Chapter 3 -

I've always been a sucker for "trapped in another world" premises. The idea that you could escape reality to another, explore a completely different society and history was exhilarating. You could achieve the limitless. Accomplish the impossible. But actually getting isekai'd and stuck there? Sucks ass. While fantasy worlds could offer adventure and beauty unrivaled, they were also exceedingly dangerous, the quality of living much lower, and mortality rate much higher.

Now where were we? Oh right, trying to get out of this problem unmolested.

"Hey there Tsutsumi…..what time is it right now?" I asked, attempting to delay her.

"It's just past six am, I made sure you got some rest or else you'd pass out five minutes in!"

"Uh…..five minutes into what?" Damnit! I already knew what she was gonna say, why the fuck did I ask?

"Well, it's a bit embarrassing to say out loud, nya~" Tsutsumi smiled sweetly, averting her gaze in embarrassment. She leaned into my neck and gave my earlobe a little lick, huskily whispering:

"Five minutes into consummating our marriage."

Yep, of course. I didn't really know what else I expected from that-, no, I did, I just didn't want to hear it. "Please, could….could we talk about this? I'm not ready for that kind of relation-."

"I'm sorry, but you don't have a word on this matter. I promise you'll be happy of my choice in the end."

"Please, I have responsibilities, a family, people who need me!" Desperation began seeping through as I continued. "I can't just elope with a girl I met overnight and leave my old life behind!"

"You don't have to. I can become a part of your old life, simple as that. I can help you with all your troubles and be your shoulder in times of need." Tsutsumi reasoned with a loving smile. "You didn't try to shoot me or run, and despite the rumors you treated me like a person instead of some beast. It's clear you're a kind and beautiful soul who's worthy of my love."

A feeling of romantic shock jolted through my heart again, her whole-hearted confession utterly flooring me.

"On top of that, I'm one of the luckiest girls in the world to join hearts with a Drifter, so I'll never let you go."

My embarrassment and panic slightly subsided from the strange term she. "What's a Drifter?"

"Oh silly, you know better than to play dumb with me." The Nekomata once again lowered her face to mine to give me an Eskimo kiss, her hair tickling my face. "Your strange attire, the fact that you were barely affected by my charm spell, and even being completely immune to the raging mushroom in my soup. The evidence is undeniable." Despite the very distracting view of her face so close to mine a few things clicked in place. The weird rosy energy I felt when we met, the pseudo meat-like vegetable in her stew….this girl tried to drug andbrainwash me!

"I'm not lying, Tsutsumi. I really have no idea what a 'Drifter' is." I stated bluntly. This could be potentially game changing information, and I needed to stall as long as possible to change my chances from impossible to at least improbable.

Her glowing yellow eyes bore into mine, searching for any kind of deceit before softening. "So you really don't know, huh?" I slowly shook my head to reiterate my point.

A faint sigh escaped the Nekomata's lips. "I guess I'll inform you then. Drifters are strange people of unknown origin, seemingly appearing out of nowhere like you. They bear an extremely high resistance to magic, specifically corruption type mana with no discernible scent or spirit energy."

Despite the very blatant name ripoff from a certain anime more puzzle pieces started falling into place. How else did I manage to blindly waltz through Mamono territory for fourteen hours without getting attacked?

"The most important thing though, is that they don't produce Spirit energy like regular humans, instead they have a mana source even greater."

"What?"

A Drifter's semen is very potent, containing a special kind of mana named Shiryu. Little is known about its properties, but it's powerful, to the point of being considered ambrosia to monsterkind.

A tail snaked in my robes to swish against my bare chest. "But nevermind the details, what's important is I've snagged my own boy toy with an infinite supply~"

Fuck. FUCK. I was hoping that having no spirit energy of any kind would make monstergirls lose interest in me, but of course there's this bullshit 'Shiliew' or something that makes me twice as big a target. That's not even considering the Order, they'd most likely hunt me to the ends of the earth to coerce me into their fucked up crusades.

"I hope you understand now, you're a literal one in a million catch and I will never let you free." Her sudden change in tone ripped me from my thoughts, reminding me of my current dilemma. Little pink hearts replaced her irises as she hungrily stared at me, her face flushing a deep pink and both tails curling inwards to make a large heart.

