Unwillingness, sorrow, fear, despair... were brewing in Ikenouchi Maki's heart; she didn't even dare to be angry, only allowing these terrible emotions to push her towards collapse...
But she didn't dare to stop, because the sound of flesh breaking from behind her, and the suffocatingly thick smell of blood in the air, forced her body to keep moving forward...
If only... if only I, I truly had power...
The present me! Can't do anything!!
After an unknown amount of time, the threat of death seemed to gradually disappear. The bloody scent in the air was slowly dissipating as Ikenouchi Maki moved further away... The terrifying sound of flesh breaking no longer came from behind, nor could the terrifying evil entity's sinister laughter be heard...
Is it safe?
A moment of laxity caused Ikenouchi Maki to slow down. The air in her lungs seemed to be squeezed dry, and every part of her body was aching. As a weak woman in her daily life, the eruption of such potential made her feel as if she was going to die, in disbelief.
Is it safe...?
Ikenouchi Maki asked herself this question again. She couldn't run anymore, and the children were also panting. This... was the limit.
"Hehehehe... Not running anymore? Then I'll enjoy myself!"
Unfortunately, a nightmarish voice rang out above everyone's heads. Ikenouchi Maki looked up and saw the evil ghost. Despair and fear completely consumed her.
He had been following, playing with them like a cat toying with a mouse... Of course, he wouldn't let them go.
The children who were already collapsed on the ground, crying in a heap, saw the evil ghost approaching again. Those with energy climbed up and ran wildly again, while those who couldn't run could only cry, watching helplessly as the evil ghost leaped down from above, watching those eyes filled with hunger and brutality, glowing with a terrifying bloody light, staring at them as if they were a table full of a feast.
Ikenouchi Maki, who had been carrying children and constantly running to ensure all the children escaped, was the most exhausted person present. She had already collapsed to the ground, with no strength left to resist... She could only watch helplessly as the evil ghost devoured the children, disemboweled her, and then feasted.
The despair of facing death... the unwillingness of the elders who sacrificed themselves for nothing... the sadness for her own weakness... the regret for running away on her own accord... all coalesced into a dark shadow that consumed Ikenouchi Maki, enveloping her heart and suffocating her.
But in the end, wrapped in countless negative emotions—despair, fear, unwillingness—it all finally condensed into anger—an extreme anger towards the evil ghost.
"Evil Ghost!!!"
The powerful rage filled Ikenouchi Maki with strength once more—she could die, but even if she died, she would not die in vain!!
Watching the evil ghost leap down from high above, Ikenouchi Maki rolled over and dodged its descending attack. The sudden change surprised the evil ghost, and in its astonishment, its movements slowed slightly...
Then, he watched with his own eyes as Ikenouchi Maki, with a ferocious expression, punched him in the face...
It remained completely still.
Ikenouchi Maki was merely a mortal, and she was already exhausted, so how could she shake an evil ghost? Her punch couldn't even cause the evil ghost an ounce of pain, not even a tiny bit.
However, Ikenouchi Maki's dying resistance gave him immense pleasure...
"Hehehehe! That's it! That's it!!"
Looking at the evil ghost, who was now as frenzied as a madman, Ikenouchi Maki felt a chill run down her spine... But seeing the children who hadn't run far, she knew that she would likely meet her end here today...
But she didn't intend to sit and wait for death like those old women... She wanted to resist, even if she knew she could never win, she would fight. This was her final dignity as Brilliant Gale...
She would not surrender, nor would she wait for death.
Roaring, Ikenouchi Maki punched again, her limp fist striking directly at the evil ghost. Her ferocious face was deeply etched with despair, making the evil ghost laugh outright.
This is how it should be! Prey that resists is the best!!
Hehehehe!
............
On the other side, Fang Wuwei, following the radar, arrived at the village where Ikenouchi Maki had settled.
Ikenouchi Maki was a green dot on the radar, just like him, meaning she wasn't an enemy or the protagonist of this world, making her very noticeable. When he passed by and noticed a village, he originally planned to rest there for a night, letting Ikenouchi Maki learn a good lesson about the consequences of running around recklessly...
Since entering the forest, Quick Braking hadn't been very effective, so he was forced to land and run. Without Quick Braking's one-button acceleration, he certainly wasn't foolish enough to run at full speed. After hurrying as fast as he could, he finally passed through layers of dense forest and arrived at the silent, deserted village.
But Fang Wuwei, emerging from the woods, now had an extremely grim expression. The strong smell of blood had been clearly discernible to him even while he was still in the forest, and upon smelling the blood in the air, he had rushed over at full speed.
But now, he could only see blood everywhere and terrifying, mutilated corpses.
After two steps, he directly stepped into some congealed blood. A large group of elderly people, some with their hearts gouged out, knelt on the ground with expressions of pain and despair, some headless, and others simply torn apart, their bodies on the ground, their buttocks hanging from trees...
The only commonality was that they all held weapons, more or less, but... all of them were broken.
They couldn't have gone into battle with broken weapons; the only possibility was that whoever fought them broke all their weapons and then brutally murdered them all... This was toying with them.
The only ones who could do such a thing, besides evil, disgusting, and damnable ghosts with wicked tastes, were probably no one else...
No, sometimes Reincarnators would also do such things, but the Reincarnators in this world had all been slaughtered by him, so only the possibility of an evil ghost remained.
Carefully discerning the distance, the green dot representing Ikenouchi Maki was some distance from here, but not too far... It seemed the worst-case scenario had already occurred.
Fang Wuwei sighed deeply. A disobedient disciple, and so reckless, probably couldn't be kept... His rest plan was ruined; time to fight.
He sped along the radar, and saw another pile of corpses—a group of old women, none of them whole, their limbs, blood, and internal organs almost covering an area of three hundred meters in all directions. What a beast...
Anger gradually burned, and Fang Wuwei rushed towards the distance at an even faster speed.
Ikenouchi Maki, you better hold on...
............
After being hit four or five times by Ikenouchi Maki's limp fists, the evil ghost lost interest—she was too weak, unable to even break his defense like those old men. Although her unwilling and despairing face excited him greatly, it was still just that; he had long grown tired of such expressions.
The evil ghost didn't even bother to dodge; he simply grabbed Ikenouchi Maki's incoming forearm with one hand and, with a forceful squeeze, crushed her forearm.
The sound of bones breaking echoed in her ears, and intense, terrifying pain swept through Ikenouchi Maki's body, making her unable to help but let out a painful scream. Her body instinctively curled up. This scream pierced through the dense forest and reached Fang Wuwei's ears as he rushed rapidly from not far away.
She regretted it greatly, yet not entirely... The children had run far away, and that was enough...
"You don't think that by staying here, those lambs will be safe, do you?"
The evil ghost's sharp, sinister voice interrupted Ikenouchi Maki's thoughts. He was bringing his mouth close to Ikenouchi Maki's ear, his foul breath making her feel nauseous.
"At this distance, I only need a gentle leap to reach them... Hehehehe, even if you stall for another ten minutes, they won't survive... I'll find them, and I'll eat all of them, disemboweling them. Let's start with you first; you'll be the appetizer, my little beauty~"
Ikenouchi Maki was utterly and completely despairing, with only numbness left in her eyes...
The evil ghost opened his mouth, about to bite into Ikenouchi Maki's neck, starting to eat her first. His saliva-mixed breath fell upon her neck, and Ikenouchi Maki no longer wavered...
Dad, Mom, I'm sorry... And Master...
...Master?
Ikenouchi Maki's unfocused gaze saw Fang Wuwei leaping high, his back against the moon, rushing towards her at an incredible speed.
Damn you, I found you, beast!