About a dozen ghouls surrounded them, enclosing them with sudden speed.
"Don't let them cut you in any way," Shizu said out loud, "it isn't just their bite that can be contagious!" They could easily infect you by other means as well!"
"Wow, you don't say," Orihime said as she managed to evade the hand of one from grabbing onto her. Its hand slammed against a tree instead, shattering the two-foot-thick mass into splintered halves with one hit. She jumped over the ghoul, pulling out her sword in midair before landing with it, ready to take them on. She was now out of the enclosed sphere, wanting to attack them from behind to disorient their formation.
But Kazuya had something even more reckless in mind, so he quickly called on all of them. "Get down, all of you, and brace yourselves!" he warned.
In concurrence, they all did as instructed, as if instinctively knowing he was about to do something reckless. Kazuya quickly brought forth his sword, allowing much of his magical energy to flow into it, and in less than two seconds, it was set ablaze in scarlet flames.
Then he swung the sword around with all his might.
"SCARLET BLADE!"
He cried out as he did so, and it sent the ghouls flying away from them, all now covered in red flames and groaning in extreme agony and pain. Then Kazuya quickly put his sword back in its place.
"EXPLOSIVE SPECTACLE!"
Immediately after Orihime heard those words, she brought forth her shield, setting it right before her as she knew what was about to ensue.
"Damn you, Kazuya!" she swore.
In the order of the direction in which Kazuya swung his sword, all the ghouls began to explode like living time bombs. The blasts sent parts of their now partly eviscerated bodies in all directions away from the people.
While the explosions occurred, Orihime was thankful she had a shield on her, or she would have been caught in the blasts. The sudden sounds from the popping bodies of the ghouls were almost deafening, causing almost everyone to shut their ears as they braced themselves.
After the twelfth explosion, it was over, and everyone opened their eyes, looking around in awe and wonder. They looked around them and could see the partly eviscerated bodies of the ghouls, all blown up from the inside, lying on the ground, dead. The sudden stench of burning flesh filled the air, and it felt unpleasant to breathe at that moment.
Kazuya placed both hands on his knees, unable to stand straight and breathing heavily, as he had underestimated the toll that such an advanced technique would take on him. He wrongly assumed the effect of the technique in fighting twelve ghouls would take the same toll as cutting rock in the blacksmith's cave, and he was wrong.
From the way he was panting, the rest of them began to wonder if he would have enough energy to slay the hundreds of goblins beyond the hidden portal.
"What the hell, big man?!" Orihime yelled at Kazuya, walking forward to face him head-on. "You would have killed me!"
That last line made everyone know that Orihime wasn't just messing around with Kazuya at this point; she was dead serious.
"Even with the shield, I still felt lucky to have survived that! "What is wrong with you?" she asked. "What if I got caught up in those flames?"
"I gave everyone a fair warning, didn't I?" asked Kazuya, unfazed by her genuine anger.
"You haven't answered my question, Kazuya," she said to him. "What if I was caught up in those flames?" "Then what?" she asked again, now facing him eye to eye.
"Then so be it," Kazuya replied coldly, "I couldn't care less."
Orihime's smile faded into neutrality after hearing those words, and she raised her brow as if in sudden realization of something. "I see," she said, taking a deep breath as she brought her face even closer to his.
"You disgust me, Kazuya," she said to him in a whispering tone, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Then she turned away from him and went several steps away, barely being able to stand his presence at the moment.
Then Kazuya noticed the way the rest of them were looking at him. He could see the disapproval on their faces and didn't need anyone to tell him that he was a complete screw-up to them right now.
"What are you bozos looking at?" he asked harshly. "Did I say anything wrong?"
"You know, young man? "For an adventurer of your talent and skill, you are pitifully emotionally bankrupt," Shizu said to him, causing him to arch a brow in the initial response.
Then she berated him further: "That was a reckless move, one in which you have no experience." If she couldn't think fast, you might have had her killed!"
"As much as I would love to share the sentiment, the truth is that I honestly don't care." All of the ghouls are gone, which means I got the job done. Nobody is injured or infected right now, thanks to me. "Besides, if I waited any longer, one of you might have ended up getting hurt," Kazuya said. "So instead of just standing here playing "leader," are you going to open that portal or not?"
"What did you say?" asked Genta angrily, wanting to face Kazuya when Shizu held her back by the arm. She ignored Kazuya's rudeness, stretching both hands forward as she chanted a spell, causing the atmosphere around them to change its tone.
The large radius around them changed drastically in color, and before them, they saw an area that seemed to be swallowing everything around it, like a warped part of an unseen reality.
"There it is," Shizu said as she joined both hands together, casting another deadly spell. The spell restored the area to its former state, but with the portal now visible, it was frightening to behold for the first time.
"Done," Shizu said. "There is your portal."
Mentally, Kazuya tried summoning Gaichu, but it was not working. He didn't want the fairy to show up in the open, but he needed information from it.
Then, as if knowing exactly what was on his mind, he heard Gaichu's voice coming from within his mind: "Good afternoon, Kazuya." "I felt you required assistance; was I wrong?" it asked.
"No, you are just in time," Kazuya replied mentally, "is that the portal leading to the land of the goblins?"
"Yes, it precisely corresponds to the data on the map," Gaichu responded.
"That is all I needed to hear," Kazuya said out loud, to the confusion of everyone nearby, as they didn't know who he was talking to. Without hesitation, he walked toward the portal without calling anyone.
Orihime looked at Genta and nodded without saying a word. Then she hurried right behind Kazuya, jumping into the portal right after him.
Genta turned to Shizu, who made a gesture for her to step forward, and she acted confused about it.
"Follow them," she said to Genta, and before she could object, Shizu assured her, "I'll be right behind you."
"What?... Why?" she asked, wondering why the master would want to come on the mission as well.
"I want to know those two," she replied.
So Genta went into the portal as well, and Shizu followed immediately afterwards. Immediately after Shizu stepped through the portal, it disappeared from plain sight, returning to its hidden state.
Kazuya found himself walking into unknown territory. It was a cave, lit by hanging torches and lanterns, and right before him were two goblins who seemed stunned to see a human in their hideout.
Before they could attack properly, Kazuya had already brought forth his sword and sliced them in half, causing their blood to spray profusely against the walls of the cave.
It was exactly at that moment when Orihime came in and was surprised to see two goblins dead already. With Kazuya a few steps ahead of her, she looked around the cave. In the cave, she could see several human bones littered around, most of which seemed to be young.
"I rumours have always been right all along—their favorite diet is young human meat," Shizu said as she came through the portal with Genta right in front of her, also taking note of the bones in the cave.
Kazuya arched a brow, wondering what the old woman was doing there with them after she had already done her job of showing them the portal. He wasn't fully sore if Genta came along with them, let alone Shizu, her master.
"What? "It seems you aren't happy to see me still with you," she said.
"Shh!" Kazuya signaled, and they all kept quiet as, beyond the crackling sound of the burning fires, they could hear hundreds of footsteps approaching. Far across the distance, they could see several tiny glowing eyes coming from afar, along with multiple strange shrieks and groans that didn't sound human.
Kazuya knew those sounds, and they refreshed his memories of that horrific night. Now was the time for them to fully drink the cup of his wrath. Now was the time for vengeance, and he was angrily excited about it.
"Brace yourselves, everyone," Kazuya said to them with a villainous smile, "the battle is about to begin."