It was horrifying. Watching the uncanny valley of a face contort so drastically set off major triggers in my mind, fucking with its sanity like a horrible LSD trip.

"Please, just let me go." I pleaded. "I don't want this."

"Oh you will soon. I wish we could have mated consensually, but simple courtship isn't enough. I'm sorry, but I'll have to force myself on you as a last resort."

Tsutsumi now housed a terrifying slasher grin and a dark shadow highlighting her eyes. "Oh Lilith below I can't wait to spend the rest of my life and unlife with you!" Her tails replaced her paws pinning my wrists as she start aggressively prying at my shirt. SHIT! My time was up, it was either do something now or be violated!

THINKTHINKTHINKWHATDOIDOWHATDOIDO-

"These Jinbei outfits are actually gifts from my Obaa-chan yknow, one's meant for the husband while the others meant for the wife! We can travel to Zipangu together to meet my parents, they'll be so excited at the prospect of grandkids! I want our first child's name to be Akiko, you can name the second whatever you wish! Just leave everything in my paws, your little Tsutsu will cater to your every need, want and desire!"

Her insane ramblings made my furious thrashing even more frantic, still to no avail. For a dainty girl a head shorter than me she was still pinning me down with considerable strength. I had to wildly jerk my head to avoid her kisses as she tried to plant one on my lips, leaving disgusting trails of spit each time.

"NO! NONONODON'T PLEASE! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU-STOP, NO!" My hand finally broke free as I hit my blowgun in just the right spot, activating the laser sight for a fraction of a second.

Tsutsumi jerked her head towards the direction of the dot, her heart irises vanishing into two amber slits as she focused in. Ears perked up and tails deathly still, absolute silence filled the tent as we both tried to process what happened.

Although, I realized it a hair sooner

I swiftly pressed the button again, the red dot instantly appearing back on the wall. This time it lingered there waiting, almost tauntingly. Tsutsumi's gaze slowly looked back and forth between me and the dot, clearly torn on which to pursue.

Pleasechaseitpleasechaseitpleasechaseit

After the eternal hell of waiting Tsutsumi finally made her choice. She pounced off of me and lunged for the dot, but as soon as her paws hit the wall I took my finger off the button. She slightly opened her furry digits to peek at the illusive speck, only to watch it fly out of her grasp. A frustrated half human half feline growl emitted from her throat as I flung the dot around, just out of reach.

Taking my window of opportunity I slowly creept up behind her, spelling an elaborate "Fuck you" in cursive to lead her on. Now right behind her, I raised the blowpipe over my head and swiftly brought it down over hers, a sickening impact vibrated through my hands as the Zipangu girl crumpled to the ground.

I did it.

I escaped being raped

I finally let my breath go and fell back on the floor, wheezing heavily and hands furiously shaking. Yep, this was probably post-trauma shock setting in. Just because my would-be rapist was an absolute beauty didn't make the experience any less terrifying. My heart and senses still on edge, everything was just numb. I couldn't feel. I couldn't think. I was just….there. Finally, I managed to gain some reasoning back, reflecting on my meditation practices.

Deeply inhale for seven seconds…...deeply exhale for another seven.

"Okay, I'm safe. The threat's been taken care of, I'm safe." I slowly trained my ears on Zipangu-Native. Listening…..listening…..Oh thank god she's still breathing. I don't know what I would've done if I ended up killing her. Still, I hit her as hard as I could without restraint, pretty positive she now had a nasty concussion. After prodding her with my dart gun a bit to check her consciousness I scooped the catgirl up and bridal carried her to the futon, gently laying her down.

"Hopefully she has some bandages somewhere..." I mumbled, rustling through her bags in search of some gauze.

Nope. Nope.

My cheeks tinged slightly pink when I opened up her bra compartment. "I'll just close that up…." Rustling around a little more, I picked up a smooth wooden object resembling a pestle to a mortar. "What is this….?" My cheeks flushed a deep red as I realized the object's true purpose, dropping it like a hot iron. Time to go rinse my hand off in the stream now.

