Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament

Chapter 22

Monster of The Gods

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

“It’s coming.”

The moment Bell muttered that, something like a weak electric current ran through Tsugumi’s body. Perhaps this was what it felt like when a Magical Girl put up barriers. He felt a little fresh because until now he’d left it up to Bell to set the barrier.

As the world switched to a mirror image, a thick fog-like mist hung over the area around Lake Ashi in Hakone.

At the same time, he felt tremendous pressure. The presence that pierced his skin was so terrifying that he was almost frightened just to be in contact with it.

The shadow that could be seen on the shore of Lake Ashi was incomparably larger than any of the Demonic Beasts he had fought. And as the fog cleared, its true nature became apparent.

–It was a large snake. And not just one.

It was not just one snake, but nine huge golden snakes, folded and intertwined with each other in a strange appearance. They were between 500 and 300 meters long. The body of one of them was about three meters in diameter, and when seen alone, it looked a little stocky.

At first glance, they appeared to be like the eight-forked giant serpent, but it wasn’t quite right.

“That must be Radon.”

Bell muttered to herself.

“Radon, that snake from Greek mythology?”

Bell nodded firmly in response to Tsugumi’s question.

–Radon. The official name is Lardoon, which refers to a serpent in Greek mythology that is said to have a hundred heads. The famous story is probably from the Twelve Trials of Hercules. But the serpent before him, unlike the anecdote, had only nine heads and a tail.

“I thought it was inspired by the legend of the Nine-headed Dragon, but it’s not.”

It is said that a priest persuaded an evil nine-headed dragon that had its roots in Lake Ashi to be elevated to a guardian deity. Chidori had told him about the Hakone shrine the other day, so he remembered the folklore well.

When Tsugumi explained this, Bell nodded her head as if she was impressed and said.

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“…I see, I thought about it. Does it use the ‘fear’ that remains in this land as a vessel? No wonder the time it takes to appear is so short.”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“It’s that simple. In order to come down to earth, he poured the contents of Radon into the Nine-headed Dragon that is said to have existed in this land – a vessel that people have defined as such. With that method, it makes sense that it would be able to appear in such a short period of time as it did this time.”

“…Hmm?”

The explanation was a bit confusing for Tsugumi, but did it mean that the personality of Radon was contained in the image of the Nine-headed dragon that was originally created by people on their own?

“Then does that mean that this time it wasn’t a glitch in the Yata no Kagami, but rather the usual accurate foreknowledge? …If this keeps happening over and over again, the government is going to have a hard time dealing with it.”

–That’s really troubling.

But the Japanese government was no fool. It would be easy to arrive at the guess Bell was referring to. But whether or not there were any measures that could be taken was another story.

Well, the government would have to do its best in that area. For now, the immediate task was the first priority.

Just because they were far away from the Demonic Beasts did not mean that they had been slackening off. While talking to Bell, he was also keeping a close eye on Radon.

The Radon was crawling along the shallows of the lake in a slow, sluggish motion. Apparently, by the looks of it, it seemed to be moving slowly.

–First of all, let’s attack the neck on the far right.

He made himself invisible with his skill and crept close to the neck by shifting, twisting a thread around the neck, and attempting to cut it off.

“…Eh?”

Its neck was cut in two so easily that it didn’t even feel a firmer grip. Spewing blood, the golden head fell into the lake. A moment later – he thought he saw a grin on the head’s face.

With a crack, the head sank into the lake. Why is this serpent not even upset that one of its heads has been dropped?

-But he soon found out why.

“Uh-oh.”

It made a messy, raw sound, and a new head grew out of the base of the body. He knew it wasn’t something that could be easily defeated, but it was apparently that kind of type.

When it came to that, the neck that he just dropped was also dangerous.

“…Ugh!!”

He felt a chill and instantly left the area using a thread. With a thud, he heard something shatter from where he had just been. Turning back, there was a large gouge in the ground like a crater.

He looked around and saw a snake emerging from the lake, facing them, its mouth wide open. A faint smoke-like substance could be seen coming from its mouth.

Considering that the main body of the Radon hadn’t moved from its position, it must have been the head dropped by Tsugumi.

–But even so.

“Can all dragon species shoot beams these days?…”

It was an unpleasant fact. However, it seemed that the majority of Demonic Beasts were created based on the image people have of them, so many people might think that “dragon = beam”. It was a little overkill.

