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Last time on What a Wonderful World

Masutaro sounded ready to kill, "Remind me which one of us is the weak little nature spirit who can't do anything right?"

Marrow growled and then sighed, "Me."

"And remind me which of us is one of the Demon King's Generals?" Sumaru's eyebrows shot up. Demon General? What's he talking about?

That really cowed Marrow, "You are, Demon General Hans."

Sumaru's eyes widened, What?!

You shouldn't be here. Sumaru's brain supplied.

Good Idea, let's go. Sumaru nodded in agreement and turned to crawl back to the tree where he'd been practicing. A twig snapped under his boot, and Sumaru cringed. Please don't notice. Please don't notice. Please don't notice.

Marrow growled, "Hey, you! Get out of those bushes now!"

Maybe if I don't say anything they'll think it was just their imagination.

Marrow growled again with more force, "I said come out!"

Please just ignore me!

Then Masutaro gave an order, "Marrow, just blast that area with a spell."

Marrow inhaled, "Okay."

"Wait!" Sumaru jumped out of the bushes as fast as his legs could push him.

"Sumaru?! Why are you here?" She snarled, "What did you hear?"

Quick, Brain! Come up with a lie they'll believe!

Sorry bud, I'm my break just started. You'll have to do without me for a bit.

Really?! You picked now of all times to check out!

Hey man, I've been working overtime for who knows how long. Well you know what? This brain has had enough of your abuse! You're on your own!

Fine! I didn't need you anyway, traitor!

Sumaru opened his mouth, "I definitely didn't hear all of it, if that's what you meant." Why am I being a smartass? In the face of Marrow's snarling, Sumaru continued, "I mean, what even changes? There's no society to judge you guys, and I for one have a strict no kink shaming policy."

"I'm gonna kill him!" Then, as an afterthought Marrow asked Masutaro, "Can I kill him?"

Masutaro took a long gulp of his drink. Sweat beaded on Sumaru's face as he waited for Masutaro to say no. Then he finished his drink with a sigh, "Go ahead."

Sumaru didn't immediately register Masutaro's words, "What? Why? I thought you wanted me alive for some reason!"

Masutaro laughed, "The reason why I picked you up in the first place was to nurture your growth without letting you know the truth. I was going to eat you once you were finally ripe for betrayal."

"Huh?" Sumaru's heart pounded in his throat.

Masutaro licked his lips, "You see, freshly betrayed human is my favorite food. There's an extra zing in their blood that you can only get from that kind of surprise. You're not the type to trust easily, but I could tell that you were going to be more delicious than anything I've ever had." Masutaro sighed, "But now that the surprise has been spoiled, there's no reason to keep you around. If they know too early, then it ruins the meat forever. Better to start from scratch than to continue with damaged ingredients, wouldn't you say?" Masutaro glanced at Marrow, "What's the hold up? You'll get your punishment too, Marrow. As soon as you take care of this loose end." Then he started walking away.

"So you're gonna leave, just like that? What the hell?" Sumaru clenched his fists, "At least uncurse this damn blindfold," Sumaru swallowed, "Even if you won't eat me, I'm sure Marrow doesn't like the taste of cursed meat."

Both Masutaro and Marrow burst out laughing, "I forgot that you actually believed that crap!"

"Huh?"

"That was just a lie so you wouldn't cheat and hurt your progress on grasping your mana." Masutaro wiped a tear from his eye, "Who the hell would waste their time cursing random face rags?"

Sumaru grit his teeth, "So you lied to me, huh?" He reached up and tore the non-magical piece of cloth off of his face. His eyes watered, and everything was blurred, but he could finally see again. He looked at Masutaro's smug face and said, "Don't think I'm just gonna let you kill me, Masutaro."

He laughed in Sumaru's face, "Oh Sumaru, Masutaro was a fake name I used to trick you. I'm one of the Demon King's Generals, Hans. And you don't need to worry about me, my boy. Now that you're ruined, there's nothing keeping me from the other stuff I have planned." Hans waved and then he melted into the ground and disappeared.

Sumaru stared at the bald circle in the grass with a mixture of relief and frustration.

Marrow snarled, "Better make your piece, morsel, because I'm going to tear you apart."

Sumaru looked over at Marrow, "I forgot how scary your face could be, Fuzzball."

"Pretty lame for your last words." Then Marrow blurred into motion, with blades of wind swirling around her.

Sumaru dove out of her way, but the wind still tore at him. Push through the pain. Sumaru palmed the ground and said, "Freeze." Frost spread across the grass around him in a wide circle. He let out a breath and could see the vapors. That should tear up her feet.

A gust of wind swept around Marrow and ripped the frozen blades of grass out of the ground before she landed with ease. She laughed, "Even if this little trick of yours was a threat to me, I don't need to get close to kill you." Marrow arched her long body and breathed a small tornado into existence.