Finally finding some gauze and padding I tenderly wrapped it around her head. There was a pretty nasty welt protruding from the hit, but I reckoned she'd be fine. Monstergirls were much more durable than humans after all. Now reasonably close, It really settled in just how attractive she actually was. A perfect face, dainty chin and nose, silky hair…..

Damnit, that's her succubus charms talking! I can't believe I just ogled my near-rapist!

As I changed and packed up my stuff, I briefly considered keeping the jinbei outfit before mentally slapping myself in the face. It was supposed to be her sacred sleepwear for her 'husband', and I'd respect that. Even if she was a Mamono, I was starting to think maybe Tsutsumi wasn't so bad a person, but any trust I had was tossed out the window when she pulled that stunt.

Opening the flap of the tent, I turned back to look at her one last time. She was still out cold on the futon, sleeping peacefully.

"Sayonara, crazy cat lady." I closed the zipper down and proceeded on my journey.

I continued to aimlessly follow the forest stream, my feet starting to ache from the constant steps. At least I finally got some shoes. Tsutsumi had an extra pair of geta sandals I opted to take, not like she needed them anyway with her feet being huge cat paws.

"U-Woah!" My foot buckled under the uneven terrain, almost losing my balance and tripping into the grass. The odd elevation of these sandals were better suited for flat roads, not uneven surfaces full of tree roots. Still, it definitely beat going barefoot.

Checking my phone for the time, it was already nine am, so already three hours of trekking. Thank God for my massive solar charger, or else my only source of precious earth-music was gone forever. Though as much as I wanted to put my headphones on, blocking my sense of hearing would be foolish. If what Tsutsumi said was true there would be all kinds of Mamono prowling the forest, and I barely escaped my last encounter through sheer luck.

As I tried to keep my balance over the tedious landscape, my thoughts drifted to what Tsutsumi told me. A 'Drifter'? That term didn't exist in Kenkou Cross's canon, already making this world fundamentally different. Or maybe it did? No, the existence of 'Shiryu' or whatever she called would've been a huge point in his works. Tsutsumi also mentioned them wearing strange clothes, could they be modern clothes from my world? Seemed like the evidence pointed towards these so-called Drifters being from earth, or at least an alternate reality. It would be best if I could try and find a fellow member to stick with, or even a clan of them if possible. Learning this 'Shiryu' thing was also a must if I wanted to survive this world unraped.

I came upon an upward slope littered with ancient ruins. A sizable arch overgrown with vines rested above faded stairs, leading to a center platform. To my left was a toppled statue covered in moss, an old Malaysian style outpost peeking behind.

Wow, I still couldn't get over how sheerly breathtaking this 2D forest was, it beat the seven natural wonders out of the park. If only this forest was safe I'd consider hiking-

!

My ears perked listening in for some kind, any kind of sound. A barely audible Tic. Tic. was slowly but surely getting louder. I sprinted to the statue and crouched behind it, readying my crossbow. The ticing sound now much closer finally stopped at the platform behind me, freezing my heart.

"Haah, such a nice spot for relaxin'." said a husky feminine voice, a thick southern drawl slurring the vowels. Well fuck me again, chances were it was another Mamono. I guess I got lucky without encountering one in the span of three hours. How the hell did I go fourteen?

A burst of sticky-squirty sounds fired off followed by a big whump, an elastic stretch echoing through the forest. The sounds I was hearing gave me an idea of what kind of monstergirl this was, and I prayed to God my guess was wrong. Taking a small rock, I tossed it out to the wilderness to make a small noise.

No response.

I waited ten seconds then tossed another.

No response.

Finally after my third rock I heard a book slam shut followed by an annoyed snort. "Damn pixies, probably tryin' to make me pitch a hissy fit again." The stretching sounds echoed again as the mass landed back on the stone platform. It started towards the area of rocks I threw, that same unsettling Tic. Tic. sound hitting the tiles.

What came into view freaked me the fuck out.

A massive purplish abdomen swayed out of the ruins, paired with eight long, spindly legs ending in sharp claws the size of daggers. Where the spider's head should've been was the top half of a buxom beauty with snow-white hair and skin, her intricately woven corset doing little to contain her well endowed bosom. Her twin tail hairdo was shadowed by a wide brimmed cowboy hat lined with intricate patterns, complimenting the shiny black beads fixed to her forehead and temples. They were easy to mistake as exotic jewelry….until they blinked.

