “The master of the invisible fangs, who created an armored army of miners, who turned a mountain of ore into a crater, and who killed the sheriff and the owner. Wait. That’s not all. You are also the one who found out we were coming and sent assassins to Lyonesse, am I wrong?”
“…”
“Tell me. What is your aim? Is it money? Power? Or is it all for Buddha?”
“…”
No response.
“C’mon, speak up!”
I readied the heatgun to the master’s chest and took a quick step forward. Naturally, this was a bluff. Surrounded by all these soldiers, there was no means of escape. That’s why I acted like we had the upper hand.
“The opposite sex is nice, Gods of Destruction,” the master said quietly. Since he had no mouth I wasn’t totally sure that the voice came from the master, but my gut told me that he was the one speaking. It was the same voice that had called out a few moments earlier.
“But your female forms are not going to be enough to allow you to move,” he continued. “The deception is over. We are going to sacrifice you to Boralura. Consider it an honor.”
Boralura! That’s the name that Petrovich had mumbled before the fangs tore him up.
“Can you not change the subject?” Yuri said. She held up a Bloody Card in each hand at shoulder-level, ready to send them flying at a moment’s notice.
“You should see that your life is in our grasp. Between Kei’s heatgun and my Bloody Cards, we are going to be the ones killing you!”
Wow, Yuri. Those are some pretty severe words coming from such a cute face.
“Hm. That’s funny,” the master said calmly. “You should test your theory. You’ll find those cards won’t do you any good.”
“You asked for it!”
Yuri’s cheeks were flushed.
Taking a step forward Yuri released the two Bloody Cards which went sailing straight toward the master.
The master’s robe expanded out to the left and right. Apparently he had spread his arms out.
The cards flew in an arc, and came down at the master from above at two steep angles.
The master didn’t even try to escape. Buzzing through the air, the deadly cards closed in on their target, but like a white shadow, the master stood frozen. I felt not an ounce of sympathy for him.
Despite the pending imminent danger, neither the leader nor his soldiers moved a muscle.
The Bloody Cards tore through the white robe, and then through the master’s flesh.
Or right when I thought that was the case…
The master lit up brightly.