Anyway, it might be a bad idea to cut off the head of the beast. He slipped a thread into the lake to check the shape of the fallen head, but it seemed that the head itself had the ability to regenerate, and the body had completely recovered. At this rate, it would only increase the number of enemy units.

“It’s awkward to dive underwater. As expected, the threads are slow in the water…”

With this in mind, he planted a search thread in the vicinity of the main body of Radon.

Why doesn’t that main body show any movement at all? Tsugumi was terrified from the start that a fierce attack and defense would ensue, but when it didn’t move like that, he suspected it was doing something else.

–What are the characteristics of Radon? The whereabouts of a hundred heads. The theory of supposed immortality. Mouths all over the body. Once died by poisoned arrows. He dug up various memories and see if he could do something about it.

“…Hmm? What the hell is this?”

Overlooking the lake, the height of the water surface was rising. And even though there was no wind, the surface of the water was shaking as if a wave had occurred.

With a snap, he pulled the thread on his fingertip.

–Is Radon’s response greater than it was at first? No, they are multiplying–!

As soon as Tsugumi noticed this, part of the water surface rose. Then, as if aiming for the heavens, a single gold-colored something popped up. Tsugumi looked up at the gold – their eyes met.

He quickly used Transportation and flew to the other side of the mountain. He moved without time to think, but apparently, it was the right move.

Gah gah gah gah gah!　The explosion sounded like something big collapsing. He looked back to where he had been and found an unbelievable sight lying there.

“The mountain has been gutted…”

The mountain on the other side had exposed a brown crust, as if it had been reaped by something large.

It was that golden tentacle – or rather, a collection of snakes that did it.

“The reason it didn’t move was because it was splitting up in the water. …How am I supposed to defeat that thing?”

The dust from the destruction of the mountain cleared. The number of tentacles, or rather tails of the snake, that could be seen from above was six. This was just a guess, but he was sure that it hid as many of those long tails in the lake as it did with its heads.

“That may be the original form of Radon. –That’s exactly what a monster looks like.”

The length of a single tail was approximately 2,000 meters. In some cases, it could be much longer.

Moreover, the tail could emit long-range rays of light from its head in various places. Considering the attack range alone, it was safe to say that the area around Lake Ashinoko had been completely suppressed.

–The situation isn’t good.

Tsugumi ran on the threads that had been stretched out, slipping past the tail’s attacks and aiming for the main body.

The main body had a hundred heads, as the anecdote said, and if it had a hundred heads, then he could chop them off a hundred times and grind them down so they couldn’t regenerate. Even though it was a class-A Demonic Beast, its resources of power should not be infinite. It would be impossible for it to keep regenerating indefinitely.

He thought about using a long-range attack like he did against the Wyverns last time, but that would take too much time before it was hit. If it uses its tail to defend itself during the battle, it would hardly be able to damage the main body.

Fortunately, Tsugumi’s ability was also suited to endurance fighting. As long as he didn’t get hit, he could keep fighting as long as his body could move.

—Cut off one neck of the main body and withdraw through Transportation. If possible, don’t forget to cut off the head before it falls off and chop it up. Repeat it endlessly. Occasionally, the tail attack is snagged, but it is not a wound that would cause abnormal movement.

-There was slight anxiety left in his heart. He didn’t know if this act of decapitation was really working. It might just be a prank and increase the number of enemies.

If Radon performed as the anecdotes said, there was even a possibility that nothing but poison could kill it.

If a member of Rikka was here, she would have defeated the Demonic Beast without regard to such compatibility or conditions.

If it were Tono Sumire, ranked first in the order, she would have burned up the entire Lake Ashi.

If it were Mibu, ranked second in the order, she would have cut down the huge body with a single stroke of her sword.

If it were Suzushiro Ran, ranked third in the order, she would have submerged this entire Hakone area in a sea of poison.

But Tsugumi had no such special moves. There was one trick that seemed to work, but it was too much of a gamble. If he were to use it, it would only be when he had no other options.

After several assaults, Tsugumi hid behind a rock to escape the tail’s attack, breathing heavily. As expected, when it came to fighting several times in a row, he didn’t have the physical strength.

“What should you do? Do you give up if you can’t win?”

Bell, who had swooped down next to him, asked him teasingly. After all, she knew how Tsugumi would answer.

“I don’t like it. –I’ll never give up.”

Tsugumi said with a laugh.

After all, his spirit wasn’t broken. And the battle had only just begun.