I thought seeing a literal catgirl was surreal, but this was another level entirely. The anatomy should be impossible, unheard of. Yet there she was, right in front of me. My mind could only process it as a human amputee riding an exotic car-sized chariot.

Rider and spider were one

Rider and spider had always been one.

Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with this fucked up world?

I needed to get out of there, now. Arachne had a reputation of being sadistic lovers, and spending the rest of my days tied up being unilaterally raped by a femdom loving bitch was not what I wanted. She was facing away from me, it looked like her head was too far turned to catch me in her peripheral vision. Then again, she could have a full three-sixty view for all I knew….

"Ah, fuck it." I cursed under my breath, cautiously starting to back away from the statue. This was realistically my only way of escaping, She'd eventually find me if I just sat there.

Small steps, make sure not to step on anything noisy….

My plan was to slip out the clearing into the obscuring trees, they provided excellent co-

"SHit!" An particularly uneven patch caused my sandal to buckle and sent me crashing down on the slope. The Spider girl's head instantly snapped around to stare at the idiot in a very noticeable bright-turquoise hoodie. Seeing her tooth filled Cheshire grin was all it took for me to get back on my feet and start hauling ass the other direction.

"Where dya think you're runnin' off to darlin?" a teasing voice hollered from behind, only increasing my panic and working my legs harder. A sticky 'SPLRRT' erupted and something struck me square in the back, almost toppling me over. Suddenly it was a lot harder to keep sprinting, I started slowing down like I was attached to a bungee cord. Realizing what she'd done, It wouldn't be long before the tether's elasticity reached its limit and yanked me back.

Yanking on the cinch cords of my backpack, the straps loosened and flew right off. In an instant the silk snapped back like a rubber band, the heavy backpack slamming into the arachne's abdomen and catching her off guard. I took advantage of her surprise and whipped around to train my crossbow on her, holding my breath and slowly pulling the trigger.

'THWACK!'

The bolt whizzed through the air and pierced her right shoulder, making orb-weaver scream bloody murder.

Fuck! If I was just a little more to the right I could've hit her trachea! Now she's scowling at me with all her creepy ass teeth!

"You're gonna pay for that, you little shit!"

Oh fuck. Now she's charging towards me.

WhatdoIdowhatdoIdo shitshit THINK!

I slung my blowgun around, dart preloaded and pressed a button. My laser sight temporarily blinded the raging arachnid as I took aim and exhaled in a short burst, bolting to the ruins immediately after. A little thut followed by another yowl of pain confirmed my results.

Holy shit I can't believe I hit that, that laser sight totally saved my ass.

I couldn't help but smile at my small victory, putting the precious few seconds I bought to good use.

'SPLRT!'

"FUCK!"

I leapt to the ground and covered my head as a thick string of silk shot right above me and sticking to a stone pillar.

"You're gonna pay for fuckin' up my shoulder and pretty face!" The spider woman shrieked as she pulled back her organic lasso, breaking the pillar off and nearly hitting me at forty miles an hour. With perfect timing her whole body jumped up and let the boulder sail right under like Mario would a koopa shell.

On the floor I'd already prepared another bolt and took aim, but this time Shelob was ready. I pulled the trigger, but she expertly quickfired a fast moving glob of silk, intercepting the projectile and completely stopping its momentum. A cocky smile lined her face as the bolt fell harmlessly to the ground with a clack. Before I could insert another bolt the silk-lasso struck again, this time sticking to my weapon and yanking it out of my grasp.

Panicking, I attempted to load a dart into my blowgun, but the redneck fired a larger glob of silk which hit me square in the chest and pinned me against the ruins. The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs as she finally caught up bearing a sadistic smile.

"Not so much without your little toys now, are ya?"

Now I was stuck against the wall like a fly starting to hyperventilate as fear flooded my mind. Flashing back to the near rape experience a few hours prior, I regressed to an incoherent rambling mess. "Please don't rape me-please, I'msosorry I-, I-"

A dagger tipped leg stabbed into the wall a few centimeters from my ear, cracking the stone and shutting me up. The Arachne glared at me with an intense concentration, leaning her head into my neck to…..sniff me. After three solid seconds of sharp inhales she pulled back.