As the twister careened toward Sumaru, it tore the frozen blades of grass out of the ground and flung them in every direction. Sumaru's heart pounded in his throat. I need to focus. He closed his eyes and willed his mana into an orb over his hand. With the spinning blades of wind and ice looming over him, Sumaru stretched the orb into a sheet and wrapped it around the twister. It pushed against his mana, and he strained to keep it from breaking as he willed it to shrink around Marrow's magic. I can do this.

"What?"

Marrow's connection has broken, good. Sumaru opened his eyes and clenched his fist. In a flash, Marrow's magic collapsed within Sumaru's orb and it showered sparks on them both.

Sumaru rose to a knee and pointed an open palm at Marrow's shocked face, "Screw you. Spark!" Electricity arced along the length of Sumaru's arm and out at Marrow and she yelped when it hit her. Then he launched himself forward, past the dog-faced weasel creature and out of the grove. He wove around the trees and navigated roots and bushes as quickly as he could, but it wasn't long before he heard Marrow gaining on him. She was snapping roots and tearing through the foliage to get to him.

One particular broken branch sailed over Sumaru's shoulder and he ducked around a tree when he heard the scream of frustration that followed. Blades of wind passed through the space where he'd been and cut past a tree ahead of him. He ran past the falling tree and hit it with electricity on his way. He didn't look back as the trunk burst apart into flaming chunks over his head and rained sparks around him.

Behind him, Marrow shouted, "You're not getting away that easily!"

Sumaru felt a hot gust blast him in the back, and suddenly he couldn't tell which part of the world was the ground. He tumbled through the air head over heels and landed shoulder first in a shallow creek. Something snapped and Sumaru couldn't stop his agony from escaping, "Aaaagh!"

A branch snapped, and Sumaru looked up. Stalking up to him, Marrow cut an intimidating silhouette against the smoke and flames behind her, "It's annoying when they run, but I don't really mind. It's better when my lunch can beg for it's life." She smirked down at Sumaru, "Go ahead, beg for your life." Sumaru gawked at her with tears of hope in his eyes, and Marrow cackled, "Ahahahahahah! Who am I kidding?! I wasn't gonna spare you anyway." Then she laughed more in his face.

That's it, then. I'm gonna die. Sumaru's shoulders shook painfully. Is this really the end for me? Eaten after a month in this new world? His teeth chattered. I'm still a virgin! His knees knocked together, and he stared up at Marrow's razor teeth bearing down on him. Why is this taking so long? To Sumaru's eyes, Marrow was moving in for the kill in slow motion. Could I-? Sumaru let himself fall back into the cool water and brought up his knee under Marrow's jaw, snapping it shut with a clack.

Marrow's eyes widened and blood dripped from her mouth as she writhed in pain, "Ah bih mah ton!"(I bit my tongue!)

Sumaru rolled over and tried to push himself up with his one good arm, but his reflection in the water gave him pause. My eyes are glowing? Since when do I have red eyes? In the rippling water, he caught sight of swirling black tomoe in the red pools. One in each of his eyes. Oh. "It's the Sharingan."

"Neber her ov ih."(Never heard of it.) Marrow shook her head and spat the blood out of her mouth, "That's better." Then she glared, "Stop talking nonsense and give up already, you've been lucky so far, but there's no way you'll live when I get serious. You might as well give up now and let me eat you."

Sumaru looked up at Marrow, and wiped some of the water off of his face, "You're welcome to try."

"Oh? Are you some bastard Crimson Demon or something?" The flesh underneath Marrow's fur rippled and she exhaled a cloud of steam. Her muscles pulsed and expanded, and her claws tripled in length. Moments later, a paw the size of Sumaru's chest splashed into the creek, and a 20 foot tall wolf grinned down at him. A mouth that could easily swallow him whole opened, "I hate using this form, because the food just doesn't last as long. Never the less, now that it's come to this I can say that I will savor your taste even more now, morsel." The new Marrow grinned down at him with her parallel rows of razor teeth, "Scared yet?"

Sumaru finished standing, "A little."

Marrow's laughter was nearly deafening, "Good! Let's not waste any more time!" Despite her new size, Marrow wasn't any slower. She was upon him in an instant.

Sumaru kept his eyes open. Focus! He leaned out of the way of the jaw that would've torn his arm off, and avoided the onslaught of razor claws and teeth. It would only take one hit for Marrow to kill him. Focus! Sumaru dodged. Left, right, left, right! Jump, and again! Duck under, slide!

Marrow was a whirlwind of movement, "Hahahahhahhaa! Look at you! Helplessly trying to stay ahead of my claws! You can't dodge forever, I'm getting closer with every moment that passes!" She grinned sadistically, "I'm going to get you, Sumaru!" Then she surrounded her body with blades of wind and curled her enormous body around Sumaru, like a horizontal tornado.

"No." Sumaru froze a platform of water to stand on and dipped his fingers in the water, "This is where your pursuit ends. Ha!" Electricity ran down his arm into the water.

Marrow's eyes widened. She broke off her attack and launched herself into the air, "You think that little trick is going to work on me? Sure you've put some power behind it, you have to be more creative than that to catch me by surprise!"

