=Chapter 10-The Arrival
A mysterious figure in a hooded white robe stands alone inside a narrow canoe that is being steered by unseen hands over the dark misty waters. A floating ball of blue flame hovers over her left shoulder and is the figure's only source of light in the darkness of night.
As the canoe touches land, the hitodama floats ahead of the figure as they depart the tiny vessel, and flares up in warning as several shadowy forms leap out from within the Oni Mori to intercept the very still silhouette of the figure.
"It's too bad you had that little ghost with you. We would have taken you in the woods, Ancient, if it hadn't warned you of our presence here."
"The Hitodama wasn't my only warning of your presence, warriors. I smelled your Hunter stench, while I was still floating around out there on the waters. You all should really think about changing your diet of milled vampire. I smell the deaths of my kin in your blood."
The Hunters reach for their weapons at the flash of long sharp-tipped fangs from the dark depths of the hood and watch warily as the hitodama floats back to hover just above the figure's head. A gleam of red eyes flares under its glow just before the figure vanishes and the first of the twenty Hunters disappears out of his place in their defensive half-circle.
"AAHHH-RGGH!"
The missing man's death cry sends a shiver of fear through his comrades, then a low growl of a hungry beast regains their attention. The man's body makes a sudden reappearance before them, ripped to shreds, and flying over their heads to land in a heap before their horrified faces.
The terrified men look to their leader, who was the only one to speak to the Ancient, and all gape in horror to find him in the monster's embrace. The Ancient is holding him from behind and appears to be kissing the leader's neck, but as the creature pulls away a stream of blood streams down from two deep bite wounds.
"Mm...I haven't had fresh human blood in so long. It tastes so very, very, good."
They watch as the all but purring Ancient licks up their leader's blood like a hungry cat at a bowl of milk and they finally snap out of their frozen horror to attack the beast.
The Ancient drops the drained leader, and then proceeds to take out each of the eighteen remaining men in quick succession.
The first to reach the animal gets his head severed off by the extended fingers tipped by dagger sharp claws of the Ancient.
"AR-RGHH!"
The second goes down with a snagged neck and the third is disarmed, then skewered by his own katana.
The fourth has his fist slammed upwards and his dagger sinks up through his own mouth to stick into his brain.
The fifth has his spear snapped in half, then his legs skewered with the broken pieces before his neck is also snapped.
The sixth has his garrote used under his left armpit and his arm ripped off.
The seventh has his body used as a shield as the Ancient drains him at the jugular, while the shuriken thrower and arrow shooter turn him into a pincushion in order to get at the beast. Then the Ancient abandons the body shield to vanish and reappear between eight, the shuriken thrower, and nine, the arrow shooter. The Ancient takes a step back as they try to take the creature out, but end up hitting each other instead with killing blows.
Ten and eleven try to attack the Ancient from behind only to be consumed by the flames of the Hitodama. This tugs a menacing smile across the Ancient's shadowed face just as twelve tries to lop off the beast's legs at the kneecaps, but gets snatched away from his lowered position by his hair. The Ancient takes his broad sword, thrusts it through his gut, and utilizes it through his corpse to penetrate thirteen's diaphragm and fourteens' sternum like a kebab.
The Ancient hisses as two throwing stars embed in each of the creature's shoulders, then blurs to fifteen before he can throw a third and makes him eat the weapon as the beast shoves the star down his throat. Then rips the two stars out of its' shoulders to punch them through the hearts of sixteen and seventeen.
The eighteenth the Ancient catches as he tries to run away with a single clawed finger sheathed beneath the man's chin and lifts him into the air with its' head tilted back. The Ancient opens its' mouth and greedily guzzles down the last Hunter's blood as it drains forth from him like a leaking beer tab.
"Hrmm...Thanks for the feast, boys."
As the Ancient makes to enter the Oni Mori, the beast spots the sixth man, the garrote wielder, bleeding out from his shoulder stump and whimpering in horrified anguish, so goes back over to kneel at his side in mild curiosity.
"I will grant you the mercy of a quick death in exchange for an answer to a single question, deal?"
The man whimpers and moans in response and the Ancient nods its' hooded head in understanding.
"Good boy. Now...Tell me...Will I find more of you when I reach Yoru?"
The man weakly nods his head in response and whimpers in gratitude as the Ancient leans forward to place a final kiss of death to his throat. Then the Ancient rises up to join the Hitodama floating at the entrance of the Oni Mori and illuminating the crowd of Oni demons bowing in deep respect between the trees. The Ancient returns their gesture with a slight bow of its' own before continuing on into the forest with the Hitodama replaying the battle like flickering cinema reel to the creature in the flames and lingering on the last mercy kill.
"I know, but you would have done the same if it had been your choice."
The Hitodama flares up into a flaming white ball, then returns to its' normal blue tone as the Ancient chuckles in response to ghost disgruntlement and soon they are too deep within the dark depths of the woods to be seen.