Chereads / TEMPEST IN THE LAND OF SEVEN ESTUARIES / Chapter 8 - An Endless Night

Chapter 8 - An Endless Night

The shaman immediately waves his wooden staff. It hits Adanu Raksa so hard to the right, almost knocking him off into the ravine.

 

Adanu Raksa is still able to hold his ground on the edge of the cliff. But again, several evil spirits are flying so fast after him.

 

"Get out of the way!"

 

He waves his sword to the left, and another scream of pain deafens his ears. As he averts his attention back to the shaman, he finds that man no longer looks the least bit like a human anymore.

 

The shaman's head has turned into the head of a goat with a pair of curved horns. His legs on the bottom part have also turned into a pair of goat legs.

 

Although the rest of his body is still like a human, he has become taller and bigger with thick black fur covering his entire skin.

 

Adanu Raksa is gawking "What the hell? Where did this ugly goat come from?"

 

Suddenly, the shaman jumps high and then slams his wooden staff as he is landing back to the ground.

 

"Try to eat this!" He yells.

 

Adanu Raksa makes a jumping-tiger move to the left to evade the shaman's slam, and rolls on the ground a few times.

 

Once he gets back up, he already meets with a few forest demons. As he takes the time to deal with them, that goat-like shaman hits him from the rear with a sneaky attack.

 

Bam!!!

 

It sends Adanu Raksa so hard to the rocky cliff wall. Blood spurts out of his mouth after he hits his back to the rock.

 

He loses his balance. But the shaman just oddly stands still in front of him, holding his wooden staff straight to the ground.

 

"That arrogant attitude of yours! I don't know how long you have fought these evil creatures. But there are still so many things you haven't seen in this world," he brags.

 

"Who is acting arrogant now?" replies Adanu Raksa as he gets back to his stance. "You think you are that good just after that one hit?"

 

Adanu Raksa sways a little, and then slowly starts his swift sword dance, a unique art he hasn't shown so far.

 

The shaman puts on a clown face, and then laughs just like how a goat usually laughs. "Dancing during a fight? What's this? Are you losing your mind after hitting your head on the rock?"

 

But then, he begins to feel something. He sees Adanu Raksa slashing empty air a few times, as if building some kind of momentum.

 

Soon, the tip of Adanu Raksa's sword is getting closer and closer until it reaches the shaman's chin.

 

"Too easy!" The shaman easily deflects it by spinning his wooden staff.

 

But weirdly, that black sword doesn't look like it has been knocked away at all. It just finds its course to keep moving. In fact, it gains more momentum after being knocked away by the shaman.

 

"What are you trying to pull now?" The shaman mumbles curiously, realizing something odd in Adanu Raksa's movements.

 

Adanu Raksa's sword becomes faster and faster. The shaman parries it a few times, yet he finds those sword attacks getting harder in each collision. He waits for an opening to counter, but there seems to be no end to Adanu Raksa's sword dance.

 

Until then…

 

Slsh! Slssh! Slssh!!!

 

The shaman can no longer follow that sword movements, and the tip of Adanu's Raksa sword begins to peel his skin piece to piece.

 

"The hell with this?" The shaman swings his staff to create some space, and then starts gasping. "How could someone so young like you…"

 

"Aren't you so young yourself?" Adanu Raksa continues the assault, keeps peeling the shaman's skin with the tip of his sword. "Or perhaps, you are actually a hundreds-of-years-old demon taking the face of a young human!"

 

Bloods splatters everywhere, as well as the shaman's skins and fleshes. Even when some evil spirits and forest demons come approaching, it's still not enough to stop Adanu Raksa's sword dance.

 

He simply butchers them without breaking his momentum. His sword keeps finding its path to create infinite arc of sword slashes.

 

Until at some point, his sword stops after cutting the shaman's side a bit deep.

 

"What the hell?"

 

Adanu Raksa looks so in disbelief, finding his sword stuck in the shaman's body, unable to cut him thoroughly as he expected.

 

"You monster!" He grumbles with an irritated face.

 

"You are the monster," that goat-like demon grumbles. Without letting go of that small opening, he spins his staff to hit Adanu Raksa's chin from below.

 

Not wanting to let go of his grip from his sword, Adanu Raksa has no choice but to receive the hit.

 

Dsh!

 

He endures the pain, and pulls his sword back. He backs off and takes some distance.

 

But then, he finds the shaman kneeling down with one leg and gasping heavily. It's clear that he has been injured quite badly.

 

"Now I know why The Carrion Flower Devil wants you," the shaman grumbles, gazing with a hateful stare.

 

Somehow, the wounds Adanu Raksa caused on the shaman's body are now engulfed by some kind of weird flame.

 

All the shallow cuts are also closing. Meanwhile, the deep cuts, especially the last one that Adanu Raksa dealt, are still open and engulfed by a bigger flame.

 

Those wounds, they are like trying to heal themselves, making Adanu Raksa start doubting his sanity.

 

"Yo! What are you really?" Adanu Raksa inquires with a naïve tone.

 

"Screw you!" The shaman looks so pissed off. He is able to get up, but looking so weak and tired.

 

He then reaches out his hand toward a group of evil spirits, and suddenly, those evil spirits are pulled toward him.

 

Weirdly enough, he is able to grab those spirit creatures, and then swallows them as a whole. Soon, he looks so refreshed.

 

"Heh! Thank you for eating them all. You make it easier for me," says Adanu Raksa, ignoring the fact that the shaman has completely healed after the meal.

 

The shaman begins to chuckle mischievously. "I may have eaten them all, but more will surely come as long as you are still alive and draw them to this place. And there won't be an end to me either."