"I know."

"Huh?" Sumaru reared his arm back as if he was going to throw something, but his hand was empty. Marrow laughed, "Oh, I see now. Your plan didn't work, so now you've lost all sense of reason. How lame!"

Sumaru brought his arm forward and let his attack sail. The air wavered for a moment and then Marrow stopped laughing. Blood sprayed from a hole that opened up in her chest, as well as from her back. She landed in a heap on the edge of the creek, and the end of the javelin that was sticking out her back was only visible because of the blood that clung to it.

Sumaru collapsed to a knee, gasping. The Sharingan faded from his eyes, and the blood that stuck to the invisible javelin fell to the ground. Marrow shuddered and shank back to her regular size.

She coughed up a glob of blood and wheezed, "T-the hell kind of eleventh hour shit did you just pull? La-last time I che-cked you couldn't do anything like that."

Sumaru cracked a smile, "What, you're not feeling alright? All I did was skewer you with some of my mana."

"You asshole."

"Takes one to know one."

Marrow coughed again, "Whatever. You beat me. Now get over here and put me out of my misery." Then she mumbled, "I definitely deserve it."

"You know," Sumaru rubbed his shoulder, "You don't have to die, Marrow."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "If I wasn't already dying, I'd march over and nip your nose off. If you don't kill me here, I will come back for you."

"Then I'll kill you right now, before you get the chance to be a nuisance down the road." Sumaru's smile widened, "Or,"

"Or?" Marrow raised an eyebrow.

"You could make a deal with me."

Marrow barked out in laughter and quickly winced in pain, "Now I know you've lost it. Why would I ever make a deal with scum like you?"

"Hey, this scum just beat your face in." Marrow growled at him and Sumaru continued, "I spare your life, and you come with me."

Marrow scoffed, "Who would ever make a deal like that? It's way too open."

She's considering it. Sumaru remembered something, and he said, "Slave."

"That's worse."

"I let you live, and you be my slave for a year. Sound familiar?"

She thought for a moment, "...Go ahead and kill me now."

"Come on! Even if you did kill me, you'd be just as bored and unhappy as you've been this whole time."

"Wha- Who says I'm unhappy!" Then Marrow had a couching fit.

"Shit, you need treatment now or you're really gonna die." Sumaru looked around and hopped off of his melting ice platform, "Look. You talk a big game, but all you ever really do is lie around and watch me do stuff. I saw the way that Masuta-" Sumaru cut himself off, "I saw the way that Hans was treating you. You might as well be his slave."

Marrow watched Sumaru rustle through some plants with glassy eyes, "I-I can't. He'll kill me."

"So you can die here by my hand, or you can die later when you have another shot at things. I could just stop trying to find a medicinal herb and leave you here to die. Hans sure wouldn't heal you if he found you here."

"Hmph." Marrow shut her jaw tightly, and Sumaru felt the urge to pull out his own hair. I'm done. If she wants to be that stubborn, then she can just die. But when Sumaru got up to leave, he heard her weakening voice, "I-idiot. You're looking through the poisonous stuff. What you need is there on the other side of the water, at the base of that tree." She pointed with her nose.

Sumaru looked at her, "Is that a yes?"

Marrow growled weakly, "Yes, I agree to the terms. Now make sure you don't poison me, or the deal is off!"

Sumaru smiled, "Heh heh, you got it."

Sumaru managed to dress Marrow's wounds with the help of her directions, and she only fainted when she made sure it was done properly. He slung her weasel body over his shoulders and walked until the sun set. Then he made a campfire and laid down with Marrow for the night.

Sumaru listened to the sound of the fire as he stared up at the canopy. Where do I go from here? Who knows what Masu-Hans did with my equipment. He patted his pockets. That also means I'm broke. Not that it matters all that much. We're in the middle of nowhere, and I'm not going back to Axcel. That psycho probably has someone keeping an eye out for all of his 'spoiled' meals that got away. Sumaru shivered. I'm lucky that he didn't really seem to care. It's a risk taking Marrow with me, but I need the help. He absently pet Marrow. Her ears twitched. I need the company, too. Maybe she can tell me more about that Mana sense thing she mentioned before. He held up his free hand. I'm supposed to 'sense' with my mana? He blinked, and his eyes glowed red. Huh. The Sharingan. I can't believe that angel actually went ahead with such a dumb idea. Still, maybe I can be as cool as Itachi?

Sumaru pictured himself in a black cloak riding on Marrow's giant wolf form. The actual Marrow(who he was still scritching around the ears) fidgeted and snored.

Sumaru smiled. Nah, I'll never be cool. Then he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

And that's a wrap!

So, Sumaru has unlocked the lowest level of the Sharingan. Nerd power increases! What did you think of Marrow's new form? Besides the food thing, she doesn't like to use it because it takes a lot of power to maintain.

Anyway, I just got the Konosuba light novels so it might be a while before the next update.

Until next time, Ciao!