"You don't have any stank on ya. Why is that?" It took me a bit to process her question. Should I tell her the truth? Hell no! That would only be taking steps backwards. Thus, I opted to lie in the most convincing way possible.

"I….don't know. I'm just a traveler from a small country."

The spider woman's numerous eyes blinked in sync before continuing.

"You must be one of them Drifter folk Dale's always ramblin' about." her quizzical look quickly changed to that same creepy ass cheshire smile. "Oh fuck yeah baby, we gonna be rich from the likes of you!"

'Rich'? Nonono, don't tell me it's what I think it is….

Before I could collect my thoughts the Drider's smile quickly shifted from excited to sadistic. "Still, you put a pretty nasty hole in my shoulder and nearly took my eye out. I said you'd pay for that." Both her cheek and shoulder were leaking a lavender liquid, presumably blood.

Now my mind was entering full on freak out mode. What was she gonna do to me? Anally peg me? Unilaterally rape me into submission?

"Usually I try to keep this as quick and painless as possible, but I'll take my sweet time for you." The drider sadistically purred, bearing her sharp fangs.

My eyes widened even further in fear as I realized what she was about to do.

"NonoNO WAI-"

The spider girl lunged at me and sunk her fangs deep in my neck. My voice was reduced to a whisper as the sharp pain shocked my senses, throaty gasps of shock echoing through the ruins. Through the puncture I felt some kind of burning liquid enter my veins, making me scowl in agony. This was by far the most painful thing I'd ever experienced, it was like pouring liquid fire in your veins. As the pain spread throughout my entire body, my consciousness started fading, the spider lady now split into six different versions.

"Sleep tight, you'll need all the rest you can get for later…." remarked the arachne as my vision blacked to nothing.

"Uuuuhn, my head..." groaned a feminine voice. The feline's furry ears twitched as she sat up to rub her bandaged noggin. A huge welt rested on top of her head which she tenderly massaged, attempting to relieve the pain.

"Hmmm…." Tsutsumi's attractive face frowned in thought as she tried to recall early morning. The pain was comparable to hangovers caused by her Oni buddies.

"He hit me with a stick!" the Nekomata shouted in realization, her lips curling into a childlike frown. "I can't believe he did that! I was only trying to give him a good time!"

Her cat ears drooped as she mulled over her actions. "Well, I suppose I did go a teensy bit overboard…."

All that talk of children and growing old together may have scared him a….no. No! She had every right to claim him, he was bumbling around Flemstall like a fool waiting to be captured! She fed him, gave him a comfy place to sleep, and even offered her virginity! And how does he pay her back? By distracting her with an impossible dot and smacking her over the head!

Deeply exhaling through her small nose, Tsutsumi closed her eyes and folded her arms, mulling over what to do next.

He can't have gone far, I must capture him before some other monstergirl reaches him first. The small amount of demonic energy he'd absorbed in her presence should make him less appealing to other Mamono, but that was no guarantee it'd keep him safe. Though he did have no discernable scent, so that'd at least prevent others from flying to him like filings to a magnet.

"On the other hand, that means I can't really track him either..." The Mamono lamented. This was gonna be tough.

Still, he was the one. He was the man who could truly make her happy, and she'd never give up on him or set her sights on another. Not only was he endearing and mildly socially awkward, his rare tanner skin tone was oh so beautiful….

"Ahhhh…" Tsutsumi clasped her cheeks with both paws, blushing in pleasurable embarrassment. She was daydreaming about him again.

"Hmph!" The Zipangu-Native let out a cute noise of determination as she lightly slapped her cheeks. First thing of order was to write a letter to her parents explaining her new goal and probable delay.

Sorry, Okaa-san, Oto-san, you two will have to wait.

She had a husband to catch.

I hope this chapter was engaging, I tried really hard to make the 'fight' with the Arachne fun and interesting. again any critique or comments is greatly appreciated, I want to better myself and make my story higher quality.

By the way, if you're into MGE fics and haven't checked out Anonymoose's monster girl saga you gotta hop on that shit now. Better than many official novels I've read.